ObserverVolume 14 | Issue 17 Wednesday, January 14, 2015

The Weekly

Caught on camera : big cat in Kengeri

A local laborer in Kumbalgodu

managed to take a picture of the

leopard that has been troubling

the villagers for the past ten days.

Mahesh, a resident of Gangasan-

dra, along with his friends, sighted

the leopard on the night of January

2, when they were drinking behind

the BGS School. They escaped, but

not before taking a picture of the

leopard.

Mahesh said: “My friends and I

were behind the BGS and IIJNM

campus on 2nd January. We saw the

leopard at 1 o’clock in the night. I

took a picture of it standing on the

boundary wall of the school.

“It did not advance upon us and

we sneaked away. I gave the pictures

to BGS officials to forward them to

the forest department. However, no

patrolling is being done in the area.

We have not seen even one official

or guard from the forest depart-

ment,” he added.

In spite of repeated sightings of

a leopard in Kumbalgodu, forest of-

ficials have not been vigilant in the

area.

Shivaiah, Manager at BGS

School, said: “We informed the for-

est department as soon as we heard

about the leopard. The officials, Na-

garaj and Ramesh, after setting the

cage, asked us to inform them in

case the leopard was sighted.

“We have been guarding the area

near the cage every night. At least

four guards from the school keep a

watch on the dog but the leopard

hasn’t been caught. The officials did-

n’t even bother to come back and

check,” he added.

Geeta Basavaraj, Principal of

BGS School, said: “We are doing the

best we can. The guards are alert all

the time, but it is not our job to catch

the leopard.”

She added: “The forest depart-

ment must take this problem seri-

ously. Planting a trap in the school is

not the solution; the security of kids

and local residents is in danger. We

expected them to take batter actions

but they never came back for either

enquiring or patrolling.”

Nagaraj, a 30-year-old farmer in

Gangasandra, said: “I saw the leop-

ard standing in my own farm one

week ago. It was 8:00 pm and I had

gone to work on my silk farm. The

leopard saw me and ran away.

“I went and complained in the

Kaglipura police station but they

asked me to talk to the forest depart-

ment. The forest department must

catch the leopard; all the villagers are

scared,” he added.

Meghashree, a house maid at De-

vegere, said: “My husband and I

were returning from the city that

night with our two-year-old daugh-

ter. The leopard was just outside the

main entrance of the BGS School.

We were scared to death but it didn’t

attack us as we passed on the bike.”

Rangaswamy, a shop owner at

Gangasandra, said, “I saw the leop-

ard near BGS School four days ago.

I was with my wife, Sujata, who

works at the school.

“We have stopped going out at

night out of fear. The forest depart-

ment is not doing anything. They

have not even spoken to one villager,

let alone patrol the area.”

Sujata, a mason, said, “I saw the

leopard in the farm near the

Ganagsandra main road about a

week ago. The forest department is

not patrolling in the area. They have

not handed over any crackers to

scare the cheetah(sic) away. We have

not been given any instructions by

them.”

Manjunath, a resident of Gan-

gasandra, said, “I saw the leopard

two days ago, near the Mango grove

in Devagere. It was the size of a

small cat, not as big as described by

the other villagers.”

Ramesh, an official in the forest

department, said, “We think the

leopard has moved away towards

Siddanapalya or Agara village. We

patrol the area every night between

8 and 9 but we have not sighted the

leopard.

“We also burnt crackers to scare

the leopard and handed some to the

villagers in Gangasandra. The people

need not worry anymore,” he added.

Apoorva Choubey

Out of Africa : Out of pocketYoung African students coming

to Bangalore claim that they are

being conned out of thousands

of dollars by colleges in the city.

Our investigations have revealed

that at least 27 students were conned

by different colleges.

Passports of the students are

being confiscated by the colleges on

their arrival. In one of these cases

the students alleged that passport

was even pawned by the principal of

the college for money.

Stephen is from Uganda and a

student of Sree Omkar College of

Management and Commerce, Ban-

galore.

“The Principal, Dr. Suresh

leased out my passport and took

around Rs. 20,000 from a money

lender, Martin,” claimed Stephen.

“As the date for repayment

lapsed Martin traced me with the de-

tails in the passport. Principal denied

it at first but he eventually accepted

it and I had to go through a lot of

trouble to make him pay up.

But some pages are torn and I

have to get a new passport now,” he

added.

Barel Eriki from Congo who

studied in Oxford College, Banga-

lore confirmed that passports were

confiscated by his college as well.

Around 20 Ugandan students of

Omkar College alleged charges rang-

ing from cheating to violence against

the principal leading to intervention

of Karnataka State Human Rights

Commission with temporary meas-

ures.

KSHRC headed by Justice C.G.

Hungund is probing into the issue as

five students have lodged a com-

plaint. The commission has given an

interim order asking the principal

and officials to stick to the rules so

that the students can complete their

studies.

Andrew, in his early 20s, one of

the complainants said, “When he

(principal) came to Uganda for the

admissions he brought the picture

of another college instead of ours.”

The students came to India after

a team including the principal went

to Uganda and convinced their par-

ents about the college.

Andrew can’t help shaking his

head and smiling when he remem-

bers about the college. “On the first

day of our college I said to my friend

with a laugh: Hey what are we doing

here, bro? This is not the college that

we are supposed to go to, let’s go to

our college.”

It took a bit for the reality to sink

in.

(Continued on pages 4 & 5)

Nikhil M Babu

Mahesh saw the leopard on

January 2 in Kumbalgodu

The leopard spotted outside

BGS International School

BRIEFS

“He was a mes-

senger who

touched our life

for a short

span”Parents of a brain-

dead toddler,

whose organs saved

the lives of four

other children, have

spoken about their

son's short life - and

his life-changing do-

nations.

(Page 3)

‘Je Suis Charlie’

cry India’s funny

menThe 7th of January

was a dark day for

all journalists as

two masked gun-

men entered the

Charlie Hebdo office

in Paris and killed

eight staff members

including the editor.

(Page 6)

RTI lays bare

BESCOM’s faultsThe electricity is-

sues in and around

Bangalore are com-

pletely in conflict

with the claims

made by Banga-

lore’s electricity

board according to

the reply for an RTI.

(Page 7)

Picture Exclusive

The fake brochure cover of the college taken for admission to

Uganda actually shows Infosys, Mysore campus.

KR Market is abuzz with traders

and people preparing for Pongal

and Sankranti on 15th January.

Merchants of sugarcane, sweet

potatoes, groundnuts and flowers

are earning large profits as the sale

of these increases during the festive

season.

But the excitement and celebra-

tions, according to the shopkeepers

at KR Market, has mellowed down,

as compared to last year.

Riyakhat, a florist at K.R Market,

said, “Last year the demand was a lot

higher than this time. Lesser number

of people has turned up this year.”

Pongal is the Tamil new year andis celebrated with fervor in Banga-

lore owing to huge number of

Tamilians living in the city while

Sankranti holds a different meaning

for different communities. It is

marked not only as the start o thef

harvest season but also the start of

longer and sunnier days.

A trader of flowers at SKS flower

Mart, Gopal said:"The rates of flow-

ers increase manifold during festival

months. Usual rate of a 4ft long gar-

land costs anywhere from Rs. 60 to

80. Today for Pongal sales, it costs

Rs.180."

"But this is not a steep increase

compared to the rise during festivals

like Vijayadashami and Diwali, when

the same thing costs Rs. 200 - Rs.

280," he continued.

Prices of sugarcane at Sankranti

are Rs50 a piece which otherwise

cost around Rs20.

Suman, a seller of sugarcane said,

"The usual rate is Rs. 40 for a pair

but on the occasion of Pongal, ir has

been increased to Rs. 60 a pair."

K Kumar, who has been selling

sugarcane for the past 15 years said,

“Most people prefer going to Shiva-

jinagar to buy sugarcane and flowers,

since it is cleaner. But goods are sold

here in wholesale and thus, it’s more

profitable.”

Mr.Anil Bhaskar, a customer,

said, “This year the prices are high

for sugarcane. However, that does

not deter us from buying it as this

festival has a religious significance.

We have been following this for

years.”

The Weekly Observer Wednesday, January 14, 20152

“The government lacks facilities for the

men who sacrificed everything for the

nation. That’s the misery of the coun-

try,” mourned an ex- serviceman.

Lack of funding has left the city’s oldest

home for physically disabled ex-servicemen

a ramshackle shadow of its former self.

Red Cross Home, one of the oldest

homes in the country, has had to reduce its

shelter capacity by 98.5 percent.

The home situated in Ulsoor once

catered for 200 old soldiers but now has

only three due to the lack of funds.

Mr. Anandha Prasadh, 91, paraplegic ex-

serviceman, said: “I have been in this Red

Cross Home for 17 years since 1997. When

I came here there were 22 other physically

disabled ex-servicemen along with me. It

was a fully fledged home then, but eventu-

ally all died.”

He added: “The government is not capa-

ble of taking care of the physically disabled

ex-serviceman who sacrificed everything for

the nation. Today there is no one to take

care of us. That’s the misery of this country.

Everyone thinks the army has no corruption

which is wrong; it’s the most corrupt part of

the government.

“Our army is huge but is not as efficient

as it was 50 years back. In those days the

army had real power but nowadays it is

shown that army has power but it does not.

I joined the defense from 1944 when the

war was it its peak and served for 20 years

till 1966. I did not get married because my

life was not secure being in defense,” added

Prasadh.

An attendant of Red Cross Home who

did not wanted to be named said, “I have

been the attendant here for the past 25

years. Few years back, the home stopped

admitting physically disabled ex-servicemen

due to insufficient funding.”

Jayraj, the caretaker of Red Cross Home

said: “The Indian Red Cross Society in

Delhi is not providing us with required

funds. They have also stopped us from

admitting new inmates. Total monthly

expenditure is around Rs.2, 50,000 lakhs for

three inmates.”

Contradicting the claims of Red Cross

Home, the Director of Dissemination of

Indian Red Cross Society, M.K. Singh

affirmed that there are efforts to get in addi-

tional inmates and provide more facilities to

make the home a sustainable place.

He said, “We stopped taking in more

inmates as there is lack of funding and the

infrastructure was crumbling. The defense

departments also setup several home in

Pune and other places. We are still working

to keep the home up and running.”

CL Ramakrishnan

Sankranti fervor down a notch this yearNatasha Singh

Devdutta Sukhdeo

Shruti Suresh

Old soldiers neglected in city homeThe Army Day was first celebrated on January 15th 1948 when Late Field

Marshal K.M. Chriappa took over as the in-charge of Indian Army from his

predecessor General Sir Francis Butcher and became the first Indian Com-

mander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. In order to pay tribute towards the

bravery and the valor of the Indian Army the Army Day celebration takes

place in the Nation’s capital Delhi and various other places throughout

India tomorrow with the exhibition of tanks, missiles and aviators for dis-

play. When the entire nation is geared up to celebrate the 67th Army Day

tomorrow the home for physically disabled Ex-servicemen in Bangalore is

struggling to keep the home up and running due to the lack of funds.

Anand Prasad, 91, paraplegic ex-service-

man

One of the rooms at Red Cross Home

The flower market saw a rise in prises and a dip in cus-

tomers this year

Sugarcane sellers have a busy

day on the eve of Sankranti

Nowhere to tick if you are a trans-gender on govt web portals

Five government web portals are

in breach of a Supreme Court

order to recognize transgender as

a third gender.

The portals for ration cards, uni-

versities, PAN cards and national

banks do not give the extra option

for transgender people and simply

asks if the applicant is a male or a fe-

male.

The Supreme Court judgment

that dates back to the April 15, 2014

granted transsexuals the right to be

treated as a third gender apart from

the existing generic genders to safe-

guard their constitutional rights and

the liberty to identify their self with

the male female or the third gender.

Veena, the treasurer of the NGO

Sangama, said, “The government

does not want to recognize us which

is why they are still unwilling to fol-

low the Supreme Court directions.

We suffer without these identifica-

tion cards and are condemned to

lead a downtrodden life. Most of us

compromise and identify ourselves

as a female which is a great blow to

our pride.”

PAN cards, necessary for tax pay-

ments and procuring legitimate em-

ployment, has been denied and thus

the community is economically crip-

pled and forced to continue its tra-

ditional occupations of beggary and

prostitution.

Danish Sheikh, a lawyer at the Al-

ternative Law Forum, said “The

Supreme Court had given out its ver-

dict in mid April stating that trans-

sexuals in India will be considered as

a backward class and will have the

right to self identification as a third

gender.”

“However in October 2014, the

central government asked the

Supreme Court to provide clarifica-

tion for its judgment as they thought

it to be impractical. Yet it is still a vi-

olation of the Supreme Court direc-

tions as even after the prefixed time

for execution of law has exceeded

the government still has not imple-

mented the judgment,” he added.

Some government offices like

passport office and UIDAI (Unique

Identity Authority of India) have the

transgender option in their applica-

tion forms but other departments

are yet to introduce them.

The income tax department

spokesperson said, “We have not re-

ceived instructions from the govern-

ment to include this feature in our

application forms; we are helpless till

we receive further orders.”

Agnivesh Harshan

The Weekly Observer Wednesday, January 14, 2015 3

“He was a messenger who touched our life for a short span”

Parents of a brain-dead toddler,

whose organs saved the lives of

four other children, have spoken

about their son's short life - and

his life-changing donations.

Amit, Yatharth’s father said: "He

was born in a single body but con-

tinues to live in four bodies. He is

now getting the love of all their

mothers."

On December 11 last year two

months before his third birthday,

Yatharth was admitted to MediHope

Hospital in Bangalore. Doctors there

could not find the cause of his per-

sistent fever. Following a seizure,

Yatharth, who would have cele-

brated his third birthday on January

20, was given an injection that wors-

ened his condition and he suffered a

cardiac arrest.

On December 14 he was shifted

to Manipal Hospital by his parents,

in the hope of resuscitating him. But

he was declared brain-dead and his

parents Rajalaxmi and Amit Upad-

hayaya gave their consent to harvest

and donate his organs.

A 'Green Corridor' was set up in

Bangalore five days later to transport

the heart from Bangalore to Fortis

Hospital in Chennai where a Russian

family was given Yatharth’s heart for

their 33-month old child.

A software engineer working with

Tata Consultancy Services, Amit re-

members his son's moments which

colored their lives and the walls of

their living room. Yatharth's mother,

Rajalaxmi, unable to bear the pain of

losing her baby, shifted to Delhi.

There was colorful scribbling on

the pale yellow walls, a teddy tucked

near the window and a cycle stand-

ing in the corner of the room. On

the bed covered with pink linen and

a superman pillow cover, sat a father

who lost his son.

Amit and Rajalaxmi have been

married for the past six years and

were living in Bangalore for the past

four years. On 20th Jan 2012, they

were blessed with a son, whom they

named Yatharth. Unfortunately for

them, the joy was short-lived.

According to Amit, mostly every-

one names their children something

or someone they want to see them

as when they grow up, but the child

may not grow up to be that name or

the icon.

Amit said: “In its true meaning,

‘Yatharth’ means fact, and I didn't

want to name him something that I

expect from. He is what the fact is -

who he actually is.

“He was a very kind child, who

used to say that he wanted to help

the poor. He used to buy candy from

outside his school and give it to the

poor children. He was never selfish,

before eating he would always feed

his teddy bear first,” he continued.

Yatharth was studying in the pre-

KG at the Little Me school in Ma-

hadevapura. Amit said that Yatharth

was not much interested in watching

TV. He loved cycling and painting.

“He was bright at studies. Also, he

used to keep cycling in the room

there and on the terrace,” said Amit

pointing to the place which is now

empty and where a small cycle is

kept.

Amit, who is a native of Dhan-

bad in Jharkhand, said that the birth

of Yatharth was the happiest mo-

ment of the couple's lives. His wife,

according to him, had lost her father

earlier and also her mother post their

marriage.

When Yatharth first developed

fever, his parents took him to a

nearby hospital. The doctor who at-

tended him at the MediHope Hospi-

tal told them that it was mild fever

and that he would be okay with med-

icines.

Next day again, Yatharth devel-

oped fever for which the doctors

suggested that they conduct a few

tests while he was under observa-

tion.

Amit said: “On December 11, the

doctors told us that it is better to get

him tested for dengue and typhoid.

But when the test results came, there

was nothing wrong. In the mean-

while, Yatharth again developed high

fever.

“The doctor then injected him

for fever. Following the injection, he

collapsed. It was later told that he

suffered from febrile seizures due to

the high temperature. His windpipe

choked leading to heart attack,” rec-

ollected Amit.

“To revive him, the doctors tried

CPR, but failed. Following this, we

rushed to the Manipal Hospital. The

doctor there said that due to cardiac

arrest, supply of oxygen to the brain

had stopped and that he was partially

brain dead. After performing the

needed tests, the doctor confirmed

that Yatharth was brain dead,” con-

tinued Amit.

When asked if his family sup-

ported his decision to donate his

son’s organs, Amit said: “I told my

wife that we could save some other

parents the pain and help their chil-

dren live. It was Yatharth’s chance to

live through other children. She and

my father were supportive.”

He said, “When the doctors told

me that his brain was dead, I told my

dad about wanting to donate his or-

gans. My dad was supportive. The

hospital got in touch with the Zonal

Coordination Committee of Kar-

nataka (ZCCK) and the formalities

were done. I was in the waiting room

at the time the Green Corridor was

set and his heart was transported.

When I came out, I was told that

three of his organs were donated in

Bangalore while his heart in Chen-

nai.

As organ donation committee,

ZCCK, mandates that privacy be

maintained, the recipient details were

not shared with the Upadhayaya

family. Amit knows that three of his

organs were donated to families in

Bangalore and that Yatharth's heart

was given in Chennai to a Russian

child who was a month younger to

Yatharth.

Yatharth’s heart, liver, kidneys

and cornea were donated.

“I had read about the Green Cor-

ridor in Bangalore about six months

back. It sounded great that people

were donating organs to help save

other lives. I had discussed it that

time with my father about how won-

derful the thoughts of such people

are. I never thought this would befall

me,” said Amit.

“Unfortunately, through my son

I had to contribute to the whole

process,” he told.

Despite going through such a

tough phase, Amit said: “He was too

small to make any contribution to

society. If people spoke about him

they’d say the three-year-old who

died.

“By donating his organs, he has

given a new life to four more chil-

dren. I know the pain of losing a

dear one now; I did not want any

other family to go through the

trauma. I am glad that in this manner

my son has contributed to the soci-

ety. The other parents will also have

their blessings for Yatharth,” he

added.

Amit recollected the moments

when Yatharth used to keep cycling

in the room.

He said: “He used to say I want

to become like dad. He used to wear

my helmet, wear my laptop bag and

ride his cycle imitating me.”

“Every day we open the newspa-

pers to news of hate and crime. That

is not good, I just want that everyone

lives a life of love and touches hu-

manity at the deepest level.”

Amit has now moved to Delhi

for a month where his wife is resid-

ing after Yatharth’s death.

Shruti Suresh

Religion disrupts organ donation“Pledging your organs is not an

easy task because family, society

and religion come as a hurdle in

your way,” said Naveen Neeraj,

29, an electrical engineer.

Naveen pledged his eyes when he

was in college. Though his family

was against him, he managed to con-

vince them. “I was inspired to pledge

my eyes from an advertisement, in

which Bollywood actor Amitabh

Bacchan endorsed eye donation,” he

said.

Naveen felt proud after donating

his eyes and hence, decided to

spread awareness about eye dona-

tion. “I began spreading awareness

from my home and made sure that

they pledged their eyes,” he said.

He added: “I started doing semi-

nars in colleges, including my alma

mater. In 2007, I pledged all my

body organs to Organ Retrieval and

Banking Organization of All India

Institute of Medical Sciences

(AIIMS), New Delhi.” He did so as

the Zonal Coordination Committee

of Karnataka for Transplantation

(ZCCK) of Bengaluru was not that

popular.

According to Dr. Varsha Mok-

shani, Head of Department of Vy-

dehi Hospital, Bengaluru, “People

are scared to pledge their organs be-

cause of their religion. Sometimes

patients or their families tend to ask

for the religion of the donor before

their transplant. “

“There is more number of Hindu

donors as compared to Christian and

Buddhist donors in our hospital,

whereas there are hardly any Muslim

donors,” she added.

Complicated process

“There are 23 organs and tissues

that can be donated. However, we

can transplant organs within 24

hours because they are not preserved

for long time. Most of the organs

are preserved for 4-6 hours after

death and they are kept in a solution

similar to body fluid that is very ex-

pensive,” said Dr. Varsha.

She also added: “It is a team of

doctors that includes, a neuro sur-

geon or a neurologist, a physician, a

treating doctor and the hospital ad-

ministrator, who first clears that the

person is brain dead and his/her or-

gans are well enough to be donated.

This is a very tough and complicated

task that needs to be done in a few

hours only.” Her hospital and a

group of doctors are also doing

campaigns in nearby apartments and

institutes to make people aware

about organ donation.

According to Dr. Varsha, young

people are more open to organ do-

nation than older people. She said,

“They tend to think logically and not

religiously. However, old people are

keener towards donating their entire

body rather than pledging their or-

gans because they believe that if one

or two organs of their body are re-

moved after their death, they will

take rebirth without that organ.”

According to the news reports of

The Hindu, if two cases of brain

deaths are reported every day to the

ZCCK the backlog of patients wait-

ing for organ transplants can be

drastically reduced.

The government’s initiative to

make it mandatory for hospitals with

intensive care units (ICUs) to report

brain deaths to the ZCCK is now

being followed by the hospitals.

Manjula, Chief Transplant Coordi-

nator of ZCCK said, “It is not prov-

ing very worthy because the waiting

list of the patients is increasing day-

by-day and the number of donors is

less.”

“Since 2007, there are only

10,000 odd people who have

pledged their organs in the state of

Karnataka. There is a proposal to

make NIMHANS, the first organ re-

trieval centre of the state but it is still

in the process. As of now if any

brain death occurs in any hospital,

we have to take the body to the

transplantation centre and this

makes the process more expensive

for the patient,” she added.

According to the statistics from

ZCCK, 1174 are waiting for Kidney

transplants, 321 for liver, and 30 for

heart, 6 for liver and kidney, 3 for

kidney and pancreas and 15 for lung

transplants.

Akshita, transplant co-coordina-

tor, Multi-organ Harvesting Aid

Network (MOHAN) Foundation

said, “Our organization counsels and

spreads awareness about organ do-

nation. We also help people in trans-

plants like giving them the details

about where and how it is done,” she

said.

Divya Kishore

Naveen donated his eyes at the

age of 22

Dr. Varsha thinks that there are

more young organ donors

Yatharth with his parents during happier times

Continued from page 1)

Andrew claimed that Suresh refused to give

him hall tickets even though he had paid the

tuition fees. “When I asked why they are not

giving the hall ticket, principal along with

the manager – slapped me.

Now I am doing B. Com through correspon-

dence as I can’t go back without a degree. But I

have lost one and a half years and a lot of

money,” he added.

Winnie, from Uganda, a student of the same

college, complained that the principal withheld

her hall ticket and she lost a year. Complainants

said that they are representing the rest of the

Ugandan students as well.

“If all these things can end, India would be

a better place to come and study and it would

feel like home,” said Winnie.

The students complain that they were asked

to pay only $800 per semester initially but were

forced to remit a sum of $1000. “We even had

to pay extra fees for uniform, examination fees

and for the hostel also,” said Rhoda, who

dropped the course.

“As we couldn’t pay the extra money before

the deadline, the principal chased all the girls and

boys out of the hostel and locked it. Many peo-

ple fell sick as they were sleeping outside on the

veranda,” said Stephen.

The students have to renew their Residential

Permit (RP) from Foreigners Regional Registra-

tion Office each year so that they can stay in

India. For renewing the RP they need a bona fide

certificate from the college.

Mouses Rutaarwa, member of Association of

African Students India, said, “The principal

won’t give bona fide certificate and the students

will have to go through a lot of trouble.”

The KSHRC order says “The principal of the

college shall issue bona fide certificates required

for the renewal of their residential permits…

and also to issue NOC in the event of any stu-

dent taking admission in another college and to

issue hall tickets, in accordance with the rules.”

“I was arrested by the police as I couldn’t

renew my RP on time, but later Bosco, a Ugan-

dan activist talked with them and got me out

without any case registered,” said Junia, who was

a student of the college. “I was even forced to

sign an exit permit.”

“FRRO shall renew the residential permit of

the students pursuant to submission of appro-

priate documents… and to avoid forcing or co-

ercing the students to sign exit permit, except

where compelling reasons of national security

otherwise requires, depriving their liberty except

on such grounds and in accordance with such

procedures established by law” reads the

KSHRC order.

Bosco said: “Most of the times students are

picked up for wrong reasons. I have experienced

a lot of cases like that and I fight against it.”

Students said that the college won’t even give

them transfer certificate so that they can go to

some other college.

“Around 20 of us joined the college together

but only two are continuing now,” said Stephen.

KSHRC also recommended the Director of

Collegium Education, Bangalore to take a serious

view of the issue.

“When he (princi-

pal) came to

Uganda for the

admissions he

brought the

picture of an-

other college

instead of

ours.”- Andrew

“The front page of

the brochure was -

‘Infosys Campus’

Mysore. Second

last page…I

think there was

a ‘small photo’

of the college.”- Principal

Dr. Suresh G.

The solo building circled in red is the Sree Omkar College. The light-colored

website is actually not part of the college. And the students are misled usi

for the website and brochures.

The Weekly Observer Wednesday, January 14, 20154

Conned into college

When asked about the photos that they

showed to the students when they went to

Uganda the Principal of Omkar College Dr.

Suresh. G, said: “The front page of the brochure

was of - ‘Infosys Campus’ Mysore.”

When The Weekly Observer asked why it was

not mentioned he replied that, “It is not neces-

sary to mention and that on the last page there

is a photo of the college.”

When we insisted that there was no photo of

the college in the brochure, Principal replied:

“second last page…I think there was a ‘small

photo’ there.”

The principal said that they have reported to

the KSHRC but the Principal denied the charges

regarding passports being confiscated.

The KSHRC order also states “Not to subject

the students to torture or cruel treatment and to

consider extension of the residential permit in

the interest of improving communications and

development of friendly relations among coun-

tries.”

“The human rights commission is on the

case, but those things are moving slowly. Well

that’s the life over here,” Stephen sighed with a

shrug.

Larger picture

Ribert Manzi from Rwanda is in Bangalore

from 2009 onwards. “A batch of around 450 stu-

dents came from Rwanda to Bangalore in 2009,

but the student influx has decreased to less than

50 in 2014,” he said.

Exorbitant fees and discrimination are a few

of the reasons he thinks for this decline in num-

ber of students.

Okito Christophe, National President of

AASI said, “The number of students from

Africa is decreasing not only in Bangalore but in

other cities as well.”

d building shown to be the main college building in the brochures and the

ing this. The yellow circled board is a fake one, made using some software

“If all these things can end, India

would be a better place to come

and study and it would feel like

home.”- Winnie (left)

“The principal won’t give bona fide

certificate and the students will

have to go through a lot of

trouble.”- Mouses Rutaarwa (right), member

of Association of African Students

India.

SEA College

African students of another college in the city claim that they lost thousands of dollars

and a year as they were not registered in the university.

“We all lost $3000 and a year,” said Harry (name changed), from Africa, a student of the

South East Asian College Trust, Bangalore.

“At the time of exams we didn’t get the Hall Tickets, but the college gave us numbers and

allowed us to write the exams,” he added.

The college authorities said that the students have not submitted some documents and

that was the problem.

“But they didn’t say this during the time of admissions. And when the results came five

of our results were withheld,” said Adam (name changed). “It was really horrifying.”

The Principal later said that the students were not registered in the university.

Out of the seven students who joined the college none of them are still pursuing LLB. Two

of them left and five others changed the course.

“I got my result but got scared of it and I also changed the course,” said Harry.

“My cousin had joined the college but after seeing all of this he left the college and joined

in a different college. It was really hard to convince our parents as we are teenagers and they

thought that we were failing and lying to them,” he added.

Alice, one of the students who is studying in a different college in the city now has have

filed a case against the college in the High Court.

The Principal of the SEA College of Law, Dr. Mallaiah first said that the students have not

left the college and have just changed the course.

But when our reporter said that he has talked to the students who have left the college,

principal said, “Actually they were not able to cope up with the law course and left.”

He said that the college got hall tickets but the students didn’t write the exams.

Later he changed his stand and said: “The University changed the rules and because of

that the students didn’t get the hall ticket. They wrote the exam using dummy numbers.”

He said that Alice filed a case only for transfer of college.

When quizzed about why No Objection Certificate was not given in the beginning, he

replied: “In the beginning we didn’t give it since we have to follow the procedure, we can’t

give it straight away, you know.”

The principal said that there was no case going on. But when our reporter asked about

the case that has been going on with Alice in the high court, the principal again changed his

stand and said: “Then let’s see what happens.”

The Weekly Observer Wednesday, January 14, 2015 5

and paying the price

The Weekly Observer Wednesday, January 14, 20156

The 7th of January was a

dark day for all journal-

ists as two masked gun-

men entered the Charlie Hebdo

office in Paris and killed eight

staff members including the edi-

tor. Later revealed to be brothers

Cherif and Said Kouachi, these

terrorists took the lives of 12 peo-

ple including Stephane Charbon-

nier, the editor, and seven other

employees of the newspaper in

addition to two cops and two

civilians.

Hebdo is known for its satirical

cartoons, mostly criticizing religion.

This attack was allegedly in response

to their cartoons on Islam.

As the incident created world-

wide impact, Indian satirists and car-

toonists were asked by The Weekly

Observer to give their views on the

foregoing events.

“If your religion allows you to kill

someone then that is not a religion

at all,” said Shekar Gurera, Accred-

ited Senior Indian Editorial Cartoon-

ist of the Press Information Bureau.

“What happened at Charlie

Hebdo was partially wrong. People

used their own religion to create ter-

rorism and you can find them every-

where. The cartoonist did his work

but it was not necessary to reply in

this way. But when it comes to ter-

rorism, I don’t justify an act of peo-

ple who retaliate violently,” he

added.

“But at the same time, it’s the

matter of respect of one’s freedom

and the duty of the cartoonist to use

the freedom of expression in a

proper way. Cartoonists represent

the mass and they should respect

every religion. The cartoons at Char-

lie Hebdo have no respect for reli-

gion. According to Indian mentality,

those cartoons were not right be-

cause we don’t make fun of reli-

gion.”

“The terrorist are killing some-

one to retaliate for an issue that does

not involve killing. It was better that

one would reply in a similar fashion.

Journalists are entitled to their own

views otherwise but there are certain

restrictions which we need to fol-

low,” added Shekar.

Rohnit Phore, Editorial Cartoon-

ist of Financial Express said, “All the

cartoonists in the world have ex-

pressed their concern on the issue.

But after the incident, the hard-liners

could find the cartoonists commu-

nity an easy target in future. Above

all, the print media could restrict

their cartoonists to express their

commentary.”

He added, “The French Newspa-

per comments on the Pope and Jews

as well but tolerance matters. Killing

the cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo is

not the way to protest. The impact

they made actually resulted in all eyes

around the world getting stuck to

those very cartoons.”

V.G. Narendra, Managing Trustee

at Indian Institute of Cartoonists

said, “We all denounce the dastardly

act with harsh words and it’s an act

of cowardice by terrorists. They

want to throttle the freedom of ex-

pression. All cartoonists over the

world have come together to fight

against terrorism.”

He added: “We have to draw our

own line of control and it should not

hit below the belt. The cartoons, es-

pecially when it comes to religion,

should not go of out of control. We

must criticize them nicely but at the

same time, send a message. France is

always open to criticism and Charlie

Hebdo just followed it. After this in-

cident the cartoonist should be more

careful in expressing their views. We

should stand firmly and do the work

within our own frame work.”

Balraj, Editorial Cartoonist at

First Post said, “Anything that has

been done doesn’t deserve someone

to be killed. France has a tradition of

doing caricatures which borders on

the same themes so I don’t think you

can nullify by killing those cartoon-

ists who have drew those images. It’s

not that Charlie Hebdo has done

something wrong. The French law

has given them the freedom of ex-

pression.”

He continued, “It’s not that they

have drawn caricatures only on

Islam; they have also drawn on the

Pope as well as Jews. Freedom of ex-

pression is not absolute and there is

a line which has to be drawn. But,

cartoonists should not be scared be-

cause of this incident.”

“The support which Charlie

Hebdo has gathered through ‘Je Suis

Charlie’ has proved that terrorism

can never silence cartoonists. But at

the same time we cartoonists have to

measure what we draw. I do stand by

Charlie Hebdo as what was done

was completely wrong,” added Bal-

raj.

‘Je Suis Charlie’ cry India’s funny menC. L. Ramkrishnan

The French Newspaper comments on Pope and

Jews as well but tolerance matters.

-Cartoonist Rohnit Arora

We all denounce the dastardly act with harsh words

and it’’s an act of cowardice by terrorists.

-Cartoonist V.G.Narendra

If your religion allows you to kill someone then

that is not a religion at all.

-Cartoonist Shekar Gurera

I don’t think you can nullify by killing those car-

toonists who drew those images.

- Cartoonist Balraj

In a new development to the al-

leged rape of an 8-year-old by a

teacher in a private school, the

family members of the accused

have filed a petition today with

Laboram, deputy police commis-

sioner.

The petition was filed at around

5:30 pm. The petition is written by

Lata, wife of the accused. It starts by

describing the family members –

both the parents of the accused can’t

hear or see, both his children are

studying and his daughter is en-

gaged. It states that he is the only

source of income for the family, and

then says how there are false accusa-

tions against her husband.

Lata then described her own ac-

tivities on 7 Jan, the day her husband

was arrested. Lata went to the school

at 9.45 am on 7 Jan, 2015. When she

found out the accusations against

her husband, she refused to believe

that he could do such a thing. An ex-

cerpt from the petition goes thus: “I

pleaded with them to leave my hus-

band, but they said they will kill him,

and offered to take care of my fam-

ily. They also used abusive language.

Then everyone pushed me and I lost

consciousness because I have low

blood pressure. When I woke up, my

husband wasn’t around.”

Lata, her in-laws and both of her

children went to file the petition.

Lakshmiamma, elder sister of the

accused, complained about the injus-

tice meted out to her son. Talking

about the mob violence, she said: “I

tried to reason with the mob. I even

fell to their feet and told them that

my brother can’t do this, but they

didn’t listen. I and the other family

members had to be locked in a room

by the other school teachers for our

own safety.”

She said that the family was suf-

fering due to her brother’s absence.

Her father, who is almost completely

deaf, hasn’t been told about what

happened, but has realized that

something is wrong. Her mother,

who knows everything, has stopped

moving since the incident. The ac-

cused also has a 22-year-old daugh-

ter, a son in class 12th and another

sister. The family hasn’t met the ac-

cused after he was discharged from

the hospital, as he is in police cus-

tody now.

Lakshmiamma reiterated that it

wasn’t possible for her brother to do

this, as he had always been a respect-

ful and loving person. She said that

he always carried chocolates in his

pocket to give to children. She also

complained that in spite of many

media houses talking to her, nobody

had published or aired her views.

The school itself is under heavy

cop cover, and the rubble inside

caused by the mob still hasn’t been

cleared. Srikantaiah, a member of

the school’s executive board, said

that the school might reopen on

19th Jan. He said, “Even if he is

guilty, let the law take its coure and

jusrtice will be done. No one should

take justice into their own hands.”

The Weekly Observer Wednesday, January 14, 2015 7

The electricity issues in and

around Bangalore are completely

in conflict with the claims made

by Bangalore’s electricity board

according to the reply for an RTI.

Bangalore Electricity Supply

Company Ltd. (BESCOM) is re-

sponsible for supplying electricity

throughout Bangalore. The RTI

document claims that nowhere in

the city can one find power outages

for more than an hour per day on an

average. However, according to a

document on BESCOM’s website

listing unscheduled power cuts, there

have been power outages for over an

hour in many areas almost every day.

For instance, from January 1 to Jan-

uary 12 this year, there have been

power cuts for over an hour on all

days except January 6. On 12 Jan,

there was a power cut for 16 hours

in four divisions – Kengeri, Peenya,

Hebbal and Malleshwaram.

Residents of rural areas are more

affected as Kamakshi, a resident of

Golahalli in rural Bangalore, said

that on some days there are power

outages for 2-3 hours. When asked

if this caused any problems in her

daily life, she said, “Yes, it does.

Water is needed for farming. In the

mornings, when there is no power,

we can’t get water. It is at that very

time that we need water.” People in

rural areas depend on electricity-op-

erated irrigation pumps to water

their fields, and hence power cuts at

critical times affect the water supply.

She added that no warnings on these

power cuts were provided to them.

Shobha, another housewife from

Golahalli, said that they experience

power cuts for three hours every day

because of which her family also

faces water shortage.

Another claim made by

BESCOM is regarding the power

cuts during heavy rainfall or high-

speed winds. The RTI document

states - “Due to natural calamities

such as heavy wind and rain fall, the

power supply is being interrupted

which is not deliberately done by

BESCOM.”

However, Somashekhar, Assis-

tant Executive Engineer for Coorg

region in Karnataka Electricity

Board, said, “95% of the times,

these power cuts are caused by de-

vices called protective relays installed

by the department. These automati-

cally disconnect the power supply

when any problematic incident oc-

curs.” He said that these incidents

could be caused by many reasons

like snapping of a wire, falling of a

tree, a bird causing short-circuit, ve-

hicles hitting poles and lightning.”

He added: “These cut-offs can’t

be avoided, because they are impor-

tant for the safety of the public.

However, their frequency can be re-

duced by using better quality insula-

tors on electric poles, like in foreign

countries. Over there, quality control

is very high, and cost-wise they are

least bothered.”

He said that another way to im-

prove this would be to adopt under-

ground cable systems, but their cost

is 20 times more. He also said that

sectionalising should be avoided,

wherein a fault in just one place

causes power cut for an entire area.

Sometimes, a particular resident

of an area might influence the power

supply in that area too. For example,

Veena Murty, a former resident of

Prashant Nagar, claimed that the rea-

son for good power supply in the

area was the presence of Ashok, a

corporator in the area. Murthy said,

“There were hardly any power cuts,

and even when there were, power

would be back in a few minutes.”

The RTI gives the reason for all

power cuts in Bangalore as “system

constraints.” Somashekhar elabo-

rated on these constraints, and ex-

plained that there could be multiple

reasons for them. Firstly, he said,

during peak demand periods, like in

summer, power generation in Kar-

nataka can only fulfil 40% of the de-

mands, while 60% has to be

purchased from other states. This is

especially so because “a bulk of Kar-

nataka’s power generation happens

from hydel power plants, which re-

duces significantly in summers due

to reduction in water flow in rivers.

Even other states don’t have surplus

power in summers, and hence the

power cuts.”

He then spoke about the sec-

ond kind of system constraints. He

added, “There are regions in the

country which have enormous po-

tential for hydel power generation

at least cost, like the north-east.

However, erection of towers is an

issue there.” Another problem, he

said, is the transmission of power

from its production point to the

required point, which is complex

and could have many issues.

The third kind of system con-

straint, according to Somashekhar,

is lack of load forecasting, which

basically means to anticipate power

requirements for the future and

plan accordingly for them.

The petition filed by the wife of the accused today claiming that

her husband is innocent

Venkateshwara School was vandalized by an angry mob on Jan 7.

The mob also badly injured the accused

Lakshmiamma, elder sister of

the accused

RTI lays bare BESCOM’s faults

Angry family members of rape accused file petitionNatasha Singh

Tushar Kaushik

Tushar Kaushik

Veena Murthy, a previous resident of Prashant Nagar

Getting Inked!C

olours, shapes, designs

and quotes in different

languages; if one wants

an amalgam of all these, then

getting inked is the solution.

Mr.Girish, a tattoo artist at

Bramha Tattoo Studio of Banga-

lore elaborated on how the tattoo

business in the city is a fast growing

market trend.

He said: “Five years back, only

five to six people in a crowd of

thousand could be spotted with a

tattoo. Now it’s a fashion trend.

Every 100 out of thousand people

are inked.”

He added, “There are many am-

ateurs getting into this profession.

People from the IT sector, who are

not happy with their salaries, see

tattooing as an easy way to earn

more.”

Adithy Srinath, 27, has seven

tattoos. All her tattoos were un-

planned. The first of the lot, a but-

terfly, was inked in 2008. “This

tattoo was a need whereas the rest

became a part of an addiction,” she

said.

According to her, every tattoo

on her body has a meaning.

Music notes are her go-to stress

busters at any given time. Infinity

denotes her infinite faith and the

way her faith plays a big role in the

pursuit of her dreams. She has also

got her mother’s name inked in her

memory.

For her family, she has three

stars inked on her left wrist. The

butterfly is to remind her of her

goals in life and to work towards

achieving them. The last tattoo,

which is an amalgam of Lord

Ganesha and The Om symbol,

gives her the assurance of God

being around all the time.

She says, “These tattoos are im-

portant to me because they define

me and people close to me. These

are not random designs, but things

that I relate to and think of on a

daily basis.”

Ridhii Paul, 24, who got her first

tattoo when she was 16, said, “My

grandmother calls me titli, which

means a butterfly. That became my

first tattoo.”

Her second tattoo reads,

‘jusqu’ici tout va bein’ which trans-

lates to ‘so far so good’. According

to her, “Your tattoo defines your

personality. It’s meaningful to the

person it is on and that’s all that re-

ally matters.”

She added, “It is not a lifestyle,

as many people term it, and it is not

rebellious either. It’s really how you

perceive it.”

Palak Mehra, 22, got her first

tattoo in 2012. The infinity symbol

on her back signifies her take on

life: enjoy life as it comes and take

life easily. She intends to get an

‘Om’ symbol as her next tattoo.

Aanchal Bathija, 23, has a tattoo

which represents a swallow. It sig-

nifies luck and resurrection.

She said, “I’ve always wanted a

tattoo and I got this because it is

apt for my belief in luck and the

role it plays in everyone’s life. It de-

fines one’s nature and personality.”

This trend has been on a rise in

Mumbai too. Arjun Kapadia, 27, a

tattoo artist in Mumbai said,

“There was a time when I made 80

tattoos in a month. I worked day

and night to meet the demand. I

now have an artist working under

me who takes up the task if I have

a busy schedule. In the past four

years, I have inked around 1,500

tattoo.”

He shares expert opinion on

why people like to get inked. He

said, “People from all age groups

come to get a tattoo. Most of them

are 16-30 years of age. Some want

a meaningful quote which psycho-

logically affects or influences their

life or lifestyle. For example, ‘this

too shall pass’ is one of the com-

mon phrases.”

He added, “While some get it to

keep up with the trend, others are

just passionate. Some get tattoos al-

most every 6 months to express

their love for someone: God, mom,

dad, brother, sister, pets etc.”

He shares his list of things one

should remember before getting

inked.

He said, “Take your time. Take

a lot of time in deciding upon a tat-

too. In your excitement and anxiety,

don’t be hasty while making a deci-

sion since it is a lifetime’s mark on

your skin and it definitely reflects

who you are.”

He added, “Do not drink or

dope before you get inked. Check

the hygiene of the studio by just

checking out the artist's personality

or by looking at how things have

been kept in the studio: organised

or disorganised, then understand

the hygiene.”

“And last but not the least, tat-

toos are addictive. Your next tattoo

should not be out of addiction but

out of a certain meaning that

makes you wish for another one.

Creativity and art are something

very rare. Do not negotiate.”

Ridhi Agrawal

Adithy Srinath feels that these tattoos are important to her because they define her and people close to her

The Weekly Observer Wednesday,January 14, 20158

OBSERVER Team: Editors- Pulaha Ray, Vignesh S. G., Chief Sub Editors - Saheli Sen Gupta, Aparna Singh, News Editors - Punita Maheshwari, Soumya Chatterjee, News

Desk - Elizabeth Mani, Shruti Suresh, Sub Editors - Tushar Kaushik, C. L. Ramakrishnan, Natasha Singh, Agnivesh Harshan, Divya Kishore, Design Heads - Nikhil M Babu,

Kimaya Varude, Design Desk - Ridhi Agrawal, Apoorva Choubey, Devdatta Sukhadev

Five years back,

only five to six

people in a

crowd of thou-

sand could be

spotted with a

tattoo. Now it’s a

fashion trend.

Every 100 out of

thousand people

are inked