As the new government in Tamil Nadu completes its first month, it has taken a first step towards fulfilling one of its key election promises: prohibition. But the way it is moving forward, activists and civil society are not very confident of its efficacy. On Sunday, the government closed down 500 liquor outlets – following chief minister J Jayalalithaa’
These days K Babu, the controversial excise minister in the previous United Democratic Front government in Kerala headed by Oommen Chandy, cannot control his anger and frustration. Reason? He became the fall guy for supporting liquor ban in the state as voters rejected him and he lost his Thrippunithura seat, which had sent him to the house for four consecutive terms. “I a
A drop of liquor is equivalent to a thousand teardrops (Oru tulli madyam, ayiram tulli kannuneer), says an advertisement of the excise department of Kerala. Vishu smells of liquor as he gets up and receives this journalist into his two-room house in Ambalapuram, a typical urbanised panchayat in Thrissur. It is 7 pm and the 60-year-old man, a carpente
There was an unprecedented disaster in 2013. Massive amount of torrential rainfall took place which led to flash floods near every single river of the state of Uttarakhand. From Yamuna, Bhagirathi, Mandakini, Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, Kali nadi – none of the rivers were spared. The massive flash floods and landslides claimed thousands of lives and their livelihoods. Till date, people a
The hope of relative safety of a religious majority as well as the fear of maiming and mutilation following partition forced mass exodus from either sides of the new border. The 1951 census of Pakistan identified the number of displaced persons in Pakistan at 7,226,600, presumably all Muslims who had entered Pakistan from India. Similarly, the 1951 census of India enumerated 7,295,870 displaced
Dealing with ammunition is one of the most lethal tasks in the army. It is hardly realised that ammunition is more unpredictable than the enemy, and soldiers deal with it on a regular basis. On May 31, an accident at the central ammunition depot (CAD) in Pulgaon, near Nagpur in Maharashtra, saw the loss of 19 lives, including those of firefighters and two officers.
Glittering zari sarees bring to mind wedding and other festive occasions. But now when I look at a beautiful glittering saree, I can see the lost childhood of so many children embroidered in it. Rescue work can be tough and emotionally draining and I can never forget the scary experience of rescuing bonded children from the dark and dingy saree making factories in Jaipur City, t
They live as whole families in small straw huts they made with their bare hands, on a patch of land miles away from the nearest town. It looks desolate. But it is, they tell me, “paradise”. Because before they came here, they had been forcibly held as bonded labourers by a plantation master. It is 2016, India is a global power, and I am talking to people who have escaped what is eff
Brij Mohan Anand would have remained yet another name in the not so exalted annals of India’s commercial art but for his daughter, who, 30 years after his death, has presented his creative and unknown art works to the world. The art exhibition, ‘Narratives for Indian Modernity: The Aesthetic of Brij Mohan Anand’ at Delhi’s India International Centre (IIC)
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite, IRNSS-1G, went into geosynchronous transfer orbit on April 28 and by May 3 it has taken up its position in the geostationary orbit at 129.5 degree east. With this the IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is in position. The constellation consists of three geostationary earth orbit (GEO) spacecraft and four spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit (GSO) inc
On May 19, after the results of the assembly elections were announced, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “We will work harder till we win the confidence & trust of people.” But these confident words sounded rhetorical when you remember his reaction after the defeat in the Delhi assembly election in 2013. “We have the ability to transform ourselv
The national eligibility cum entrance test (NEET), a single window examination for entering medical schools for MBBS and BDS courses across the country, was introduced with an aim to remove the hassle of appearing in hundreds of examinations separately. The move was introduced to lessen corruption and irregularities. However, the government took the ordinance route to keep the states out of the
The Shayara Bano case has placed the Muslim personal law under the judicial scanner yet again. The supreme court is set to examine triple talaq, polygamy and other discriminatory practices against women on the touchstone of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution. Though there have been petitions in the past pointing to the need for reform, Shayara’s petition has u
A couple of days back, Odisha assembly passed its Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Bill permitting leprosy patients to contest Panchayat polls. The polls are scheduled to be held in 2017. With this, the state has abolished its 52-year-old law, which banished leprosy patients to contest polls, calling it “redundant”. However, there are several existing Indian
At 63, Jayalalithaa doesn’t qualify to be referred to as a ‘child’. But if the events of the last three-odd months in Tamil Nadu are anything to go by the appellation ‘destiny’s favourite child’ would seem to be an improbably precise description of her. Today, on the back of a spectacular victory in the just-concluded assembly el
Of the many thought-provoking stories by literary legend Premchand, there is one about a landlord’s arrogance and water scarcity. It is titled ‘Thakur ka Kuan’ (the landlord’s well) and perhaps now is a right time to revisit it. A villager named Jokhu is quite ill and badly wants a sip of water. There is a common well for villagers but its water has been
Like a child, the Yamuna gushes down the Yamunotri glacier, its free flowing and crystal clear waters cutting through mountains and valleys. The youthful Yamuna generously nurtures life on its way. But its free-flowing spirit is abruptly interrupted at Hathnikund barrage in Haryana. There, the water is diverted through the western and eastern Yamuna canals. Then a tired river proceeds towards
One billion people will be facing severe water shortage in India and neighbouring areas by 2050 thanks to climate change and expansion of economic growth, according to a projection made by the researchers of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Their new study says that in future it would be growth rather than climate change which would be more responsible for water stress.
Loknath Nauri comes home with a large herd of cattle. He had taken them out for grazing in the forest. But surprisingly they are not milch cows. “Only one of these gives milk and that too is mostly consumed by the calf,” says Nauri in a genteel voice. A middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair and a pencil moustache to match, Nauri knows there’s more to this herd than milk.
Tamil Nadu streets are submerged in the election fever. During any poll season, the skyline in the state remains cluttered with larger-than-life cut-outs of political leaders. However, this time, the giant cut-outs of the political leaders, hallmark of the state during assembly polls have been replaced with Light Emitting Diode (LED) cut-outs. Seve
