City: Bengaluru

Pic: A file pic from BBMP 2010 candidates debate. It is that time again when everyone wants to make an informed choice, ahead of BBMP elections. Resident Welfare Associations are busy trying to organise meetups with candidates. Citizen Matters has compiled a guide on how to do this, with a set of questions that can be asked with a candidate. The first step is to collect information about candidates. We need your help to gather information about them and share it with us, to benefit fellow Bengalureans. You could ask them to fill this form. Alternatively, you can also gather the points…

150 - Bellandur Ward   The data for Bellandur ward shows that the BBMP spent quite a lot of money digging borewells in the ward. However the ward continues to suffer from water shortage. Here is more information on the ward. MLA (2013): Arvind Limbavali (BJP), Mahadevapura MP (2014): P C Mohan (BJP), Bangalore Central BBMP 2010: Corporator: B.P. Babu Reddy (INC), Reservation:BC-B#G-07, Durga Saffron Square Apartment, Outer Ring Road, Devarabisanahalli, Bellandur Post, Bangalore-103.. Ph:9880701567 Votes: Winner's percentage: 21.7 Winner's margin:374 Total votes: 17502 Total voters: 40515 BBMP 2015: Total voters: 60873Male: 33708Female: 27142Others: 23 Reserved: SC (Women) Contesting Candidates:…

65 - Kadu Malleshwara Ward   The data for Kadumalleshwara ward claims that BBMP spent Rs 10.42 lakhs on providing blue and red dustbins to commercial and residential homes, in order to collect segregated waste at households. Another Rs 2 crore was spent building the solid waste collection and processing unit. Even while the BBMP spent so much money, it is interesting to note that the ward is still struggling to manage its waste sustainably. Here is more information for you on the ward: MLA (2013): Dr. Ashwath Narayan C N (BJP), Malleshwaram MP (2014): D V Sadananda Gowda (BJP),…

Websites? I mean, the homes of those that make homes of silk… that is, spiders. We’ve all seen spider webs around us: in the house, in the garden...and indeed, so synonymous is clearing spiders’ homes with our idea of keeping house well, that even when we talk about clearing our minds, we say, “let’s clear the cobwebs”. However, a closer look at these “websites” show they are marvels of engineering, strength and resilience. Spiders spin webs out of the silk that they produce, which passes out of their spinnerets. But the actual “architecture” of spider webs can vary very widely.…

45 - Malleshwaram   When you look at the pending bills list of Malleshwaram ward, this looks peculiar: a list of entries for which no contractor has been mentioned, no year in which the work order was given is applicable or no details are available for the payments made. One more highlight of this election is, the incumbent corporator, Jaypal N who had won from Congress last time is contesting with a BJP ticket this time. The reservation that was SC in 2010 has changed to general in this election. More information on the ward for you: MLA (2013): Dr.…

Chintu TV is perhaps the only television channel that has been broadcasting dubbed content in Kannada. Pic courtesy: Chintu TV. When the fair-trade regulator Competition Commision of India (CCI) imposed penalties on three cinema and television organisations for preventing dubbing in Karnataka recently, the pro-dubbing fraction heaved a sigh of relief. The CCI order has been debated following the very long dubbing battle between anti-dubbing and pro-dubbing lobbies and organisations.   Kannada Grahakara Koota, a consumer forum which has been fighting in favour of dubbing, viewed the judgment as remarkable. They tend to believe that Kannadigas can now be able…

It was camp-fire time at Naamadachilume, near Tumkur, Karnataka, school year 1972-73. All manner of sharing, singing, joking, and so on was going on. The Scout Master said, “I know students call me Dappa Ravay (V)unday. I think it is because I am a very sweet person.” In those few seconds, we realized that famous “fortune” line that would appear, decades later, on my Unix terminal: “Remember that secret you had? It isn’t!” DR Vijayendra Rao aka DRV, from a family photograph. Pic: DV Prahlad Generations of students (about 5 or 6 only, at the time) had called him that.…

12 - Shettihalli   46 crores in five years. That is what the data shows, as the money spent on various works done in this ward. Shettihalli ward is in Dasarahalli Zone. Here is more information on this ward, demographics, complaints in the ward and works done. MLA (2013): S Muniraju (BJP), Dasarahalli MP (2014): D V Sadananda Gowda (BJP), Bangalore North BBMP 2010: Corporator: Sharadamma (BJP), Reservation:SC #168/A, Abbigere, Chikkabanavara Post, Bangalore-90. Ph:9008889667 Votes: Winner's percentage: 24.6 Winner's margin:2019 Total votes: 20369 Total voters: 42128 BBMP 2015: Total voters: 55893 Male: 29764 Female: 26126 Others: 3 Reserved: General Contesting…

Traffic at the Marathahalli-Sarjapur Outer Ring Road. File pic.  It has been two years since I wrote this on the sorry state of commuters and residents along the Outer-Ring-Road. Fast forward to the present, nothing much has changed. It might in fact have gotten worse as more and more bottlenecks have sprung up. In these two years, more people have added their own cars to the roads, more buildings have come up and more companies have moved in to the stretch between Sarjapura Road and Doddanakundi. Ecospace, a word that now mainly conjures up images of traffic jams when heard…

184 - Uttarahalli   Uttarahalli ward has changed its reservation status from BC-A to general in the last round of reservation roster. Data shows the issuance of job codes worth Rs 16 crore for this ward since 2011. Here more info on the ward: MLA (2013): M Krishnappa (BJP), Bangalore South MP (2014): Ananth Kumar (BJP), Bangalore South BBMP 2010: Corporator: K.Ramesh Raju (BJP), Reservation:BC-A #55, Uttarahalli, Subramanyapura Post, Uttarahalli hobli, Bangalore South, Bangalore-61. Ph:9448614472 Votes: Winner's percentage: 24.5 Winner's margin:2636 Total votes for the winner: 18097 Total voters: 45993 BBMP 2015: Total voters: 61820 Male: 32678 Female: 29138 Others: 4…