Chennai

Elections 2019

May 13, 2019

Bengal govt denies permission for Amit Shah rally The bitter battle for the ballot between the TMC and BJP in West Bengal took another downturn when the West Bengal government cancelled BJP president Amit Shah’s rally in Jadavpur constituency in Kolkata slated for Monday. Furthermore, the state government denied permission for Shah’s helicopter to land. Rajya Sabha MP and BJP Media head Anil Baluni said the party would hold protests in the state and approach [...]Read More

India

August 30, 2017

Yesterday Mumbai, the financial capital of our country, experienced over 200 mm of rainfall. This is more rain than what the city would receive in over 10 days during regular monsoons. All in a matter of 12 hours, the rain gods managed to bring India’s most bustling and industrious city to its knees. 5 Mumbaikars died, homes and offices were flooded, train services paralysed, and most office goers stranded far from home. The National Disaster [...]Read More

Government, India

February 14, 2017

Firecrackers, dancing and singing on the streets, sweets being distributed across the city, strangers hugging each other. No, Chennai has not come up with an unprecedented Valentine’s Day celebration but the city, today, echoes the jubilant sentiments of Tamil Nadu. The Supreme Court of India upheld the trial court’s verdict convicting CM aspirant Sasikala Natarajan in a 21-year-old disproportionate assets case. Sasikala has been ordered by the Supreme Court to surrender immediately. It is likely [...]Read More

India, Politics

February 9, 2017

  “It’s election time in UP, and the country is discussing about TN politics. This must be a first”, says Anand, a resident of Chennai, on his Facebook wall. The political conundrum that Tamil Nadu finds itself in is an unprecedented one and is indeed a knotty affair and the news reports echo varied opinions with no end in sight. The situation highlights the nuanced constitutional process followed in selecting a Chief Minister. Here we say ‘selecting’ [...]Read More

Government, India

February 6, 2017

Loyalty pays. It just takes around three decades to reach the pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow. That just about sums up Sasikala Natarajan’s journey thus far. So who is Sasikala Natarajan and why is she in the middle of a controversial storm in Tamil Nadu? Sasikala has been a personal confidante and assistant to late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa for over 30 years. Post Jayalalithaa’s recent death, Sasikala is now [...]Read More

India, Politics

December 17, 2016

The past few weeks have certainly been tough ones for senior politicians in Tamil Nadu. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) supremo and patriarch M. Karunanidhi, popularly referred to as Kalaignar, was hospitalized late in the night on Thursday, 15 December, 2016. Karunanidhi was diagnosed with throat and lung infection and had complained of difficulty in breathing. He is 93 years old. Kalaignar is the grand old man of Tamil politics, the senior-most leader in the state. [...]Read More

India, India Society Blogs

December 13, 2016

Rise of vigilantism was on the expected lines when the Supreme Court in its recent order directed movie theatres across the country to play the national anthem before the start of a film. The apex court, in its controversial order, made it mandatory for all movie goers to stand as a mark of respect when national anthem would be played in halls. While passing the directive it appears that the apex court has forgotten that [...]Read More

India, Politics

December 12, 2016

Push has started coming from within the AIADMK for making V K Sasikala, aid of Jayalalithaa, as the next General Secretary of the party. Even Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has endorsed the stand of AIADMK workers for elevating Sasikala to the party chief’s post. In that way, mists around the selection of the Dravidian party’s top leader have started rolling away. Across the regional parties, especially where it is one-man or one-woman show, [...]Read More

India, India Society Blogs

December 10, 2016

Former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was a well known public figure. ‘Amma’ to the Tamil masses, Jayalalithaa was an astute leader with a political career spanning over three decades. News of her death on December 5, 2016, was received with much grief across the country. Around 77 people in the state are believed to have died of grief since she took seriously ill and when she passed away, says the TN ruling party AIADMK. While [...]Read More

India, India Society Blogs

December 8, 2016

Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy. The name may not spark much of an interest even in Chennai. But call him by his moniker “Cho” and watch the reverence and respect light up in the eyes of your listener. Today we mourn the passing of Cho Ramaswamy – the satirist who shaped the political views of Tamil Nadu’s masses, the relentless and fearless critic, the wildly famous editor, and the king-maker. Cho S. Ramaswamy took his last breath [...]Read More