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.
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 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?
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 than 19,300 boys and girls affected by war last year were victims of grave violations such as recruitment or rape, and the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for experts to reach them, the UN said in its annual report on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), published on Monday
Financial assistance to the world’s 83 weakest economies fell by 15 per cent in 2020, to $35 billion as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, UN trade and development experts UNCTAD said on Monday
UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Monday urged UN Member States to promote a more inclusive post-pandemic recovery to help the world’s most vulnerable recover from the impact of COVID
Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations human rights chief, has expressed concern over the “sharp increase in violence” and harm to civilians in Afghanistan
Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations human rights chief, has expressed concern over the Sri Lankan government’s new measure which she says are “perceived” as targeting the country’s minority Muslim and Tamil population
India has described the concerns raised by a special branch of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as "misplaced, exaggerated and disingenuous"
The sinking of a container ship that caught fire while transporting chemicals off capital Colombo has caused “significant damage to the planet” by releasing hazardous substances into the ecosystem, the UN representative in Sri Lanka said
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has informed the Group of Seven (G7), a political forum comprising the world’s seven largest advanced economies, about Bangladesh’s ability to produce Covid-19 vaccines at their recent summit
India on Friday abstained from voting on the United Nations General Assembly's (UNGA's) resolution for an arms embargo against Myanmar, saying it did not correspond to its views
The number of people fleeing wars, violence, persecution, and human rights violations, rose last year to nearly 82.4 million people, a further four percent increase on top of the already record-high of 79.5 million, recorded at the end of 2019
The impact of conflicts old and new, climate shocks and COVID-19, in addition to a lack of funding, have left millions more on the verge of famine than six months ago, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday
The UN Special Envoy for Myanmar said on Friday she has called for timely action from the Security Council in response to the ongoing crisis in the Southeast Asian country stemming from the military coup in February
UN human rights experts recently said they were extremely alarmed by reports of alleged ‘organ harvesting’ targeting minorities, including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims and Christians, in detention in China
Sexual violence in conflict “reverberates down generations” and threatens both human and international security, the UN chief said on Thursday in his message for the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict
The UN General Assembly on Friday appointed Antonio Guterres to a second term as the secretary-general to lead the world body through the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight against global warming, which he has made his priority
