Draft Tar-balls Management Rules, 2026

3 April 2026National

The Environment Ministry released draft rules under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for lifecycle management of tar balls (oil-spill by-products), requiring State Pollution Control Board authorisation and district response teams.

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WWF-India Launches Nationwide Green Diwali Campaign Aligned with Mission LiFE

WWF-India launched a nationwide 'Green Diwali' campaign in October 2026, urging an eco-friendly festival through avoiding firecrackers, cutting waste and reducing air and noise pollution. Aligned with the principles of Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), the campaign runs until 8 November 2026 - Diwali 2026 - and targets schools, colleges, Resident Welfare Associations and local communities, according to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The push comes as Delhi's air quality slipped into the 'poor' category in the third week of October, triggering curbs under the Graded Response Action Plan administered by the Commission for Air Quality Management for the National Capital Region.

GK ByteMission LiFE was announced by PM Narendra Modi at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 and formally launched at Kevadia (Ekta Nagar), Gujarat, in October 2022 | WWF was founded in 1961, is headquartered at Gland, Switzerland, and uses the giant panda as its logo | The Commission for Air Quality Management for the NCR got statutory status in 2021 and implements the Graded Response Action Plan

📅 21 Oct 2026InternationalRead complete →

Tiger Confirmed in Maharashtra's Beed District for the First Time in About a Century

A camera trap in the Brahmgaon forest range of Ashti tehsil, Beed district, Maharashtra, recorded a tiger on 20 August 2026 - the first confirmed presence in the Ashti-Patoda belt since the 1910s and 1920s. The four-year-old male, weighing over 200 kg, left Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Yavatmal in 2023 and moved through Chandrapur, Dharashiv, Latur and Ahilyanagar before reaching Beed, where it now uses the Balaghat range in Patoda as territory; it later moved towards Barshi in Solapur. Earlier traces included Dharashiv (December 2024) and Beed pugmarks (October 2025). No human attacks have been reported.

GK ByteMaharashtra's tiger reserves include Tadoba-Andhari, Melghat, Pench, Bor, Nawegaon-Nagzira and Sahyadri | Project Tiger was launched on 1 April 1973 and the National Tiger Conservation Authority was constituted in 2005 under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 | The tiger is India's national animal and is listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972

📅 20 Oct 2026InternationalRead complete →

Four-Day Peechi Division Survey Adds 36 Species to Kerala Sanctuaries' Wildlife Checklist

A four-day survey of the Peechi wildlife division in Kerala from 8 to 11 October 2026, conducted by the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department with the Travancore Nature History Society, recorded 395 species of birds, butterflies and odonates across the Chimmony, Peechi-Vazhani and Chulannur Peafowl sanctuaries, working from 10 base camps. Of these, 36 were new to the checklist - 22 butterflies, 8 birds and 6 odonates. The tally included 174 butterflies and 56 odonates. New records featured the Sahyadri plain puffin and Sahyadri colour sergeant butterflies and the Malabar lark and purple heron among birds; tigers, leopards, elephants and gaur were also sighted.

GK ByteOdonata is the insect order comprising dragonflies and damselflies, whose nymphs develop in freshwater | The Chulannur Peafowl Sanctuary is among the very few protected areas in India dedicated to the Indian peafowl, the national bird | The Western Ghats is one of the world's eight 'hottest hotspots' of biological diversity and one of India's four biodiversity hotspots, along with the Himalaya, Indo-Burma and Sundaland

📅 19 Oct 2026InternationalRead complete →

Himachal Pradesh Lifts Cheer Pheasant Release Survival from 11.11% to 100% at Khadiyun Centre

The survival rate of captive-bred Cheer pheasants released in Himachal Pradesh has risen from 11.11% in 2019-20 to 100% in 2024-25, credited to parent-rearing followed by gradual soft-release and post-release monitoring with radio transmitters and camera traps. The Khadiyun Cheer Pheasant Breeding Centre at Chail in Solan district, run by the Himachal Pradesh Zoo Conservation and Breeding Society, has released 77 birds in all. During Wildlife Week in October 2026 it soft-released 12 birds - two males, two females and eight chicks - near Koti in Shimla district. No birds were released in 2025-26, a designated population-consolidation year.

GK ByteWildlife Week is observed in India from 2 to 8 October every year | Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 confers the Act's highest degree of protection on listed species | The Western Tragopan, locally Jujurana, is the state bird of Himachal Pradesh, and the Great Himalayan National Park in Kullu district is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

📅 19 Oct 2026InternationalRead complete →

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