Social hierarchies and realities largely determine road crash outcomes. The severity of their impact  is disproportionately borne by the poor, and it puts them at a further disadvantage. 

Heat waves have not received as much attention as other climate risks, but more cities now confront their toll. New mechanisms for governance and financing will also be needed.

Thirty five kilometers of mass transit are about to be added to Mumbai Metro. Applying an economic development lens would help in the planning of areas around these upcoming lines.

Data governance in India is evolving. Against that background, what are the potential benefits and risks of the proposal by the Election Commission to link voter IDs to Aadhaar numbers?

A new book by the World Bank urges all cities to implement explicit food policies to foster reliable, inclusive, competitive and healthy food systems aligned with their aspirations and challenges.

There is rising interest in public policy, but much of the focus so far has been on the 'policy' part. But it is even more important to understand the 'public' part of this phrase.

The energy-mobility landscape is transitioning to renewables and electric vehicles. But public finances are highly reliant on the fossil fuels economy. Excerpts from a discussion of the challenges this poses.

We cannot build a city for athletic young people and motor vehicles alone. Affirmative action for non-motoridsed transport is needed to set a clear course for an inclusive and practical imagination of our cities.

High Courts in India face case-loads that keep growing, alongside their responsibilities to oversee lower courts. The much-needed reforms to fix this have themselves been pending for too long.

Electricity regulators have been effective in instituting online facilities to conduct hearings remotely. With more steps, virtual processes could improve participation in normal times too.

The new science and technology policy joins its predecessors in presenting a wish-list for the country, but equally it also mimics the old policies in failing to detail how these wishes will come true.

The distribution of LPG to rural households is far from satisfactory. A comprehensive review of the performance and accountability of different institutions in the supply chain is needed.

The social responsibility of companies is a lot more than a CSR program. It is also more than a mere Human Resources tool for employers to improve relations with employees.

Despite their significant contribution to agriculture in India, women are not given their due recognition as farmers. There are some key steps that can be taken to correct this.

NFHS data on nutrition and gender parity show worsening trends in recent years. Unless the norms that underpin discrimination are addressed, the risk of regressing can never be overcome.

The large metropolitan areas of the country are continuing to grow. But why, and is this the same thing as sprawl? A recent position paper from the IDFC Institute delves into the data, and discusses the challenges thrown up by India's urban expansion.

The Aravali hills were used to nature's erosion, but the assault on them by those eyeing its rich resources was something else. Will the Supreme Court's recent intervention halt this?

A research paper published by Brookings India argues that while rising investment from China helps correct a lopsided trade relationship, the Indian government should also proactively safeguard security and privacy interests.

Start-ups and technology wizards put together the largest ever tele-medicine effort to fight Covid-19. India must use this start to create a National Health Digital Core, says Ramesh Menon.

The future survival of wild tigers depends not only on increasing their population size, but also on ensuring that fragmented populations are genetically 'connected' with each other, writes Abheeshta Rao.

Victims of domestic violence are trapped at home with their abusers, and the government is pre-occupied with the pandemic. Social workers continue to help, but their jobs are harder too in the circumstances.

In the past, the framework for assessing the environmental impact of projects merely facilitated them getting started. Revisions proposed recently don't contain any evidence of a new course either.

The Working Peoples' Charter on Coronavirus Crisis in India lists a number of steps necessary to ensure that the likely disruption to the lives and livelihoods of millions of vulnerable people is thoughtfully addressed.

In a squeeze between dwindling freight revenues and large subsidies to its passengers, Indian Railways has very little room for wriggle. But the fare hike on 1 January 2020 is only a small step, and will not by itself set things right.

The government proposes to replace a number of laws protecting the social security of workers with a single Code. But could its vast scope itself make it vulnerable to the details in fine print?

Is India likely to hit the ambitious targets set for the growth of renewable power generation? A compilation of data from different sources by the Prayas Energy Group shows what's working well and where greater efforts are needed.

Given the changing landscape of energy production and consumption in the country, splitting Coal India into smaller entities can only be successful if a number of other steps are also taken, according to a recent Brookings Institution report.

Observations from a recent study of the Bengaluru Rural Courts point to a sad reality - that many of the most basic and foundational things needed for efficient delivery of justice are missing.

Success in one initiative to strengthen public schooling can help reach some goals of other initiatives too. The Bal Sansad program in Uttar Pradesh shows how focusing on hygiene is improving attendance too.

Girish Karnad's clear-eyed, unsentimental and even self-deprecatory view of the city seems rare in the Indian narrative imagination, which continues to nurse the notion of ‘the village innocent’ vs ‘the city corrupt’.

A vocal community demanding its health rights through greater participation local governance is the key to long term change, and this may be finally starting to happen in a few places.

Left to fend for themselves while their men look for work elsewhere, poor women find themselves trapped between the quackery of the limited medical attention and the social binds of their families.