City: Bengaluru

Pic courtesy: Facebook page of Akkai Padmashali Akkai Padmashali is a male-to-female trans-woman and gender activist. Her journey is one of courage and determination. In November 2015, Akkai became the first transgender to be awarded the Rajyotsava Award, the second highest civilian honor presented by the Karnataka State government for her work. Here are the edited excerpts of her interview with Radio Active CR 90.4 MHz. So, Akkai, can you tell us something about yourself? Akkai is just a normal simple human being. I was born a boy, but at the age of seven or eight, I felt a transformation…

The Ramagondanahalli-Borewell Road in Whitefield stretches more than two kilometres connecting Varthur Road to Borewell Road. This area falls under Ward  84, Hagduru under Mahadevapura constituency. This has about a thousand residential dwellings mostly in the form of flats and villas. With quite a few of them being relatively new apartments, there are at least about 600 families who are staying here at present and this number is expected cross 1,000 in the next few months. This road also is home to a beautiful lake named Sheelavanthana kere. Giant potholes and non-functional street lights on the Ramagondanahalli-Borewell Road in Whitefield.…

Whenever there is a thought about banning plastic, the solution offered is to recycle the waste. But, to what extent can the plastic be recycled and reused? What happens to the plastic that is recycled for the tenth time and cannot be recycled again? Is there a solution at sight? Yes, solutions are not too hard to practice. There are a few people to prove this. First is the story of Khan brothers. In 1996, when there was a growing demand for the ban on plastic carry bags in Karnataka, two plastic manufacturers from Bengaluru—Rasool Khan and Ahmed Khan—began to…

  Bengaluru this week November 26th 2015     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!     There is no disconnect between you as a citizen and the content we publish on Citizen Matters. We're part of your community; we're co-travellers towards a better Bengaluru. Do more than just read, be a stakeholder, make a difference, donate today! To know more about our #EnableChange campaign, visit: oorvani.org.in/support-us. In this edition, read about the protest by citizens of Whitefield against the bad infrastructure, and why citizens are rallying behind Upa Lokayukta Justice Adi. Also read about what…

A battery of senior officials of the Bangalore Metro came to a Public Hearing called by Ranganathaswamy, Asst Conservator of Forests (Bangalore South) and Tree Officer of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. The officials came armed with power points demonstrating that the Metro is a major progress from ancient forms of transport. They showed pictures of how humans have made a transition from bullock carts to cycles, overloaded jeeps, buses, trains and onto the slick comfort of the Metro. They were, thus, attempting to make a case that the extension of the Metro lines on Kanakapura Road and Mysore Road involving…

Edited excerpts of a student in Mount Carmel, Elixir Nahar's open letter, republished here with permission: A screengrab from Rahul Gandhi's talk at Mount Carmel As we students made our way past the lurking media and into our college campus, the fact of the matter was - this is about us, not them. It was going to be a friendly interaction between him and us, discussing matters that concern the youth and the country. We were definitely eager to see how he had tailored his interactive speech to suit our audience of young women. He opened with why he chose…

When I was a kid, every so often, something in the house would go kaput, many a time, because my brother or I felt the need to meddle with it. Living in a remote area in the Nilgiris meant that we would have to wait to get it fixed till we travelled to town. My father would try disassembling and assembling to fix that VCR or whatever small item that was acting up. The times have changed though. But in a changing environment, where people don't have the time to go to a service centre or more often, find nobody…

Dear Industry Captains in Bengaluru, Greetings from a Whitefield citizen. Without beating around the bush, I’ll straight away get into the topic. I’m going down the memory lane. In May 2008, when the news of the new BIAL airport opening and shutting down of HAL had surfaced, there was a lot of noise from industries. The highlight was that all of you, the Bengaluru-based IT-BT industry captains, had come out in full force and protested the closure of HAL airport according to this report. The distance to the new airport and the time taken to commute to the airport was…

When Child Sexual Abuse is reported in school, its ‘safe-space’ reputation can quickly become a hotbed of suspicion and panic, attracting media glare. In this emotionally charged situation, the best interests of the child and family, and adherence to the POCSO Act (The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012), often recede. The Protocols recommended by the proposed Karnataka State Child Protection Policy for Educational Institutions (CPP) and POCSO Act support in managing child sexual abuse, responsibly and sensitively.  enfold invites you to Child Safety in Schools - Protocols and Systems, a Forum where the recommended protocol as per…

Residents of Whitefield who are tired of the poor infrastructure facilities in the area, will take to streets on Monday, November 30th, 2015. They have launched Save Whitefield campaign to protest against the government authorities’ apathy over improving infrastructure in the area and make it livable. A Facebook Page Save Whitefield says: “On 30th November, we all march out of our homes and workplaces to be part of a peaceful protest from 10 am to 1 pm, to bring the city, media and authorities’ attention to the civic and infrastructure woes of Whitefield and neighbouring areas in East Bangalore.” The…