City: Bengaluru

Lalbagh flower show, January 2010. Pic: Srikanth A P. Lalbagh flower show, January 2010. Pic: Srikanth A P.Lalbagh flower show, January 2010. Pic: Srikanth A P.Lalbagh flower show, January 2010. Pic: Srikanth A P.Lalbagh flower show, January 2010. Pic: Srikanth A P.Lalbagh flower show, January 2010. Pic: Srikanth A P.Lalbagh flower show, January 2010. Pic: Srikanth A P.Lalbagh flower show, January 2010. Pic: Srikanth A P.The glass house at Lalbagh. Pic: Srikanth A P.‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');});  ⊕

For a mathematician who has been honoured with the Padmabhushan and made a fellow of the Royal Society, Professor Narasimhan made one small wrong calculation on the morning of Monday, December 14th, 2009.Walking down the narrow sidewalk along Sanjaynagar main Road, he tried to get past a large advertisement board balanced on top of a massive slab of concrete placed in the middle of the pavement by a newly opened grocery store. The narrow sidewalk along Sanjaynagar main Road. Pic: Sakuntala Narasimhan. With barely enough space on either side of the concrete slab for walking past, his foot got caught…

Sixty-nine year old A N Vittal, a resident of Kammanahalli in Bangalore East, has frequented the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) office several times in the past one year. Despite several phone calls, e-mails and hand-written letters to the concerned officials at the BWSSB including the Chairman and Public Relations Officer (PRO), the water problem in his area persists. “Cauvery water supply through the tap has completely stopped”, he says. But Assistant Executive Engineer N Malla Reddy has given Vittal and his neighbours a temporary solution to the problem. “He said, if water is not coming, you call…

The Butterfly Park in Bannerghatta National Park is a three dome structure that can be seen on the return path of the zoological reserve's safari rides, which is how I first came to know of its existence. Established more than three years back, it's one of the butterfly conservatories in the country. The park opens to a neat stone pathway, greenery all around, with the chirping of birds and the distant trumpeting of elephants providing a background while walking up to the butterfly conservatory. That's when it seems like you've stepped into a bubble out of this world. Common Mormon…

Recently, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and his band of Ministers, R Ashoka, Katta Subramanya Naidu and S Suresh Kumar, laid the foundation stone for a housing complex in JP Nagar. The housing complex will come up where a low income neighbourhood (slum) now exists with over 1000 houses. For now, around 100 houses have been razed and the families shifted nearby, in tin sheds.Speaking to these residents, they complained about the water problem, lack of toilet facilities, families of five were living in a cramped space, the tin sheds scratched them, they were sleeping on mud floors. Many refused…

The annular solar eclipse on January 15th provided a good opportunity for a live physics lesson. Several children and adults gathered on the terrace of Mayflower block of Brigade Millennium to view the eclipse through solar goggles and simple pin-hole cameras.  Balakrishnan explaining the working of the pin-hole camera. Pic: Arathi Manay Yajaman. Children trying out the pin-hole camera themselves. Pic: Arathi Manay Yajaman. The image of the eclipse captured by the pin-hole camera. Pic: Arathi Manay Yajaman. ⊕

Our BBMP seems to have achieved a unique double by first felling trees on a large scale and then leaving the roads chosen for widening in a pathetic state.   A great example is Seshadri Road on which I drove last night , when returning from the Railway station.  We know that the Rain Trees on this road were felled in December last year and the road widening has been underway for one full year on what is only a 2 km road. On one stretch of this road where new trees have been planted and the road fully laid the situation looks good.   The real…

In 2004-05, four underpasses/ flyovers were thrust upon the citizens of Basavanagudi. V V Road flyover built against intense public opinion, has less than 30 per cent utilisation even today. R K Ashrama Circle flyover was scrapped due to BJP's opposition. R V Road underpass was overtaken by Metro work. An underpass at Gandhi Bazaar Circle was opposed by the traders and a quid-pro-quo was reached with them that the underpass will be shifted to Tagore Circle and the traders will not oppose. This can be verified.In 2006, when the Chief Minister came to start this bypass-work, the local public…

With BBMP elections slated to be held next month, there's still time for you to enrol yourself to vote, if you haven't done it yet. The last date for registering is January 29th 2010, ten days before the last date for filing nominations. Click here for more details. Also click here for a list of VFCs in Bangalore.You can also search for your name on the electoral list here.If you do not have an Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), you can produce a ration card, driving license or passport at the time of voting. The State Election Commission website now…

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) or High Capacity Bus System (HCBS) is a high quality, ultra modern, customer oriented transit option that could deliver fast, comfortable and cost-effective urban mobility, quite similar to metro rail. Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) incorporates most of the high-quality aspects of metro systems without high investments. BRT was developed as a viable transit option in Latin America, where urban planners were seeking cost effective solution for the urban transport dilemma. This highly effective and economical mass transit option is now a way of life in many developing as well as developed countries such as China,…