Issue 2 dailies final1

The Daily

BSERVER An IIJNM Publication

Tuesday, 4 April, 2017

SBI to penalise for account balances under Rs 5000 Ahana Chatterjee ahana.c@iijnm.org The State Bank of India last month announced that all account holders with the bank should have a minimum balance of Rs. 5000 in their savings account. Failing to maintain will result in penalties, the bank said.

India’s largest bank with around 20,000 branches, the State Bank of India’s (SBI) move will impact a lot of people.

As of 2016-17, SBI had total assets of 30.72 trillion, which will likely increase in the next fiscal year due to a recent merger with the five more associates. The bank has 50 crore customers and 74 crore accounts.

In urban, semi-urban and rural parts, account holders have to maintain a balance of Rs. 3,000, Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 1,000 in their accounts, respectively. The bank has also decided on penalties in accordance to the economic conditions of regions. For rural areas the penalty

is Rs. 20 to Rs. 25 with service tax.

This rule was implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru takes under its ambit students and below poverty line people living in these cities as well.

Jan Dhan Account holders have been made an exception to this, however. “Changes might be made again, depending upon the result,” a spokesperson from the bank said.

“The profit margins are coming down and hence the bank has come up with this rule. Savings accounts will get more interest rate. Earlier they used to get 4 percent interest and now they will get 4.5 percent interest rate without tax deducted at source (TDS). This is a positive step from our side. Also, if one is making a fixed deposit, they will get 6 percent interest from now on

without TDS,” he added.

SBI’s news has prompted customers to plan a boycott on April 6.

Other protests are planned for April 24-26 if the bank does not amend the rule.

Changes have been made to the process of withdrawal from the bank’s ATMs as well. Now if a person withdraws money more than thrice from another bank’s

ATM, they will be charged RS.20 and if they withdraw more than five times from SBI’s ATM, they will be charged Rs. 10 per transaction.

People, who are currently not earning and have shifted to a different city, could find it difficult to maintain the minimum account balance. Also, only three penalty- free deposits are allowed each month and if one exceeds that limit, they will have to pay a penalty of Rs. 50 with service tax.

“Speaking as someone who studies in a different city, this is going to take a toll on students. No matter how frugal you are, there are a lot of expenses, sometimes emergency situations where you might need to take out a reasonable amount. It will only be difficult to keep a conscious tab on your bank balance when you are juggling life and expenses all by yourself,” Somdyuti Datta Ray, a student from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai said.

Continued on Page 5

Rolling out of BS III engines, auto dealers fear business losses Bhakti Tambe bhakti.t@iijnm.org In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on 29 March ruled that vehicles not compliant with Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) emission standards cannot be sold after 31 March.

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) petitioned the Supreme Court against the ban on selling Bharat Stage III vehicles (internal combustion engines and Spark ignition engines) beyond 31 March, highlighting financial and employment loss.

John K Paul, president, FADA told the livemint, “The move will impact 20,000 dealers and 900,000 vehicles.

India has moved to BS IV fuel across the country from April 1.

Auto dealers had to bear the losses since the cut-off date decided by the Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority gave very short time to sell the finished products, claimed Paul.

Paul further added that the ban

All the vehicles with BS-III engines cannot be sold from April 1 Courtsey:Durwas Rane

on BS III vehicles will also affect jobs in sales and service, particularly for smaller dealers and subdealers.

A Supreme Court bench headed

by Justice Madan B. Lokur rejected the government’s submission and petitions to allow the continued sale of BS III vehicles. It ordered transport authorities not to register vehicles that do not meet BS IV emission standards beginning on 1

April.

The rule was initiated in 2005 and some automobile manufacturers started rolling out to BS-IV right after the availability of fuel.

“Hyundai has stopped manufacturing BS-III vehicles since 2009 for the welfare,” said Harish, spokesperson of Advaith Motors, Bangalore.

Although the ban was intimated years before, the update of

fuel stages was delayed. “It is quite unfortunate that we have to make sure all the pre-registered vehicles with BS-III are sold,” said a Honda dealer in Bangalore city.

“The number of such vehicles (BS-III) may be small compared to the overall number of vehicles in the country, but the health of the people is far, far more important than the commercial interests of the manufacturers or the loss that they are likely to suffer in respect of the so-called small number of such vehicles,” the Supreme Court bench said.

“The manufacturers of such vehicles were fully aware that eventually from 1st April, 2017 they would be required to manufacture only BS IV compliant vehicles, but for reasons that are not clear, they chose to sit back and declined to take sufficient pro-active steps,” the bench said.

Many environmentalists welcome the Supreme Court’s judgement. “Restricting BS III vehicles is a welcome move by the judiciary as this would help in lowering the emissions due to inefficient fuel

burning,” said Dr. T.V. Ramchandra, Centre for Ecological Sciences, IIS, Bangalore.

Tata Motors in its official statement released on 29 March said: “The decision by Hon’ble Supreme Court to ban sale of all BSIII vehicles from April 1, 2017 is an unexpected and unprecedented move that will have a material impact on the entire automotive industry, OEM’s and dealer network.” The Hindustan Times on Tuesday reported that 6,000 temporary staff at Tata Motors’ Jamshedpur plant have been let go since the 1 April ban. But Suresh Rangarajan, head of Tat Motors corporate communications, was quick to debunk the report, calling it “malicious.”

Amlesh Kumar Rajak, president of Telco Union, Jamshedpur, explained: “Currently, there is not much demand for the vehicles with BS-IV engines; hence, they’ve temporarily asked temporary workers not to come on the job. But, this is a routine activity and this lay-off lasts maximum for 10 days.”

(With inputs from Divya R)

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Tuesday, 4 April, 2017

TODAY APR 4

Metro

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Coke Zero raises major health concerns Aarohi Pathak aarohi.p@ iijnm.org

33°/21°C Mostly sunny and pleasant

In reaction to the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration banning the sale of Coke-Cola Zero at McDonald’s outlets in the state last month, the American fast food chain’s Bengaluru outlets have also stopped selling Coke Zero.

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had issued the order after McDonald’s was found manufacturing and selling carbonated water – Coca-Cola Zero - in loose and unlabelled paper cups.

“The carbonated water was prepared from a post-mix manufactured

by Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, when it was diluted with processed water and then the mixture was impregnated with carbon dioxide,” according to Maharashtra FDA. It was being served to customers, including children, the FDA said in its circular dated March 15, 2017. Artificial sweeteners in the drink contain aspartame and accsulfame potassium, which cause

obesity and higher blood pressure, McDonald’s outlets on MG and said the FDA. Kasturba roads continue to serve McDonald’s outlets on MG Coke Zero in loose paper cups Road, Brigade Road, Commercial through dispensers. “We receive ofStreet, Malleshwaram, Ulsoor and ficial mails from our Mumbai and Cunningham Road no longer sell Delhi offices regarding changes in Coka-Cola Zero, commonly known the menu, etc. We are still serving as “Coke Zero” Coke Zero as for over-the-phone we received no and online orders. instructions to On the other hand, do otherwise,” they continue to said Faraz, serve it over-themanager of counter.

M c D o n a l d ’s “We sold at Kasturba Coke Zero cans Road. till last month. A Besides few days ago, we Coke Zero is being served from dispenser at McD’s oulet on McDonald’s, were asked to stopMG Road.

Coke Zero is selling it. We do currently being sold at Subway, not have any other information, as another fast food chain; Bigbasket; of now,” said Payal, who works at and Grofers online grocery stores; a McDonald’s outlet in Ulsoor. On as well as on Amazon. However, being asked whether they sold Coke Maharashtra FDA found only McZero in loose glasses, she replied in Donalds outlet serving Coke Zero negative. in unlabelled paper cups.

The Hindustan Coca Cola, in Coke Zero has to be sold with their response to FDA, had said that warning. The United States’ Food

they had all the requisite permissions to manufacture synthetic syrups containing artificial sweeteners for dispensers. The spokesperson for McDonald’s’ south and west divisions remained unavailable for comment.

and Drug Administration approved the use of aspartame in carbonated beverages and carbonated beverage syrup bases in 1983. However, people with a rare disease known as phenylketonuria (PKU) have a difficult time metabolizing phenylala-

nine - a component of aspartame.

In India, the average number of new cases of PKU are at a rate of 1 in 18, 300.

The U.S. FDA instructed all aspartame-containing foods and beverages to carry labels that include a statement informing individuals with PKU that the product contains phenylalanine. However, the Coke Zero cans do not carry any such warnings.

“Beverages like Coke Zero should carry warnings, especially because it can be harmful for children. I always advise my kids to not consume such beverages,” said Malini Neeladhri, a resident of Jayanagar and mother of a 13-yearold son.

Countries which have banned Coke Zero. The drink has caused some concern as far back as 2009 when President Hugo Chávez’s government in Venezuela banned the sale of the calorie-free soft drink over health concerns.

Coke Zero also cannot be officially bought or sold in Cuba and North Korea. United States, too, had banned Coke Zero in 1969 due to its possible links to cancer, but it later permitted its sale with warning.

Foundation stone of suburban railways to be laid within two months, says Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu Prabhu inaugurated Yeshwantpur-Hassan superfast train which will run on the newly laid tracks Prabhakar Kumar Thakur prabhakar.t@iijnm.org The foundation stone for the much anticipated suburban railways will be laid by next month, Union Minister for Railways, Suresh Prabhu, announced while inaugurating a new direct train between Yeshwantpur and Hassan at Yeshwantpur Railway Station on March 25th. “I’m with the people who are demanding a suburban train for the city,” said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah . The centre must consider completing the works at the earliest.” Siddaramaiah said that the government has allocated Rs. 345 crores for the project in the budget for this financial year.

In the Karnataka state budget for 2017-18, the government set aside Rs. 345 crores and also agreed to provide land for the project. In January, the Railways Minister and the Chief Minister signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the project where they

ceives funds from the central government because the railways are a union subject.”

The Railways Minister inaugurated a much awaited daily superfast train service between Yeshwantpur and Hassan on 27 March, much to the relief of those passengers who come to the city for their work.

The train (22679/22680, Yeshwantpur-Hassan Superfast Intercity Express), which consists of 14 coaches, leaves Hassan at 6:30 a.m. and reaches Yeshwantpur at 9:15 a.m. The journey costs Rs. 85 from Hassan to Yeshwantpur and vice-versa and the travel Yeshwantpur-Hassan train runs daily which is a relief to commuters from time is 2 hours and 45 minHassan.

Courtesy: Durwas Rane utes.

Naveen, a commuter agreed upon sharing the cost of Praja RAAG, an advocacy group on the new train, said: “The construction equally. However, no for suburban railways, said: “Al- bus fare is Rs. 200 but I have to allocation was made by the union location made by the state govern- pay less than half the amount if I government for the project in the ment is a welcome move but no al- travel by the newly launched train. union-cum-rail budget presented location being made by the central Moreover, the travel time has also earlier this year in February. government is a problem. The proj- reduced by at least half an hour and Sanjeev Dyamanavar, from ect can only gain traction after it re- there is no issue of traffic jam.”

BRIEFS

Bangalore University does its bit in reviving art culture

Theatrical Volume 3 research book produced under Prof. Nagesh Bettakote. Courtesy: Divya R

Divya R divya.r@iijnm.org More and more women from across villages and communities are enthusiastically performing theatre arts and it’s being welcomed as a positive change everywhere.

The three day 12th International Conference for Theatre and other mimetic forms, organised by the Department of Performing Arts of Bangalore University in collaboration with Association of Karnataka theatre research was inaugurated today. Students and scholars across universities have come to present their research idea and show their theatre performances.

“I am from Siddi community.

In our village women performing arts is not welcomed. But my entire family is in theatre arts. My parents Lakshmi and Parashurama do agriculture for bread and butter and are amateur artists as they perform plays in the evening,” said Geeta Siddi, 26, from Manchukeri, a village in Yellapur. “Chidambara Rao, director of the troop NINASA (Nirukanteshwara Natiya Seva Sang) helped teach Drama to Siddi people. We are called ‘Kappu jana Kempu Nizhalu’ (black people).

Some of the plays acted by my parents were Mricha Katika, Mariyanavalli,” she further added.

Pranita Jain, an NRI is a classical dancer and migrated to the United States 30 years before. “Outside India, all genders are equally interested in arts and there is no distinction at all. Even in Rajasthan in India, women compose music and write scripts for the play and men enact them on the stage. I can see a drastic blooming of other genders in arts performance,” she said.

“It’s is a pleasure to see 4000 villagers watching an art performance at Annamayya Thalapakka near Tirupati,” said Poorna Suresh, research scholar at the Department of Performing arts, Bangalore University. She added that she is a trained classical dance teacher and students are varied from elite to lower class. “I see the drive and I guide them to achieve their passion,” added Poorna.

The conference was conducted as a reminiscence of World theatre day on 27th March.

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Tuesday, 4 April, 2017

The Daily Observer

3

India need killer instinct: Oltmans Traffic cops shift to hi-tech PDAs

Roelant Oltmans addresses the team before a training session.

Courtesy:Aditya Narayan

Bibin Raj P B bibin.pb@iijnm.org The Indian men’s hockey coach Roelant Oltmans in a press conference today stressed on the need for his team to be conditioned both

physically and mentally, as they embark on a journey leading up to the 2018 World Cup to be held in Bhubaneshwar.

Oltmans emphasized on the need to preserve the Indian style of hockey. The Dutchman said, “The

skill and technique is an integral part of Indian hockey. That is what makes us unique. One cannot come in and take that away to try and implement what the Dutch or the Germans do, and make India successful.”

Oltmans further said, “At the camp at the Sports Authority of India’s Bangalore centre for the last one month, the emphasis has been a lot more on the mental aspect than the physical.”

Assistant coach Hans Streeder said that the work done over the past month can be put into practice over the next year, as India play a lot of matches.

Streeder mentioned, “Physically, these players are as fit as anyone in the top countries in the world. The problem is that they tend to switch off mentally, at crucial points of matches.”

Oltmans and Streeder are contracted until the 2020 Olympics in Rio by Hockey India.

Illegal chopping of canopies Mrigakshi Dixit mrigakshi.d@iijnm.org City residents have illegally cut down more than 51,000 trees in the past three years, according to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF), the illegal axing of trees occurs in greater number in Karnataka than any other state. In 2015-2016, a total of 13,206 trees were chopped down illegally. In 2014-2015, some 17,917 were removed and in 2013-2014, the number was 20,155 trees.

The trees are being cut due to three main reasons, said Appu Rao, deputy conservator of forest at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) and head of the tree committee in Bengaluru: To widen roads, to create parking space or to put advertising. “However, many other reasons can also be cited like construction of flyover, metro, for housing needs, and razing of trees in the urban landscape,” said Rao. Vijay Nishanth, a Bengaluru tree activist popularly known as the tree doctor, said the major tree deforestation issue today involves the poisoning of trees. “Sadly, once the tree is poisoned the tree loses the potential to grow again. Advertisers want to keep the hoardings at a high space, so that the commuters

can see,” said Nishanth.

Recently, more than 20 trees were poisoned to make way for just one iPhone hoarding in the city at the Outer Ring Road located between Marathahalli and Chinnapahalli. The trees of Tespesia Papulenia (Behandi) were 7 metres long.

Another 13 trees were chopped to give passersby a clear view of the iPhone ad, said Rao. Even the hoarding was placed at an illegal place, Rao quips. “The defaulters usually do this during the night time when they are out of the view anyone,” said Rao. A few days back in Banashankari, around 35 trees were chopped down during the night. The Ashoka trees were fully grown – up to 5 inches.

Culprit’s first drill holes in the trees and add chemicals that are harmful for the growth of the tree. According to the non-profit Save Green, the maximum trees cut down in the year 2016 due to obstructed view were more than 50 and this number is constantly increasing.

“Every month we lodge at least 20 cases for the illegal tree cutting from across the developed areas of the city,” said Rao. Every second day there is one or an-

other tree chopped down for the purpose of advertising, he said.

“The reasons and excuses are enumerable for the rampant tree felling, but nobody takes an initiative to plant more trees, which is bad. The government should adopt zero tolerance policy towards the denuding of canopies. The presence of tree also keeps the environment temperature down,” said Rao. “Bengaluru is a city of diverse culture; people from all over the world come to the city making it a large market for advertisements.

Therefore, many shopowners, want to promote themselves by placing hoardings at a height,” said Nishanth.

The BBMP officials said they received around 30,000 email complaints to stop the axing of 112 trees for the widening of Jayamala

Arunava Banerjee arunava.b@iijnm.org The 2008 Blackberry phones given to Bengaluru Traffic police will be replaced by specially designed hi-tech personal digitalaAssistants (PDAs) to ease and speed up the process of fining and giving tickets to traffic violators, Commissioner ofPolice Praveen Sood said today.

“A sum of Rs 10 crores will be spent over a span of five years to fully digitalise the ticketing system fortraffic violators,” Sood said.

“The new hand-held PDAs are more advanced and comes equipped with credit and debit card swapping option,” he added.

A total of 650 such PDAs have been given to traffic cops above the rank of additional sub-inspector and is expected to be functional all over the city by the end of this week.

Sood said they decided to replace the 208 blackberry models with the new PDAs to make the process of ticketing traffic violators easier for both the police and people, and also to keep pace with rapid digital advancement. “It will be easier not just for the police but also for the people to pay their fines. Even if they do not have enough cash at hand at the time they can easily swipe their credit or debit cards and pay their tickets,” Sood said.

Smruti, a college student, said she is happy with this new devel-

opment. “I had violated the traffic rule accidentally on two occasions.

Both times I had to pay the fine at the traffic office. The process was lengthy and hectic. The PDAs will avoid this unnecessary hassle,” she said.

However, Sood clarified that the move is not just to ease the process of traffic fines but also to make traffic control stricter in the city.

“We have decided to sternly impose traffic rules,” he said, adding that people will be fined even for stopping their cars an inch ahead of zebra crossings at traffic signals.

Sood also mentioned that people will be strictly fined if they stop their vehicles at the yellow grid

“

It will be easier not just for the police but also for the people to pay their fines.

Even if they do not have enough cash at hand at the time they can easily swipe their credit or debit cards and their tickets.

-Praveen Sood, Commissioner of police blocks that have been painted in about 20 traffic junctions. He said vehicles are not allowed to stop on those areas as they are strategic for free flowing traffic. “Even the slightest violations of this rule will invite a fine. This is what I want to inform the people about,” he said.

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Tuesday, 4 April, 2017

Metro

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NATIONAL U.P. government cabinet will meet for the first time today

African envoys seek U.N. probe into Noida attacks

Home Ministry meeting over Rohingya Muslims possessing Aadhar Card

Ram Jethmalani says won’t charge 3.8 crores from Arvind Kejriwal

‘RCEP to have adverse effects on farmers and healthcare’ Supriya Dedgaonkar supriya.d@iijnm.org

Led by the newly elected Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, the UP government is going hold their first cabinet meeting today at Shastri Bhavan. The main things to be discussed in the meeting would be farm loan waiver, electricity in rural areas and an ordinance on slaughterhouses.

The attacks on African nationals in Greater Noida should be investigated by the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations, the African envoys said in an unprecedented collective statement on Monday. The statement came out after four Nigerian nationals were beaten up in Noida.

The ministry officials met to discuss the ways to send them back to their country. However, Myanmar has refused to accept them as their citizen. The Rohingyas had reached Jammu after entering India illegally, either through the Bangladesh or Myanmar border or through the sea route via Bay of Bengal.

His comments came after controversy over Kejriwal’s alleged attempts to pay his fees through public exchequer. “Even if (Delhi) government doesn’t pay or he can’t pay, I will appear for free, will treat him (Kejriwal) as one of my poor clients,” Jethmalani was quoted saying by ANI.

Emergency in Columbia after massive landslide

Pirates hijack Indian commercial ship

Explosion in St. Petersburg metro train

Yahoo! and AOL to combine for oath

Columbian President, Juan Manuel Santos declares emergency after a landslide near Mocoa River claimed 262 lives on Saturday. The Columbian government is currently putting together $13.9 million for relief. Several are still missing.

The Indian cargo ship Al Kaushar was hijacked off Somalia’s coast with 11 crew members onboard on April 3. The ship was on its way to Al Mukala port in Yemen from Dubai. No ransom demands have been made so far.

A bomb-blast killed 11 people and left 45 others wounded in a St Petersburg train carriage on April 3.

All St. Petersburg metro stations. were closed. Akbarzhon Jalilov, the supect, is a Kyrgyz national, said the security service.

Iconic Internet brands Yahoo and AOL are combining to come up with a new venture called Oath, under Verizon, expected to launch this summer. The deal was finalised for about $ 4.83 billion in cash.

INTERNATIONAL

Sources: The Hindu, Hindustan Times, NDTV, BBC, Reuters

Truckers strike in southern states troubles vendors Pallabi Suttar pallabi.s@iijnm.org The truck strike has caused a major inconvenience and a state of helplessness among the various traders of K.R market.

“I get my materials through truck once a week; because of the strike I am facing problems as I do not have much to sell now. Even getting groceries is slowly becoming a problem,” says Baig, a timber seller in K.R market.

Nadir khan, who has a shop of machinery parts, says,” because of the strike I have to make do with whatever is left of the previous stock. Stocking up has become a problem.”

A similar fate has landed on Azhar, who has been left with no

Azhar and Baig are two of the many timber sellers in K R Market whose business has been affected by the truck strike.

Courtesy: Pallabi Suttar material to sell. From one week I am facing the problem of restocking my inventory, sales have also gone down and I have made a loss of 5000 rupees,” he says.

Rahim, a wholesale vegetable vendor says that they are facing problems of restocking but also adds that he is getting vegetables from the trucks of other states like

Maharashtra to name a few. The most affected are the wholesale sellers who depend on the everyday truck’s delivery system to get their wares into the city.

“India is a part of 16 countries for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), for which the negotiations are on-going. This deal, if signed will affect farmers and healthcare the most,” said K. T. Gangadhar, President of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS).

The group of 16 countries including ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and six states with which ASEAN has existing free trade agreements (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand) have planned to come together under one umbrella for bilateral trade.

“This deal could adversely affect farmers; there could be land acquisition and they can be asked to cultivate cash crops instead of the traditionally grown crops. This, in return would violate farmers rights, leaving them with little or no choice other than accepting the decision taken by the Government of India on their behalf,” said Gangadhar.

The leaked copy of the deal was uploaded by “Public Citizen” a U.S. based group, and remained a cause of concern for farmer groups in India. Indian government is gearing up to host the 19th round of RCEP negotiations in July this year, civil societies have expressed worries over India’s federal decision making process. Farmer groups have apprehensions that the state government’s autonomy over policies in agriculture, education and labour will be overthrown by India’s commitments in RCEP. Referring to Article 253 of the constitution, Shalini Bhutani, a legal advisor to KRRS, said that no international agreement can go ahead without being discussed in the Parliament. “This deal or anything relating to the same has never been discussed in the parliament so far, which is an offence to our democracy,” she mentioned.

Anand Grover, senior lawyer and former UN Special Reporter on the Right to Health, while speaking about effects of RCEP on the health sector, pointed out, “India supplies cheap generic medicines across the developing world. Japan and South Korea are demanding strict patent laws that will raise the cost of affordable medicines in India.”

Metro

The Daily Observer

Tuesday, 4 April, 2017

5

Vigilance SBI account charges could increases citizens’ troubles squad helps customer Aleena Banerjee. with a zero balance.

Continued from Page 1 “I do not have Jan Dhan Ac“I earn Rs. 6,000 a month. It is I am thinking I’ll start deposit- reduce water count.

After taking advice from impossible for me to maintain this. ing money in the Post Office from “This is going to pressurize students other people, I decided to open a now on,” said Sapui. theft in city residing in other cities, especially those who come from middle class families. To keep the balance above Rs. 5000 is going to be difficult for poor people and their families than those coming from middle or upper classes,” she added.

Many students take loans for higher studies and shift to other cities for better opportunities. Maintaining an average balance of Rs. 5000 each month and limiting ATM withdrawals to fewer than five each month could pose challenges. Nowadays, people prefer to go cashless and indulge in digital transactions, only withdrawing money when absolutely required.

“SBI anyway is the worst bank ever, especially their customer service. Given a chance I’ll change my bank,” fumed Mumbai bank

savings account in SBI in 2012. People told me it is one of the most trusted banks in the country and so I chose this one,” R i t a Sapui, a domest i c help from Kolkata said. Sapui does not have a Jan Dhan Account, which is an account that allows below poverty line customers to open an account

The bank also launched a new credit card named as ‘Unnati’. This card will not have annual fees for the first four years. It is targeted to all the account holders including Jan Dhan accounts. It will be available in 20,000 branches across the country. Any SBI customer with a balance of Rs.20, 000 to Rs.25, 000 in their savings account, with the bank, would be eligible for the Unnati credit card without the need for any credit score or credit history.

The State Bank of India has created history by merging with five associate banks in the country.

This has been regarded as the largest exercise in the banking sector so far.

Five arrested, Rs 15k cash and gold worth of Rs 4 lakh recovered Arunava Banerjee arunava.b@iijnm.org Bengaluru police arrested five persons in connection to various robberies and chain snatchings in south Bengaluru, police commissioner Praveen Sood said.

“We recovered Rs 15,000 cash, gold worth Rs four lakhs and other silver and metal ornaments,” Sood said at a press conference at the commissioner’s office in Bengaluru today. Victims who were robbed had launched complaints in the Puttenhalli, Girinagar and Hanumanthanagar police stations.

Sood informed that the prime

accused, one Santosh, responsible for several robberies and crime snatching incidents has been arrested and his possessions have been confiscated. “We arrested the accused after having gathered 100 per cent evidence against them,” Sood asserted.

The recovered items were handed over to the respective owners from whom it was stolen at the press conference today.

“I had gone on a vacation when the incident happened,” Dr Sharada, a resident of ISRO layout, whose house was robbed in January this year, said. “When I returned home after the vacation, I found the lock of my door broken. On entering, I

realized that almost 100 grams of grams of gold and five kg of silgold was missing along with cash ver were stolen from his house in and some silver ornaments. I im- the Banashankari area. The police mediately registered a complaint,” managed to recover over 50 percent of his belongings, he said. she added.

Sharada got back almost 90 percent of the belongings that were stolen from her house. “I am delighted and thankful towards Bangalore police,” she said.

Another victim, B Rajappa said that 750 Money seized by the police from the robbers.

Government struggles to tackle citizens’ high in Bengaluru Chhavi Nagpal chhavi.n@iijnm.org While the Karnataka government Home Minister G. Parameshwara Singh has sworn to not let the state become another “Udta Punjab,” the numbers of drug-trafficking cases in the state’s capital have steadily been increasing over the years.

When BJP MLC Lehar Singh questioned the government in the Legislative Council last week, G. Parameshwara told him the police were trying their best to tackle the state’s drug problem and are coming up with special drives to curb the drug menace, especially in Bengaluru and Mangaluru. Parameshwara also made a controversial allegation that African nationals can be blamed for the rise in drug-traf-

ficking cases, which comes intro contradiction with the raids made by the Bengaluru police in 2016, that revealed most traffickers to be Indian.

Despite Parameshwara’s claims, the Bengaluru police said that in 2016, most of the drug-dealers they nabbed were Indians.

By September 2016, the Central Crime Branch had seized INR 85.1 lakh worth of drugs, including chemicals substances like LSD, and booked 41 people under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, on a national scale, Karnataka has the fifth highest number of drug trafficking cases in the country. The other states include: Punjab, Uttar

Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana, Karnataka, Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, Tripura and Rajasthan.

According to the Crime Records Bureau in Bengaluru, there were 42 registered cases of drugtrafficking in 2014; 69 in 2015; and 128 cases in 2016. Some 37 cases have been registered till the end of February 2017. Despite all the measures being taken by the government, however, the conviction rate in such cases is a stagnant 1.4 percent.

Bengaluru has 16 licensed rehabilitation centres where children as young as 13-years-old, come to seek help, tagging the city as “drugcapital” of South India.

Durgesh Sinha, 25, has been indulging in substance abuse for six years now. He takes ‘shrooms and

Mary Janes (weed) mostly. “Such stuff is sold mostly around colleges, where it is available 24-7. When I was in college, 20-25gm worth of stuff hardly costs around INR 250300. However, now I mostly pool with friends or their friends who go to the source and it costs around 4k for 100gm,” says Sinha.

Another one of the thousands in the city, Kushagra Wadhwa, 23, has been smoking weed and hash for four years now. He does not have one source and buys from different dealers at different places, according to his needs, he said.

Residency Road, Indiranagar, Tannery Road, Brigade Road and Kormangala have been identified as the most common areas where users can find peddlers, say law enforcement officials.

Yogita Chainani yogita.c@iijnm.org Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s newly constituted vigilance squad for detecting illegal water connections has managed to decrease unaccounted connections by 8 percent from 50 percent of all connections.

A survey conducted by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB two years ago, revealed that the city had at least 70,000 unauthorized connections. To counter this, the BWSSB formed a vigilance squad in January 2017. To conduct surprise drives to check unauthorized connections in various parts of the city.

As per the BWSSB records, the squad has registered 251 cases so far and it is now sending notices to concerned police stations to take required action against water theft.

“We started this vigilance squad because unaccounted water in the city was increasing and it was creating a problem for us.

Since a large amount of water was going unaccounted, we were facing difficulties in managing funds,” said Krishtagouda Tayannavar, administrative officer, BWSSB. Areas like Adugodi, Magapalaya, Koramangala and Marathahalli have witnessed the maximum number of unaccounted water connections in the last three months.

Door-to-door checking of the connections and a regular monitoring of the meter are the two ways by which the vigilance squads are keeping water crimes in check.

“Under the vigilance squad, people are getting informed about water theft and are now making calls to the officers if they find any faulty water meter or connection in their areas,” said K H Jagadeesh, chief administrative officer, BWSSB. BWSSB officials said they are maintaining a strict record of water connections and water supply.

“Our main purpose is to find the offenders and stop water theft. We want that the public should pay us for what they use, so that we can utilize the funds for their betterment,” said Tayannavar.

He also added that,“We want the citizens to understand the importance of water and inform us about the water theft, so that we can find a permanent solution to curb this problem.”

6

Tuesday, 4 April, 2017

Metro

The Daily Observer

Bengaluru gives thumbs up to Wi-Fi on-board Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore; IIM Lucknow; and the Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi, “Bengaluru’s enduring traffic problem, which is going on since years could be solved by attracting affordable and most importantly Wi-Fi enabled buses. More than 250 Volvo buses are installed with Wi-Fi facility and With the installation of Wi-Fi in BMTC and privates buses, a higher footfall is there is a considanticipated.

Courtesy: Abhishek Mitra erable amount of increase in nummobility trends in India and other Konica Kamra ber of commuters, especially from BRIC countries and their policy konica.k@iijnm.org the IT sector,” said Anunay Bhati, a implications,” people in Bengaluru spokesperson for Bangalore MetroPrivate and Bangalore Metropolitan are among those in the country who politan Transport Corp (BMTC).

Transport Corp. buses have intro- spend most of their time on the “There are around 60 lakh bus duced free Wi-Fi service much to road. The study was conducted by commuters in Bengaluru; we are the delight of the daily commuters. a team of experts from the Indian currently providing the facility in According to the study “Urban Institute of Science, Bengaluru; limited use but are now planning

to expand it, which will serve these travellers. The pre-bidding process has been completed and now we’re publishing tenders to private Wi-Fi suppliers,” said Bhati. Wi-Fi services will be particularly concentrated on buses serving the IT corridors.

“There is huge competition among the private travel companies in Bengaluru. Lack of reliable and quality public transport prove to be enough reason for private buses to have a booming business. The year 2015 saw 59 lakh new vehicles entering Bengaluru,” Ganesh Kumar from Sea Bird Travels said.

The most cost-effective and convenient ways of commuting to/ from the airport is using the Bangalore Airport Bus Service better known as ‘Vayu Vajra’ run by BMTC. These buses operate across the city via various routes and result in over 250+ trips every day.

They connect the airport and city at a frequency of 30 minutes.

“We will initiate this process with 200 Vayu Vajra buses, and it will be extended up to 700 buses based on reaction from the users,” Bhati said.

PHOTO STORY

Hamid Mir @HamidMirPak What’s the difference between social media and regular media? You cannot appear on TV or newspaper with a fake face but on social media....

Narendra Modi @narendramodi177 Demise of #KishoriAmonkar is an irreplaceable loss to Indian classical music. Deeply pained by her demise. May her soul rest in peace.

Prashant Bhushan @pbhushan1 I realise that my tweet on Romeo squads&Krishna was inappro priatelyphrased& unintentionally hurt sentiments of many ppl.

Apologize&delete it Pritish Nandy @PritishNandy Amusing how the BJP in one state wants to hang beef eaters and its candidate in another promises the best quality beef.

Rajnath Singh @rjnathsingh The security forces are giving befitting reply to terrorists.

Even the Muslims have realised that Terrorism is an attempt to defame Islam

Puneeth .M, a Bangalore Art college student, is a self taught young artist. He first exhibited at C.K.P at the age of 16. “I try to showcase my imaginations through my paintings in these exhibitions”. Puneet has 75 paintings all together.

Courtesy: Abhishek Mitra

Editor-in-chief: Yogita

Photo Editor: Sandra

Managing Editor: Ayushee

Social media editors: Bhakti, Mrigakshi

Copy Editors: Chhavi, Prabhakar

PROOF Reader: Ahana

Layout designers: Konica, Aarohi

Staff reporters: Rishiraj, Aneesh, azmia, Mitali, BIBIn, PALLABI, abhishek, sonal, divya, supriya

Vineet Jain @vineetjaintimes Banning alcohol in hotels, restaurants next to highway is bizarre order.

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