South Asia spans countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and their neighbors. This archive gathers progress stories from the region — covering public health, education, climate adaptation, economic inclusion, and more.
Women account for almost half of India’s 950 million registered voters but make for only 15% of parliament and about 10% of state legislatures, pushing the world’s largest democracy to the bottom of global rankings on gender parity in legislatures.
Bhutan’s snow leopard population has climbed to 134 cats, up from 96 in the previous national survey — a 39.5% jump for a species the IUCN still lists as vulnerable. Researchers confirmed the count using camera traps scattered across high-altitude terrain, identifying individuals by the unique rosette patterns on their coats. Much of the credit goes to Bhutan’s deep commitment to conservation: its constitution requires that at least 60% of the country stay forested forever, and protected areas now cover more than half its land. With fewer than 8,000 snow leopards thought to remain across 12 countries, Bhutan’s quiet success offers a hopeful blueprint for what’s possible when legal protection, intact habitat, and political will come together.
The world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, is seeing promising signs of recovery for the iconic Bengal tiger and an encouraging increase in the populations of its prey animals including spotted deer, wild boars, and monkeys.
To lessen pollution and reliance on fossil fuels, Bangladesh intends to phase out internal combustion engines in favor of EVs. Producing the lithium batteries used in EVs is a major first step toward this goal.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully landed its Vikram lander in the rough terrain of the Moon’s south pole, making India the first country to safely touch down in this unexplored region of the lunar surface.
The government’s push for electric public transportation vehicles comes as it works to cut emissions, reduce fuel imports, and clean up air pollution.
India’s emissions intensity dropped 33% between 2005 and 2019, meaning the country now produces far less greenhouse gas for every dollar of economic output. Even better, the pace is picking up: annual reductions doubled to 3% per year in the most recent stretch measured, the fastest on record. That’s happening while the economy keeps growing, driven by a rapid build-out of solar and wind, expanding forest cover, and fresh investment in green hydrogen. For a country of 1.4 billion people, breaking the old link between prosperity and pollution is exactly the kind of shift the world needs to see — proof that climate progress and development can move together, not in opposition.
“We’re not only returning objects; we’re also embarking on a period of closer cooperation with Indonesia and Sri Lanka in areas like collection research, presentation, and exchanges between museums,” said Dutch Secretary of State for Culture and Media Gunay Uslu.
Justice Shrestha’s interim order will allow same-sex couples and other LGBTQ+ couples to legally register their marriages immediately, while the government prepares legislation to amend the civil code and formally legalize same-sex marriage.
In 2022, India installed 13 GWac of new solar power capacity, 27% more than it installed in 2021, which was its previous best year ever.
