The Observer An IIJNM publication
In three years, targets of Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Project met; NIN looking at data collected | P 2
Vol 18, Issue 9
They turn down cases related to petty offences
Abbinaya Kuzhanthaivel
Pranay Prakash
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Gopala Gowda, a retired Supreme Court judge, said. Any party can make an application to a Permanent Lok Adalat for settlement of a dispute before it is taken to a court. “Courts also refer some cases to the Lok Adalats. Any party… can walk out of the process before a settlement is reached. The LokAdalat system is plagued with many deficiencies. It must deal with instances where a bench fails due to various reasons…,”said Anita A Patil, assistant professor at the National Law School of India University and trained mediator. “Exclusion of petty-offence cases by the Permanent Lok Adalats and deficiencies in the system have led to a decrease in the number of cases settled by them,” Rajeev Gowda added. pranay.p@iijnm.org
Lakes get polluted as treated and untreated sewage mix Raveena Bhati
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akes in Bengaluru are getting polluted because treated sewage makes its way to storm water drains, says the Namma Bengaluru Foundation. The most famous example is that of Bellandur lake, on which froth caused by untreated sewage and industrial effluents has appeared several times. “When treated sewage is released from the Kadubeesanahalli sewage treatment plant, the very first outflow mixes with untreated sewage and storm water
drains in the path. The raw and sanitary sewage is led into a pipe that connects to the Raja Canal,” M. Laxmikanta, a research associate at the Namma Bengaluru Foundation, informed The Observer. The Kadubeesanahalli STP can treat 50 million litres per day (MLD). Sewage from Marathahalli, HAL, Nagasandra and Kadubeesanahalli is supplied to this plant for treatment. After being treated, the water is released into Bellandur lake. It is a multi-layer process whose main purpose is removing organic mat-
On the Web: issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver/docs/ the_observer
India third worst hit by malware spread via removable media
Attackers leave USB drives near cos they want to target
deal with cases related to public utility services like electricity and water. Cases related to disputes in property, matrimony and family are also referred to us,” Gowda said. Permanent Lok Adalatsestablished under sub-section (1) of Section 22B of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987,intends to settle disputes concerning transport services of passengers and goods; postal or telephone services; supply of power, light, and water; systems of public conservancy or sanitation; services in hospitals or dispensaries; and insurance services. “There are many reasons for the decline in the number of cases settled by Lok Adalats. One is that the number of people voluntarily going to the Adalats has decreased. This channel of redressal needs popularity,” Venkata
@theweeklyobserver
Experts say Cauvery water must be conserved by preventing encroachments and sand mining | P 3
Over years, cases settled by Lok Adalats go down ince Lok Adalats stopped accepting casesrelating to petty offences, the number of cases settled by them has come down drastically since 2013. According to data available on the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) website, 12,151 cases were settled by the Permanent Lok Adalats in Karnataka during 2013-14. The number of cases settled reduced in the forthcoming years with a 33% fall in 2014-15(8,060 cases). The number continued to decline in the consecutive years. There were 7,708 cases in 2015-16; 4,830 in 2016-17, and 2,740 up to August in 2018. Rajeev Gowda, deputy secretary of KSLSA,informed The Observer that the number of cases settled by the Lok Adalats has gradually come down after they stopped accepting cases pertaining to petty offences. “We only accept cases where the parties have voluntarily come for mediation, or when a judge... refers a case to us. We usually
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
The Observer
ter, disease-causing nutrients and solid waste, according to a survey report submitted by MA (Public Policy) students of Mount Carmel College in collaboration with the foundation. The foundation is an organization that works to upliftlakes . The release of industrial effluents and dumping of garbage into a canal that carries treated water to Bellandur lake has led to an increase in froth and pollution, according to a report by the foundation. BWSSB treats 1,059 MLD of sewage at its 25 STPs | P 3
ndia stands third in the most affected countries for malware spread through removable media, with 10.9% of infected users worldwide Removable media are storage devices like USB devices, hard disks, compact disks and even SD cards. Hackers exploit data security by spreading malware through removable disks, according to the report by Kaspersky, a cyber security company. “These driveby attacks are more common in India. Hackers buy pen drives in bulk and load them with malware. They leave them at random places near target institutions where people tend to pick up and insert them into their systems out of curiosity. It is an old technique that was followed by hackers to attack a nuclear facility in Iran. It is prevalent because of its feasibility to spread without the Internet,” Sathish Kumar, a cyber security researcher at Iqube, a private technology incubation centre, informed The Observer. “I used to plug in many pen drives from friends into my laptop and it frequently crashed. I was forced to change my laptop. I… now am conscious about connecting any portable device,” P. Divi Raj, a professional photographer, said. A hacker can gain access to the victim’s institution through an infected computer. The virus or malware can replicate in all documents in the infected system and continue to spread.
Thiruvaazhi Uloli, software security professional from the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, said: “The user need not be worried, if he has security software installed and autoupdated.” Kaspersky recorded a rise of 9.22% in 2018 for removable media infections targeted by cryptominers. The Windows LNK trojan family a common malware spread via USB. Kaspersky has detected 23 million removable media threats hitting over 7,00,000 users around the world. Vietnam stands first with 18.8% affected users, followed by 11.2% in Algeria. Bangladesh and Russia are among the affected countries. Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, 2018, says there is a 92% increase in new malware downloader variants, with 5% attacks originating from India. McAfee has recorded 9,00,000 infections all over the world due to LNK malware this year. S Krithika, a professor of network security and cryptography at Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, said: “It is a serious issue that can be addressed by creating awareness. It may be tempting to pick up portable devices from anywhere and use in our systems, but the user must ensure he runs security software to avoid malware.” It is no surprise India stands third in computers infected systems through removable media. “I had such bad experience when 35 systems in my company were affected. A document from an infected pen drive was circulated among other systems and later we realized it was infected,” Ravichandra SD, a design engineer e informed The Observer. abbinaya.s@iijnm.org
CITY
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The Observer Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Targets met, nutrition project in two taluks comes to an end NIN evaluating data gathered in three years Akanksha Kashyap
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he Karnataka Health Promotion Trust has officially closed the Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Project, started in 2015 in Devadurga and Chincholi taluks in raichur and Gulbarga district respectively. “It was a pilot project which we ran for three years. We have closed the project from our end, but evaluation of our data is still on by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN),” said Agnita Narendra, nutrition-in-charge of the project. The project was started in 2015 with the objective of reducing malnutrition among children below 36 months, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women. “We validated the data by the government to select our beneficiaries to ensure that the project benefits only the poorest of the poor,” added Narendra. The project started with a three-pronged strategy of behavioural change communication, provision of supplementary food and convergence of different sec-
Around the City l Certified Scrum Master Training in Bangalore, workshop by Lean Pitch on Oct 24-25,24 OCT 2018 - 25 OCT 2018, 8:45 AM (IST) ONWARDS l Selenium WebDriver Bangalore workshop, Churchstreet, 24 Oct 2018 - 26 Oct 2018 9:30 a.m. (IST) onwards l IoT (Internet of Things) Challenge PRELIMS Round - NHCE, Bengaluru, 25 Oct 2018 - 26 Oct 2018, 9:00 a.m. (IST) onwards. l Annual INBA Privacy Summit @ Taj West End Bengaluru, 25th Oct , 10 a.m onwards. l Wearable Technologies Conference-Asia @ Hilton Bangalore Embassy golflinks, 25th Oct, 10 a.m to 6 p.m. l NASSCOM Product Conclave @ Vivanta by Taj, Yesvantpur, Bengaluru, 25th to 26th Oct, 9 a.m to 6 p.m. l Trades expo move-in by Agriplex pvt. Ltd. @ Mahalaxmipuram Layout, Bengaluru, 24th Oct, 1.30 p.m l Befriending stress by Dialogue’s Cafe, Koramangala, Bengaluru, 28th Oct 2018 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets at Rs 1,000 per person.
The project helped in reducing severe acute malnutrition among children, project-in-charge, Ramachandra Rao said | Courtesy: KHPT tors like sanitation and water. who were underweight or were ”The first step of the project born with low birth weight,” he was awarness as a part of our be- said.He also added that there was havioural change communica- an improvement in weight gain tion,” she said. among all beneficiary groups. The second step was to set up He also said, “The project helped two factories in the districts. The in improving the BMI of the adofactories are still functional. lescent girls.” “The distribution of food Narendra said: “While the started by January 2016. We pro- exact data regarding the improvevided ready-to-cook porridge de- ment cannot be made public till pending upon the serving size,” the third-party evaluation by Narendra added. NIN is complete, low birth weight Ramachandra Rao, project-in- had come to almost zero at the charge, said that the project trig- end of the project.” gered a lot of changes. “After Sunita B.J., who was in charge three years, the project resulted of behaviour communication, in a reduced number of children said: “There were quite a few be-
havioural changes like washing hands, wearing footwear that we tried to incorporate among our beneficiaries, and we got excellent results.” There was a lack of awareness in the initial stages about even basic things like when and where to wear footwear. “Both these districts had quite a few child marriages which meant early pregnancies resulting in quite a few problems. After our counselling sessions, we saw that the child marriage rate had reduced drastically, reducing the number of problems that accompanied it,” she said. The project appointed women volunteers from the district. Another objective of the project was to empower women. The volunteers were responsible for collecting data about height, weight, socio-economic information and food habits. They would record the data in a nutrition card. The project was funded by the Japan Social Development Fund, routed through the World Bank. The machinery came from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition. According to the Composite Human Development Index, Devadurga and Chincholi are the most backward blocks, ranked 173 and 175 amongst the 176 blocks in Karnataka. akanksha.k@iijnm.org
Goa to host three-day national kho kho championship in Dec
National: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled out a national ban on sale and manufacturing firecrackers but went on to impose restriction on the public about bursting them during festivals. l The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking a judicial order to lower the legal marriageable age of men from 21 to 18 years. l The Bahujan Samaj Party plans to contest all 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan, a party leader said amid plans by BSP chief Mayawati to hold rallies in different parts of the state. Mayawati ruled out any alliance with the Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in the upcoming assembly polls. The party won three seats in the 2013 assembly elections in the state, securing 3.37% votes. International: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has called the son of Jamal Khashoggi, the kingdom announced early on Monday, to express condolences for the death of the journalist killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a group of officials that allegedly included a member of the royal entourage. Business: Mphasis, a Bengalurubased provider of cloud and cognitive services, has announced a partnership with BAE Systems to set up a centre of excellence for fraud detection and prevention solutions. l About 60,000 employees of telecom companies might lose their jobs. They work mainly in the customer support and financial functions segments. The shares of 46 telecom companies trading on the stock exchanges are likely to see a major dip. Local: In 2015, Bengaluru’s planners had proposed to build a railway under bridge at Jnanabharathhi Layout. Three years later, the project has been given the green signal.
Ileena Dutta
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he kho kho National Championship will be held in Goa in December this year. Karnataka is among the teams that will participate in the event. “It will be a three-day tournament commencing from the first week of December. It is an opportunity for the players to showcase their talents and love for the sport,” N.P Rameshan, sports engineer at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru, informed The Observer. Kho kho had a district championship in Jammu in September where the National Institute of Sports Club came on top. “We look forward to a performance that will boost the players’ confidence and the game as a whole. Kho kho is a sport in India that receives minimal coverage by the media. In spite of that, we are aiming high,” Sathya Kumar, coach and academic-in-charge of SAI,, Bengaluru, said. Kho kho is a traditional sport that has received much exposure in schools and colleges across the country. “Kho kho is a game that is close to my heart. Every tournament is
News Briefs
l Ten days after a newly designed Aero India 2019 website was launched for registration of exhibitors and visitors, 66 exhibitors have registered to participate in the show, which will be held at Yelahanka Air Force Station from February 20 to 24, 2019
The Karnataka team is looking forward to participating in the Kho Kho National Championship | Credit: Ileena Dutta worthy of discussion and coverage,” Rana Subhee, a player from SAI, Bengaluru, said. Championship tournaments play a big role in increasing the significance and exposure of the game. “I look forward to the kho kho championship games that take place at frequent intervals. They boost my confidence to perform well and win. Kho kho has the potential to be a leading sport in India,” Subhee added. Kho kho is now a part of many championship tournaments and
is expected to be in the Asian Games in 2022. “We will have players from SAI, Bengaluru, compete with players from other states. The players are undergoing intensive training programmes and playing rehearsal matches to give their best outcome in Goa. We convey our hearty wishes to our players . It will pave the way for kho kho’s development in Karnataka,” Ramesh, a senior coach at SAI, Bengaluru, said. ileena.d@iijnm.org
Sports: By becoming the first Indian wrestler to win two World Championship medals, Bajrang Punia has placed himself alongside Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, K.D. Jadhav and Sakshi Malik. Though, Bajrang has not won an Olympics yet.
City Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny Minimum: 19 degree Celsius Maximum: 29 degree Celsius Humidity: 36% Precipitation: 0%
CITY
The Observer Tuesday, October 23, 2018
To save Cauvery, stop sand mining: Experts ‘Prevent dumping of effluents, stop encroachment’ Abbinaya Kuzhanthaivel
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cientists from the Environmental Management & Policy Research Institute (EMPRI) have suggested plans to conserve Cauvery water through various methods including prevention of sand mining, soil excavation, encroachments and industrial effluent discharge. “We have suggested methods to conserve Cauvery water. We went to villages for assessment and found encroachments and garbage dumping in buffer zones. In one of the urban areas, we found industrial waste mixing with river water. Expansion of villages is also a cause of water pollution. The government should consider our plans and execute them accordingly,” Sreenivas V, research scientist, Centre of Lake Conservation, EMPRI, informed The Observer. Cauvery water is Bengaluru city’s primary source for irrigation and drinking. EMPRI has assessed the status of Cauvery water over a period and studied 300-metre buffer zones, on both sides of the river. The entire stretch of the Cauvery was studied using sensors and GIS. “It is the right time to start the conservation process. We found a 41% increase in built-up area and settlements. Construction in buffer zones must be avoided. We also saw solid waste management issues during our field visits.
Monitoring of encroachments is difficult in big cities, but possible in smaller places like Mandya | Courtesy: EMPRI Slaughter waste and industrial waste degraded the quality of water. We worked for almost a year and have produced the report, suggesting plans for conservation,” said Ashwini G, a GIS scientist, at EMPRI. Dr Ashoka Reddy from the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Application Centre (KSRSAC) said government departments must be implement the ideas soon. “There are 38 watersheds in the Cauvery basin which need maintenance. It is important to identify industries and improve sewage-treatment plants. Population and over-exploitation have grown, and there is an immediate need to conserve the water basin,” Reddy added. “Monitoring of encroachments is difficult, but in places like Mandya, it can be done. Desilting mustbe included as part of the conservation process,” S Darshan, a business analyst in Bengaluru, informed The Observer. When The Observer enquired
about implementation, government officials seemed unsure about it, as the suggested plans do not involve any umbrella body but theagencies concerned. For instance, if it is garbage dumping, the solid waste management department should take charge. EMPRI could only suggest; the rest is up to the government, Sreenivas added. “We do not have separate implementing authorities as in other countries, for water conservation. 42% of the river flows in Karnataka, and it would be good to start the conservation process,” he added. The Cauvery dispute ended on February 16, 2018, when the Supreme Court allotted Karnataka 284.75 tmcft of water, 14.75 tmcft more than what the Cauvery tribunal had given it in 2007. The court reduced Tamil Nadu’s share to 404.25 tmcft.The court considered Bengaluru’s need of Cauvery water for drinking. abbinaya.s@iijnm.org
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Doddanekundi gets 15 more garbage vans, breathes easy Anuradha Sriram
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oor-to-door collection of garbage in Doddanekundi, ward 85, will become more frequent as 15 more auto tippers, with outfitted bins and a loading capacity of 500 kg, have been sanctioned by the BBMP. Biodegradable and nonbiodegradable waste disposal compartments in the auto tippers are separated so that the waste doesn’t get mixed. Even though the ward requires 21 more auto tippers, the sanction of 15 is a good start, say, residents and activists. E Rani, a garbage picker, informed The Observer: “It’s more convenient for us now. We do not have to depend on a single auto for door-to-door collection. Now, a particular block in the ward has more tippers and waste pickers assigned for the collection” Clement Jayakumar, a member of Whitefield Rising, a citizens’ group, said: “The sanction of 15 more auto tippers in our ward is a blessing. Waste disposal is now easy as more tippers are at work. I believe the condition of the ward will improve soon.”Until now, for 700 households, one auto tipper was allotted for garbage collection, but with the recent sanction of 15 autos, the collection is gradually getting streamlined. With 121 pourakarmikas assigned to the ward, garbage collection seems to have become more efficient. A BBMP officer connected with the collection of waste said: “Along with the ward corporator, Mrs. Shwetha Hoodi Vijayakumar, we have changed the contractor of the ward. This has brought in more regularity in waste collection.” BBMP executive engineer, Hemalatha S said: “We are planning to increase the number of
Garbage collection is now frequent | Courtesy: Doddanekundi Rising auto tippers in every ward of Bengaluru for proper waste disposal. The increase will happen soon. Segregation of waste is the most important step before garbage is disposed of. Residents’ active participation in segregating waste is necessary.” Residents of Doddanekundi are happy as the frequency of garbage collection. “I am very happy with the recent sanction of additional, tippers but it will take more time to get this permanently streamlined,” said Khushboo M, a resident of Doddanekundi. Rekha Arvind, community head of ward 85, said she segregates waste and is working towards streamlining waste disposal. Collection of waste was irregular, either due to a shortage of auto tippers or pourakarmikas, but the increase in the number of auto tippers is a positive start. anuradha.s@iijnm.org
BWSSB treats 1,059 MLD Counterfeiting cases in city go up of sewage at its 25 STPs Oisika Dev
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he BWSSB treats up to 1,059 MLD at its 25 STPs. Treated water from the STPs is used for irrigation; some of it is used in household toilets and gardens. The rest is released into lakes. Shilpa Haylal, a technical assistant in waste water management at BWSSB, said 80% of the water used by Bengalureans becomes sewage that is released into drains. The Observer was not allowed into the premises of Mylasandra STP in Kengeri.
A R&D centre in Bengaluru is working with Environ Biofuels to convert sewage and oil substances into biodiesel. The company says its alternative sewage-treatment process can be a helping hand to the water board’s STPs. “It is called etherification where grease/human fat can be converted into biodiesel, a green alternative to high-speed diesel,” said Milan Kankaria, owner of Environ Biofuels. “The process is long but provides the best alternative to sewage treatment,” he added. raveena.b@iijnm.org
Observer Team Editor: Akanksha Kashyap Reporters: Abbinaya K, Pranay Prakash, Akanksha Kashyap, Anuradha Sriram, Raveena Bhati, Oisika Dev, Ileena Dutta Desk: Abbinaya K, Anuradha Sriram Page Layout: Ajay Biradar, Pranay Prakash, Raveena Bhati, Oisika Dev Supplement: R Yohanjali, Riya Sethi
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ases of counterfeiting in Bengaluru have increased in recent years, police records show, According to Central Crime Records Bureau data, three cases of counterfeiting were registered in Bengaluru in 2014. The number increased to seven in 2015, followed by 12 in 2016. In 2017, 17 cases of counterfeiting were registered. Thirty-nine cases were registered in 2018 till September. Counterfeiting is a crime involving the manufacture or distribution of goods under someone else’s name without their permission. Counterfeit goods are generally made from lower-quality components, in an attempt to sell a cheap imitation of similar goods produced by brands consumers know and trust. Sanjay Sahay, additional DGP at CID, informed The Observer: “The main reason for the increase in counterfeiting is the lack of awareness among people. They need to be careful when they purchase products/goods online.”
India has struggled with the issue of piracy for many years. About 45% of all commercial software and 33% of all music recordings sold in India is counterfeit. Aside from piracy in CDs and DVDs, counterfeiting is also seen in clothing and sportswear. Counterfeiters buy items from other countries and attach labels of well-known brands to them. The country loses a huge amount of money due to counterfeiting in spare parts. Unapproved spares are sold in the grey market along with recycled items. The government finds it difficult to control the activity and separate illicit products from legitimate ones. The losses affect the profits of companies that manufacture genuine products. Forty per cent of counterfeiting
takes place online. “The government should ensure that people involved in counterfeiting are punished severely,” Ravinder Kumar, a lawyer, said. Victims of counterfeiting realize they have been duped when they realize there is no warranty. Swathi K, an engineering graduate, said: “Everyone would have come across counterfeit products at least once in their life. It has become more common with electronic products. I lost around Rs 10,000 when I brought a mobile. I realized it was a fake only when I tried to invoke the warranty.” Section 486, IPC, which deals with selling goods marked with a counterfeit property mark, says a counterfeiter can be punished with one year’s imprisonment, or with fine, or with both. Somali Agarwal, who works for Wipro, said: “I purchased a dress from Commercial Street. When I found a defect after a few days and went to exchange it, the shopkeeper said the dress was not made by his company. It was a duplicate piece.” oisika.d@iijnm.org
Arts & Culture
The Observer SUPPLEMENT
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
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When Words Don’t Matter Music being a universal language may be a cliché, but it’s acquired new meaning in an increasingly interconnected world, says R Yohanjali
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hat is it about music that we can thoroughly enjoy a song without understanding a word of it? Music has universal appeal, that’s a given, but how do we explain the immense popularity of Korean pop music around the world, when the language itself is spoken by barely 1% of the world’s population? In fact, there are several such instances where music is cherished by people who don’t know the language. Remember the Ketchup Song which became famous worldwide? The song, originally known as Las Ketchup released in 2002, was sung in Spanish and then parts of it were translated into English for the UK audience, leading to a song in Spanglish. Not just the song, but the hand moves from the music video also had people grooving to the tune. It sold 615,000 copies worldwide, which was a big achievement at the time. Ten years later came the man doing the horse dance. Gangnam Style by PSY came in 2012 and had youngsters hooked. People heard it so
K-Pop star PSY performing Gangnam Style. It became the first video on Youtube to garner one billion views I Credit: Youtube
often that they memorised the lyrics without understanding a word and it sold 1.3 million copies. Not just that, it also won a Guinness World Record for becoming the most watched YouTube video of all time and also the first music video to be viewed over one billion times. In 2017, Justin Bieber’s
remix of Despacito became more popular than the original by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee from Puerto Rico and won four Latin Grammy Awards! “When you know what you’re supposed to be feeling, why look at the lyrics? Isn’t the feeling enough?” asks Soundharya Kidambi, a stu-
dent at the University of Leeds. “Music has no barrier. The beat of the song, its tune and acoustics appeal to your brain. They affect you as a person and to some extent the kind of music you listen to shapes your personality,” she adds. “Language does not matter much because the mood of the song is set even before the lyrics begin.” “Songs like these, you might not understand what is being said but you like it, hum the tune, probably groove to it and that makes you feel good,” agrees Alisha Shende, a Bangalore-based musician. “You also get to witness a different culture altogether. You might not understand the words but you definitely feel the vibes. The boundaries dissolve the moment you realize there weren’t any in the first place,” she adds.
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ne group that seems to prove the point is the South Korean boy-band BTS. Also known as Bangtan Boys or Bulletproof Boy Scouts, BTS made history by becoming the first non-English album to top the Billboard
charts in sixteen years, not once but twice and also won the Top Social Artist award at the Billboard Music Awards for two consecutive years, in 2017 and 2018. The band even performed at American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards, making them the only Korean act to do so and recently performed for 40,000 spectators at Citi Field Stadium in New York. “Knowing the lyrics and meaning is one thing and giving it liveliness by a tune is another. Music is a language in itself that doesn’t need any qualification,” says Subhashini Thiagarajan, fan of the K-Pop boy band. “Music from a different country can bring their own cultural identity but learning a new culture and language is a good thing and music is a groovy medium to achieve that,” adds Chennai-based musician Aradhana Pallavi. “As long as the feelingbuilt into the song is conveyed, language doesn’t matter. Besides, with all the advanced technology present today, it doesn’t take much time to get a translation, right?”
Self-inflicted Wounds Bangalore’s architectural history is fast disappearing under the rush of new construction, says Riya Sethi
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he city of Bangalore is losing its architectural heritage one building at a time. Buildings that have stood for centuries and were a witness to the royal history of the erstwhile Garden City, are now vanishing in the name of urban development. Recently, the state’s public works department (PWD) announced it was demolishing an 83-year-old, pre-independence building to make room for a shopping complex. The Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against the demolition and public protests have greeted the PWD’s announcement. The authorities in the past have destroyed many archaeological structures in the name of development. According to an article in The Economic Times, Bengaluru has lost 469 heritage structures since 1985. For instance, last year, the Krumbiegel Hall in Lalbagh, which had been standing strong for more than a century, was reduced to rubble by the authorities. The Murphy Town Library
Bangalore is gradually losing its Colonial Era architectural heritage I Credit: Flickr
was demolished to make space for a political project by the Siddaramaiah government last year. W H Murphy had designed some of old Bangalore’s most prominent buildings, including Russell Market. The Fort High School in Chamarajpet, which has been standing for more than 100 years, was in utter ruins till INTACH decided to take up the work of rebuilding the heritage structure. Another vintage building, Opera House on Brigade Road, was recently turned into
an electronic store, saving a unique architectural structure but vandalising our heritage. “Bangalore architecture is based on many influences and comes from the era of warriors, the British and Tipu Sultan,” says Dr. Rajeeva Nrupathunga, head of Revival Heritage Club, Bangalore. “People are not interested in safeguarding their heritage. The period between 1800-1900 was a period of glory for Bangalore architecture. If we go around the cantonment area, we can still see some buildings
with distinct Roman and Greek features. We are losing our heritage because of today’s modernisation.” He believes we could have safeguarded the Krumbiegel Hall in Lalbagh if only we had raised our voices. Instead of demolishing the structures, we can renovate them. “NGO’s and organizations should also come forward to protect our heritage,” he pleads. Heritage buildings built on private property have less chance of being saved than those built on government-owned land. By one estimate, buildings owned by the government have a survival rate of 83% as against just 25% of privately-owned buildings. This is because people are unaware of the importance or their architectural heritage and how it forms a part of their identity.
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or the conservation of such architectural structures, the government needs to come forward and make some laws to protect our heritage. The Bangalore Urban Arts Commission, which was assigned the duty of safeguarding our heritage
buildings, was also shut down in 2002 and since then no other government body has been set up. Only a few organizations like INTACH, the department of archaeology, museums and heritage and some privateclubs are working to preserve our archaeological heritage. Says G. Kuruvila, a town planner,“New buildings with the new architecture are coming up around the city every day. These new models are overshadowing the old ones. The city should be planned and developed in such a way that no damage is caused to the older structures.” The continuous loss in our rich heritage and culture has also alarmed the current occupant of the Mysore throne, who in an interview with NDTV felt constrained to point out that, “Heritage is not just our family’s legacy, but our people’s legacy too.” As the iconic American architect Frank Lloyd Wright famously said, “The mother art is architecture. Without anarchitecture of our own, we have no soul of our own civilization.”