Articles by News Desk

If you were to ask any commuter in any Indian city about their daily pet peeve, it would be the time spent in traffic. And now, Ola, the new age mobility platform serving 110 cities with 8 lakh vehicles on the roads has presented a year-end glimpse of 'how India commuted' based on their records. Some highlights from the top seven cities - Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, and Chennai: Total average traffic speed dropped by a whopping 2.9km/hr with Bangalore registering the slowest at 17.2km/hour Ola Share has saved 4 times the fuel from last year, telling of the high customer adoption…

Metro-Phase II is on target Namma Metro-Phase II is under way. Tracks are being laid on the 72-km line at a cost of Rs 455 crore.  The construction of the elevated line (viaduct) and stations along the line are all right on track. Building up an elevated line from Yelachenahalli to Anjanapur and Nayandahalli to Kengeri and stations on the stretch are all in their final stages. In Peenya, the BMRCL has 21,500 square feet of land that will be provided free to manufacturing contractors.   The decision to go ahead with Phase II was because the third rail system…

Inviting you to  write an article to comment on how the Master Plan-2031 will impact your neighbourhood, in this contest presented by Citizen Matters, Bengaluru , B.PAC and ooru.in  Check out the draft of the Revised Master Plan - 2031 (RMP-2031) released by Bangalore Development Authority, that is set to define our city’s growth for the next 15 years. Understand, analyse and write an article to comment on how it will impact your neighbourhood. What we expect Your write up should be based on an understanding of what the Master Plan 2031 is about and how it can impact your locality and city. Substantiate…

In what turned out to be a most engrossing discussion on “Can Inter-linking our Rivers and Greening their Banks save our Cities?” organized by Environment Support Group at Ashirvad, Bangalore, on December 15, 2017, theatre activist and Playwright Shri Prasanna Heggodu delved into the importance of introspection whilst addressing the prevailing state of affairs of the World. In particular addressing the problematic proposition of interlinking rivers, Prasanna argued that it is not an issue in which we can target the government or the Supreme Court or Narendra Modi as Prime Minister as chasing what seems like a scheme that has…

Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has come out with the draft plan for Bengaluru that will decide the city’s growth for next 15 years. The Revised Master Plan-2031 (RMP-2031) has been displayed in its website. It’s time for interested citizens to understand and decode the RMP and comment in it, raise objections or give suggestions. The process of first Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) was started in 1995, but as public were less connected among themselves and to the government, there was lack of engagement from the public. As a result the planning process became an one-sided affair, largely catering to the business interests and commercialisation. However,…

The death of 19-year-old Sanjay Aditya Giri on November 29th, as he was crossing the Outer Ring Road at Bellandur isn’t a one-off tragedy. It is an everyday reality for people who have chosen to live on that stretch.  On December 6th, residents of the neighbourhood plan a human chain to demand skywalks on what is one of Bengaluru’s busiest roads. Skywalks and better pedestrian facilities are not a new demand. In 2015, just before the BBMP elections, citizens met with candidates, including Asha Suresh who won the elections, as well as the Mahadevpura MLA Arvind Limbavali to request for…

The draft master plan for Bengaluru is finally out. This important document will shape how the city will develop and function for next 15 years. A press note from Bengaluru Development Authority mentions that ecological sustainability, mobility, inclusive growth and streamlined governance are the four pillar stones of the Revised Master Plan (RMP) for Bengaluru 2031 (Draft). The note states that the BDA "has evolved the RMP-2031 passing through a journey of series of surveys and studies with the technical support from Haskoning DHV in association with Adapt Technologies." Edited excerpts from the BDA press note: The GoK approved the…

The jokes on Facebook and Whatsapp have been relentless -- some even gross, indicating the blockage of various bodily functions because they have not been linked to Aadhaar! Notwithstanding those, or the more serious concerns and critiques raised by scores of individuals, the government remains steadfast in its mission of mandating UID-linked verification of citizens for every scheme or facility that they avail. While several petitions against the statutory linking of Aadhaar with various essential services and schemes is now awaiting a ruling from the highest court of the country, mobile phone inboxes of consumers continue to be flooded with…

Karnataka Election Commission has published the draft voter rolls in the website. Check out the Kannada version here. As of now there is no English version. So you need to know Kannada, and know your booth number or name of the booth to check your name on the list. To enroll on voter roll yourself without a third party’s help, click here and follow the instructions. A guide from Whitefield Rising on how to register yourself on voter list is here. To summarise it as applicable to any area in Bengaluru: To check if your earlier submission was successful, go…

Everyone in Bengaluru city is a consumer of goods or services. Goods are purchased and services sought on an ongoing basis. The common man is however not always aware of his / her right as a consumer and ends up living with substandard or poor service. This programme is organised by Co Media Lab (a joint initiative Radio Active CR 90.4 MHz & Citizen Matters initiative) in association with Consumer Care Society, Bengaluru. Where: Radio Active, 1/1-1, Atria Towers, next to Raddison Blu (earlier Atria), Palace Road When: Saturday 4th November 2017, 9:30 am to 1pm Register here: comedialab.in/consumer-workshop-1415 This…