City: Bengaluru

Not by BIAL alone

Devesh Agarwal of the Bangalore Chamber of Commerce and Industry disagrees with Albert Brunner, the CEO of Bangalore International Airport Limited on the latter’s recent interview to Citizen Matters on the airport controversy. Albert Brunner, CEO of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) recently gave an interview to Citizen Matters where he said that Bangalore does not need two airports. In this this article, I will argue why the city does need to keep HAL airport open. Indian low cost airlines are leading the current aviation surge being led by low cost airlines globally. Add to this an economic boom, and…

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The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)'s Karnataka Election Watch committee has compiled information about candidates in various Assembly constituencies using candidates' own disclosure affidavits, mandated by election law. The Election Commission has also issued orders making this information public. The Election Watch committee has now released its first list of candidates with a criminal record contesting the Assembly elections. These are people who contested last time and were re-nominated. Record of Candidates from Bangalore (based on 2004 Affidavit Data) 1. Katta Subramanya Naidu, BJP (Hebbal): FIR. NO. 0589 CR. NO.589/03 u/s 143, 145, 147, 149 353 IPC 1860 2. Nirmal…

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Much is being said and heard about the difficulties that the new Bangalore airport (Bangalore International Airport Limited - BIAL) is likely to impose on the citizens of Bangalore. A few days ago, the High Court of Karnataka weighed in on a PIL and recommended that the government and BIAL renegotiate the original agreement, with particular reference to the steep user charges and on the option of keeping HAL airport open. Last week, the central government floated its new greenfield airport policy, which does not explicitly bar a second commercial airport within a 150 kms radius of the first one.…

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Karaga is one of the oldest festivals in Karnataka and is also celebrated in Tamilnadu. In Bangalore, the Dharmarayaswamy Temple in Thigalarpet (central Bangalore, between the City Market area and Richmond Town) has been the focal point of this festival. Karaga ran its course in the third week of April this year. These pictures were taken on the night of 20 April, a full moon. A huge crowd in front of the Dharmarayaswamy temple, this is the only entrance path used by the Veerakumaras and other followers. There were people as far as the eyes could see. People were on…

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Bhanu, a class 7 student, at the Matadahalli government school in north Bangalore is very excited to speak in English. "It was difficult to say one full sentence in English before but after the spoken English classes, I am able to talk very easily. I am thinking of becoming a teacher now," she says. Bhanu is one of the 30 students benefitting from the after school programme conducted by Dream School Foundation, an NGO, as part of the School adoption programme. This school is one of the 900 schools adopted in the state of Karnataka. Students at the after-school programme…

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Bengaluru's rock history dates back to the 70s when a pioneering set took stage at Cubbon Park to strum a few famous English numbers on Independence Day. This innocuous strumming attracted derision from the then conservative Bengalurian, but sparked off a movement that has blossomed into the rich rock music scene of today. Early pioneers included the likes of Geoffrey Pope, Karl Peters, Amit Heri and Roberto Narain, iconic names among those who know their music. Sadly, most dissolved into oblivion, while some turned to coaching/selling music equipment and a bare few managed to retain label credibility in the world…

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How well do you know your City? Here's your chance to discover what used to be on the outskirts of the City - with the Whitefield Urban Space Event! Event: Whitefield Urban Space Event Date: April 26, 2008 Time: 3.15 p.m. Starting point: Memorial Church, WhitefieldThe event is free and open to all. More details at the Bhavan (080 2520 5305/6/7/8) or on the BCP website: http://bcp.wikidot.com/start. The Bangalore City Project is an initiative of the Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore. The Whitefield Urban Space Event will include visits to the Memorial Church, Our Lady of Lourdes Church and Kaolin…

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It's a prickly, 15 acres of prime land that stretches through shrub and wild grass, unaware of the legal battles that have been waged over it for the past 20 years. Part of the Jakkasandra Lake (Meistripalya), it stretches a few yards away from the BDA Complex in Koramangala, adjoining the 7th Cross Road and Telephone Exchange. The bone of contention has been its identity. Is this undeveloped land, belonging to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) earmarked as a civic amenity, or is it meant for construction with commercial intent? The troubled land in Koramangala fourth block citizens are fighting…

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I met with an incident recently (13th April 2008).I was riding the bike from RT Nagar, I had to go over the Mekhri circle flyover to take a right from Hebbal road to turn towards IISC road. I turned right while the signal was changing from green to orange.I did not want to stop abruptly and since orange light is meant as a warning, I continued driving. If I had applied a sudden break, the auto right behind me may have hit me.A police constable jumped in front of me from the side of the road asking me to stop.…

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Three seed opinions were posted on the topic of how to improve the traffic in our cities, as part of the Blogathon event. What is your take on this? Write your own blog entry and submit it to the Blogathon site or comment on others' views. Just adjust By Rashmi V Cities are reflections of the civilizations that inhabit them so Mayan cities are built for gods, French cities have gardens, Roman cities are linear, Indian cities are mixed up.Traditionally we live in closed spaces; our ideas on personal space are primitive. We live communally and individuals have little or…

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