Terror in Kashmir: Water wars with Pakistan

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath & Yash Budhwar

Terror in Kashmir: Water wars with Pakistan

A day after the Indian government announced a slew of punitive measures, Islamabad called them “unilateral, unjust, politically motivated, extremely irresponsible and devoid of legal merit”—and outlined its retaliatory measures.

The milder stuff: It shut down the air space above Pakistan—so Indian international flights will have to take a far longer route. A series of tit-for-tat measures include cancelling visas, shutting border crossings and expelling Indian diplomats.

The water wars: Pakistan condemned India’s decision to suspend the Indus water-sharing treaty—and warned any diversion of water would be an “act of war.” Now, it’s difficult to block water from flowing to Pakistan overnight—but here’s why Islamabad had such a strong response:

While the physical and political limits on disruptions by India are real, the erosion of treaty protections still matters. This is not because water will stop tomorrow, but because the system it supports was never built for uncertainty. The flows of the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab are the backbone of our [Pakistan’s] agriculture, our cities, our energy system. At this moment, we simply do not have a substitute for these waters.

FYI: Pakistan is already in the midst of a severe water crisis—“55% water shortage and no reserves in major dams.” India can create disruptions that increase the pain:

India’s strategic leverage is clear: it can block inspections, ignore past dam design restrictions, and now carry out reservoir flushing—critical for dam efficiency. These actions could disrupt water flows, particularly during sensitive periods like Pakistan’s sowing season, potentially affecting agricultural output.

But, but, but: We are downriver to China—which “controls the headwaters of both the Indus and Brahmaputra rivers.” It’s unwise to establish such a precedent.

Meanwhile, in India: The grief of survivors of the attack have turned into rage at the netas:

In Surat, Shital Kalathiya, wife of Shaileshbhai Kalathiya, 44, a banker who was gunned down by terrorists.. burst out in anger at Union Minister C.R. Paatil.. who had arrived to offer condolences, Shital said, “You have so many VIP cars. Your life matters, what about the person who pays tax? There was not a single military person present there nor was there any medical team.”

In response, Home Minister Amit Shah tried to deflect the blame:

[He] informed an all-party meeting on Thursday that Baisaran was opened for tourists without informing the police and the hotel owners should have been responsible and followed the security protocol before sending the tourists there.

The federal CRPF has also tried to blame the local police—claiming the meadow was not part of their remit.

Reading list: The Hindu is best on the blame game at home. New York Times offers the Pakistan point of view. The Telegraph and New York Times explain why the Indus water treaty is critical to Pakistan. Indian Express has more on the airspace restrictions and Islamabad’s threat to cancel the Shimla treaty.

Trump vs US universities: A brewing rebellion

The context: Ever since the summer of 2024, there has been increasing pressure on universities to crack down on on-campus Palestine protests. A number of them—including Columbia—called in the cops, expelled students etc. But the Trump White House has a much bigger plan to remake US liberal arts education entirely—and bring universities under direct government control. The elite colleges are just the first in line. Harvard was the first to push back with a lawsuit—when it realised caving on Palestine wasn’t going to satisfy the Trumpistas.

What happened now: The faculty and students at a bloc of ‘Big Ten’ universities are pushing for a “mutual academic defense compact.” Think of it as a “NATO-like alliance” in which member schools would support a fellow institution under political or legal attack—you attack one, you attack all. As of now, the faculty and university senates at more than half a dozen schools have signed resolutions—calling on administrators to join the effort.

But, but, but: The universities themselves are not on board—with the Ohio State spokesman insisting “it is not legally permissible for the university to participate in a common defense fund.” Why this is key: “Only administrators, not faculty senates, can commit their institutions to the compact.” So all this talk of a “compact” could turn out to be hot air. Also: Not all faculty are up for an alliance—especially those in the sciences:

Physics professor Keith Riles spoke against the compact, condemning it as a “legal mutual suicide pact.” He acknowledged his research is at risk because it’s funded through a federal grant. But he blamed supporters of diversity, equity and inclusion policies and other “ideologues” on the left for provoking “the understandable anger of voters, for whom President Trump is a vehicle for retribution.”

What’s notable: The ‘Big Ten’ is a somewhat misleading term for a college athletic conference with 18 member schools—which includes 16 public and two private universities. What’s significant:

[T]he Big Ten isn’t an enclave of elite Northeastern schools that cultivate America’s next ruling class. It represents land-grant universities in the Midwest — and corn-fed athletics programs — that are central to each state’s identity.

The bigger picture: Whether the administrators come on board or not, these resolutions could become a catalyst for a fresh round of protests. It will be interesting to see how they deal with the unrest—with the Trump administration breathing down their necks. (Washington Post, login required, Axios)

Also not happy with Trump: Americans. The prez is losing support for the “two most durable pillars of his political brand”—the economy and immigration. Voters still approve of what he wants to do—but not how he does it. Polls show that confidence in his economic leadership has sunk to 45%—and only 37% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy. And they really hate dem tariffs:

About 60% of U.S. adults think Trump’s broad and ever-changing tariffs have gone too far, and three in four think his trade policies will increase the prices of U.S. consumer goods, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center poll conducted a few days ago. Just under half of survey respondents believe Trump’s trade policies will increase the cost of U.S. consumer goods by “a lot.”

Quartz has more on those numbers. (Axios)

Game-changer for guys? Gel implant offers two-year birth control

A US company unveiled successful trial data for a “non-hormonal implant” called Adam (lol). It “is a water-soluble hydrogel that is implanted in the sperm ducts, preventing sperm from mixing with semen.” Reproduction 101 refresher: Semen is the fluid ejaculated by men—which contains and carries the male reproductive cells, i.e. sperm—all the way to the egg.

The good news: The implants require a “minimally invasive” procedure that takes about 10 minutes and uses local anaesthetic. The hydrogel dissolves in the body over the course of two years—restoring fertility. In other words, it is a no-fuss, reversible option—unlike a vasectomy or condoms.

The not-so-good news: The two-year effectiveness is yet to be proved—all that we know is that it blocks sperm for now. Also, some experts don’t think men will be all that gung-ho. “Given a choice of a pill, patch, injectable or surgery, I believe that most men would choose pill or patch over surgery.” Our Big Story, however, lays out why most men are not gung-ho about any kind of male contraception—nor are the pharma companies. (The Guardian)

Herpes protection in a… chewing gum?!

Researchers have developed an antiviral chewing gum that protects against certain strains of flu (H1N1 and H3N2) and two most common viruses that cause herpes (HSV-1 and HSV-2). It’s made from the powder of a bean named lablab bean native to sub-Saharan Africa. The bean contains a protein called Flt3 Receptor-Interacting Lectin (FRIL) that can “trap” and neutralise certain viruses—reducing the chances of infection and transmission. And it offers a better alternative to vaccines—which prevent infection but not the spread. Sounds great except the gum hasn’t been tested on humans as yet. New Atlas has lots more on the study and Gizmodo has more on why this matters.

Happy birthday, Hubble—only 35 years young!

Amid the deluge of relentless bad news, we jumped at the opportunity to celebrate an event that offers an important reminder—it’s still a wonderful world!

Quick background: A collab between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), the telescope is named after Edwin Hubble—the astronomer who discovered galaxies beyond the Milky Way. Its most important contributions to human knowledge: “supermassive black holes nestle at the heart of most large galaxies, Jupiter’s icy moon Europa may be shooting plumes of water out into space and, in the distant future, our Milky Way galaxy will likely collide with our neighbor, Andromeda.”

Onto the good stuff: Over 35 years, Hubble has sent back gorgeous images of the universe—long before its flashier sibling the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) came along in 2021. This one’s called ‘Mystic Mountain’:

This is the gorgeous Butterfly nebula located between 2,500 and 3,800 light-years away from us:

In this image, Hubble captured auroras on Jupiter in 2016:

Last but not least: This spiral galaxy named NGC 1566—located about 60 million light-years from us:

Scientific American and Space.com have the best tributes to Hubble.

what caught our eye

business & tech

Perplexity is eyeing Chrome if Google has to sell—but would prefer Google keeps it rather than handing it over to OpenAI.
Hugging Face engineer Julien Delavande has built a tool to track how much electricity your chatbot messages are using.
The former heads of EY and PwC are teaming up to launch Unity Advisory, a new rival to the Big Four, backed by $300M in private equity, with a June debut on the horizon.
Electric cars are falling flat in India’s used-car market—resale values are tanking faster than ICE vehicles, with 2023 EVs already losing 23% of their worth, thanks to battery worries and shiny new models flooding in.

sports & entertainment

Payal Kapadia has just been awarded France’s Officier des Arts et des Lettres for her outstanding contribution to cinema.
Kendrick Lamar leads the 2025 American Music Awards nominations with 10 nods, followed by Post Malone with 8 and Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, and Shaboozey, each with 7.
Pakistan’s Olympic champ Arshad Nadeem passes on good friend’s Neeraj Chopra’s invite to the NC Classic, citing a training clash ahead of the Asian Athletics Championships—but thanks Chopra for the gesture.
The Guardian has a good read on Faith Kipyegon’s attempt to become the first woman to break the four-minute mile.
Josh Hazlewood’s fiery four-for ensured that RCB edged past Rajasthan Royals by 11 runs—handing them their fifth straight loss this season.

health & environment

Tamil Nadu bans raw egg mayonnaise for a year, citing health risks.
CNN has a good read on how Welsh puppies, like Shinga the Belgian Malinois, are helping track down poachers in Africa.
India’s top infectious disease experts are sounding the alarm—ceftazidime-avibactam, one of our most potent antibiotics, is rapidly losing its punch due to rampant misuse, and they want the drug regulator to step in before it’s too late.

meanwhile, in the world

In a major legal swipe, a dozen US states have dragged the Trump administration to court over its chaotic tariff policy, calling it unlawful and economy-wrecking.
Another fallout from the tariff mania: Kenya. On his third Beijing trip since taking office, Kenya’s President is doubling down on China ties—just a day after warning that a US-triggered trade war could doom the global order.
Reuters has a good read on Trump’s first 100 days back in office—with tariffs flying, the MAGA reboot has rattled global trade and shaken investor faith and market stability.
A related read: Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) on Trump’s biggest opponent yet: the stock market, which is the only force that’s made him retreat from his aggressive policies and power grabs.
Washington Post has details on Trump’s record-breaking $239 million inauguration haul—fueled by deep-pocketed donors, including over a dozen who now happen to be nominees for top spots in his administration.
Worried about Trump’s visa crackdown, international students are rushing to wipe their bylines from campus op-eds.
Financial Times (splainer gift link) has a good read on how Trump’s trade war with China has turned rare earth minerals into the latest battleground—exposing the West’s deep dependence on Beijing for everything from EVs to missiles.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on Hamas to disarm, exit Gaza, and rebrand itself as a political party.
Trump says he’s “not happy” after Russia’s deadliest strike on Kyiv in nine months—blasting Putin with a blunt “STOP!” while pushing Ukraine toward a controversial and unlikely ceasefire deal.
Former South Korean president Moon Jae-in has been indicted for bribery—over his son-in-law’s gig at a Thai airline, no less—joining the country’s long list of ex-leaders in legal hot water.
A lion bite to the butt might just be the first proof of human-animal gladiatorial combat, uncovered in ancient Roman skeletons from England.

meanwhile, in India

Over 2,000 tourists from across the country are still stranded in Kashmir—and state governments are scrambling to get them home after the Pahalgam attack.
Munnar’s seeing a surge in tourist enquiries as travellers—spooked by the Kashmir attack—look to swap valleys without losing the views.
The US has slapped a ‘Do Not Travel’ advisory for all its citizens for Jammu & Kashmir after the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam.
The NIA tells the Supreme Court that a massive 2,988-kg heroin haul seized at Mundra port was funding terror activities linked to Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Five things to see

One: Everyone is talking about Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Ishan Kishan’s dismissal in the clash against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday. Neither the bowler Deepak Chahar nor keeper Ryan Rickelton appealed for a caught behind—yet Kishan walked away, signaling he had edged the ball. The really weird bit: replays show the ball didn’t touch his bat. As Harsha Bhogle said: "You think you’ve seen it all after all these years…” (The Hindu)

Two: After Trump announced an insane 145% tariff on their goods, Chinese manufacturers flooded TikTok with vids urging American shoppers to buy luxury products straight from their factories. Sure, that Hermes or Chanel bag may not be real, but Americans are just as happy to buy a cheap dupe—before tariffs on Chinese packages soar sky high on May 2. (New York Times)

Three: On April 20, 2025, two male cheetahs were relocated from Kuno National Park to the newly prepared Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. For now, they will roam freely within a large, fenced area—and then will be released into a 64-square kilometre soft-release zone. See them exploring their new home below. (The Hindu)

Four: Get ready for a Kannada AI feature film—directed and produced by a priest, Narasimha Murthy—in collaboration with graphic artist Nuthan. ‘Love You’ is a 95-minute love story with all the cliches—the heroine dies, the hero beats up everyone and there are 12 songs! The project took 6 months to complete and has already been certified by the CBFC. (Hindustan Times)

Five: Lorde is back! The New Zealand popstar just dropped her newest single called ‘What Was That’ with a music video shot in New York City. This marks her comeback after four years. Watch the music vid below. (Pitchfork)