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Karnataka Today newsletter: Controversial white-topping of roads to commence soon in Bengaluru, and more

The controversial white-topping work will commence in the city as BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath has instructed officials to make all necessary preparations to launch the project. Officials from the BWSSB, Bescom, KPTCL, and GAIL have been directed to conduct site surveys and submit reports on the relocation of water and sewer pipelines, cables, and gas pipelines.

Addressing an inter-departmental coordination meeting on July 2, Mr. Giri Nath stated that the project will be undertaken in 15 packages. Of these, 13 packages have been finalised, and work orders have been issued to the contractors. The remaining two packages are at the government level. Here’s a full list of roads where white-topping works will be taken up.

Union Minister of State and Bengaluru North MP Shobha Karandlaje has written to Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh seeking installation of a Doppler Weather Radar in Bengaluru. The radar would significantly enhance the accuracy of weather forecasts, providing early warning of severe weather conditions such as thunderstorms, heavy rains, and cyclones.

“...Bengaluru, often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India, is a rapidly growing metropolis with a population that is highly vulnerable to weather-related disturbances... The recent increase in un-predicted heavy rainfall, resulting in flash floods, has highlighted the urgent necessity for advanced weather forecasting systems to mitigate the adverse effects of such natural disasters,” the letter states.

The Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), a division of the Ministry of Education of the Union Government, has sponsored a workshop for the faculty of engineering colleges on ‘temple knowledge traditions’, with specific references to temples in Karnataka. Anantha Chethana, an organisation run by Ananth Kumar Pratishthana, named after former Union minister H.N. Ananth Kumar, is conducting the workshop in Bengaluru on July 13.

Around 50 teaching faculty of engineering colleges, spread across Karnataka, are expected to attend the workshop, in which experts will deliver lectures on the ‘multifaceted role of temples in society, their influence on social structures, community life, art, architecture, and education’.

After the National Education Policy (NEP), the Karnataka government has now opposed the University Grants Commission (UGC) order to implement biannual admissions in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).