ART AND CULTURE
Youth classical music fest
Ananya, a cultural association has organized Sangati Yuva Sangeetotsava from June 4- 8 in Sevasadan, Malleshwaram. This youth classical musical fest is likely to attract young talent from across the country. Several organizations like the BTM Cultural Academy and Rama Lalita Kala mandira have joined hands for this fest. Organizers are confident that the fest will quench the thirst of music lovers.[Tuesday, June 3 Udayavani]
CIVIC
Notice to building violators
In the wake of incessant rain, the BBMP has issued notices to the residents of nine areas to vacate the place. Officials say that most of the residents of these areas have built houses on drainages, leading to flooding of houses in case of heavy rain. Shamanna Garden and S.T. Tank Bund are two of the nine areas where this problem exists.[Sunday, June 1 Kannada Prabha]
Usual problems with rain
Rain is playing havoc yet again in the city this year. Bhadrappa layout near Kodigehalligate in Hebbal is inundated when it rains heavily. Rainwater on the road does not flow forward, but back, submerging the area in the process. The adjoining areas like Balaji Layout, Devinagar, Tatanagar and Lottegollahalli too have been facing a similar problem for the past three years, but BBMP is yet to take up remedial measures.[Monday, June 02 Kannada Prabha]
Ministers without portfolio have time for rain affected
Two ministers of the new government are competing with each other to survey the rain-affected areas of the city. While R. Ashok promises to find a permanent solution for it, Suresh Kumar advises the public to do their bit to avoid water clogging. Both ministers have not yet been given any portfolio. [Monday, June 2 Udayavani]
Survey of rain affected or party get together
New ministers R. Ashok and Suresh Kumar, who went to visit rain-affected areas of the city and lend their ears to public grievances, ended up being garlanded by their admireres. BJP workers welcomed the new ministers and felicitated them, turning the whole exercise into a BJP meeting. [Tuesday, June 03 Kannada Prabha]
A disaster in waiting
Ejipura is waiting for some kind of catastrophe to happen. Residents fear losing their homes due to the incessant rains, encroachments and apathy on the part of BBMP. Huge open drainages on which sheds are constructed can be seen as one enters Ejipura. Thousands of people live in about 1500 sheds here, posing an environmental hazard. [Wednesday, June 4 Prajavani]
Landlords harrass tenants
Do tenants harass landowners, or vice versa? Reports of landowners exploiting tenants are doing the rounds of the city these days. Though they take an advance amounting to ten times of the rent, owners fail to provide basic facilities like water, and in most of the places no separate electricity meters. Tenants land up paying whatever is demanded of them, as they are not shown the actual bill.[Wednesday, June 4 Vijaya Karnataka]
CONSUMERS
Mango Fest at Lalbagh
The annual Mango fest is on at Lalbagh, and will go on till June 8. It is open for public from 8 AM to 8 PM. This is a great opportunity for the public to buy genuine mangoes of various varieties in one place. They can rest assured of good bargains, as an expert committee has been appointed to ensure the same this year.[Saturday, May 31 Vijaya Karnataka]
Tender coconut popular
Tender coconut is in huge demand among the IT community of Bangalore, as this the preferred drink over soft drinks these days. According to an estimate, more than three thousand coconuts are sold to IT companies every day. Which is as well that young entrepreneur Srivatsa of Vijayanagar has developed a technology to keep coconut water fresh for three weeks. [Tuesday, June 3 Vijaya Karnataka]
CRIME
Fake doctor, real-life postman
He dreamt of becoming a doctor, became a postman instead and landed up in jail!
Nanjesh (28), a postman was caught in KIMS hospital after he was found in doctor’s coat and gloves, and holding a stethoscope. Police say he is not mentally stable. Becoming a doctor was Nanjesh’s childhood dream, but he ended up serving the Indian Postal Service instead.[Saturday, May 31 Kannada Prabha]
Illegal way to recover loan
The ICICI bank has yet again resorted to illegal methods to recover a bad loan. The bank’s ‘agents’ (who are more like hired goondas) abducted A. Ranganayak and tortured him, as they claimed he used the ICICI credit card to purchase goods worth Rs 20,000. They threatened to create a nuisance in front of his office and residence if the loan was not repaid immediately. Ranganayak claims that he has repaid more than Rs 37,000 towards the Rs. 20,000 loan.[Saturday, May 31 Prajavani]
Telgi gets no special treatment
Abdul Karim Telgi, the accused in the multi crore stamp paper scandal is getting only an ISKON meal and Marie biscuits in the Central jail, contrary to reports in some of the websites. The jail officials clarify that Telgi is treated on par with other jail inmates. The police monitor his activities through the CCTV that has been installed in his cell. Though doctors certified that he is diabetic, they approved of the jail food which was compatible with the suggested diet, officials say.[Wednesday, June 4 Vijaya Karnataka]
EDUCATION
School Admissions
Come May and donations rear their ugly head in the name of school admissions every year. This year, too, parents have to shell out mega bucks in order to admit (or readmit) their wards into decent private schools, who are collecting money in the name of development this time around. This is in spite of the government’s best efforts to clean up the education system by initiating various measures to counter the same. [Friday, May 30; Vijaya Karnataka]
Aspiring Astronaut
13 year old Shriya Dinakar dreams of creating history by being the first woman to step on Mars. Having already undergone four of the many trainings given to cosmonauts, it might not be an impossible dream after all. Shriya also presented a seminar paper on the future of human beings on Mars at the International Astronauts Conference on the invitation by Dr. Abdul Kalam. [Saturday, May 31 Prajavani]
Early to school
A government directive last week sought the cooperation of school administrations in decongesting Bangalore’s roads, by starting school half an hour before their schedule. But there seem to be no takers for this government order. Most of the aided schools in the city have not yielded to this directive. Though government schools started at 8.30 AM most of the teachers did not turn up. Teachers of aided schools claim that they have not yet received any official communication to this regard, though they have heard about it from the media. [Saturday, May 31 Prajavani]
The new timetable for the schools in the city did receive lukewarm response from the children. More than 50 per cent of the children are turning up late to the government schools. Education department with an intention of achieving 100 per cent attendance from the day 1, did everything to welcome children. But early schools failed to wake up children.[Sunday, June 01 Vijaya Karnataka]
Long road to education
The children of Harohalli school in Yelahanka have to walk all the way to a makeshift school in nearby Nagenahalli village this year too, as the education department failed to ensure a building for them yet again. Though the government has released funds for the new building, contractors have misused them thanks to negligence on the part of officers of the education department. More than 100 children have to walk more than a kilometer and cross a level crossing to go to alternative school, according to inputs by Channabasappa, the DDPI of Bangalore North – 4 division, and BEO Krishnappa. [Monday, June 2 Udayavani]
GOVERNMENT
Motorists weary of fines
People are fed up with the traffic police who have been harassing commuters in the name of verifying the documents. Police in most of the circles have been asked to collect fines as part of their duty since four months. This has created a kind of panic among motorists, who allege that the police are harassing them violating the norms. They need to spend at least half an hour to get away from their clutches.[Sunday, June 01 Prajavani]
Yet another election
Bangalore is getting ready for another election. With the new government coming to power, election to the BBMP will be held in near future. The corporation has been working without elected members since 18 months. It is learnt that the government will decide on the election date once the distribution of ministries is over. Things should be clear by July or August. [Sunday, June 01 Vijaya Karnataka]
Thoughtless functioning
Here are the three examples of how our Sarkari babus are working. Rain is not something unexpected to the city. Yet the BBMP has not taken any precautionary measures. Traffic police continue to show indifference to the woes of the public. Recently when hundreds of vehicles were stuck in a jam during rains, they were not allowed to use the one-ways which would have eased the traffic to great extent. The horticulture department is having a mango fest during the monsoons. Everybody knows that it is not advisable to eat mangoes in the rainy season, as the extreme moisture causes fruits to have worms in them.[Monday, June 2 Prajavani]
Property Tax not collected yet
Though we are into the third month of the current financial year, the BBMP is yet to start collecting property tax. This has resulted in a loss of around Rs.200 Crore to the BBMP treasury. Confusion over the rules under which taxes have to be levied is the reason behind the delay. Special commissioner (finance) of BBMP Sandeep Das says that people usually pay tax in the first two months to get discount benefits.[Tuesday, June 3 Prajavani]
INFRASTRUCTURE
Coolies demand at BIAL
Air travelers in Bangalore have a new problem to contend with in the BIA. The coolies of the new airport are demanding extra money to transport luggage on trolleys, creating embarrassing situations for the hapless public. N. Satyananarayana, CEO of the Central Parking Service which is entrusted with this service, makes light of the situation, calling it a normal practice in all the airports. [Saturday, May 31 Prajavani]
BMTC buses to BIAL popular
Vajra and Suvarna, the bus services that BMTC has started to facilitate commuters to the BIA is a big hit among the public. Though priced a bit on the high side, people prefer to use these services as travel time is cut short. A total of 47 Vajra and 37 Suvarna buses are pressed to service round the clock from nine areas of the city to BIA. BMTC is now contemplating on introducing more routes to the new airport.[Monday, June 1 Vijaya Karnataka]
Facelift for City hospitals
The two important government hospitals in the city Victoria and Bowring will get a major thrust soon. The government intends to provide better facilities in these hospitals at the cost of Rs 11 Crores. They include more ICU units and emergency units in the near future.[Sunday, June 1 Prajavani]
No leave for BBMP officials till end of rains
Chief Minister Yediyurappa has directed BBMP officials not to go on leave until the end of rainy season. After visiting the rain-affected areas of the city, he warned of stern action against negligent officials. He also noted that the same family was getting the garbage cleaning contract since many years, and said that his government would not tolerate mafias of any sort.[Wednesday, June 4 Kannada Prabha]
Hall for BMTC employees
The BMTC has started a convention hall in its 13th depot in Banashankari 3rd stage. BMTC employees can make use of this and avoid paying the hefty money for hiring private halls. The convention hall will also be rented to the public, the proceedings of which will be used for the welfare of about 22,800 employees of BMTC. [Wednesday , June 4; Prajavani]
Rain hampers work on Bellary road
Development work is happening on Bellary road, but rain plays villain in this phase. Heavy showers are crippling work on the CBI underpass and six-way road, enabling only 40 percent of the works to be completed. Workers have to wait for a week for the earth to dry up after the rains before resuming work.[Thursday, June 5 Kannada Prabha]
More traffic police stations on Bellary road
Bellary road will have two more traffic police stations thanks to huge traffic flow due to the BIA. Additional police Commissioner (Traffic and Security) Pravin Sood said that that the government proposed to start Chikkajala and Devanahalli traffic police stations to ease the traffic. Two more such stations are expected to come up in Whitefield and Electronic City.[Thursday, June 5 Kannada Prabha]
Sad state of Arakere lake
Arakere, a tank on Bannerghatta Road was once the habitat for a number of birds and greenery. It is on the verge of losing its status due to the silt and waste being dumped into it. Due to the silt, water pours out into the roads during rains. Though BDA has earmarked 12 tanks for development, this important tank is left out of the list.[Thursday, June 5 Prajavani]
POST ELECTIONS
Swearing in and traffic jams
The oath taking ceremony of the new chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa was reason to cheer for his admirers, but created problems for motorists in the adjoining areas of Vidhana Soudha. People turned up in huge numbers to witness his oath taking ceremony, stranding motorists for more than two hours. Bellary road too felt the heat of this traffic jam.[Saturday, May 31 Prajavani]
MLA has promises to keep
Newly elected MLA of Dasarahalli Muniraju of BJP has many promises to keep. He has vowed to give priority to infrastructure development. He plans to construct skywalks and has promised to get rid of water problem of his constituency. People of this constituency are fed up of waiting for Cauvery water, and hope their minister has other plans to provide drinking water to them. [Friday, May 30 Prajavani]
MLA gets to work
V. Somanna, MLA from the Govindarajanagar hopes to develop his constituency on the lines of Vijayanagar, which he had represented previously. Govindarajanagar is thus a new area for Somanna, and he has started the process by convening a meeting with the officers a day after his victory. [Friday, May 30 Prajavani]
New MLA’s priorities
The foreign educated MLA of Byatarayanapur Krishna Byregowda wants to give priority to basic infrastructure before bringing a big project to his constituency. Most of the areas of this constituency do not have water and sewage connections. The young MLA wants to start more schools and open public libraries. [Sunday, June 1 Prajavani]
Re-elected ML’s plans
MLA of C.V. Raman nagara, S. Raghu wants to start an institution to deal with the problems of his constituency. He claims that the developmental works he had undertaken during previous regime is the reason for his reelection. Raghu wants to give a facelift to Kaggadasapura Lake, which is drying up. [Sunday, June 1 Prajavani]
First-time MLA’s plans for model constituency
Nandisha Reddy, first time MLA from K.R.Puram wants his constituency to be a model in the state. He wants to promote rain water harvesting to solve the water problem in the area. Reddy also wants to make roads of international standard in his constituency, and intends to look into developing footpaths as well.[Sunday, June 1 Udayavani]
Gundurao Jr. solution for parking problems
MLA Dinesh Gundurao from Gandhinagar dreams of having multi storied parking lots to do away with parking woes of this thickly populated area. Apart from this, distributing Khatas to slum dwellers, providing basic facilities to the residents of Akkipet and Cottonpet are the other priorities of this three time MLA.[Monday, June 02 Kannada Prabha]
Structured plan by Third-time MLA
Third time MLA from Mahalaxmi layout Narendra Babu has a three-phase plan for the development of his constituency. He says works will be undertaken on long term, short term and on an emergency basis as and when need arises. This pro-active MLA has opened a website where residents of the constituency may post their problems. Babu has also set apart one hour in the morning to listen to the grievances of public.[Tuesday, June 3 Prajavani]
1-year plan by Yelahanka MLA
S.R. Vishwanath, first time MLA from Yelahanka wants to revamp his constituency within a year. Vishwanath, previously a union leader in HAL, was elected to the assembly on a BJP ticket in his very first attempt. Yelahanka too faces infrastructure problem like most other constituencies in the city. Though Yelahanka has the Devanahalli airport adjacent to it, it lacks basic facilities like water and sewage lines. [Thursday, June 5 Vijaya Karnataka]
Visitors galore at CM’s house
The residence of the new Chief Minister Yediyurappa has turned into a ‘dharmashala’ for the past three days. Thousands of party workers and admirers visited the place to congratulate him. While they gorged on the delicious dosas, curd rice, bisibele bath, and kesaribath served to them, visitors also indulged in a lot of talk about the new government’s survival tricks. Perhaps the CM should eavesdrop on what is being said, and benefit from the insights! [Sunday, June 1 Prajavani] ⊕