Articles by News Desk

Road user survey: Kolkata most friendly; Delhi most hostile A survey of road users on behaviour and attitude towards safety was carried out by Ford India in six metro cities and four non-metro cities. The survey covered private drivers, passengers and pedestrians across the ten cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Pune and Indore. The survey covered various parameters such as compliance with traffic safety laws, precautionary measures and compassion for those in need of help. While on the subject of consideration for other road users, Kolkata and Ludhiana ranked most courteous, Delhi was ranked the…

2019 to begin with plastic ban The High Court has dismissed the writ petition seeking a stay on government's move to ban plastic of use and throw products. With this, the city is expected to begin the new year on an environmental friendly note. The government had banned 14 items including  plastic carry bags, plastic sheets used for food wrapping, dining table spreads, plates, plastic-coated tea cups, tumblers, water sachets, plastic straws and plastic flags, irrespective of their thickness. Justices S. Vaidyanathan and P.T. Asha observed that there should be a total ban that extends to the currently exempted products…

Gearing up for New Year eve Bengaluru has geared up for the new year celebrations. Following an alert by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), city police have been deployed around tourist and religious places over the next few days during the lead up to New Year’s eve. CCTV and drone cameras will be deployed in order to monitor any suspicious activity and movement of people. As many as 12,000 police personnel, along with 80 platoons of the reserve police force and 250 women police squads will be deployed. The management of pubs, bar and restaurants have been directed to ensure…

In the last few years, citizen-led movements in Bengaluru have garnered major headlines for various success stories as they took on governments and made the administration work a little more effectively. But the tradition of community groups working towards making their city a better place is an old one in Malleshwaram. Rekha Chari of Malleshwaram Swambhimana Initiative (MSI) and Suchitra Deep of Malleshwaram Social chatted with Citizen Matters on a Facebook Live, on the journey of the two groups, the hurdles of running a community group at a time when neighbours aren't aware of each other and the various mediums…

Clean Marina on top priority for the officials Following the directions of the Madras High Court, Corporation Commissioner D Karthikeyan along with the police commissioner took a walk along the Marina to inspect and take stock of the progress on the clean-up works. From streamlining vendors to stepping up security through CCTV surveillance, work along the world's second longest beach is on at a fast pace. The High Court has directed the civic body to ensure a clean Marina before the new year. Source: The Times of India GCC news: More worms out of the can A recent RTI filed by NGO…

Six airports to be privatised by February The coming year will see the privatisation of six new airports along the lines of Delhi and Mumbai. The Airports Authority of India has sought proposals for the privatisation of airports in Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram. The AAI plans to hand over the six airports to private players for a period of 50 years. The bids are to be submitted to the AAI by February 14, 2019 with announcement of winners scheduled for February 28th. The bidding will depend on the fee quoted per passenger, with the authority collecting a…

Big money for Bengaluru Karnataka State cabinet sanctioned an amount of 8038 crores for next three years, for various development works in Bengaluru. As of now, about 1200 crores have been sanctioned for whitetopping, while rejuvenation of Bellandur lake got Rs 350 crores. Meanwhile BBMP continues to burn money on projects that have no explanation, like an unused library and a quarters that doesn’t belong to BBMP. The Court Commissioners appointed by the High Court pointed out to the substandard quality of BBMP’s understanding of engineering, in its report. The High Court rapped the BBMP. In other news, BBMP has…

The Knights of Cubbon Bark, (Cubbon Park Canines Volunteers) have organised the second annual Santa BowWow FunTrain at 9 am-10.30 am on Sunday, December 23, 2018. After the excellent response last year, the festival is back with a bang. It is designed to help children get along with dogs in a safer and happier manner. The Knights of Cubbon Bark, (Cubbon Park Canines Volunteers) decided after an unfortunate child-dog interaction, where a frightened dog inadvertently injured a young boy, that it was important to create a safe and fun platform to help children and adults figure out ways to happily…

Phethai may give Chennai a miss again, but heavy showers likely Cyclone Gaja gave Chennai a near miss but devastated large parts of coastal Tamil Nadu. Now, a low pressure has started brewing in the Bay of Bengal. Named "Phethai", the powerful tropical cyclonic storm is expected to be the most intense in Andhra Pradesh. Even though it may move towards AP, Chennai may get heavy showers, bringing in much relief to the dry spell the city has been having. Source: The New Indian Express | Times of India Drive against encroachments around lakes 57 lakes in the city will…

CRZ 1 buffer zone to be marked to protect Mumbai's mangroves The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and revenue officials have been issued directions to demarcate the 50-meter buffer zone identified as Coastal Regulation Zone 1 along the mangrove forests. The direction has been issued by the suburban collector's office per the orders of the Bombay High Court. The 50-meter buffer zone will be marked initially on maps and then physically demarcated on the ground. Once demarcated, fencing of the area will be carried…