City: Bengaluru

Four terms as an MP. Served as a Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Tourism and Culture, Youth Affairs and Urban Development. Age: 50 years; Assets: Rs. 122.06 Lakhs; Criminal Record: None since 2004. Read his detailed interview here. Compiled with support of Smart Vote. Citizen Matters does not endorse any candidate or their opinions and the opinions of external websites linked to from here. ⊕

On 20th March this year, TiE Bangalore presented the TiE Earth Hour celebration, a prelude to celebrating Earth Hour (a worldwide eco-initiative held on 28th March between 8.30 PM and 9.30 PM IST). Organised by the TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Bangalore Special Interest Group (SIG) on CleanTech, the programme began with a brief introduction by Ashok Das who has co-established and spearheads CleanTech SIG. Das is also the CEO of SunMoksha Power that designs and implements solar applications and solutions. CleanTech SIG was launched in June 2008 with the aim of establishing an ecosystem for clean technology and to provide…

The invite stated – ‘expected start 6.30 – 6.45 PM’, but when the programme actually started, my watch had ticked over to 8.30 PM. We shouldn’t have expected anything better, with two senior politicians busy in the middle of a pitched election campaign. Most people landed up on time, to see the production crew still setting up the stage and the mosquito repellent machine doing its thing. However, sitting in the open grounds with the beautifully illuminated Bangalore Palace in the background and anticipating a lively discussion made the sizeable audience forgive the delay. Government smartvote addressing show (Pic: Poornima…

Runners for Life, a community of people who run to get fit organised its second edition of their unique event, ‘Feet on the Street', a five kilo metre run. The event held in the city on 5th April saw 301 enthusiastic runners out on the streets on a Sunday morning.The format of ‘Feet on the Street' is unique. These are monthly runs. It is not a track and field event, but is held at a central location. While the first edition was held at Cubbon Park, the second edition was conducted around Ulsoor Lake. In addition to running and popularising…

White egg-shaped brinjal, orange-yellow round type, red ones, single Brinjal weighing more than 2 kg, small marble-sized ones  - all in all, about 50 varieties of brinjal were on display at the ‘Brinjal diversity Mela’ at Lalbagh on 5th April. Some of these brinjal varieties are rarely cultivated and thus rarely available. This event was an effort to reach out to the public and farmers to inform them about the diversity of a species, educate them about effects of ‘Genetically Modified food technology’. The fest saw notable guests, including film actress Tara and artist MS Murthy and included informative talks…

Have you ever seen your grandmother or mother being possessive and nostalgic about their first Mysore silk saree? Just as today’s girls go ga-ga over a Swarovski, it was the Mysore silk saree which used to be considered an evergreen gift for a special occasion a few decades ago. It is no surprise that it has an interesting history as it was a thriving industry in itself in the state. Silk material and saris (Pic: Madhu Niranjan) The state sericulture industry saw successful highs in the past before it went down due to several reasons, including lack of technology upgrade…

A sampling of what the briefs include: reports on increasing fatalities on Bellary road, politicians violating rules on declaring their assets, an old-style cinema re-opening, a Yelahanka MLA’s plan to revamp his constituency in a year, a former national cyclist who has become a daily wage worker and so forth.Bengaluru news in brief: Apr 15 - 21 This week's scan of Kannada newspapers have a number of reports from parliamentary elections to former hockey player appointed as CEO of cricket association and so on.Bengaluru news in brief: Apr 8 - 14 This week's scan of Kannada newspapers have a number…

Mixed use of our roads has long been both a plus and a minus in Bengaluru, especially in ‘shopping’ areas like Commercial Street and Brigade Road. Recently, some children from Poorna Learning Centre, a school in north Bengaluru decided to address the issue by conducting a survey and presenting a report.  Khyati Shah (right) talking to a shopper (pic: T Deepan) Anyone who has gone to Commercial Street, especially on weekends, cannot be oblivious to the difficulties that pedestrians face, due to the traffic on that narrow street. G V Dasarathi (aka Das) and his daughter Amala saw a woman…

It is always a challenge to reach out to people of our own community. I have been blogging for a couple of years now and I have learned that many of my articles can be much more tuned to reach an even larger audience. Discussion in progress at the Center for Internet and Society (pic courtesy: Omshivaprakash H L )I attended a discussion on 29th March at the Center for Internet and Society at Cunningam Road. The session organized by some of us from the Sampada Technical Group in association with the Center for Internet and Society to learn more…