GENRE: LN

Every year, an MLA is given Rs 2 crores every year, to spend on developmental works in his constituency. There are around 180 expense items sanctioned under Aravind Limabavali’s MLA Local Area Development Funds, out of 10 crores in five years. ☛ Click here to see what an MLA is allowed to spend Local Area Funds on. It appears from the data that Limbavali spent more than half of the funds in building bus shelters.  107 bus shelters costing a total of Rs 5.02 crores have been spent.  There are also curious facts in the way the money was spent. For example, when…

After a meeting with the heads of various political parties, the District Election Officer, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad conducted a press meet to informed the media of nomination procedures for the upcoming election, on Monday, April 16, 2018. The filing of nominations for the polls will begin on 17th April, 11am onwards. Between 17th and 24th, nominations can be filed between 11am and 3pm. The Commissioner specified rules for the nomination process: not more than three vehicles and five people including the candidate can be present within 100m of the office of the RO. Nomination paper and the format for…

Public parks play a key role in recreation and health of citizens. For children growing up in fast developing, concretised urbanscapes, time spent in parks is their only respite from walls -- in their houses and schools and tuitions. It is a good thing for citizens, therefore, that renovation of parks gets a mention in almost all annual budgets of the Chennai Corporation. However, a visit to some of the public parks in the city will break your heart. On the ground, these parks are anything but child friendly, with most of the play equipment and accessories to engage children…

This is a 'Green Manifesto, objective of which is a commitment from the candidates contesting the elections to include “A Healthy Environment for the Well-being of the citizens” as an agenda in their general Manifesto. “Namma Kasa Namma Jawabdari” is the basic principle on which this document is drafted. A healthy environment is the ultimate source of everything critical for our survival - providing healthy food and materials, to the land we live in, water sources that sustain us to the air we breathe. We want clean habitat for ourselves and also for the villages that surround our city. We…

Where? As the sun  began to descend, the already buzzing Koyambedu market road came alive with more action as hundreds of people assembled at a local hotel for the Sakkadai Thiruvizha, organised by Arappor Iyakkam. The event on April 8th was envisioned as a citizen awareness program to highlight the problem of untreated sewage that is being continuously let out into the city’s water bodies, spelling doom for them as well as for the entire ecosystem. The highlight Officials from Chennai Corporation, PWD and CMWSSB  came together on a single platform to listen to the woes of the people. It…

Actor Revathi was the first speaker at the event. "It is the good deeds and good people around us who still keep our hopes intact for a better world," she began, drawing reference to all the negativity around us. "As a mother I feel there has been a drastic change, change for the good. It has given me the inquisitiveness to delve deep and question every happening. I feel the urge to leave behind the best for the young generation," added the actor. She insisted that the responsibility of transferring the knowledge that we gain in our lives and the goodness…

A play that is an interpretation of another play faces several challenges. What if the audience is not familiar with the original play?  How can the production pick up on very contemporary issues from a play originally written in 1972...46 years ago? The Big Fat Company addressed these issues, and more, successfully, in their production, "Head 2 Head", where the cast and crew "play" with Hayavadana. A scene from the play, in a photo  displayed in the foyer: As I entered the theatre space, I found the first attempt in this direction by the Big Fat Company.  An excellent brochure, printed…

According to recent media reports, the Public Works Department has trained its sights on a heritage building. The 83-year-old Janata Bazaar, which has been listed as a heritage building under the Revised Master Plan 2031, stand on premium property in Gandhi Nagar. The PWD, however, has branded it as "very dangerous" for human occupation and has proposed to bring it down. This has the heritage conservationists up in arms as the building who insist that the building can be restored to its former glory and is only suffering from neglect.  The building which was inaugurated by the Yuvaraja of Mysore…

Wearing a plain school uniform, holding a banner in one hand and a lunch bag in the other, a young lad marched on the streets of Padur last year. Apart from the words on the banner -- ‘Kudiyai Vidu, Padikka Vidu’ (Give up liquor, let us study), it is the steely determination of the eight-year-old boy, A Aakaash, that caught everyone’s attention and spirited the anti-TASMAC agitation at Padur, a small hamlet on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR). Toys or clothes do not interest Aakaash. His worries belie his age. When a liquor shop in an inappropriate place needs removal or…

Electoral Rolls after the Summary Revisions have been published on 28 Feb 2018. However there is a last chance for citizens to register as voters. One can submit applications till 14th April, 2018. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka is organising a mass voter registration drive on Sunday 8th April, between 10 AM to 5 PM owing to many complaints by citizens regarding the non-inclusion in mother rolls. All booth level officers (BLO) will be stationed at the respective polling booths to receive applications of the residuary voters.  This is the last chance for people to get registered…