bangalore journal

Visit to Srirangapatna is a walk down the history lane. The stone fortress, the Summer palace, Tipu museum, Hoysala temples and Gumbaz are the remainders of a bygone era when Srirangapatna was a power center. Srirangapatna served as the base for powerful empires of Gangas, Vijayanagara viceroys, Mysore kings and as the capital city of Hyder and Tipu Sultan. Till the end of 17th century it enjoyed an illustrious status being an important religious and cultural hub center.Not many realise that Srirangapatna is actually an island surrounded by river cauvery from all sides. This egg shaped island is named after…

"It is better to adopt and get them off the street so that people stop complaining about them being a menace", wishes Neha Girish for all the street dogs in Bengaluru. Similar sentiments were expressed by all the genuine dog lovers gathered at the great Indian dog show on Sunday 15th April. The show was held at Government veterinary hospital grounds, Queens road. Neha has a one a half year dog, which she found through the CUPA website. Pic: Deepti Sarma Familiarity does breed contempt in the case of our Indian native dogs. They are all over the city but…

Water is the elixir of life. But according to World Health Organisation, nearly 1.8 million people die every year due to water-borne diseases. What are these diseases that we need to be careful about? The diseases range from gastritis, diarrhoea, jaundice, polio, amoebiasis, tapeworm infest ation, hydatid disease of liver, intestine, and lungs, worms to cholera, typhoid, and so on. Pic: Wikimediacommons Vomiting, and loose motions, if persistent, lead to electrolyte imbalance and can even be fatal. Cholera is another waterborne disease which can lead to epidemics and large number of deaths. The causes of these diseases are unsafe water,…

RWAs run by elected volunteers are subject to full fledged auditing to the last paisa. They are answerable to the house owners for every single expenditure incurred for the year. But BBMP that has budget outlays of hundreds of crores of rupees has done away with auditing for more than four decades now. Worse, BBMP has been reeling under fund crisis and scams. BBMP Councillors protest during the 2011 budget approval. File Pic: Navya P K Since the major report of February 2012, Indicted by CAG, strangled by state, Bengaluru Limps on, Citizen Matters did an exclusive inquiry into who…

An under-construction underpass near Kaadubeesanahalli junction on Outer Ring Road (ORR) caved in a portion of road on Wednesday, Apr 11, resulting in huge traffic jam on outer ring Road for hours. Though there were no injuries sustained by anybody, the vehicular movement on the road beside the underpass was stopped. Sudden entry of cars and motorcycles from the barred first part of the under construction underpass. Pic: Abhishek Angad Earlier, traffic was not hit because a narrow passage beside the under-construction site was open for traffic in addition to the already functioning two-way underpass on the other side. Soon,…

Along the road in front of my apartment is a tree that has sprouted lovely, delicate pink blooms. Big deal, you say? Lots of trees around town are festooned with these pink flowers now - but this one is special. Fifteen years ago, this tree did not exist. When the BMP (as it was then) put in a road divider, it left a narrow strip of earth, less than half a metre wide, inside the divider, and planted some bougainvillea and assorted saplings within the strip, protected by metal fencing. The saplings have grown, and this small tree is blooming,…

The pilot launch of the Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act 2011 (Sakala) in Jayanagar saw only 31 applications filed. The pilot was on between March 1st to March 31st at the Jayanagar Revenue office. Jayanagar Revenue Office where Sakala was piloted. Pic: Abhishek Angad The number 31, however contradicts the government figure of 72, 505 applications for the same period. The office covers four BBMP wards (168-171).An official on conditions of anonymity explained why the numbers were so low. "Here we have minimum three days to deliver services. People prefer availing Bangalore One services as their delivery model is…

The third edition of Namma Bengaluru Awards-2011 were presented to various citizens for their exemplary work at a sparkling ceremony in Basavanagudi National College Grounds on April 7, 2012.Out of 14,000 pre-nominations and 47 final nominations under 6 categories, the Namma Bengaluru Foundation awarded 8 winners. Each award carried a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh and memento. Award winners with jury members and guests.Uday Vijayan of Beyond Carlton receiving the award under Citizens Category. Wilma Rodrigues, co-founder, SAHAAS.U. V Singh, Indian Forest Services officer for Public Official category-Group A.Kalaa Devrajan on behalf of Karunashraya under Groups and Organizations-Group A.Under public…

Normally, if you were to walk past the East West Center- The headquarters of the Bangalore School of Music- in R.T. Nagar, you would hear students rattling away at their pianos, violins and flutes. Now, the India National Youth Orchestra will stop you dead with the rich sounds escaping the center.They have been practising for a concert to be held on April 10th, ninety-five musicians will perform at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, conducted by maestro Vijay Upadhyaya. The event is presented by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, New Delhi- in collaboration…

When we hear the word "parasites", we generally think of leeches. But there are other creatures and plants around us, that are parasites - living beings which live on other creatures. One of them, not often known, is the Braconid wasp. This wasp ensures a fresh supply of protein for its young, by laying its eggs on a caterpillar. When the eggs hatch on the caterpillar, they feed on the caterpillar, sucking its blood...and then, as all insects do, the larvae turn into pupae, still stuck on the caterpillar's hairs. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae end up eating the…