Aakash Hassan

Extreme heat is killing vulnerable workers and rural residents across India, while official statistics appear to vastly understate the toll. The deaths of Palli Mahalaxmi in Andhra Pradesh and Nadupooru Krishnarao illustrate how heatstroke is often undocumented, particularly in poor and remote communities. Researchers estimate that heatwaves may cause thousands of excess deaths, but say the Indian government blocked access to nationwide data. Doctors warn that rising temperatures, inadequate protections for outdoor workers and limited healthcare access could produce an epidemic of heatstroke. Although heatwaves have been recognised as a national disaster, experts say accurate mortality tracking, stronger heat-action plans and early-warning systems are urgently needed.

Extreme heat is driving substantial health and income losses among India’s informal workers, particularly those in agriculture, construction and transport. IIED research estimates that outdoor workers lost nearly 9% of their income in 2024, while extreme heat cost the wider Indian economy at least £58bn and eliminated an average of 21.1 working days per person. Workers interviewed in Gurugram described repeated heat exhaustion, dehydration, injuries, unpaid absences and inadequate access to shade, water, sanitation and medical care. Prolonged exposure may also cause chronic kidney disease in more than 26 million informal workers. The impacts fall especially heavily on workers without job security, women with childcare responsibilities and families unable to stop working despite illness.

Rising temperatures and hotter nights are leaving informal workers in Indian and other Asian cities unable to recover between shifts. Interviews and a People’s Courage International report covering more than 2,200 migrant workers found widespread disruption to livelihoods, lost wages, higher expenses, fatigue and declining mental health. Delivery riders, vendors and other outdoor workers often live in poorly ventilated homes with unreliable electricity, while government heat responses remain largely reactive and insufficient for their needs.

The Iran-US conflict and blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted LPG supplies across Asia, sharply raising cooking-fuel prices in India and the Philippines. Poor households are switching to firewood and charcoal, worsening exposure to indoor air pollution and increasing risks of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, particularly for women and children. India’s LPG consumption has fallen substantially, while Philippine consumption is down 30% and small LPG tanks have tripled in price. Although governments have promoted cleaner fuels and introduced temporary measures such as tax suspensions, the crisis highlights that access to LPG does not ensure affordability and may be reversing progress in the energy transition.

A controversial Special Intensive Revision of West Bengal’s electoral roll removed 9.1 million names, including 2.7 million people who challenged their deletion, shortly before the state election. Critics and researchers say Muslims and other minorities were disproportionately affected, alleging that the BJP-led central government is using the process to suppress opposition voters and target people suspected of being Bangladeshi immigrants. Flaws in an AI-assisted system, including problems with Bengali name spellings and unrealistic family-data criteria, reportedly caused legitimate citizens—including former officials and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen—to be flagged or removed. The Election Commission and BJP face legal and political criticism, while many appeals remain unresolved before voting begins.

The war involving Iran, the US and Israel and Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz are disrupting oil, gas and fertiliser supply chains, raising food-security risks across South Asia. India’s farmers fear shortages of urea and other fertilisers before the kharif rice-sowing season, while reduced gas supplies to fertiliser plants and higher fuel and electricity costs threaten yields and distribution. Indian officials say stocks are healthy and procurement is diversifying, but farmers report panic buying, debt and rising costs. Sri Lanka, still scarred by its recent economic crisis, faces sharper shortages and price increases; some farmers are abandoning rice planting, and agricultural representatives warn that a fertiliser crisis could become a national food-security threat.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran conflict has sharply disrupted LPG imports across India and other South Asian countries. India, which imports about 60% of its LPG and routes most of those supplies through the strait, has limited storage and has received only two cargoes since the closure. Households are facing long waits, soaring black-market prices and reduced access to cooking fuel, while restaurants, hotels and gas-dependent industries have cut production or shut down. The crisis has affected workers’ incomes, increased risks of theft and social tension, and hit poor households hardest. The disruption has exposed India’s limited LPG reserves and broader vulnerability to geopolitical shocks in critical energy supply routes.

Indian authorities have expanded arrests and raids in Kashmir after a Delhi car explosion killed 13 people and was designated a terror incident. Investigators are examining an alleged interstate and transnational network involving radicalised professionals, including Kashmiri doctors, and possible links to Jaish-e-Mohammad and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, although no direct connection to the blast has been formally established. The suspected driver’s home was demolished despite authorities not confirming his involvement, prompting accusations of unlawful “bulldozer justice.” A separate explosion at a Srinagar police station killed seven people, apparently after confiscated explosives detonated. India’s comparatively restrained response, versus its reaction to the April Pahalgam attack, reflects uncertainty over responsibility and concern about renewed tensions with Pakistan.

Dharavi’s redevelopment by the Adani Group and Maharashtra government is provoking both hope for improved housing and intense resistance from residents who fear displacement, loss of livelihoods and the breakup of their community. Fewer than half of the roughly one million residents may qualify for homes in the project, while others could be moved to distant and polluted areas such as Deonar. Opponents allege intimidation and condemn the lack of consultation and a public masterplan; Adani-linked officials and government representatives deny coercion and say the project will provide dignified housing and transform Dharavi into a prosperous business district. A Supreme Court case is examining whether the project was unfairly awarded.

Hanle in Ladakh, India, became the country’s first dark sky reserve in 2022, creating a community-based astro-tourism initiative that trained 25 villagers, including 18 women, as astronomy ambassadors. The programme has expanded homestays, generated new income, encouraged residents to remain in or return to the village, and helped preserve Ladakhi and Buddhist traditions connected to the stars. Its success is threatened by light pollution from military facilities, tourist vehicles and potential commercial development, prompting local advocates to call for stronger protection of Hanle’s exceptionally dark skies.

Severe monsoon flooding has devastated Punjab in northern India, destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of rice, cotton and sugar-cane crops, killing livestock and leaving at least 43 people dead. Farmers describe losing homes, land and livelihoods, while residents and a local lawmaker accuse the Indian government of failing to prepare or provide effective relief. Flooding in Pakistan’s Punjab has been even more extensive, forcing nearly 2 million evacuations and submerging about 4,000 villages. Residents blame inadequate embankments, deforestation and risky development, while disputes continue over whether water released from Indian dams worsened the disaster. The floods highlight the growing threat that extreme weather poses to agriculture and food security across the region.

India has pledged to eradicate its decades-long Maoist insurgency by March 2026, deploying more than 60,000 security personnel and advanced surveillance technology in Chhattisgarh. Although the campaign has sharply reduced the insurgency and killed hundreds of alleged militants, activists and lawyers say many civilians, particularly Adivasis, have also been killed, detained, displaced or coerced into surrendering. Security officials reject the allegations and say operations comply with the law. Critics argue the government’s refusal to pursue ceasefire or rehabilitation talks may be linked to efforts to clear mineral-rich forests for mining, while former security officials warn that military success cannot eliminate the grievances sustaining Maoist ideology.

Trump administration restrictions on international students, including intensified political screening and a pause in US student-visa interviews, have left Indian applicants and their families uncertain about whether they can study in the United States. Education consultants report a steep fall in applications, with families shifting toward the UK, Germany and other European destinations. Students and scholars describe cancelled plans, withdrawn funding, heightened self-censorship and major financial risks, while the dispute over Harvard's international admissions has intensified concern about the future of foreign students in the US.

Residents of Indian-administered Kashmir remain fearful after an intense military confrontation between India and Pakistan triggered by the 22 April Pahalgam attack, which killed 25 tourists and a local guide. Artillery, missile and drone strikes killed about 50 civilians, displaced tens of thousands and destroyed homes before a US-brokered ceasefire. Although both governments claimed victory, Kashmiris and experts say the underlying dispute, militant threat and risk of renewed escalation remain unresolved. India's post-2019 crackdown, detention of hundreds and warnings of automatic military retaliation have deepened concerns that the region is neither peaceful nor normal.

India and Pakistan claimed victory after a ceasefire halted missile, drone and artillery exchanges that had brought the nuclear-armed rivals close to full-scale war. The truce, reportedly brokered chiefly by Donald Trump with intensive US diplomacy, briefly appeared fragile when firing resumed along the Kashmir frontier, but the situation later quieted. Nationalist celebrations followed in both countries, while officials exchanged competing claims about military losses and responsibility for the escalation. Kashmir residents welcomed the pause but warned that the underlying territorial dispute remains unresolved and that temporary ceasefires have repeatedly failed to deliver lasting peace.

India and Pakistan agreed to an immediate US-mediated ceasefire after days of escalating missile, drone and artillery attacks linked to the disputed Kashmir region. The truce was confirmed by senior officials from both countries after negotiations involving US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice-President JD Vance, Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif. Within hours, however, shelling and explosions were reported in Kashmir, with India and Pakistan blaming each other for violations. The agreement prompted celebrations among civilians affected by the fighting, while others remained skeptical because previous temporary truces failed to resolve the underlying dispute. The ceasefire was expected to be followed by further military-level talks and broader negotiations, but its durability remained uncertain.

India accused Pakistan of launching a new wave of drone attacks over Indian-administered Kashmir and northern Indian states after earlier strikes targeting cities, military bases and religious sites. Pakistan denied conducting offensive actions while warning that it would retaliate for India’s missile strikes on Pakistani targets, which followed a deadly militant attack in Kashmir. The confrontation has intensified along the Line of Control between two nuclear-armed states, with both sides exchanging allegations about military losses and civilian harm. India and Pakistan are also engaged in a widening disinformation campaign, while India ordered X to block more than 8,000 accounts, including Pakistani and Indian media and political accounts.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to avenge the deaths of 31 people killed in Indian missile strikes on sites in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Punjab. Pakistan authorized its military to choose the time and manner of a retaliatory response, while India said the attacks targeted militant camps and were retaliation for a massacre of Hindu tourists in Kashmir. Both sides reported further shelling, civilian casualties and displacement along the Line of Control, raising fears of a wider conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors. Pakistan denied that terrorist infrastructure existed at the targeted sites and criticized the international community, including the United States, for failing to mediate; the US, UK, China, Iran and UAE called for de-escalation.

Residents in villages on both sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir describe missile strikes, artillery fire and intense fear after India launched attacks on Pakistan following a deadly terrorist attack. Indian-administered Kashmir saw shelling, civilian deaths and evacuations, while Pakistan-administered areas reported missile impacts, casualties and damage to homes and religious buildings. Thousands sought refuge in bunkers and basements as residents appealed to India and Pakistan to end the escalating violence.

India launched missile and drone strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, saying they targeted terrorist infrastructure linked to the killing of Indian tourists in Pahalgam. Pakistan condemned the operation as an act of war, reported 26 deaths and authorised its armed forces to take corresponding retaliatory action, while claiming to have shot down several Indian jets. Cross-border shelling along the Line of Control killed and injured civilians on both sides and forced evacuations, raising fears of a wider conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours. China, Russia, Turkey, the UK, Spain and the European Union called for restraint and diplomacy, while airlines disrupted flights across the region.