City: Bengaluru

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…

Official note sent by the Puttenahalli Lake Trust to members and citizen volunteers. The lake then, as on Jan 2009. Pic courtesy: PNLIT We are happy to tell you that our Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT) has signed an MOU yesterday with the BBMP to maintain Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar. This gives official status to what most of you would know PNLIT has been doing ever since the BBMP began rejuvenating the lake from Feb. 2010. Your donations helped us plant 300 trees, hire a gardener and a sweeper. We greatly appreciate your support to a citizens' movement which began in a very…

In connection with the 150th birth anniversary of India's first Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore (referred to as Robi Thakur by Bengalis), several cultural organisations in Bangalore held celebrations. One of these was Jagriti, the recently-opened theatre space in Whitefield. Jagriti's line up for the week-long celebrations were very impressive. It consisted of the screening of several classic movies based on  Tagore's stories, such as "Kabuliwallah", "Chokher Bali", "Charulata", and a documentary by Satyajit Ray.  Every evening, the play, "Crisis of Civilization: A Journey with Tagore" was staged. The play ran for 90 minutes, approximately. It would not be really accurate,…

Swish! A tennis racket swings through the air and hits the ball with a thud. On the other side of the net, an 11-year-old retaliates with lightning speed. Shivani's smallness does not prepare you to expect the energy with which she strikes, which lands the ball at the edge of the field, escaping her opponent and bouncing hard against the fence. "Yes!" she says to herself. At the core of one's heart is the determination to win. Pic: Maitri Vasudev. The first week of May 2011 was an exciting one for young tennis champions in Bangalore. The All India Tennis…

In the last one week, I have had the opportunity to observe the use of information technology in governance.  Does information technology  make life simpler or more complicated for the common or garden variety user?  I share two disparate stories here.Let me talk about the pleasanter experience first.   I applied for a tatkal renewal of my passport online sitting at home.  Uploading the application was easy. Using this registration number, with some difficulty (more on this later),  I got an online appointment for a visit to the passport office at  Devarachikkanahalli.  After my interview on the appointed date,  I was…

If you are a history buff, then these temples just outside Bengaluru will be of great interest to you. A temple built by kings of five dynasties or the famous temple where two deities emerge from a single stone and the birthplace of Sir M Visveshwaraiah - all this within 60 kilometres from the city. Two deities in one stone, Ghati Subramanya Ghati Subramanya temple. Pic: Usha Hariprasad. Here Lord Subramanya and Lakshmi Narasimha are carved from the same stone, facing opposite directions. Lord Subramanya is facing east while Lakshmi Narasimha is facing west. To get a clearer view of…