The Observer An IIJNM publication
Traditional art of puppetry is witnessing a gradual decline as the youth are unenthusiastic about it | P 3
Vol 22, Issue 6
Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Commuters say ‘regular autos’ charge extra By Yukta Mudgal
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Long wait at railway crossings causing distress to commuters By Suryash Kumar itizens await the widening of railway underbridges at level crossings as traffic jams hold them up for considerable time. Alternatively, they want overbridges constructed. People get stuck at the crossing for 15-20 minutes during peak hours on weekdays, although during weekends, it’s manageable, said Rajesh Kumar, a daily commuter at Malleshwaram. Multiple areas in Bengaluru are facing the same situation and commuters lose considerable time at these crossings. Shiv Kumar, who often passes Malleshwaram crossing said, “there is always a traffic jam, at this place for 10-15 minutes.”, it’s a hassle for people. Continued on page 2
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Rapido stated that it will continue to operate in Bengaluru despite the Transportation Department declaring it illegal | Credits: Yukta Mudgal ter, but now that Rapido might be banned in Bengaluru, it will affect him financially. Rapido does not take much commission; in fact, it gives its employees regular good incentives, Kumar added. K.R. Nagaraju, a full-time Ola autorickshaw driver, said “rowdy” auto drivers do not let the outsiders come to where they wait. They even charge Rs 200-300 for
much shorter rides. He said he will have to incur losses due to the ban as finding passengers is difficult. Daily commuters in Bengaluru find the app-based aggregators economical and convenient. Naveen Kumar, a regular commuter, said: “Banning them (aggregators) is not the right thing to do. Rather fares should be regulated. Bengaluru already has is-
sues with transportation.This ban will add to our woes.” Anmol Sharma, a financial educator, said: “The government claims these apps charge high.. But the truth is that the auto drivers charge even more when it rains or if there’s more demand, especially during weekends.” The drivers do not accept bookings via these apps; they demand ridiculous amounts, “say Rs 400 for a destination 3km away. People do not have any option but to pay them,” Sharma added. Another citizen said Ola and Uber autorickshaws are not perfect, but “90 per cent better” than “regular autos”, which never adhere to the standard rates prescribed by the government. They charge Rs 50 or Rs 100 over what the meter shows. Debjit Naskar, a worried citizen, said: “I welcome this step as all these companies take a lot of hidden charges which common people are not aware of. A lot of corruption is involved. I feel some…regulatory body must be there to control the aggregators.” Continued on page 2
With marital rape not recognized as a crime, cases are hushed up By Siddhi Chauhan allavi Das (name changed) cries in bed every night after her husband inflicts pain on her while sexually abusing her. She is not even sure if it is right to call it “sexual abuse” as her husband says it is the foundation of a healthy marriage. According to The Better India website, 106 countries including Poland, United States of America have recognized marital rape as such. India is among the nations that do not consider marital rapes as a criminal offence. Manisha Sharma, who has been married for more than 24 years, informed The Observer: “Marital rape is nothing but unwanted intercourse between a man with his wife based on the threat of force or violence without consent. It is not justifiable, and
Website: theweeklyobserver.in Epaper: https://issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver
Stagnant water in potholes and garbage dumps are creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes | P 3
Proposed ban will hit us hard, say drivers of aggregator autos rivers of Ola, Uber and Rapido autorickshaws are worried about their livelihood after the Karnataka government declared the aggregators’ autorickshaw services illegal. The transport department cracked the whip following complaints from commuters that the aggregators were charging more than Rs 30 for 2 km. Another complaint was that they were charging more commission from the drivers. It said the aggregators were not adhering to the On-Demand Transportation Technology Act, 2016. Kiran Kumar, a part-time Rapido employee, said: “My family was going through a hard time financially which is why I joined Rapido.” He is saving money for the marriage of his younger sis-
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Marriage is not a license for sexual intercourse should be criminalised to protect the rights of women in this patriarchal society.” Aiswarya Saji, a criminal advocate, informed: “In India, rape in marriage is not considered as a crime. We don’t have
laws against marital rape…. Section 375 states that if a man has sexual relations with his wife who is not 10 to 15 years old, it is not considered as rape.” Before criminalising marital rape, our country should have proper laws for rape in general without any loopholes. This will ensure that a victim will not hesitate to report the incident to the police, Saji added. Abhinav Gupta, a criminal lawyer, informed The Observer: “According to World Bank data, India is one of the 35 countries where marital rape is legal, and that’s surely is not a good list to be on but it does not seem like it will happen anytime soon because the outcomes can be unexpected and problematic. Continued on page 3
News briefs CJI Lalit recommends Chandrachud name Chief Justice of India UU Lalit on Tuesday set in motion the process of the appointment of his successor by recommending to the Centre the name of Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, the most senior Supreme Court judge. Justice Lalit handed over a copy of his letter of recommendation to Justice Chandrachud, who is set to become the 50th Chief Justice of India on November 9. PTI
Yellow alert issued for several K’taka districts
The India Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert (64.5 mm to 115.5 mm of rain) for several districts in Karnataka on Tuesday and Wednesday. These include Belagavi, Bidar, Kalaburgi, Yadgir, Chamaranjanagr, Chikkamagaluru, Chikkaballapur, Hassan, Kodagu, Kolar Mandya and Tumakuru. It has also issued a yellow alert for Bengaluru on Thursday and said the city will receive light to moderate rain on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. PTI
India’s gems, jewellery exports rise 27%
India’s gems and jewellery exports witnessed a 27.17 per cent growth in September to Rs 30,195 crore as compared to Rs 23,743 crore during the same month last year, data released by Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council showed.. PTI
Ukraine to seek more arms from G7 nations
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to ask the leaders of the G7 group of nations to urgentlysupply Ukraine with weapons to defend itself from Russian missiles, a day after Moscow launched retaliatory strikes that killed 19 people. Reuters
EC allots ‘two swords and a shield’ as poll symbol
The Election Commission on Tuesday allotted 'two swords and a shield' as the poll symbol to the Eknath Shinde led faction of the Shiv Sena. The Shinde faction, which is now named as 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena', will be able to use the symbol for the Andheri East assembly bypoll, should it decide to contest the election scheduled for November 3. EC wrote a letter to Maharastra CM. PTI
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The Observer Tuesday, October 11, 2022
CITY
Fine collection is a snap for police, thanks to digitization People say they now don’t have to grease palms By Vindhya Pabolu
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igitization is making the work of the police easy. It has reduced their clerical work, giving them more time to maintain law and order. People find paying fines online easier.Poorna Praveen, a student, informed : “Before digitization of fines, there were times when I bribed policemen for letting me go even if it was not my mistake. But the situation has changed now. Now I know why I am paying and what I have done wrong to be fined.” Pranay Porandla, who works for a software company, said: “There were instances where I was stopped by the traffic police abruptly. I would be running late, but the traffic police wouldn’t let me go. The silver lining about digitization is that I won’t be stopped in the middle of the road.” Police say that on an average 30,000 to 40,000 cases are registered online every day for violation of traffic rules like rash driving, riding without helmet, wrong parking, and using mobile
Around the city Rambo Circus: Till Oct 23 (1.00 pm to 9.00 pm). Ticket price starting from Rs. 150. Near Kengeri Bus Terminal Metro Station Horn Ok Please, the happiest food festival: From Oct 15 to Oct 16 (12 noon to 11.00 pm). White Orchid Grounds, Mantya Tech Park, Bengaluru
Quiz 1. The lead character in the film 'The Bandit Queen' has been played by? 2. The temperature increases rapidly after 3. Rabindranath Tagore's 'Jana Gana Mana' has been adopted as India's National Anthem. How many stanzas of the said song were adopted? 4. What does the term ‘OS' usually mean? 5. 'Bagh', a village in Gwalior is famous for?
Weather Today: 28 °C Wind: 20 km/h Humidity: 70% Visibility:6 km
More than 30,000 cases are registered daily. | Courtesy:KPN phones while driving. sional, said: “I faced a problem Nayana, Sub-Inspector, Traffic with digitization recently. Most Management Centre, shared: traffic signals in Bengaluru do “Patience is a key of our job. not have timers for signals. There Standing for hours, dealing with were instances when I crossed all kinds of people, examining all signals in green light, but midway the vehicles is a tough job. Digital the signal changed into red. The technology has helped us make camera, unaware of this, captures our job a bit easier than before.” shots of the vehicle and sends an Even after digitization, some e-challan. If it was a normal chalpeople choose to pay fines offline. lan, I would have explained this Brahmaiah K, an IT profes- to the traffic police.”
According to the report published by the Hindustan Times, a total of Rs 660 crore was collected as traffic fines during 2019-2021. Professor M.N Sreehari, who has supervised more than 2,000 projects related to traffic transportation and safety, informed The Observer: “Digital technology is doing a great job by helping us to collect fines efficiently. We are even planning to create a few apps which will help people to pay their fines through online mode.” Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, lists punishments for traffic offences where no specific penalty has been mentioned, ranging from Rs 500 for firsttime offences to Rs 1,500 for repeat offences. by traffic officials. The Bengaluru Traffic Police keep a close eye on all violations and penalize violators. A section of the traffic police website is dedicated to e-challans – which is an online traffic ticket that has made catching violators easier and more convenient for them. Currently, there are two ways to pay an e-challan in Bengaluru: the first is through the Karnataka One website. While, the second method to pay is to visit the PayTM e-wallet. People can now pay fine through their mobile phones. vindhya.p@iijnm.org
Traffic snarls at railway crossings are an irritant for commuters Continued from page 1 he Pottery Road railway underpass is narrow, although it has two lanes for traffic to move in either direction. Further, at one end of the crossing, merging traffic aggravates the situation. During rain, water logging can further worsen the situation. At the Malleswaram crossing, they have to wait long to get to the other side of the road.B. Kumar, a daily commuter, informed The Observer: “People don’t maintain the lane. Also, the Bank of India side of the crossing has merging traffic as roads from the right and left meet.” The Malleswaram crossing has a different scenario: it has a manual system where in a gatewoman has to lift and drop the bar for the people to cross the road. Gatewoman Fahiminhisa shared: “Gates are closed even when an engine has to pass the crossing… until I close the gate, the signal won’t turn green.” The Observer noticed that gates were closed four minutes before a train arrived at the crossing. It took around 50 seconds for the train to pass the crossing. It takes up to three minutes after a train has passed for the gatewoman to lift the bar. At Pottery Circle, vehicles get
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Traffic signals make the situation worse.| Credits:Suryash Kumar backed up as the road under the railway bridge is narrow, and a traffic signal adjacent to the bridge makes the situation worse. Barkath, a repair shop owner near the underpass, said there are traffic jams due to narrow road near the underpass. The Observer noticed the traffic signal was red for 90 seconds before turning green for 50 seconds,causing traffic jam.. The road leading towards the Pottery Circle from Netajiroad sees a high traffic flow. Mohammad, who often takes the Pottery Circle route, said: “It’s a pain point for us. We need the road to be widened.What if some day an ambulance gets stuck in the traffic jam?” “The road needs to be widened as the Pottery Circle crossing
often has traffic jams. Something needs to be done, or traffic diversion is the other option,” said Ashok, a traffic police officer. People say they want the road leading to the crossing widened or an overbridge constructed. Basant Kumar, a daily traveller, informed: “25-30 minutes of jam is a given. An overbridge is the bes option.” BBMP said it is planning to initiate the process of building an underpass or overbridge by sending a proposal to Indian Railways. Naveen, Assistant Engineer, BBMP,said: “An underpass is the best option if there’s space that connects to the wider road. If a lot of traffic passes through a level crossing, we will build an underpass or an overbridge.” Nazir Ahmed, senior section engineer, South Western Railway,said that the Railways have a policy to eliminate level crossings by constructing underpasses or overbridges. Since 2008,the Railways have taken up work on several level crossings. The Karnataka government and the Railways have tried to eliminate crossings, but at places, due to constraints of space or land acquisition issues, this is not possible. suryash.k@iijnm.org
Citizen’s Voice Finance Ministry should Stop pressuring RBI The RBI‘s precautionary steps have reduced the impact of the quick rise in interest rates in developed countries. The 2013 taper tantrum, if repeated, can cause a huge scar in the development process. The RBI has wisely deployed its tools to soften the impact. The Finance Ministry should stop putting force on the central bank to use forex reserves to curb rupee depreciation. Sai Aravindh
Incentivize staff for a good output
The norm of “quiet quitting” has been common in the corporate world. During Covid, we have seen this trend in the work-fromhome . The main attribute of this is the lack of motivation. For good output, employees should be incentivized periodically Vinayak Sasikumar
Why a sudden ban on app-based aggregators?
According to officials of the Transport Department, the licences for Ola and Uber expired in June and December, respectively, of 2021. Why wasn't it mentioned in the previous eight months? Megha Rani
Regular drivers welcome the ban on aggregators Continued from page 1 rivers not affiliated to the aggregators have welcomed the transportation department’s decision. Syed Salman, a driver, said: “Technology-savvy auto drivers can access Ola, Uber and Rapido but not us. We are the ones who wander from lane to lane in the search of customers.” C. Sampath, general secretary, Adarsha Auto Union, welcomed the step as the regular auto drivers pay taxes and have insurance, whereas most drivers on theapps are college-goers. He praised the Kerala government for financially helping the regular autorickshaw drivers. The union will on Thursday submit a memorandum to Transport Minister B. Sriramulu regarding the issue. The minister said: “Ola and Uber are supposed to make commuting easier for people..., but we still receive complaints every year. ...there are some technical issues, thus a notice has been given to them.” The Observer noted that Ola and Uber auto drivers charge Rs. 44.5 and Rs. 42 for a 2-km ride, while most regular auto rickshaw drivers charge a minimum of Rs 50 for the same distance. yukta.m@iijnm.org
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CITY
Water stagnates in potholes, mosquito menace rises in city Nobody comes to clear trash, complain people By Yukta Mudgal
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itizens in the several parts of Bengaluru say the mosquito menace is increasing due to accumulation of rainwater in potholes, empty vessels and coconut shells. They blame the government for its negligence. Rajendran Prabhakaran, a social worker and resident of Rajendra Nagar, informed The Observer: “My wife was admitted in the St Philomena’s hospital with dengue two years ago. Dengue cases are rising here due to stagnated water in potholes.” Valli, another resident of Rajendra Nagar, said: “Last year, my two-year-old son was affected by severe fever. We gave him medicines, but it did not help. On the sixth day, his body became cold. We then rushed to a hospital. There he was diagnosed with dengue.” According to Valli, whose husband is a driver, they spent almost Rs 15,000 on their son’s treatment. She has lived in Rajendra Nagar for the past 31 years, but has not seen any BBMP worker coming and clearing the water and garbage. “One cannot come out after 6 pm
IPC does not have any law on marital rape Continued from page 1 he Delhi High Court feared that criminalizing marital rape will destabilize the institution of marriage and become a tool for harassing husbands. Ajeet, a constable of the Kengeri police station, said last year, two marital rape cases were reported in the station. “Since the Indian Penal Code does not have any laws regarding marital rape specifically, the cases were filed under Sections 376 and 420.” According to National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-2021) report, 32 percent of married women of the age 18-49 have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional spousal violence. Yogita Bhayana, a human rights Activist and founder of People Against Rapes in India (PARI) Foundation said: “I have worked on several marital rape cases over the years, but they usually are pushed under the carpet because women want to only talk to me instead of reporting it or filing a complaint.” Pallavi thinks taking one’s husband to police on account of marital rape is traumatizing and destabilizing for a woman. siddhi.c@iijnm@org
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Potholes with rain water become breeding zones for mosquitoes, causing the spread of dengue and other infections | Credit: Yukta Mudgal because of constant mosquito bites. pick garbage and manage waste Still not much awareness has been effectively,” he added, “but due to spread regarding dengue. They do corruption, though tenders come, not come and apply bleach powder people do not work.” or do fogging in the area.” John Gonsalves, a resident of The National Center for Ve- Langford Road, said: “People are ctor Borne Diseases Control, paying taxes but garbage collecKarnataka, had recorded 5,392 tors do not come.” Most people cases of dengue till August 31, give a stipend to the cleaners, but 2022, with four deaths. the poor who can’t afford it end up G. Govardhan, 93, trustee, dumping garbage near their Bangalore Environment Trust, houses. This creates a situation said: “Coconut shells are very where mosquitoes breed when useful items, but throwing rainwater gets collected. Not only garbage outside is our culture. dengue but cholera and fungal inThis is, of course, one of the major fections are also spreading. The reasons behind the increase in government should take the inithe mosquito menace.” tiative to tackle this problem.” “We have gone from house to Selvi, a resident of Ayyapa house to train pourakarmikas to Garha slum, Shantinagar, said:
“There are a lot of mosquitoes during night, but we never caught dengue, though fever is a common thing these days.” The Observer noted that a heap of garbage was lying in front of Selvi’s house. “Nobody from the government side picks up the garbage; we ourselves clean it once a month,” she said. The Observer saw coconut vendors carrying shells and burning them to heat water,that thrown by the residents living nearby. Dr Dwijendra Prasad, a senior consultant at Prakriya Hospital, Nagasandra, said: “We have seen an increase in dengue cases from last year, the reason being persistent rainfall and rainwater getting accumulated in potholes, plant pots and coconut shells. Wherever there is construction work, mosquitoes will breed. Problems happen when people throw coconut shells and other garbage outside their houses. This breeds mosquito larvae.” One of the prevention is putting petrol in stagnant water, which helps in dealing with this problem, he added. Explaining the spread of dengue, Dr Prasad said: “People only come to the hospital when their platelets are really down and cases become serious. People should take note of symptoms like chills, vomiting, high fever and headache, and prevent dehydration.” yukta.m@iijnm.org
With the young uninterested in it, puppetry is in decline Puppetry is struggling to retain its glory By Shruti Banerjee
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he traditional puppet theatre of India which had an immense value earlier is struggling to retain its glory. According to the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, a puppet is one of the most remarkable and ingenious inventions of mankind. Srinivas, Director of Rangaputhali Puppeteers, a prominent puppeteer based in Bengaluru, said the art of puppetry is struggling because today’s youth are more inclined to watching movies than going to a puppet show. Rangaputhali Puppeteers travels across India to do shows. Centuries ago, Srinivas said, there were around 4,000 troupes of puppetry. That number has reduced to 380. Sinde Sriramulu, a leather puppetry artist for the Dinesh Karthik Leather Puppetry show
Puppetry at folk art fairs and festivals. | Courtesy: Sendi Sriramulu group in an Andhra Pradesh village, said his team is paid around Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 for one show. The amount is divided among the eight members of his team. Each person receives around Rs 5,000, which is not enough to sustain them. Srinivas added that his team has eight members.They are paid around Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 for each performance, which also includes their transportation cost. Each member in the group receives Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000. Sriramulu shared that in order
to support his family of six, other than performing puppet shows, he also works in fields and sells wall hangings made of leather. D. Chinna Ramana, a fellowmember of Sriramulu’s group, said that apart from performing puppet shows they have to do other jobs to feed their families. Generally, his group performs two or three times in a month. However, during festivals or wedding seasons, they perform up to four to five times a month. Sriramulu has been performing leather puppetry shows for 14 years in multiple states. He believes the art of puppetry will make a strong comeback. Puppetry, a 350-year-old art form, is Srinivas’ family tradition. They perform mostly rod and string puppetry made of wood. Ramayana and Mahabharata puppetshows are appreciated by people. But sometimes the audience gets bored watching the same mythological shows. To break the monotony, Srinivas introduced Vivekananda puppetry where they portray episodes from the monk’s life. Read the complete story on: www.theweeklyobserver.in
3 Wonders of the World
The Cave Temples of Badami Situated in the North Karnataka in present day Bagalkot, Badami was the erstwhile capital of this great kingdom. Situated at the mouth of ravine, the settlement is flanked by sandstone hills. One of the fascinating sites of Badami is the set of cave temples carved out of the sandstone rocks. The set of four cave temples were built over a period of time and are dedicated to Hindu deities. www.karnataka.com
Tweetcasm Ola-Uber autos are banned in Bengaluru which means the rides that we were able to book before will not be available for booking anymore. @VishalDayama
Quote of the week “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people are so full of doubts.” -Bertrand Russel
Did You Know? According to official Olympic records, the youngest athlete to win an Olympic medal was Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, who finished third at the 1896 Olympic Games when he was 10 years old.
Quiz answers 1.Seema Biswas 2.Ionosphere 3. Only the first stanza 4. Operating System 5.Cave painting
The Observer Tuesday, October 11, 2022
The Observer Produced by the Print students of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media at Nityananda Nagar, Kumbalgodu, Kengeri hobli, Bengaluru 560074. Editor: Sneha T S News Editor: Yukta Mudgal Copy editors: Vindhya Pabolu, Siddhi Chauhan, Shruthi Banerjee Photo editor: Suryash Kumar Other IIJNM publications l The Beat magazine l CityCast l The SoftCopy