City: Bengaluru

After the Carlton towers fire incident in Bangalore, Commissioner of Police Shankar M Bidari issued a notification to all high-rise building owners and occupants to comply with approved plan sanctions and fire safety norms.In this exclusive interview with Citizen Matters, Bidari spoke in detail about the order he has given. Bidari has been the Commissioner of Police since 2008. He has previously served as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) and Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order). With this recent order, Bidari appeals to the citizens of Bangalore to follow fire safety regulations and report any violations. Even…

With the public objecting to a recent move to pull down old bus shelters and replace them with new ones, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has now ordered the private firms (who were awarded the contracts) to stop dismantling these shelters temporarily. (Bus shelters are also called bus stands.)In a decision taken about ten days ago, after media reports and objections from citizens, the advertisement department of the BBMP has decided to first conduct an inspection before proceeding with the work. Says Hari Narayan, Assistant Executive Engineer, Advertisement department, "We have told them not to dismantle until joint inspection.…

With the BBMP elections just round the corner, parties considered to be at the fringe of Bangalore's politics have gotten off the blocks first to present their agendas and unveil their candidates. Leaders of the ten political parties, that have come together to form the Civic Front, address the media. Pic: Navya D'Souza. The Civic Front, comprising of ten political parties released their manifesto for the coming elections yesterday at a meeting near N R Square. The Civic Front is spearheaded by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and includes All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Indian National League (INL),…

BE A COMMUNITY JOURNALIST! Join our public initiative to collect and share candidate information. Download the questionnaire and collect the info about BBMP candidates. You can use candidate affidavit, candidate supplied material, and/or speak to the candidate to gather the details. We will be continually uploading details as they are available right here. Keep watching! What is the election schedule? March 7th 2010 - Election code of conduct comes into force March 8th 2010 - Notification will be issued March 15th 2010 - Last date for filing nominations March 17th 2010 - Scrutiny of nominations filed March 19th 2010 -…

It isn’t often that one hears of a temple selling off its artefacts. Auction house Bid & Hammer announced recently that were going to auction items from one of Bangalore’s oldest Jain temples. The auction, enticingly titled the “Mystery of Chickpet”, will see items from the 90-year-old Shri Adinath Swetamber Jain temple in Chickpet being put on the block. The auction, to be held in the ITC Windsor on March 10th, will see some lavish treasures going under the hammer, such as several silver double doors each with elaborate repoussé (or relief) work, a viewing grill and two Dvarapalakas; a…

"Every day is women's day" said Manjula Devi P N, a JP Nagar 3rd phase resident, employee of Corporation Bank and a volunteer with the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled. Living with polio, this post graduate, bureaucrat's wife and mother of two started spending time with the children and others at Samarthanam in 2004, having decided that she must give back something to society. She spends a few hours every week mentoring youth, reading to children or assisting them with their lessons.Keenly interested in the issues of the mentally challenged, she also helps in raising funds for Samarthanam by talking…

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa presented the state budget in the assembly on March 5th. What did the city allocated get in 2010-11? See our list below. ALLOCATIONS FOR BANGALORE Infrastructure For the next three years, Rs 18,872 crores has been earmarked for improving the transport system in Bangalore through metro rail, mono rail, roads. These funds will also be used to improve water and drainage facilities. The city's roads, footpaths and work on grade separator projects will be taken up by the BBMP at an expenditure of Rs 3000 crores. For commissioning of the first phase of the Metro…

Initiatives around Bengaluru spark some hope that progress can be made to cut down the city's carbon footprint. Bengaluru estimated to emit around 6.36 million metric tonnes of Carbon dioxide. In 2008, the South Asia chapter of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) came out with Carbon emission profiles for 54 cities in the region. Bangalore was one of the cities studied. ICLEI estimated that Bengaluru was emitting around 6.36 million teCO2 (metric tonnes of Carbon dioxide and equivalents) during the study period of 2007-2008. (This was the only published study Citizen Matters has found on carbon emissions…

Pics: Chitra Iyer. Holy celebrations with friends.Little holi players.Colors and joy.Colour attack.Smears and splashes.Holika‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');});⊕

Crime news is hardly a thing one likes to read in the morning. But the suicide of two young girls isn't something you can miss. The two girls aged 17 and 19 killed themselves some weeks back due to exam fears. Though the two deaths are unrelated, the cause is scarily common; especially at this time of the year.Over the last few years Bangalore has gained a dubious reputation of being the suicide capital of the country! One of the media reports quoting statistics available with the city's crime bureau says that over 7840 cases of suicides were recorded in…