AstraZeneca announced Monday its vaccine candidate has entered the final testing stage in the U.S.
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Online meeting to suggest changes to Bengaluru’s Peripheral Ring Road postponed
A BDA official said that the meeting has been postponed as per the order of state Forest Minister Anand Singh.
Image of meet on PRR on Aug 28
The contentious virtual conference for Benaglureans to comment and suggest changes to the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) Project scheduled to be held on Thursday has been postponed. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has said that it is now scheduled to be held on September 23. The project is facing opposition from the public as it will uproot 33,800 trees and affect multiple water bodies. The PRR involves laying 65.5 kilometres of an eight-lane road network between Tumakuru Road on the west and Hosur Road on the east via Ballari Road and Old Madras Road. A BDA official said that the meeting has been postponed as per the order of state Forest Minister Anand Singh. The BDA official said the web meeting on Zoom can be accessed using the previous details. [Meeting ID: 850 1729 9310, Passcode-bpe2020]. However, TNM could not reach Anand Singh or any official in the BDA for clarity on why the meeting was postponed. On August 18, a physical meeting was held for the public discussion, but there had been low attendance due to confusion over its date, despite huge public interest around the project. While Anand SIngh had asked the meeting to be cancelled the previous evening, the Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner, officials of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the BDA went ahead with the meeting. The minister’s decision had come following requests by activists who demanded that the public consultation process be postponed given the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru. There is also wide opposition to the meeting being held online as there are constraints on how many people can join the meeting virtually, as well as issues regarding access to technology. Further, a section of Bengaluru residents, led by Citizens for Bengaluru, have demanded that the BDA first make the detailed project report public, so minute details can be discussed.
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Bengaluru airport sees 1.4 million domestic passengers after operations resume
On Sept. 1, the airport celebrated 100 days of successful operations, after air travel was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bengaluru’s international airport celebrated 100 days of successful operations on September 1, since the resumption of domestic air travel in India. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) permitted operations to resume starting from May 25 onwards, after a lockdown of two months induced by COVID-19. In a span of 100 days, Kempegowda International Airport welcomed 1.4 million domestic passengers, with 15,658 air traffic movements (ATM). In comparison to the previous month, July 2020, ATMs saw a growth of 39% and there was a growth of over 47% in passenger traffic in August 2020. In the coming days and months, these numbers are expected to increase due to the relaxation of state regulations as well as additional capacity by airlines. Bengaluru airport has reconnected with 49 of 58 domestic cities since operations have resumed, achieving 84% of the pre-COVID-19 network. The top destination is Kolkata, with 13% of domestic passengers travelling to and from Bengaluru’s airport. Kolkata is followed by Delhi at 11% and Patna at 6%. The eastern and north-eastern regions of India have recorded the highest passenger movements at 33.7%. It is closely followed by South India at 30.9%. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India (GoI) and Government of Karnataka (GoK) has helped in adapting to the new environment by supporting the reinstatement and alignment between airlines. Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) and other stakeholders like MoHFW and concessionaires have also extended their help in the process. The airport launched contactless processing of passengers, including minimising touchpoints and strict sanitation measures, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The air conditioning temperature was also increased from 23 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius to minimise transmission of the virus.
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‘Lessons learned from 2019’: How dam water regulation by Karnataka averted floods
Drawing on the experience of 2019, government officials decided to regularly discharge water from the dams in the Krishna basin this year, but that was not all.
Khodshi dam over the Krishna River | PTI
Just days after Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa took charge in July 2019, he was faced with his first test in office when heavy rains caused devastating floods and landslides in Karnataka. Over 60 people died and several lakh residents were displaced in the worst floods to hit the state in decades. Without a cabinet in place, Yediyurappa worked with bureaucrats when the floods occurred. The disaster was particularly severe in the basin of the Krishna river in the northern part of the state. Parts of neighboring Maharashtra, which fall within the river’s basin, too reported floods. While heavy rains contributed to the disaster, government officials said that the lack of regulated dam water discharge aggravated the damage. “When there were rains last year (in 2019), officials decided to store water in our dam. This is because the dam had filled up only 4 or 5 times in the last forty years. But when the rains continued to increase, we had no choice but to release the water and this increased the damage due to the floods,” say a dam engineer working at the Malaprabha dam. Data compiled by the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), an informal network which focuses on dams in India, showed that most dams in the Krishna basin were close to their full capacity during the first week of August 2019, when the region received above normal rainfall. Dam water regulation Drawing on the experience of 2019, government officials decided to regularly discharge water from the dams in the basin this year. “We decided that in principle, we will not keep more water in the dam and as soon as it reaches 85% storage levels, we decided to maintain inflow and outflow. The water level did not reach dangerously high levels this year partly because of the lesser rain but also because of the regulation of water storage in dams,” says GS Srinivasa Reddy, a consultant with the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA). State government officials decided to focus on the preparation for the floods as early as April this year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic restricting movement and disrupting plans. “Despite the COVID-19 situation this year, flood preparedness was also a high priority for the state and it started in April itself,” says Manoj Ranjan, Commissioner of the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA). In early July, a meeting was held between government officials in Karnataka and Maharashtra to ensure that the failings of the previous year did not repeat. “Lessons learnt from last year were incorporated to improve dam management, which has enabled us to plan for an integrated system and to coordinate with Maharashtra,” Manoj Ranjan says. Hourly monitoring of dam levels via WhatsApp In Karnataka, WhatsApp groups were created to track the information of water levels in each dam in the Krishna and Cauvery basin. Field engineers of different dams and government officials were part of the group through which information about water levels was shared every three hours. The officials also monitored rain forecasts through 7,000 weather stations in the state to project the likely inflows and outflows of the dams. “One official from Karnataka was posted in Solapur and shared information from Maharashtra on the group and this helped warn gram panchayats about the possibility of floods; something that was not in place last year,” says Srinivasa Reddy. Lesser rainfall was reported in the state during the monsoon season this year, which was another crucial factor that helped the officials. “Last year, the rainfall was concentrated over a period of a few days at the start of August but that was not the case this year and it was spread out over a longer period. The quantum of rainfall is one aspect but its spread is also crucial,” says Rakesh Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Water Resources Department. He adds that officials could take better decisions this year because they managed to map how much time it takes for water to flow between dams. “This year, we had a better understanding of the time taken for the water to reach a particular dam once it is discharged. The estimations were more accurate this year,” says Rakesh Singh. Village level committees In addition to the disaster response measures taken by the government, 912 vulnerable gram panchayats were identified in 13 districts and plans were drawn up to ready a disaster management team in each village. “These committees were trained to respond to the release of water from the dams. Danguras (a musical instrument) were used to warn people and those at risk were evacuated early this year. The committees maintained lists of how many residents were at risk and how many among them were elderly and where they would be evacuated to, in the event of a flood,” Manoj Ranjan says. In 2020, Karnataka reported 36 deaths in rain-related incidents while 6,716 people were displaced and sheltered in relief camps in the state. In comparison, the disaster in 2019 displaced more than 6 lakh residents in the state while over 1,100 relief camps were opened. In spite of the relative success of dam water regulation this year, there are still lingering concerns. Environmentalists and government officials alike are concerned about encroachment along the bank of the Krishna river. “Despite the regulation of the water levels in the dam, we have noticed that the encroachment on the river banks has reduced the width of the river from 135-200 metres down to 10 metres in some spots,” says a dam engineer at the Malaprabha dam.
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Dams in Cauvery, Krishna basins close to full following heavy rains in Karnataka
Authorities said that as a result of the increase in rainfall has also led to more agricultural activities in the state.
With one month of monsoon left, all reservoirs in both the Krishna and Cauvery basins in Karnataka are close to full and water levels are slightly lesser than what it was last year, on the same date. Authorities said that 98% of the total capacity of the reservoirs in Krishna basin are filled while the figure for Cauvery basin is 95%. At the end of August, with one (September) of the three months left of the South West Monsoon season in Karnataka, the state has overall got 6% excess rainfall, according to the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre. Despite the state reeling under flood-like conditions in August after heavy rains in north, central and coastal Karnataka which claimed 20 lives, there has been only marginal excess rainfall in the monsoon season so far. While there has been damage to crops and property due to the heavy rains in August, it has also led to an increase in agricultural activities. Manoj Rajan, Commissioner, Karnataka Disaster Management Authority and Special Secretary to Government of Karnataka (Food Processing) told TNM, “72.8 lakh hectares have been sown against last years 61 lakh hectares, which is a 120% increase compared to last year, and in districts like Raichur and Koppal too, which are perennially arid, have seen increase of more than 120% in sowing.” He added that the COVID-19 induced economic slowdown may also be another reason for increased sowing. The water level of the dams is likely to ensure adequate drinking water, while excess water would be used for irrigation. Variance in inter-district, inter-taluk rainfall Sunil M Gavaskar, a meteorologist at the KSNDMC said, “There was not much rain in the coastal and Malnad region in June and July. In the first two weeks of August, heavy rains compensated for the huge deficit. In interior districts, there was excess rainfall but the variability within the districts is high.” The 6% excess rainfall has been reached after adjusting for both excess and deficit rainfall across the four parts of the state. It may be recalled that parts of the state in August were reeling under flood-like conditions with excess rainfall in neighbouring Maharashtra and north interior, and coastal Karnataka. There were landslides reported from Kodagu too. A total of 20 persons had died as a result of the rains lashing the state since August 1. While South Interior Karnataka has got an excess of 48% rainfall, north interior Karnataka has got 31% excess rainfall this season. Both Malnad (Central) and Coastal Karnataka have got deficit rainfall of 16% and 1% respectively in the season which lasts between June and September. Even within the regions, there is a big disparity of deficit and excess rainfall between districts and within districts. This is also the case in Bengaluru city. While Anekal in Bengaluru and Bengaluru South has got 118% and 107% excess rainfall in the season so far respectively, Bengaluru north has received only 1% excess rainfall while Bengaluru East has seen a 6% deficit.
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Money from drug mafia used to bring down coalition government: HD Kumaraswamy
Several political leaders have spoken about drug use after the narcotics control bureau indicated Sandalwood’s alleged link with drug abuse.
Representation photo
Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday alleged that money from the drug mafia was used to fund the coup, which toppled the Congress-JD(S) coalition government last year. Speaking to the media at Turuvekere, HD Kumaraswamy said that ring leaders of the drug racket were allegedly hiding in Sri Lanka during the coalition government’s regime and that money from this drug mafia and cricket betting was used to bring down the Congress-JD(S) government. “When I was Chief Minister, some (drug peddlers) had fled to Sri Lanka due to the fear of our government's action against the drug mafia. The drug mafia is responsible for the destabilisation of the coalition government. The money from drug mafia, dance bars and cricket betting was used to topple the coalition government,” Kumaraswamy alleged. The issue surrounding the drug mafia in Karnataka was thrust into the limelight after the Narcotics Control Bureau’s drug bust on August 21 at three locations in the Bengaluru city. The NCB had said that it had several actors and musicians from Karnataka under the scanner for their alleged involvement in the drug racket. This then spiralled into a full-blown controversy after Sandalwood filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh alleged that several actors in the industry were using drugs at rave parties. Following his statement, Karnataka Home Minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai said that Lankesh had been summoned by the Central Crime Branch, which was now been tasked with probing the drug mafia’s alleged link to Sandalwood. “As Lankesh claimed in a statement to local news channels that a few film actors whom he knows were into drugs, we have asked him to give us details. We ordered the Central Crime Branch (CCB) police to probe the Kannada film industry's links to drugs,” Basavaraj Bommai said. On Monday, the CCB grilled Indrajit Lankesh for five hours. The filmmaker said that he had furnished a list of 15 names to the sleuths, locations where rave parties had been held in the past and the names of drug peddlers, he knew based on information given to him by persons in the industry. Following this, CCB chief Sandeep Patil said that the agency would widen the probe to investigate tips given by Lankesh. CCB sources, however, said that Indrajit Lankesh does not want to testify as a witness if the case ever went to court. Following these developments, BJP state President Nalin Kumar Kateel urged party workers to create awareness about drug abuse. ಡ್ರಗ್ಸ್ ಜಾಲವನ್ನು ಬುಡಸಮೇತ ಕಿತ್ತು ಹಾಕಲು ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಮತ್ತು ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರಕಾರಗಳು ಶಕ್ತಿಮೀರಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿವೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ಗೃಹಸಚಿವರು ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಇಲಾಖೆಗೆ ಡ್ರಗ್ಸ್ ಜಾಲ ಮಟ್ಟ ಹಾಕಲು ಕಟ್ಟುನಿಟ್ಟಿನ ಸೂಚನೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಜಾಲವನ್ನು ಬೇರು ಸಮೇತ ಕಿತ್ತು ಹಾಕಲು ಶ್ರಮಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬರಿಗೂ ನನ್ನ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು. 2/2 — Nalinkumar Kateel (@nalinkateel) September 1, 2020 “Drugs not only weaken the body but also the country. Therefore, our party workers need to raise awareness in the youth to keep as much distance as possible from any kind of drug body but also from the country. Central and state governments are working hard to dismantle the drug network. Our home minister has issued a directive to the Police Department to level the drugs network. My thanks to everyone who is working hard to root this network,” Nalin Kumar Kateel said.
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My experience with COVID-19: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw writes
The Executive Chairperson of Biocon shares some simple learnings of fighting the disease, adding that leveraging science is the only reliable way forward.
My first symptoms were a mild feverish feeling late evening on August 16. I had similar symptoms in early June and had tested negative, so I just took a Crocin and thought that would take care of it. The next morning though, I continued to feel feverish and my temperature was 99 F. That’s when I decided to test myself and my entire household, as I have my 89-year-old mother, a cancer survivor, and my 71-year-old husband, a cancer patient, to worry about. I immediately self-quarantined in a separate room and waited anxiously for the test results. At 5 pm, I was told that I tested positive but that everyone else at home, including my staff, tested negative. Mercifully, the virus spared my mom and my husband. I asked for the CT (Cycle Threshold) value to assess my viral load and when I saw it was 23, I felt the load was safe enough to be home quarantined under tele-supervision. Dr Murli Mohan from Narayana Health, Bengaluru and Dr Shashank Joshi from Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai, were my key medical supervisors. I was put on a course of Favipiravir, azithromycin and paracetamol. Apart from this, I continued with my daily dose of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, baby aspirin and chyavanprash! Not to mention my twice a week 200 mg dose of HCQ. Day 2 & 3 were uneventful. I measured my oxygen saturation levels six times a day, which were all between 96-98% even after a brisk 6-minute walk. My temperature was normal but late evening on Day 3, I felt fluish and it extended to Day 4 & 5. No measurable temperature, but frequent bouts of sweating that suggested that my body was fighting the virus. I was also tracking my cytokine levels. My cRP was normal at <0.5 throughout the infected period which indicated no inflammation. My D-Dimer and Ferritin levels were also within normal range. I also tracked my cytokine levels, especially IL-6, which were undetectable. By Day 6, I started feeling better. My rtPCR test on Day 10 was still positive but with a CT value of 33, suggesting a very low and non-infectious viral load generally attributed to dead virus shedding. I also tested my blood for antibodies and T-cells on Day 9. IgM was noticeably present but not IgG. My innate immune response based on Dendritic and NK cells was strong. A robust T cell activation was observed in my sample with a higher frequency of antigen specific T cells, effector T cells, Memory T cells and cytokine release on stimulation. I had basically developed T Cell immunity which could potentially protect me for a long period. On Day 12, my rtPCR test was positive with a CT value of 36 heralding the final leg of my COVID-19 saga. My experience has been mild and uneventful. No loss of smell or taste and no drop in oxygen saturation. I recommend everyone with mild fluish symptoms to test and decide on hospitalisation or home quarantine based on viral load: CT values <20 with fever should not home isolate. Monitoring oxygen saturation several times a day is psychologically good for your virus fighting morale. I also recommend that you try and exercise or go for a short walk every day to keep fit. I did not experience any loss of appetite, and I suggest a diet of fruit, vegetables, lentils and cereal. Soups and salads were a daily feature in my meals. My constant companions were Netflix and Amazon Prime; avoid TV and social media as negative news is bad for fighting COVID-19. My simple learnings: 1. Don’t panic on testing positive. 2. Make sure you assess your viral load based on CT value. 3. Mild symptoms with moderate viral load qualify for home isolation. 4. Monitor your oxygen saturation several times a day to ensure it doesn’t drop below 95%. 5. Make sure you are supervised by a doctor through a tele-health program. 6. Do yoga and walk as much as you can. 7. Your body will fight the virus in a week. 8. Doctors should not treat just the clinical symptoms but rather the cause of the symptoms. For example, if SpO2 reduces, just increasing oxygen flow is not the answer. Treating inflammation caused by cytokines is the answer. 9. Lack of early intervention in mitigating the inflammation and cytokine storm can cause post COVID-19 fatigue and respiratory ailments. 10. Finally, please test and present yourself as soon as you feel mild symptoms. Do not be in denial and wait for more severe symptoms. You have reduced your chances of a mild disease by doing so. Leveraging science to manage the virus is the only reliable way forward. In June, I was half hoping that I contracted COVID-19 to overcome the paranoia and the suspense that has taken over our lives. I was also expecting the infection to be mild and short lived. My COVID-19 experience has matched these expectations and I hope that it allays fears about the virus. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the Executive Chairperson of Biocon Limited. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards.
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