City: Bengaluru

There was someone tapping on our gate. Two gentlemen were seeking permission to enter; to rescue a bird trapped on our silver oak tree. People in neighbouring buildings had seen the bird, a kite, struggling since that morning. Its wing had been caught in manja (twine used to fly kites) that must have got entangled in the tree during the kite-flying season. A young man working in an office nearby had been monitoring the bird. He saw that though other kites had been attempting to free it, the raptor remained trapped several hours later, into the late afternoon. And he…

Donna Fernandes, founder of Vimochana, an NGO that works for women’s rights, is harried for the past few weeks. She's been trying and get a shelter, ration and compensation for a victim of domestic violence. Working in this field for forty years, she finds that the issues that plague society and affect women victims, remain unchanged. Like `the more things change, the more they don’t'. Take for instance, the Nirbhaya Fund, set up by the Central government after the December 16, 2012 gang rape in Delhi. The fund was to help survivors of violence and improve infrastructure to support women…

Long before it was called the commuter rail or the suburban rail, it was known as the circular rail. When it was first talked about in the 1980s, it sounded like simplicity itself: Bengaluru has railway tracks on three sides -- East, North and West. Build tracks on the Southern side and voila, we will have a circular railway that goes all around the city. Well, that was the plan. Let alone its name, even the concept of a circular railway was forgotten. Years later, when several mass transit options were considered to meet the growing city's transport needs, the…

Only 20% Volvos running High operation costs and low revenues have forced the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation to scale down its air-conditioned bus services. It’s now running only 150 such buses as against the 760 before the pandemic. The daily revenue of the public transporter fell from Rs 3.5 crore to Rs 2.5 crore while the revenue from AC buses is less than 30% of what it was in 2019. The revenue from air-conditioned Volvo buses dropped even before the pandemic, after operation costs rose due to diesel price rise. With most people avoiding public transport due to COVID-19, AC…

Sudha V is a flower vendor in Uttarahalli, and a recent entrant to the market. Pic: Pragathi R Sudha V, hawks on one of the arterial roads of Uttarahalli, warding off cows that tend to steer too close to her cart of flowers. While she witnessed a surge in customers on  the day of Makara Sankranti, the next day was a different story. There are few takers for her once-fresh red roses.  What's more, she faces stiff competition from three other flower vendors hawking along the same stretch.  As the pandemic claimed jobs, many moved to the informal sector because…

In a world where we produce enough food to feed everyone, 821 million people – one in nine – still go to bed on an empty stomach every night. Even more -- one in three – suffer from some form of malnutrition. Inspired by Sarabjeet Singh of Shimla, I thought of starting something similar on a very small scale in our residential society, Akme Encore, in Kundalahalli. I sent out a video of Sarabjeet's work on our community WhatsApp group and called for volunteers. Around 6-7 people came forward but we were clueless about what to do next.  To gain…

Translated by Madhusudhan Rao ವಿಶೇಷ ಮದುವೆ ಕಾಯಿದೆ (ಸ್ಪೆಷಲ್ ಮ್ಯಾರೇಜ್ ಆಕ್ಟ್) 1872 ರ ಬದಲಾಗಿ ಜಾರಿಗೆ ಬಂದ ವಿಶೇಷ ಮದುವೆ ಕಾಯಿದೆ (ಸ್ಪೆಷಲ್ ಮ್ಯಾರೇಜ್ ಆಕ್ಟ್) 1954 ಒಂದು ಪೌರ ಕಾಯ್ದೆಆಗಿದ್ದು, ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಜಾತಿ, ಧರ್ಮಗಳನ್ನು ಲೆಕ್ಕಿಸದೆ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳ ನಡುವೆ ಮದುವೆಗೆ ಆಸ್ಪದ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ.  ಈ ಕಾಯ್ದೆ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳು ತಮ್ಮ ವಿವಾಹವನ್ನು ಯಾವುದೇ ವಿಧಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಚರಿಸಲು ಅನುಮತಿಸುತ್ತದೆ ಮತ್ತು ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ಇತರ ಪ್ರಕಾರದ ವಿವಾಹದಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮದುವೆಯಾದ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳಿಗೆ ತಮ್ಮ ವಿವಾಹವನ್ನು ಕಾಯಿದೆಯಡಿ ನೋಂದಾಯಿಸಲು ಅನುಮತಿ ನೀಡುತ್ತದೆ. ಜನರು ತಮ್ಮ ಸಂಗಾತಿಯನ್ನು ಆಯ್ಕೆ ಮಾಡುವ ವಿಷಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಧರ್ಮ ಮತ್ತು ಜಾತಿ ಅಡ್ಡ ಬರದಂತೆ ನೋಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಈ ಕಾನೂನು ಜಾರಿಗೆ ತರಲಾಯಿತು. ವಾಸ್ತವವಾಗಿ, ಈ ಕಾಯಿದೆಯಡಿ ವಿವಾಹ ಸಮಂಜಸ ಎನಿಸಿಕೊಳಲು ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಅಗತ್ಯವಿರುವುದೆಂದರೆ, ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ಎರಡೂ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳು ತಮ್ಮ ಧಾರ್ಮಿಕ ನಂಬಿಕೆಗಳು ಅಥವಾ ಜಾತಿಯನ್ನು ಲೆಕ್ಕಿಸದೆ ಮದುವೆಗೆ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ನೀಡುವುದು. ಈ ಕಾಯಿದೆಯಡಿ, ವಿವಾಹ ಮಾನ್ಯ ಎನಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಮೂಲಭೂತ ಅವಶ್ಯಕತೆಗಳು ಇತರ…

Two significant changes in teaching and learning have marked the opening of schools in Bengaluru after a nine-month shutdown. One is the wholesale move from physical classrooms to digital classrooms. Second is the substantial reduction in syllabus, commensurate with the loss of teaching days this academic year.  Most schools had been preparing for the digital shift “by the end of last April itself,” says Gowri Mirlay-Achanta, a teacher at St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School. And they were told about the reduction in syllabus in July, she recalls. In fact, schools affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations…

Mass Rapid Transport Systems the world over have transformed the lives of people and the landscape of cities. That’s exactly the magic Namma Metro has weaved, at least for some Bengalurueans. The Metro -- where ever it is operational -- has been a dream-come-true. It has provided respite from traffic snarls, accidents, pollution, wastage of time and money, and liberated us from our "adjust maadkoli" attitude towards these everyday hassles. Read more: Is Bengaluru’s Metro Phase 2 almost ready? Here’s a progress report Namma Metro services towards Yelachenahalli from Nada Prabhu Kempegowda Station in June 2017 came as a boon…

Vaccination slower than planned The COVID-19 vaccination drive was halted or slowed down in several city hospitals on Wednesday due to glitches in the Co-WIN app. Reports from the Jayanagar General Hospital indicated that vaccination could not take place on Tuesday and Wednesday as the portal did not permit the entry of names. Meanwhile, it was reported that the Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute did not get the list of healthcare workers to be vaccinated from the State war room. There has been a heavy load on the server as all hospitals are entering data simultaneously.…