Articles by News Desk

As most of us have been staying indoors and trying to adapt to the changes around us, the young ones across the country have found creative and innovative ways of utilising their time. From creating artwork to building models for school projects, there are plenty of examples out there. To take this creativity and talent of the young ones forward, Konrai Foundation, a public charitable trust based out of Bengaluru, has organised an online contest for those below 20 years of age. Guidelines for participating in the "Reflections 2020" contest Age Category Participants should be 20 years or below as…

Amidst this coronavirus crisis, a lot of fake news, misinformation and hate speech messages are being circulated on instant messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp. Below are some points the members and admins of such groups on messaging platforms should take note of. What should you do as a member of groups in messaging platforms Do not post fake news, hate speech or misinformation in groups Do not further forward or circulate any such news you get from other members of the group Immediately delete any post, if you find it objectionable or the admin notified you Check the source and…

Bengaluru City Police (BCP) had introduced a pass system to regulate the movement of people and vehicles during COVID-19 lockdown. But there has been much confusion on who is eligible for passes, how these can be availed, whether passes are needed during medical emergencies, and so on. BCP has released the following FAQ to respond to these questions. Q: Who does not need a pass? A: Here's the list of people who don't need a pass: Government officials on essential duty. They are permitted to travel to attend to their duties, but they must carry their department ID card. Medical…

Ola Cabs gives 500 vehicles to Karnataka for COVID activities  A tweet by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C N Aswath Narayan revealed that Ola Cabs had agreed to give 500 Ola vehicles for COVID-19 related activities to the Karnataka Government. These vehicles will be used by the government for facilitating the commute of doctors and other activities related to management of COVID-19.  The Deputy CM also specified that taxis, auto-rickshaws and other services shall not be permitted to transport passengers. The purpose of the said services during lockdown is only to transport doctors, essential commodities and support medical emergencies. Source:…

COVID-19: Count rises to 88 in Chennai, GCC and police launch corona-related apps The total number of COVID-positive patients in the state touched 485 on April 4rd with 88 of them in Chennai. In view of this, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has identified eight hotspot clusters and imposed stringent restrictions on people’s movement where the number of reported patients are reportedly more. The civic body has allocated 25-30 persons in each area to identify symptomatic cases. GCC has launched the‘Corona Monitoring App’ to track patients with fever symptoms to battle the virus. For people in quarantine, the Tamil Nadu…

As the city continues to be under lockdown, many people have questions on the eligibility and procedure of availing a pass for unavoidable travel. Stringent measures have been put in place in the city to enforce social distancing and the  policy of passes is also designed to ensure that even if people have to step out, it should not lead to crowding anywhere. Here is a guide that answers the most common queries around travel passes in Chennai: Who can issue a travel pass? The process has been centralised and only Collectors through Personal Assistant (General) for districts and the…

Bengaluru Urban among top 25 COVID hotspots Bengaluru Urban and Mysuru are among the top 25 COVID-19 hotspots in the country, whereas Chickballapur is fast emerging as one over the last fortnight. Bengaluru was also among the top seven cities with a high case load as of March 30. These observations were made by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in its 'COVID-19 Status Health Report'. The report also mentioned that Victoria Hospital was being developed as a dedicated COVID-19 facility with 1,200 isolation beds, 15 ICU beds, and 20 ventilators. V Ravi, senior professor at NIMHANS said…

COVID-19: 18 cases in Chennai, exclusive hospital comes up, GCC screens migrant workers In a bid to contain the spread of the virus, Greater Chennai Corporation is taking measures on a war footing. The Corporation has begun pasting stickers outside houses and apartments of people who have been home-quarantined. On March 28 morning, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Tamil Nadu touched 40. Eighteen of them are positive patients (one recovered and discharged and one yet to be discharged) are admitted to hospitals in Chennai, according to the bulletin issued by the state health department on March 27.…

Earlier this week, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced that all Indira Canteens in Bengaluru will remain open during the nationwide 21-day coronavirus lockdown. However, the next day, the opposite was stated in another announcement, that Indira Canteens will remain closed during lockdown to avoid assembly of people. This was a shock to many since providing food to the vulnerable population is critical at this point. After much public outcry, the government has again announced that Indira Canteens will remain open and provide food to street vendors, daily wage workers, and others who fall in the low-income category. The canteens will…

Lockdown tensions Just a few hours before the 21-day national lockdown started, there was a sudden rush of people trying to return to their hometowns, even though buses and other vehicles were off the roads. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had allowed a final window till Tuesday midnight by lifting the ban on inter-district movement that had been enforced since Monday. The move was apparently to enable people to celebrate Ugadi, but the rush undid social distancing. Moreover, several thousands were stuck at various toll booths. An official memo signed by the City Police Commissioner, Bhaskar Rao, revealed that passes…