Articles by News Desk

Governance Should you care about this plan? Read our news report here.1. Create new Bengaluru legislation that supersedes /encompasses all Bengaluru/Municipal body legislations like BWSSB Act, BBMP act etc - Bengaluru Region Governance Act, (BRGA) 2009.2. Establish the Bangalore Spatial Information Centre (BASIC).3. Strengthen the Lok Ayukta Act. 4. Amend the Karnataka Transparency Act.5. The Bengaluru City Report card to be presented by the BMRDA/MPC with Chief Minister as Chairman.6. Launch official city website www.nammabengaluru.gov.in7. Establish the Institute of Urban Planning and Governance (IUPG).  Roads, Traffic Management and Transportation1. Establish ongoing transport demand growth study and research.2. Make a single…

Responses to the new tenders issued by the South Western Railways for completion of the Whitefield bridge project will be opened in the third week of this month, says a top official at the Railways.In yet another twist to the long saga, Railways had terminated its contract last month with Soham Engineering Constructions, the Hyderabad-based firm that had been struggling to complete the bridge. Soham had been citing a cash flow crunch, but technical issues had caused the delay as well. One of the two ramps biting thin air at the railway intersection. Pic: Subramaniam Vincent. The source at the…

During the second half this year – July-October in particular - as well during the previous two years, BBMP notified various roads in Bengaluru and outskirts for widening. BBMP’s notifications have appeared in Kannada and English dailies.The widening is being under BBMP’s transfer of development rights (TDR) scheme. If you are slated to loose property on the road because of widening, you are entitled to 1.5 times the square footage lost through a development rights certificate (DRC), which the BBMP says it will issue. For more on this, see our articles BBMP’s TDR scheme has few takers, many left clueless,…

Redwood apartment on Harlur Road, off Sarjapura Road, has 150 homes. Their daily water supply comes in 15 tankers a day and they spend.about Rs 1.2 lakhs every month on tankers. They have recently piloted a Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) system on their clubhouse roof that helped them save Rs. 20,000 during the recent rainy spell. Inviting residents of Sarjapura Road–Outer Ring Road-Whitefield areas THE WATER WORKSHOP A workshop to learn about sustainable water management - making the most of surface water, groundwater, rainwater & waste water. Brought to you by ApartmentAdda.com in collaboration with RainWater Club and Citizen Matters.Discuss…

In a significant first, The Embassy of Sweden, Delhi, in association with RV QuizCorp, RVCE presents "Sweden India Nobel Memorial Quiz 2009" on November 3rd. The renowned engineering college has joined hands with The Embassy of Sweden to bring to college students a quiz on Alfred Nobel and The Nobel Prize. Conducted to commemorate the Nobel Week in Sweden, this is one of the many events being organised by the Embassy, in India. This national level quiz is especially exciting as the all-India winners get to go on an all expenses-paid trip to Sweden to visit major Swedish companies. The…

The land we live in is Karnataka which is beautiful all around. It gives us immense pride to speak in Kannada, It gives us immense energy... Kannada reverberates wherever you go - from the lyrics of 'Kannada', a song from the Taan Saints.On the occasion of Rajyotsava day today, Bangalore based music group Taan Saints have released a music video. Citizen Matters is happy to share the video here and joins Taan Saints in greeting you all on this special day. Sung By : Swastika Borkataki Bugley, Adarsh Bungley, Pavan Ananth, Prathap SounderLyrics : Badekilla PradeepMusic Composed By : Taan…

The plight of women and girls in the village of Golahalli on the southwestern outskirts of Bengaluru rose to prominence last week at Tokyo, at a major journalism awards ceremony conducted by the Asian Development Bank Institute. (Sitting third from left) Supriya Khandekar. Pic courtesy: adbi.org For her report ‘Women of a lesser society', published in Citizen Matters last year, Supriya Khandekar has won the Young Development Journalist of the Year award in Tokyo at the Developing Asia Journalism Awards (DAJA) on Oct 23rd. The Citizen Matters team congratulates to Supriya Khandekar on the award.Supriya’s article, about a precarious future…

When Shivaprasad Krishnan returns from work to his apartment in JP Nagar III Phase at night, many times after 8 PM, traffic piles up on his residential street, 1st Main Road, he says, because of contract cabs and buses bringing and fetching Infoys BPO employees. As a result, driving the last stretch to his apartment’s entrance has become painful. Krishnan lives in the Casa Ansal apartment complex, and one of its two entrances is located on 1st Main Road just a little past the Infosys building. Traffic piling up at 9 PM. Pic: Raghavendra When Citizen Matters checked on the…

We look at them, we dont care a damn. We drive past them, we dont wait for them to cross; We pay them, but we dont treat them equally.This is the pourakarmikas Working for us everyday, Regardless of their health, nor the weather that day.They clean our surroundings, When they don’t clean theirs.To see them smiling, a rare occasion To make them smile, even more a rarity But the cost, nothing at all Doing this, makes a world of a difference...                                                    Raunak Dembla                                                    St. Joseph's Indian High School, Gopalkrishna, Engineer-in-Chief, BBMP, today flagged off the week-long ‘Pourakarmika Thank…

Citizen Matters was present at the Sneha Sante event, with a spot drawing contest for children and also encouraged visitors of all ages to share their thoughts about the city. Sneha Sante was organised by Bangalore Cares, a non profit group, on 27th and 28th September 2009, at H N Kalakshetra, National College, Jayanagar. The event combined a charity bazaar and a programme of cultural events, Here are some thoughts people shared. A city full of people with good intentions! And it’s great that a lot of them actually carry out their intentions.Maha KumarBe kind to animals it is their…