1. Karnataka officials to get monthly targets for reclaiming encroached government land
The State Government will fix monthly targets for officials to remove encroachment on government property across Karnataka, Minister for Revenue Krishna Byre Gowda has said. With data on encroachment already available, officials have been told to submit by August 12 a time-table for removing the encroachments.
Whether it is lake or any other government land, the exercise to remove encroachment will be taken up as a campaign, starting from Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts, the Minister said.
2. Karnataka reported more than 45,000 teen pregnancies from January 2020 to June 2023: RTI reply
Karnataka has witnessed a sharp rise in teenage pregnancies over the last three years. The number of teenage pregnancies went up from 10,101 during the calendar year 2020 to 13,159 during 2021 before registering a substantial increase to 19,561 during 2022, as per information obtained by Odanadi Seva Samsthe in Mysuru from the Commissionerate of Health and Family Welfare Services of Karnataka, through RTI.
Between January and June 2023, another 2,736 teenage pregnancies had been reported in the State. The total number of teenage pregnancies reported in Karnataka between January 2020 and June 2023 is a staggering 45,557.
3. Students oppose restriction on non-veg food at college fest in Sagar taluk of Shivamogga
Opposition to presenting chicken items in a college food festival prompted the girl students of Indira Gandhi Government First Grade College for Women in Sagar, Shivamogga, to stage a protest on August 7. A few members of the teaching staff objected to a team of girls bringing koli kajjaya — a traditional chicken delicacy — and biryani to the food festival, and told them to remove the non-vegetarian dishes.
The girls retorted, claiming that nearly 90% of the students and the teaching community were non-vegetarians, and the dishes they had prepared are part of their food culture. As video clips of staff members opposing the non-vegetarian food went viral, netizens from Sagar taluk raised the issue on social media platforms.
4. MG Motor to install 100 EV chargers in Bengaluru
MG Motor India plans to install 1,000 EV SMART chargers across India, under its MG Charge initiative, towards its push for electric mobility.
As part of this initiative, MG Motor India, owned by Chinese company SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, will set up 100 MG Comet EV chargers in buildings and apartments owned by Prestige Group in Bengaluru.
