City: Bengaluru

Eid Prayer at Jama Masjid, Bangalore, 2010. Muslims observed Eid-ul-Fithr, which is locally known as ‘Pernal’, offering special 'dua' (prayers), namaz and exchanging wishes, in Bangalore It is a tradition that all community members should distribute ‘Fithr Zakath’ (alms) to the poor on the day of Eid-ul-Fithr. ⊕

Tuesday September 14th was Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) day in Bangalore. Drawn into severe scrutiny by citizens protesting the TDR scheme's use as compensation for roadwidening, the state government's Urban Development Department organised a workshop on the controversial scheme. Following that, in the evening Samaya TV, a Kannada 24x7 news channel, organised a live debate on the topic. (See inset box for a brief report on the debate). As was the concern of many citizen action groups, the government's day-long workshop turned out to be a mostly technical session on TDR's implementation. Bureaucrats from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat…

Of the 35 lakes in Mahadevpura assembly constituency in northeast Bengaluru, 23 have become dysfunctional, according to a report authored by urban ecologist Dr Harini Nagendra, Ramesh Sivaram (member of resident association federation of Bellandur) and Dr S Subramanya (Professor at University of Agricultural Sciences). The report classifies seven lakes as ‘extremely polluted', another seven as ‘heavily polluted, drying' and nine lakes as ‘completely dry'. Only 10 ten lakes are categorised as healthy while two are under restoration. Bengaluru-based Harini is also co-author of papers with US-based political scientist Elinor Ostrom, Nobel prize winner for Economics in 2009. Harini Nagendra,…

The construction of a subway at the busy KR Market has been delayed by almost two years now. Local officials in the BBMP, BWSSB and the contractors carrying out the work, are passing the buck, blaming one another. Currently, work on the site has been held up due to a massive sewage pipe that needs to be removed. The subway construction near KR Market started way back in September 2006. Pic: Prabhu Mallikarjunan The Rs 6 crores project started in September 2006 and was scheduled to be completed in January 2009. Seventeen months have passed since, without much progress. The…

Springfields Apartments near the Outer Ring Road junction. Pic: bhooshan Iyer. The kingdom of heaven was discovered at an apartment complex on Sarjapur Road last weekend. We are referring to the Onam celebrations conducted at Springfields Apartments near the Outer Ring Road junction. In this massive complex of over 550 apartments, close to a thousand people turned up to view the festivities that were spread over two days. Lighting of the Lamp & Crowd. Pic: Bhooshan Iyer. The singular event, organised by a handful of people from various walks of life under the banner of Springfields Welfare Association, boasted of…

For over two hours on Saturday August 14, beginning at 9.30 am, I carried out this experiment, around the intersection near Jayanagar’s fourth block bus terminus. In that duration, out of 48 car drivers and passengers who stopped along the kerb and opened the car door on the right, 35 did not bother to watch out for oncoming traffic. That’s around 80 per cent. File pic: Raghavendra G. Remember the accident reported in the papers a few days ago, where a car driver opening his vehicle’s door caused the death of a two wheeler rider who rammed into the open…

Snake! The very word seems to evoke a feeling of terror in the mind of the average person; but if one has better knowledge of these creatures, one can see that much of the dread is misplaced. Here are some FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) about snakes, answered by P Gowirshankar, a herpetologist who has been actively associated with the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), which has had the only telemetry project for tracking the King Cobra in that region. Gowrishankar is at present located in Bangalore, pursuing his doctoral studies. The Spectacled Cobra has a distinctly visible black mark in…

Special grants, ward-wise for each corporator Ward 172 - Rs 100 lakhs. Ward 176 - Rs 100 lakhs. Ward 177 - Rs 200 lakhs. Ward 178 - Rs 300 lakhs. Ward project plans Allocation for works as mentioned in draft annual BBMP budget: Madiwala (Ward 172) Purchase of equipments to Madiwala Hospital - Rs 1 crore Construction of dhobi ghat at Madiwala Machideva quarters - Rs 1 crore Additional loops to Central Silk Board Flyover - Rs 25 lakh BTM Layout (Ward 176) Development of parks - Rs 3.9 crores (this includes allocation for parks in Ejipura and Koramangala too)…

More than a week after BBMP proposed Rs 8488 crores as the budget for 2010-11, the corporation on Thursday went a step ahead and announced an additional Rs 350 crores to the budget through revenue projections. Mayor S K Nataraj and Chairman of Finance and Taxation Committee Chairman P M Sadashiva, addressing the media after the BBMP budget was approved in council. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal. The Rs 350 crores is an increase in revenue projections through the following: a Rs 70 crore increase in betterment charges (earlier estimate was  Rs 120 crores), Rs 150 crores more of property tax (earlier…

It's been a happening fortnight at the movies in Bangalore. The fourth Indo-German Film Festival ran between August 20th and 26th at Lavanya Theatre in Ulsoor, drawing a niche audience from across the city. Amongst the top German films screened were  A Year Ago in Winter, Jerichow, Storm, John Rabe, Soul Kitchen, Whisky with Vodka and Lila Lila. The Indian films in the festival panorama included Kanasembo Kudureyaneri, Vimukti, Kanchivaram, Bioscope, Paltadacho Munis, Gabhricha Paus, Harishchandrache Factory and Ek Cup Chya. Next in line were a couple of much-awaited new releases at the cinemas over the weekend. Bollywood had the…