How Green Is My City:  One of the first big projects Modi launched after he swept into power was the Swachh Bharat Mission. Swept is the operative word here; remember that photograph of Modi wielding a broom? Meanwhile, work was also on to begin an ambitious smart cities project, where 100 cities were identified as potential “smart cities”. Assistant editor Debabrata Das says unless the government manages to set its urban development bodies straight, smart cities will be a pipe dream. From scientists to policy experts, the consensus was that government needs to give urban development bodies far greater funding and autonomy to make cities sustainable and liveable. As an offshoot to this, senior sub-editor Tania Kishore Jaleel explores the biggest problem in cities today: waste management. The problem of garbage all around was something Modi spoke of when introducing Swachh Bharat, but many brooms later, it has not been resolved. Scientists, bureaucrats, and politicians weigh in to suggest answers to the growing problem of waste management in cities. Deputy editor Ashish Gupta says that led by the likes of Honeywell, ABB, and Bosch, companies are working on connected planes and buses, sustainable public transportation systems, and more. Read about his brush with the worst of urban transportation on page 52.

Budget Report Card: Coverage of the budget has always been restricted to the few days following the actual announcement. It’s a time when all publications simply analyse the provisions of the budget and get experts to do the same. If there has been an analysis of the impact of the budget, it has been a year later, as a run-up to the next budget. We have decided to break that cycle and do a quarterly review to see if the government is on track. We will look at specific provisions of the budget and examine whether they have had the desired impact.