City: Bengaluru

It was a fine Thursday morning - 10 am. I was waiting near Krupanidhi Engineering College Signal on Sarjapur Road on my two-wheeler. Many girls were holding some pamphlets on road safety and traffic rules, and were distributing them to motorists. When a girl approached me with a pamphlet, I saw the content was purely in Kannada and I asked "English?" She probably realised that the pamphlet that was in Kannada can't reach everyone. Then, she rudely shouted: "When you are in Karnataka, you will have to learn Kannada!" The question that came to my mind is, whether we should…

  Bengaluru this week November 20th 2014     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!    City news that mattters Before our Bengaluru This Week roundup, here’s the curation of latest city news. Good days in store? Following the decontrol of diesel prices, diesel has become cheaper in line with international oil prices. BMTC and KSRTC are mulling ticket fare cuts. Private cab operators are competing with autos, by enrolling them and asking them to charge as per meter. Some of them charge a convenience fee of Rs 10. The Transport Department has however said…

Think Yeshwanthpur, Think connectivity,' stated a news report in The Hindu, a few years ago. The once distant suburb of Yeshwanthpur now has a Tertiary Traffic Management Centre (TTMC), Metro connectivity and South Western Railways’ (SWR) second coaching terminal. But is all hunky dory as far as connectivity and transport issues at Yeshwanthpur are concerned? While the traffic comes to a grinding halt under the flyover after Mysore Lamps near Yeshwanthpur, the flyover has little traffic, even during peak hours. Pic: Rajshekhar Work on much-needed foot overbridge yet to start The Yeshwanthpur railway station is a mere 200 metres away…

So the non-profit you support is raising funds and you are busy reaching out to all your friends. The ones who are settled abroad are particularly targeted. A $100 donation (or its equivalent in INR), while giving huge satisfaction in doing a bit of charity would hardly pinch their pockets there, and make a huge difference here. It probably would not cross your mind that receiving money from “foreigners” without having FCRA Prior Permission/ FCRA Registration is violating the law and your non-profit can land up in serious trouble. Here is what you need to know when you collect donations…

A few years ago, when the Bangalore Metro began its work, several roads were either closed or their width was reduced due to the work. And some of those roads still remain closed or under repair. Somehow, the traffic continues to meander and find its way through other roads. In fact, traffic like water will always find its way; so the question which I ask is, ‘Can we permanently close some of these roads and put these spaces to alternate uses’?' This occurred to me the other day while crossing Chinnaswamy Stadium towards Raj Bhavan when I saw a set…

On the occasion of ‘World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse’, Inventure Academy cordially invites you to a unique event, ‘Our Safety, Our Voice’ - By The Children, For the Children, Of The Children.   Bengaluru is awash with policies and guidelines issued by different stakeholders on how schools can be made safe for children. However, students’ views have largely not been taken into consideration.  What makes this initiative a truly unique one is that the children, probably for the first time, are being given an opportunity to voice their feelings and concerns about this unnerving situation. Also, another very important differentiator is that this initiative has recognised the fact that…

Editor's note: A press note from Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV) informs that a unique bus festival, Janasnehi Bussigagi, is being organised across November and December 2014. Here are edited excerpts from the press note.  A large population of the city, more than 50 lakh people, travels by BMTC for their daily needs. These include women, senior citizens, school and college going children and youth, people with special needs, migrant workers, transgenders and many other urban communities. Many of these groups use buses regularly and yet experience safety, access and affordability issues. 'Janasnehi Bussigagi—towards people friendly buses' Towards making BMTC a more…

The issue of institutionalising people’s participation in urban governance has been hanging fire since the passage of the 74th Constitutional Amendment or Nagarapalika Act more than two decades ago.  The hopes of urban civic activists on government enabling increased citizen participation in civic issues got a major blow when the Urban Development Department (UDD) came up with a new set of rules for Ward Committees & Area Sabhas recently. While the new rules hardly include any suggestions proposed by citizens, shockingly a few points that were suggested by citizens and added in the earlier draft rules, were also removed from…

Transport Minister, Ramalinga Reddy and BMTC MD, Ekroop Caur flag off BMTC's month long awareness campaign on diabetes. Editor's note: On the occasion of World Diabetes Day, BMTC launches an awareness campaign on diabetes prevention, detection and management. The campsign will target 35,000 bus drivers and conductors across Bengaluru. A special 'Changing Diabetes' bus will also travel through the city to create awareness about diabetes. Driving on Bengaluru roads can be stressful, often leading to major and minor accidents in the city, more so if you are hypoglycemic and ignoring symptoms such as hunger, sweating, dizziness and others. While the city’s…

Clad in yellow-and-red, a vegetable seller sits nonchalantly on a chair in the middle of the road. Pic: Deepa Mohan Valli is a 45-year-old woman who sells vegetables on her cart in Ulsoor. Two to three times a week, she takes a bus from Cox Town where she lives, and makes her way to City Market at about 1.30 pm. With a budget of Rs 4,000 on each visit, she buys vegetables based on the prices. If the prices are up, she buys about two kilos each of assorted vegetables; if they are down, she picks up about five kilos…