Articles by News Desk

States-Centre disagree over vaccine wastage data States have refuted the numbers on vaccine wastage shared by the Centre. After Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh also said the data was incorrect and asked the union health ministry to revisit the data. The Centre said vacccine wastage in MP was 10%, whereas the state’s health department claimed in its letter to the Centre that wastage was around 1.5%. The department said there was a possibility of some communication gap between the state and centre. Similarly, Chhattisgarh refuted the center’s claim of more than 30% wastage in the state and called it politically…

Testing sewage to detect clusters Karnataka will begin testing sewage water to identify potential coronavirus clusters and mutant variants of the virus. The surveillance teams which will be in 45 wards, will cover over 75% of 90 lakh residents by generating over 90 data points per week, the Urban Development Department reportedly revealed. This could be a cost-effective early warning system to assess the increase in cases before the number of official cases actually go up. Officials hope it will avoid city-wide lockdowns by focusing on micro-containment zones. Samples would be pulled from 45 wards every day for the next…

COVID-19: Lockdown extended, TPR decreases Over the past few days, Chennai has witnessed a downward trend in the total number of new COVID-19 cases in the city. On May 26th, the test positivity rate (TPR) stood at 12.1%. To bring down the numbers further, the Tamil Nadu government has extended the total lockdown till June 7th. In a bid to vaccinate people with disabilities, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has initiated special camps and door-step services. As on May 27th, 118 persons with disabilities have been inoculated in Chennai. The home visits enable those who cannot visit the centres to…

Bank fraud case furthered by Enforcement Directorate The ED has attached Rs. 166 crore worth properties in the Varron Group fraud case. These 20 immovable properties are located in Mumbai, Pune, and Ratnagiri. Varron Group had allegedly submitted fake bills to banks in order to accrue Letters of Credit. The Group then defaulted on its payment. In 2017, the CBI filed a charge sheet against the company and its director, officials from Bank of India and Canara Bank of forging bills worth Rs. 300 crores. Source: India Today, MoneyLife Read more: The sad story of Mumbai’s first “slum self-development project”…

To understand and document the impact of COVID on Bengaluru's crematoria and burial ground workers, two members and a volunteer from the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Karnataka, visited 26 crematoriums/burial grounds between May 4 and 8, 2021 and interviewed workers. Based on these interviews and other publicly available information including circulars issued by the government regarding COVID related deaths and burials/cremations and visits to each facility, they have brought out a report titled ‘Dignity Disposed’. Here is an overview of their findings: Bengaluru has 42 crematoriums and 58 burial grounds according to newspaper reports. Additionally, there are temporary…

Electronics City houses technology giants like Infosys, Wipro, Siemens and HP. While people usually see the developed side of Electronics City with its high rises and IT parks, one often misses the reality, point out residents. According to the Hulimangala Resident Welfare Association, a diverse population of residents in the many villages and residential apartments in Electronics City do not have access to health care. This area, the association says, is eligible to be within Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, but falls outside the city limits. Neither BBMP nor the Electronics City industrial Township Authority (ELCITA) have responded to the COVID…

Vaccination numbers continue to dip As states struggle with a shortage of vaccine supply, vaccination numbers across the country continue to drop and remained under 20 lakh for the sixth consecutive day this week. On 20th May, 92 districts reported zero vaccination. The Centre has once again reassured states that vaccine supply is being ramped up but will take some time before it becomes a smoother process. The government is expecting the drive to pick up from July, while the entire adult population, which would need 188 crore doses approximately, may be expected to be vaccinated only by the year-end. Delhi,…

Black Fungus declared as notifiable disease The state government announced that mucormycosis (also known as black fungus) infection as a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Act. The actual count of the disease reported in the state will be accounted for once the private hospitals notify the disease to the Director of Public Health. No deaths have been reported in the state as a result of black fungus. Seven patients have had their vision affected by the fungus. Six cases have been treated at the Government Ophthalmic Hospital, Egmore. Sankara Nethralaya, a Chennai-based hospital, has seen 13 cases of black fungus…

Maharashtra scraps 33% quota for promotions Tensions prevail in the alliance after the state government scrapped reservation in promotions to appease the Maratha community. This decision will result in 100% of promotions being decided solely on seniority. Head of Congress’s ST cell, Nitin Raut met CM Uddhav Thackeray to object to the decision. Sources predict that there could be agitations across the state to build pressure for the roll-back of this order. Source: Hindustan Times, Times of India MMRDA to begin trial run of Metro’s second line The second Metro line in the city which will connect Dahisar and Andheri…

Highest mortality among big cities Bengaluru recorded the highest 28-day COVID mortality with a Moving Growth Rate (MGR) of 82% during the lockdown from April 14 to May 12, according to a study by Jeevan Rakshe, conducted with technical support from the Public Health Foundation of India. The city accounted for 24% of the 17,000 deaths recorded in the six biggest Indian cities. Bengaluru was only behind Delhi, which recorded over 50% of the deaths. In terms of MGR, the national capital was second with 76%. Hence, the doubling period for death numbers is shorter than other mega cities. In…