GENRE: In Focus

State education department has initiated a project to identify the prevalence of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) among school children. ADHD is a disorder that causes hyperactivity, inattention and behaviour problems in children.The department has given Malleswaram-based Sattvam Homeopathic Speciality Clinic the go-ahead to screen children in 10 Malleshwaram schools in the first stage. It is expected to start off in a few weeks.The department may make policy decisions on treating children with ADHD based on the data, says Tushar Girinath, Commissioner at the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Sattvam Clinic, a 27-year-old establishment, currently specialises in treating children with…

Citizens enrolling for Aadhaar (UID) card might be unwittingly sharing personal information with third party organisations in the near future. A key step of the enrollment process, is for data operators to ask for consent of the enrollees on whether they would like their personal information to be shared. However, operators are not always asking citizens for this consent. Citizen Matters observed this at the enrollment centre in Jakkasandra Government School, Koramangala. Srinivas Reddy and Anjali Devi, just after their enrolment. Pic: Yogaraj S Mudalgi Apoorva L J, Audit Manager for Wipro which is the enrollment agency, says that the…

A week after Bengaluru's police department said that the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) for Karnataka did not exist, the Home Department says that the authority does exist. It turns out that in December last year, the state government quietly setup the body through a government order. The PCA is meant to be a state-level independent authority to inquire into public complaints against police officers. On November 11, civil society group IAC (India Against Corruption), Bengaluru, had submitted a petition to the city Police Commissioner's office, demanding setting up of a PCA. Additional Commissioner of Police Suneel Kumar, who had accepted…

The Department of Horticulture, Lalbagh, and Bangalore Environment Trust have recently restored and catalogued a total of 1020 rare botanical paintings - water colour illustrations, pencil sketches, ink drawings and lithographic prints - drawn by several artists in the late nineteenth century between 1887 and 1949. The drawings had been created in an effort to document plants, trees and fruits found in or considered important for the Mysore Kingdom. Illustration of Gloriosa Superba from the lily family. Source: Botanical Illustrations Collection at Lalbagh The old drawings had weathered, faded and were attacked by silverfish. These have been now restored, scanned,…

"We should learn Kannada. No Kannada, no respect" says one white cab driver to another. This is a scene from the recent Kannada blockbuster Super. The movie is set in 2030 with Bangalore as a ultra modern city populated with men wearing Mysore petas and where all the cab drivers are white. Hegemony is maintained through language – English and Hindi are considered to be above Kannada. A person may expect you to learn Hindi while not learning Kannada – this causes resentment among Kannadigas. There are many avenues for learning Kannada. For example, Tamil Sangam holds Kannada classes, or…

KEB layout in BTM 1st stage has only one park - until about two years ago this park had a play area which catered to children from the layout and surroundings. But the children's park was demolished by the BBMP in January 2009, to build a road through the park. The road was built to aid traffic and parking for a Sai Baba temple opposite the park. There are about 50 children residing in the layout, who mostly play on the roads as their play area in the park was demolished. Pic: Navya P K Children in the layout now…

JP Nagar resident M Srinath had relinquished his property in Jayanagar 8th block for Metro construction last year. The property was part of BDA layout, and was supposed to measure 1500 sq ft.During the acquisition, KIADB (Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board) which was in charge of the acquisition, had got the city survey department to measure the land. The department found that the property in fact measured 1530 sq ft.KIADB assured Srinath that he would compensation for the entire 1530 sq ft if he managed to get a letter from the BDA. "I do not plan to pursue it with…

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahnagara Palike (BBMP) may have passed some major decisions in the last few years - including increase in taxes, and road widening and infrastructure projects worth hundreds of crores of rupees. But none of these decisions were ever passed by a vote in the city council. And this, in a city of over eight million people with massive problems ranging from inadequate affordable housing to dying lakes and property tax holes to roadwidening resentment. The Karnataka Municipal Corporation Rules (Rule 65 in Conduct of Business Rules), says a vote should be held if councillors press for it.…

Deepa Peck, long time resident and head of the Whitefield Residents Association. Pic: Jaaga. Deepa Peck has been a resident of Whitefield since 1991 and has been visiting it since 1972. In all those years she has seen many of the areas, charming colonial buildings disappear one after the other. In May last year Deepa and her fellow residents were shaken out of their complacency when a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) notice was served to the 1882-built Whitefield Memorial Church and all residences/commercial establishments along the Whitefield-Varthur main road. BBMP was planning to widen the road which would have…

Litter bins, which almost disappeared from Bangalore's landscape some time back, may make a comeback this year. BBMP's Solid Waste Management (SWM) department has plans to re-introduce litter bins as part of its new policy.Solid waste tenders, compost/dry waste centres, decentralised biogas centres are all part of the new policy. In draft stage now, the policy has to be approved first by the Standing Committee for Health and then by the BBMP Council. "The policy will probably go for Council's approval next month. Currently we have no integrated policy; the new policy will be a guideline for all officials," says…