Piped drinking water to all households: Karnataka govt begins Rs 53,000 cr project

Water

Experts, however, note that the plan is not sustainable and the government has not yet conducted public consultation sessions.

Theja Ram

Phase 1 of the Karnataka government’s ambitious Jaladhare project, aimed at providing piped water supply to every household in the state, is all set to begin this year. Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Friday said that the state government is expected to release Rs 1,300 crore for the first phase, which will see drinking water pipelines installed from reservoirs in Mandya, Raichur, Bijapur and Kolar districts. According to Chief Engineer of the Rural Water Supply Department Prasad, who is in charge of the project, the detailed project report (DPR) for the project for only Mandya has already been prepared. “The DPR is awaiting cabinet approval. The project aims at extracting drinking water from KRS and Kabini dams to each and every household in Mandya via pipeline. Just like Bengaluru, which gets Cauvery water, all districts in the state will get drinking water in taps in their home. The water will be drawn from local reservoirs,” Prasad said. The ambitious project is estimated to cost Rs 53,000 crore and made its appearance in Chief Minister Kumaraswamy’s maiden budget of 2018-19. The project involves construction of pipelines and purification mechanisms so clean drinking water is supplied to every household. “Based on the feasibility study that was conducted, by 2050, the population of Karnataka will require only 10% of the live storage of water in all reservoirs in the state for drinking water purpose. This is close to 70 TMC. This is not a lot and the project will provide water security to everyone in the state,” Prasad added. However, environmental activist Leo Saldanah says that the piped water project is not going to solve the water security issue looming over Karnataka. “Big infrastructure projects such as Jaladhare will require laying down of pipelines. There is barely any water in these reservoirs and the pipes are going to be clogged with muck rather than have full fledged water moving through it. The project will require regular maintenance, which means investing more money and more money to pump water which means more thermal power needed to generate electricity. This is a carbon-inclusive approach, which is not sustainable in the long run,” Leo says. Leo also notes that the government not yet conducted public consultation sessions for the project.  He maintains that the government must concentrate on solutions that require minimum investment but reap maximum benefits. He suggests ensuring that every household has a rainwater harvesting system to maintain groundwater levels.   “Not a single drop of rainwater must be wasted. In rural areas, especially, ensuring that all open wells are desilted will ensure that rain water is collected. Every home must be rain water proofed so that every drop is collected and reused. This is not going to cost the government thousands of crores of rupees. It is economical and sustainable,” Leo added.    

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Budget 2019: Swachh Bharat Mission to focus on rural solid waste management

Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that more than 95 per cent of Indian cities have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).

TNM Staff

In the first full budget of the second term of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to undertake sustainable solid waste management in every village in an expansion of the flagship Swachh Bharat Mission.  Addressing the Parliament, Nirmala Sitharaman listed the achievements of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) launched by the Narendra Modi government and added that more than 95 per cent of Indian cities have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). Presenting the budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “We have to build on this success. We must not only sustain the behavioural change seen in people but also harness the latest technologies available to transform waste into energy. I now propose to expand the Swachh Bharat Mission to undertake sustainable solid waste management in every village.” The central government is now targeting safe and scientific disposal of solid and liquid waste in the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. In the first phase of the mission, 9.6 crore toilets have been constructed while more than 5.6 lakh villages have become Open Defecation Free (ODF), according to the central government. The Economic Survey 2018-19 tabled by the Finance Minister on Thursday also stated that 99.2% of rural India was covered by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.  The central government’s cleanliness initiative started in October 2014 as a nation-wide campaign aimed at cleaning up streets, roads and infrastructure of India's cities, towns, and rural areas. One of the objectives of the campaign was to eliminate open defecation.  “More than 95% of cities have also been declared ODF. More than 45,000 public and community toilets across 1,700 cities have been uploaded on Google maps, covering more than 53% of India’s urban population. Almost 1 crore citizens have downloaded Swachhata App,” the Finance Minister said.  She also announced that on October 2, 2019, the Rashtriya Swachhta Kendra will be inaugurated at the Gandhi Darshan in Rajghat to mark the occasion of India becoming open defecation free. Read: Budget 2019: Top 13 announcements by Nirmala Sitharaman  

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11 arrested in Karnataka for circulating video of sexual assault on young woman

Crime

The police, which had set up two teams to investigate the incident, had earlier confirmed that all five men accused of raping the woman were arrested.

Prajwal Bhat

Dakshina Kannada police have arrested 11 people for circulating the video showing a 19-year-old college student being sexually assaulted by five men. The district police, which had set up two teams to investigate the incident, had earlier confirmed that all five men accused of raping the woman were arrested. Read: Sexual assault video of young woman circulated in K’taka, 5 college students held The second team formed by the police investigated the spread of the contentious video, which began circulating on Tuesday evening, bringing the incident into focus.  Muralitharan (29), Chandrashekhar Mayya (47), Shreyansh S (20), Poovappa (26) ,Pawan Kumar D (19) ,Mohit P G (18), Dhyan A N (18) and Adwit Kumar Naik N (19) were arrested in connection with circulating the video on Thursday while three others - Shoukat Ali, Nazeer and Jabeer - were arrested on Friday. The men are from different areas in and around Puttur and have been arrested for circulating the video. They were charged under section 66 E (violation of privacy) and 67 A (publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act) of the IT Act and Section 4 and 6 of Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.  Video leaked amid student elections in college According to Dakshina Kannada SP BM Laxmi Prasad, the video was leaked by a student of the institute in which the woman and the men accused studied in. It was leaked in a bid to harm the chances of one of the accused in the college elections, said the SP. "There was college elections recently and there was a scuffle between two groups of students. The video was circulated on Tuesday evening and we have arrested the people who circulated the video initially," Dakshina Kannada SP BM Laxmi Prasad told TNM.  According to the investigating police, Mohith, who studied in the same institute as the woman and the five men accused of rape, downloaded the video on to his phone after it was uploaded by Prakyath as a status on GB Whatsapp (a modified version of WhatsApp) briefly. Prakyath is among the five people accused in the case.  The video was sent to Poovappa, a physical education teacher at the college, who later sent it to Shreyansh, another student in the same institute. Shreyansh posted the video in various WhatsApp groups after which it was widely shared.  Following this, Prakyath, along with Sunil, Gurunandan, Kishan and Prajwal, all 19-year-old students of the same college in Puttur, were arrested by the police on Wednesday. Viral video brings case to light The incident occurred sometime in late March or early April and only came to light when the video of the incident was shared widely on Tuesday. Dakshina Kannada police approached the woman to file a complaint. Investigating police stated that the accused men threatened the woman with the video due to which she did not reveal the incident to her family members.  Alongside the investigation into the perpetrators of the incident, the police decided to take suo motu action in the case to stop the circulation of the video. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Dakshina Kannada SP BM Laxmi Prasad urged residents in the district to not post the video on social media or save it on phones or computers. 

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Steeper fines for traffic violations in Bengaluru from July 20: Full details

Traffic Violations

The fine information boards have been fixed at major junctions in Bengaluru.

TNM Staff

Bengaluru residents will soon have to pay much steeper fines after the revised fines for traffic violations comes into effect from July 20 in the city. The new fines were announced at the end of June but they are yet to be implemented. Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) has begun installing several boards in areas with high traffic, displaying the new fines to alert passersby and commuters in the city. The fine chart information boards have been fixed at major junctions. These boards will also alert the commuters about fatal and non-fatal accidents and also display the statistics of accidents in the last three years. Here is the list of revised fines for traffic violations:  Using mobile phones while driving Old Fine: Rs 100 Revised fine: Rs 1,000 Parking in ‘no parking’ zone Old fine: Rs 100 Revised fine: Rs 1,000 (Excluding towing charges) Excessive speed Old fine: Rs 300 Revised fine: Rs 1,000 Driving without insurance Old fine: Rs 500 Revised fine: Rs 1,000 Driving without fitness certificate Court fine: Rs 2,000 (first offence) Rs 5,000 (second offence and subsequent offences) Driving without registration Court fine: Rs 5,000 (first offence) Rs 10,000 (second offence and subsequent offences) Revised traffic fine amount chart. Follow traffic rules. Avoid penalty. @blrcitytraffic @BlrCityPolice pic.twitter.com/G6LV5BAcRZ — V V PURAM TRAFFIC BTP (@vvpuramtrfps) July 4, 2019 The traffic police officials stated that they want Bengaluru residents to be aware of the new fines before they are imposed. “Before we start imposing violators with the new fines, citizens should get to know the revised fines imposed for various traffic violations and it is our duty to bring it to their attention,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (traffic) P Harishekaran speaking to The New Indian Express. The department will also conduct awareness sessions among auto rickshaws, bus, taxis, school bus and van drivers, two-wheeler riders and Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) in the city. Public meetings will also be held regarding the increase in fines, reported Times of India. 

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Former MLA Gopal Bhandary passes away while travelling in bus from B’luru to Mangaluru

Death

The two-time MLA was found slumped and motionless in his seat in the bus when it reached the bus stop in Mangaluru.

TNM Staff

Former Karkala MLA Gopal Bhandary passed away while travelling alone in a multi-axle bus from Bengaluru to Mangaluru on Thursday. He passed away three days before his 67th birthday. Travelling alone in a KSRTC bus from Bengaluru to Mangaluru, the former Congress MLA alighted from the bus when it stopped for a coffee break near KB Cross around 4:30 pm.  However, the bus driver Sunil found the two-time MLA slumped on the seat of the bus when it reached the main KSRTC station in Bejai in Mangaluru at around 10:15 pm, reported the Times of India.  He had begun his journey at 2 pm from Benglauru. After he did not alight from the bus, he was rushed to Wenlock Hospital in the city. However, hospital authorities said he was brought dead.  Veerappa Moily and former Mangaluru MLA JR Lobo visited the hospital on Thursday night.  Mangaluru Police Commissioner Sandeep Patil confirmed the death in a statement issued to the media. Gopal Bhandary was born on July 7, 1952 and represented the Karkala constituency in Udupi district from 1999 to 2004 and 2008 to 2013. In 2008, he defeated V Sunil Kumar of the BJP by a margin of 1,537 votes. In 2018, he lost the Assembly elections in Karkala to V Sunil Kumar. Gopal was considered a protege of former Chief Minister Veerappa Moily, who also contested and won from the Karkala constituency in 1992. Following his death, condolences poured in from several Congress leaders including Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara. Deeply saddened by the unfortunate demise of Congress leader and Former Karkala MLA Gopal Bhandari. His commitment towards people shall always be remembered. My condolences to his family members, well-wishers & followers. pic.twitter.com/ZJ8jdVfrph — Dr. G Parameshwara (@DrParameshwara) July 5, 2019 My heartfelt shock and grief over the sad demise of Sri Gopal Bhandary ex mla . A very honest leader always thought of helping the downtrodden and a great orator. My condolences to his family and to all who know him. — Pramod Madhwaraj (@PMadhwaraj) July 5, 2019

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Karnataka Class 10 state board final exams to have new question paper format

Education

To discourage learning by rote, the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board has decided to make changes for 2019-2020.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka government has now decided to change the format of question papers for the class 10 state board. The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) has decided to make these changes to discourage learning by rote and improve quality of learning. The Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) Examination Question Paper will be changed for the 2019-20 academic year and the examination board is now notifying schools to take necessary measures to prepare the students for the final exams, which will be held in March 2020. Currently, the papers carry 40 subjective and objective questions. According to officials with the KSEEB the total number of questions will be reduced from 40 to 38. The question paper will have application questions, KSEEB officials say. The number of two-mark questions will be 16 to 8 and the three-mark questions will be increased from 6 to 9. In addition, new five-mark questions will be added. Earlier this year, the board had consulted with a team of experts from the Azim Premji Foundation, which recommended certain changes in framing questions and also the format of SSLC question papers. “The team studied several question papers that were set over the last few years. They found that the way the questions were framed encouraged learning by rote. This was a change they recommended. Children must learn how to apply what they have learned. The new questions will encourage logical thinking,” said V Sumangala, Director of KSEEB. The KSEEB has also notified schools to change learning methods and adopt innovative methods using technology. “See, generally, marks are allotted based on whether students have written down certain key words in the answers. The new format will judge the answers based on the quality of writing, the content, and how well the student has grasped the subject. This is to avoid learning by rote,” she added. The KSEEB also intends to discourage mass duplication of answers by bringing in the new format. “The key word format had resulted in duplication of answers. Teacher would encourage children to write specific answers and learn by rote so that they would not lose out on marks. The new format will emphasise on writing skills, application of topics and reasoning,” the official added.

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NLSIU hikes yearly fees by 25%, socio-economically disadvantaged students to be affected

Education

Students say that the administration had not informed them of the hike properly, and the sudden hike will put a heavy financial burden on them.

Jahnavi Reddy

Image for representation

Last week, the students of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru were alarmed on finding out that their yearly fees had been increased by more than 25% for the upcoming academic year. Undergraduate students in their second to fifth year currently enrolled in the five-year integrated BA LLB programme will now have to pay Rs 2,30,500 for the year. This is nearly Rs 50,000 higher than the annual fees of Rs 1,83,800 they paid last year. The fees for the LLM and MPP (Master of Public Policy) courses were also similarly hiked.  Although the latest fee notification is dated May 15, 2019, students say that the notice was put up on the university’s website discreetly, without giving students sufficient time to make financial arrangements for the hiked fees.  “We don’t know when the fee notification was put up. The usual practice is for the college to send it to students through email, and that is what we were expecting this time as well. Besides, the notification wasn’t on the homepage of the website or somewhere easily accessible. You have to go through multiple webpages to find it,” a senior BA LLB student said. Lack of transparency in announcing the hike  According to a statement released by the Student Bar Association (SBA), the elected student body of NLSIU, the 25% increase has been justified by the university citing the need for increased salaries to implement the 7th Pay Commission. The SBA has recently discovered that in a meeting held on August 7, 2017, the Executive Council (comprising of SC judges and representatives from the Bar Council of India and the university faculty) had suggested a hike of Rs 20,000 per annum as “the income of NLS from all sources has reached a flat graph.” The statement also mentions that the UG Council Chairperson had also written to the VC of NLSIU  recommending a 25% hike. “The decision was taken two years back, but students were kept in the dark till now,” a student said.  Students are also upset with the break-up of the fee hike. While the tuition fee has been increased only by Rs 20,000, the major portion of the hike is reflected in other heads like electricity, internet, hostel, mess and infrastructure charges.  “If the purpose is to increase teachers’ salaries, it makes sense to raise the tuition fee. But we are already paying too much for the poor quality of internet access. In spite of the student body paying lakhs of infrastructural fees in the past, there has hardly been any change in the gym or any sports infrastructure. Hostel rent has been increased along with electricity charges. These hikes are random and unjustified,” another student said.   Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged students Students say that in the past, the annual fee hikes were much lower, and were only annually adjusted for inflation. The yearly fees had increased from Rs 1,63,500 for the academic year 2015-16, to Rs 1,83,800 for 2018-19, a rise of Rs 20,300 or 12% over three years. The SBA is worried that the steep hike this year could result in excluding students from low-income families, especially students from SC and ST communities, “in the absence of social safety nets like a full fee waiver for SC/ST students available in comparable national higher educational institutions i.e. IITs and IIMs.”  The student body has raised concerns that the hike would result in current students from marginalised communities dropping out, and exclude them from future batches.  “Many students are currently paying fees through education loans or merit-cum-needs based scholarships. The hike will increase the financial liabilities of students who are socially and/or economically unprivileged. Students from lower-middle to middle-income families will also find it unaffordable. Only upper-class students will be able to afford such an education. The hike will hurt the diversity of the student body on campus,” a student said.  Students are worried that the disproportionate representation of women and oppressed castes in law and judiciary will worsen with this move. “Legal education is meant to empower the vulnerable and oppressed. The hike just makes it inaccessible to these same communities. Private law colleges are already very expensive, and now a public university is going the same way,” another student said. The SBA also feels that the financial burden on current students will only create anxieties about their future, affecting their career choices and compelling them to take up corporate jobs, rather than pursuing less lucrative careers in fields that they care about.   Demands of the student body  Classes at NLSIU have commenced from July 1, and the last date for fee payment without a fine is July 7. The Executive Council which has the final say on the matter is scheduled to meet on July 6, to decide on the appointment of a new VC and Registrar. The SBA plans to send a student delegation to present their concerns to the Council.  “We want them to withdraw the hike for all students. At the very minimum, we want the current students to be exempt so they can continue with their education and a reduced hike for the incoming batch of students,” said a student. Students are also looking to urge the administration to find alternate sources of income, such as nationalisation of the university or seeking the status of Institute of National Importance (INI), to raise funds from other avenues. The VC of the university declined to comment on the issue, and requested that the Registrar be contacted instead. The Registrar was not available for comment. 

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