COVID-19

With Unlock 5.0, Centre has allowed States to reopen schools, and so far a few States such as UP and Punjab have reopened schools partially. Karnataka government has deferred school opening till October 30, but has published detailed SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) that schools have to follow once they reopen. Globally, the experience with school reopening has been mixed. While some countries have handled the situation efficiently, some others have seen a resurgence of COVID infections afterwards. Evidently, Bengaluru schools will have to maintain strict vigil once they open. But many schools say following the government SOPs is not quite…

The scenes inside the Kumaran Silks store at T Nagar that went viral on Tuesday, leading GCC to seal the shop on grounds of violation of COVID protocol, would lead most to believe that shopping fervour in the run up to the festive season has defied pandemic blues. And that there has finally been a revival of cheer among retailers in Chennai after a long, lean season. Sadly, that is far from the truth for many small retailers in T Nagar and other shopping districts in the city. Take for example, Kadhar Moideen, a footwear store owner on Usman Road.…

In July 2018, the AAP Government’s flagship scheme ‘Happiness Curriculum’ won commendations from different corners of the globe. This scheme, intended to transform school education completely, tries to shift focus from the fierce competition and marks-oriented teaching-learning that dominates the Indian system, to cognition, language, literacy, numeracy, and an arts-based learning model. Happiness Curriculum is a scientifically-designed curriculum based on the principles of the “Happiness Triad” model given by philosopher Agrahar Nagraj Sarman. It aims to make the learners more aware, mindful, and focuses on how we can bring sustainable happiness in children's lives which will eventually result in happier…

“Delhi air quality has never met WHO criteria,” says Dr T.K. Joshi, Director, Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), Maulana Azad Medical College and part of the 16-member Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) set up by the government. “It is even more stressed now and is expected to worsen”. The worsening mostly happens during November-December, and lingers on, largely due to paddy stubble burning by farmers in Punjab and Haryana to get their fields ready for the winter wheat sowing. Now, with satellite remote sensing data from the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) showing  a five-fold increase in the number of farm…

While COVID-19 is causing fatalities across the world, it also brought to focus our frailties when it comes to collective action problems. There were forced lockdowns across India, starting late March, that highlighted clean air gains from the lack of vehicle emissions. Social distancing measures and closure of gyms kept people indoors, which meant lack of activity would take a mental and physical toll after a while. Across the world this was a perfect opportunity to promote a clean, healthy and socially-distanced personal transport vehicle called the bicycle. The window of opportunity presented itself and some of us in Bengaluru…

Just a few weeks back, Pune’s health authorities were battling a severe shortage of hospital beds for COVID patients. Now, they are faced with an acute shortage of medical oxygen and oxygen-equipped beds. “We require three times more oxygen supply during the pandemic than in the past,” says Prof Dr Dhanaji Jadhav of MIMER Medical College and Dr Bhausaheb Sardesai Talegaon Rural Hospital. “Besides COVID patients, other patients – pregnant women, cancer patients, those who suffered from heart attack, critical infants and those who have to undergo emergency operations – also need oxygen. What we are seeing now is a shortage…

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” - Albert Einstein. Whenever I read this this quote, I always joke that our Indian education system, being evaluation based, makes sure that we forget most of what we learn! But the same quote takes on a new meaning in the present context when children have almost forgotten what they used to take for granted – to learn in a physical classroom with a teacher supervising and teaching them, in person. Schooling in times of COVID-19 It will soon be six months since schools shut and…

Punkaj Bajaj, who retired as CEO and MD of Steel Authority of India’s Durgapur Steel Plant, thought he had all the time to finish the renovation work  of his  8th floor two bedroom apartment, in time for his son’s wedding slated for end April. Familiar with the ways of labour and  everything else that such renovation entails, Bajaj had factored in four days to break the old mosaic floor and lay new vitrified tiles in the living room of his flat built by the Ghaziabad Development Authority almost 30 years ago. With that calculation, Bajaj got the old floor of the living…

Drone shot of a Metro station. All transport projects including Metro should be reviewed in light of COVID-induced changes, says a letter from three civic groups to the Centre. Pic: Siddharth Sriram This September 16, Hardeep Singh Puri, Centre's Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, said no time limit could be specified for the sanction of the ORR-Airport Metro line (from Silk Board to airport). He further said that Metro projects are cost-intensive and hence require extensive inter-ministerial consultations. In this context, members from three civic groups - Bangalore Environment Trust, Praja-RAAG and Citizens for Citizens - have written to…

If you look at the last six months, Chennai has adopted a strategy that in some ways is similar to other large cities in the country: go into intense lockdown, lift some restrictions and back into selective lockdown again. Chennai has spent more days under intense lockdown than any other large metropolitan city in the country. While it’s technically still under lockdown, there have been significant relaxations that could see further easing over the next few weeks, but the incidence of cases in the city hasn’t caused any big spikes in the recent weeks. Source: https://www.covid19india.org/state/TN An overview of figures…