Articles by News Desk

City gets third miyawaki forest The civic body has begun work for developing the city’s third miyawaki forest in Mugalivakkam, Alandur zone. Regional Deputy Commissioner (RDC) South Alby John said the plan was to have been kickstarted in March, but faced delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The corporation plans to plant 2,000 saplings in 35 cents of land. The city already has two miyawaki forests , one each in Adyar and Valasaravakkam, where 2,000 and 700 saplings have been planted. The civic body calculated that the forest in Adyar would consume 11.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide and give out…

COVID-19: Dip in number of cases, results to be sent via SMS Chennai recorded 1,026 fresh COVID-19 cases on July 31st. There were 1,026 recoveries and 21 deaths. Among the frontline workers, 35 workers in the civic body and Chennai district collector R Seethalakshmi have tested positive. Infographic summary of COVID-19 cases in Chennai. PIc: GCC/Twitter In a bid to speed up the process of declaring COVID test results, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) plans to send the results through SMS. Presently, the field volunteers convey the positive results to the patients and a list is also issued by ward-level…

NEP: Debate on medium of instruction The new National Education Policy (NEP) has revived the debate on whether Kannada should be the medium of instruction in primary classes. NEP recommends that the medium of instruction be in local/regional language. School managements point out that the NEP goes against the apex court’s verdict that imposition of mother tongue as the medium of instruction is “unconstitutional”. In the 2019-20 academic year, Karnataka government too had started English-medium sections in government schools. . Meanwhile, sources from the Kannada Development Authority said the state language should be made mandatory since there are various local…

India crosses 1.5 crore testing mark; reaches 11,485 Tests Per Million The nation created a record on July 25 2020 by conducting the maximum number of COVID-19 tests - 4,20,000 - over the preceding 24 hours. The government in its press release shared that the total tests in India now stand at 1,58,49,068. With increasing tests, the Tests Per Million number has now reached 11,485. At present, a network of 1301 labs (902 government and 399 private labs) is making it possible for India to conduct these tests. The government also emphasized the fact that testing capacities in the country…

COVID-19: Covaxin administered to two volunteers in city; vendors to be tested on a regular basis Chennai recorded 1,299 fresh COVID-19 cases on July 24th. There were 1,110 recoveries and 22 deaths.  Infographic summary of COVID-19 cases in Chennai as on July 25. Pic: GCC/Twitter Phase-I human trial of the indigenously developed vaccine for COVID-19 - Covaxin - began at SRM Medical College and Hospital in Chennai last week. The hospital is one of the 12 institutions authorised to carry out the trial. The vaccine was administered to two volunteers. Phase -1 trial would analyse the safety of the vaccine…

Over 33,000 trees to be felled for PRR The BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) admits that the construction of the eight-lane PRR (Peripheral Ring Road) would require the felling of 33,838 trees. For about four years, BDA had argued that only 200 trees would be cut, based on an erroneous Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report. The NGT (National Green Tribunal) rejected the report based on a submission by the Horticulture and Forest Department. Meanwhile, an EIA draft report estimates that 3,541 trees will be affected by the metro link between KR Puram and Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). The report says that…

Manjunath Prasad has been appointed as BBMP Commissioner. Pic Credit: KPLCL Manjunath Prasad back as BBMP Commissioner On Saturday, state government removed B H Anil Kumar from the post of BBMP Commissioner, and appointed N Manjunath Prasad instead. Manjunath Prasad has served as BBMP Commissioner previously. He has proposed divisional management of COVID-19 instead of the current practice of zonal management. As per the plan, a KAS official would be in charge of each of the 27 divisions in the city, with control rooms and adequate resources. They would also be tasked with ramping up ambulances and manpower. Source: The…

India's indigenous vaccine gets nod for human trials AIIMS Ethics Committee has given a go-ahead to India's indigenous vaccine, COVAXIN, for conducting human trials. In Stage I, the vaccine will be tested on 375 volunteers, of which 100 will be from AIIMS - Delhi, one of the twelve sites shortlisted by ICMR for conducting Stage I and Stage II human trials of COVAXIN. Volunteers with good health, no co-morbidities and no COVID-19 history, aged more than 18 years and less than 55 years will only be eligible for the clinical trials, as per the guidelines of AIIMS Ethics Committee. The…

COVID-19: Antibody testing for frontline workers, COVID-19 test for all inmates of IMH On July 17th, Chennai recorded 1,329 fresh COVID-19 cases taking the total to 83,377. There were 1,329 recoveries and 36 deaths. A total of 14,923 patients are under treatment in the city’s various hospitals and COVID Care Centers. It is to be noted that 65,748 patients have recovered from the disease.  Zone-wise growth rate of new cases under the limits of Greater Chennai Corporation, for the last 7 days till July 17. Pic: GCC/Twitter The Greater Chennai Corporation has begun antibody testing for the frontline workers including…

Bengaluru has seen many citizen-driven campaigns around sustainable mobility. Notable among them was the 'Bus Day' campaign spearheaded by the non-profit Praja RAAG. Subsequently, several volunteer groups have campaigned for effective, efficient and reliable public transport. The BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) has also launched several initiatives - Pink Buses, Vayu Vajra Volvo, G8 buses and so on - to promote the use of public transport. On July 9, Citizen Matters and Radio Active hosted a Twitter chat where experts and citizens discussed the past, present and future of public transport in the city. As the COVID crisis worsens and…