The Observer An IIJNM Publication
Vol 18 Issue 22
Migrant workers in Bengaluru complain about inaccessibility of govt documents due to lack of address proof | P2
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Protruding manholes on city roads inconvinence daily commuters and motorists | P3
10% fee hike is too steep, say engineering students
We’ll have to cut down on other expenses’ Shrabona Ghosh
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ngineering students in Karnataka are unhappy over the 10% increase in
fees. Lokesh V S, a student of East Point College of Technology and Engineering, informed The Observer: “We already pay Rs 90,000 annually which is a huge amount. Now we have to pay 10% more. Not all are from affluent families who can afford such hefty amounts.” The hike could increase the expenses of engineering students’ families. Vrinda M, who will seek admission to an engineering college this year, said: “Our
Engineering students in Karnataka are unhappy over the 10% increase in fees | Credit: Varsha MK entire expense will be affected. We depend on our parents. We have a limited budget, and the hike will take a toll on our other expenses. Maybe we have to cut down on other important expenses.” A student who did not want to be named said: “Managements should think before asking for high fees. They may lose good
WORLD KIDNEY DAY Tips for a Healthy Kidney
• Keep regular control on blood sugar levels • Keep regular check on Blood Pressure • Eat Healthy food • Do not smoke • Avoid ‘over the counter’ pills; espescially painkillers • Get regular check-ups done Famous actor Shiva Rajkumar being honoured at Ramaiah Memorial Hospital. The hospital celebrated World Kidney Day by conducting a free check-up and screening camps. Six hundred patients were checked for blood pressure and urine related problems over the last few days. Among them, 77 people had hypertension and 26 people had Proteinuria i.e. presence of excess protein in urine. Report and Picture by Yohanjali R
students who may not be able to afford exorbitant fees.” The hike will also affect government-quota seats. According to a report in The Hindu, students who paid Rs 59,400 (upper slab) and Rs 53,460 (lower slab) a year will now pay Rs 65,340 and Rs 58,806 respectively. The fee for private seats has been increased from Rs 1,83,600 (up-
per slab) and Rs 1,30,680 (lower slab) to Rs 2,01,960 and Rs 1,43,748 respectively. Vishwanath Iyer, an IT professional, said: “My brother will be appearing for the engineering entrance exams. I am the sole bread earner of the family. Engineering is already a costly course, and the hike has made it unaffordable. I will have to cut down on other expenses to for my brother’s education. A 10% increase in is too much for salaried people. Fees are increasing, but our salaries are not, so before taking such steps, the common man’s interest should be taken into account”. Pushkar Vijayayan, a student, said: “The facilities available in labs are not adequate. If fees are hiked, arrangements for lab facilities should be made.” Continued on Page 3
News Briefs National lThe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday said it will contest bypolls to all the three Goa Assembly seats scheduled next month which was announced earlier today. International lBritain and Outraged by China blocking for the fourth time a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) move to designate Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad’s (JeM) leader Masood Azhar a global terrorist, Council members have warned that they “may be forced to pursue other actions” if Beijing continued with this policy. Local l Three generations of a Muslim family have been conserving and breeding indigenous breeds of cattle here. The family has 23 head of cattle of Gir, Sahiwal said today in the press conference. Abideen was engaged in helping his father for long time.
Elevated Corridor will up car use: Citizens Call a protest on March 16, petition dy CM
Shrabona Ghosh
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xpressing their displeasure over the government’s proposed Elevated Corridor Project, various residents welfare associations (RWAs), apartment federations and individuals have called a peaceful assembly of Bengalureans at the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Maurya Junction on March 16.
One lakh residents have signed a petition against the project. More than 6,000 post cards have been sent to deputy chief minister G Parameshwara. While awaiting a response from him, the protesters are organizing a peaceful march to press the government to listen to their demands. Shrikant Narasimhan, general secretary of the Bangalore Apartment Federation: said, “The Elevated Corridor Project will only promote the use of cars. The public transport infrastructure has been neglected for many years. If the available
public infrastructure, like suburban railway and Metro, is run efficiently, there will be no need for elevated corridors.” Zibi Jamal a resident of Whitefield, said: “Fifty per cent of air pollution is caused by vehicular emissions. The Elevated Corridor Project will only increase air pollution. It is a project designed for the rich, and will not address transport grievances. We urge the government to pay attention to public transport infrastructure which not only address traffic congestion but will also reduce air pollution.” Continued on Page 2
CITY
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IS MIGRATION A BOON OR BANE?
While migrants have a livelihood, they say they can’t get govt documents easily stay and work in India without any formal authorization based on the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty igrant workers living of Peace and Friendship, are not in Bengaluru say they allowed to open bank accounts, are facing challenges have driving licences, and own in learning the local language or rent property. and getting their documents upIn the 2011 census held in Nedated with their new addresses. pal, out of a population of 2.85 Because they do not have proof crore, around 75 lakh people had of their Bengaluru addresses, migrated to other countries for they cannot apply for ration work or education. Among them, cards, gas connections, opening a big number live in India. bank accounts and availing othUjjawal Khadka of Dang in er benefits under government western Nepal is one of seven schemes. friends who work as chefs, wait“My boss pays me Rs 6,000 a ers and helpers in Scion Restaumonth and sends the rest to my rant and Bar in Kumbalgodu. family back home. I came here to He has worked in hotels in India work a year and a half ago and since 2007, and went to Maldives still don’t know the local lanbetween 2015 and 2018. guage. Earlier, customers used “It is good here. We earn deto talk to me in Kannada, but cent money, and the people they soon realized I didn’t are good. They treat us with know how the language. respect and are very supNow, I have started picking portive.” up the language,” Suresh Saligram Sunar, from PyuKumar, a hawker on Mythan in western Nepal, said suru Road, informed The that although they have few Observer. opportunities back home, the Describing the place he going gets tough sometimes hails from as a hamlet of in this foreign land. “I have 300 voters with no name lived away from home for 15near Gwalior, Kumar said 16 years now and it’s hard he has worked in Chennai, not to miss home. But in Allahabad and Faridabad the end, we are able to send as a daily-wage labour and later as a roadside vendor. The 2011 census recorded marriage as the some money back home.” While migrants from Nepal “My voter ID card and main reason for migration|Credit: Pranay have found livelihood in InAadhaar card have my home address in Madhya Pradesh. three days now and I’m not get- dia, they complain against the My boss sends the money to my ting paid for it. I came to Kum- Indian government not framing family, so I don’t have to worry balgodu to see the doctor. I have rules that can help them get esabout a bank account. But it is a backache for the past three sential documents like driving licence and open bank accounts still difficult to stay here with- days,” he said. Talking about the difficulties in easily. out documents which have a lo“Indian citizens can open bank applying for benefits of governcal address.” Every year, lakhs of people mi- ment schemes, Sahu added: “It’s accounts and get temporary ligrate from different parts of the still hard to do official work here. censes issued from the local govcountry to metropolises like New I wanted to change the address ernment by producing a letter Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. on my Aadhaar card, but they received from the Indian embasA report published in The In- asked for my ration card and sy once they register as a temdian Express, based in the 2011 voter ID card. Both have my vil- porary visitor to Nepal. But in Census, said every third Indian lage address, so they refused to India, we cannot do the same as is a migrant. Most of them are take them. I got it changed when there have been no rules framed for people who do not require a headed towards the southern I went back to my village.” While people like Sahu have visa to stay in India. We have states. The migrant population in the option of going back to their to carry large amounts of cash Karnataka grew from 1.66 crore villages and get their documents when we go back home or travin the 2001 census to 2.5 crore in updated, there are many who el. We cannot drive here, too,” the 2011 census – an increase of don’t have the same luxury. Nep- Khadka said. 50%. The number of migrants in alese citizens, legally allowed to pranay.p@iijnm@org
Pranay Prakash
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Tamil Nadu and Kerala between the two censuses grew by 98% and 77% respectively, according to the report. The 2011 census recorded marriage as the main reason for migration – 22.39 crore people moved after marriage – it also found that out of the total 43.36 crore migrants in India, 4.64 crore people migrated for work. Raju Sahu, a native of Allahabad, has lived near Bidadi for about 25 years. He remembers running away from home when he was studying in class 5. Now married for four years and expecting his first child, he works as a bus mechanic. He earns Rs. 600-700 a day; on days he doesn’t turn up, he isn’t paid. “I haven’t gone to work for
The Observer Thursday, March 14, 2019
Traditional sports struggle to stay afloat The young are not exposed to kabaddi, kho-kho Oisika Dev
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lack of exposure to traditional sports like kho-kho, kabaddi and wrestling has resulted in fewer people participating in them. “Lack of interest in traditional sports in India is mainly due to lack of proper infrastructure. Youngsters are not interested in traditional sports anymore because these have not received much exposure like they have to cricket or football. Kho-kho, kabaddi and other such sports are only popular in rural areas. Last year, I had 25 students. This year, the number had decreased by ten,” Satya Kumar, a senior kho-kho coach at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru, informed The Observer. Traditional sports are mostly
only in cricket, football and volleyball. We had this notion that only rural people play traditional sports,” shared Harshit Verma, a Wipro employee. According to a 2016 article in the website Sportskeeda, traditional sports have a lot of scope for improvement. There are many infrastructural, maintenance and organizational issues which affect the performance of sportspersons. There is a lack of facilities and better opportunities for participants. Awareness and interest are lacking too. Because of these factors, youngsters are not interested in traditional sports, the article said. “Traditional sports require a lot of stamina and energy. This is the reason most of the youngsters don’t want to play kabaddi, kho-kho or any other traditional sport. Even though traditional sports have started to gain international stature, they still have a long way to go if they
According to a 2016 article in the website Sportskeeda, traditional sports have a lot of scope for improvement |Credit: Akanksha confined to rural schools and colleges. Most urban schools give attention to the development of globally recognized cricket, football and volleyball. “When I was in school, we did not have any kho-kho or kabaddi coaches. We only had cricket football and volleyball coaches. As a result, I never had any interest in any traditional sport. I thought traditional sports were played only in rural areas. There are not many career opportunities in traditional sports as compared to cricket or football,” said A. Abhishek, a 19-year-old college student. “When I was in college, we had a kabaddi and kho-kho coach, but most of us were interested
want to compete with sports that are played internationally, like cricket and football,” SAI kabaddi coach K.S. Murali said. “Young and aspiring sportsperson take up cricket because of two reasons, apart from a true love for the game. One, it is financially rewarding. Second, it brings a lot of name and fame. Other sport such as kabaddi and kho-kho do not have that fan following. However, the Pro Kabadddi League has helped the game to be recognized as a sport. Traditional sports need such initiatives. This alone can help in making youngsters take up these sports,” P. Rameshwaram, a sports engineer at SAI, said. oisika.d@iijnm.org
CITY
The Observer Thursday, March 14, 2019
Ex-CM sidesteps queries on the seat-sharing pact Cong releases a book on BJP’s ‘failures’
Ileena Dutta
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ormer CM Siddaramaiah on Thursday sidestepped questions regarding the seat-sharing pact between the Congress and JD(S) for the Lok Sabha elections. “You have to ask the respective MLAs or ministers to know about the seat-sharing issue. The morning meeting was an internal affair, and we are not bound to disclose,” he said after a KPCC meeting. The Congress released a book titled ‘Congress Kaipeedi’. It explains the deeds, claims and failures of the BJP in the past five years. It also talks of the work done by the Congress and how it could have done better. Like Siddaramaiah, KPCC officials also refused to talk about the party’s seat-sharing pact with the JD(S). ”We haven’t been informed about the meeting. As it is an internal meeting, no member will agree to talk about it to the press,” said Varsha K, social media specialist for the KPCC. After several rounds of talks, the alliance partners on Wednesday finally thrashed out a 20-8 seat-sharing arrangement in various parts of Karnataka. Fourteen Karnataka constituencies will vote on April 18, and the other 14 on April 23. Ileena.d@iijnm.org
The Congress releases a book titled ‘Congress Kaipeedi’ on BJP’s failures | Credit : Ileena Dutta
2019 election polls: BJP decides to counter coalition partners with media help Sahana S
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n the run-up to the general elections, the BJP has decided to contest elections with the support of media to gain more votes across the 28 constituencies in Karnataka. “We want to deliver our message to the citizens of the state through a powerful tool called media, as we are known by the oppositions to have utilized the medium of media during the elections. I want the journalists to help us in connecting with the voters,” said BJP leader R Ashok Stating the importance of media in the present scenario, former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Ashok urged the media to support them to fight the elections successfully against the coalition partners in the state. Highlighting the importance
of media during elections, BJP requested the media to cover the work done by the BJP government at the centre. It wants the media to take its message about the facilities provided to farmers, and schemes introduced by the Prime Minister to the citizens. Speaking about the failure of loan waiver scheme leaders urged citizens to choose their leaders wisely in the elections. The BJP has decided to initiate ‘Shakti Kendras’ in Bangalore, Hassan and Tumkur, where party workers will educate people about fake news being spread against the BJP. The Election Commission announced the Lok Sabha election schedule for 2019 on March 10. Polling will be held in two phases on April 18 and April 23 in Karnataka with the results announced on May 23. sahana.s@iijnm.org
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Increase scholorship too, say engineering students Continued from Page 1 Vinay G, a student of East Point College of Technology and Engineering, said: “The scholarship they give students is unchanged for the past few years. When they don’t increase scholarship, why do they increase the fee?” An engineering graduate, Murlidhara S, said: “we are subjected to discrimination.” Some students view the increase from a political perspective. A PUC student who will apply for an engineering seat said: “Ahead of elections, this might be a source of money. Most political leaders own private colleges, so this was not surprising.” The decision came just before
Residents upset over the outcomes Continued from Page 1 The residents are also protesting the project fearing that it will change the cityscape. Architect Naresh Narasimhan said: “The Elevated Corridor will not only cause environmental damage but also change the culture of the city. The living heritage of the city should not be destroyed. Instead of elevated corridors, they should focus on building good-quality road infrastructure which will benefit everyone, unlike the Elevated Corridor, which is only meant for rich people.” Tejaswini U, a student, said: “Public transport is the largest source of commuting for students. The Elevated Corridor Project will not serve us any pur-
Commuters fume at continuing manhole menace Sahana S
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engaluru’s motorists are unhappy over the inaction of civic agencies in levelling the numerous protruding manholes on the city’s roads. The BWSSB, the body tasked with maintaining manholes across the city, recently announced it would level the manholes by March-end. Varsha Kishore, a motorist who travels from Jayanagar to Koramangala, informed The Observer: “Spotting manholes which protrude from the road is challenging. If the BWSSB does
station.” not level them fast, Even pedestrithey will pose a threat ans are agitated to commuters.” over damaged According to a Decmanholes, and accan Herald report, cuse the BWSSB the board claims to of not doing anyhave levelled 9,883 thing to repair manholes. But comthem. muters are still scare Courtesy: Pexels “I once tripped and fell while they might injure themselves while trying to avoid the danger- trying to avoid a damaged manhole on a pavement, and ended ous craters. Praveen H, an employee of up spraining my leg. Unless Quickmatrix said: “I might end civic agencies repair and level up being hit by a vehicle from manholes to provide a safe drivbehind while applying brakes to ing environment to the citizens, avoid the protruding manhole on they will remain a menace,” said the way to the MG Road Metro Vasantha Kumari, a resident of
the Election Commission announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls. “The decision on fee hike was made at the earliest as the model code of conduct would have kicked in. Though the colleges demanded a 25% hike, we have capped it at 10%,” higher education minister GT Devegowda informed media. In the academic year 2018-19, there was an 8% hike in engineering fees. The fee regulatory committee, headed by retired judge D.V. Shylendra Kumar, had earlier fixed the hike at below 8% and recommended that colleges who did not abide by it should be penalized. shrabona. g@iijnm.org
Vijayanagar. Basvaraju M, an autorickshaw rickshaw driver, said: “Initially, we suffered potholes; now we have to face these dangerous manholes. They pose a significant threat to autorickshaw drivers. The authorities concerned must try to solve these problems fast.” According to a report in The Times of India, there are over 2,300 manholes, chambers and gratings in Bengaluru. Though the BBMP urged the BWSSB to fix the manholes, around 1,400 still await attention. sahana.s@iijnm.org
pose. We are a huge voice whose plight remains unaddressed. The government should rethink its decision and take our views before finalizing such projects.” According to a report published in the New Indian Express, the proposed six-corridor project will cover a distance of 102 km. Estimated to cost around Rs 25,000 crore for three main corridors. A North-South Corridor will run from Hebbal to Silk Board via Mehkri Circle and Vittal Mallya Road; an East-West (I) corridor will run from Bhattarahalli to Gorguntepalya via KR Puram and and Yeshwanthpur. An East-West (II) corridor will be constructed from Varthur Kodi to West of Chord Road via Minerva Circle and Sirsi Circle. shrabona.g@Iijnm.org
Around the City lMicrolight flying Bangalore @ Jakkur Aerodrom, 17th March, Sun, 7-10 a.m lStorytelling for kids-Holi Special @Dialogues cafe, JP Nagar, 16th March, Sat, 5-6 p.m lWorkshop on instant baking @Panasonic living showroom, 16th March, Sat, 11 a.m- 1 p.m lBangalore’s biggest Holi celebration 2019 @The Chancery Pavilion, 21st March, 10 a.m lProWave expo Bangalore @ White Orchid convention centre, Fri, 15th to 17th March, 10 a.m. lBangalore’s comedy fest @Ascendas Park Square Mal, 16th Sat, March, Sat, 4 to 8.30 p.m
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SCIENCE & TECH
The Observer Thursday, March 14, 2019
Coming: USB 3.2, a tech that will allow much faster data transfer Abbinaya Kuzhanthaivel
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he USB 3.2 format is technically ready to be used in desktop computers by late 2019, enabling sharing at 20Gbps. The USB Implementers Forum has revealed in its website that desktop PCs will be equipped with this feature. “It will be a big breakthrough for USB technology. Pictures with high resolution or heavy videos can be easily transferred to other devices faster. Earlier, the maximum sharing speed was 5Gbps. This technology will enable sharing of even larger files within minutes,” Dr Manjunath TN, professor and dean of external relations at the BMS Institute of Technology and Management, informed The Observer.
USB 3.2 is awaited since since mid-2017. According to USBIF, the new speedy format not only serves as an upgrade to USB features but also accompanies with some changes in the physical layer to provide more bandwidth. It has multiple enhancements with the efficiency to use high-speed USB Type- C transmitter receiver channels to get maximum output at 20Gbps rate. It retains encoding techniques and physical layer data rates of USB 3.1. It has some features evolved from USB 3.x in terms of encoding techniques. The key benefits include the USB storage and display along with efficient bandwidth for high-demand applications. It claims to have dual lane operation and achieve double perfor-
USB 3.2 is awaited since mid2017 and will now be available| Credit : Abbinaya mance without sacrificing cable length. The three generations of 3.2 USB will have speed variations from 5Gbps to 20Gbps according the generations and encoding techniques, which would mean that all generations might not support the high-speed data
transfer. The decision would be up with the device manufacturer, as all devices need not require high-speed modes that would be expensive. It allows system OEMs and peripheral developers with adequate room for product versatility and market differentiation without the burden of carrying obsolete interfaces or losing compatibility. “This would give a competition to old school methods of data transfer against cloud storage. Even though we have good storage, it is necessary to have ports. With large USB sticks coming in, this would make data transfer quicker and easier,” says Sri Balaji, an information technology student. Even though it claims to have backward compatibility, there
Fret not, microSD cards to have more space than your laptop Abbinaya Kuzhanthaivel
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f you hate deleting images or videos from your phone, here is good news for you: At the Mobile World Congress 2019, memory card manufacturers announced the launch of microSD cards with a storage capacity of 1 TB. With such a card, a mobile user can store more on the device than on a laptop. “Many people who don’t prefer laptops would benefit from 1TB microSD cards. Most of them use mobile phones for storing pictures and using entertainment applications,” Koushik S, an assistant professor in the department of information science and engineering at the M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT), informed The Observer. Micron and Western Digital announced the availability of 1TB microSDXC UHS-1 from April 2019. Western Digital claims to offer a data read speed up to 160 Mbps (megabytes per second) that would support the transfer of 1,000 high-resolution pictures and 30 minutes of 24-GB video in less than 3 minutes. It offers write speed up to 90 Mbps which
Consumers would allow can reliably one to can capcapture and ture fast-action share picphotos and vidtures or creeos. along with ate video easy loading of content for applications personal or with A2 speciprofessional fication. use,” said Micron ofBrian Pridfers a lower geon, director read speed of marketing of 100 Mbps for SanDiskcompared to branded prodWestern Digiucts, Western tal’s SanDisk Digital, has Extreme but been quoted offers a higher as saying on write speed. It the compaclaims to have Manufacturers announced the ny’s website. automatic re- launch of 1TB MicroSD cards | However, source man- Credit : Abbinaya Kuzhanthaivel the capabiliagement to sustain peak performance and ties of the memory cards depend Dynamic SLC cache to acceler- on the host device. “It is necessary to improve ate data write pace. Both storage manufacturers follow the the operating system of mobile phones to have compatibility UHS-1 specification. “Today’s smartphones and cam- with the new microSD cards. eras allow consumers to create The mobile phones should enhigh-quality content in the palm able access mechanism to supof their hands with features port heavy storage. No mobile like multi-lenses, burst mode operating systems now have the capabilities and 4K resolution. efficiency to operate with 1 TB
storage,” Koushik added. Most mobile users contacted by The Observer said they were concerned about compatibility, but also happy about the enormous data storage facility. “A ‘Storage full’ message would pop up and I would have to take back-ups and delete some of my photos. It has become a routine where I continue the cycle of restoring and deleting. That wouldn’t be the case if I own a 1-TB memory card. But I don’t know if my phone will be compatible with such high storage,” says Divi Raj, a graphic designer at Alekhya Creations, a private company. Maya G, a political science graduate, expressed a similar view on compatibility with her mobile. “I am glad there wouldn’t be any storage struggles with my phone. I can download any number of applications I want to. But I am worried about the running capacity,” she said. The SanDisk Extreme microSD card will be available at $449.99 (Rs. 31,342) by April 2019. Micron hasn’t announced its pricing or the release date yet. abbinaya.s@iijnm.org
is some concern. “One limitation could be that the existing motherboards do not have USB 3.2 peripherals to connect with the new technology,” Manjunath added. Engineering student Surya Kiran said: “It would take time till mid-2020 for all mobiles and laptops to have this technology update. By then it might be difficult; but with faster improvements, it would be a smooth shift.” Apple laptops have thunderbolt technology that enables sharing at 40Gbps, a speed far more than that in ordinary computers. USB 3.2 technology will spur the manufacturing of laptop docks with faster external SSDs. abbinaya.s@iijnm.org
City Speaks lNavkant Meher @navkant Builder says BBMP’s work. BBMP says MLA’s help.MLA says Landowners non-cooperative.Landowners say Builder cheated. 2K families suffering without road for 10 years. lCM of Karnataka @CM India is set for another election. In this battle of democracy, I hope elections are conducted in a level playing field. All parties and candidates must follow the guidelines issued by the ECI and uphold the values of democracy, and respect the decision of the voters.
WEATHER Mainly Clear sky Minimum Temperature: 20 degree Celsius Maximum Temperature: 34 degree Celsius Tomorrow: Mainly clear sky with 34 degree Celsius. A dry day and clear night can be expected.
OBSERVER TEAM Editor- Pranay Prakash Page Layout: Oisika Dev, Abbinaya Kuzhanthaivel Reporters: Shrabona Ghosh, Ileena Dutta, R Yohanjali, S Sahana, Pranay Prakash, Oisika Dev, Abbinaya Kuzhanthaivel