Civic

COVID-19: Two-day quarantine for international travellers with negative certification; four symptoms to watch out for Chennai recorded 1,187 fresh COVID cases, 837 recoveries and 25 deaths on August 14th, according to the health bulletin. The number of recoveries crossed one lakh on August 14th in the city.  Infographic summary of COVID-19 cases in Chennai. Graphic: GCC/Twitter International travellers who hold a negative COVID test certificate will be subjected to two-day institutional quarantine upon arrival at Chennai. Whereas passengers without certification will be in seven-day quarantine and would be tested twice -- upon arrival and on the seventh day of quarantine…

Riots, curfew in East Bengaluru Violence broke out in DJ Halli and adjoining areas in east Bengaluru on Tuesday night after an inflammatory post about Islam on Facebook. Three were killed and three others injured in police firing. Rioting by as many as 2,000 on the streets was brought under control. Section 144 and curfew was imposed in DJ Halli, KG Halli and Kaval Byrasandra. The inflammatory Facebook post was put up by P Naveen, nephew of Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy. The police is interrogating Naveen. About 146 people, including a few local leaders of the SDPI (Social Democratic…

209 areas flood-prone: BBMP BBMP has identified 209 flood-prone areas in the city, of which 153 are sensitive and 56 hypersensitive. With the threat of flash floods in the city, the civic body has decided to instal sensors in more stormwater drains. BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said 28 sensors had already been installed. The senors would beam warning messages once the water level rises. Since the breaching of stormwater drains is a major reason for floods in Bengaluru, early warnings are expected to help authorities take corrective measures and evacuate residents from flood-prone areas. Source: Deccan Herald COVID recovery…

Kozhikode Air Crash: Government announces compensation, safety experts slam DGCA The tragic air accident that claimed 18 lives, including the pilot and co-pilot, has reignited the debate over the safety of 'tabletop' airports, of which there are six in the country. Air safety experts have come down sharply against the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), holding it accountable for the slipshod manner in which safety audits are done and their findings acted upon. Tabletop runways such as the one at Kozhikode are constructed on a hilly or an elevated terrain, and are known to be very tricky even for…

City gets third miyawaki forest The civic body has begun work for developing the city’s third miyawaki forest in Mugalivakkam, Alandur zone. Regional Deputy Commissioner (RDC) South Alby John said the plan was to have been kickstarted in March, but faced delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The corporation plans to plant 2,000 saplings in 35 cents of land. The city already has two miyawaki forests , one each in Adyar and Valasaravakkam, where 2,000 and 700 saplings have been planted. The civic body calculated that the forest in Adyar would consume 11.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide and give out…

Tulip Brian Miranda, a Corporator of Mumbai’s H-East ward's Kalina area, has been running a community kitchen since the enforcement of the lockdown. Every day, she distributes 1,000 food packets to needy families. But when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Maharashtra government decided to initiate food distribution, Miranda wasn’t consulted about the diversity of her ward. “I was simply asked to inform them what my requirements were,” says Miranda, a member of Indian National Congress party.   As the local area representatives, Corporators are imagined to be a citizen’s first point of redressal over an inaccessible MLA or…

COVID-19: Dip in number of cases, results to be sent via SMS Chennai recorded 1,026 fresh COVID-19 cases on July 31st. There were 1,026 recoveries and 21 deaths. Among the frontline workers, 35 workers in the civic body and Chennai district collector R Seethalakshmi have tested positive. Infographic summary of COVID-19 cases in Chennai. PIc: GCC/Twitter In a bid to speed up the process of declaring COVID test results, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) plans to send the results through SMS. Presently, the field volunteers convey the positive results to the patients and a list is also issued by ward-level…

‘Social distancing’, a phrase that was alien to a majority of us has now become one of the key weapons in our battle against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Along with masking, limiting contact with others by ensuring a metre's distance between individuals is one of the recommendations that has been widely acknowledged as a measure that could help contain the spread. Cities across the world went into extended lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus. Halting of public transport, closure of shops, movie halls, malls, bars, restaurants and other establishments took place in most cities.  But while crucial to…

NEP: Debate on medium of instruction The new National Education Policy (NEP) has revived the debate on whether Kannada should be the medium of instruction in primary classes. NEP recommends that the medium of instruction be in local/regional language. School managements point out that the NEP goes against the apex court’s verdict that imposition of mother tongue as the medium of instruction is “unconstitutional”. In the 2019-20 academic year, Karnataka government too had started English-medium sections in government schools. . Meanwhile, sources from the Kannada Development Authority said the state language should be made mandatory since there are various local…

India crosses 1.5 crore testing mark; reaches 11,485 Tests Per Million The nation created a record on July 25 2020 by conducting the maximum number of COVID-19 tests - 4,20,000 - over the preceding 24 hours. The government in its press release shared that the total tests in India now stand at 1,58,49,068. With increasing tests, the Tests Per Million number has now reached 11,485. At present, a network of 1301 labs (902 government and 399 private labs) is making it possible for India to conduct these tests. The government also emphasized the fact that testing capacities in the country…