GENRE: LN

COVID-19 has not only affected us humans, but also stray animals in several ways. For one, though the World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that animals can't transmit COVID to humans, they are ill-treated and not allowed in residential areas. Another issue is that stray animals, especially dogs, are often dependent on leftover food from street vendors and fast food vendors. But with fewer people and shops, and more restrictions since COVID, strays have been left without enough food. In Bengaluru, many individuals such as Rakesh Shukla and Manjari Chaitanya Colaco have taken steps to provide food, shelter and care…

BBMP launched BLCARES on August 14, to decentralise Bengaluru’s Covid management process. BLCARES or 'Bengaluru Local - Covid-19 Awareness Response and Emergency Sahaya' attempts to emulate the booth-level management technique during elections.  The programme includes BLCARES.in, a tech platform developed by the joint effort of civil society organisations including Janaagraha, Sensing Local and Reap Benefit. These groups along with Citizens for Bengaluru, CIVIC, Hasiru Dala, Naavu Bharateeyaru, Slum Mahila Sanghatane, Azim Premji Foundation, etc., will also help in citizen volunteer mobilisation and training. The BLCARES platform also contains resources and IEC training material for volunteers.  https://twitter.com/BBMPCOMM/status/1294217712781033472?s=20 Centralised COVID response had…

Riots, curfew in East Bengaluru Violence broke out in DJ Halli and adjoining areas in east Bengaluru on Tuesday night after an inflammatory post about Islam on Facebook. Three were killed and three others injured in police firing. Rioting by as many as 2,000 on the streets was brought under control. Section 144 and curfew was imposed in DJ Halli, KG Halli and Kaval Byrasandra. The inflammatory Facebook post was put up by P Naveen, nephew of Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy. The police is interrogating Naveen. About 146 people, including a few local leaders of the SDPI (Social Democratic…

209 areas flood-prone: BBMP BBMP has identified 209 flood-prone areas in the city, of which 153 are sensitive and 56 hypersensitive. With the threat of flash floods in the city, the civic body has decided to instal sensors in more stormwater drains. BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said 28 sensors had already been installed. The senors would beam warning messages once the water level rises. Since the breaching of stormwater drains is a major reason for floods in Bengaluru, early warnings are expected to help authorities take corrective measures and evacuate residents from flood-prone areas. Source: Deccan Herald COVID recovery…

The COVID-19 outbreak has slowed down Solid Waste Management (SWM) across the city, with all the composting and segregation centres in 162 locations closed. Most residential areas and other gated communities have struggled to segregate their waste during the lockdown due to the lack of in-house waste management facilities and staff. Awareness around the subject is low, and the motivation to initiate the process is also missing. However, in the midst of this, The Atrium, an apartment complex in Thiruvanmiyur has managed to keep the operations of waste management going. The Atrium community started waste segregation with a systematic and…

Kempegowda tower, now located in a park near Raman Research Institute. Pic courtesy: Raman Research Institute Karnataka government recently announced a Rs 111-crore project dedicated to Bengaluru's founding father Kempe Gowda. The project included Rs 70 crores for a statue of the 16th-century chieftain at the Kempegowda International Airport, and Rs 41 crores for the ‘beautification’ of his tomb that was recently discovered in Magadi.  The project understandably came under fire given that we are among the states hit worst by COVID-19.  But the argument presented by the powers-to-be in the public domain was that the project was meant to…

NEP: Debate on medium of instruction The new National Education Policy (NEP) has revived the debate on whether Kannada should be the medium of instruction in primary classes. NEP recommends that the medium of instruction be in local/regional language. School managements point out that the NEP goes against the apex court’s verdict that imposition of mother tongue as the medium of instruction is “unconstitutional”. In the 2019-20 academic year, Karnataka government too had started English-medium sections in government schools. . Meanwhile, sources from the Kannada Development Authority said the state language should be made mandatory since there are various local…

Gayathri*, a 55-year-old Associate Professor of microbiology at Christ University, stares puzzled at the 21-inch laptop her daughter had gifted her two years ago. Backache continues to ail her even as she consciously corrects her posture to sit straight on an ordinary plastic chair. Gayathri said that although the college trained her, and her colleagues helped her handle virtual communication tools, she could not put together appropriate tools for remote classes amidst COVID-19. Working out of her apartment in JP Nagar, Gayathri said, “Although I enjoy interacting with my students after a long gap, it gets tiresome to sit caged…

For asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic COVID-19 patients with varying degrees of deep pockets and a healthy aversion to hospitals, there’s an alternative: Many private hospitals and business-starved hotels have joined hands to make isolation not just palatable, but even a bit posh. The initiative comes at a rather grim time for the city: the pandemic rampages while a beleaguered infrastructure is struggling to keep up. The new treatment option, authorities hope, will free up precious healthcare resources for the truly needy. After months of bucking the national trend, especially in comparison with other Metros, COVID-19 positive cases in Bengaluru have…

Over 33,000 trees to be felled for PRR The BDA (Bangalore Development Authority) admits that the construction of the eight-lane PRR (Peripheral Ring Road) would require the felling of 33,838 trees. For about four years, BDA had argued that only 200 trees would be cut, based on an erroneous Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report. The NGT (National Green Tribunal) rejected the report based on a submission by the Horticulture and Forest Department. Meanwhile, an EIA draft report estimates that 3,541 trees will be affected by the metro link between KR Puram and Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). The report says that…