Vansh pathak

Every year, the pattern seems strangely familiar. Summer arrives, temperatures soar, roads radiate heat and cities become increasingly uncomfortable. Then the monsoon arrives. Within hours of intense rainfall, the same roads can turn into streams, underpasses fill with water and traffic comes to a standstill. At first glance, extreme heat and urban flooding appear to be two completely different problems. One is caused by high temperatures and the other by excessive rainfall. But there is a deeper connection. The way Indian cities are being built is turning ordinary weather hazards into urban disasters. Recent flooding across parts of Indian cities has once again shown how quickly intense rainfall can overwhelm roads, drains and public infrastructure. The problem is not simply that cities receive too much rain. It is also about what happens to that rain after it reaches the ground.  Rain is not the only culprit Imagine a city before extensive urbanisation. Rain falls on ...

Imagine stepping out of your home and walking to the market, a school, a railway station or a bus stop. It sounds like the most basic activity in a city. Yet, in many Indian cities, walking can mean navigating broken pavements, parked vehicles, street vendors, construction material and fast-moving traffic. Andhra Pradesh has now taken a significant step to change this reality. On 7 August 2026 , the state notified the Andhra Pradesh Pedestrian Safety & Universal Accessibility Policy, 2026, making it the first Indian state to establish a dedicated statewide framework focused specifically on pedestrian safety and universal accessibility.  The policy represents a larger shift in thinking: roads should not be designed only for vehicles; they must also be designed for people. Why does pedestrian safety matter? India’s rapid urbanisation has brought more vehicles, wider roads and greater traffic volumes. But pedestrian infrastructure has often failed to keep pace. Accord...

The Ganga is not merely a river flowing across political boundaries. For millions of people in the Gangetic plains, it is a source of agriculture, drinking water, livelihoods and economic activity. Yet the management of its waters has increasingly become a matter of competing regional interests. As the 1996 India-Bangladesh Ganga Water Sharing Treaty approaches the end of its 30-year term in December 2026 , a new domestic dimension has emerged strongly: Bihar wants its concerns over the Farakka system to be addressed before any renewal.   The debate therefore goes beyond India and Bangladesh. It raises a fundamental question: Can a water-sharing arrangement negotiated three decades ago adequately address the needs of today’s river basin? What is the Ganga Water Treaty? The 1996 treaty established a framework for sharing Ganga waters at Farakka during the lean season, from January 1 to May 31 . Water availability is assessed in 10-day periods and divided according to a f...

Artificial intelligence is advancing faster than most governments can legislate. Every few months, new models, applications and capabilities emerge, creating a difficult policy question: How do you regulate a technology that keeps changing while ensuring that regulation itself does not become an obstacle to innovation? The European Union’s recent rethink of its artificial intelligence framework offers an important answer: good regulation is not necessarily rigid regulation. It must be capable of evolving. The EU’s AI framework was designed to establish safeguards around AI according to the level of risk involved. However, as implementation progressed, concerns emerged around administrative complexity, compliance costs, delays in standards and the practical difficulties faced by businesses, particularly smaller ones. The response was not to abandon regulation, but to simplify and recalibrate it. That distinction holds an important lesson for India. From Regulation to Adaptiv...

Can an execution ever truly be called humane? The question appears contradictory at first. If the ultimate purpose of an execution is to take away a human life, can the State simultaneously claim an obligation to preserve dignity, minimise suffering and ensure a civilised death? Yet this is precisely the legal and moral dilemma surrounding capital punishment. The debate is no longer confined to whether the death penalty should exist. It has increasingly moved towards a more difficult question: if the State executes a person, what limits does the Constitution place on the manner in which that life may be taken? In India, this question has acquired particular significance because the Constitution protects life and personal liberty under Article 21, while the criminal justice system continues to recognise capital punishment in exceptional circumstances. The Indian position: Death, but with dignity Indian law prescribes hanging as the method of carrying out a death sentence. Th...

For decades, managing high cholesterol has largely meant a familiar routine: daily tablets, periodic injections, dietary changes and regular blood tests. But a new approach is beginning to challenge that model. Scientists are exploring whether a single gene-editing treatment could produce a long-lasting reduction in LDL cholesterol, commonly called “bad cholesterol”. One of the most promising candidates is an experimental therapy known as VERVE-102 , which is designed to alter a specific gene involved in cholesterol regulation. The early results are striking, but they also come with an important caveat: this is still experimental medicine, not an approved replacement for statins or other established cholesterol treatments. Why is LDL cholesterol such a concern? LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, transports cholesterol through the bloodstream. When LDL levels remain high, cholesterol can accumulate within the walls of arteries. Over time, these deposits can contribute to athe...

For centuries, the Moon was a distant object of observation. The next phase of space exploration could transform it into something far more significant: a place where humans live, work, conduct research and prepare for journeys deeper into space. NASA is now pursuing a phased programme to establish a long-term human presence near the Moon’s South Pole . Unlike the short Apollo visits, the objective is not simply to land, collect samples and return. The ambition is to develop the infrastructure required for sustained lunar operations and, eventually, an enduring human presence.  From Visiting the Moon to Living on It NASA’s Moon Base concept is being developed through three broad phases. Phase I: Explore, Experiment and Learn The first phase, running through 2029 , focuses heavily on robotic missions, technological demonstrations and detailed exploration of the lunar South Pole. Before humans can establish a reliable presence, scientists need to understand the terrain, ...

When a banned product cannot be advertised directly, can its brand still appear through something else? A celebrity promotes “elaichi”, a company advertises a “mouth freshener”, or a familiar brand logo appears on a completely different product. On paper, the advertisement may be for a legal product. But if the real objective is to keep a banned product in the public eye, the advertisement enters the controversial territory of surrogate advertising. A recent case involving Vimal Elaichi has once again brought this question into focus. Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration issued show-cause notices to Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over their alleged role in an advertisement that regulators suspect could indirectly promote Vimal Pan Masala, a prohibited product in the state.  What exactly is surrogate advertising? Surrogate advertising is essentially the promotion of a restricted or prohibited product through another product, service, brand or activity....

India’s independence was not the result of a single movement, a single leader, or a single moment. It was the culmination of decades of political struggle, mass mobilisation, sacrifice and, ultimately, a growing realisation within the British establishment that governing India was becoming increasingly difficult. Among the events that accelerated this realisation, the Royal Indian Navy uprising of February 1946 occupies a particularly important, yet often underappreciated, place. What began as a protest by Indian naval ratings over food, working conditions and discriminatory treatment soon developed into a much wider challenge to British authority. Within days, thousands of sailors across naval establishments joined the revolt, while civilians in Bombay and elsewhere came onto the streets in solidarity. The episode demonstrated something deeply unsettling for the British: discontent was no longer confined to political organisations or civilian society. It had entered the a...