City: Bengaluru

Living in Bengaluru, a new book for navigating the city was released at Jayanagar’s Prism Book Shop by MLA B N Vijayakumar accompanied by other well known Bangaloreans. This follows the launch of the book at Malleswaram on August 3rd. Jayanagar MLA B N Vijaykumar speaking at the book release at Prism Bookshop. Pic: Abhishek Angad. The guidebook is published by Oorvani Media, which is also the publisher of Citizen Matters, the newsmagazine focused on Bangalore and its neighbourhoods. The book has step-by-step guides, FAQs and information for getting things done in Bangalore. It has chapters devoted to public services…

Even as police confirmed making the first arrests in Bengaluru for rumour-mongering, city businesses depending on staff from the Northeast have been affected since the panic-driven exodus began on Wednesday.  V S D'Souza, DCP (Intelligence) confirmed around midnight August 17th that two people were arrested earlier in the evening for threatening rumors. D'Souza however declined comment on whether the arrested were from any sectarian organisation or community.  Meanwhile, restaurants, retail chains and spas have been hit according to some business owners in the city. Philip Deepak, owner of Popsies restaurant in Koramangala who employed 12 Northeast service staff says that…

An engineer by profession, he joined Raman Research Institute as a lab assistant in 1984 while pursuing his higher studies, moving on to become a scientist at the same institute. He later ventured out on his own, setting up the Indian branch of Vxtel, a technology firm, later acquired by Intel. He has worked at Intel as director of the connectivity division, focussing on research and innovation. He has got many accolades.  Meet Dr P S Ramkumar, a resident of Bannerghatta Road. DR P S Ramkumar at his residence. Pic: Abhishek Angad Finding healthcare, one of the most poorly managed…

On August 10th, 2012, an elderly couple’s decomposed bodies were found in JP Nagar 1st phase, who were murdered three days earlier. July 4th, 60-year-old Lakshmidevamma’s head was bludgeoned to death at her house on 5th Cross, Prakashnagar. Continuing this there have been several other cases of abuse, assault or murder in city against elderly people. Sonia Narang, DCP, Bangalore -South. Pic courtesy: DCP Office IPS officer Sonia Narang, Deputy Commissioner of Police(South)-Bangalore, is known for her tough stance against crime spoke to Citizen Matters  about ways to keep elderly safe at home. Excerpts:Can you suggest some basic steps for…

Now one more week to see the fate of the reconstruction of EWS flats for the poor at Ejipura. After the hearing High Court Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice Aravind Kumar adjourned the session to Aug 21st, 2012. Aniyan Joseph feels that, on 21st High Court may release a final order over EWS flats. In a week the fate of the reconstruction of EWS flats for the poor at Ejipura will be known. Pic: Sankar C G On August 8th, the High Court asked BBMP, Maverick Holdings and Aniyan Joseph, advocate for original 1512-beneficiaries in the Ejipura case, to…

After the High Court ordered the stay on signal-free corridor work in Koramangala, citizens have now formally been asked to suggest alternatives. A sub-committee, comprising six citizen representatives and a few government representatives, have been asked to submit alternate plans by August 25th.This sub-committee was formed by, and has to report to, a government-appointed committee. According to the court order, the government-appointed committee should hear concerns of citizens and submit a report to the court on September 15th. Court will then make a final decision on the project on October 5th.The first hearing of the government's committee - headed by…

Rajvir P Sharma, the man who dared to take action against BBMP engineers for their inaction against building violations, has been transferred out of Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF). J D Madhuchandra Tejaswi, Under Secretary to government, DPAR (Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms) services, sent the transfer order to Sharma. ADGP Rajvir Sharma. Pic: Sankar C G According to the order, Dr P Ravindranath will assume charge as Inspector General of Police (IGP), BMTF, with immediate effect.  Ravindranath is an IPS officer of the 1989 batch of the Karnataka Cadre. He had been serving as IGP, Excise Enforcement.ADGP Rajvir…

Recently, BBMP passed a resolution to include Electronic City (Ecity) under its jurisdiction. But on the other hand, state cabinet is already contemplating giving industrial township status to the area.On July 31st, BBMP passed the resolution to include Electronic City phase 1, 2 and 3 under its jurisdiction. State government has to approve the resolution now, for it to be effective. If approved,industries and commercial areas that are notified as part of Electronic City, will go to BBMP. Dr Amita Prasad, Principal Secretary at state government's Urban Development Department (UDD), says that BBMP has not yet sent the resolution to…

Three months ago, 56 year-old, Dr Ravi Ralph was made the Chief Executive officer(CEO) of the Lake Development Authority. He is also the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. He completed his education in Varanasi and then was posted as Conservator of Forests in various parts of Karnataka. He is a resident of HSR Layout. Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Executive Officer, Lake Development Authority - Dr Ravi Ralph. Pic: Anisha Nair What do you think is the key point in maintaining lakes? In every meeting we see active citizens partnership. Synergy is the word. The government…

The epithet ‘Gaanchali bidi Kannada maathadi' (GBKM) would translate colloquially as ‘let go of your (English) affectations and speak in Kannada.' For those of us born and brought up in Bangalore, this has been a familiar epithet; as children from middle-class families, we were exposed to peers from ‘convent' schools who spoke ‘European' English, but they would disdain to speak in Kannada despite knowing the language well. We would accuse them of ‘gaanchali', and of course would strive to throw in as much Kannada in our ‘English' conversations as possible. The fact that many of the wannabe ‘convent' schools (where…