EDITORS' PICK

The six-term MLA, Ramalinga Reddy was first elected from Jayanagar for four times. Then in 2008 when the cosntituency boundaries changed due to delimitation, he shifted to BTM layout which he currently represents for the second time. Reddy was the Home Minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet, a berth he was given after the resignation of G Parameshwar. Before that he handled the Ministry of Transport. He started his political career as a municipal corporator in 1983. His first stint as a minister started in the Veerappa Moily Cabinet as Minister for Finance and Heavy and Medium Industries. He has held…

Since its launch in November 2017, the Kuppai Thiruvizha has been in the news for all the right reasons, evincing phenomenal support from the denizens of different parts of the city, both online and on the ground. While the first thiruvizha was very successful for a flagship effort, we had to rethink the outreach strategy before the next one, to make the initiative more participatory and inclusive and amplify its reach to a wider range of actors. Core members of the alliance, including representatives from CAG, Urban Design Collective, Arappor Iyakkam, Vettiver Collective, etc., convened one fine morning and dissected the different aspects of…

India’s road safety crisis is no secret anymore. The numbers are so staggering that they could cause a few accidents from shock, if you just read them! At least 4,80,652 accidents led to 1,50,785 deaths in 2016, which means 413 people died everyday in 1,317 road accidents. There were at least 17 deaths in 55 accidents every hour. However, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act was passed by the Lok Sabha last year, but never got the nod from the Rajya Sabha, which got adjourned indefinitely this year. Meanwhile, a recent report shows that most accidents in India involve “newest vehicles”!…

Health shopping today is one of the sure-shot ways of losing not only cash, but also our mind, because quacks have invaded the markets in hordes! They are as huge, unscrupulous and harmful as the creepiest creatures and ghouls crawling out of a Stephen King chiller or a Lord of the Rings movie! Several recent advertisements put out by some of the biggest and the smallest drug companies in India for selling their potions, lotions, clinics, tablets and treatment for all sorts of ailments have been banned by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), because they violated the Drugs…

This Earth Day, on April 22 2018 (and the previous day), residents from the Lokhandwala Township of the western suburb of Mumbai, Kandivali East, got together to participate in the “Colour My Township” initiative, organised by We All Connect (wAc) with the support of Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited. wAc is a community group that was formed to promote bonding and oneness among residents of the township. A few months ago, the group painted a small wall together and members found that painting compound walls together with neighbours was a good way to get to know them. According to Mr Santosh Shetty, founder of…

Nalapad Ahmed Haris, the two-term MLA from Shantinagar has most of Bengaluru’s Central Business District fall under him. He started his political career as a member of Youth Congress. He is a first generation MLA, whose father N A Mohammed also had tried his luck in politics. He contested elections from Indian National Congress (INC) in Kasaragod constituency in Kerala during 2004 parliamentary elections, but lost to CPM candidate P Karunakaran. However, Nalapad Senior had laid the foundation for the successful Nalapad Group of Companies which also brought the family close politicians and political parties. He originally hailed from Kerala…

For our readers in English Chennai has over 1350 Anganwadis under the ICDS. Contrary to popular perception, many of these centres are clean, well appointed with teaching aids, toys etc (maybe lacking in infrastructure as compared to private playschools and daycare centres) and well run by dedicated teachers and employees who take a holistic view of the daily needs of a 2/3 year old child. In addition, many anganwadis also serve as centres for spreading awareness about maternal and child health, importance of nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood, vaccination etc ஒருங்கிணைந்த குழந்தைகள் வளாகம் (ICDS) - ஒரு பார்வை பொருளாதாரத்தின் எந்நிலையில்…

With an open sore infested with maggots and blood staining her blouse, S Husena, a 56-year-old cancer patient from Tambaram had given up on life. Diagnosed with fourth stage breast cancer, she knew death was near. As she witnessed her body being eaten away by maggots, Husena felt a strong urge to kill herself. Her life took a positive turn after the volunteers from one of the palliative care organisations in Chennai treated her. The nurse not only convinced Husena to take pain killers, but also treated her infection. This enabled the patient to accept her illness and allow the family…

With an amendment that, according to environmentalists, would degrade the environment further and protect the interests of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) notified the new Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2018. The new rules, an amended version of the environment friendly Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016, contain new clauses that benefit industries manufacturing and using plastic. Here is a brief explainer about some of these rules and their implications for the environment and public health. Energy recovering possible in India? While the 2016 rules mandated the usage of only such…

He wears a loupe on one side of his eye and closely scrutinises the mechanism of an old made-in-China watch. Watches of all ages and sizes lie scattered on a bench before him in his workshop in a small lane leading to the Guindy suburban Railway station. He is not disturbed by the crowds outside or the never-ending noise in the busy lane outside. A scene such as this -- of a watch mechanic immersed in his job -- was once a common sight in all the populated bylanes of Chennai, but has become a rare sight for quite some…