Human-induced climate change has led to unprecedented changes in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Similarly, the Himalayan and its surrounding mountain ranges, also known as the ‘Third Pole’ is experiencing drastic changes due to global warming. These mountain ranges are the source of some of the most important rivers in Asia. They provide fresh water for millions of people living in the countries that form a part of these mountain ranges, including India.

It has been a double whammy. As the nation is reeling under the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, India has to fight another menace: locust invasion. Massive swarms of desert locusts have devoured crops across seven states of western and central India including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The locust population might grow 400 times larger by end June 2020 and spread to new areas without action. It would be disrupting food supply, upending livelihoods and require considerable resources to address.

Professor Louise Richardson’s book “What Terrorists Want” is one of the primers on the study of terrorism. The book is organised in two parts— 1) The Terrorists, consists of five chapters and 2) The Counter terrorists which consists of remaining three chapters of the book. In this book, the author has highlighted a systematic approach to ‘Understand’ the terrorism and its factors.

The goal of every state is to survive. Many countries adopt various kinds of strategies to achieve their ends. The strategies are a mix of military, economic and diplomatic ways and means to realise their policy goals. However, in the case of Pakistan, it is the terror groups which carry the burden of achieving Pakistan’s foreign and security policy interests; the most important of such terror groups is Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in this case.