EDITORS' PICK

“The recent scare due to the detection of formalin-laced fish across Goa, Kerala, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya points to a link between water quality and food safety. Fish traders find it cost-effective to use formalin, a carcinogen, instead of ice to prevent the decomposition of fish during transportation to distant markets. Consumer confidence has been hit hard and fish producers are having a bad time due to the import ban on fish in most of these states,” says Satish Sinha, associate director, Toxics Link, an organisation working for environmental justice and freedom from toxins, at a public lecture held…

The Chennai Corporation has intensified its drive to seize abandoned vehicles from around the city. The operation, which began in March this year, is currently in its third phase with the seizure of a total of 7912 vehicles so far. The list of seized vehicles has been posted on the website of the Chennai Corporation. The first list was published on June 5th and the second list on July 14th. The third list is expected shortly. When is a vehicle deemed abandoned? According to clause 380 of the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Rules,1989, a vehicle is considered abandoned 1) If…

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the month with a "visual" move. He read out and defiantly tore a report sent by Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal on the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance camera systems in the capital. The LG's document referred to a monitoring panel, police licensing and public suggestions for installation of CCTV cameras. It said that every owner and data controller of camera systems culling information from the public needs to disclose the "purpose, number, location, manner of usage, handling and storage of data or information" as well as other related details. However, the CM is of…

"He will be missed, his extraordinary literary prowess, his political acumen, his satirical humour, his eloquent web of lyrical Tamil will all be missed.", says Aruna Subramaniam, a management consultant and active Chennai citizen, who remembers seeing Muthuvel Karunanidhi, or Kalaignar as he was called, with her uncle and his friends, on Marina beach in the days of 'less crowds, glittering sand, friendly sundal vendors, and the delicious Rita ice cream carts.' The sentiment is echoed by most Chennaiites of an older vintage today. The last of the titans is gone, and there is a deep sense of loss -…

Will environmental issues finally bask in the electoral limelight? If events across some of the major Indian cities in the past few years are to go by,  it is definitely the time for green issues to shine. The environmental issues plaguing the internet-savvy electorate as well as the poor sections of these major cities may finally become an integral part of the election discourse. Over the past year, the national capital has garnered the most attention for environmental issues, compared to other major cities in the country. Cleaning of the polluted river Yamuna, considered holy by Hindus, has been a…

No notice. No alternative housing. Tsunami survivors at Nochi Nagar near Marina beach are left in the lurch as the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) is tearing down their temporary shelters, in brazen violation of the residents' basic rights. As their houses are destroyed before their eyes, the Nochi Nagar residents stare at an uncertain future, a future in which they will have to shell out exorbitant sums for rental housing if they want a roof over their heads. They say they have been victims of discrimination throughout -- eleven years ago, they didn’t get the houses meant for them and…

India has one of the largest road networks in the world; yet, year after year, citizens bear the brunt of poor road quality, especially during the monsoons. From Mumbai to Guwahati, from Gurgaon to Bangalore the rains turn roads into rivers and when they do resurface, it is difficult to classify the ravaged, pothole-ridden stretches as roads! This may be an annual affair but the quality of roads in Indian cities continues to remain poor due to lack of accountability mechanisms in place. Why does such a situation persist for years on end and what might it take to fix…

With ornately carved arches, Rajasthani-style false balconies and decorative brackets, it is easy to mistake this quaint little building for a mini palace. Cloaked by the flamboyant Gulmohar outside, the Madras Literary Society, a treasure trove of archaic books and venerable first editions from the 16th century patiently waits to share its hidden gems with the curious visitor. The history of the Madras Literary Society can be traced back to the College of Fort St. George set up by the British East India Company in the early 1800s to help English engineers get accustomed to the vernacular language, practices and…

We have all heard of carnivorous plants like the Venus Flytrap, that trap and devour insects. But less known is the fact that some plants of the Ceropegia species, actually deceive and entrap insects, for pollination! Here's how the Ceropegia flowers work, and it's quite complicated. Spiders and other insect predators often trap and eat honeybees, and there are some flies that love to eat these honeybees, too. The flies are able to smell the scent of the dying honeybees, and congregate to feed off the bees even as the predators are eating them. Since they are, in this sense,…

Tamil Nadu, the largest manufacturer and consumer of plastic in South India, has announced a welcome move to ban disposable plastic from January 2019. Ripples of the proposed ban can be felt in the state and even in Chennai city, where questions are being raised over the preparedness of people to fall in line and the many ramifications of doing away with plastic altogether. Will people really be able to discard everyday disposables that they are so used to? And how will the shift affect employment and income generation? A self-help group in Walajabad panchayat of Kancheepuram has initiated a…