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TN’s new deal for the mini bus needs key tweaks
After more than two decades of regulatory confusion, the Tamil Nadu government has come out with a draft new Comprehensive Mini Bus Scheme, 2024, to provide public transport connectivity in the far corners of the State. There...
Better Tamil Nadu
A small solar-powered mill changes tribal lives in the hills
A solar-powered millet milling machine has brought rays of sunshine to the lives of the people living in a tribal-dominated village, who are happy that the machine has mitigated their difficulties in food preparation. Kathirimalai located in the Anthiyur area of Erode district is home to 75...
A selfless act by teachers gets school new floors
It was a lesson in self-reliance taught by the teachers of a school, not through books but through action. One of the three buildings of the panchayat union middle school at Murugankudi in Cuddalore district had been functioning with badly damaged floors for a long time. It made things...
TN doctor cures 40 cattle diseases with Siddha medicine
Dr N Punniamurthy, 65, has demonstrated the efficacy of Siddha medicine in curing about 40 cattle diseases, setting an example for other states to consider and emulate. He has worked as the head of the Ethno Veterinary Medicine Training and Research Centre, Thanjavur, affiliated to the Tamil...
His resolve, sisters’ sacrifice make him the doctor he is
Government school, Tamil medium, poverty in family and marginalised social status…all these factors are seen as deterrents to success. Yet Aravindhraj triumphed over all the heavy odds stacked against his education, and finally donned the coat of a doctor. Born into a marginalised family in...
Parivadini honours flute-maker with Parlandu award this year
Parivadini has carved out a niche in the world of Carnatic music, webcasting live music concerts held at Raga Sudha, home to Nada Inbam in Mylapore, Chennai, so the connoisseurs of Carnatic music can relish classical notes from the cozy comfort of their home. The credit for this must go to Jaya...
Opinion
One nation, one poll: DMK against it ideologically, AIADMK under Jaya was for it but EPS-OPS have flip-flopped
(This article was first published in July 2018) (The first part of the series looked at why the one nation, one poll idea is a ploy by NDA government to come back to power; the second looked at the legal complications in bringing this about; this article deals with...
One nation, one poll: Why the Chief Election Commissioner calls it ‘very difficult’ to achieve
(This article was first published in July 2018) The first part of the article dealt with how the one nation, one poll proposal may be help BJP in the short-term by giving it an advantage in the next Lok Sabha polls. The question is whether it has the intention or the...
One nation, one election: A ploy by Modi to come back to power in the centre
(This article was first published in July 2018) The first thing that must be understood about the move to have simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies is that it is aimed at establishing single party rule throughout the country, including in...
Mathi Memes
Mathi Memes: He can’t act, he can’t dance. Yet Ajith’s Valimai is a smash hit
Actress Khushbu was referring to the reception to Ajith's film Valimai. In what seemed like a mix of admiration and envy, she tweeted in Tamil: “Only you [Ajith Kumar] draw such crowds.” On Wednesday (Feb 24) evening, at a theatre in Thoothukudi, there was a large...
Editor’s Pick
An audio-visual tribute to Seshachary of Hyderabad Brothers
Daruri Seshachary, who paired with his sibling Daruri Raghavachary to form Hyderbad Brothers, passed away on Feb 24, 2024. Below is a tribute to him. Seshachary formally learned mridangam from his uncle, Vidwan Sri K Sudarsanacharya and was staff mridangam...
Chennaiites hit by MTC vacancies, ageing buses, poor integration
Chennai’s bus operator Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has a staggering 504 driver vacancies, 75 conductor vacancies and 246 technical positions unfilled as of May 2023, while the oldest bus in the fleet is an ancient 17.4 years, data obtained under the Right to Information Act shows....
Man-animal conflict: Why culling may work well
The recent incidents involving the tusker Arikomban in Kerala and later in Tamil Nadu have sparked a furore among the public and unsettled government officials in both states. There was an outpouring of sentiment from stakeholders on the rough handling of the elephant. However, the issue of...
Fish at ration shops: Siddha expert’s solution to protein deficiency
There is a growing perception that healthy food, exercise and a stress-free mind are the key to full-fledged well-being, says Dr Sivaraman, a leading practitioner of the Siddha system of medicine. The doctor shared his insights gained from participating a path-breaking global seminar on...
Building smarter with Madurai and Coimbatore Metro Rail Project
Whether smaller cities like Madurai and Coimbatore need costly Metro rail systems is a widely discussed theme, and the critiques start to bite when the pattern of underinvestment in existing ‘low capacity’ systems such as buses, mini-buses and smaller vehicles shows little effort to get it...
Politics
Arundhati Roy: How Modi 3.0 may well be more virulent
Two days since the news of sanction to prosecute Arundhati Roy broke, many are crying their hearts out. But the allies of the government are silent. Evidently because the writer is sought to be prosecuted over her comments on Kashmir, even the...
Pinarayi effect: Kerala’s CPM citadels see saffron surge
Is Kerala chief minister and party supremo Pinarayi Vijayan triggering an internal protest vote? Kerala elections are often marked by small swings in votes leading to big changes in outcomes. So the Left getting only one seat in 2024 was not a...
Decoding election results 2024
Decoding election results 2024 in today's world can be hazardous. Electoral democracy is a stretch, one can say perhaps, given the rulers we have been seeing the world over. Especially now, when someone like Vladimir Putin would like his country...
BJP base in Karnataka is intact. Candidate selection was key
The BJP roller coaster ride in Karnataka politics has taken one more nosedive in the current elections. The state has been returning the same BJP MPs since 2009 mostly, indicating that the party has overdone the selection and overdepended on the...
Here’s why Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is being fielded in Wayanad
The Left maybe miffed by the decision to field Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Wayanad. The exit of Rahul Gandhi, the scion of Nehru family, from the Wayanad Lok Sabha Constituency in the post-poll scenario after winning two constituencies, has triggered a controversy...
Culture
Polarization – where are we headed?
Just a day after he vehemently denied he ever did communal politics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went back to his old refrain, alleging in a Maharashtra rally that the Congress during its previous rule had wanted to allocate 15 per cent of the...
Who celebrated Onam first? Answer: The Pandyas
(This article was first published on Sept 7, 2022) As Keralites throughout the world are celebrating Onam festival, the cultural festival of Malayalees cutting across caste and religion, a public holiday has been announced in several districts...
Warli tribe’s colorful tradition
At the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples celebrated near Mumbai recently, the cynosure of all eyes was the parade of adivasis: The most striking feature about them was that the clothes and hats they wore and the musical...
Coconut food festival adds flavour to Aadi in Kongunadu
Tamil Nadu abounds in festivals marked by various food items depending on the geographical and cultural features of the regions. The Kongu region comprising Salem, Erode, Dharmapuri, Namakkal and Tirupur celebrates the advent of the Tamil month...
Sanskari folks are often the least cultured
Sanskari is a Hindi word meaning cultured, well-mannered, but in general implying orthodox. It is sought to be applied more to women though. The world over of course women are supposed to be the guardian angels of racial purity and miscegenation is a horrifying...
Food
GI tag for Vellore thorny brinjal, Ramnad rotund chilli
In recognition of Tamil Nadu’s indigenous varieties of brinjal and chillies, the thorny brinjal of Vellore and the rotund chilli of Ramanathapuram have been given the geographical indication or GI tag. ‘Mullu kaththarikaai’ (thorny brinjal) is...
Drink water regularly; it does more than just quench thirst
Drinking enough water every day plays a great role in maintaining human health. Water accounts for 75 per cent of the substances our body is made up of, and drinking enough water aids digestion and regulates metabolism. How much water should you...
Have greens everyday to keep diseases at bay
Food in itself and of itself is medicine. So goes an old Tamil adage. Familiar with the medicinal properties of greens, our forefathers made them a part of their daily diet. Modern doctors too insist on taking greens regularly as they play a...
Drop it like a hot potato: Boiled good, french fries bad
Is potato good for health or not? Some vouch for the potato’s health benefits such as being able to prevent cancer. But others say the tuber is anything but healthy. So, which is it? Potato, one of the world’s important food crops, is a...
No oil no boil — raw food restaurant serves superfoods
In the midst of an explosion of exotic food fads and Internet gourmet gurus, Chennai’s own Kannamma Neelakandan flips all our assumptions about food on their head — by serving delicious, multi-course meals without cooking! On the outskirts of the city in...
Civic Issues
TN’s new deal for the mini bus needs key tweaks
After more than two decades of regulatory confusion, the Tamil Nadu government has come out with a draft new Comprehensive Mini Bus Scheme, 2024, to provide public transport connectivity in the far corners of the State. There...
A wayfinding challenge: Namma Metro Majestic to Bengaluru City station
Wayfinding is part of global travel culture but in India it poses a serious challenge. Even in the era of national job mobility and a post-COVID tourism wave, governments don’t make it easy for people to find public places and essential facilities even in the...
Environment
TN’s urban planning ignores climate change threat, causing huge losses
Close on the heels of crippling rain and flood in Chennai during 2021, the 2023 monsoon has wreaked havoc in the city and later in the Thoothukudi - Tirunelveli belt in Tamil Nadu. It is becoming clear that the pattern of urbanisation and urban planning in the...
Kerala caught in storm over Justice for Arikomban
Kerala: Protest marches, road blockades, endless poster campaigns on digital platforms, legal wrangles, vociferous discussions in television channels, poetry readings, music albums, cultural resistance and much more — Kerala is caught in jumbo debate over problem...
Sports
Chennai, TN, the surfing capital of India
Surfing in Chennai and all of Tamil Nadu has seen a surge in popularity, captivating both locals and tourists along the state’s long and breathtaking coastline. The state's diverse range of surf spots cater to surfers of all levels, making it an enticing...
CSK’s Gujarati, GT’s Tamil talent bode well for IPL
“You do get emotional; the first game at CSK everyone was chanting my name. My eyes were full of tears,” said an emotional Mahendra Singh Dhoni as he led Chennai Super Kings to a record fifth IPL final on Monday. So without going into the details of how and where...
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