GENRE: Features

Karnataka, one of the only five remaining states in the country where Congress rule still prevails, is gearing up to host a major electoral battle that will not just decide the next Assembly but is also expected to create a reflective impact on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2019 election campaign. Two months prior to the state elections, the anxiety of the people is palpable in the ‘Karnataka Voters' Survey 2018’  released by the Chief Election Commissioner, Om Prakash Rawat, at IIM Bangalore on March 9. The state’s capital with a population of 12.34 million is home to 28 of the…

To provide seamless movement of vehicles at toll plazas, FASTag was launched  in the year 2014. The FASTag is a passive RFID tag affixed at the centre of the windscreen of vehicles. Vehicles can drive through the FASTag lanes at toll plazas after recharging their Tag accounts and the toll amount will be automatically deducted from the account. The rules made in 2014  also contained a provision that any non-FASTag vehicle entering the dedicated FASTag lane would have to pay two times the toll amount, i.e., 100% penalty. The progress of FASTag The government has now made it mandatory  for all vehicles manufactured or sold after…

Kurangini is a small village in one of the valleys of the Bodi range, in Theni district. Small estates along with tourism serve as its lifelines. A jeep path connects it to the world’s highest tea plantations at Kolukkumalai. There is another road, made of compacted soil, unmotorable, and lined with plantations that connects the two places. A few metres down, a log tied across the road draws attention to two boards displayed by the forest department. One names the place and mentions Rs 200 as the trekking fee while the other admonishes him for trespassing. Most of the time,…

So World Water Day is here again and it is time for us all to be reminded of habits that we really must practise the year round! Two questions at the outset: first, can you ever imagine bathing with expensive mineral water, when tap water is available? And second, can you bathe/shower with 5 mugs of water? I am sure the answer to both is no, but hang on to those answers till we revisit them, after we establish that the situation this year is worse than ever before. Yes, it is time to worry! First Cape Town running out…

Sewerage management has become a Herculean problem in Chennai. Thanks to the inaction by government departments, our sewage reaches our water bodies sans any treatment, either through the storm water drain network or private septic tanks. The hard reality is that the pumping stations are running beyond their capacities, resulting in sewage stagnation in many localities including Adambakkam and Egmore. But how many of us know that grey water recycling can not only address these issues to a large extent but can also cut down on the household monthly water budget? By making use of the water used in the…

இரண்டு வாரங்களுக்கு முன் சென்னை கோட்டூர்புரத்தில் அமைந்துள்ள ‘பெரியார் அறிவியல் தொழில்நுட்ப பூங்காவிற்கு’ (http://tnstc.gov.in/periyar-science-tech.html) என் இரண்டே முக்கால் வயது மகளை அழைத்து சென்றேன். வாழ்க்கை பயணத்தில் சென்னை வந்து பல வருடம் ஆகியிருந்தாலும், பள்ளிப்பருவத்தில் சென்னையில் இருக்கும் உறவினர் வீட்டிற்கு வந்தபோது ஒரு முறை மட்டுமே அங்கு சென்ற ஞாபகம். ‘பெரியார் அறிவியல் தொழில்நுட்ப பூங்காவின் ஒரு பகுதியான  பிர்லா கோளறங்கத்தின் உள் அமர்ந்து கோள்களையும், நட்சத்திரங்களையும் கண்டது மட்டும் இன்னும் பசுமையான நினைவாக உள்ளது. நான் சென்றது ஒரு விடுமுறை தினமாதலால் பல பள்ளிகள், சில கல்லூரிகள் என மாணவ மாணவிகளின் பெருங்கூட்டம். பிர்லா கோளரங்கத்திற்கான நுழைவு சீட்டு கூட கிடைக்கவில்லை. அறிவியல் மையத்திற்கு மட்டுமே கிடைத்த நுழைவு சீட்டை எடுத்துக்கொண்டு நானும் என் மகளும் பயணித்தோம்.      பெரியார் அறிவியல் தொழில்நுட்ப பூங்காவில் உள்ள காட்சிக்கூடங்கள்: பெரியார் காட்சி கூடம் Periyar Gallery போக்குவரத்து காட்சிக்கூடம்…

During a question and answer session in Delhi late last year, I was asked this question “Since Diwali, the Delhi government has installed 20 continuous monitoring stations. Despite that, why are the pollution levels still so high?” The simple answer to this is that monitoring is a diagnostic tool to assess levels of air pollution and in itself does not reduce any air pollution. What it does do, is provide a starting point for understanding the air pollution problem and a direction for addressing pollution control options. This however got me thinking. Having worked on air pollution-related research over my entire…

The Annual Panguni Thiruvizha is here again! The festival will begin with Dhwajarohanam (flag hoisting) on March 22 and conclude with Thirukalyanam - the celestial wedding of Kapaleeshwarar and Karpagambal, on March 30, 2018 The annual festival takes place in the month of March at the Mylapore Kapaleeshwarar temple. The highlights of this very prestigious temple festival are the Thiru Ther (temple chariot) and the Arubathu Moovar day, when the divinity of the aura around Mylapore multiplies with the 63 Nayanars being carried around in a procession in colourful palanquins. Thousands of people come from all over and outside Chennai to behold the Arubathu…

For Tinku Biswas, the idea of attending a three-day training workshop in an IIT was like a dream. No, Tinku is not an engineer, though she is a sort of a trailblazer in her own way, being a rare woman owner and manager of a motor training school on the outskirts of Kolkata city. But she was not going to the premier technology institute for any tech training. Tinku was chosen to attend a workshop conducted for driving school owners and trainers as part of a programme jointly initiated by the Transport Department of the Government of West Bengal and…

Rows of eight-storied buildings on both sides of Ezhil Nagar Main Road of Perumbakkam paint an impressive picture of the resettlement colonies constructed by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB). The residents, who were evicted from the slums alongside Adyar and Cooum Rivers after the 2015 floods, live in these buildings which are apparently quite well-maintained. But is life really as rosy for the residents here? The glaring deficiencies can only be spotted once one steps inside these colonies and looks deeper.     In an earlier article on the Perumbakkam resettlement, Citizen Matters exposed the pathetic conditions in a primary…