City: Bengaluru

The much talked about and hyped Aadhaar card still remains a mystery to many, but the rush at the registration counters tells a different tale. On closer look one finds that though people are rushing to the centres to get their Unique Identity (UID) cards, they do not know the exact purpose. Most citizens believe that since it is a government document, it is required. However they do not know if it is mandatory to have an UID or not. UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani with residents receiving their Aadhaar cards. Credit: uidai.gov.in Narayan K, a businessman operating from Chickpet, got…

Electronics City on the fringes of Bangalore may be better known as the Silicon Valley of India - home to the likes of Infosys and Wipro - but what fewer people recognise is that it is also a shining example of growth that brought inclusive development in its wake.Governments of the world, NGOs, economists, civil society, school-children, college-professors, and the UNO are all busy trying to figure out a way in which development can take place without marginalizing certain sections of the populace. They've all tried to solve the pertinent puzzle of how we can acquire land for development, and…

The Namma Bengaluru Awards, instituted by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation, will be presented this Saturday 16th of March at 6 pm at the Malleshwaram Grounds. The awards will be given away in a glittering event of music, dance and entertainment. Entry to public is free.Total of 53 finalists in 9 categories will vie for the prestigious NBA. They include Prithvi Reddy, Arundhuti Gupta, Bangalore Traffic Police, BESCOM, Indian Centre for Social Transformation, Goonj, Kormangala 3rd Block RWA, Puttenhalli Neighborhood Lake Improvement Trust, Ashok Dalwai , B G Chengappa, BIOCON, IBM, Canara Bank and many more.The Namma Bengaluru Awards this year…

The temperature in the city seems to be rising gradually over the last month. The trend is visible in the entire nation, not just limited to the city or state. While experts say that this has happened gradually over the years, Bangaloreans feel that it is rising at a more drastic pace. Richa Anantha, a sales-woman, livng in Nagarbhavi, points that riders on the city roads can feel the sticky uncomfortable heat. The wind is not cooling. She feels that Bangalore is hotter than what it was last year. Pic: Parvathisri via wikimedia BV Khare, a Bangalore-based retired teacher, residing…

The warm weather is here, and it's a great time to look for some of the very common butterflies as we walk around. The butterflies that I've photographed were all clicked in either gardens near my home, or in the Valley School campus, off Kanakapura Road; so you don't have to go very far to find them!"BLUES" are small butterflies, so called because we can see the blue colour when they are flying. Here's a 6 line Blue 6 line Blue Pic: Deepa Mohan Some of the butterfly names, of course, have no "why" to them. This on, the Pioneer…

Come May, and Bangaloreans will join citizens in other parts of the state to decide who will be steering the political fate of the city and Karnataka over the next five years. As voters, we are all accustomed to candidates across parties making promises or making excuses, especially before elections. But do we know enough about our chosen political representative - our area MLA - to really make an informed choice? ♦ How vocal has your MLA been in the Assembly about issues that concern you and your constituency? ♦ How has he utilised the local area development (LAD) funds…

The debate about including IT/ITES industry under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act has been going on for a while. Here is what IT employees think about their work conditions and about the IE Act. Pic: Wikimedia Commons Most employees that Citizen Matters spoke to, opined that the Act will help employees. There was skepticism though, on a government department's interference in the industry and on its ability to actually help employees.While most employees complain about favouritism, overtime without compensation etc., some complain about being affected by serious malpractices. Ravi (name changed), who used to work in Yahoo, the multinational…

With buildings trying to reach out to the sky, borewells reach down the other extreme. BWSSB is now trying to enforce the groundwater rules that came into force late last year. The Karnataka Groundwater Act, 2011 to track ground water exploitation calls for declaration of existing borewells/tubewells and mandates registration prior to digging any new borewells. File pic All commercial borewell drillers need to register themselves with BWSSB and proceed with drilling work after getting a consent letter from BWSSB. "Anybody digging borewells without prior permission from BWSSB will be subject to legal proceedings," says Engineer-in-Chief BWSSB Venkata Raju. "If…

Last December, Smart Vote and other organisations had campaigned for extending the deadline for voter registration. This seems to have paid off, as some 7.5 lakh voters enrolled themselves in the list, in December-January alone. Smart Vote had got people registered directly, and also created awareness among the public. The registration drive continues.Around one lakh applications are still pending, as they are yet to be verified and updated; BBMP had promised to complete this by March 10th. Our sample checks show that this is not complete yet. We will discuss this in a meeting with BBMP on March 13th.The CEO…

Malatesh Garadimani stands over the desk in Gallery No. 1, at Bangalore's beacon of fine art - Chitrakala Parishath. His straight face doesn't melt to my greeting smile, but instead exudes an intense self-belief. I am not as yet aware that he is a polio-victim who is being bolstered up by prosthetic apparatus. But, the infirmity of his lower limbs hasn't stopped him from excelling with his upper ones. It is such self-empowerment that induced CKP alumni and art teacher at Bangalore's Association of People with Disability - Shivubodha - to invite Malatesh into this prestigious space. After our introductions,…