City: Bengaluru

Pillars on the East-West Metro corridor will see a unique makeover in near future. The Ugly Indian is partnering with Government of Karnataka, BBMP and BMRCL (Namma Metro) for the Vijayanagara Vybhava initiative - transforming 6kms of Metro pillars and medians in Bengaluru with a Hampi-Vijayanagara theme! COME AND BE PART OF the inaugural spotfix this Saturday at 9am. All are welcome! Right outside Vijayanagar Metro Station, Bengaluru. Details and registration here: https://www.facebook.com/events/414628052207391/ Facebook page Karnataka Government Updates has more details. The post says: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) are working on…

Pic: Nikhil Reddy Ever since the Right to Education Act came into force, a lot of minority educational institutions in Bengaluru have taken shelter under Article 30 of the Indian Constitution, thus seeking exemption from admitting 25 per cent RTE quota students. Article 30 of the Indian Constitution provides constitutional status to the minority institutions and also provides them privileges and immunity, and exempts them from the State Act and Municipal Acts. According to the statistics available with the Minority Education section in the Department of Public Instructions, the number of minority educational institutions that are exempted from RTE this…

Storytelling by Vikram Sridhar. Pic: Neralu FB page Save the Tree - Street Play 'Kallada' A theatre troupe based out of Bengaluru put on a Street Play on Day 1 of Neralu. The play was in Kannada, and spoke about motivating people to be concerned about the preservation of trees around them by humorously painting trees as an entity capable of producing wi-fi - maybe only then people will take the initiative to preserve trees. Festival of Stories As part of activities for Day 1 of Neralu, storyteller Vikram Sridhar regaled children with a story about how to protect our…

Why is the BBMP issuing closure notices to commercial/non-residential establishments in residential areas? The Revised Master Plan 2015 (RMP – 2015), the master plan in force amended in 2015, restricts non-residential uses of land in residential zones (so classified under the RMP 2015). As per the amended RMP – 2015, 1)    No commercial activities of whatsoever nature are allowed in any of the three Rings (of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Area) in Residential Main and Residential Mixed Zones if the road width is less than or equal to 40 feet. 2)    Ancillary usage (uses mentioned in the notification only) are permitted…

E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams and India is the 5th largest generator of e-waste. Bengaluru is the third largest generator of e-waste in the country, producing close to 1,00,000 tons of e-waste annually which is likely to grow by 500% by 2020. Presently in India, more than 90% of e-waste ends up in the informal sector for recycling with serious repercussions on human health and the environment. The informal sector works on small scale with minimal facilities and equipment to take care of the hazardous elements like lead, mercury, cadmium etc. present in the e-waste. E-waste…

Pic courtesy: facebook.com/MRCampaignKA In mid-January 2017, social media groups in Bengaluru buzzed with posts of confused parents who sought to know whether they should vaccinate their child in school - the schools were asking their consent to vaccinate the children against Measles and Rubella. This is a part of Union government’s National Health Mission initiative to vaccinate children across India against commonly occurring diseases among children - Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). On February 7th, 2017, the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Karnataka launched a mass measles and rubella vaccination campaign to immunise all children in the State aged between…

A group of 60 students and young professionals in Bengaluru have just embarked on an experiential programme in public policy launched by Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC), an organization that seeks to create transformative learning experiences to equip young people with skills that enable them to lead change in society. The programme cohort of 60 participants, selected from a pool of over 250 applicants from the city, is a diverse mix of lawyers, chartered accountants, artists, start-up evangelists, social sector professionals, and engineers who have had past educational stints in institutes such as IIMs, IITs, BITS Pilani, Azim Premji…

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…