The Daily
BSERVER An IIJNM Publication
WORLD HEALTH DAY TOMORROW The world health day is celebrated on April 7 every year as the World Health Organisation (WHO) was founded on this day. This day brings an oppurtunity for different countries to spread health awareness and engage its citizens in various activites. In order to contribute our bit to this occasion, we will bring out some special stories on healthcare in tomorrow’s edition of The Daily Observer. We aim to make you aware of our position when it comes to our healthcare system, which will make you think twice about the extra dollop of butter that you ask from Ramu kaka.
Thursday, 6 April, 2017
RBI keeps its repo rate unchanged, increases reverse repo rate Farm loan waiver undermines honest credit culture, says RBI governor Urjit Patel Bhakti Tambe bhakti.t@iijnm.org Ahana Chaterjee ahana.c@iijnm.org In announcing its monetary policy for financial year 2017-2018, the Reserve Bank of India kept the rate at which banks borrow money – the repo rate - unchanged at 6.25 percent, but increased the reverse repo rate to 6 percent, up from 5.75 percent. In addition, the nation’s central bank cut the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate to 6.5 percent. “The expectation of the common man will not be met. People were looking for a cut in the repo rate, so that the interest on loans can decrease. However, the common man is disillusioned with this move,” said Sandeep Dam, vice president of Axis Bank. Last December when the monetary policy came out, both the
repo and reverse repo rates were kept unchanged. While explaining its decision to hike the reverse repo rate, the RBI said that a narrower interest rate corridor “can contribute to finer alignment of the operating target with the policy rate.” RBI further added the liquidity supply in the economy will be neutralised gradually using all tools
at its disposal. The gross value added (GVA) growth is projected to strengthen to 7.4 percent in the present year from 6.7 last year. RBI claims to have neutral stance on monetary policy. RBI has maintained a growth forecast for financial year (FY) 2018 at 7.4 percent while it has pared its forecast for FY16-17 at 6.7 percent
compared to 6.9 percent in the February policy review. The bank also says it expects inflation to pick up from current levels of 3.7 percent and hit 4.2 percent in the first quarter of the current year. It may rise further to 4.7 percent in the second quarter but briefly surpass 5 percent in the third quarter before coming down to near 4.9 percent by March 2018, said the bank. “It isn’t a very favourable move for the bank,” said Dam. “However, on the other side, the RBI cannot just keep decreasing the repo rate. It will have an unfavourable effect on them.” In explaining this decision to hike the reverse repo rate, the RBI said that narrower interest rate corridor “can contribute to finer alignment of the operating target with the policy rate.”
Continued on Page 4
Lorry strike intensifies as spectrum of organisations huddle up Azmia Riaz azmia.r@iijnm.org Arunava Banerjee arunava.b@iijnm.org The South Zone Motor Transporters Welfare Association organised a protest rally in Freedom Park demanding rollback of sharp increase in third party insurance premium along with several other demands. South Zone Motor Transporters Welfare Association (SIMTA) also protested against hike in RTO fees, scrapping of old vehicles, speed governor, toll barriers, liberalising interested state taxi permit system, reciprocal agreement for all India and state carriage permit buses). G.R Shanmugappa, the chief coordinator of the event, General Secretary of SIMTA and president of the Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners and Agents Associations (FKLOAA) told The Daily Observer, “We have two main demandsrollback of insurance premium hike from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India
Truckers, tourist taxis and cab drivers associations organised a joint protest and threatened to continue it indefinitely . Courtesy: Azmia Riaz (IRDAI); secondly, rollback of state government’s decision to introduce tolls on the state highway.” The on-going lorry strike that began on March 30 saw massive increase in support from across different motor vehicle organisations. “Today most motor vehicle organisations have joined us. From 8 April, The All India Motor Trans-
port Congress will also join us, making the struggle national,” Shanmugappa emphasised. “We are supported by several organisations including Karnataka Goods Transport Association, Bangalore Tourists & Taxi owners Association, APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) local lorry and Tempo Associations, Federation of
Bus Operators Association and others,” he added. Addressing the rally, he said, “Until these basic demands are not met, we will not withdraw the strike and will go on indefinitely.” App based taxi drivers also joined the protest today. Tanveer Pasha, president of the Ola, Taxi For Sure and Uber Driver and Own-
er Association said, “Insurance premium fees have nearly doubled in the recent days. We also get increments regularly from the income tax departments. In addition to this, the state government is planning to start 19 new toll plazas on the state highways across the state. It will leave us with a meagre amount for us to run our household.” Malli, a committee member of SIMTA said, “Petrol and diesel trucks have also expressed solidarity towards our struggle. Karnataka Tourist Taxi Owners association, Mr. Radhakrishna Holla pledged his support to the protest and spoke about the corruption within the RTO (Regional Transport Office), transport cells and the police during his address. Meanwhile, shop owners in the city are apprehensive about their supplies being hit due to the intensifying strikes by the truckers. Babu, a shop owner in K. R. Market said that he has had no problems till now but if the strike continues and the small tempos also join, he might face a shortage of supplies.
2
Metro
Thursday, 6 April, 2017
The Daily Observer
Summer heat up, water level down
The residents store water in big tanks as they might not receive water for many days Courtesy: Sandra Branger
Sandra Branger sandra.b@iijnm.org With high heat waves in summer, the demand for water rises, but depleting levels in the Krishna Raja Sagar reservoir and other major resources are unable to meet citizens’ demands. According to data provided by
the Karnataka State Natural disaster monitoring Centre, the water level of Krishna Raja Sagar is at 124 full reservoir level (FRL), lower than other reservoirs. For the same reservoir on this day, last year, the FRL was 76.02. The residents at Jeedimara slum are totally dependent on the water connections taken from the
Yuvraj drives SRH to Victory in IPL inaugural Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad(SRH) started off the 10th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) with a 35-runs win over Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) in the inaugural match played at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. Batting first, SRH scored 207/4, thanks to the contributions by Yuvraj Singh(62), Moises Hendriques(52) and Shikhar Dhawan(40). RCB, in reply, got all out for 172 runs with two balls to go. Ashish nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan picked up two wickets each for SRH. Yuvraj Singh was declared the man of the match for his 62 runs off 27 balls which included 3 sixes.
Courtesy: BCCI
main water pipe, through which water comes just once for two hours, two days a week. Manimala, 28, is a resident of the slum and lives in a small room with her husband and son. She wants to work and earn for her family, “but this water problem somewhere binds me; water comes just once in two days and if I miss that chance of collecting water, then my family has to live without it for days. Even when the water comes, the flow is slow; it takes me 15 minutes to fill one jar.” Kuppan is responsible for listening to community issues, and according to him, the whole state of Karnataka is in crisis, and so are they. “We get water from Cauvery and we are permitted to take water from the pipes that run into the city, but since the reservoir does not have
enough water, it is the state’s duty to look into the matter,” he said. However, the chief secretary of Karnataka, Subhash Khuntia, expressed his disappointment on the severe water shortage in the basin very clearly. The available water in the four reservoirs of the Cauvery basin could only meet the demand for drinking water during this summer, the Deccan Herald has reported. “The total water available in the Cauvery basin is 8.8 tmcft and the
state’s requirement is 3 tmcft per month.” Facing issues within the state, the government of Karnataka failed to release additional Cauvery water to neighbouring states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, on a plea, as the state itself waits for rains. Alamatti in Nidagunditaluk of Bagalkot district, the largest reservoir in the state, has reached its dead storage level after making agreements with Maharashtra to release 2.7 tmcft of water for three days, the government said. Mr H. M. Ravindra, chief engineer maintenance for the zone, said it is a huge issue and it is not just one slum but many across the city that face similar problems. “We are working hard along with the government; besides, we want people to be aware of the conservation and management awareness initiated by BWSSB. The RL keeps fluctuating but the optimum needs to increase,” said Ravindra. The optimum level is highly based on the rain the state receives, he added.
BBMP to setup new crematoriums, upgrade burials and Shantinagar, are facing various issues including cramped graveyards, lack of a garbage disposal system and encroachment. “There is huge pressure on the existing burial grounds; therefore, we have decided to remove encroachments from all the grounds. We have also planned to fence the grounds by compound walls,” said Shivasharanappa Khandre. However, he added, currently there are no plans to open new burial grounds in the city. Allocations have been made for the planting of sapThe sad state of burial grounds is expected to improve after the recent lings of flowering plants to allocation in the budget. Courtesy: Prabhakar Thakur save the workers and people visiting the ground from the dre, public relation officer for BruPrabhakar Kumar Thakur stink coming from the graves. The hat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s prabhakar.t@iijnm.org BBMP will also provide money for (BBMP). maintenance of the tomb of former In this year’s budget, BBMP Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar PaPresident Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy like said the budget 2017-18 will announced it will allocate Rs. in Kallapalli. provide a much required facelift to 168.5 crores for burials and creM. N. Sreehari, an urban planthe burial grounds and electric cre- matoriums. BBMP also said it will ning expert, said: “Condition of set up new electric crematoriums burial grounds needed urgent action matoriums in the city. “Being aware of the condition in Chamarajapet, Banshankari and because they were not planned acof graveyards, the allocation an- Kallapalli burial grounds and in- cording to the increasing population nounced in the proposed budget is crease the honorarium for workers of the city. The budgetary allocaaimed at their upgradation to pro- at the burial grounds. tions might provide some improveCemeteries in the city, such ment but it requires more focused vide better services to the people,” said Dr. Shivasharanappa S. Khan- as Banashankari, Wilson Garden approach for their overhaul.”
Metro
Thursday, 6 April, 2017
The Daily Observer
3
PHCs’ new tablets Lok Sabha passes FDDI bill from tomorrow may rub with SC ruling By Bhakti Tambe bhakti.t@iijnm.org
Those looking to PHC’s to treat them, will now have to mind their Aadhar Cards Courtesy: Konica Kamra
Aarohi Pathak aarohi.p@iijnm.org While hailed by many as a great leap toward better information management, Samsung’s gift last month of 1,000 tablets for use in Karnataka’s 2,310 public health centres could pose legal issues for the state. The aim of the partnership between Samsung Research & Development Institute, Bangalore and the state is to help Karnataka efficiently manage information in its public healthcare facilities by allowing them to build a digital database, according to the state Department of Health. The Samsung Tab IRIS is the first commercial tablet to be approved by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for the aadhaar card and Know Your Customer (KYC) verification. At issue is a recent Supreme Court ruling that it is not mandatory to present one’s aadhaar card to avail welfare schemes. Using the 12-digit, unique identification number, the Supreme Court said, is the voluntary exercise of an aadhaar cardholder. But according to Dr. Rajesh, district health officer, Bengaluru (rural), the aadhaar card would be mandatory at public health centres as part of the centres’ move toward better information management. “All real-time gross settlements and bank matters involved in using these tablets require an
aadhaar card number,” said Dr. ajesh. “Therefore, it has been made mandatory.” According to the UIDAI’s website, 22,70,994 people in Karnataka have aadhaar cards. The population of Karnataka, according to Census 2011, is 96, 21, 551. “I visit the PHC in my area whenever I fall sick,” said Pandit, a street worker enear Manthri Mall, Mathikere. “I do not have an aadhaar card but I do have a Below Poverty Line (BPL) card. If they are making it compulsory, then how will I receive treatment at the PHC?” With the tablets, the digital database of the public health centers would have the capability to provide information regarding implementation of various welfare schemes such as post-natal care kit for BPL/SC/ST women, JananiSurakshaYojana, and others. This would allow the government to proactively intervene for improved health of citizens and target its welfare schemes more efficiently, Health Department officials said. “It will take time for us to get used to this new technology,” said Prabha S, junior health assistant at Jayanagar Primary Health Center. “We have some people at [the] center who feed entries in computers. Still, we plan to train them to use these tablets,” said Dr. Rajesh.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Footwear Design and Development Institute Bill, 2017, elevating the school to the stature of an institution of national importance. Currently, 92 institutes enjoy the status, including all Indian Institutes of Technology, the National Institutes of Technology, School of Planning and Architecture, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research and all Indian Institutes of Medical Sciences, according to the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Nirmala Sitharaman, commerce and industry minister introduced the Footwear Design and Development Institute Bill 2017 on March 14 to establish FDDI as a body corporate, an entity which has a legal existence. As an institution of national importance (INI), the Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) will promote teaching, training, and research in all disciplines relating to design and development of footwear and leather products. “The global footwear market is expected to reach $220.2 billion by 2020 from the current level of $198.7 billion. The opportunity cost of not investing in human resources required for this sector in India at this juncture would result in increased imports, thereby impacting the domestic and exports sector of footwear and leather products,” Sitharaman said on the objectives
Lok Sabha passes Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) Bill, 2017 Courtesy: UNI and reasons for the bill. The FDDI was established by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in 1986. It’s headquarter is in Noida and it has campuses at Fursatganj (Raebareli), Guna, India, Chennai, Kolkata, Rohtak, Haryana, Chhindwara, M.P. and Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Anush Kumar, assistant human resource manager at FDDI, Chennai said: “It is very good news for all the students who are interested in studying footwear designing. This move will generate more employment and educational opportunities. The global exposure will even help poor students who are willing to learn.” “The decision to offer NIA status to FDDI has come out at the right time. FDDI is an established institute and working in this field since last 30 years. This NIA status will help the institute to promote
advanced research,” Kumar added. The FDDI 2017 bill will be further sent to Rajya Sabha.
“
Well.. the bill of Institute of national importance is passed and its a great news as now FDDI will become an Institute equivalent to other INI like NID, IIM ,IIT and others. Students and teachers will be benefited so definitely its a great news. We have different departments here.students are flourishing in every field. Also now we have this college in more than 8 centres. It is already growing, this step will further aggravate the growth of the institute as well as the entire footwear designing sector. - Kiran, an FDDI student
Global R&D summit sets off in Bengaluru
Rishiraj Bhagwati rishiraj.b@iijnm.org “Innovation and R&D is vital for creating sustainable jobs and uplifting the living standards of a country,” Principal Secretary of the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science &Tech, Government of Karnataka, Gaurav Gupta said. “Karnataka being the IT and Bio-tech hub of the country, is an
ideal place for boosting such efforts,” he added. Guptaw was speaking at the Global R&D Summit on Thursday, which was organised by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, in association with the Karnataka Government, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russia. Secretary of DST, Govt. of India, Ashutosh Sharma addressed the gathering at a hotel in the city said that there is disconnect between academia and the industry today as the two institutions have different goals with respect to innovation. “This is where the government needs to come in bringing coordination between the two institutions,” he added. Mentioning the innovation
projects that Russia and India have collaborated on, Deputy Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation Fomichev Oleg Vladislavovic said that events like these will go a long way in both strengthening the ties between the two countries and pushing the boundaries of innovation for everyone. Secretary Sharma released the FICCI-Edelman Reports on ‘Harnessing Private Sector Investments in R&D’ and the ones on ‘Bengaluru as Innovation Capital’ at the event. The two day event, which was also attended by Chairman of FICCI’s National Committee on Innovation Dr. Makarand Phadke, also awarded FICCI R&D and Catapult awards for successful innovation projects. The summit will conclude at 4pm on April 7.
4
Thursday, 6 April, 2017
Metro
The Daily Observer
NATIONAL Congress MLA says ban cow slaughter
Kashmiris detained for singing Pak Anthem
Coast guards douse fire, save ship, crew
Kashmir had snowfall in April after a decade
‘Reverse repo rate likely to affect banks’: VP, Axis Bank
Continued from Page 1 Congress legislator from Gujarat Gyasuddin Shaikh has demanded that the cow should be declared the national animal and has requested all slaughterhouse owners and operators in Gujarat to ensure that the cow or its progeny is not slaughtered anywhere in the State.
Kashmiri cricketers were seen singing Pakistani National Anthem in a viral video before starting to play after which they were detained by the Ganderbal police. Local residents and parents of the cricketers gathered around the police station in protest of detention.
Indian coast guards saved container ship m.v. Daniella off the Colombo coast which caught fire after Sri Lanka requested for India’s help. Coast guard ship ICGS which was in Colombo was deployed to contain the fire. INS Gharial and INS Darshak were also sent by Navy.
Moderate to heavy snowfall was reported by the MeT department in high valleys of Kashmir. After a decade, residents of SrinagThe state government has closed schools till Sunday. Kashmir has also been witnessing intermittent rains for two days.
Trump removes Bannon from Security Council
Suu Kyi denies ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas
Trump changes view on Assad
Taliban attack kills 6 in Lahore
The U.S President removed his chief political strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council. A new memorandum dated 4 April about the composition of the NSC was sent out on Wednesday.
There have been widespread reports of abuse, but Aung San Suu Kyi denies that ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas is taking place in Myanmar. Suu Kyi gave an exclusive to BBC where she admitted that there were minor problems in Rakhine.
Donald Trump described the chemical attacks in Idlib province as an “affront to humanity”. Tuesday’s attack changed his perception about the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, but reiterated his criticism of Barack Obama’s administration.
A Taliban suicide bomber struck a vehicle carrying census workers in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing two data collectors and four soldiers who were escorting them. The attack took place on the outskirts of Lahore.
INTERNATIONAL
Sources: The Hindu, Hindustan Times, NDTV, BBC, Reuters
Auto drivers and CITU protest to meet their demands Mitali Goyal mitali.g@iijnm.org A gathering of more than 300 people took to Town Hall today in order to seek housing, medical, education, and provident fund facilities. The Auto-rickshaw Drivers’ Union (ARDU) along with Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) protested to meet their demands. People belonging to unorganized sector of the population have been demanding certain rights in order to sustain themselves. Their demands have remained unfulfilled for the past fifteen years now. “We have been living here from quite a long time now, we need a permanent place to live. We hardly earn Rs 10,000-15,000 per month, half of which goes in paying the rent. It
is difficult for us to send our children to school,” Javeed Ahmed, Secretary of ARDU-Madiwala zone, said. “It’s been long since we started protesting. We are demanding very basic rights. I hope they are fulfilled,” said Ratnamma, one of the protestors. Some of their demands include- identity cards to be issued to street vendors, house workers and auto drivers; provision of health insurance schemes, Vidyarthi Venda (student scholarship) scheme for their kids, and Aam Admi Bima Yojana scheme for the workers. Some of the schemes like Pradhan Mantri Atal Pension Yojana- which aims to provide pension targeting the unorganized sector, Aam Admi Bima Yojana, and several others launched by government for the unorganized sector are not
The protest began at 10:30 in the morning at Town hall and ended at Deputy Commissioner’s office. Courtesy: Mitali Goyal
benefitting the people. “There are schemes launched by the government which target the unorganized sector but they are not being implemented well. We are hoping that the protest turns fruitful for us and the demands are met,” Manjunath, Secretary of CITU, said. He added that the protest will never come to an end if the demands are not fulfilled. He wants the government to enquire about the land that lays unused and should be allotted to the unorganised sector. Their protest march will end at Deputy Commissioner’s office where the protesters are hopeful that their demands would be heard and a quick action would be taken. Dr G C Prakash, Deputy Commissioner, remained unavailable to comment on the issue.
The bank said it is working towards the introduction of a new facility known as the standing deposit facility (SDF) which will be used to suck out surplus liquidity. The introduction of this facility is under examination by the government, the RBI said. The introduction of the SDF would give greater flexibility to the Reserve Bank to manage its liquidity operations. “Growth in real gross value added is expected to accelerate in 2017-18, underpinned by strong consumption demand even as investment activity remains muted and external demand uncertain,” the Reserve Bank of India said in a press conference. RBI’s claims are far away from ground reality,” said Devidas Tulajapurkar, president, Maharashtra Bank Employees Association. “The liquidity supply hasn’t yet regularized and inefficiency of strong alternative delivery channels, like ATMs, has failed to provide an appropriate solution to the issue,” he said. Major issues such as restoring peoples’ faith in the banking system after demonetization and initiatives to boost financial literacy need to be addressed, Tulajapurkar said. “It is time RBI should address real issues,” he added. RBI governor Urjit Patel critised farm loan waivers as undermining “an honest credit culture” and impacting “credit discipline.” “It’s not just about farmers but about banking operations,” said Tulajapurkar. “ Banks are already suffering due to the number of nonperforming assets and waving off farmers loans in some states has blocked the way of routine course recovery. RBI’s claim to neutralize the policy is false.” The Reserve Bank also said in its statement that activity in the service sector appears to be improving as the constraining effects of demonetisation wear off. Bank officials also said they have noticed some positive signals in sales, but they are still waiting for the fourth quarter result of the companies for further movement.
Metro
The Daily Observer
Thursday, 6 April, 2017
State legislature in talks to ban night shifts for IT women Ahana Chaterjee ahana.c@iijnm.org A joint committee of Karnataka legislature last week made a recommendation that women working in the information technology sector in the state should not be given night shifts for safety reasons. According to the report tabled by a 21- member Women and Children Welfare Committee, all IT companies should allocate morning and afternoon shifts to their women employees. Committee members claim that many women are given night shifts against their will. “Precaution is better than cure,” NA Harish, who led the committee, said in an interview with Asian News International(ANI). “In my opinion, it will definitely have a good effect on the system as a whole. Firstly, considering the women-related crimes which include molestation, sexual harassment and violence which
It could affect the salaries that women receive. predominantly occur during the late-hour shifts of the IT sectors, preference should be for morning and afternoon shifts for women,” said Anasuya Sengupta Majumdar, a senior consultant working at Ernst & Young. “A woman plays a substantial role in a family. So, whether she is working or non-working she also has to take responsibility of the
household jobs, like managing the maids, keeping the house clean, etc. Now when a working woman gets the time to manage her household then automatically she will work more efficiently at office,” said Majumdar. But some women IP professional are concerned that forbidding them to work the night shift could affect their appraisals. Night shifts
are rated higher on appraisals, so, if the law gets amended there are high chances of salary differentiation between men and women workers in the sector increasing. The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) said the rule might curb job opportunities. “The step that has been taken by the government in the favour of women safety is substantial, but I don’t think that it is the ultimate one. Harassment and assault on women are not just confined to dark; they happen in the broad daylight too,” said Aishwarya Singh, an engineering student, who recently got placed at Deloitte in Bengaluru. “That doesn’t mean that women should stop stepping out of their houses. By divesting them of a shift you are actually depriving them of their rights and opportunities. The government needs to think of a better way of handling molestation, rape and assault.”
Holes in public transport connectivity lead to increased vehicles and traffic Ayushee Chaudhary ayushee.c@iijnm.org Bengaluru’s vehicle population has currently swarmed up to 67.22 lakh. There are 46.54 lakh two-wheelers, 13.01 lakh cars, 1.35 lakh taxis and 1.71 lakh auto-rickshaws. Private vehicles in Bengaluru are increasing rapidly and an improved public transport system could be the answer to Bengaluru’s traffic problems, say officials. According to Sri Raghavendra, executive engineer at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), “The vehicle population in Bangalore saw a major rise in early-90’s. At present, Bangalore has over 65 lakh vehicles for a population of over 1 crore. For every two people, there is one vehicle and the infrastructure has not been able to keep pace with it.” He further added that the public transport network of the city is not sustainable enough. Private vehicles are preferred more owing to the cost and connectivity reasons. Currently, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation is operating 2,400 bus routes with a fleet size of 6,111 buses. About 43 lakh daily passengers’ trips are carried by BMTC. Apart from the bus operations, two corridors of Metro rail are under construction. One is
North-south corridor and the second is East West corridor. The total length of the Metro rail network is 42.30 km. “Traffic is one major issue that scares people away from Bengaluru. You need to keep an hour and a half to two hours extra if you want to reach your work place on time,” said Talha, the business developer for BY JU’s. He said that often takes a cab because there is no direct metro connectivity from his house to his office and auto charges are higher than the cab, while buses have too many stops, which takes more time. When the city’s population was 16.64 lakh (in 1971), the vehicle population was just around one lakh. While the vehicle boom overtook the city, every other piece of infrastructure was left far behind. The Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) state that rapid population growth of the IT sector and other associated industries in Bengaluru led to an increase in the vehicular population to about 1.5 million, with an annual growth rate of 7-10 percent. Personalized modes of transport have grown at a tremendous rate and two wheelers, along with cars, almost comprise 90 percent of the total registered vehicular population in the city. The BTP data shows that two
Increasing number of vehicles calls for better metro connectivity. Courtesy: Aditya Paul wheelers constitute more than 70 percent of the total volume, while cars comprise 15 percent, autos 4 percent and the remaining 8 percent includes other vehicles such as buses, vans and tempos. Raghavendra highlighted another problem of signal synchronization which is absent in Bengaluru and needs to be improved. At present, there are 353 traffic signals in the city and 193 roads are one-ways. He said: “This issue requires a flexible traffic signal system which can increase or decrease the duration of the time limit as per
the time and the traffic situation. It is also imperative that timers are installed and attached to all popular traffic signals so that people know if they have enough time to switch their engines off. It doesn’t require setting up of any sophisticated machinery but only cleverness and efficiency.” Sharat H Attal, an urban planner and a PhD in architecture, said: “With easy accessibility of buses and improving suburban rail system, the number of people using public transport as opposed to the private ones can be increased. The road should have uniform carriage ways with wide footpath for people to walk.” “If we want the vehicle registration to continue, we must improve the infrastructure,” said Raghavendra. Car pooling and the concept of shared autos needs to be encouraged and made more prominent across the city. Corporate companies should come up with ideas, bonuses or penalties for not practicing car pooling. Sri Raghavendra is also researching linking aadhaar unique identity number cards with a person’s private vehicle and the fuel he/she uses, to keep a check on the fuel used by one car and the usage of that private vehicle.
5
India battles it out for Davis Cup
Courtsey: Niranjan Reddy
Aneesh Srinivasan aneesh.s@iijnm.org The Davis Cup Asia, second round between India and Uzbekistan is set to kick off today in Bangalore. Mahesh Bhupati who is the current team captain held a press meet at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA), Cubbon Park. Mahesh Bhupati who is the current captain (after taking over from Anand Amitraj) has decided to drop Leander Paes from the team. He has instead decided to play Rohan Bopanna, Sriram Balaji, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Prajnesh Gunneswaran. Rohan Bopanna and partner Sriram Balaji will play against Uzbekistan’s Farrukh Dustov and Sanjar Fayziev in Bengaluru. Ramkumar Ramanathan faces Temur Ismailov in the first singles. Prajnesh Gunneswaran who is replacing the injured Yuki Bhambhri will play against Fayziev in the second singles match. Mahesh Bhupati is confident about their chances of winning during the conference and says, “We are pretty sure that we can blow Uzbekistan away as Bangalore is pretty advantageous. Bangalore is a pretty fast court.” Rohan Bopanna seconds him and says, “We have a good team who is well trained and confident.” Ramkumar and Prajnesh are more skeptic about the match though. Ramkumar said, “I think am doing the right things, but haven’t got the results. But am confident and raring to go.” Prajnesh adds, “I know it’s going to be tough, because I have never been in this position before.” They both said that it was going to be tough, but they will try their best to perform well and win. Speaking of his team selection Bhupati says, “I will play whoever I want to. Twenty five years of experience has taught me a lot. Yuki Bhambri is a good player but, we’ll miss him. I think they are going to miss Istomin more than we miss Bhambri.” Speaking of Leander Paes’ career he added, “This is not the end of the road for Leander Paes.”
6
Thursday 6 April, 2017
Metro
The Daily Observer
Brands in a fix while sham products flourish Sonal Agarwal sonal.a@iijnm.org
India’s population growth has not only led to a rise in the unemployment rate, but has encouraged some to pursue illegal modes of income. One of those avenues is the sale of counterfeit goods, and it is becoming a major concern in Bengaluru. A 2013 report by the United States Trade Representative listed Nehru Place and Gaffar Market, both in New Delhi; Manish Market and Lamington Road, in Mumbai; and Chenoy Trade Center and the Hong Kong Bazaar in Hyderabad as places rife with imported counterfeit clothing, shoes, cosmetics, electronics and other products.. National Market in Bengaluru is also a hub for such products, according to the report. While there have been several arrests for selling so-called “knockoffs,” it has not curbed the rate at which the crime is being perpetrated, admit officials, pointing to several reasons behind the expansion of fake markets as a large unorga-
nized sector, including weak regulatory and implementation mechanisms and the high price of branded and premium products. Enormous income disparities among residents also creates a market for cheaper alternatives to branded and premium products, says law enforcement officials. Fake goods can be broadly classified into three categories: Food, including packaged, and beverages; personal goods; and home care products. In Bengaluru, the sale of counterfeit personal goods has been on the rise. The Times of India reported that in the first quarter of 2017, the Central Crime Branch’s fraud and misappropriation wing booked 23
Courtesy: Prabhakar Thakur cases under the Copyright Act, up from the 53 cases booked in 2016. Health and legal implications Counterfeit goods can be dangerous and potentially harm unsuspecting consumers, particularly when the goods are ingestible or can be used topically, such as toothpaste and makeup, respectively. A recent study by the Delhi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research (found that many of the toothpaste manufacturers are adulterating toothpastes and toothpowders with a high quantity of nicotine. Nicotine is banned under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003. Dr. Rajendra Golcha explained the health implications of using knock-offs. “The menace of the look-alikes is not easy to detect since they carry the similar brand name, logo, packaging colour with little alterations. A customer might get confused and often do not even know that they are buying a fake product. These duplicates of wellknown brands are of cheap quality and can have side effects. For example, a low quality beauty product can cause skin rashes and other health problems.” On January 11 of this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) raided a Mumbai building in Crawford Market and seized 2.39 crore of fake cosmetics flouting such brand names are Revlon, Olay, L’Oreal and Lakme, said FDA officials. “It was an organized racket running a well-oiled network with advanced machinery,” FDA Com-
can’t file a case against the culprits due to which they get away with it. Prem Kumar, former civil judge and current head of post graduate studies in the Department of Law at Hoogly Moshin College, said that Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) have become an important aspect of goods and products. “Courts are somewhat hesitant to allow permission for raids, but in the recent years there has been a significant rise in the number of raids. These raids are necessary as there is a lot of financial loss involved in the business [of counterfeit goods],” said Kumar. “Criminal complaints and suits can also be filed once the culprit is found applying the Trademark Act of 1999 under Section 103,” he said. There have been instances when brands have filed cases against the counterfeit violators. One such case was the March 2012 case, Hindustan Lever Ltd. & Anr. vs Satish Kumar, trademark infringement case where even after several rounds of raids the defendant kept on violating the law. Aside from trademark infringement, the case was filed on the grounds of copyright, passing of profits, damages and delivery up. Companies themselves have attempted to come with solutions like to combat the counterfeit industry, such as new packaging and trademarked logos. But they can’t keep their prices as low as the fake products because of the amount they spend on research and taxes, which the sellers of duplicate products don’t have to invest in.
missioner Harshadeep Kamble told the media at the time. “We have drawn samples of the products to see how harmful they are to the skin and eyes of consumers,” he said. A dealer and a manufacturer of counterfeit products violate several laws, including the Trade Marks Act, 1999; the Designs Act of 2000; the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940; and Intellectual Property Right (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007. According to a study conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), 81 percent of patents granted by India’s Patent Office go to members of The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research. No patents were given to the personal goods industry because, according to the Patent Act of India, “if the invention was known or used by any other person, or used or sold by Losses incurred in industry sector the applicant to any person in India and/or outside India, then the applicant would not be entitled to the grant of a patent.” This means domestically-produced goods are not entitled to patents. Now, since they can’t Thought Arbitrage Research Institute for FICCI’s Committee Against patent their products, they Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy.
Editor-in-chief: Yogita
Photo Editor: San-
Managing Editor: Ayushee
Social media editors: Bhakti, Mrigakshi
Copy Editors: Chhavi, Prabhakar
PROOF Reader: Ahana
Layout designers: Konica, Aarohi
Staff reporters: Rishiraj, Arunava, Aneesh, azmia, Mitali, BIBIn, PALLABI, abhishek, sonal, divya, supriya
#RBIPolicy has fine print. Urjit Patel is his own man. Is there a backdoor fix being done on NPAs? Madhavan Narayanan @madversity On #BJPFoundationDay convey my best wishes to everyone. Let us rededicate ourselves today to the cause of ‘Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat’. Arun Jaitley @arunjaitley
I
Lots of big hitting, audacious cricket, but my moment of the match was Ben Cutting’s direct hit. Never seen a flatter throw! Harsha Bhogle @bhogleharsha #RBI Board Clears Proposal To Introduce Banknotes Of Rs. 200 Denomination, Printing To Begin After June Post Govt’s Approval. Ravindra Jadeja @SirJadeja I wonder if gau mata knows which religion she belongs to. Only Cowards kill fellow humans in name of cow. Rajdeep Sardesai @sardesairajdeep No @Leander in the squad. @rohanbopanna replaces the injured Yuki Bhambri #DavisCup Gaurav Kalra@ gauravkalra75
dra For feedbacks and comments please drop a mail at yogita.c@iijnm.org. We would love to hear from you