City: Bengaluru

Sale in properties across Bangalore has dipped in last one month. File Pic. Before the new guidance value was announced, brokers across Bangalore seemed to be in hurry to close various property deals. June 2013 saw highest real estate transactions, says a recent report by the real estate services firm, Jones Lang LaSalle India. However, after the new guidance values came into effect, the realty market has slowed down, in an effort to achieve an equilibrium between market value and guidance value. Builders and realtors are not at all happy with the new guidance value system. They point that the…

Enter most restaurants and chances are you’ll see most kids above the age of five (or even lesser) entertaining themselves with the help of electronic gadgets like smart phones and tablets. Ditto for flights, airports or any other ‘adult’ space that requires some amount of waiting and isn’t exactly big on the appeal factor for kids. Gadgets have become an integral part of our lives, be it smart phones, laptops, iPods or iPads. Children even have their own toys that mimic these gadgets well, like Leapfrog products or Made in China copies of iPad style toys. They do save our…

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has started with its homework, in a bid to merge the elevated road from Jayadeva junction to Central Silk Board with Metro’s R V Road - Bommasandra line. The preliminary research and other procedures are underway. The flyover planned to be extended till Central Silk Board at a cost of Rs.150 crore has already been announced in the maiden budget of the Congress government. “The project is still in the preliminary stage. A feasibility report and DPR is yet to be formed, which needs to be assigned to a consultant,” says BBMP Executive Engineer,…

For many of us, our wallets contain our life history. Mine did, at least till recently. PAN Card, driving licence, voters ID card. Credit cards, debit cards, membership cards, shopping privilege cards. Photos, postage stamps, not-in-use SIM cards, bills, other people’s visiting cards. Money. After a busy morning in the Brookfields area, I had stopped by at Mayura Restaurant in Kundalahalli to satisfy my grumbling stomach. I not only ate but also packed a few things to carry back home to the family. Relieved at having completed most of what I needed to do that morning, I was anxious to…

Bhargavi Rao addresses the gathering on Puttenahalli lake premises. Pic: Nikita Malusare. Cracked footpaths; unattended garbage on the street; destruction of roads due to delayed Metro work; high water prices - all these have left Bangalore in chaos. With the sun peeking out from clouds every few seconds and cold wind sending shrivels in the body, many Bangaloreans joined the discussion on Puttenahalli Lake premises, on the issues that concern a Bangalorean, but are ignored as the city tries to catch up with development.   Born and brought up amid the greenery of Bangalore, Bhargavi S Rao, Trustee, Environment Support…

The collapse of a five-storeyed building under construction in Someshwara Nagar behind NIMHANS, on 19 August, 2013, has raised several questions. Three people died in the incident, while eight workers were injured. As the Fire and Emergency Department is searching for bodies of the labourers who could have been buried under the debris, citizens are worried if the property they are investing in is safe or not. This is only a recent example. There have been six such incidents in Bangalore in last two months. The series of incidents, if not anything else, has forced the BBMP to undertake a…

The grand old man of Kannada words, Professor G Venkatasubbiah turns 100 today - 23 August 2013. Born a century ago, on 23 August 1913, the legendary lexicographer stands a testimony to the history of Kannada and Bangalore. Citizen Matters caught up with Professor GV to get his views about Bangalore and Kannada, their evolution and his long association with them both. Prof Venkatasubbiah turns 100 on 23 August 2013. Pic: Sriram Vittalamurthy Can you explain your association with Bangalore? I came to Bangalore in 1943. Those were very bad days. After the second world war, the economy was in…

“I’m suffering from the empty nest syndrome. Help!” A mother whose daughter has just left for university abroad commented recently on a Facebook group I belong to. In less than two minutes, there were other mothers in similar situations commiserating with her. Mothers with children who had just left home to attend college in another city or country; Mothers with children who had started working elsewhere or were about to take off soon, whether for college or work. As I read the comments, I realised that precisely at that moment, I was rather thrilled to have the children out of…

Residents affected by the realignment of Metro track near Jayadeva Hospital claim to be harassed by the land acquisition and survey officers, even before the Phase-II is officially finalised. One of the residents, Anil Kumar (45), Freelance Consultant in Strategy and Project Management, has been living opposite to Jayadeva since 1986 with his mother who is affected by Parkinson’s disease. He says, “Two officers named Venkat Raman and Gopal Swamy, who claimed to be the survey supervisors from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) visited us in order to verify and procure copies of property documents, Khata certificate and latest…

In spite of the new rules introduced by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to address the issue of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), Bangalore continues to be plagued by the problem of uncollected waste in the neighbourhoods. The rules instruct the citizens to segregate waste, but they do not deal with the burgeoning quantities of solid waste generated. More rich you are, more waste you produce! A research carried out by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) in the field of behavioural economics has shown that the per capita generation of MSW is directly proportional to affluence and consumption patterns of…