GENRE: In Focus

1984: Vyjayantimala Bali | 1989: Vyjayantimala Bali | 2019: Thamizhachi Thangapandian.  And it ends there, this tiny list of women MPs elected from Madras/ Chennai. It took 32 years since the first Lok Sabha election in 1952 to get our first woman MP and a thirty-year wait for the second. Vyjayanthimala Bali was elected from South Madras constituency on the first two occasions and Thamizhachi follows in her footsteps, elected from the same constituency (now South Chennai). This only reiterates the immediate need for passing the Women’s Reservation Bill in the parliament to ensure that at least 33 per cent of seats…

In 2006, Pune became the second city after Ahmedabad to introduce the BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) project, an ambitious scheme that envisaged the implementation of a high-quality public transport system to offset the rising vehicular traffic and the subsequent congestion within city limits. To provide its citizens with a reliable medium of public transport, the scheme promised the construction and layout of dedicated bus corridors along with new air-conditioned buses and high-end terminals and stations. In its pilot phase, the project partly operationalised a high capacity bus system on two corridors, the Swargate–Hadapsar (East‐West) Corridor of 10.2 km, and…

It was not the first time, nor the last, but at 5.30 am on July 16th, around an hour after Metro services resumed, Vadapalani Station had no security officials to guard the baggage scanners or frisk commuters. Commuters who patiently followed rules by waiting at the baggage scanner were met with yells of the staff belonging to the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL). “Just collect your baggage and move,” shouted two staff members, pointing at the unmanned scanners and standing on the other side of the automated gates.  On July 18th, around 7 am, St Thomas Mount station saw a…

Alia, 15, cannot move or talk. “She is totally dependent on me,” said her father Mohammad Asad, an electrician. “Her mother passed away almost nine years back. I have to remain with her most of the time”. Even 35 years after the world’s worst industrial disaster that claimed 3787 lives in one night (unofficial estimates, however, put the number of deaths at over 20,000 till date, including those who died from gas related illnesses since) and left 500,000 permanently ill, victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy continue to suffer the effects of the deadly gas leak from the Union Carbide plant.…

The slew of announcements by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on incentives for electric vehicle manufacturing and adoption in India marked the most recent thrust of the Centre on clean mobility and alternative energy in transport. Earlier in June, the government had called for proposals from state transport departments for the deployment of 5,000 electric buses under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric vehicles (FAME-II) scheme.  For the first time, the Centre  has issued a large tender for such buses. Selected cities will be offered 40 per cent on the costs. The Department of Heavy Industries…

The spectre of water scarcity is haunting Bengaluru. And from a din of solutions to avert this man-made crisis, one suggestion has take the city over like a storm, and brought to the forefront a debate with myriad perspectives. Recently, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameswara suggested banning apartment construction in Bengaluru for the next five years. His announcement invited strong objections from the real estate industry. Just a day after, the shares of Bengaluru-based real estate giants Shobha and Brigade plunged five percent. However, Parameswara's suggestion resonated with many citizens who have been facing the brunt of water shortage. Questions…

Bengaluru has found a love for microbreweries that brew their own beer on small scales, thanks to the influx of well-traveled young tech workers. Known as the pub capital of India, the city now has an estimated 60-plus micro breweries. What you may not know, is the amount of water needed to brew a pint of beer in these craft breweries. On average, it takes seven litres of water to brew a litre of beer. That number becomes many times higher when you factor in the entire water footprint of beer, including water required to grow the grain and water…

It is almost as tall as the Qutb Minar and growing in height every day, threatening to grow taller than the Taj Mahal. It spews deadly methane gas into the atmosphere and pollutes ground water. It provides a risky and toxic living for ragpickers and is a major health hazard for all those living around it. It claimed two lives when a part of it collapsed in 2017, and poses a continuous fire hazard. And yes, it is causing changes in the climate of the city. This is the Ghazipur landfill in East Delhi, now represented in Parliament by former…

On July 8 2019, about 500 middle class working professionals skipped work, school and college, ignored delayed train services, and braved heavy rains and jammed roads to turn up at a public hearing at an auditorium in the Bandra-Kurla Complex. Adivasis, students, professors and people from different walks of life had all gathered to raise their voices against the proposed felling of 2702 trees in Mumbai's Aarey Colony, to make way for a car shed of Metro-3. Their demand, the trees in this lush green forest be saved from the axe. Holding placards, shouting, booing and jeering, the attendees questioned…

On July 8 2019, about 500 middle class working professionals skipped work, school and college, ignored delayed train services, and braved heavy rains and jammed roads to turn up at a public hearing at an auditorium in the Bandra-Kurla Complex. Adivasis, students, professors and people from different walks of life had all gathered to raise their voices against the proposed felling of 2702 trees in Mumbai's Aarey Colony, to make way for a car shed of Metro-3. Their demand, the trees in this lush green forest be saved from the axe. Holding placards, shouting, booing and jeering, the attendees questioned…