Kalpakkam fast breeder reactor

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

One blue helmet lost is ‘one too many’: UN peacekeeping chief reports spike in 2021 fatalities

UN blue helmets face an increasing number of attacks throughout the complex environments in which they work, the head of the organization’s peacekeeping operations told the Security Council on Monday

Indian peacekeeping force helps civilians, UN officials evacuate volcanic eruption in DR Congo

The Indian Army played a major role in evacuating civilians and United Nations personnel from Goma, North Kivu's capital after Mt Nyiragongo volcano erupted in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday

UN agencies appeal for funds as COVID-19 surge eclipses South Asia

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday launched a $164 million appeal for personal protective gear, together with COVID-19 testing and control equipment, to save lives amidst the deadly wave of infections that continues to sweep across South Asia

Everyone will lose unless humanity makes ‘peace with the planet’, declares Guterres

Humanity is “waging a war on nature”, threatening biodiversity loss, climate disruption and escalating pollution, the UN chief said on Friday

UN chief calls for G20 vaccine task force, in 'war' against the virus

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday urged the world’s richest economies to take a central role in ending the COVID-19 pandemic by stepping up support for vaccines for all people, everywhere

UN urges worldwide support for cultural sector to aid COVID recovery

The creative and cultural industry has played an essential role the world over throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and deserve more support moving forward, the President of the General Assembly said on Friday

Internet upgrade breathes new life into rural areas, new UN report finds

Improved Internet access and connectivity can do more than urban migration to provide better jobs and higher standards of living for the roughly 3.4 billion people living in rural areas, according to the latest World Social Report, published on Thursday

UNHCR chief calls on US to end COVID-19 asylum restrictions at the Mexico border

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has appealed to the Government of the United States to “swiftly lift” the public health-related asylum restrictions that remain in effect at the southern border, and to restore access to asylum for the people “whose lives depend on it”

Report reveals progress on environmentally protected areas, but quality must improve

Although the world has made major progress toward a decade-long target for environmental protection areas, it has fallen far short on commitments regarding their quality, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners said in a report published on Wednesday

Killing of innocent civilians in Palestine can’t be justified, says Foreign Minister Momen

Iterating that no pretext can justify the killing of innocent civilians in Palestine, Bangladesh has called upon the UN Security Council (UNSC) to take up the issue of violence and breach of security in the Al-Quds Al-Shareef and the entire occupied land of Palestine state

UN urges greater aid access for Gaza, ‘intensification of mediation efforts’ to end Israel-Palestine violence

The international community must do “all it can” to de-escalate the violence in Gaza and Israel which has left hundreds dead and injured, said the UN’s political affairs chief on Tuesday, calling on all those involved in the fighting to allow for the “intensification of mediation efforts”, which can also help stem a growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Stri

UN launches response plan to ‘safeguard the well-being and dignity’ of Rohingya in Bangladesh

Under the leadership of the Government of Bangladesh, the Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched a $943 million plan on Tuesday to “safeguard the well-being and dignity” of Rohingya refugees in the country and their host communities

UN development system responds with ‘solid score’ in face of COVID-19 test

As the world continues to tackle the multiple impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, from pushing some 131 million people into extreme poverty to reversing years of development progress, the UN chief said on Tuesday that a more coordinated approach is key to moving forward

Pakistan urges non-aligned bloc to press Israel to end Palestine attacks

Pakistan has called on the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member states to demand an immediate end to Israel’s attacks in Palestine, Pakistan Today reported

Pakistan to join three nations to take a joint position on Palestine at UNGA

Pakistan will join hands with Turkey, Palestine, Sudan to take a united stance on the issue of Palestine at the upcoming emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), scheduled for Thursday