Articles by News Desk

Prakash Belawadi, an actor and a theatre personality, had the shock of his life when a caller posing as a bank officer asked his wife for the One Time Password (OTP). Belawadi happened to reveal it to her without thinking. It was too late when he realised that his wife had unintentionally communicated to it to the person at the other end of the phone. The result: money to the tune of Rs 90,000 was billed to his credit card. A screengrab from an animation by the Federal Trade Commission intended to educate citizens about phishing tactics. Pic: Wikimedia Commons…

  Bengaluru this week March 10th 2016     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     10 seconds of your time please, with a 5 question Reader Survey, and we promise to take your feedback seriously! Take the 10-second survey » Will you run for us? If you can run, we can do with your help! The TCS 10K is coming up in May 2016 and we’re hoping to raise the funds we require to keep our work going during the event. If you would like to sign up with us as a fundraiser, if…

  Bengaluru this week March 4th 2016     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     As we launch our fundraiser next week, please share your feedback in this quick 5 second survey! We promise to take you seriously and improve Citizen Matters even more! Take the survey >> Run for money! 71 days to go - we have a friend of Citizen Matters who will be running the TCS World 10K, and raising funds for Oorvani Foundation. Are you participating too? Would you also help us in raising funds? Please mail us >> This week's highlight:…

  Bengaluru this week February 25th 2016     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     March (and end of financial year!) is nearing and we need to gear up for our next fundraising drive. But before that, we would like to hear from you - what do you think of our work -- does this journalism supported by Oorvani Foundation matter to you? What can we improve on? Write to us at edit@citizenmatters.in! This week’s highlight: Are you getting cheated by your LPG dealer? How much are you paying for your LPG cylinder? Pic:…

Open Streets (OMG) is being held today, February 21st, on M.G. Road, Bengaluru. Celebrating Bengaluru OMG aims to revive the long-lost charm of the 'Boulevard of Bengaluru City'. Traffic will be restricted between Anil Kumble Circle and the Brigade Road junction on MG Road between 9 am and 9 pm, opening the streets for festivities that celebrate the city of Bengaluru in all its traffic-free glory. BMTC and BMRCL have extended their bus and metro services respectively, to encourage people to use public transport when commuting to the event. Special arrangements for free and secure parking for bicycles have also…

  Bengaluru this week February 19th 2016     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     The important story of the week - on how there are no rules or regulations for water tankers that most apartments, especially those outside the core city area, are dependent on. Nobody monitors whether the water tankers are safe enough. What water are we drinking? Some good news after that shocker – plastic ban trending across the city. Koramangala, HSR Layout, Sanjay Nagar - who is next? We track the various citizen-led single-use plastic bans. And The Green Ogre…

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) tracked the ambient air and noise quality in Bengaluru before and during the Invest Karnataka 2016, Global Investor Meet. Here are their findings. Status of Ambient Air Quality To know the impact of the Global Investor Meet (GIM) 2016 on ambient air quality in Bengaluru, air quality monitoring was carried out at 12 locations round the clock before and during GIM 2016, using manual and continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations. Name of the Station RSPM µg/m3 before GIM RSPM µg/m3 during GIM % of RSPM I/D CAAQMS SG Halli 115.6 85.5 26.0…

Srinivasa Mahal, Winner of the 2015 award in the Private (Residential) category. Pic: INTACH INTACH has invited nominations from you for the Second Annual INTACH Heritage Awards, given to Bengaluru's heritage buildings. Citizens can nominate the heritage buildings that they think deserve an award -- the beautiful ones that make you sigh, the charming ones that you think gave Bengaluru its unique charm, the hoary old ones that tell stories of our past. These awards help to showcase Bengaluru's heritage, and to keep heritage in the public eye, so do take a moment to nominate a building! Awards will be given…