Vol. 12 Issue 11
Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore
18 October, 2012
By Reshma Tarwani
Photo: Reshma Tarwani
THE number of disabled people looking for work in Karnataka has doubled in the past year. More than one crore disabled adults don’t have a job in the state, according to statistics. Some of the world’s biggest companies are involved in shunning those less able-bodied, according to an NGO activist. An NGO activist Narayan Nagrajan, Association of People with Disability (APD) said:“Companies like IBM, Wipro and Infosys all have 15 to 20%
reservations for disabled but still they are reluctant to give them employment.” Those struggling to find work claim they are being discriminated against, in their hunt for a job. Vijay Nayak, Placement and Network Co-ordinate, BBMP said:”The Karnataka government doesn’t have any employment opportunities for them. Many disabled people claim that industries are harassing them”. Adults who are less ablebodied have been facing severe problems of unemployment for the last three years.
Ashutosh, a physically challenged adult, was taunted by his previous employers and co-workers. This forced him to quit his job and he still remains unemployed because of his condition.
Photo: Reshma Tarwani
No jobs for the disabled
Between 2011 and 2012 the number of disabled people increased from 10, 80, 455 to 20, 44,370 crore. Ashutosh, a physically disabled adult from an NGO, said: “A year ago I joined an IT Company but they didn’t have proper infrastructure.” He added: “I could not climb the stairs. Employers were making fun of me so I left the organization.” Many disabled people like Ashutosh claim that they filed a complaint to the government about the discrimination but no action had been taken. According to the NGO the Association of People with Disability (APD), only 20% of disabled adults have been placed in different organizations. Shiva C Hiremanth, Assistant Director, APD, said: “State governments are not taking any major steps towards this problem; disabled people are facing a severe problem of unemployment.
“We have been trying our best to give them employment but industries are creating many
problems for them”. A recent survey of National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) says that Karnataka is facing our major problem of physical disability and mental disability because of child marriages and intra-family relationships. Mental retardation is the major cause of unemploymentfor disabled adults, they found.
Intake of nutrition is insufficient to fight malnutrition. has been on the rise over the ppast three years at Koppal and Bellary districts of Karnataka. The state believes child marriage and bad maternal health to be among the main reasons for the increase. Ms. Anita, in charge of statistical records at DWCD said: “Poor quality of breast milk and lack of awareness has led to such random statistics.”
Page 3 > First butterfly library in India
“Employers were making fun of me so I left the organization promptly ” - Ashutosh
Source: Manipal Hospital
STARVING children barely exist on state handouts of one egg every four days and less than two glasses of milk a week. Alarm bells are already ringing among charities and NGO's working in three districts in Karnataka where they say the numbers of severely malnourished children are on the rise. Nutritionists claim the paltry state handout is nowhere near enough to stave off malnutrition from these districts. “Apart from these other dietary supplements are also required such as iron and vitamins,” claims Dietician, Shruthilaya of Manipal Hospital. “Such basic food supplements are inadequate for their healthy long term survival.” she added.
Collaborating with central government, the state government has identified several districts in Karnataka that come under the “red” category. Severely malnourished and under-weight children fall under this category. The districts of Belgaum, Bellary and Koppal still remain in the shadow of malnutrition while the other districts have overcome the issue to some extent. The latest figures by Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD) dated August 2012, show that almost 5% of children in these districts still suffer from malnutrition. Speaking to the Observer, the DWCD said that malnutrition spikes in Karnataka are very drastic. According to National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR); malnutrition
Page 2 > Ill-treatment of animals a major concern
Association of People with Disability, one of the biggest NGO in Bangalore, is training the less-abled bodied in vocational courses to be self-sufficient.
Food supplements not enough to fight malnutrition among children By Sneha Banerjee
Page 2 > Job scam on the rise at Majestic
A Paramedic at Swami Vivekanda Blood Bank located at Bellary said that poor maternal health is a major cause for malnutrition in his area. “Lack of time and malnourishment forces mothers to opt for food supplements instead of breast milk. Malnourishment is established at neo-natal stage itself," he added.
Page 3 > Fake kidnapping gang scare cab drivers
Page 4 > Unhealthy slaughtering of chickens
Page 4 > Father to behead son if tradition is broken
City
The Weekly Observer
18 October, 2012 |
02
Well being of exotic animals at risk in the zoo Conman preys on illiterates
Crocodiles in their enclosure the animals. But we do try to prevent them from getting diseases by cleaning the zoo properly. “ Bannerghatta zoo is going to get more animals and birds. Construction work for the new animals is improving and is in progress. Rajashekhar, a zoo worker said: “There are 300 workers working on daily basis from 8:30
Elephants being taken care of by their caretakers
am to 5:30 pm. At night there are 50 workers. During the night time, the workers are understaffed. Emily, a tourist from US said: “This place is clean but it is covered with concrete buildings there is no nature or proper environment for animals for cohabitation.” Deputy Director veterinary Doctor Ramachandra said space is a problem for these animals but we try our maximum. Vaccinations are given three times annually but this exercise is pretty hectic for them. Shivkumar, an MCA student said: “It is not good to keep these wild animals in the zoo. It is better to leave them in their own natural environment. “ Anoop, Shivkumar’s friend said: “What should people do when they want to see these wild animals? They cannot go to the forest to observe them. Zoo is a good alternative. “ This zoo houses the highest concentration of carnivorous animals in the country. This is the country’s first butterfly park. It was opened to public in November 2006. This is one of the few animal national parks in the country that caters to wildlife on such a large scale. However, it is unfortunate that the there is a shortage of staff and animals end up being neglected.
A conman is selling free job application forms to illiterate people desperate for work. The vendor, Ganesh, is preying on those who cannot read by charging them up to Rs. 50 a time and making money out of the poor in the city. When informed Biswa, a customer, that most of the forms are available online and needs no charges, he said: “As I have no computer knowledge, I always rely on these street vendors for jobs.” He added: “I never doubted the authenticity of these forms.” Ganesh sells various job forms including those of the railways, BMTC, airways, Indian Army and SBI at Majestic road everyday till noon. Those buying the forms are told they are for railway jobs in Karnataka but the forms clearly state that they are for jobs in the North Eastern Railway. Suresh, a buyer of railway form, said: “I have previously purchased such forms from him and did not read them carefully before filling and submitting it.” He added: “I cannot read well and mostly I make my friends fill up the form for me.” Job forms are sold under such false pretences by many such vendors. The passersby often form
One of the fake application forms sold at Majestic. crowds near such stalls thinking the offered job forms are genuine. Few more street vendors like Ganesh sell job forms which are not even valid. Expired job forms for Army, Viswesvaraiah University and many more are sold on streets and customers purchase them without noticing the dates. Krishna, a buyer of PUC form, said: “A few days back I purchased a PUC form for the post of village accountant post but later on I realized that the form had already expired twenty days back.” When confronted Ganesh, he shrugged his shoulders and simply said: “We serve. It is up to you whether you eat or not.”
Photo: Debanti Roy
Photo:Satayjith G.D
By Debanti Roy
Photo:Satyajith G.D
By Satyajith G.D ANIMALS are being meglected at Bannerghatta zoo. The zoo is 25,473.08 acres of lush green forest cover and is around 20 km away from the city. The animals are not provided with proper food or enough space for their habitat. There are several exotic animals such as African zebra, Himalayan bear and red-crested pochard. They are not provided with proper food. They are not given enough space for their habitat. In certain cages there are more than 50 monkeys. The zoo is divided into four zones. For each zone there is one veterinary doctor appointed for it. Veterinary officer, Dr. Sanjay said: “In my custody there are more than 1, 600 carnivorous and herbivorous.” He added: “There are no doctors at night. If there is an emergency case, the workers call the doctors. There is one vacancy for a veterinarian doctor to be filled. “ When The Observer asked about how the animals are treated, he replied: “You know it is impossible to take care of all
Fake job forms sold openly at Majestic
Corporation in crisis over massive debts By Krishnaprasad S MUNICIPAL corporation is facing a debt of Rs. 2000 crores which is led to development work coming to a standstill. Several projects worth Rs. 288 crores have come to a halt. These projects include providing footpaths, development of children’s park at Jevraj Alva road in Sadashivnagar, new borewell at Vyalikaval football ground and development of Chikkalalbagh. The contractors have also been protesting at BBMP. These contrators have been protesting for the release of the funds for the work that they had already done but were not paid of. BBMP now is under scan for not having enough amounts in its account to spend on development works in Bangalore. In spite of the deficit, it has illegally made agreements with Adlabs Ltd for development works at Rs 28 crores. Various works that were
The table showing the details of payments and pending projects of BBMP started two years ago have now come to halt. The idea of pledging prominent buildings and locales of the BBMP like Utility building, K R
Market and Jayanagar 4th Block complex for Rs. 1000 crores is yet to be implemented. While Rs. 800 crores would be spent to repay the loan
amount, remaining Rs. 200 crores would be spent on developmental works, according to sources from BBMP. “The corporation is somehow
managing to pay the salary for its officials”, said an official from BBMP. As of March 31, 2012 the BBMP’s account showed a closing balance of Rs 21,175 lakhs. The budget estimates for the year 2012-2013 showed a total payment of Rs. 9,92,035 lakhs while it was Rs. 3,80,922 lakhs for the year 2011-2012. The development works that had to take place during mayor S K Nataraj’s tenure (2010-11) were started during Mayor Sharadamma’s tenure (2011-12). Various works like Storm Water Drain, road repairs and infrastructure works were halted and postponed. These were later added to Mayor Venkateshmurthy’s budget. Development schemes like distribution of cycles, sewing machines worth Rs 5000crores have come to halt due to deficit funds. Aware of the current situation the BBMP had proposed Rs. 10,000 crore budget for the year 2012-13.
City
18 September, 2012 | 03
The Weekly Observer
City to house nation’s first butterfly library The fundamental goal of this library will be to study the patterns of diversification and evo-
Endangered species will benefit from the butterfly library
Mantri Developers in legal tangle with BBMP over violation of regulation By: Aheli Raychaudhuri
Photo:Aheli
THE corporation slapped a suit against Mantri Developers after they erected multi-storey building without prior permission Mantri Developers, also known for the construction of Mantri Mall, appeared for a hearing on October 16, 2012, after they violated BBMP’s ban to construct multi-story buildings. These buildings were to be leased as either malls or residential areas in Malleshwaram.
The case remains adjourned in the High Court S. Vijay Shankar, the District Attorney said: “BBMP had not received any letters from the developers documenting permission to build malls and residential complexes.”
Mantri Developers were dragged to court by BBMP after the latter filed a suit against them for constructing multi-storey buildings without proper authentic documents. To counter this, the developers counter-filed a suit alleging BBMP of trespass and demolishment. The documents certified that permission was granted by BBMP to Mantri given them a green signal for the construction project. The State alleged, “The permission documents required from the BBMP to construct the buildings were forged by Mantri”. This offence was not committed once but twice. Another statement of objectives was filed which was revealed to be a forgery, again. There was also misappropriation of funds amounting to three crores by Mantri Developers. According to the District Attorney, “The money was misappropriated by the developers to pay generous salaries to the contractors and to construct the illegal buildings.” Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services also concurred with the BBMP and said it
had not received any document or letter assuring them of the safety of constructing high rise buildings. Defense attorney, Udaya Holla said: “A similar matter had been brought to the Supreme Court in 2006 and the Supreme Court had already dismissed it. The trial that is being held together is merely a waste of time.” The defense also stated that three acres of their land had been given to the BBMP Corporation. They alleged the Corporation had trespassed their land and had begun demolishing their buildings without any valid reason. According to Mr. Holla, “This was a baseless allegation and there was no proof of any illegal construction. “ The Chief Justice before adjourning the court said: “It is despicable that a reputed builder would resort to such petty forgery.” The Court could not arrive at a judgment and has declared the case adjourned till further notice. The BBMP executive engineers remained unavailable for comment.
lution of Indian butterflies and preserve them. The primary concept behind this research is to build a reference butterfly collection with a DNA library and geo-referenced data associated with every specimen in the collection. Dr Kunte has already conducted field trips to Sikkim, Nagaland and Salt Lake area in Kolkata. He looks forward to conducting a survey at the British Museum of Natural History and the National History museum by the end of this month as a part of his research. In our country, widespread and excessive use of pesticides and herbicides has exacerbated the problem. Several intended or unintended human interferences like agriculture, fires and dams, alter
forest structure and plant composition completely destroy butterfly habitats. Adding to this menace there are also illegal trading of butterflies which has huge international demand. Today one can also buy rare species of butterflies over the internet as in most of the countries other than India trade in butterflies are legal. Thus India continues to lose its rich butterfly diversity at an alarming rate which can lead to the extinction of certain species of butterflies very soon. India now roughly has around 1,250 species of butterflies. 800 species, of which, are found in the eastern Himalayas, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram and about 335 are endemic to the Western Ghats.
Kidnappings being faked in the city to extort ransoms By: Hansa V A fake kidnapping gang is targeting taxi drivers in the Whitefield area of the city. The gang of seven men and one woman has been fooling cab drivers in Whitefield to rob them of money and jewellery. Drivers claim that over Rs. 30,000 has been stolen from them by this gang this year alone. Ramesh, a cab-driver working for Accenture, said: “It is too dangerous even to drive a cab during the day. You don’t have any idea who is a genuine passenger and who is fake.” The lone female gang member acts as a passenger and hires a cab. At some point in the journey, the rest of the gang ambushes the driver and acts as if they are kidnapping the woman. The drivers first try to save their passenger and in the process are beaten up and robbed of the cash they have. Jayakumar, another cab driver who experienced this, said: “It was a horrible experience. I don’t know why innocent people like us are targeted?
Photo: Hansa V
BANGALORE will be home to the nation’s first ever butterfly library. The centre, currently being built at the National College of Biological Sciences (NCBS) in the city, will be the first of its kind in India. The collection and study of different species of butterfly will be an on-going research project for Ramanujan fellow and researcher Dr Krushmegh Kunte who will be helped by the student researchers there. “It is going to be very important scientifically and otherwise a very useful national treasure” said Dr Kunte. According to India’s leading lepidopterist and post doctorate fellow at Harvard University, habitat destruction and deterio-
ration are the biggest threats to butterfly population in our country.
Photo: Aritra Kshettry
By: Shromona Bose
A fake kidnapping victim “When I complained to police, they asked for proof. What do I give as proof?” Cab drivers state that they have lodged many complaints against the gang but say that the police are not ready to take any action. They feel that the police are bribed as well by the gang. Police state that no such complaint has been lodged till now. Similar incidents have been reported in cities Pune and Gurgaon. The police in the three cities has been investigating if the same gang is behind the kidnappings in the three cities.
Cyber cafes lose their sheen thanks to cheaper broadband rates Only one in ten Bangaloreans use cyber cafes, according to new survey. TCS along with the Department of IT, BT & Science and Technology conducted the survey featured as Bangalore Trends. In the city 70% of people accessed internet from PC and 42% accessed it from mobile phones against 68% and 42% all over India respectively. While only 10.50 % people still used the cyber café’s for various purposes according to the survey. “The trend of people accessing internet in cyber café’s seems to have decreased enormously. Now you get internet over phone and people don’t come to café’s anymore”, said Girish, owner of Cloud Nine
Cyber Café, Bangalore. Sreenivas, an official from BSNL said: “Number of residential broadband connections has risen in the past two years compared to commercial ones. He added: “Now the trend of going to cyber café’s seems to be outdated. Internet plans are now available for as cheap as Rs 250 per month." Swaroop an engineering student said: “I have access to the internet almost free of charge at home.” He added: “It is more comfortable for me at home as there is no time limit for the usage.” The survey also revealed that almost 84% of people in Bangalore own cell phones of which 83% are owned by teenagers alone which is higher than the national average of 79.50 %. According to the survey re-
ports, 92% of people in the city had registered with Facebook against a national average of 85%, while the figure was 24% in 2009 in Bangalore. Bangalore, the IT hub of India, once again has proved
that majority of the people in the city chose IT (Information Technology) as their career choice while engineering and media came next in the list overtaking the medical field. The use of Tablet has also
seen its growth in the city. According to the survey, 15% people in the city use Tablets compared to 6% in India. The Bangalore city stood third in the usage of Tablet after Mumbai and Delhi.
Source:Tata Consultancy Services
By: Krishnaprasad S
04
No medicines for HIV patients Satish, a pharmacist from Kengeri, said: “I have been working in the pharmacy for the last five years but have not seen any prescription for antiretroviral medicines. “ He added: “If there is no prescription coming, why should we be keeping the medicines?” Bowring hospital in Shivaji Nagar gets 150 - 200 HIV patients in ART department on a daily basis. Karnataka State AIDS prevention society, a functionary under the state government, is planning to issue licenses to more private clinics for running ART centers in both urban and rural areas. “It is a good initiative from the government Data would be much higher if we consider private practitioners,” said Parimala, program coordinator for Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT), Bangalore.
Photo: Satyajith GD
A severe lack of antiretroviral drugs at city medical shops has left HIV patients stranded. State government data released in 2010 stated that 1,13,088 people tested positive for HIV in the city. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a free treatment provided by the government to prolong the lifespan of HIV/AIDS victims. The medicines are available only in government funded antiretroviral centers. “Even if they have medicines, we ask for a doctors’ prescription, but most of the patients do not have a prescription so we don’t give the medicines,” said one pharmacist in Kengeri, who declined to be named. These centers often have a long queue in front of them that it makes difficult for the patients get the vital medicines.
Unhealthy poultry slaughter leads to health concerns
A shop at Kengeri that does not provide antiretroviral drugs
Photo: Pushkar Banakar
By Satyajith GD
18 October 2012 | City
The Weekly Observer
One of the unhygienic meat shops in the city ner, said: “We are small merBy Pushkar Banakar chants and we cannot afford UNHYGIENIC slaughtering of trucks for transportation.” Another meat seller in K. R. chickens is causing serious health hazards for consumers. Market, Yousuf Khan, had a simThe birds are transported and ilar opinion. On being asked why they use slaughtered in a very unhygienic way. Chickens are tied upside such gory methods to kill the andown on the back seat of a mo- imals he said: “Some of our custorbike and then taken to place tomers want us to do it that way. We can’t lose our customers for where they are sold. When they are slaughtered, such a small thing.” After we briefed him about the their throat is slit and they are left to die after which they are sold to health problems due to these unconventional methods, he said: “I consumers. Due to these unconventional don’t know about all those things methods, the levels of adrenaline but the customers do not have a in the chicken rise steeply and problem so why should we have when they are consumed they a problem?” Dr. Anish Behl, consultant encause health problems. Mohammad Fayyaz, one of docrinologist at BGS hospitals the men selling meat in the man- said: “The issue is very serious.
Bangaloreans gear up for Bengali festivities
Tradition takes precedence over kin
By Shromona Bose
GRACEFULLY carrying a pot, walking down the road to their homes, displaying eternal beauty is what generally describes a woman. They show poise in the way they do it- slow, gentle and postured gait- a perfect combination. But it is not so for the men of the Tigala community of Shivaji Nagar, Bangalore. The men of the Acharya Pujari sect of the Tigala community willingly carry a glass pot called the Karaga, which is an age old tradition. They put their lives at risk during an ancient tradition followed by their ancestors. C M Lokesh, 32, gingerly leads a procession balancing the Karaga on his head as his father, Huvina Tigala M follows behind. If Lokesh drops the pot his father, carrying a long, sharp, ceremonial sword, is expected to kill his own son. The Karaga festival, is like any other festival celebrated in India, though has grandeur and charm to it. It is the festival of Adhishakthi Draupadi The father, Huvina Tigala M, elaborated upon how the process actually takes place. The event was to take place for ten days, and the Karaga bearer (his son) will have to fast through the ten days in order to follow the tradition and thereby ward off evil. The tradition begins at Sri Dharmaraya Swamy Temple, where the priest performs the necessary rites and rituals before the Karaga holder proceeds to carry the Karaga over a circumference of roughly 30 kilometers. He said: “The bearer and the priest sit in front of the Karaga (the traditional pot) which is filled
The Observer
dropped from the Karaga. It was a huge risk that I took- I was not sure if I would be able to see my wife after the ten days. “ M Abhimanyu, who has been the priest for almost nine years for this particular festival, had a completely different view though. He described the event to be something that will either make the family extremely proud or totally destroy the reputation of the family. And all this is decided based
IIJNM PUBLICATIONS Opp. BGS International Residential School Nityanandanagar, Kumbalgudu Kengeri Hobli Bangalore - 560060 India Ph.No: +917259679556 Email: editor@iijnm.org Website:www.thesoftcopy.in For private circulation only
Editor Aheli Raychaudhari Chief Sub-Editor Shromona Bose Photo Editor Sneha Banerjee Photo: Thigala M
THE Garden City is geared up with Bengali cuisine, songs and puja mandap to celebrate Durga Puja like never before. The Bengalee Association of Bangalore has set up a ‘pandal’ at RBANMS Grounds just opposite Ajanta Theatre at Commercial Street. The total budget for this year’s puja is 60 lakhs. Around fifty labourers were putting in their best efforts to complete the work by October 19. A group of artisans from the Paul family of West Bengal, primarily known for making idols, are associated with the puja committee. They have been making the idols for the last thirty years. The family comes to Bangalore three months before Durga Puja to create the idols. The last touch to the idol of Maa Durga is given only right before the main day of rituals. Anirban Dutta Chowdhury an active member of the puja committee said that approximately 15,000-20,000 people visit the pandal every year. The inauguration ceremony will take place on October 19.Cultural programmes will take place every evening. Folk singers, Bauls, traditional folk dancers, Chau, from rural parts of Bengal have been invited to enhance the festive mood. “We will have almost 40 food stalls mainly offering Bengali dishes,” said Mr. Dilip Maitra, President of the committee. Bengali restaurants ‘Bhojo Manna’ in Koramangala and ‘Oh! Calcutta’ at St. Marks Road are gearing up for the festival.
By Hansa V
with water, flowers and the bearers’ wives jewels. While the wife is asked to live the life of a widow for the following ten days, the husband wears the mangal-sutra (the thread tied around the wife’s neck by the husband to bind into a holy matrimony) and prays and fasts for the marriage to continue. It is a tradition being followed since the time of Mahabharata. And if my son cracks or drops the Karaga, I would have to kill him on the spot, be it middle of the
People do not take this seriously but excess adrenaline in the body causes damage to the heart.” He further added: “Other parts of the body are affected but the heart is most affected. The lack of knowledge on side-effects of adrenaline is the major cause of the problem.” He added: “The subject of endocrinology is not being taken seriously in the country. “Although these problems have an easy treatment, the lack of endocrinologists means these disorders are not prevented.” On the number of cases of adrenaline overdose, he said: “There is not a steep rise in the number of cases but the rise is steady.” He refused to divulge details on the number of cases.
If C M Lokesh drops the karaga, his dad is expected to kill him. road or in front of the temple.” on his son’s potential to carry the C M Lokesh, bearer and car- Karaga carefully without dropping rier of Karaga this year, said: “It it or cracking the glass pot that he was one of the wildest things that bears on his head. I have done in my life. Even Vijayalakshmi, mother of the though I knew I had to carry it Karaga holder, told how she felt . eventually, I was too nervous for ”The moment, from which my son various reasons. First of all, I was agrees to carry the Karaga till he not even confident that I would be places it back in the temple stage able to carry the Karaga and walk ten days later, is really that of tenthe full route till the temple. It sion for me. I can’t eat, sleep or was even scarier when my father even look at him.” and the priest were walking right The festival has been taking behind me with the ceremonial place for over 800 years now and sword followed by the rest of the the Karaga has never been clan. My father would have killed dropped till now. Let us hope that me on the spot had even a flower no father would have to kill.
Page Editors Hansa V Reshma Tarwani Debanti Roy Satyajith GD Proof Readers Krishnaprasad S Udita Chaturvedi Pushkar Banakar Nupur Gour