Category : In Region

Dr. Guglielmo Zappalà on How Pakistan’s Floods Are Shaping Farmers’ Decisions

Oct 29, 2026 | Climate, Faculty, In Region, News, Pakistan

Dr. Guglielmo Zappalà, a Harvard University Environmental Fellow, is investigating how climate change is reshaping agricultural livelihoods in Pakistan. Building on a 2024 survey of more than 2,000 farmers in Punjab, his latest research —which earned a 2026 Mittal Institute faculty climate research grant—examines how the devastating 2025 floods have influenced farmers’ perceptions of risk, their interest in crop insurance, and the decisions they make to adapt to a changing climate. We asked him about the project, what he hopes to learn, and how the findings could inform future climate adaptation policies.

Dr. Mir Sumira, Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Fellow, on Mapping Climate Resilience in the Indian Himalayas

Oct 27, 2026 | Climate, Fellows, India, News

Dr. Mir Sumira is a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University’s Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, where she studies disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, and sustainable development, with a focus on vulnerable mountain regions. Her current research uses geospatial technologies to develop a GIS-based Digital Land Resilience Model (DLRM) to help assess climate risks and land resilience in rapidly growing metropolitan areas of the Indian Himalayas. In this Q&A, Sumira discusses her research, how the model works, and how it could help Himalayan cities better understand climate-related risks and plan for a more resilient future.

From Jalgaon to Harvard: Meet Ritesh Deokar, MPP ’26, Harvard Kennedy School

Oct 27, 2026 | India, News, Students

Growing up in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India, Ritesh Deokar never imagined he would one day study at Harvard. After building a career in public service and development, he came to Harvard Kennedy School to deepen his understanding of public policy, graduating this past spring with a Master in Public Policy (MPP) degree. In this Q&A, he reflects on his journey from India to Harvard and how the experience has shaped his approach to policymaking and his hopes for India’s future.

From a Fleet to a Way of Seeing: What e-Rehri Taught Us About Designing the City

Oct 27, 2026 | In Region, India, News

In 2022, Electric Rehri (or e-Rehri for short) was named a winner of the Mittal Institute’s Seed for Change competition for its work to make street vending more sustainable and affordable. The project retrofits traditional Indian street carts with electric vehicle technology, helping vendors transport fresh produce more efficiently while reducing emissions. Since receiving the grant, e-Rehri has moved from an initial prototype to the deployment of a fleet of electric carts in Chandigarh, India. Founded by Gauri Nagpal, a 2023 graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design and current doctoral candidate at Cornell University, the initiative demonstrates how community-driven ideas can lead to practical solutions that support local livelihoods and advance sustainable urban mobility. Below, Nagpal reflects on the project’s journey, its progress to date, and what comes next for e-Rehri.

The Mittal Institute Presents the 2025-26 Year in Review Report

Oct 7, 2026 | Afghanistan, Announcements, Arts Program, Associates, Bangladesh, Faculty, Fellows, In Region, India, Myanmar, Nepal, News, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Students

The Mittal Institute is excited to announce the release of the 2025–26 Year in Review report. As every year, the comprehensive Year in Review Report includes updates on all major faculty-led programs, lists awards and fellowships, highlights the work of students, student organizations, and scholars, and summarizes events and other achievements. The report offers valuable insights into the institute’s mission of connecting Harvard and South Asia.

Mukulika Banerjee: Lessons in Democracy from an Indian Village

Sep 29, 2026 | India, News

What can life in an Indian village teach us about democracy? In the upcoming Oct 14 talk, “Why Democracy Needs Cultivation: Lessons from an Indian Village”, Professor Mukulika Banerjee of the London School of Economics and Political Science draws on more than 20 years of ethnographic research to explore the connections between democracy, citizenship, farming, and everyday village life. Professor Banerjee’s research focuses on democracy, elections, citizenship, and political life in South Asia. She is the author of Cultivating Democracy: Politics and Citizenship in Agrarian India and Why India Votes?, and her work offers a close look at how democratic practices take shape in the everyday lives of citizens. We spoke with her about her research ahead of the talk, which is co-sponsored by the Mittal Institute and the Asia Center at Harvard University.

Reclaiming Indigenous Histories Through Art: Artree Nepal at the Mittal Institute

Sep 29, 2026 | Arts Program, Nepal, News

This week, we welcomed Artree Nepal, an Indigenous artists’ collective, to the Mittal Institute for a conversation about art, identity, and Indigenous cultures in Nepal. The collective brings together five artists from different Indigenous communities: Lavkant Chaudhary (Tharu), Mekh Limbu (Limbu), Subas Tamang (Tamang), Hit Man Gurung (Gurung), and Sheelasha Rajbhandari (Newa). The artists spoke about what motivates their work and their efforts to explore and reclaim Indigenous histories, knowledge, and cultural practices through contemporary art. They also shared their work on Tikā Chedna Angana, or “A Garden of Body Markings,” which explores traditional body-marking practices, including tikā, leela, and godana, and their significance for Indigenous communities, particularly women. The conversation offered a fascinating glimpse into Nepal’s rich cultural diversity and the ways artists are using creative practice to keep cultural knowledge and traditions alive while reimagining them for new generations.

Union Health Secretary of India at Harvard

Sep 24, 2026 | India, News

The Mittal Institute co-hosted a conversation with Punya Salila Srivastava, IAS, Union Health Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, hosted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, on major developments in public health in India. Secretary Srivastava provided an overview of India’s healthcare landscape and recent progress, including reductions in maternal mortality and progress toward Universal Health Coverage. Drawing on examples from across India’s health system, she highlighted efforts to leverage technology to improve health outcomes, strengthen pandemic preparedness, expand access to affordable care, and engage communities in advancing health programs.

Dr. Animesh Bag, Raghunathan Fellow, on Race, Migration, and the Power of Print

Sep 22, 2026 | Fellows, India, News

Dr. Animesh Bag, the Mittal Institute’s Raghunathan Family Fellow, is exploring how American print culture shaped perceptions of India and Indian immigrants in the early twentieth century. He is working with Prof. Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Harvard University Department of History. Dr. Bag’s research examines newspapers, magazines, missionary publications, and revolutionary writings to trace how ideas about race, immigration, and belonging were produced and challenged across borders. We spoke with Bag about what brought him to this research, what he is uncovering in the archives, and what these histories can tell us about race, migration, and representation today.

From Chile to Kerala: Exploring Fragmented Citizenship

Sep 22, 2026 | India, News, Students

As a Mittal Institute student grant recipient, Tara Hein, a PhD student at Harvard, spent summer 2026 in Kerala, India, conducting research for her project, “Seeing like a Citizen: Fragmented Citizenship in Santiago, Chile and Kerala, India.” Her research explores how people’s experiences with the state—particularly when government services and institutions are highly visible but unevenly delivered—shape how they understand and engage with citizenship. Building on interviews conducted in Santiago, Chile, she traveled to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram to further develop her research through interviews with residents in Kerala. She shares more about her summer in her grant report.

Dr. Md Mafizur Rahman, Mittal Family Climate Fellow, on Exploring Climate Governance in Bangladesh

Sep 21, 2026 | Bangladesh, Fellows, News

With a background in Public Administration and climate governance, Dr. Md Mafizur Rahman is examining how policies and institutions shape responses to climate change in Bangladesh. As a Mittal Family Climate Fellow at the Mittal Institute, he is working with Prof. Dustin Tingley, Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Government, to explore these questions. Dr. Rahman brings together perspectives from political ecology and environmental justice to better understand how climate policies affect different communities and connect questions of governance to the lived realities of people experiencing environmental change. We spoke with him about his work and his hopes for his Harvard fellowship.

Prof. Rahul Mehrotra’s Work on View in Mumbai and Kabul

Sep 20, 2026 | Afghanistan, India, News, Students

From Mumbai to Kabul, Rahul Mehrotra, Mittal Institute steering committee member and the John T. Dunlop Professor in Housing and Urbanization at Harvard GSD, showcased two sides of his work this summer. “Contextures” at TARQ in Mumbai explores the work of RMA Architects, while “The Architectures of Transition” in Kabul highlights 41 emerging architecture practices across South Asia and asks how architecture can respond to a region in transition.