Protests intensify in Bengaluru over RSS worker's murder

Thiruvananthapuram, May 22: Kerala reported its highest rise of COVID-19 cases in a single day with 42 new cases on Friday of which 23 returned from other states and 17 from abroad.

Addressing media persons, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that of the new cases, 23 have come back from other States (Maharashtra-21, Tamil Nadu-1 and Andhra Pradesh-1) and 17 have returned from abroad (Kuwait-7, UAE-5, Saudi Arabia-2 and Qatar-2). Two are cases of local transmission including one health worker in Kasargod.

"A total of 12 persons from Kannur district, seven in Kasargod district, five each from Kozhikode and Palakkad districts, four each in Thrissur and Malappuram districts, two from Kottayam district, and one each in Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad districts are those who have tested positive, " he said.

Meanwhile, two patients under treatment for Coronavirus in Malappuram district have tested negative today. The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Kerala is 732 and 216 patients are now under treatment in different hospitals. Kannur and Malappuram districts have 36 patients each, followed by 26 in Palakkad district, 21 in Kasargod district, 19 in Kozhikode district and 16 in Thrissur district.

The Chief Minister said that a 73-year-old woman had died in Thrissur district. She had recently returned from Mumbai.

There are 84,258 persons under observation across the state, 83,649 are quarantined at their homes or institutional quarantine centres and 609 are isolated in hospitals.

A total of 162 persons were admitted to hospitals today.

Till now, 51,310 samples have been sent for testing and 49,535 samples have been confirmed without any infection. Apart from this, as part of sentinel surveillance of high-risk groups, 7,072 samples were tested separately and out of these, 6,630 samples have been confirmed with no infection.
No new place was declared as hotspot today and there are 28 hotspots in the state.

So far, 91,344 people have come to the state from foreign countries and other states by road, sea and air.

Expressing concern over the rising numbers, the Chief Minister said, "The increase in numbers is a serious warning. Our COVID-19 preventive measures need to be enhanced. More people are expected to come back and we will ensure proper testing, treatment and care to all. Serious patients are among those who are coming back."
"We will ensure additional facilities including ventilators in hospitals to accommodate more in-patients. Huge rush is being seen at some places. People should observe more self-restraint or else all efforts will become ineffective," he added.

Newsroom, Jan 29: Karnataka’s capital has earned the unwelcome distinction of global capital of traffic congestion. According to a report by TomTom, the Netherlands-based global provider of navigation, traffic and map products, Bengaluru beat 415 other cities across 57 countries to earn the title of world's most traffic congested city in 2019.

“Bengaluru takes the top spot this year with drivers in the southern Indian city expecting to spend an average of 71% extra travel time stuck in traffic," TomTom said in the ninth edition of its annual Traffic Index.

Three other Indian cities, namely, Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi are also ranked in the 2019 edition of TomTom’s Traffic Index of the world’s most traffic-congested cities. 

The report released on Tuesday ranks cities by the average time added to a trip. TomTom index also includes details on when congestion is heaviest and lightest, how highways compare with surface streets, and how much time drivers wasted waiting for other drivers to get out of their way.

Following closely on the heels of Bengaluru is Manila, Philippines, with the similar 71% traffic congestion. Among the top five worst traffic affected cities are Mumbai and Pune from India at the fourth and fifth place respectively, while Bogota, Colombia is on third spot.

Delhi, the national capital of India is on the 8th spot, while Moscow (Russia), Lima (Peru), Istanbul (Turkey) and Jakarta (Indonesia) are on 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th spot respectively.

Mumbai recorded a 65% traffic congestion with 9th September, 2019 being the worst day. On an average, a Mumbaikar lost 209 hours in traffic congestion. Pune has 59% traffic congestion with 2nd August, 2019 being the worst day. 193 hours are lost due to congestion. Delhi, on the other hand, has 56% traffic congestion. 23rd October, 2019 was the worst day, while 190 hours are lost in traffic congestion.

Interestingly, among all the four Indian cities, Delhi has the most number of cars. Previous studies have concluded that Delhi has the best road conditions among the Metro cities of India.

If you are wondering what exactly the percentages mean, a 53% congestion level in Bangkok, for example, means that a trip will take 53% more time than it would during Bangkok’s baseline uncongested conditions.

TomTom calculates the baseline per city by analyzing free-flow travel times of all vehicles on the entire road network – recorded 24/7, 365 days a year. The report by Dutch navigation and mapping company ranks cities by the average time added to a trip. It also includes details on when congestion is heaviest and lightest, and how much time drivers wasted waiting for other drivers to get out of their way.

The covid-19 lockdown has thrown wedding plans in disarray in coastal Karnataka like all other activities involving a crowd of people. While many people chose to postpone the scheduled and about to be scheduled weddings, some are going ahead with scheduled plans and holding weddings with no more than 50 guests as per the guidelines issued by the government of Karnataka. 

The government may relax the norms and allow participation of more guests in the future. However, holding wedding ceremonies will be a new challenge when people are returning to a ‘new normalcy.’ Compared to the traditional wedding ceremonies of the region, marriages in the time of Covid-19 are expected to be smaller as the organizers have to adhere to the safety protocol and safe distancing norms. Given this situation, to limit risks and ensure safety, families now will have to consider wedding planners to help them celebrate their weddings.

“The postponed weddings will take place in the coming days as the lockdown is being relaxed in a phased manner. However, it won’t be like our traditional weddings. There won’t be 3000 guests.  Government directives will be have followed. We expect change in trend from big fat weddings to a small, close family, picture perfect weddings,” says Sartaj Beary, Managing Partner, Zawaj Weddings and Events.

“Our curetted packages will take care of wedding invitations, outdoor venue, premium catering, bridal make up, mehendi function, photography, videography, décor, thermal scanning systems, hand sanitizers and N 95 masks etc. We hope with our experiences we can offer stress free celebration to the families while we plan everything from scratch as per client requirement,” he assures.

“Ultimately, our society has to adopt an innovative way of marriage. At this point, we can say that any wedding in 2020 will look different as the novel coronavirus has disrupted the weddings everywhere. We know it is a big milestone for families and we at Zawaj are here to assure families that we can help a stress free wedding,” he adds.

New Normal Era Weddings

In the ‘new normal era’, weddings across the world will be totally different from what we used to see before the pandemic. People need to be cautious while attending mass gathering and it is important. Gone are the days of closed AC venues. Outdoor weddings will be the future, where seating are spread out and space between tables, stage, food counters will be maximum as per  safe distancing protocols. 

Wedding planners and caterers will have to ensure systematic safety protocol, safe and responsible operations, preparation of the food, event crew and vendors safe zone, sanitized kitchen, transportations. Even buffet settings will change to include smaller but multiple cuisines, self serving stations, markings on line to maintaining safe distance at the food counters.

More importantly, venue has to be prepared as per the government instructions. Things like disinfection and sanitization, hygiene, ample toilet facilities, hand wash, thermometer scans, masks, sanitizing stations should be taken care of. People from all walks of life will embrace this form of marriage. The services of wedding planners will be most opted in future.

CONTACT:

WASIM : 9972442344

SARTAJ : 9740792344

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