City: Bengaluru

Pic: Deepa Mohan I've always been drawn to owls. The Rock Eagle Owl, also called the Indian Eagle Owl, has been one of my favourites; I've sighted it at Bannerghatta, Turahalli, and at various other locations. For the past few years, we've been watching some of these majestic birds making their homes on the rocky outcrops of the highway built by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE), around Bangalore. As we were returning from our trip to Sakleshpur, where we did a bird census for a coffee estate (a very satisfying assignment, more about it later!) we decided we would detour…

This Phoenix Rising is a tribute to all women rising, across the world! Rising to Resist, Rising to Change, Rising to Express, Rising to Transform, Rising to Celebrate! Listen to women present poems on Rising in Solidarity. As Audre Lorde said, “For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is the vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we give name to the nameless so it…

It’s the school admission season. While many parents are busy admitting their wards to top schools in the city, there are parents from underprivileged sections who too would be aspiring to admit their kids to private schools. While the sky high fees in private unaided schools was a deterrent for these parents to not apply at such schools in the past, the Right To Education (RTE) Act introduced five years ago came as a ray of hope for many. The mandate for every private school to allocate 25 per cent seats under the RTE Act for children from weaker sections…

KCDC Chairman A Kenche Gowda. Pic: Akshatha M Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC)’s waste composting plant at Kudlu near Hosur-Sarjapur Road Layout in Bengaluru has been in news of late for all wrong reasons. The plant receives on an average 350-500 tonnes of waste from four Assembly Constituencies in Bengaluru - Bommanahalli, BTM Layout, Mahadevapura and Bengaluru South, according to officials in the plant. However, the functioning of the plant has not been upto the standards. Residents nearby complain of unbearable stench from the plant, and letting of leachate into the lake nearby. Residents have been demanding for the last…

Even after five years of introducing the 25 per cent free education quota under the Right to Education Act, many hurdles have ensured that the implementation remains a problem. Continued malpractices observed in the implementation of the Act form the majority of them. During the first three years of implementing 25 per cent quota reservation, the major hurdle in the process was a large number of seats allotted remaining vacant. Officials say this was mainly because, single applicant would get admission in multiple schools and there was no system in place to prevent this from happening as the seat allocation…

Hon’ble Chief Minister Govt. of Karnataka Vidhana Soudha Bangalore 560001 Dear Sir, Current situation of Bengaluru Bengaluru city has reached a population of 1 crore already.  It is finding it difficult to provide drinking water to half its residents.  The city has 60 lakh vehicles (a vehicle for every two persons), congesting roads and making it impossible for buses to ply and for pedestrians, street vendors and cyclists to have an equitable amount of road-space. Garbage mismanagement in the city has necessitated the intervention of the Karnataka High Court to ensure that MoEF Rules are followed and mafias controlled.  Lakes…

It's that time of the year when young parents worry the most about their childrens' school admissions. We would like to work on a story on school fees in Bengaluru. Do help us with your inputs! Please fill the form. You are not obliged to leave your contact, but in case there's something that you want to talk to us about, please leave your contact in the form. Thank you! Related ArticlesDemand high but schools not keen: The story of Right to Education in BengaluruGovt fee guideline draft confuses schools and parents, stirs hornet’s nest

At Beyond Carlton, we understand the trauma that fire accident victims and their families go through. It takes a huge effort to overcome the pain, grief and stress for both the victim and the immediate family.Recognizing this Beyond Carlton has decided to offer a free counseling service as a means to reach out and hand-hold those who themselves have been, or are living with people affected by a fire-related tragedy.The process of recognizing and accepting shocking and extremely difficult situations is a slow painful one. With a counselor, it is possible to feel less alone, and more willing to look…

Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli from Azim Premji University, and Vijay Nishant, Project Vruksha, conducted a study of trees to be felled for Jaymahal Road widening and proposed steel flyover. According to government documents the number of trees to be cut was estimated to be 1668. But an independent survey by citizens done between October 2016 and January 2017 estimates the number to 2244, and 205 saplings, all belonging to 71 species and 26 families. The report prepared by the team also lists out the number of trees to be cut, their species, scientific names etc,, and the environmental impact…

Arun (name changed), a driver by profession, admitted his three-and-half-year-old daughter to a prestigious “international” school at Cox Town in Bengaluru around three years ago. His daughter was lucky enough to get a seat under the 25 per cent quota of the Right to Education Act. The Act intends to provide free education to children from disadvantaged and weaker sections of the society in private unaided schools. The school was located at a distance of half kilometres from Arun’s home and his daughter would walk to school everyday. In fact, the school’s positioning served the purpose of ‘neighbourhood schooling,’ that…