Articles by News Desk

As a lead-up to World Environment Day on June 5, environmental justice  groups and citizens  are launching  an unprecedented coordinated waste  and brand audits in key cities in India. Scheduled from May 16 to May 30 in the cities of Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bengaluru along with various cities in Goa, Kerala, and 12 Himalayan States, the audits seek to highlight the role of corporations in the global plastic waste crisis, results of which will be published on 4th June. “Through these audits, we want to put the spotlight on corporations who have been responsible for the manufacturing, distribution, and proliferation of…

A month after DefExpo, trash all over the location. Whatever happened to Swacch Bharat? A citizen driving past Thiruvidanthai on Chennai's ECR captures the trash (plastic, thermocol) and construction debris left behind after the prestigious DefExpo 2018 was held there in April 2018. Land owned by the Nithya Perumal temple was taken over by the Defence Ministry for the event, but the villagers and temple authorities say they have no idea when the land will be returned to them. Environmentalists said the DefExpo site was a violation of coastal zone regulations. “When the Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone Management Authority gave…

Elections held in 222 of the 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka on May 12, 2018. https://opencity.in/data/karnataka-assembly-elections-2018-all-state-mla-winners-list-live-update Assembly wise results: Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018, All State MLA Winners List

Update: The article was updated to reflect the correct last date for voter registration. It was mentioned as May 22, but it is in fact May 15, and the applications are processed by May 22. The Election Commission of India on May 12, 2018, has issued directions to conduct elections to the Karnataka Legislative Council, for the period which ends on 21.6.2018 from the Teachers’ and Graduates’ Constituencies as below: Name of Constituency No. of members to be elected Karnataka South East Teachers’ 1 Karnataka South Teachers’ 1 Karnataka South West Teachers’ 1 Karnataka South West Graduates’ 1 Bangalore Graduates’…

Corporation begins work on T Nagar Pedestrian plaza Bhoomi pooja was performed near the Thyagaraya Road – Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Salai junction, to begin work on the T Nagar pedestrian plaza as part of the Smart City project. The project, estimated at ₹33.80 crore will include an exclusive pedestrian pathway for senior citizens, children and differently-abled people. Other facilities include children’s play area, upgraded toilet facilities, resting places for  shoppers and pedestrians, decorative lamps, fountains and crossing area. Speaking to News Today, a senior official of Chennai Corporation said, “as part of Smart City project, work is already under progress at various…

Election Commission, through many special drives, has been focusing on getting more voters registered. Here are some observations based on the final voter roll numbers shared by the Election Commission. 20.7 Lakh voters have been added to the 28 constituencies of Bengaluru, 3.16 lakhs have been added in the two months March - May 2018! From an average of 2.5 lakhs voters in 2015, Bengaluru constituencies have an average voter roll size of 3.25 lakhs. The smallest constituency is Shivaji Nagar with 1.96 Lakh voters, the largest is Bengaluru South, three times that size, with 6.03 lakhs. Mahadevapura follows with…

Namma Chennai App to the rescue of residents, yet a long way to go Since the launch of the Namma Chennai App in January, Greater Chennai Corporation is witnessing a steady flow of complaints. As many as 3000 complaints have been received so far and officials say they act on the complaints swiftly. Poor street lighting, Pavement encroachments, abandoned cars  are some of the issues that are getting the attention of the officials.  As on May 4, the app had seen 8000  downloads on Google Play store, and it has also been introduced in the iOS store. Source : Times…

Indian cities’ ongoing dilemma: To breathe or not to breathe? With 14 of the 15 most polluted cities in the world in terms of PM 2.5 concentrations, as recorded in the recently-released WHO global air pollution database, India continues to grapple with the huge challenge of cleaning up the air in its cities. With a PM 2.5 of 173 micrograms per cubic metre, Kanpur holds the unenviable top position in the list, followed by Faridabad, Varanasi and Gaya. The Indian capital stood at sixth position. The study considered both PM2.5 and PM10 pollution in the cities over the period 2010-2016.…

The Chunavana Android App is developed by the CEO of Karnataka after assessing the need of the public through a specialized KAP Survey is available for the public download now in the Google Play Store. The survey report revealed that out of the people who did not vote 25% was because they were not aware of their polling stations, 17.5 % of the urban voters did not vote because of long queue and avoided standing in the queue and 7.5 % of the urban voters did not vote because they are unaware of their candidates and the constituencies. The Chunavana…

Political parties come up with their manifestos for every election, promising to solve issues and do progressive things that will help people at large. Here's the list of manifestos from various political parties, for Bengaluru and the state. Indian National Congress (INC) Manifesto for Bengaluru Region (released on April 28, 2018): The highlight for Bengaluru is the mention of pitching Bengaluru region as a second capital for the country. [embeddoc url="https://citizenmatters.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Regional_INC-Manifesto_260418.pdf" download="all"] Indian National Congress (INC) Manifesto for Karnataka State (released on April 28, 2018): [embeddoc url="https://citizenmatters.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/INC_Manifesto_State_2018.pdf" download="all"] Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State Manifesto (released on May 3, 2018) [embeddoc…