A genuinely regional approach could eventually include - besides Nepal, China and India - Bhutan and, where relevant, downstream institutions in Bangladesh. Organisations with established Himalayan expertise, particularly the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu, could offer scientific and institutional support.
The Himalayas are not collapsing because humanity exists, but humanity is creating a warmer world in which the Himalayas are becoming less predictable. The real question is no longer whether climate change will alter the mountains. It already is.
My eldest aunt was swept away. So was her son, my dai Madhu, and his wife. My other aunt — gone too, they told me. Her grandson Sijan and his wife, caught in the same water. His own son and daughter-in-law, unreachable, unaccounted for. My maternal uncle had gone out that morning to cut grass for the cattle. He never came back.
No technology can stop an avalanche. But the tragedy of events like Wednesday's is that the fatal interval between the trigger high in the mountains and the flood wave reaching villages downstream is often 20 minutes to a few hours. That window is exactly where artificial intelligence, coupled with sensors and satellites, earns its keep.
The lack of progress in the investigations involving the killings of journalists in Bangladesh highlights an “appalling and pervasive culture of impunity” in the country, the United Nations’ human rights monitors said, urging authorities to “conduct thorough, independent and effective investigations”
'There are no recent signs that the Taliban has taken steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorist fighters in the country', the UN report said
About eight to nine people, who were among 76 listed as missing by the United States, have reappeared, a senior Bangladesh official said, amid reports that authorities were coercing families to give false testimonies about victims
A UN rights body has called for the release of four Afghan women activists and their relatives detained or arrested by the Taliban in the last few weeks
Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud-Dawa has a charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation which was banned by Pakistan in 2019 amid intense global pressure
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condoled the death of Indian singing legend Lata Mangeshkar, calling her the “voice of an entire subcontinent.”
The Taliban haven’t taken any steps to limit the activities of foreign fighters; they, in fact, enjoy greater freedom under them
India has underlined the need to distinguish between political ideologies, that are part of a pluralistic democratic polity, and radical ideologies that subscribe to terrorism, emphasisng that any attempt to paint both of them with the same brush will be "counterproductive"
India called for deescalating the tensions around Ukraine through a diplomatic solution that addresses “legitimate security interests of all” as the United States and Russia clashed in the Security Council on Monday
The Taliban has killed over 100 individuals, who had earlier worked with the former Afghan government and the US-led military alliance in the country since August last year, a new UN report has said
India has said that its approach to Afghanistan has always been guided by its "special relationship" with the Afghan people and New Delhi remains steadfast in its commitment towards much-needed humanitarian assistance to the people of the war-torn country, and will provide 50,000 MT of wheat and lifesaving medicines and one million doses of COVID vaccines as it had pledged
If civilians are to be protected in urban conflicts, the international community should take an unequivocal stand against terrorism and oppose attempts to justify it, India has told the UN Security Council
The United Nations (UN) has started distributing high-quality wheat seeds to Afghan farmers, who have been hit hard by drought in the last three years, to help them grow their crops for the upcoming spring season
In a sign of Bangladesh's growing importance, Dhaka will host the regional conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in March, said Allan Dow, the Asia-Pacific's head of communications of the FAO Dhaka joined the FAO in 1973
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated his offer of “good offices” to resolve the Kashmir issue which India has rejected in the past as New Delhi considers the dispute with Pakistan a bilateral matter
