‘Not differentiating science from quackery’: Scientists slam UGC ‘cow science’ circular

Controversy

Several scientists have expressed worries that pseudoscience would actually reduce the prestige of Indian achievements.

Shishir Rao

IMAGE FOR REPRESENTATION (CREDITS: RASHTRIYA KAMDHENU AAYOG)

Several scientists and scientific forums have criticised the University Grants Commission (UGC) after it sent circulars to universities across the county for an online voluntary national-level exam called ‘Kamdhenu Gau Vigyan Prachar Prasar Exam’, to test students’ knowledge on “cow science”. The Rastriya Kamadhenu Aayog (RKA) has labelled this event under “vigyan prachar”, dissemination of science. Forums have said that the UGC has chosen to not differentiate science from quackery. The Breakthrough Science Society, a non-profit science organisation, said in a statement, “Education should give knowledge and awareness to be able to question tall claims, such as the Indian cow’s ‘special powers to absorb the sun’s energy… leading to more nourishing milk’. For an education agency, specifically vested with the responsibility of dissemination of modern education in the country, to prostrate itself before blatant attempts at promotion of specific ideology is a dangerous sign, and does not bode well for the education and science in the country.” RKA was set up by the Union Government under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying to encourage conservation, protection and development of cows and their progeny. Breakthrough Science Society’s statement further added, “Instead of promoting scientific temper in education, the UGC, in asking institutions under it to attempt to gather evidence for the tall claims being spouted in the RKA’s “study material”, and thus asking educational institutions under its care to embrace pseudoscience, has chosen to forget its raison d’etre.” Several scientists have expressed worries that pseudoscience would actually reduce the prestige of indian achievements and also prevent us from being proud of what we actually need to be proud of. Speaking to TNM, scientist and senior professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics Jayanth Murthy said, “If some private charity wants to conduct these exams it is not wrong. But the UGC being a government body asking universities to conduct them to promote a particular agenda is wrong. Science works by proposing a theory and trying to prove it, but now what they are doing is that they state an idea without any theory as to how something could work except miracles.. The danger with this approach (of glorifying pseudoscience) is that there is much for us to be proud of our past like Aryabhata when he added the ‘0’ and so many others. All this does is make one disbelieve all this real glory of our past and be proud of all the wrong things.”

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Begin restoring three Bengaluru lakes: Karnataka HC orders BBMP

Environment

The bench further directed the civic body to erect fences around the lakes after they agreed to start the restoration process of the following lakes.

TNM Staff

Representative Image/Wikimedia Commons/Shyamal

The Karnataka High Court has ordered the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to implement and initiate measures to restore Arehalli, Kamakshipalya and Tavarekere lakes based on the recommendations made by CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in their Phase one report. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum passed the verdict based on parts of the report containing restoration plans for these three lakes.   The court had been hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition cases pertaining to the issues of lake and stormwater drain maintenance. According to The Hindu, the bench further advised the civic body to include residents in the restoration work; they observed that the work cannot be done without their assistance. The court ordered the BBMP to take measures to de-water the Arehalli lake before desilting and removing the sediment up to a depth of three metres. Subsequently, works for removal of unwanted silt up to a depth of two metres and deepening of Tavarekere lake will be undertaken as per the recommendations of NEERI— planting perennial plants like crocuses, tulips, irises and delphiniums and introduce fish/larvivorous fish species in the lake to control mosquito. The bench further directed the civic body to erect fences around the lakes after they agreed to start the restoration process of the following lakes. BBMP had expressed reservations in restoration and deepening of the Kamakshipalya lake on the grounds that the area is small, the bench, however, directed them to seek NEERI’s opinion and asked them to comply if NEERI advises immediate action. The NEERI is expected to submit a detailed plan in their Phase two report. Concurrently, the bench directed the BBMP to submit a report by April 15 to monitor the implementation of the NEERI report. L Venkatesh, Executive Engineer of the civic body’s lake department, confirmed the same while Chief Engineer Mohan Krishna BT remained unavailable for comment. NEERI Report CSIR-NEERI studied nearly 210 lakes of Bengaluru and prepared a comprehensive report—which was submitted in the Karnataka High Court in the second week of February—in which they suggested long-term and short-term measures to rejuvenate the lakes. In their report, they stated that only 21 of 210 lakes in the city have water fit for drinking. The report also stated that those lakes were termed as disused lakes and except Arehalli and Tavarkere, others were encroached upon. The report suggested that desilting and dredging are essential to restore the water in lakes. 

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COVID-19: Karnataka to use marshals to enforce COVID-19 guidelines in wedding halls

COVID-19

The Health Minister said the government is making efforts to improve vaccination numbers.

TNM Staff

Representational image

Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Monday said that marshals will be deployed in marriage halls across the state to ensure COVID-19- guidelines like wearing masks and physical distancing is followed in the wake of rise in cases in the state. Further, he said that catering service providers should be tested before they are deployed for events. Dr K Sudhakar made these announcements during a virtual meeting with district administrations in the state. A detailed standard operating procedure or a circular on the same issue is yet to be issued by the government. Earlier marshalls in Bengaluru and other urban areas in the state were deployed to check enforcement of mask rule and collect fines in case of violations. “Meetings and gatherings are happening in violation of the COVID-19 guidelines. We may have to enforce strict guidelines if cases increase. We don’t want a situation like Maharashtra where lockdown has been reimposed in certain areas,” Dr Sudhakar told reporters. The state Health Minister reminded that entry into Karnataka from Maharashtra and Kerala will be allowed only with a negative RT-PCR test as a preventive measure. He also said that the state government is trying to improve vaccination numbers. “More than 4.24 lakh health department employees and 1.20 lakh front line warriors have been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. We are cleaning up registration data by eliminating duplicate entries. We have a target of 80% and 90% coverage for Health Department staff and frontline warriors respectively by the end of this month. All officials have been requested to get the dose,” the minister said. He also added that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa himself is monitoring the vaccination drive and will be conducting a video conference with officials this weekend. Bengaluru is lagging in vaccination.  Bagalakote, Bengaluru, Dharwad have registered less than 50% coverage. Meanwhile districts like Chikkaballapura (79%), Tumkur (78%) Uttara Kannada (73%), Gadag (71%) and Chikkamagaluru (70%) and Chamarajnagar (70%) have achieved more than 70%.

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Disha Ravi sent back to police custody for one day

Disha Ravi

The Delhi police had sought five more days of custody to confront Disha with the other two accused, Nikita and Shantanu.

TNM Staff

A Delhi court on Monday sent 22-year-old Bengaluru-based climate activist Disha Ravi to one day police custody as it turned down Delhi police’s request for five days police custody. Disha has already spent eight days in custody — first five days in police custody and then was remanded to three days in judicial custody. She was produced in Delhi’s Patiala House Court after her three-day judicial custody ended. The Delhi police claimed that they had to question the young activist more and sought five more days of custody. A Sessions Court in Delhi is due to pronounce orders on her bail plea on Tuesday, February 23.  Appearing for the Delhi police, the Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) claimed that in her interrogation, Disha has shifted the burden to others accused — Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk — in the case. Shantanu and Nikita on Monday appeared before the Delhi police in connection with the case. “I have to confront her with the other accused, Nikita and Shantanu. They came to Delhi today (Monday) morning,” the prosecutor told the court. “We have seven more days as Nikita's transit bail ends in three weeks and Shantanu's in ten days. Those two accused persons are given protection therefore we are here helpless,” the APP added.  “There are 60-70 more people who participated in the Zoom meeting. We are investigating the case and we need cyber experts to probe it as well. We can't close all evidence until we confront her,” the APP said. Appearing for Disha, advocate Siddharth Agrawal asked why Disha had to be in custody when the other two have relief and have even appeared before police for investigation. Agarwal told the court that police custody is justified only when investigation is otherwise not possible. “I (Disha) was in Bengaluru. I was not here. Those two people (Nikita and Shantanu) are not in custody. The investigation is not throttled,” the lawyer told the court. “If the interrogation of an accused is possible even when he is in judicial custody, then the issue of seeking police remand should not be encouraged,” he added.  Disha’s counsel submitted to the court that the police have already had eight days to question her, and 12 paragraphs in the Delhi police’s application to the court seeking further custody are identical to the application filed by the police on February 14.  “They are arguing as if this is the first police remand being asked. They are arguing as if the facts are being known by them for the first time today,” advocate Siddharth Agarwal told the court. “It is just a way to get Disha back to police custody,” he added.  Disha’s counsel pointed out that she was not a part of the Zoom meeting, and said, “The issue is that they want to talk about everything else and everyone else to say that she did something wrong.” Agarwal also argued that the police should not be granted remand by the trial court without any justification. “Remand can be asked for only cases where there is necessity. Magistrate should refrain from giving remand where there are chances of police extracting confessions,” Agrawal said. “The other two accused are not in remand and the investigation has not been throttled. Today investigation can be done through virtual conference links also,” Agrawal said. Earlier, on February 19, the same court had sent Disha to three-further days of judicial custody. Disha’s judicial custody ended on Monday and her bail order is reserved for Tuesday. Disha was arrested on February 13 by the Delhi Police in connection with the probe into the ‘toolkit’ or the Google document on farmers’ protests under controversial circumstances. Disha’s lawyers say she was flown to Delhi without a transit remand following detention by the Delhi police. It is to be noted that toolkits are nothing but Google Documents or Word documents often used to organise a social media campaign or to plan protests. A toolkit contains basic information on any issue, tweet suggestions and information on what hashtags to use, whom to tag on social media, etc. These documents are regularly used by various individuals and groups, including political parties, to organise social media campaigns and mobilise crowds. It is to be noted that a separate Delhi court bench is hearing her bail plea and has reserved orders for Tuesday, February 23. During the hearing on Saturday, Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana had questioned the lack of material evidence against Disha during the bail hearing. Appearing for the Delhi Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju opposed bail for Disha and said that it was not a simple ‘toolkit', that the ‘toolkit’ preceded the violence that took place in Delhi on January 26 and that it was linked to the Khalistani movement through the Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF), a Canada based organisation. However, the ASG said that the PJF was not a banned organisation. 

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Vaccination sprint threatens to leave behind minority communities

More contagious virus variants are adding pressure to speed up vaccinations, complicating efforts to ensure hard-to-reach communities don't get left behind.

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‘Exceedingly deep convictions’: Inside Xavier Becerra’s quest for health care for immigrants

Biden’s HHS nominee would have multiple levers to help undocumented workers obtain medical coverage.

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Day after capture of tiger, calf killed in suspected leopard attack in Kodagu

Wildlife

However, forest officials speculate that the calf may have been killed by a leopard as well.

Soumya Chatterjee

Following a slew of attacks on people as well as animals in Karnataka’s Kodagu, another calf was killed suspectedly of a tiger attack on Monday. The calf’s death comes after officials captured a tiger, which is suspected to be responsible for the death of two persons, a 16-year-old boy and 60-year-old woman, in Kodagu’s Ponnampet taluk. Due to the close proximity of time and distance between the incidents, forest officials believed that the same tiger was responsible for both the deaths. The death of the calf on Monday morning comes after the tiger suspected of killing the two people, was captured by the forest department. As reported earlier, forest officials captured the animal with the help of trained elephants. Though its capture came as a relief for local residents, their sense of fear is back after the calf’s death on Monday. Read: Tiger suspected to have killed two people in Kodagu captured “We are not sure if Monday’s calf killing was done by a tiger as of now. It may have been a leopard, too, behind this calf killing. We are combing the area to spot pug marks and ascertain the details. The area is around 2 km from where the tiger was captured yesterday,” Hiralal, Chief Conservator of Forests and a senior Indian Forest Service officer, told TNM. Meanwhile, reports of the heads of cattle being found, suspectedly killed by big cats in Virajpet taluk, have also surfaced. This has prompted district and forest authorities to comb the area for the animals. Vijaykumar Gogi, senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Wildlife, had told TNM that the animal in question is a tigress of around nine years, who has an injury on her right paw. It is now being treated by the forest department and is unlikely to be released back into the wild, as it is old and injured. Read: Tiger kills woman in Kodagu, second such death within 24 hours Kodagu, located in Western Ghats, is a tourist hotspot and has been the site of increased human-tiger conflict in recent months. Conservationists suggest that recurrence of these events are due to loss of habitat, increased encroachment of forests and cutting off of migration paths of wild animals due to road and rail projects.  

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