Gates Foundation pledges $1.2B to eradicate polio globally
The money will be used to help implement the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s strategy through 2026 and will be focused particularly on Pakistan and Afghanistan.
South Asia
Germany to take in 1,000 at-risk Afghans every month
Germany’s new program will support Afghans suffering persecution at the hands of the Taliban, including women’s and human rights advocates and people who have persecuted because of their religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
India’s top court legalizes abortion regardless of marital status
A law dating from 1971 had limited the procedure to married women, divorcees, widows, minors, “disabled and mentally ill women” and survivors of sexual assault or rape.
World’s largest shipping line reroutes its ships to avoid hitting blue whales
Researchers believe that moving the shipping lanes just 15 nautical miles would stop hundreds of often fatal collisions between oil tankers and vast container ships and the whales.
Droupadi Murmu becomes India’s first tribal president
Murmu is also the country’s second female president after Pratibha Patil, who held the position for five years from 2007.
India single-use plastics ban goes into effect
The country generates around four million tons of plastic waste per year, about a third of which is not recycled and ends up in waterways and landfills that regularly catch fire and exacerbate air pollution.
Japan withdraws funding for major coal projects in Indonesia and Bangladesh, effectively canceling them
Two planned coal-fired power plants, one in Indonesia and the other in Bangladesh, have had their funding withdrawn by the Japanese government, as part of Tokyo’s decision to no longer bankroll coal projects in either country.
Global population of one-horned rhino soars due to conservation efforts in India
The International Rhino Foundation announced the milestone, reporting that the population now numbers 4,014 individuals—up from just 100 individuals 50 years ago.
Bangladesh successfully staves off declines in vulture populations through conservation efforts
The Bangladeshi government has implemented several timely initiatives to ban the use of harmful veterinary drugs and declare several “vulture safe zones” across the country.
India’s Madras High Court rules that nature has legal status on par with humans
The highest court in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has ruled that “Mother Nature” has the same legal status as a human being.