INTERVIEWS

R Murthy, popularly known as Idream R Murthy is contesting his first election from Royapuram constituency. The proprietor of Idream cinemas in Royapuram, Murthy has been associated with the DMK for many decades now.  Projecting himself as a change-maker, Murthy has charted plans for Royapuram, the constituency that has historically been an AIADMK stronghold, voting D Jayakumar to power five times. A successful businessman, Murthy is optimistic of winning the seat, as he says, “People in Royapuram deserve the best. They want to see the change.”  R Murthy has been campaigning for more than 10 hours a day, reaching out…

Doctor-turned-IAS Santhosh Babu has always been an active bureaucrat and is known for his technical innovations. He held seven positions at one point of time when he was in office. In 2020, he took voluntary retirement from administrative service and shortly after, forayed into politics. He joined Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) late last year as General Secretary (Headquarters), also in charge of IT, data, policy, manifesto, special projects etc.  Contesting from Velachery constituency, Santhosh will be fighting AIADMK’s M K Ashok and Tamil Nadu Youth Congress president JMH Hassan. A few days ago, he tested positive for Coronavirus and was…

Sarathbabu Elumalai is contesting his third election over the last decade. Having cut his teeth in the food business as an entrepreneur, his interest in politics came from a realisation that systemic changes can only be effected through political power and engagement.  He is contesting from the Alandur constituency as a candidate of Makkal Needhi Maiam. MNM is one of the newer political parties in the fray, having been founded by actor-politician Kamal Haasan in 2018. The party’s anti-corruption stance is its key plank, promising to provide an alternative to the major Dravidian parties which have been in power in…

As a social activist, Siva Elango knows what he has to do to improve the state of urban governance and the quality of life of suburban residents. He dons many hats -- Siva started his career as a journalist and took a plunge into politics when he became the founder-president of Makkal Sakthi Katchi in 2009. He contested in the bye-elections from Bargur and Pennagaram constituencies in 2009 and 2010, respectively. In the 2011 elections, he contested against the former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in Tiruvarur constituency.  In 2013, Siva gave up politics and founded Satta Panchayat Iyakkam (SPI), a…

T M Anbarasan’s social media accounts are abuzz with accounts of people recollecting the MLA’s deeds. New roads, restoration of water bodies and improvising the infrastructure in government schools are being hailed as his accomplishments.  Anbarasan, MLA of Alandur, has been vigorously campaigning across the constituency, aiming to win the seat for the third time. Contesting on a DMK ticket every time, Anbarasan was elected as an MLA from Alandur in 2006 and 2016. We caught up with him recently to know his thoughts on his five-year tenure and also his plans for the constituency, which has a huge share…

A Ponnusamy is articulate and expressive. Representing the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), he appears to be very clear about what he wants and has concrete plans to develop his constituency and help dairy farmers in Tamil Nadu. He is also the President of TN Milk Dealers' Employees' Association. Contesting from Perambur constituency, where he has been a resident since 1997, he feels that he has a better understanding of the problems faced by the people of the constituency. The northern part of the city has been a DMK bastion for a long time now, and Ponnusamy will be facing off…

Nominated by the Election Commission of India (ECI), a District Election Officer (DEO) supervises election-related work in the district. In other words, the officer is responsible for ensuring good polling percentage, preparation of booths, setting up the grievance redressal system in coordination with the ECI, and conduct of other election-related duties.  G Prakash, Commissioner of the Greater Chennai Corporation is the DEO of Chennai. Ahead of him lies the Herculean task of ensuring safe, smooth elections during an ongoing pandemic, as the city gets set to vote along with the rest of the state in the Assembly elections scheduled for…

The residential market in Chennai has already begun to see a revival, after going through a pandemic-induced slump in 2020. The realty sector in Chennai has been witnessing steady growth since the third quarter ending September 2020, says a report from The Hindu. But how many among the new projects, with multi-storeyed apartments and offices, will actually go green? According to the Indian Green building Council, "a green building is one which uses less water, optimises energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a conventional building." It has been 18…

Translated by Sandhya Raju முப்பத்தியோரு வயது பொறியாளர் எம் பி அழகு பாண்டிய ராஜா, ஜனவரி 25-ம் தேதி அன்று இந்தியாவின் முதல் நகர பதுமுறைகாணல் அதிகாரியாக (City Innovation Officer) நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். இங்கிலாந்தில் மென்பொருள் நிறுவனத்தில் ஐந்து ஆண்டுகள் வேலை பார்த்த அழகு பாண்டிய ராஜா, தாய் நாட்டிற்கு பங்களிக்க வேண்டும் என்ற உந்துதலால், சென்னை திரும்பினார். இந்தியன் ஸ்மார்ட் சிட்டி ஃபெலோ (Indian Smart City Fellow) பணியில் தன்னை இணைத்துக் கொண்ட அவர், சென்னை மாநகராட்சியுடன் இணைந்து ஆகியவற்றிற்கு புது தீர்வுகளை கொண்டு வந்தார். சென்னை மாநகராட்சி ஆணையர் ஜி பிரகாஷ் மற்றும் வருவாய் துணை ஆணையர் மேகநாத் ரெட்டி ஆகியோரின் முயற்சியே புதுமுறைகாணலுக்கான ஒரு பிரிவினை உருவாக்க காரணம் என்கிறார். இந்த புதிய பதவியில் அவரது பங்கு குறித்தும், பதுமுறைகாணல் அதிகாரியாக பொது மக்களுடனான ஈடுபாடு குறித்தும் அவரிடம் சிட்டிசன் மேட்டர்ஸ் உரையாடியது. சென்னையின்…

Late last year, Balaji Vijayaraghavan, a criminology student from Chennai, downloaded Snapit, a money-lending app. A few days later, he lost close to a lakh from his bank account.  Balaji immediately froze his bank accounts and launched an investigation along with Save Them India Foundation, an NGO working in the cybersecurity front, into how the data breach occurred. “When we began to probe the issue, I learnt that there were 59 malware in the digital lending app that I installed,” says Balaji “Although I did not log in on the app or give permission to access details of other apps…