City: Bengaluru

A few days ago, Tejasvi Surya, MP for Bangalore South, created news when he worked with various stakeholders - BBMP, BWSSB, BMRCL etc - to help clear the mess that was Bannerghatta Road. He coordinated a joint meeting with these departments and relatively eased life for thousands of commuters who use this road. A lot of people were impressed that an MP got down into the grit of solving the basic infrastructure problems that plague our city. But that's just the point here. Dealing with a bad road isn't his job as an MP! Just so we are clear, this…

Prof. Jayant Narlikar, an astrophysicist and Professor Emeritus at Pune University, once said, “The reason for the decline of science in India is the lack of experimentation as part of learning science.” Indeed, India’s education system has maintained status-quo for over many decades now, and no revolutionary attempt has been made to upgrade the quality of content or its delivery.  However, once in a while, one does come upon heartening instances, such as at the Legacy School Bangalore (LSB), where students of Grades 9 and 10 have been exposed to a novel learning experience since 2014. Bindu, a teacher of the school has collaborated with the…

A major railway station, a Metro station and a national highway (Peenya Road) are all located close to each other in the Yeshwanthpur suburbs. But these transport modes are not well-integrated, causing major hassles in using public transport here. 2.3 km from old railway station to Metro The map below shows the distance from the old entrance of the railway station (marked YPR (OLD)), where Platform 1 is located, to the Metro station. This roundabout stretch is about 2.3 km long. The distance from the new entrance (YPR (NEW)), where Platform 8 is located, to the Metro station is shorter.…

Since 1954, November 20th has been observed as World Children's Day. It marks the anniversary of the UN adopting the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. But are our children well-protected from violence and abuse? The recently-released NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) report, 2017, showed that over a quarter of the crimes against children were sexual offences. These were cases filed under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. In Bengaluru alone, 414 POCSO cases were filed in 2017. So just how do we keep our children safe? And what are the legal options in case a…

Nov 30 deadline for Kannada signboards The BBMP has extended the deadline for commercial establishments to ensure that 60 percent of their signage is in Kannada. Establishments now have till November 30th to comply with the rule. If they don't comply, their trade licences will be cancelled or not renewed. The previous deadline was November 1, Karnataka Rajyotsava Day. Businesses were asked to have signages with 60 percent lettering in Kannada while the remaining 40 percent could be in any other language. So far, more than 8500 establishments have complied with the rule, says Vijayendra, Chief Health Officer, BBMP. After…

Bangalore Apartments' Federation (BAF), a federation representing over one lakh flats and three lakh apartment residents across Bengaluru, will launch MADHURA – 'Medical Aid for Domestic Help Under Residential Apartments'. As part of MADHURA, BAF will launch a group insurance scheme for all domestic workers. The scheme will cover maids, cooks, drivers, plumbers, electricians etc who work in apartment complexes but are not formally employed. Underscoring the importance of MADHURA, H A Nagaraja Rao, President of BAF, said, “Most domestic workers do not get coverage under government schemes like Ayushman Bharat or Arogya Karnataka as they may be above the…

Last Friday, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao issued a notification barring private vehicles on the bus priority lane (BPL) in Outer Ring Road. The BPL - between Silk Board to KR Puram and then towards Baiyappanahalli - will benefit around a lakh Bengalureans commuting in over 800 buses everyday, says the BMTC. Authorities presume that the BPL will increase the speed and efficiency of BMTC buses, encouraging more people to use buses, and thereby will reduce traffic in the ORR. But there's been a major concern since the inception of the project - how can Bengaluru's unruly motorists be…

The adage, ‘Catch them young,’ is associated with imbibing children with values. This dictum holds good when it comes to educating school children on road safety and making them change agents for safety and influencing the larger citizenry. A step in this direction was taken through the establishment of the first School Safety Zone at St. Joseph’s School (CBSE), Bengaluru.  The School Safety Zone is a result of 3Ms’ initiative Young Change Agents for Road Safety (YCARS) in partnership with Concern for Road and Pedestrian Safety (CoRPS) and United Way of Bengaluru. The initiative was launched on 19th November in…

Even as Karnataka leads the country in renewable energy production and Bengaluru has many successful solar installations, the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd (BESCOM) is unlikely to meet its target of generating 1200 MW electricity from rooftop solar panels by 2022. BESCOM has achieved only 140 MW from solar rooftop so far, because it isn't getting enough applications from Bengalureans currently. The good news Bengaluru is definitely the Number 1 hotspot for solar installations. This year, the Kempegowda International Airport inaugurated its 3.35 MW rooftop solar power plant. "The airport has increased the consumption of solar power to over 50…

Traffic police notifies bus priority lane in ORR On Friday, the City Police Commissioner issued a notification prohibiting entry of other vehicles on the bus priority lane in ORR from Central Silk Board to Tin Factory and then towards Baiyyappanahalli. Only BMTC buses can use the lane, the notification said. Offenders will be booked under Section 177 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. They'll have to pay a fine of Rs 500 for the first offence and Rs 1000 for every subsequent one, said B R Ravikante Gowda, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic). The police also plans to write to the…