On August 5-6, various union government departments and agencies have published several environment, climate change, public health and related social sectors news releases those stand important for the present and future of the country. The Plurals has collated the key one’s for you.
Ministry Of Coal announced Reforms in Coal Sector
Over the last five years, the Government has carried out a series of structural and procedural reforms to make coal allocation and mining more transparent, efficient, and scientific. The key change has been the shift from allotment to allocation through open competitive auction, alongside the opening of commercial coal mining in 2020 with no restriction on the sale or end-use of coal.
Detailed report link
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2294736®=48&lang=1
Ministry of Coal announced that Six Coal Blocks Successfully Auctioned in the 15th Round and 2nd attempt of 13th Round of Commercial Auctions
The Ministry of Coal have successfully auctioned six coal blocks under the 15th round and 2nd Attempt of 13th Round of commercial coal mine auctions. The ministry launched the said rounds of commercial coal block auctions on April 17, 2026. Following this, the forward auctions were conducted from August 03 to August 04, 2026, during which these six coal blocks were successfully auctioned. Out of 6, 4 are fully explored coal blocks and 2 are partially explored coal blocks. Together, these blocks hold geological reserves of approximately 1,503.93 million tonnes, with a cumulative Peak Rated Capacity (PRC) of 11.62 MTPA.
Detailed report link
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2294522®=48&lang=1
Ministry of Earth Sciences stated that Earth Sciences Minister Dr Jitendra Singh explains El Nino and its Monsoon impact in Lok Sabha reply
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Jitendra Singh today said that the latest assessment by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) indicates that El Nino conditions, which developed during May 2026, are likely to persist from June 2026 to February 2027, with forecast probabilities ranging between 70 and 90 per cent. The assessment is based on INCOIS’ indigenous Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML)-based El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) prediction system together with the Global Ocean Data Assimilation System.
Dr. Jitendra Singh explained that while El Nino has historically been associated with weaker Indian Summer Monsoon rainfall over parts of the country, it is not the sole determinant of the monsoon. The Indian monsoon is influenced by several interacting climate drivers, including the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and regional ocean-atmosphere interactions.
Detailed report link
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2294888®=48&lang=1
Ministry of Tribal Affairs informed the Forest Rights Act
The Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Shri Durga das Uikey informed the Rajya Sabha today that As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (in short, FRA) and Rules made thereunder, State Governments and UT Administrations are responsible for implementation of various provisions of the Act while the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) compiles Monthly Progress Report (MPR) received from the States/UTs. As per the information reported by States/UTs and collated under MPR during FY 2023-24 to FY 2025-26 i.e. from 01.04.2023 to 31.03.2026, a total of 8,56,159 claims (8,21,908 Individual & 34,251 Community claims) have been filed, a total of 2,34,352 claims (2,18,899 Individual & 15,453 Community claims) have been approved/ titles distributed and a total of 14,462 claims (13,756 Individual & 706 Community claims) have been rejected. The state-wise details are available on MoTA’s website at https://tribal.nic.in/FRA.aspx.
Forest Rights Act and its rules, does not prescribe a time-limit for disposal of claim filed and no such information is centrally maintained by MoTA
Detailed report link
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2294713®=48&lang=1
Ministry of Science & Technology envisioned Light-activated nano-robots can help targeted breast cancer therapy
Researchers have developed an advanced light-driven multifunctional nanobot that can help targeted breast cancer therapy.
Breast cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide. Conventional chemotherapy often causes severe side effects, drug resistance, and damage to healthy tissues due to non-specific drug distribution, poor tumor penetration, and lack of active control after administration.
Current nanomedicines primarily rely on passive tumor accumulation, resulting in limited tissue penetration and poor spatial control, while most light-powered micro/nanorobots require ultraviolet or visible light with restricted tissue penetration and potential damage to healthy tissues. In contrast, stimulus-responsive nanorobots, controlled by external (e.g., near-infrared light or magnetic fields) or internal (e.g., pH or enzymes) cues, offer precise, targeted therapy with minimal systemic toxicity, making them a promising future platform for precision medicine.
Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), envisioned combining nanorobotics with phototherapy to develop an intelligent therapeutic platform capable of actively navigating due to externally applied light while simultaneously performing targeted cancer treatment.
Detailed report link
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2295121®=48&lang=1
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, on International Clouded Leopard Day, announced that India Strengthens Conservation through Dedicated Conservation Action Plan for the Wild Cat
On the occasion of International Clouded Leopard Day, India has reaffirmed its commitment to the conservation of one of Asia’s most elusive wild cats through the newly launched Clouded Leopard Conservation Action Plan (CAP). Prepared under the Government of India–GEF–UNDP initiative, the Action Plan CAP was released during the 91st meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wild Life (SCNBWL), held in the second week of July 2026, at Coimbatore. The action plan provides a comprehensive framework for securing habitats, restoring forest connectivity, strengthening scientific monitoring and empowering local communities for conservation of the species.
The CAP marks an important step towards strengthening long-term conservation of the Clouded Leopard across Northeast India. The approach focuses on landscape-level conservation, scientific assessment, community participation and technology-driven interventions to protect the species and its habitats.
Detailed report link
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2294168®=48&lang=1
Ministry of Panchayati Raj developed Panchayat Development Index
The Ministry has developed the Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI), earlier known as Panchayat Development Index (PDI), as a composite assessment framework to measure the incremental performance of Gram Panchayats/Equivalent to Gram Panchayats across the themes of localization of sustainable development goals. The PAI provides theme-wise and overall scores through scorecards and dashboards, enabling identification of performance gaps, relative strengths, and areas requiring focused attention at the Panchayat level. A total of 2.59 Lakh Gram Panchayats/Equivalent to GPs of 33 State/UTs have been onboarded in the exercise of PAI 2.0 for FY 2023-24. State/UT wise numbers of GPs by overall PAI grades in 2.0 are placed at Annexure I.
Detailed report link
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2294288®=48&lang=1
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare announced Minimum Support Prices (msps) for all Crops
Every year, Government fixes Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for 22 mandated agricultural crops for the country as a whole, based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP), after considering the views of the State Governments and Central Ministries / Departments concerned.
The Union Budget for 2018-19 had announced the pre-determined principle to keep MSPs at levels of at least one and half times of the cost of production. Accordingly, Government had increased MSPs for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other commercial crops with a minimum margin of 50 percent over all India weighted average cost of production from year 2018-19 onwards.
Detailed report linkhttps://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2294446®=48&lang=1