Articles by News Desk

Delhi air quality begins to worsen; government announces strategy Delhi's air quality turned 'poor' for a brief period on the morning of 7th October, with PM10 levels in the Delhi-NCR region hitting the highest in three months, according to CPCB data. The air quality monitoring system blamed unfavourable meteorological conditions and farm fires in Punjab & Haryana for the dip in the air quality. Lower temperatures also resulted in the settling of pollution particles in the air, as per the system. The situation is expected to worsen as winter approaches. The Delhi government, meanwhile, is preparing itself on war footing…

Suburban rail project approved The Centre has approved the Bengaluru suburban rail project, estimated to cost around Rs 19,000 crore. The 148-km-long rail project is aimed at decongesting the city. The project will include 57 stations. Five proposed stations - Srirampura, RV Road, Jalahalli, Cauvery Nagar and Bommasandra - lost out on the opportunity to be part of Phase-I of the network. These stations are likely to be included in Phase-II. Meanwhile, the city's third railway coaching terminal is set to be commissioned at Baiyappanahalli before mid-November. Its facade is modelled after the Kempegowda International Airport terminal. With the commissioning…

In Part 2 of this series, we looked at the kind of documents you need to scrutinise while buying any property in Bengaluru. In addition to these documents, you need to verify some specific documents while buying different types of property such as apartments, BDA sites, land with agricultural past, etc. In this article, we look at these requirements. Documents for scrutiny before buying apartments i. Joint development agreement & GPA In recent times, the most popular method for building apartments is by way of a Joint Development agreement (JDA). This is an agreement signed between the landowner and the…

Hathras protests spread far and wide; sanitation workers' unrest creates crisis in Agra The horrific murder and suspected rape of a young Dalit woman by four upper-caste men in Hathras of Uttar Pradesh has led to widespread protests and condemnation across cities, with politicians, activists and even lay civil society members joining these. Hundreds gathered at Jantar Mantar to condemn the deterioration of law and order in the state under the leadership of CM Yogi Adityanath and expressed their outrage not only over the crime but also over the human rights violation by the state police in the days following…

COVID: Post-COVID care centre at Omandurar, Covishield vaccine trials enter second phase On October 1st, 1,289 fresh COVID cases were registered in Chennai. The day also saw 1,000 recoveries and 18 deaths. Infographic summary of Covid-19 cases in Chennai as on October 2nd. Graphic: GCC/Twitter In a bid to offer post-COVID care for recovered patients, the state health department inaugurated an exclusive facility at the Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar Estate. The centre will have the following facilities: automatic body mass index machine, spirometry for assessing lung function, a six-minute walk test to detect SPO2 (oxygen saturation) levels, a CT…

As COVID cases rocket, authorities plan to increase fine amounts for not wearing masks, and criminal prosecution of repeat offenders. Pic Credit: Wikimedia Commons Bengaluru topped in cybercrime in 2019: NCRB data Bengaluru has recorded the maximum number of cybercrime cases (10,668) among all metros in 2019, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The overall crime rate in Bengaluru for 2019 saw a marginal increase when compared to the previous year. While the crime rate was 470.4 per lakh of population in 2018, it went up to 492.5 for 2019. The number of cases registered…

Drone shot of a Metro station. All transport projects including Metro should be reviewed in light of COVID-induced changes, says a letter from three civic groups to the Centre. Pic: Siddharth Sriram This September 16, Hardeep Singh Puri, Centre's Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, said no time limit could be specified for the sanction of the ORR-Airport Metro line (from Silk Board to airport). He further said that Metro projects are cost-intensive and hence require extensive inter-ministerial consultations. In this context, members from three civic groups - Bangalore Environment Trust, Praja-RAAG and Citizens for Citizens - have written to…

Farmers protest, call for bandh on Sept 28 Hundreds of farmers blocked major highways and state highways in and around Bengaluru on Friday morning to protest the amendment to Land Revenue Act and the APMC Act passed in Parliament. The protest and blocking of roads was called by Ryot, Dalit, Labourers Aikya Horata Samithi - a collective of 35 farmers' groups, Dalit and trade unions. It affected the movement of regular traffic at Nayandahalli and Goragunte Palya junction. Police personnel were deployed at many places to prevent complete blockade of key routes. Hundreds of farmers courted arrest and were taken…

COVID-19: New rules for containing zones; 50,029 fever camps conducted so far On September 24th, Chennai recorded 1089 fresh COVID cases. The day also saw 1005 recoveries and 15 deaths. In a fresh development, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has removed all containment zones in its limits. According to the updated regulations, a street will be declared as a containment zone if there are three index cases reported and if the contacts are untraceable. An index case is defined as the first case in a family or other defined group to have come to the attention of the investigator. The…

Sanctions from the Centre for the ORR-Airport Metro line is expected to take longer. Representational image: Ramnath Bhat (Wikimedia Commons) Vrishabhavathi river turns frothy dark yellow Vrishabhavathi River has changed its colour from black to turquoise blue to dark yellow with froth, over the past month. Things had worsened last week, when the water turned soapy like caustic soda. On Thursday morning, a pungent smell filled the air as the river turned yellow. Namami Vrishabhavathi, a citizens' group, brought the matter to the notice of the State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). Residents suspect that electroplating and textile-dyeing industries have been…