4,200 special buses to be operated for Diwali weekend
Since more than 10 lakh people are expected to leave Chennai over the weekend to celebrate Diwali in their hometowns, Transport Minister SS Sivasankar has said that 4,200 special buses would be operated to ensure hassle-free travel. This is in addition to the regular bus operations from Koyambedu, Tambaram, KK Nagar and Poonamallee.
While over 1 lakh people have booked online tickets in government buses so far, 2.2 lakh people have booked tickets to travel in trains from Egmore and Central Railway Stations. Further, one lakh people are expected to take private buses. The transport department has also opened 11 ticket counters in Koyambedu, MEPZ and Tambaram from Oct 21 for easy crowd management.
Soure: The Times of India | DT Next
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Traffic police launches an app for easy navigation
Are you someone who uses Google Maps to navigate through Chennai roads? Here’s some good news for you. The Greater Chennai Police Traffic Police (GCTP) has introduced a mobile application called roadEase to make your commute easier. The app will have information on traffic congestion, diversions, road closure, accidents, incomplete civic works and agitations. This will help the users get speedy updates of the said information on Google Maps.
Launching the app on October 20, Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal, said that the department will send the aforementioned information to application developers and they would update the information on Google Maps. While such information was earlier alerted to the public through media and social media platforms, the app comes in handy as it gives instant first-hand information directly to the public.
Source: The Times of India | The Hindu
Only 10 out of 56 road cuts in Chennai fixed
According to a news report, only 10 out of 56 road cuts made by the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) and the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) have been fixed by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) so far. Of the 56 roadcuts, 33 were made by the CMWSSB and 23 were made by TANGEDCO.
The delay in finalising the contractor is said to have caused the roadblock in the works. Meanwhile, the GCC has sent 4,400 bags of cold mix, weighing 110 tonnes, to repair the potholes in the city roads across the 15 zones. Roads in Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Anna Nagar, Teynampet, Kodambakkam and Adyar were found to be in the most damaged state after the recent infrastructure works.
While each of these areas has been supplied with 400 bags of cold mix each, 640 bags of cold mix, weighing 16 tonnes, are to be used to repair potholes on 471 bus routes in the city.
Source: The Times of India | The Hindu
Read more: Chennai races against time to finish storm water drain work, but concerns persist
GCC urges residents to pay property tax
The Greater Chennai Corporation has urged the residents to pay property tax for the second half of the financial year 2022-23 before November 15. The general revisions of property tax were made for the second half akin to that made in the first half of the financial year. The payment portal was opened on October 1.
As announced earlier, those who pay the taxes within the first 15 days would receive a 5% incentive of their property tax, the corporation has disbursed a sum of Rs 4.64 crore to the beneficiaries. Penalties would be levied for those paying after November 15.
Source: The Times of India
IIT-M gets National Intellectual Property Award
Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has conferred the ‘National Intellectual Property Award 2021-22‘ to IIT-Madras for being the top academic institution in the country for patents filing, grants and commercialisation.
IIT-M has filed 120 patent applications in India and 68 abroad in 2021. Of this, six patents were licensed, five were assigned and 11 were commercialised.
Source: The New Indian Express
[Compiled by Shobana Radhakrishnan]
