City: Bengaluru

A wrecked footpath with cables, garbage, posters. Pic: Nadia Asif If you are a pedestrian you would know that crossing Bengaluru’s busy, lawless roads is nothing less than a life-threatening ordeal. For motorists, pedestrians are obstacles and for the traffic police, pedestrians are insignificant road users who somehow find their way in the mayhem of vehicles coming in from all directions without any order. In a survey conducted by Walkability Asia in seven Indian cities, Bengaluru scored the lowest in walkability. It is common to see bikes using the pavements to ride past static traffic, or autos cutting corners inches…

Let there be no disasters today. That is the prayer every firefighter begins his day with. Having said that, they have to be prepared for every emergency, every contingency. Central to their efforts and success is their training, discipline and the equipment at their disposal. Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services is the agency that handles fire rescue and other disaster management operations in Karnataka. We visited Jayanagar fire station in Bengaluru to understand how the department works. Among the fire stations in Bengaluru, Jayanagar fire station in Bengaluru South Range is among the largest and busiest. It has a…

What is Lalbagh flower show? Every year in January and August, a flower show is organised in Lalbagh, the majestic central park in Bengaluru, to celebrate Republic Day and Independence Day. In addition to the thematic display of flowers across the garden, this time the Glass House has been decked up with a floral replica of Gol Gumbaz, the largest dome in India, a monument built by Adil Shah, the erstwhile king of Bijapur. Four lakh roses in four colours would be used for this. There are also dozens of stands with artisan crafts, spices, coffee, books, purses, scarves, seeds,…

The ‘Women Start-up Programme’ was inaugurated by NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) at IIM Bangalore on January 23 (Monday), 2017. Altogether 50 aspiring women entrepreneurs from all over India have been selected for Stage 2 of the programme. NSRCEL, which is the entrepreneurship and incubation centre at IIMB, in partnership with Goldman Sachs, has initiated the Women Start-up Programme. The programme is designed to enthuse aspiring entrepreneurs-in-the-making to systematically think through their venture idea. It will equip women to develop entrepreneurial skill sets to help with the ideation stage and managerial skill sets that will help them start…

NERALU, a citizen-led tree festival, is being organised on 18th and 19th February 2017, at Natonal Gallery of Modern Arts (NGMA) and other city-wide venues. Come February, Bengaluru’s trees burst into spectacular blooms. The first of its kind in Bengaluru, Neralu, which means ‘shade’ in Kannada, is being planned to coincide with the blooming season in the city, and will bring together citizens to celebrate the garden city’s glorious natural heritage. Bound by a common love for trees, naturalists, ecologists, artists, technologists, storytellers, homemakers, photographers and many more citizens from all walks of life are working together to organise Neralu.…

In 2002, Laila Ollapally took up a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on providing adequate health care to persons with mental illness. Learn more about what made her take it up and her approach in bringing all the stakeholders in understanding the real issues. When individuals who require mental health care do not have the competence to take right decisions, how can we ensure their rights are protected? Lalia Ollapally is a practicing lawyer in the Supreme Court of India and the Coordinator of the Bangalore Mediation Centre (BMC).

We have a common psychology of living with the problem, not realising we are encountering one! So are the case of most pedestrians whose Right of Way has been infringed for various reasons. The first form of transportation was walking - from the time man was born, he has been walking. But with improvements in technology and innovations of automobiles, we do not give importance to walking any more. Now everyone has their personal vehicles. Number of these vehicles has been increasing every day! It has been reported that about 55.59 Lakh non-transport vehicles, that is cars and two-wheelers are…

On January 16th, Jones Lang LaSalle, a professional services and investment management company released the list of top 30 most dynamic cities in the world. Surprisingly, the JLL’s City Momentum Index (CMI) put Bengaluru in the first position. The study ranks cities around the world based on 42 variables including socio-economic factors like GDP, population, corporate headquarters, commercial real estate momentum and innovation capacity and technological prowess, access to education and environmental quality. In the concluding remarks of the research article, Jeremy Kelly, Research Director at JLL writes, “looking ahead, we’ll be watching for the effects that protectionism, nationalism and…

'Sakala’ meaning ‘In Time’ is an initiative of the government Karnataka to ensure time bound services to its citizens. There are around 700 public services of the government Karnataka which are covered by this initiative and citizens through this initiative, can demand time bound services from their government. Learn more about how to use Sakala to get birth certificates or to get a Khata extract!

On January 8th 2017, over 4500 people from across Bengaluru visited Kaikondrahalli Lake to connect with their friends, community and nature. Lake festival, or Kere Habba, is a completely volunteer-organised event aimed at raising awareness, increasing community participation and fostering an appreciation of lakes in Bengaluru. Kaikondrahalli celebrated its third lake festival on January 8th, 2017. A bird living in the Kakondrahalli lake premises. Pic: Shree D N Over a hundred students from Renuka school situated on the banks of the lake, involved themselves in many activities; they organised a Halli Games session, to teach visitors how to play traditional…