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Bengaluru, Jul 28: After the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) reduced the syllabi for Classes 9 to 12 due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Karnataka government has followed the suit. The Department of Public Instruction has omitted the chapters on legendary south Indian rulers Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan from the textbooks of Class 7 in their attempt to reduce syllabus for state board schools by 30 per cent. 

The department, however, has decided to retain similar chapters on Tipu Sultan in 6th and 10th Classes, though the syllabus in text books for all classes from 1 to 10th has been trimmed. 

The trimmed textbooks uploaded on the website of the Department of State Education Research and Training (DSERT) by Karnataka state Textbook Society revealed removal of chapters on Tipu Sultan for the seventh grade.

Justifying the decision, officials said, "students study similar chapters in Class 6 and more in the 10th grade." Yet another senior official from the Text Book Society said, "Trimming does not mean we have removed half of the syllabus from textbooks. It is only keeping in mind the repetition we have condensed the chapters. In case students study about a particular dynasty in higher grades, then the same had been removed from lower grades."

A few months ago, there was an uproar over dropping of content on Tipu Sultan and MLAs from the ruling BJP also demanded the same and petitioned to the Chief Minister. Even an expert committee led by Prof Baraguru Ramachandrappa suggested to not drop any content on the historic figure. However, the department still decided to drop lessons from one of the classes while keeping the syllabus short for the next 120 active academic days.

Earlier this month, a controversy had erupted over the CBSE's decision to omit topics like federalism, secularism, citizenship, etc while reducing the syllabus for Classes 9 to 12. The education board had issued a detailed clarification later, stating that topics claimed to be dropped "are either being covered by the rationalised syllabus or in the Alternative Academic Calendar of NCERT".

"The rationalisation of syllabus up to 30 per cent has been undertaken by the Board for nearly 190 subjects of class 9 to 12 for the academic session 2020-21 as a one-time measure only. The objective is to reduce the exam stress of students due to the prevailing health emergency situation and prevent learning gaps," it said.

Last week, the Congress in Uttar Pradesh expressed its concern over 'deliberate and systematic' deletions of chapters related to the freedom struggle and the party's role in it from the Class 10-12 syllabi of the Secondary Education Board.

Bengaluru, Jul 31: Gyms in Bengaluru carried out sanitation work on Thursday following the Centre's nod to reopen gyms from August 5, after several weeks of COVID-induced lockdowns.

"We are taking all the precautionary measures prescribed by the government and will follow the guidelines very strictly. A thermal scanner, oximeter and hand sanitizers have been placed at the entrance of the gym. 

We request all other gym owners also to follow the guidelines strictly to keep their members safe and healthy," said Prasad Kumar, a gym owner in Bangalore.

He added, "The last few months have been very difficult for us gym owners and fitness instructors. We are very grateful to the government for allowing us to re-open. 

We are going to be very cautious when we open. Even before this COVID-19 pandemic, we used to sanitise all the equipment before and after every use so hopefully, this won't be too difficult for us. We are getting rid of the air conditioners to allow cross ventilation and open the space a little more."

According to Chandu Gowda, an actor and frequenter of the gym, working out at home was not the same as working out in the gym with the proper equipment.

"I'm very glad that I get to come back and work out as I used to before this lockdown. For an actor, working out is extremely important, not just for my physical health but also mental health. 

Doing exercises at home is never as good as exercising in a space dedicated to one purpose. I hope other members of the gym follow the rules and regulations religiously," Gowda said.