The Sirsiya River, once central to daily life, agriculture, and religious rituals in southern Nepal, is now heavily polluted with industrial waste and sewage, rendering it a public health hazard.
On 1 February, India’s Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the government’s budget for 2026, which included a new US$2.2 billion funding push for carbon capture technologies.
Unseasonal rains, pest outbreaks and land degradation are driving crop losses in India, while toxins, poor grain quality and delayed harvests threaten health and incomes.