According to the United Nations World Water Development Report 2023, around 2 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water. It draws attention to an imminent water emergency that the world may be headed to. One man in India is creating a silent impact in this space. He has made his life’s mission to clean and rejuvenate water bodies –– one pond at a time!

World water day: Indian man's mission to rejuvenate water bodies

The Indian state of Bihar has been making headlines recently for its bizarre thefts. After a bridge and a train engine, thieves stole an entire pond. Locals of the Darbhanga district were baffled as the pond vanished and someone built a hut over the leftover area.

The Indian state of Bihar has been making headlines recently for its bizarre thefts. After a bridge and a train engine, thieves stole an entire pond. Locals of the Darbhanga district were baffled as the pond vanished and someone built a hut over the leftover area. The sudden appearance of a hut prompted locals to inform the police. However, the land mafia, accused of taking over the pond, escaped before the police arrived, NDTV reported. The residents said the pond was a public property used and maintained for fishing and other activities. However, the surge in land prices in Darbhanga made the land mafia set their eyes on the water body. The locals complained to the authorities after which the zonal officials tried to stop the pond-filing work, but the land mafia continued their work in the dark until the pond was gone. Sub-Divisional Police Officer Amit Kumar said, "People say the pond was filled with soil within 10-15 days. The work was done only at night. Officials had visited the spot earlier and even seized some items." ALSO READ | India: Two passengers arrested for smuggling gold in rectum and coffee machine Bihar has witnessed some of the most weird thefts in past years. In November 2022, some thieves stole an entire diesel engine part by part from a railway yard in Begusarai. As per the cops, thieves dug a tunnel into the yard and started stealing the engine's parts. Gradually, they stole the whole engine, which had come for repairs to the railway yard. In another incident, thieves stole a 60-foot bridge in Rohtas district. The police arrested eight people, including a government officer, and recovered 247 kilograms of iron channels from the accused. Thieves made the bridge disappear in three days, using JCBs and gas cutters to dismantle it. The 500-ton bridge, constructed in 1972 over the Arrah canal in Amiyawar village, was in the Nasriganj police station area. In April 2023, thieves stole an entire mobile tower in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, installed on a residential building. When officials came to investigate the scene, the resident told them that a few people, claiming to be employees of GTAL, had taken the tower, saying that it was not functional. They removed all the equipment, loaded it on a pick-up van and took it. The estimated value of the stolen equipment was $5,400 (₹4.5 lakhs). However, it was not the first time thieves pulled off a tower heist in Bihar. In Patna, the capital city, a mobile tower was stolen in the Sabji Bagh area. (With inputs from agencies)

Strange! Pond stolen overnight in India's Bihar, hut constructed over it

Sterling fell on Monday after MPs voted to delay passing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, though losses were limited by hopes the country can eventually avoid crashing out of the EU without a divorce agreement in place.

The House of Commons sat on a Saturday for the first time in almost four decades to consider Johnson's deal in a vote that was seen as a potential turning point in the long-running Brexit saga.

But instead of delivering a verdict on the deal itself, lawmakers voted to force Johnson to ask the European Union for another Brexit delay, hoping to avoid crashing out of the bloc on October 31 with no agreement in place.

Johnson reluctantly agreed, although the EU is yet to respond to the request and Britain's conservative government insists it is still committed to exiting by the month's end.

The prime minister is hoping to bring the deal back to the House for a vote on Monday, but that might fall foul of parliamentary procedure, with Speaker John Bercow to rule on it later.

The pound -- which last week hit five-month highs on optimism for a deal — dropped against the dollar and the euro, but Stephen Innes, Asia-Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader, said: "The fact Sterling has proven surprisingly resilient... buttresses well for risk sentiment."

Saturday's vote meant more waiting for traders, Shinichiro Kadota, exchange strategist at Barclays Securities in Japan said.

"There had been hopes late last week that this issue would finally see a settlement. But now it's been shelved," he said.

"The pound rallied to close to $1.30 from $1.22... We can say it is holding firm, which shows hopes (for avoiding no-deal Brexit) have not been dashed."

'Substantial progress'

Rodrigo Catril, a senior forex strategist at National Australia Bank said the market was not in "wait-and-see mode".

"We saw the pound lose a little bit of ground, but from the perspective of what it's gained over the past week, that's really minimal," he told AFP.

Catril said it appeared a deal would be done before October 31 but a great deal of uncertainty remained, including the possibility of a "confirmatory vote", or second Brexit referendum.

Asian equity markets mostly rose but there was little major movement in reaction to China's top trade negotiator Liu He saying at the weekend that Beijing and Washington had made "substantial progress" towards wrapping up a partial trade deal announced earlier this month.

The deal offered China a temporary reprieve from tariffs planned for mid-October, while Beijing said it would hike purchases of US agricultural goods.

But it did not roll back any of the duties already imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars in exports to the US, nor address another round of levies due in December.

Still, the upbeat comments provided a boost to the yuan, which rose 0.2 percent against the dollar.

And Brett Ewing, chief market strategist at First Franklin Financial Services, told Bloomberg TV: "It would be significant if they can get a phase one deal signed before Thanksgiving -- the probability of that is probably a little bit over 60 percent right now.

"This is a very important issue, and I think it could remove a lot of uncertainty."

Hong Kong closed 0.1 percent up and Tokyo 0.3 percent higher, with Singapore climbing 0.8 percent and Seoul up 0.2 percent. Taipei and Jakarta also rose.

But Shanghai rose 0.1 percent, while Manila, Bangkok and Wellington were also in the red.

In early European trade London, Paris and Frankfurt were all down.

Key figures around

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2920 from $1.2989 at 2100 GMT on Friday

Euro/pound: UP at 86.37 pence from 86.20 pence

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1157 from $1.1174&nbsp;

Dollar/yen: UP at 108.53 yen from 108.35 yen

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 5.98 percent at 7,144.59

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 22,548.90 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.1 percent at 26,740.24 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 2,939.62 (close)

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 17 cents at $53.61 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 24 cents at $59.18 per barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 26,770.20 (close)

Sterling fell on Monday after MPs voted to delay passing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, though losses were limited by hopes the country can eventually avoid crashing out of the EU without a divorce agreement in place.

Sterling fell on Monday after MPs voted to delay passing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, though losses were limited by hopes the country can eventually avoid crashing out of the EU without a divorce agreement in place. The House of Commons sat on a Saturday for the first time in almost four decades to consider Johnson's deal in a vote that was seen as a potential turning point in the long-running Brexit saga. But instead of delivering a verdict on the deal itself, lawmakers voted to force Johnson to ask the European Union for another Brexit delay, hoping to avoid crashing out of the bloc on October 31 with no agreement in place. Johnson reluctantly agreed, although the EU is yet to respond to the request and Britain's conservative government insists it is still committed to exiting by the month's end. The prime minister is hoping to bring the deal back to the House for a vote on Monday, but that might fall foul of parliamentary procedure, with Speaker John Bercow to rule on it later. The pound -- which last week hit five-month highs on optimism for a deal — dropped against the dollar and the euro, but Stephen Innes, Asia-Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader, said: "The fact Sterling has proven surprisingly resilient... buttresses well for risk sentiment." Saturday's vote meant more waiting for traders, Shinichiro Kadota, exchange strategist at Barclays Securities in Japan said. "There had been hopes late last week that this issue would finally see a settlement. But now it's been shelved," he said. "The pound rallied to close to $1.30 from $1.22... We can say it is holding firm, which shows hopes (for avoiding no-deal Brexit) have not been dashed." 'Substantial progress' Rodrigo Catril, a senior forex strategist at National Australia Bank said the market was not in "wait-and-see mode". "We saw the pound lose a little bit of ground, but from the perspective of what it's gained over the past week, that's really minimal," he told AFP. Catril said it appeared a deal would be done before October 31 but a great deal of uncertainty remained, including the possibility of a "confirmatory vote", or second Brexit referendum. Asian equity markets mostly rose but there was little major movement in reaction to China's top trade negotiator Liu He saying at the weekend that Beijing and Washington had made "substantial progress" towards wrapping up a partial trade deal announced earlier this month. The deal offered China a temporary reprieve from tariffs planned for mid-October, while Beijing said it would hike purchases of US agricultural goods. But it did not roll back any of the duties already imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars in exports to the US, nor address another round of levies due in December. Still, the upbeat comments provided a boost to the yuan, which rose 0.2 percent against the dollar. And Brett Ewing, chief market strategist at First Franklin Financial Services, told Bloomberg TV: "It would be significant if they can get a phase one deal signed before Thanksgiving -- the probability of that is probably a little bit over 60 percent right now. "This is a very important issue, and I think it could remove a lot of uncertainty." Hong Kong closed 0.1 percent up and Tokyo 0.3 percent higher, with Singapore climbing 0.8 percent and Seoul up 0.2 percent. Taipei and Jakarta also rose. But Shanghai rose 0.1 percent, while Manila, Bangkok and Wellington were also in the red. In early European trade London, Paris and Frankfurt were all down. Key figures around Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2920 from $1.2989 at 2100 GMT on Friday Euro/pound: UP at 86.37 pence from 86.20 pence Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1157 from $1.1174 Dollar/yen: UP at 108.53 yen from 108.35 yen London - FTSE 100: DOWN 5.98 percent at 7,144.59 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 22,548.90 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.1 percent at 26,740.24 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 2,939.62 (close) West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 17 cents at $53.61 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 24 cents at $59.18 per barrel New York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 26,770.20 (close)

Pound dips as Brexit saga drags but hopes for deal lend support

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