Category Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies

Air

The Air That Betrayed Me: A Personal Reckoning with Delhi’s Toxicity

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Across the US and Europe, white ribbons mark solidarity with patients, caregivers, advocates and doctors. In India, silence reigns, even though 93 of the world’s 100 most polluted cities are here, and here, lung cancer is rising alarmingly among non-smokers, especially young women.

Nearly one in three lung cancer patients in India today has never smoked, and doctors are seeing women in their late 20s and 30s being diagnosed with advanced disease.

This is not a smoker’s disease anymore — it is a breather’s disease, driven by toxic air and environmental exposures.

Vajpayee

Vajpayee: The Gentle Architect of Modern India

I have a vivid memory of a gleeful and beaming laugh of the great statesman and leader, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was born on this day in 1924 in Gwalior. An affable personality, Vajpayee would express his love for Mithila’s Rohu and his appreciation for Maithili language.

Copy of Insights 1 6

Cities Under Siege:Centralised Power and the Erosion of Urban Voice

On a humid August morning, Washington DC awoke to the sight of National Guard convoys rumbling through its avenues. United States President Donald Trump had invoked a rarely used clause of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, taking direct control of the capital’s police and declaring a ‘crime emergency’.

Renewable

India’s Renewable Push: The Perils of Taking Shortcuts

The Adani group is entering the battery energy storage system business, with an initial planned capacity of 1.126GW of power, capable of delivering that power for around three hours. This solves two kinds of problems, but creates two larger ones, of supply-chain dependence on China and significant indirect emissions of the kind green energy is supposed to avoid.

NDA

Bihar Boost for NDA, Cautious Optimism on US Trade Deal

Bihar has presented the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in charge at the Centre a sterling electoral victory. Nitish Kumar has been sworn in as chief minister for the 10th time.

The fact that the NDA has won all, save two, state assembly elections held since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections serves, in the eyes of many, to shake off doubts about the stability of the ruling coalition created by the BJP’s failure to secure a simple majority, leave alone the two-thirds majority it had been seeking.

Presidential

Presidential Reference: Why the Supreme Court’s Response Falls Short

The Supreme Court’s reply to the Presidential reference is a big letdown. The Constitution Bench’s task was to ascertain if the Court can prescribe timelines for Governors and the President to decide on a Bill that comes up before them, and whether the conduct of Governors and the President is justiciable.

Unions

It’s Time for Unions to Work the Talk

The four labour codes long in the making have finally been notified. The good thing is that a legal framework now exists for a company inclined to provide social security for the gig workers it employs to actually provide it. Uber, for example, says it has been waiting for such a legal framework. Any labour law is only as good as its enforcement. Where workers and their unions are strong enough to compel enforcement, laws are complied with.

Talk to Us