In the short run, China and India are showing no real intention of cutting coal dependence. Instead, both are building or proposing new coal-fired capacity, never mind their climate pledges.

Sales are not growing as strongly as expected, inventory is piling up in an oversupplied market and major markets like the US are showing a marked preference for hybrids.

As temperatures set records around the globe, efforts to develop clean energy have increased. But to limit global warming to the target of 1.5 degrees, all nations must move faster.

While some countries have made aggressive climate change pledges and taken action to live up to them, others are lagging behind or even going backwards. Climate finance, adaptation strategies, mitigation and compensation are all likely to be on the table at the UN climate change conference in Egypt.

Faced with power shortages due to extreme weather and war, countries from Asia to Europe have taken up coal again, pushing global consumption towards a record high. The great coal phase-down agreed to at the UN climate change conference in Glasgow last year is starting to look more like a phasing in of the fuel.

The country’s highest court has ruled that single women must have the same abortion rights as their married counterparts. The expansion of access to abortion is not only an important step in a society where premarital sex and abortion still carry deep stigma, but also stands in contrast to developments in the US.

China faces productivity challenges with an ageing population and shrinking workforce, while India risks missing its demographic dividend as its growing population overwhelms economic planning.

Fears for the sector during the pandemic proved unfounded when global electric vehicle sales rose sharply last year, led by China. Public awareness of climate change, government carbon neutrality targets and lower costs are driving a boom that looks set to continue.

India’s rising demand for electricity is feeding its power crisis as it reshapes its energy grid to meet the future. Investing in renewable and clean energy, along with strong policies to support and achieve the goals, is the way forward.

Ukraine was, until the invasion, an increasingly favoured destination for popular Indian filmmakers – and the country’s landscapes have become familiar to film-goers via the big screen.

Many Indian families started doing their own household chores when coronavirus lockdowns began, causing a sales boom for appliances and leaving domestic workers unemployed.

Flowers left as offerings at temples in India soon die. Community enterprises across the country turn the dead flowers into useful products rather than see them dumped in rivers and ponds.