Top News is a compilation of important environmental news topics selected by environmental experts from the Asia-Pacific region as well as by international organisations and research institutes from twenty-one countries in the region.

At the request of the Planning Commission, Arghyam and WaterAid agreed to co-ordinate and support a process of civil society consultation for inputs on rural and urban drinking water and sanitation for generating recommendations for the Approach Paper to the 12th Five Year Plan of the Government of India.

Neglected tropical diseases blight the lives of a billion people worldwide and threaten the health of millions more. These close companions of poverty weaken impoverished populations, frustrate the achievement of health in the Millennium Development Goals and impede global public health outcomes.

News of glaciers retreating in the high mountains of Asia has intensified concerns about impacts of climate change on the hydrological systems of central, south, and east Asia. The overall purpose of this review is to provide a summary of the scientific knowledge about glacier melt/retreat in the high mountains of Asia.