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Umran Malik (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

After recovering from injury, fast bowler Umran Malik is eager to return to the Indian cricket team. He relies on his natural ability to bowl at speeds exceeding 150 kmph, along with newly developed skills like slower deliveries and improved yorkers.Malik has been absent from the Indian team since July 2023 after taking 24 wickets in 10 ODIs and 8 T20Is. Despite the setbacks, he maintains a positive outlook.“Let me tell you one thing. Those who bowl 150 are not strike bowlers; they are attacking bowlers. They will be hit for 30 (runs) in four (overs) but will also give you wickets. A fast bowler is like that. He should know what he has to do,” Umran told select media after J&K’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh.“A bowler who bowls at 150 knows that he is a king and he has to back himself. Not everyone can bowl 150kph. It takes real guts to bowl at 150kph and I have been doing this for the last five years.”“Bowling 150kph is an art, you can’t go directly from 137 to 145. Do training, do whatever you want — this is natural, this is all natural. You need to train yourself accordingly, eat properly, rest properly, keep your body fresh so that you’re ready for the process tomorrow. Speed is my natural aspect, how can I compromise on that? Training, running, cardio –you have to maintain. There is no special diet. Pace is my strength. I have to regain my strength.”Umran has faced multiple injuries and illness but never lost confidence in his abilities.“It is not that I will feel bad mentally. I know that I will do well now. I will come back to the India team. I have confidence in myself because I am the only one who bowls at 150. But now I am bowling slower (balls) as well, which I am working on, and also the yorker. I am doing that in red-ball formats too, I’m working hard there. The rest is up to the selectors when they let me play. I am doing better now. Playing again for India is my aim now,” he continued.Despite strong competition in India’s white-ball bowling unit, Umran remains confident. “When I was playing earlier, there was this much competition. Now also the competition is the same. I don’t think there is any competition. When I am fully fit and take wickets like this, why won’t they let me play? They will let me play if I take wickets. That’s it,” he added.The 26-year-old pacer has set a straightforward goal of becoming J&K’s highest wicket-taker in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.“I have a simple target: to play all matches (for his home state) and become the highest wicket-taker for my team in Syed Mushtaq Ali,” he stated.Umran has already claimed five wickets in two matches, including a 3/37 against UP where he dismissed key players with his pace.“Anyone can get injured. Any batsman, bowler, fielder, anyone can get injured. You just have to know how to get out of it,” he added.“I never think about my career. I think about what I have to do the next day, what training I have to do — bowling, batting, fielding. It’s all in God’s hands who has a career and who doesn’t.“If your mindset is stable, I think you will perform better after the injury. It feels good now that the ball is coming nicely out of my hand. When a bowler has full rhythm after an injury, I think it is best for him. I think injury also teaches you a lot of things… your mindset, your body, what to do. If we play cricket for 10 years, there will be injuries. You have to keep your mindset strong. You have to keep those people with you who are positive. You have to stay away from negative people during an injury.”He dismisses concerns about losing pace with age, adding, “You can never bowl at 150 directly. You can bowl 138, 140, 142. It starts like that. I think that as long as I play, I should be positive. I don’t want to show pace to anyone. I want to show my wickets. Even if I bowl from 150 to 140 after 10 years, it doesn’t mean that I will bowl from 150 to 135 or 130.”Regarding his red-ball cricket aspirations, Umran remains open to all formats: “There is nothing different. Yes, I am ready to play in all formats.”

Dana White drops big UFC 324 announcement as major title fights land in Las Vegas (Image Via Getty)

Dana White surprised fans on Thursday night when he announced a huge lineup for UFC 324, which will take place on January 24, 2026, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He revealed the matchups during half-time of the Chiefs vs Cowboys Thanksgiving game on CBS, sharing the full card live on national television.The interim lightweight title bout between Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje grabbed most headlines. Dana White also affirmed that Amanda Nunes will return from retirement to face Kayla Harrison, while Sean O’Malley will battle Song Yadong in a critical bantamweight bout. The news came only a few hours after lightweight champion Ilia Topuria quit the sport to pay attention to a family issue.Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett headline UFC 324 as Amanda Nunes and Sean O’Malley join the cardOn January 24, 2026, in Las Vegas, Dana White said during the CBS broadcast that Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett would compete for the interim lightweight title.He said, “This event starts our new deal with Paramount, and it is packed with champions.” As part of the new deal, the main card will now begin at 9 p.m. ET, one hour earlier than past events.This fight became possible after Ilia Topuria announced on Thursday afternoon on X that he will not compete in the first quarter of 2026. Topuria wrote that he is “going through a difficult moment” and wants to “focus on my children.” With the champion out, Gaethje and Pimblett were the clear choices to compete for the interim title. Pimblett is on a strong win streak after beating Michael Chandler, while Gaethje last fought when he defeated Rafael Fiziev.The card grows even stronger with Amanda Nunes returning to face Kayla Harrison for the women’s bantamweight title. Nunes has not fought since she retired in June 2023, shortly after her win over Julianna Peña. Dana White called her “the greatest female fighter ever” and said this is “the biggest women’s fight we have seen.”Sean O’Malley will return to the cage two losses to Merab Dvalishvili, including a unanimous decision at UFC 306 and a submission loss in June, would help. He will meet Song Yadong, still among the most active competitors in the category. As the victor of Gaethje versus Pimblett meets Topuria once he returns to action, lightweight stars Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, and Max Holloway will watch carefully.Also Read: Dana White’s Bold UFC White House Choice Sparks Questions As MMA Icon Gets Sidelined

Mumbai: A city district consumer commission recently ordered Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited to reimburse Rs 66.50 lakh to a Juhu resident for an overseas cancer claim, ruling that the company was guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice. The commission held that the insurer had wrongfully cancelled the policy based on an alleged non-disclosure of the pre-existing condition Asthma, which bore no medical nexus to the claimant’s life-threatening cancer diagnosis. “The opposite party has failed to prove that the illness, asthma, had any nexus to the colo-rectal cancer treatment for which the claim arises, or that disclosure would have altered the opposite party’s decision to provide overseas cover. The opposite party has therefore failed to discharge its onus that the non-disclosure of illness of asthma was a suppression of material fact to the risk of cancer treatment overseas,” the Mumbai Suburban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission said. The complaint was submitted in 2022.The commission further said that the insurance company’s conduct of arbitrary cancellation of policy and subsequent refusal to allow cashless pre-authorization, thereby forcing the complainant to incur or seek reimbursement for overseas medical expenses had caused financial loss and mental trauma during active cancer treatment. These acts amount to deficiency of service and unfair trade practice, the commission said.The complainant, Alok Bector, had purchased the comprehensive “Heartbeat-Family First Platinum Policy” in 2017, which offered worldwide coverage, including the USA. In August 2018, during the policy’s subsistence, he was diagnosed with colo-rectal cancer, prompting him to seek advanced treatment in the United States. Following his diagnosis, the insurance company repudiated his claim and attempted to cancel the policy by citing his failure to disclose his history of asthma. The company was also ordered to pay Rs 40,000 as compensation.The commission said the wrongful cancellation had been previously settled by the Ombudsman in March 2020. The company, according to the Commission, failed to prove that the non-disclosure of asthma was a suppression of a material fact that would have impacted the risk associated with overseas cancer treatment.The dispute over Bector’s subsequent claim, which amounted to over Rs 88 lakh for his treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Research Centre, was rejected by the insurer on procedural grounds. It was argued that the policy mandated all overseas claims for specified illnesses must be processed via a cashless facility (pre-authorization), not reimbursement.However, the commission rejected this defence. It observed that the insurer’s own wrongful act of cancelling the policy in Dec 2019—even before Bector could obtain pre-authorization—made the cashless option impossible to pursue. The policy was eventually renewed, but the company’s action had already forced Bector to incur expenses and seek reimbursement.Regarding jurisdiction, the company had contended that the claim amount of over Rs 1 crore exceeded the district commission’s limit. The commission clarified that under the Consumer Protection Act, jurisdiction is determined by the value of the consideration paid, which in this case was the cumulative premium amount of less than Rs 50 lakh.Advocate Rohit Lalwani and Sajal Khan, representing the complainant, stated, “The Commission’s order underscores the importance of consistent policy enforcement. Once a cancellation of the policy is declared unjustified, the insurer cannot rely on resulting procedural gaps to deny coverage. While insurers are entitled to enforce policy conditions, such conditions cannot be applied in a manner that is unfair to the Insured Party and is evidently being cited only as a technicality to avoid honouring the claim.“

NEW DELHI: The Congress would have a strong feeling of deja vu about the turn of events in Karnataka. The grand-old-party stares at a political crisis in the state that threatens the very stability of its government. Ironically, while the crisis is in Karnataka, on test is the Congress high command – which has proved to be a bad crisis manager in recent times.The open power tussle between chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar has reached a point of no return, forcing the top leadership into a huddle. Ironically, the seeds of the current crisis were sown two-and-a-half years back – when both the regional stalwarts had staked claim to the CM post – following the party’s emphatic victory over the BJP in the 2023 assembly elections. So the big question is: Has the top Congress leadership failed to act in time, yet again? We have seen similar leadership tussles play out in two states – Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan – where the factionalism between state Congress leaders played a key role in the party eventually losing power. The common thread in all three states has been the Congress leadership’s reluctance to act decisively in the fight between the party’s old guard and the younger leaders.In Madhya Pradesh, when Jyotiraditya Scindia wanted to step into the leadership role, Congress backed veteran heavyweights Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh. This eventually saw the Scindia Junior quitting the party and joining the BJP. Scindia’s revolt brought down the Congress government and in the next assembly elections, Kamal Nath and Digivijay Singh failed miserably to counter the BJP. Today, the Congress in Madhya Pradesh is in doldrums while Scindia is a Union minister.In Rajasthan, when Sachin Pilot, who as state president had led the Congress to emphatic victory in 2018, sought the chief minister’s chair, the party again backed state veteran Ashok Gehlot. Gehlot, who had led the party to defeat in 2013, became the chief minister again and Sachin Pilot and his supporters were left disappointed. When Sachin stepped up his campaign for the top job, Gehlot used his full might to crush the rebellion. Pilot, who camped at a resort with his supporters, was eventually convinced by the Gandhi family to stay with the party. While the party high command bet big on Gehlot, he could not win the state in 2024.Now, we see a similar script play out in Karnataka. Siddramaiah, who was made the chief minister in 2013, led the party to defeat in 2018. DK Shivakumar, as the state Congress president, played a key role in the party’s victory in 2023. But once again, senior leader Siddaramaiah staked claim to the top post and the party eventually went with him. DKS then remained defiant for almost a week before eventually relenting. DKS now claims that there was a secret deal in the know of five-six people about rotating the post of chief minister and wants the Congress high command to ensure that he gets his due. But the Congress high command, as usual, allowed the crisis to blow out of hand. And now, when the factionalism is out in the open, it is trying to broker a truce.The last-minute crisis management may save the Congress government in Karnataka for now, but the open power tussle has the potential to damage the party’s image and perhaps also its electoral prospects. The Congress had managed a historic victory against the BJP in 2023. Instead of consolidating its gains, the party finds itself managing the power play between its state leadership. But then, this is how the Congress high command has worked in recent years. The Congress high command needed to anticipate this crisis in Karnataka and should have worked to find a balance between Siddaramaiah, who is past his prime, and DKS – who is the strongest contender to lead the party forward. Perhaps the Congress leadership needs to be reminded about an old adage: A stitch in time saves nine.It will be interesting to see how the Congress high command wriggles out of this crisis and how much this impacts the party’s prospects in the 2028 assembly elections. Is the grand old party on the verge of losing yet another state?

India’s GDP growth has consistently surprised on the upside in the last few quarters. (AI image)

India’s GDP has grown at a robust 8.2% in the second quarter of the financial year – a number that beats all estimates by economists and even the RBI. The six-quarter high real GDP growth is expected to push up the full year number to above 7%, with India retaining its tag of being the fastest growing major economy in the world.Incidentally, the better-than-expected GDP growth comes at a time when the Indian economy faces external challenges in the form of 50% tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump in late August. Even as hopes of an India-US trade deal are improving, the impact of trade war policies on India’s exports remains uncertain.

India is largely a domestic consumption driven economy and the income tax cuts and sweeping GST rate changes are likely to cushion the impact of external headwinds, while at the same time driving growth upwards for the whole year.Why has the real GDP growth been more than expected and what’s the outlook for the coming quarters? Why are economists pointing to the narrowing gap between nominal and real GDP growth? We explore:

India’s Q2 FY 2025-26 GDP Growth: Top 7 Numbers

What does the better-than-expected GDP data tell us?

India’s GDP growth was led by a sharp increase in manufacturing growth of 9.1% – a multi quarter high. Other sectors on the output side that have done well include financial, real estate et al. services with a robust growth of 10.2% and public administration defence et al. services at 9.7%. For DK Srivastava, Chief Policy Advisor, EY India, India’s economic fundamentals are characterized by three key features.

With these strengths, real GDP has shown a remarkable growth of 8.2%, he tells TOI.“There is a balanced sectoral spread of growth,” notes Srivastava. On the demand side, support to growth came from private final consumption expenditure which grew at 7.9% in 2Q. Gross fixed capital formation also showed a robust growth of 7.3%, largely driven by frontloading of GoI’s capital expenditure. “However, the negative contribution of net exports to GDP growth increased to (-)2.1% points in 2Q as compared to (-)1.4% points in 1Q 2025-26, reflecting the impact of the US tariff related issues and other global uncertainties,” the EY expert adds.Ranen Banerjee, Partner and Leader, Economic Advisory Services Government Sector Leader at PwC India explains that front loading of production for exports, sustained rural demand and government spending as well as a lower deflator owing to much lower inflation has helped the Q2 GDP print exceed consensus estimates.Dipti Deshpande, Principal Economist, Crisil Limited points out that India’s economy exhibited strength, despite the external headwinds. “Private consumption – the biggest driver of India’s GDP – grew above-trend at 7.9% even before GST cuts took effect. Robust rural demand, falling inflation, RBI’s rate cuts and some benefit from income tax relief have likely helped. Both industry and services growth improved in the second quarter, reflecting some impact of export frontloading on exports and supported by domestic macro tailwinds. That said, high real growth was also propped up by statistical factors such as low GDP deflator (due to low inflation), and low base effect (lower growth in the same quarter last year),” she tells TOI.

Why is the gap between nominal & real GDP growth narrowing and what it means

One of the most critical aspects highlighted by economists is nominal GDP growth slowdown, even as real GDP (inflation-adjusted growth) remains strong. Usually, in a developing economy like India, nominal GDP growth is significantly higher than real GDP growth because of inflation. The primary culprit is exceptionally low inflation, particularly in the wholesale sector (Wholesale Price Index or WPI). While low inflation is good for consumers (cheaper goods), a slowdown in nominal GDP poses a headache for the government’s fiscal math:Tax Collections: Taxes are calculated on the nominal value of goods and incomes. If prices aren’t rising, the tax base doesn’t expand as quickly. A nominal growth rate below the Union Budget’s assumption of 10.1% implies the government might collect less tax revenue than anticipated.Fiscal Deficit: The fiscal deficit is often expressed as a percentage of GDP (Nominal). If the denominator (Nominal GDP) grows slower than expected, the deficit ratio appears larger, potentially straining the government’s fiscal targets.The excess of real GDP growth at 8.2% over real GVA growth at 8.1% is limited. The difference between the two is due to the excess of product taxes over product subsidies. The growth in the net magnitude referred to as net-taxes on products fell from 10.3% in the first quarter to 9.5% in the second quarter 2025-26.The low excess of nominal GDP growth at 8.7% over real GDP growth of 8.2%, however, has significant implications particularly for fiscal aggregates. “This difference is due to the low level of GDP deflator-based inflation. For 1H 2025-26, the GDP deflator inflation was low at 0.8%. This low deflator inflation is due to both CPI and WPI inflation rates keeping low at 2.2% and 0.1% respectively in 1H 2025-26,” explains DK Srivastava of EY.“Data released today indicates GoI’s gross tax revenue (GTR) growth of 2.8% in 1H 2025-26 and 4.0% in the first seven months of the fiscal year. For the 1H, the GTR buoyancy is 0.32 as against a budgeted buoyancy assumption of 1.1. To meet the budget target for GTR growth of 12.5% over 2024-25 CGA actuals, a growth of 22.3% would be required in the remaining five months of the current fiscal year,” he adds.PwC’s Ranen Banerjee cautions that the nominal GDP growth being lower poses a challenge to the fiscal consolidation roadmap as the fiscal deficit is computed as a percentage of the nominal GDP.“This reduces the fiscal headroom available to meet the budgeted spending if revenues are not higher. However, given the non-tax revenue numbers are likely to be much higher, it should in all likelihood be able to make up for the shortfall,” he tells TOI.The CRISIL expert notes that the gap between nominal and real GDP growth is the lowest since fiscal 2020’s third quarter. The central government in its budget estimates, had penciled in a nominal GDP growth of 10.1% while computing crucial figures such as fiscal deficit to GDP ratio as well as for assumptions on tax collections for fiscal 2026. A lower nominal GDP growth (the first half saw a growth of 8.8%) could create some challenges.“Government tax collections have already trailed their targeted growth rates. Low nominal growth also affects the debt-GDP metric. However, the windfall from non-tax collections could create some offsets,” she says.

What’s the GDP growth outlook for the coming quarters?

Most economists are of the view that India’s GDP growth for the full fiscal year is likely to exceed 7%, much above RBI and IMF estimates of 6.8% and 6.6% respectively.DK Srivastava expects the annual real GDP growth to exceed 7.2% with a balanced spread of growth drivers both on the output side and on the demand side. “The key drivers will remain manufacturing growth on the output side and private final consumption expenditure on the demand side,” he says.PwC’s Ranen Banerjee also sees the growth momentum sustaining, albeit with some headwinds coming from trade challenges. “The GST reforms and the continued higher disposable incomes owing to income tax relief in the households at the lower end of tax brackets will support the urban demand. With good rainfall and no major adverse climatic event, rural demand will also sustain. Thus, we expect a strong print of the GDP in the second half too,” he says.

GDP Growth: Top Quotes From Experts

Dipti Deshpande of CRISIL expects growth to moderate in the second half of the financial year as statistical benefits from low deflator and base effect fade. She is of the view that unless Indian exporters diversify to other markets, merchandise exports could feel greater pain due to the delay in cementing an India-US trade deal.“Government capex, which was frontloaded this year, is also expected to moderate in the second half as the government targets its fiscal goals. Yet, private consumption should see strength supported by improved purchasing power due to tax relief measures, lower interest rates, strong agriculture incomes and a benign outlook on inflation,” she predicts.CRISIL has raised India’s GDP growth for this fiscal to 7%, up from 6.5%. “This follows a first-half growth of 8% and an expected slowdown to 6.1% in the second half owing to the impact of higher US tariffs and normalisation of government capital expenditure,” explains Dipti.

Will Trump’s 50% tariffs dent India’s growth story?

So far Trump’s 50% tariffs have not been able to significantly dent India’s growth story. As economists explain, there was a frontloading of exports in anticipation of tariffs. Additionally, of the three months that the GDP growth data is for, September is the only full month that saw the 50% tariffs. The impact of the tariffs is expected to be fully known in the coming quarters, if an India-US trade deal remains elusive. But will it be significant?According to Dipti Deshpande, exports are likely to be hit more in the second half if 50% US tariffs persist longer. “Export diversification to non-US markets can help mitigate the impact. While global growth has done better than expected so far, higher US tariffs on-year are likely to moderate growth in all major economies going ahead,” she says.Ramen Banerjee notes that the recently released export numbers show that the exporters have diversified their geographies of export.“With the 3.5% decline in the rupee dollar exchange rate, Indian goods will be more price competitive and that would offset some of the tariff headwinds. Hence, the impact on GDP growth is not expected to be very significant,” he tells TOI.DK Srivastava of EY expects the contribution of net exports to real GDP growth to remain negative and possibly increase in its magnitude. “In 2Q 2025-26, the contribution of net exports was (-)2.1% points rising from (-)1.4% points in 1Q. This impact may continue if there are no downward revisions in the US tariff rates in the near future. However, if a trade arrangement is worked out between the US and India in the near future, this adverse impact may not happen. There is a likelihood of a closure of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the near future which may ease many supply chain bottlenecks,” he says.India’s GDP growth has consistently surprised on the upside in the last few quarters. As it moves on the road to becoming the third largest world economy in nominal GDP terms, its growth story will need to continue being broad-based, while successfully navigating global uncertainties and headwinds.

It’s always a best bet to have that one place in the list that won’t disappoint any kind of traveller in any case. With chill hitting your spine, apple orchards blanketed in white, and cafes serving sizzling momos beside roaring bonfires, are something that will sum up your experience when here. It’s in short India’s quintessential winter escape, where taking a dip in the hot springs at Vashisht, or just sipping thukpa while watching snow pile up on pine roofs, can be your favourite pastime. And if you’re feeling extra adventurous, the road to Rohtang (if open) offers jaw-dropping views.

DEHRADUN: India has released a radically updated seismic zonation map under the new Earthquake Design Code, placing the entire Himalayan arc in a newly introduced highest-risk Zone VI for the first time, and reshaping the country’s understanding of earthquake exposure by showing that 61% of India now lies in moderate to high hazard zones, a shift that redefines how buildings, infrastructure and urban expansion must respond to the persistent tectonic stresses beneath some of the most densely populated regions in the subcontinent.Vineet Gahalaut, director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology and former director of the National Centre for Seismology, said the updated map finally brought much-needed uniformity to the Himalayan belt, which earlier remained split across Zones IV and V despite sharing the same underlying tectonic threat. He said previous versions underestimated the risks posed by long-unruptured fault segments, especially the central Himalayan stretch that has not produced a major surface-rupturing event in almost two centuries. “The earlier zonation did not fully account for the behaviour of these locked segments, which continue to accumulate stress,” he said, adding that the new framework adopted a more scientific, data-driven approach to seismic classification across the region.

The revision marks one of the most significant shifts in India’s seismic hazard assessment in decades because it reclassifies the outer Himalaya as a zone where rupture is likely to propagate southwards until it intersects the Himalayan Frontal Thrust, which in Dehradun region begins near Mohand, a shift that senior scientists told TOI has brought consistency to the entire Himalayan corridor, particularly in areas that earlier saw abrupt changes in hazard levels due to administrative boundaries rather than geological realities. Under the new map, towns situated along any boundary separating two categories will now automatically be placed in the higher-risk zone to ensure that planners and engineers do not rely on outdated assumptions about local hazard.Bureau of Indian Standards, which released the updated zonation as part of the revised Earthquake Design Code, said the map had been built using internationally accepted probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) methods that incorporate detailed data on active faults, the maximum potential magnitude on each fault, the manner in which ground shaking diminishes with distance, the tectonic regime of each region and the lithology underlying various terrains. These inputs replace the earlier approach, which relied heavily on known epicentres and magnitudes of past earthquakes, broad geological features, soil classifications and historical damage surveys, and which often led to zone adjustments around industrial townships or large cities without fully accounting for fault-specific seismic potential.

BIS said the new zonation provides a clearer understanding of the peak ground accelerations that can be expected during future earthquakes and urged that all new structures and infrastructure projects adopt the 2025 version instead of the 2016 map so that safety standards reflect the current assessment of seismic activity. The shift assumes particular importance because nearly three-fourths of India’s population now lives in seismically active areas, and the overall proportion of land falling under moderate to high hazard categories has increased from 59% to 61%.The revised design code introduces sweeping safety requirements for both structural and non-structural elements, with the latter receiving focused attention for the first time because components such as parapets, ceilings, overhead tanks, façade panels, electrical lines, lifts and suspended fixtures frequently fail during earthquakes even when the main structural frame survives. Under the new norms, all heavy non-structural components exceeding 1% of a building’s total weight must be securely anchored and braced to prevent internal collapses that endanger occupants, a requirement that engineers said would significantly reduce avoidable injuries during moderate earthquakes.

For buildings located close to active faults, the code mandates that structural design must consider severe pulse-like ground motions characteristic of near-fault earthquakes, and introduces updated limits relating to displacement, ductility and energy dissipation to prevent catastrophic failures. It also includes new provisions to address liquefaction risks, soil flexibility and site-specific response spectra, ensuring that structural performance reflects the actual behaviour of the ground beneath each development rather than generic assumptions applied across entire districts.The updated norms also tighten performance expectations for critical infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, bridges, pipelines and major public buildings, which must remain functional after a major earthquake to support emergency response and continuity of essential services. Engineers said this requirement aligns India with global best practices that prioritise resilience in essential facilities rather than mere survival of the structural frame.Another major addition to the 2025 map is the introduction of an “exposure window” that accounts for population density, infrastructure concentration and socioeconomic vulnerability using the probabilistic exposure and multi-hazard assessment (PEMA) method. This ensures that seismic zoning captures not just the physical hazard but also the degree of potential impact on communities, especially in urbanising regions where even moderate shaking can trigger widespread disruption due to high occupancy and dense construction.While the Himalayan region witnessed sweeping reclassification under the new map, the southern peninsula saw only minor scientific refinements, with its overall hazard profile remaining broadly unchanged because the tectonic regime there has shown relatively stable behaviour compared with the northern arc.