Articles by News Desk

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…

On February 10th, 2021, Citizen Matters organised an online round-table discussion on ‘Climate Crisis and Environmental Sustainability: Lessons for Tier 2 cities’. The discussion was a logical extension of a series published on Citizen Matters, and supported by Climate Trends, that looked at climate change and environmental sustainability in cities like Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Shimla, Rishikesh and Varanasi. The intense session saw a deep exploration of the various sustainability challenges before India's Tier 2 cities and towns, and the systemic gaps underlying such manifestations. Read more: What’s causing climate risks in our smaller cities and towns? The primary objective of this…

A discussion with a difference Over the latter half of 2020, Citizen Matters commissioned a series of articles, supported by Climate Trends, to look at climate change and environmental sustainability in Tier 2 towns like Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Shimla, Rishikesh and Varanasi. Why Tier 2, one may ask. Because if and when there is a spotlight on issues of sustainability or the urban climate crisis, it is usually the metros that are at the centre of it. Air Pollution is invariably associated with Delhi/NCR, discussions around water crisis are more often than not Chennai-centric, while waste and mobility issues are mostly…

Road crashes kill around 1,50,000 people every year in India and could thus be termed the 7th most important non-communicable disease. The Government of India, in 2019, passed the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act which increased penalties for several violations such as not wearing helmets and seatbelts.  As part of the National Road Safety Month 2021, Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG) surveyed 10 locations in Chennai city to gauge the level of compliance with helmet and seatbelt rules. By law, only two persons are allowed on two-wheelers and both are required to wear a helmet, properly fastened. In cars,…

The upwardly mobile Indian middle-classes are willing to pay more for private school education for their children. By how much though, has long been a matter of contention between them and private school managements. Lower and middle-income families, for whom their children’s annual school fees -- like house-rent -- is a substantial portion of their income, find it beyond their means. Even if they may not have fought it, most of them have complaints against the existing fee structure. COVID-19 brought them to the streets.  At best, the pandemic left many with income-cuts. At worst, they lost their jobs. With…

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…

In a bid to promote non-motorised transport (NMT) in Chennai, team Stride of the India Smart Cities Fellowship, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and BYCS’ Bicycle Mayor of Chennai have initiated a crowdsourcing exercise to map the cycling amenities in Chennai.  Digital tool for promoting NMT The team intends to develop a digital tool for monitoring non-motorised transport (NMT) scenarios and engaging citizens to promote walking and cycling in Chennai. Kickstarting the project, Chennai has been chosen as the pilot city. Upon completing the pilot, the initiative will be scaled up across different Indian cities. The project…