Karnataka Assembly passes contentious anti-conversion bill amid protests

Karnataka’s first C Band Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) in Mangaluru, work for which was supposed to have been finished by January 15, will be postponed slightly due to some technical difficulties, said N Puviarasan, head of India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s Bengaluru centre.

“We are hoping to get it running by this month's end at least,” said Puviarasan on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ workshop organised by the IMD Bengaluru on January 4 to commemorate 150 years of IMD. The workshop was held at the premises of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre (KSNDMC) and had day-long sessions, including technical ones by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Bengaluru and Department of Agro Meteorology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru.

Puviarasan also said the IMD ran into obstacles in its bid to establish a S-band DWR in Bengaluru, due to problems in acquiring the land required. “We need 30X30 space to put up a tower and a small utility room,” said Puviarasan. According to him, IMD had originally planned to put up the radar in Nandi Hills. But, on Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour & Employment Shobha Karandlaje’s request, he said they started scouting for an appropriate place in Bengaluru. On July 23, 2024 Karandlaje had posted on X: “Following my request, the IMD has greenlit the installation of a Doppler radar in the city (Bengaluru), scheduled to be operational by year-end. This is a major step towards better weather forecasting & preparedness for natural disasters."

She had also posted a letter written to her by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Jitendra Singh, who said the radar will have an operational range of 250 km and will be installed in Bengaluru by 2024. He also mentioned that the site for the radar installation has already been identified and the Centre had informed the state government to acquire the site. “But the site suggested by the minister is not feasible because of the elevation issues,” said Puviarsan.

According to IMD scientists, there should not be buildings higher than the radar within its range, as readings will be affected. Puviarasan said they have now identified a place within a government school in Bengaluru and are awaiting permission to establish the radar. He said usually land acquisition is a huge problem. “This time, it’s a government school. Here, we don’t even need to raise a boundary wall, as it exists already. So, we’ll see,” said the director. If this is not working out, he said IMD will go back to its initial plan and will establish the radar in Nandi Hills. Mangaluru radar, being established near Kadri, is expected to cover 250-300 km radius, putting regions prone to heavy rains during monsoons in Karnataka, like Agumbe, Hulikal, Talakaveri, Kerekatte and Bhagamandala within its range, said a IMD scientist. Earlier, in his presentation, Puviarasan had also said apart from Bengaluru and Mangaluru, one X-band DWR is coming up at Dharwad. He also said proposals have been submitted for S-band radar at Honnavara and C-band at Ballari.

Without a DWR, Karnataka has been depending on the radars in Goa, Hyderabad and Chennai for more accuracy in forecasts for thunderstorms and rainfall so far, said IMD officials. In his presentation, Director of KSNDMC, Bhoyar Harshal Narayanrao, talked about why Karnataka is vulnerable to hydro-meteorological and geological disasters. He also said 80 per cent of Karnataka is prone to drought, and that in the last 23 years (between 2001 and 2024), 16 years are drought affected. He also said maximum number of landslides leaving widespread damage and casualties have occurred in Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Chikkamamgaluru, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Hassan, Chamrajanagara Mysuru and Chikkaballapura. The year 2018 saw the most landslides, at 462, between 2006 and 2024. Narayanrao also said Karnataka is the only state in the south with its own disaster monitoring centre and seeing its success other states are also thinking of establishing one on the lines of KSNDMC. He said KSNDMC is also being approached by a few startups to involve Artificial Intelligence in disaster management. “We are taking a cautious approach towards the idea. We are looking into what AI can offer and will decide accordingly,” said Narayanrao.

Other presentations included an overview of IMD services by S Balachandran, head of Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai and possible integration of climate services in support of Karnataka State Action Plan on climate change by K J Ramesh, Former Director General, IMD. Sanjeev Verma, AGM, Air Traffic Management, Airports Authority of India, Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru also made a presentation of how weather forecasting is integral for air traffic management.

The director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza has described as “hell” the situation in the north of the strip which has been under an Israeli ground offensive and siege for “100 days”.

“The situation is literally like hell,” Munir al-Barsh said on Sunday, referring to daily Israeli attacks and the regime’s ban on food delivery to medical staff trapped in the north’s hospitals.

He added that “hospitals in northern Gaza have turned into mass graves.”

Al-Barsh noted that the offensive and the destruction of hospitals and infrastructure and any sign of life in the north are aimed to empty the region of its residents.

“The Israeli occupation has been deliberately destroying the health system since the very first moment,” he said, adding that “the destruction of hospitals was the greatest evidence of the [Israeli] genocide.”

According to his statements, 5,000 people have been killed or gone missing, while 9,500 others have been injured since the start of Israel’s offensive on the north of Gaza in early October 2024. The regime’s forces have also abducted about 2,300 people, including 65 medical staff, during the ongoing offensive.

Al-Barsh slammed the “disgraceful” silence of the international community on Israel’s atrocities, which he said, has “deepened the suffering of innocent civilians.”

Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed at least 46,565 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 109,660 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

However, the UK’s Lancet medical journal estimates the actual number of deaths in the war is much higher than the official toll.

According to the study, figures reported by the Palestinian health ministry likely undercounted the death toll by 41 percent in the first nine months of the war as the Gaza Strip’s healthcare infrastructure unraveled.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported that at least 74 children were killed in Israel’s relentless violence in the Gaza Strip during the first week of 2025, marking a grim start to the New Year for children in the besieged territory.

In a recent report released on Wednesday, UNICEF said that the fatalities occurred within just eight days, emphasizing that the lack of adequate shelter, compounded by winter weather, poses severe risks to the children in Gaza.

“For the children of Gaza, the New Year has brought more death & suffering with at least 74 children reportedly killed,” Executive Director of UNICEF Catherine Russell said, calling for an immediate ceasefire to end the violence.

She expressed deep concern over the number of children who have either been killed or have lost loved ones during the tragic beginning of the year.

Numerous fatalities have occurred during mass casualty events, including nighttime assaults in Gaza City, Khan Yunis, and al-Mawasi, which has been designated a "safe zone." The most recent attack claimed the lives of five children in al-Mawasi on Tuesday, according to UNICEF.

The situation is dire, with reports indicating that eight infants and newborns have died from hypothermia since December 26, highlighting the severe risk facing young children who are unable to regulate their body temperature amid the harsh conditions as Israel weaponizes cold against children in the Gaza strip.

“UNICEF has long warned that inadequate shelter, lack of access to nutrition and healthcare, the dire sanitary situation, and now the winter weather put the lives of all children in Gaza at risk. Newborns and children with medical conditions are especially vulnerable,” Russell emphasized.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached alarming levels. The number of aid trucks entering the region remains grossly inadequate to meet the basic needs of families, while civil order has largely unraveled, leading to the looting of humanitarian supplies.

According to UN reports, over a million children are currently living in makeshift tents, with almost all of the 2.3 million population displaced several times over the last 15 months.

Moreover, the few operational hospitals are overwhelmed, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure has severely hampered access to essential services, including food, clean water, sanitation, and healthcare.

Kamal Adwan Hospital, previously the only functioning medical facility in northern Gaza with a pediatric unit, has ceased operations following a raid last month, exacerbating the already critical healthcare situation.

A recent report from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics noted a 6% decline in Gaza's population in 2024, indicating that Israeli forces are intentionally targeting specific demographic groups, such as children and youth, resulting in a significant “distortion of the population.”

Since the onset of the genocide, Israel has killed 45,936 Palestinians, including over 17,600 children, as reported by the Health Ministry in Gaza, indicating a tragic loss of one child approximately every hour.