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Thursday, January 8, 2026
TopicUrban local bodies

Topic: Urban local bodies

India’s climate war is missing its first responders—urban local bodies

The private sector stays out of climate resilience funding because projects lack revenue models, bankability, and local data. But empowered Urban Local Bodies can unlock that.

Who is really running Nagpur & Mumbai? Influencers, proxy corporators, not civic council

Over 60% of Indian cities are left ‘orphaned’ without elected urban governments. Citizen groups, civic influencers, and informal ‘nagarsevaks’ are filling the gaps in Mumbai and Nagpur.

Kerala’s local self-governance app K-SMART set to go rural. Now, ‘know your land’, file mass petition

The upgraded version of the portal will be launched in over 1,000 local bodies of state. It was initially launched last year in 93 urban local bodies.

Over 30 yrs after 74th Amendment, CAG flags ‘weak compliance’ with law empowering urban local bodies

CAG found while 17 of 18 functions were devolved to urban local bodies by 74th Amendment, just 4 were ‘effectively devolved with complete autonomy’.

Rajasthan BJP may not be ready for a contest yet. ‘1 state, 1 election’ push to delay local polls

Following general election setback & several challenges, BJP govt needs to buy time to show its work before facing polls, say party functionaries.

Only 10% of PPP projects in India are in urban areas. Blame poor planning & low tax collections

According to India Infrastructure Report 2023, Gujarat ranks 1st with 33 Public Private Partnership projects in urban areas, followed by Uttar Pradesh & Maharashtra.

Municipal bonds not a hit among urban local bodies, low creditworthiness a big hurdle — infra report

Other factors include easy availability of govt funds, lack of political will to improve service delivery & systemic absence of timely audits, says India Infrastructure Report 2023

How Centre’s ‘Aaina’ portal could help 4,700+ urban local bodies take long, hard look in the mirror

Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs is crafting a single portal to aggregate data from ULBs, spanning domains like planning, finance, & citizen services, to improve their functioning.

On Camera

How artificial intelligence is reshaping terrorism and state security risks

Terrorist groups are increasingly using AI for propaganda, recruitment and attacks, forcing states to rethink security strategies.

2025 marked key point in India’s power sector: Clean energy surge pushed coal power into rare decline

Coal-based power generation fell 3% in 2025 while renewable capacity surged to 40% of India’s installed power mix, according to India Power Sector Review 2025 by CREA.

Bangladesh-Pakistan look to expand ties to defence procurement as Dhaka shows ‘interest’ in JF-17s

Pakistan military said it has assured Bangladesh of fast-tracked delivery of Super Mushshak trainer aircraft during high level defence meet held Tuesday.

A year-end Mea Culpa in National Interest—The Army-Islam combo doesn’t kill democracy

Many of you might think I got something so wrong in National Interest pieces written this year. I might disagree! But some deserve a Mea Culpa. I’d deal with the most recent this week.