City: Bengaluru

The recent cleanup of the pedestrian subways near Cubbon Park and K R Circle at the heart of the city of Bengaluru allowed citizens to enjoy what the city’s music and art scene had to offer at a new public venue. The Bangalore Underground Festival conducted on August 17, 2014, ushered in a new trend of  public spaces being maintained by the public, for the public. The festival also brought to light an obvious, yet neglected, hence not used, pedestrian pathway around K R Circle. Art and photo exhibition was held in one of the subways, while another subway hosted…

Checking the zonal map of Whitefield area can help finding out some violations. Courtesy: clearvalue.in To understand why some of the confusions arise and why getting Khata is not easy sometimes, knowing the background is important. Here is some backround to the whole issue. Till the late nineties, if I remember correctly, Whitefield was a Gram Panchayat. The administration of Gram Panchayats is governed by the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act 1993. Under this Act, the Panchayats are also empowered to collect property taxes. For this purpose, Whitefield Gram Panchayat used to maintain Khata registers. Older residents of Whitefield have copies…

Stop talking. Start doing. That’s the mantra more and more citizens in Bengaluru are adopting these days. The fever has now spread to corporates too. The new initiative launched on Independence Day, Adopt-a-Mile, aims to drive the cynicism towards government, into a movement of bringing in change. “I used to come to Bangalore during my summer vacation. The city was so beautiful then, but today, it has lost its beauty. We want to give back our city its beauty,” says Ananth Ramachandran, an executive working with a technology firm. The movement, started by five such people from different companies, will…

On this very Independence Day, we, the people of Bengaluru, are still dependent on quasi-governance structures that we have inherited from the British. Let me not get philosophical, but existing legislative structures ensure that without these layers of beurocracy, we cannot bring even a small change. Is it that we have become more accepting and adjusting? Part of the problem is we - the citizens, I realise. Many of our fellow Bangaloreans stand at places other than the earmarked bus stands. Also, the corporates do not realise that they are losing quality time of their employee. The corporates do not…

    Bengaluru this week  August 14th 2014       CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!  City news that matters >> Last week, the government finally acted on the CID report on 2011 KPSC scam, by cancelling the entire notification, because KPSC refused to do the revaluation. Curiously, HD Kumaraswamy stood by the recruited KPSC aspirants who were protesting in Freedom Park. Chief Justice D H Waghela has recused himself from hearing the case. >> Interestingly, former opposition leader A K Subbaiah has lashed out at Kumaraswamy saying gowdas were the sole beneficiaries of the scam,…

Let’s escape the din and chaos of the Bengaluru streets. Let’s go underground! Sounds nice? But who would want to go underground in Bangalore? Do you have such places which are not dark and dingy? Short answer is, yes! Sometimes it is right in front of you... but you tend to ignore it. The project Bangalore Underground aims at exploring creative and better use of the public spaces like subways. And here is the slogan: Let’s escape chaos; Let’s go underground! Curious? On August 17, just walk into one of the pedestrian subways near K R Circle, with friends and…

  As the city gears up to celebrate the 68th independence day, Bengaluru police have put the system in place, by enabling high security for key locations. The Independence Day - 2014 Ceremonial Parade will be held at the Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Ground, Cubbon Road on August 15th, 2014, at 9 am. City Police Commissioner M N Reddi on Wednesday, August 13, 2014, briefed the press with the don'ts that the public attending the Independence Day Parade will have to follow. Carrying materials like matchbox, lighter, deodorants, etc or sharp objects like knives, cameras, eatables, water bottles, umbrellas, radios,…

Angry parents protesting outside the school seeking justice. Pic: Nikita Malusare It is almost a month after the Bengaluru's Vibgyor rape case hit the headlines. There were four arrests so far, and the fourth arrested, the Chairman of the school Rustum Kerawalla has managed to get a bail. The police say that he was in Mumbai when the incident occurred, hence he was not aware of the issue. Now this is the question that haunts everyone: Will other staff in the school go scot-free, even after the reports of the kid allegedly being treated in school itself and teachers not…

Bengaluru has seen several cases of child sexual abuse in past month. Many parents and schools are apprehensive about coming out in the open, when a case of sexual abuse occurs. The social stigma, the pressure of interacting with police, not being sure about whom to contact etc are the issues generally faced. Above all, the very thought of the child having to re-live the incident during the investigation, is scary to many parents. This write-up is an attempt to explain how easy and child-friendly the law really is towards the child. A still from 'Komal,' an educative film on…

Although almost all the consumers in Bengaluru who purchase flats and apartments are concerned about A or B khata, they do not bother to verify whether the property purchased by them has a valid Completion certificate / Occupancy certificate. In simple terms, the absence of a valid Completion certificate / Occupancy certificate, means that the building may not have been built as per approved plan, and the threat of demolition of unauthorised structure looms large. Further, if you want to sell or hypothecate the property after a lapse of say 10 years, you will not be able to do so,…