City: Bengaluru

Abhinav Mugunthan is like any other 10 year old. He loves going to school and playing with his friends. But on Saturday, the 21st of May, he was more than just a young boy. For the first time, he was an athlete competing against kids three years older than him. He won the first place in the Under-13 shot put event with a distance of 5.15 metres. Taking the high road. Pic: Smit Zaveri. Like Abhinav, there were many other first timers who proved that experience wasn't everything. Determination and hard work was. 12-year-old, Nikitha M V from Sapphire High…

Music is an integral part of everyone's lives. Is there a man or a woman, who does not, at the very least, hum the latest hit song as he or she goes about her daily work? But though it's all-pervasive, the learning and teaching of music in Bangalore presents a varied and interesting picture. How do people, especially children choose what kind of music to learn? What keeps them going to the music classes, what makes them stop, and what makes them take to it as a profession? I talked to a variety of people to find some answers. Guitar…

This spot in Jayanagar 9th block 22nd Main, opp Turning point is used as a garbage dump. It is health hazard for residents.⊕

Bangalore will be celebrating the World Athletics Day Meet on Saturday, the 21st of May at Shri Kanteerva Stadium from 9 AM onwards. This event is organised by Fusion Athletica, which has joined hands with the Karnataka Athletics Association, guided by International Association of Athletics Federations & Athletics Federation of India. This meet targets kids from the different age groups to compete in races, long jump, high jump, shot put and discus throw all under one roof. "We have been promoting this meet through various news channels and newspapers as schools are closed for the vacations right now. But despite…

In the last one year - between April 2010 and March 2011 - 493 trees fell due to ‘natural causes' in Bengaluru, according to BBMP. In the same period, branches of another 728 trees fell. Mangled mess in a Koramangala park after a heavy downpour last week, with gusty winds. Pic: J Srinivasan. In addition to trees lost for road widening and infrastructure projects, why are we losing so many more? Urban ecologist and scholar Harini Nagendra, 39, says that urban trees generally have shorter life spans due to stress; this combined with unscientific trimming of trees, cementing of pavements…

There was once a time when sparrows could be spotted everywhere around the city of Bangalore, but today one has to search far and wide to spot this bird. The lack of sparrows in the city led the Biodiversity Conservation India Limited- Zero Emission Development (BCIL-ZED) Foundation to come up with the "Gubbi Goodu" campaign. Gubbi Goodu, which means sparrow house, is a campaign that was initiated by this Foundation in collaboration with the Zoo Authority of Karnataka to promote awareness about this bird as well as distribute specially designed sparrow houses to the residents of Bangalore, free of charge.…

"I play with children with the confidence that even an hour of play will change their lives for the better", says Sheetal Suryavanshi, Founder President, and Managing Trustee, Aata Odanaata (AO). Sheetal founded AO along with her sports buddies to encourage socio-economically challenged children to learn and play different sports. Sheetal Suryavanshi is a BCCI-certified cricket coach. Pic: Aravind H N An awardee of CNN IBN-Reliance's Real Heroes in sports category, Sheetal Suryavanshi was a sports enthusiast during her growing years. She represented her college in cricket, handball and baseball at the national level. When the vortex of life caught Sheetal…

Ten apartments in Bellandur area have recently received show cause notices from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for flouting STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) norms. The apartments, all of which were built by Sobha developers, are Sobha Carnation, Mayflower, Daisy, Jasmine, Dahlia, Lavender, Quartz, Aquamarine, Hibiscus and Primrose. They received notices in April. Pollution Control Board authorities say that there is no specific drive to check on apartment STPs, but that surprise checks would continue. "Regional Officers (ROs) inspect apartments periodically and also if they receive complaints from the public. In this case, we came to know about these…

How does tradition interplay with modernity? Are the experiences of friendship and love really permanent? These are some of the unusual themes that mainstream Kannada cinema addresses with director K Madesh's Hudugru, a re-make of the Tamil film Naadodigal. After Jackie, the film also marks an interesting evolution in Puneet Rajkumar's evolution as an actor. Unlike Jackie this is a more open ended film, which cannot be clearly slotted in any particular cinematic genre.Hudugru holds a mirror over the lives of Prabhu (Puneet Rajkumar) and his friends Chandru (Srinagar Kitty) and Siddesh (Yogish), who lead an ideallyic small town existence.…

Apart from being a huge building that houses artefacts and information, museums have a charm and a character of their own. Bengaluru has Venkatappa Art gallery, Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, National Gallery of Modern Arts, HAL Aerospace museum among others. The recently inaugurated Kempegowda Museum presents interesting facets about Bengaluru's founder. The world famous Louvre or the British museum has the ability to transport one to different civilisations, discover treasure trove of information and of course get dazzled by the vast collection. Museums in India house huge collection of artefacts; Delhi's National Museum leading the list. Some of museums…