EDITORS' PICK

The plastic ban that has been in the news since its implementation on January 1, is now losing steam in Tamil Nadu. Retailers and vendors across the city have been using plastic secretly, in fear of losing regular customers. Several bars maintained by the state government (TASMAC) are openly allowing plastic. “If I don’t give out a plastic cover, customers don’t buy flowers. Who would spend Rs 3 on a cloth bag for wrapping up flowers worth Rs 10 or Rs 15?” asks Vanavani, a flower vendor at Mambalam market. There is little awareness about the ban in rural parts…

Summer has just started in Chennai. But if present indicators are anything to go by, the summer of 2019 will be an arduous one. As things stand, water currently available for distribution is just over half the city's basic requirements, and supply in many areas has been cut to just once a week. Making matters worse, ground water levels are at the lowest in three years. So also are storage levels in the four main reservoirs that supply the city.  Groundwater levels in particular are as low as one would expect in April or May. Data collected from 24 wells…

The Rajya Sabha has listed The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 for consideration and passage in the budget session of February 2019. Whether it will indeed be taken up, or whether it will merely lapse and require reintroduction in the next Parliamentary session hosted by the new government remains to be seen, but in any case this is a law, developments related to which have been closely watched by banking entities, telecom companies, fintech businesses and activists. So, why have amendments to the bill been such a contentious issue and how does it really impact us as citizens? The…

The Tamil Nadu Government which did not even provide information to the Central Pollution Control Board, for the latter’s Annual Report for 2017-18, on the action taken to implement the provisions of the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016, has jumped into action. The features are: ban on forms of plastic that are not easy to dispose of, punitive measures to deal with non-compliance, and charging local bodies with responsibility for collection, appropriate disposal and law enforcement. The definition of “waste generator” includes individuals, groups, residential establishments, etc.punishable for failure to comply and “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) making producers responsible…

Hamlet. Angada. One an immortal character from the tragedies of William Shakespeare, and another from Valmiki’s Ramayana. Hamlet sought revenge upon his uncle Claudius, but Angada, son of Vali, was a loyal nephew to Sugriva. Imagine both characters on the same stage, conversing about their experiences. The essence of the characters does not change, even though the plot does. The play Hamlet & Angad, scripted by Thomas Manuel and produced by the group Crea-Shakthi, epitomises the changing times in Chennai’s theatre setting. Mythology has been used in theatre since time immemorial. Epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata, and historical novels…

In recent days, we have yet again come to face the dilemma between modernizing Mysuru and preserving its heritage sites. The imperative of avoiding accidents from crumbling buildings, improving traffic and providing more parking space while preserving the old charm of the city and promoting tourism have created what looks like a zero sum game. In other words, a situation where the former set of objectives can be achieved only at the cost of the latter. In that belief, Mysore City Corporation (MCC) now wants to demolish Devaraj market and Lansdowne building, ignoring the advice of heritage experts. Devaraj market,…

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had on January 21st released new tenders for Solid Waste Management( SWM) in Bengaluru city. However, the tender faced criticism from different quarters including several BBMP Corporators, Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and BBMP Contractors. As a result a committee was been constituted to study the tender and recommend changes, and the committee has now decided to go ahead with no changes in the tender. What does the new tender say ?  The new tender calls for proposals in all 198 BBMP wards for daily "Primary door-to-door collection and transportation of segregated wet waste,…

Should we allow more apartments  to come up near Kanakapura Road in Bengaluru because it has a metro line that can help people living there to commute? Do we allow more tech parks near Guindy in Chennai because it is well connected by bus and suburban train? Did Mumbai grow around the local train? Are transit lines the new age rivers?Transit oriented development (ToD) or development oriented transit (DoT) -- What should it be for Indian cities? Are these some of the questions that play on your mind when you think of what is happening in our cities today in…

I live on the top floor of an eight story building right behind an airport that is used mainly by the Air Force. As something I discovered recently, I could walk up one tiny flight of stairs and watch the sunset every evening looking at the open airstrip on one side, the looming yet disappearing sun ahead, and a large lake that is lovely from afar. It is all quite beautiful, especially with my back turned to the concrete and glass mass that is the business district. Four days ago, I watched with wonder a helicopter making rounds from the…

Atishi Marlena's soft smiles belie the steely timbre in her voice when she speaks of issues. She is the point-person for education and has made it a central electoral plank for the fledgeling Aam Aadmi Party governing Delhi. Though she was "dismissed" as advisor to the Education Minister Manish Sisodia by the Centre in April 2018, she had by then spearheaded eight key projects, calling for 120 meetings - almost eight per week - since the beginning of the year. Atishi was christened 'Marlena' as a fusion of 'Marx' and 'Lenin' by her leftist Delhi University professor parents, though she recently dropped…