Chennai Times

In a sense, 2006 has been a year when a gradual transformation has taken place from a parliamentary democracy to a judicial courtocracy. More and more issues of public policy - be it the height of a dam or the areas to be sealed - are decided in courts and not in legislatures or cabinet meetings. The union cabinet can decide on reservation policies, the court is inclined to question them. Chief ministers can give the green signal to setting up special economic zones, public interest litigations can challenge the policy in court. Even MPs disqualified by parliament in the cash for questions sting can go to the court seeking redressal. The above is from Rajdeep Sardesai, one of our most seen television faces in his blog. Maybe, that is another view. But, then the judiciary doesn't have plans, doesn't have the systems in place to attend to issues and (notwithstanding some rare examples) is not meant to be pro-active. Like I said in my first write-up on this issue, the judiciary w...

About 5.7 lakh people in Chennai with a monthly income of Rs. 2,000 or less will receive free dhotis and saris for Pongal. This morning newspaper provides an example of what the urban slums are useful for. I wonder how many of this 5.7 lakh are part of the displaced population, quite a few of them seem to have ration cards. Would they still count of as BPL in Chennai metropolis, readily available for such largess by the politicians? By the way, 5.7 lakh is more than 10% of Chennai population according to the Census of 2001.

CHENNAI: Houses of about three lakh people living along the city's waterways are facing demolition. Authorities are preparing for an all-out eviction drive against encroachers along the Adyar and Cooum rivers and Buckingham Canal under the Chennai City River Conservation Project ( CCRCP ). The official estimate of the number of families facing eviction is 33,313. Of these, residents of 8,164 tenements — nearly 40,000 people — who live in areas that hinder the ongoing desilting efforts will be evicted and resettled on the city outskirts. "Nearly 6,624 families have encroached upon the banks of the Adyar , 8,266 along the Cooum and 18,243 along Buckingham Canal. All of them will be resettled and efforts will be made to provide them alternative livelihood opportunities where they are relocated," Department of Environment officials — the nodal agency for CCRCP — told this newspaper. It is a grand move b...

MADRAS MISCELLANY Loss of historic identity Several eminent engineering institutions in the State stand to lose their historic identity if the Anna University goes through with a plan to abolish the individual identity of its constituent and affiliated colleges once the Government scheme to divide the University into four regional sections comes into force. Degree certificates, I'm told, will no longer mention the college attended by the graduate; only Anna University, Madras, Coimbatore, etc. will be mentioned. This, say both alumni and students, will not help students going in for higher education elsewhere in India or abroad,...