Articles by News Desk

The Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike has urged the government to make ‘affordable service for all’ a key goal in its bus rejuvenation plan for the city. In a petition addressed to the Chief Minister of Karnataka, the BBPV elaborated the impact of pandemic on the public transport corporation and made suggestions for the government's proposed rejuvenation plan for the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation. Over the past year Bengaluru saw diminished bus operations. People struggled with long wait times, crowded buses and costly commutes during the pandemic. BMTC struggled with low revenues and was unable to provide timely benefits and social…

Vaccine for people above 45 from 1st April As the country faces the second wave of COVID-19 infection, the government has decided to boost the pace of vaccination in the country. The Central government has decided to widen the beneficiary base by allowing people above 45 years (with or without comorbidity) of age to take the COVID vaccine from 1st April onwards. Nationally, the vaccination drive was started on 16th January with healthcare and frontline workers. So far, more than 5.5 crore vaccination shots have been administered. In a separate development, the government has increased the time between the first and…

Postal ballot for absentee voters The Election Commission of India (ECI) has introduced the absentee voting system for voters working in essential services, senior citizens above 80 and persons with disabilities. Voters can register their votes through postal ballots.  The Chennai district election office held a discussion with the representatives of political outfits explaining the procedure for absentee voters.  For opting this service, voters should have applied through the online window. The registration process has begun from March 26th. In this elaborate system, an appointment would be sought to take the voting machine to the residences of voters for them…

COVID-19 cases above 5000, highest ever Last Wednesday, Mumbai reported its highest-ever single-day spike with over 5,000 new cases for the first time since the pandemic's outbreak. The city's total tally increased to 3,74,611, according to Mint. The active containment zones in the city stand at 39 and a total of 432 buildings are sealed. The recovery rate of Mumbai city is 90% while the overall growth rate of Covid cases stands at 0.79%, the Livemint reported. In a random antigen test, seven hawkers at Dadar station were found to be positive in Mumbai, the Times of India reported. Source:…

NIMHANS finds 34 lineages of virus The genomic sequencing of 197 COVID-19 samples from foreign fliers showed up 34 different lineages of the original Sars-CoV-2. This is up from the seven found in May 2020, but a majority of viruses come from a lineage characterised by different mutations, which allow the virus to evade a response from the human immune system. At the same time, scientists found that there is no evidence to suggest that the much-feared UK variant of the virus was present in Karnataka until the arrival of foreign fliers in the third week of December. The finding…

New COVID-19 guidelines issued by UP government In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases, the UP government has issued fresh guidelines, under which district magistrates have to ensure testing of people coming from states with a high case load. As per new guidelines, people coming from areas where COVID cases are high should undergo Rapid Antigen Test; those coming from Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab will undergo RT-PCR tests if diagnosed with symptoms. The guidelines further stated that railway stations where long-distance trains are making a halt should have a 24-hour testing facility. Source: Hindustan Times 54% caseload in MP from…

Special events planned to target first-time voters A study conducted by the District Election Office has revealed that more than 48% of first-time voters in the 16 Assembly constituencies of Chennai district have not registered their names on the electoral rolls yet. Of 1,24,824 people belonging to 18-19 years of age, only 64,152 people have enrolled. Authorities from the office have begun visiting the households and have charted plans to boost the enrolment campaign. As part of the initiative, 34 activities are planned to be conducted with a special focus on first-time voters. Programmes such as the e-bike rally, events…

COVID-19 cases surge in Mumbai Between February 15 and March 15, the city has recorded 31,106 new cases of Covid-19, of which 18,903 were reported in March alone, the Hindustan Times reported. Mumbai’s Covid growth rate shot up to 0.42% on March 15, from 0.15% reported on February 15. The doubling rate — the number of days it takes for the number of cases to double —was 165 days on March 15 compared to 455 days on February 15, according to the Hindustan Times. The surge is because of lack of precautionary means such as wearing masks or social distancing,…

Pollution above WHO limits Despite widespread air quality improvements during 2019 and 2020, air pollution continues to be dangerously high, the annual data ‘World Air Quality Report, 2020’, compiled by IQAir, has revealed. Bengaluru recorded an average 15.6% dip in PM 2.5 levels. However, the pollution levels were above the WHO's prescribed limit on 46.7% of the days. The IT city’s annual average stands at 27.5 µg/m3, nearly three times the prescribed limit. Also, Bengaluru’s PM 2.5 levels in December 2020 surpassed the January 2020 levels, indicating that ‘better air quality’ has already faded away. South Indian cities recorded relatively…

The upcoming Assembly polls will be a watershed moment in Tamil Nadu, as this is the first MLA elections after the death of the two political stalwarts -- M Karunanidhi (DMK) and J Jayalalithaa (AIADMK). In their absence, the next generation of politicians -- MK Stalin and Edappadi K Palaniswami -- have taken the lead to steer the respective parties. On the third front of the battle is actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party.   The two Dravidian parties have released their manifestos for the upcoming State Assembly elections. From freebies to waiving education loans to reducing the price…