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: The Economic Times
Centre introduces new domicile rules for J&K
Persons who have lived in the Union Territory for the past 15 years will be domicile holders as per the new rules framed by the Centre. As per the new rule, a person who has resided for 15 years in the UT of J&K or has studied for a period of seven years and appeared in class 10th or 12th examination in an educational institute located in the UT of J&K will be considered to be valid domicile holders. The new rules also say that the Tehsildar will be the new competent authority to issue the domicile certificates, as opposed to the earlier policy where the power lay with the Deputy Commissioner or any other competent authority.
Source: Doordarshan News (DD News)
Nagpur Municipal Corporation starts bio-medical waste management
Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has started a drive to collect and dispose of bio-medical waste generated by homes under quarantine. As per Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Dr Pradeep Dasarwar, there are around 1200 people in home quarantine and around 400 people in the MLA Hostel, Vanamati and Ravi Bhawan. Two waste operators, AG Enviro and BVG India, have developed a plan to process the bio-medical waste generated separately. The waste will be collected from the houses and health care units which will then be sent to the incineration facility.
NMC has been continuously spraying disinfectant (sodium hypochlorite) in the public areas and as of April 3rd, they had been able to cover 55% of the city area. The remaining area was to be covered over the next four days.
Source: The Times of India
Indore in Madhya Pradesh turns hotspot for COVID-19
The city of Indore has become the recent epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. Out of the total positive cases reported in the state, 77% have been from Indore. As per the latest report by TOI, the current tally for the city is now at 112 – one of the highest in the country. The total count for Madhya Pradesh stands at 154. The new cases include a 80-year-old woman and three cases from a single family whose nine members were tested positive for COVID-19 earlier.
The city is the industrial hub of the state and most of the patients have no travel history. Dr Pravin Jadia, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Indore said that the current stage cannot be termed as community transmission. He also said that as and when there were reports of positive cases, the authorities were shifting them to quarantine facilities. Till now more than 600 people have been quarantined as a preventive measure.
Source: The Hindu Business Line | The Times of India
[Compiled by Rishabh Shrivastava]