GENRE: Explainers

Since the inception of the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for digital payments, users no longer need to download multiple payment applications. Using one payment gateway network, money can be easily transferred to different accounts through varied gateways, keeping it smooth and hassle free. Taking this concept further, the union government recently introduced the Open Network for Digital Commerce, or ONDC, to encourage digital payments for purchase of goods and services while making the process convenient, easy and smooth for both buyers and sellers. It is argued that the ONDC will be the UPI of e-commerce and shift the paradigm of…

The Tamil Nadu government increased property tax for all local bodies in the state earlier this April. This means that the residents of Chennai's core areas would have to pay at least 50% more than what they have been paying for over two decades. The Greater Chennai Corporation has as many as 13 lakh property tax assesses with an annual demand of Rs 800 crore. The revision came into effect from April 1, 2022 with an aim to increase the civic body's revenue generation capacity, which plays a critical role in providing better services and improving infrastructure. Here is an…

The critically acclaimed movie Thappad evoked a wide range of responses to how the protagonist Amrita dealt with an instance of domestic violence, a slap by her husband in a social setting. While Amrita had the awareness to recognise the slap as domestic violence, the agency to decide for herself, financial support and a family who understood her decision, many women in Chennai, who face domestic violence, find themselves alone in this fight. The spate of crimes against women in cities like Chennai continues unabated. Now and then we read or hear of a new incident, more brazen, brutal and…

Citizens, activists and lake groups are taking up the cause of protecting and improving Bengaluru’s lakes. Engaged citizens and government agencies need to work together to restore to Bengaluru its old reputation of being the “city of lakes’. But there is widespread confusion on whom to approach regarding specific issues. The chart below shows the various government bodies involved with lakes and the current governance structure. Government bodies involved in managing the lakes of Bengaluru. Pic credit: Sarayu Neelakantan and Sanjana Alex. A list of government bodies responsible for the physical, chemical and ecological status of respective lakes are given…

Two similar scenes were unfolding one after another in AGS Colony, Velachery West. A garbage collection worker was unloading unsegregated waste into a bin on the street. Ten metres away, Geetha Ganesh Karthik emptied segregated kitchen waste into her home composting set-up. But these two streams of waste will follow very different paths with different results. The former will end up in a dump yard while the latter will yield manure, enabling the growth of 200 plants. Geetha has been recycling her kitchen waste by composting it since 2016. If not for her terrace garden, she would be spending around…

A new government portal is all set to ease the process of getting notary services for various documentation purposes including agreements and contracts. e-UDBHAVAM is the online portal from the new National E-Governance Services Ltd (NeSL) administrative office in Bengaluru. NeSL is India’s first Information Utility and is registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). R Ashoka, Minister, Revenue Department, Government of Karnataka, launched the portal on April 25th, 2022. One needs notary services for various documents, which can be a hassle to obtain considering only certain entities are…

Reports of massive fish kill events in lakes across Bengaluru come up worryingly often every year after the first monsoon showers. This year was no different. Ulsoor, Basavanapura, Muthanallur and Bhattarahalli are some of the lakes in which dead fish were found floating over the last few weeks. What is causing this morbid scene year after year in a city famed for its many water bodies? Pollution is one culprit. What are the other factors involved? How exactly do these interact and impact lake ecosystems? And what needs to be focused on to prevent such events? To understand the whole…

Chennai's many parks provide much-needed green spaces in the city. They are abuzz with activity on most days, with many residents choosing the space to walk, work out, catch up with friends or spend some time outdoors. The city's 525 parks attract a wide cross-section of people and represent a microcosm of the surrounding areas. However, what is markedly rare is the use of the spaces provided by the parks for activities such as outreach and awareness campaigns and other programmes in public interest. NGOs and advocacy groups, which are best placed to host such events, have been facing some…

Do you live in an apartment with its own sewage treatment plant (STP)? Do you know how much of the treated water is reused and how much ends up clogging the city's stormwater drains? Despite laws in place in Bengaluru that mandate the setting up of decentralised plants and 'zero discharge', i.e. for all the treated water to be used up within the apartment fence, turns out reuse levels remain alarmingly low. The city now has over 3,000 decentralised STPs, which treat 615 million litres of sewage every day. Centralised STPs generate another 650 MLD of treated water. But the…

There is certainly no lack of ambition among the intellectuals inhabiting the corridors of the union government’s premier developmental think tank Niti Aayog. Having set a goal of becoming a $5-trillion economy by 2026 and $40-trillion economy by 2047, Niti Aayog, in collaboration with Asian Development Bank, has come up with a voluminous report on how the country can harness the economic potential of its Tier 2 and 3 cities by developing them as “engines of growth”. This article summarises some of the report’s key findings and recommendations. To begin with, the study states that India’s urban population is estimated…