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    A powerful late-November cyclone that swept across South and Southeast Asia has left northern Sumatra facing one of its worst flood crises in recent memory. Torrents of water buried homes, destroyed roads and pushed thousands of residents from their villages. Rivers that once flowed steadily turned into violent walls of water, carrying debris, mud and uprooted trees. Cyclone Senyar brought intense rainfall, but researchers say this was not simply a natural weather event. The scale of destruction was made far worse by human actions that have weakened the land’s natural resilience. Decades of forest loss, mining and agricultural expansion have damaged the sensitive soil–forest–water system that once protected communities. Scientists describe healthy soil as one of n...

A rapid spread of pink waterlilies in Kerala’s Kuttanad paddy fields has created a new tourism wave and fresh sources of income for farming communities. But scientists warn that this sudden boom may be hiding long term ecological risks that could harm biodiversity and reduce paddy sustainability. Kuttanad covers 55,000 hectares across Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts, and is India’s lowest farming area, lying one to two metres below sea level. It forms part of the Vembanad Kole Ramsar wetland and is globally recognised by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization for its unique below sea level farming system. Since the 2018 floods, a hybrid waterlily species, Nymphaea omarana, has rapidly colonised fallow paddy fields, especially in Malarikkal, turning them in...

    Sri Lanka on Wednesday declared 22 out of its 25 administrative districts as disaster zones following massive destruction caused by Cyclone Ditwah. The announcement came as India expanded humanitarian support to the island nation under Operation Sagar Bandhu. The country has been battling severe flooding, landslides and widespread damage to essential infrastructure, leaving several regions cut off and placing enormous pressure on local disaster response systems. As of Wednesday evening, at least 479 people have been confirmed dead and 350 are missing due to extreme weather conditions that began on November 16. A special cabinet meeting, chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, approved supplementary expenditure estimates to accelerate recovery and relief wor...

Ukraine is confronting a deep population crisis that could reshape the country for generations. In the western town of Hoshcha, a maternity ward that once welcomed hundreds of babies each year is now almost empty. Doctors report only 139 births so far this year, compared to more than 400 a decade ago. Local medical staff say many young men who would have become fathers have died in the war, creating a painful gap in the population. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine had a population of around 42 million. Today, it has fallen below 36 million, and experts fear the decline will accelerate. Millions of Ukrainians have fled to European countries, while hundreds of thousands have been killed or wounded in battle. Official data shows that for every birth there are around thr...

    India has rushed further humanitarian support to Sri Lanka as the island nation struggles to recover from Cyclone Ditwah, which has triggered widespread flooding, landslides, and severe damage to critical infrastructure. The official death toll crossed 485 on Thursday evening, with more than 340 people still missing and entire districts cut off from essential services. A C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force arrived on Thursday carrying movable Bailey Bridge systems. These modular structures are designed to rapidly replace damaged bridges and restore road access in areas where relief teams have been unable to reach. According to the High Commission of India in Colombo, the bridges can be assembled within hours and provide immediate connectivity ...

From narrating the stories behind Sikkim’s famous tourist sites to replacing plastic with handcrafted bamboo products, Indra Kari Subba has built a remarkable path in the Himalayan state’s push for a greener future. He has become one of the few voices proving that tourism and sustainability can grow together, while creating income for those with limited opportunities. Sikkim has more than twenty native bamboo species and a long tradition of bamboo craftsmanship. Subba recognised this early and worked to turn untapped potential into livelihoods for women, young school dropouts and others searching for steady work. Born in Thingling Khechuperi village in Gyalshing district, around one hundred and sixteen kilometres from Gangtok, he first became a tourist guide during college because of fi...

    Scores of residents gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Wednesday to demand clean air as the national capital continued to experience extended periods of “very poor” air quality. Students from Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia joined the demonstration, along with members of the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India. Protesters held placards carrying messages such as “Delhi residents deserve an Air Quality Index below 50,” “Clean air is a fundamental right,” and “All have the right to breathe.” Several local singers performed to encourage the assembled crowd. Neha, aged twenty-six, one of the protesters, alleged that despite the Bharatiya Janata Party being in power at the Centre and in the Municipal Corporatio...

    Amid rising concern over severe air pollution in the national capital, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament P Wilson on Wednesday described Delhi as a “gas chamber” and urged the Union government to reconsider holding the winter session of Parliament during the peak smog period. Speaking during a debate on a resolution to extend the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024, to Manipur, Wilson said that pollution has moved beyond a statutory concern and has become a national emergency. He suggested that the government should explore serious measures to reduce congestion in Delhi and distribute administrative functions across multiple locations. Wilson stated that the winter months in Delhi have become a health haza...

    Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday released an official letter to counter allegations that the state government failed to seek central assistance for recent flood damage. The move came after Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Member of Parliament Omraje Nimbalkar claimed that Maharashtra had not submitted the mandatory crop damage report to secure financial support from the Union government. Nimbalkar had earlier spoken to a regional news channel, stating that a reply he received in the Lok Sabha suggested the state had not sent a flood loss assessment. “If the state maintains it has already submitted the proposal, then why does the official response say otherwise? Farmers deserve transparency,” he said. Responding to this, Bawa...

    Global trade is continuing to expand despite tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty and shifting supply chains. Goods trade grew by an estimated four per cent in the first months of 2025, defying widespread expectations of a slowdown. Shipping routes are being reorganised, manufacturers have adapted to new trade corridors, and companies appear increasingly able to operate in a fractured geopolitical environment. However, the Trade and Development Report 2025 titled *On the Brink* paints a very different picture beneath the surface. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the apparent resilience of trade activity hides a serious vulnerability in the financial system supporting global commerce. The report argues that world trade is bein...