Civic

28.47 lakh beneficiaries vaccinated across the country 13 days into the vaccination drive, more than 29 lakh healthcare workers have been vaccinated in the country. India has identified 3 crore beneficiaries for vaccination under Phase I. The government further plans to vaccinate 30 crore Indians by August 2021. As per the Ministry of Health, India has become the fastest country to administer 20 lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. As on 28th January, India had vaccinated 28,47,608 beneficiaries. India had approved two vaccines — Serum Institute of India’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin — on January 3rd for emergency use…

Local trains to resume in slots from February 1 Suspended since March 2020 and restarted in phases, Mumbai local trains will be open to the general public under fixed time slots from February 1. The time slots are the first service to 7 am, 12 pm to 4 pm and 9 pm to the last service. Frontline workers, healthcare staff, single women travellers will be allowed to travel between the timings as well. Source: NDTV Government Extends Lockdown Restrictions Till March 28 The state government imposed a lockdown from the third week of March 2020. Since then, almost all restrictions…

Only 20% Volvos running High operation costs and low revenues have forced the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation to scale down its air-conditioned bus services. It’s now running only 150 such buses as against the 760 before the pandemic. The daily revenue of the public transporter fell from Rs 3.5 crore to Rs 2.5 crore while the revenue from AC buses is less than 30% of what it was in 2019. The revenue from air-conditioned Volvo buses dropped even before the pandemic, after operation costs rose due to diesel price rise. With most people avoiding public transport due to COVID-19, AC…

Porur and Ramapuram are two neighbourhoods which were only recently included in the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) limits in 2013. But long before the inclusion and subsequent formation of resident associations here, Ramapuram was largely an isolated place with cultivable lands.  “Alcohol brewing was the main occupation back in the 1980s when the neighbourhood was a village. In the early 2000s, people began to settle here, educational institutions and firms were established and that is how the locality began to develop,” recalls PV Kishore, a resident of Ramapuram since 1984.  Kishore adds that groundwater was the only source for drinking…

Translated by Sandhya Raju நம் குடியிருப்பு பகுதியிலுள்ள குடிமைப் பிரச்சினைகளைத் தீர்ப்பதில் குடியிருப்பாளர்கள் நலச் சங்கங்களின் பங்கு மறுக்க முடியாதது. இப்பகுதியில் குடிமை வாழ்க்கையில் சாதகமான மாற்றங்களைக் கொண்டுவருவதற்கு உதவுவது மட்டுமல்லாமல், குடிமக்கள் மத்தியில் அவர்களின் உரிமைகள் மற்றும் கடமைகள் குறித்த விழிப்புணர்வை மேலும் மேம்படுத்துகின்றன. ஆனால் அத்தகைய சங்கங்கள் இல்லாத சூழலில், எவ்வாறு அதை உருவாக்குவது? அதன் அதிகாரங்கள் என்ன? யார் அலுவலக பொறுப்பாளர்களாக முடியும்? துணை சட்டங்கள் எவ்வாறு வடிவமைக்கப்படுகின்றன? ஒரு நலச் சங்கத்தை உருவாக்குவது தொடர்பான பொதுவான பல கேள்விகளுக்கு பதிலளிக்க இந்த கட்டுரை மூலம் முயற்சித்துள்ளோம். குடியிருப்பு நலச் சங்கம் என்றால் என்ன? அது எவ்வாறு உருவாக்கப்படுகிறது? குடியிருப்பு நலச் சங்கம் என்பது ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட சுற்றுப்புறத்தில் அல்லது குடியிருப்பில் வசிக்கும் குடியிருப்பாளர்களைக் கொண்ட உறுப்பினர்களின் ஒரு அமைப்பாகும். தமிழ்நாடு சங்கங்களின் பதிவு சட்டம் 1975 - இன் கீழ் இவை பதிவு செய்யப்படும்.…

PM and CMs might get vaccinated in second round As per some media reports, PM and CMs might get vaccinated in the second round of the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country. The first phase was launched on January 16th, giving priority to health and other frontline workers. Under the second phase, people above the age of 50 and with comorbidities will be part of the vaccination program.  So far, the response by states has been underwhelming. States like Punjab (28%) and Tamil Nadu (35%) recorded a low rate of coverage till 20th January. On the contrary, the states…

Health workers hold protests Even as the city continues its battle against the Coronavirus outbreak, several health workers held a protest at the Directorate of Medical Services seeking permanent employment. The Tamil Nadu government appointed 3,000 health workers at a consolidated salary with promise of permanent employee status a few years after service. The State Health Minister had promised in 2019 that workers who completed five years of service would be made permanent. One year since the announcement was made, there has been no action on the promise, resulting in protests by the workers. Source: The Hindu Waste water reclamation…

Vaccination slower than planned The COVID-19 vaccination drive was halted or slowed down in several city hospitals on Wednesday due to glitches in the Co-WIN app. Reports from the Jayanagar General Hospital indicated that vaccination could not take place on Tuesday and Wednesday as the portal did not permit the entry of names. Meanwhile, it was reported that the Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute did not get the list of healthcare workers to be vaccinated from the State war room. There has been a heavy load on the server as all hospitals are entering data simultaneously.…

Elections, our festival of democracy, are around the corner in Tamil Nadu. A good indicator of election season of late has been the flurry of activity by the civic body across the city. Roads that citizens have complained about for years with no response get a facelift, potholes are fixed, pavements are laid and any and all grievance is addressed with a swiftness that makes one wish election season lasted longer.  Several infrastructure development projects which had been put on the back burner over the past five years will now be taken up on a war footing and completed in…

When we were moving to Mumbai, one of the major relocation tasks was finding a suitable house to live in. Suitable as in proximity to children’s school and husband’s office, size, furnishing, rent, amenities, and the like… things people look for while choosing a house. We knew a few people who were already living in the area and they indicated that the most efficient way of going about this would be to approach one (or more) of the many real estate agents who had set up shop for people like us (and for owners who had bought the houses but…