bangalore journal

Very few things in life can compare to the joy of becoming a new mother. The nine months' wait, severe labour pains, all find expression in the joy of mother when she hears the baby cry at birth . However, this joy transforms into sleepless nights, when the parents return home from hospital. If the baby cries too much, it is disturbing. If the baby cries too little, it is worrisome. The absence of a senior person (read mother or mother in law), compounds the situation in a nuclear family. Our professional experience is interspersed with frantic calls, from mothers…

BMTC fares went up a month ago, and hikes in petrol/diesel prices were cited as the reason. The story is more complicated than that. The real reasons are the three C-s -- ‘Collection' , Corruption among staff, and Complete apathy towards commuters' convenience or rights. 364E is a route that plies from Boopasandra in north Bangalore to south Bangalore (beyond Jayanagar) so it is very convenient for people like me who travel from north to south regularly. If I get 364 E, I can go directly to Jayanagar, otherwise I have to take two buses, one to Majestic or Shivajinagar…

BBMP has taken up road widening work up again and talk of TDR is afloat. But for the first time the agency is saying that if the people do not want TDR, financial compensation may be offered. K R Niranjan, BBMP Special Commissioner, says, "In core areas we can minimise road works by doing junction improvement etc. But in outer areas these works are necessary and land will be obtained through TDR; but if public do not accept TDRs we need to have reserve funds for acquisition."Road widening in outer areas is part of the ship load of projects worth…

Residents of Sadashivanagar have submitted a representation to the Commissioner- BBMP against the proposed road widening of Sankey Road, arguing for a holistic solution to Bangalore's traffic problems instead of using Road widening as a universal solution.The representation was accompanied by 455 signatures (mostly one per household) representing about 1500 residents.The background of the representation is as follows:1. The President and office bearers of the Sadashivanagar Residents' Welfare Association were quoted in the press a month ago as saying that the residents of Sadashivanagar were in favour of widening of Sankey Road. However, no residents were consulted by the Association…

Unnati Center will reverbrate with heavenly music from renowned artists and their excellent accompanists as part of Utsav, from August 6th - 26th. This cultural event is organised around Gokulashtami/ Janmashtami every year. Around 75 musicians, 16 concerts, one lecture-demo, three days of Bhajans and four days of discourses will jump start the musical event. A lot of meticulous planning and arrangements have gone into this mela. Unni Krishnan performing on the weekend. Pic : SGBS The musical festival was kicked off on the weekend with concerts from the sisters Shanmughapriya and Haripriya and Unnikrishnan P. "For 34 years we…

The India Against Corruption group at Bangalore announced the results of the 'referendum' on the Lokpal Bill from the Chikkaballpur and Bangalore South parliamentary constituencies. The results indicated a clear majority for strengthening the Lokpal. Ninety-three per cent of people in Chikkaballapur and eighty-six per cent of South Bangalore constituency want the Prime Minister to come under the ambit of Lokpal. Ninety-five per cent of people in Chikkaballapur and ninety-three per cent in Bangalore also want Lokpal to cover central government and state government through Lokayuktas.A total of 85,000 questionnaires had been distributed in Chikkaballapur and Bangalore South, over the…

As Karnataka state Hockey Association ‘B' Division Championship entered its third week, ASC Boys Beat Anglo Indian by 7 - 1 and Primrose Hockey Club Beat Om Sai Dharwad by 4 - 1. Mohra Tani of ASC Boys scored twice in the 15th and 55th minute to lead the charge while Romel of Anglo Indai was the lone scorer for the club. Yadav Ramesh of Primrose scored thrice to take the team to victory against Om Sai Dharwad.Previous match results -27th JulyDYSS 'B' Beat Adhiyamaan Engineering College by 2-0. 28th July1st Match: HMT beat SBI by 6-02nd Match: DYSS 'B'…

Rotary Bangalore Indiranagar announced the annual inter-school tournaments which will beign on 20th August and go on till the 31st. The tournament will have two editions for boys and girls and is being conducted in association with Karnataka State Hockey Association.The  boys' tournament, named 'Rotary Bangalore Indiranagar Dr G S Ranhawa Memorial Inter School Boys' Hockey Tournament' is in its twenty first year now. It will be the inaugural edition of the 'Rotary Bangalore Indiranagar Inter School Girls' Hockey Tournment' this year. The tournament will be held at the hockey stadium at Akkithimmanahalli, Bangalore.The tournament is open to school boys…

Why is management of waste so important in today's time? Is segregation of waste worth the effort and time spent on it? When we pay taxes, why do we need to bother about waste management? If I manage my waste, is it going to help anyways? These are some of the questions answered by the Trash Trail organised by Daily Dump, Bangalore based service that helps you manage your waste. We all gathered at Daily Dump office, in Indiranagar at 7.30 in the morning where we had a quick round of introduction of the ten participants and Poonam (founder of…

A government task force report says that the Apollo Hospital on Bannerghatta road is built on encroached land, hence illegal. The report was authored by V Balasubramanian, Chairman of state government's Task Force for Recovery and Protection of Public Lands. A copy of the report is with Citizen Matters. Pages 17-22 of the report are devoted to this case. Who does the land belong to?According to the report, the five acres, where the hospital is located now (opposite IIM-B), was originally granted by government to a certain NRI docor, A M Nisar Syed in 1991. Syed had applied for the…