City: Bengaluru

The 2011 Bangalore Ultra Marathon took place on Sunday, 13 November, at Hesarghatta. The marathon, organised by Runners for Life, a community of runners, is in its fifth year. This year, the Ultra had five courses - 12.5, 25, 37.5, 50, 75 and 100 kilometres. The marathon was open to people of all nationalities. More than a thousand people participated in the Ultra Marathon. Pic courtesy: Veloscope Winner of the 50 kilometre course of Bangalore Ultra Marathon, Athreya Chidambi, finished the race in 3 hours, 58 min and 56 seconds; missing out on breaking the course record by one minute.…

Last week Amulya Somashekhar, her mother Asha and a friend were charged for allegedly assaulting a Banaswadi traffic police inspector. Asha Somasekhar is a volunteer with the Bangalore chapter of India Against Corruption (IAC). Two days later, the case took a new turn with IAC getting involved in the issue. IAC, as readers will know is the organising group behind the Anna Hazare-led movement for the Jan Lokpal bill. Intervening in the matter, IAC representatives met the Additional Comissioner of Police Suneel Kumar (IPS) and gave the police department a petition for the constitution of a Police Complaints Authority. "IAC…

If you know someone who has done exemplary work for Bangalore, now may be the time to give them credit. Namma Bengaluru Awards, intended to honour unsung heroes of the city, have opened its nominations for this year.Nominations were launched on October 31st and will close on November 30th.T he awards are instituted by Namma Bengaluru Foundation, founded by Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar. Started in 2009, this is the third edition of the awards. A person can nominate oneself or others here. Supporting documents on the nominee's work can be loaded online itself. This year the awards are for…

Since its inauguration, a large number of people have been taking joy rides on the Metro. Now, after about three weeks, there are those who still take fun rides, but the number of regular users is on the rise too.Most are professionals whose office and home, both, are located near the stretch. But many use Metro along with other transport modes to connect from home to office. Pallavi Rao, a Yeshwantpur resident in her 20s, takes two buses - one from Yeshwantpur to Shivajinagar, and another from Shivajinagar to MG Road - and then rides the Metro to her office…

An announcement from BBMP in newspapers a while back has asked for citizens to write in with objections if any, to the proposed changes in road names. It is not just roads but also areas that have been renamed (among them Frazer Town, which everybody still refers to as Frazer Town rather than as Pulakeshinagar.The rationale for name changes is that the old names are relics from a colonial past and that we need to commemorate our own, indigenous heroes and  leaders (from Kittur Chennamma to Kempe Gowda, to former judge, governor and freedom fighter Nittoor Srinivasa Rau) which is…

Angry at BDA going back on its word, about 40 residents protested the flyover construction at Koramangala 80 feet junction in 1st block on November 7th. BDA had earlier agreed to stop the works until a consensus was reached. The protest began at around 9 in the morning and went on for about two hours.The residents have been protesting over the last month demanding BDA to stop the flyover construction. Residents had met top BDA, BBMP officials, and given petitions to elected representatives over the past month. 40 residents staged a 2-hour protest on Monday. Pic Courtesty: N R Suresh,…

The Department of Horticulture, Lalbagh, and Bangalore Environment Trust have recently restored and catalogued a total of 1020 rare botanical paintings - water colour illustrations, pencil sketches, ink drawings and lithographic prints - drawn by several artists in the late nineteenth century between 1887 and 1949. The drawings had been created in an effort to document plants, trees and fruits found in or considered important for the Mysore Kingdom. Illustration of Gloriosa Superba from the lily family. Source: Botanical Illustrations Collection at Lalbagh The old drawings had weathered, faded and were attacked by silverfish. These have been now restored, scanned,…

If you have a penchant for embroidered fabric in pastel colours, then Hakoba is the place. It offers fabrics with beautiful embroidery in subtle colours. Hakoba has its presence overseas as well. Our Bengaluru houses an exclusive showroom of Hakoba at Jayanagar, Gandhi Bazaar and Commercial street. The Jayanagar store sells sarees, salwar kameez, dupatta sets to embroidered fashion fabrics. It also offers Kurtas and party wear shirt for men. Embroidered fabric from the royal times. Pic: Nagashree GururajA privilege once reserved for kings and queens, embroidery is an ancient art. Centuries ago, embroidery added grace and refinement to royal…

In the last few months, many apartments in the city were pulled up for not operating their Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) according to standards. Apartment associations had complained that the standards set for STPs were too stringent and that officials did not follow clear guidelines during inspection. Click here to download The STP Guide: Design, Operation and Maintenance A guidebook released by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) on November 1st addresses these issues. The book was authored by Dr Ananth S Kodavasal, environment expert and Founder of Ecotech Engineering Consultancy. Dr Kodavasal, in the book, has recommended that…

If there is an area where Hindi cinema has never quite got it right, it's science fiction. So as Hindi cinema's most expensive film ever and with the might of Shahrukh Khan backing production, Ra.One raised expectations. But in an age where films like Matrix, Avatar and Inception are routine, director Abhinav Sinha's Ra. One does seem like it's 20 years too late. The film based on a three-page story penned by Abhinav Sinha, was inspired by a commercial. Yet it's interesting that Sinha was Shahrukh's choice for director on Hindi cinema's most ambitious project till date. While Sinha earned…