City: Bengaluru

The last couple of months have been exasperating for citizens who wanted their names in the voters' list. There have been random name deletions, false names and addresses in the roll. Now the High Court has ordered the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, to ensure suo moto that errors in the list should be fixed. Court ordered on December 11th, that CEO should publish the final corrected list on January 28th.As per this, public will not have to run around to get their details corrected; election officers will have to verify the entire list themselves.The order came in a PIL…

Last Friday, December 14th, there was an event announcement from BBMP. My apartment association got a printed letter (enclosed). The subject of the letter was "citizen participation in improving civic amenities", and it was signed by the Assistant Commissioner (Admin and Tax), with a request to the President of the RWA to attend a meeting. The note said:Bangalore has earned fame as garden city and has attracted attention of the world. A meeting is organised in Town Hall on 15-12-2012 at 11:00 to discuss with the Commissioner of BBMP on how we can make Bangalore a city with the best…

Come this weekend and there are a bunch of interesting events waiting for you! Bangalore film festival, Bangalore book fest and Abhinaya 2013 - Kannada theatre festival are a few of the events to look out for!The 5th edition of Bangalore Film Festival is one such event that nobody wishes to miss. The festival is being organised by the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy for Government of Karnataka supported by Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce. The festival started on Dec 20th and will go on till Dec 27th. You can register for the event here. Venue: Theatres across Bangalore. From movies to…

There's a slight nip in the early morning air these days; For me, this holds the anticipation of the winter garden - carrots, peas, cauliflower, cabbage, oranges, apples, guavas, strawberries, tomatoes and much much more - either from your own little patch of green or from the nearest organic store. This season, not only am I keen to try out various recipes that use these different vegetables, I am also happy to rediscover the joy of preserving and drying many of these winter fruits and vegetables so as to savour them through some part of next year too! Tomatoes. Pic:…

The camaraderie is more than apparent as members of Non Resident Indians Parents Association (NRIPA) in Bangalore meet at fellow member BA Ramesh's home in Jayanagar. Notes are exchanged, jokes are cracked and an endless variety of snacks keep doing the rounds. There's a level of comfort obvious here that comes only from long association and sharing a common ground. As you talk to them, you realize that NRIPA members are almost like an extended family to each other.Started by Ambuja Narayan 13 years ago to find something in common with other parents whose children too have moved overseas, the…

You live in the third largest city in India by population. The city's GDP exceeds 10 billion dollars (Rs 54,000 crores). The largest chunk of Karnataka's GDP and tax collections come from Bengaluru alone. The city has the third largest number of crorepathis in India and by some accounts, the highest median income level in the country. It isn't just that. An emerging civic and green movement led by old and young alike is fighting back to take back lost public spaces - lakes and trees for instance - with a resolute willingness to checkmate corrupt administrators in the High…

Even as the Mandur landfill region is threatening to erupt into yet another conflict zone, the AP-headquartered Lok Satta political party has organised a walk 'Dumping SAAKU' on Saturday, December 22nd. Lok Satta party cartoon released for the walk. Lok Satta party, active in Bengaluru politics since 2010, has organised the walk from Mandur village (north east of the city) to Bengaluru to raise awareness in Bangaloreans about incessant dumping of garbage at rural-area landfill sites outside the city. The party does not have an elected representative in the state yet.Mandur is located in the northeastern rural fringe of Bengaluru,…

The Salvinia Molesta covering the surface of our little Puttenahalli Lake has not deterred all the birds! Our regulars, the purple swamp hens, purple heron, pond herons among others had refused to leave the lake even though the invasive aquatic fern was spreading on the water. They have now been joined by a Grey Heron, a couple of Cormorants and king fishers! These were just a few of the birds we spotted in the midst of what seems like a 1001 tasks we have to do at the lake. Not that we are complaining about the tasks since we mooted…

The year ends with a big bang for Hindi cinema. Just about two weeks after Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Son of Sardar played to 'Housefull' cinema halls, Talaash released to audiences. A week later Khiladi 787 wooed the crowds, and by December 21st it will be time for Dabangg 2. So while it has been a spectacular closing at the box office, what does it mean for Hindi cinema? Clearly, it's the first week's performance that determines the commercial success of a film. But while Talaash may finally emerge as the least successful of the year's final releases, it…

By now you've probably read, discussed and formed your own opinion about the case of the Indian couple arrested in Norway and sentenced to 18 and 15 months jail respectively. Their crime? Of physically abusing their son by beating him with a belt and burning him with a hot spoon as punishment. It seems the child was ‘hypersensitive' according to newspapers here. The psychiatrist treating the child has termed it Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD). If the reports are true, instead of understanding the condition, his parents resorted to beating the child and threatening to send him back to India. Pic:…