City: Bengaluru

The long overdue city (BBMP) council elections have finally been announced by the State Election Commission (SEC). After a gap of three years with no council, Bengaluru will elect a council on February 21st 2010. The last elections to the BBMP took place way back in 2001. New dates for BBMP council elections. The SEC announced the calendar of events wherein election code of conduct will come into force on January 15th. The notification will be issued on February 1st and last date for filing nomination papers is February 8th. The nominations will be reviewed the next day, February 9th.…

During the second half this year – July-October in particular - as well during the previous two years, BBMP notified various roads in Bengaluru and outskirts for widening. BBMP’s notifications have appeared in Kannada and English dailies.The widening is being under BBMP’s transfer of development rights (TDR) scheme. If you are slated to loose property on the road because of widening, you are entitled to 1.5 times the square footage lost through a development rights certificate (DRC), which the BBMP says it will issue. For more on this, see our articles BBMP’s TDR scheme has few takers, many left clueless,…

It was a pleasant Sunday morning and it was unbelievable that garbage issue brought more than 200 Bangaloreans together at a day-long Zero Waste Management workshop in Malleswaram on December 6th. It was held at Rotary West Hall of Government Girl's High School.The workshop was workshop was organised by ECO Manage Group. MLA of Malleswaram, Dr Ashwath Narayan who co-sponsored the programme was also present. A skit by a group of enthusiastic employees from BOSCH explained with humour the apathy of the citizens towards garbage. Pic: Lavanya Keshavamurthy. The meeting commenced with Dr Meenakshi Bharath, who plans to run for…

We all appreciate the planned approach and systematic execution of any project. Many companies do it and among government establishments, the railways, perhaps because it was a British company earlier. For example, if they have to bridge a river of 50 feet and lay the track, they just refer to ready made designs and drawings for bridge girders, fabricate them while the piers are being built, and finish the project in record time. Civic amenities site in Kalyan Nagar is lying vacant for over two decades and is in continuous danger of being encroached upon. Pic: Lina Vincent. We also…

With Christmas round the corner, if thoughts of plum cake, fudge and wine have been invading your mind and you’re wondering how to get your hands on home made treats, here are a couple of names for festive goodies.Lorraine Correa, who has been in the business for a while and makes a variety of sweets for the season, changes her product list annually to suit customer demands. However, the two things you will always find at Lorraine’s is Christmas Cake priced at Rs 350 per kg and Kulkuls at Rs 250 per kg. This Christmas there’s also Shell Cream –…

If you have car, you are probably taking it to a garage to get it washed, or your building security guard would splash buckets of water on it every morning to clean it. But what if you could clean your car, just as well, but with much less water? Almost waterless, you can say. Well, it’s no make-believe story but a reality in our very own Bengaluru. Thanks to a group of young entrepreneurs, the ‘waterless’ car-wash service has been introduced in the city, and that too at your doorstep. Presently, Prowash offers their services at the recently-opened Forum Value…

The birth centenery of Prof.V T Srinivasan, who was one of the founders of Bangalore High School and Vijaya College falls in the year 2012. Prof. V T Srinivasan was born in the year 1912. His ancestors hailed from Vengalathur, North Arcot District and the place is located near Kanchipuram. His father was V T Ekambarem, who served as a Tahsildar in Cuddapah, Andhra Pradesh and his mother was Kamakshi. He studied in Madras Christian College and in Annamalai University.Along with K Srinivasa Rao and K Lakshminarayana Rao, Srinivasan started The Bangalore High School, which soon became well known for…

Your father needs a set of diagnostic tests to be done. Your child is prone to allergic coughs. You need a second opinion before you go in for a treatment. You have a sore throat and you want to be sure it is not a serious virus attack. Who can you check with? Paramedicals explaining the Anyuta scheme. Pic courtesy: Anyuta Trust.What you need is a ‘Family Physician' or a ‘General Practitioner'. Someone who can provide primary and preventive healthcare, as well as advice and educate you to make an informed choice. Unfortunately, the concept of a family physician is…

The state government has notified the reservation of seats for Schedule Caste (SC), Schedule Tribe (ST), Backward Classes (BC) communities and women for the upcoming BBMP elections. Article 243T (Part IX A) of the Indian Constitution says: (1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every municipality and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that municipality as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the municipal area or of the Scheduled…

There are 99 couples on the waiting list of Adoption Coordinating Agency (ACA), Karnataka, some of them patiently awaiting their turn since 2006. ACA is an NGO recognised by the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) that facilitates adoptions across the country. The wait is due to a shortage of healthy babies below one year at these agencies, And most parents want to adopt babies very young. A happy 6 month old with her new mother. Pic Gokul Janga. Behind the Wait It's a common story across agencies in Bangalore. "There are not enough healthy infants and toddlers in adoption centres…