City: Bengaluru

One more lake in Bangalore seems to be nearing extinction. Kadugodi lake in Whitefield is the victim. And the encroachers belong to water mafia. The catchment area of this beautiful lake is being encroached upon by local politicians. They supply water to Whitefield apartments. The water is extracted from the lake and supplied to the apartments at Rs 2,000 per tanker. As if this is not enough, a new compound and buildings are coming up on the lake bed and catchment area. A few concerned citizens of this area have been trying to bring some limelight on the issue and…

Chowdaiah memorial hall in Malleshwaram witnessed dance in different flavors on Saturday, 18 May 2013. From tiny tots to the elderly women, everybody danced with awe-inspiring enthusiasm. Not just the performers that night, but the audience too fired-up the place by swaying to the beats. All these efforts lionize the Chasse Dance Studio (CDS), Bangalore who explore the realms of dance and promote it as a medium of expression. The main aim of the studio is to explore the poetry of dance. Still from the dance show Pic: Priyanka Nadgir They want to engage people of all walks of life…

The city already boasts of the TCS10k, Bangalore Ultra and the unique Midnight Marathon which are already major landmark events and attract both local and international runners. Why a new running event then? “We wanted to do an event that is affordable, reaches out to the common man and puts the spirit back into running,” says Santhosh Padmanabhan, a running coach and founder of Runners High. The event is also the first one to have a Kannada name, a hat tip from the runners to the city of its origin. The event will have Thayi mane ota - 4k, Ananya…

The ecstatic French architecture has been collectively displayed in the National Modern Art Gallery, Palace Road in collaboration with Institut Français in India and Alliance Française, Bangalore, as part of the Bonjour India Festival 2013. The exhibition was inaugurated on the 18th April with the photographs of French colonial edifices in India. Amid the verdant Modern Art Gallery are displayed the delightful photographs of the French Colonial Architecture, which expressed identity, power, superiority and indestructibility. Puducherry Delhi-based Conservation architect, Aishwarya Tipnis, who invited distinctive photographers like Anay Mann, Gigi Scaria, Rishi Singhal, Serena Chopra, Isabel Singhal and Jean-Pierre Dubois, brings…

Two weeks ago, when there were clear indications of a Congress victory in Karnataka, senior party leaders were not sure about how the state’s chief minister was going to be chosen. Many told the media that the ‘High Command’ in New Delhi would decide. Siddaramaiah Siddarame Gowda, 65, better known only by his first name, must have been considering his chances against veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, currently a minister in the UPA government, and select others. The ‘High Command’ then sprang a surprise. Instead of ‘selection’ which everyone with an opinion was conjecturing wildly about, New Delhi surprisingly chose election. A…

While water-strapped Bengaluru is waiting for the mercy of rain gods to bless the Cauvery belt to quench its thirst, water mafia is busy drawing water from just about anywhere: their own bore wells, bore wells of others, lakes and water bodies - wherever one can see water.  As this article goes into publication, the city water board has just announced that Cauvery water supply for Bengaluru will stop in four days. Few know that the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) issued an order in November 2012: No more borewell digging in Bengaluru for commercial purposes. If implemented correctly, this…

Here is a new government which has an opportunity to think long term as well as an opportunity to bring in far-ranging changes.In terms of infrastructure, there should be importance given to commuter rail issue. In the next one year, with the Centre and State having the same party running the governments, it is a good opportunity to try and push the issue in a concrete manner and get it into the railway budget and the system. The commuter rail system will have Bangalore develop in different ways along the railway tracks and allow for much more access for people…

After the Karnataka elections, many political analysts said that people of Karnataka are not for corruption; the BJP lost the state because of corruption. But did they? At least in Bengaluru, this argument does not seem to hold any ground. It is true that the rest of Karnataka voted out the corruption-ridden BJP. Outside Bangalore, the party got just 28 seats out of 196, and lost its deposit in 110 constituencies - a defeat unimaginable and unexpected by its leaders. But in Bangalore, BJP lost just five seats, down from 17 to 12. The Congress party suffered two upsets (Narendra…

Finally the Central government has taken the major step of implementing the direct benefit transfer scheme for LPG subsidies. This will be implemented 1 June 2013 onwards in selected 20 districts all over India, including Mysore and Tumkur. Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily issued a statement to this effect on 15 May 2013. Public sector banks also have started alerting the customers and educating them on linking their accounts to their Aadhar cards. According to Moily, oil companies will credit the subsidy amount to the bank accounts of the customers; the government will transfer the subsidies to the companies every quarter.…

Tiny birds -be it anykind- are truly the creatures that melt one's heart. It is always a delight to see baby birds in the nests, with parents diligently flying around to get them food. Flowerpeckers are among the smallest birds in India. Here's the heart-warming story of a tiny bird that was rescued.We -a group of like-minded people - were on a nature trail on the Bannerghatta-Kaggalipura Road, when we found a Pale-billed Flowerpecker, which had been either pushed out of its nest, or had fallen from it before we could fly. Two young boys had picked it up, saving…