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Friday, March 13, 2026
TopicUrban local bodies

Topic: Urban local bodies

Municipal bonds exist. India still won’t let cities use them

Only 19 out of 269 municipal corporations have issued bonds since SEBI guidelines were released in 2015. This represents less than 1% of total outstanding public-sector debt.

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.

Lesson from the pandemic: Empowering local bodies is a priority to improve public health

The 74th CAA needs to be overhauled so that it is not rendered ineffective by state municipal acts. Empowering Urban Local Bodies can save many lives.

On Camera

Prada learnt its lesson. Where are ‘humara culture’ Indians on Ralph Lauren’s jhumka?

The problem, dear Ralph Lauren, is not your use of the jhumka, but your dismissal of its history. The list of stolen items is too vast to fight, but we haven't given up on acknowledgement.

Floundering PM Internship Scheme used less than 1% of Rs 10,831 crore set aside for it in FY25-26

The Standing Committee on Finance tabled its report on Demands for Grants (2026-27) in the Lok Sabha Thursday.

India-Bangladesh relations on track—After military intel chief’s visit, envoy goes to Army War College

In a first during his tenure as High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah addressed JOCAP consisting of tri-forces officers, as New Delhi & Dhaka step up normalisation efforts.

Trump brings the Age of Humiliation for friends. Modi needs stoicism abroad, humility at home

Trump has ushered in the age of humiliation. His method is to push around America’s friends rudely and publicly. He knows none of them can afford to fight back.