The Observer - Vol 20 Issue 12

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The Observer An IIJNM publication

BBMP clinics run out of essential medicines, forcing patients to seek treatment privately | P3

Vol 20, Issue 12

Epaper:https://issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver/docs Website: http://www. theweeklyobserver.in

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Bengaluru kirana workers unhappy with Karnataka government for not giving Covid-19 vaccine | P3

Women, beware: Cars with 5-star safety rating are unsafe for you Only male dummies are used during crash testing in India

By Padmini Dhruvaraj Bengaluru: When a woman buys a car with a five-star safety rating, she assumes she’s safe. She’s mistaken. For the car was produced with men in mind.

In 2020, most automakers produced cars based on data from male crash test dummies. These cars can have deadly consequences for women.

M. Shama, a car driver in Srinivasapura, informed The Observer: “I am 5'2" and have to adjust the height of my car seat and move closer to the steering while driving. I can’t even rest my head on the headrest properly.”

Crash testing in India is a destructive process performed using a crash test dummy. It is conducted to ensure passive safety of cars. Standards for it are set by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). Crash testing is conducted by the Global Automotive Research Centre (GARC) for all leading original equipment manufacturers.

Melvin Rex, showroom manager

@theweeklyobserver

Illustration: Padmini Dhruvaraj

at Nexa (Kalyani Motors), Mysuru Road, said: “Every day on an average 150 cars are sold, and only 20-30 are purchased by women. So we use a universalsized dummy of 5'5" feet which is neither a male nor a female for the crash test.”

When The Observer asked whether safety gear in a car are suited for pregnant women and women shorter than 5'5", Rex said: “An airbag protects from the abdomen to the forehead, but due to the force of an accident and airbag ejection, shorter people might be prone to neck injury.

But if the driver is wearing a seatbelt, injuries are quite low.”

Raghu R., a training manager at Toyota Motors, Kanakapura Road, said: “Male structured dummies will not benefit either women or pregnant drivers during a crash test. But we use a Total Human Model for safety software. It simulates bones, muscle and skin. This is very accurate and we design our cars accordingly.

Continued on page 4

News briefs 7 more vaccines in list of candidates Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said seven more Covid-19 vaccine candidates are in clinical trial stages. After receiving the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, he said both Indian vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin are safe and people should not believe WhatsApp messages.

6 states account for 78 per cent of India’s cases The Union health ministry said on Tuesday that Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, have reported a high number of daily COVID19 cases and account for 78.56 per cent of the 56,211 new cases recorded in the country.

India’s covid-19 tally has climbed to 1,20,95,855.

HK’s directly elected seats down to one-fifth China has approved the most controversial changes of Hong Kong’s electoral system. It will slash the number of directly elected seats from half to onefifth. The changes were announced on Tuesday after meeting with legislatures.

Number of children breaking Poor infra hits virtual law rose during the lockdown court proceedings

By Abhishek Saini

By Upasana Banerjee Bengaluru: The pandemic has added more cases of children in conflict with the law to the already rising trend of delinquent acts in Bengaluru.

Data received from various helplines for women and children indicate that there has been an increase in domestic violence and sexual attacks on women and children during the pandemic.

Juvenile Justice Board counsellor Noorullah informed The Observer: “We have received around 100 cases just during the lockdown compared to around 150 cases in 2019. Those are mainly robbery, murder and Pocso cases which are yet to be disposed of.”

The children who are criminalised mostly belong to the below poverty line (BPL) section.

Relief doesn’t come to minors due to the slow working of the judicial commiittees| Upasana Banerjee They resorted to negative behaviour to survive during the lockdown. A rising number of dropouts, severe poverty and increase in child labour are some of

the causes that led these children to commit such crimes. upasana.b@iijnm.org Kids broke law are in dire circumstance|P2

Bengaluru: Lack of proper infrastructure, application software, and trained personnel in the Court of Small Causes and the City Civil Court is hampering the implementation of the virtual court proceedings in Bengaluru.

“I just had to show one document. Now, I’m waiting for the lawyer to get the work done. All this would have been avoided in online court proceedings,” Jabir Khan, who has a pending civil case, informed The Observer.

Prathap Gowda, who was attending a matter in the City Civil Court, said: “This court has hardly any infrastructure available for the online proceedings.

When other institutions can get to no-contact practices, then why not our courts?”

There is no infrastructure in Bengaluru. We do not have dedicated software to keep records. The staff are unfamiliar with technology, and need to be trained.

Kalyan B, HC lawyer In September 2020, the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, chaired by Bhupendra Yadav, submitted a report to the Rajya Sabha, recommending the implementation of virtual courts.

The Standing committee also noted that out of the 17,920 courtrooms in the country, only 3,477 of them have the facilities that supports the virtual proceedings after its implementation.

Continued on page 4

CITY

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Kids who broke laws are in dire circumstance

Parents want them put into shelter homes, given adequate care

By Upasana Banerjee

Bengaluru: The pandemic has led to a large number of children committing crimes. Most of them are from poor families and broken homes.

“Most children coming into the juvenile justice system come from dysfunctional families, singleparent families, broken homes, marginalized communities, etc.

They are already in a very dire circumstance. The pandemic has brought more troubles for both children and their families,” Dr Kalpana Purushotaman, a senior member of the Juvenile Justice Board, told The Observer.

Parents whose children have come in conflict with the law do not want to entangle themselves with the legal system. Therefore, they prefer dropping them at shelter homes. One such parent whose minor daughter ran away from home said: “I want the Child Welfare Committee to put my daughter into a government shel-

ter home. We can’t take responsibility every time.”

Children went without food for several days,causing them to behave in a desperate manner.

Kavita Ratna, director-advocacy of The Concerned for Working Children, an NGO, said: “Children should be any society’s first preference.If the government does not provide them with basic care and protection, then what will these young children do?”

The police during such times neither register any case nor help these poor kids. They often exploit thepoor people and their children.

Station house officer of the Ashok Nagar police station K Srinivas Murthy said: “If any juvenile case comes, we directly take them to a state home; we don’t register any case here.”

Lawyer Babu Reddy, who handles criminal cases, said the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act,2015,is not a good law as it declares institutional care as the last resort.It says every child should grow up with his or her parents.

Reddy said: “Under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme,

every district needs to have a Child Protection Unit which should conduct educational and awareness programmes for minors, but not a single programme has been conducted efficiently.”

“Instead they are booked under two categories of offences: serious and petty offences which will sentence them to above 7 years and below 7 years of imprisonment respectively.”

Those involved in a conflict with the law do not get relief easily due to slow working of the judicial committees.

One such person who was a minor when he was booked for a scuffle has not received any relief yet. “I was 17 years old when I was charged for getting into a rough fight. Now that I am 21, they have asked me to pay a penalty, but the case is still not closed,” he shared.

Experts recommend a Child Protection Cadre and public-private partnerships in juvenile justice and rehabilitation science, so that more people from NGOs and civil society can help in lowering cases of minors who are in conflict with law. upasana.b@iijnm.org

The Observer Tuesday, March 30, 2021

BELLANDUR LAKE ON FIRE AGAIN

Bellandur lake is on fire for the second time in 15 days. Smoke is visible from far away. The lake has caught fire several times over the years, but no solution has been found. The problem is more pronounced during summer because dry leaves catch fire fast. Often, there is a delay in fire extinguishers reaching the water body. Lake marshals, who are forced to watch helplessly, say that their request to the BBMP to deploy firecontrol equipment at the lake has not been heeded | Tarab Zaidi

Govt must vaccinate us fast, say kirana workers

Point out that they work for an essential service

By Viransh Shah

Bengaluru: Kirana workers are upset with the government for not vaccinating them despite their working for an essential service where they come in contact with scores of people.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, schools, colleges, stadiums, train and flight services were halted.

But kirana stores were brought under the definition of essential services right from the start.

The Observer visited the APMC yard in Yeshwantpur and spoke to several traders and workers about their concerns.

Sanjay Bhasin, president of the Bangalore Wholesale Food Grains & Pulses Merchants’ Association, said: “My appeal to the government is that they should consult all stakeholders of the food supply industry and arrange a vaccination drive for them as soon as possible. The APMC yard is densely populated which makes us vulnerable to Covid.

The government must come with a... plan to vaccinate our workers without levying any charges.”

People associated with the kirana sector say their work is as risky as that of frontline workers.

Lakshman Sencha, manager at Sree Viswa Vijaya Traders, said: “Our workers are more vulnerable to Covid-19 as they come in contact with a lot of people where social distancing cannot take

According to Ficci, the Indian retail and e-commerce industry employs around 40 million people | Viransh Shah place. Not every worker wears a mask during work. While lifting heavy sacks, it is not feasible to wear masks. Hence, a vaccination drive will definitely boost their confidence.”

Anil Shah, owner of Sri Banashankari Traders, said: “We are seeing a rise in Covid cases in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Many of our supplies come from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In this situation, we have to be very cautious. Many of the workers do not wear masks during work. It is must for them to get vaccinated, so I am waiting for vaccination to be available for us.”

Rajesh K, a van driver who delivers groceries for wholesaler Haltsons Corporation, shared: “We have been working relentlessly since the lockdown was imposed. Initially, when there were strict restrictions in the city, we had a tough job as the demand was increasing with people inside their homes. Our working hours increased with that. The vaccine will ensure safety for my fellow staff and me.”

R. Babu, the owner of Shivaji Concern, a wholesale dealer in spices, said: “I feel that the vaccine should be made available to everyone and should not be any

special provision for kirana workers. With cases going up, there is a need for rapid vaccination. The government must plan accordingly.”

K. Umesh Kumar, secretary of the Regulated Market Workers’ Union, said: “We have 200 workers in the union, and till now not a single one has contracted the virus even after regular testing.

The thing is, people here have much confidence about their immunity. So even if we get them free vaccination, they will turn up in low numbers as we saw during testing. Workers used to stay absent just to escape the test. So making a vaccine available won’t change their mindset.”

Dr Mirash R., a general physician who works at Brigade Doctor Clinic in Kanakapura, told The Observer: “I feel kirana workers should be vaccinated. It needs to speed up and reach every part of society. I have seen a few who the government hasn’t given priority.

I feel they should be considered as they are the ones who are helping us meet our daily needs in these tough times.”

According to BBC, more than 55 million Indians will have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine by March 27 under what is supposed to be the world's biggest inoculation drive.

Ficci in a letter to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said: “Workers across stores, distribution centres, warehouses and throughout the retail ecosystem are particularly at highest risk from the devastating impact of the pandemic.” viransh.s@iijnm.org

Quiz Corner 1.Which country is set to re-establish the Homeland Security Dialogue with India?

2.The Union Minster of Education has inaugurated the ShaheedBhagat Singh Smarak in which state/UT? 3.Which global rating agency releases report titled ‘Global Economic Outlook’ GEO? 4.The Union Cabinet approved a Memorandum of Cooperation between which country on water cooperation.

5.Which Indian state recently launched 'Dial 112' ERSS and State Emergency Response Centre?

Answers on page 4

Across the Nation India Virtual Marathon April 4, 05:00 AM Bommasandra Industrial Area, Bengaluru Dongri To Nowhere by MunawarFaruqui Friday 02 April 2021 MLR Convention Centre: Whitefield Bengaluru National School Health Summit 2020 April 17 - 18, 09:00 am Surajkund, New Delhi APEX by SPRYK - India Tour Friday, 9 April, 9:00 – 11:59 pm Bengaluru Ek Batta Do : Hinglish Special - Big Pitcher Pub 12 Apilr, 2:30 am – 10 May, 2:30 am, Bengaluru Music Conference 2021 Thu, 1 Apr, 9:30 am – Sun, 4 April, 5:30 pm, Bengaluru World Coffee Conference 7 – 9 September, Bengaluru

HEALTH

The Observer Tuesday, March 30, 2021

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Fewer people visiting dental clinics now Clinics say they are following safety protocols in time of Covid

By Queeneerich K. Bengaluru: Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, dentists’ clinics in the city are seeing fewer visits by patients. They prefer phone consultations.

The clinics say- they are taking precautions such as sanitisation, fumigation, sterilization and wearing safety equipment to prevent the spread of the virus, but not many patients seem convinced.

Dr Irene Chrystal from the Dental Health Clinic informed The Observer: “It isn’t risky for a dental check in the middle of the pandemic as everybody follows protocols. We do not call patients to the clinic unless it’s urgent. At the entrance, the patients have to sanitise and are given head caps and foot covers. We only allow three or four patients at a time slot to ensure their safety. Understanding the high risk of cross-infection, doctors wear double gloves and masks, face shields, and PPEs. Face shields get fogged easily, making visibility a problem.”

“The biggest challenge the

To deter the spread of Covid-19, a thorough fumigation and sterilization process is carried out at dental clinics.

Patients are being asked to avoid non-urgent visits to dental clinics | QueenierichK. clinic had to face because of Covid-19 was the backlog of patients. The clinic has not suggested Covid-19 tests to its patients, because after an arousal procedure the room gets fumigated immediately. Doctors and staff now work for few hours; they cannot accommodate a lot of patients, and we often get complaints from patients that their appointments get booked a week later. The patient calls first, then sends images of the tooth problem

followed by medication. If there is any drop in oxygen level and increase in temperature, we re-take the pulse and temperature test and ask them to consult a doctor.

Every clinic follows the sterilization and sanitation protocol,” she added.

Sasa Blah, a dental student at Dayananda Sagar College, said: “It is safe to go to dental clinics for checkup. There is no need to get a Covid test done after visiting a clinic. However, if treatment is

possible through a phone call, one should opt for it.”

Safety equipment such as face shields, double gloves, respirators, surgical gowns and scrubs are used while working on patients to ensure the safety of both patient and doctor.

Utkarsh Bhat, a patient at Clove Dental, said: “The clinic provides a facial mask, head mask, shoe cover. Temperature and blood pressure is checked on every visit which can be reassur-

Drug shortage at BBMP clinics troubles patients Children may be the worst hit due to this

By Nishant Kumar Bengaluru: BBMP clinics lack essential medicines since the onset of Covid-19.

Dr Bhanu Prakash, a medical officer at the BBMP clinic in Rajajinagar, informed The Observer: “Due to Covid-19, clinics didn’t have any track on the stock of medicines, so there were incidents where essential medicines were not available.”

“Essential medicines are used for patients with fever and cold, which should be available at primary health care centres. These generic medicines are widely manufactured and affordable. In case a particular medicine is not available, the patient can always visit another BBMP clinic.”

The WHO, in its charter, lists minimum medicine needs for a basic healthcare system, mentioning the most efficacious, safe, and cost‐effective medicines. According to the Karnataka Health Policy's Vision for Better Health Care, the government has mandated that essential medicines be made available in each primary health care centre.

The Karnataka government

The Karnataka government has a network of 2,346 primary health centres and 326 community health centres across the state.|Nishant Kumar lists acetylsalicylic acid, ibuprofen, paracetamol, amitriptyline dexamethasone and midazolam among essential medicines.

Dilwar Hussain, a patient suffering from cold, visited the BBMP clinic in Rajajinagar.

“When I visited the clinic during the lockdown, I couldn’t get cough syrup. I had to buy it from a chemist’s shop,” he shared.

Vinay Sarvotham, who visited the same BBMP clinic, said: “I had jaundice. The clinic said that they cannot treat jaundice patients, so they referred me to another hospital.”

The Karnataka government has a network of 2,346 primary

health centres, 326 community health centres, and 8,871 subcentres.

Karnataka’s health indicators range in the middle among the states. The Niti Aayog in its report stated that despite being a high-income state, Karnataka lags in primary healthcare in comparison to Kerala and Maharashtra.

Dr Nagalakshmi who teaches at the Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, said: “The repercussion of not having essential medicines will cost the lives of many poor people who cannot afford private health care. The most disadvantaged

group would be children, who need constant monitoring. That will severely impact Karnataka’s health indices.

“Since most illnesses can be traced at the primary health care centres, robustness is required not only in terms of providing medicines but in other aspects of healthcare as well.”

Dr Manoranjan Hegde, a deputy health officer in the BBMP’s west zone said: “It might happen that sometimes essential medicines get out of stock, but overall the required medicines are always available. The BBMP has planned that each clinic will register daily consumption of medicine at the end of the day.”

The information will be conveyed to the BBMP head office.

The Karnataka government has decided to upgrade its PHCs to function as 24/7 clinics, with a greater emphasis on rural areas.

According to the Karnataka budget, the BBMP will establish Janarogya Centres in 57 wards at a cost of Rs 10 crore to provide primary healthcare.The government aims to develop human health resources and strengthen health infrastructure with medicines, testing available around the clock. For better health infrastructure Health department of Karnataka introduced Telemedicine Network Project way back in 2001 as the value added services nishant.k@iijnm.org

ing for patients. I would prefer an on-call appointment even if a dental clinic is safe for checkups.”

Dr Shruti Prasad of the Partha Dental Clinic said: “There is risk involved in dental checking as we closely work with the patient for long durations.” Doctors are at risk even with a double mask.

“We did not make any significant changes and use the same old methods like wiping chairs, changing the patients’ drape, fumigation and sterilization. The only thing that has changed now is that the disinfectant sodium hypochlorite is being used as it is more active against the virus.

The clinic has witnessed a dip in the number of patients post lockdown. We often get calls from patients asking what precautions the clinic has taken. The seating arrangement was the only reorganization made to our workflow,” Dr Prasad added.

Mohan Kumar Srinivas from the Karnataka State Dental Council said: “Patients should try to avoid unimportant appointments during the pandemic.

However, if the clinic and the patients strictly follow safety protocols, they can help minimize the risk of Covid transmission during dental checkups, resulting in the staff and patients to suffer less.

Presently, we have not necessitated PPE kits for dental clinics as part of the standard precautions. queeneerich.k@iijnm.org

Citizen’s voice Gross violation of human rights in Myanmar The bloodshed that has followed since the military took over Myanmar shows us a grim picture of human rights violation.

Citizens of Myanmar who are currently residing in India and in other countries should be given residence in the countries they are in until Myanmar stops spilling the blood of innocent people.

Tunir Biswas

India’s bowling attack is inadequate Though India defeated England in all the three formats of cricket, and though young players performed well, India’s bowling lineup is inadequate without Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

These speedsters are going to be crucial in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Abhishek Dutta

Bihar’s e-waste policy is a waste

Bihar stands at the 14th position with 2.09% of the overall e-waste India produces. But a lack of awareness about the scientific disposal of e-waste has made it difficult for the Bihar State Pollution Control Board to curb health afflictions.

Nidhi Kajaria

CITY

4

The Observer Tuesday, March 30, 2021

court staff & lawyers get Cars in India are still training from Bar council designed for men

Contiued from page 1

K

alyan B, an advocate, said: “There is no infrastructure in Bengaluru. We do not have dedicated software to keep records. The staff are unfamiliar with technology, and need to be trained.”

The Karnataka State Bar Council, responsible for the enrolment and skill enhancement of staff in courts, has started training programmes for staff and lawyers.

“Our focus is not only on improving the technical abilities of our advocates but also to train them in a way that helps them in advancing in their overall careers,” said Arun Pujar, manager, Karnataka State Bar Council.

The smaller courts also face a problem in scheduling online hearings, affecting lawyers and citizens.

“The lower courts tend to be busy. Therefore, it gets difficult to find slots for hearings. This problem has increased since online hearings have representations from both sides...,” said Avinash S, who works in the Court of Small Causes.

The situation is better in the Karnataka High Court.

Suhas B.S., an advocate practising in the High Court, said: “Virtual proceedings are more convenient. We’ve been given the required set of infrastructure to function. Internet (connectivity) is good and the systems have

Weather

High Court issued a fresh set of guidelines, emphasizing the need to maintain decorum during online proceedings.|Courtesy: KPN been ramped up since the pandemic.”

Srihari N.S., another advocate practising in the High Court, said: “The concept of virtual courts is good, but it has some glitches. On occasions, we’ve to attend 2-3 sessions continuously which becomes difficult in online courts.”

“An update of infrastructure is required. Our judicial system is capable of pulling it off,” Srihari said when asked about improving the infrastructure in lower courts.

However, lawyers say discussions and arguments can be held better in physical hearings than in virtual courts.

“We get a better back-and-forth argument during a physical hearing which is absent in virtual court hearings,” observed another lawyer Avinash S.

“We can make spontaneous, over-the-bar submissions in physical courts. During online courts, it is very difficult to assess the mood of the judge, so we cannot change our arguments accordingly,” said Srihari.

Maintaining decorum in online courts is another problem. On March 16, 2021, the High Court issued a fresh set of guidelines, emphasizing the need to maintain decorum during online proceedings.

C.S. Patil, a lawyer who works at the Karnataka State Law University, Hubballi, said the pandemic has brought a perfect opportunity to switch to online courts. “Online courts are a feasible idea now. They require basic technology that anyone can use, and they save cost and time. No doubt, there is a need for skill enhancement in courts, but our judicial system is strong enough to overcome this hurdle.”

On August 6, 2020, Karnataka’s first virtual court heard cases of uncontested minor traffic offences. By November 2020, the virtual court, in Bengaluru, had received 6,612 challans, out of which proceedings for 6,569 cases had been completed.

The aim of introducing virtual courts is to unclog the judicial system of pending cases and reduce the workload on judges in lower courts. Citizens and lawyers hope basic infrastructural obstacles will be removed. abhishek.s@iijnm.org

Continued from page 1

A

2019 survey conducted by Consumer Reports, a US NGO, said: “Any seatbeltwearing female vehicle occupant has 73% greater odds of being seriously injured, and 17% (are) more likely to be killed in a frontal car crash than a seatbeltwearing male occupant.”

Hariharan V., a senior crashtest engineer at GARC, said: “We use only male dummies. The benchmark for vehicles to clear crash tests is to use a Hybrid III 50th percentile dummy (a 5'9" male dummy weighing 78 kg) in both driver and passenger seats.

We are collecting data of women car drivers in India to decide what action should be taken.

Right now, we are focusing only on minimum safety.”

However, ARAI says its crash facility has a Hybrid III 5th percentile dummy (a 4'11" female dummy weighing 50 kg).

Bhumika L. Raju, a car driver in Basavanagudi, said: “Women drive to work, take road trips, ride in cars with friends or take cabs. How can the government still ignore 50 per cent of its population? Assuming an average man is an average human is stupid.”

In 2019, Volvo initiated an ‘Equal Vehicle For All’ program after analysing more than 40,000 cars and 70,000 passengers in 40 years. However, a Volvo show-

THERE’S ZERO pHySical DiSTancing On namma mETRO

Maximum temp: 34 degree Celsius Minimum temp: 22 degree Celsius Precipitation: 0% Humidity: 23% Wind: 5 km/h Forecast: Tomorrow’s weather will be sunny and pleasant with a clear sky. Humidity is expected to be around 29%.

Quiz Answers 1. US 2. New Delhi 3. Fitch 4. Japan 5. Odish

Twitterati Talk @RahulGandhi This is more than an election it’s the fight to save Tamil culture, history and interests. Thank you, Tamil Nadu for your encouragement & support.

Words of the day 1. Luminary: a person of prominence or brilliant achievement a body that gives light; one of the celestial bodies 2. Equinox: either of the two points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator intersects the ecliptic 3. Fiscal: relating to taxation, public revenues, or public debt 4. Sesquipedalian: having many syllables, long 5. Williwaw: a sudden violent gust of cold land air common along mountainous coasts of high latitudes.

6. Juxtapose: To place two different things side by side, to compare or contrast.

room manager said only male dummies are used in the driver’s seat during crash tests.

The physical structures of Hybrid III 5th and 50th percentile dummies are designed according to the 1970s US Consumer Product Safety Commission report.

But according to the 2020 National Institute of Nutrition, the average height and weight of Indian men are 5'8" feet and 65 kg; they are and 5'3" feet and 55 kg for India women.

Suresh Nagesh, a researcher, and professor at the Crucible of Research and Innovation, PES University, said: “Cars should be separately designed for men and women. There is no guarantee a woman will be protected if a male dummy is used in a crash test no matter how good the rating is.

Lower-end cars are always built to satisfy certain regulations. It won’t be the same for everyone.

India should come up with stringent automotive safety laws like western countries. There are at least 25-30% of women drivers. It is unfortunate that we are treating them like this when they are better drivers than men. They should be considered and taken care of with full protection gear.”

The future of crash testing in India will include computer simulations that will have virtual humans with all internal organs.

That will be the solution, he added. padmini.d@iijnm.org

Team Observer

Commuters on the Bengaluru Metro have not been following social distancing norms. An SOP released

by BMRCL in September 2020 states that commuters must maintain a distance of 2 metres when travelling by the metro. The SOP also limited the number of passengers that can board a single train to 400. Six months after the release of these guidelines, they are

not being adhered to. “I commute by the metro every day, and I’ve noticed that there is no social distancing being followed inside the coaches during peak hours,” said Arunaditya Aima, a student who uses the Metro.

Another student, Nidhi Kajaria, said: “With the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic upon us, I fear that travelling by the Metro is not safe.” | Abhishek Saini

Editor: Nishant Kumar Copy Editors: Nishant Kumar, Padmini Dhruvaraj,Viransh Shah, Upasana Banerjee, Queeneerich Kharmawlong, Abhisek Saini Page Editors: Nishant Kumar, Padmini Dhruvaraj, Queeneerich Kharmawlong Abhisek Saini Reporters: Upasana Banerjee Nishant Kumar, Padmini Dhruvaraj,Viransh Shah, Upasana Banerjee, Queeneerich Kharmawlong Abhisek Saini Photo Editor: Queeneerich Kharmawlong