Bengaluru: After successfully planting 10 crore saplings over the last two monsoons, the state govt has scaled down its ambitious afforestation target this year, citing a shortage of quality planting stock in forest nurseries, even as it continues to push for promising survival rates and greater accountability in statewide plantation drives.Amid concerns over declining green…
Bengaluru: With more than 50 lakh calls from farmers in the past three years alone, the Varuna Mitra helpline is bracing for a fresh surge amid erratic rain and drought-year anxieties. The helpline, which provides medium-term forecasts for farmers based on predictions from Isro’s Space Applications Centre, receives 4,000 to 5,000 calls daily. In June,…
Bengaluru: A city-based street vendors’ union has written to chief minister Siddaramiah with the demand for increased compensation and rehabilitation efforts for street vendors who died when the wall of Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital collpased on Wednesday.Karnataka PragatiPara Beedhi Vyaparigala Sangha Sunday demanded that the compensation for those who lost their lives be increased…
Bengaluru: The sudden thunderstorm that resulted in 11cm of rain for over an hour on Wednesday brought down hundreds of trees across the city. Even as authorities have been removing fallen trees and branches, city roads and footpaths are not yet free of large trees and branches.According to Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), 476 trees and…
Wednesday’s rain left Bengaluru’s roads flooded and drains overflowing, but the massive amount of water was but a little problem compared to the bigger one: that it all went to waste.Hydrologists estimate the rain delivered 20–22 million cubic metres, but only a fraction of it recharged the groundwater. The rest ran off through drains and…
Bengaluru: Improper use of eye cosmetics, especially failing to remove them at night, can significantly impact eye health, increasing inflammatory markers by up to 40%, according to a recent study by a city-based ophthalmologist.The study, called ‘Biological Cleansing: Toward Improving Ocular Surface Surgical Outcomes’, accepted for publication in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, analysed tear…
Bengaluru: A walkathon with community dogs, which saw the participation of children and interactive activities, marked the launch of ‘MOTI’ (Movement of Trust & Inclusion) initiative at Cubbon Park Sunday. The programme, organised by Bengaluru Central City Corporation, aimed to encourage the adoption of community dogs and promote coexistence.Four Indie (Indian mongrel) dogs were adopted…
Bengaluru: The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) wrote to the forest department Thursday seeking an urgent joint meeting to find a permanent solution to the long-pending Turahalli forest buffer zone dispute — a crisis that has left hundreds of plot owners unable to construct homes on legally purchased sites for several years.In the letter, the authority…
Bengaluru: The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans) has commissioned private firm Tagbin to develop a large-scale neuroscience-led immersive museum in the city, valued at approximately Rs 35 crore.The ‘Museum of Brain and Mind’ is being built around a deceptively simple idea: “Know why you are the way you are.” It aims to…
Bengaluru: The labour department, through Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, has decided to provide school kits worth Rs 8,736 or more to children of registered construction workers across the state. The department had previously identified some 1.3 lakh beneficiaries, taking the total estimated cost of procurement and distribution of kits to a…
