City: Bengaluru

NOW that most of us have paid the taxes for the years 2008-09, 2009-10 & 2010-11 by filling the appropriate form and have come to the stage of paying the taxes for the current year. In the first year of the block period (2008-09), you would have used Form I (for properties with PID No.), Form II (for  properties having only Khata Number) or Form III (for properties with neither PID nor Khata number).  The block period has been officially extended to FIVE years and hence the current block consists of years from 2008-09 to  2012-13. Hence the depreciation allowed…

Chimeras was an adaptation of three short stories by Shashi Deshpande, "And what has been decided?", "The Last Enemy" and "Hear me, Sanjaya", which reflect the characters of Draupadi, Duryodhana and Kunti respectively. Chimeras, blended together theatre and dance forms like Bharathanatyam, Kalari, Chau and Indian contemporary to bring to stage an interpretation of these characters from the great epic, Mahabharatha. It was staged at Alliance Francaise on 8th and 9th April. A scene from Chimeras. Pic Courtesy: VODO According to the Greek mythology, Chimera is a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head and a goat's body and a…

As usual, property tax payment procedures have run into problems this year too. Collection started on April 1; those who pay before April 30 will get a rebate of 5% on the tax. But with poorly organised collection procedures, tax payment is getting delayed for many. For one, adequate number of forms was not available in the Citizen Service Centres (CSCs) where tax has to be paid. Many people, including senior citizens, had to make repeated visits to procure forms. Though Bangalore One centres were supposed to collect taxes, this has not been arranged yet. Currently tax can be paid…

In November 2010, 15 families of survey number 27 in 4th main, OMBR layout, had their houses demolished by the BDA. While the residents had plan sanction copies from village panchayat and a CMC khata, the layout was illegal. They did not own either a BDA or BBMP khata. The residents, mostly senior citizens, had invested their life's savings in the property. BDA recovered the land saying it was under its jurisdiction.  Citizen Matters came to know about this through a letter from the residents. Times of India also reported on this late last year. This land was a revenue…

I submitted my property tax returns at the JP Nagar BBMP Citizen Service Center, on 2nd April making the payment with a cheque. They asked me to wait as the server was slow to generate the receipt. They then asked to come on the next working day and the receipt was ready. I collected it on 5th April after showing the acknowledgement.I went to Gottigere BBMP office on 6th April to remit the tax for my daughter's property situated in JP Nagar 9th phase.The server was down and there was no debit/credit card m/c to collect the payment. The person…

Can a 15-year-old friendship jeopardise over a 5 X 4 painting? Can the egos of three friends play its villainous part in separating them in one single evening? Even with all such philosophies playing onstage, is it possible that comedy is created and people watching the scene laugh their hearts out? The three friends argue over a painting. Pic Courtesy: Evam Evam's production "Art" exactly did all that in a 1 hour 30 mins performance. And they did that brilliantly. The play was staged at Rangashankara on 5th, 6th and 7th April.  'Art ' is a play originally written in…

Birdwatching, or birding, as it is referred to, seems to have become a very popular pastime in Bangalore. In this context, it's interesting to find out just how it's organized and carried out in the city...and I decided to talk to several people who've had more than thirty years of experience in this activity A team at the HSBC Bird Race. Pic: Deepa Mohan. There are no "professional" ornithologists, as far as  I can gather, in the city. Most of the experienced birders of Bangalore are those who pursue birding as a weekend or holiday activity. Their professions might or…

Summer holidays are here and most kids are let loose. Some of you may pack them off to summer camps or day cares or the grandparents’.  Many working parents are also taking a week or two off to spend time with the kids. Here are some ideas to do stuff together with your children (five years or older): "A kid needs time to lie on his back, opportunity “to find out whether he breathes differently when he’s thinking about it than when he’s just breathing” and to wonder who she’d be if her parents hadn’t gotten together. A kid needs…

200 Suncity residents, an apartment community in south Bengaluru,  held a meeting on April 9th to remind the builders Corporate Leisure and Property development (CLDP) about the forgotten promises regarding ownership of common areas, maintenance fees and amenities. The project was launched by CLPD in 2003 with promises to provide various amenities such as club house / party hall/ swimming pool. It has nearly been 7 years and the project is still not complete and there are various other outstanding issues that current residents are facing. Suncity aprtment owners raising their voices. Pic: SAOA Though initially we had planned for a…

Thank You begins where Akshay Kumar signed off with Tees Maar Khan, faithfully fulfilling the promise of providing yet another weekend's dose of mindless entertainment. With shades of director Anees Bazmi's previous work like No Entry, it's also Anees' third film with Akshay after Welcome and Singh in Kinng. But this time the duo fails to make their magic work on audiences, let down primarily by a script that always manages to fall slightly short.The film begins with three friends Sanjana (Sonam Kapoor), Shivani (Rimi Sen)  and Maya (Celina Jaitley) who have something else in common - their husbands (Bobby…