Chandigarh () is a city, district and union territory in India that serves as the joint capital of the two neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh is bordered by the state, the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which also includes the adjacent satellite cities of Panchkula and Mohali. It is located 260 km (162 miles) north of New Delhi, 110 km (68 miles) southwest of Shimla and 229 km (143 miles) southeast of Amritsar. Chandigarh is one of the earliest planned cities in post-independence India and is internationally known for its architecture and urban design. The master plan of the city was prepared by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, which built upon earlier plans created by the Polish architect Maciej Nowicki and the American planner Albert Mayer. Most of the government buildings and housing in the city were designed by a team headed by Le Corbusier, Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. Chandigarh's Capitol Complex—as part of a global ensemble of Corbusier's buildings—was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO at the 40th session of the World Heritage Conference in July 2016.Chandigarh has grown greatly since its initial construction, and has also driven the development of two satellite cities in its neighbouring states. The metropolitan area of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula collectively forms a "tri-city", with a combined population of over 1,611,770. The city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country. The union territory has one of the highest Human Development Index among Indian states and territories. In 2015, a survey by LG Electronics ranked it as the happiest city in India on the happiness index. In 2015, an article published by BBC named Chandigarh one of the few master-planned cities in the world to have succeeded in terms of combining monumental architecture, cultural growth, and modernisation.

Pune (Marathi: [puɳe] (listen); English: ), also known as Poona (the official name from 1818 until 1978), is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million as of 2020. Pune is considered to be the cultural and educational capital of Maharashtra state. It has been ranked "the most liveable city in India" several times. Together with the municipal corporation areas of Pimpri-Chinchwad (PCMC) and Pune (PMC), and the three cantonment towns of Camp, Khadki, and Dehu Road, Pune forms the urban core of the eponymous Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR). As of 2021, with an area of 7,256 sq km, PMR is geographically the largest metropolitan region in Maharashtra state and 5th largest in India.Situated 560 metres (1,837 feet) above sea level on the Deccan plateau, on the right bank of the Mutha river, Pune is the administrative headquarters of the Pune district. In the 18th century, the city was the seat of the Peshwas, the prime ministers of the Maratha Empire, and one of the most important political centres in the Indian subcontinent. Prior to this, the city had been ruled by the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Mughals and the Adil Shahi dynasty. Historical landmarks include the Lal Mahal, the Kasba Ganapati temple and Shaniwar Wada. Major historical events involving the city include the Mughal–Maratha Wars and the Anglo-Maratha Wars. Pune is widely regarded to be the second major IT hub and the most important automobile and manufacturing hub of India. Pune has several world class educational institutions and is therefore widely regarded as "Oxford of the East". The city has emerged as a major global educational hub in recent decades, with nearly half of the total number of international students in the country studying in Pune. Distinguished institutes of engineering, information technology and film, as well as schools for management science and advanced training, attract students and professionals from India and overseas.