City: Bengaluru

Bangalore's ‘India Against Corruption' (IAC) rally on Sunday was not as much a crowd puller as it was expected to be. While the Saaku rally in December - organised by the same coalition of 18 organisations - had drawn a crowd of about 800, this rally had around 300 citizens from the city. The Bangalore Indians Against Corruption march on Jan 30th Sunday. Pic: Karthik Raman. In addition to the coalition, the Art of Living Foundation also participated in organising the rally. The decision about the event was taken impromptu, to coincide with the Delhi rally, where the Jan Lokpal…

Ramanagaram shot into fame with the film Sholay in the 70s. But this small town just outside Bangalore has been the hub of silk-industry, rock climbers' haven and home to several temples. Panaromic View from one of the hills. Pic: Usha Hariprasad A peep in to the history: Ramanagaram known as Closepet before independence has seen a great many rulers. It has been ruled by Gangas, Cholas, Hoysalas, Vijayanagara, Mysore kings, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.  During Kempegowda rule the place was also referred to as Ramagiri and Ramagiridurga.  The district is surrounded by seven majestic hills Shivaramagiri, Yatirajagiri, Somagiri,…

A coalition of 18 civil society organizations in Bengaluru - which had organized the ‘Saaku' campaign on December 11 - is holding a campaign ‘India Against Corruption' on January 30. As part of this, rallies will be held across Bengaluru and 27 other cities on the day, demanding effective anti-corruption laws and passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill. (Earlier Saaku coverage.) Rally details Sunday, January 30, 2011 at 10:30 am STARTS: Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Chinnaswamy Stadium Campus, MG Road ROUTE: MG Statue to Kanteerva Stadium and gathering at MG Statue Vijay Dwivedi 99014-55685 and Soma Shekar 89710-49348 Jan Lokpal bill,…

It was in December 2003 that Bangaloreans first woke up to the idea of Airtel Bengaluru Habba (in those days - Bangalore Habba). As posters announcing the city's new cultural festival dotted the landscape and street art spilled over onto the MG Road Boulevard, the idea of the Habba captured the city's imagination. The vision behind the Habba says Padmini Ravi, Trustee of Artistes' Foundation for the Arts (AFFA) that spearheads the event, has been "to provide aesthetic entertainment to a wide cultural, social and demographic cross-section of people. We wish to ensure that various art forms continue to have…

It's been an interesting beginning to the New Year for cinema buffs in Bangalore. January began with the screening of the Travelling Film South Asia (TFSA) at the Bangalore International Centre. This mobile campaign is part of an initiative to promote and popularise the best of South Asian documentaries at more than 50 international venues between the regular Film South Asia Festivals that are held in Kathmandu once in two years. Outstanding festivals screened at this festival are then chosen to travel across the subcontinent.  In this spirit, the festival reflected the contradictions and the cinema of South Asia, with…

On Republic day, the bright skies of Bangalore were adorned with creative and colourful kites. The 2nd annual Bangalore kites festival was held at the palace grounds. Over ten thousand kite fliers and enthusiasts attended the festival organised by Junior Chamber International (JCI). Preparing the kite for a flight. Pic: Deepti Sarma Over 15 participants from places like Holland, France, Gujarat, Maharastra and Karnataka brought their favourite kites. The skies around palace grounds saw inflated teddy bear, alligator, giant frog, paul -the octopus, tigers and many such creations of these clubs. There were trains of simple symmetric kites too. For…

Residents of Dollar Scheme layout in BTM 1st stage in south Bengaluru, one of whom is a BBMP employee, have won a major case against parking nusiance in the area. BBMP's garbage contractors were parking vehicles along the roads in their layout. Eleven residents of 32nd and 33rd main in the layout had filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in the High Court in June 2010, asking BBMP and the police department to prevent trucks from being parked in the area. In early January, the court ordered the BBMP to take action within two months to solve the issue. A…

READERS PLEASE NOTE: Deadline extended till February 19th Feb 5th, 2011: Citizen Matters has published a simple guide to upload your compliance information directly at the Food and Civil Supplies Department website: Start here and proceed. A notice issued by Karnataka's Department of Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs on has confused citizens, media and LPG gas agencies. Karnataka's Department of Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs issued a notice on January 18, saying that Above Poverty Line (APL) ration card holders should submit a photocopy of their card, with the electricity meter number written on it, along with a…

Nishanth Repello, 15- years-old, idolises Nadal and pursues tennis full time at the Bangalore Tennis Academy (BTA) in JP Nagar. He is currently ranked 28 in the under-16 at the national level. Playing tennis since he was nine, Nishanth is being schooled through National Institute of Open Schooling. He says it gives him the flexibility to travel widely for tournaments and still not miss out on education. "I will be travelling to Mysore and Chandigarh to play in National Level tennis tournaments soon but my studies won't be affected", says Nishanth. Nishanth Repello, 15, aims to follow in the footsteps…

Dalai Lama, the Noble peace prize laureate is scheduled to visit St. Joseph college of Arts and Science, Bangalore this coming Sunday. Source: Wikimedia Commons. (Jamling_with_HH_Dalai_Lama.jpg) "H.H. the Dalai Lama has been invited to attend S Nijalingappa memorial function at Chitradurga, 500 km from Bangalore on coming Saturday", said Tashi Phuntsok, the chief representative of Central Tibetan Administration in South India (CTA). Nijalingappa was the first Karnataka chief minister, and the one who initially welcomed the Tibetan refugees into Karnataka state. The address at the college will be followed by a public talk on “Finding Happiness in Troubled Times,” organized…