Biotech Innovation Organization CEO Jim Greenwood will leave the company after 15 years.
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Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Second incident of 'healthy' tiger killing villager in Karnataka leaves officials puzzled
Forest Department officials are on their toes to capture the animal.
Representational Image
In the second such incident in the last two months, a farmer was mauled to death by a tiger on Tuesday morning in Karnataka’s Gundulpet taluk of Charamarajangar district. Police officials said the incident occurred in the Hindupura area which falls under the Gopalaswamy Range of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The issue has led to tension in the area with one forest official facing the wrath of an angry mob. According to local officials, the deceased farmer has been identified as 80-year-old Shivalingappa. In recent weeks, the tiger was perceived to be in the vicinity as many cattle were found dead. Tuesday’s incident occurred when Shivalingappa was tending to his farm in Chowdhalli village. The same tiger is suspected to have killed another man last month in the same area. However, the involvement of the same animal is yet to be established. Since then, forest officials have been trying to locate the animal who was thought to be injured or old as it has taken to killing cattle or people. However, camera traps suggest the tiger is a healthy one and has been seen running rapidly. Normally, old or injured tigers that reside in human habitations take to killing cattle and other animals. Wildlife activists say the situation is rather perplexing. Joseph Hoover, a conservationist and former member of the Karnataka Wildlife Board, said, “The forest officials have a difficult situation to handle as naturally the residents of the area will be angry and there will be anti-wildlife sentiments. With better conservation efforts, tiger numbers in Bandipur and the surrounding forests have grown though forest areas have shrunk due to encroachments. Tigers being territorial in nature, some of them have been forced to move out of core forest areas leading to occasional conflicts with humans.” Forest officials are also not sure if there is more than one tiger behind the incidents. “We can’t say as of now if the same animal has done it, as three or four tigers are fighting for the territory. Efforts are on to capture it but since this in not a plain land, we have been unable to do it so far,” Assistant Conservator of Forests Ravi told TNM. In September, the farmer named Shivamadaiah was returning to his village with two bullocks from a nearby village. The death in September had triggered protests against the Forest Department, with villagers demanding the department lay traps and set up cameras. The protests were withdrawn after the family was promised a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a job in the Forest Department to his kin.
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Why Bengaluru’s sanitation workers are falling sick despite regular ‘health camps’
Sanitary workers have died of dengue and chikungunya, and have suffered with no medical insurance.
Over five months ago, 40-year-old Venkatamma, a pourakarmika (sanitation worker) working in Bengaluru’s ward number 27 (Banaswadi) contracted Chikungunya. Venkatammma took four days off from work hoping that her fever would go away. On day five, Venkatamma went back to work, despite severe pain in her joints. A week later, Venkatamma succumbed to her illness. Ammu (20), Venkatamma’s daughter says that she had taken her mother to Specialty Hospital in Banaswadi and doctors concluded that she had Chikungunya. “We took her home as we could not afford to admit her in the hospital. But my mother did not get better. She went back to work after four days when her fever came down. But she was very weak and had immense body pain,” Ammu says. Venkatakamma’s colleague Odooramma (43), who also works in the same ward in Banaswadi contracted Chikungunya a week after Venkatamma’s death. Odooramma, who supports a large family was also unable to take time off from work to recuperate. She succumbed to her illness on June 17. “She had taken loans to marry off my older sisters and she would say that if she missed a day’s work, she would not be able to pay interest. I had saved some money and we took her to Fortis Hospital. They said it was Chikungunya,” says Geeta, Odooramma’s youngest daughter. No Employees State Insurance (ESI) cards In both these cases, the civic body – Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)- had not issued them their insurance or ESI cards, which would have helped them obtain free medical treatment. Despite a government order passed in 2016, which made it mandatory for the BBMP health officers at the ward level to collect the necessary information from the pourakarmikas and issue ESI cards, many of them have not received it. Appanna, a pourakarmika from Mahadevapura, says that he had contracted dengue a month ago. Appanna’s colleagues in the ward too, had got dengue. “We work with garbage and there are mosquitoes everywhere we work. I have got dengue thrice in three years. Other pourakarmikas I know have also got it many times. But no one cares about us,” he says. Speaking to TNM, Nirmala, President of the BBMP Contract Pourakarmikas’ Union, says that the health officers have entrusted the job of collecting the data from the pourakarmikas to the contractors (mestris) in every ward. “The contractors are not the ones who have to do this job. Health officers have to help us fill the forms if we don’t know how to read or write and process it. This work has not been done. In Mahadevapura alone, over 15 pourakarmikas had contracted dengue,” Nirmala says. Dr Vijayendra, Chief Health Officer of the BBMP says that the Zonal Health Officers must ensure that the junior officers are carrying out their duties properly. “There were problems with biometrics and we had to weed out so many fake names. Once that was sorted out, we are now issuing the ESI cards to all of them,” he claimed. BBMP health camps an eye wash? Dr Siddappaji, Health Officer for East Zone says that the BBMP conducts health camps for pourakarmikas once every three months. “These camps are conducted to see if they have any illnesses. Pourakarmikas need this as they come into contact with garbage, dust and sewage on a daily basis. Since they are exposed to toxic materials every day, it is necessary to keep tabs on their health,” he says. He says that although the health camps are conducted regularly, the footfalls are low. Refuting Dr Siddappaji’s claims, Gangamma, who is also a member of the BBMP Contract Pourakarmikas’ Union, says that the BBMP’s health camps are an eye wash. “They line us up and click pictures of us. They sometimes take our blood samples but nothing happened after that. There is no word on our health condition. It is done just to show that the work is being done. Even I am a pourakarmika and I know. They can’t blame us and say that pourakarmikas don’t show up for health camps. If it was worth the while, we would have gone,” she says.
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Mother-daughter duo arrested for murder of relative over financial dispute in Karnataka
The victim and the accused allegedly got into a fight over Rs 1 lakh.
Tension prevailed in Kodagu district's Halekudige village on Monday as residents demanded that the police arrest a mother-daughter duo for allegedly murdering a relative. Yashodha (42) and her daughter Harini (20) were eventually arrested for the murder of Shiva (38), who was found dead on Sunday evening. Shiva is Yashodha’s brother-in-law and they were living in the same house. An investigating officer told TNM that Yashodha and Harini had stashed Shiva's body under the bed. “One of Yashodha's neighbours, Mithun, called the police station and said that there is suspicious activity in the house and that he heard sounds of a person screaming and struggling. By the time we reached the spot, a lot of neighbours and Shiva's relatives had gathered outside the house and were demanding that the door be opened. When we went in, we found the body under the bed," the officer said. On Monday, relatives threw stones at the home and demanded that both mother and daughter be handed over to them. They were also ready to beat up Yashoda and Harini, a police official in Kushalnagar Rural police station told TNM. “We arrested both Yashodha and Harini and we determined that both of them attacked Shiva with the lamp over a financial dispute. It was related to an undisclosed amount of money held by another aunt who was not present in the house at the time of the murder. We are currently investigating this,” said the police official. The police will question Lakshmamma, the aunt allegedly involved in the financial dispute. The murder occurred at 6:30 pm on Sunday and according to sources close to the family, Yashoda and Shiva got into a fight over a sum of Rs 1 lakh. Shiva had asked for a sum of Rs 1 lakh that Yashodha owed him to be returned. After this, he was allegedly assaulted with a lamp by Yashodha, investigating officials said. Shiva worked in a coffee depot near Kudige and was unmarried.
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Even after a year, Bengaluru still awaits Centre’s promised e-waste recycling plant
Currently, Bengaluru has 11 licensed e-waste recyclers in the city and its periphery.
Pixcy.com
Over a year after it was promised to be ready, the first-ever government-run electronic waste (e-waste) recycling plant is far from seeing the light of day. The announcement for such a facility was made by the late central minister and Bengaluru South MP Anant Kumar in July 2018. Bengaluru, being the IT capital of India, was chosen to be the home for such a facility. The late minister had then said the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers was already working on it and it would be up and running within four months, and will be maintained by the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET). However, a top official of CIPET told TNM that land for the recycling plant is yet to be allotted. TNM could not reach DV Sadanada Gowda, Bengaluru North MP, who is now the Minister of Chemicals, for a comment on the same. Sources in the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) also confirmed that the institute has not reached out to them for the mandatory licenses, which are essential to start such a facility. While the government-run facility is yet to come up, the city already has multiple private e-waste processing centres. Currently, KSPCB officials say, there are 11 licensed e-waste recyclers in the city and its periphery. But subject matter experts say that India, particularly Bengaluru, does not have adequate e-waste recycling facilities. The CIPET-run proposed facility also does not feature in the yet-to-be commissioned list of e-waste recycling hubs. This is KSPCB's list of the prospective plants in the city, which are yet to get the necessary clearances. E-waste includes discarded television sets, mobile phones, laptops, computers, refrigerators or any such equipment or parts. Unlike other forms of waste, toxic chemicals or heavy metal content in these wastes is higher and requires proper management to prevent immediate harm to human health and the environment. India is one of the leading e-waste producers, generating 2 million tonnes of waste annually. And only 5% of this waste is recycled or processed scientifically. While local governments (municipalities/panchayats) are mandated to manage regular forms of solid waste, e-waste is supposed to be regulated by the central and state Pollution Control Boards. Speaking to TNM, Randeep D, Special Commissioner for Solid Waste Management, BBMP, said, “While e-waste does not come under our ambit, we have tied up with the private recyclers and have put e-waste bins at all BBMP offices, including our headquarters at Corporation Circle.” He added, “We need to maybe start a monthly collection drive so that we can create awareness and a common collection point for these recyclers.”
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Shobha Karandlaje, HD Kumaraswamy trade barbs over flood relief measures in Karnataka
The spat between the two senior leaders is the latest scrap between the BJP and the Opposition over flood relief measures taken up in the state.
Senior JD(S) leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy criticised BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje for failing to meet the expectation of farmers in providing relief for those affected by floods and landslides. "The floods in Chikkamagaluru district affected the lives of thousands of farmers. Farmers have committed suicide because they did not receive flood relief. At this time, instead of being with the farmers and filling them with confidence, the MP is missing from the constituency and that shows her lack of concern," HD Kumaraswamy said in a social media post. ಚಿಕ್ಕಮಗಳೂರು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರವಾಹ ಬಂದು ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಕುಟುಂಬಗಳ ಬದುಕು ಡೋಲಾಯಮಾನವಾಗಿದೆ. ನೆರೆ ಪರಿಹಾರ ಸಿಗುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ರೈತರು ಆತ್ಮಹತ್ಯೆಗೆ ಶರಣಾಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾನ್ಯ ಸಂಸದರು ಅವರೊಂದಿಗಿದ್ದು ಧೈರ್ಯ ತುಂಬುವ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುವ ಬದಲು ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಿಂದ ಕಾಲ್ಕಿತ್ತಿರುವುದು ಅವರ 'ರೈತಪರ ಕಾಳಜಿ'ಯನ್ನು ಎತ್ತಿತೋರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ! — H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) October 7, 2019 Responding to Kumaraswamy's barb, Shobha reportedly said, “Kumaraswamy has demonstrated what he is. If he says that I don’t know the sufferings of farmers then he must be knowing it well because he grew rich by growing potatoes.” The spat between the two senior leaders is the latest scrap between the BJP and the Opposition over the relief amount released to Karnataka following the devastating floods which occurred in August. Two months after floods hit the state, the Union government released Rs 1200 crore as interim flood relief after repeated appeals and protests by residents and political leaders in the state. Opposition leaders in Karnataka including former chief ministers Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah criticised BJP leaders and accused them of denying flood relief to farmers in the state. On October 3, Chandregowda, 53, a farmer from SK Mekal village in Chikkamagaluru, took his life after suffering crop loss during the floods in August and alleging a lack of compensation. His death came after another farmer Channappa Gowda took his life in similar circumstances in September. Kumaraswamy visited the homes of both farmers and furnished a cheque of Rs 2 lakh to the family of Chandregowda and Rs 1 lakh to the family of Channappa Gowda. Floods and landslides affected many parts of Chikkamagaluru district in August.
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1 yr since 'Me Too', Karnataka garment factory workers say harassment continues
A year since the #MeToo movement in India became mainstream, Karnataka garment workers say mechanisms to tackle sexual harassment are still absent.
“Sometimes it feels like #MeToo was only for those women who know lots of people on Facebook. That it is only for those women, who have the influence to make men scared of consequences. Maybe I am wrong. But our lives have not changed. Men in our lives are not scared of consequences. We had also conducted a #MeToo meeting in Bengaluru last year, thinking it would change something. But we don’t have any stories of change to tell,” says 35-year-old Radha*, a garment worker at a factory in Karnataka’s Maddur. Over a year ago, Radha, an employee of Shahi Exports, a garment factory in Maddur, gathered the courage to approach the Internal Committee (IC) at the factory she works in. Radha accused the supervisor of sexually harassing her for months. “My supervisor used to demand sexual favours from me. When I kept saying no repeatedly, he would make me stand in the corner of the room in front of everyone. He would verbally harass me. He would use such words in front of the whole floor of women and shout loudly to humiliate me. This was not the end of it. He also tried to force himself on me. That’s when I decided to complain,” Radha said. Radha then confided in her colleagues and also discussed with them the consequences of approaching the IC and filing an official complaint. Radha’s colleagues dissuaded her and told her that the supervisors would harass her even more if they found out about the complaint. She then approached members of the Karnataka Garment Workers Union, who supported her in her decision to file a complaint with the IC. This was the beginning of the long months of harassment that she has suffered from her superiors, she says. In November last year, a 52-member IC was convened. Radha alleges that the IC did not even take her testimony into account and only heard the supervisor’s version. “I did not even know when the IC conducted this investigation. I was never called for any testimony. One day, the manager told me that the IC found my supervisor innocent of all accusation I had made. They called me a liar. After the union members intervened, another IC was formed and they too called me a liar,” Radha says. Why garment workers are scared to speak up Around 85% of the workforce in garment factories are women. The women are always employed at lower levels, whilst managerial jobs are given to men. This makes them vulnerable to sexual harassment on a regular basis. Radha, who is struggling to find another job, still works at the same factory. She alleges that her she has been working under a new supervisor, who makes her stand in the corner of a room and does not allow her to work. “They give me my salary but they don’t allow me to work. They make me stand in the corner of the room. This is very humiliating. My supervisors tell other women, ‘This is what happens when you lie and speak against the management’. They are making an example out of me,” Radha says. Just like Radha, Vasundara*, a 28-year-old garment factory worker in Bengaluru’s Bommanahalli, says that she quit her previous job in Peenya due to repeated sexual harassment by her floor manager. Vasundara, who was employed in Allure Fashions at Peenya for three years, alleges that she had been at the receiving end of lewd comments from her floor manager for over eight months before she decided to file a complaint with the IC. “The IC had representation from the garment workers too but these were men and women who were scared to speak against the management. The IC concluded that I was lying and then the humiliation from my superiors was even worse. My supervisor would find excuses to verbally abuse me in front of everyone. Every abuse would begin with calling me a liar and end with comparing me to a sex worker,” she said. Speaking to TNM, Pratibha, President of Garment Mahila Karmikara Munnade, says that the instances of garment workers reporting sexual harassment at their factories is very low. “There are only a handful of instances where women have spoken up and complained to ICs. These women work for garment factories which export to brands like H&M, Zara, Vans and other big brands. These big companies have made it mandatory for factories to have ICs but it is a rarity that these ICs function properly,” Pratibha says. Pratibha says that the fear of backlash and the continuous harassment faced by the women who have spoken up have made these workers fearful of speaking about sexual harassment. “More often than not, these women are victims of domestic violence too. When they face this at work, and are made to feel that more harassment will come their way if they speak up, they will naturally tend to remain silent,” she adds. No knowledge of ICs In Radha and Vasundara’s cases, the women were a part of trade unions and were aware that their factories have ICs. However, most of the workers in garment factories are not unionised, and are hence unaware of the existence of the committee. Pooja, a member of KOOGU, an association for garment workers and victims of domestic violence, says that only 2% of the women working in garment factories are part of the union. “The managements at factories do not tell the women about ICs and that they can file complaints. Most of the women do not even know that they have the right to demand a work environment that is free from harassment. They are conditioned to believe that this is how life should be. They don’t know what an IC is and they are scared to join unions because garment workers, who are a part of unions face harassment on a daily basis,” Pooja says. Pooja says that since outsiders are not allowed inside the factories, it becomes doubly difficult to create awareness programmes. “The factories do not take the initiative. Last year, we had spoken to many women who are not part of the union and they don’t even know the procedure to file a complaint. They don’t know who the IC members are. When they approach the HR person, they are told that the matter will be investigated. Then they are harassed for approaching the HR. They work in an environment of fear,” she says. The mental toll it takes on garment workers After the apathy she suffered at the hands of her employers, Vasundara says that she had though of ending her life on multiple occasions. Vasundara, who has two children aged 4 and 7 years, says her meagre salary of Rs 9,000 per month supports a family of four. Vasundara’s husband is a daily wage worker and more often than not is unemployed. “When my husband has no work, he stays at home. If I had ended my life, then my children would not survive too. That is the only thing that stops me. I know I am not the only one to feel this way either,” she says. In 2011, a 20-year-old garment worker named Aarti took her life in Bengaluru. The sexual harassment she had suffered at the hands of her supervisor in the factory she worked had driven her to take the drastic step, police had said. “There are so many women I know who think about killing themselves. I have thought about it too but I have too many responsibilities. That is the only thing that stops me. We have all heard about the woman who killed herself because of the way her supervisor treated her. We all know what she had gone through. We still face it,” says Preeti* a 31-year-old garment worker from Bengaluru. Speaking to TNM, Lekha, a member of Alternative Law Forum, says that although the members of the unions have access to counsellors, those who are not unionised are unable to obtain help for their mental health. “Since they are not unionised, it becomes difficult to get help for these women. Generally, members of unions approach their colleagues who they think may need help and ask them to speak to the counsellor sponsored by the union. More often than not, they are scared to do so. The #MeToo movement brought about awareness about sexual harassment to the forefront. It made people finally acknowledge that women face sexual harassment on a daily basis. But if we are talking about whether the ICs are functioning properly and whether the workplace is safer for garment workers, then it’s a no. This is because the conditions are still the same,” she says.
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