Enjoy riding bicycles? Did you know the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has come up with a specific standard for helmets for cyclists, skate boarders and roller skaters — for the first time, and it is coded “IS 18808”. The move by BIS to nudge all stakeholders to promote ISI-marked helmet is crucial for a...
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April 30, 2025April 30, 2025City
Watch | Maratha reservation stir | What are its implications of the OBC backlash?
OBC leader and Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal took issue with Maratha leader Jarange-Patil’s stance over the OBC quota on November 24, 2023. He said the Maratha community should not be given reservation from the other backward class (OBC) category. He wanted to know how paperwork proving Marathas were Kunbi OBCs were being discovered all of...
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April 24, 2025April 24, 2025City
The chaos of Karnataka’s caste survey
The story so far: On April 11, a nearly 10-year-old Socio-Economic and Educational Survey (popularly called the Caste Census) prepared by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes was dusted off and accepted by the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet. Two days prior, the listing of the Caste Census in the Cabinet’s agenda for discussion had...
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Data | How election fund was spent during 2021 State polls
The DMK and the Trinamool Congress (AITC), both winners of State elections in 2021, spent over Rs. 265 crore during their election campaigns, according to the reports submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) . Among all parties, the AIADMK spent the highest share in spreading the party’s propaganda (99.5%) and relied only on...
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Data | How regional parties in India are funded?
About 55% of the funds received by regional parties in FY20 were from unknown sources, an analysis of the Association for Democratic Reforms shows. ‘Income from unknown sources’ refers to those donations that are made without the details of the donors. These include donations made through electoral bonds, sale of coupons, miscellaneous income and voluntary...
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March 27, 2025March 27, 2025City
Explained | Centre and State powers over water resources
On September 7, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to solve the long-pending Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal issue between Punjab and Haryana, saying, “It’s the duty of the Centre to ensure water for Punjab and Haryana, not to make them fight”. In a press conference at Haryana’s...
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Data | BJP had the edge in the recent bipolar contests in Karnataka
In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, 77% of the seats witnessed bipolar contests, which meant that only two parties were effectively fighting the election in those constituencies. This marked a shift from the 2013 and 2008 elections when less than 50% of the seats witnessed a bipolar contest. Moreover, multi-cornered fights involving more than three...
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February 13, 2025February 13, 2025City
No thick, swaying coconut groves here, but this is also ‘Kerala’
Untouched by the interminable debate on Gujarat Model versus the Kerala model started by an argument between two economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen is a little village called “Kerala” in Gujarat’s Morbi district. The villagers here know nothing about Mr. Bhagwati’s analysis of Gujarat Model of development which he reckoned was superior...
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December 2, 2024December 2, 2024City
Maoist leader Vikram Gowda’s encounter death in Karnataka: A case file
Vikram Gowda, a key Maoist leader from Karnataka, was killed in an alleged exchange of fire with the Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) at Peetabailu village near Hebri in Udupi district on November 18 night. The incident marks the first killing of a Maoist leader in an encounter in Karnataka since 2012. ANF, police intensify combing operations...
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November 21, 2024November 21, 2024City, Environment
Heatwave preparedness should be a 365-day effort
Recently, the Tamil Nadu government made a gazette notification that heatwave is a state disaster, clubbing it with 13 other eventualities such as deaths caused by electrocution, thunderstorm and lighting, floods and snakebite. Families of victims including relief workers who died due to heatwave, would be eligible for an ex-gratia of ₹ 4 lakh. These...
