City: Bengaluru

Bangalore In-charge Minister K J George, Jamshyd Godrej and others in Unlock Bengaluru conference. Pic courtesy: WRI India. Minister K J George, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Jamshyd Godrej, Madhav Pai, Aniruddha Dasgupta and V Ravichandar lead discourse at the Unlock Bengaluru (#UnlockBLR) conference in the city of Bengaluru on 9th July 2016. K J George, Minister for Bengaluru Development and Town Planning, outlined the government’s commitment to working with organizations like WRI India to develop a dialogue on sustainable development in the city. Highlighting some of the upcoming projects in Bengaluru, he said, “It is my great privilege to participate in Unlock Bengaluru…

Xerxes Desai. Pic: Christopher Lopaze On 27th June 2016, Bengaluru lost one of its most eminent citizens when Indiranagar resident Xerxes Sapur Desai breathed his last in the city. He was at the helm of Titan Companies Ltd from the 1980s till his retirement in 2002 and is the man widely acknowledged to be the driving force behind catapulting the brand to international renown. A man of great passion and energy, Desai is known for having transformed Titan into a nimble, agile organization and a very ‘happy’ place to work. He imbibed a culture which encouraged innovation, one of not…

You may have read the news about the passing of Xerxes Desai, the founding Managing Director of Titan. Two years ago, our then intern from the University of Washington Chris Lopaze interviewed Desai for India Together. He also shared his thoughts about Bengaluru and urban issues, that we published today. He talked about how the IT industry impacted Bangalore and proposed professionalising city management. Read: Remembering Xerxes Desai. Xerxes Desai was also a well wisher and patron of Oorvani Foundation. He encouraged the work we do at Citizen Matters - and was always ready to share valuable insights, and advice.…

Every city, even a giant metropolis like Bengaluru, still has a few patches of green, blue or brown that have managed to survive or at least allay the formidable onslaught of concrete and glass. Look carefully in these oases and you’ll be sure to find a sign of life (or five)! Snakes Among the most revered and reviled animals in India, snakes are also very common in our cityscapes. Bengaluru has about 40 species of snakes of which six are venomous. Most snakes, even venomous ones, will flee upon detection. They only stand their ground when provoked or unable to…

File photo. Pic:Christopher Martin Lopaze As the month of fasting—Ramzaan, draws to a close, a sense of humility serenades me. Ramzaan is a month when one is called upon to abstain from not just food, but anything that corrupts the mind and soul. However, when one goes without food and water for 14+ hours a day for 30 days, in the least, it reminds one how blessed we are to be able to afford a basic meal. It is 'hunger' that teaches one the value of 'food'. About a month ago, over a quiet meal, my husband Manivannan and I…

Ever since the app-based cab aggregators - Ola, Uber, TaxiForSure entered the Indian market, a lot of stories have been told over the lucrative offers they give to the cab drivers and how the lives of cab drivers have changed. We have even come across the cases of highly educated and handsomely paid executives quitting their jobs in Bengaluru, to take up driving as a profession. The profession of cab drivers affiliated to app-based aggregators has been seen as a road to prosperity. There have been accounts of drivers earning even upto Rs 80,000 a month, which is equal to…

Remember the tragic incident that happened two yeas ago, where a nine-year-old child fell into a gap in the footpath during heavy rains, was carried by the gushing storm water and was found dead in a lake three kilometres away? The incident evoked sharp criticism and responses. A Public Interest Litigation was filed on the issue. The High Court asked the BBMP to repair all the deathtraps on footpaths and clear the encroachment. It's almost two years since then. Has the attitude of the administration changed? And has there been enough precaution this rainy season? Citizen Matters did a reality…

A Google Earth image shows piling up of traffic coming from North Bengaluru, in front of Palace Grounds. The State government has budged to the public demand and has put the tender process related to the proposed controversial steel flyover on hold. According to news reports, tender process was in the final stages of being awarded. Following a meeting with many urban experts from the city, Bengaluru Development Minister K J George told media that the government will hold public consultations with civic groups before finalising the project. The six-lane steel flyover, 6.7 kms long and costing Rs 1350 crores,…

This video captures a common everyday scene which every Bengalurean is now accustomed to seeing - the sight of broken pushcarts overflowing with household waste being pushed with difficulty, the sight of huge mounds of rotting garbage lying on the ground. The heartrending sight of workers bending over ankle-deep in rotten stinky waste and laboriously filling up a large compactor vehicle with small shovels and baskets manually, while the compactor system is meant to be filled up by a mechanical operation, directly from tippers to compactors. This is the pitiable state of our waste workers functioning in a broken system…

I kind of got hooked on this quiz thingy.  And while it is a bit strange to be asking and answering the questions myself, I love the fact that I know all the answers. My next quiz follows the same pattern but I put in a variation so I would not get bored.  So here, instead of just a Yes or No, I had to give a proper response, even a creative response if I wanted.  Plus, I tried to catch myself out by slightly varying the wording sometimes.  Nothing like a challenge to get the old grey cells going!…