Winter of our discontent 

While the conversations around air pollution heat up around the onset of winter in Delhi, local year-round factors are often overlooked  Despite the ban on firecrackers, norms were flouted and the sound of bursting crackers could be heard echoing in the Capital this Diwali. This was a nostalgic reminder of the years before — air […]

Blood banks hit by pandemic

Lack of voluntary donors due to Covid restrictions has hit the supply of blood for transfusion Last month, Mandeep (name changed) met with an accident — a bull gored him with its horns, severely injuring him. He was rushed to the Trauma Centre of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He required transfusion of […]

Axing its own foot?

The Haryana government’s move to pass a Bill securing private sector jobs for locals faces flak from within the BJP itself For the people, but against the essence of equality and fairness? Questions are continuing to be raised on the Haryana government’s decision to introduce a Bill to reserve 75% of jobs in the private […]

Vexed issue of staff salary blights Diwali

If Delhi’s three MCDs get their act together, no employee will suffer due to delayed payment of salary. Bureaucratic indifference and political games seem to be creating an artificial scarcity North MCD has faced the most flak out of the three Municipal Corporations in Delhi – the others being South and East – in the […]

Delayed justice: How District courts in the Capital reel under new crisis

Owing to the pandemic, our country’s judicial system faces fresh challenges District courts have already been known for a backlog of cases and stagnation; people waiting for bail, their matter to be heard, evidence to be collected. On top of these chronic maladies, the Delhi High Court on 21 October came down heavily on the […]

Mitigation of pollution still elusive in NCR

An ordinance to fight smoke from areas adjoining Delhi may have some impact but it needs political will Like every year, the air quality is deteriorating, touching the “severe category” in various parts of Delhi-NCR. Still, there doesn’t seem to be any respite due to meteorological factors like wind speed and dipping air turning northwesterly, […]

Doctors are being paid, but not nurses

Incredibly enough, even during the pandemic, nursing staff is expected to work without pay. No wonder they are on strike Almost 600 nurses from four of North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s hospitals are on an indefinite strike to demand payment of three months pending salar. The strike is by the nursing staff of Municipal Corporation-run Kasturba, […]

The clouds over Delhi are toxic waste overhang. Can citizens and MCDs come to its rescue?

WtE plants were introduced in Delhi a decade ago to resolve the city’s waste problem. But it’s done more harm than good Looming above the DDA residential colony of Sukhdev Vihar is the Timarpur – Okhla Waste management Company Ltd’s  waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration plant that burns over 2,000 tonnes of unsegregated municipal solid waste (MSW) […]