Articles by News Desk

Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI) has been designated as the state nodal agency for Climate Change in Karnataka to provide technical support in conducting research, training and capacity building in climate change programs. To strengthen state climate change cell in Karnataka, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India has sanctioned a project, “Establishing/Strengthening the state climate change centre/cell under NMSKCC (State Climate Change Centre-National Mission for Strategic Knowledge on Climate Change) in the state of Karnataka”to EMPRI at a cost of Rs. 2.83 Crores, says a press note from Information Department, Karnataka. The project started in…

State transport department in dire need of funds  Transport Minister DC Thammanna has said that the state transport corporations BMTC, NEKRTC, and NWKRTC have run into annual losses worth Rs 600 crore, and a fare hike may be inevitable if operations are to be continued. The decreasing fuel efficiency (mileage) of buses caused by halting in congested, traffic-ridden roads and additional taxes for fuel have only added to the debt, the minister complained. In order to make profits and generate some revenue, a proposal for a 20% hike in bus fares has already been made. The matter is being considered by the…

A press note from the Information Department, government of Karnataka, says that BMTC is issuing student passes for the convenience of the students at concessional rates. An online system has been introduced this time, to avoid inconvenience to students like submission of documents and standing in the queues. This system is directly integrated with the Education Department database, where student can directly apply through Education Institutions or directly by themselves through e-form. This article lists the procedure to be followed for online application of student passes. For details of the updated service launched in 2019, click here.  Type: Upto 10th…

Do our smart city projects come at the cost of green cover? Several trees have been cut in T Nagar to pave the way for road development under the Chennai Smart City projects. Greater Chennai Corporation is building a pedestrian plaza from Anna Salai to Bashyam Road near Panagal Park, covering a stretch of 1.45 km. Residents, traders and NGOs have criticized Chennai Corporation's lackadaisical attitude towards conservation of trees and allege that work for the plaza has started without any survey or census of trees in the area. Source: The Hindu | The Times of India Two new sewage treatment…

Supreme Court slams city governments, Delhi LG for urban crisis Referring in particular to the garbage woes in Delhi and the drainage mess in Mumbai, the top court of the country pulled up urban governments over their inaction and ineffectiveness to stem the growing crisis in Indian cities. A two-judge bench took strong exception to the fact that around 13 states and several Union Territories had not yet formulated their policy for solid waste management strategy, well beyond two years since the central Solid Waste Management Rules came into force in April 2016. 10 states and two union territories were…

Pourakarmika kills self due to non-payment of salary for six months:  As many as 3,385 waste-pickers who had joined the BBMP's workforce recently and have less than one year experience with the civic body, did not receive salaries for the last six months. This allegedly led to Subramani, 37 year old resident of Vyalikaval, committing suicide on July 8th. BBMP has claimed to have released Rs 27 crore on July 10 subsequently to ensure that others are paid their dues and that such incidents do not recur. Meanwhile, the civic body is also planning on-ground verification of workers, because the list includes…

Management of liquid waste (sewage and septage) is a huge challenge for urban local bodies in India. Despite efforts in various directions, the scourge of manual scavenging – cleaning of sewer networks, septic tanks and other onsite sanitation systems by human labour – is something that has not been completely eradicated from our cities. Manual scavenging is, in fact, one of those sad dichotomies that continue to haunt our cities, which are, on the one hand, adopting sophisticated technology to upgrade the quality of urban life in many ways, and on the other, grappling with the social and health ramifications…

A one-day workshop on “Human Eye and the Colourful World’ for high school teachers of science will be conducted by Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium on July  12, 2018.  This chapter, from class X text book, will be discussed in detail while clarifying conceptual understanding, suggesting interesting activities to teach optics in general and the said chapter in particular. Common misconceptions and textbook errors, if any, will also be discussed. Eligibility: Science Teachers of Classes VIII to X Date& time: 10.30 am to 3.30 pm, July 12, 2018 Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Sri. T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds, Bangalore-560001 Interested teachers must…

Saahas and Daily Dump, two well known initiatives in the waste management space in Bengaluru were recently recognised for their work. Saahas was awarded the Swachh Best Practice Award by Swachh Bharat Mission and Daily Dump the Swachh Entrepreneur Award. Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred the awards and released the Swachh Survekshan 2018 Report and launched the Swachh Survekshan – 2018 Results Dashboard, accessible here. More details of the award can be read here. The following note has been shared by the Saahas team. Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) has selected Saahas Zero Waste, a Bengaluru based startup, to receive the Swachh Best Practice Award…

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's maiden budget has revived the pod taxi at a cost of Rs 1445 crores (five stretches totaling 29.8 kms at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore per km) and the elevated corridor project at an estimated cost of  and Rs 15,825 crores for Bengaluru. However the proposal has come under fire by citizens and experts alike, who termed it unscientific and can't solve the traffic woes of Bengaluru city. At a citizens' meeting called by Citizens for Bengaluru, on July 7th, 2018, the volunteer group to come out of the Steel Flyover Beda movement in 2016,…