Articles by News Desk

Private operators to ply 500 buses in Chennai For the first time in its history, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has approved the Gross Cost Contract/Public-Private Partnership model to rope in private operators to own and ply private buses in Chennai. A tender has been floated by the MTC in this regard. While the MTC operates as many as 3,400 buses catering to 29.5 lakh passengers every day, the Chennai Sustainable Urban Services Programme (C-SUSP), the World Bank-funded Chennai City Partnership (CCC), as part of which the MTC has adopted the new model, aims to increase the number of buses…

Back to summer heat After a respite from the scorching heat after Mumbai took the honour of being the hottest in the country on Monday (at 39.3 degrees Celsius), expect a very warm weekend. It is likely to reach between 36 and 39 degrees Celcius, which will be accompanied by poor air quality. Strong winds from the east are pushing back the sea breeze. Post-March 12th, the temperature may slightly dip again. Source: The Indian Express Air quality data may be fudged A leading scientist has expressed doubts over the air pollution data from most of the continuous ambient air…

Viral fever cases among children An increase in hospitalisations, among children, due to viral fever has been reported since December last year. Influenza, including the currently prevalent H3N2 strain, is causing upper respiratory tract infections and body ache. On the other hand, adenovirus is leading to respiratory infections, gastro-enteritis and conjunctivitis, though body ache associated with it is less severe. Fever, cold, sore throat, body pain, vomiting and diarrhoea are probable adenovirus symptoms. However, adenovirus symptoms, which used to earlier resolve in two to three days, are now lasting seven to 10 days, with high-grade fever. The prevalence has been…

As a run-up to the upcoming Assembly Elections in Karnataka, the Bangalore Apartments' Federation (BAF) has launched a campaign Every Vote Matters (EVM). The campaign will have multiple activities to support member residents in three themes: Voter registration, voter awareness, and voter participation. Historically, it is generally believed that apartments/gated communities are not considered a significant vote bank as very few people register and vote, especially in local or assembly elections. BAF, through its sustained campaign, hopes to change this mindset and establish itself as a vote bank to reckon with. The campaign is expected to reach half a million…

Civic body removes close to 100 hawkers from Wall Tax Road The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has evicted 100 hawkers from the pavements near Chennai Central and Basin Bridge. The civic body has cleared encroachments over a five-kilometre stretch. The area used to have shops selling food, mechanical parts and other goods. Pavements were also encroached upon by parked vehicles. Apart from making it difficult for pedestrians to use footpaths, some of the encroachers were also found to have let out sewage into the recently built stormwater drains. Corporation officials say that they have taken a stronger stance against the…

Areas in Mumbai's Kurla to experience water cuts every Saturday for 10 days The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be carrying out works to strengthen water lines at Khairani road in Mumbai's Kurla for 10-days. As a result of this, starting March 5th, there will be a water supply outage in the area every Saturday for a period of 10-days. The BMC will be conducting the necessary works in stages instead of a continuous 10-day water disruption to prevent prolonged inconvenience to the locals. The civic body also advised the residents to boil water every Sunday as a precautionary measure…

BBMP presents budget The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) on March 2nd presented its budget of Rs 11,157 crore at Town Hall. Infrastructure projects received 63% allocation, followed by solid waste management that got 14.73%. It is the third time that the BBMP has presented a budget in the absence of a city council. Amid opposition, the civic body also proposed five more flyovers. Pushing for transparency in accounting, the BBMP has created IFMS (Integrated Financial Management System). The BBMP has also earmarked Rs 92 crore to establish 61 primary health centres and allocated Rs 2 crore for the Bangalore Health System…

Viral fever spreads in Chennai With the spread of viruses like Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Adenovirus and Influenza virus in Chennai, many residents continue to fall sick with fever, body ache and sniffles. Officials have said that cases of Dengue and Chikungunya have been lower in comparison to December and January. However, as other viral diseases have been spreading, some patients see a sudden drop in platelet count that requires hospitalisation, while others require rest and antibiotics. Most of the patients continue to have a cough even after ten days after the symptoms of fever subside. As this is not…

India's first double-decker electric bus on the streets of Mumbai India's first air-conditioned double-decker electric bus was opened for public use on February 21st. It is one of 200 buses that Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) has leased from Switch Mobility, a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland. The bus operated on route number 115, running between CSMT and Nariman Point in South Mumbai at 8:45 am on Tuesday. Despite an overwhelming response from the public on its first day, news reports suggest that the bus schedule did not meet commuters' expectations. The bus was non-operational in the afternoon, and it…

Reservation issues The Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Bill, 2022 was adopted by the Legislative Assembly, with the support of all political members. It seeks to provide reservation to Kannadigas in higher education and private industries to give primacy to Kannada. It also aims for a state-level enforcement committee, led by the Kannada and Culture Minister, V. Sunil Kumar. Meanwhile, the High Court of Karnataka ordered issue of notice to the state involving a petition questioning the validity of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under…