City: Bengaluru

What was pathetic about the state budget presented last week, was not so much the populism it was based on - that was expected - as was the reactions to it from various sections, including politicians of parties other than the BJP.The budget is meant as an exercise to allocate public money for the betterment of the people - with the emphasis categorically on "betterment of the people". It is NOT money available to the ruling party, for announcing measures that would enhance its prospects in the next elections. That perspective has, alas, been completely lost sight of, by every…

In July 2008, my parents and I boarded a flight from San Francisco International Airport, and arrived twenty-four hours later in Bangalore. Unlike our usual journeys, this one was not a round trip. We were leaving the United States and moving to India for good.We soon settled down in a comfortable, modern apartment somewhere on the outskirts of Bangalore - in an erstwhile village called Bellandur, now part of Greater Bangalore. I had a new house, a new school, and new friends... but most importantly, a new town to explore. Investigate! Explore! Dig! To me, these words conjure up magic.…

Health is not mere absence of disease. It would be better if we have an understanding of health risks, how do we monitor them, and take actions to prevent them from manifesting as a disease condition.You may ask, “Is it possible?”, and I say, the answer is yes. To begin with, take a look at what you have inherited from your parents and family. Typically, if one or both of your parents have heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancers, asthma etc, there is a possibility that  you may also get it some time or other. Map out your family history, and…

Arun Raghavan, an open source software enthusiast, and four friends worked all night on January 19th on a very unique problem. They were scraping electoral data from ceokarnataka's website. They wanted to create a user-friendly frontend for citizens to search their names and polling booth information. They did this as part of a hacknight to commemorate the life and works of Aaron Swartz, on January 19th and 20th organised by HasGeek, an event organiser for geeks. Aaron Swartz was a hacktivist, who died in early January. He had helped create RSS 1.0; contributed to Creative Commons; was an early builder of Reddit, where…

I often wonder whether we are doing justice to our youngsters -- all open spaces are being ornamentally ‘gardened', ‘fountained', 'ticketed' and enclosed with barbed wires that are inaccessable to children. To give one or two concrete examples, there was a nice open space behind the HOPCOMS in Sadashivanagar that is surrounded by houses. There is also a nursery school in that area. I have been a resident in this neighbourhood the past 30 years and it pains me to see all the open spaces being taken away for either allotment to VIPs or converted into ornamental parks with tickets.…

Karnataka has witnessed a steep hike in the number of senior citizens looking for jobs over the years. Nightingale Empowerment Foundation, an organisation that helps senior citizens of Bangalore to get jobs, has recently seen a very high rate of enrollment. Unfortunately since October 2011, out of 1100 registrations, the organization has been able to get employment for only 260 of them.Swathi Bhandary, Project Manager at Nightingale said: "Employers should realise that most of the eligible citizens are very much capable of getting recruited."Accountancy, call-centre and other clerical jobs are areas wherein senior citizens are recruited.The Directorate of Welfare of…

The bi-annual and eagerly awaited Aero-India, the premier air show proudly hosted by Bangalore attracts crowds from across the world in large numbers.Apart from tourists, visitors and participants to the show, the city also sees an increase in the number of relatives and friends, not only of the pilots and participants but also of residents residing in the vicinity of the venue.  Their urge to see the fighters and other aircrafts maneuver in the skies for five days free of cost is the prime reason. Quick Links: Aero India * Aero India 2009 According to Sidharth M, a second year…

India has not been familiar with political action committees of the kind that are common across the United States, but an initiative by corporate heavyweights and prominent members of civil society in Bangalore could well change that. On Sunday, the 3rd of February, the city took its first step towards active urban citizen engagement in the the electoral process with the launch of the Bangalore Political Action Committee or BPAC.Established with the broader aim of promoting a better quality of life for all citizens of the metropolis, BPAC will  seek to identify and support strong candidates - irrespective of their…

Senior citizens of Brigade Millennium apartments took the lead to organise the much needed Aadhaar Camp in our enclave with Mayflower flat's lobby as the venue between January 4th and 20th. The residents, under the umbrella of 'Elders Forum' contacted UID officials, who pointed them to one of their contract agencies, Mars Systems. Since there were 800+ apartments, the residents found it convenient to organise a camp. Resident volunteers coordinated each block and allotted specific timings for enrollment. They could also ensure domestic help and drivers employed in the complex could register.  The UI camp was conducted in a spirit…

In the last few weeks, we have started segregating waste in our apartment complex. Valuable lessons have been learnt on the problems created by thoughtless waste disposal, while understanding how resistant residents can be to change, even if it is for ‘greater good.'But what I did not expect is - insights into gender equation in households. Before you accuse me of bringing in feminist agenda into waste management, hear me out, I do have a point.Firstly, when the entire city was stinking up and grappling with how to dispose garbage safely, it was the women in the apartment who mooted…