Articles by News Desk

The News Desk at Citizen Matters puts out Press Releases, notifications and curated information useful to the urban reader.

With the surge in COVID cases, Karnataka government recently announced that asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients need not get admitted to hospitals and may only need to go into home isolation. On July 4, the Department of Health and Family Welfare issued guidelines on home isolation. Following are these guidelines, specifying which categories of patients are eligible, and the protocols for their isolation and release. The persons who have tested COVID positive shall be permitted to be in "home isolation" on meeting the following conditions: Only those who are asymptomatic or mild symptomatic shall be allowed to be in isolation…

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Citizen group opposes separate Pharma City for Hyderabad Citizens Against Pollution, a Hyderabad based rights group, has opposed the Telangana Government's move to establish a separate Hyderabad Pharma City. The group has claimed that the existing pharma city -- Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City at Parwada near Vizag -- is already responsible for causing severe pollution, negative impact on the local economy and destroying livelihoods. The organization, comprised of scientists, policy experts and activists, has claimed that the pharmaceutical city is responsible for polluting the water bodies. Thus having another pharma city along the same lines will be dangerous for the…

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Daily COVID cases near 1000-mark On Friday, July 3, Bengaluru reported 994 cases of COVID-19. With this, the city overtook Kolkata in the total number of positive cases. The day before, on July 2, 889 cases had been reported. As of 2nd, Bengaluru topped the list of 30 districts in the state in terms of fresh cases reported, most cumulative deaths (100), and most active cases (5505). However, Padarayanapura, Shivajinagar and Hongasandra that seemed to be on the verge of community transmission until recently, now have zero positive cases. But these localities remain containment zones, as a preventive measure. Meanwhile,…

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COVID-19: Walkie-talkie for healthcare workers, number of fever camps to be increased, PPEs dumped at Kodungaiyur On July 3rd, Chennai recorded 2,082 fresh COVID cases, taking the state’s total to 4,329 for the day. Meanwhile 2,357 recovered and 64 patients succumbed to the disease in the state on the same day. Infographic summary of COVID-19 cases in Chennai as on July 4. Pic: GCC/Twitter Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital has distributed 20 walkie-talkie devices and 20 mobile phones to healthcare providers in COVID wards for better communication. According to the hospital Dean Dr E Theranirajan, each floor will have a…

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These tips are all super basic, and you are probably already doing them if you're at all environmentally-minded. But if you're not, then these are simple to practice but large in impact, so we encourage you to start them today. #1 BYOC/BYOB What's BYOC and BYOB? Bring Your Own Container or Bottle wherever you go. Recently, a Beautiful Bengaluru member calculated that his family of four saved forty plastic bottles by carrying their own steel/copper bottles on a five-day vacation. Think of how many you can save! Most people believe that using disposables is okay as long as they use…

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The clampdown on all non-essential activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant decline in air pollution levels in major cities across India. Researchers from Respirer Living Sciences and Carbon Copy have analysed average air quality during all four lockdown phases in India as well as concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and Benzene during individual phases for Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, as part of their on-going National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) Tracker project to monitor the implementation of the NCAP. Four cities witness clean air From March 25 to…

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State involves private hospitals in COVID treatment As COVID cases increased sharply, the state government notified 20 big corporate healthcare institutions that run a chain of hospitals as DCHCs (Dedicated COVID-19 Health Care Centres) and CCCs (COVID-19 Care Centres). The corporate facilities were asked to identify one branch each, that can be converted into a dedicated facility. The identified branches are expected to have good medical facilities in terms of beds, high-flow nasal oxygen wards, ICUs and ventilators. If private hospitals don't comply with the rules, the state government might take them over based on the Disaster Management Act, said…

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COVID-19 updates: 345 GCC staff infected, commandos deployed to curb violations, 5 arrested for issuing fake e-pass On June 26th, a whopping 3645 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the state, while 1,358 people were discharged and 46 deaths were recorded. Chennai alone accounted for 1,956 cases, according to the health bulletin. Infographic of total COVID-positive cases in Chennai as on June 27. Pic: GCC/Twitter Among the front line workers from the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), 345 staff, including officials, have tested positive and around 50 are back to work. This includes around 120 sanitary workers, among whom 10-15 have…

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As lakes dry in Mumbai, city stares at water shortage crisis Mumbai gets it water supply from seven lakes and dams which are apparently drying up. The catchment areas of these lakes and dams have not registered any increase in the water stock, even as the first month (June) of the monsoon season is about to end. However, the municipality has urged people to remain calm and not panic. It has also made clear that there will be no water cuts in the city. The total storage capacity of all the seven lakes is about 14.47 lakh litres. At present,…

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Students from across educational institutions in the country have sent a comprehensive letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) condemning the passing of the EIA Notification 2020, which, in its current form, they perceive as destructive for the ecology and the people of India. In an initiative spearheaded by an environmental group of Ashoka University (headed by Anjali Dalmia, 20, from Pune), these youth (aged 17-28) have requested that it be deferred, rewritten as per recommendations by experts, and released once health and survival are not a critical issue. Following is the complete draft of the…

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