Articles by News Desk

The fourth edition of the Bangalore Business Literature Festival is back. It’s on 8 th September 2018 at WeWork Galaxy, Residency Road, Bengaluru, says a press note. The theme this year is ‘Future of Work & India’. 18 Top speakers will look beyond the impact of automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning on factors that will shape careers, business relevance, green jobs, entrepreneurship, and startups in India. It will also delve into how people and governments respond to technology-led massive disruptions to careers and societies. Also, in this state of uncertainty, it will focus on how and what professionals, entrepreneurs…

TN Smart – an app for real time flood alert Later this month, the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority will launch a real time web app that will provide flood alerts across the state for better response management. The app will collate data based on the information available about earlier disasters, and will predict the impact of weather forecast. It is expected to be ready before on the onset of North east monsoon. TN-SMART (Tamil Nadu - System for Multi-hazard potential impact Assessment and Emergency Response Tracking  initiative would be in line with World Meteorological Organisation’s Global Framework for…

Activists arrested across cities, thousands protest Raids across seven cities saw the arrest of prominent left-wing activists , accused of having linkages to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). Police said that the arrests were made following a probe into the violence that took place during the meeting in Elgar Parishad on December 31,2017 during the commemoration of the efforts of the Mahar community in the battle of Bhima-Koregaon. Arrests were made in the early hours of Tuesday in Mumbai, Thane, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Delhi and Faridabad. The five arrested are activist and  writer P Varavara Rao from Hyderabad, lawyer…

KSNDMC warns of possible flooding in September Bengalureans felt the ripple effect of floods in Kodagu District (where a rainfall of 768mm left villages ravaged) on August 24, when the city received 43 mm of rainfall till 9 pm. Areas such as Malleswaram, Rajajinagar, Hebbal, Sadashivanagar, Kengeri, Adugodi and Mysore road received very heavy rainfall. Once the rain started, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) issued warnings by dispatching messages through their mobile application to certain key areas. The centre has forecast heavy rain in the immediate future, and has intimated the same to BBMP. Scientists warn that 80 mm…

Delhi gets common mobility card Delhiites can now use their metro smart cards to pay for rides in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses and cluster buses. An agreement was reached between the Delhi government and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) that allows for the use of the metro smart card. Delhi joins a list of cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Amsterdam and London in providing a common mobility card across various modes of transportation. The scheme underwent several delays due to disagreements between the transport department and the office of the minister for transport but the card came…

Pillion riders must now wear helmets Under the provisions of the Motor Act 2015, both rider and pillion rider can be booked for not wearing a helmet, however the implementation of this Act has been far from strict. Last week, the TN State Government assured Madras High Court that an awareness drive will be launched through advertisements etc, and the Traffic Police has stated that it will take strict action against violators. It has been highlighted often in studies that not wearing a helmet is the cause of ⅓ fatalities in two-wheeler accidents in the state. The Government had made…

Flood-battered Kerala keeps Tamil Nadu on edge With parts of Kerala reeling under water, and some areas completely cut off from normalcy, several residents of Chennai could empathise with the neighbouring state, which is facing a catastrophic situation much like Chennai did in 2015. Voluntary organisations were quick to seek out help and organise relief supplies to affected people. With help coming from many quarters in the form of donations and relief materials, there is now fear for Tamil Nadu as well, as a majority of the dams in the state are full and have already started overflowing. Flood alert…

Kerala floods: Red alert withdrawn, bus services restored, train and air operations resume partially As we write this, the floods in Kerala have abated to a large extent, but not before causing unprecedented devastation and a human crisis of mammoth proportions. The historic floods were caused by the highest ever rainfall recorded in a hundred years. The red alert has now been withdrawn in all districts, with heavy rainfall predicted only in small parts of three districts but the floods have left over 300 people dead and damages worth an estimated Rs 20000 crore. The state has begun to slowly limp…

B'luru ranked in 58th position on livability index Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri released the 'Ease of Living Index–2018’ on August 13th. Bengaluru was ranked in 58th place in the overall list, among 111 Indian cities surveyed, based on aggregated scores in four categories: institutional governance, social, economic and physical infrastructure. To ensure accurate reflection of the ease of living in Indian cities through this ranking, marks were awarded against 78 indicators in 15 sub-categories. Barring the category of open spaces, in which the former garden city fared reasonably well in 16th place, Bengaluru was at the bottom of the list…

Subject: Our objections to the redevelopment plan of the BDA Complex, Indiranagar, Bengaluru It has come to our notice through media reports that the BDA Complex in Indiranagar will soon undergo demolition and redevelopment. Tenders to this effect have been floated by BDA and that Maverick Holdings & Embassy Group have been identified as the private partners at a cost of Rs. 657crores. The redeveloped structure would apparently have two huge blocks, housing over 1000 car parks, 6,50,000 sqft. of retail and mall space and 3,50,000 sqft. of commercial office space with a total built up area of 14.95 lakh sq.…