Illegal sand mining at

Ravgudlu mountains in

Kanakapura for the last

ten years has left resi-

dents in distress.

There are 150 families

living around the mountain

as well as an NGO called

Vishwalaya.

Vinuth Krishna manager

of Vishwalaya said, “We are

not getting water as sand

mining has affected the

ground water level; govern-

ment has made no effort to

stop sand mining.”

“It's not just the Ashram

which is affected, the whole

village is in danger,” he

added. Meera, resident of

the village, said, “We had a

pond in the village which

used to be full of water,

now it has no water.”

Subramani, another res-

ident, said, “Our wells and

bore wells are dry because

of sand mining.”

Mr. Ashok Narayan

from Space Geo Tech said

"sand mining is very dan-

gerous for the environment

as it reduces the ground-

water level."

Rakesh, 23, said, “We

start digging the sand at 8

am, in the afternoon we fil-

ter the sand; this goes on till

9.30 p.m.”

“If police or media

come to know that, we are

mining for sand illegally, we

wouldn’t be able to work,”

he added.

Krishna Murthy, driver

of a sand-transport truck

said, “I have been working

in the sand mining business

for eight years now , I get

Rs 300 for one truck-load;

in a day we transport five to

six loads.”

Kanakapura police says

that they have fined 20

truckloads of sand on Sep-

tember 22; however they

were unable to get details

of people involved.

Mr Venkatesh, the writer

for Kanakapura police sta-

tion who is currently inves-

tigating illegal sand mining

cases said "22 cases have al-

ready been filed, 126 vehi-

cles were seized and were

fined Rs. 25,000 each."

The three founders of

Bookpad, the first Indian

tech start-up to be

bought by Yahoo, say

India is not start-up

friendly.

Niketh Sabbaneni, 24,

and Aditya Bandi, 23 were

interns for Amazon and

Ashwik Reddy, 21, was a

student of IIT-Guwahati

when they started an app

project in May 2012.

The young friends were

frustrated that various doc-

uments on the web re-

quired different pro-

grammes to open them.

They created Docspad,

an application that can

open any document.

Karnataka’s government

has held up the Bookpad

deal, valued at $8.9million,

as a model of state start-up

success.

But Niketh said, “India

is not an ideal place for

start-up companies and es-

pecially a tech start-up. We

had to go knocking on a lot

of doors for the invest-

ments. We initially invested

our own money and later, as

we hired people, we invited

their contribution as well.

“The technical start-ups

in India are not that invest-

ment friendly and many in-

vestors in India do not

quickly accept the idea of

SAS, Software as a Service

products,” he added.

The trio had problem

focusing on the project as

finding the investors and

onvincing them to fund the

project was not an easy

task. “It was a real issue as

finding the investors.”

(Continued on pg 4)

ObserverVolume 14 | Issue 9 Thursday, September 25, 2014

The Weekly

Un-appy with India, trio finds success in USDarshan D Rane

Aparna Singh

BRIEFS

Drunkards, drug

addicts attend

school at nightDrunkards and

drug addicts are

causing trouble to

residents of Manga-

manapalya at night.

Page 2

‘Lollipop men’

scheme failing A road safety pro-

gram for school

children lacks

trained personnel

and well-equipped

recruits as it com-

pletes a year in Sep-

tember 2014.

Page 3

Infant death

scheme in a

state

A health scheme is

failing in the city

as the government

is not creating

awareness and

mothers are un-

aware it exists.

Page 4

Niketh Sabbaneni, Aditya Bandi and Ashwik Reddy

Sand mining leaving locals in drought

Illegal sand mining at Kanakapura

Elizabeth Mani

Drunkards and drug ad-

dicts are causing trouble

to residents of Manga-

manapalya at night.

"They followed me as I

was walking alone and tried

to snatch my chain but I

somehow escaped," said

Geetha a resident.

Residents complained

that Johnson High School

in this area has no security

and people trespass at night

and get intoxicated.

“We know that people

smoke ganja and drink

there. Two months ago we

went there after getting a

call from the residents at

night but they escaped,”

said Kumar, PC of Bom-

manahalli Police Station.

"One day my roommate

reached late, these guys

taunted her and she was

crying," said Sneha, who

stays next to the school.

Sonu Jerad, proprietor

of the school, said: “Intrud-

ers had destroyed a statue

of Mother Mary and bro-

ken the windows of the

school last month but the

police didn’t register the

complaint and instead

blamed us.

“After weekends we

often find liquor bottles in-

side the school campus,” he

added.

Beem Nayak, ASI of

Bommanahalli Police Sta-

tion said, “There is no

problem in that area and we

haven’t received com-

plaint.”

Mustaq, a resident, said,

"To tackle the issue school

authorities installed a gate

last month and now people

even stand in front of the

gate and drink."

"I have seen men bring-

ing girls to the school at

night for obvious reasons,"

said Prasanth, a resident.

The residents said de-

spite all this the police still

don’t regularly patrol the

area at night.

The Weekly Observer Thursday, September 25, 20142

Students wash dishes at govt school

Drunkards,drug addicts attend school at night

Natasha Singh

School students have to

wash the utensils in

which they are provided

mid-day meal.

“We have a helper but

most of the time he doesn't

come, so we have found an

alternative for that. We ap-

point any two students

from any class as food min-

ister for a week and then it

becomes their responsibility

to look after the dishes,”

said the headmistress of

Government Higher Pri-

mary school, Hanumanth-

nagar.

Students of primary

classes of Government

Higher Primary School,

Hanumanthangra have to

lift buckets full of 5-10

liters hot milk. And also

they are forced to wash the

utensils.

“We don’t have any

choice. For this week

Vishwa and I are the food

ministers. And we have to

manage things on our

own,” said Rithvick, a stu-

dent of 5th grade.

“It is difficult for us to

do the chores. But we can’t

complain because our

teachers have instructed us

to do that,” he added.

However, according to

Mr. Gangadhar, Senior As-

sistant Director, Mid-day

meal scheme, “Utensils are

not supposed to be cleaned

by the students there. It is

the work of the helper.”

“There is a provision

that per 50 students, there

should be a helper. But as

per my knowledge these

helpers are provided by the

NGOs and the organiza-

tions themselves which

provide food to these

schools,” he added.

According to Mr. Ma-

hesh, Relationship Man-

ager, The Akshaya Patra

Foundation, that provides

food to more than 40 per-

cent schools in Bangalore

including GHP School,

Hanumanthanagara, “We

are not responsible for the

helpers. Our responsibility

is to provide food only.”

“Helpers are appointed

by the schools only on con-

tract basis. They are not our

employees,” he added.

Nikhil M Babu

Divya Kishore

Plug pulled on

power cut app?

The mobile application

for power-cut notification

by Bangalore Electricity

Supply Company has yet

to be launched.

The application, Fault

Management System (FMS)

was a novel idea announced

by Bescom on January 31 to

keep customers informed

about power cuts.

The initiative was taken

as power cuts were rising

and complaints to Bescom

were increasing.

FMS was supposed to

be available from July1 and

easily downloadable on An-

droid phones.

Once downloaded, the

user could log in with their

electricity meter number.

The app would release in-

formation through SMS.

The vigilance officer,

Ashit Ullah Khan, said,

"When it comes to techni-

cal stuff, we can't always

stick to dates that are an-

nounced. There are always

technical difficulties in-

volved."

Prabhakar Rajendra, a

resident of HBR Layout,

who takes tuitions at home,

said, “The app would have

helped me schedule the

classes accordingly. But I

gave up waiting and bought

a generator two months

back so that the classes

aren’t disrupted.”

Johnson High School, Mangamanapalya

Rithivick, a student

A road safety program

for school children lacks

trained staff and well-

equipped recruits one

year after its launch.

Lollipop man was

launched in September last

year to avoid accidents and

ensure child safety outside

schools during peak hours.

It is a concept taken from

U.S, U.K and Australia.

Out of 5,000 schools in

Bangalore only 174 schools

have registered under this

scheme. One member from

a school is trained by Traf-

fic Training Institute for 15

days and then placed out-

side schools during peak

traffic hours.

Traffic training institute

is ready to train more than

the number they receive

currently. Viresh, Sub- In-

spector at the training insti-

tute, said, “It is always two

way traffic, so we at least

need two lollipop man con-

trolling the traffic .Our

trainers are ready to train

more volunteers, but the

initiative lacks on the part

of the schools.”

When asked about the

money invested in the

scheme, M.G Nagendra

Kumar, Assistant Commis-

sioner of Police Traffic

Training Institute (TTI),

said, “It is an independent

venture by traffic police,

and expenses are covered

under regular salaries itself.

It is a successful scheme as

no accidents have been re-

ported as of now, and we

are in the first phase of

training with four complete

sessions.”

The institute has two

sessions per year in which

approximately 40-50 people

undergo the training . So,

far 180 trainees are author-

ized to be lollipop men.

Lollypop man scheme

was launched to minimize

the burden on the traffic

police.

“We cannot trust lol-

lipop men solely for the

traffic management, we

have to leave our traffic

spot to regulate traffic out-

side schools when the

classes are dismissed,” said,

a traffic police officer con-

trolling traffic outside St.

Mary Covent School.

The training institute has

largely seen private schools

sending their attendees for

training while government

schools lack funds and staff

to recruit lollypop men.

The financial burden is

borne by independent

schools for the total invest-

ment.

“Private schools receive

high amounts of donation.

Government schools can-

not afford this concept,”

Sneha Shiromani, parent of

a child studying in Govern-

ment High School in Bhu-

vneshwari Nagar.

Vice-Principal, St.

Joseph High School,

Mariam Angelo, said, “We

have sent out our man to

the training but he is usually

occupied in his main job.

We prefer our collaboration

with a private security com-

pany above the lollipop

man.”

B. Pradip, lollipop man,

APH school, said, “I am a

physical education teacher,

if I get time, I go for half

an hour to regulate the traf-

fic as well.”

Steven, a lollypop man,

said, “I was given only one

day training where they

used only visuals to train

me. I sometimes go on the

lollypop man duty if I get

time apart from my regular

job for which I am paid

for.”

Punita Maheshwari

Trainer displaying the uniform. Courtesy-TTI

‘Lollipop men’ scheme lacks staff

The Weekly Observer Thursday, September 25, 2014 3

Software employees unpaid after firms split

Employees of Axis Soft-

ware Private Limited

claim that they have not

been paid for nine

months.

The workers claim that

the company after breaking

its collaboration with the

State Bank of India fired

many workers in cities like

Bangalore, Hyderabad,

Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata

and Bhopal.

Sanjit Kumar Singh,

from Delhi, said: "I have

not been paid the salary for

nine months. My appoint-

ment letter was online and

so was the payment. I have

been emailing Abhay, CEO

of the company and con-

tacting him since I was

made to leave the job but

he does not reply."

He added, "There are 10

workers in Chandigarh who

have not been paid and

were given proper appoint-

ment letters at the start.”

Somesh, from Bhopal,

said: "They had to pay me

Rs.11,000 per month. I

have to be paid for seven

months' work.

“There were four other

workers under me in Indore

and Bhopal who have not

been paid either,” he added.

Ajay, Head of north

zone, said, “I contacted

them via email and phone

but only got replies that

they would pay us the next

month for sure.”

An employee in Banga-

lore said, “I was not paid

for five months but they are

paying me now.”

Maneesh Kumar, of Hy-

derabad, said: “I was not

paid the provident fund for

almost 3 years work..

“The fund was deducted

as part of company policy

but they did not pay any of

it after I was made to leave

the company,” he added.

Mr. Makran Apte, Direc-

tor of the company, said,

“The company intimated

the workers two months

before firing them. We paid

them their full salary till

they were working for us.

We fired them because we

did not need that many

workers after the term of

bond with the SBI got over.

“In fact in Delhi and

Bhopal, we paid them four

months extra salary as well.

The workers are just com-

plaining and lying about not

getting paid because they

got fired,” he added.Somesh, worker from Bhopal

Sanjit Singh, Delhi

Apoorva Choubey

A health scheme is fail-

ing in the city because

only a few people know

it exists.

The Janani Shishu Suraksha

Karyakram scheme by gov-

ernment aims to arrest the

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

in the state.

It has failed as the IMR has

been rising in Karnataka.

The lack of awareness to-

wards the program is said

to be one of the reasons for

this increase.

IMR in 2011 was 38, in

2012 it went to 33. In 2013,

it was 28. In 2014, the num-

ber of deaths is 27 till date

which is projected to reach

36 by the end of the year,

hence the number will in-

crease from the last year.

Salma Shakil, 28, mother of

a three-year-old boy and a

month-and-a-half old

daughter said: “I do not

know about any such

scheme. I gave birth to my

daughter on August 5 in

Victoria. The medicines

were cost free but I have

never attended any work-

shop and also never heard

of it.”

The government has held a

few workshops in schools

to educate the women and

the families about the

scheme and its benefits. Dr.

Thelma Narayana, co-initia-

tor of Community Health

Cell (CHC) at Society for

Community Health Aware-

ness Research and Action

(SOCHARA), said,

“NHRM needs to work

more towards the issue of

awareness. It has to involve

media as much as possible

to create awareness about

such schemes and govern-

ment fails to do so.”

SOCHARA runs the fel-

lowship program that trains

the people to create aware-

ness about the hygiene is-

sues and schemes that

government launch.

“In the past 10 years gov-

ernment is making efforts

for the awareness by invest-

ing in the advertisements

but that clearly are not

enough.

ASHA advisory group and

SOCHARA have asked

NHRM to involve media

to reach out to people. For

other schemes it is doing

something in the field of

advertising but for JSSK,

especially in Bangalore

there is no such initiative,”

she added.

JSSK clearly states that a

mother-to-be will be treated

cost free and the medicines

will also be provided free of

cost. It also provides moth-

ers with transport facility

from their houses to hospi-

tals.

“At the time of the birth I

came by the auto to the

hospital. I did not know

that there is a program that

provides the mothers with

the transport, “said Lalitha

Kumari, mother of a three-

month-old boy who came

to Victoria Hospital to get

him treated for fever.

Dr. Sarala Sabhapathy, As-

sociate Professor of Pedi-

atric in Bowring and Lady

Curzon Hospital said:

“There are many reasons

for the increase in IMR.

The deaths in newborns are

not often seen but infants

are seen suffering from res-

piratory infection.

The other reason is that

many children are not vac-

cinated properly at the

proper time. The parents

think that the vaccinations

will cost them and also lack

of awareness is one prob-

lem that is faced in such is-

sues.”

The Weekly Observer Thursday, September 25, 20144

Continued from pg 1“Initially, the idea started

off completely differently.

It was basically a Business

to Customer sort of a thing

where it had more to do

with how we can read doc-

uments or books any time

on devices like phone, lap-

top and other devices,“ he

said.

Niketh said that the

Karnataka government has

opened start-up centres

called Start-up Warehouse

with the help of Nasscom.

This is a centre of innova-

tion for start-ups and it was

of huge benefit to the ven-

ture.

The government, as he

said, was helpful with the

venture.

The National Associa-

tion of Software and Serv-

ices Companies

(NASSCOM) also helped

them with mentoring and

training.

When asked about the

role of the National Asso-

ciation of Software and

Services Companies, he

said, ”It helps in nurturing

ealy stage companies and

they help with mentorship,

connect to customers and

investors. They also help in

partnerships and network-

ing.”

Before starting up the

project Niketh and Aditya

were working in Amazon.in

as interns and Ashwik was

studying in IIT-Guwahati.

He quit his job in July 2013

to focus completely on the

product.

Niketh, from Hyderabad

and Aditya, from Indore,.

They are currently living in

Indiranagar in a rented

apartment. “All three of us

will be moving to Yahoo,”

he said. They said that they

were confident about the

project but they did not

know it would be this big

and this early in their ca-

reers. He also said that there

is much more to come for

all of them in future.

“The support and pa-

tience of the family and

faculties has paid off.

The Silicon Valley is

where a lot of action is hap-

pening at the moment and

we are looking forward to

hit on the competition,.” he

said.

He declined to comemnt

when asked if he and his

fellow directors were now

millionaires.

He said that they were

very surprised and excited

about their success but

there is still a long way to go

and this was just the begin-

nig of their careers.

“The competition is

tough out there as techies

despite low investment is-

sues are coming up. ”

Victoria Goverment Hospital

Aparna Singh

OBSERVER Team: Editor - Divya Kishore, Chief Sub-Editor - Apoorva Choubey, News Editor - Punita Maheshwari, News Desk -Agnivesh

Harshan, Sub Editors - Asmita Kundu, Devdatta Sukhdev,Elizabeth Mani,Designer -Natasha Singh, Layout Desk - Pulaha Roy, Aadhira

Anandh,Photo Editor - Nikhil M Babu , Proof Reader - Darshan D Rane,Aparna singh, Reporters - Kimaya Varude,Nikunj Ohiri

Infant death scheme not working in the city - NGO’s