India told the Taliban on Monday that it was up to it to reassure its neighbours by ensuring that Afghanistan - where it has wrested power militarily after two decades - has zero tolerance for terrorism
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
Bhutan signs with UNDP to promote ecotourism and biodiversity
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Bhutan have signed a deal for a project to promote ecotourism and biodiversity in the country, The Global Environment Facility will fund the project worth $4.854 million
UNICEF lauds Bangladesh for vaccinating Rohingya refugees
UNICEF, a UN agency for children, has lauded the efforts of the Bangladesh government to vaccinate Rohingya refugees living in the country. Over a million refugees live in cramped camps of Cox Bazaar in Bangladesh
After India-led UNSC maritime session, Pakistan threatens continued militarisation for its national security
Pakistan has warned that it will continue militarisation in land, air and sea to achieve “full spectrum deterrence” against what it said was “geo-strategic competition and the pursuit of military dominance by some states” like India with “hegemonistic designs”
China strikes discordant note at UNSC maritime session, attacks Quad nations
China struck a discordant note at the Security Council high-level meeting on maritime security, attacking the Indo-Pacific initiative in which India is active, along with the United States and Japan, while dispensing with normal diplomatic courtesies to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who chaired the session
Modi presides over UNSC meet virtually; five principles for maritime safety proposal gets Council backing
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday proposed five basic principles for a holistic approach to maritime security that holds the “key to the planet's future”, and the Security Council in a show of support adopted India's Presidential Statement reflecting them
At least 27 children killed, 136 wounded in Afghanistan in last three days: UNICEF calls it ‘grave violations against children’
At least 27 children were killed and 136 were wounded in ongoing fighting in Afghanistan’s three provinces--Kandahar, Khost, and Paktia--in the last 72 hours, a United Nations agency for children, UNICEF, said on Monday in a statement and added it was "shocked by the rapid escalation of grave violations against children" in the war-torn country
Pakistan unhappy over UNSC's snub
Pakistan has expressed “deep regret” over the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) president’s decision not to invite it on the Friday session on Afghanistan despite a request
US bombs and appeals notwithstanding, Afghan reconciliation not on Taliban agenda
The US may continue to bomb the Taliban and keep asking them to reconcile but such a scenario is not going to unfold, especially when nothing has been done in 20 years to block the financial support and arms supplies to the Taliban, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of continuing to aid 'Taliban war machine', provide safe haven
In a damning indictment of Islamabad in the world’s top global forum, Afghanistan once again accused Pakistan of assisting the “Taliban war machine” that has launched an all-out attack on the Afghanistan government as the United States is pulling out of the country, and warned about the activities of organisations like the Lashkar e Taiba (LeT) operating in conjunction with the Taliban
India warns on terrorists getting chemical weapons in heated UNSC session on Syria
Presiding over an acrimonious Security Council session on Syria that pitted the United States and its allies against Russia and China, India's Permanent Representative T S Tirumurti warned against terrorists getting hold of chemical weapons
With India taking over as UNSC president, an edgy Pakistan says it will keep a careful watch
Notwithstanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledge that India will work for the entire humanity, and not only for those “who are on our side of the border," during its presidency of the United Nations Security Council, a jittery Pakistan has said it will watch carefully to ensure India does not hurt its core interests
India takes over UNSC presidency for a month with Modi's pledge to work for humanity
India took over the presidency of the Security Council on Sunday with a pledge from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to work for entire humanity, "and not only of those who are on our side of the border," while reminding the world of the continued challenges of terrorism, pandemic and climate change
India assumes UN Security Council presidency for August
India Sunday assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of August
UN can once again restore hope, rebuild planet with enhanced multilateralism: General Assembly president-elect Shahid
The pandemic may have put the world in crisis, but Shahid, the UNGA president-elect, felt it has also provided an opportunity for the governments and the UN to build a resilient and sustainable world, writes Sirshendu Panth for South Asia Monitor
