Though the Karnataka government notified the extent of deemed forests as 3,30,186.93 hectares on May 5, the forest department has informed the additional chief secretary (forest, ecology and environment) that the revenue department is yet to hand over to it a large tract of the forest land. Principal chief conservator of forest R K Singh wrote to additional chief secretary Jawaid Akhtar, “These areas are set aside for conservation and development. However, large tracts of these areas are not in the physical custody of the forest department.”
Karnataka Friday clocked 1,562 fresh cases of Covid-19, taking the active caseload to 8,488. The weekly positivity rate remains at 4.75 per cent. With 7,355 active cases, Bengaluru continues to share the maximum share of active cases. Of the 1,562 fresh cases, Bengaluru contributed 1,244 cases. As many as 33,391 tests were conducted Friday.
Nikita Kiran likes to keep things simple and to the point. However, the 16-year-old girl is ready to face the complexity when it comes to exploring the technology space. A coder and a badminton player, Kiran from National Public School, Bengaluru, secured 99.6 per cent with a score of 498/500 in the CBSE Class 12 examinations, results of which came Friday.
According to Kiran, all she invested in was three-four hours a day, and she would jot down notes in class. The state-level badminton player wants to pursue research in computer science and become a tech-entrepreneur. “Mock tests and term 1 examination helped me perform better. I used to stick to my notes and learn from textbooks. I love exploring the tech space and I started coding at a very young age. I have also developed a math game for my father’s website to make math learning fun. The objective was to get my hands on web development and I thought it’s a nice way to learn,” said Kiran, who wants to study computer science at IIIT-Bengaluru.
The Bengaluru region finished second in the country with a pass percentage of 98.16 per cent, just after Thiruvananthapuram (98.83 per cent).
In Bengaluru, 16,774 candidates registered for the examinations and 16,703 of the candidates appeared for them. However, the overall pass percentage at the national level was 92.71 per cent; of the 14,44,341 registered candidates, 14,35,366 sat the examinations while 13,30,662 of them cleared the exams.
In other updates, Cricketer Robin Uthappa, who is also the brand ambassador of Karnataka-Brain Health Initiative, shared his struggles with mental health issues as a youngster and vowed to spread awareness on the importance of mental health. He was speaking at an event organised to mark World Brain Day at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans) Friday.
Read more news from Bengaluru, Karnataka here.
