The Observer, Dailies 4 Volume 22

The Observer An IIJNM publication

Unawareness & excessive cost keeps women away from Human Papilomavirus Vaccine jabs | P 2 News Briefs Korean vlogger harassed in Mumbai, 2 arrested A YouTuber was allegedly harassed and molested by two men on Tuesday night while she was live streaming from the Khar area of Mumbai. A video of the incident has gone viral on social media. One of them kissed her as well. The culprits have been identified as Mobeen Chand Mohd Shaikh (19) and Moh d Naqib Sadarialam Ansari (20). After the video went viral, the Khar police registered a case under Section 354 of IPC and arrested the youths. ANI

SC forms all woman-Bench, 3rd time in its history

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud constituted an allwoman bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Bela M. Trivedi to hear transfer petitions involving matrimonial disputes and bail matters on Thursday.

This is the third occasion in the history of the court that an allwoman Bench has been formed.

PTI

CBI searches Delhi, Trichy places in child porn cases

The CBI conducted searches at two locations in Delhi and Tiruchirappalli on Thursday in connection with cases related to the online dissemination of child sexual abuse material, officials said. The agency has registered two separate cases on the basis of inputs provided by the Interpol, they said. PTI

NATO ramps up anti-Russian defence

Russian forces tried to advance in eastern Ukraine and trained tank, mortar and artillery fire on Kherson in the south, the Ukrainian military said, as western allies sought to buttress Ukraine and its neighbours against Moscow.In Washington, a $1.2- billion contract for six National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems for Ukraine was awarded to Raytheon, the Pentagon said. Reuters

The world must unite on biggest problems:Modi

The world must cooperate to tackle the greatest challenges of climate change, terrorism, and pandemics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday as India began its year-long presidency of the Group of 20 (G20). Reuters

Vol 22, Issue 20

Thursday, December 1, 2022

@theweeklyobserver

Website: theweeklyobserver.in Epaper: https://issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver

Leopard spotted at ITC campus at Chikkajala on B’luru’s outskirts; company sends staff home | P 3

Not many people are aware of launch of RBI’s digital rupee

Bankers lack clarity on digital currency

By Yashaswini Sri

P

eople seem to be unaware of the launch of a Central Bank Digital currency (CBDC) by the Reserve Bank on December 1, 2022.

The RBI on November 29 announced it would launch the first pilot for retail digital Rupee (e₹R) on pilot basis.

The e₹-R will be in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender. It will be issued in the same denominations that paper currency and coins are currently issued. It will be distributed through banks. Users will be able to transact with e₹-R through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks and stored on mobile phones/devices, the website said.

Yashwanth Sai, a product manager working in a fintech startup in Bengaluru, said: “There is not

The CBDC will be issued in the same denominations that paper currency and coins are currently issued. | Credit: Vindhya Pabolu much awareness about this.

We’ve been reading about CDBC on the Internet, but I do not think… we do not know what exactly it is. I do not think CDBC would be as flexible as UPI, transaction-wise. I do not see myself using it even if its success.”

Hemanth V, a wholesale distributor for grocery, said:“The distributors I deal with are not even comfortable with net banking…. using UPI but only for QR code transaction. Not everyone uses it for every bill payment. Even with proper education on how to use,

Pupils want Indian boards to adopt multidisciplinary edu There is a freedom to choose subjects from different streams

By Sneha TS

T

he demand for multidisciplinary education is becoming popular amongst students in India. Many like the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and International Baccalaureate (IB) for their interdisciplinary approach to education.

Ruma Mitra, Head of International Baccalaureate department at J.G, School, explained: “Interdisciplinary teaching is an approach where a student learns about a particular topic from different perspectives. It is a teaching method which amalgamates various fields of study.”

An IB programme, unlike Indian boards where subjects are divided

The NEP 2020 describes multidisciplinary education as its backbone. | Credit: Sneha TS as per streams, encourages students to take up a mixture of subjects. For instance, an Indian-board student who studies physics cannot take up economics or arts.

Khushi Patel, a former IGCSE student, said: “IGCSE promotes multidisciplinary learning. It helps a student when she/he decides to study abroad. Foreign universities promote the same kind of learning.”

“Learning is fun when students from different fields of interests or subjects collaborate. It enables critical thinking. You think about a particular issue from a science student’s perspective and may be from a commerce student’s point of view as well. I liked chemistry, but at the same time I also had an ambition of becoming a businessperson. That is why I took both business studies and chemistry in my A levels.”

Continued on page 4

they will not prefer it.”

N.S. Rao, a retired assistantgeneral manager with Canara Bank, informed The Observer about the idea behind CBDC. “The base idea for launching the CBDC is to substitute cryptocurrency in our country. Cryptocurrency cannot be regulated unlike CBDC….But it might not have a great buzz in our country. Many people have lost their cryptocurrency because they forgot their passwords,…. I do not think this will be used like how we use UPI for monetary transactions.”

Nakula Reddy, an economist,shared: “Not everyone can access CDBC once it’s launched. Our country’s economy is not prepared for digital currency. In India, digital illiteracy is very high compared to other countries. Sure, everybody has a smartphone, but how many know how to use it? To use CDBC, everyone should have a smartphone with good Internet. After the launch, we will have to face many problems....”

Banks say they still lack clarity on the CDBC launch.

Continued on Page 2

Teachers not trained, enforcing Pocso act tough

By Arsha BS

D

espite the instruction of the department of public instruction(DPI) to include child safety guidelines in school textbooks, the lack of trained teachers or experts in schools can impede the implementation of Pocso Act. According to a report in The Hindu, the department is all set to include child safety precautions in school books from the next academic year .

Almas Parveen, senior assistant director of primary education of DPI, informed The Observer: “Child safety education has always been taught; but now, we are including it formally. We already train teachers under the NISHTA scheme, where they are trained about child safety and the Pocso Act.” Continued on page 3

2

HEALTH

The Observer Thursday, December 1, 2022

HIV positive people are reluctant to discuss their problems in public It’s a misbelief that HIV is passed thru unsafe sex

By Priya Pathak

H

IV positive people are reluctant to talk about their sufferings due to the lack of understanding about the disease and the social stigma that comes with it.

According to the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), Karnataka ranks third highest with the People Living with HIV (PLHIV). Karnataka had 2.76 lakh cases, and 10.9 per cent deaths per 1 lakh population, in 2021.

Dr Jagdish, a senior medical official with the Victoria Hospital, informed The Observer: “There are 5-10 new cases daily and the follow-up cases have reached up to 15,000. There are male and female counselors to help the patients and they are treated in Antiretroviral Treatment centers (ART centers). Health care staff are the most affected people with AIDS patients.”

“Myths about HIV that it spreads only through sexual transmitted infections have made the lives of HIV patients more

CBDC: Start of a new era Continued from page 1 rikanth G, a deputy general manager working with SBI, said: “We are still skeptical of this. The technology that we need to incorporate is still oblivious. One thing we know is that people are still technically illiterate and do not know anything about how to use it …. SBI is still not aware of what we are supposed to do with the launch. We are waiting for instructions from RBI. Until then we do not know what to expect” Vishal Thyadi, a branch manager with HDFC Bank said: “Our bank will join this trial later this month. One of the problems that are not addressed is how we are going to promote CBDC among our customers. We are making plans to create more awareness among our customers.”

The Observer was informed by RBI employees that because of their bank policy, they cannot disclose any information to the press and media houses.

According to an NDTV report, the first phase will begin with four banks - State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank in four cities across the country. The pilot will cover Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar,and later in other cities, RBI said. yashaswini.s@iijnm.org

S

On the occasion of World AIDS Day, society should support people suffering with HIV and help then build opportunities | Credit: Priya Pathak

“

lIt is genetically transmitted lIt is curse of god/goddess lCan be cured by black magic

There are 5-10 new cases daily and the follow-upcases have reached up to 15000. There are male and female councellers to help the patients and they are traeted in ART centers — Dr Jagdish a senior doctor

only transmitted by sexual infections; there are various reasons like unsterilized injections and blood transfusion. But people are unaware,” he added.

An official of ASHA Foundation, an NGO, said: “We get associated with people suffering from HIV. The patient details are kept

confidential to protect their identity in society, and to help them get tested, counselled…. We also provide support to economically weaker people by connecting them to government organisations for better help. It helps them build their identity.”

Two women who interacted

miserable. They feel shy to interMyths about AIDS act in society. They need counl Spreads if one shakes selling and support.

HIV is not hands or hugs a HIV positive person l Spreads by sharing food with them

with The Observer at Victoria Hospital said they feel shy accepting it as people think AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease.

Public health expert Gopal Dabade said: “Even though awareness is not an achievement it requires ongoing efforts. There is still cultural and social stigma in accessing treatment. Myths and quacks do affect HIV positive people.”

That HIV positive people protested in front of the NACO office in Delhi protesting lack of medicines shows how policies are not framed and implemented properly. Policymakers need to develop robust pro-HIV positive people policy, he added.

According to Joint United Nations Programme for HIV/AIDS webiste, “They hold programmes for achiving a target for of Zero HIV infections,Zero Aids related deaths and Zero discrimination towards people who are living with HIV.” According to an article published by Urban Affairs Kerala, the first case of AIDS was revealed in 1986. . The theme for HIV AIDS day 2022 is 'equalise'.

On the occasion of World AIDS Day, society should support people suffering with HIV and help then build opportunities by working on erasing the social stigma.

Priya.p@iijnm.org

High cost, low awareness keep women away from HPV vaccine One dose costs Rs 5k; no govt hospital gives jab

By Arsha B.S.

L

ack of awareness about the human papillomavirus (HPV) has kept a lot of Bengaluru's women from taking vaccines for its prevention.

The HPV vaccine is administered to prevent cervical cancer.

The vaccine prevents most common strains of the causative virus and few other viruses that cause infections. People in the age of 1626 are given the vaccine.

According to WHO, HPV is mainly transmitted through sexual contact and most people are infected with HPV shortly after the onset of sexual activity.

Sangeeta Sinha, a gynecologist, informed The Observer: “Many women are unaware that this kind of vaccine exists. They are extremely shy to talk about these diseases. More and more women are coming forward to get PAP smear tests done, but they don’t usually get vaccinated.”

A person must take all three doses of the vaccine. Due to this, people might find this to be a lit-

tle tedious, she noted.

Adithya S, an HR professional, said: “I haven’t taken the vaccine, because I am not quite aware how mechanism of the vaccine works.”

Indrani Roy, a professor, said: “I didn’t know that such a vaccine is available. This is the first time that I’m hearing about it.”

Chaitanya S, a student, said: “I have heard about it, but it takes many months to complete all three doses of vaccines, and it’s very costly as well. There are not

enough hospitals that provide these vaccines too. So I have not taken the vaccine.”

Government hospitals in Bengaluru currently don’t provide HPV vaccines. There,s less awareness programmes or vaccination drives happening under the government’s Health department. HPV vaccination is available for men as well.

There is literally no data available regarding the HPV vaccination under the immunization wing of the Health and Family Welfare department.

There are few private hospitals in the city which provide HPV vaccination. One dose of the HPV vaccine costs around Rs 5,000, a high amount for a middle-class family to afford. Three doses of vaccine are required for the complete prevention.

Cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer which affect women in India.

Only 53.6 per cent women are vaccinated against it.

Among women who contract cervical cancer, 86 per cent die of it. It is the only form of cancer that has a preventive vaccine.

Cervical cancer is the most common among sex workers in India, as the virus is sexually transmissible one. arsha.s@iijnm.org

Citizen’s Voice A ray of hope for Bilkis Bano The Bilkis Bano saga has seen a new development as she has appealed to the Supreme Court against the release of 11 life convicts by the Gujarat government.

The injustice to her was an affront to India’s justice system. I hope the Supreme Court will undo the gross miscarriage of justice.

Sagnik Datta

Metro construction becoming a nuisance

People outside Bengaluru think Namma Metro is making citizens’ commuting easy. But the damage the construction of the Metro stations is causing to the city is huge and almost ignored.

Yashwanth Sai

Playing 2 cricket teams is a very bad idea

The Indian cricket team is yet to win an ICC trophy after 2016.

The last ICC trophy-winning captain was M.S. Dhoni. Then, we had a team of 15, with a single captain across all formats. Virat Kohli was a successful captain as numbers suggest, but other than Tests and the Asia Cup, he did not win any trophy. The famous Gabba win was under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane. We are playing with two teams at a time which is good display of our bench strength..having one team gives players opportunity perform.

Vinayak T S

Around the city Bangalore Arts and Crafts Mela, 2nd Dec 2022 to 11th Dec 2022, 11 am - 7 PM, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Kumara Krupa Road,Near Shivananda Circle, Bangalore Literature Festival - the two day event will start from 3rd December 2022. at Hotel Lalit Ashok

Tweetcasm Gautam Gambhir has spent 10 years saying that one man should not get all the credit, its a team effort & then joined BJP.- @kunalkamra88

Quiz 1.The Shahid Chandra Shekhar Azad Bird Sanctuary is located in which state?

2.What was the capital of the Solanki dynasty in Gujarat?

3.Iltutmish belonged to which tribe?

4.Bile is secreted by which cell?

5.Which country is the birthplace of the “Olympic Games”6.

6.Thaipusam festival is celebrated by which community?

7.Pandit Jasraj belongs to which Gharana?

8.Where is Sidi Bashir Mosque is located?

Answers on page 3

CITY

The Observer Thursday, December 1, 2022

Worried at leopard spotting, ITC sends people on campus home A big catwas found preying in south Bengaluru

The step-well was built in 1063 by Rani Udayamati of the Chaulukya Dynasty to commemorate her husband, Bhimdev I. A 1304 composition of Jain monk, Merutunga, mentions that Udayamati, the daughter of Naravaraha Khangara, built this stepwell at Patan. The same composition also mentions that the stepwell was commissioned in 1063 and was completed after 20 years.

Archeologists Henry Cousens and James Burgess visited it in the 1890s when it was completely buried under silt and only the shaft and few pillars were visible. The stepwell was rediscovered in the 1940s, and the Archeological Survey of India restored it in the 1980s. The stepwell has been listed as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites since 2014.Steps lead down through multiple levels with lines of carved pillars and more than 800 sculptures, mostly on Vishnuavatar themes, as well as striking geometric patterns. It showcases craftsmanship of the era, and the Maru-Gurjara architectural style Source: Gujarat Tourism

By Hamsaveni N

I

TC in Bengaluru on Tuesdaydeclared a holiday after a leopard was spotted in and around its campus at Chikkajala, on Bengaluru’s outskirts.

People around the campus are worried about the animal being inside the campus. Rumours form a major part on being shared.

Three civil workers who work for ITC informed The Observer: “For two days, we are on holiday.

Today a few workers have been called to the office, but yesterday the entire office was closed. This is the second time the leopard has come inside ITC.” A civil worker who did not want to be named shared: “OnMonday around 1.30 in the afternoon, a worker named Raghu was the first person to spot the leopard when he went to check on a borewell reading. Raghu reported the same to his higher authority.

When ITC scanned its CCTV cameras for the big cat, they confirmed the presence of the leopard inside the company campus.”

Enforcing Pocso Act could be a challenge Continued from page 1 here are also activities like “meenatanda” where students are educatedregarding sexual and physical health, and safety. Now, with the inclusion of these in textbooks, children will be able to understand better, she added.

NISHTA scheme is an online training programme for government school teachers, where out of the 18 modules, one module is allotted to child safety and the Pocso Act. According to the syllabus published on the NCERT website, it covers only the fundamental basics regarding child safety.

Godwin P.S., a primary school teacher, informed The Observer: “ I haven’t been a part of the NISHTA training programme. In the last past years, I don’t think there is any training programme conducted for us. Classes on child rights are conducted. But they are based on the usage of intoxicants and drugs among the students.”

Asha Jyothy, a teacher, said: “ No training programmes are conducted for teachers or students.

Wedon’t know much about the Pocso Act; we (only) have a basic idea of what it deals with.”

Government school teachers are unaware of the programme.

Prathima U.K., an academic assistant with a private school,said:

Karnataka Forest department installed fences around the ITC to protect the villagers from the leopard|Credit: Hamsaveni N Sanjay, an ITC employee, said: “We were called for work. A few other department workers are still on leave. Security guards are present everywhere and ensuring the safety of workers. We are not allowed to walk freely. We avoided the forest area where the cage is installed for the leopard.”

The Observer noticed there were few vehicles and the parking space was empty.

Narayana Murthy, a member of one the civil workers’ group, said: “Our salary will be cut for the holidays announced by the

company. If the holidays continue it will be really tough for our lives. Hopefully, the forest team captures the leopard.”

When The Observer tried to talk to security persons at ITC, they said there is no leopard inside the campus.

At Tharabanahalli, a village very close to the ITC campus, there is no panic.

Rekhela, a teacher at the Tharabanhalli Government Higher Primary School, said: “We are aware about the leopard in ITC. As a precautionary measure,

Farmers seek profitable prices for their produce

By Ahona Roy

T

K

“We provide classes for our students on child safety. Our teachers are trained and we also have counsellors to go to in case students have any problems.”

Nirmalya Mukherjee, a child psychologist, said: “It is better if every school had a qualified mental health professional as they will be able to train the students better. But that’s possible in city schools; for rural areas, the teachers can be trained to reach the students on child safety.”

Children will listen and open up to people who are known to them better.... “But nothing like a trained professional working with the students to teach.”

According to Karnataka State Police website, 244 cases are from Bengaluru itself. arsha.s@iijnm.org

arnataka’s farmers have demanded fixed profitable prices for their produce, removal of GST on farm equipment and increased remuneration under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme.

Leaders of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) Karnataka Region Southmade these demands at a press conference on Thursday.

Ramesh Raju, general secretary, BKS, said: “It costs a lot in the process of cultivation and acquiring of grains, but the profit a farmer earns is very little.”

A farmer should get a profit of Rs 65,000 from paddy produced on one acre of land, but he gets only Rs 40,000 for his yield.“It is the same with a sugarcane farmer who should get Rs 1 lakh on produce but gets Rs 70,000.”

“We demand the removal of GST on inputs, machinery, irrigation pumpsets and drip irrigation.

We have been demanding a profitable price for the past 40 years” The amount provided under the Kisan Samman Scheme should be doubled, he added.

Pampanna B.E., president of BKS, said: “Farmers should be exempted from GST on agricultural equipment. Farmers do not earn profit. We will organise a

we have cancelled the extra classes which were held for weak students, so that all students leave in groups at the same time and reach home safely.”

Farmers at the weekly Thursday market in Chikkajala said: “We heard about the leopard. We are scared but can’t stop doing our work. We also heard that the forest department is inside ITC trying to capture the leopard. We are all fine here.”

Somashekar, another farmer said: “This is all fake news. There is no leopard inside. I am not scared of anything.”

Ramakrishana Reddy, inspector, Chikkajala police station, said: “We have nothing to do here.

We are aware that ITC had spotted a leopard on its campus. I have spoken to the forest department. They have installed another cage to capture the leopard.

Now there are two cages inside the campus. There is no panic among humans. We will wait for the leopard to be captured.”

According to a TOI report, almost a week after a leopard was found preying on livestock in south Bengaluru, forest officials on Wednesday reported that another big cat as spotted near Chikkajala on the road to Kempegowda International Airport. hamsaveni.n@iijnm.org

Quiz answers 1. Uttar Pradesh 2. Anhilwada 3. Ilbari tribe 4. Hepatocytes 5. Greece 6. Tamil 7. Mewati 8. Ahmedabad

Wonders of World

3

Did you know?

BKS president Pampanna addressing the problems faced by the farmers| Credit: Ahona R mega rally on December 19 in support of their demands.“ Rupasekar, head of the Mahila Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, said: “A woman is a part of a family. She looks after everything from morning till evening. If her husband, after a difficult day on the farm, comes home empty-handed, she will also be impacted. She will not cook anything.”

Vivek More, a BKS leader from north Karnataka, “When a farmer gets a good yield, the price of grains decreases; when the yield is less, the price increases as well. Also, milk is sold for Rs 52 but the farmer gets only Rs. 27; the profit is earned by companies.”

Read full story on our website www.theweeklyobserver.com

If shark attacks give you the heebie-jeebies, you and the people over at Google aren’t the only one to be scared of it. In 1987, it was reported by The New York Times that sharks “have shown an inexplicable taste for the new fiberoptic cables that are being strung along the ocean floor linking the United States, Europe, and Japan." It was common phenomenon and everybody was afraid of it. Some directors even made money by choosing a theme like this for their audience and the movies actually were a hit

Weather Maximum temperature: 25 °C Minimum temperature: 24 °C Visibility: 3 km Pressure: 1016 mbar Humidity: 69% Dew Point: 18 °C Precipitation: 10% Wind: 11 km/h Air Quality: Poor

4 Multidisciplinary edu is our backbone; says NEP Continued from Page 1

V

ishnupriya Iyer, a biotechnology student, said: “I studied in CBSE till grade 10.

After that, I shifted to the IB board. In IB, the curriculum is subject-oriented. You have to choose six subjects .Maths and English is mandatory“.In subjects like maths and physics, testing is application-based unlike CBSE.” Priyanka Shah, a former ICSE student, said: “I do not think there is anything wrong with our boards. One should have clarity on what they want to pursue.

Picking a stream and mastering it is important. Science students need not study another stream.

Their focus should be on their subjects. They should not be distracted by other subjects like economiccs or business studies.

Niche learning is not bad.”

Shilpa Thakkar,the mother of a class 6 student said: “I chose IGCSE for my daughter. It helps students to use their knowledge of different subjects to develop a clear understanding of the topics. For example, the concepts my daughter studies in physics and maths are aligned which makes it easier for her to understand the topic from various angles and develop her own knowledge which becomes long-lasting.”

The National Education Policy 2020 describes multidisciplinary education as its backbone,stating that India has a long tradition of holistic and multidisciplinary learning from the universities such as Takshashila and Nalanda. sneha.ts@iijnm.org

The Observer Thursday, December 1, 2022

CITY

Several slums in Bengaluru get Cauvery water just once a week The water they get has mud, sand, granules

By Vindhya Pabolu

O

ver a quarter of Bengaluru’s population does not have access to Cauvery water, causing distress to the people living in slums.

Residents of the Thubarahalli, Laxminarayanapura, Pantharapalya slums say they get Cauvery water only once a week.

Muniyamma G, a resident of the slum, said: “We get water only once a week.We don’t have water tanks to store it. We have to store it in buckets which lasts only for 4-5 days. During an election rally the last time, a MLA had visited our slum and told us he would do something about it, but nothing has changed.”

Daily wages worker Suresh Veerappa, another resident of Laxminarayanapura, said: “It’s been 15 years since I have been living here but the problem with drinking water has not changed. Politicians visit our slums during election time. After that, they don't even care about us. We have to borrow water from our neighbours.”

In the absence of Cauvery water supply, most of them depend on borewells. “We once decided to complain about the water problem, but everyone eventually backed out."

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Act ensures the provision of drinking water yet slum residents are deprived of it |Credit: Yukta Mudgal Kalaivani, resident of the Thubarahalli slum, said she has to wake up at 7 am every day to fill water. It only comes for an hour.

We rarely get water, like once every three days.We are helpless.”

The Observer noted that the drinking water the slums gets hasmud, sand particles and dark granules. The residents complained they have to use such water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, bathing and washing clothes.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Act, 1964, states that people who enrol for water supply

and sewage connections will have access to drinking water through individual household connections.

Suresh B, Chief Engineer, BWSSB, told The Observer: "Earlier,the Bangalore City Corporation, which is now called BBMP, covered 225 sqkm but now it covers 800 sqkm which includes 110 villages. We provide Cauvery water to these areas once in a week.People residing in urban slum areas are facing a major problem because of this situation.

The government of Karnataka has come up with a project (Cau-

More women entrepreneurs are needed, say delegates at IEEE conference ‘We women give 100% towards what we do’

By Janani Srinivas

T

he inclusion of women entrepreneurs helps to bring innovation and creativity in several fields.

At the IEEE International Conference for Women in Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship, women innovators came together to share their expertise on creating an ecosystem that brings together leading organizations..

Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, managing trustee, Adamya Chetana, said: “Having run this business for 13 years, we try to bring forward components that have been invented by our scientists. When a woman feels empowered, it is like a medal achieved, which is a great sign.”

It is important for inclusivity of

The IEEE aims at creating an ecosystem that brings together leading organizations. |Credit: Janani Srinivas women in every sector, she added.

Chhaya Nanjappa, founder and managing partner, Nectar and Naman, said: “Women are able to face all kinds of challenges. They are present in several sectors like strategic building, creating a community , but it is high time for women to get empowered and become entrepreneurs.”

“We need to empower people

belonging to tribal groups, and reach out to sects for not only increasing business oportunities for them, but also to bring forward a zeal of enthusiasm over becoming a woman entrepreneur.”

Anita Yellareddy, senior specialist, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, said: “Encouraging women is very important. At HewlettPackard, everything is inclusive.

In fact, there have been an number of women who have worked really hard to bring innovation and creativity for the welfare of people.”

Dr Deepa Shenoy, professor of genetic algorithms at the Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, said: “We need to celebrate innovation and creativity, and we need to celebrate our woman With a great amount of innovation comes a amount of creativity, which is required to encourage women into contributing more for society.”

Parvathy Rajakunta, Secretary of WIE Bangalore, one of the organizers of the event, noted: “There are 3,070 members across the globe who push the idea of celebrating womanhood.Through this platform, we want to imply that with creative techniques brought forward by women leaders, anything can be possible.”

Many dignitaries said women should be encouraged to do more than household work. janani.s@iijnm.org

very drinking water project phase III with a total of 750 million litres per day to be purified) to solve this problem. The project will be completed by next year.

Through this, we will solve the problem by providing drinking water once every three days.”

Venkat Ramana Iyer, managing trustee of the Swabhimaan Trust, an NGO, said: “People don’t have basic amenities like drinking water, education, and health. The drainage pipes are mixed with drinking water pipes.

Due to holes in the pipes, drinking water gets mixed with waste.

They end up drinking that water.

That’s how horrible the lives of slum people is.… The government can do a lot for them. In my opinion, the government should establish some welfare groups in order to reach out to people living in slums and poor communities. We are doing everything we can for these people.”

The city has 550 slums recognised by the Karnataka Slum Clearance Board. The core area has 362 slums. Poor services to urban poor communities have negatively impacted unauthorised/illegal tap connections in BWSSB water systems, leading to revenue losses.

BWSSB is responsible for providing water to areas under its jurisdiction. The state government has allocated 19 tmcft of Cauvery water for the requirements of Bengaluru, as per the BWSSB website. vindhya.p@iijnm.org

Quote of the day “Sometimes we make the process more complicated than we need to. We will never make a journey of a thousand miles by fretting about how long it will take or how hard it will be. We make the journey by taking each day step by step and then repeating it again and again until we reach our destination.” - Joseph B. Wirthlin

The Observer Produced by the Print students of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media at Nityananda Nagar, Kumbalgodu, Kengeri hobli, Bengaluru 560074.

Editor: Suryash Kumar News Editor: Sneha T S Copy editors: Siddhi Chauhan, Yukta Mudgal, Shruti Banerjee, Vindhya Pabolu Reporters:Hamsaveni N, Arsha B S, Janani Srinivas, Ahona Roy, Yashaswini Sri, Priya Pathak Photo editor: Sneha T S Other IIJNM publications l The Beat magazine l CityCast l The SoftCopy