INFO RESOURCE

The recent Bollywood release Chichore may have been dismissed as a clichéd story. But its theme – depression among school and college students – is becoming a serious issue, especially in big cities like Mumbai. India has one of the highest suicide rates in the world among youth in the 15-29 age group and depression is one key cause for this. Though media did report two recent incidents, that of a 24 year old student, from Assam studying at the School of Architecture and Planning (SPA) who committed suicide due to mental pressure and that of a 29-year-old student of…

Close to 20 people killed in the city itself, several missing and over 3000 requiring rehabilitation -- Pune is grappling with the situation in the aftermath of the September flash floods, as the city and its adjoining areas saw over 100 millimetres of rain over a period of two days. While efforts are on to redeem the situation, environmentalists and analysts say that the writing had been on the wall for some time. And the authorities had even been warned about it… Flashback to August 2019 In the first week of August, Pune experienced floods after around 100000 cusecs of…

The extreme spells of rain over the past few weeks may have made Hyderabad’s traffic situation worse than ever, but the situation is hardly bearable even when we have less inclement weather. The problem is especially acute in the Hitech-City - Financial District area, given the large concentration of office goers who come here from various parts of the city. Traffic speeds on a regular day often fall to 12-15 km/hour, which is slower than riding a bicycle. The current trend also suggests that more and more employees are switching from public transport towards owning and traveling by their personal…

“In this humid weather, the ride is really comfortable,” said Harivardan Thakkar, a regular commuter on Ahmedabad’s new Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), about the new electric buses introduced into the system from August 29. “Let us see how many such buses and new routes get operational as promised.” Commuters like Thakkar are understandably cautious with their reactions as a number of promises given when the BRTS was launched in 2009 are yet to be fulfilled. BRTS was introduced with the promise of being a substitute for private vehicles and ensuring last mile connectivity for passengers. Last mile connectivity is…

With assembly elections due next February, the Arvind Kejriwal government is on a spree doling out freebies to Delhi voters. The freebies range from free electricity, free water and free WiFi to free bus rides for women. They all come with a catch, though. For instance, electricity will be free only for those consuming a maximum of 200 units every month. For those consuming 201 to 400 units, the subsidy was revised to a maximum discount of Rs 800 on the bill. Similarly, with regard to water subsidy, the limit is 20 kilolitres per month, with the consumer having to…

A study published in the Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, analyzing the cooling effect on the city of Ahmedabad’s water bodies, has thrown up some interesting findings. The east bank of the Sabarmati river, which flows through Ahmedabad, was found to be significantly cooler than the west bank, witnessing a greater drop in temperature even during summer. The study provides direct evidence of how water bodies affect temperature variations. The Sukhna lake in Chandigarh and the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad were taken up in the study, to assess the variations in microclimate near these water bodies. Urbanization has resulted in…

Every time MS Dhoni hammers the ball out of the boundary with his helicopter shot, workers at a medium-sized sports manufacturing unit in Jalandhar have an extra reason to cheer. For theirs are the hands that crafted the bat Dhoni has been using over the years.  "Our bats are also being used by Chris Gayle, Michael Clarke, deVilliers among others. Sachin Tendulkar too used our bats," says Jyoti Sharma, owner of Spartan Sports, with a hint of pride. “Dhoni's bat is made of English Cleft, a special type of willow wood imported from England. It has a more pronounced curve…

The Clean Buddha Nullah programme, which had become a symbol of the extreme apathy shown by successive governments towards citizens raising this issue for years, seems to have received a much-needed impetus. “The Buddha Nullah issue had been in a state of limbo for the past 30 years,” said Jaskirat Singh, State Executive Committee Member of the Naroa Punjab Manch (NPM), a citizen body formed to highlight issues related to water pollution. “It was around the time the Citizen Matters story appeared that we formed the Naroa Punjab Manch and since then we have been actively taking it up with…

Instances such as the arrest of Gaurav Dhamija  who made women deposit money into his account after promising an alliance with them, or the case of Balamurugan, an engineer residing in Germany,  who became a victim of a matrimonial scam  and came to know that his prospective partner Shruthi alias Mythili Venkatesh had cheated six men to the tune of several crores in connivance with her gang, are just a couple among many such that raise red flags about matrimonial sites flourishing in the country. They underline the fact that these can be, and are being rampantly used as platforms…

The Bombay High Court (HC) has become the last recourse for citizens to save Mumbai's miniscule tree cover -- less than a tree per head as aganst the world standard of seven trees per head. The city's few remaining trees are facing the axe from large, high-profile infrastructural projects. The High Court is playing the role meant to be played by the Mumbai's Tree Authority, a statutory body set up following promulgation of the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975. From getting the Tree Authority suspended for nine months, probably for the first time, and insisting…