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BSERVER An IIJNM Publication

Taxi associations to join lorry drivers’ strike

Trucker’s association called for an indefinite strike and they claim more than 24 lakh trucks to be off the roads.

Courtesy: Pramita Sarkar um,” Arvind Appa, joint secretary, FKLOAA, said. “Trucks carrying essential commodities (water, milk, vegetables, and medicines) have been kept out of the purview of the strike,” he added.

Appa said that the FKLOAA have also reached out to petrol and diesel tanker associations for solidarity. “Talks are on with petrol and diesel tanker associations. We hope

that they will join our protest from tomorrow,” he said.

Appa claimed that over two lakh trucks have come off roads since 1 April. “We have the support of LPG trucks as well,” he said. LPG dealers, however, said that they are not aware of any strike called by LPG tankers.

“If Petrol and Diesel tankers join the strike, it will likely to affect our

business. But, as of now, I’m not aware of any of this strike by them.

Today, I received LPG tankers and they haven’t yet notified me about the strike or about discontinued service,” Shrinivas, an employee of Sree LPG Ltd., Mysore.

FKLOAA will stage a protest rally at Freedom Park tomorrow from 10 am.

Government schemes sidelined due to up-coming by elections Ayushee Chaudhary ayushee.c@iijnm.org BENGALURU: Welfare schemes and programmes introduced by the state government seem to have been temporarily laid aside in the preparation for the April 9 by elections.

“Our focus right now is solely these elections,” state social and welfare minister, H. Anjaneya said at the sidelines of an event organised to celebrate the 110th birth anniversary of former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram at Vidhan Soudha today.

“We will discuss and talk about the implementation of the various new welfare schemes after April 10,” the minister added.

SBI employees seek retirement Ahana Chetterjee ahana.c@iijnm.org

Prabhakar Thakur prabhakar.t@iijnm.org Bhakti Tambe bhakti.t@iijnm.org Lorry drivers are likely to receive support from various taxi associations across the city in their protest against the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s decision to increase third party insurance premium.

“We are requesting taxi owners’ associations and taxi drivers’ associations to join us in tomorrow’s demonstration. We haven’t received confirmation from all parties yet, but tomorrow we are planning to stage a ‘dharani’ (dharna),” Radhakrishna Holla, president of the Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owner’s Association, said.

Holla said that his association will be joining the lorry drivers association in their protest tomorrow.

Truck owners across the state under the banner of the Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners Association (FKLOAA) are on an indefinite strike since 1 April. The protestors are primarily demanding Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) roll back its decision of increasing third party insurance premium by almost fifty percent.

“We will continue our strike till the IRDAI does not roll back its decision to increase third party premi-

Wednesday, 3 April, 2017

The minister had recently announced the development of a mobile application for dalits and all other scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people, where they could avail benefits for almost 50 different schemes.

However, most such people still remain digitally challenged; the idea may not be much of a success if the government fails to spread digital literacy and awareness about the app among the targeted population.

“These apps are not of much use until we have mobile phones. Most of my friends and relatives themselves not have smartphones to make use of any of such apps. They don’t earn as much,” Shivaya, a

Dalit who resides in Nayandahalli slum said.

The minister had announced in February this year that an application aimed to accelerate the development of Dalits and Adivasis and provide them with certain services will soon be developed. The app, that is also expected to spread awareness

about

government

schemes, however has not received mention thereafter.

Anjaneya refused to comment about the development on the application when asked today. “We are focussed totally on elections.

We will talk about any of this app or program only after 10th or 11th,” the minister said.

State government files petition against the Supreme Court.

Karnataka State government has filed a petition against the Supreme Court (SC) following its order earlier this year to strike down consequential seniority in promotions awarded by the government for SC/ST employees since 1978.

Anjaneya also added that we have filed the order to be reviewed so that this order can be taken back.

The fate of thousands of Dalit government employees hangs as they face the threat of being demoted after the apex court ordered on February 9th to scrap reservations in the promotions. In response to this order, H,Anjaneya said, “We have filed a petition for review and will take all steps needed to secure the jobs of these employees.”

BENGALURU: Over 2,800 State Bank of India (SBI) employees have applied for voluntary retirement under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS), SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said last week. This comes right after SBI announced a merger with its associate banks: the State Banks of Bikaner, Jaipur, Mysore, Travancore, Patiala and Hyderabad, and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

Employees of the associate banks with at least 20 years of experience on the job or above 55 years of age are eligible for retirement under VRS. The application process began on March 22 and will last for 15 days until Wednesday. The parent SBI employees are however not eligible for this scheme.

Employees think that due to SBI’s merger with its associate banks, the number of employees has increased, leading to a decrement in newer opportunities. Most employees have applied for retirement in fear of getting transferred to distant locations, according to officials.

“After serving for a certain point of time, you don’t feel like taking up challenges. The merger will force us to adapt to new policies which we will have to learn. Hence I have applied for VRS,” Ramesh Chandra Bhakat, an employee of State Bank of Mysore said.

“It’s a wait and watch policy for the employees. The VRS offer is not attractive. There is a bipartite settlement of salary which is due on November 1, 2017. Hence, everybody in expectation has not gone for VRS and a clear picture will emerge only after April 5, 2017,” a senior official of the bank said on the condition of anonymity. He added that most of the people who have requested for VRS are those who have served for less than a couple of years.

The fear of being transferred to faraway places and their willingness to adapt to new policies remain prime reasons behind people opting for VRS, according to officials. Bhakat also feels that there is a chance that the employees might not receive promotion on time but the State Bank of India has not revealed any policy regarding the promotions so far.

“An outside agency has been given the task to study the promotion policy and the decision of SBI top Management will depend on the report,” said another source from the bank.

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Wednesday, 5 April, 2017

Ola and Uber surcharge prices way over state limit.

Mitali Goyal mitali.g@iijnm.org BENGALURU: Taxi aggregators, Ola and Uber, are openly disregarding the limit set for surge pricing by the Karnataka government in Bengaluru.

The Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregator Rules, 2016 state that air-conditioned cabs cannot charge over Rs. 19.5 per km and non-airconditioned ones, Rs 14.5 per km.

The rule was imposed after a High Court ruling banned surge pricing in August last year saying that it was unfair for customers to pay extra money.

Several people have complained that surge prices charged by both Ola and Uber cabs are frequently above the state government limit. “I do not even remember when cabs returned to charging surge prices. I was shocked when my UberGo estimate went up by 3 times the normal fare,” said Rukmini, a regular Uber cab user. UberGo is the cheapest variant available with Uber and charges Rs 7.4 per km. However,

Even after the price cap was announced by the State Government, Ola and Uber have been found violating the price cap and charging customers thrice the base fare.

Courtesy: Bhakti Tambe during high demands, the rates are sometimes doubled or even tripled.

Sanjeev V Dyamannavar, founding member of project RAAG and

a transportation expert said, the government implemented a limit for surge pricing to allow cab operators to maintain profits without

overcharging customers.

Ola, on the other hand, has come up with its “Ola Select” service which promises no peak pricing

charges on selected cabs. Apart from this, ‘Ola Select’ also provides other services like free WiFi at a monthly subscription Rs 499. However, Ola cheapest variant its ‘micro’ service that normally charges Rs 6 per km, charges up to Rs 20 per kilometre during peak hours, Anmol, a regular Ola customer said.

Cab drivers however feel that surge pricing is important to have fair profits. Santhosh H K, an Uber cab driver said, “We earn extra during those peak hours. Generally there is a lot of traffic on the road which is why peak pricing is important.”

“They launched this concept (of surge pricing) because they wanted to make good use of the demand for cabs. The government should regulate the cap and implement stricter actions so that the price cap is not violated,” Dyamannavar said.

Ola has denied charging extra during peak hours. Arun, a spokesperson of the company said, “We haven’t worked on regulating surge pricing. We are still working on the complaints.”

Mysore Road to close for Rama Navami celebrations Man killed over money spat Konica Kamra konica.k@iijnm.org BENGALURU: The stretch from the Satellite Bus Stand to Nayandahalli Metro in Mysuru road will be blocked on Thursday owing to Rama Navami celebrations. The festival, which marks the birth of Lord Rama, is being celebrated at Sri Gali Anjaneya Swamy Temple in Bapujinagar in Mysuru Road.

With an estimated two lakh followers expected to gather at the temple on Thursday, the police and BBMP have put in place elaborate arrangements to ensure traffic control and basic facilities for the visitors. “Today 120 police personnel will be handling the traffic and the crowds visiting the temple. Tomorrow, we will increase the number to 200,” says Narayan Swami, Police Officer.

The Police stated that since the crowd this year is expected to be larger than before, private vehicles, BMTC buses and other vehicles are expected to take the longer route which goes from Guddadahalli to Srinagar.

Mrigakshi Dixit mrigakshi.d@iijnm.org

The police department imposing restriction on Mysore road for Ramnavmi celebration, with deployment of 200 police on Wednesday and Thursday. Courtesy: Konica Kamra

The festivities will begin with the Pallakki Utsava, a procession for Sri Sri Sita Rama in the evening.

The chariot will be decorated with pearls and flowers, and it will move through Bapujingar for about 5 kilometres.

“Rama Navami marks the beginning of summer. The temple witnesses a crowd from around 31st of March to 11th of May,” Srinivasa, a devotee at the temple, said.

“The crowd began gathering in

the area from the early hours of April 4 and will disperse only on April 6,” said Devi Kailash from Bapujinagar, who has been visiting Bapujinagar for the past six years. At the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Rajajinagar, Ragigudda Anjaneya Temple in Jayanagar and the Gali Anjaneya Temple, pilgrims have already started pouring in very large numbers.

BENGALURU:A 30-year-old man was murdered over a money quarrel at 1.30 AM on Tuesday morning near Hotel Maruti on Srinivas Temple Road in Upparpet near Majestic.

The deceased, identified as Lokesh, was working as a cook at a small restaurant along with his two friends, Kumar and Prakash.

According to the Upparpet Police, Lokesh was a resident of Chitradurga taluk and came to the city in search of employment a few years ago.

“They had a habit of drinking everyday and sleeping on the footpath.” Shivanand, Sub Inspector at the Upparpet Police Station, said.

On being questioned, the victim’s friend, Prakash told the police that the quarrel had started around 12.30 AM, when the issue of money was raised after they were returning

from duty.

Lokesh had allegedly pick-pocketed 400 rupees from Kumar a few days ago, and the fight turned ugly when Kumar got to know about it. In his drunken state, Kumar hit Lokesh on the head with a 20 kg cement block, the police said.

Lokesh’s body was found lying in a pool of blood. He was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Following this, his body was handed over to his brother. Meanwhile, Prakash and Kumar have been arrested by the police under the Section 307 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), attempt to murder.

Sub-inspector Shivanand added, “the deceased was unmarried and did not have deep relations with his family. Previously, he was accused in his village for small incidents of pick-pocketing.”

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Parents file PIL to protest against fee hike in private schools Sonal Agarwal sonal.a@iijnm.org Bengaluru - The Karnataka Schools Parents Association (KSPA) have been waging war against the rising school fees in private schools.

The Education Act of 1983 empowers the state to regulate school fees and their collection in educational institutions. With no response from the state government, the parents have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to which the government along with CBSE/Education ministry has become the respondent.

The PIL also states that the rise has been more that the national inflation rate of nine percent. Since it was filed, on Monday 26th of March 2017, the State government introduced the Karnataka Education (Second amendment) Bill, 2017, in the State Legislative Assembly to impose penalty up to Rs.10 lakhs on private schools that are affiliated to the Council of Indian School Certificate Examination or Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for charging exorbitant fees.

“We had a discussion with our lawyer, Mr. Promod Nair, on the status of our writ petition in the High Court of Karnataka. The government (respondents) hasn’t filed their responses; chances are that they will delay. However, we have decided to file a memo in the

Fee hikes in private schools like DPS Whitefield in Bengaluru angers parents

court. There have been renewed efforts and protests by parents of various schools over the last few weeks against arbitrary fee hikes in many private schools,” said Vinodh Ramaraja, an employee at CISCO Systems. Mr Promod Nair has taken it up as a Pro Bono case as he believes that parents are being unreasonably extorted.

After much investigation by the CBSE department, it replied that

“As per Rule 11 of the CBSE affiliation bye-laws, fees charged by the institution are for the facilities provided by the institution. Normally, the fees charged by the school are prescribed by the Department of Education of the State.”

Vinodh, who is also the president of KSPA, is leading the struggle against these institutions that are charging fees in the name of facilities. In 2016, he had filed a letter to

Courtesy: DPS website

the Chief Minister of the state, the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

“All of this is complex. Education is for the state government to handle, but CBSE and ICSE schools are controlled by the Centre. It’s an alarming situation, where almost every parent is forced to send their kids to private schools, not because they want to, but they hardly have alternatives,” said Vinodh.

Healthcare start-ups’ slow rise in private market Divya R divya.r@iijnm.org

BENGALURU: With private funding becoming increasingly active in India, there is a huge demand for investments in core healthcare start-ups, according to venture capitalists who gathered last month in Bengaluru to discuss trends.

Around 8,000 start-ups bloomed in the country in 2016 alone. Bangalore, the start-up capital, saw 210 start-ups seeking private funds last year. The investments varied from business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumers (B2C) models.

According to data compiled by Venture Intelligence, a company that analyses finance transactions of private organisations and coordinator of the March 22 investors

event: “An investor funds a healthcare start-up only if it is likely to be retail oriented or it has a technical base to it.” An example for this would be the recent investment in PharmEasy, a retail pharmacy firm, which raised $16M in venture capital.

“There is a crying need for healthcare start-ups in India,” said G.S.K Velu, an Indian healthcare business serial entrepreneur and chairman and managing director of Trivitron Healthcare Group of Companies. “The government has to be the frontrunners.

As it lacks improvements in the healthcare sector, there is a need for private companies to potentially satisfy the public and investors have to help. “During my initial days in 1991, I was

bounced around like a ball through government ministries to seek permission for the healthcare start-up, as they did not have a unique ministry for it,” said Velu. “Also, it is not easy for us as we had to win trust among the people as well.”

Ravi, chief executive of Medinfi Healthcare in Bangalore, commented that there is a lack of private in-

vestors in the area of telemedicine in India. Venkat Raju, an Indian angel investor, who provides funds during the early stages of a start-up, added: “There will be huge growth for start-ups in the telemedicine sector if it can be integrated with technology. For example, the electrocardiography process could be simplified by connecting it to services such as Bluetooth.”

Investments in enterprise software and retail pharmacy are typically larger than in core healthcare start-ups like telemedicine sectors, according to industry experts. The Venture Intelligence data found 405 active investment deals were made in 2016 with preference toward enterprise software and retail.

“Investment in healthcare is

Vinodh, along with other parents has faced the same problem and, therefore, has decided to take this issue to the court. According to the letter he wrote to the Chief Minister, the fees of the school has risen by 60 percent since last three years and “this year the fees has again risen by 12 percent. It occurred to me that the government is squarely at fault, they have not delivered their duties, in fact abdicated one of the most fundamental aspects that it owes to its dutiful denizens” said Mr.Vinodh.

Another member of the association Sreejit Mangarath said that the schools don’t raise the fees based on any criteria, “they raise it as per their wish,” he said.

A few states have already looked into the issue. The Tamil Nadu government has enacted the Tamil Nadu Schools Regulation of Collection of Fee (TNSRCF) Act 2009 to assess and regulate school fee in the private sector, and the Supreme Court upheld it in 2010. On 24 January, the Supreme Court ruled that any private school in Delhi based on land allotted by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will have to take permission from the Delhi government before hiking the fees. States of Gujarat and Rajasthan have also passed regulation regarding the fees bill. Maharashtra has set up a fee review committee for the same purpose.

not possible unless it is really innovative and bridged with technology so that it is accessible to the last mile,” according to investors from IDG ventures, Seedfund.

The core of any start-up is its capital. The appetite and need for capital for entrepreneurs is largely satisfied by active private investments (private equities or venture capitals) in India.

According to Thillai Rajan, professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for private equity-backed companies have been 40 percent in the last five years. “Though the rate is quite low, entrepreneurs seek private funding not just for the money, but for the value addition. They provide longterm capital when chips are down.”

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News

Wednesday, 5 April, 2017

National Cleric gives up eating beef

Cow vigilantes strike again

An Ola shocker on April Fools Day

Keeping up his promise

Beware! Jio

BSNL extended the Mumbai resident Sushil In a video that is being widely cir- Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, validity period of its varias promised in BJP’s election culated on social media, a mob as- a top cleric of the Ajmer Sharif Dar- Narsian who booked a cab from his ous promotional plans for residence in Mulund West to Vakola manifesto, waived crop loans of saulted men who were transporting gah has vowed to stop eating beef another three months on April and urged all Muslims to give it up Market was in for a rude shock around 86 lakh small and marcows in Alwar, Rajasthan. One 1.

Included in the list is the to honour religious sentiment. when he found out that there was an ginal farmers of Uttar Pradesh, man was left lying on the road, affordable STV 26 pack, which Mr Khan is supposed to be a direct outstanding charge Rs. 149 crore. incurring a total cost of over Rs. unconscious. Pehlu Khan, 55, offers unlimited voice calls for 26 descendent of Khwaja Moinuddin Sushil thought it was a prank but, 36,000 crore on Tuesday. died in hospital yesterday, two hours. The STV 26 pack’s validity it was a technical glitch fron Ola’s days after the brutal beating. 10 Chisti-the legendary Sufi saint. has been extended by another three side. people have been arrested, the months. police said.

International US blames Assad for the attack

Japan condemns missile testing

Article 50 proceedings underway

H1B trouble for small firms

Daniela on fire

Foreign worker visas doled out The European Parliament today will Fire broke out on merJapanese spokesperson Yoshihide A chemical weapons attack in an opposiin the U.S. is poised to benefit lay down its ‘red lines’ for negotiachant ship Daniela off Suga on Wednesday said the firing tion-held town in northern Syria killed the biggest technological comtions over a Brexit deal.

MEPs are the coast of Colombo of missile by North Korea violates dozens of people on Tuesday, leaving panies, like Alphabet Inc., Mito vote on the motion a week after last night.

Indian Navy the UN Security Council resolutions. residents gasping for breath and concrosoft Corp. while becoming a British Prime Minister Theresa May and coast guard imNorth Korea launched a ballistic vulsing in the streets and overcrowded bane for outsourcing firms that formally triggered the process for mediately responded by missile, which fell into the Sea, the hospitals. developed a disproportionate leaving the EU. sending two ships to help South Korean military said. dependence on the program. the vessel.

ITAT cracks down on fake rent receipts: tax payers have to prove their credibility Romita Majumder romita.m@iijnm.org MUMBAI: Employees cannot claim tax deduction on their house rent allowance if they cannot prove that they actually occupied the rented premises during the said period, ruled ITAT Mumbai on Monday.

The rent thus paid to the property owner also has to figure in their tax records.

This ruling came after a Mumbai-based chartered accountant lost an appeal on the tax deductions she had claimed for rent that she paid to her ailing mother while simultaneously claiming loss for a housing property she owned in another part of the city.

The ruling observed that “the burden is on the assessee to bring out these evidences to substantiate

her contentions that the rent paid was genuine”.

“The decision has a large impact on the salaried class.

It’s good that the judiciary is taking all possible efforts to curb tax evasion. The present case is based on its own facts and circumstances and hence, the decision will not affect genuine cases,” Rasheela Basheer, editor and co-founder of Tax Scan Media which first broke the story, said.

For salaried tenants in Mumbai,

this could spell an end to the fake receipts

that they have been issuing and often signing themselves in order to claim HRA exemptions under sec-

tion 10 (13A) of the Income Tax Act. “My landlady refuses to give me a stamped receipt. She just tells me to go buy a revenue stamp and print a receipt on my own because she doesn’t want any record of the transaction. Now if my employer seeks to verify the authenticity of my rent, how do I prove it? The land lady will simply ask me to vacate the flat if I demand a receipt,” said Amandeep Kaur, an IT professional based in Mumbai.

Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey, 2016 pegged Mumbai as the costliest Indian city to live in. Most owners demand huge sums as deposit and brokerage apart from the basic rent which is not covered under HRA and further prevent people from switching tenancies. Unlike

the deposit, the brokerage which usually is equivalent to one month’s rent is a non-refundable amount.

“It would be difficult for organisations to verify the rent receipts of thousands of employees. For ITAT to go about verifying millions of tax payers would be a mammoth task,” said Anusuya Sengupta, Senior consultant at Ernst & Young Private Limited.

“We all know that most of the receipts submitted are fake. But we also understand that most employees do stay in rented accommodations and that owners refuse to give receipts to avoid leaving a paper trail so the issue has hitherto been overlooked. It’s too early to comment on the issue now,” said Bhavya K, HR in a leading Mumbai-based MNC.

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Jadavpur University Backlashes Hindutva Ideology Staff report JADAVPUR: At a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party’s political presence is rapidly extending its arms across the country, political parties in West Bengal are joining hands to fight against the ‘Hindutva’ ideology that they believe is the governing principle of the BJP. The latest left-right ideological conflict sparked off in Jadavpur University after some Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members allegedly tore All India Students’ Association (AISA) posters demanding the elimination of Hindutva ideology from their campus earlier on Sunday.

The Leftist student unions got together to protest the following day, only to create more tension in the University campus. Slogans like “ABVP get lost” were raised and posters in red paint decorated the building walls inside Jadavpur University, which was recently ranked 5th among the top universities in the country by the ministry of human resource development.

Although Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the ruling party’s student faction has not joined the left parties in their

protest against the entry of RSS in the university campus, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had recently appealed to the Left Front to fight against Hindutva ideology under the TMC leadership.

“Students are protesting against communal forces; the forces which have always considered other communities in the ‘other’ section of the society,” Kriti Roy, a third-year Philosophy student said. Roy, who is an AISA activist, said that condemn any form of demonstration or seminar that might invite communal tension.

Members of the RSS said that their seminar was on the rights of minorities living in Bangladesh and alleged that their meeting was vandalised by miscreants from opposition

parties.

“TMC has not been involved in any of the recent protests in Jadavpur. However, I believe that the students’ union party will soon take steps to ensure that the RSS and its Hindutva policies do not enter the Jadavpur University campus,” a TMCP leader said, requesting anonymity. “It is difficult for BJP to enter the state,” he added.

Commenting on the events at Jadavpur University, president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), Mohan K Pandey said, “RSS is anti university because universities have an intellectual orientation. Their main agenda is to harm the prestige of the universities.”

Like Jadavpur University, JNU has also often found mention in various media outlets for their antiRSS and anti-Hindutva protests.

Pandey accused the RSS of polluting the atmosphere in all major universities across the country.

“The protest against the RSS is nothing but a mere publicity stunt.

It is strange to see everything but studies taking place in such universities across the country,” Roopa Ganguly Students protesting outside Jadavpur University(left), SFI’s(student federation of India) signs of protest can be seen in walls around the campus(righ) Courtesy: Rupsa Saha, Journalism Student CU

More than half of India’s women suffer from anaemia Supriya Dedgaonkar supriya.d@iijnm.org

Agents like malnutrition and unhealthy diet remain key reasons for women in India suffering with anaemia. India tops amongst BRICS nations in anaemia bringing down the productivity of the country. According to the World Bank’s estimate of India’s GDP in 2016, “India loses 0.9 percent of its GDP to anaemia.”

A report published by the Who Health Organisation shows, that In India, 55.8% women and 24.7 % men have anaemia with highest prevalence in Assam and Jharkhand (69%) followed by Bihar (67.4%).

Even the national capital, New Delhi has a female anaemic population of alarming 44.3%.

According to the National Family Health Survey 4, 2015-16, “The proportion of anaemic children aged 6 to 59 months fell just five

percentage points to 61% in 2014, and over half of women aged 1549 are still anaemic. Of all men aged 15-49, a quarter are suffering from anaemia, as was in 2004.

Haryana has the highest proportion of anaemic children (72 per cent) and women (63 per cent) And, the basic symptoms of anaemia are fatigue, weakness, lethargy, shortness of breath and decreased concentration.”

Babitha, 28, who lives in the

interiors of Kokkada, a village in Karnataka explained that she has had two miscarriages. The reason being, low red blood corpuscles count. Her husband, Ramnatha is the only working member in the family and is responsible to meet the basic needs in a family of five, which includes his parents, wife and an infant.

Ramnath said, “It is very difficult to get employment in a village like Kokkada, even to start your

own business, one needs capital and I belong to a poor family and responsible for feeding a family of five, There were are times when the daily income was so low that we didn’t know what we would eat for the next day.”

Babitha is suffering from Thalassemia, which is a group of hereditary diseases caused by faulty haemoglobin synthesis. It is globally described as a genetic blood disorder under which people suffering from it cannot make enough haemoglobin, which causes severe anaemia.

Harini, a Accredited Social Health Activist, who is looking into her case said, “This happens as a result of low iron intake and insufficiency of nutrient intake., Most of these ladies who suffer from anaemia and severe anaemia belong to poor families., Anaemia is diagnosed in women who belong to the

lower economical groups., Iilliteracy and insufficient food, usually are the most prominent reasons.”

Dr. S.S Chatra, who is homeopathy doctor in Beltangady Taluk, said, “These problems are quite likely to happen owing to the reason that rural India is poor and is far from attaining development in the field of health and medicine.”

He further stated that the main reason in rural areas for anaemia, is the quality of food and absence of nutrients in the food intake.’’

U.N in one of the reports has said, “A child born in India, is far likely to be malnourished than one from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe or Somalia, the world’s poorest countries.” Also, anaemia continues to remain the main cause for maternal mortality rate, leaving behind China, Pakistan and Nigeria.

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A landmark year for cricket’s richest league; tenth edition kicks off in Hyderabad Aaditya Narayan aaditya.n@iijnm.org Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the BCCI and the league itself, the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League kicks off in Hyderabad this evening. The opening match will see the defending champions, the Sunrisers Hyderabad take on the beaten finalists from last year, Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The big talking point before the start of this year’s tournament has been the number of injuries that have affected the different teams this year. Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Murali Vijay and Umesh Yadav have all felt the brunt of playing the bulk of 17 Tests within the last year, all of them missing for different periods of time in this tournament.

Despite all the fuss surrounding the off-field events in the IPL over the last nine editions, there is little doubt that the league has changed the landscape of T20 cricket around the world. One only needs to look at the number of different T20 leagues that have sprung around the world, after the inception of the IPL.

The eight captains pose with the IPL trophy, ahead of the start of the tournament.

Courtesy: IPL Also, in many ways, the IPL model has helped the development of other sports in the country too.

For example, Kabaddi and Badminton now have up-and-running leagues that have been modeled on the IPL and have been received well. The IPL model is also being followed by various states, particularly Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where successful T20 leagues have been running recently.

The off-field events should not

take the public’s gaze away from the high quality of cricket that the tournament has produced. Brendon McCullum’s 158 in the opening game of the first season gave the league the take off it needed, from then, MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and David Warner have all enthralled.

For young cricketers too, the IPL has been a boon. For Hardik Pandya, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina and even foreign players like Shane

Watson and David Warner, the IPL has been a launch-pad to either kick-start or revive their careers.

The league has changed the lives of young Indians too. For Karnataka’s KC Cariappa, the son of a government worker in Coorg, the Rs. 2.4 crores he got from playing Kolkata Knight Riders in 2015 changed his life forever. This year too, Karnataka’s Krishnappa Gowtham, Tamil Nadu’s Thangarasu Natarajan, and Hyderabad’s Mohammad Siraj have had their well-documented rags to riches stories.

Can the Sunrisers become the first team after the Chennai Super Kings to successfully defend an IPL title? Can the Royal Challengers, despite all their injury concerns, finally get their hands on some silverware? Can Mumbai Indians or Kolkata Knight Riders take advantage of the absence of CSK and become the most successful team in IPL history? The answers to those questions will be found over the next month and a half, as the summer carnival is upon us. In its tenth year, the cricket promises to be better than ever and the entertainment as good as it has always been.

Can’t wait for the @IPL to start tonight! Let the fun begin đ&#x;?? #VIVOIPL2017 @BrettLee_58 Breaking: 2.3 crore farmers in UP to get loan waiver worth Rs 36,000 crores. ‘’Sops’ during Cong-led UPA regime are now ‘bonanza’ under BJP! @sardesairajdeep Demise of Kishori Amonkar is an irreparable loss to Indian classical music. Deeply pained by her demise. May her soul rest in peace @narendramodi Did Hillary Clinton ever apologize for receiving the answers to the debate? Just asking! @realDonaldTrump

Dissent & Criticality makes our research socially relevant Who cares for ur rankings #StandWithJNU @UmarKhalidJNU

Puja’s and processions took place in Sri Gali Anjenaya Swamy Temple on the ocassion of Rama Navami at Kengeri Satellite town on Wednesday, the 5th of April.

Rama Navami is a spring Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of god Rama and is marked by reciting and reading Rama Lengendary stories.

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Editor-in-chief: Rishiraj

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Most worrying story on the news tonight:student live streams his suicide as he jumps from 19th floor of Taj hotel.A view to die for he says @soniandtv

If China is so worked up about the Dalai Lama, it should also understand India’s concerns on Masood Azhar and Pakistan. @vikramchandra

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