-Down to Earth If any other cause was responsible for so many deaths and injuries as we see on our roads it would have been a state of emergency Sunita Narain-our colleague and friend-was seriously injured in an accident while cycling yesterday. A car hit her and fled. This cruel act of crime and heartlessness could have shattered our faith in humanity had it not been for the kind act of the...

-The Hindu The prohibition imposed on bicycle riding and use of non-motorised transport in 174 designated roads of Kolkata during most hours of the workday or round-the-clock is undemocratic, environmentally retrograde and out of sync with modern urban transport planning. At a time when global cities are thinking beyond the car and popularising shared bicycle systems, the law enforcement machinery in West Bengal's capital has chosen to go the opposite...

-The Hindu The power of the Bicycles to confer economic and social freedom even in the age of the automobile remains undiminished. Bihar is using it to cut the dropout rate for girls. Bicycles and safe roads are a winning combination. While she was on her way to school one morning, Smriti's bicycle brushed against a speeding truck, and she fell to the ground. After a few stitches on her injured elbow,...

-The Times of India LONDON: London School of Economics' Ideas for Growth conference on Monday hailed the Bihar government's 'Bicycles-to-girls' policy as one that can be imitated globally. Bihar witnessed a 30% increase in school attendance by girls in just one year, thanks to the Bicycles policy. With a high school dropout rate among girls, the state government had rolled out the policy under which every 14-year-old schoolgirl was given money to...

-FirstPost.com It's a daily scene at the busy Gariahat crossing in Kolkata. Traffic is barreling down in all directions. Minibuses make screeching right turns at breakneck speed. The tramline in the middle of the street has been dug up and is a giant crater occupying half the road, marked by corrugated metal walls and little red flags. Taxis and autos dodge buses to try and squeeze by the construction onto a...