City: Bengaluru

As a child, I would visit my grandparents house in Trivandrum for the summer vacations. And unlike most city children these days, I didn’t go to any summer camp. This is something I’ve never regretted because I always had fun in the sun, up in my tree house, in a park, or at a museum. As art and culture entered my life, my interests expanded. Summer became the perfect time to paint and read. For those parents who are currently playing host to their children on account of summer vacations, here are some fun family activities that you and your…

High Court asked the LDA to come up with a plan for restoration of both the lakes, and hold meetings of authorities, builders and the residents. Pic: Shree D N A report submitted by the Lake Development Authority (LDA) to the High Court of Karnataka on April 13th, has revealed the sorry state of the two lakes: Agara and Bellandur. The report explains how the lakes shrunk in last one and a half decade and the threats they are facing in the form of land loss and sewage flow. LDA submitted the report to the HC during the hearing of…

The High Court division bench on Monday passed an interim order restraining the State Election Commission (SEC) from declaring calendar of events for BBMP election temporarily. The court passed the interim order as the hearing of the petition filed by the State government against the HC single bench order to conduct election before May 30th 2015, was not completed on Monday. The final hearing of the case has been posted to April 22nd. Division bench comprising of Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice Ram Mohan Reddy passed an interim order since the SEC had not yet announced the election…

Srinivasa Mahal, Winner - Private (Residential) category Commemorating World Heritage Day, INTACH Bengaluru announced the winners of the city’s first Heritage Awards. The winners were selected from amongst 50 nominations that were received from the public in two categories, government-owned and private buildings. The selection was made by an eminent jury comprising former UNESCO Ambassador Chiranjivi Singh, senior archaeologist Dr SVP Halakatti and the young and accomplished architect Anup Naik. Based on the diversity of entries, it was decided to give awards to buildings in three categories: Public, Residential (Private) and Institutional (Private). Some of the parameters the jury considered…

In the recent past Bangalore has transformed from ‘garden city’ to ‘garbage city’. The waste issues of Bangalore have now become a national issue. And a major contributor for the same is ‘plastic bags’. Even though single-use plastic has been banned by the government, it is still sold by shopkeepers and used by people. To do our bit to solve this major cause of pollution, we the children from SJR Verity on Sarjapur Road volunteered along with a few adults, and started an ‘Anti-plastic awareness campaign’ during our summer break. The anti-plastic awareness campaign kicks off. Pic: Sonika Jindal We…

BBMP spends an average of Rs 1.35 lakh on food and other arrangements during council meetings. Pic: Shree D N The five-year term of BBMP council has come to an end and namma Bengaluru is gearing up for yet another election. Before you get into election mode, ever wondered how much public money has been spent on your corporators and how frequently the BBMP council meetings were held in last five years? Here is a peek into such lesser-known facts. While council meetings are considered as an opportunity for the elected representatives to discuss serious issues concerning the public, many…

Reservation in as many as 46 wards have been changed in the final roster when compared to the draft. Out of 198 wards, 97 wards have been reserved for women. It is for the time in BBMP election, 50 per cent seats have been reserved for women under women’s quota.s Corporators from the BJP who have alleged foul play in the preparation of reservation roster and have blamed the government of involving in vindictive politics, have approached the High Court. They have appealed the court to quash the reservation roster. N R Ramesh, who was the floor leader in the…

On hearing a commotion outside the house a little while ago I looked out of my office window and, to my horror, saw a car apparently driving straight into an auto - a policeman who was between the two vehicles managed to save himself by jumping aside in the nick of time. A huge crowd gathered immediately and many irate individuals were shouting at the driver and trying to get him to get out of the car. Afraid of what might happen if they did manage to get hold of him, I went out and appealed to the few policemen…

If you are a frequent visitor to Lalbagh, you may have seen the various animals and birds that have made it home. Along with an abundance of dogs, squirrels and birds, you’ll also find monkeys! And if you happen to take a stroll on the trail that leads to the lake from the main gate, in all likelihood, as you near the staircase, you will bump into some of the simians, and a gentleman named Shivshankar. For the past year and a half, he has been feeding the monkeys at Lalbagh. A Maharashtrian by birth and a resident of Andhra…

Even as the High Court division bench refused to grant an interim stay in the BBMP election case on Wednesday, the State government has decided to call for a special session in the Legislative Assembly on April 20th. The special session is called to pass a bill on amending Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act, and enable disbanding the BBMP and trifurcating it. Running short of time, the government is making every effort to dissolve the BBMP before the State Election Commission notifies the election dates. The decision on calling for the legislative session has come in the wake of the…