Tipu lessons in Karnataka school textbooks to stay, rules expert panel

Education

The committee noted that the lessons on Mysuru would be incomplete without mention of the role Tipu Sultan played.

TNM Staff

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the history of Tipu Sultan being taught to children in schools in Karnataka. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, had earlier made it clear that they were trying to remove all mention of Tipu Sultan from textbooks. However now, the expert committee which was formed to look into the issue, has decided to retain the lessons and said that nothing would be changed. Noting that the lessons on Mysuru would be incomplete without mention of the role Tipu Sultan played, the panel has decided that it is best to keep the Mysore king’s story in textbooks. Speaking to Daijji World, experts reportedly said that Tipu Sultan played an extremely significant role in the South in the fight against the British Empire. Noting that the king had fought off Britishers in four wars in Mysuru alone, the panel of experts has recommended that the lessons continue to stay in print. The committee reviewing the issue comprised several renowned professors in history who notedthat if Tipu Sultan’s story was dropped from books in Mysuru, a significant part of its history would go missing. In the first week of November, the Department of Primary and Secondary Education decided to form a new committee to discuss whether chapters in school textbooks related to the Mysore king Tipu Sultan should be scrapped or modified. The new committee replaced a previously existing one after the state government received backlash for not including any subject matter experts on the committee. When BJP leader BS Yediyurappa took oath as Chief Minister of the state in July, he had made it clear that he and his government would do “everything they can” to remove mention of the Mysore king Tipu Sultan from textbooks in schools in the state.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/36ulz2x
via IFTTT

Woman delivers baby on train to Bengaluru with help from anganwadi workers on board

News

The women were on the way to Bengaluru to take part in the protests being held for anganwadi workers on Tuesday.

TNM Staff

Image for representation

When Siddamma Kumbar, a native of Kalaburagi district’s Sugur village, boarded a train headed to Bengaluru to take part in a protest for anganwadi workers, she didn’t expect to be called on to help deliver a baby. Siddamma was among scores of other women who were travelling to Bengaluru to join the protest being held for anganwadi workers on Tuesday, according to the Hindu. Travelling on the Udyan Express from Yadgir on the way to Bengaluru, it was around 2 am when the train was nearing Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh and Siddamma was woken up by the wails of a woman who had gone into labour. 25-year-old Geetha and her husband had boarded the train at Saidapur railway station, near Yadgir. Geetha, who was in a very advanced stage of pregnancy, went into labour in the middle of the night. As per the Deccan Herald, Siddamma woke up to the cries of Geetha and figured out that she had gone into labour. She subsequently woke up her colleagues who were also on the train headed to the protest, who then sprung into action to help Geetha. The women used a sari to cordon off part of the compartment and helped Geetha. Malubai, Mahadevi, Anaveeramma, Mallamma, Jyothi, and Basamma were the other anganwadi workers on board who helped Geetha deliver a healthy baby boy. Geetha’s due date was 10 days away when she went into labour on Monday night. Her mother and family waited at the station in Bengaluru to greet the new mother, father and her newborn grandson. All the anganwadi workers hail from Kalaburagi district. While Siddamma hails from Sugur village, the others belong to Nalawar village in the district. Anganwadi workers from across the state are participating in the protests to demand that preschools be started at anganwadi centres. In addition to this, the protestors also want better pay and facilities to be provided as well.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/38rOlT7
via IFTTT

Karnataka Cabinet expansion after Amit Shah clears names: CM Yediyurappa

Politics

Yediyurappa said he would make all the 11 winners ministers as he had promised them for bringing the party back to power.

IANS

The second Cabinet expansion of the over four-month-old BJP government in Karnataka would take place after party chief Amit Shah approved the names to be finalised soon, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said on Tuesday. "The Cabinet will be expanded soon after Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi approve the names to be finalised in consultations with the party high command when I go to Delhi in 3-4 days," Yediyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru. As declared on Tuesday after the ruling party won 12 of the 15 Assembly seats in the December 5 bye-elections, Yediyurappa said he would make all the 11 winners ministers as he had promised them for bringing the party back to power. "I am committed to honour the word I have given them for resigning their Assembly seats and joining our party to contest and win on our symbol (Lotus). They have to be rewarded for sacrificing their seats, which led to the fall of the previous JD(S)-Congress coalition government in July," recalled Yediyurappa. The first Cabinet expansion took place on August 20 when 17 BJP legislators, including an independent were inducted, with three as deputy chief ministers. In the 34-member ministry, including the chief minister, 16 cabinet posts are vacant to be filled in the second phase of its expansion. Resignations of 17 rebel legislators, including 14 from the Congress and 3 from the Janata Dal-Secular (JD(S)) in mid-July led to the fall of the 14-month-old coalition government on July 23 after its chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy lost the confidence motion he moved on July 18 for want of majority in the Assembly. Though former Assembly speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar disqualified the 17 rebels on July 25-28 for the remaining term of the House that lasts till May 2023, the Supreme Court, however, allowed them to re-contest in the bye-elections on November 13 while upholding their disqualification. Of the 11 winners who defected, 9 are from the Congress and 2 from the JD(S). Two defectors - M.T.B. Nagaraj from the Congress and A.H. Vishwanath from the JD(S) lost in the bye-elections to independent Sharath Kumar Bachegowda and H.P. Manjunath of the Congress. Nagaraj, the richest candidate in the bye-elections was the state housing minister in the previous coalition government. Though independent-turned-Congress defector B.L. Shankar joined the BJP on November 14, he was not given the party ticket to re-contest from Ranibennur in Haveri district. Instead, the party fielded its local leader G. Arun Kumar, who won, defeating K.B. Koliwad of the Congress. In a related development, hectic lobbying began among the ruling party's legislators for grabbing the remaining 5 cabinet posts after 11 posts are filled by the winners. One more Congress defector to the BJP - Munirathna Naidu, is yet to contest as the bye-election to R.R. Nagar in Bengaluru southwest was not held due to litigation in the Karnataka High Court over its results in the May 2018 Assembly polls.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2PByU1R
via IFTTT

Pelosi brokers tentative deal with liberals on drug pricing bill

The chamber's liberal wing had threatened to stall the bill, if Pelosi refused to make a series of last-minute changes to the legislation.

from Health Care https://ift.tt/2E7WxtD
via IFTTT

Medicare chief sought to bring complaints against previous boss, as well

Seema Verma denies claim in HHS document that she hired a lawyer to take on former Secretary Tom Price.

from Health Care https://ift.tt/2sdD8VG
via IFTTT

Trump’s health chiefs called to White House in fresh bid for truce

An increasingly public battle between Alex Azar and Seema Verma could cost one or both their jobs.

from Health Care https://ift.tt/2E6Ksox
via IFTTT

Reduce chicory content, give minimum support price: Coffee growers in K’taka demand

Coffee Plantation

Adding the cheaper chicory to coffee keeps prices low, but the practice is hurting coffee growers by reducing the demand for their coffee.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

Representative image

When you look at a packet of coffee powder, there’s every chance you will find that the word “chicory” is mentioned, along with its percentage, yet not many consider why this is the case. What is chicory, and why is it included in our coffee? Chicory is a carbohydrate-rich root that was originally found in France. During the Second World War, most of the world was going through rationing. Since chicory is much cheaper than coffee, but similar in taste, the French began adding chicory to their coffee in order to stretch their coffee supplies. This habit was taken up by the British, who brought the idea to India. However, most countries have since stopped the practice of adding chicory to their coffee, and use coffee in its purest form, without any additives. Chicory flower and root. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons In India, however, the chicory practice continues. The current acceptable amount of chicory in packaged coffee is up to 49%, according to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Marketers like Bru’s Green Label utilise this limit to the fullest. Chicory is mainly grown in parts of Gujarat for Indian consumers. The prices have remained a fraction of the price of coffee: Rs 60 per kg, against the market price of best quality coffee at around 150 per kg at wholesale rate. Adding the cheaper chicory to coffee keeps prices low, but the practice hurts coffee growers by reducing the demand for their coffee. “It is actually cheating the consumer by calling a ‘chicory mix’ as coffee. Coffee is not as soluble in water as chicory is, since coffee’s solubility is 30% whereas chicory’s solubility is as high as 70%. So, even if the chicory content is only 30%, the taste of the brew will be dominated by chicory. It will not be coffee, as it is currently being marketed,” says Vishwanath KK, organising secretary of the Karnataka Growers Federation. “We suggest that such products be labelled as ‘Chicory with coffee added’.” Coffee growers in the state of Karnataka have been requesting the  FSSAI to reduce the acceptable ratio from 49% to around 30% of chicory content. In a report titled “Status of Indian Coffee 2019”, the Karnataka Growers Association has enumerated its demands regarding a minimum support price and better research into the management of the white borer pest. The government also needs to look out for producers in the country, says Vishwanath, adding, “We demand better prices for our coffee. In a country where the food inflation is steady at 3.18% while we are paying GST of up to 12%, and current inflation is at 7.62%, where are the profits? The producers with small holdings are suffering, and there are hardly any margins. At this rate, people will move away from cultivation and India will be forced to import everything, which is unsustainable.” There’s also the problem of low production of coffee. The main problem seems to be the white stem borer, which lays its eggs in the bark of the Arabica plant, the more expensive variety of coffee. There is currently no other way to manage it except to burn the entire plant. A plantation crop, the Arabica coffee plant takes up to 8 years to mature, and pest infestation causes huge losses to the producers. Changing climate pattern is also affecting coffee production: in the past two years, there have been heavy rains and flooding in parts of the Western Ghats, which has affected global supply, as reported by the international media. All this means that the coffee growers need to fight for better demand for their produce, and better prices. Pagalkumar, who is the Director of Pioneer Chicory, says that they would actually prefer if chicory is sold separately. “In South India, most people prefer to have chicory in their coffee. Even if the market moves away from selling coffee mixed with chicory, we are confident that people will continue to buy it separately as it is part of their taste preference. The move would benefit us,” he adds.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2LFRG7m
via IFTTT