India’s digital ambitions are racing ahead, but NITI Aayog has just applied the brakes, gently. Its new framework asks states to think before they build, assessing electricity, water, land, and infrastructure before greenlighting data centres. The message is clear: digital growth cannot come at the cost of strained grids or depleted aquifers. From 20-30 year water balance plans to renewable-rich zones and outcome-linked incentives, the framework offers a blueprint for balance. Because a data centre that powers India’s future shouldn’t drain its present.

The New Indian Express is an English-language daily published by Express Publications (Madurai) Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in Chennai. Founded in 1932 as The Indian Express, its southern editions were renamed The New Indian Express in 1999 following a corporate restructuring. The publication operates 41 editions across five southern states and New Delhi. It covers national, regional, business, and civic issues with a focus on southern India.

Cities are where the century’s pressures collide—traffic, inequality, floods, and drought. Marco Zupi, writing for Earth.Org, argues that the SDGs will ultimately live or die in these urban spaces, not in summit halls. The problem isn’t ambition; it’s delivery. Cities rarely lack good plans—they lack the means to fund them. Public money remains trapped in sectoral silos, forcing integrated agendas through fragmented budgets. Until financing is organised around shared outcomes rather than isolated departments, “joined-up policy” remains a slogan. And a city that leaves people out isn’t sustainable—it’s just resilient for some.

On 26 August, a glacier collapse high in Nepal’s Langtang range unleashed a devastating flood that claimed over 1,000 lives and swept away bridges and roads. For urban planner Dikshu Kukreja, this is a stark warning for India’s Himalayas, where nearly 50 million people live amid expanding roads and hydropower projects. He argues that development must be designed for the mountains, not the plains—replacing mega-projects with “micro-development” that works with the fragile terrain and geology. Because when we flatten mountains, we’re not just cutting travel time; we’re inviting disaster downstream.