Pakisan has secured membership in three key United Nations (UN) bodies in the recent elections conducted by a 54 member principal organ of the organisation
The Himalayas Need a Common Language of Warning: Emergency Cooperation Must be Institutionalised Into Durable Regional Architecture
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 Sending a Warning: Need for Timely Trans-Border Sharing of Environmental Information
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.
When an Entire Village and Bazaar in Nepal Disappeared in an Instant
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.
When the Mountain Moved: Nepal's Bhote Koshi Disaster and the Case for AI-Driven Early Warning
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.
More on Climate, Sustainability and Energy
Bangladesh elected to UN commission on narcotics drugs
Bangladesh has won an election for the membership of a key drug body of the United Nations. The country’s three-year term for the Commission on Narcotics Drugs (CND) will begin in January next year
UN chief highlights key role of Asian leaders in ending Myanmar crisis
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Monday for leaders in Asia to bolster efforts towards finding a peaceful solution to the bloody crisis in Myanmar, sparked by the military coup in February
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The Earth’s temperature continues to rise unabated, with 2020 being one of the three warmest years on record, as extreme weather events combine with the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting millions
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Underlining that the world order built after the Second World War was under ‘serious stress’, India on Monday called for coordinated and concerted action across borders to tackle diverse challenges like terrorism, radicalisation, drug trafficking and organised crime
Guterres urges cities to embrace ‘generational opportunity’ for climate action, sustainable development
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a “revolution” in urban planning and urban transport to beat back the impacts of climate change and build a green and sustainable future for all
‘Inequality virus’ threatens ‘catastrophe for all’
The COVID-19 pandemic is leading to “an even more unequal world”, the Deputy UN chief said on Thursday, speaking at the closing session of the Financing for Development (FfD) Forum, with many lower-income countries now seeing development gains reversed
UN satisfied with relocation of Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char island
The team of the United Nations who had visited Bhasan Char island - the new site for the relocation of 100,000 Rohingya refugees - has expressed its satisfaction with the facilities developed by the Bangladesh government
UN Security Council hearing on sexual violence in conflict
“Prevention is the best and only cure” to stem the multiple, devastating and enduring consequences faced by survivors of sexual violence in conflict, especially as a brutal tactic of war, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Wednesday
Museums must not be overlooked in pandemic recovery, UNESCO chief warns
Faced with alarming and extended closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s museums are of “fundamental importance” to reviving cultural life and preserving our shared heritage “in all its diversity”, said the UN cultural agency chief on Tuesday
As Biden sets new 9/11 withdrawal deadline, India invited to Afghan peace meet in Istanbul
India has been invited to an Afghanistan peace conference in Turkey to back up the slowed down negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and the Kabul government ahead of a delayed US withdrawal from that country, according to diplomatic sources
COVID complicates efforts to shut down drug traffickers: UNODC
The growing complexities of the world drug problem are hampering efforts to achieve sustainable development by the end of the decade: a situation which the COVID-19 pandemic has only compounded, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said on Monday
Guterres calls for ‘paradigm shift’ to recover from COVID setbacks
A “paradigm shift” aligning the private sector with the global goals is needed to address the challenges of the future, including those triggered by COVID-19, the UN chief said on Monday, addressing the Financing for Development (FfD) Forum
Pakistan highlights socio-economic fallout of pandemic at ECOSOC session
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged creditors to provide debt suspension, relief and liquidity to help developing nations cope with the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
Project to help 30 developing countries tackle marine litter scourge
An UN-backed initiative aims to turn the tide on marine litter, in line with the global development goal on conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources
