The Observer An IIJNM publication
BBMP’s failure results in delay of storm water drainage construction at Ecospace, Bellandur | P3
SC: All women can have safe and legal abortion
Digvijay to contest Congress chief election
Digvijay Singh has announced that he will be filing his nomination for post of Congress president, probably on September 20. Shashi Tharoor is also contesting the election, to be held next month. ANI
Myanmar court jails Suu Kyi, her adviser
A court in military-ruled Myanmar on Thursday jailed deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her former economic adviser, Australian Sean Turnell, for three years for violating a secrets law.Reuters
Jaishankar hopeful of Security Council reform
The need to reform the UN Security Council cannot be denied forever, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said even as he noted that India never believed that revamping the top organ of the world body will be an easy process. PTI
CBI cracks down on drug cartels
In a major crackdown on drug peddlers, the CBI led an operation in coordination with the Narcotics Control Bureau and police of multiple states, arresting 175 people and seizing a huge quantity of drugs, officials said on Thursday.Operation Garuda, which started earlier this week, also involved Interpol. PTI
Time limit to hold NeXT extended by a year
The government has invoked provisions of the NMC Act by which the time limit for conducting the National Exit Test (NExT) for final-year MBBS students has been extended till September 2024.NExT exam a will not be held in 2023 PTI
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Website: theweeklyobserver.in Epaper: https://issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver
The virtual world leads to young people picking up irregular eating habits, impacting their health | P2
Coffee industry plunges into gloom after erratic rainfall
News Briefs
The Supreme Court on Thursday, in a landmark judgment,held that all women — whether married or unmarried — are entitled to safe and legal abortion.The court also said the meaning of the offence of rape must include marital rape for the purpose of the MTP Act.ANI
Vol 22, Issue 4
@theweeklyobserver
Growers incur loss; 1.25L acres of plantation hit By Shruti Banerjee
O
wing to heavy and uneven rain, Karnataka’s coffee plantations have been badly affected. Crop cultivation has dropped across varieties: 25 per cent in Arabica and 35 per cent in Robusta, said Ram Karrekolli, a coffee grower in Kodagu. Since Karnataka is the largest coffee producer in India, this doesn’t augur well for the country’s coffee production. C.C. Thimmaiah, another coffee planter in Kodagu, informed The Observer: “It is not that many acres are affected. The area where there is excess rainfall may have a lot of coffee dropping and, therefore, there may be a loss of production for the year. Arabica is susceptible to black rot disease due to excess rain… the leaves and berries may rot.” During the past three years, he said, “I must have lost about two tonnes of coffee on the plant.” Nanda Belliappa, Vice Chairman of the Codagu Planters Association (CPA), said almost 60 per cent of the coffee-growing area has been affected, causing losses to around 2.5 lakh farmers.
Since Karnataka is the largest coffee producer in India and heavy rain has ravaged the state, it doesn’t augur well for the country’s coffee production | Courtesy: Ram Karrekolli Further, 1.25 lakh acres of cof- Board of Karnataka, M. Senthil fee plantation has been affected Kumar said normal rainfall is due to the heavy rain in August necessary for coffee crops. But and early September. when rain is excessive and distriFormer Vice Chairman of the bution uneven, the crop is damCoffee Board of India Bose Man- aged, and there is crop drop. danna said the rainfall was erCrop drop refers to the reducratic this year. In 2022, the tion in the estimate from the time Western Ghats received heavy when the estimate was first rain. Coorg and Chikmagalur made, i.e., during the blossom, have been the worst affected. and the final estimate. This year, Black rot has aggravated the sit- the crop drop is 35 per cent. uation. In June, Kumar said, there is a Director of Research, Coffee crop drop in all coffee crops. A
Most children living in slums drop out of school, do odd jobs By Yukta Mudgal
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hildren in various slums of Bengaluru attend school but only a few make it to higher education. The Observer noted that most schools near slums impart education only till grade seven. Children, especially girls, find it difficult to continue their education after grade seven. Laxmibai, 24, a slum-dweller in Pantarapalya,Nayandahalli, informed The Observer: “I attended
The Observer found that girls in the age group 10-14 study only up to class 3 school till class seven in nearby Prathamika Shale as the school only had grades till seven. I wanted to pursue higher education in a school in Rajarajeshwari Nagar but at that time the area was a jungle and I did not feel safe.” Kaala Bai, 22, another slumdweller, said she stopped going to
school after grade three as she lost her interest in studies. Kaala, married when she was 18, and now has a three-year-old son. Laxmi and Kaala said politicians knock their doors during elections or only if they require any sweepers. Both are Marathi-speaking migrants. In their caste, sweeping and picking garbage is considered a disgraceful job. There is a school near Pantarapalya, but not all slum children attend it. Continued on page 2
normal drop is 10 per cent. That time the crop adjusts according to the nutrients present in the plants. When rainfall increases, crop drop goes up to 15-20 per cent; if it goes beyond 30 per cent, crops get damaged. During that time, the government lends monetary support to coffee growers. Also, the Disaster Management Committee conduct surveys and assesses the losses growers have incurred. Kumar shared that this year, the crop drop was 35 per cent. Production has suffered as the coffee crops have contracted diseases like black rot and stalk rot due to excess and uneven rain. This year, the wet field condition that happened is mainly responsible for the loss of crops and will most likely affect exports. Lauren Saldanha, a coffee estate owner in Chikamgalur, said different parts of Karnataka receive different degrees of rain, and as the harvesting season hasn’t begun yet, it is difficult to say to what extent the excessive rainfall will affect the production. Hard time for coffee industry means hard time for a lot of labourers.More than 50 per cent of India’s coffee labourers work in Karnataka. Coffee cultivation provides them good earning opportunities, housing, medical care and education. shruti.b@iijnm.org
Progress or regress
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engaluru metro has reduced the travel time, but 9,000 trees have been cut for building the green and pruple line. As Bangalore metro expands, more trees will be axed Environmentalist are concerned with the government’s indifference towards the environment. The responsibility of government doesn’t end with planting saplings and can a sapling planted at another place offset the ecosystem loss of a tree. Full report on page 2