City: Bengaluru

A person talking about futility of life or inability to face stress should be taken seriously. Steps to prevent suicides have to be taken at different levels. At community level, it includes education, destigmatising psychiatric illness, screening and treatment. Education includes individual and public awareness, professional awareness and counseling. At the family level, love, understanding and support can help people cope.Earliest signs of depression or any other psychiatric disorder should be taken seriously and treated. Any mention of suicidal thought or talk should not be ignored. Teachers, counselors and parents have to join hands to detect earliest signs of childen…

This is not the story of someone who fought against an indifferent system and brought it to its knees, rather of someone who made her peace with the system and worked patiently from within, to achieve the best results possible. Pic: Manvel Alur Manvel Alur's connection with the environment seems almost karmic, with her choices in life steering her on the green path quite early on. Even as a child growing up in Bangalore, she was environmentally aware enough to write in to the National Geographic magazine on various issues and it seemed like a natural transition that she went…

On Sunday, 29 January, Kumara Krupa road was transformed into Montmartre, art village of Paris. About 5 lakh people visited the 9th annual Chitra Kala Parishath's (CKP) Chitra santhe. Traffic was blocked on the Kumara Krupa road upto Shivananda circle and neighbouring roads from 7am to7pm to make room for art. Pic: Deepti Sarma Chitra Santhe is held on the last Sunday of January, every year. This year over 1600 artists from all over the country displayed their work. The number of visitors this year has gone up by about 50%. This could be because of more publicity feels C…

Politicians irrespective of their party line shared their concerns about looming water scarcity that is fast approaching Bangalore and pledged their commitment in support of the action plan prepared by two city NGOs. The Centre for Policies and Practices (CPP) and Bangalore Environment Trust (BET) presented their plan at a conference on "Bangalore's water famine 2020 A ticking time bomb" held on 29 January at Gandhi Bhavan. Pic: The event organised by the Centre for Policies and Practices and the Bangalore Environment Trust. Pic: Kishore S U. CPP and BET have proposed a detailed action plan to address water scarcity…

In a major ruling, the High Court has ordered that commercial buildings not be allowed in residential zones in Bangalore from now on. The court passed the interim order on January 25th in a case filed by Citizens' Action Forum (CAF), Sadashivnagar RWA and 12 individuals in 2008. Petitioners had challenged BDA's Revised Master Plan (RMP 2005-2015), based on which land use zones are demarcated. A division bench of the court lead by Chief Justice Vikramjit Sen asked the government to go back the city's master plan of 1995-2005 for limits on commercial activity in residential areas. News of this…

With the academic year for schools nearing the end, most parents say it is the time for them to empty their pockets. Private unaided schools are hiking their fees for the coming year and expectedly, parents are worried. "They give us no option but to pay the amount," says a parent of a child studying in St Francis de Sales High School (SFS), Electronic city. Resignation appears to be the state of most parents in the city."The management gave me an option of 3 installments instead of 2 installments," says another parent whose child studies in Deccan International School, Padmanabhanagar.…

Clint Eastwood continues to increase his repertoire as a director. This time, he returns with the historical documentary film J. Edgar.The film is FBI director J. Edgar Hoover’ story, and a glimpse into the life’s work that went into the making of the FBI. Besides giving us an interpretation of Hoover’s personal journey, the film also has a telling take on contemporary American political life. Source: Wikipidea Yet within a genre of films perfected in Hollywood, and epitomized in the work of directors like Oliver Stone (JFK and Nixon) and Martin Scorsese (Aviator), Clint Eastwood’s attempt seems to fall short.…

About a month ago, I was waiting at the bus stop opposite Cubbon Park to catch a bus home to JP Nagar. Since the frequency of buses to JP Nagar is low, I waited for a bus to Jayanagar from where I could change over. I avoided the 13 series buses that were terribly crowded. Within minutes came an empty bus with the board T4 (Nagavara to Jagajeevanram Nagar via Corporation). Seeing the name Corporation, I boarded the bus. I alighted in front of the BBMP office and walked down to Mission Road stop, where within minutes the ever frequent…

One of the events at Lalbagh that the citizens of Bangalore, always look forward to is the Republic Day Flower Show. The weather is always very pleasant, and the beautiful displays in the Glass House are a great attraction for the visitors to this lung-space of our city.Having seen the displays each year, I thought I will go and see how it's all put together. So, by 630am, I was in Lalbagh with some friends. When I told the guards that I was from Citizen Matters and wanted to cover the preparations, they allowed me into the Glass House. I…

Someone famous once said, “Life is what you make out of it.” How true is this adage, considering the death of a 17-year-old boy from JP Nagar 7th Phase who was mercilessly mowed down by a car? The incident was reported in local newspapers, and it makes us wonder if your life is in fact what others make for you. What is needed is road discipline by people behind the wheel. If one steps into the four-road junction in front of Brigade Millennium apartment complex in JP Nagar, one can observe that:•Despite traffic signals in place, two wheelers whizz past…