Karnataka HC orders stay on construction in Bengaluru's Cubbon Park

Environment

The HC order came after the Cubbon Park Walkers' Association (CPWA) filed a PIL against the construction projects earlier in January.

TNM Staff

Representational image

Walking enthusiasts in Bengaluru are delighted with the Karnataka High Court’s decision to restrain construction projects in the city’s Cubbon Park. The Cubbon Park Walkers’ Association (CPWA) welcomed the court order and looks forward to more steps towards conserving the park in the future. The High Court on Monday issued an interim stay on the ongoing construction of a new building in Cubbon Park, which belongs to the Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association. Apart from that, the court has also directed not to occupy the building which belongs to the Horticultural Producers' Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society (HOPCOMS) without prior permission from the court. This order was issued in response to the Public Interest Litigation filed against the construction of buildings inside the parks by the CPWA on January 15, 2021. “We have already filed two petitions to the Karnataka Lokayukta-- one back in 2013 and another in 2019-- against these illegal constructions inside the park. All these are illegal constructions made in encroached areas. But there has been no proper action taken so far. It is only after a long wait that we had moved the High Court this year. It is very saddening that the 300-acre park has now shrunk to just 100 acres,” Dr Umesh, advocate and President of the CPWA alleged. He added that there are both public and private-owned buildings in Cubbon Park currently. According to him, there are 14 properties inside the park premises, out of which 11 belong to the government and three to private properties including the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and Century Club.  While talking about the High Court order, Dr Umesh said, “We on behalf of the Bengaluru citizens, walkers and environmentalists thank the Chief Justice of the HC for having great concern towards environmental conservation”. He also expressed his concern over the lack of maintenance of the park. “Both Lalbagh and Cubbon Park come under the same regulation of laws, but the government officials hardly give attention to the latter. I feel that there is partiality in that regard. Lalbagh has a proper compound wall and security system whereas Cubbon Park does not”. He also added that Cubbon Park is located in a central location in Bengaluru, which is very close to the High Court and Vidhan Soudha. Many VIPs use the park regularly, which imposes a threat to them because of the lack of a security system. 

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10-year-old wins Bal Puraskar for innovative game ‘Corona Yuga’

Award

Veer Kashyap, a student from Kochi, built the board game during the lockdown in Bengaluru.

TNM Staff

Twitter

A 10-year-old boy received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2021 for excellence in the field of innovation. Veer Kashyap, a student of Navy Children School, Kochi, built a board game during the lockdown induced by COVID-19 pandemic in Bengaluru. With the aim of educating and creating awareness about the coronavirus and the ensuing situation prevailing in the world, Veer created this board game. He named the board game ‘Corona Yuga’ by designing the infamous coronavirus shape on cardboard, using materials available at home. Veer’s game went viral after he posted a video of the same on YouTube. Corona Yuga, the game dedicated to COVID-19 warriors, is aimed at teaching safety guidelines to survive the pandemic by adopting behavioural changes. The game reflects the quarantine period, the importance of using hand sanitiser, social distancing, wearing masks etc. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, lauding Kashyap for his innovation, had tweeted, “An important message, said in a unique style. Veer Kashyap from Bengaluru created a game that seeks to keep people home and spread awareness about COVID-19. Happy that he has been conferred the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2021.”   An important message, said in a unique style. Veer Kashyap from Bengaluru created a game that seeks to keep people home and spread awareness about COVID-19. Happy that he has been conferred the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2021. pic.twitter.com/Kilbh1jAPS — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 25, 2021   Veer is originally from Delhi, but developed the board game around COVID-19 — which is now available online, during his prolonged lockdown vacation at his paternal grandparents’ home in Bengaluru, reported TNIE. The Bal Puraskar recipient aspires to start his own board game company to design and publish his games and encourage children to share their ideas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitated 32 young children, marking the occasion of India’s 72nd Republic Day, to show that age is no bar if one has the courage and intent to help others and make a difference in society. Seven awards have been given in the field of Art and Culture, nine awards for Innovation, five for Scholastic Achievements. Seven children won in the Sports category, while three have been felicitated for Bravery and one child has been honoured for her efforts in the field of Social Service.

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Karnataka cardiologist Dr BM Hegde awarded Padma Vibhushan

Padma Awards 2021

Dr Hegde was awarded the third highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan, in 2010.

TNM Staff

Leading cardiologist and educator from Udupi in Karnataka, Dr Belle Monappa Hegde has been named among the list of Padma Awardees announced by Government of India on Monday evening. Dr Hegde was awarded the third highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan, in 2010. The 82-year-old doctor has been conferred with the Padma Vibhushan for his contributions to the field of medicine. Dr BM Hegde had trained as a cardiologist at the Harvard Medical School and also has a degree in Ayurveda from the Stanley Medical College, Chennai. Apart from being the Co-Chairman of the TAG-VHS Diabetes Research Centre in Chennai, Dr Hegde also has the distinction of being the chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mangaluru and former Vice Chancellor of Manipal University. He is also a prolific author with 35 books in both English and Kannada on medicine to his credit. He is also currently the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of the Science of Healing Outcomes which is a medical journal. He has served on the boards of several medical and engineering colleges and universities across the country. Dr Hegde was the Emeritus International Advisor to The Royal College of Physicians of London and Edinburgh and also the first Indian examiner for the MRCP examination in the UK for 10 years. The veteran doctor has published over 289 research papers both in India and abroad. But his career has not been without controversy, as he has often been accused of propagating pseudoscience as well.  Topics of his well-publicised research papers include use of silver nanoparticles infused with water for curing malaria in three days and a theory that states that 'quantum healing' can bring sick persons back to normal which courted multiple controversies.  In February 2019, when Dr Hegde was a guest speaker at IIT-Madras’ seminar 'Matters that Matter', a group of research students who were opposed to his theories on quantum healing held posters and placards calling his a propagator of “pseudoscience and quackery"  and had protested his presence on the panel. By combining various forms of medicine including Ayurveda and allopathy, Dr Hegde practices what he calls a holistic treatment. A vegetarian by choice, Hegde has often spoken about not meddling with the body’s self mechanism unless absolutely required.

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Bengaluru police halt entry of tractors into city ahead of farmers’ Republic Day rally

Farmer's Protest

Bengaluru Police Commissioner has said the farmers should come in cars, buses and jeeps instead.

TNM Staff

Representative Image/PTI

Bengaluru City Police on Monday halted the entry of tractors into the city ahead of the planned Republic Day farmers’ parade, citing that the tractors will cause inconvenience to the public. However, this has triggered outrage among civil society groups who are now lending their support.  "If farmers come in cars, buses and jeeps, there is no problem. Whatever permissions we have been giving (for rallies) will be given. There is no permission to do any tractor rally," Kamal Pant, Bengaluru Police Commissioner told reporters.  It was earlier reported that several farmer groups in Karnataka had decided to take out a tractor rally on Republic Day in Bengaluru to show solidarity with the farmers in Delhi. The farmers coming from various parts of the city were set to assemble in Freedom Park on Tuesday afternoon. As widely reported, farmers camped in Delhi have beeen protesting against the three contentious farm laws for more than two months. A Republic Day rally is set to be held on the Outer Ring Road.  “In some districts and outside the Bengaluru limits, some farmers are being stopped. We have requested the police authorities to allow the farmers to come to the city as we will hold peaceful protests only. Now if the farmers can’t make their way into the city because of this, then we will not be responsible if the farmers block highways,” Khet Mazdoor Congress President Sachin Meega told TNM. He added some farmers with their tractors have already made their way into the city for the parade. "We have sought police permission to lead the protest rally in 10,000 tractors to Freedom Park in city from Nelamangla in solidarity with our colleagues in the northern region who are going to Delhi in thousands of tractors, seeking repeal of the three anti-farmers laws," Kodihalli Chandrashekar, president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha told reporters. "As Delhi police allowed thousands of farmers to enter the national capital in tractors for their protest rally after the Republic Day parade, the city police should not prevent us from staging a similar rally," asserted Chandrashekar, the president of the apex body of about 30 farmers' associations across the state.

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KPSC exam paper leak: Karnataka police make two more arrests

Crime

The police have arrested a total of 16 people so far and have seized cash and stolen vehicles.

TNM Staff

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Two more persons have been arrested in connection with the leaked question paper for the First Division Assistant (FDA) exam of the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) taking the total number of people arrested to 16. The exam was supposed to be held on 24 January by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) but was cancelled when the Committee learned that the question paper had been leaked.  Earlier, six persons were arrested on Sunday by the Crime Central Branch of police on Sunday in Bengaluru in connection with this case. The Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Bengaluru Sandeep Patil said, “We have seized the question paper, Rs 24 lakh cash and three stolen vehicles from them.” Based on a tip-off given to Jnanabharathi Police Station, a special team conducted raids in Ullal where the accused were arrested, a senior police officer from Central Crime Branch (CCB) said. The police also added that the stolen vehicles were being used to circulate the question papers to those who had paid some money in advance, a few days earlier. The KPSC informed that all of them were taken into custody for questioning. On Sunday, CCB Joint Commissioner Sandeep Patil, in a statement, said that the inputs were given by Rachappa and Chandru, the kingpins of the racket, helped arrest eight more in connection to the case on Sunday, taking the total of arrested persons to 14. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said on Sunday that officials who were allegedly involved in the question paper leak may be dismissed from service in response to the further arrests made in the case. “We will initiate stringent action against all those involved in the case. I am not only ready to suspend them but also dismiss them from the service,” he added. The KPSC was to conduct this exam for 1,112 vacancies for the post of First Division Assistant and a cumulative of 3.75 lakh aspirants had applied for the post across the state.

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States taking back Covid shots unused by nursing homes

Under pressure to speed up vaccinations, states are holding back or redirecting doses earmarked for long-term care facilities.

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New virus variants threaten Biden’s pandemic plans

The government is already collaborating with Moderna to develop vaccine booster shots aimed at strains first identified in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

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