India is witnessing one of the major demographic transitions in the world, marked by ongoing rapid urbanization and an upward trajectory. This transformation places a significant pressure on the country's existing infrastructure systems. India’s urban population saw a rapid rise between 2001 to 2011, surging from 286.1 million to 377.1 million. It is estimated that by 2031, India will have approximately 600 million urban residents.
Healthcare is one of the most fundamental and crucial industries of the economy of any country, including ours. However, it is confronted by a huge problem. Its markets don't offer an equitable and efficient distribution of resources. This inefficiency is a critical concern for public policy. The healthcare sector represents an example of "market failure" where allocation of resources is inefficient.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…