City: Bengaluru

Despite Bengaluru's cosmopolitan nature, safety in public spaces is still a problem for women in the city. Opinions vary about whether Bengaluru is safer compared to other Indian cities, but most women agree that the city has a long way to go in terms of accommodating women. Citizen Matters and Justfemme present Is Bengaluru women-friendly? A panel discussion Dec 18th, 4-5.30pm @ NGMA Auditorium, Palace Road, Bangalore All are welcome. The Bangalorean panelists (in alphabetical order) Prakash Belawadi, a well-known journalist, theatre enthusiast and a filmmaker. Mithila Jha, an Urban Planner, currently working with BMTC. Suneel Kumar (IPS), is Additional…

National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Bengaluru, in collaboration with Bangalore Film Society and Just Femme present the inaugural edition of pEtE maatu. The three-day event will comprise an international film festival of short films and documentaries, a digital photo exhibition and panel discussion on the theme Women and the City. There are many things for which a woman steps outside her house in a city -- be it to go to work, or drop a child to school, meet friends, or go grocery shopping. What happens when she steps out? Does she feel safe; what kind of hurdles does…

A couple of weeks back, bored on a Sunday morning, I set off on small exploration trip. From JP Nagar 6th phase Nandini Hotel stop, I took a 215C to Jambusavari Dinne (JP Nagar 8th phase) -the ride took about 15 minutes for the 5 km stretch. As the bus stopped at Jambusavari Dinne, a bus on route No. 378 passed by with the LED board showing "Electronic City" with reasonable crowd. I enquired with someone standing nearby and learnt that bus had a good frequency. In about two minutes, I noticed another 378 came on opposite side, bound for…

Padmashree P T Usha was the chief guest at the sports day celebrations at The Samhita Academy, a school in south Bangalore off Bannerghatta Road. The students were abuzz with excitement at the second annual sports and athletic meet on December 11th. Also present were the school's Permanent Trustee, S D Shibulal, COO of Infosys Technologies and Managing Trustee, Kumari Shibulal along with proud parents. The school spread over a six-acre campus, has close to 200 students, stresses on a holistic approach to learning. The school also has a 25 per cent quota for under-privileged children in each class and…

A few days ago, a small first step was taken by members of Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust towards a garbage-free Puttenahalli. Before Cleanup Pic: Arathi Manay Yajaman There is a spot on Puttenahalli Road, in front of Brigade Millennium Mayflower Block entrance which has been used for dumping. The cleaning up was assisted by the cobbler Chakravarthy who has a shop behind the dump and is also responsible for some of the garbage in the first place and a few others. The rubbish was enough to fill a large sack which was willingly carried away by the garbage truck,…

Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN) organised a workshop on "Youth and Conservation of Lakes" for students of Jyoti Nivas College on December 4. Several prominent Bangaloreans were invited to speak at the event, which was followed by a trip to Parapanna Agrahara Lake. Dr. Yellappa Reddy, noted environmentalist, a trustee at the Bangalore Environment Trust and former Indian Forest Service Officer was the chief guest. He explained the importance of conservation of lakes. He said that lake is truly a living entity; due to the dissolved oxygen content in it that supports various aquatic flora and fauna. He suggested using…

Excerpts from a recent conversation that Citizen Matters had with Shanti Raghavan (SR) and Dipesh Sutariya (DS), the enthusiastic, committed and unassuming co-founders of EnAble India. This 11 year old non-profit, NGO based in Koramangala is famous for its employment assistance services to those with mental, physical, visual and auditory challenges. Enable India co-founder Dipesh Sutariya. Pic: Pushpa Achanta. Shanti Raghavan was awarded the best individual working for the cause of persons with disabilities by the ministry of social justice and empowerment on December 3rd on world disability day, this year. Can you trace your journey from working in the…

The Rotary Bangalore IT Corridor released the winners in all sections of the Bangalore Midnight Marathon (BMM) on December 12th, Sunday evening. BMM 2010 was held Dec 11th midnight to early hours of Dec 12th. The awards function has been scheduled for 19th Dec from 11am onwards at Fortune Select Trinity Hotel, Whitefield.  Full marathon Men 1. Tsegay Hiluf     (Ethopia)       2:26:40    (Chest No. 123)   Rs.50,000 2. Yashewas Abet  (Ethopia)     2:27: 22   (Chest No. 122)     Rs.25,000 3. Bhaskar Kamble (India)          2:27:57    (Chest No. 118)  Rs.15,000 Women 1. Meher D'Mello          4:20:44    (Chest No. 075)  Rs.50,000 2. Dr. Amrita Mitra Basu 4:31:25   (Chest No.…

Saaku, Bengaluru's anti-corruption campaign, may not have lived up to the buzz generated in social networking sites over the last week, but the rally of around 800 citizens more than managed to capture the attention of the public on December 11. The event's coordinators had initially expected participation of 1000-2000. The participants, most of them from relatively elite sections of society - included college students, IT professionals, activists and residents from all over the city. Around 800 citizens, including students and IT professionals, participated in the event.Pic: Navya P K The four-day Saaku campaign started on December 8 with the…

As 11 December approaches, leading public figures in the city and elsewhere in the country added their voices of support to Saaku (‘enough’), the rally against corruption, and encouraged citizens to join them in the events this week. A number of civil society and community organisations, as well as individual citizens are partnering for Saaku, creating a powerful and continuing movement for action against corruption. Coalition Against Corruption, Anti-Corruption Committee, Yuva Bengaluru, Daksh, Praja, Loksatta, SmartVote, Forward150, Swami Vivekanada Youth Movement, Sachidananda Nagar Nyayapara Andolana and many others have come together to spread the anti-corruption message, and will work together…