City: Bengaluru

Back to school Schools reopened on Friday for Class 10 and II PU students after a gap of nearly 10 months. As many struggled to meet all the Standard Operating Procedures for sanitisation, they would be opening only on Monday. Basavaraj Gurikar, vice-president, All India Teachers’ Federation, was quoted as saying that the State government had not provided any funds for sanitisation. Ahead of the opening, the President of Karnataka State High School Association, H K Manjunath, was expecting only 70% attendance. This, he had said, was owing to the positive attitude of the parents whose children study in aided…

What is lost in the last nine months is the magic that happens in a live performance.  Within the 15th minute of a play, everybody’s heart is beating at the same pace. How can that ever happen with us beaming ourselves out on telephone screens and computer screens and television screens? Not possible.  Theatre is really the only medium that gives it to you, blood, sweat and tears, there in front of you. Cinema blows up everything a hundred times, television compresses it. Theatre is the only space where you see what is real.  This is the challenge to humanity:…

The world has witnessed a substantial increase in internet consumption for both work and leisure ever since nations across the globe started implementing social restrictions to minimise the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Global statistics indicate that time spent on digital activity has increased by 57% for watching streaming web-series/shows, 47% for social media, 46% on messenger services, 39% on listening to streaming music services, 36% more time on mobile applications, 35% increased time for video games, 15% for creating and uploading videos and 14% more time on listening to podcasts. These findings corroborate with statistics about the use of devices. The…

The Covid-19 pandemic put to test the capacity and resilience of health systems across the globe. Public health systems in countries witnessing widespread virus transmission (USA, western European countries, Iran and India) were overwhelmed, leading to higher mortality. Despite lower disease incidence when compared to western countries, major cities of India witnessed significant Covid-19 related mortality. Various shades of lockdowns and civilian restrictions aided containment efforts, but caused severe socio-economic distress.   In India, the pandemic response relied on tertiary hospitals with intensive care units and ventilators to treat Covid-19 and prevent deaths. Expectedly, the technocratic part of health systems led…

Infant seeks traffic-ban in Cubbon Park A five-month-old infant has petitioned the High Court seeking a ban on vehicular traffic in Cubbon Park. A division bench ordered notices to the state government and other respondents following the plea. Kian Medhi Kumar, represented by his father, M R Rakesh Prabal Kumar, cited a drastic reduction in air pollution during the lockdown, enforced between March 24 and May 20. The petition said that there was a reduction of suspended particulate matter and carbon monoxide level inside Cubbon Park during that period. The petition also cited a study by the Indian Instituteof Science's…

Decentralisation is a word that we often hear and appreciate. We, however, see it as a distant concept that operates far from our lives. Images that come to mind when we think of decentralisation are panchayat raj or self-help groups, etc. We do not, for instance, think of this term — which means dissipation of power from one to many — when it comes to urban issues. More often than not, we think of the urban settings as organised spaces. To us, everything falls under the realm of urban planning; that gives us a semblance of structure to the chaotic…

[This article was updated after an official order, with several changes to the original announcement, was issued by the Chief Secretary, Karnataka. The full text of the order can be found here] The Karnataka government has imposed a State-wide night curfew for eight days beginning December 24. The curfew will come into effect at 11 pm and last till 5 am on those days. The decision was taken in view of the new strain of Covid-19 virus, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced, a day after he had ruled out the possibility of night curfew. "In view of the new…

It was only last week that work hours returned to “normal” for Sajida, an Accredited Social Health Worker (ASHA), also known as Community Health Worker, who lives in Mahalakshmi Layout.   As with all ASHA workers, she was part of the critical front line; keeping her ears to the ground and eyes peeled for any sign of Covid-19 and its spread in her locality. Since March, when the city recorded its first coronavirus case, Sajida has worked up to 16 hours a day, surveying neighbourhoods and tracing contacts of those who tested positive.  Although Covid-19 cases and positivity rates have…

“The number of women that appear in the public realm, during the day and and especially at night, is an indicator of the health of a society and the safety and livability of a city” -- Smart Cities Dive Bengaluru roads are unsafe, but they are even more so for women cyclists who have the double disadvantage of gender and their chosen mode of transportation. The number of women cyclists in the city are far fewer than men.  Women cyclists I spoke to complained about dug-up roads and inadequate safe parking spaces for cycles. “I’m always paranoid that someone would break…

Over 90% infants malnourished In Bengaluru, a mere 7.4% children aged below two years receive adequate diet, says the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5). That leaves a staggering 92.6% infants under two, malnourished. The figures are worse than five years ago, when only 13.9% children were receiving proper nutrition. Bengaluru is one of 342 districts for which government released data. The survey says the percentage of total children aged 6-23 months receiving an adequate diet has fallen. Children under five years who are stunted are 31.3%, an increase from 28.1% in NFHS-4, while the number of underweight children has gone…