** Bowring medical college named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee

The Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute has been named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The institute was set up in 2018-19 on the campus of Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Shivajinagar in the heart  of Bengaluru.

The health and medical education minister had recommended renaming it the Atal Bihar Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute. Accordingly, the state government has issued an order to this effect.

** 23 medicinal plants of Karnataka on endangered list

At a time when climate change and infrastructural projects are wreaking havoc on forests, an exhaustive study commissioned by the Karnataka Biodiversity Board and National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) has revealed that 23 rare medicinal plants in various forests of the state are on the verge of extinction and listed as ‘endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list.

** Learning beyond classrooms: Udupi woman grooms 500 kids

Roopa Ballal educates children from underprivileged backgrounds and looks after their nutrition and well-being.

Children of migrant labourers from the slum at Beedinagudde, located three km from the house, are here to shape their future. They forget their miseries and nurture their dreams during the time they spend at this house.

“My house has been their home and I have been their mother since last 15 years,” says home maker and Yoga expert Roopa Ballal. In a classroom constructed by her husband Nagaraj Ballal on the terrace, she teaches Kannada and English to these children.