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India Gazette
5 days ago
- Business
- India Gazette
Over 75 per cent of households likely to face extreme weather in next decade: World Bank Report
By Reena Bhardwaj New Delhi [India], June 4 (ANI): More than 60 per cent of households and firms have experienced extreme weather in the last five years, and over 75 per cent are expected to face it in the next decade, a new report by the World Bank has revealed. In a new report titled 'From Risk to Resilience: Helping People and Firms Adapt in South Asia,' the World Bank has warned that South Asia is facing a sharp rise in extreme weather. Nearly 90 per cent of the population is expected to be exposed to intense heat by 2030, and more than one in five people is at risk of severe flooding. It said that much of the adaptation effort needs to come from the private sector, as public budgets are under pressure. A new World Bank report has outlined policy reforms that would help households and firms adapt to increasingly frequent and damaging weather events. In a press release, the World Bank stated, 'Released today, From Risk to Resilience: Helping People and Firms Adapt in South Asia, finds that awareness of climate risk is high. More than 60 per cent of households and firms have experienced extreme weather in the last five years, and more than 75 per cent expect it for the next decade. Many households and businesses are already taking steps to adapt to climate risks.' 'Around 80 per cent of households and 63 per cent of firms have taken some measures to adapt. However, most of these measures are basic, such as raising house foundations or installing fans. More advanced options, like using climate-resilient seeds or relocating from high-risk areas, remain less common,' it added. According to the report, market barriers and income constraints are holding back stronger adaptation. Households with more education or access to formal finance are more likely to adopt advanced strategies. In addition, better-managed companies with fewer regulatory barriers tend to be more adaptive and removing these barriers would allow more effective adaptation by households and firms. World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia, Franziska Ohnsorge, said, 'Private sector adaptation could reduce one third of the region's projected climate damage, but this requires governments to strengthen enabling environments.' 'Adaptation is most effective when markets function well and when essential services like transport, water, healthcare, and digital connectivity are widely accessible,' Ohnsorge added. The report called for targeted adaptation efforts and broader development measures that also build climate resilience. It noted that governments have a critical role to play, even with limited fiscal space. According to the report, the government can expand access to localised climate information, promote weather-indexed insurance, and support the use of resilient technologies such as energy-efficient cooling systems. World Bank Vice President for South Asia, Martin Raiser, said, 'The urgency is growing. People and firms are already adapting, but they are doing so with limited tools and few resources.' 'Governments must act quickly to remove the barriers that prevent more effective adaptation. This includes removing distortions in land and labour markets, expanding access to finance and investing in public infrastructure to support people and businesses as they respond to climate risks,' he added. The report noted that cities like Ahmedabad are leading with heat action plans to protect urban populations from rising temperatures. These plans demonstrate how targeted investments and effective institutions can successfully bolster local adaptation. The report called for policy action guided by three core principles - implementing a comprehensive package of adaptation measures, prioritising solutions that support both development and climate resilience and aligning adaptation strategies with long-term development goals to ensure lasting progress. In the release, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia, Franziska Ohnsorge, said, 'Private sector adaptation could reduce one third of the region's projected climate damage, but this requires governments to strengthen enabling environments.' 'Adaptation is most effective when markets function well and when essential services like transport, water, healthcare, and digital connectivity are widely accessible,' she added. (ANI)
India Gazette
20-05-2025
- General
- India Gazette
India to provide 600 artificial limbs in Guatemala Humanitarian Initiative
By Reena Bhardwaj Guatemala City [Guatemala], May 20 (ANI): India is set to launch a major humanitarian initiative in Guatemala, providing approximately 600 artificial limbs to those in need, officials announced today. The Indian Embassy in Guatemala City confirmed that all administrative procedures have been completed for an artificial limb fitment camp to be held within the premises of Guatemala's Ministry of Defence. The 50-day camp, scheduled to begin in October 2025, will be conducted by a specialized team from Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS), the organization behind the globally acclaimed Jaipur Foot prosthetic. 'This humanitarian initiative will not only provide life-enhancing support to its beneficiaries but will also serve as a testament to the deepening bonds of friendship and cooperation between India and Guatemala,' said India's Ambassador to Guatemala Manoj Kumar Mohapatra. The project comes under India's 'India for Humanity' programme and will be the 33rd such camp organized globally. The initiative coincides with celebrations marking the 53rd anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. Prem Bhandari, Chairman of Jaipur Foot USA, recently visited Guatemala at Ambassador Mohapatra's invitation to commemorate this diplomatic milestone and formalize arrangements for the camp. 'We believe in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. All are our brothers and sisters in the world and we will provide free artificial limbs to them. Even our Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam policy,' Bhandari told ANI. During the visit, Bhandari handed over the official confirmation letter to Guatemalan officials including Claudine Ogaldes, Executive Secretary of CONRED (Guatemala's National Coordination for Disaster Reduction), and William Oswaldo, Inspector General of the Army by prem Bhandari on behalf of the Indian Embassy in Guatemala Guatemala's Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martinez attended the announcement event alongside diplomatic corps members, government officials, and business leaders. BMVSS, which has conducted 114 international camps since its founding in 1975, has provided nearly 2.3 million prosthetic limbs and assistive devices worldwide. The organization was founded by DR Mehta, who has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honours. A container carrying machinery and equipment required for the camp is expected to arrive at a Guatemalan seaport in September, with the team comprising seven technicians and two team leaders arriving shortly thereafter. The Indian Embassy in Guatemala also announced plans to host what it describes as the largest International Day of Yoga celebration outside India on 13 June, with 12,000 people expected to participate. (ANI) India to provide 600 artificial limbs in Guatemala Humanitarian Initiative Guatemala City [Guatemala], May 20 (ANI): India is set to launch a major humanitarian initiative in Guatemala, providing approximately 600 artificial limbs to those in need, officials announced today. The Indian Embassy in Guatemala City confirmed that all administrative procedures have been completed for an artificial limb fitment camp to be held within the premises of Guatemala's Ministry of Defence. The 50-day camp, scheduled to begin in October 2025, will be conducted by a specialized team from Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS), the organization behind the globally acclaimed Jaipur Foot prosthetic. 'This humanitarian initiative will not only provide life-enhancing support to its beneficiaries but will also serve as a testament to the deepening bonds of friendship and cooperation between India and Guatemala,' said India's Ambassador to Guatemala Manoj Kumar Mohapatra. The project comes under India's 'India for Humanity' programme and will be the 33rd such camp organized globally. The initiative coincides with celebrations marking the 53rd anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. Prem Bhandari, Chairman of Jaipur Foot USA, recently visited Guatemala at Ambassador Mohapatra's invitation to commemorate this diplomatic milestone and formalize arrangements for the camp. 'We believe in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. All are our brothers and sisters in the world and we will provide free artificial limbs to them. Even our Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam policy,' Bhandari told ANI. During the visit, Bhandari handed over the official confirmation letter to Guatemalan officials including Claudine Ogaldes, Executive Secretary of CONRED (Guatemala's National Coordination for Disaster Reduction), and William Oswaldo, Inspector General of the Army by prem Bhandari on behalf of the Indian Embassy in Guatemala Guatemala's Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martinez attended the announcement event alongside diplomatic corps members, government officials, and business leaders. BMVSS, which has conducted 114 international camps since its founding in 1975, has provided nearly 2.3 million prosthetic limbs and assistive devices worldwide. The organization was founded by DR Mehta, who has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honours. A container carrying machinery and equipment required for the camp is expected to arrive at a Guatemalan seaport in September, with the team comprising seven technicians and two team leaders arriving shortly thereafter. The Indian Embassy in Guatemala also announced plans to host what it describes as the largest International Day of Yoga celebration outside India on 13 June, with 12,000 people expected to participate. (ANI)
India Gazette
17-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
India-Pakistan conflict not in US interest: Walter Ladwig
By Reena Bhardwaj London [UK], May 16 (ANI): Noting that many countries, including Western governments and Russia, talked about the need to combat terrorism in the wake of Pahalgam terror attack and statements of sympathy with India were genuine, a leading London-based security expert has said the successive US governments have been seeking to cultivate India as an important partner in the Indo-Pacific in part as a counterweight to China and conflict in the region is not in American interest. In an interview with ANI, Dr Walter Ladwig, Senior Lecturer of International Relations at King's College London, said India's growth is soaring, growing at nearly seven per cent a year and the country needs to grow faster to meet all of the development targets. 'When it comes to India, we have successive US administrations going all the way back to George W. Bush that have been seeking to cultivate India as an important partner in the Indo-Pacific, in part as a counterweight to China... It's not in the American interest for there to be a conflict between India and Pakistan insofar as that distracts india's attention away from bigger picture issues in Asia,' he said. 'India's growth is soaring, growing at an impressive just under seven per cent a year, but needs to grow faster to meet all of the development targets. All of those things will be put at risk by a protracted conflict or stalemate with Pakistan, so that's clearly not in America's interest,' he added. He said India and Pakistan had reached an understanding for stopping military action and firing and it was 'a lot about the desires of the two parties involved' and wasn't 'brought about by pressure or mediation' in the way US President Donald Trump has described. India carried out precision strikes through Operation Sindoor early on May 7 on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoJK in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. India also effectively responded to subsequent Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases. India carried out surgical strikes in 2016 on terror launch pads across LoC and an aerial attack on a terror camp in Pakistan in 2019 in response to ghastly terror attacks. Pahalgam terror attack last month, in which 26 people were killed, drew global condemnation. 'I think many Western governments, Russia, and even China, in the aftermath of the attack in Kashmir, all talked about the need to combat terrorism. The statements of sympathy with India, I think were genuine. You didn't have Indian diplomats running around trying to get governments to say these things. I think the US position in particular was slightly different from the first Trump administration when in 2019 they very clearly gave a green light to New Delhi to do sort of what it needed to do after the Pulwama attack,' Dr Ladwig said. 'I wouldn't necessarily see it as a tilt towards Pakistan or sympathy towards Pakistan, I think rather most countries kind of defaulting to their standard set of responses when there is a South Asia crisis, he said. Dr Ladwig said that India's growth story getting impacted is not in the US interest. 'When it comes to India, we have successive US administrations going all the way back to George W. Bush that have been seeking to cultivate India as an important partner in the Indo-Pacific, in part as a counterweight to China... It's not in the American interest for there to be a conflict between India and Pakistan insofar as that distracts india's attention away from bigger picture issues in Asia,' he said. 'India's growth is soaring, growing at an impressive just under seven per cent a year, but needs to grow faster to meet all of the development targets. All of those things will be put at risk by a protracted conflict or stalemate with Pakistan, so that's clearly not in America's interest,' he added. Dr Ladwig said that the evidence of Indian Air Force's ability to precisely strike a range of targets more or less precisely was quite impressive. 'I think what stood out for me the most was first the shift in Indian government policy in terms of responding to terrorist attacks within India that it believes are linked to groups that operate in Pakistan. And whereas in the past we saw governments feel the need to sort of seek to assemble a dossier or provide evidence of linkages... Now, there's a move to a policy stance of saying that a failure to prevent groups from having safe haven in your territory is enough to bring about a military response when it comes to terrorist activities,' he said. 'And then once the Indian Air Force operated according to standard military procedures and doctrines, the evidence that their ability to really precisely strike a range of targets more or less precisely, I think it was quite impressive,' he added. Answering another query, Dr Ladwig said, India was successful in striking a much wider range of targets and executing more successful missions than Pakistan in the aggression by Islamabad following Operation Sindoor. '...I think India was successful in striking a much wider range of targets and executing more successful missions than the Pakistan side was which sort of explains why there's so much more information, images and so forth in the open domain that would appear to corroborate the majority of the Indians claims versus Pakistanis,' he said. He was asked about India presenting high-resolution evidence to support its assertions in the conflict, while Pakistan's evidence appears more limited and how he assesses this asymmetry in evidence presentation. India and Pakistan have agreed to stop military action and firing following a call made by Pakistan's DGMO to his Indian counterpart on May 10. (ANI)
India Gazette
28-04-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Indian American community mourns lives lost in Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir
By Reena Bhardwaj Washington, DC [US], April 28 (ANI): In the shadow of Washington, DC's iconic monuments, a community gathers in grief. Heads bowed, flowers clutched in trembling hands, they walk in a silent procession, a solemn testament to lives violently cut short half a world away in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. 'We came with heavy hearts today,' whispers Priya, a resident from the DMV, her voice breaking as she holds aloft a photograph of one of the victims and reminisces about the dark days when Kashmiri Hindus like her were asked to leave the Kashmiri valley. The DMV refers to the metropolitan area encompassing the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, also known as the National Capital Region. 'I want to make sure the world finally acknowledges what has been happening to Kashmiri Hindus for decades. I have a lot of Kashmiris here with me. We are shot at point-blank range, and we still go around making stories, spreading false narratives that they just got caught in the line of fire. No, they did not. They were singled out. They were identified,' she said. 'They were asked to recite the Kalma. They were asked to pull their pants down in front of the Muslims. So please, this is a horrific time. Let humanity awaken,' she added. The terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 has sent shockwaves through the Indian American community across the United States. On Sunday afternoon, several dozen mourners assembled at the National Monument in Washington, DC before making their way to the Lincoln Memorial in a moving display of solidarity and remembrance. Saffron, Indian, and American flags fluttered side by side in the spring breeze as the procession moved forward, symbols of lives and identities that spanned continents but were united in grief. The vigil in Washington, DC is just one of many that have taken place across the DMV area and indeed throughout the United States in recent days. Prayer meetings, candlelight vigils, and community gatherings have become spaces for collective mourning and reflection. For many attendees, the attack feels deeply personal despite the geographical distance. Speaking to ANI, another demonstrator spoke out against the Pahalgam terror attack, saying, 'I am here to speak against the tragedy that occurred in the Kashmir valley. Hindus were targeted and killed... It was is high time now to speak up against this...' As the sun shines and brings warmth to the capital, names of the victims are read aloud, each followed by a moment of silence that hangs heavy in the air. Another protester, Dr Mohan Sapru, said that the main reason for the gathering is to 'awaken the conscience of humanity' and 'awaken the conscience of America,' following the Pahalgam terror attack. 'We Kashmiris, as well as all Hindu communities, are gathering together at the historic Washington, DC Monument here to mourn the massacre of Hindus in Pahalgam a few days back. And the main reason for us to come is to awaken the conscience of humanity, awaken the conscience of America,' he said. A college student says, 'This (Pahalgam terror attack) is a very tragic I decided to come here, participate with the others, and mourn for the victims...' Swapna Raina, a Kashmiri Pandit, spoke out about her experiences and the plight of her community. She said, 'I'm here because I suffered, and we were singled out for the faith that we followed. My grandfather was targeted and was shot. He was targeted (in Kashmir) because he was a Hindu as well. April 22 brought back a lot of nightmares. We Kashmiri Hindus are facing the same and reliving the horrific incidents that happened over the decades with us. We were asked to either convert to Islam, run away, or be ready to die. Around four hundred thousand plus Kashmiri Hindus fled their homes overnight.' Raina emphasised the need to raise awareness about the struggles of Kashmiri Hindus, stating, 'I am here speaking on behalf of all Kashmiri Hindus who are still facing all the false narratives that are being spread. We are still being asked to prove that it actually happened to us. Our heart bleeds, our eyes have dried up crying, honestly.' 'April 22nd should never have happened. It's a slap on the face of humanity. Islamic terrorism has to stop. People need to understand, acknowledge, and respect all faiths. Nobody should die because of the faith that they follow, and that's why I'm here, trying to raise awareness and bring the facts and the truth to light... Innocent people caught in a were asked to prove their identity, their religious beliefs, before they were shot at point-blank range,' she added. The gathering eventually disperses, but their message lingers--a plea for peace in a world where violence continues to cast long shadows across borders and oceans alike. The terror attack on April 22 in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam targeted tourists, killing 26 people, including one Nepalese national. The victims were gunned down near Baisaran Meadow, a popular tourist destination in the region. This attack marks one of the deadliest in the region since the 2019 Pulwama attack, which resulted in the killing of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans. (ANI)
