The story so far: India continues to narrate its urban future through the loud vocabulary of megacities. But a quieter and far more consequential transformation is unfolding. Of India’s nearly 9,000 census and statutory towns, barely 500 qualify as large cities. The overwhelming majority are small towns, with populations below 1,00,000. This proliferation of small towns is a structural product of India’s capitalist development — and of its crisis.
The government should have referred the Bill to a parliamentary committee to iron out differences, instead of using its legislative majority to pass it as introduced.
TK Arun Washington’s intervention undermines sovereignty norms, destabilises Latin America, weakens Europe’s moral case on Ukraine; it’s high time India spoke up Watch out, Denmark and Greenland! Imperialism rides again! That might have sounded facetious or as an exaggeration till…
The coming year will be moulded by the continuing unilateral efforts by the Trump administration to register reasonably robust growth, as projected — two per cent is reasonable growth for a $31 trillion economy — but the Chinese economy is likely to grow faster than most official projections, and register a growth rate of five per cent or more. India’s growth is likely to gasp for breath in 2026, and not just because of air pollution, although the release of a new series of GDP numbers could flatter to deceive.
When the Bank of Japan raises its policy rate to 0.75%, that unsettles global finance, accustomed as the world is to borrowing ultra-cheap in yen and investing in assets denominated in other currencies, the yields in whose economies are significantly higher than in Japan.
The IMPRI Center for Human Dignity and Development,IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, hosted an interactive panel discussion on "Population, Health, and Union Budget 2026-27" as part of IMPRI's 7th Annual Series of Thematic Deliberations and Analysis of the Union Budget 2026-27. The meeting brought together specialists, frontline workers, and academics to examine the budget numbers and their impact on India's health services, the ageing population, and wider human development.
Urban water shortages coexist with luxury swimming pools. Air purifiers buzz inside gated towers while pollution chokes the public realm outside. Climate extremes hit hardest those who contribute the least to the problem.