City: Bengaluru

Bangalore houses roughly around one crore citizens. As the city grows, crime rate too goes up. To facilitate smooth flow of grievance redressal mechanism and complaint follow ups, Police Department has brought certain services under Sakala scheme, to aid the citizens in getting their work done in time. However, how many people are aware of this? The Police Computer Wing (PCW) of the Karnataka State Police had introduced 21 services under the Sakala scheme, in April 2012. Four months ago, the PCW also launched the mobile SMS Gateway service. But its reach has been limited. Speaking to Citizen Matters, ADGP,…

The realignment of Namma Metro is something that has remained a mystery - why the realignment? Why cannot a heart hospital have Metro near it? There seem to be no clear answers to this question, though the realignment of the route has already been decided. Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research vehemently protested the plans for the Metro to pass through the hospital’s parking area. On the other hand, Narayana Hrudayalaya, another prestigious heart hospital in the city, has requested BMRCL to extend its line from Electronic City to Chandapura Post - a 5 km away from the last…

I was taking my cycle to the ‘Fitness Through Travel’ to get it lubed properly for the race on Sunday. As I passed the playground near 19th Main (BTM Layout), I noticed a young woman in filthy clothes lying unconscious near the grills of the ground. A lot of young men were playing in the ground, paying no attention to her. Everyone was just glancing at her and moving away with the assumption that she was drunk. I too started moving away, but then I noticed dried blood around her foot. I felt bad, went near her and woke her…

Lucia, Kannada's first-ever crowd-funded movie, directed and produced by 30-year-old debutant director Pawan Kumar, has won the Audience Award at the fourth London Indian Film Festival. Pawan Kumar was quoted by the London Indian Film Festival website: “To win this award in the face of such powerful competition is a dream come true for me. I thank the London Indian Film Festival for selecting the film for its world premiere and would also like to thank the London audience and the UK Kannada community for supporting the film.” Pawan Kumar, Diector of Lucia How pre-ordering works Lucia can be pre-ordered…

You can complain to Health Department if you find ambulances charging more than 10 rupee per km. Pic courtesy: Wikimedia Commons Lakshmamma, a domestic worker and a resident of Anjanagara, did not know where to take her sister Shanti, who suddenly complained of severe abdominal pain during late night hours. She did not know which ambulance service to call, as a private ambulance service she found refused to ply during late night hours. Charges for another service were over Rs 3,000 for just two kilometres, to a decent hospital on Magadi Road. Similar situation was also faced by another woman,…

When the alignment of around 50+ kms of the proposed road is more or less the same as NICE road, BDA has to construct only 60+ kms, not 110 kms as projected. Pic: wikimedia commons Why should the Peripheral Ring Road cost 4300 crores, and why should Japanese agency Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) be funding it? The toal length of the project is about 110 km, of which 50+ is unnecessary, because the western half of the road is more or less identical to the NICE Road which has already been built. So what we really need is road…

The opening balance of BBMP, according to documents, is 7529 lakhs - that is Rs 75 crore approximately. However the mega-plan unveiled via budget has various plans adding up to a spend of Rs 8520 crore. Here are the highlights of the budget. BBMP Budget 2013-14

  S G Vasudev is an interdisciplinary artist – an artist whose works are deeply influenced by other arts – music, dance, poetry, weaving, mythology and more. The release of the artist’s coffee table book “Vriksha – The art and times of SG Vasudev,” held on 20 July 2013, couldn’t have been better timed. The garden city is also playing host to a month-long exhibition of paintings of one of the country’s greatest interdisciplinary artists - Rabindranath Tagore. The austere occasion started with the launch of Vasudev’s book by the high priestess of theatre in Bangalore, Arundhati Nag. On the…

Apartment associations that received their water bills for June 2013 were in for a shock. Their water bills were two to three times more than what they had been paying! Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) had increased the charges for bulk consumers as per a notification in the Karnataka Gazette dated 23rd May 2013, but most apartment association representatives and residents were not aware of either the new charges, or of the impact of the amendment in tariff, till they received the bills.  According to the new tariff rules, for Bulk Domestic Consumers i.e. High-rise/Multistoried Buildings/ Apartments/ Central and…

The programme was launched at Freedom Park in presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Bangalore In-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy and others. Pic courtesy: BBMP The need to get rid of the tag of ‘garbage city’ finally seems to have made its way into the policies of government. Kasa Muktha ward drive was launched at Freedom Park on Wednesday, 24 July 2013, with the garbage clearance machinery geared up with 250 trained, dedicated Pourakarmikas and garbage contractors willing to make the programme a hit. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana kickstarted the…