Maharashtra’s Drought, A Bumper Jamun Crop: Can Trees Really Warn Us?

Maharashtra is facing a difficult end to the monsoon With rainfall below normal the state government has declared drought in of its tehsils Between June and September the state received mm of rainfall against a normal mm As officials prepare crop-loss assessments and relief measures an unusual observation has also caught public attention Across parts of India jamun trees appeared to have produced an unusually large crop this year For some people this brings back an old saying when jamun trees shed fruit heavily drought may follow But is there really a connection Why Were Jamun Trees Loaded With Fruit To understand the mystery we first need to look at the jamun s flowering cycle The jamun or Syzygium cumini generally flowers around March and April Those flowers must be successfully pollinated before they can develop into fruit Weather can influence this process Heavy rain during flowering may interfere with

28 Sep 2026

The Whys and Hows

How is Teqball Played? The Sport That Made Its Asian Games Debut

Imagine football skills table-tennis precision and a uniquely curved table coming together in one sport That s teqball a fast-growing game that is barely years old but has already reached the Asian Games Invented in Hungary in teqball made its Asian Games debut at Aichi-Nagoya giving the relatively young sport a major international platform India which discovered the sport only in was also part of this historic debut So How Does Teqball Work Teqball is played on a curved table with a football either in singles or doubles The ball is a standard size- football although it is inflated to a lower pressure Players can use almost any part of their body except their arms and hands to control the ball The challenge Players get a maximum of three touches before they must send the ball back across the net and the ball must touch the table to remain in

21 Sep 2026

The Whys and Hows

Why Are Corals So Colourful? The Amazing Science Behind Their Bright Hues

A coral reef can look like an underwater rainbow Brilliant fish dart between corals glowing in shades of red pink purple and green But beneath those striking colours lies a fascinating partnership between tiny animals and microscopic algae Corals are living animals made up of tiny creatures called coral polyps These polyps build the hard skeleton that forms the familiar structure of a coral The skeleton itself is ghostly white So where does the colour come from The answer begins with tiny algae living inside the coral s tissues Tiny Algae Big ContributionKnown as zooxanthellae these single-celled algae have a remarkable relationship with coral Using sunlight they carry out photosynthesis and produce sugars The algae use some of these sugars themselves while much of the remaining food up to percent can be passed on to the coral In return the coral provides the algae with a protected place to live

15 Sep 2026

The Whys and Hows

How Can Painting One Wind Turbine Blade Black Save Birds?

Wind energy is one of the cleaner ways to generate electricity But as wind farms expand they can create another environmental challenge bird collisions with rotating turbine blades Raptors including white-tailed eagles can be particularly vulnerable At Norway s Sm la wind farm for example researchers have recorded several white-tailed eagle deaths each year So could a small change to a turbine make a big difference Researchers decided to test an unusually simple idea paint one of the three rotor blades black Why Paint Just One Blade The answer lies in how birds see moving objects When all three turbine blades rotate their rapid movement can create what researchers describe as motion smear In simple terms the blades can become difficult to distinguish as separate objects Painting one blade black may make the rotating structure more visible against the background The idea was inspired by earlier laboratory experiments in the

11 Sep 2026

The Whys and Hows

‘Horn OK Please’: The Quirky Truck Phrase With a Story as Colourful as India’s Roads

Spot a brightly painted Indian truck and there s a good chance you ll see the familiar words Horn OK Please For generations the phrase has been a quirky fixture on the backs of trucks buses and taxis usually surrounded by colourful motifs and elaborate South Asian truck art But what does it actually mean Traditionally the message was aimed at vehicles approaching from behind If a driver wanted to overtake they were encouraged to sound the horn and alert the vehicle ahead It was a simple communication system in an era when roads were often narrower and overtaking required extra caution But Where Did OK Come From This is where the story gets intriguing One popular explanation traces the phrase to World War II-era fuel shortages According to the theory when diesel was scarce kerosene was sometimes used in trucks leading to a warning supposedly reading Horn Please On

13 Aug 2026

The Whys and Hows

Gajraj Suraksha: How Technology Is Making India's Railway Tracks Safer for Elephants

India is home to nearly of the world's Asiatic elephants making it one of the most important countries for elephant conservation Yet despite having more than elephant reserves these majestic giants continue to face growing threats from human activity Among the biggest dangers are railway tracks After electrocution train collisions are the second leading cause of unnatural elephant deaths in India Now Indian Railways is turning to artificial intelligence to change that story Introducing Gajraj SurakshaIn a major leap for wildlife conservation Indian Railways had launched Gajraj Suraksha an AI-powered surveillance system designed to prevent elephants from being struck by trains Following successful field trials in Assam the Railway Ministry has announced that the technology will now be deployed across nearly kilometres of railway lines passing through elephant habitats in Assam West Bengal Odisha Kerala Jharkhand Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu The ambitious project estimated to cost crore is expected to

3 Aug 2026

The Whys and Hows

Why Is the Himalayan 'Diamond' Flower So Rare? The Incredible Alpine Bloom That Defies Nature

Imagine trekking through icy Himalayan slopes where the air is thin temperatures plunge below freezing and strong winds whip across barren mountain ridges Just when you think nothing could survive there a towering flower rises from the rocks sometimes taller than a fully grown adult Meet the Kenzo also known locally as Padamchal a spectacular alpine flower often called the Himalayan Diamond It is also called Rheum nobile or Sikkim Rhubarb Found at elevations exceeding metres this rare bloom has fascinated botanists trekkers and traditional healers for generations Why Is It Called the Himalayan 'Diamond' The nickname isn't simply because the flower is rare Like a diamond the Kenzo is forged by extreme conditions It thrives where most plants would perish enduring intense ultraviolet radiation freezing nights powerful mountain winds and oxygen levels nearly lower than at sea level Growing on rocky alpine slopes and glacial moraines it has adapted

30 Jul 2026

The Whys and Hows

Guarded Day and Night: Why Does This Tree Near Sanchi Have 24x7 Security?

Imagine a single tree protected by armed guards hours a day enclosed within a towering iron fence monitored by agricultural experts and maintained at an annual cost that runs into lakhs It may sound unbelievable but this is the reality of the sacred Bodhi tree standing on a hillock near Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh Located at Salamatpur around eight kilometres from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sanchi Stupa this Peepal tree is unlike any other in India Often referred to as the country's first VVIP tree every aspect of its care is meticulously planned Officials ensure that not even a single leaf is left to wither while dedicated water tankers and expert horticulturists regularly monitor its health But what makes this tree worthy of such extraordinary protection The answer lies in a remarkable story that stretches across more than centuries The Story Begins with Emperor AshokaAccording to various reports

16 Jul 2026

The Whys and Hows

Why Is There a Pineapple on Top of the Wimbledon Trophy? The Answer Dates Back Centuries

Every year the world's greatest tennis stars dream of lifting the prestigious Wimbledon Gentlemen's Singles Trophy Fans celebrate the thrilling rallies dramatic victories and emotional championship moments but there's one curious detail that often steals attention Sitting proudly atop the gleaming silver-gilt trophy is a golden pineapple Why would one of the world's oldest and most prestigious sporting trophies be crowned with a tropical fruit The answer lies in centuries of history royal traditions and one of Britain's greatest symbols of status When Pineapples Were Worth a FortuneToday pineapples are found in supermarkets around the world But in the th and th centuries they were among the rarest and most expensive fruits in Europe Imported from the Caribbean and other tropical regions pineapples were incredibly difficult to transport and nearly impossible to grow in Britain's cold climate Owning one was considered a remarkable display of wealth In Victorian England the

15 Jul 2026

The Whys and Hows