Category Governance and Law

Beyond Access: Gender, Intersectionality, and the Law of Averages in Urban Public Services

Insights, Center for Human Dignity and Development, Center for Work and Welfare, Gender Impact Studies Center, Gender, Pluralism and Social Inclusion, Governance and Law, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes, Society, Literature, Arts, Sports and Culture

Indian cities are often celebrated as engines of growth and opportunity, driven by expanding infrastructure and ambitious urban development projects. However, it can be noticed that access to public spaces and essential services is not experienced uniformly across social groups in such urban dwellings. This article reflects on a research journey that examines gendered inequalities in urban public spaces and services.

IMPRI Desk
December 29, 2025

Public Spaces, Private Burdens: Women’s Access to Urban Infrastructure in India

Insights, Center for Human Dignity and Development, Center for Work and Welfare, Gender Impact Studies Center, Gender, Pluralism and Social Inclusion, Governance and Law, Livelihoods, Employment and Well-being, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes, Social Sector

Indian urban policy increasingly frames cities as inclusive, liveable, and gender-sensitive. Yet, this narrative collapses under scrutiny. Women’s everyday engagement with cities reveals a fundamental contradiction: while urban infrastructure is publicly funded and collectively justified, its design failures are privately absorbed by women’s bodies, time, safety, and unpaid labour. The Indian city does not merely exclude women incidentally; it is structured around assumptions that systematically marginalize them as legitimate users of public space.

IMPRI Desk
December 29, 2025

Reconsidering the Impact: Why the Swiss Court’s AT1 Ruling Has Limited Relevance for the YES Bank Case

Insights, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Economy and Infrastructure, Governance and Law, Public Finances and Macroeconomics

A ruling by the Swiss Federal Administrative Court on October 14, holding as illegal the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority’s decision to write down Credit Suisse’s Additional Tier 1 bonds, as part of the state-directed merger of troubled Credit Suisse into rival banking giant UBS, has revived hopes in India for those pursuing a case in the Supreme Court against the similar writing down of AT1 bonds issued by Yes Bank, as part of its salvage operation. Their optimism is misplaced.

IMPRI Desk and TK Arun
December 19, 2025

The Uncounted Loss: How Bihar’s Fate Was Sealed Before Polling Day

Insights, Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies, Center for Human Dignity and Development, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Center for Work and Welfare, Gender Impact Studies Center, Gender, Pluralism and Social Inclusion, Governance and Law, Livelihoods, Employment and Well-being, Public Finances and Macroeconomics, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes, South Asia Studies Center, Urbanization, Habitat, Transportation and Regional Development

The Bihar results were out even before polling began: Bihar has lost, whoever the victor in the Assembly elections. With well over one crore women being paid Rs 10,000 crore by the incumbent government, supposedly for self-employment ventures, and promises of future fiscal support for such enterprises, the political economy of state handouts had been entrenched before polling began.

IMPRI Desk and TK Arun
December 19, 2025

Department of Legal Affairs, India – Policy Update 2025

Policy Update, Governance and Law, Insights, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes

Policy UpdateBavleen Background The Department of Legal Affairs (DLA), a key branch of the Ministry of Law & Justice, provides legal advice to the Union Government, manages central litigation, oversees notarial administration, and coordinates international legal assistance. Its mandate rooted…

IMPRI Desk
December 15, 2025

The Economy of Influence: Grand Bribery and the Bihar Election Results

Insights, Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Center for Work and Welfare, Economy and Infrastructure, Governance and Law, Livelihoods, Employment and Well-being, Public Finances and Macroeconomics, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes, Urbanization, Habitat, Transportation and Regional Development

The Bihar results are astounding, with National Democratic Alliance (NDA) sweeping an unprecedented 202 seats (83%) out of 243. Political analysts and correspondents covering the elections have proved to be utterly wrong. Most of them expected it to be a close fight.

IMPRI Desk and Arun Kumar
December 13, 2025

What’s Behind the Taliban Foreign Minister’s India Visit?

Insights, Center for Human Dignity and Development, Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies, Center for the Study for Finance and Economics, Governance and Law, International Relations and Strategic Studies, Public Policies, Programs and Schemes

The Acting Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi, will be traveling to New Delhi between October 9-16, after having received a waiver from the UNSC sanctions committee. His previous bid to secure the waiver back in September was not successful. During his visit, he is expected to meet the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and will arrive in New Delhi after having participated in the Moscow Format Dialogue in Russia.

Harsh V Pant and IMPRI Desk
December 9, 2025