Articles by News Desk

Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Noida to be 'financial' cities The Uttar Pradesh government aims to partner with the private sector to project Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Noida as ‘financial cities’ and make the state a preferred investment destination in South Asia. The investment potential in the UP real estate and housing sector has been pegged at $25-$30 billion. A concept paper by the Yogi Adityanath government explains further that medi-cities have also been planned in Gorakhpur, Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bareilly and Chitrakoot districts and film cities are visualised in Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad and Lucknow. The key enablers of these targets are the new township…

Showers break 150-day hot spell Sources from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had said that dry weather may prevail in the city till May 5th, but light showers on May 2nd brought relief. It had been a zero rainfall month in April, a first since 1983 - and one of the longest dry spells of nearly 150 days since November 2023. The rains also brought in the usual issues of water logging, power outages and traffic bottlenecks. May Day was the hottest of the month so far in 40 years, touching 38.1 degrees Celsius. Kempegowda International Airport showed the highest…

A collective of 34 civil society organisations and more than 200 individuals from Tamil Nadu and across the country have written to the Thiruvallur District Collector, Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Chief Wildlife Warden, and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Cell to protect the Pulicat Bird Sanctuary for ecological and social reasons and settle the rights of people without reducing the sanctuary's boundary. The voluntary groups have urged the government to initiate the settlement of claims of local communities residing in the 13 revenue villages within the Pulicat Birds Sanctuary boundary limits. Excerpts from the letter:…

Two die, third critical after falling into manhole Mumbai continues to see tragic accidents related to manual scavenging and deadly manholes. Two people died and a third is critical after falling into a 30-foot-deep manhole in Malad. The manhole was connected to a drain pipe on the site of a private under-construction building at Pimpripada in Malad east. Raju, who was a worker at the site, fell in and after that two nearby residents, Aqib and Javed jumped to save him. When none of them came out, the locals called the fire brigade to rescue them. According to the preliminary…

TN government's plans to denotify a portion of Pulicat Bird Sanctuary raise concerns Thirteen revenue villages were included within Pulicat Bird Sanctuary boundary limits in 1980. The state government has now begun rationalising its boundaries raising concerns over the shrinking of the sanctuary’s eco-sensitive zone (ESZ). According to a news report, a proposal for the use of 215.83 hectares of non-forest land for the development of an industrial park inside the ESZ, and 5 km from the bird sanctuary was discussed during the 77th meeting of the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife held in January 2024. With the…

Bengaluru's Lok Sabha Elections 2024 voter turnout Bengaluru voted, braving the searing heat, in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on April 26th. Voting started at 7 am and concluded at 6 pm. In comparison to the 2019 elections, the city saw a lower voter turnout. According to a tentative report posted on the X account of Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, Bengaluru saw a 53.10% voter turnout this year; in 2019, it was 54.1%. Among the four constituencies, the highest voter turnout was in Bangalore Rural at 67.29% while Bangalore Central saw the lowest voter turnout at 52.81%. Bangalore South recorded…

With a long career of 25 years in politics, P C Mohan, the incumbent BJP MP from Bangalore Central constituency, is contesting in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for the fourth time. At an interaction with residents from Bellandur on Sunday, April 21st, the MP candidate answered questions on infrastructure projects for the locality, solutions for traffic management and decongestion of roads, lack of civic planning in Mahadevapura, among other issues. Here are some excerpts from the interaction: Metro is a long-term project that could take 6 years. From a policy perspective, what can we do to use existing modes…

Cities in India are set to host half of the population by 2030, driving the country's ‘growth’ and ‘development’. Urbanisation is now being seen as a key focus area of public policy and ‘solution’ to ‘development needs’ of our country. However, this rapid urbanisation has brought numerous challenges, particularly for the urban poor, working class, and informal workers who struggle to access housing, livelihoods, and basic rights like water, healthcare, and education. Despite contributing significantly to cities, their rights have often been ignored and violated until now. Over the past year, community groups, workers’ collectives, and people's movements with decades-long…

Heat wave in Mumbai Mumbaikars experienced the hottest day in April in the past decade on Tuesday with the temperatures crossing a scorching 39.7 degree Celsius. According to the Indian Meteorological Department's (IMD) Santacruz observatory, Monday night was also the hottest night of the year in Mumbai. An orange 'severe heatwave' alert was sounded by the IMD for Tuesday. Tuesday's temperature showed an abnormal increase of 6.5 degrees above normal. Night temperatures on Monday also left Mumbaikars sweating with temperatures settling above 27 degrees at Colaba and Santacruz. The heatwave warning was extended to Wednesday with a yellow heatwave alert…

Water supply upgrade Even as the city completes 140 dry days with little rainfall, due to the El Nino effect, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects light to moderate showers this month. On April 19th, there were moderate rains. At 37.2 degrees Celsius, April 2nd was the fourth highest temperature for the month recorded in the last 15 years. On March 17th, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) agreed to supply Cauvery water to 21 IT parks in and around Mahadevapura, the BWSSB Chairman said after a meeting with members of the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA).…