City: Bengaluru

Nine people lost their lives and over 60 were injured in the fire that broke out in Carlton towers on 23rd February 2010. Four years later, how safe are our buildings, especially high-rises, from the perspective of fire hazards, is a question that needs to be urgently answered. The Beyond Carlton Memorial Lecture this year, saw Rajya Sabha MP and Chairman of Namma Bengaluru Foundation, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, speaking on 'Making City Government Agencies Accountable for Public Safety'. Rajeev started his talk by mentioning that the significance of an event such as the Carlton Tragedy, while painful to those affected, served…

Under the light of a pen-torch, they peer closely at the photograph of the same spot they took that morning. Ugh! This is the corner of Church Street and Rest House Road, right outside the entrance to the offices of Wipro & Times of India. Church Street is Bengaluru’s most happening street, packed with pubs, restaurants, cafes and bookstores, and always full of people having a good time. If you had to pick one street that symbolized Bangalore, it would have to be Church Street on a weekend. But there is a dark side to Church Street - ugly spots…

Before clean-upStudents marching with postersStudents painting Students interacting with shopkeepersStudents marching with postersAfter clean-upThe little champions! ‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); On February 20th 2014, members of Civic Rangers and Star Revolutionaries of the CMCA and Civic Clubs of JSS Public School, HSR Layout in Bengaluru, conducted a campaign at the HSR layout BDA Complex on Solid Waste Management. The aim was to make the complex a litter-free zone and spread awareness among the shopkeepers on the importance of segregation at source. Students call for action The seed for the campaign was sown during one of the…

Something that happens once may be brushed aside as an aberration. What if it occurs twice? I am a regular commuter on the garden city Bengaluru's buses. Needless to say, I spend a substantial amount of time both at bus stops and on the bus. One resource that is aplenty on buses and at bus stops is people. Where there are people, there is scope for interaction. Interactions are not a norm at bus stops or buses. Each person prefers their own space in this situation. That is why even a rare exchange could prove interesting, unlike one may have…

There comes a time in your life when it doesn’t matter what comfort zone you are in, you just want to move on and do something in life — something for the society; something to better the lives of others; something that everyone cannot do. This doesn’t happen to all, but Kalpana Kar saw it happen to her. Once she left her corporate comforts behind, incorporating professionalism in local governance became her new passion in life. Kalpana began her corporate career in TATA administrative services. She worked in Tata Unisys and Titan Industries. She also helped her husband in the…

  The Bangalore Chapter of AID is organising a photography contest, based on the theme 'Soul, Space, Society'.  The competition is meant to give photographers the opportunity to take pictures of the Bangalore that they love with, fight with and are in love with. If their picture captures the essence of Bangalore in a unique way, then AID Bangalore will to showcase it.  Photographers are invited to submit their entries on AID's Facebook page. The last date to submit photographs is 1st March 2014.  The best photographs will be selected by AID Bangalore's judges panel and will be put on display at Thalam…

The High Court on Wednesday, February 19th, 2014, disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (WP 3676/2008) filed by Citizen Action Forum (CAF) and a few other civic groups in Bengaluru, that challenged the Draft Revised Master Plan (RMP) - 2015, prepared by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), that allowed commercial use of residential areas, through a land use category called "mixed residential." A division bench comprising Chief Justice DH Waghela and Justice BV Nagarathna issued a direction to the State government to amend the land use change rules of the BDA's Revised Master Plan to allow only the ancillary use…

Are you aware of the ill-effects, especially on health, caused by the increasing number of mobile towers and resultant radiation levels in Bengaluru and other cities? Is there any government body to regulate the installation of cell towers? Are citizens allowed to know the actual level of radiation in a given area? In the backdrop of these questions, Surakshit Vatavaran has recently initiated an e-petition on Change.org to the Prime Minister of India for the establishment of a regulatory body to monitor cell tower installations and radiation levels.  You can find their petition here.   Subhashree, Managing Trustee at Surakshit…

The Karnataka government is trying to increase tourism in the city of Bengaluru. Recent news reports say that they are planning to extend the 11.30pm closing time for bars and restaurants in the city to 1am. A few days ago the paper had a report of the city introducing a tourist 'Big Bus' with a hop-on, hop-off service which goes to the tourist attractions of the city — Lalbaug, Cubbon Park, Vidhan Soudha, Bangalore Palace, Tipu's Palace, Bull temple etc. However, these tourist attractions are all quite old. Most predate independence and the formation of Karnataka and are at least…