IT companies also responsible for floods, BJP leader tells Mohandas Pai
Bengaluru: N R Ramesh, BJP Bangalore South district president, has snapped back at Mohandas Pai, senior information technology industrialist, saying in an open letter that the IT industry was equally answerable for the floods tormenting the state capital.
Ramesh wrote to Pai that IT/BT companies as well as Tech Parks in Bengaluru had contributed immensely to the mess that several parts of the city are currently in.
The open letter was written in the backdrop of Pai’s accusation that poor administration, an ineffective government, and high levels of corruption had resulted in the public works being of low quality and the rise of illegal construction in Bengaluru. All these factors, coupled with a lack of urban reforms, had made way for the floods due to the heavy downpour in the city, he had stated. Pai had launched the 'Save Bengaluru campaign' and tweeted about the failure of the Central and state governments and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Ramesh has told Mohandas Pai, “You have, however, preferred to maintain silence on the contribution of the IT/BT sector to the current situation… IT companies that are members of the Outer Ring Road Companies Association and the Electronics City Industries Association and Tech Parks in the ITPL area of Mahadevapura had encroached upon stormwater drains (rajakaluve) and the buffer zones while constructing their buildings. You seem to have forgotten this.”
The district president, further, said that the companies in Electronic City had merely received all sorts of benefits of the system, but failed to pay Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore as property tax to BBMP.
He also pointed out, “Earlier administrations and officers had supported the IT companies in the latters’ works and remained silent during encroachment, which also made way for the floods in the region.”
Ramesh accused the industrialist of trying to blemish the stature of a historic city like Bengaluru by focusing on only the current administration and saying the system has failed in its duties.
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ISRO's analogue space mission kicks off at Leh
Bengaluru, Nov 1: ISRO on Friday said its analogue space mission has taken off at Leh in Ladakh, where it will simulate life in an interplanetary habitat as India prepares to send a human to the moon.
The initiative is a collaborative effort of the Human Spaceflight Centre, ISRO, AAKA Space Studio, University of Ladakh, IIT Bombay, and supported by Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council.
The month-long mission, kicked off mid-October, comes in the wake of India's plans to set up lunar habitats, which could provide a base to launch inter-planetary missions.
The geographical features of Ladakh are considered to closely resemble Martian and lunar landscapes and are an ideal training ground for scientific missions aimed at exploring planets "India's first analog space mission kicks off in Leh...this mission will simulate life in an interplanetary habitat to tackle the challenges of a base station beyond Earth," ISRO said in a post on X.
The team of AAKA Space Studio is testing environment suits and conducting geological studies in Leh's low-oxygen environment, simulating space-like conditions, studies that could be crucial for future space missions.
The team is also studying how the human body adapts to the harsh weather conditions in Ladakh that could be useful in understanding how astronauts could get used to space like conditions.
🚀 India’s first analog space mission kicks off in Leh! 🇮🇳✨ A collaborative effort by Human Spaceflight Centre, ISRO, AAKA Space Studio, University of Ladakh, IIT Bombay, and supported by Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, this mission will simulate life in an… pic.twitter.com/LoDTHzWNq8
— ISRO (@isro) November 1, 2024
