City: Chennai

The 9th Annual Eureka Run sponsored by CanFin Homes is scheduled for 5:45 AM on February 24th, at Elliot’s Beach, Chennai. The run is organized by Aid India, a non-profit working on improvements in learning quality of children in villages. Aid India uses the annual Eureka Run as a platform to create awareness about issues that plague the field of education and its impact on the lives of children in Tamil Nadu. In the 1083 remote villages that it works in, Aid India aims to boost children's confidence by building skills in Spoken English, Mental Maths and Science.  Its unique…

Take a quick look around you and it should not be too difficult to identify some of the most pressing issues in your immediate surroundings. Waste management, air pollution, water scarcity, plastic pollution: these and other issues pose a direct threat to the quality of life as we know it in the city today. But what is your solution to these problems? How would 'you' propose to address these civic issues? While some may flounder a bit when confronted with this question, the same cannot be said of the bright young minds participating in the Sarvalokaa Hackathon 2019, where they came…

88 tonnes of banned plastic seized in January It has been one month since the implementation of plastic ban in the state and the city has had mixed response from various quarters. Chennai corporation has seized 88 tonnes of banned plastic in the city during the last 31 days. According to the data compiled by the civic body, the largest quantity of banned plastics has been seized from outlets in Kodambakkam zone, while the lowest were in Madhavaram zone. It has also been reported that many retailers have gone back to use of banned items, especially bags and packaging material.…

Finally, it looks like the Chennai Metro is ready to roll out services across its full length of 45.1 km in Phase I, nine years after it was approved by the Centre. As one of the biggest urban infrastructure projects of Chennai, costing upwards of $2.5 billion, it upgrades the city’s profile globally, although it is nowhere near the emerging international paradigm of Mobility as a Service (MaaS). In fact, it is a pretty scattered set of options in Tamil Nadu’s capital, with a mix of regulated systems for low quality government-run buses, suburban trains operated by the Central government, the Metro…

Translated by Sandhya Raju "பல மாதங்களாக தனிமையில் வாடினேன். என் குடும்பத்தினரிடம் என்னால் மனம் விட்டு பேச முடியவில்லை. தற்கொலை எண்ணத்தை தூண்டக்கூடிய அளவில் கல்லூரி படிப்பு ரொம்பவே அழுத்தம் கொடுத்தது" என்கிறார் பிரபல கல்லூரியில் இறுதி ஆண்டு எஞ்சினீயரிங் பயிலும் ராம். வாழ்க்கையின் இக்கட்டான முடிவை எடுக்கும் முன், ஆன்லைனில் உதவி கிட்டுமா என்று தேடினார். "என்ன தேடுகிறேன் என்று தெரியாமல் என் பிரச்சனையை முன்வைத்து வலைதளத்தில் தேட ஆரம்பித்த பொழுது தற்கொலை தடுப்பு ஹெல்ப்லைன் நம்பர் கிடைத்தது. சும்மா முயற்சிக்கலாம் என்ற எண்ணத்தில் எந்த வித எதிர்ப்பார்ப்பும் இன்றி தொடர்பு கொண்டேன், ஆனால் அந்த முயற்சி என் வாழ்க்கையை மாற்றி அமைத்தது" என்கிறார். WHO ஆய்வின் படி இந்தியாவின் சராசரியை விட தமிழ்நாட்டில் தற்கொலை செய்வோரின் எண்ணிக்கைமூன்று மடங்கு அதிகம்.   National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) படி.2015 ஆண்டில், 14,602 தற்கொலைகள் தமிழ்நாட்டில் நடந்துள்ளன. நாட்டிலேயே…

Over the Republic Day weekend, around 5000 Chennaiites flocked to an exhibition that showcased an art form that dates back to the days of the Indus Valley civilisation and is perhaps one of the oldest upcycling methods that has been traditionally and indigenously practised: Quilting. The first edition of the India Quilt Festival took place from 25- 27 January, 2019. The event, a pioneer in the space, featured competitions, stalls, workshops and lectures on quilting. Citizen Matters spoke to Varsha Sundararajan, one of the organisers of the fest. Does India have a special connection with quilting? India has a 4000-year-old…

In an attempt to leverage technology for civic responsibility, international school Chettinad Sarvalokaa Education and not-for-profit organisation, Reap Benefit are conducting a two-day event called Sarvalokaa Hackathon 2019. It is an initiative that will bring together young people from various spheres on one platform to solve local, civic and environment issues in their neighbourhoods. The Hackathon will take place on February 1 and 2, 2019 at Chettinad Sarvalokaa Education, inside the Chettinad Health City Campus, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Old Mamallapuram Road, Kelambakkam. The hackathon will comprise of workshops on rapid prototyping, design thinking, electronics and coding by some of the…

Drastic cut in drinking water supply With the major reservoirs that are a source of drinking water to the city going dry, Chennai Metrowater has already cut supply of drinking water by half. The city gets 850 mld a day which is cut to 450 mld to 480 mld per day. The main source of water now are veeranam water supply project, desalination plants at Nemili & Minjur, agricultural wells and metrowater owned wells. The four lakes that supply water to the city have a storage level that is just 10% of their capacity. Meanwhile, Metrowater is also planning to set…

“I felt very lost and alone for many months. I was not able to communicate my feelings to my family. I felt very pressurised to finish my course requirements in college, and it overwhelmed me into thinking about suicide”, says Ram*, a final year engineering student at a reputed college in Chennai. Before Ram could take the drastic step, he turned to online resources hoping for help. “I don't know what I was looking for. I Googled how I felt, and found the contact number of a suicide prevention helpline. I figured I would just make that call. I did…

''This year has been a welcome sight for birdwatchers as there has been an increase in the number of migratory birds in the city. The numbers seem to have increased in spite of the poor monsoons the city saw this year,'' says environmentalist E Seshan. Although the water levels in Pallikaranai and Vedanthangal run low following a scant northeast monsoon, these winged friends have made several other water bodies in the city their home. A retired chief photographer of the Geological Survey of India, E Seshan, has been studying the pattern and habits of migratory birds in Chennai for the…