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At COP30, India calls for global cooperation to protect big cats

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India has called for renewed global cooperation to protect big cats and their habitats at the ongoing climate summit in Belem, Brazil. Addressing a high-level ministerial meeting on the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) at COP30, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav directly linked tiger conservation to climate mitigation and underscored that wildlife conservation is climate action in its most natural form. He called for renewed global cooperation to protect tigers, lions, leopards and jaguars and their habitats as part of integrated climate and biodiversity action. He noted that these species are apex predators, regulators of ecological balance and guardians of ecosystem health. Describing 'big cat landscapes' as 'nature-based climate solutions,' the minister called for a central place for nature-based climate action in future national development goals (NDCs).  Yadav briefed the audience on India's role as home to five of the world's seven big cat species and highlighted the country's key conservation successes. He also announced that India would host the Global Tiger Summit in New Delhi in 2026. The minister said 17 countries have formally joined the IBCA and more than 30 countries have expressed their desire to join the alliance. Calling for global cooperation, Yadav said as the world is going through a period of ecological realignment it is important that countries cooperate and not compete.

By 2:1 majority, SC recalls Vanashakti verdict

The Supreme Court on Tuesday recalled its May 16 judgment that had prohibited the Centre from granting retrospective environmental clearances to projects found violating environmental norms. By a 2:1 majority, a Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice K Vinod Chandran revived the legal mechanism that allowed ex-post facto environmental clearances for projects that had commenced or expanded without prior approvals under the 2006 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification.  The three judges delivered three separate verdicts on nearly 40 petitions seeking review/modification of the May 16 Vanashakti judgment by a Bench of Justice A S Oka (since retired) and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan that had barred the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the authorities concerned from granting retrospective ECs to projects violating environmental norms.

Parasocial is Cambridge dictionary's Word of the Year 2025

'Parasocial', defined as involving or relating to a connection that someone feels with a famous person they do not know, has been named the Word of the Year for 2025, the Cambridge Dictionary announced on Tuesday. Six thousand new words were also added to the dictionary in 2025, including 'delulu', 'slop', 'skibidi' and 'tradwife'.  According to Cambridge officials, the year was marked by interest in one-sided parasocial relationships that people form with celebrities, influencers and AI chatbots.  "Parasocial captures the 2025 zeitgeist. It's a great example of how language changes. What was once a specialist academic term has become mainstream. Millions of people are engaged in parasocial relationships; many more are simply intrigued by their rise.  The data reflects that, with the Cambridge Dictionary website seeing spikes in lookups for parasocial," Colin McIntosh of the Cambridge Dictionary said.  Other words that had a significant impact in 2025 include 'slop', 'pseduonymization', 'vibey', 'breathwork', 'doomspending' and 'memeify'.

While 'slop' refers to content on the internet that is of very low quality, especially when it is created by artificial intelligence, 'pseudonymization' is a process in which information that relates to a particular person, for example, a name or email address, is changed to a number or name that has no meaning so that it is impossible to see who the information relates to.

'Skibidi' is a humorous slang term with varied meanings, including "cool," "bad," or even used with no meaning at all for a joke.

'Delulu' is a play on the word delusional, which means believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to.

The Cambridge dictionary defines 'tradwife' as a a married woman who stays at home, taking care of the cooking, cleaning and children and shares this lifestyle on social media.  'Memeify' is to turn an event, image or person, into a meme (an idea, joke, image, or video that spreads very quickly on the internet).

'Glazing' is the excessive use of praise or flattery, especially by AI chatbots, in a way that seems insincere and artificial. It is sometimes seen as a way of compensating for weak input from an AI.

'Vibey' describes a place that has a good vibe.

'Breathwork' is a technique that involves the conscious control of your breathing and is intended to produce physical and mental benefits.

'Doom spending' is the activity of spending money that you cannot afford in order to make yourself feel better. People sometimes engage in it when they feel anxious and uncertain about the future.