City: Bengaluru

Voter registration for Bengaluru's MNC employees is now as simple as a walk to their cafe!VoteDeIndia has been conducting such drives at MNC campuses throughout Bangalore, most recently at Cognizant and Sasken. VoteDeIndia is volunteer, non-profit and non-partisian initiative run by a group Bangaloreans from the Infotech sector to increasing voter (electorate) turnout. The drive, which started with on-campus registrations in September, has been helping non-registered voters to register, so that they become eligible to get a voter ID. So far, VoteDeIndia has been successful in getting around 1000 members to sign up. VoteDeIndia helps individuals in: (1) Accurate identification…

Some citizens seem obsessed with giving the city bus transport corporation a bad name, or so it would seem. It is utterly disgusting to see people take a deep breath, collect that gutkha concoction in the mouth and then aim it right onto the street, sometimes missing you by just an inch. Okay, it may have been funny to see Leonardo Dicaprio teach Kate Winslet in Titanic the technique to spit the farthest. But it is most definitely not funny to see orange stains on the road. If only Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss could do something about spitting! It…

On the market floor, things are fresher than ever.Before we had malls, we had shopping complexes. And the one at Jayanagar 4th Block was the most popular among them. And it continues to be a great place to shop, especially if you are looking for bargains in Bengaluru.Set in the heart of the sprawling suburb of Jayanagar, the complex is the hub around which places for shopping and eating continue to evolve.Meanwhile, the complex thrives without much change. It maintains a careless concrete look which is in sharp contrast to the sterile marble and glass experience of a mall. The…

December 1st is World HIV/AIDS Day. I do not believe in declaring just one day in a year for a purpose, like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. However these days do hold some significance, because all the authorities (government and non-government) and people working for the cause get inspired to introspect, recount their activities of the year and plan the activities for the next year. Communication for Development and Learning (CDL), a city-based NGO, recently conducted a series of workshops on HIV/AIDS and related issues, both to sensitise journalists and motivate them to write more on this issue. CDL works…

Any Bangalore sightseeing tour will be incomplete without a visit to the Vidhana Soudha. Sitting high in Barton Centre on MG Road or a similar vantage point, one can enjoy its illuminated palace-like look in the evenings. The making of this magnificent stone structure has an interesting story to it. However, unlike many parliaments abroad, there are no guided tours or pamphlets to help us know more about its history. Vidhana Soudha, which is also called as ‘people’s palace’, is off-limits for the visitors.Establishing identityDuring the time of KC Reddy, who preceded Kengal Hanumanthiah as the Chief Minister of Mysore…

Bengaluru made international headlines with the successful Chandrayaan operation, the first unmanned mission to moon by India. And the institution responsible for Chandrayaan's initiation and monitoring is none other Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). In the same league as ISRO are the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Jawaharlal Nehru Pl anetarium (JNP) and so on. Indeed, among the many feathers in the city's cap are some ofthese renowned science institutions. But how many of us, especially students and scientifically-inclined citizens are aware of the opportunities for the local public at these major institutions? Not many,…

Business Big demand for cows of Indian breed These cows were the center of attraction at the Krishi Mela conducted in the UAS campus. They belong to the pure Indian breed called 'Devani'. Due to their high resistance to diseases and capacity to work hard, they are in much demand. However the Devani cows are not available in large numbers and the National Diary Development Corporation is now engaging in developing this breed. There was demand for more than 500 Devani cows during the farm fest. (Vijaya Karnataka, Sunday, Nov 16) KSRTC launches courier service KSRTC has hit upon yet…

As art becomes big business, it is not surprising to find art galleries springing up everywhere in Bangalore; but when one finds a gallery that is somewhat different, it is rather intriguing! I met young Veena Narsasetty, an artist and sculptor, who was exhibiting for a show at a gallery called ‘Swasti’. The unusual thing about the gallery is that it is funded and run by Health Care Global, an organisation that runs an oncology hospital in Bangalore. Health Care Global (HCG) is about five years old, and has seven hospitals all over India. Dr. Bhagya Ajaikumar, wife of the…

Power cuts are again the talk of the town since Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) declared a minimum two hour cut in all the residential areas in the city. “Is it really only two hours?” is what my colleague Gayathri S asks me. She gets a power cut of six to eight hours every day since the declaration of power cut was done by BESCOM. My colleague lives in Venkatapura, Koramangala. She complains of untimely power cut of more than six hours a day disturbing routines. When we checked, we found that she is not the only one suffering from…

In a Lok Adalat hearing on 19th November 2008, at the High Court of Karnataka, Justice K L Manjunath pointedly asked Yellapa Reddy, chairman of the committee overseeing Bengaluru’s road widening project to listen to the petitioners' complaints on widespread tree cutting. The Adalat took exception to Reddy’s standpoint which appeared to one of merely representing local government officials’ views instead of striking a balance between citizens and officials. As reported earlier in Citizen Matters, a writ petition was filed by NGOs Environment Support Group and CIVIC a few months ago against the tree cutting undertaken by the Bruhat Bangalore…