City: Bengaluru

In what may perhaps rank as the first budget proposal of its kind, Citizen's Voluntary Initiative of the City (CIVIC) in association Jago  submitted a Participatory Budget Proposal of Sagayapuram (ward number 60) to B  Palaniammal, the councillor of the ward, in an event held on Friday, May 7th.The budget proposal is for the year 2010-11 The meet was held at  Alphonsus High School Hall on Davis Road from 4.30 to 6.30 pm. Jago is a seven year old coalition of Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWA’s) and Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s) in Bangalore East.“This activity must be replicated in each ward…

I met Rahul on my way to the milk booth. He held a half-peeled banana in his hand as he hurried down, his mother close behind him with what looked like a badminton kit. Though the summer vacation had commenced,  Rahul had not visited us for a fortnight, not even for the regular chess competitions the two of us (Rahul and I) have at my home.I saw them again the next day, huffing and puffing their way to the main gate of ourpremises. As the boy boarded a waiting van and Neetu, Rahul's mother, waved at him, I got curious…

On May 2nd, Transport Minister R Ashok inaugurated an incomplete JP Nagar underpass near 24th Main, 15th Cross road junction. The overbridge which runs from 24th Main towards Puttenahalli and Jambusavari Dinne has been opened. Road towards Sarakki from from 24th Main 15th cross junction. Pic: Chetan Boray. Out of the four side-roads branching out of the overbridge, only two side roads towards JP Nagar 6th phase and Sarakki signal are functioning. The other two side roads are still under construction and not open to public. Construction of underpass road leading from 6th phase JP Nagar to Bannerghatta is also…

Muniyamma (56) who was awarded the Kuvempu Vidyamaana Prashasti  by Kuvempu Kalanikethan Trust in February does not sound very elated.  "Memento will not fill our stomach, but a government job can feed our family," she says. She is a resident of Konanakunte.She is the milk-seller who helped police capture the LTTE members who took part in the conspiracy to assassinate former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.She says, the Government of Karnataka promised to reward her with Rs 10 lakhs in the year 1991, but she got only Rs 60000 since then. Her son also never got his promised job. She complains,…

Bangalore has a spanking new set of councillors. We citizens have cast our votes and are hoping, it will pay at least this time. What is interesting is that we have 74 women councillors compared to the 17 in the previous election. Will that make a difference? Of the 74 seats 67 come from reserved constituencies.In the light of the hoopla around Women's Reservation Bill in the Parliament, Bangalore's future administration might become the test case. It is true that most women candidates fielded were political novices and wives or relatives of politicians or political aspirants. And all along, media…

The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) is suddenly becoming a hub of cultural activity with the ongoing adult and children’s workshops on art, and the curtain raiser for the Dhaatu Puppet Festival taking place on its premises. This activity perhaps coincides with the instating of a Director for the Bangalore NGMA, Sobha Nambisan (IAS, Retd).A small audience on May 6th had an introductory glimpse into the ongoing Puppet Festival which is being held at different venues around Bangalore from May 7th to 16th. Dhaatu is a non-profit organisation which began in 2004 with an aim to bring about awareness…

Brookfields/Whitefield-Informer & Shopper (BWIS), a community neighbourhood yellow pages based in Whitefield in partnership with the Rotary Club of IT Corridor, Bangalore and Sahyog, an organisation working on social and legal issues, came together for a cause on a Sunday morning of April 25th. Their messengers were on wheels seeking hidden treasures.This initiative was a call to pledge your eyes by the Sankara Eye Bank, Sankara Eye Care. The message was clear: Miracles cannot cure the blind. You can, by pledging your eyes. Bhaskar Rao (second from right), flagging off the event. Pic credit: I-Light studio. The participants covered a…

On a hot Saturday in April, BBMP demonstrated its responsive side. Earlier that morning when my husband told me about a dead ox body opposite our building at Benson Town, I thought he was joking. A little later, I was shocked when I actually noticed the ox lying along the roadside. Brushing aside questions of "Who, why, when and how", I presumed that one of our proactive neighbours would have reported the issue. But when I rang the BBMP's 24 hour helpline (22221188 and 22660000) around 10.15 am to check, I realised that no complaint had been lodged. Curious children…

Almost everyone who visits or moves to Bangalore is captivated by the blooms that add colours to the city, all around the year - flaming Gulmohur in summer, pleasing Jacaranda in spring, sparkling Copper pods in autumn. Walking through roads and lanes where these trees have survived the metro and road widening constructions, it is hard to imagine that the man behind these is a German, Herr G H Krumbiegel to be precise. City under Siege. Pic: Maragathavalli Inbamuthiah Goethe Institute located at Indiranagar recently remembered and honoured this "Economical Botanist" who, under the rule of  Krishnaraja Wodeyar, imported many…

On April 21st late afternoon, there was a very heavy downpour with hailstorm and very gusty winds. On my way home at Vijayanagar at about 5.30 pm, while it was still raining, I found the skyline near my home looking different I looked up to see a few trees were broken in the middle and fallen over houses.Right in front of my house, two trees had fallen. On the main road behind, I found eight electric poles and three trees had fallen on 11 KVA power lines. This caused the complete stretch of electric poles and trees fall flat on…