Category Center for Work and Welfare

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

Insights, Center for Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies, Center for Human Dignity and Development, Center for Work and Welfare, Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Gender Impact Studies Center, Gender, Pluralism and Social Inclusion, Governance and Law, Livelihoods, Employment and Well-being, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes, Urbanization, Habitat, Transportation and Regional Development

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.

IMPRI Desk
December 31, 2025

Trump, AI and the Global Growth Test of 2026

Insights, Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Center for Work and Welfare, Economy and Infrastructure, Gender Impact Studies Center, Governance and Law, International Relations and Strategic Studies, Livelihoods, Employment and Well-being, Public Finances and Macroeconomics, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes

Earlier this month, Sam Altman of OpenAI declared Code Red at the company: the latest version of its chatbot was underperforming Google’s latest offering, Gemini 3. That panic had one simple explanation: he believes artificial intelligence (AI) to be yet another technology service in which the winner takes all.

TK Arun and TK Arun
December 31, 2025

Who Should Pay to Preserve Urban Commercial Heritage?

Insights, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Center for Work and Welfare, Economy and Infrastructure, Governance and Law, Public Finances and Macroeconomics, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes, Social Sector, Urbanization, Habitat, Transportation and Regional Development

When a sudden rent increase forces a thriving commercial establishment — that has a century-old legacy and is a hallmark of a historic locality — to shut shop, is there any sensible alternative to the mournful death of a chunk of the city’s living tradition?

TK Arun and TK Arun
December 31, 2025

Municipal Insolvency in India: The Missing Link in Urban Governance Reform

Insights, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Center for Work and Welfare, Urbanization, Habitat, Transportation and Regional Development

The proposed Municipal Solvency Act aims to address India's lack of legal clarity on city bankruptcies, ensuring predictable debt resolution and boosting municipal creditworthiness.

IMPRI Desk
December 30, 2025

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

Insights, Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies, Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Center for Work and Welfare, Governance and Law, Public Finances and Macroeconomics, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes

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.

TK Arun and TK Arun
December 30, 2025

Mamdani’s New York Win and Its Global Political Echoes

Insights, Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Center for Work and Welfare, Governance and Law, International Relations and Strategic Studies

Hyperbole aside, Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City is a significant development that will reverberate in US national politics, and find resonance abroad.

Socialists and leftists in Europe have declared validation of their ideology by American voters, and hope to do better in their own countries, states and cities as a result.

TK Arun and TK Arun
December 30, 2025

Did an Ontario TV Ad Jeopardize India’s US Trade Deal?

Insights, Center for Human Dignity and Development, Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Center for Work and Welfare, Economy and Infrastructure, Governance and Law, International Relations and Strategic Studies, Public Finances and Macroeconomics, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes

Has the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, eroded the chances of a trade deal between India and the US, with his apology to the US President over a television spot that a Canadian state government recently ran on US networks? The probability is strong that he has, even if purely inadvertently.

TK Arun and TK Arun
December 30, 2025