Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar @winterapples

It’s impossible to keep up with misinformation that’s spreading on social media about the whale stranding in Bandra on Saturday morning. From claims of it being a humpback whale to it being AI generated and the worst, that the whale was killed on purpose for oil and ambergris. Some facts: The Blue whale calf which was first noticed by staff working at the VBSL staff at around 7:30AM, who informed the Mumbai Police and the Mumbai Fire Brigade in an effort to start rescue efforts. By the time the @MumbaiStranding team reached the site, the calf, which was injured and bleeding had passed away. Do we need better infrastructure and reporting systems for such incidents? Yes. But to say the whale was allowed to die or was deliberately killed is absolute rubbish and disrespectful to every person who was there that day. Marine mammal science and conservation in India is in its nascency. We adapt to, and work with what we have, and we learn from each experience so the next time something similar happens we can be better prepared. Thank you, @ranjeetnature for reporting what actually happened and getting the truth out.

Discussions of global warming tend to stress the effects on poor and middle-income countries at low attitudes. But higher latitudes are warming faster economist.com/science-and-te…

Hello, Mumbai! ☔🌧️ We are back with experimental Rainfall forecasts! Rains expected to increase significantly from 23 June; it could mark the onset of the Southwest Monsoon over Mumbai. mumbaiflood.in to be back soon! Stay tuned and stay weather-aware! #MumbaiRains

“In the past, family portraits centred grandparents, surrounded by their grandchildren. Today, portraits centre children, surrounded by their elders. We still have a window for cultural change: a revival of large families, siblings, and cousins. Not for all families. Not even for most. But for a meaningful minority. A gentle glide, rather than abrupt population collapse, requires full-throated embrace of a new credo: Hum do. Humare teen.” My views: The passage is vulnerable because it substitutes sentiment for argument. The image of grandparents surrounded by grandchildren versus children surrounded by elders is evocative, but it is not evidence. It appeals to nostalgia for a social arrangement that many people remember selectively. One could just as easily say: “In the past, family portraits often concealed overcrowded homes, financial insecurity, limited educational opportunities, high maternal mortality, and lives circumscribed by necessity rather than choice.” The existence of more siblings and cousins is not inherently a social good. What matters is whether those children have access to opportunity, health, education, and a decent quality of life. There is also a curious elitism embedded in the argument. For affluent families, large kinship networks can be celebrated as cultural richness. For ordinary families, each additional child represents a major financial and emotional commitment. The question is not whether cousins are delightful. Of course they are. The question is who bears the cost of creating this demographic ideal. More fundamentally, the article never really answers the central question: What problem is a third child supposed to solve in India today? Is India suffering from a shortage of people? We are the world’s most populous country. Is India suffering from a shortage of young people? We have one of the largest youth populations on earth. Is India suffering from labour scarcity? Millions of educated young Indians struggle to find productive employment. Is India suffering from a shortage of demand? Our cities, roads, trains, schools, hospitals, and public services are already under immense pressure. The demographic challenge India faces is not primarily one of numbers. It is one of capability. We have not yet succeeded in educating, skilling, employing, housing, and providing healthcare to the vast population we already possess. That is why the article can come across as oddly detached from contemporary India. It speaks as though population exists in a vacuum, when every additional citizen requires schools, hospitals, transport, housing, water, energy, and jobs. The phrase “a meaningful minority” is especially revealing. A meaningful minority of whom? Urban professionals? Rural families? Working women? The article never grapples with the fact that the costs and consequences of a third child fall very unevenly across society. And perhaps the biggest weakness is that it confuses a cultural preference with a public policy objective. One may personally enjoy having many siblings and cousins. One may cherish memories of large extended families. But public policy cannot be built on nostalgia. It must be built on evidence. India’s future will depend less on how many children are born than on what kind of country those children are born into. A crowded family photograph is not a development strategy. A functioning school system is. A reliable healthcare system is. Affordable housing is. Clean air is. Walkable cities are. Until those questions are addressed, “Hum do, humare teen” risks sounding less like demographic wisdom and more like a slogan in search of a problem. timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit…

Delhi’s heat hotspots are home to half of its population who live and work outdoors with limited means of adaptation. Read the full piece by @SinghMitashi and @sareen_rajneesh here: downtoearth.org.in/climate-change…

Just in: El Nino forms and expected to strengthen, say NOAA forecasters See our news release at: noaa.gov/news-release/e…

National Weather Service @NWS

a month ago

An El Niño Advisory has been issued and you may have recently heard the term "Super El Niño". One of our meteorologists explains the terms NOAA uses to describe ENSO intensity and some basics of what El Niño is and is not. The forecast calls for El Niño to strengthen into the

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Breaking: India gives climate talks a miss, dials in from home. Indian gov't decides against going to climate negotiations in Germany. Fossil fuel phase out is on agenda. In April, it had cancelled plans to host @UNFCCC global climate talks in 2028. reporters-collective.in/trc/india-give…

Exposure to #airpollution during #pregnancy may do far more than affect a mother's health. A new study by researchers at #AIIMSDelhi has found that fine particulate matter in polluted air can #damage the #placenta, restrict fetal growth, increase the risk of low birth weight and pregnancy complications, and may even affect a child's development after birth. Corresponding author Prof Subhradip Karmakar from the Department of Biochemistry at AIIMS Delhi said gestational exposure to particulate matter such as PM2.5 and PM10 can breach the placental barrier and trigger oxidative stress and inflammation, affecting genes that regulate fetal growth. "Our findings show that air pollution can impair placental blood vessel formation and nutrient transport, increasing the risk of low birth weight and preeclampsia. We also found evidence of toxic metals such as lead, cadmium and antimony accumulating in placental tissue, suggesting that pollutants can reach the fetus and potentially influence growth and neurodevelopment," he said. @timesofindia @aiims_newdelhi @MoHFW_INDIA @JPNadda

The government should send a clear message that data sanitisation must not be undertaken under the guise of re-verification- The Hindu Editorial on Census story we reported yesterday. thehindu.com/opinion/editor…

Excl: Ground reality vs official records: Census fieldwork is throwing up data that differ from govt records on open defecation free villages, use of cow dung cakes/kerosene/crop residue for cooking in urban areas despite LPG connection, no electricity. Enumerators asked to revisit and review the “data discrepancies”.I ✍️ thehindu.com/news/national/…

“IN THE LONG RUN, cooling India’s cities will mean changing the way they are built.” Re upping my 2023 piece on short and long term solutions for urban heat. India still hasn’t gone beyond short term reactions to the necessary long-term urban planning. science.org/content/articl…

Superb from @ananthkrishnan - fabulous to have him back in China and reporting. He provides the Indian lens we desperately need, away from intermediation of all reportage and analysis on China through the western prism.

60% chance of deficient monsoon as IMD downgrades rain forecast | India News - The Times of India #Monsoon2026 timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/60-chanc…

Air pollution cut India’s solar power output by 9.6% in 2023, study says ✍️@1amnerd thehindu.com/sci-tech/scien…

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/un…

Unusually warm nights have increased much faster than hot days in Mumbai, shows data from @CEEWIndia CRAVIS platform. While global warming is primary driver, it’s amplified by local urban heat island effect, which traps heat in cities long after the sun goes down. Link follows:

"We'll have to live like beggars if the land is gone." Land is being forcibly snatched away from Dalit farmers in Andhra for a giant Google data center. The @ercinvestigates report has been blocked on Insta, thanks to dear Govt of India. Still up on YT: youtube.com/watch?v=p2DQpW…

Particulate matter pollution rose over 20% across Indo-Gangetic Plain in a decade, Himalayas no longer insulated: Study - The Times of India timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environme…

@IndiaDST kindly release the first installment of the sanctioned projects of the last call (recommended 2 years back). All our collaborators from different BRICS countries have received their fundings from their Government agencies. Only Indian PIs did not receive the funds.

Sanjeev Varshney @skvdst

2 months ago

Call for research proposals under BRICS platform in select Focus areas Apply by 3rd July 2026 in collaboration with researchers from at least 2 BRICS member countries.

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"How does every Muslim become a Bangladeshi?" asks Aleem Qureshi, one of the many whose house was bulldozed by the railways in Bandra, Mumbai. That's a question that resonates with what's happening all over #India2026 @mumbaimirror