-The Business Standard Intrastate inequality can only be corrected through reform of budgetary allocation formulae between districts within states The hoopla surrounding election results in India is reminiscent of nothing so much as a horse race ("...and X romps home the winner!"). The difference is that for the horse and its handlers, the work is done when the race is over. For the winners in the recent round of state elections,...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: Its trams might be the slowest mode of commuting, but when it comes to public transport, Kolkata is regarded the most progressive city in the country, according to a new study. The study of 84 cities across the world titled 'Future of Urban Mobility 2.0', ranks Kolkata at 31-highest among the six cities studied in India. While Mumbai (41) comes second, Chennai (54) comes third followed by...

-Economic and Political Weekly Knowing full well that the private motor car is more a bane than a boon in terms of the various costs it entails, the time for policymakers in India to encourage greater use of public transport and non-motorised modes is past. Illustrating the politics of privileging car users over the vast majority that uses public transport like buses, this paper points to the vicissitudes the bus rapid...

-Economic and Political Weekly There is overwhelming evidence to show that capital-intensive metro rail systems serve only a small proportion of the total trips in cities in developing countries such as India. Public-private partnerships have not been very successful, and the Delhi Metro, which is considered to be the most successful project despite falling far short of its projected number of users, enjoys numerous tax benefits not offered to the bus...

-Economic and Political Weekly   Among all countries, India has the highest number of deaths due to road traffic-related accidents. Road accidents are the sixth leading cause of death in the country, and there were nearly 1,40,000 deaths from road accidents in 2012. Despite being a major public health issue that affects the most vulnerable and also the most productive sections of society, road safety has not received the attention it deserves....