Articles by Josephine Joseph

Pic courtesy: http://cnarayanaswamy.com C Narayanaswamy is a seasoned politician whose political career has been truly built from grassroots up. He began as the vice-president of the Taluk Development Board, Devanahalli (1978-1983) in Bengaluru, had a distinguished tenure as the president of the Bangalore Rural Zilla Parishad (1987-1992), and then as an MP (1996-1998). A leader from socialistic roots C Narayanaswamy was born in 1948 in Channahalli village in Bangalore Rural District. His father late Shankarappa and mother late Pillamma were known in the region as model agriculturists. They supported Narayanaswamy in getting good education and inculcate moral values. Narayanaswamy  has…

In a first, to aid electioneering, a single window system to get all clearances from the Returning Officer has been set up in the city. Permission from the BBMP and police can be obtained from the RO who will now be available at the Police Commissioner’s office between 3pm and 5pm. But, AAP candidate from Bangalore Rural, Ravi Krishna Reddy said that candidates still had to approach different agencies so it could not be called a single window system. In another first, after the EVMs has been introduced, Bangalore South has been picked as one of the constituencies that will…

Pic: Josephine Joseph I was at the debate ‘Candidates Meet Citizens - Bangalore South Constituency’ organised by Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC). I reached there well before the event started. Half the auditorium was already filled up with media and the candidates’ campaign crew. Gradually the hall filled up with citizens and of course, party workers - I guess the show of strength at a forum meant for citizens is important, especially if you need people clapping and whistling when there is a pause after a conjunction so the citizens sitting there think you said something important.   The format…

Pic courtesy: nandannilekani.in The quintessential Bangalorean. Born in Bangalore, did part of his schooling in Bangalore, was a part of Bangalore’s pride - Infosys. He was in charge of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) and he quit as CEO of Infosys to be a part of a larger national need, the Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). He was the head of TAGUP (Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects) for five large financial sector projects. No prizes for guessing — yes, we are talking about Indian National Congress candidate from Bangalore South, Nandan Nilekani. His foray into…

The enormity of the Lok Sabha Elections is many a time difficult to comprehend. The machinery that has clicked into the play mode is not only that of the political parties but that of the Election Commission too. The numbers are tallied in millions of voters, in crores for poll expenditure, in lakhs of polling booths, polling agents, police, paramilitary, reserve police and even unaccounted for cash that is seized. The world’s largest democracy is going into polls and it is therefore excusable that the elections for the country’s 16th Lok Sabha is hogging a lot of media space and…

The past week has certainly set the tempo for the oncoming Lok Sabha Elections in Bengaluru. A frenzy of sop announcements, inaugurations, stone-laying, flagging off activities were seen just days prior to the announcement of dates for the elections when the Model Code of Conduct would be enforced. The elections were announced on the March 5th. About 72.62 lakh Bangaloreans will get to vote on April 17th. Notifications for filing nominations for the 28 constituencies in the state will be announced on March 19. Accounting of expenditure incurred by the candidate for poll expenses will be tabulated from the day…

Haven't you seen asphalting going on in super-speed recently in your area? Haven't most of the roads been improved recently? So far we were all neglected - now the public good is seen as supreme. Why - oh, why? No prizes for guessing - the election season is here! Announcement of the Model Code of Conduct by the Election Commission means that new welfare and populist schemes cannot be announced by the governments during this period. It does not mean a full stop in the work that a government does. Political parties that haven’t done anything through out the period…

Poll dates have been announced. Bengaluru is waiting to show the power of the voters. The nine-phase timeline will have the polls scheduled in Karnataka on April 17th, 2014. The counting will happen on May 16th, 2014 across the country. In the world’s largest democracy, about 81,00,00,000 voters will decide the 543 leaders who will represent them in the 16th Lok Sabha. Karnataka has 28 Lok Sabha seats and Bangalore has three seats. EC Notifications The Election Commission (EC) on its website has begun announcements for the Lok Sabha elections. Letters have been sent out to the Chief Secretaries and…

In a few day’s time the city’s bustle will have a different flavour. The Election Commission will announce the poll dates for the Lok Sabha Elections, parties will announce their candidates, buntings will line the streets of Bengaluru. The cronies will put up photoshopped posters with mug shots of themselves with their favourite candidate. It is that time when the citizenry become aware of the forthcoming elections and subconsciously make a choice, to vote or not to vote, both groups convincing the other about the merits of their choice. I belong to the former group and have evolved from going…

Talk about illegal buildings, and you come to know that more than 80% of buildings in Bengaluru have violations. Building owners who have knowingly or unknowingly violated the building rules, have been looking to resolve these issues once and for all. And the respite is here - in the form of Akrama Sakrama. The government has published the draft rules for Akrama Sakrama on December 31, 2013, deciding to regularise the buildings built before October 19, 2013. Like any other law, The Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act - now known as Akrama Sakrama - was framed with a lot…