The campaign by Pfizer comes amid growing scrutiny of the CEO’s predictions that the company will know this month whether it has a viable vaccine.
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Saturday, October 10, 2020
Friday, October 9, 2020
Conservationists urge vulture breeding centre at Chikkamannugudde, not Bannerghatta
Vulture conservationists want the breeding centre and release centre to be in close proximity for proper coordination of activities.
All photos by B Shashikumar
A breeding centre to revive the dwindling Long-billed and White-rumped vulture population was announced by the Karnataka state government in this year’s budget. Unfortunately, this plan not taken shape, owing to the delay in finding an ideal location for the centre. Forest officials reportedly want the centre to be at Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) near Bengaluru, while vulture conservationists find Chikkamannugudde, a forest patch near Ramanagara, to be an ideal site. As per plans, BBP will be the site of the breeding centre while Ramadevarabetta Vulture Sanctuary in Ramanagara, the first of its kind in the country, will be the release centre. Long-billed vultures in particular are under threat at the sanctuary, as their numbers have fallen from about 20 in the last decade to just four this season. Vulture conservationists want the breeding centre and release centre to be in close proximity for proper coordination of activities. Panoramic view of Ramadevarabetta Vulture Sanctuary When Kranti Kumar was the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Ramanagara, a few years ago, a plan was drawn to save long-billed and white-rumped vultures in the region. Accordingly, Dr Vibhu Prakash, Deputy Director of the Vulture Breeding Centre and Vulture Safe Zone, Bombay Natural History Society, identified Chikkamannugudde as an ideal location for the breeding centre and Ramadevarabetta as the release centre. B Shashikumar, secretary of the Karnataka Vulture Conservation Trust, questions the rationale of the forest officials in choosing BBP as the location. He explains that the officials must consider Chikkamannugudde, as it is close to Ramadevarabetta Vulture Sanctuary, where there is normal distribution of the species. In addition, Shashikumar fears that setting up a vulture breeding centre at Bannerghatta does not fulfil the pre-requisites of a breeding centre as mentioned in the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) manual. According to the document, any breeding centre should be 5 km away from wild birds or animals kept in captivity, says Shashikumar. He adds that as the birds are to be released into the wild, they must not be exposed to pathogens. It is to be noted that BBP has several birds and animals in captivity. Another factor to prefer Chikkamannugudde, according to vulture conservationists, is that the breeding centre should be a degraded patch of forest land with very few trees in the vicinity. Besides, Chikkamannugudde is only 13 km from Ramadevarabetta Vulture Sanctuary whereas Bannerghatta is 47 km away, making it difficult to properly coordinate conservation and research activities. Another point that Shashikumar had made to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) was that the location of the breeding centre should have no poultry farms in a radius of 25 km. However, poultry farms thrive around BBP, which poses a risk to vultures. He also points out that the breeding centre should be well connected by rail and road so that specialised veterinary facilities in big cities can be easily accessed. Long-billed vulture To mount pressure on forest officials to set up the breeding centre at Chikkamannugudde, Chris Bowden, International Species Recovery Officer and Save Vulture Programme Manager, made a presentation to senior forest officials in Bengaluru on Wednesday. He explained the various criteria on which location selection should be based, and impressed on them the need to have a breeding centre at Chikkamannugudde, among other steps to recover the vulture population in Karnataka. “A breeding centre close to a release centre will be an advantage. Keeping away from poultry units will eliminate disease risks. A location far from visitor facilities will also be helpful,” he observed. However, Bowden says that forest officials are considering a new location for the breeding centre a little distance from BBP. He says that the new site needs to be evaluated in detail. Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Subhash Malkhede tells TNM that the location of the vulture breeding centre is yet to be finalised. If any conservationists have an ideal location in mind, they can share it with forest officials, he adds. “We have sought expert opinion and Dr Vibhu Prakash has been invited to locate an ideal site for the breeding centre and also release sites,” he says, adding, “Owing to COVID-19, Vibhu Prakash has not been able to arrive in Bengaluru from Haryana.” The APCCF assured that a suitable location will be identified and proper steps will be initiated to start the breeding centre for vultures. Girisha is a freelancer who writes on wildlife and environmental issues.
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Bengaluru woman stuck between car door and tree dies, accident caught on CCTV
The incident took place at Bengaluru’s upscale Sadashivanagar neighbourhood.
CCTV stills
In a freak accident, a 45-year-old woman died on the spot, after she got crushed between a tree and her car’s door on Wednesday. The incident has been reported from Bengaluru’s upscale Sadashivanagar neighbourhood and took place as she inadvertently turned on the ignition of her parked car, without fully getting inside the vehicle. The issue came to light when neighbours spotted the victim, Nandini Rao, lying unconscious on the pavement. The police were alerted and she was rushed to Columbia Asia Hospital where she was declared brought dead. Police said that she died as a result of her fatal head injury. CCTV footage of the incident, captured from a security camera placed on a building on the opposite side of the road, shows the woman approaching the car and opening the door. She turns on the ignition even as she stands by the door, and the car quickly moves backward, trapping her between the door of her luxury sedan and the tree. Police suspect this mishap happened as the car was left in reverse gear. Sadashivnagar Traffic Police Station has registered a case of “self-accident”. Police said that the fatal accident could have been prevented, if a standard practice of putting the hand brakes on, had been followed. Trigger Warning: Visuals of the accident Freak accident in Bengaluru. Woman dies after getting crushed between car door and tree pic.twitter.com/23LTwIyJ15 — Soumya Chatterjee (@Csoumya21) October 9, 2020 A police officer in the know said, “This is a very unusual accident. We are seeing this for the first time in our police station at least. In the CCTV footage, we saw that she started the car without getting inside the vehicle and as the vehicle was in reverse gear, she was dragged and got crushed between the tree and the car door.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nandini, who lived with her husband Harish, an engineer, and their child would not go out often, police said. However, they would come out to turn on the ignition of the car once in a while. Wednesday’s mishap had occurred while Nandini was doing the same.
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Bengaluru sees 5000-plus COVID-19 cases for third consecutive day
There are 60,197 active cases in the city.
Bengaluru saw 5,000 cases or more for the third consecutive day, recording 5,121 cases on Thursday. 3,505 people were reported to have recovered and 43 died, according to the bulletin by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. Thursday’s cases take the active cases in the city to 60,197. Cumulatively, the city has seen 2,67,362 cases, of which there have been 2,03,931 recoveries and 3,234 deaths. The active containment zones continued to remain at 18. Karnataka on Thursday recorded 10,704 fresh cases of coronavirus and 101 related fatalities, taking the infection count to 6.79 lakh and the toll to 9,675, the health department said. The day also saw 9,613 patients getting discharged after recovery. Out of 10,704 fresh cases reported on Thursday, 5,121 cases were from Bengaluru urban alone. As of October 8 evening, cumulatively 6,79,356 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 9,675 deaths and 5,52,519 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin. It said out of 1.17 lakh active cases, 1,16,290 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 853 are in ICU. Of the total 101 deaths reported on Thursday, 43 are from Bengaluru urban, followed by Mysuru 12, Dakshina Kannada 6, Kalaburgai, Kolara and Tumakuru 5, Bagalkote and Ballari 3, and others. Most of the dead are either with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-like illness (ILI). Among the districts where new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban is accounting for 5,121, Mysuru 642, Tumakuru 509, Hassan 441, Bengaluru Rural 368, Dakshina Kannada 296, followed by others. Bengaluru urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 2.67 lakh infections, followed by Mysuru 40,232 and Ballari 33,763. A total of over 56.29 lakh samples have been tested so far, out of which 1.05 lakh were tested on Thursday alone, and 51,221 among them were rapid antigen tests.
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Trump team proposes new Presidential debate dates, Biden rejects
The Presidential debates were to be originally held on September 28, October 15 and 22.
US President Donald Trump's election campaign on Thursday proposed pushing back the dates of the remaining two presidential debates dates by a week, a move immediately rejected by the Joe Biden campaign. The Presidential debates were to be originally held on September 28, October 15 and 22. The Trump campaign's proposal came hours after the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) said that the second debate scheduled in Miami on October 15 will take the form of a town meeting, in which the candidates would participate from separate, remote locations. The commission cited the safety of all involved for the online event. Trump refused to participate in it, calling it a "waste of time". "I'm not going to do a virtual debate. I'm not going to waste my time at a virtual debate. That's not what debating is all about. It's ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want," Trump told Fox News in a telephonic interview soon after the format changes were announced. The Trump campaign said the dates must be changed instead of changing the format of the debate, alleging the commission wants to shift the attention from Vice President Mike Pence's performance against challenger Kamala Harris in the vice presidential debate on Wednesday. "As President Trump said a virtual debate is a non-starter and would clearly be a gift to Biden because he would be relying on his teleprompter from his basement bunker. Voters should have the opportunity to directly question Biden's 47-year failed record of leadership," said Bill Stepien, 'Trump 2020' campaign manager. "We agree that this should happen on October 22, and accordingly, the third debate should then be shifted back one week to October 29. The commission and the media cannot hide Joe Biden forever. Americans deserve to hear directly from both presidential candidates on these dates, October 22 and 29, Stepien said. The Biden campaign completely dismissed the proposal. Donald Trump doesn't make the debate schedule; the Debate Commission does, said 'Biden for President' deputy campaign manager and communications director Kate Bedingfield. We accepted the three dates September 29, October 15, and October 22 in June. Trump chose today to pull out of the October 15th debate. Trump's erratic behaviour does not allow him to rewrite the calendar, and pick new dates of his choosing, she said. We look forward to participating in the final debate, scheduled for October 22, which already is tied for the latest debate date in 40 years. Donald Trump can show up, or he can decline again. That's his choice," Bedingfield said. Responding to reporters, Biden avoided a directed answer. I don't know what the president is going to do. He changes his mind every second. For me to comment on that now would be irresponsible. I think that if I can follow the commission's recommendations if he goes off and has a rally, I'll I don't know what I'll do, said the Democratic presidential candidate. Trump alleged that everybody is trying to protect Biden. They tried to protect Biden. Everybody is. They're trying -- like that NBC disaster where he went on the show with Lester Holt. It was like it was meant for a child. It wasn't meant for a grown person, he said.
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Thursday, October 8, 2020
All you need to know about Bengaluru suburban rail project
The project has been long advocated by citizen activists as an easy, low cost fix to Bengaluru’s ever-growing traffic congestion problem.
Image for representation
To the joy of rail activists in Bengaluru, the Union government’s Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs on Wednesday cleared the long-awaited dedicated suburban railway service for the city. Even though the official announcement was not made on account of the model code of conduct ahead of the November 3 bye-polls, it has been reliably learnt that the final seal of approval for this anticipated project has been made with the cost estimated at Rs 15,800 crore. The project has been long advocated by citizen activists as an easy, low cost fix to Bengaluru’s ever-growing traffic congestion and resultant pollution problem. Unlike Bengaluru, both Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata have a strong suburban rail network while Delhi has a 389-km strong functional metro network across 10 corridors. On the contrary, Bengaluru till date has a metro network of less than 50 km in two corridors. With the detailed project report yet to be made public, it is unclear at this point what changes have been further made to the previously decided four corridors of suburban rail spanning over 148-km as the project cost has been curtailed by around Rs 3,000 crore. The four corridors The dedicated rail service will cover 148 km in length including 55 km of elevated tracks while the remaining will be at the ground level. Out of the proposed 57 stations, 21 will be elevated while another 36 will be at grade level. 1) Bengaluru City (Majestic/KSR)-Devanahalli (Airport) 2) Byappanahalli-Yeshwantpur- Chikkabanavara 3)Kengeri-Cantonment-Whitefield 4) Heelalige-Byappanahalli- Rajanukunte. Reasons for optimism While officials say that the work for the airport line will be ready in the first four years (by 2025), work in all the lines can be ready by 2027. According to a pre-feasibility study conducted by Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES), the ridership in this dedicated rail service will be double the pre-COVID-19 Metro’s (4.5 lakh) daily ridership. RITES had estimated the daily trips in these routes can touch up to 9 lakh+ (9,28,432) by 2025. In 2031 and 2041, the daily ridership could even go higher up to daily trips touching 12 lakh+ (12,41,283) and 16 lakh+ (16,83,177), RITES had found. Compared to the slow expansion of the metro network, the work is likely to get over fast given many of the stations already have some sort of basic infrastructure ready and most of the work involves laying of tracks in railway land. Causes for concern While the project has been finally approved by the Union government 37 years after it was first proposed, activists remain cautiously optimistic given the project had been put on hold by both successive state and Union governments. As per the earlier agreement between the state and Union government, 40% of the project costs will be shared equally between Centre and Karnataka while 60% will be raised through an external funding agency. Activists feel that fund flow should not be a cause of projects getting delayed. Further unlike other suburban rail projects in the country, the project is not fully funded by the government, and this could potentially increase fares.
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Biocon Foundation gives Rs 65 crore to Bengaluru Metro to build station
The CSR wing of the Biocon group of companies signed an MoU to contribute Rs 65 crore towards the construction of the station.
Bengaluru-based Biocon Foundation announced on Thursday that it had entered a partnership with the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to build the proposed metro station at Hebbagodi on Hosur Road. The foundation, which is the CSR wing of the Biocon group of companies, signed an MoU to contribute Rs 65 crore towards the construction of the station. The MoU was signed by Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and BMRCL Managing Director Ajay Seth. Biocon Foundation announced that it will approach the Karnataka government to name the station 'Biocon Hebbagodi Metro Station'. The press release regarding the same said, "As a recognition of Biocon Foundation’s contribution to society, BMRCL will approach the Government of Karnataka jointly with Biocon Foundation for naming the Hebbagodi Metro Station as ‘Biocon Hebbagodi Metro Station’." Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said that the metro station will help ease traffic congestion on Hosur Road. “We are pleased to partner with BMRCL for the construction of the Metro station at Hebbagodi on Hosur Road. Through our contribution of Rs 65 crore, we are fulfilling our responsibility towards environmental sustainability by providing an alternate means of mobility for the citizens of Bengaluru. This project will help in easing traffic congestion by enabling greater use of public transportation," she said. Ajay Seth also welcomed the partnership with Biocon and said that BMRCL was looking to add 128 km of new metro networks in the next five years. “We are extremely happy to have Biocon Foundation for coming forth with their support for Sustainable Urban Development and Urban Transport. BMRCL is committed to and is working actively to add 128 km of new metro network in the coming five years,” he added. The Hebbagodi Metro station is part of the new 18.82 km-long metro line from RV Road to Bommasandra (Reach 5), being constructed under Phase II of the Bangalore Metro Rail Project at a cost of Rs 5,744 Crore. A foot bridge is also planned to be built on Hosur Road close to the station. The development comes two years after the Infosys Foundation similarly came forward to provide funds for a metro station in Electronic City. Biocon had announced then that it would contribute for the station coming up at Hebbagodi.
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