Articles by News Desk

As one of India’s largest and most populous metros, Chennai exhibits all the traits and vulnerabilities inherent to a developing, high-density city. Rapid urbanization has led to pollution, poverty and energy and water scarcity.  However, one of the key issues with the city is a pronounced lack of civic consciousness. Resilience working group sessions (led by the  Resilient Cities Network chapter in Chennai) involved experts from government, civil and academic bodies. They concluded that in order to achieve sustainable development goals and build resilience, civil ownership and participation was essential. These are the top three areas where citizen participation and involvement…

95% seropositivity even after vaccines, reveals new study As per a new pan India level study, 515 healthcare workers showed 95% seropositivity after taking two doses of Covishield or Covaxin, indicating that both vaccines are effective and safe. The study also said formation of antibodies are high even after the first dose. Done in 22 cities across 13 states, the study found that 95% sero prevalence was triggered after 21 to 36 days of the second dose. It covered 305 male and 210 female participants out of which 425 were administered two doses of Covishield and 90 received Covaxin. The…

COVID: Corporation vaccinates traders, post-COVID follow-up initiated In a bid to prevent the Wholesale Market Complex at Koyambedu from becoming a COVID hotspot once again, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has vaccinated 239 traders, workers and others as on June 10th.  With the second wave of the pandemic subsiding, the number of containment zones has decreased in Chennai and is currently less than 100. By June 7th, the number of containment zones fell down to 81 from 365 a month ago at the height of the second wave.  The civic body has initiated post-COVID follow-up care for recovered residents of…

Twelve killed in building collapse Mumbai Paused A three-storey unofficial structure collapsed in Malad West's Malwani slum area. The man who built the house and rented the rooms out. Twelve people have died in the tragedy, including nine members of his own family. Eight children were victims of the fall. A person from the slum told Indian Express that one part of the structure was built on top of a rat infested nullah which developed cracks over the past week. Mumbai Police has ordered the PWD to conduct a thorough audit across the neighbourhood and identify similar buildings. Meanwhile, BMC…

Partial lockdown lift Post June 14, the lockdown will continue  in 11 districts, including Bengaluru Rural which has test positivity rate (TPR) above 5%. However, it will be eased for other districts including Bengaluru Urban. In Bengaluru Urban district, the following rules will be in effect: Essential shops will open from 6 am to 2 pmParks will be open from 5 am to 10 amStreet vendors can operate from 6 am to 2 pmAutos and taxis with only two persons can operateGarment industry can function with 30% capacityFactories can open at 50% capacityAll construction activities are allowed to start. Shops…

World Environment Day 2021: India to promote increased ethanol blending On June 4th, the eve of World Environment Day, the union government announced the launch of the country's roadmap for ethanol blending, with PM Narendra Modi releasing the 'Report of the Expert Committee on Road Map for ethanol blending in India 2020-2025'. The government issued the E-20 notification directing oil companies to sell ethanol blended petrol from April 1st, 2023. Ethanol quantity will now be 20% as per the notification. In this regard, PM Modi will be inaugurating three ethanol stations in Pune. The objective is to cut down on…

COVID: Government mulls phased unlock, sero-survey to be conducted Following the two-week strict lockdown to bring down the COVID spread, the state government mulls over phased unlock. The number of cases in the city has almost halved in this time, with the measures working to control the spread. Data from the civic body shows that there is an active reduction in the number of containment zones in Chennai in just a week. A street is marked as a containment zone if it has more than 10 active COVID cases. On May 31st, there were 365 containment zones whereas, on May…

Lockdown continues, level wise unlock to begin While announcing that COVID-19 restrictions will remain in place till June 15, the government eased some of the conditions on Sundays, allowing shops of essential items to remain open till 2 pm instead of 11 am. Maharashtra has decided on a 5-level unlock strategy as COVID-19 cases in the state slowly recede. Lockdown can be lifted completely in districts categorised as Level 1, which includes Thane. Mumbai has been categorised as Level 2. Level 5 has been deemed as Red Zone and will continue strict enforcement of a complete lockdown. Source: Times of…

Lockdown extended On Thursday, the Karnataka government announced extending the lockdown across the State by a week, from June 7 to June 14. This is in accordance with the Technical Advisory Committee's recommendation that the lockdown should be continued till the case positivity rate drops to 5%. The CPR presently is around 11%. On Thursday, Bengaluru Urban recorded 3,533 new cases of COVID, 7,672 discharges and 347 deaths. The State government also spelt out a second relief package of Rs 323 crore to give ASHA, Anganwadi workers, weavers, film and TV industry workers, Muzrai temple priests, Maulvis and fishermen Rs…

India’s cities are dealing with an array of complex challenges that have arisen from growing rates of urbanisation, population, motorisation and wealth disparity. They have been consistently ranked as the world’s most congested and polluted cities, which has led to high annual traffic deaths and extremely dangerous levels of particulate matter, on top of lost economic potential. These circumstances, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, in all its calamity, have the effect of bringing to the fore the benefits that cycling can offer in terms of local economic recovery, healing mental and physical health, reinforcing social connections in our communities…