The flood tragedy in Nepal and Tibet ought to focus global attention on the super-dam China is building in another section of the Himalayas, despite its own scientists in June warning of serious geological hazards at the construction site. Shrouded in secrecy, the unparalleled dam is rising within the Himalayan seismic belt, one of Earth’s most earthquake-prone regions. The dam's gigantic reservoir could itself induce earthquakes by intensifying geological stresses. My column: prosyn.org/XIpwCSV

Seven years after the abrogation of Article 370, the trajectories of India's Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-held Jammu and Kashmir have diverged in striking ways. In Indian Jammu & Kashmir, the post-2019 transition has increasingly been defined by democratic restoration and economic integration. An elected government is in office. Once-routine hartals, stone-pelting and separatist shutdowns have disappeared, while counterterrorism operations have become more targeted and civilian life more stable. Record tourist arrivals, major infrastructure projects (including the Chenab Rail Bridge and new highway corridors) and rising investment have injected fresh momentum into the economy. The constitutional changes have extended full political rights to previously marginalized communities, even as demands for the restoration of full statehood and greater powers for the territory's elected government remain unresolved. Across the Line of Control, the picture is markedly different. Pakistan-held Kashmir has been convulsed by recurring mass protests, which have been met with police shootings, mobile and internet shutdowns, and sweeping state repression, including the arbitrary detention of protesters under anti-terror laws. The protests have been fueled by grassroots resentment over Pakistan profiting from the region's natural resources while leaving local people to bear mounting economic hardship. Political discontent has deepened over governance, accountability and electoral representation. The contrast is difficult to ignore.