City: Bengaluru

Cycle tracks, parking space for bicycles, racks to lock your bike; all this may well become a reality soon in Bengaluru. Members of the cycling community are working towards developing this infrastructure in the city by working with the Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) and other organisations. The BMLTA has been set up by the government of Karnataka under the Urban Development Department as an umbrella organisation to land transport matters in the Bangalore metropolitan area. Cycling route (Pic and graphic courtesy: Vijay Narnapatti) RideACycle Foundation (RAC-F), a Bengaluru-based non-profit organisation that encourages and promotes sustainable transport through cycling,…

Are your SSLC or PUC results out and you are not happy with the performance? Or are you confused about career options? Manasa Consultants in JP Nagar has come up with counseling sessions and aptitude test to help students deal with the post result issues.Annapurna Murthy, a career counselor from Manasa Consultants, feels that such programs are essential to help young people find directions. She says, post results, students whose results are not as per their expectations, do not know on what they can fall back on. "Both parents and their wards are under severe anxiety," says Annapurna. "Aptitude tests…

I saw this scene - the BBMP has using an advertisement sheet to cement a manhole during the monsoon! Is this what they mean by Public-Private Partnerships or is this a form of Corporate Social Responsibility? ⊕

It was not a typical Sunday when people wake up leisurely for brunch. Bubbling energy and enthusiasm radiated from Kanteerva stadium Bangalore.Kanteerva stadium saw Derbia Merga winning Men's event and taking home a prize of USD 1,55,000. The day belonged to the Ethiopians.Mergia Asslefech - Winner of women's 10k raceIt was a good idea to have an exclusive prize for Indian athletes in men's and women category. Kavita Raut from Maharastra was the winner in the Indian women's category. Participants were running like a storm. Nothing but energy and enthusiasm:The best part was the Kingfisher Run-in-costumes: It made the entire…

"I received a notice for parking in a 'no parking' area on 14th March in Siddiah Puranik Road, near KHB Colony. This road is in Basaveshwaranagar. I don't even recall going to this area at least in the last six months and I am sure no one has even taken my vehicle (car) to this place," complains Anantha Murthy, who wrote to Citizen Matters about his experience. He claims that the notice he received from the Traffic Police is baseless. Traffic Police issuing ticket to traffic violator (pic: Supriya Khandekar) Sumit Chandra, an IT professional who travels from RT Nagar…

The World Environment Foundation is launching PROACTIVATE, an environment initiative, in the city on 5th June 2009, to combat climate change. The initiative is a part of World Environment Week 2009 commemoration in association with Institute of Directors, Bangalore Management Association, the Maini Group and the Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services along with their partners PROACTIVATE - an eleven point model of growth developed, discussed and filtered at various workshops and conferences organised by the UK based World Council for Corporate Governance and World Environment Foundation - has found universal support for its holistic focus and simplicity of execution.  This…

A few weeks ago, on a Monday morning, while I was  trying to drive away the blues, I saw a few people standing and staring at the railway track near our house. Not another one, I hoped. But when I saw people in the crowd discussing something animatedly and calling up people  from their mobile phones, I could sense uneasiness. Someone who was crossing the railway track earlier that morning or the previous night was critically or fatally injured. I was pained to learn later that evening that the victim  succumbed to his injuries. He had been hit by a…

H-O-N-K...It's still ringing in my head, keeping me awake and goaded; it was all I could hear (especially today) while travelling to work in the evening...It was TRAFFIC and TRAFFIC all the way from home till Whitefield. Now when you are in a jam or in a signal and every "INCH" is covered with vehicles, why is it a few brainless uncivilised people HONK? Can't you see, the vehicle in front of you can't even move an inch?? Grrrr...More...There was a speed breaker in front of us, a two wheeler rider moved slowly, when my intolerant driver starts honking (not…

This morning, Bengaluru put on its running shoes to sprint up to 10 kilometres. There is all the fanfare and hooplah surrounding the 10 kilometre Sunfeast run, most often mistaken for a marathon (a marathon’s distance is about 42.2 kilometres). Runners at the Kanteerava stadium (pic: Naveen Ningaiah) With such hype, one often wonders what goes into organizing and preparing for a mammoth event such as this. Rumors have begun to do rounds - the celebrities who have pledged to raise funds are failing and backing out. People are highly likely to continue with some ever-so-often-heard rants – “The traffic…

Consumer   Consumers again in the receiving end Despite nose diving inflation, prices of essential goods remains high. But consumers now have to deal with another problem. Most producers of consumer goods retain old prices of commodities, but reduce the weight without consumers' knowledge. Weight of a soap is reduced by 13 grams and the weight of edible oil from a well known company has been reduced from 910 to 850 grams. Most of the time, consumer pay little attention to these details. An amendment to the Act of Weight and Measurement allows producers to decide on weight of the…