Civic

Covid cases surge in Mumbai Mumbai division reported 2,856 new cases and 11 deaths, taking the cumulative caseload to 7,49,849 and death toll to 19,921, Livemint reported. Mumbai's COVID-19 tally increased to 3,38,643 and four deaths took the fatality count to 11,519. But BMC Chief Chahal told the Indian Express that “As of now, there is no plan of imposing a lockdown." As many as 90 per cent of patients in Mumbai, who tested positive for COVID-19 in January and February this year, were residents of high-rises, while the remaining 10 per cent were from slums and chawls, NDTV quoted BMC officials.…

In September 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) refused permission to Maharashtra’s state and district central co-operative banks (DCCBs) to finance self-redevelopment of co-operative housing societies, stating that such projects would fall under the category of ‘commercial real estate,’ and hence, outside the banks’ primary purview of lending for activities related to agriculture and rural development. For the Maharashtra government, which was banking on support from the state’s co-operative banking ecosystem, this is as a huge blow to a scheme it had presented late last year as the solution to the state’s, and more specifically, Mumbai’s housing crisis. Meanwhile,…

Ministry of Urban Affairs announces 'Ease of Living' Index 2020 As per the recently released Ease of Living Index by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA), Bengaluru (in the million-plus category) has been adjudged the most liveable city with rank one. It is followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Surat. The index aims to assess the quality of life by evaluating the impact of various urban development schemes. ong cities with less than a million population, Shimla topped the chart. The index for the very first time also released the Municipal Performance Index. The Municipal Performance Index looked…

On-site vaccine registrations on the rise among seniors The vaccination drive against COVID-19 for senior citizens and persons aged 45 and above with comorbidities kicked off on March 1st. While there are provisions for online and offline registrations, on-site walk-in registrations have gained momentum among this category.  On the other hand, seniors from western suburbs of the city have complained about the lack of adequate number of vaccine centres in their locality. Senior citizens living in Avadi travel all the way to either Anna Nagar or Thiruvallur to get the vaccine shot. Information on government vaccine centers too have been…

Was Mumbai's power outage a cyberattack? A New York Times article last week cited a cybersecurity report to claim that Mumbai's major power blackout last October may have been a cyberattack from China. But the Central and State governments are now in disagreement about what happened, Boom reported. Maharashtra's Energy Minister confirmed the Chinese cyberattack, while Central government chalked it up to a human error and not an attack. Source: Boom After BMC Chief, Aaditya Thackeray talks about the need for a single authority in Mumbai Aaditya Thackeray, Photo by Amit Chivlikar, Unsplash Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya…

Seniors' vaccination disorganised From March 8, Covid-19 vaccine shots are likely to be provided at 107 hospitals (100 beds) as well as 141 Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike hospitals and referral hospitals. This would help BBMP vaccinate 60,000 people per day. Thereafter, it would target vaccinating one lakh people a day. ASHA workers are expected to mobilise over 15 lakh slum dwellers and bring them to sites for walk-in registration from next week. From March 1 to 4, Bengaluru Urban recorded 33,632 COVID-19 vaccinations to senior citizens and 5,179 to those above 45 years with comorbidities. An overloaded Co-Win vaccine portal…

Government issues new guidelines for OTT platforms and digital media The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) announced new rules “The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021” to regulate content on social media and Over The Top (OTT) platforms on 24th February. The rules focus on banning content that might affect the sovereignty and integrity of India and national security. It also mandates social media intermediaries like Twitter/Facebook to disclose the name of the first originator of any suspicious message. The platforms will also have to comply with government and court orders seeking removal…

Chennai to vote on April 6th, civic body issues directions for model code of conduct The Election Commission of India, on Friday, announced that Tamil Nadu will go for Assembly elections on April 6th and the results will be declared on May 2nd. This time, the election will be conducted throughout the state in a single phase. March 19th is the last date for filing nominations.  In view of the elections, the civic body has issued directions for the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). Commissioner G Prakash stated that any defacement of public property, such as wall paintings, posters, cut-outs…

Cost of riding autos and taxis increases After six years, the base fare for auto rickshaws has been increased from Rs 18 to Rs 21 and for taxis, it has increased to Rs 25 from Rs 22. In 2015, the base fares were increased by Rs 1 each for both autos and taxis, the Indian Express reported. The fare hike, applicable for the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region, will be effective from March 1. For rickshaws, the charge for every additional kilometre over the base fare has been hiked by Rs 2.21 per km to Rs 14.2, while for taxis, the…

Six COVID clusters The number of COVID-19 clusters in the city rose from three to six after the detection of 19 cases -- two of them in educational institutions -- in Yelahanka on Friday. Agragami College, Sambhram Academy of Management Studies and Purva Venezia apartments are the three new clusters. Earlier, the city's third cluster was detected when 26 persons in SJR Watermark Apartment in Ambalipura, Bellandur ward, were found Covid positive. They are all asymptomatic and under home quarantine. The UK, South Africa or Brazil variants of the coronavirus have not been found in the cluster at Manjushree Nursing…