Sir, COVID-19 caused by the Novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has brought difficulties to common man across the globe and restricted their movement at all levels. The complete lockdown of the country could reduce the rate of virus spread considerably, which resulted only in a few hundreds of new cases per day,…

Sir, This refers to the news item “Women throng banks to avail Jan Dhan benefits” in Star of Mysore dated Apr. 8. I wish to clarify as follows for information of the public and the beneficiaries. The benefits of such payments initiated by the Government are transferred through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The amount will…

Sir, This is with reference to a photograph published in Star of Mysore dated Apr. 6 on page-9 showing Hindus and Muslims together lighting diyas at Chamundipuram, Mysuru. Millions of Indians turned off the lights in their homes and lit up balconies and doorsteps with lamps, candles and mobile flashlights on Apr. 5. The above…

Sir, While we are all in the midst of an existential fight against COVID-19, we have to make sure that we don’t have to fight a second front in the form of water scarcity. The summer is already upon us and the hotter days to come will be a test of our civic responsibility to…

Sir, This has reference to the report “Social distancing goes for a toss in city” (SOM dated Apr.3). It is indeed very distressing to note that people are not maintaining social distancing while purchasing groceries, vegetables and fruits at markets or stores. This includes the so-called educated elite of society living in apartments. These people…

Sir, It is heart-warming to see various voluntary social organisations and Government representatives distributing safety kits, food, ration and essential commodity kits to COVID warriors and others who desperately need them in this time of crisis. However, it was appalling to see that except in a few cases, social distancing was completely ignored and photo-ops…

Sir, National newspapers of 22nd March 2020 have announced that our Chief Minister has approved Hubballi-Ankola Rail Project mainly under pressure from politicians of North Karnataka. Do Railways have approval of the Ministry of Environment for this project? I doubt it. It goes without saying that the rail-line will result in cutting lakhs of trees…

Sir, With the State Government announcing door-to-door distribution of ration to BPL card holders, hundreds of people crowded at Kalyanagiri Housing Apartment (Ward 32) yesterday, giving the social distancing measure a toss. When the District Administration is taking all safety measures and appealing the citizens to maintain social distance at public places, some people don’t…

Sir, The recent move by Railways to chip-in to transport essential goods across the country is highly appreciated. The move comes at a critical time when the entire nation is witnessing a lockdown owing to Coronavirus outbreak hampering normal life and its activities. The Railways otherwise has been at the forefront in the nation-building exercise…

Sir, Mahatma Gandhi said that the Future of India lies in its villages. Today when we see heart-wrenching visuals of lakhs of poor desperately trying to leave the cities and return to their homes, we are reminded of his words. Decades after Gandhiji, a messiah named Anna Hazare championed the cause in a village named…