City: Bengaluru

General Observer of 24-Bangalore North S K Agarwal, I.A.S. General Observer is staying at the Executive Development Center, Institute of Hotel Atria, Palace Road, Bangalore. He is available on landline number: 080-22211292. His local Mobile Number is 9845983381. General Observer of 25-Bangalore Central Alok Nigam, I.A.S. General Observer is staying at the Executive Development Center, Institute of Hotel Management, SJP Campus, Sheshadri Road, Bangalore-560001, Karnataka, India. He is available onlandline number: 080-61265555. His local Mobile Number is 94806-83057. He will also be available at Room No. 111, 1st Floor, BBMP Head Office, Main Building, N.R. Square, Bangalore-560002. Office: 080-22975534 between…

In this Lok Sabha election, Bangalore is witnessing a surge of new-age politicians, and Bangalore central is no exception. It has former chief finance officer of Infosys V Balakrishnan battling against youth congress leader Rizwan Arshad and incumbent MP, P C Mohan. JD(S) contestant Nandini Alva adds glamour to the electoral fight. In terms of candidates, this constituency has more varieties to offer. One is a billionaire, another one is a crorepati with very fast-growing asset, one more though crorepati has not even a single vehicle in his family. Three of the four candidates have cases pending against them. Asset…

We are now descending into Bangalore International Airport, temperature 20 degrees, clear skies. Music to my ears. I step out of the plane and watch as the crowd rushes to claim their baggage. Each one trying to catch up with the person ahead of them. I join them in their little race. l look at the transparent door ahead of me, the only thing separating you and me now. Miles and miles now reduced to a few metres and a transparent door. I realise how much I’ve missed you. That I crave you like a bird craves the sky, like…

As always, Bangalore South constituency is garnering much curiosity because of the interesting candidates contesting the elections. While the constituency hosts the richest candidate in India, it also has the sitting Member of Parliament who claims to be poorer than his wife. It also has the lone woman candidate for entire Bangalore. The constituency started hitting national headlines when the bigwigs like IT czar and back bone of Aadhaar scheme Nandan Nilekani and five-time MP Ananth Kumar were pitted against each other. And never to forget the dark horse in this fray, child rights activist Nina P Nayak. All the…

It is that season again when politicians are out on the roads doing the usual padyatras, going from neighborhood to neighborhood, showing that unwavering smile, flashing the victory sign, listening/pretending to listen to their constituents — all with a view to garnering votes… Welcome to election season. It is also the time when all major and minor roads in Namma Bengaluru are magically repaired overnight literally, and when prices of essential commodities reduce to affordable levels. Of course, as we all know, one should not expect these good times to last forever. This cycle of infrastructure being the way it…

  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…