Articles by News Desk

The cash-strapped municipality of Bengaluru, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has acknowledged the long-known financial problems the BBMP is facing. BBMP is unable to fund the pending infrastructure projects, with amounts payable by the BBMP including pending bills mounting upto Rs 15,428.67 crore. BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad formally wrote to the Karnataka Urban Development Department asking that the BBMP be brought under the ambit of Karnataka Local Fund authorities and Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2003. The act says the local body must compulsorily try to achieve 'sufficient revenue surplus' - excess of income generated in comparison to projected income. The commissioner…

LED lights to illuminate Bengaluru airport's second runway in 2019 The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA)'s brand new second runway slated to operate from October 2019 will be powered by energy and cost-saving LED lights. This choice was made to ensure lower maintenance, reduce power cost, ensure higher levels of safety and efficient operations. This will be the only airport in India to have LEDs. In a press release issued by Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), CFO Tom Shimmin said that US based company, ADB Safegate, will be installing the necessary equipment to maintain the airfield’s LED lights such as cables…

Urban floods: Will urban affairs ministry take charge? Given the spate of flooding incidents in Indian cities and towns in the recent past, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is reportedly planning to involve the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) to spell out ways in which the ministry can act to prevent and mitigate the impacts of urban floods. In 2010 an expert panel of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had issued guidelines on management of urban flooding, and had recommended the establishment of an urban flooding unit under the ministry of urban affairs, headed by…

37 Chennai areas listed as highly vulnerable to north east monsoon With the onset of the north east monsoon expected soon, the Tamil Nadu Government has identified 321 areas across 14 districts of the State as 'highly vulnerable', out of which 37 are in Chennai. Water stagnation in these areas are expected to be above 5 feet. Other districts with a concentration of highly vulnerable areas are Kancheepuram (84), the Nilgiris (68), Cuddalore (37), Thiruvallur (29), Kanyakumari (22) and Nagapattinam (21). According to the report cited above, there are 3,055 vulnerable locations in all in the 14 districts, out of which 306…

A delegation from Bangalore Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV) met Karnataka's Transport Minister D C Thamanna and submitted a memorandum, asking for bus fares to be reduced. A press note from Vinay Sreenivasa of BBPV says that the BBPV communicated to the minister that proposal to hike bus fares will harm BMTC, bus commuters and entire Bengaluru. The Minister did not provide any assurance on not hiking fares. The Transport Minister had been hinting at hiking fares of BMTC by about 14% - 18%. Bangalore Bus Prayanikara Vedike has been urging both the current government and past governments to reduce fares…

Three-month deadline for Bengaluru weddings to stop using plastic BBMP issued a notice on September 7th to marriage halls or kalyan mantapas, instructing them to stop using plastic material for functions, listing out all the alternative steps that may be taken to curb the plastic menace. The notice said that plate banks of steel, ceramic and melamine cutlery should be accumulated along with massive dishwashers to minimize wastage of water and maximise hygiene. Other recommendations include RO purifiers to supply drinking water, colour coded dustbins for segregation, avoidance of banana leaves that make segregation of wet-waste difficult, and setting up…

Registration department adopts biometrics for return of documents To ensure transparency and speedy processing, the registration department has introduced biometric processing, enabling return of documents within 2 working days from the sub-registrar office.  Earlier,it could take upto three months for a buyer to get back the documents post registration of their property. Meanwhile, the department has also introduced First In First Out (FIFO) system to  eliminate discretionary prioritisation of registration. The time slots would be alloted at the time of online registration. Source:  New Indian Express | The Times of India Awareness Campaign for Rain Water Harvesting Chennai Metrowater will…

Yet another bridge collapse in Kolkata; three dead The collapse of a bridge in Kolkata in the Alipore area on September 4th left three dead and scores injured. This is the third collapse of a bridge in the city since 2013. The collapsed bridge in the Alipore area runs over the Majerhat Railway station, connecting the city centre with Behala, south west suburbs and the neighbouring South 24 Parganas district. As the bridge caved in, in early evening, the National Disaster Response Force swung into action, carrying out rescue operations in the crowded area. There has been ongoing Metro rail…

The rainbow is out, and rarely has it been brighter. A landmark Supreme Court verdict, delivered through four separate but concurring and stirring judgments, has decriminalized homosexuality by scrapping certain portions of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and also underlined the ‘primary objective’ of the Constitution as one of ‘establishing a dynamic and inclusive society’ that recognizes and grants the rights of all persons who identify themselves as ‘queer’. The mood among members of the community as well as those who work with them has been euphoric, for it has been the culmination of a long and…

A press note from Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) states that as many as 1200 buses will be exclusively operated from Bengaluru Kempegowda Bus Station to Dharmastala, Kukkesubramanya, Shivamogga, Hassan, Mangaluru, Kundapura, Sringeri, Horanadu, Davangere, Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Ballari, Koppala, Yadgir, Bidar, Tirupathi and other places, as it is the Gowri-Ganesha festival season. The details: Special buses from Mysuru Road Bus Station will be exclusively operated towards Mysuru, Hunsur, Piriyapatna, Virajpet, Kushalanagar, Madikeri. All premier special buses will be operated from Shanthinagar(In front of KSRTC, Bengaluru Central Depot-4 & Depot-2) to Madurai, Kumbakonam,…