City: Bengaluru

  V and X are not the only ones trying to fix Bangalore’s filth problem. Unknown to them, there are several citizens out there, trying – in their own small way – to fix the mess on the streets outside their home or office. We are not talking here about NGOs or civil society organisations, of which Bangalore has plenty, but regular citizens. There is P, a software engineer, working on weekends at defeating an ugly garbage dump right in front of a huge technology park near the Koramangala Forum Mall in which his MNC employer occupies two large buildings.…

Pic courtesy: nandannilekani.in The quintessential Bangalorean. Born in Bangalore, did part of his schooling in Bangalore, was a part of Bangalore’s pride - Infosys. He was in charge of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) and he quit as CEO of Infosys to be a part of a larger national need, the Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). He was the head of TAGUP (Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects) for five large financial sector projects. No prizes for guessing — yes, we are talking about Indian National Congress candidate from Bangalore South, Nandan Nilekani. His foray into…

High Court judge Justice Venugopala Gowda, during the hearing between Chalet Hotel v/s HAL on Tuesday, March 25th, 2014, observed that HAL failed to crosscheck the height elevation submitted by the Chalet hotel to construct Raheja Viverea at Koramangala. Doubting on the authenticity of the height certificate procured by Precision Survey and Ambedkar Institute, Justice Venugopala Gowda said, “The certificate doesn’t even have BBMP’s letterhead. It has the letter head of company.” What is BBMP’s role in this issue? Ministry of Civil Aviation Notification no. SO84, dated January 14th, 2010 mandates all vertical structures near airport to procure a height…

It was a cool Sunday morning, but the volunteers and activists of Bharatiya Janata Party were seen running around with excitement near Chowdaiah Memorial Hall in Malleshwaram. Even as the curious crowd waited inside the hall for D V Sadananda Gowda (better-known as DVS by those who want short names) to arrive, the now-famous NaMo song, ‘Modi aanewala hai...’ was played on the projectors kept on both sides of the stage. Following this, a five-minute corporate film on the man of the day, DVS was played. When it was half-way, DVS, with his trademark end-to-end smile on his face, entered…

Nina Nayak talking to people during campaign. Pic: Nikita Malusare Despite being pitted against formidable rivals, AAP's candidate from Bangalore South, child rights activist, Nina P Nayak is the picture of positivity and confidence, as she speaks to Citizen Matters on elections and life before and after her foray into politics. How is the world of politics different from that of activism, considering your background? Politics is quite a different ballgame. I joined at the invitation of AAP and I’m really enjoying it as this movement has percolated at all levels. After a long time, people are actually interested in being…

When it appears that everybody has lost hopes with the Indian National Congress, Bengaluru’s own billionaire Nandan Nilekani decided to partner with the party. With the aim of becoming the champion for Bengaluru, the man behind the multi-crore Aadhaar project, gave an exclusive interview to Citizen Matters at his campaign office in Jayanagar on March 20th 2013. This was just a day before he declared his family assets — Rs 7,700 crore.   Nilekani shared his thoughts on governance, why he chose to join Congress, and what he can do as an MP for Bengaluru, which is run by MLAs…

The receding rains and the advent of summer is the time when the lush green landscape in Bangalore turns to crisp brown. Rain-fed lakes are just about holding out, trying hard not to become parched playgrounds. This summer-time drying kills off aquatic weeds and gives fresh life to the lakes before the next rains. Lake care-takers get an opportunity to attend to the lake beds, repair silt traps, clear out water inlets, and do other things that need to be done before the onset of the next monsoon. The grass, weeds and many of the plants on lake revetments, dry…

Hundreds of residents took to streets in protest against the multicrore project coming up on Bellandur wetlands. “Mall beda, Neer beku! Go back Mantri!” shouted hundreds of residents — not just the adults but also the young children — assembled beside Srjapur Road, near the biggest lake of Bengaluru, Bellandur lake. They had come from HSR Layout, Koramangala and Bellandur. When government failed to take action and justice was slow in coming, citizens decided to protest, and this was the result. At 10.30 am on March 23rd, 2014, men and women from all ages wearing caps and holding umbrellas, marched…

There are two kinds of leaders. One who leads by example and other who motivates others to  set examples. India as a country has seen many such leaders. Gandhi was probably the only leader who fell in both categories. He showed his resistance against foreign rule himself first and then motivated others to join him. But that is indeed rare. People like APJ Abdul Kalam and Sachin Tendulkar have led by example. They have shown ordinary people how dedication, determination and talent can make us shine. People like A B Vajpayee, Subhash Chandra Bose have motivated, inspired others to set…

The enormity of the Lok Sabha Elections is many a time difficult to comprehend. The machinery that has clicked into the play mode is not only that of the political parties but that of the Election Commission too. The numbers are tallied in millions of voters, in crores for poll expenditure, in lakhs of polling booths, polling agents, police, paramilitary, reserve police and even unaccounted for cash that is seized. The world’s largest democracy is going into polls and it is therefore excusable that the elections for the country’s 16th Lok Sabha is hogging a lot of media space and…