At least 53 journalists in Mumbai test positive for coronavirus

All the media persons found infected with coronavirus will be kept in isolation and a process was underway to find out suitable places to the purpose, BMC spokesperson Vijay Khabale said.

At least 53 media persons from Mumbai have tested positive for coronavirus, a city civic official said on Monday. These journalists will be kept in isolation and quarantined wards of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The BMC had taken the swab sample of 171 Mumbai biased journalists for COVID-19 tests at a health check-up camp. Out of 171, the 53 journalists swab samples came out positive for coronavirus while rest were negative. Out of the 53 journalists, most of them are photographers, camera persons with television channels and reporters who were on the field since the outbreak of coronavirus. 

A medic works on a sample for COVID-19 Rapid Test at a camp during the nationwide lockdown imposed in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus. (Photo | PTI)

The BMC officer said that most of the coronavirus positive journalists were asymptomatic. "No journalist is critical. The symptoms in the journalist are very normal but they have to be kept in isolation or quarantined. All journalists are asked whether they want to stay in the at home in isolation or BMC provided quarantined facility centre. We are keeping them in a suburban hotel," said Vishnu Sonawane, president of journalist Association in BMC. 

One of the television journalists said that they have been asking their office to allow them to work from home but office instead of working from field and hospitals where are positive patients are reported. "We demanded the safety kids like mass loss and other equipment but we had given normal three-layer surgery mask, not other facilities. We were exposed to who this coronavirus outbreak very closely. We had no option but to work for the office and continue to do reporting from the field," he said requesting anonymity. 

BJP former member of parliament Kirit Somaiya has written a letter to Union Minister Dr Harshvardhan, BMC commissioner Praveen Pardeshi Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope and TV channels owner asking to take care of these reporters and their families.

NCP leader and member of parliament Supriya Sule had also raised this journalist exposing two vulnerable situations. She had demanded the Rs 50 lakh insurance cover to all journalist who is working during this pandemic situations.

(Source: TNIE)

Mumbai bans plastic: A list of items you can and can’t use

The Maharashtra government had imposed a ban on manufacture, use, sale, distribution and storage of all plastic materials across the state from today. Here’s a list of plastic items that are banned and the ones you can use.

Authorities have said they will fine offenders up to Rs 25,000 as penalty for not following the plastic ban that comes into effect in Maharashtra on Saturday.

The Maharashtra government had on March 23 issued a notification imposing a ban on manufacture, use, sale, distribution and storage of all plastic materials, including one-time use bags, spoons, plates, PET and PETE bottles and thermocol items.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will levy a fine of Rs 5,000 for the first offence, Rs 1,000 fine for the second one and Rs 25,000 fine for every subsequent violation.

The BMC’s 249-member squad will educate Mumbai residents about the ban over the weekend, but it will start handing out fines from Monday.

Here’s a list of plastic items that are illegal to use or exempt from the ban:

DON’T USE THESE FROM TODAY

• All kinds of plastic bags (with and without handle), garbage bags 
• All one-time use disposable items made up of plastic and thermocol, such as cutlery, plates and bowls.
• Plastic sheets to wrap or store products and plastic pouches to store liquid
• Non-woven polypropylene bags (a cross between paper and cloth bag)
• Disposable plastic containers used for takeaway
• PET bottles (containing soft drinks, mineral water etc) and with a carrying capacity of less than 500 ml

ITEMS EXEMPTED

• Plastic cover/ plastic material used at the manufacturing stage
• Plastic used for medicines, solid waste management and agricultural products
• Compostable plastic material used for nurseries, horticulture and agriculture
• Milk bags and plastic bottles used in packaged water industry. Milk bags and bottles will have to be recycled by collecting them back. Or else, customers have to pay a nominal recycling fee to shopkeeper

(Source: HT)

Mumbai rains: Mumbaikars, here are all the helplines you need

In the coming hours, Mumbai could receive showers similar to those that brought the city to its knees in 2005, the weatherman says. Mumbaikars, here are some helpline numbers that could be of great use to you.

Heavy rains lashed Mumbai today, leaving several areas of Maximum City waterlogged, and affecting road and rail traffic. The Disaster Management Unit of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has warned Mumbaikars of more rainfall in the next 24 hours, and advised them against leaving their homes "unless required."

The Devendra Fadnavis administration ordered all its offices to allow employees to leave early. The chief minister visted the State Disaster Management Control room to take stock of the situation.

In the coming hours, Mumbai could receive showers similar to those that brought the city to its knees in 2005, the weatherman says. That year, the city was battered by the heaviest rainfall recorded in Indian history. 108 people were killed in two days: 25 drowned after being trapped in their cars, and another 190 were feared buried in landslides.

Mumbaikars, as you brace for more rains, take a look at some helpline numbers that could be of great use to you.

HELPLINE NUMBERS
Mumbai Police: 100, or contact on Twitter (@MumbaiPolice)
Mumbai police wireless: 22633319
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) helpline number: 1916
Central Complaint Registration System: 1916
Disaster Management Control Rooms: 22704403, 22694725, 22694727, 22694719
Disaster Helpline: 108
Civil Defence: 22856435
Nodal officers of BMC during disasters
Chief Fire Officer: 23074923, 23076111
Chief Medical Superintendent: 26406787, 26420131
Chief Officer, DMP & CCRS: 22694727, 22694725

FAX NUMBERS

(Source: India Today)

Mumbai proposes mannequin ban to 'save women'

Civic body mulls banning display of half-clad mannequins in lingerie shops in an attempt to cut sexual assaults.

One woman is raped every 20 minutes in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Anti-rape protests swept the country in recent months, calling for strict and immediate action from the authorities after a 23-year-old medical student was brutally gang-raped in a moving bus in the capital December 2012.

As of March 2013, 24,000 cases of sexual violence were pending before state high courts and the Supreme Court of India.

In a move designed to prevent the growing number of sex offences in Mumbai, the city that records the second highest number of rapes in the country, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has supported a proposal to ban the display of bikini-clad mannequins in front of shops. The proposal still is not law and is currently waiting on approval from the head of the civic body. 

The country's richest civic body, which boasts 227 councillors from across political parties, has unanimously supported the plan put forth by a BJP councillor to ban mannequins with "indecent display" in public areas.

If approved, the proposal developed by councillor Ritu Tawade will legally empower civic officials to force shopkeepers to remove mannequins that are "underdressed". 

"Lingerie mannequins promote rapes. Skimpily clad mannequins can pollute young minds," Tawade told the NDTV news channel. "After the Delhi rape case, I felt something had to be done." 

She strongly feels that mannequins, especially those wearing "the two-piece clothes (bikinis)", impact the incidences of crimes against women in the state. 

Read more here...