With the Lok Sabha elections right around the corner, Citizen Matters caught up with Prashanth Goutham of Arappor Iyakkam. In this freewheeling discussion with Meenakshi Ramesh, Prashanth details the roles and responsibilities of an MP and what voters must look for in deciding on the ideal candidate.
[Meenakshi Ramesh anchors the Chennai edition of Citizen Matters and is actively involved in many civic initiatives. She can be reached at meenakshi@citizenmatters.in]
A nurse-turned-politician, J Kayalvizhi, Councillor of Ward 179 in Chennai, studied nursing at Christian Medical College in Vellore. Until 2006, she worked with an MNC in Saudi Arabia. Since her return in 2006, she decided to take up social service to help people in need, especially in the field of education and health. Her husband, Jayakumar, has been in politics for many years now and holds the position of divisional secretary of Ward 179 in DMK. When Ward 179 in Chennai was reserved for women, Kayalvizhi's husband encouraged her to contest in the polls to channel her interest in social…
Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Noida to be 'financial' cities The Uttar Pradesh government aims to partner with the private sector to project Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Noida as ‘financial cities’ and make the state a preferred investment destination in South Asia. The investment potential in the UP real estate and housing sector has been pegged at $25-$30 billion. A concept paper by the Yogi Adityanath government explains further that medi-cities have also been planned in Gorakhpur, Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bareilly and Chitrakoot districts and film cities are visualised in Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad and Lucknow. The key enablers of these targets are the new township…