India, Jan. 1 -- The new year begins with most of northern India under a blanket of noxious smog that has endangered the lives of millions of people, qualifying it as among the foremost public health emergencies for the republic. Most Indian cities now have long stretches of bad air, and smaller towns often have worse pollution and a non-existent monitoring framework. The crisis has failed to break the glass ceiling of petty blame games and political posturing. Bad air is bad for the country, for public health, for the economy, and for national image. No country can hope to be developed when many of its citizens cannot step out due to hazardous pollution. 2026 will need to be the year when the political leadership will have to show just that - leadership - and authorities such as the Commission for Air Quality Management move beyond myopic bureaucratic tinkering to long-term, data-backed and scientific policy-making that brings tangible results. This year, the census process will begin after 15 years. It will be the first national enumeration since Independence to count all castes, an exercise that will need to be deliberative and scientific, shorn of political rhetoric. The census will also officially confirm India's position as the most populous nation in the world - a tag that will bring responsibilities of managing questions of elderly care and social protection, gainful employment for young people, anxieties due to lopsided economic development, migration and protectionism. The census will also be the precursor for two fractious processes - the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats and the women's reservation Act to be implemented after that - that will require political bridge-building, statesmanship and public consultations to maintain the delicate federal balance. India will likely achieve a major internal security milestone with the eradication of Left-wing extremism. It will continue to fight the scourge of terror and cross-border terrorism after the successes of Operation Sindoor. It will hope to continue being a bright spot on the global economic map, a goal complicated by US tariffs and the vagaries of global geopolitics that turn more turbulent each year. India will need to employ its strategic nous to navigate an uncertain world, grappling with the climate crisis, tensions rising out of caste and communal divisions, and five significant assembly elections. These challenges are daunting, but they are not insurmountable. Let 2026 be the year of the ordinary Indian, whose unsung but zealous dedication to her constitutional rights is the foundation of the world's largest democracy....