Health officials told reporters that $650 million will be used to increase access to testing in non-medical settings, such as K-8 schools.
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Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Fauci: 'Non-workable' to vaccinate teachers before schools open
Fauci weighed into a heated debate on school reopening, wading where the Biden administration has often not been willing to go.
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Bengaluru's Turahalli tree park project stalled after citizens' opposition
In addition to sending petitions to the government, local residents also recently held a silent protest against the proposed project.
In a win for citizen activism in Bengaluru, the controversial move to set up a tree park within the 400 acres of Turahalli Minor Forest area has been temporarily stalled. Minister Limbavali also suggested that the project will be shifted elsewhere, after a discussion with the Chief Minister. This decision was taken during a joint inspection by Forest Minister Aravind Limbavalli and Cooperation Minister ST Somasekhar (who is the local MLA) on Wednesday, in the wake of citizens protesting against the move. “We have decided to temporarily stall the project. We are thinking of shifting the plan to set up the park elsewhere after discussing with the Chief Minister within the same constituency,” Limbavali announced. Vijay Nishanth, a Bengaluru-based eco-conservationist termed this as a win for the city. He said, “It's very important to keep forests in its pristine state. It's very important that the government listens to people.” Tree parks, unlike horticulture parks, are established near cities for urban dwellers to experience nature and indulge in activities like cycling, yoga and meditation. But local residents and environmental activists opposed the move as it was being set up at the expense of a natural forest. Turahalli is located 20 km away from Kanakapura Road in the outskirts of Bengaluru city. The forest is a nesting ground for peacocks and is home to over 120 species of birds, more than 29 species of butterflies and many species of small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, bees and wasps. In addition to sending petitions citing the legal problems with the move, many residents had gathered in a silent protest on Sunday morning demanding that the forest land be left untouched. Another such protest was also scheduled to be held for February 22 to oppose the project. Earlier this month, residents and conservationists in the area raised alarm about the presence of excavators, and questioned forest authorities about the clearances taken and the work orders issued for the proposed project. They also said that the forest is a nesting ground for peacocks and is home to over 120 species of birds, more than 29 species of butterflies and many species of small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, bees and wasps. The residents are against any activity taking place in the forest area. Read: Residents raise alarm about tree park in Turahalli forest area outside Bengaluru The tree park scheme was initiated in Karnataka in 2011-12 and a total of 132 tree parks have been developed across the state since then. The Turahalli tree park was planned as part of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s flagship project ‘Bengaluru Mission 2022’.
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EU OKs contract for 300 million more Moderna vaccine doses
The deal provides for the possibility of donating the vaccine to lower and middle-income countries if the EU has enough supplies.
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Both runways of Bengaluru airport to become functional on March 25
The north runway was closed for repairs in June 2020.
The north runway of Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport which is currently undergoing repairs will be reopened on March 25, according to the Airports Authority of India’s aeronautical information publication supplement. Currently, the airport is functioning with only the second or the south runway. This information was published by the AAI to inform all stakeholders including private airlines about the development. This runway was closed for operations in June 2020 after functioning non-stop for a decade. Airport officials had earlier said as many as 90 take-offs and touch-down in one hour can be carried out using the combined capacities once the first runway reopened. Incidentally, the airport is also the only Indian airport to have two parallel independent runways, which can work simultaneously. However, the old runway won’t be upgraded to the CAT IIIB (Category 3 Instrument Landing Systems for low visibility conditions) like the second runway, as announced earlier. An airport spokesperson said, “BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Limited) initially evaluated installation of the CAT III B facility for both runways at Bengaluru Airport based on pre-COVID-19 traffic demand. However, based on the outcome of stakeholder consultations and considering the drop in traffic due to the pandemic, the north runway, currently under refurbishment, will remain CAT I compliant.” “In addition, given that low visibility situations are limited at Bengaluru Airport to limited periods in the year, one CAT IIIB runway should suffice for seamless operations in the near term,” the spokesperson added. The second runway also known as the south runway had marked its first commercial flight landing on March 19, 2020 while take off operations had already begun in December, 2019 itself. This runway is CAT IIIB compliant. The first such landing was recorded on January 21, 2021 under foggy conditions after visibility dropped to 200 metres. Airport officials had earlier said that CAT IIIB system allows the airport to facilitate aircraft landing with visibility as low as 50 metres and take off at 125 metres. Previously, the permissible visual range was 550 metres and 300 metres, for landing and take-off, respectively.
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Bengaluru farmers' group calls Disha's arrest 'inhuman', Cong leaders support activist
The statement by the farmer group Aikya Horaata, a farmers' collective, described Disha's arrest as 'inhuman'.
Protest in Bengaluru over arrest of Disha Ravi
A coalition of farmers in Karnataka issued a statement on Wednesday in support of 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi and condemned her arrest by the Delhi police. The statement by the farmer group Aikya Horaata described the Delhi police's action of arresting Disha Ravi from her home in north Bengaluru as 'inhuman'. "On the evening of 13 February, 2021, the Delhi Police illegally took away Disha Ravi, a volunteer of an organisation named ‘Fridays for Future’ from her house in Soladevanahalli in Bengaluru to Delhi without giving proper information to her parents. A court in Delhi has ordered her to be kept in police custody for five days. It is an inhuman act to submit a woman who wants to work voluntarily for protecting the environment to five days of police custody," read the statement. The statement added that many students had voiced their support for the protest by farmers outside Delhi against the Union government's farm laws. "Many students, including Disha, and other youth have given support to our struggle. This is because they know that this struggle is not only related to farmers, but is a struggle for the future of our country. These youngsters have understood that if the Farm Laws are brought into force, climate change will increase and agriculture by small farmers will be replaced by agriculture companies.Therefore, they are fighting against the laws," the statement said. Disha Ravi was arrested by the Delhi police on Saturday and remanded to five days of custody by a Delhi court. She was charged with editing a toolkit or a Google document sharing information about the farm laws protest which was tweeted by international climate activist Greta Thunberg. It is to be noted that toolkits are documents that contain basic information on any campaign, tweet suggestions, hashtags and who to tag on social media. They're used commonly in social media campaigns, including those of political parties in India. The FIR by the Delhi police in this case does not specifically mention Disha Ravi but she has been charged with criminal conspiracy and sedition. Alongside the farmer group, a few Congress leaders voiced their support for Disha Ravi. Laxmi Hebbalkar took to social media to state her support: "21 year old Climate Change activist Disha Ravi, from our lingayat community was taken away to Delhi from Bengaluru and is being charged with sedition for supporting the farmers' protests." "I also would like to bring to your notice the clamp on student activism in the state. The current politics has made it hostile for students to freely voice their opinions and take part in issues that are in the interest of the nation," adds the post. Congress MLA Sowmya Reddy took part in the protest in Bengaluru against the arrest of Disha Ravi on Monday.
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Ram Mandir: Siddaramaiah questions fund drive, HDK says he was threatened
Door-to-door collection of funds is going across the country under the ‘Sri Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpana Abhiyan’ campaign.
Two former Karnataka Chief Ministers, HD Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah have spoken strongly against the ongoing fund collection drive for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Many activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and the ruling BJP, among other such organisations, have been going door-to-door and collecting funds across the country under the ‘Sri Ram Mandir Nidhi Samarpana Abhiyan’ campaign. The two leaders questioned under what authority these organisations are collecting funds and who will give clarity on the amount of money collected for the purpose and on the money collected before by these organisations for the same cause. “I am not against construction of temples; I am against the donation by private entities. Who gave them permission? They are threatening people. Even I am a victim. Three persons came to my house including one lady and they threatened me by asking 'why you are not giving money. '” Kumaraswamy said, while speaking to reporters on Wednesday. "They said Rama’s temple is our country’s prime issue. Was there any authorisation? I request the VHP people to be please transparent. Even in 1989, LK Advani had collected money. Who will give account of that money? They have to be publish the details," he added. On Monday, Kumaraswamy had questioned the practice of marking the homes of donors and compared the practice by the Sangh Parivar as “similar to what the Nazi party did during Adolf Hitler’s regime in Germany”. “It appears that those collecting donations for the construction of Ram Mandir have been separately marking the houses of those who paid money and those who did not. This is similar to what Nazis did in Germany during the regime of Hitler when lakhs of people lost their lives,” HDK had said as part of a series of tweets. “Historians say that RSS took birth at the same time when the Nazi Party was founded in Germany. There are concerns about what will happen if the RSS tries to implement similar policies adopted by Nazis. The fundamental rights of people are being snatched away in the country now,” he added. Read: HD Kumaraswamy questions Sangh for marking houses of Ram Mandir donors Read: How the Sangh is collecting funds for Ayodhya Ram temple Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that he will not contribute to this drive due to the disputed nature of the land and instead said he is willing to donate if a temple is being built elsewhere. He added that while the Supreme Court has given its verdict on the matter, there is still lingering controversy surrounding the issue. He also questioned the funds that were collected earlier by these organisations for the same purpose.
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