Centre for Urban Studies

March 2, 2020

Kochi: Onus on civic body to ensure quality of water , say experts

CPPR Chairman, Dr D Dhanuraj comments in a news article published in the The Times of India. He says “Citizens are entitled to safe drinking water. Corporation’s health squads have the power to check the documents produced by the truck […]
February 21, 2020

‘Green corridor’ to boost seamless commute

The 2.5-km-long ‘green corridor’ proposed between Ernakulam Town (North) and Junction (South) railway stations is expected to augment seamless integration between different commuting modes, with its promoter agencies set to brainstorm this week on directly linking it with the KSRTC […]
February 18, 2020

Officials take foot off pedal; buses keep doors open

CPPR Chairman Dr D Dhanuraj comments in a article published in The New Indian Express. He says government should help in modernising the vehicles by giving a subsidy, thereby promoting public transport. A dedicated lane for private buses and scientific designing […]
February 18, 2020

AAP’s victory makes a case for a strong city-state in India

The resounding victory of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi polls has engendered various debates among political circles as well as the citizenry. While the opposition parties have to learn a lot from the way the Arvind Kejriwal-led […]
February 15, 2020

India needs a relook at the restrictive regulatory environment for education

Last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an allocation of Rs 99,300 crore for the education sector in her presentation of the Union Budget for the upcoming financial year 2020-2021 – a 5% increase from the last financial year. Of […]
February 14, 2020

Is the bullet train a priority?

The bullet trains and the high-speed trains are in the news for the last few weeks. After taking charge as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray announced that the bullet train project worth Rs 1 lakh-crore investment, connecting Ahmedabad […]
February 12, 2020

Electric vehicles fail to get traction in Kochi

CPPR Chairman Dr D Dhanuraj comments in a published in The New Indian Express on Electric vehicles. As going sustainable becomes the mantra, electric vehicles become the future. While everyone, from governments to NGOs, bats for e-vehicles, the latest being […]
February 12, 2020

A balanced budget that spins on KIIFB axis

Preparing a budget that caters to the interests of all sections of people at the time of economic slowdown is difficult, especially when there is fiscal stress on the state’s economy. As one can find neither cooperative federalism nor federalism […]
February 11, 2020

Why residents in these Kochi suburbs find it challenging to depend on public transport

CPPR Chairman Dr D Dhanuraj comments in a article published in The News Minute. The article is part of it’s series of stories on the state of public buses across south Indian cities. Kochi is the largest and most populous […]
February 10, 2020

India’s plan to develop smart cities in PPP mode needs more clarity

In the recent Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government is proposing to develop five new smart cities in collaboration with states in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. But, there is a question mark on the ‘public’ involvement […]
February 7, 2020

KMRL invites Kochiites to join #PublicTransportDay

Kerala is on the go-green bandwagon since the new year. In tune with the plastic ban for a better tomorrow, Kochi Metro Rail Limited has strengthened its #PublicTransportDay initiative. The green metro is now observing Fridays as the day for […]
February 7, 2020

District authorities bank on residents, eye better ranking

CPPR Chairman Dr D Dhanuraj comments in a article published in The Times of India on Citizen perception survey for the next edition of Ease of Living index which is underway in Kochi. He says that we should not take such surveys […]
February 4, 2020

Minimum 240-day foreign stay norm ruffles NRI businessmen’s nerves

Nissy Solomon, Senior Research Associate, CPPR-Centre for Comparative Studies, comments in a article published in The New Indian Express on the implications of the budget on NRI tax. She comments, the amendment aims at those who move to countries of […]
February 3, 2020

Repair at the cost of India’s fiscal health?

Budget 2020, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, attempted to set an optimistic tone for reversing the economic slowdown. It offered something for everyone. However, the Budget had misaligned economic priorities where supply-side was yet again given a push. The […]
February 3, 2020

Budget 2020 ticked infra boxes, but missed some too

Neethu Nair and Aiswarya Krishnan The Union finance minister in her Budget speech reiterated the government’s commitment to Rs 103 lakh-crore of investment for the infrastructure sector, as underlined in the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). Earlier, the Economic Survey 2019-20 […]