-The Times of India Mumbai: Sumit Kulkarni puts on a surgical mask before entering the sprawling Annabhau Sathe Nagar slum in Mankhurd along with his team, equipped with wi-fi enabled tablets and high-resolution cameras, on a sultry afternoon recently. In a maze of narrow passages filled with a nauseating odour, gutter water and muck flow through the tightly-packed shanties. But Kulkarni and his young colleagues trudge along, knocking on every tin shed...

-The Hindu In a sign of change, mothers wage a relentless battle to get their children admission to the seats reserved for the poor in private schools. New Delhi: In her tiny room with a grey refrigerator and a wall-mounted television set, Babita opens up about her dreams. “My children should learn to speak in English,” she says. Two of her children study in private schools, and another in a government school. Private...

-Business Standard Hopes titling of land to create confidence among land owners Mumbai: Maharashtra is in the midst of formulating a land title Bill, to minimise property disputes. This comes in the wake of the legislative Assembly in Rajasthan passing (last week) a legislation with the same aim, on urban land. The city of Pune will see a pilot project. The city is also among the 20 selected by the Centre for...

-The Indian Express Disaster-conscious planning as part of the urban agenda is helping India better prepare for natural calamities. Chennai 2015, Srinagar 2014, Uttarakhand 2013, Mumbai 2005. These disastrous floods remind us that without proper planning, unusually heavy rains in densely populated areas can brew a deadly cocktail for disaster. The issue is not just India’s alone. In our rapidly urbanising world, making towns and cities safer is emerging as one...

-The Indian Express Incidentally, the DPCC report claimed that “trends” showed that levels of PM10 and PM2.5 in the city were “decreasing”. New Delhi: A senior scientist with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) told the Delhi High Court Thursday that pollution levels in the city will never come down to “safe limits” because of its “geographical disadvantage”. Dr M P George of the DPCC told the bench of Justices Badar Durrez...