In the wake of crisis, the need for bipartisanship

The terrorist attack in Pahalgam, on April 22, 2025 has once again shaken our collective conscience, reminding us of the fragility of peace in a region long burdened by the weight of history. As India grieves the loss of innocent lives and strengthens its resolve against terror, we must also recognise the critical importance of bipartisanship - both in shaping our response and in ensuring that national security does not become another theatre for political posturing.

There is a distressing pattern that emerges whenever India faces a crisis of this nature: political parties, instead of closing ranks in defence of the nation, often resort to scoring points - weaponising grief for electoral advantage rather than forging a unified front. We saw this after the Pulwama attack in 2019, where swift retaliatory action became intertwined with campaign narratives. That was perhaps inevitable, since the general election was only weeks away from being called, and the national discourse swiftly veered from security imperatives to domestic politicking. But there is no doubt that this cycle weakens our ability to formulate a cohesive and long-term strategy, one that can fortify our defences without compromising our democratic integrity.

Getting the 'micropicture' at the panchayat level

Evidence-based decision-making has been the buzzword for the government for quite some time now. However, the extent of data-based decision-making in practice remains an open question.

Critics point to the delay in conducting Census operations and releasing Census data to researchers. They also highlight the other surveys carried out by the government and/or the change in methodology, thereby making the availability of time series data difficult, as obstacles to overcome in evidence-based decision-making at all levels of government. But government officials point to the availability of mammoth data in the portals of different Ministries and also the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), 2012 of the Government of India. This policy intended to make non-sensitive government data available to the public in an open, accessible, and reusable format (https://data.gov.in).

However, researchers complain that the data made available are not in a format which can be easily understood by the public or elected representatives. Citizens and even trained researchers feel overwhelmed by the voluminous data. Data visualisation tools on https://data.gov.in as well as other government portals are relatively under-developed. Data analytics leaves a lot to be desired. Consequently, decisions continue to be made based on experience and/or the intuitions of Ministers and senior bureaucrats at the Union and State levels. 

Combating obesity among adolescents

There is an increased focus in public discourse on growing obesity among adolescents. The seventh edition of Poshan Pakhwada, held last month, focused on childhood and adolescent obesity alongside the first 1,000 days of life. The 'Let's Fix Our Food' consortium, a multi-stakeholder initiative spearheaded by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition, the Public Health Foundation of India, UNICEF-India, and others, recently released a set of policy briefs advocating for the need to better the food environments for adolescents. Last month, in a move to improve transparency on food labels, the Supreme Court gave the Central government a strict three-month window to finalise and enforce transparent food labelling regulations. These measures point towards growing concern about the problem. 

Understanding India's relationship with Turkey and Azerbaijan

Following Turkiye and Azerbaijan's support for Pakistan after India's military confrontation in the wake of the Pahalgam massacre, many online travel platforms reported a sharp spike in cancellations of tour bookings to these countries. Many Indian tour operators withdrew offers and promotional packages for trips to Turkiye and Azerbaijan. On social media, calls to "boycott" both countries gained traction. Institutions such as IIT Bombay, IIT Roorkee, and Jawaharlal Nehru University suspended MoUs with some Turkish universities. 

The ongoing oil price tensions

Just when you had your surfeit of headlines screaming of blood and gore, come the drumbeats of a new conflict. However, in this new one, the belligerents do not swap bullets but barrels. Yet, this incipient conflict is shaping to be a "mother of all battles" perhaps with a more universal impact than the destruction being wrecked in various corners of the world.

This prognosis may surprise observers who not only missed the weeks of its run-up skirmishes but also the bugle of war, when on May 3, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus (OPEC+) decided to go ahead with a collective output increase of 4,11,000 barrels per day (bpd) from next month (June). This was the third month in a row that the oil cartel decided to raise crude production, cumulatively undoing the 9,60,000 bpd or nearly half of the 2.2 million bpd "voluntary" output cuts eight of its members undertook in 2023, to increase global oil prices in an oversupplied market. There are hints that the full 2.2 million bpd cut would be unwound by October 2025. Though the announced production rise was less than half a per cent of global daily production, the oil market was so jittery that the Brent crude price plummeted by almost 2% to $60.23/barrel, the lowest since the pandemic. It has since recovered to $65/barrel with support from the U.S.-China stopgap trade deal and reports of stalemate in the U.S.-Iran nuclear talk.