Term insurance is usually bought for the long term, usually up to the age of retirement. People considering to buy term insurance, hence want to take time and be double sure, before they sign up for any product.

One of the primary concerns is with respect to claims settlement. Customers usually want assurance that their nominee(s) do not have to go through the hassles of follow-up and running around offices, for getting the insurance claim paid.

Term insurance in the true sense is a very simple product with very little fine print. If the applicant/customer has been careful, clear and honest during the application process, there are almost no chances that a claim can get declined or delayed.

Here is a list of the most common mistakes people make when buying a policy, which then result in claims getting declined or delayed:

Missing, incomplete or concealed information: Most common mistake one can make is at the time of filling the proposal form. Form filling is generally seen as a time consuming, tedious activity. Dont try to get lethargic while filling the form, or worse, leave it to your advisor to fill up your proposal form. There are chances that incorrect or incomplete information gets submitted to the insurance company, which could increase the risk of a claim getting rejected. Remember, your term insurance plan is going to be issued on the information provided in the proposal form and it will form a part of the contract.

Non-Medical information: Information related to your geographical location, occupation, income, etc. should be disclosed completely. When filling the proposal form you must select the right occupation and qualification. The questions asked in the proposal form play an extremely important role in the insurance companys decision to accept or reject your insurance application. Hence, if this misinformation is found at the time of claims, it can result in claim getting declined.

Medical, lifestyle, family information: Pay special attention to sections related to lifestyle, medical history and family history. Do not miss or hide information related to your health and lifestyle especially in smoking and alcohol-related questions.

Pre-existing diseases: This information plays a significant role when a customer wishes to attach some health-related riders/add-ons, like critical illness rider, with the basic term life insurance plan. Being a health-related cover, it is very important to disclose about any pre-existing conditions. Currently, new term insurance plans come with inbuilt critical illness benefits.

Avoiding medical test: If you chose a sum assured higher than on-medical limits of the insurer, you would be asked to go through some medical tests. Do not ignore these medical tests and try to get a policy by reducing sum assured within the non-medical limits. The costs of these medical tests are taken care of by the insurance company. The more information you provide about yourself, the lower are the chances of claim rejection. These tests can also come in handy for you. With early detection of diseases, proper treatment can be taken. By avoiding medical tests, you are increasing the chances of facing a claim rejection.

Nomination details: You must keep your nomination details updated at all the important stages of life. For example: Lets say that a person was single when he bought a term plan. He named his parents as the nominee to the policy. However, after marriage, he forgot to update the nominee details, even when the parents passed away. Now if something unfortunate were to happen to him, his wife and children would have to run from pillar to post for claiming the proceeds of that term insurance plan. It could also lead to nasty legal battles among family members for claiming the benefits. Nomination should be done and updated for all the financial products you possess. It is recommended to write a will and get it registered to ensure complete peace of mind.

Lack of awareness: Many times, our family members do not know How to make a claim? To keep them prepared for such unfortunate events, make it a point to inform your family about the life insurance policies you have. Share the policy details along with the list of documents required to file a claim along with phone number of important people who could help in filing the claim. It is not easy to discuss matters related to our death with our loved ones, but for their happiness we must do it, at the earliest.

Policy lapse: The first criteria for getting your claim is policy should be in-force. You must always pay your premiums on time to keep your policy in-force.

Delay in claim filing: Delay in filing the claim beyond a stipulated period of time could raise unnecessary suspicion with the insurance company. The insurer can call for prolonged investigations. Such activities can take an additional time and delay claims payment.

(The writer is Director - Health, Life and Strategic Initiatives at Coverfox.com)

Through 2017, we have seen technological advancements, new regulatory policies, and ever-demanding customers reshape the banking industry landscape.

For some time now, incumbents of the financial sector have been under pressure to address the demands of the well-informed millennial customer, while staying relevant and profitable at the same time.

Gone are the days when banks viewed FinTech companies as disruptors; today, they are partners that are pairing up to take on the challenges of a digital first world.

The Indian FinTech scene comes with an added extra; new initiatives by the government to boost financial inclusion and promote a cashless society have opened windows of opportunities for FinTech companies, where first-mover advantages are tremendous. As a result of the governments initiatives, there has been a sharp increase in consumer adoption of FinTech.

EY, in its FinTech Adoption Index for 2017, states that 52% of Indias digitally active consumers are adopting FinTech; a figure that is only second to Chinas 69%, which is the global highest.

In these times of uncertainty, only one thing is certain â€" change. Below are some of the FinTech trends that could become major game-changers in 2018.

Next-Gen Chatbots: 2017 saw several major banks in India such as HDFC Bank, ICICI bank, and YES Bank, amongst others, adopting chatbots for supporting customer interactions. Currently, these chatbots are said to possess the intelligence of a 2-3-year old. However, as machines do not suffer from physical or learning fatigue, the evolution of a chatbot could be best described as more exponential than linear. So, in 2018, we could expect more chatbots to be deployed with improved quality of interactions, speed of responses, and accuracy in decision-making.
Machine Learning: Banks in 2018 will start adopting new regression models powered by machine learning to deliver better offerings. The brightest data scientists will be involved in this delivery and they will be aided by insights into customer behaviour, expectations and responses. These insights will be gained by adopting big data tools and will enable banks to predict customer needs and meet them in a customised manner.
Blockchain: As Niti Aayog is creating IndiaChain to reduce fraud, speed up contract enforcement, and increase transparency, its clear that blockchain is no more the elephant in the room that no one is willing to address.

Several major players have already begun pilot projects to measure the feasibility of adopting blockchain into their ecosystems. As blockchain is virtually unhackable due to time stamps that mark a data entry in a distributed ledger, banks will explore options to leverage the power of blockchain to transform back-end operations.
Smart Workflows: With the help of embedded AI aiding the back-end operations of banks, they will be able to quickly identify bottlenecks in their operational workflows and bring in significant improvements in process efficiencies.
Automated Personalisation: Banks will leverage the power of FinTech to personalise the offerings that users see on all their devices. Banks will change the appearance of apps based on actual usage. This will make users feel more connected with banks and it will also set the stage for efficient self-service. There will also be advancements in providing pre-filled data to users, based on their previous interaction history, preferences and banking habits.
Open Banking: With initiatives such as UPI and AEPS, banking will become more open in 2018. With more APIs exposed by banks, the process of carrying out payments and other banking transactions would be greatly quickened as well as simplified.
Physical and Digital Merger: FinTech has made it possible for banks to reach customers who are data-rich but credit-poor. In a country like India, where so many people still dont have access to banking facilities, FinTech works better by offering a phygital (a combination of physical and digital) experience. The objective here is effective self-service that enables customers to walk into a branch and make use of basic automated services.
Extended Digital Coverage: Until now, most digital banking solutions have been primarily targeted at retail customers. In 2018, banks will extend digital coverage to other areas such as corporate banking and SME banking and also transform their internal operations to derive the best out of digital transformation initiatives.
Agile Architecture: Digital solutions are here to stay and as timelines shrink, budgets tighten, and lifecycles shorten, banks will follow new architecture paradigms such as micro apps, micro services and more. These will enable banks to introduce changes significantly faster with minimal impact on existing deployments and services.
Security: Data is the new oil and with so much data being generated every second, hackers are constantly devising ways to acquire it. As most cyber security measures up till now have been reactive rather than preventive in nature, banks will now begin to adopt additional measures to ensure data security at all stages using a combination of encryption, OTPs, biometric authentication and more.

As the Indian FinTech space grows to reach an expected $2.4 billion by 2020, 2018 will be a critical year in that journey. Customers are increasingly open to banking innovations driven by technology, government regulations are leading the charge, and private players are making major investments. This is leading to greater financial inclusion as everyone gets access to advanced banking services and a wide range of financial offerings. These trends are sure to play a key role in this transition.

(The writer is Executive Director at
i-exceed Technology Solutions)

Japanese car major Toyota completes two decades in India this year, scripting a journey that was fast-paced with quicker gear shifts at some points, with a few slower turns at others, while at few points, it encountered roadblocks. But the Japanese carmaker has grown with the times in India, and hopes to tag along with the market environment.

In 1997, the Indian market had just begun opening to foreign car brands. Toyota formed its Indian subsidiary Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited with Kirloskar Group, which took 11% stake in the JV, to set its course in the utility vehicle arena, with the Qualis which came in 2000. Toyota has since commanded a significant share of a few UV segments, adopting a wait-and-watch approach, as it carefully makes its moves in a chequered Indian car market, governed by an uncertain regulatory environment.

"Our journey has been punctuated by happiness. We have customers whore reluctant to leave us. We have sold over a million vehicles in the market. Our Fortuner sees 60% segment share, Innova sees 35% share; segment-by-segment, we enjoy double-digit share across. From the beginning of TKM sales operations until October 2017, the cumulative sales share of Fortuner (including the new Fortuner), Innova, Innova Crysta, and Qualis, contributed to 56% of our total sales," says Shekar Viswanathan, Wholetime Director and Vice Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), who is an old hand at the company.

Sharing vignettes of Toyotas Indian years gone by with DH, Viswanthan mentions, "We havent completed our journey yet. We feel that we are still good to go for another 100 years and more. We intend capturing more of the Indian market and make good products available."

Bangalore beginnings

In 1997, scouting for a credible partner for its India foray, the Toyota Motor Corporation entered into joint venture with Kirloskar Systems, headed by Vikram Kirloskar, in an 89:11 partnership.

Setting up shop through JVs and partnerships is a strategy Toyota adopts globally. "While Toyota has all the expertise in making cars, for knowledge about local conditions, dealing with local governments, and with the public at large, we need someone known from the community. In India, we found an excellent partner in Kirloskar," Viswanathan says.

Almost every foreign carmaker in India went to Sanand or Halol in Gujarat, Talegaon or Chakan in Maharashtra, Oragadam or Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, and Gurugram and Manesar in Haryana. Toyota, as TKM, found an encouraging safe haven in Karnataka, setting up its India headquarters in Bengaluru, along with a sprawling 432-acre manufacturing plant with a capacity of up to 3,10,000 units at nearby Bidadi.

"When selecting a place, its the decision of the intending investors and JV partners, who study the availability of land, water, electricity, talent, skills, and labour laws at a particular market. Bengaluruhas always had the advantage of technical skills, on which TKM imparted further knowhow. The Karnataka government has always provided us with great support," says Viswanathan.

In 20 years, in terms of production and shipping quality audit (the number of cars that go out to the yard before being shipped to dealerships, and the defects that are detected then), Toyotas India factory is top-notch when compared with the 42 manufacturing facilities it operates worldwide. Also, the facility employs over 90% of its workforce from within the state and has attracted many of its ancillaries and suppliers to come within range â€" further developing the vicinity.

In December 2010, it set up a second 2,10,000-capacity plant to produce the Corolla Altis, Etios, Etios Liva, Etios Cross, Camry and Camry Hybrid, while in 2016, Toyota Industries Engine India opened a plant to make diesel engines for the Innova and Fortuner, thus adding a fillip to localisation.

Toyotas India

Around 70% of the Indian car market is dominated by small cars, which in definition refer to vehicles with sub-4 metre bodies and driving on engines of 1,500 cc or lesser capacities. The Etios and Liva have been termed as Toyotas small cars, but only the latter has passed the test in this regard. Also, the Etios, which is a hit with fleet operators and has seen fewer sales from private buyers, holds a 4% share in its respective segment.

"Thereve been questions like, In every other segment, youve been doing consistently well. But why is it a different story with small cars?," relates Viswanathan.

The small car segment is extremely competitive, with Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata, Renault, Datsun, Nissan, Ford, Honda, and Volkswagen, asking for a slice. "We have a crowded market, with the A-B segments dominating customer sentiment. We need to be realistic about what we can achieve in the small car space," he reflects.

Is Toyota giving India its pride of place? Toyota has invested over Rs 6,400 crore till date in the country. The company, which boasts of 130 models in its international stable, is among the top-three players globally, with industry estimates claiming its global sales to increase to around 10.23 million vehicles this year, across 170 countries. The Corolla is one of the worlds highest-selling vehicles of all time.

So where does India fit into Toyotas world map? "Toyota has always placed India on a very high pedestal, simply because of its demographic architecture. But it must be noted that Toyota has one of its largest footprints in the US. It has a presence in countries which had policies welcoming foreign investment much before India. Those are developed markets for Toyota, and must not be neglected," Viswanathan says.

Slow start, power on

TKM enjoys a modest 5% market share in India, but it does not want to chase competition.

For the fiscal 2016-17, TKM posted a growth of 11% at 1,42,500 units as against 1,28,500 units in the previous fiscal.

Observing the market with a keen sense of judgement and acumen amassed over the years from global experiences, the company is looking at the path the government is building â€" the mobility of tomorrow.

The Centre is bullish on alternate fuels, and by 2030, it has envisioned an all-electric mobility push. Today, however, there are very few players in the market who are looking in this direction, let alone planning products.

Five years ago, Toyota articulated its 2050 Global Vision, by when it envisages a market teeming with electric cars, hybrids and hydrogen vehicles. "We must be technology-agnostic. The government must encourage all technologies, as there is no surity on which technology will succeed," Viswanathan says, adding that the path to adopt new technologies is transitional.

"The Department of Heavy Industries has been at it for a while now. Through the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), and in pursuance to the encouragement given to EVs, pure hybrids, and mild hybrids, we were very happy with that roadmap which supported a gradual shift from internal combustion engine vehicles to minimising the use of fossil fuels. We believe that 100% use of EVs will be achieved by 2050, even if 30% of the total population use EVs around the world," he says, ruing, "However, you cannot have discriminatory treatment. Today, (under GST) EVs are taxed at 12%, while hybrids are taxed at 43%."

EVs will typically be used over short distances for city commutes. For longer distances, hybrids are seen as the logical stepping stone for faster adoption of full electrics, clamouring for the need of charging infrastructure.

Just last week, Toyota signed a crucial agreement with compatriot Suzuki to manufacture and sell electric vehicles in India by the turn of this decade. The pact will have Toyota providing technical knowledge for the project, while Suzuki will manufacture the vehicles for India, and also supply to Toyota.

"We look to revolve around the regulatory environment. Toyota is one of the most advanced players in EV technology. But due to a lack of charging infrastructure, weve brought in hybrids, as they offer the advantage of an internal combustion engine for longer drives," reiterates Viswanathan. Is the government ready for the powerplay?

Adrian Bonilla lived in a shared house in this Silicon Valley town with his wife and two grandchildren until earlier this year, when the rent for their bedroom jumped to $1,200 from $900 a month. Bonilla attributed that rise to Facebook, which is based nearby and was growing.

So Bonilla, a 43-year-old mechanic and Uber driver, bought a 1991 recreational vehicle and joined a family-oriented RV community on a quiet cul-de-sac. They lived there until last week, when Bonilla received an eviction notice.

This time, Bonilla said, the reason he had to move was because the city wanted to clear the way for "the Facebook school." That school is funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a limited liability company set up by Facebooks co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, to work on social change endeavors. Chan is a co-founder of the school, a private institution for low-income children called the Primary School.

Despite the goodwill behind the school, it has been met with opposition.

"The school is a Facebook school. Its not a city school," Bonilla said, adding that he knew he would have to move again when he heard about it. "When Facebook comes, everybody moves everywhere."

Zuckerberg is already facing plenty of troubles across the globe, including questions about Russian interference on Facebook during the 2016 election. The skirmish between the couples initiative and the RV community, which city officials said was becoming a flood hazard, is a reminder of how the billionaire also faces difficulties on his own doorstep.

For many in East Palo Alto, which is just blocks from Facebooks headquarters in Menlo Park, California, no CEO and company have come to embody the anxieties of the modern tech boom more than Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. At a meeting last Wednesday at East Palo Altos City Hall, about 100 residents and protesters gathered with city staff to discuss their housing and some invoked Zuckerbergs name.

"I want to talk about the elephant in the room," said Zach Kirk, 20, a Stanford University student who grew up in Palo Alto. "Actually, hes not in the room, hes in some mansion: Mark Zuckerberg."

Wherever Zuckerberg goes in Silicon Valley, he seems to generate a housing problem. In 2014, after the tech mogul bought a house in San Francisco, neighbors complained about construction, his security detail, the parking and how his presence would inflate prices. Earlier this year, protesters marched in East Palo Alto to denounce the displacement of residents because of big tech companies like Facebook.

The battles are likely to grow as Facebook continues its expansion in Menlo Park, with 1.75 million square feet of new office space expected to be built. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has also been growing, staffing up as it prepares to invest Zuckerbergs enormous fortune in efforts like his stated goal to "cure, prevent, and manage all disease."

Community members expect more tension later this month at an East Palo Alto town hall hosted by Real Community Coalition, a local citizens group, and featuring Facebook. At the meeting, residents will have the opportunity to ask Facebook executives questions about the companys role in the community.

"Connections are at the core of everything we do at Facebook and our relationship with residents of East Palo Alto is no different," Juan Salazar, a public policy manager for Facebook, said in a statement.

The social network has been lobbying to build more housing in the region, which Silicon Valley cities, worried about traffic and preferring a commercial over residential tax base, have fought against. In East Palo Alto, Facebook has invested $18.5 million into the Catalyst Housing Fund, an affordable housing initiative; the company has set a goal to grow the fund to $75 million.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which is also writing grants for affordable housing, said working side by side with local communities was "core to our work." In a statement, the Primary School said the episode with the RV residents was "frustrating and emblematic of larger housing issues in the Bay Area," but that it was not aware of East Palo Altos action to evict those residents and had not engaged with city officials on the matter.

East Palo Altos residents have long felt disempowered against change brought by tech leaders like Zuckerberg. A 2.6-square-mile town where one-third of the schoolchildren are homeless, it has stood as a sign that Silicon Valleys wealth might not spread to those beyond its tech campuses. And so even as Zuckerbergs limited liability company seeks to build a school here, many of its residents are skeptical.

"CZIs just walking into something with a lot of baggage," said Daniel Saver, a lawyer with the Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, which receives funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. "People here have been pushed around by very big interests and have been taken advantage of for decades. "

Sean Charpentier, East Palo Altos assistant city manager, said the region had been squeezed by the wealth around it and that the homeless population had grown. "Were a receptacle for the externalities around us," he said. "Its felt more deeply here because this city was formed to provide safe and affordable housing."

Patricia Lopez, 48, who owns a home on the street where the RVs were parked, said the trouble for the RV residents began after a community meeting that Facebook executives attended.

"They didnt introduce themselves, but the organizer said, Facebook is in the house, and they waved. And ever since then, its been heavy harassment, heavy policing," she said, which ultimately led to the evictions.

At last weeks City Hall meeting, residents and protesters expressed support for the school but anxiety over the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

By 11 p.m., protesters and city staff were getting agitated and tired. Eventually, the Public Works and Transportation Commission recommended that city staff pursue a long-term solution for the RV community by working with nonprofit organizations and by looking into a ban on oversize vehicles parking overnight.

Facebook said a senior executive attended the meeting. Nearly 50 community members spoke that night. The Facebook executive did not.

How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? Kenneth Chang, who covers space for The New York Times, discussed the tech hes using.

What has stood out about how tech in the space race has changed in recent years?

The fundamentals of rocket science have not changed in the last 50 years. We dont have "Star Trek" transporter beams. We dont have antigravity. We dont have electromagnetic rail guns. We dont have space elevators. To escape the planet, its still the explosive churning of fuel and oxygen, igniting the mixture and blowing the exhaust out of the engine nozzle.

Tech moguls like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are now involved in the space industry. Do you give the edge to Bezos or Musk and why?

The innovation in the space business has occurred in the business side. Take Musks SpaceX. His companys Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule offer, more or less, the same capabilities as the decades-old Russian Soyuz. What Musk did was figure out how to build and launch the rockets at a lower cost. I like to joke that SpaceX is the Southwest Airlines of the rocket industry.

In the last couple of years, SpaceX has also accomplished something new and different: landing the booster stage of a Falcon 9, refurbishing it and launching it again. That has the potential for huge cost savings if rockets are not being thrown away after one flight.

Bezos rocket company, Blue Origin, has a similar approach toward reusable rockets. Blue Origin has not yet finished its New Glenn rocket, which will take payloads to orbit, but it has been testing and launching a smaller vehicle, known as New Shepard, that will take space tourists on a short up-and-down ride to the edge of space.

Do you have a favourite space app or a piece of technology for covering space?

I dont use any space-specific apps. But the interconnectedness of everything today is awesome.

Early one morning a few years ago, I interviewed astronauts on the International Space Station while sitting at my kitchen counter. Just oldfangled technology: a landline telephone. But its something that I wouldnt have imagined possible 20 years ago. Its easier than ever to connect Point A to Point B even when Point B is 250 miles up, speeding at 17,000 mph.

Rocket launches are routinely webstreamed now. And I can watch a launch on my phone while going to pick up my family at the airport, as I did this month when the latest cargo rocket, an Orbital ATK Antares rocket, headed to the space station. SpaceX has gotten really good at showing video from its rockets, even the boosters descending back to Earth.

That all makes it easier to cover space without going anywhere. The downside is not being at launches. Space shuttle launches were Earth-rattling.

Back on Earth, how do you keep on top of the space industry? Are there publications or websites that you routinely turn to?

Jeff Foust at SpaceNews somehow manages to do four things simultaneously (tweet, respond to tweets, file his story, ask questions). When Elon Musk did a Reddit AMA ("Ask Me Anything"), instead of wading through the AMA, I took a glance at Jeffs Twitter feed to see if there were any big revelations. There werent.

Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society presents wonderfully insightful dives into the latest data from NASAs planetary probes. Eric Berger, a former Houston Chronicle space reporter, has been freed from the chains of shrinking newspapers and is now at the Ars Technica website. He has his ear to the ground for D.C. whisperings of space policy, and he has great yarns, too. Among the many other reporters worth mentioning: William Harwood, Robert Pearlman, Miriam Kramer, Loren Grush, Lee Billings, Nadia Drake and Marcia Smith.

Two similar-sounding websites - spaceflightnow.com and nasaspaceflight.com - are ones I turn to often.

Outside work, what tech product are you currently obsessed with using in your daily life and why?

I guess Im not obsessed with the iPhone X. I just returned it, even though I had gotten up at 2:45 a.m. to order it at the moment it went on sale and then received it a week later on the first day it was available.

Gorgeous phone. Gorgeous screen. Great camera. FaceID works really well (except when I was lying in bed). I found the new gestures easy to learn. It worked great. But with a case, it was wider than I liked. I decided I preferred the smaller iPhone SE. It wasnt worth $1,000 for something I merely liked quite a bit.

Once upon a time, I used a microrecorder for capturing interviews and lectures. Then I used an iPod with a microphone attachment. Now its all on my phone.

What could be better about your iPhone?

Maybe Apple will cram the guts of the X into the body of the SE with an all-screen front. Heres hoping.

However, the quick pace of change in tech makes it hard to maintain a functional work flow. Its the curse of app rot. Ive cycled through several voice memo apps. The one that Apple provides works fine, except its inconvenient to get the recordings off the phone.

I found a different app that worked well; then it didnt work as well. I found another app I really liked. Then it started losing entire interviews, and that was unacceptable. I am currently using Just Press Record, which works across the Mac, iPhone and Apple Watch and stores the recordings in iCloud, so its easy to get at them wherever I am. Im hoping the developer wont lose interest in it anytime soon.

Agasihonda in Kundagol taluk of Dharwad district is a major source of water for the people of the village of the same name. An old pump shed and the iron pipelines connected to the century-old tank indicate that the water source has been in use for a very long time. The one acre tank has a catchment area of eight acres. Thus, it is also called as Nine-acre Tank.

Rainwater from the village flows to the catchment area through a storm water drain. Old gate valves control the inflow of water to the tank. A huge gate, built in the old times, to check silt and soil from entering the tank, still exists. We can also see an ancient gauge that measures water stored during the monsoons. The instrument is functional even now.

The teppada theru (car festival) is organised when the tank brims with water. Thousands of people gather to witness this festival. Now the tank has around 12 feet water and it can hold up to 60 feet of water. A village elder says that once the tank is full, it can supply drinking water to the village for 10 years. During summer, over 20,000 people depend on this tank for drinking water.

But the tank has not reached the maximum storage point for the last 10 years. Silting has reduced the storage capacity of Agasihonda as well. Recently, a team of Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project put in efforts to desilt the tank with the help of villagers.

A city whose original name was Venugram (the village of bamboos) would obviously flaunt the magical grass around in some form, even now. The Burud Galli (bamboo street) in the city doesnt leave one disappointed. In fact, Belagavi has many such streets that bear testimony to the profession of the craftspersons residing there. Streets like Tambat Galli (copper smiths), Saraf Galli (jewellers), Kalhaigar Galli (re-tinning) trace their identity to the occupation of majority of people residing there. While not many streets have artisans actively continuing the family occupation now, some streets are carrying the tradition forward, despite hardships and competition.

Burud Galli and Tambat Galli are two streets where you wont take a second step without noticing skilled people at work. Step on to crowded Burud Galli in the heart of the business district, and you will spot men and women intently focused on the work at hand. Squatting on the narrow street is a middle-aged man busy scraping bamboo. At another corner, youll see an elderly woman busy rolling thin strips of bamboo and giving it the shape of a basket. Her eyes are so focused that she will not even notice youre observing her.

Visit Mohan Kordes house on the street. His BA certificate is placed prominently on the wall. He is a third generation of the Burud community artisan to have settled here. He proudly shows the album of his bamboo creations. They include roti baskets, sieves, flower baskets, wedding décor, small chariots, lanterns, curtains, carpets, vases, arches, book stand and many such utility and decorative items one would never imagine could be created from this sturdy grass. These designs have evolved over generations. The artisans here say that they can see any design and replicate it with bamboo. However, without proper training or set standards of quality, the products lack finesse.

Making ends meet

Their creations have changed over the years, in tune with changing consumer preferences. Earlier, bamboo baskets were much in demand as they were used to store onions, rotis, vegetables, etc. Artisans now make lanterns, showpieces, decorative screens, etc. Almost all the Burud families here still practice the tradition, where the whole family is involved in making one or the other object from bamboo, with the womenfolk preferring products like screens and small vases that require nimble handwork.

The Burud community gets all the bamboo it needs from the wholesale market near the city fort. For this, each craftsperson has to purchase a pass from the Forest Department. This pass permits them to ferry the purchased bamboo to their place of work. The best bamboo, they say, comes from the southern Konkan area of Chandgad in Maharashtra. The Alnavar bamboo is also used. A bigger bamboo auction is held at Sankeshwar near Belagavi. A shoot of bamboo sells anywhere between Rs 60 and Rs 100, depending upon quality and size. An eight-foot ladder with five steps needs three bamboo shoots and sells at around Rs 500.

All the products are sold from the houses, which also turn out to be manufacturing units, as there is no formal marketing facility. The manufacturing schedule is planned throughout the year, in tune with the seasons and festivals. Thus, making lanterns begins two months before Deepavali. Then it is continued with slight changes for Christmas. The wedding season, which requires wedding hall decoration, starts after Deepavali and continues till monsoon. The harvest season requires large sieves and storage containers for grains. The monsoon creates demand for woven bamboo screens.

Mohan feels that the administration is unaware of the problems of the artisans, and no effort has been made to train them in new methods and designs. This year, the community made beautiful lanterns for Deepavali, but these handmade lanterns found few takers with the onslaught of cheap and flashy products. Training and exposure to new and better designs could work wonders for these skilled artisans.

Tied to the past

A few kilometres away from Burud Galli is a small by lane in the old suburb of Shahpur. The old timers will narrate experiences of a constant beating sound emanating from the street. The Tambat Galli or the street of the copper smiths mostly comprises families with the surname Bojgar. I met Salam Bojgar, a young chap with a flourishing business in copper utensils. His house is chock- a- block with copper utensils of all shapes and sizes. He has stocked pitchers, cooking utensils, water storage pots, pans, kadhais, jugs and many more. Not all of these are made here. The Bojgars have set up their rudimentary furnaces in their tiny courtyards and five to seven men work together. Earlier, the copper nuggets would be provided by the metal merchants and the ready objects would be handed over in the evening. The nuggets would then be beaten into sheets of desired thickness.

Now they get ready sheets which need to be shaped. Four persons have to work for a whole day to make a large water pot. Two roundels of metal are fused in the middle and a third thick one is fused at the neck. The metal is heated and reheated to bring it to a shape on a basic furnace that works on coal. Small kids help in keeping the furnace ignited by continuously fanning it and in turn, learn the craft by observing. A fistful of ash is splashed on the heated metal to check the right temperature. A third man sitting close by takes over once the pot is ready. He polishes it by repeatedly rotating it and buffing the pot. He then proceeds to make the ubiquitous pockmarks on the pot without which the pot will not be sold.

Changing times

The objects are made by the artisans upon order from the metal merchants. Utensils, pots, cauldrons and water storage vessels are made as per demand. What strikes you is the lack of modern equipment and even a decent workplace. Wooden hammers used to beat metal are worn out and the artisans look forlorn with the meagre income that this trade provides them. The fancy metal ware in Salams house is brought from Kolhapur where huge factories churn out any design you want in minutes.

It works cheaper for metal merchants to get the machine-made utensils than commission these craftspersons. A few members of these families are in the trade of re-tinning the copper ware. Also known as kalhaiwalas, they skilfully apply a thin coat of tin inside copper utensils, without which the metal will adversely react with food, especially acidic, and turn it poisonous. This re-tinning has to be done at least once in six months and was once a flourishing trade. A handful of these skilled craftspersons are into the job as restaurants and caterers still come looking for them. Smita Surebankar, a historian in Belagavi, reminisces about an ancient Ratta inscription, which mentions different areas of the city being occupied by people engaged in different occupations. It indicates that the city was clearly demarcated on the basis of livelihood even back then.

With all the skill and dedication, most of these artisans are stuck in the old mould and need urgent attention to keep their craft and trade afloat lest we lose this rich heritage of ours forever.

The worship of spirit deities is prevalent in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kodagu districts of Karnataka. The spirit worship ceremony, performed annually in the village temples and ancestral households, is called theray in the Kodava language. A traditional dancer dons face paint or mask and the costume, often red coloured, of a deity, and prances around. Later, he behaves as a medium of the spirit of the deity and advises the devotees as they come to him with their problems.

The Vishnu Murthy shrine

The Vishnu Murthy shrine, located near the Choli Povvadiamme Bhagawathy Temple in Arapattu village, has one such ceremony where spirit deities are worshipped. It is generally called Choundi theray, although Choundi (also Chamundi or Chavundi) is not the only deity propitiated here. The Choundi theray takes place after the Bhagwathy temple festival.

The deity in this temple is said to be in the form of Narasimha, an avatar of Lord Vishnu. Upon the gable of this red-tiled shrine is the face of a moustached deity, its face painted in yellow colour. Near the base and on either side of the entrance is the face of a lion.

The deity of this shrine is offered non-vegetarian food. The Brahmin priest of the nearby Bhagawathy Temple and his family visit the temple to seek blessings. The local Muslims, called mappilla, also pay obeisance here. The priest of this shrine traditionally belongs to the Maleya community. The Maleyas travel to nearby villages during the theray season to perform and help in the arrangements.They wear a saffron panche during the preparations. The Banna and the Panika are other communities who perform such ceremonies in parts of Kodagu. Bhadrakali worship is conducted by the Panikas.

The Maleyas come from the villages of Kirundad, Marandod and Parane for the Arapattu ceremony. The theray begins with the opening performance of a spirit deity called Thota, at night, and it is followed by performances of the Anji Koot Murthy, the five spirits. They are Kutti Chatta, Kari Baala, Kala Bhairava, Kuliya and Nuchchute. The Choudi and Vishnu Murthy performances happen the next morning.

Anji Koot Murthy theray

I visited Arapattu in the theray season. The village stalls were set up, they sold food items and other goods. The preparation for the theray began in the evening, in the adjacent threshing ground. A shelter for the performers to rest was placed beside the ground. The performance started after dinner. The preparation for the performance began with the nooth kuripo (face paint) and alankara (dressing the performer) began. The performers were dressed in red. A thoodu (bamboo torch) was carried along by one of the people accompanying the performers.

The first performer arrived from the threshing ground in the guise of a Thota. As part of the act, he kept turning his head to look behind him every now and then. Then, he pranced around for a while in front of the shrine and then went to the shrine and seated himself on a stool before the inner sanctum. Devotees came to him with their prayers. He listened to them and answered. Later, the Thota was carried out of the shrine by another performer.

Similarly, the other performers came to the temple. Kutti Chatta held a stick and a bell, and had decorative eyes. His eyes were covered with large shells with holes in the middle. Bhairava, on the other hand, didnt have such eye coverings. Kari Baala, a fierce avatar, held two swords. In the middle of his performance, he took the musicians to task for not playing vigorously enough and demanded that the devotees also dance along with him. Nuchchute, the last of the five, walked comically and made the people laugh. Supposedly a female deity, the performer wore grass upon his head. He went from person to person and whispered into their ears as they gave him money.

A different enactment called the Thirale was performed after the five performances. The performer was subjected to mystic experiences. He performed a frantic trembling dance dressed in white kuppya chele(a traditional costume) as he held a staff and an oide-katti, a billhook shaped war knife. He took turns performing as Bhagawathy and Vishnu Murthy throughout the night.

Choundi theray

Next morning, the Choundi and Vishnu Murthy performances were enacted. There were six chenda drummers. There was another drummer and one gong player as well, both belonging to the Meda community and the elderly drummer was dressed in white kuppya chele. The Choundi performer wore a hay skirt and walked around what remained of the bonfire, that was lit by the villagers at night. He was held by both hands as he was thrown on the smouldering bonfire and then dragged away from it a number of times.

The Thota performer gave the Vishnu Murthy performance as well. He wore a steel mask, which depicted a moustached face, and a hay skirt. His legs were plastered with mud. He performed first at the Vishnu Murthy shrine and then at the Bhagawathy shrine. In the evening a non-vegetarian feast called bharani was served to the families of the village .

The Woods Museum cum Interpretation Centre in Malleshwaram is one of the youngest of the museums in Bengaluru. Dedicated to displaying wood, it came up quietly in the citys thickly wooded corner in 2012. Though not much is known about it among the general populace, the museum has been receiving a constant stream of student visitors. Housed in a big hall on the second floor of the building of Indian Wood Science and Technology (IWST), it remains largely obscured from the public eye.

It is said that buildings should not be separated from the landscape. It proves particularly true with the Woods Museum, which sits amidst a 27-acre sandalwood forest, assiduously grown and meticulously conserved by the institute. The visitors to the museum are welcomed by a giant hollowed out trunk of a Gulmohar tree placed at the entrance. The well-preserved trunk stands on a tripod of toes developed during its dying days.

The exhibits

Around 60 large panels placed here provide a wealth of information on human kinds interface with wood through the history. Two large discs - cross sections of teak trees - placed in a chained enclosure are the cynosure of all eyes. Plaques inform that one of them is from a 780-year old tree in Mysore. Concentric circles of growth rings visible on these cross sections reveal the saga of climatic cycles any such tree would have undergone. Magnifying lenses kept alongside the discs help the visitors minutely survey the rings.

Scientist Pankaj Aggarwal, who curated the museum, says that botanists can access the climatic past of a region by studying the information encrypted in these growth rings. It has led to the evolution of a distinct discipline, dendrochronology: the science of dating events, environmental changes and archaeological artefacts by using the characteristic patterns of annual growth rings in timber and tree trunks. According to Pankaj, scientists can establish the pattern of floods, droughts, earthquakes, volcanic eruption, fires, etc. in a region through these rings.

The museum showcases the saga of wood and its indispensability to the development of human civilisation. Unique characteristics of several indigenous trees have been explained in great detail. It hosts 20 varieties of wood. The museum takes the visitors through the cellular structure and constituents of wood and explains the diverse use of wood in the manufacturing industry. Density, porosity, tensile strength and natural durability were the key traits that made wood suitable for making an array of products such as matchsticks, musical instruments, bows and arrows, smoking pipe and rafters.

Educating the visitors

But wood has its own enemies. The museum displays plastic replicas of an array of arthropods like bugs, moths, wasps, ants and termites that are dependent on trees. Trees with fragrant timber attract poachers as well as peddlers who can pass off spurious variants known as false sandalwood (Osyris tenuefolia) to the gullible.

Some panels also highlight the significant innovations by the IWST in developing wood polymer composites (WPC), a new-age material used in several industries. This has been brought about by blending natural fibres like jute, bagasse, coir, bamboo and cane with plastics. The institute has also been instrumental in achieving thermal modification of wood. This imparts fungal resistance, adds dimensional stability, lends insulating properties and enhances the aesthetic appeal of wood.

The Woods Museum cum Interpretation Centre is a veritable repository of information on wood. The museum is open on all days, except Sundays. Entry is free. For more information, contact 080-23341731, 22190118.

In 2013, scientists discovered a new way to precisely edit genes - technology called CRISPR that raised all sorts of enticing possibilities. Scientists wondered if it might be used to fix hereditary diseases, for example, or to develop new crops. One of the more intriguing ideas came from Kevin M Esvelt and his colleagues at Harvard University, USA: CRISPR, they suggested, could be used to save endangered wildlife from extinction by implanting a fertility-reducing gene in invasive animals - a so-called gene drive. When the genetically altered animals were released back into the wild, the fertility-reducing gene would spread through the population, eradicating the pests.

The idea appealed to conservation biologists who had spent decades fighting a losing battle against exotic species. Some labs began running preliminary experiments. But now, three years later, Kevin wishes he had not broached the idea. "I feel like Ive blown it," Kevin, now an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, said in an interview. Championing the notion was "an embarrassing mistake." His regret arises from a study that he and his colleagues published on the preprint bioRxiv server recently. They created a detailed mathematical model describing what happens following the release of CRISPR-altered organisms. And they discovered an unacceptable risk: altered genes might spread to places where the species is not invasive at all.

Kevin, a co-author of a commentary on the studys implications in the journal PLOS Biology, and his colleagues still think it is worth investigating gene drives to save threatened species. But researchers will have to invent safer forms of the technology first. Kevin and other researchers have also been investigating the possibility of using gene drives to eradicate diseases. The most advanced of these projects seeks to wipe out malaria-carrying mosquitoes. These projects are still viable but, Kevin warned, scientists now must be mindful of just how powerful gene drives may become. "A study like this is the beginning of a formal analysis we need," said John M Marshall, a mathematical biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.

Aggressive model

CRISPR makes it possible to build molecules that can find a particular sequence of DNA inside a cell. The molecules then snip out the sequence, allowing it to be replaced by a different one. The technique might make it possible to introduce not just a gene engineered to reduce fertility in, say, an invasive weasel, but also the genes for the CRISPR molecules themselves. Then the weasel would gene-edit itself.

Weasels inheriting just one copy of the low-fertility gene would end up with two copies, which theyd pass down to offspring. Soon the whole population of invasive weasels would be producing fewer young, until eventually the population collapsed. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, USA, showed that the idea could really work by spreading a gene in fruit flies reared in the lab. Soon afterward, Kevins own team showed that the process could make certain genes more common in yeast. The National Academy of Sciences released a report on gene drives in 2016. While experts recognised a number of potential risks, they endorsed more research - possibly including "highly controlled field trials."

So what exactly would happen if a gene drive were set loose in the wild? Kevin collaborated with Charleston Noble, a graduate student at Harvard, and other colleagues to make an informed guess. The researchers created a detailed mathematical model that took into account how often CRISPR fails to do its job and how often mutations arise that protect a target gene from editing, among many other factors. The model revealed that a gene drive would be remarkably aggressive. It would take relatively few engineered organisms to spread a new gene through much of a population.

That aggressiveness might be good for eradicating an invasive weasel that could not be stopped by poison baits or hunting. But if a few engineered weasels managed to escape the local environment - or were intentionally taken somewhere else - they could easily spread the gene drive throughout the weasels native habitat. That may well mean that experiments in the real world are just too risky right now. "The very idea of a field trial is that its a trial thats confined to an area," Kevin said. "Our model indicates that this is not the case."

"The kind of gene drive that is invasive and self-propagating is in many ways the equivalent of an invasive species," Kevin added. But safer forms of the technology might be able to attack species where they are invasive and not harm them elsewhere.

Self-destructing genes

In his own lab, Kevin is investigating a gene drive that can self-destruct after several generations. Other researchers are trying to build gene drives that are tailored to invasive populations on islands but cannot harm mainland relatives.

But when it comes to attempts to wipe out malaria, Kevin draws a different conclusion from his data. While self-limiting gene drives might be easier to control, they may be too weak to affect vast mosquito populations. It might well be necessary to deploy a quickly spreading gene drive. Kevins study suggests that if one nation decided to release such genetically engineered mosquitoes, neighbouring countries quickly would become part of the experiment - whether they liked it or not.

International negotiations might be required before such genetically modified mosquitoes were set loose. "Thats not a question for scientists to answer on their own," said Jason A Delborne, a social scientist at North Carolina State University, USA. Yet Kevin would be willing to take that leap. "I have two kids," he said. "If they lived in Africa, I would say do it."

Our body heals an accidental injury, a knife cut for example, within a few minutes. Have you ever wondered how that happens? Immune cells migrate to the site of injury and subsequently heal the injury. The active migration of blood cells towards the cut site is an example of directed migration. But how do cells sense and respond to directional cues like an injury? Two studies conducted at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), USA comprising researchers from National Centre for Biological Sciences, India, National Institutes of Health, USA and Harvard Medical School, USA have provided new insights into the process.

Cell migration is a key process in the development and maintenance of multicellular organisms. Wound healing and immune responses are some of the processes that require the directed movement of cells. Proteins present on the cells surface, called integrins, sense external cues like injury and transmit the information to the cells internal machinery. The actin filaments form long protein chains and along with motor proteins, generate forces that ultimately result in the propulsion of the cell towards the external cue.

The integrins reside within aggregations of multiple proteins called focal adhesions. Contraction at the rear end, or the part of the cell away from the cue, and the release of focal adhesion complexes help in the migration of cells towards the external signal. Thus, cell migration involves extensive communication between the cells surface and its interior. An important link in this communication are the integrins. The integrins transduce the force generated inside the cell to the substrate outside the cell and facilitate cell movement.

In an activated state

Focal adhesions have been shown to respond to directional physical cues. However, how is this information tranduced to the cell at a molecular level? Do integrins provide directional information and could they function as the elusive direction encoder that operate within focal adhesions? Previous studies of integrins have identified an activated state - a structural conformation where integrin proteins are fully extended and can easily bind to the substrate. However, how this active state is induced is still not understood.

Though several competing theoretical models of integrin activation exist, the current study provides credible evidence of the cytoskeletal force model. This model states that a force exerted by the actin cytoskeleton is required for extending and activating the integrin molecule. Since actin flow is directional, the coupling of this flow to the activation status of the integrin molecule could encode directional information in the cell.

For the study, the researchers used highly motile fibroblast cells from mouse as a model system. To study the organisation of integrin proteins on fibroblasts surface during migration, the team fused a constraint fluorescent protein to integrin. This enabled visualising the orientation of integrin molecule within focal adhesion complexes. The authors found that integrin molecules within a focal adhesion protein complex are co-aligned.

Previous studies have shown that when the cell extends its cell membrane to move forward, actin filaments inside the cell move in the opposite direction (retrograde flow). This retrograde flow generates the necessary forces that facilitate cell movement. To test if actin retrograde flow is required for proper integrin alignment, the researchers blocked the flow using inhibitors. They found that in regions where the retrograde actin flow was completely blocked, the integrins alignment was altered. In regions inside the cell, where actin flow remained intact, integrins were aligned as in the normal migrating cells.

The polarisation microscopy images gave a 2D projection of integrin alignment on the cell membrane. The researchers next used Rosetta modelling to infer the 3D orientation of integrin proteins inside focal adhesions. They found that not only was the integrin aligned in the direction of actin flow, but it also adopted a tilted conformation with respect to the substrate surface. This showed a kind of a conformational change that is required for the protein to achieve the activated state.

The researchers also looked at the orientation of integrins in fast migrating immune cells and observed a similar correlation between the alignment of integrins and the direction of actin flow at the leading edge of the migrating cells. Taken together, these studies show that directional actin retrograde flow inside the cell is conveyed to the integrin proteins on the cell membrane, which result in the activation and co-alignment of integrins within the focal adhesions and facilitate directed cell movement.

(The author is with Gubbi Labs, a Bengaluru-based research collective)

Fijian singers, strumming ukuleles, serenaded the delegates to the United Nations climate talks as they entered the conference hall. A traditional two-hulled sailing craft, or drua, is on display by the entrance to signify that when it comes to rising seas, all nations are in the same boat. But as two weeks of negotiations on bolstering the Paris agreement draw to a close, island leaders say the decor seems a cruel taunt.

Fiji, a sunny island nation in the South Pacific, is the official host of the climate discussions here in chilly Bonn, Germany. But leaders say their hopes that island issues would take centre stage have mostly been dashed. Almost none of the measures to help their countries adapt to the impacts of global warming have been resolved. "Im anxious and Im fearful," said Allen Michael Chastanet, prime minister of St Lucia. "It cant be that a prime ministers only resource is to get down on his knees on the side of a bed and pray."

From rising seas to the loss of fresh water, islands are among the most vulnerable nations to global warming. Hurricanes, expected to become more ferocious with climate change, having pummelled the Caribbean island nations into crisis this summer. Hurricane Irma destroyed nearly every car and building on the island of Barbuda and swelled the population of Antigua overnight.

Greenhouse gas emissions

Small islands also are among the smallest contributors to climate change, producing less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The industrialised world, their leaders say, owes some recompense for the disasters these vulnerable nations will suffer in the years ahead. "The very thing that makes them wealthy is contributing to our vulnerability," said Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda. "Its only fair that they provide some level of compensation." But hopes are waning that island nations will see a major increase in financial support to help address the consequences of climate change. So, there is an effort here at COP23 to expand ways for nations to adapt to future disasters.

In the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, rising sea levels are causing salt water to intrude into underground fresh water supplies. In order to adapt, the country is trying to build rainwater cisterns and new pipe systems to ensure that its people have safe drinking water supplies.

Its a costly task, and the Maldives was one of the first countries to apply for aid from the Green Climate Fund, which was set up in 2010 by wealthy countries to help poorer nations adapt to climate change. Yet the fund has been slow to start and the country waited two years before seeing any of the promised funding. "Thats too long to wait," said Thoriq Ibrahim, minister of energy and environment in the Maldives. "Theres no use having a fund somewhere if you cant access it quickly."

While most wealthy countries agree in principle that they should deliver more aid, the details of how to do it have been bogged down in the slow bureaucratic processes of UN talks. On November 17, delegates here did create an expert group to formally include the issue of helping vulnerable countries with immediate needs. There is no money attached to it, though, nor means to raise any. So far, the biggest news came midweek, when Germany and Britain announced funding for a long-discussed partnership to promote insurance coverage in island nations vulnerable to disasters.

Some island officials, frustrated by the slowness of the UN process, have decided to take matters into their own hands. The Seychelles, for instance, has been promoting its debt swap program, started in 2015 with the help of The Nature Conservancy, in which a group of investors agreed to restructure $30 million of the countrys debt if the island agreed to protect 30% of its ocean habitat.

Ronald Jumeau, the ambassador from the Seychelles to the UN, argued that island nations may have to look outside the UN process for help. "We all know what the problem is. Why depress ourselves by sitting around the table and moaning about it?" said Ronald. "Too many people are fixated on this government process. Im going to where the money is."

MORE THAN ONE COLOUR

How snapdragons beckon bees

In the Pyrenees Mountains, between France and Spain, wild snapdragons bloom each spring. Their petals scream for pollination with colour. A bit of bright contrast brushed over the centre of the flowers lower lip advertises the nectar behind it. Bees follow the patterns and enter the mouths of the snapdragon. On one side of the mountainous landscape, one subspecies of snapdragon has magenta lips with yellow accents.

On the other, another offers the opposite: yellow lips with magenta accents. In the land between, hybrid flowers try it all. Researchers suspected colouration genes from the two subspecies were not mixing well, and that natural selection was favouring the survival of both magenta and yellow flowers independently, not the hybrids.

But how did the snapdragon cousins create accented patterns that appeared to be equally effective in the same environment? To find out how colour differences arose, scientists compared the genomes of the subspecies in a study published in Science.

They found that the magenta-yellow plants and their yellow-magenta mirrors shared most of the plants genes - but not a handful related to colour. Bees favoured a couple of patterns and neglected plants with other colour schemes, the researchers believe, for certain genetic combinations.

LOSS IN GENETIC DIVERSITY

Birds that went extinct swiftly

A paper published in Science this month sheds light on why passenger pigeons went extinct so swiftly. Analysing the DNA of preserved birds, the researchers found evidence that natural selection was extremely efficient in passenger pigeons.

This might have made the pigeons particularly well-suited for living in dense flocks but unable to cope with living in sparse groups once their numbers started to plummet, the authors suggest. Biologists generally assume that a large population corresponds to high genetic diversity.

But passenger pigeons were so plentiful and so mobile that beneficial genetic mutations spread and detrimental ones disappeared very quickly. This caused a loss in overall genetic diversity. In the new study, researchers compared the genomes of four passenger pigeon specimens with those of two band-tailed pigeons, a close living relative, and saw signatures of efficient natural selection.

They also found typically high genetic diversity in regions of the genome that tend to get chopped up and rearranged between generations. Under strong natural selection, when beneficial mutations occur, large swaths of neutral or even slightly harmful DNA get fixed, suppressing genetic variation, said Beth Shapiro, an author of the study.

ACROBATIC MANOEUVRES

Blue whales shift directions

Blue whales are the largest animals in the world, with bodies that can weigh as much as 25 elephants and extend over the length of a basketball court. To support their hulking bodies, the whales use various acrobatic manoeuvres to scoop up many tiny prey, filtering the water back out through massive baleen plates. In most cases, the whales roll to the right as they capture their prey.

But, a new study published in Current Biology shows that the whales shift directions and roll left when performing 360 ° barrel rolls in shallow water. The findings offer the first evidence of handedness in blue whales. The researchers also highlight the importance of studying animals in their natural environments for revealing phenomena that may be impossible to capture in a captive environment.

DOCUMENTARY

Chevron vs the Amazon

The oil industry giant Chevron began operating in Ecuadors Amazon rain forest in 1964. Over the course of the next 30 years, this majestic environmental wonder became the victim of unregulated corporate abuse and greed. By the time the corporation vacated the area in 1992, their toxic footprint had brought about 1,700 times more damage to the environment than the Exxon Valdez oil spill in USA.

Abby Martin, the director, visits the scene of the crime in Chevron vs
the Amazon: Inside the Killzone, and uncovers the extent to which the
industry has spoiled the riches of a tropical paradise. Thousands of
unique species of plant life, insects, animals, and an equally diverse
human population came under threat when Chevron established
operations in the region over 50 years ago. To watch the documentary, visit www.bit.ly/2cxKhmm.

Doctors at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi had almost given up on Bharmappa (name changed), a 48-year-old forest watcher at the Kali Tiger Reserve, who was attacked by a female sloth bear. His lower jaw was ripped apart and his face had several cuts. But six months later, Bharmappa was back to work, doing what he does the best: patrolling the thick forests of Western Ghats and warning the passing tourists not to smoke or litter the forest.

In February 2017, when 28-year-old Murigeppa Tammangol, a forest guard at Kalkere range of Bandipur National Park, got a call from his higher officers regarding the forest fire that had already engulfed 500 hectares of forest area, he rushed to the spot without a second thought and tried to extinguish the fire using weeds. Alas, he did not succeed, and lost his life on duty.

A day in their life

Call it compulsion or passion, every day, around 5,850 frontline forest staff - deputy forest range officers, forest guards and forest watchers - of Karnataka make sure that whatever forest left is protected.
The Forest Department also hires daily wage workers for various conservation works.

Both experts and forest officials agree that it is impossible to protect the rich forests of Karnataka without the yeomen service of these frontline guards. However, many times, their service and sacrifice
go unnoticed. "Forest protection cannot be done single-handedly. It is actually these foot soldiers on field who save the forests," says Ravi Chellam, a wildlife
biologist.

Life isnt easy for these foot soldiers, whose primary duty is not only to check the forest wealth from being plundered, but also to ensure that the green cover increases and the animals live in a better condition. Until 2015, more than 31 frontline guards have lost their lives while on duty, majority of them being attacked by wild animals. However, this risk does not deter them from performing their duty promptly.

A typical day of a watcher or a guard begins at the break of dawn. With a GPS installed mobile, they have to walk a set number of kilometres inside the forest area (10 to 15 km), holding just a stick and small knife monitoring the health of forest and its dwellers. Any incident of animal death, tree cutting and other alarming incidents will be reported to higher officials.

On alternative days, they walk through the main path and forest trails. But the real challenge awaits them at night, when they cant use light, while patrolling the area to prevent poaching or tree smuggling. "We walk through the forest at night without light to ensure that our movements are not noticed, particularly when are trying to nab suspected poachers," says forest guard Nagaraj of Udboor anti-poaching camp in the Nagarhole range. The five-member team at the camp also row in Kabini River to make sure trees are not smuggled via the river.

However, what worries them the most is the forest fire, which can take away with it everything precious that they guard. "Summer brings worse with it as there is an increase in the number of forest fires. It is a threat to both the forest as well as the guardians," said Mahesh, a forest watcher in Bandipur, which saw highest number of forest fire cases this year. He adds that non-availability of water makes dousing the fire difficult.

For better facilities

Surprisingly, these guards do not fear the animals in the forest, but are concerned about the suspicious human activities in the forests. Many times, in a bid to save the forest, the guards enter into altercations with them. Except for the few forest guards under the Tiger project, majority of them are not trained to handle human-animal conflicts. "In my 35 years of service, I never received training to mitigate
human-animal conflicts. This summer, I was asked to rescue the mighty crocodiles of Krishna River in the Bilagi range of Bagalkot
district," says Deputy Range Forest Officer B Yadavad. During summer, he rescued more than eight crocodiles.

Officials concede that it is one area where the department has to work upon. While officials claim that there has been improvement in facilities provided to these frontline guards, experts say that much more can be done. Ravi Chellam says, "By just increasing the boots on the ground, we can achieve greater success in the protection of forest wealth. There should be proper patrolling inside the forest, and the frontline guards must be strengthened in mitigating issues with the tribal people and other forest dwellers. The governments should frame a long-term policy for better conservation efforts."

Dr Ravi Ralph, former principal chief conservator of forests, says, "Karnataka is among one of the best states when it comes to providing facilities to the frontline guards. For instance, it was the first State to give guards slide action guns that can fire five rounds. Anti-poaching camps at critical places make sure that all the illegal activities inside the forests are also stopped. These measures have started showing results, as there has been a drastic fall in the number of forest offence
cases."

The department provides ration and health kits to the frontline guards. Non-profit organisations and doctors volunteer to conduct health check-up camps for them but these facilities are not much when compared to the risks they encounter.

Staying in jungles, many times away from human habitation, these guards find their future insecure due to their meagre salary. Even after 35 years as a watcher, Rachappa finds it difficult to send his son to an engineering college and his daughter to a degree college.

Despite these challenges, the forest guards strive hard to ensure that the forests are well protected.

The word nepotism has been following Karan Johar around like a shadow, the director said today, adding that despite his best efforts, he has not been able to get rid of it.

The 45-year-old filmmaker was described as the "flagbearer of nepotism" by actor Kangana Ranaut on his popular chat show earlier this year, triggering a row in Bollywood between those with a family background in cinema and those without. Johars father, Yash Johar, was a well-known producer.

"Can we just put a hold on this word nepotism? ... It haunts me. It has become like mera saaya (my shadow). I told somebody that I have developed nepospasm," he said, tongue firmly in cheek. The word, he rued, had become a trending topic.

"It has been following me everywhere. Suddenly, it has become fashionable. Can we just get rid of it and start focussing on good content," he asked.

Kanganas comment snowballed into a huge controversy with Karan and actors Saif Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan taking potshots at her at this years IIFA Award function. The trio later apologised for their remarks later.

Karan, who was at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI), also aired a grouse against live tweet reviews. "I am tired of these live tweet reviews... How can they review when they are not watching the film and are on their phones? I plead for a ban on this," he said.

It was a fun-filled weekend for about 200 women from the city as they set out on a womens car rally from Bengaluru to Coorg. Presented by Zeroin, the event Driven 3.0 was flagged off from Bowring Institute on Friday.

The aim of the rally was to promote Karnataka tourism and bring together women from different walks of life who are passionate about driving. It gave women the opportunity to break free from their day-to-day routine.

The drive started from Bengaluru and headed towards Ramangaram, the silk city, all the way till Madikeri. Mandya, Rangannathittu, Bilikere, Hunsur, Kushalnagar and Talacauveri were the other destinations.

Sharmila Furtado, one of the participants, says, "It was such a great event as it aimed to inculcate the importance of road safety amongst women and the general public. It was special for me as it is the first time I am doing something like this."

The participants were allowed to take two or three people along with them to help them with navigation and keep time.

Sharmila took her husband along. "I wasnt too prepared for this drive but it was wonderful to have my husband with me. It helped us communicate better and solve whatever issues came our way together," she explains.

As for another participant Anamika Bist, this rally wasnt her first. But her companion and navigator was her 12-year-old daughter Aaliyah.

"She was the saving grace for this drive. For those two days, I became the child and she was the mother. Though she was nervous when calculating the time and guiding me through the whole journey, she did it with such ease and ensured that I was calm. She was the youngest navigator this time," she proudly exclaims.

Aaliyah says, "I wasnt too sure what to do initially but my dad helped me understand. I was definitely nervous but it turned out to be very interesting. It was great to come back to school after the drive and narrate my experiences to my friends. Most of them didnt even know what a rally was! I look forward to my next drive."

The initiative taken from Driven was something everyone found relevant. It was also the chance for many women to prove that they are also good drivers. Another participant at the rally, Asha Prakasha says, "I saw the event on Facebook and I wanted to be a part of it. I work for an NGO where we empower women and this just turned out to be the perfect place for me."

Asha took this drive to also discover herself and meet new people. "I used to be a Bulletier but I havent been able to ride after I met with an accident. Thats why this was an enriching experience for me. I loved that we could prove that women are also good drivers. We drove for 14 hours and no one was hurt or encountered any sort of danger," she explains.

The drivers returned to the city on Sunday.

Its a classic case of opposites attract. He is a die-hard foodie, she is not particularly concerned about whats on the plate, he loves the city for the pleasant weather while she is interested in exploring the sights and scenes of a new place, he is drawn towards calm and peace while she is fascinated by the lively nature of the city.

Meet Supriya Singal and Vivek Agrawal. She hails from Chandigarh and has mostly spent her life there, except for a few years in Delhi, while Vivek is from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. He has been in Bengaluru for around four and a half years now while Supriya is a recent addition to the citys populace.

"My first thought while coming here was that I will get to see some new places in the South. I had already explored the Northern part of the country so this was a welcome change," says Supriya.

"Bengaluru is a very lively place. You always find people on the roads, no matter how late. It is a much safer place when compared to Delhi," she adds.

Vivek adds, "I fell in love with the city as soon as I came here. I am kind of averse to heat so the North Indian summers were unbearable for me. It was a choice between Bengaluru or somewhere abroad. I picked this place."

Like every newcomer, language was one of the challenges they faced here, though Supriya admits she had an easier time as her husband had already figured things out by the time she came.

"I was able to get by because people are cooperative but it was a bit challenging initially when you dont know the names of certain things. I would be trying to buy something which has a certain name up North but I wouldnt know what it is called here. Then I would have to show images and all but even that wouldnt work sometimes," recollects Vivek with a laugh.

While they do yearn for their respective hometowns once in a while (Supriya admits to missing her family and the smooth roads of Chandigarh while Vivek regrets not being with his loved ones during festivals or marriages), Bengaluru has embraced them into its fold and gives them little chance to complain.

Weekends are usually spent at friends places or in activities like late night parties, movie outings, a drive to Nandi Hills and so on.

"We try out new food joints in places like Koramangala and HSR Layout, which are closer. Over The Top and Pappu Chaiwalla are some of my favourite places. But I mainly go there to sit and relax, I am not much of a foodie," Supriya admits.

"I am so much into food, I cant tell you," exclaims Vivek. "My favourite restaurant depends on the kind of food I am going to have. If I am in the mood for sizzlers, I used to go to Yana Sizzlers in Koramagala. For Italian cuisine, I prefer Go Italia or Little Italy. My North Indian preferences are Punjabi by Nature, Punjabi Rasoi and Hello Delhi while for South Indian it is Kamat and MTR. I especially like the thatte idli in Kamat Lokaruchi on Mysore Road."

Vivek loves cooking as well and enjoys trying his hand at new dishes. "I cook for my wife now. Last week I made a Gujarati dish called Khandvi for her. I dont know if she liked it or not; she was more impressed by the fact that I cooked for her. Even before marriage, she told me that she was not that interested in food and I was like Ok, I will balance that," he says with a laugh.

Tea has been my familys business for almost 110 years now; I am the fourth-generation tea planter. Our garden fresh teas are extremely popular everywhere and so, it is no wonder that after completing my graduation in Computer science, I too decided to be a part of this family legacy. And thus began my stint at Infinitea.

I had learned all the tricks of management at college and so decided that we will just focus on the tea and outsource the food, since it was not a core area of interest for us. We tried everything - buying and selling food, hiring chefs, tweaking the menu and so on. Basically, I ran the place like a true businessman for 12 years. Then I noticed that people were starting to get bored. So was I. I realised that I needed to focus on the food more. Food and beverages have equal weightage in this business but some people skew the percentage according to what they can manage.

Then about three years ago, I got professionally trained by Willy Wilson who has been in the hospitality industry for about 45 years as a hands-on chef and has cooked at many premium restaurants across the globe. He came as a consultant and taught me about cooking, where I was going wrong and what I could do to improve the food. I was in training for about one year and then I brought out the first food menu, curated entirely by me.

This was around two years ago and I almost immediately noticed a big change in the attitude of the people who came to the restaurant - in terms of their perception of the food and reactions. Since then I have been personally handling the day-to-day affairs of my kitchen. Now I have become a hands-on, self taught chef and we are competing with the best out there.

There are quite a few firsts to my name. I am the first person in my family to focus on the food industry. I am also the first non-vegetarian in my Marwari family; a necessity because of my profession. But I am not concerned about what people think. My job is to keep my customers happy.

Today I am sharing the recipe of Chicken parmigiana, a classic Italian dish made of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Gaurav Saria
(Chef Patron, Tea Master at Infinitea)

Nadam presented a classical dance extravaganza called Kala Nadam 2017, in aid of Child Rights Trust, at ADA Ranga Mandira recently.

The three-day festival saw bharathanatyam by Radhika Shetty, the team of Samskruthi Ensemble and G Narendras Avigna Dance Ensemble, Kuchipudi Vaivarnya by students of Dr Vasanth Kiran of Reva University, kathak by Tribhuwan Maharaj, dance duo Nandini K Mehta and K Murali Mohan, along with their Nadam Ensemble, odissi by Ranjana Gauhar and Latin American dances by Los Compadres from Panama.

Delhi-based Ranjana Gauhar performed on the third day. She danced to the pieces of her guru, Mayadhar Rautji, who had brought Mudra Vinyoga and Sanchari Bhava into the odissi dance form.

Flute strains by Dheeraj Pandeyji marked the beginning of Ranjanas performance. She had chosen few of her gurus Ashtapadis for the evenings performance.

Her first piece was an Ashtapadi called Rati Sukhasaare taken from Jayadevas Gita Govindam, set in Kalyani raga and Adi taalam.

The dancer brought out the beauty of Radha and Krishnas love, wherein they are separated but are longing for each other.

Their friend, who is the narrator, is trying to bring them together on the banks of river Yamuna, where Krishna is waiting for her. In her second performance Sakhi He Keshi Mathan Mudaram, Radha requests her friends to bring Krishna -- the slayer of demon Keshi -- to her.

Ranjana completed her last performance with Kuru Yadu Nandan. This piece was set in Mishra Kafi raga and Jati taalam.

As the audience relaxed into the mood, it was time for a kathak recital by the Nadam Ensemble.

The team started with Durga Stuti, originally composed by Dr Bhimsen Joshi.
It was choreographed by Nandini K Mehta and K Murali Mohan. The music was by Praveen D Rao.

The audience could see the grace and anger of Goddess Durga in the performance.

In the second piece, one was transported to the Vrindavan days of Lord Krishna when he lifted the Govardhan mountain.

The teams final piece was packed with three different speeds and had vigorous footwork, quick pirouettes, grace and vivacity.

The three-day event closed beautifully with a bharatanatyam piece by G Narendras Avigna Dance Ensemble from Chennai. Narendra and his team were flawless in their performance which was dedicated to Ganesha.

This was followed by Aadisidale Yashoda and a performance portraying Shiva in Ananda Thandavam, which is a rare composition by late M Balamuralikrishna. Narendra dedicated his last piece Hanuman Bhajan, to his late father.

Actor Nikki Galrani says that she works throughout the year, only taking off in the last week of December every year to celebrate her birthday with her family. The actor feels that she is blessed with a lot of energy and her love for the job is another factor that keeps her on her toes all the time.

While Nikkis project in Kannada titled O Premave is ready for release, she is busy completing her commitments in the Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu language industries.

In an interview with Nina C George, Nikki talks about her projects and journey so far.

Whats your role in O Premave?

I play the role of a girl who wishes to live like a queen, with all the luxury and pleasures in life. She gets attracted to a guy who she thinks is rich but she soon understands that love is more important than materialistic things.

Why is it that we havent seen you work in many films in Kannada?

The scripts coming my way from the Kannada film industry werent as good as I thought they would be.

And I couldnt take up some of the good offers because of lack of dates.

Do you miss working in Kannada movies?

Yes, I do. Although I now live in Chennai, Bengaluru is home to me. I want to take up more work in Kannada because I will then get to spend more time with my family.

What is your criteria for signing a project?

I dont categorise my work based on the language. What matters to me is a good script because I have audiences in all industries.

Do you and your sister Sanjjanaa get compared a lot?

Yes, we do. Both my sister and I are very strong and mature. Comparisons dont affect us because at the end of the day, she is my sister and we will always remain close, no matter where we are. We dont really bother about what people have to say.

You have completed 27 films in four years. How do you handle your meteoric rise to fame?

I am currently working on Charlie Chaplin 2 with Prabhu Deva which is my 27th film. I dont let success get to my head. I prefer to go with the flow and dont worry about success or failure.

How do manage to stay so energetic?

I keep running around so much that I naturally stay active. I can shoot for 18 hours straight and still go back to another shooting spot. I enjoy the process of working and this adds to my energy level.

Do you get enough time for yourself?

I miss my personal space because I am literally living out of a suitcase.

When did you take your last break?

The only time of the year that I take a break is during New Year. I club New Year celebrations with my birthday which falls in the first week of January.