Articles by News Desk

  Bengaluru this week October 10th 2014     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!   Last week, as you know, was a mix of good and bad. As soon as Dasara season was over, rains pounded the city, leading to waterlog. Two children, aged 8 and 12 respectively, became victims. A house collapsed and two died. Some of these tragedies are surely avoidable. If you see any open footpath slabs or unsafe construction spots, do post it on bangalore.citizenmatters.in/data-tools. A caution for the week ahead: Expect more rains, with cyclonic storm, Hudhud, expected to…

India's 1st #RedBullFlugtag. 28th September, 2014. Sankey Tank, Bangalore. Done. Red Bull, the beverage company, put this message out with a photo on their Facebook page, just after the end of India’s first Flugtag event, held at the Sankey Tank premises in Malleshwaram, Bangalore. The event that was meant to be a competition for innovative flying equipment, was presumed to be over by the organisers; but it was not so, especially when one considers the aftermath of the event. Regular walkers who entered the premises on Monday morning were in for a shock - there was garbage strewn all over the usually…

Trees cut on Kanakpura Road (Pic: Environment support group) If you are a person who worries when the city starts flooding during rains as there is no room left for water to go, with storm water drains and lakes continuously being encroached, or one who worries about the environmental degradation happening in the city of Bangalore, this is your chance to stand up and say what you want. The Karnataka Department of Forests, Ecology and Environment has issued a circular, inviting the public to participate in the public consultation organised in Bangalore on September 27, 2014, by the High Level…

Four road safety entrepreneurs have been selected as winners in the innovation challenge “Safer Roads, Safer India: Game Changing Innovations that Save Lives.” Their projects were evaluated by an expert panel of judges and chosen as the top solutions from a pool of more than 80 entries that activate citizenship, improve governance to be more responsive, update infrastructure, and use technology to protect drivers, passengers, and bystanders. The four winning entrepreneurs, who were selected for meeting criteria for innovation, social impact, and sustainability, will each receive INR 300,000 as prize money funding to support their road safety innovations. They are…

  Bengaluru this week September 25th 2014     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!   City news that matters The past week has been a special one for Indians across the globe. Mangalyaan, India’s low-cost Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft, entered the Mars orbit on September 23rd, making it the first spacecraft to achieve this in its maiden attempt. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi was here in Bangalore to witness the spacecraft enter the Martian orbit at ISRO's mission control centre. As a Facebook post put it, “Total distance covered by Mangalyaan - 68 crore km…

In an effort to address the challenges of rapid urbanisation and resulting ground water table depletion in hte city, citizen groups, NGOs and other organizations, active in the area of lake and water security for Bangalore, have come together to form One Bengaluru for Lakes (OBL). The group aims to raise 'One Bengaluru, One voice, One Demand' by reaching out to people to increase their awareness and involve them in the protection of lakes in their neighborhood. As part of this campaign, OBL organised a seminar on September 21 at Senate hall of Central College, Palace Road. The session opened…

In view of Mysore Dasara-2014, KSRTC has made elaborate arrangements for operating extra buses as mentioned below in addition to the existing Express, Karnataka Vaibhav, Rajahamsa, Volvo and Volvo Multi-Axle services to provide transport facility to the travelling public coming from various places of the State and Country to attend the World Famous Dasara Festival being held at Mysore. From September 25, 400 special busses will be operated in a phased manner. 170 special buses are operated exclusively from Mysore Road Bus Station to Mysore. Apart from this, special buses will also be operated to Dharmastala, Kukke Subramanya, Sringeri, Horanadu,…

    Bengaluru this week  September 18th 2014       CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!  City news that matters Before our Bengaluru This Week roundup, here’s the curation of latest city news. The city is gearing up to welcome the Prime Minister - Narendra Modi is visiting Bangalore on September 24th. He is expected to stay at Raj Bhavan. Red Bull Flugtag, a fun contest, will take place on Sankey Tank on September 28th. Locals fear that it will cause problems to the birds around. HAL chief suggests that HAL airport be reopened.…

The Urban Development Department (UDD) of the Government of Karnataka invited Namma Bengaluru Foundation(NBF) and Bengaluru Residents Association Confederation Ensemble (BRACE) members to review suggestions on the draft of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Ward Committee Rules, 2013. The discussion of Ward Committee Consultation Meeting was chaired by T K Anil Kumar, Secretary to Govt, UDD. Officials from BBMP, NBF and Brace members led by Sridhar Pabbisetty participated in this discussion. The meeting was called for as per the directions of the Honourable High Court. The suggestions put forth by NBF and BRACE in September, 2013 were taken on record by the…

    Bengaluru this week  September 11th 2014       CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!  City news that matters   All of us know of the terrible floods in Jammu and Kashmir and resultant havoc. More than 640 people from Karnataka had been stranded, of whom around 200 have been rescued. The State Disaster Management Cell has opened the helpline 1070. Here is the list of persons from Bangalore in the area, with their current status (missing/rescued). Meanwhile, many organisations are busy collecting the materials needed to help the stranded citizens in Kashmir.…