India will have above normal rainfall this monsoon season
The South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF-31) has predicted that above-normal rainfall is likely across most of South Asia, including India. This is in line with the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) long-range forecast which says that seasonal rainfall is expected to be 105 percent of the period average, with a margin of 5 percent above or below.
The monsoon in India is a powerful weather system driven by a complex interplay of ocean temperatures, wind circulations, land-sea heat contrasts, and remote influences such as snow cover over the Himalayas and the European mountains.
The monsoon forecast is determined by observing and studying the delicate balance between a range of dynamic atmospheric and oceanic forces that interact with each other. Scientists say that neutral conditions in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and the reduced northern hemisphere snow cover, have led to conditions favouring a wetter-than-usual monsoon season this year.
States like Kerala have already started intensifying their efforts to deal with this challenge by setting up early warning systems and grassroots rain monitoring efforts through local gauges and community networks, this year (Mongabay, India).
India's largest conservation reserve comes up in Spiti valley
The remote and cold Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh is now home to India’s largest conservation reserve, the Tsarap Chu Conservation Reserve. It joins Darlaghat, Naina Devi, Potter Hill, and Shilli as Himachal Pradesh’s fifth conservation reserve.
The reserve has the Union Territory of Ladakh to the north, the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary extending up to Malang Nala and Lungar Lungpa to the east, Kabjima Nala to the south and Chandratal Wildlife Sanctuary to the west and is located at the confluence of the Unam River and Charap Nala.
It is one of select areas in Himachal Pradesh with a high density of snow leopards and is an important wildlife corridor connecting the Kibber and Chandratal sanctuaries, which is extremely important for biodiversity (Down To Earth)
NBA approves new set of rules for sharing benefits generated through the use of biological resources
The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources. The Biological Diversity (Access to Biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025 was approved by the Central government and notified on April 29, 2025 and new rules have been made about benefit sharing in the context of use of biological resources, including digital sequence information or knowledge associated with it.
The Regulation has set slabs based on the annual turnover of the person or the industry accessing the resource where users with an annual turnover of up to Rs 5 crore will be exempted while those with a turnover between Rs 5 crore and Rs 50 crore will have to share 0.2 percent of the annual gross ex-factory sale price of the product (excluding government taxes).
The remaining two slabs indicate that 0.4 per cent and 0.6 percent of the turnover between Rs 50-250 crore and above Rs 250 crore respectively would need to be shared. All users who have an annual turnover of over 1 crore need to share a statement with information on the resources used per year (Down To Earth)
Rampant antibiotic use is poisoning rivers around the world: Study
Rivers world over are carrying dangerous amounts of antibiotics released into their waters leading to drug resistance and harm to aquatic life.
Researchers have found that around 8,500 tons of antibiotics—nearly one-third of what people consume annually, end up in river systems each year even after passing through wastewater systems. The amounts of residues from individual antibiotics make up a very small amount in most rivers, which makes them very difficult to detect. However, the chronic and cumulative environmental exposure to these substances can pose a risk to human health and aquatic ecosystems, warn the researchers.
The study finds that amoxicillin, the world's most-used antibiotic, is found to cross safety levels in rivers in Southeast Asia, that has high use and limited wastewater treatment. (Phys.org).
Bay leaf cultivation is helping women farmers in West Bengal to prosper
Farmers from Raiganj, Hemtabad, Kaliagunj, and Islampur Blocks in the North Dinajpur district and at Kushmundi in the South Dinajpur district in West Bengal have started cultivating bay leaves as the demand for the spice continues to grow.
This has now transformed into a thriving Rs 400-crore industry, and women are playing a crucial role in this success story. The spice is selling at Rs 5,000 per quintal and men are largely involved in cultivating and harvesting the leaves, while women play an important role in sorting and drying the leaves ensuring that only the finest-quality bay leaves reach the market.
Since 2020, the production of bay leaves has been steadily increasing. From cultivating 240 hectares of land in 2020, the cultivation land has increased to 318 hectares last year. Farmers who don’t have enough labour or resources often lease out their gardens through open tenders for a period of three to three-and-a-half years. The best bidder gets the garden and once a deal is made, traders step in, bringing in skilled labourers to climb trees and harvest leaves with sickles. Women complete the essential post-harvest work and earn in the process. Today, North Dinajpur alone has around 100–150 such traders (The Better India).
This is a roundup of news updates from the 1st of May to 15th May 2025. Read the policy roundups here