GENRE: Explainers

Jerome and Applejack, the therapy horses at the Paws and Hooves Project from Wag-ville in Bangalore, enjoy working with special needs individuals. One of Applejack’s favourite students is Anil, a six-year-old child diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. When Anil first came to us about a month ago, he had severe spasticity in his arms and legs – Anil could neither walk nor sit independently. Today, he sits on Applejack with a specially designed saddle that has a seat-belts to enable him to sit upright. The movement on the horse, combined with physiotherapy exercises done while seated on the horse have enabled…

There was a lot of pomp about the Ridley run that was scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 17th, starting at Palavakkam beach. Save a Turtle group had mentioned on their website that the event aimed to create awareness about the endangered Olive ridley turtle population that come to nest along the Coromandel coast and educate local communities about the ways to protect the hatchlings. Citizens started registering for the event online, sand sculptors had given dates and things seemed to be set for the run. However, two days prior to the event, the organisers called off the run.  Locals…

The scenic Pallikaranai Main Road with patches of greenery and occasional glimpses of migratory birds in winter would have been a treat for the passer by, but for the unbearable stench. The smell of rotten biodegradable waste and  noxious fumes from burning of plastic waste assail your senses every time you hit the road. A few metres from the marshland, a Chennai Corporation maintained earth mover dumps the mixed waste on to it. The wetlands of Pallikaranai were brought under the reserved region by the state government 10 years ago and are now under the jurisdiction of the forest department.…

As Chennai stares at an impending water crisis due to the failure of monsoons and the decline in ground water and reservoir levels, the city's residents must brace themselves for a tough summer. Currently, Metro Water is able to meet only half of the city's daily demand of 850 MLD, and that too on alternate days. Residents have already begun to feel the pinch, particularly in the western and southern parts of the city. In this situation, Chennaiites need to adopt innovative methods to conserve and reuse water. Though the city had embraced rainwater harvesting in the mid 2000s, monsoon…

There appears to be a temporary calm in the north-eastern states, now that the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 has lapsed with the Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die on February 13th. Yet, tension in these states go deeper than the reported protests and violence that occurred over the proposed amendments in the above law. In fact, while the Citizenship Amendment Bill brought the fault lines in the focus of national attention, there are other deep-rooted issues, other laws that are still fuelling ethnic conflict in the region. Whatever motivated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Prime…

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…

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…

Translated by Sandhya Raju "பல மாதங்களாக தனிமையில் வாடினேன். என் குடும்பத்தினரிடம் என்னால் மனம் விட்டு பேச முடியவில்லை. தற்கொலை எண்ணத்தை தூண்டக்கூடிய அளவில் கல்லூரி படிப்பு ரொம்பவே அழுத்தம் கொடுத்தது" என்கிறார் பிரபல கல்லூரியில் இறுதி ஆண்டு எஞ்சினீயரிங் பயிலும் ராம். வாழ்க்கையின் இக்கட்டான முடிவை எடுக்கும் முன், ஆன்லைனில் உதவி கிட்டுமா என்று தேடினார். "என்ன தேடுகிறேன் என்று தெரியாமல் என் பிரச்சனையை முன்வைத்து வலைதளத்தில் தேட ஆரம்பித்த பொழுது தற்கொலை தடுப்பு ஹெல்ப்லைன் நம்பர் கிடைத்தது. சும்மா முயற்சிக்கலாம் என்ற எண்ணத்தில் எந்த வித எதிர்ப்பார்ப்பும் இன்றி தொடர்பு கொண்டேன், ஆனால் அந்த முயற்சி என் வாழ்க்கையை மாற்றி அமைத்தது" என்கிறார். WHO ஆய்வின் படி இந்தியாவின் சராசரியை விட தமிழ்நாட்டில் தற்கொலை செய்வோரின் எண்ணிக்கைமூன்று மடங்கு அதிகம்.   National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) படி.2015 ஆண்டில், 14,602 தற்கொலைகள் தமிழ்நாட்டில் நடந்துள்ளன. நாட்டிலேயே…

The question of whether non resident Indians (NRIs) can play an active role in determining the political leadership of their native country by casting their ballot, and how, has been at the centre of focus on many occasions. The coming elections to the Lok Sabha have created a new flutter over the issue with the looming possibility of NRIs being able to vote through appointed proxies. So, how does the system work at present? And what are the changes being mulled? Here is a quick look at the entire NRI voting process and possibility. According to the provisions of Section…

On January 13 2019, the President gave his nod and brought into law The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Fourth Amendment) Bill 2019. The Act amends Articles 15 and Article 16 of the Constitution, and adds clauses where the government can make special provisions for economically weaker sections (EWS) of citizens and provide them with reservations up to 10 percent in higher educational institutions including private aided or unaided institutions (other than minority education institutions) as well as in initial appointments in government services. In popular parlance, this is being bandied as 'upper-caste reservation.' Reservations or quotas, the dominant mode of…