News | Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

“COVID response: Bengaluru is overlooking every management lesson from history”

August 3, 2020 Manasi Paresh Kumar

History shows that Bengaluru has reined in pandemics before. But now, with turf wars and bureaucrat transfers, even basic principles of management are missing from the city’s COVID response.

Bengaluru Buzz: NEP language debate | Action against pvt hospitals | Night, Sunday curfews lifted…and more

August 1, 2020 News Desk

The new National Education Policy has revived the debate on Kannada medium in primary classes. Catch up on news from the city this week, in our roundup.

College teachers miss classroom interaction, say online’s not working

July 31, 2020 Harsha Raj Gatty

Bengaluru colleges have tried to adapt to online classes, yet the faculty themselves say these classes are boring and ineffective.

Why Bellandur lake spews toxic froth, and how to stop it

July 30, 2020 Priyanka Jamwal and Sanjana Alex

Bellandur and Varthur lakes release huge amounts of foam almost every year, especially around the monsoons. Why does this happen, and what can we do to stop it?

E-learning policy: Govt can’t have one solution for all types of schools, says expert

July 29, 2020 Manasi Paresh Kumar

Earlier this month, a government-appointed committee submitted guidelines on school education during COVID. In this interview, Dr Niranjanaradhya, a committee member, explains how they tried to tackle the issue.

Remember Bengaluru’s minimal traffic during lockdown? Here are nine pointers to sustain it

July 28, 2020 Ashish Verma

During COVID lockdown, we got a glimpse of a liveable Bengaluru where traffic and pollution levels were extremely low. This can be sustained post COVID too, if the city follows some core transport principles.

Hotels offer plush packages for COVID isolation, but few takers

July 28, 2020 Anita Rao Kashi

Bengaluru hospitals and hotels join hands to offer covid packages that promise plushy seclusion. Freeing up hospital resources is bonus.

A house in Anjanappa Garden. COVID 19 and slums

Tackling COVID in slums: How to set up community quarantine centres

July 27, 2020 Siddhant Kalra

In low-income communities, residents are often unable to quarantine themselves at home due to space constraints. Community quarantine facilities could be a solution to this.

Bengaluru Buzz: 33,000+ trees to be cut for PRR | Apts set up COVID facilities | Zero cases from Padarayanapura…and more

July 25, 2020 News Desk

Bengaluru is set to lose a massive number of trees for the PRR and the KR Puram-airport Metro line. Catch up on more of this week’s news in our roundup.

Setting up a COVID Care Centre in your apartment? Here’s what you need to know

July 23, 2020 Siddhant Kalra

Apartment associations can now set up their own COVID Care Centres for patients with mild or no symptoms. But many find the process difficult. Here are some pointers on how to go about it.

We saw two extremes of Bengaluru’s police, say lockdown relief volunteers

July 22, 2020 Deeksha Sudhindra

Pushed to battle a contagion while enforcing a lockdown, the Bengaluru police received both praise and flak from relief volunteers for its role.

“Online classes are critical for underprivileged children during COVID”

July 21, 2020 Rishabh Shrivastava

Many believe that online classes are not feasible given the digital divide. In this interview, Shukla Bose, founder of Parikma schools that cater to children from slums, discusses why learning is in fact critical for marginalised children now and how Parikrma has dealt with the situation.

Bengaluru Buzz: BBMP Commissioner transferred | Rapid antigen tests in all wards | High pass % in CBSE 12th exams…and more

July 20, 2020 News Desk

Catch up on last week’s news in our roundup.

Post-COVID working conditions could be more exploitative for informal workers

July 18, 2020 Pragathi R

Predicting that informal workers in urban centres could take longer to bounce back from the effects of the lockdown, experts suggest a slew of measures that can mitigate their difficulties.

Taking stock: Bengaluru’s four months saw 22000+ COVID cases

July 16, 2020 Pragathi R

Bengaluru, once hailed for its COVID response, is grappling with rapid spread now. What transpired between one case reported on March 9 to over 22,000 cases now? Here’s a timeline.