Civic

Centre warns tourist cities In the light of the expected third wave of COVID-19, health experts have raised red flags over images images of tourists, flouting all COVID Appropriate Behaviour norms, flocking to Manali and Kempty Falls in Mussoorie. Himachal and Uttarakhand relaxed curbs on movement resulting in cities like Shimla, Mussoorie, Nainital and Haridwar witnessing a surge in tourist influx from nearby states. "Infection has always spread faster in crowded areas," said Dr. V.K. Paul, member, Niti Aayog and the COVID-19 Task Force. "Tourism should be there, but if we are irresponsible and don't follow COVID-appropriate behavior, the virus…

Conservancy workers stage protest, demand regulating their jobs Conservancy workers hired on contract through the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) organised a demonstration in Ambattur demanding regularisation of their jobs. As their contract is set to end by mid-July, the conservancy workers sought immediate intervention from the state government.  According to the worker’s union, Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam (UUI), in an ongoing case, the Madras High Court had ordered the civic body to not discontinue their contract for three months. With the three-month timeframe having already expired, the workers are concerned about their livelihoods as the legal hearing has not taken…

72% COVID patients have new variants About 71.7% of 1,018 patients in the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) and Bengaluru Urban district limits had the latest variants of SARS-CoV-2. Out of the 2,774 samples received for genomic sequencing, 1,738 were processed. This includes 525 patients with the Delta variant, 116 with Kappa, 88 with Alpha, and one with Delta Plus. In all, 730 patients have the new variants. A member of the state genomic surveillance committee said that the BBMP should be acting on the data. Quick tracing is crucial. It is important to check if patients with the Delta…

Translated by Sandhya Raju அரசு தலைமை மாற்றம் பல மாற்றங்களையுயும் அதனுடன் கொண்டு வருகிறது. 90-ம் ஆண்டு மத்தியில் ஐடி புரட்சி பெருமளவில் நிகழ்ந்தாலும், மெட்ராஸ் என்று அப்போது அழைக்கப்பட்ட தமிழகத்தின் தலைநகரமான சென்னை, அதற்குறிய பொலிவை பெற்றிருக்கவில்லை. இந்தியாவின் பிற தலைநகரங்கள் மற்றும் மெட்ரோ நகரங்களை ஒப்பிடுகையில் சென்னை பின் தங்கியிருந்தது. மே 1990 நடைபெற்ற தேர்தலில் வெற்றி பெற்ற பின்னர், அப்போதைய முதல்வர் எம் கருணாநிதி, நகரத்திற்கு சென்னை என பெயர் மாற்றி, "சிங்கார சென்னை" என்ற பெயரில் பல திட்டங்களை அறிவித்தார். சிங்காரம் என்ற சொல்லுக்கு தமிழில் அழகான / அலங்கார / அழகுபடுத்தப்பட்ட என்று பொருள். நகரத்தை அழகுபடுத்துவதோடு, சாலைகளில் குவிந்த குப்பைகளை அகற்றுவது, போக்குரவத்தையும் சீராக்கும் திட்டத்தை அடக்கி இந்த திட்டம் உருவாக்கப்பட்டது. நகரத்தை வாழக்கூடியதாகவும் பயண நட்பாகவும் மாற்ற, இது தான் முதல் படி. முந்தைய மெகா திட்டங்கள் 1990-ம் ஆண்டு…

After years of preparation and drafting, the union government has finally given the green light to a Model Tenancy Act (MTA) 2021, which aims to make rent laws more equitable for landlord and tenant, and smoothen the processing of renting a home. Such an act had become necessary to achieve the target of constructing 20 million houses for the urban poor by 2022 under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana. The 2011 census had recorded a total of 246.69 million households, of which 68% were rural and 32% urban, leaving 63.67 million urban and rural families without adequate housing. In India,…

Nine European Union countries approve Covishield In a positive development, nine European Union (EU) countries – Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Estonia and Switzerland – have granted approval to Serum Institute of India’s (SII) Covishield. This will allow people with Covishield certificates to apply for a “green pass”, allowing hassle free travel between these countries. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), EU's top medical body, has approved only four vaccines so far: Pfizer-BioNTech's Comirnaty, Moderna's Covid vaccine, AstraZeneca shot manufactured and sold in Europe as Vaxzervria, and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen. Covaxin by Bharat Biotech is still not on…

Post-COVID care centre at Guindy hospital To cater to the needs of those dealing with post-COVID issues, the state government has set up a post-COVID care clinic at the Government Corona Hospital in Guindy. Some of the services offered by the clinic are general medicine, cardiology, neurology, nephrology, gastroenterology, ENT, ophthalmology, diabetology, chest medicine and psychiatry. An ENT specialist has also been stationed to screen patients for any signs of mucormycosis. A 100-bed pediatric COVID ward and a 40-bedded intensive care unit has also been inaugurated at Stanley Medical College & Hospital’s Institute of Social Paediatrics in order to deal…

Mumbai Samachar turns 200 Popularly known as Bombay Samachar, India's oldest continually published newspaper turned 200 this year. The paper was established by Parsi scholar, printer, and editor Fardoonji Murazban in 1822. It has been produced both in Gujarati and English. Bankruptcy forced a hand over operations and ownership of the press to the Cama family in 1933. Prior to the transfer, Cama Norton and Co used to be the ink and newsprint supplier for the publication. The same colonial-era red building still houses its office and printing press two centuries later. The paper began primarily as a weekly journal…

Second COVID wave subsiding As the second wave subsides and hundreds of COVID beds in government facilities fall vacant, medical staff and students are anxious to switch to non-COVID duties, especially at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Centre (BMCRI), the largest government facility for COVID treatment in the city. The number of daily cases has seen a dramatic 97% decline since the second wave peaked in April. But, the number of ICU cases has been less quick to fall. Over a seven-day period from June 20 to 27, the number of ICU cases declined by 28% from 518 to…

Cannot scrap class 12th state board examinations, says the apex court The Supreme Court has refused to pass any order to scrap examinations for state boards' class 12th. The court said state boards are autonomous and different making it difficult to have a uniform assessment policy. The court has directed state boards to come up with their individual assessment policy along with timelines within the next 10 days. The apex court also directed the boards to declare the internal examination results by July 31st. States argued that conducting physical examinations is not possible due to the pandemic and instead talked…