The United Nations has recently shortlisted a number of celebrities and public figures for a film based on actions that can tackle contemporary issues, ranging from COVID-19 to poverty and inequality
Months Ahead of the Monsoon: Can AI Give Us an Earlier Warning About El Niño?
AI may genuinely extend the horizon over which seasonal climate risk can be estimated. For communities across South Asia living under the influence of the monsoon, a longer view could mean the difference between a farmer adjusting her planting in time and a family receiving a flood warning too late to act.
Livelihoods, Employment and Environmental Management in South Asia’s Hilly Regions: Lessons from ADB’s New Investment in Bangladesh
The broader lesson for South Asia is equally important. Hilly regions cannot be developed simply by transferring lowland infrastructure models into mountainous terrain. Investment has to respond to local economic systems, geography and environmental risks.
Ethanol, AI and Agriculture: India's Triangular Chokehold Centred on a Depleting Resource
The UN's 2026 report warns that “long-term water use has exceeded renewable inflows and safe depletion limits,” leaving some water supplies beyond recovery. As the world’s largest groundwater extractor, India sits at the centre of this reckoning
South Asia’s Carbon Opportunity Is Bigger Than Credits
The larger economic choice for South Asia is therefore broader than whether to participate in carbon trading. The region can remain primarily a supplier of relatively inexpensive mitigation outcomes, or it can also develop the technology, professional capacity, financial products and verification systems that determine what those outcomes are worth.
More on Climate, Sustainability and Energy
Guterres calls for 'positive' move on Kashmir between India, Pakistan
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called upon India and Pakistan to move in a positive way to resolve their differences
Afghanistan wins seat at UN Commission on Women
Afghanistan won a seat at the United Nations Commission on Status of Women for a four-year term, said Afghan embassy to the UN
UNGA's 75th anniversary session as world deals with pandemic 'uncertainty'
The opening of the new session of General Assembly marking the start of a landmark year for the UN had eerie echoes of the start of the global organisation 75 years ago when the world was also reeling from a crisis
Turkish UNGA president says he'll promote UNSC reform impartially
Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir, who has taken over the UN General Assembly's presidency, has given an assurance that he will promote the Security Council reform process impartially
UN should catalyse global action to address the global pandemic
If the UN can demonstrate a successful example of the global treaty that avoided the calamity at the planetary level, why not the same UN cannot use its convening power to address the global pandemic? writes Rajendra Shende for South Asia Monitor
'Instead of exploiting COVID-19, India provided international aid'
Contrasting India's reaction to the global coronavirus crisis to that of certain neighbours, India's UN Permanent Representative T S Tirumurti has said that while some countries are taking advantage of the pandemic to enhance terrorism or adopt aggressive policies, New Delhi’s is rushing medical supplies to countries in need, strengthening their national health capacity and helping alleviate the misery it has spawned
Commonwealth hails Modi for supporting vulnerable nations through UN Fund
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has hailed India's leadership in supporting vulnerable nations in the Commonwealth, describing it as an "area of hope" for all member countries
UN Human Rights chief concerned over Sri Lanka’s 20th Amendment
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet today expressed concerns over Sri Lanka’s proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution
COVID-19 to reverse child survival gains, say UN agencies
The world recorded an all-time low under-five deaths in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in major disruptions to health services that threaten to undo decades of hard-won progress and put millions of additional lives at stake
India says Pakistan raises Ayodhya to cover its treatment of minorities: Pakistan accuses India of destroying mosques
India has accused Pakistan of spreading a “culture of violence” and suppressing the rights of minorities while Islamabad brings up the Ayodhya temple construction at the UN General Assembly
India calls for action against terror groups to protect children rights
India has called for action against terrorist groups by countries in order to meet their obligation to protect children and schools as required by the Security Council
Need for joint action to counter fake news and misinformation, says India
India has called for joint action by technology companies and nations to stop the disinformation campaigns that are endangering the lives of millions
Uttar Pradesh signs MoU with UN for take-home-ration
Take-Home ration will now be manufactured and supplied through women self-help groups (SHGs) in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state
UNICEF supports establishing Sri Lanka’s first child-friendly municipality in Batticaloa
Batticaloa Municipality and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support the establishment of Sri Lanka’s first Child-Friendly Municipality
