City: Bengaluru

  Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), UDD, Government of Karnataka which is part of Bangalore Coalition for Open Streets (BCOS) along with local partner Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) conducted the second edition of the  ‘Cycle Day’ event in Yelahanka New Town next to the Allalasandra lake. Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) is the local partner in this initiative and have come forward to take this event to their local community. Sunday August 3rd, saw 13A Main Road in Yelahanka New Town, temporarily closed to motorised traffic, and transformed into an “open, people-friendly street” to promote cycling, walking, fitness and…

Panelists debating during 7th Media Watch held at Mount Carmel College, Bangalore - Ammu Joseph, Ravi Hegde, Shaibya Saldanha, Ashok GV, Madhuraveena (From left to right). Pic: Shree D N The auditorium in Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru, was full of young and energetic, enthusiastic audience. The seventh ‘Media Watch’ event organised by Oorvani Foundation, Avadhi Magazine and Network of Women in Media, was hosted by the Journalism Department of Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. The event, a panel discussion on ‘Naming and Shaming: Sexual Violence and the Media’, had experts from media, law, enforcement and medical fields.The panel discussed the complex…

A sacred fig tree used as a place of worship. Pic: currentconservation.org It is a common sight to see a tree protruding onto a pavement, often onto the street and sometimes even acting as a divider in the centre of the road. These are trees that have survived the axe-happy city-planning authorities just by their nature of being classified culturally as Sacred Trees. Divya Gopal, Harini Nagendra elaborate on the importance of these trees and the reasons they have survived the onslaught of development in the city, in an article, Sacred trees in the urban landscape of Bangalore, India, published…

Be careful of your belongings if you live in Bengaluru. If you lose your expensive phones, gadgets and other valuable items, that is solely your fault and the Bangalore Police will add to your worry by giving you an earful of why you must no use such expensive items. Clearly in HSR layout police station that is the message that is running around.  And what is even worse, they claim to be doing all the work in the country. “Anything that happens anywhere in India all of them land up at the HSR Layout Police Station. I am going to…

This article intends to understand how discarded vegetables and fruits in supermarkets of Bengaluru can be provided to cattle rather than letting them wastefully rot to become a breeding ground for diseases in rainy days. Common vendor and big marts inefficiently handle vegetables/ fruits rather than utilising them better. They don't know how it can be prevented from rotting. Many a times they simply sell the rotting stuff at lower costs to consumers who can't afford higher prices. In most big retail marts, fruits like apples are often concealed by covering them with labels/stickers, by applying wax at the places…

Cyclists have been a part of the commuter fabric for decades now, from the milkman, newspaper boy, postman, students and others. Though there is no record of the exact number of cyclists commuting to work, the last couple of years have seen a new wave of bicycle riders earning the city of Bengaluru the title — “Cycle Capital of India.” The cycling activities in the city include weekend long distance cycling, adventure cycling, awareness creation etc. Many of these riders have become full-fledged commuter cyclists. There has been a change in perception and acceptance of this small but significant group.…

"This time, every street, every lane of Bangalore will demand nothing less than complete justice. We have identified 23 centres in Bangalore. You need to step out this Saturday, 2nd of August between 8-9pm, take your friends, relatives, neighbours, everyone you know to your nearest Candle March centre and light a candle and demand justice. This time WE would be the ones giving out deadlines to give out the TRUE version of the case and arrest all the culprits within that date. They miss the deadline, one more march. WE won't stop." This is the introduction of the Candle March…

In Bengaluru, vehicular pollution and dust are the major contributors to air pollution, and as listed earlier in this series, they cause several health and environmental problems. While the dust is mostly from construction activities, the air currents and constant vehicular motion keep the pollutants in circulation all the time. There is no single solution to mitigate air pollution given the number of government agencies involved and the heterogenous mix of vehicle users and commuters. In this article, we look at the role individual road users play. On an average, 6734 BMTC buses ferry 49,50,000 passengers in 79677 bus trips…

    Bengaluru this week  July 31st 2014       CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!   City news that matters >> Pro-Kannada activists have called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh today, to protest against the recent spate of sexual crimes against women and children. >> Strongholds of pro-Kannada activism like Malleshwaram and Gandhibazar are witnessing heavy protests. >> BMTC bus services did not suffer in the morning though passengers were few. Essential services did not suffer. >> Home Minister has ordered that strict action be taken against those who damage public/private property and disturb the harmony. >> Two more…

Bangalore parents have woken up to increasingly depressing days as incident after incident of child sexual abuse (CSA) gets reported in the city. There have been numerous suggestions on social media to tackle CSA, ranging from the naïve to the critical. 1. Password: In the naïve category is a popular forwarded post from an organization called Kids Time that advises teaching your child a password; if a stranger asks the child to accompany him/her, the child asks for the password and scares away the potential abuser.Password trick being circulated on social media. Will it work? This solution is very naive…