City: Bengaluru

Many of us often fight with the road-side shops for charging an extra Rs.2 for cold drinks or water. Some of us succumb to the demand after a futile argument. Still others pay without any question. But have you paid almost double for buying the same brand of bottled water from the same shop at the same time? S N Subramanya (79) was asked to pay. He happens to be an RTI and consumer activist and so pursued the matter further.On 8th January 2008, S N Subramanya went to Commercial Street to shop. There, he purchased two bottles of Kinley…

Bangalore has seen the success stories of hundreds of young men and women who have, apparently, taken to information technology like a duck to water. So it is interesting to talk to people who are the ‘other side of the coin', so to speak....who have turned their back on careers in this lucrative field, and are branching out in directions dictated by their hearts, rather than by economic necessity. Amoghavarsha: Wildlife photographer Meet Amoghavarsha JS, a young man who has done just this. "When I finished my Pre-University," he says, "I knew I loved technology, and, so I decided to…

I had always wondered what life was like on the inside, at Karunashraya. If I had gone there as a copywriter on a project, I would go around with the team, look inside the wards, talk to some of the patients and ask for a 'brief' as we normally do, before we start a project.But then, all roads led to Karunashraya when my mother drifted into a terminal stage of cancer - far too gone even for a miracle cure. I would now get an insider's perspective on Karunashraya - as a caregiver to a patient.View from the walk-ways, around…

I've seen them at least in a couple of junctions. One at the Wind Tunnel road junction on Old Airport Road and, the other at the Intel junction on Outer Ring road. Small construction cones neatly lined up along one-car width from the meridian, indicating that if people should turn right, they ought to come in there. How do they enforce this? At Wind Tunnel road junction, they simply line the cones along the lane and then continue them all the way to the opposite side meridian. Something like this: Brilliant idea! Considering that just drawing the line and saying…

Continuing to enhance the airport's infrastructure, Bengaluru International Airport inaugurated the country's first of its kind Cargo Village. Spread over 11 acres of land area with adequate provision for future expansion, the facility, located near the cargo terminals is expected to strengthen Bangalore's position as a trade and commercial hub while ensuring faster clearances of import and export consignments from the cargo terminals at the airport. The facility, completed over a period of 10 months, has been built with an investment of Rs. 12 crore.From left to right: Marcel Hungerbüehler - COO, BIAL, Mr. Prabhu- President BCHAAI and Albert Brunner…

Ananya embarks upon a new series of dance programmes titled "Nritya Chilume" for talented budding artists , aged below 15 years. Kum.Kirti Ramgopal, a well known danseuse, will inaugurate the event on 13th December at Seva Sadana, Malleswaram. Nritya Chilume will be a regular feature in Ananya's calendar of events.Nritya Chilume aims to promote and motivate youngsters to further their learning, by providing them an opportunity to showcase their talents to a wider audience and interact with senior gurus and fellow performers.Nritya Chilume-1 features Bharatanatyam performances by Ananya M (Guru-Brunda), Sonali Belankar (Guru-Anuradha Vikranth), Gopalakrishna S V (Guru-Sanjay and Shama…

Arts and CultureOnly three witness Kannada programmeKannada Bhavana,adjoining the Ravindra Kalakshetra is the venue for numerous programmes pertaining to Kannada and Karnataka. To commomorate ten years of the building, a seminar on liberalisation, economic scenario and its effects on culture was organised last week. However there were just three people in audience. Organisers were taken aback with this poor response.(Prajavani,Sunday, Nov 30) Business Rice levy: burden on traders or common man?The price of rice has increased by Rs 4- 5 per kg as a repurcussion of the government's decision to levy rice traders. Traders have passed their burden on to…

Property taxes are due city-wide, but clear information about how the tax is to be calculated has still not reached citizens, and this has created much disturbance and worry.To address the confusion, the Citizens' Action Forum (CAF) on 29th November passed a resolution demanding that the state government should bring back the Annual Rateable Value (ARV) based property tax system. CAF claims that the revised system which the BBMP has introduced recently was a violation of all the promises politicians had made before the elections.The meeting saw a participation of around hundered people from various residents associations who voiced their…

Is it difficult for citizens who are so articulate, so cultured and so well informed on conditions abroad to help evolve a traffic flow system and ensure the woes of commuters? The solution could be planned in several layers.Top on the list is synchoronised signal lights, adjusted to a moderate speed level. Moderate, because all kinds of vehicles ply on our roads and some of them may not touch the speed limit of 40 kilometers per hour.Heavy vehicles, cargo laden trucks and the like must be barred entry in arterial roads. If this is not possible, they must be allowed…

When we talk of garbage not being disposed off well, we do not think about garbage other than the regular kitchen waste and plastic. One major type of waste that we hardly talk about is radioactive waste, produced at cancer hospitals. While our kitchen waste may not be so harmful, radioactive waste can be hazardous. On a casual inquiry, I found out that the cancer hospitals in Bengaluru were apparently disposing residual radioactive waste into the public sewerage and garbage. This sounds alarming, but this is what they are supposed when the radioactive material (used for treatment) is 'fully used'.…