Bengaluru witnesses mass molestation of women during New Year celebration

Mangaluru, Jan 18: ‘Ride For Rotary’ convoy of motor vehicles will be flagged off from Hotel Ocean Pearl Inn at Bejai-Kapikad, Mangaluru on 19th January, 2020 at 8.30 a.m.

Mangaluru has been chosen as the starting point for the convoy route this year which will cover Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. 38 Rotarians from 14 countries are participating in 2019-20 Ride For Rotary, which is the fourth edition of the event. They will traverse through Madikeri, Mysore, Wayanad, Ooty, Coimbatore, Munnar, Thekkady and Allepey before terminating at Kochi on 29th of January, 2020.

2019-20 Ride For Rotary includes 28 motorbikes and 5 cars. The participating nationalities are India, Norway, Sweden, Canada, France, Germany, USA, UK, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Poland and Belgium. They belong to ages 21 to 78, with 78-year old Otto Rieve from Canada being the senior most enthusiast. Swiss national of Indian origin Raj Patholi and Mangalorean Abraham Zacharias are among the riders. Delegates who have already reached Mangalore visited Bantwal on Friday to attend a gala dinner hosted by the Rotary Club of Bantwal.

Ride for Rotary is a charity event conceived by Rotary District 3181 which comprises of the revenue districts of Mysore, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Chamarajanagar covering 85 Rotary Clubs in 9 zones. Rotarians from across the world will come together for twelve exhilarating days. They will traverse through the meticulously arranged routes, enjoy the natural beauty of the places and experience the varied cultures and cuisines of the region. Ride for Rotary connects people and places like no other - Rotary Connects the World.

The proceeds from the event go to The Rotary Foundation, a charitable organisation that works tirelessly for the upliftment of the society.

Bengaluru, Jul 10: Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers under the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) on Friday held protests in different parts of Karnataka, demanding personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and a salary of at least Rs 12,000 per month.

According to Madhu Kumari, an ASHA worker from Kalaburgi, ASHA workers currently receive a salary of Rs 3,000 per month.

"Our demand is to increase our wages to at least Rs 12,000 per month. We have been making this demand for the last six months but we have not received any response from the authorities. We will not go back to work until we are given an appropriate response. We did not want to create a difficult situation but the government has given us no choice," Kumari told ANI.

Clad in their signature pink saris, the women were holding posters in their hands and raising slogans to demand appropriate salary for their work and the necessary equipment to protect themselves from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Farhana, an ASHA worker protesting in Shivamogga, said that the women have been making demands for PPE kits since June 30. "We have been taking care of COVID patients for the last few weeks but have not received adequate PPE kits. A few of us received some in the beginning but they were not enough. We are not even given hand sanitiser or masks to protect ourselves," she added.

"We have sent letters to the District Commissioner's Office and to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare but our pleas have gone unheard. We are protesting to get the attention of the concerned authorities," she added.

They also demanded that authorities to conduct their COVID-19 tests as they have to deal with patients infected with the virus.

Sajida, an ASHA worker in Kalaburagi said, "We are very stressed about the COVID situation. We take care of sick people day in and day out, but no one is there to take care of us. We want the government to conduct COVID tests for all ASHA workers in the state."

Bengaluru, Jul 18: Bringing a major change in the  administration of Bengaluru, which has emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot, the state government on Saturday transferred B H Anil Kumar out of the BBMP and brought N Manjunath Prasad to take his place. 

Manjunath Prasad, who headed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) before being replaced by Kumar, will take over with immediate effect. The government has also placed him in concurrent charge of the Revenue Department as well as the Disaster Management, Bhoomi and UPOR.

Kumar, an Additional Chief Secretary, has been put in a place where earlier a secretary was posted. He now heads the Department of Public Enterprises. The posting would have brought him two spots down had it not been for the government upgrading it to the level of additional chief secretary. 

Anil Kumar, who was earlier praised for his work to contain the coronavirus pandemic, had faced criticism by the High Court of Karnataka for the BBMP's failure to help people in containment zones as well as other issues on the spread of the pandemic. 

Sources in the government said, pressure has been building up against Anil Kumar over the last two months after most of the Bengaluru MLAs complained to the chief minister's office.

"No MLA backed him. Everyone had a problem," a source said. 

Things came to the head with regard to a Rs 436 crore project given to KRIDL. "The issue reached the chief minister's office as all the MLAs took an issue with the way the project was awarded," a source said. 

Another source said that Kumar came under fire after a central team flagged the issue of failing Covid-19 surveillance measures in Bengaluru. The central team's criticism, it is widely believed in the government, came as the last straw.