According to the recent report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) titled 'Sand and Sustainability: finding new solutions for environmental governance of global sand resources', India and China top a list of nations where illegal sand mining has become a key environmental issue. The report focusses on the altering pattern of sand consumption, demand and role among the growing population. The report brings to light that sand and gravel are the 2nd largest natural resources that are extracted but are the least regulated. The first largest being water. UNEP declares it as one of the major sustainability challenges of the country in the 21st century. The report stresses on the fact that large scale sand mining breaks the natural ecosystem, thus causing ecological damage.

After being ranked number one in the NIRF Rankings 2019 under the management category, IIM Bangalore has added another feather to its cap. Its Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management (PGPEM) has been ranked 12th in APAC and 61st globally in the QS Executive MBA Rankings 2019. IIM-B has become the only B-school in India to be a part of top 100 B-Schools globally and ranks 12th in APAC.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Thursday started receiving solar power from Madhya Pradesh's Rewa Solar Power Project, kick-starting an initiative to be the world's first 100% green energy rail network. DMRC received 27 megawatts (MW) power from the MP-based project and will gradually increase it to 99 MW. "The power received from Rewa will be utilised for the operational as well as auxiliary requirement of Delhi Metro. Till now, the solar power generated by the roof top plants installed in DMRC premises were utilised for the auxiliary requirements such as lighting and air conditioning of stations and depots.

5th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media Summit on Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness was held in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal with a theme of "Media Solutions for Sustainable Future: Saving Lives, Building Resilient Communities". The aim of this two day summit was to address the key issue of utilizing media's full potential of accelerating climate action and disaster preparedness and connect different stakeholders to media professionals for collaboration and joint practical projects.

In the journal 'Cell' researchers authored that the discovery of the first small-molecule inhibitors of the Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) protein could enable more precise control over CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editing. i. The research was headed by Amit Choudhary of the Broad Institute, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women's Hospital. These first small-molecule CRISPR-Cas9 inhibitors are much smaller than the previously discovered anti-CRISPR proteins.