��������

NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court has ordered an investigation into allegations of illegal animal imports and financial misconduct at a vast private zoo set up by the son of Asia’s richest person.
Vantara, which bills itself as the “world’s biggest wild animal rescue center,” is run by Anant Ambani, son of Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire head of the multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries.
The site in the western state of Gujarat is home to more than 200 elephants, as well as 50 bears, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles, among other animals, according to India’s Central Zoo Authority.
Wildlife activists have criticized the facility, saying it is housing endangered species on baking flatlands next to a giant oil refinery complex without any plan to return them to the wild.
And on Monday, India’s Supreme Court said it had ordered a panel led by retired judges to investigate alleged unlawful acquisition of animals – particularly elephants – other violations of wildlife regulations, and money laundering.
“We consider it appropriate... to call for an independent factual appraisal,” the court said.
It added that the team will also assess whether Gujarat’s harsh climate is unsuitable for the animals, and “complaints regarding creation of a vanity or private collection.”
The court said it issued the order after petitions based on media reports and complaints by wildlife organizations.
In March, the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that Vantara imported roughly 39,000 animals in 2024, including from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Dozens of the facility’s elephants were transported there in specially adapted trucks thousands of kilometers from across India, according to the zoo.
Vantara said in a statement on Tuesday that it would extend “full cooperation” to the investigation team and “remains committed to transparency, compassion and full compliance with the law.”
“Our mission and focus continues to be the rescue, rehabilitation and care of animals,” it said.
The zoo was among the many venues for Anant Ambani’s lavish multi-day wedding celebrations in 2024, which set a new benchmark in matrimonial extravagance with private performances by pop stars Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry.

GENEVA: More than two billion people worldwide still lack access to safely-managed drinking water, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning that progress toward universal coverage was moving nowhere near quickly enough.
The UN’s health and children’s agencies said a full one in four people globally were without access to safely-managed drinking water last year, with over 100 million people remaining reliant on drinking surface water — for example from rivers, ponds and canals.
The World Health Organization and UNICEF said lagging water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services were leaving billions at greater risk of disease.
They said in a joint study that the world remain far off track to reach a target of achieving universal coverage of such services by 2030.
Instead, that goal “is increasingly out of reach,” they warned.
“Water, sanitation and hygiene are not privileges: they are basic human rights,” said the WHO’s environment chief Ruediger Krech.
“We must accelerate action, especially for the most marginalized communities.”
The report looked at five levels of drinking water services.
Safely managed, the highest, is defined as drinking water accessible on the premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination.
The four levels below are basic (improved water taking less than 30 minutes to access), limited (improved, but taking longer), unimproved (for example, from an unprotected well or spring), and surface water.


Since 2015, 961 million people have gained access to safely-managed drinking water, with coverage rising from 68 percent to 74 percent, the report said.
Of the 2.1 billion people last year still lacking safely managed drinking water services, 106 million used surface water — a decrease of 61 million over the past decade.
The number of countries that have eliminated the use of surface water for drinking meanwhile increased from 142 in 2015 to 154 in 2024, the study said.
In 2024, 89 countries had universal access to at least basic drinking water, of which 31 had universal access to safely managed services.
The 28 countries where more than one in four people still lacked basic services were largely concentrated in Africa.


As for sanitation, 1.2 billion people have gained access to safely managed sanitation services since 2015, with coverage rising from 48 percent to 58 percent, the study found.
These are defined as improved facilities that are not shared with other households, and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or removed and treated off-site.
The number of people practicing open defecation has decreased by 429 million to 354 million 2024, or to four percent of the global population.
Since 2015, 1.6 billion people have gained access to basic hygiene services — a hand washing facility with soap and water at home — with coverage increasing from 66 percent to 80 percent, the study found.
“When children lack access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, their health, education, and futures are put at risk,” warned Cecilia Scharp, UNICEF’s director for WASH.
“These inequalities are especially stark for girls, who often bear the burden of water collection and face additional barriers during menstruation.
“At the current pace, the promise of safe water and sanitation for every child is slipping further from reach.”