The Taliban through a “wave of measures” are attempting to “erase" women and girls from public life, UN rights experts have said, highlighting what they call “collective punishment” of women by enforcing "gender-biased and harmful" policies
India's Fast Breeder Reactor: A Civilisational Bet on Nuclear Self-Reliance and Sustainability
The reactor that has now gone critical at Kalpakkam, on the Bay of Bengal coastline in Tamil Nadu, is not the end of that journey. It is, more precisely, the end of the beginning. The real test is whether India can now scale fast breeder capacity rapidly enough to make a material difference to its energy-mix building on the Kalpakkam template, the industrial supply chains it has validated, and the engineering confidence it has earned.
Dying Rivers, Disappearing Species: Zoological Cost of Pollution in Pakistan and India
The Indus and the Ganges are dying slowly, and with them disappear species that evolved over thousands of years within these waters. If current patterns continue, future generations may inherit rivers that exist geographically but are biologically empty. South Asia still has an opportunity to reverse this trajectory, but only if environmental protection becomes a shared regional priority rather than an afterthought.
Climate Migration: The Next Global Humanitarian Crisis?
Climate migration isn’t just about the loss of land. It is about the loss of memory, culture and home. When people are driven out of the places where they were born, few things that matter are merely economic. Over the next decades, the world will confront a fundamental dilemma. Can humankind handle the climate crisis in a surer way? Or will the future consist of millions searching for a new place to call home?
India Should Scale up its Fast Breeder Reactor Program to Meet Rising Energy Needs
The constraint on India’s expansion is fissile inventory, particularly between 2035-2045. At present, the breeder program depends on plutonium from a limited set of eight unsafeguarded reactors. Meanwhile, India has accumulated spent fuel from uranium imported for its safeguarded reactors. This significant plutonium is lying idle because we lack safeguarded reprocessing facilities.
More on Climate, Sustainability and Energy
Deadly Delta wave killed 240,000 people in India last year; ‘similar episodes’ could take place in near term: UN report
A United Nations report said on Thursday that the deadly wave of Covid-19 Delta variant led to the loss of 240,000 lives in India in three months between April and June in 2021 and disrupted economic recovery, and warned that “similar episodes” could take place in the near term
‘Freezing temperature and frozen assets’: UN chief warns about millions in Afghanistan on ‘verge of death’
"Freezing temperature and frozen assets" are a “lethal combination" for the people of Afghanistan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, warning millions in the country are on the “verge of death” and requesting for the release of frozen assets to avert a complete collapse
'India's recovery is on a solid path'; is world's top economic performer, says UN report; apparel exports driving Bangladesh's growth
“India's recovery is on a solid path,” the UN said on Thursday, reporting that the country recorded the highest estimated growth rate among the major economies last year and is set to be on the same trajectory during this year and the next
Taliban proposes joint teams to UN for foreign aid distribution
The Taliban has suggested the formation of joint teams, including their own officials, to the United Nations' agencies for the distribution of billions of dollars of aid that foreign governments are planning to send in Afghanistan to steeve off the escalating humanitarian crisis
UN official says app targeting Muslim women in India form of hate speech, must be condemned and prosecuted
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Dr Fernand de Varennes, Wednesday condemned the surfacing of a hate app in India on which doctored photographs of hundreds of Muslim women were uploaded for “auction” and said such incidents need to be prosecuted as soon as they occur
Needing $5 billion for starving Afghans, UN launches its largest ever humanitarian fundraising
The United Nations (UN) has been seeking $5 billion in aid for Afghans —the largest so far for any aid program in UN history—as the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, following the Taliban’s takeover, now threatens the entire population
India assumes chair of UN's counter-terrorism committee
TS Tirumurti, India's permanent representative to the United Nations, was named the new Chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) on Tuesday
India votes in favour of UNSC resolution to exempt humanitarian aid to Afghanistan from sanctions; says aid should be sans hindrance or partisan interests
India on Wednesday voted in favour of a UN Security Council resolution to grant exemption from sanctions for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, even as it stressed that the assistance should be without any hindrance
UN may pay Taliban almost $6mln for staff protection in Afghanistan
The United Nations is proposing paying the Taliban - under UN sanctions for terrorist activities - almost $6 million to subsidize the wages of its fighters who are guarding United Nations facilities
Afghanistan facing a profound humanitarian crisis, threatens basic human rights, UN warns
The people of Afghanistan are facing a profound humanitarian crisis that threatens the most basic of human rights, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN) warned on Tuesday
India opposes UNSC draft resolution that attempts to 'securitize' climate change
India has opposed a UN Security Council draft resolution on climate change, saying that attempts to link climate with security seek to obfuscate the lack of progress on critical issues under the UNFCCC process
World must not forget Rohingyas: UN special rapporteur
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rohingya crisis Tom Andrews began a week-long visit to Bangladesh on Monday, saying "the world must not forget the roughly one million Rohingya from Myanmar"
UNAMA urges Taliban to ensure Afghan peoples' rights
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called upon the Taliban, the current rulers of Afghanisan, to show its support for Afghanistan’s peoples' rights
International Solar Alliance granted observer status at UN General Assembly
In a major recognition of its work and relevance, the UN General Assembly has granted observer status to the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an initiative launched by India and France
