EDITORS' PICK

For better or worse, we are married to plastics, and plastics have permeated into our very being. What was once invisible, is suddenly all round us, in the form of waste and pollution. Simple everyday plastic products such as water bottles, plastic bags, toys, throw-away cutlery, fast fashion, food packaging, personal care products, all seemingly harmless, are all causing severe environmental problems, in the form of plastic pollution. From clogged storm water drains to beach litter, from dead rivers to air and soil pollution.  Surgeries performed on animals to remove plastic from the bellies make it to the news regularly. …

To register a marriage in Mumbai, the Maharashtra Regulation of Marriage Bureaus and Registration of Marriages Act, 1998 governs marriages in Maharashtra. There are other Acts, specific to religions, like The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936 and the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1972. For inter-faith partnerships, the Special Marriage Act, 1954 is available to those who go in for inter-faith or inter-caste marriage or generally for standard Court marriages without any emphasis on personal beliefs. What is the eligibility criteria for a couple to get married? Men above 21 years of age and women above 18 years of age…

Zone snapshot: Wards -  22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Population - 177148  (2013) Number of polling stations - 191 To locate your polling station - https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone - https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Poor stormwater drain networks area persistent issue in the zone. The recent rain left many areas in the zone marooned after the release of water from the Redhills reservoir. Better, well-connected stormwater drain network would prevent water-logging.Basic civic amenities are not available for residents of the ward who do not have patta despite residing in…

Zone snapshot Wards - 127. 128. 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142 Population – 704697 (2013) Number of polling stations – 613 To locate your polling station – https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone – https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Many parts of the zone such as T Nagar, Saidapet, West Mambalam, K.K. Nagar, Ashok Nagar have experienced extreme water logging during last year's rains. In Saidapet, residents cite the example of Thiruvalluvar Street, where water stagnated and rose as rains continued. In T Nagar, despite heavy investments and publicity around the Smart City Project in the area,…

Zone snapshot: Wards – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Population – 3017485 (2013) Number of polling stations – 279 To locate your polling station – https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone – https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Industrial pollution is one of the major issues causing distress in the area; Indiscriminate discharge of industrial waste and effluents has caused health concerns such as respiratory diseases among the residents. Worries about protecting Ennore Creek have risen as a result of poor environmental monitoring. The residents are convinced that the Kattupalli port expansion project…

Knowing how to a register a flat in Mumbai is important for a person's legal ownership over a property. When you purchase or receive a flat, its agreement of sale, transfer, gift or lease needs to be registered with the government for the transaction to be considered valid and legal under The Registration Act, 1908. Rules in the state are framed under the Maharashtra Registration Rules, 1961. What is the significance of flat registration? Legally, a flat owner's name is not changed or transferred until the sale or gift transaction is registered with the government. Any unregistered transaction has no…

Chennai is all set to have local body polls for the first time since 2011. The city will elect 200 councillors who will then choose from amongst them a Mayoral candidate for indirect election. In what is a first for the city, the post of Mayor has been reserved for a woman candidate from the Scheduled Castes. The city also sees a 50% reservation of wards for women candidates, meaning half the elected councillors will be women. With the election all set to take place on the 19th, here is all you need to know to cast your vote in…

As Chennai gets set for local body polls for the first time since 2011, many issues faced by the city and how an elected council might offer long-awaited solutions for the same, warranted a discussion. On February 14 2022, Citizen Matters and Janaagraha Center for Citizenship and Democracy brought together a diverse panel of candidates in the fray in this election and prominent voices from civil society organisation to delve into the complexities of local governance and how Chennaiites can hold the elected representatives accountable. The panel was comprised of activist David Manohar of the corruption watchdog Arappor Iyakkam, Charu…

Zone snapshot: Wards - 168, 169, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191 Population - 322728 (2013) Number of polling stations - 279 To locate your polling station - https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone - https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Poor civic amenities in many slums in the zone are a persistent issue. Residents of Kallukuttai slum have decided to boycott the civic polls on account of not having basic facilities despite living in the area for nearly four decades. They demand better roads, drainage facilities and solutions to water shortage in the summer months. Many roads…

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2022-23 provides no relief to the people, especially those living in urban centres who were severely hit by the pandemic. With an estimated 200 million plus people without work, most of them in the cities, there was a dire need for addressing this problem. However, the urgent need for some sort of urban employment scheme remained unaddressed. The only positive aspect of the budget speech is that the finance minister has finally accepted what we, through various forums, have been advocating for long — that the current model of urban development is not sustainable. That a…