With cities gradually exiting from COVID-19 restrictions and economic activities resuming, travel in cities has also resumed. However, in view of the contagion risks that public transport (PT) might pose, our travel patterns are undergoing a sea change. The new 'normal' in terms of travel is being redefined by factors, such as vehicle ownership, distance to the destination, accessibility to PT, work-from-home policies of organisations, online classes for students, temporary relocation to native places, and government travel guidelines.

Think tanks play a critical role in influencing policy discourses through evidence-based analysis and ideation. Since 2005, the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) has been working with various governments to address long-term issues in key areas such as energy, climate, and health. CSTEP has developed a wide range of computational tools using inter-disciplinary methods to assist governments in examining and improving the efficacy of policies, especially in the energy sector.

Global warming due to the greenhouse effect mostly stems from increased fossil-fuel consumption, and the resultant CO2 emissions. This is a matter of global concern, making it difficult for India to follow the fossil fuel-heavy development path adopted by the developed world. Historically, industrialization and development have been driven by the power sector. Adopting a new development model will be a challenge for India.

A comprehensive energy policy is vital to India meeting its developmental goals; however, it has fallen short. India's extant Integrated Energy Policy (IEP), which was prepared in 2006 by the Planning Commission, is dated. Renewable power, electric vehicles, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) goals, etc., have meant that a fundamental rework of the energy policy is warranted. 
 

Electric bus (e-bus) technology hit the Indian market in recent years as a solution to the environmental concerns posed by conventional fuel buses. However, large-scale adoption of e-buses is a non-starter due to the lack of an enabling ecosystem. Planning and technology selection are crucial to maximise the utilisation of e-buses, which will in turn lower upfront capital costs, while minimising the adverse effects on existing public transport operations.

The present study evaluates the performance of NASA's Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Aerosol Reanalysis (MERRAero) over Indian cities by validating its PM2.5 concentrations (reconstructed using individual species concentrations) against that of the real-time hourly observations. The study period of the present analysis is between 2013 and 2015. Several performance statistics (mean bias, mean absolute bias, mean fraction, correlation coefficient, FAC2) are derived for the assessment, which was carried out on various temporal scales.

•Limited agreement between ambient and personal air temperature

•Overall moderate correlation between ambient and personal air temperature

•Nighttime predictors included household altitude, ceiling height, and income

•Daytime predictors included housing characteristics and GPS-tracked altitude

•Time in agricultural labour was predictive in women and time travelling in men

Stationary air-quality monitors do not capture spatial variations in air-pollution. Mobilemonitoring or "sensors on a mobile platform", is an increasingly popular approach to measure high-resolution pollution data at the street level. Coupled with location data, spatial visualisation of air-quality parameters helps detect localized areas of high air-pollution, also called hotspots. In this approach, portable sensors are mounted on a vehicle and driven on predetermined routes to collect high frequency data (1 Hz).

We propose a low-cost passive method for monitoring long-term average levels of light-absorbing carbon air pollution in polluted indoor environments. Building on prior work, the method here estimates the change in reflectance of a passively exposed surface through analysis of digital images. To determine reproducibility and limits of detection, we tested low-cost passive samplers with exposure to kerosene smoke in the laboratory and to environmental pollution in 20 indoor locations.