City: Bengaluru

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…

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,…