Articles by News Desk

Vegetable prices soar Several factors have pushed up vegetable prices and inflation in cities. Extreme weather conditions and soaring temperatures resulted in a poor harvest this season, with some crops destroyed due to excess water accumulation in the fields. In addition, prices surged because of the ongoing wedding season. Retailers said that they did not bring many vegetables to the markets, because of concerns that they would suffer losses if consumer demand remained low. Hence, prices of onions, tomatoes and potatoes, which are staples in every kitchen, shot up due to heavy floods and extreme heat. The wholesale prices of all three…

Air pollution kills 33,000 every year in cities Air pollution in 10 of India's cities kills 33,000 every year, even where pollution levels conform to India's air quality standards, according to a study in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health. India's clean-air threshold is too high, nowhere near or getting closer to the World Health Organisation recommendations. Even coastal centres, where air quality is considered to be moderate, such as Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai, have seen a significant incidence of air pollution-related deaths. Even in the Himalayan town of Shimla, with the cleanest air among the 10 cities studied, 3.7%…

Roof in Delhi Airport collapses due to downpour One person was killed and at least eight were injured when the Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal-1 roof collapsed in Delhi. Flight operations at Terminal-1 were shut down till 2 pm, while the entire terminal was evacuated. An inquiry has been ordered. Delhi police, fire service, CISF and NDRF teams rushed to the spot after the shed outside the terminal caved in. According to official sources, the collapse happened because heavy rains pounded the roof. It rained heavily over many parts of the capital on June 28. The southwest monsoons has arrived…

Various documents are required at different stages to carry out property transactions in Bengaluru. If you are not adequately prepared, the complexity of regulations, rules, and procedures can be overwhelming and potentially lead to complications. Often, we don’t fully understand these requirements until we are directly involved in such a situation. Also, if we don’t ask the right questions at the appropriate times, we are more likely to make errors. In this citizen clinic, organised by Citizen Matters, an expert on property law will address questions from the public on the kinds of guide on land types, authorities, etc and…

Demand for NEET probe Even as multiple cases of malpractices from Godhra, Patna and other parts of the nation mire the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2024 exam for medical and allied courses, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on June 20th said that isolated incidents of malpractices should not affect lakhs of students who had rightfully cleared the examination. The government is expected to set up a high-level panel to look into the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA). The Supreme Court had sought responses from the Centre, the NTA and others on petitions seeking cancellation of the…

Battling Delhi's water crisis amid heatwave The Delhi High Court on June 12 directed Haryana to reply to a contempt plea over its non-compliance of the court’s earlier order regarding water supply to Delhi. But the Haryana government on June 12 had told the Supreme Court that no excess water was released by Himachal Pradesh to send to Delhi. Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on June 11 formed “quick response teams” to manage main water distribution networks and prevent leakages, according to Water and Revenue Minister Atishi. Additional district magistrates (ADMs) and sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) were deployed to…

Air taxis to fly high On June 9, an intrastate air taxi service will take off as part of the PM Shri Paryatan Vayu Seva. The aim is to cover tourist cities in Madhya Pradesh, including Bhopal, Ujjain, Gwalior, Indore, Khajuraho and Jabalpur. The ticket prices will vary based on the destination and route. Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set up multiple technical committees for urban air mobility, laying a roadmap for air taxis by 2026. The project will start with Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru, followed by Chennai and Hyderabad. After rules are finalised for multiple…

Rajasthan HC: Declare heatwave a national calamity There is a need to declare the current heat wave as a national calamity, said the single-judge Bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand, Rajasthan High Court (HC), on May 30th. He took suo motu cognisance of the 61 people who have died due to the scorching heat. He added that heat waves and cold waves should be declared as national disasters, so that the state is prepared to deal with them. The Bench asked the state government to compensate for deaths, sprinkle water on congested roads; provide cooling spaces, shades at traffic signals,…

Delhi ranks 350 in global index; no Indian city in top 300 Oxford Economics’ new ‘Global Cities Index’ report ranks Delhi at 350, the highest among 91 Indian cities. This was the first edition of the index, released on 21st May by the global advisory firm, Oxford Economics, which is assessing metropolitan cities across 163 countries on five parameters - economics, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance. The top three cities in the list are New York, London and San Jose. In the category of human capital, which “encompasses the collective knowledge and skills of a city’s population,” measured…

Mumbai billboard collapse throws light on sorry state of civic safety At least 16 died and 74 were injured when a 100-foot-tall illegal billboard collapsed in the eastern suburb of Ghatkopar in Mumbai, during a thunderstorm on May 14th. It fell on some houses and a petrol station, disrupting life in the region. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) allows a maximum hoarding size of 40×40 feet, but this billboard was 120×120 feet. Last week itself, BMC had recommended action against Bhavesh Prabhudas Bhinde, 51, director of Ego Media Pvt Ltd, which owned the contract for the hoarding on a 10-year lease.…