Top Headlines of the Day

1. No door-to-door waste collection from today

Household waste will not be picked up in the city from now, as door-to-door garbage collectors have decided to join the strike being observed by sanitation workers of the MC.

The Safai Karamchari Union went on an indefinite strike from Friday, stopping the collection of garbage and cleanliness work at markets, roads, and streets. The strike is set to impact the whole city, in a repeat of what happened around two years back. the strike would continue till the MC accepted their demands. Members of the union, along with garbage collectors, today staged a protest in front of the MC office and burnt an effigy of Mayor Raj Bala Malik.

2. Chandigarh’s PGIMER sees 75% dip in surgeries amid a pandemic

The institute from May to mid-October has conducted 27,722 surgeries, which roughly amount to 5,000 per month. However, in the last two years, the number of surgeries conducted per month averaged around 21,500.

Former director Dr. Yogesh Chawla said: “Since Covid-19 reports are important now, the stress should also be on developing testing methods that give prompt results and are reliable so that routine services are not denied or postponed.”. The institute has recently stated that restoring all services remains a priority, but it is still evaluating the situation.

3. No burning of Raavan this Dussehra: Ramlila panels

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the UT Administration has given in-principle approval for celebrating Dasehra and organizing a ‘rath yatra’ symbolically. However, most Ramlila committees have decided not to burn effigies of demons this year.

District Magistrate Mandip Singh Brar said in-principle approval was given subject to strict observance of all detailed guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

4. Price of onions skyrockets due to a supply crunch

The price of onions in Chandigarh has skyrocketed in the past few days as the vegetable was being sold up to ₹75/kg till October 21. The rate continues to hover over ₹65/kg due to a shortage of supply. Prices of other staple vegetables such as potatoes and tomatoes also continued to be on the higher side.

Rashwinder Singh, auction recorder of mandi in Sector 26 said, “Due to flooding and bad weather conditions in the southern part of the country, onion from Maharashtra was unable to reach the city in enough quantity. Even now, the supply is low. Supply from other places, including Rajasthan, is required to bring the prices down.”

Prices of vegetables coming to the city from Punjab, including bitter gourd, bottle gourd, and eggplant, continue to remain stable, while the rate of locally grown cucumber has come down due to good supply. As per officials, prices of the staple vegetables will continue to stay high till the end of November.

5. Chandigarh health department warns against the use of stickers on fruits and vegetables, issues 30 notices

“Use of stickers on fruits and vegetables to make them look of premium quality is common. A lot of times, these stickers are applied directly on food surfaces such as on fruits like apples, kiwis, mangoes, oranges, bananas, pears, and some common fruits. A wide variety of adhesives is used on these stickers to paste them effectively. The safety of these adhesives is not known. It may contain harmful chemicals that may affect human health. The risk of consuming these adhesives is high in case of fruits or vegetables consumed with skin,” a release by the health department stated.

6. Overhead power cables to go underground in 4 more sectors

After launching the much-delayed project in Sector 8 here last month, the UT Administration has decided to shift overhead electricity cables to an underground system in four more sectors.

Hartek Power Private Limited, an engineering company, stated that it had bagged an order from the UT Electricity Department for laying underground electricity cables and heavy-duty electricity wiring in Sectors 7, 9, 11, and 26. The Electricity Department has singled out these sectors, to begin with as the existing power infrastructure here is more than 50 years old, which leads to frequent breakdowns and disruptions in supply.

7. Chinese maanjha/pakka Dori used for kite flying banned in Chandigarh

The Chandigarh administration has banned the use, sale, and procurement of “Chinese maanjha/pakka Dori” for kite flying in the city. Since 2017 “Chinese maanjha/pakka Dori” is banned in the national capital Delhi and since then various other states as well have taken this step.

District Magistrate Mandip Singh Brar said, “A large number of people flying kites use synthetic/nylon glass-coated thread, popularly known as ‘pakka thread/Dori’ or ‘Chinese maanjha/Dori’. Made of synthetic material, these are non-biodegradable and cause serious injuries to human beings, birds and are equally disadvantageous to the wildlife and environment.”

The ban would come into force with immediate effect and would be effective till December 19. Any breach of the order would invite action.

8. Chandigarh residents peeved over some sectors being left out of the fogging list

Notwithstanding UT administrator’s directions to the principal health secretary to carry out regular fogging, sanitization and cleanliness drives to prevent the spread of malaria, dengue, and other vector-borne diseases, residents have complained that some sectors have been left out in the schedule drawn up for fogging in the city.

General secretary of the Sector 33-B Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA), Kuljinder Sra said, “Ignoring Sector 33 for fogging has become a trend over the past few years, even as the sector has a high concentration of senior citizens. Several sites close to residential areas have become mini dumping grounds,” he said, adding that the RWA had written a letter to the director of health services regarding this.

Sector 21 has also not been included in the schedule. Federation of Sector Welfare Associations Chandigarh (FOSWAC) chairman Baljinder Singh Bittu, who is also the president of the RWA here, said, “I hope this is just an error in the printing, as fogging is the need of the hour here. Several spots in the sector also need to be cleared of piles of garbage.”

9. Kriti Sanon, Rajkummar Rao Head To Chandigarh To Shoot For Dinesh Vijan’s Next Movie

After a 7-month long lockdown, the entertainment industry is slowly getting back on track. Actress Kriti Sanon recently jetted off to Chandigarh with Rajkummar Rao to start shooting for Dinesh Vijan’s next. The as-yet-untitled film will begin filming on October 30 with the key cast in Chandigarh. The story of the comedy revolves around a couple who ‘adopt’ their parents. Kriti shared an in-flight video where she can be seen leaving Mumbai with the entire team in the flight.