Articles by News Desk

Bangalore's ‘India Against Corruption' (IAC) rally on Sunday was not as much a crowd puller as it was expected to be. While the Saaku rally in December - organised by the same coalition of 18 organisations - had drawn a crowd of about 800, this rally had around 300 citizens from the city. The Bangalore Indians Against Corruption march on Jan 30th Sunday. Pic: Karthik Raman. In addition to the coalition, the Art of Living Foundation also participated in organising the rally. The decision about the event was taken impromptu, to coincide with the Delhi rally, where the Jan Lokpal…

A coalition of 18 civil society organizations in Bengaluru - which had organized the ‘Saaku' campaign on December 11 - is holding a campaign ‘India Against Corruption' on January 30. As part of this, rallies will be held across Bengaluru and 27 other cities on the day, demanding effective anti-corruption laws and passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill. (Earlier Saaku coverage.) Rally details Sunday, January 30, 2011 at 10:30 am STARTS: Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Chinnaswamy Stadium Campus, MG Road ROUTE: MG Statue to Kanteerva Stadium and gathering at MG Statue Vijay Dwivedi 99014-55685 and Soma Shekar 89710-49348 Jan Lokpal bill,…

READERS PLEASE NOTE: Deadline extended till February 19th Feb 5th, 2011: Citizen Matters has published a simple guide to upload your compliance information directly at the Food and Civil Supplies Department website: Start here and proceed. A notice issued by Karnataka's Department of Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs on has confused citizens, media and LPG gas agencies. Karnataka's Department of Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs issued a notice on January 18, saying that Above Poverty Line (APL) ration card holders should submit a photocopy of their card, with the electricity meter number written on it, along with a…

The Namma Bengaluru Awards, set up by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), in its second edition has recieved a massive 10,463 nominations, says a release by the foundation on Tuesday, January 11th. This is an increase of more than 150% since last year.   One of the nominations was sent in by Narasingh, visually challenged by birth. He sent it in Braille format for Dr V Ashok Kumar, an Ayurvedic doctor. Nomination forms had been made available at more than 133 retail outlets of Food World, Bangalore One, Coffee Day, and CUPPA across the city. Jury members. From right to…

South Bangalore happenings Metro work, road-widening, underpass construction and new Corporators were the most prominent happenings of Jayanagar, JP Nagar and BTM Layout this year. In June, the Karnataka High Court disposed a writ petition relating to the construction of the station at South End, Jayanagar, Bangalore, giving the project a shot in the arm. Residents of south Bangalore came together to form the Ring Road Property Owner’s Association (RRPOA) to fight against road-widening. They were protesting BBMP’s road-widening plans from Central Silk Board to Mysore Road (14.5 kms). This was one of the first instances of a citizen’s collective…

Primrose Marthoma church, Bengaluru has opted for eco-friendly coconut leaves, old newspapers, dry vegetables and grasses for the Christmas decorations at the church. When they first used recycled materials in 2008, church members were apprehensive since decorations were made out of plastic bottles and old tyres. Daniel Thomas who runs an ad agency and is a church member, says "the end product was so beautiful that everybody was delighted."  Daniel is one of the people behind the eco-friendly initiative. In 2009 they used videotapes and plastic bags. Daniel says people call to find out what is special on Christmas every…

National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Bengaluru, in collaboration with Bangalore Film Society and Just Femme present the inaugural edition of pEtE maatu. The three-day event will comprise an international film festival of short films and documentaries, a digital photo exhibition and panel discussion on the theme Women and the City. There are many things for which a woman steps outside her house in a city -- be it to go to work, or drop a child to school, meet friends, or go grocery shopping. What happens when she steps out? Does she feel safe; what kind of hurdles does…

The Rotary Bangalore IT Corridor released the winners in all sections of the Bangalore Midnight Marathon (BMM) on December 12th, Sunday evening. BMM 2010 was held Dec 11th midnight to early hours of Dec 12th. The awards function has been scheduled for 19th Dec from 11am onwards at Fortune Select Trinity Hotel, Whitefield.  Full marathon Men 1. Tsegay Hiluf     (Ethopia)       2:26:40    (Chest No. 123)   Rs.50,000 2. Yashewas Abet  (Ethopia)     2:27: 22   (Chest No. 122)     Rs.25,000 3. Bhaskar Kamble (India)          2:27:57    (Chest No. 118)  Rs.15,000 Women 1. Meher D'Mello          4:20:44    (Chest No. 075)  Rs.50,000 2. Dr. Amrita Mitra Basu 4:31:25   (Chest No.…

As 11 December approaches, leading public figures in the city and elsewhere in the country added their voices of support to Saaku (‘enough’), the rally against corruption, and encouraged citizens to join them in the events this week. A number of civil society and community organisations, as well as individual citizens are partnering for Saaku, creating a powerful and continuing movement for action against corruption. Coalition Against Corruption, Anti-Corruption Committee, Yuva Bengaluru, Daksh, Praja, Loksatta, SmartVote, Forward150, Swami Vivekanada Youth Movement, Sachidananda Nagar Nyayapara Andolana and many others have come together to spread the anti-corruption message, and will work together…

Joint Transport Commissioner, Richard V D'Souza has issued an order to set up control rooms to register complaints against errant auto drivers in Bengaluru on a trial basis. The trial will last for two weeks starting December 6th, Monday. The order notes that the complaints against autodrivers have been on the rise and the RTOs have been unable to take action against the auto owners in several cases. In earlier cases of complaints, RTO offficials found out that the autos involved had fake registrations and hence they couldn't trace the owners. To counter this and ensure swift action, ten control…