National outrage over doctor’s rape and murder
The midnight hour on the eve of the 78th Independence Day saw massive protests by lakhs of people, demanding justice for a young Kolkata doctor, brutally raped and murdered in the state run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, while on duty, on August 9th. Demonstrations spread not just across the cities and towns of West Bengal, but also to Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Patna, Silchar and even global cities like Poland, Scotland, Munich, London, Leeds and Atlanta. There were slogans on reclaiming women’s right to safety and security, and safety in the workplace for night workers. Researcher Rimjhim Sinha had given the call that triggered the agitation.
Read more: Opinion: Ek doctor ki maut, and what public protests around it must not miss
That same night, however, miscreants stormed into the R G Kar Medical College and vandalised departments in the hospital. They allegedly attacked even doctors, nurses and damaged police vehicles. The police on Friday said it has so far arrested 25 people in connection with the vandalism and violence. This incident attracted strong censure from the Calcutta High Court, which is already hearing a series of litigations in connection with the case. It termed the vandalism and violence as an “absolute failure of state machinery“.
A specialised CBI team from Delhi arrived at the hospital for investigation and is expected to submit its report after three weeks. Kolkata Police has transferred to the Bureau the custody of Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer and trained boxer, who has allegedly committed the murder. However, there are strong suspicions that more than one person may have been involved in the act committed. There are also unverified reports of the crime being connected with various rackets operating within the hospital.
Meanwhile, long queues at outpatient departments persisted in government hospitals, as senior doctors joined juniors in protest across the country. The West Bengal Joint Platform of Doctors ceased work in all hospitals, with participants wearing black bands. The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association in Delhi ended its strike, after the Union health minister accepted its demands. Protests continued in major hospitals across Varanasi, Lucknow, Ranchi, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Pune.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on August 16 led a rally demanding death penalty for the rapists and murderers of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata.
Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express, The Times of India, News18
Fourth city project near Hyderabad
A proposed ‘fourth city‘ may be developed just outside Hyderabad, according to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. He invited Taiwanese electronics major Foxconn’s Chairman Young Liu for investment.
Reddy assured Liu that he would extend complete support, including necessary permits and incentives, for setting up factories. Liu in turn acknowledged that Hyderabad has the potential to expand in all sectors, including industrial and service sectors.
The proposed fourth city will focus on multifaceted growth in education, medicine, sports, electronics, electrical industries and skill development, said sources. It will also host a Young India Skill Development University.
Source: Business Standard, Economic Times
Average flat size grew by 32% in top 7 cities
In the last five years, the average flat size in seven top cities expanded by 32%, indicating that there was an increased preference by consumers for more spacious homes.
Hence, the increase was recorded from 1,145 square feet in 2019 to 1,513 square feet in the first six months of 2024 (an increase of 7%) in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune, Chennai, and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), according to a report by ANAROCK, a real estate advisory firm.
Among the top seven cities, NCR recorded the highest growth of 96%. There was also a rise of 30% in the average flat size in the last six months, mainly due to the increased supply in the luxury segment in this period.
However, the MMR region offered the least average flat size among the top 7 cities, at 825 sq. ft. in H1 2024. Yet, it reported an increase of 5% in H1 2024 against 2019, when it was only 784 sq. ft. In the last six months, the average flat size rose by 4%.
Source: Business Standard, Fortune India
IIT Madras, JNU, DU top-ranked in NIRF
On August 5, the Ministry of Education announced the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024. The top rank in engineering and overall categories was held by IIT-Madras, while IISc Bengaluru is the top university in the country. Meanwhile, IISc Bengaluru, JNU and Jamia are the top varsities.
Three categories were introduced — open universities, skill universities and state-funded government universities. There will be a ‘sustainability ranking’ from next year.
The five broad parameters for evaluation are: teaching, learning and resources, research and professional practice, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity and perception. Meanwhile, the evaluation criteria have been modified. The faculty-to-student ratio standard has been changed from 1:15 to 1:10 in medical institutes and increased from 1:15 to 1:20 in state government universities.
The ranking is done under 16 categories — overall, universities, medical, engineering, management, law, architecture and planning, colleges, research institutions, pharmacy, dental, agriculture and allied sectors, state funded government universities, skill universities, open universities and innovation. This year, as many as 10,885 higher education institutions participated, as against 5,543 higher education institutions last year.
Source: Indian Express
Almost 2,000 housing projects stalled in last 8 years
About one in five homes under construction has been stalled in the past eight years. This has impacted more than five lakh housing units, according to a report released on August 15 by PropEquity, a real estate data analytics firm. The remaining four homes under construction got delivered following a delay of three to four years, said the report. Hence, by July 2024, the number of stalled units reached 508,202, which showed a 9% increase from 2018, when the figure was 465,555.
So, about 1,981 projects across 44 cities have been stagnant in the past eight years, affecting homebuyers and real estate developers. Almost 1,636 projects totaling 4,31,946 units in 14 Tier-I cities and 345 projects totalling 76,256 units in 28 Tier-II cities have been affected.
Greater Noida tops the list, with 17% of all stalled units in Tier-I cities in India. Mumbai has the highest number of stalled projects at 234. Bengaluru follows with 225 stalled projects. In Tier-II cities, Bhiwadi leads with 18% stalled units in this category.
The main reason is the lack of execution capabilities of developers, cash flow mismanagement and diversion of funds to buy new land banks or retire other loans, said sources. To address these issues, the government launched the Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) Fund in November 2019, which has raised Rs 15,530 crore to complete stalled projects, although just 32,000 units have been completed in the past five years.
Source: Business Standard, The Statesman
[Compiled by Revathi Siva Kumar]