Articles by News Desk

Vaishnavi Vittal, former staff journalist at Citizen Matters, has won the Laadli Media Award for the best Web Investigative report - "Government ignores us because we aren't educated and rich".   Citizen Matters ran the article in July 2010. Population First, with the support of the UNFPA announced the winners of The Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity (Southern Region) 2011-12. The jury, which included highly esteemed members of the media, selected the winners from around 179 entries received from across southern India, comprising Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshwadeep and Puducherry. Vaishnavi Vittal recieved the award…

Brijesh Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forests, BBMP said yesterday that his agenda was to work towards a larger common goal in the city, balancing environment with the need for development.Speaking at the inauguration of ‘Nature in the City', a series of events centred around Biodiversity in Bangalore, he highlighted how BBMP had realised the need for an office to support the many lakes, parks and urban gardens under its care. He likened Bangalore growth to an animal once chicken-sized now grown to goat-size, but retains its chicken-sized arteries, he nevertheless reiterated his commitment to the environment. The event was held…

The recent exodus of northeast citizens from Bangalore still remains fresh in the minds of Bangaloreans even as scores of those who left have started coming back. Everyone acknowledges that SMS messages with murder threats triggered the panic. Going deeper, several analyses have appeared in the media about underlying reasons for a distinctive minority community such as the NE citizens to flee. From a media standpoint, the exodus has resulted in a closer look at the power of people-to-people communications technologies like SMS, as well as social media such as Facebook. The nature of people-people communication with SMS and social…

Two photo contests are open for all enthusiastic shutterbugs. One is focussed on city-nature interaction and other is for photographs of Kaikondrahalli lake.The contests are open to all and there is no entry fee. Selected photographs from both contests will also be exhibited in Hyderabad during the second week of October, at the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the United Nation's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The pictures get a chance to be seen and discussed by the hundreds of government officials, policy makers and other delegates from around the world who will attend…

Will living in Bengaluru ever be a cup of tea? Or coffee, if you will? Book launch Saturday, 4th August 2012, at 5 pm, Reliance Timeout, Mantri Mall, Malleswaram. R K Misra, member ABIDe, will release the book. Vatsala Dhananjay, well known lawyer, will talk about things to keep in mind while buying property in the city. In the past decade or two, Bengaluru has grown from a quiet, pleasant place to a vibrant and bustling city. Lakhs of new homes have been created, and millions of citizens from all over India have become part of the city's growing economy.…

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corportation today launched BIAS- 5 A , the much awaited Vayu Vajra bus service to the Bangalore International Airport for the benefit of residents on Bannerghatta Main Road. Starting from Gottigere on Bannerghatta Main Road ,the BIAS- 5A service would cover the near 47 km journey in about two hours with the maximum fare at Rs 200. For now , six trips are scheduled for BIAL from Gottigere while the return service would number five. The first bus from Gottigere would leave for the airport at 5.40 am and the last one at 9.10 p.m. The…

Bangalore will be the first city to pilot a project to allow Driving License applicants to consent to pledging their organs, at the time of license application. An initiative of Gift Your Organ Foundation (GYOF), the pilot will start on July 24th, at Electronic City RTO and will expand to other RTOs across the city and state in due course. GYOF, setup with a vision of ensuring there are no deaths in India due to shortage of organ donors, has been working with the Department of Health and Family Welfare and the Department of Transport, Government of Karnataka for the past few months.…

Karnataka’s newest Chief Minister is Jagadish Shivappa Shettar. Shettar is 56 and the state’s MLA from Hubli. Jagadish Shettar. Pic: bjpkarnataka.org Shettar earned a B Com in 1977 from Jagadguru Gangadhara Commerce College, Hubli and LLB from JSS Sakri Law College in 1980. His wife is Shilpa Shettar and they have two sons, Prashanth and Sankalp. In his 2008 filings before the election commission, Shettar and Shilpa disclosed their assets as follows. Assets Jagadish Shettar Shilpa Shettar Cash Rs 2,12,000 Rs 55,000 Bank balance Rs 2,70,321 Rs 2,34,458 Shares Rs 1,69,720 Rs 5,000 NSC/LIC Rs 1,85,000 Rs 4,25,000 Vehicle(Tata Indigo)…

The Citizen Action Forum (CAF) submitted their suggestions in response to BDA's call for inputs on the revision of RMP 2015. They sent their letter to the Office of the Town Planning Section of BDA in early July. Dear Sirs, In our interaction with officers of BDA, we have been informed that the exercise mentioned above is a first effort in the preparation of Masterplan 2035 and that feedback on current Masterplan 2015 is a necessary first step.  At the outset we would like to submit that the making of such an important document as the Masterplan for Bangalore, requires extensive and intensive…

Residents in numerous layouts and apartment communities in and around the Kadugodi area north of Whitefield have something to cheer. After a long wait, BMTC launched an extension of the 335E Vajra (Volvo) AC bus service to Hoskote. The route is 335-EK and runs along the Whitefield Hoskote Road connecting the Kadugodi bus terminus to Hoskote terminus. 335-EK bus launch. Pic credit awaited Many citizens in this area have been asking for an extension of this service for a few years now. Petitions had been sent to BMTC in late 2010 and early 2011. At that time BMTC officials had…