News

How Trichy’s daily wager sanitation workers found support during the COVID lockdown

June 3, 2020 S Senthalir

The Tiruchirapalli chapter of an urban sanitation support programme has stepped up to secure the health and livelihoods of sanitation workers and caretakers managing community and public toilets in the city.

City Buzz: Kolkata to open non-essential shops | Citizens protest over water in Aurangabad | New rules for Bhopal shops…and more

June 1, 2020 News Desk

Key news highlights of last week from Kolkata, NCR, Bhopal and other cities

Fighting COVID-19 in Dharavi with just a face mask, Mumbai police gets a raw deal

June 1, 2020 Santoshee Gulabkali Mishra

Over 2000 cops in Mumbai have tested positive and 20 have succumbed to the disease. This could have been minimised had the 50000 strong force been better trained and equipped.

Despite MSME package, Jaipur’s buzzing bazaars lie silent, textile sector steeped in gloom

May 31, 2020 Kavita Kanan Chandra

Barely 30-40 per cent of the MSME units in industrial clusters in and around the pink city are functional, and working to less than half their capacity. Lack of any monetary relief is their main grievance.

No baaraat, hence no band or baaja: In Kolkata, ban on social gatherings cripples many livelihoods

May 29, 2020 Gurvinder Singh

Wedding photographers, musicians with small bands, local caterers and many others, who depend on events and social gatherings for their earnings, talk of the sufferings that COVID-19 has brought upon them.

Bus-turned-wifi spot; Parking lots-turned-testing centres: How COVID-hit cities are using transport infrastructure

May 29, 2020 Ruchi Agarwal

Around the world, cities are adapting and reusing transport infrastructure to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. What can we learn from them?

Pandemic epiphany: Why unpaid domestic work shouldn’t be the woman’s burden only

May 27, 2020 Viswanathan Sridhar

The pandemic has led many men to recognise the unpaid labour that women undertake to run a household. Here’s a take on why the unequal distribution of work must end.

Vizag gas leak caused by a lax state that never acted against errant industries

May 26, 2020 Manish Kumar

There are several laws on paper to ensure compliance with safety standards, but an apathetic state has rarely cracked down on violators. The result: rampant industrial mishaps.

Op-ed: Now is the time to think of effective civic technology linking the citizen and state

May 26, 2020 Aditi Ramesh

As the world shifts increasingly online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, civic technology can serve as a mechanism to distribute welfare, amplify citizen voices, and strengthen citizen-state relations.

Tourism and local industries at a standstill, will infrastructure revive Himachal’s urban economy?

May 25, 2020 Ashwani Sharma

Himachal Pradesh has seen nearly 80 per cent loss of livelihoods, both rural and urban. The government is now pinning hopes on opening up construction and other infrastructure projects.

City Buzz: Cyclone Amphan batters Kolkata | Drive-through COVID testing in Chandigarh | Mobile mortuaries in Mumbai… and more

May 25, 2020 News Desk

Even as the country continued to witness alarming spikes in COVID-19 cases, a devastating cyclone hit east India. News highlights of last week from the cities