City: Bengaluru

The attempts to construct a link road through the University of Agricultural Sciences' Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra (GKVK) campus has stirred up a fierce battle, between BBMP and a motley group of locals, environmentalists and former Vice Chancellors of the University of Agricultural Sciences. In June 2007, BBMP proposed a 9 km long (100 feet in width) road, to connect the Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka expressway to Bellary Road (NH 7). The link road will begin at the main entrance to the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) at Bellary Road, cut through prime forestland and end at the Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka Expressway. In June 2007,…

A Coalition of various Civil Society Organizations in Bangalore has been organizing a Press Conference on the last Thursday of every month since May 2009 in Bangalore.  The purpose of this press conference is to bring before the press, the success stories of the use of Right to Information Act, 2005 in bringing justice to the public.We here by present you TWO RTI success stories in today’s press conference.Case-1Dr.Jagadish Sanganal is working as Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Veterinary College, Bangalore. Prior to this Dr.Jagadish was working as Veterinary Officer in the Department of Animal Husbandary, Government of Karnataka during…

The Bengaluru International Art Festival, a seven-day festival with art, music and cultural performances was held  between 7th and 19th September. Last Friday on 18th September,  Chowdiah Memorial Hall at Vylikaval was witness to dance and music performances.Mars, a performance choreographed by Sathya B G.Another scene from Mars.Intersections, a performance choreographed by Sathya B G.Chittara (patterns), a performance inspired by the morning 'Rangoli'. Choreographed by Mayuri Upadhyaya, the director of Nritarutya.A Sufi Music concert by Tochi Raina and group. ‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); ⊕

On 27th and 28th September 2009, Bangalore Cares, a non profit that acts as a bridge between the voluntary sector and the rest of society, is presenting "Sneha Sante" – an event that combines a charity bazaar and a programme of cultural events. With nearly 30 Bengaluru Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) participating, as well as local artistes lending their support, the first edition of Sneha Sante promises to be a colorful and fun event!The charity bazaar will have NGOs exhibiting a wide range of hand-crafted products: chocolates, cookies, toys, art works, embroidery, jewellery, apparel, books, diyas, cards, gift items and more.…

If there was one city in  the newly independent India that was a real moviegoer’s delight, it had to be Bangalore.  In the early ‘50s, cinema theatres in Bangalore used to  show films in many languages - Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Few years later, Malayalam and Bengali movies could also be seen in morning shows. In that sense Bangalore was probably the most cosmopolitan town in the country. Such a varied taste in films was a reflection of tolerant  and eclectic mindset  of the natives. May be this was also the way the foundation  for a pan-Indian city…

On Ganesha uthsava eve a few weeks back, the Raghu Dixit Project enthralled audience with their catchy tunes at JP Nagar’s Oxford School grounds in  one of their most memorable performances. The star studded audience included the iconic actor Ambharish as well as ex-chief minister of Karnataka, H D Kumaraswamy who walked in late but was met with a warm response from JP Nagar residents present.Rave music hits such as Nina Pujege bhande  from the movie Psycho and scores such as  Hey Bhagwan,  Kidki, Mysore se aaya, I'm in Mumbai waiting for a miracle had listeners up on their feet…

Five days of work, traffic, noise, short tempered bosses and shorter deadlines. And then the weekend comes, just in time. For some of us, Saturdays and Sundays call for calm afternoon naps.But the rest of us are happy to chill out with movies, malls, hikes, plays, exhibitions, shows and the odd candle making workshop. So how do you know when these events happen?  Many options exist both offline and online. I've attempted to compile a list of websites as well as city newspapers that lists events.The first one is AskLaila. It is a comprehensive site I came across for events.…

Lalbagh garden. Pic: Srikanth A P.

Recently, on the  Hasiru Usiru e-group (a mailing list for people who want to engage with the government to see how best we can keep this city green while developing it) we have been having a debate about cyclists participating in the Cyclothon.Cyclothon is a cycling event on the Peripheral Ring Road, which is usually not open to cyclists, built by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE), that is alleged to have exploited farmers. The debate has heated up. But that's not what I want to talk about.One person made this statement about the cyclists who want to participate in the…

It's one of those things that makes you cringe when you hear about it but eventually fades from your memory. But 18-month-old Vijay refreshed our memories of five-year-old Abhishek. As much as we express anger against the BBMP, nothing really can be done to bring back these two lives. When I saw a local news channel showing footage of firemen working their way through drains, searching for little Vijay's body, for me it brought back memories of Y S Rajashekhar Reddy, the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister. As soon as it was known that there was no contact with his…