Bengaluru likely to experience internet outages; Everything you need to know
Might impact tech companies, WFH employees
Bengaluru: Bengaluru, often hailed as India's tech capital, faces the looming possibility of an internet blackout that could significantly impact both work-from-home employees and the operations of tech firms in the region.
The reason behind this potential disruption is the decision taken by the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) to remove all unauthorised optical fibre cables (OFCs), data cables, and dish cables that have been laid on electrical poles across the city.
This move comes in the wake of two incidents where pedestrians were injured due to electric poles collapsing under the weight of dangling OFCs. The first incident occurred on August 22 in Sadduguntepalya near Koramangala, resulting in serious injuries to a 21-year-old college student who suffered significant burns. The second incident happened on August 19 in Devarabisanahalli near Bellandur, where a 23-year-old pedestrian was injured by a falling pole.
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In response, Bescom has announced its decision to remove all unauthorised cables within a week's time. The company emphasized that if OFC and dish cable operators fail to comply within this timeframe, Bescom will take the matter into its own hands and proceed with removal, while also filing cases against the concerned operators.
While the move is aimed at ensuring public safety and preventing such accidents in the future, it has raised concerns about potential internet disruptions in the tech hub. Residents in various areas, including Sarjapur Road, Carmelaram, and HSR Layout, have reported internet outages in recent days due to the removal of unauthorised cables.
This situation echoes past instances in 2019 when similar removals by the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) led to internet outages in areas like Outer Ring Road, Sarjapur Road, Whitefield, Marathahalli, Bellandur, and Sarjapur. Such actions without prior intimation to telecom and internet service providers prompted the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) to raise concerns about potential outages and user inconvenience.
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Israel closes 6 UN schools for Palestinians in east Jerusalem
Jerusalem, May 8 (AP): Israel permanently closed six U.N. schools in east Jerusalem on Thursday, forcing Palestinian students to leave early and throwing the education of more than 800 others into question.
Last month, heavily armed Israeli police and Education Ministry officials ordered six schools in east Jerusalem to close within 30 days, which ended on Wednesday. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, runs the six schools. UNRWA also runs schools in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which continue to operate.
The closure orders come after Israel banned UNRWA from operating on its soil earlier this year, the culmination of a long campaign against the agency that intensified following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. Israel claims that UNRWA schools teach antisemitic content and anti-Israel sentiment, which UNRWA denies.
UNRWA is the main provider of education and health care to Palestinian refugees across east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem and considers the entire city its unified capital.
The Israeli Ministry of Education says it will place the students into other Jerusalem schools. But parents, teachers and administrators caution that closing the main schools in east Jerusalem will force their children to go through crowded and dangerous checkpoints daily, and some do not have the correct permits to pass through.
In a previous statement to The Associated Press, the Ministry of Education said it was closing the schools because they were operating without a license. UNRWA administrators pledged to keep the schools open for as long as possible.
