Page 1
Dailies 2012, Issue 3 Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore November 28,2012
BBMP flout rules;Illegal landfills crashes
people sentimentP4
KRPNSS stage protest;Pourokarmikas
neglected of theirdemand, P2
Chinnaswamy stadiumunder tight security forthe forthcoming India-
Pak match, P7
News Brief
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Corporator sentenced to 4 years imprisonment
A corporator who demanded
a bribe of Rs 8 lakhs has landed
in jail after police laid a trap.
The Lokayukta court today
convicted Ganesh Gudi
corporator L. Govindaraju to four
years in jail and slapped a fine of
Rs 90,000 on charges of
corruption.
He was immediately arrested
by the Police after the verdict
came out.
The trial followed a private
complaint that was lodged by
J.Uday Kumar to the Bangalore
City Lokayukta Police on 16th
July 2012, which stated that the
corporator demanded a bribe of
Rs 8lakhs from him to solve a
problem pertaining to the
construction of an apartment in
Banashankari 3rd stage. The
corporator had already received
an advance of Rs 2 lakhs and
was demanding the remaining
bribe.
A successful trap was laid by
Lokayukta Police and
Govindaraju was caught red
handed.
He was filmed accepting Rs 2
lakhs in his home at
Banashankari 3rd stage. Dy.S.P
H.S.Manjunatha of the Lokayukta
Police filed a charge sheet
against the accused before the
Special Judge, under the
Prevention of Corruption Act.
Lokayukta Special Court
judge Sudheendra Rao gave the
verdict as follows: “Govindaraju is
a public servant. His only aim
was to serve the public. He
behaved like a goon in this
particular case. This clearly is a
case of extortion. This verdict is a
lesson to all other public servants
in the government.”
The second accused in the
same case Gopal Gowda was
released after Timmegowda
provided legal documents that
were in favor of Gopal Gowda as
a result of which charges on
Gopal Gowda were cleared by
the Special Court.
Govindaraju had stood for the
election from the congress party
and had won the BBMP
elections. Govindaraju was
actively involved in all the
sessions of the BBMP.
Govindaraju had recently
identified himself with the BJP but
was not able to join the party after
the corruption were filed.
L. Govindaraju’s counsel
however said that he would
appeal in the Karnataka High
Court against the conviction.
“The court pronounced justice
to the people today. This is a
warning to all the officials and
they should learn a lesson”, said
an official from the BBMP.
Rowdy sheeter killed in revenge attack
A rowdy sheeter on bail for
attempted murder was stabbed
to death by the man he tried to
kill, according to police.
Police said the victim,
Venugopal , 26, was a criminal.
He was arrested under Section
307 (a) for attempted murder. He
was let out under anticipatory
bail.
Mahesh,25, was Venugopal’s
intended victim. Police are now
hunting for him and two of his
accomplices, Guru, 26, and
Harish, 28. They absconded after
the killing.
The dead body of
engineering, when he got an
opportunity to act in films. The
moment he started with his first
film, he encountered a lot of
problems, especially drinking and
smoking, and chose to leave the
profession.
He came back and started his
own tiles business. He was quite
successfull at it according to his
friends.
“He was a good friend and we
used to hang around in the
evenings,” said Muniraju, a friend
of the deceased.
The police,had a different
opinion for Venugopal. “He was
involved in petty fights with the
absconding boys,” said a Police
Constable present at the site.
He is survived by his mother,
father and an elder sister.
Venugopal(26) was found
outside Venkateshwara Bakery
in Agrahara Dasarahalli on
Wednesday morning.
A FIR has been registered in
the Kamakshipalya police
station.
The body has been shifted to
the Victoria Hospital for post
mortem.
His friends said that the
murderers called him downstairs,
threw chili powder in his eyes
and chased him before slitting his
throat and attacking him with a
knife on the forehead and
stabbing him several times on
both his knees. He was partially
scalped, stabbed in the back and
his right ear was cut off.
His father, Govindaraj, said:
“All this started when he got the
opportunity to act in films.
“There have been a lot of
petty quarrels between him and
his friends ever since he started
going to the gym.
“The first fight happened,
apparently, four years ago. And
we did not know about this.
“We came to know about this
only after his death today, his
friends told us.”
Venugopal was a student of
Sheshadripuram College.He was
doing his second year in
L.Govind Raju, convicted on charges of corruption; imprisonment for 4 years
By Krishnaprasad S
Venugopal, the unfortunate victim of murder.
By Sumit and Hansa
KPN
Hansa V
“We
never
knew he
was involved
in all this until
this morning,
when we
found the
body”
- Raghu, his cousin
Page 2
02 The Daily Observer November 28, 2012
Blood donation camp organized
Mr. Guarav Gupta Chairman of BWSSB iinaugurating the blood donation camp or-
ganised by BWSSB emplyees association
By Hansa V
Blood donation camp was
inaugurated at the Bangalore
Water Supply and Sewerage
Board (BWSSB) auditorium this
morning.
Organized by the BWSSB
Employees’ association, in
association with the Indian Red
Cross Society, the camp was
inaugurated today.
The event was inaugurated
by the Guest of Honor, Gaurav
Gupta, Chairman, BWSSB.
He said: “It gives me great
pride to know that such an event
is being conducted. It shows how
socially responsible people are.”
Dr. Shankar, Senior Medical
Officer, said: “This is the first time
we are conducting a blood
donation camp. This is a good
way to start an event. It marks the
thoughts and ideas of basic
humanitarianism.
“The blood donation camp
has already started and we have
got loads of volunteers already
donating blood.”
Mr. Sharath, a volunteer who
has come to donate blood at the
camp, was all smiles. He said
that he was a frequent donor of
blood and feels immense pride in
doing so.
He said:” I have been doing
this for the past 16 years and I
will continue to do so. I usually
donate blood every four months
or so. “
“It feels good. I do not find any
harm in donating blood to the
Hans
a V
Aftershocks of the global financial meltdown to hit India soon
News in brief
Book launchA book launch by Ramachandra
Guha, an imminent Indian
historian and author is
scheduled today at 7pm. in
Sapna Book House, Residency
road.
“Patriots and Partisans” is a
book about past and present of
India. It talks about India in
Gandhi and Nehru’s time.
“We are expecting more
than 200 visitors at the book
launch today,” said Mr. Jigar,
Manager of the newly opened
branch of Sapna Book House.
He added: “More than 500
books have been pre-ordered.”
Versatile painter
Tapan Kar arrives
in BangaloreTapan Kar, a versatile personality
is more than just a painter. He is
also an accomplished poet and a
part-time author.
He is in Bangalore to exhibit
his paintings from November
24th to November 30th.
This was Tapan’s first solo
show in Bangalore. His themes
are predominantly women and
their daily lives. Mr. Kar added,
“Women are a part of nature.
They build our family and social
life with hard work and daily life
from dawn to dusk.”
Tapan is from Kolkata and
started work right after his
graduation in 1971 in his
hometown.
“I did my first solo exhibition in
Bangalore and got a lot of
appreciation for my paintings
from the people of Bangalore,
four years ago. This exhibition is
also special to me and that is my
first choice for this one was
Bangalore.” said Tapan.
He already has a few orders
and the price range of his
paintings may vary from Rs. 5,
000 to Rs. 25, 000, depending on
his fancy. It may as low as Rs.
2,500 for special cases.
By Nijhum Rudra
The government of Karnataka
has initiated a process of
revamping the centrally
sponsored scheme of
vocationalising secondary
education.
This is being done in order to
develop the national vocational
education qualification framework
(NVEQF) in Karnataka.
NVEQF will help establish a
clear educational pathway to the
secondary school students in
Karnataka.
“The scheme is very flexible
and shall provide a greater option
to the students for choosing
modules, keeping in view their
aptitude and economic
requirements,” said Ashvini, a
Media Consultant in Bangalore.
“The major aim of this
scheme is to provide the students
with vocational and technical
training in order to expand their
employment opportunities in the
global market,” she added.
The scheme shall be
implemented as per the norms
and guidelines and the national
standards stipulated by the
government of India under
NVEQP.
“The main aim of this
programme is to decrease the
pressure on students in
academics and compulsory
higher education as many of
them cannot afford it. This will
reduce gap between educated
and employable. It will enhance
employability of the youth
through competency based
modular vocational courses,“
said Hegde Kageri, the State
Education Minister.
MR Amaranth, a socio-
technologist and one of the
guests, said,” It is intended to
impart skills to students for both
organised and unorganised
sectors. It will serve as an
instrument for classifying
qualifications according to a set
of criteria for levels of learning
outputs.”
Haryana and Karnataka are
the first states to be selected for
launching the pilot scheme by
NVEQF in their 11th plan by the
government of India.
Medical Association refuses funds to Ayush Federation
By Krishna Prasad
No proper records are maintained by Ayush Federation.
The Karnataka Medical
Association has refused to
release funds to the Ayush
Federation amid allegations of
fraud.
In 2009, Rs. 50 crore was
allotted to the federation but
officials are reluctant to disclose
the annual balance sheet.
K.M Purushothama,
Secretary of Karnataka State
Government Employees
Association, said: “There is a
large fund allotted to the medical
associations every year and we
have given extra benefit to the
Ayush Federation because they
tend to practice in rural areas.
“We want Ayush Federation to
be an autonomous medical body.
We don’t want these associations
to be part of the Government as
the amount which has been
allocated for the betterment of
villages is misused by the
officials. “
V B Patil, Commissioner of
Health, said, “We gave Rs. 40
crore in mid 2010 to the Ayush
federation for the purpose of
training and education, but
officials are not conducting any
training courses for the doctors.
“We went to them to enquire
about the record of Rs. 40 crore.
But they bluntly said that they
have not received any amount for
training purpose. That’s why I
want these associations to be
separated from the government.”
This year, all members of the
Karnataka Medical Association
were reluctant to release any
funds. Dr. Govind Raju,
Chairman of the Indian Medical
Association said: “Ayush doesn’t
have proper records. Because of
that, the government of
Karnataka is ignoring medical
officials and not giving them any
awards.“ The Chief Information
Officer of Ayush, G N
Sreekantaiah, said: “The amount
was given to us but they didn’t
mention any purpose like
training. This is not a finance
company. So we can’t keep a
record of everything.”
Dr. Govind Raju said that he
has raised this issue before the
State Health Minister and he has
promised to look into the matter.
The Ayush Federation is a
collection of Ayurvedic doctors
who obtain funding annually from
the state.
They launched a protest at
Freedom Park in July this year for
permission to prescribe allopathic
medicine in case of emergency
which is allowed in about 14
other States across the country.
The Ayush Federation,
Karnataka Chapter has over
40,000 Ayush practioners.
Dr. Govind Raju said that he
has raised this issue before the
State health minister and he has
promised to look into the matter.
By Sneha Banerjee
Companies that can weather the
economic storm will be the
winners in India’s troubled
marketplace, a conference
heard.
Supply chain management
needs to be improved and
improvised to strengthen
Investing in innovative ideas will prove beneficial in future
manufacturing industry across
the country, according to
speakers at the Karnataka
Manufacturing is on a
downward spiral and there are
fears it will only get worse.
Dr. B Mahadevan, a
Professor at the Indian Institute of
Management in Bangalore, felt
that there was no difference
between a competitive
environment and a turbulent
scenario.
He said that companies that
manage to sail through turbulent
times are the ones that will
emerge to be winners. He also
felt that turbulent times are
cyclical in nature and they are
prone to
be a part of every economy.
He stressed the need to
increase the value of services
which would help us through
every difficult future scenario.
Mr. Mahadevan felt that India
was a developed country with
overflowing manpower and
knowledge but when it came to
theoretical application it failed
miserably.
Developed countries have
diminishing markets whereas the
markets in the east are more
robust.
Mahadevan was adamant
that there was no point in
increasing profits if India cannot
increase the 'value' of its product.
Team work and leadership
qualities are also key factors in
efficient development. One
should build a system that
engages every member of the
team and values every
individual's contribution, he
added.
On the contrary Mr. Vasan V
S, Senior Vice President of
Supply Chain Management at
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
strongly felt that India has a very
efficient supply chain
management system and with
Korea and Japan being the
pioneers in this field India was
gradually getting there.
Mr. Vasan felt that supply
chain management had improved
over the last twenty years in our
country and Indian companies
such as Dabur, Marico, Britannia
and others were front runners in
this department.
Mr. Mahadevan also felt that
it was due to the absence of
certain important skills
manufacturing industries such as
the IT/ITES were moving away
from India.
Annual Manufacturing
Conference 2012.
Top of the agenda was how
to maximise competitiveness in
turbulent times.
India is starting to feel the
aftershocks of the global financial
meltdown and the collapsing
Eurozone economies.
Karnataka launches scheme to promote
vocational educationneedy. At least, I know that I am
saving somebody’s life or rather I
know I am being an integral part
of someone’s life. They live, they
are happy, their family is happy
and that is what ultimately
matters to me,” he added.
The blood donors will be
given two certificates — one by
the Red Cross Society and
another by the BWSSB to show
their gratitude.
Krish
na P
rasa
d
Sne
ha B
ane
rjee
Page 3
3 The Daily Observer November 28, 2012
State focuses more on retired than on budding artists
Artist, Mahesh Rawal, is
angry with Indians and the Indian
government for the lack of
importance they give to art in this
country.
He said: “In India, there is no
knowledge of art and no
guidance towards it. Art is not
taken as a profession but as a
hobby.”
He added: “Here, everyone is
just told to study and earn money.
Parents don’t encourage their
children to follow their art but
force them to become engineers
and doctors.”
Mahesh Rawal, put up his five
day long painting exhibition at
Venkatappa Art Gallery in the city,
on November 25, 2012.
Rawal has painted “India’s
culture and tradition” in a
figurative form using oil paints,
acrylic and water colours.
Karnataka Sanskriti
department has provisions for
subsidies. Some artists are given
the benefit of these subsidies but
as these subsidies are not too
high, they aren’t that helpful.
He said: “I have spent Rs. 7
lakh to put up this exhibition and
I had requested for a subsidy but
was refused. If I had received
any, it would not have been more
than Rs. 50,000.”
He added: “There is a lot of
politics involved in who gets it
and how much.”
Rawal feels that in India the
talent of an artist is not
recognized and there are very
few who stick to their talent in the
long run.
He said: “In a village with a
population of 4 lakh, I am the only
artist. So you can figure out how
few artists there really are in
India.”
Rawal has held 15-20
exhibitions previously in
Bangalore and Mumbai and has
planned his next one in Mumbai
in July 2013. He exhibits his work
not to publicise himself but to
show his work to other.
The sad thing in this country
is, even if an art exhibition is put
up, people prefer to go to the
malls and bars instead of visiting
an exhibition.”
He added: “People are very
bad in this country. They just run
after money like crazy.”
Rawal’s paintings are priced
between Rs. 15,000 – Rs.
50,000. In the last three days, he
has only sold one painting so far.
He said: “I am contributing to
the art of my country but the
country is not bothered. What will
the future generation be left to
see? Only bombs, terror and
corruption! They don’t
understand if there are no artists,
there’s nothing in the world.”
Artist, Mahesh Rawal, is
angry with Indian and the Indian
government for the lack of
importance they give to art in this
country.
He said: “In India, there is no
knowledge of art and no
guidance towards it. Art is not
taken as a profession but as a
hobby.”
He added: “Here, everyone is
just told to study and earn money.
Parents don’t encourage their
children to follow their art but
force them to become engineers
and doctors.”
Mahesh Rawal, put up his five
day long painting exhibition at
Venkatappa Art Gallery in the city,
on November 25, 2012.
Rawal has painted “India’s
culture and tradition” in a
figurative form using oil paints,
acrylic and water colours.
Karnataka arts and culture
department has various
programmes to encourage its
artists.The Karnataka
government established
academy promotes “Karnataka
art and Karnataka artists” through
camps, exhibitions, awards and
financial aid. Some artists are
given the benefit of finicial aid but
as these too much, they aren’t
that helpful.
Mallika Arjun, Joint Director,
Karnataka Sanskriti Sang, said:
We support painters financially
by giving them money to put up
their exhibition.”
Rawal said: “I have spent Rs.
7 lakh to put up this exhibition
and I had requested for financial
aid but was refused. If I had
received any, it would not have
been more than Rs. 50,000.”
The department gives Rs.
50,000 for an individual’s
exhibition and Rs. 1,00,000 for
group exhibitions.
“Rs. 50,000 is supposed to be
partial financial support only,”
said Mallika Arjun.
Last year, the arts and culture
department gave financial aid to
about 30-50 individuals and
groups.
Rawal said: “There is a lot of
politics involved in who gets it
and how much.”
Interestingly, Karnataka
government is doing lot more for
established senior artists than it
is for the young and budding
artists. The seniors artists are
promoted much more through
camps and exhibitions
specially for them. There is a
special annual award,
Venkatappa State Award, which
awards Rs. 3,00,000 to a senior
artist every year. There is no such
award for the young artists. The
senior citizen (artists) who have
no government job are provided
with a nominal pension of
Rs.1,000 as well.
For the young talented folks,
there is a fellowship and a few
camps organized. An annual
exhibition is held, where works of
100-150 artists are displayed. 10
best painters receive an award of
Rs. 30,000 only.
Rawal feels that in India the
talent of an artist is not
recognized and there are very
few who stick to their talent in the
long run.
He said: “In a village with a
population of 4 lakh, I am the
onlyartist. So you can figure out
how few artists there really are in
India.”
Rawal has held 15-20
exhibitions previously in
Bangalore and Mumbai and has
planned his next one in Mumbai
in July 2013. He exhibits his work
not to publicise himself but to
show his work to other.
The sad thing in this country
is, even if an art exhibition is put
up, people prefer to go to the
malls and bars instead of visiting
an exhibition.”
He added: “People are very
bad in this country. They just run
aftermoney like crazy.”
Rawal’s paintings are priced
between Rs. 15,000 – Rs.
50,000. In the last three days, he
has only sold one painting so far.
He said: “Indian don’t value
art as much. Most of my paintings
are bought by foreigners.”
He added: “I am contributing
to the art of my country but the
country is not bothered. What will
the future generation be left to
see? Only bombs, terror and
corruption!They don’t understand
if there are no artists, there’s
nothing in the world.”
Mahesh Rawal teaches
painting at the Aacharya
Paathshala to support himself.
Display of Mahesh Rawal, an artist, painting; Insight: Artist Mahesh Rawal
Udita C
hatu
rvedi
By Udita Chaturvedi
Rajarajeshwari medical college celebrates Karnataka Rajyotsava
By Satyajith G D
Rajayotsav Day was celebrated
at Rajarajeshwari Hospital by
releasing the medical book,
“Vaidya Sahitya Srishti.”
Rajyotsava Day is celebrated
across Karnataka on the 1st of
November every year. To mark
the occasion, Rajarajeshwari
Medical College and Hospital
launched a book in Kannda.
The book mainly focuses on
the causes and remedies for
various diseases to help educate
and inform patients and families
to get an insight into serious
diseases.
A C Shanmugam, Chairman
of Rajarajeshwari Medical
College and Hospital said, “As a
responsible medical institution, it
is our duty to spread awareness
among the people to know about
the causes of a disease and the
nature of it. This will help them to
understand the various diseases
and spread awareness to the
people,” he added.
The chief guest Visheshwara
Bhatt, the Chief Editor of
kanadda prabha began by
promoting and creating
awareness of medical health care
system among common people.
He said that journalists are
not well trained in writing articles
and features on medical stories.
“The journalists are needed to
give people a basic insight on the
health issues related to the
common people,” he said.
“An editor should be
occasionally seen, editors should
be heard, and editors should be
widely read,” he added.
Dr. Chandreshekaraiah C,
Professor and HOD of the
hospital’s forensic department
urged the need for medical books
in Kannada. “Mother tongue is
the basic of everything. Some
students found it very difficult to
understand the English
language. If more translated
books are available, it will be
helpful in imparting in-depth
knowledge to students,” he said.
He also added that a doctor
needs to communicate with his
patients. “If he can communicate
with him and win his cooperation,
it would be helpful for the doctor
and the patient. So language
could help,” he said.
Dr. Chandreshekaraiah told
students that a medical study is
devotion and that you learn more
and more at every stage.
Visheshwara Bhatt said that
the launch of the book will
enhance the importance of the
language as well.”
“When I was in Russia, all the
great scientists in Russia were
talking in their mother tongue and
almost all the books in English”
Vaidya sahitya srishti book release by Visheswara Bhatt in Rajarajeshwari hospital
Saty
ajith
G D
Support bill for Hyderabad Karnataka region:
Claims KPCC
By Kakoli Mukherjee
KPCC member P Shashidharaddressing the media
P.Sashidhar, the Deputy
Convener of the schedule tribe
cell demanded Jagadish Shettar
to withdraw his letter opposing
the bill proposed to assign
special status to the Hyderabad-
Karnataka region.
“The people of the Karnataka-
Hyderabad region are extremely
backward; they do not even have
even the basic amenities.
Therefore it is very
crucial for this bill to
be passed so that the
special status helps in
empowering them,”
he said.
The government
of India had proposed
a bill to assign a
special status to the
Hyderabad-
Karnataka region
under article 371(J).
The article was introduced in
the constitution of India after the
118th amendment came into
effect. This amendment ensures
special status being granted to
states like Manipur, Nagaland,
Jammu and Kashmir and now the
Karnataka-Hyderabad region.
Jagadish Shettar, the Chief
Minister of Karnataka had written
a letter to the parliament
chances of development of the
region economically and make
life more feasible for its
inhabitants.
P. Sashidhar also demanded
the immediate resignation of BJP
MP and Central Working
Committee member, Venkaya
Naidu, as he was opposing the
amendment of the bill and was
elected to the parliament from
Karnataka.
opposing the according of a
special status to this region.
The special status to the
region was given to this area as
this area houses a lot of
economically backward classes
and this area has been a region
of major underdevelopment. The
provision ensures the setting up
of a special development board
for the region to enhance the
Kakoli M
ukherj
ee
Page 4
4 The Daily Observer November 28, 2012
The Undergraduate semester
exams at Tumkur University were
postponed indefinitely after a
question paper leak.
The exams were supposed to
have been completely cancelled,
according to N. Lakshminatha,
the University’s Registrar of
Evaluation.
"This is the first time that this
is happening in our University.
We have currently started an
enquiry regarding who is behind
this," he said.
He said that the exams that
have been postponed due to the
leak will commence from the 6th
of December, 2012. “All the
papers that were initially
cancelled will be held from the
second week of December
starting with the soft skill and
personality development papers.”
When asked about the
Karnataka State Law University's
new method of
preventing such leaks, he
said: "Cloud computing might be
helpful. Since we are not that
advanced, I am not sure if it will
work out. But it's never wrong to
give it a try."
The papers will be reset, and
the cloud computing method will
be tried and implemented this
time, so that there is no risk of
another leak.
R.C.Nagaraju, faculty,
Department of Commerce, said
that it is a hindrance to all the
plans and academic schedules
that have been planned.
He added that even though
this is the first time this is
happening at their University, he
feels bad that this has happened
to a department that concerns
him.
He said: "B.Com, in itself is
not an easy-to-learn subject. The
more time that is wasted, the
more difficult and tiresome it gets
for the students to grab and
understand what is being taught."
The students are frustrated
with this as well. One of the
students, Karthik, II B.Com, said:
“The schedule was already very
hectic for us. Now it is literally
hell, not simply because our
vacations weredisturbed, but the
extra syllabi that we have to
cover for the exams.
“None of the courses are
easy, now it is like dual course
syllabi at the same time. We are
simply slogging and doing
nothing else.”
Tumkur University had
recently alleged with leaking of
question papers for the
undergraduate streams of B.Com
and B.B.M.
The allegations proved to be
correct after investigations that
the paper leaked was the same
paper that was to be produced in
the fourth semester examination.
The university suspects that
the printers or the Xerox might be
responsible for the leak, but are
not ready to blame them without
any solid proof from the
investigating team that is
conducting the investigation.
Leaked question paper causes
exams to be postponed indefinitely
Landfills earmarked without
residents’ approval
Ignoring the
sentiments of the
people, local
leaders and BBMP
officials have
chosen sites for
dumping garbage
without the consent
of the locals.
BBMP had
identified six sites
to dump garbage
on the outskirts of the city; the
proposal was given to the court
on Friday.
They identified Yelaguppa (10
acres), Sunkadakatte (15 acres),
Kallabalu (63 acres),
Challaghatta (10 acres), Bagalur
(13 acres) and Hindavadi (11
acres) as possible landfills.
They are seeking Karnataka
State Pollution Control Board’s
permission over the identified
sites.
The Observer visited
Sunkadakatte and found out that
the proposed land was only on
papers and there is not even 3
acres of land for waste disposal.
The area is thickly populated,
surrounded with slums. When the
local councilor Govinda Gowda,
was asked about the landfills, he
said the space was adequate for
the waste disposal plant.
Roopesh, an aide of Govinda
Gowda from the constituency,
said that the proposed land is
being illegally occupied by the
locals.
“We will remove people from
that area by any means, because
the land belongs to the
government,” he said.
“We also need an area to
dump our garbage,” he added.
The people in the area are not
aware that the waste garbage
plant proposal is near their
residences and are ignorant
about the consequences.
The Councilor, Govinda
Gowda, said the initiative for the
waste fill land proposal was taken
by them and they moved it to city
Mayor Venketesh Murthy
Mayor Venkesh Murthy said
once they get permission from
Karnataka Pollution Control
Board, they will move forward
with the project.
The terms and conditions are
very strict. 60 percent of
segregation will happen at the
collective level.
When asked about the lack of
space he said he did not know
anything about it and moreover
Karnataka pollution control board
was there to give the permission
for constructing waste plants.
For the past two days the entire
nation has mourned the death of
the Bangalore based NSG
commando who was killed in the
Mumbai attacks.
As memorial services were
held and statues were unveiled
all across the country, the people
in his own locality are still
ignorant about his sacrifice.
Major Sandeep Unnikrishan
hails from a Bangalore suburb,
named after him.
The death date of this martyr
is under doubts as the clock
crossed the day while he died
and the doctor announced his
death. But the National Security
Guard (NSG),do not have
objections if the memorials date
either 27th or 28th November as
the day of death.
Residents of the locality fail to
recognize even the war hero's
name.
Mahesh, a software engineer,
who stays in the locality, when
asked who Major Sandeep
Unnikrishnan was, said, "Who is
he? I don’t know who is he? Why
should I know him?"
Unfortunately, around 18 to
20 neighbours I spoke to did not
even have the slightest clue
about whom I was asking.
The surprising part being that
the educated class could not
connect to the Major’s name.
The first person who
answered in the affirmative was a
welder in a shop.
Ramesh, the welder, said, “Of
course I know who Maj.
Sandeep Unnikrishnan is. I am
proud to live in the same locality
he hails from.”
Ultimately, Ramesh was the
person who successfully guided
me to Maj. Unnikrishnan’s house.
Are four years too long to
forget a hero who laid down his
life for the country? On a general
note, is India full of people who
fail to acknowledge sacrifices
made by their heroes?
The forgotten hero of Bangalore
Tumkur University
By Hansa V
By Satyajith GD
Hans
a V
Garbage still a major issue at Sundakatte
Saty
ajith
GD
Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan was born on 15th march, 1977.
He did most of his schooling in Frank Anthony Public School
in Bangalore.
He graduated from the National Defence Academy in Pune.
After serving in the Bihar regiment for a short period of time,
he was commissioned into one of the most elite groups of the
Indian army, the National Security Guards (NSG).
On November 27, 2008, Major Unnikrishnan was deployed in
the Taj Mahal Hotel for a counterterrorism operation —
Operation Black Tornado.
During the operation, while trying to rescue one of his fellow
commandos, he was shot in the back.
He succumbed to his injuries the next day.
The government has recognized his bravery by naming a
street after him.
Who is Sandeep Unnikrishnan?
By Pushkar and Nupur
Photos and medals of the major being displayed in a showcase at his home
Nup
ur G
our
Major Unnikrishnan’s bust, which was unveiled at Ramamurthy Nagar.
Nijhum
Rud
ra
Page 5
5 The Daily Observer 28 November 2012
One of the reasons behind the ani-
mal deaths in Mysore Zoo can be
lack of capital, says a veterinarian.
Dr. Sheela Rao, a veterinarian,
is the Honorary Secretary of CUPA
(Compassion Unlimited Plus Ac-
tion) and is one of the trustees of
WRRC (Wildlife Research and Re-
habilitation Centre) was also asso-
ciated with Society for Prevention
of Cruelty to animals.
According to Dr. Rao, one of the
major reasons behind the recent an-
imal deaths in Mysore Zoo could be
due to the lack of availability of a
permanent veterinarian apart from
lack of capital.
When asked about involvement
of foul play, she said: “It may be one
of the reasons as things like this
have happened in past.”
According to previous reports,
an elephant calf died in Mysore
Zoon in 2004 due to poisoning. A
lion tailed macaque also died in the
same zoo in 2004. The reason could
not be found but there were blood
stains on its tail.
Dr. Rao further added that the
most important thing which should
be done is to reduce stress to the an-
imals. This can be done by giving
them space. A complete realignment
of cages should be done and place
should be given to the animals to
hide sometimes and not be under
the glare of humans always. Cli-
matic conditions should also be
controlled and should be made suit-
able for the animals as most of them
are not native to India..
The president of WRRC, Dr.
Brunda Nanda Kumar also agreed
with the fact that animals need
space and hideouts, though she be-
lieves Mysore Zoo to be one of the
best.
Dr. Rao further said: “As far as
I know, the Mysore Zoo authorities
take good care of animals and give
proper treatment.”
“ The problem may lie with the
diagnosis. It may be incorrect be-
cause of which animals die. There
are treatments for the diseases
which I think are provided as the
veterinary care is good,”she added.
The recent deaths were due to
various health problems as ex-
plained.
“Heart Failure and Anorexia
(extreme reduction in weight) -
these conditions are related to stress.
Stress leads to heart failure,
anorexia, ulcers, muscular problems
or even pancreatic cancer,” she said.
She also explained how tubercu-
losis, due to which many bears died
in Bangalore, can be prevented.
She said: “The animals should
not be allowed to have close contact
with each other. They should not be
allowed to come close to the hu-
mans as well. These can also pre-
vent other communicable diseases.”
Animal deaths in Mysore Zoo: Lack
of capital or foul play
Dr. Sheela Rao
By Pyusha Chatterjee
Dr. George Panthanmackel, a
doctor of philosophy is the principal
of Suvidya College, an institute of
Philosophy and Social Sciences,
Electronic City, Bangalore. He
shared a few perspectives on the In-
dian Educational System in an inter-
view by the Daily Observer’s
reporter Vintu Augustine. Here are
the excerpts:
What do you think of the In-
dian educational system today?
Positively speaking, Indian ed-
ucational system is democratic and
imparts secular values by and large.
However, fundamentalist elements
too creep in at times. It provides
equal opportunities to all to a great
extent, depending on one’s perform-
ance irrespective of the economic or
social background.
The most outstanding negative
element in Indian educational sys-
tem is rampant corruption. For ex-
ample, one has to bribe the officers
or professors to get a certificate
from a university. Sometimes, for an
appointment or promotion a profes-
sor or teacher has to bribe politi-
cians and people in authority.
Money plays a very crucial role in
education-related matters also. An-
other serious problem with our ed-
ucational system is that there is no
emphasis given to philosophy and
critical thinking. Introducing great
thinkers already at school level will
supply a source of inspiration to
young minds. That will create a
questioning mind and spirit among
students.
Our universities do not promote
serious and genuine research, which
is a must for societies to grow. New
ideas and findings emerge out of
genuine researches. Another draw-
back of our educational system is
improper utilization of funds meant
for research.
How is the Indian educational
system different from west? As a
person who has studied and
worked abroad can you think of
any western elements of educa-
tion that can improve our system?
Western educational system is
more systematic, honest, transparent
and display commitment and hard
work. Westerners have a better ap-
preciation for intellectual pursuit.
They value academic qualifications
greatly. In India, politicians take an
upper hold to academicians; a pan-
chayat member is more important
than a professor.
73% of colleges and 68% of
universities in India are found to
be of low quality today. What do
you think the reasons are and
how can the situation be im-
proved?
Critical thinking has to be pro-
moted and a research methodology
should be introduced already at the
school level so as to improve our
educational quality. A serious re-
search mind and scholarly outlook
has to be inculcated in young minds.
What could enhance quality
employment as the economy is
growing rpidly?
More intense and serious com-
mitment to work alone can enhance
the quality of employment. Hard
work and commitment to one’s own
work has to be ensured. Sincerity
and honesty is not appreciated much
in Indian society, rather what is ad-
mired at is the ability to do any nui-
sance and not be caught. ‘Shame’
counts bigger to us than being trans-
parent and open.
The question of quality comes
in when people aim only at high
marks in colleges and universities
and never at hard work and commit-
ment to acquire a practical and crit-
ical mind that performs at all levels.
Meritorious students should be
given priority of admission to every
stream of education; no mask play
and nasty game should come in
there.
In the context of educated un-
employed increasing in the coun-
try year by year, what can be done
to create adequate employment
opportunities?
I have a very innovative idea
here; combine office work with
manual labour. The advantage is
that it will not promote an idea of a
class different from the rest of the
society. It will also contribute to the
health of the person. There should
not be a class of peons to be at the
service of officers. It will uphold the
dignity of manual labour, which is
belittled by the caste hierarchy. In-
tegration of manual labour with of-
fice work will create more of
oppurtunities for employment as
many personnel will be required at
a single office.
What is your opinion about
the traditional (Gurukula) tuto-
rial system of education which
was and even now followed by
many a teacher today?
I will never idealize the tradi-
tional or Gurkula way of education.
It has several disadvantages; the stu-
dent is completely controlled by the
teacher, he has no freedom to differ
from him. If the teacher takes un-
necessarily control of the situation,
the student has no environment to
develop.
Modern university system
grants immense freedom, which en-
hances and allows persons to grow.
But the system has to be well organ-
ized, which, off course, is a her-
culean task.
The question of serious commit-
ment and sincere hard work needs
to go before everything else.
Dr. Panthanmackel: “Indian educational system
is democratic and imparts secular values by and large”
Dr. George Panthanmackel
By Vintu Augustine
Non-Resident Indians who wish to
move back to the country are find-
ing it difficult due to soaring prices
of real estate.
Avineesh Krishna, a real estate
agent said: “Bangalore is not the
same as the NRIs left it a decade or
two ago.”
NRIs who move to India want to
have the same luxuries like they
have overseas.
However, the prices are so high
in the city that they either have to
compromise on their luxuries or
change their plans of coming to
Bangalore.
Krishna said: “There is about
15% hike in real estate property
prices in Bangalore annually. This is
higher than in other cities like Chen-
nai, Pune and even Mumbai and
Delhi.”
He added: “Quite a few NRIs
who originally plan to move to Ban-
galore end up settling in another city
in order to be able to afford their re-
quirements.”
Krishna’s agency has had 63
NRI clients this year, seeking prop-
erty to match their requirements. 29
of these ended up buying property
in another city.
“Not all NRIs are looking for
transfers; some just want to invest
in the housing and real estate mar-
ket. Even though investing in Ban-
galore promises good returns, at the
current rate of inflation, it is still a
major investment. Not everyone has
planned to put in as much, before
they consult the agency,” said Kr-
ishna.
He added: “The prices here are
much higher than most of them ex-
pect.”
Luxuries in Bangalore seem to
be much more expensive than what
they cost abroad for the NRIs, says
Krishna.
“The price of a convenient
lifestyle has risen in India over the
last 4 years,” said Rahul Sachdev,
who moved back to India eight
months back after living in
Bangkok for more than 30 years.
“From the cost of toothpaste to
a dinner or a restaurant, everything
has become costly,” he said, when
asked for examples about these lux-
uries and price differences.
High price of real estate shocks
NRIs returning to India
By Kriti Khandelwal
Auritra Ghosh: “I have always liked unconventional and challenging roles”
Auritra Ghosh is a professional
Jazz, contemporary and modern
dancer and a faculty member of The
Danceworx Performing Arts Acad-
emy in New Delhi. After dancing,
teaching, choreographing and tour-
ing nationally as well as internation-
ally for eight years, she moved to
Mumbai in 2009 to pursue a career
in acting. Worked first as a theatre
artist with and did plays with actors
like Shabana Azmi and Lillette
Dubey. Then she got her first break
in Bollywood in the movie Love
breakup Zindagi.
You started your career as a
choreographer and then moved to
theatre. Why the sudden shift?
Dancing has been my passion
since I was a kid, but I never dreamt
of becoming an actor. After becom-
ing a choreographer I realized that
dancing and acting run on a similar
line. We portray different characters
through different dance forms just
like we do in films so I developed
an interest in the field and started
doing theatres and within a year I
got my first break.
How did you get your first
movie Love Breakup Zindagi?
I had done lot of shows in India
and abroad as a choreographer. Two
years back I shifted from Delhi to
Mumbai. During my stay in Mum-
bai I got introduced to the Bolly-
wood industry while doing theatre.
One day I got a call from Sahil
Sangha, the director of the movie
saying that I got selected for a role
in his movie and that was how I got
my break.
How was your experience
working with producer cum ac-
tors – Dia Mirza and Zayed
Khan?
I got to learn a lot from both of
them. They made me feel very com-
fortable on the sets although I was a
newcomer. Dia was like a friend to
me.
How was your experience
working with actors like Imaad
Shah and Ira Dubey who are
known for their unconventional
choice of films?
It is always fun to work with
people with similar likes and ideolo-
gies. Being a theatre person, I have
always liked unconventional and
challenging roles. Therefore I thor-
oughly enjoyed working with them.
By Amrita Ray
Auritra Ghosh
Pyus
ha
Jaim
on T
.
Min
all M
ehta
Page 6
6 The Daily Observer November 28, 2012
Mem
oirs
When India lets
you downBy Kriti Khandelwal
used that made me feel a strong urge
to box his face in front of 32
members of our college’s debate
club.
Fabian and I never got along well
together, but after this incident,
things changed between him and
me—we became the worst enemies
ever.
It can be a boon as well as a
challenge to be brought up abroad
and be surrounded by a transna-
tional environment in university. It
is like representing my motherland
in front of other nationalities
through the way I live, communi-
cate and behave.
Sure, I had lived my life in Thai-
land but deep within I am still an In-
dian. A faint criticism against my
country could easily exacerbate me.
I guess that’s why Fabian got into
trouble that day.
It was a breezy Saturday after-
noon. The debate club I was a mem-
ber of had a new session with a
brand-new issue to wrangle about.
The debwas on whether cultural
background affects how a student
performs academically. Everything
was going well. Everyone had
something to say about the correla-
tion between their own culture and
their academics.
Finally, as the only present In-
dian in the club, I raised my hand to
have a say. I felt the onus was on me
to place a positive image in every-
one’s minds of my nation. Proudly,
I reeled off by telling them some-
thing about my Indian background.
Everyone was obviously im-
pressed with India while I described
its beauty, traditions and the people.
Then I got down to talking
about prominent personalities
emerging from India and factually
stating that the large number of
globally well known engineers,
writers, scientists and doctors are
Indian.
I was almost getting on how our
society places a lot of importance on
education when the Zimbabwean-
born Fabian shot his hand in the air,
indicating that he had a point to
rebut.
Knowing how irritating he
could get, I tried to ignore him until
he would stop waving his hand in
order to grab my attention.
“What!” I said out loud, almost
spitting on him from across the
room. Everyone looked at him and
uttered a sigh. I wasn’t the only one
in the room who was annoyed, I
sensed.
“But you’re an Indian,” he said.
I didn’t know what he was talk-
ing about. He was getting more and
more irritating.
“So? What about me being an
Indian?” I asked.
I clearly remember his smug
smile and the ugly reply, “Doesn’t
your culture supposedly give more
importance to women being a
homemaker than being educated?”
I stumbled. Where did that come
from? I thought we Indians were
past that orthodox period. It took me
a couple of minutes to absorb what
he said.
Then, rationally choosing my
words, I mentioned that the number
of families that still carry this belief
has decreased almost to the point of
extinction.
Though somehow I still man-
aged to shut that guy up, deep
within I knew that it was a lie I had
to tell.
After that, I only had a vague
idea of what happened during that
day’s debating session.
My mind was preoccupied by
what Fabian had said. I felt anger
within me for his comment. I felt
guilty for realizing what he said was
true. For the first time, I didn’t feel
proud to be an Indian.
Perhaps others haven’t updated
their perception about India, but we
all know that the perception is false.
The blame lies within us.
There are families that still don’t
allow their girls to study and we, as
a collective society, don’t do any-
thing about it. Maybe it’s time Indi-
ans sat back and thought about what
is happening in this “globalizing”
country.
It’s time for some change. It’s
time to make India a better nation
where, without any guilt, we can
proudly reply to people like Zim-
babwean born Fabian, “Yes, I’m an
Indian.”
The number of female dropouts in India is as high as 34,48,328- Census reports
of 2011.
Business
By Udia Chaturvedi
Indian theatres need MBA
graduates to plan strategies for them
and increase profit margin.
In the last couple of weeks, var-
ious theatre groups have come to the
city to perform both contemporary
and classic plays.
“Theatre needs a new business
model and a new perception. The-
atre today needs a push or a boost
up from the biz world,” says Ab-
hishek Iyengar, play director with a
national theatre group ‘We Move
Theatre’.
Though these plays are gaining
more popularity, funding is still an
issue for most theatre groups in
India.
“Theatre today has no funding,
people think there are no returns in
theatre which is actually not the
fact,” said Iyengar.
He added: “It is just that be-
cause of few idiotic theatre perform-
ances the whole art form is
stereotyped. You even have bad
films, that don’t mean all films are
flops.”
An average cost of production
for a small theatre group comes to
about Rs. 50,000 and a group like
We Move puts up at least one show
every month. Sponsors feel appre-
hensive about funding the show as
not too many turn up for the per-
formances.
Abhishek Iyengar, however, be-
lieves that the western countries do
not face the same problems.
Iyengar says: “People do not
want to sponsor or support a theatre
play. With great money, great pro-
duction can be done but that’s where
the problem lies.”
He added: “In fact sponsors are
always worried that we get only 300
people. What they really miss is that
we get 300 genuine people who are
wealthy enough to buy whatever the
sponsor wants to sell.”
Iyengar feels that “digital
media” is the biggest competition
for the theatre world.
“People tend to watch more
movies than plays. Theatre is not as
popular as film media. Audience are
slowly getting adjusted to this new
trend so I can fairly say that it takes
some time for theatre to grab the
limelight,” said Iyengar.
He added: “People in theatre
circuit recognize and acknowledge
about ones theatre and his passion
but it is the common man who still
sits dumb when he hears theatre.”
A good business strategic plan is
what theatre needs, says Iyengar.
“Theatre needs more MBA
grads who can strategize market and
plan a production and get good re-
turns out of it, of course it takes
more than one show to get a good
return,”
Iyengar says that the world’s
“one of the most ancient profession
has become a hobby”
He said: “People who work in
various MNC's today think about
theatre as the ‘next hep thing to do’.
They find theatre as a good alterna-
tive to their boring weekends. There
are very few people who do theatre
for their living.”
He added: “Things needs to
change and I am positive about the
change.”
Theatre in India has already
seen quite a few changes in the last
decade itself.
“With more and more people
tending towards theatre, people
today recognize and acknowledge
the fact that there is something
called theatre and it still exists.
There is lot of support from the print
media for theatre and people today
are open to spend their evening
watching a play and enjoying at the
same time,” said Iyengar.
He added: “Lot of technology is
coming to theatre like sound and
music recording, lighting and more.
Theatre today is collaborated with
lot of art forms like dance, classical
form of dance, music etc. Few years
back doing theatre considered to be
taboo which is not the case now.”
We Move is the only theatre
group in Bangalore that performs
plays in both Kannada and English.
Since its inception in 2006, it has
been a synonym for promoting dif-
ferent kind arts and artists. WeMove
gives chance to anyone with keen
interest and passion in theatre with-
out conducting any auditions. The
group has already performed 25
shows in 2012 alone.
Abhishek Iyengar, director of We
Move theatre.
Politics
The Political Imbroglio
Digital media; a threat to theatre
By Krishnaprasad S
With a new party comes new
politics, but what does India’s
political map look like now? Will
the arrival of India Against
Corruption (IAC) into the political
arena improve our politics or will it
be business as usual for the deal-
makers in Delhi? Krishnaprasad S
takes a look:
India Against Corruption (IAC)
has entered politics and emerged as
a party. Arvind Kejriwal, and his
new party Aam Admi Party now
seem to be struggling to fit in
among the gang of thieves and play-
ers who occupy our seats of power.
The recent target of the IAC was
Robert Vadra, the 43-year old son-
in-law of the congress family.
Vadra’s interest in politics and
his gloom in his business were
clearly evident during the UP as-
sembly elections where he had told
the nation that he could win from
any constituency in India.
He also said that Priyanka
Gandhi, his wife, would lead the or-
ganization after Rahul Gandhi. This
landed him in trouble and Priyanka
blames the media for asking her
husband the wrong questions.
The congress has also been
under the scanner for P.Chi-
dambaram and a party spokesman’s
statement -“Attack on Vadra is like
attack on the party.” But Vadra has
denied the charges against him.
A part of the congress voices its
concern over the debate that Vadra’s
dealing with the realty major DLF
involved transactions between two
private firms and the AICC. But the
media has taken no interest in airing
the above situation.
The congress brilliantly tried to
turn the lens of the camera towards
Nitin Gadkari for his recent contro-
versy of the “Purti” in an effort to
deflect attention.
The recent reshuffle of the cab-
inet raised some doubts as the next
Lok Sabha elections approached. It
was during this time that Arvind
Kejriwal felt that there were devel-
opments in the country exclusively
by Mukesh Ambani.
Shifting of Salman Khurshid
from Law Minister to the Minister
of External Affairs did not go down
well with critics as he had allega-
tions against him that there were ir-
regularities in a trust run by him and
his wife.
The railway ministry which had
been with the one time ally Tri-
namool Congress was given to P.K.
Bansal. The railway not only brings
in a lot of investments but also plays
a major role in the tourism sector.
Urgent expansion and upgrad-
ing of the rail network is going to
boost the infrastructure and tourism
sectors, or so the government be-
lieves.AndraPradesh saw five addi-
tions to the cabinet making a total of
11 ministers from that state. The
focus was the elevation of Pallam
Raju to Cabinet Rank and giving
him the HRD portfolio. Andra is the
only major state where the Congress
is in power on its own with the Y.S
Jaganmohan Reddy government.
After Mamata Banerjee of the
West Bengal walked out of the
UPA, three new faces have been
brought in to take on Banerjee when
the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is
slowly trying to marginalize the
congress.
The major concern of the
reshuffle was the ignorance of the
Eastern part of India.
The DMK’s no interest in filling
up the vacancies, the Telangana
issue, the YSR congress, BJP’s
mess in Karnataka and the perform-
ance of Congress in Kerala was one
of the main reasons for the Con-
gress MP’s from the south to get a
Union Ministership in the re-shuf-
fle.
Out of 16 Congress Lok Sabha
MP’s from Maharashtra only one
was considered in the reshuffle.
There were three vacancies follow-
ing the death of Vilasrao Deshmukh
and resignation of Mukul Wasnik
besides Prithviraj Chavan being the
Prime Minister.
While Goa and Manipur have
been struggling for over six years
for a place in the Lok Sabha and
have failed to capture the attention
of the UPA government.
Udita Chaturvedi
Kriti Khandelw
al
“But you’re are Indian,” he
said. I don’t know if it was
what he said or the tone he
Page 7
7 The Daily Observer November 28, 2012
By Anupika Khare
home soil is a different feeling al-
together.”
Cricket fans have already
begun gathering outside the
M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in the
hope of getting tickets for the
much awaited match.
One of the fans, Varun, said:
“It’s always a big deal when India
plays Pakistan and there is no
chance that I am going to miss
the match when it’s happening in
Bangalore.”
Thousands of people like
Varun are hoping for a good
game.
The security arrangements
are primarily being taken care of
by the central government.
The officials at the M.Chin-
naswamy stadium refused to
comment on the issue stating
security concerns.The question still remains if
the closely watched bilateral se-ries would end with drama onthe cricketing field or also in thepolitical field.
Last match between India v/s Pakistan was played in 2007 at Chinnaswammy stadium .
M. Chinnaswamy stadium has
tightened its security for the
India-PakT20 match to be held
in next month.
This is the first series be-
tween the two countries would
be held on 25th Dec. since the
26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The prime concern for the of-
ficials during the series is secu-
rity. This is due to the
omnipresent threat of terrorist at-
tacks. The arrangements have
begun in earnest even though
the scheduled date of the match
is still a month’s time away.
Bijeesh Babu, a cricket ana-
lyst based in Delhi, said: “There
are a lot of political implications
surrounding the series. The se-
ries is a major target for terrorist
attacks.”
He said that the series is
being touted as a measure to im-
prove bilateral ties between the
two countries. He also said: “The
series will generate a tremen-
dous amount of public interest
as the two countries will play in
a bilateral series after a long hia-
tus and chaos.”
He aded that sports should
not be merged with politics .
The series is creating interest
among the lower rungs of Indian
cricket. Abhilash Rameshkumar,
who plays Ranji trophy for AP.
said “I have been waiting for
long for such a series to hap-
pen.Although India and Pakistan
faced off against each other in
the 2011 world cup in India, the
prospect of a bilateral series on
Push
kar
Bana
kar
The Observer
IIJNM PUBLICATIONS
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Editor
Urmi Sengupta
Chief Sub-Editor
Shreya Mukherjee
Photo Editor
Kriti Khandelwal
Page Editors
Priyanka Roy
Nikita Malusare
Deepu Aby
Vintu Augustine
Pyusha Chatterjee
Proof Readers
Rohan Prem Kumar
Amrita Ray
By Durgesh M
& Pushkar Banakar
The Karnataka State Football
Association (KSFA) with the help
of Ozone Group provides free
training for aspiring underprivi-
leged children.
KSFA with the help of Ozone
Group is organizing camps for
training for under privileged chil-
dren.
Now the free camp includes
refreshment after the practice
and also their football kit.
Owing to the fee waiver, the
number of students attending
the camp has risen to 57 from 16
in three months.
Vijay, one of the finds of the
camp said, “I am one of the lucky
ones to be able to get trained by
the coaches and I have im-
proved immensely thanks to the
coaching.”
Mrs. Rawat, a parent of one
of the children, believes that her
son has become a better player
after joining the camp. She said,
“I do not know much about the
game but my son, Kaushal is
very happy with his game and he
claims that he is improving day
KSFA provides free training to underprivilgedin day out.
She adds “The camp also
gives him ample opportunity to
play with local, talented players
and helps him improve his
game.”
Another player in the camp,
Ravi, said “The association pro-
vides us with clothes, shoes,
stockings and shin guards. We
don’t have to spend anything.”
“This stadium and facilities
here have done a world of good
to the players who otherwise
would have wasted their talent.
He recollects “I was once a
player but I never managed to
get such opportunities.” He
added “Our chief coach is from
the Netherlands and has trained
few of the finest in the world.”
said Alex, the head coach.
“ “This stadium and
facilities here have
done a world of good
to players who other-
wise would have
wasted their talent.
Alex , the head coach
of the Karnataka Sports
FootballAssociation
By Manjusha Gandham
Adventure sport lovers in Banga-
lore are at risk as there is no
government regulatory body to
ensure the safety of these thrill
seekers.
Adventure sports are becom-
ing very popular in Bangalore,
especially among the youth.
Kayaking, rafting, mountaineer-
ing, skydiving, paragliding and
rock climbing are a few sports
that are fast gaining popularity.
There are a number of clubs,
both private and run by the gov-
ernment, that offer a range of
packages in various parts of Kar-
nataka. It is a lucrative business
as a basic package costs
Rs.450 per person.
But there is no regulatory
body that can monitor these
clubs for safety violations. After
the death of Bhargav, a Chen-
nai-based engineer, in a grue-
some bungee-jumping accident
in 2009, it is obvious that there is
a need to look into the safety
measures taken by these clubs.
The incident happened in the
outskirts of Bangalore. The rope
snapped when Bhargav was div-
ing and he fell to his death. The
safety net was ineffective and
there was no prompt first-aid ad-
ministered.
Mr. Umashankar, chief in-
structor and co-coordinator of
General Thimayya National
Academy of Adventures (GETH-
NAA), which is run by the state
government, said that there was
a proposal to make the academy
a regulatory body, but the final
decision has yet to be made.
He said: “Equipment has to
be used properly. If a dynamic
rope of 20 feet long is used for
20 falls, it has to be discarded,
even if it is new.”
“We comply with the safety
measures as our credibility is at
stake. Since its inception in
1989, GETHNAA has not
recorded a single accident,” he
added.
Many private players also
feel the need for a regulatory
body.
Partha, from Bangalore
Mountaineering Club said: “We
make sure that the dos and
don’ts are explained to the par-
ticipants. Our instructor-partici-
pant ratio is also less, and we
make sure a doctor is around
and all of our instructors are
trained in first aid. The harness
and all of the equipment is
checked multiple times before
we start. However, the govern-
ment should also have a regula-
tory body to comply with the
safety norms because of the
growing demand.”
He said minor accidents like
cuts, bruises and falls are usual
in these kinds of sports.
“No major accidents have oc-
curred in any of the trips we or-
ganized,” he said.
Lalit Kumar, from the Venture
Adventure Club, said: “People’s
spending power is decreasing,
so the demand is decreasing. I
keep updating my equipment
whenever needed. In fact, all of
the clubs have to do the same.”
“If they don’t maintain equip-
ment and a mishap occurs, they
will lose their reputation and
business. Regulation or not,
business is important. So they
will be in line,” he added.
Varun, an IT professional
and an adventure sport enthusi-
ast said: “I love sky diving and
bungee jumping.
Rock climbing at Ramanagara village near Bangalore.
Bang
alore
Mou
ntaineering
Club
A taste from the past - ‘Military style’By Kakoli MukherjeeBangalore is growing more cos-
mopolitan by the minute. New
and exotic influences are chang-
ing the way Bangaloreans dress,
travel or eat.
However, one forbearing
symbol of Bangalore’s culinary
heritage is braving the onslaught
of the KFCs and McDonalds,
and is holding its own by serving
lip-smacking Kannadiga fare.
The Karnataka Hindu Military
Hotels, though depleting fast in
the main city, are in much de-
mand in the outskirts of Banga-
lore. They have their
considerably large number of
patrons who prefer to have tradi-
tional non-vegeterian delicacies
like mutton liver, mutton head fry,
and chicken curma.
When asked the reason behind
the quirky moniker, Narayan
Gowda AV, owner of Sri
Kalpavruksha Hindu Miltary
Hotel, said: “The term ‘military’
was adopted in olden times
which indicated that the food
available here is protein-rich,
and is fit to be eaten by Ksha-
triyas or the warrior class. ”
Throwing some more light on
the rather communal name of
the Hindu hotels, Smitha Raj,
who runs a food blog called kan-
nadacuisine.com, says: “Kar-
nataka always had a strong
vegetarian social bent.
The vegetarian Jains domi-
nated the first millennium, then
the Veer shaiva movement in the
middle of the second millennium
and various rulers all along the
history of Karnataka have been
vegetarians like the Gangas and
Woodeyars.”
“The vegetarians were
catered to by the large number
of vegetarian restaurants. Non-
vegetarain food was mostly
catered to by the Muslim estab-
lishments in areas largely domi-
nated by them.The name mostly
connotes that the restaurant is
safe enough for a meat-eating
Hindu because they do not
serve either beef or pork”.
V.Shivaramakrishnan, Asst.
Professor at Culinary Academy
of India, says: “These restau-
rants are known for their home-
style cooking, generous portions
and Ragi Mudde. Most of them
serve the traditional non-vege-
tarian foods like chicken, mutton,
and leg of a lamb curries.
Kakoli M
ukherj
ee
Sports
_
Thrill seekers call for
safety regulations
Security beefed up at Chinnaswamy Stadium
Page 8
8 The Daily Observer November 28, 2012
Thousands of lives have
been improved after an NGO’s
ingenious scheme to lower dan-
gerously high fluoride levels in
water.
Villagers in Mundargi of
Gadak taluk were drinking water
containing eight times the recog-
nized safe level of fluoride con-
tent.
As a result illness and pre-
mature ageing were rife. The
heavy fluoride content was also
causing deformities in children.
Bharatiya Agro Industry
Foundation (BAIF) successfully
raised the water table in the
drought ridden Karnataka taluk.
By raising the table they suc-
cessfully diluted the fluoride con-
tent of the water.
Working under Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) put
forward by the United Nations,
BAIF joined forces with and got
financial assistance from the
government.
It assisted certain villages in
this taluk in ensuring environ-
mental sustainability. BAIF
started working in Mundaragi in
2001.
Basically BAIF had recog-
nized the major environmental
issue of this area and took steps
to overcome the issues.
Kelkeri is a village in this
taluk where fluoride content is
excessively high. After research
they identified that raising under-
water level can dilute the fluoride
content in the underground
water.
Fluoride content in under-
ground water should not be
more than 1.5 ppm (parts per
million) and it was 8.5-9 when
they started working in
Mundaragi.
People in certain areas of
Mundargi taluk still face health
problems as the water table has
not risen. Elder people of this vil-
lage and few youngsters suffer
ailments caused due to exces-
sive fluoride content in water.
Deformities in body, tooth
blackening, vomiting and diar-
rhea are the major health prob-
lems. Premature aging is
another major problem faced by
the people in the taluk.
Rain water harvesting was
the solution put forward by BAIF.
They constructed rain pits and
ponds throughout the taluk tak-
ing assistance from gram pan-
chayats under Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MNREGA)
scheme.
Seven models of water har-
vesting were introduced in
Mundargi. BAIF dug 1400 rains
pits in Mundaragi.
One rain pit can increase
aquafir levels by 2.5 lakh liters
of water.
Thanks to the pits the water
level rose to 130 feet. Hence flu-
oride content in underground
water was diluted and as a result
health is improving for villagers.
Villages namely Kalkeri,
Mushtigappa, Thiruppapura,
V i r u p p a p u r a , V i r u p p a p u -
rathanfda, Harugere, Vasappur,
Budhial, Mathungapura, Benni-
halli and Beanaal in Mundaragi
benefited from the rain water
harvesting projects.
Recently BAIF also began
organic farming in a few villages.
BAIF helps locals battle fluoride poisoning by replenishing aquifers
A rain pit in Mundargi
Having a wholesome meal still remains a dreamTulsi, tottering on her lanky
limbs, entered the shabby cham-
ber room of the government hos-
pital, the only health care centre
in Yelburga taluk. Her pregnant
belly appeared almost too heavy
for her lightweight frame.
Her third child is on the way.
Tulsi is about to be a happy
mother yet again.
She is just 20-years-old and
already has two kids, one of
whom is one-and-a-half years
and the other around three
years. Tulsi came to the hospital
with her mother-in-law and was
rather shy to even tell her name.
Hiding half of her face under the
veil of her saree, she spoke fee-
bly: “I have come here to get
medicine for my son and also for
me. My son is suffering from
malnutrition for one month now.”
Like Tulsi, several women
mourn of the same affliction
about their sons or daughters.
Yelburga taluk has many malnu-
trition cases. The suffering
spikes high but solutions seem a
long way off.
Rajamma says the situation
is pathetic but at the same time
claims it is common to them.
She says, “I am staying in this
taluk for more than 30 years. I
have seen many children and
women dying from deprivation
and lack of food. The situation is
rather stable now. At least we
have access to health care.”
Dr. Ashok Kumar, one of the
two doctors in the government
hospital, who vouches for the
lives of these minors of Yel-
burga, said: “Malnutrition is a
common issue in this taluk. The
problem is we have no pediatri-
cian in the hospital and have to
hire from outside when the situ-
ation aggravates. Food distribu-
tion is imbalanced and early
marriage accelerates birth rate.”
According to an NGO in the
taluk, Alpasankhyat Mahila
Grameen Abhiruddhi Siksha
Samsate, Mr. M Buldiyar, the
president said: “We are dealing
with this malnutrition problem for
quite a long time. Social and
economic conditions are respon-
sible for this dire situation. We
have been conducting various
health programs to eradicate the
problem but reluctance on the
part of gram panchayat and peo-
ple’s ignorance has aggravated
the situation.”
Yelburga taluk is considered
to be the most backward area
according to a recent survey by
state government planning com-
mission for imbalance in re-
source distribution. Thus most
families have the common prob-
lem of economical weakness.
Most of the girls in the taluk get
married at 17, which leads to
malnourishment both for the
mother as well as the child.
Like Tulsi, Savita also depicts
how her son survived a bout of
malnutrition. Her son suffered for
five long months and has started
recovering after prolonged treat-
ment and patience. Savita
added: “I have two kids and my
son is the youngest one. He has
been suffering for five long
months with malnutrition. There
is a lack of medical facilities. The
pediatricians are available only
when the panchayat takes the
initiative to call them down. But
that happens once in a while.
We have to depend on this gov-
ernment hospital.”
Savitha, works in a seed pro-
duction factory and her husband
works as a laborer on construc-
tion sites. She says: “I and my
husband go out for our work. My
elder daughter studies in class 5
and my son is three years old
now. Thus we decided to send
her to the anganwadi. We
thought he would be taken care
of under the observation of the
teachers. But he suffered from
malnutrition five months back.
That time I had to leave my job
to take care of my son. Eco-
nomic issue is a chief concern
and it is tough for my family to
survive as I don’t work anymore
now.”
The T.H.O officer, Mr.
Prashant Babu, said: “Malnutri-
tion is one of the major issues of
this taluk and regular awareness
programs are conducted to pre-
vent the miserable condition.”
But when asked if the angan-
wadis are providing proper food
to the children, he said that only
rice and lentils are provided to
them.
With the survey conducted
jointly by state and Vimochana,
reported that few taluks under
various districts falls in the most
affected area by malnutrition. Ac-
cording to this list, Bhalki taluk of
Bijapur district, Yelburga taluk of
Koppal district, Periyaptana taluk
of Mysore district and Deve-
durga taluk of Raichur district
are the mainly targeted areas.
The alarming malnutrition
scenario in Raipur district
brought the state government to
book and thus a rapid action
took place, with the planning of
enforcing a new pilot project in
order to tackle the vulnerable sit-
uation in the affected areas.
According to the project, it
has been recommended that the
anganwadis in the area should
have proper sanitation, should
serve healthy and nutritious food
and basic hygiene should be
maintained. Apart from that, 60
beds hospital in district head-
quarters should be established
exclusively for malnutrition pa-
tients and also the food should
be provided free of cost along
with a guardian who will stay
with the malnutrition patient.
Tulsi comes out of the cham-
ber room, clutching the prescrip-
tion on her hand.
Her mother-in-law says the
doctor said her grandson is re-
covering from malnutrition. “As
he had normal malnutrition that’s
why we didn’t have to admit to
any hospital. He needs to take a
few more medicines,” she said.
I looked at Tulsi, she smiled
vaguely and stood in line to col-
lect medicine prescribed by the
doctor.
Her tired eyes, layered with
darkness, show that she has
anaemia.
Malnutrition affects many children in the villages
By Deepu Aby Varghese
Priyank
a
Common toilet within school compound
causes problems for students
A function hall inside the school
premises is causing problems to
the 236 students of Rajajinagar
Govermnment School.
The function hall inside the
school premises is the cause of
many troubles to the students of
the school. The students need to
use the toilet of the function hall
as the school does not have its
own toilets.
Chandana, a class 7 student
said: “The school has very dirty
toilets so we go to the toilet
which is in the function hall.” She
said that the people in the hall
stare at them when they visit the
toilet.
Even the toilet at the function
hall is very dirty. It does not have
any separate toilet for male and
female. Once in a week it is
cleaned by the sweepers.
Gagana, a class 9 student,
said: “The toilet in the function
hall is common for boys and girls
and it becomes very difficult for
us to use the toilet.”
The function hall often con-
ducts marriage parties and
whole day the celebration is ac-
companied by loud music and
noise.
Another student, Krithik, of
class eighth grade said: “We
have exams and the function
hall plays loud music so we are
not able to concentrate on writ-
ing our exams.”
A teacher in the school, Vi-
jayshree also complains that the
school authorities do not take
notice of the problem. The stu-
dents have been complaining for
a long time but the authorities of
the school do not take any action
against the function hall authori-
ties.
Mr. Srinivas K, the manager
of the function hall said: “Accord-
ing to the land agreement the
lease for the school was given
after notifying them about the
presence of the function hall. It
is not illegal for us to be inside
the school premises.”
Nalini, the headmistress of
the school accepts that there is
a dearth of funds, so the author-
ities of the school are not able to
construct the toilet.
Poor codition of Government school
toiletets
By Debanti Roy
By Priyanka Roy
Debanti
Deepu
