Blogs

According to recent newspaper reports, almost 40-80% Indians do not get enough vitamin D. This is surprising - since vitamin D, also known as the ‘Sunshine vitamin,’ can easily be got through exposure to sunshine. What’s more, it’s free! Interested?? You better be, that is, if you don’t want to join the list of Indians who have vitamin D deficiency. Sunlight is the best source of vitamin D. Pic: Mahesh Telkar What is Vitamin D and why do we need it? It’s a fat soluble vitamin which is needed by the body for absorbing calcium and phosphorus, both of which…

Chandra Ravikumar, a volunteer who's very active in Hasiru Usiru, has unearthed this treasure, and says: I was able to find a 1891 catalogue of the trees of Lalbagh from Wiki. This is the link. Does any one know whether a later one is available, or has even been compiled? Is the Marigowda Library open to the public?http://archive.org/stream/cu31924000622252#page/n4/mode/1up Any answers from the tree experts of Bangalore would be welcome!

Bosch Volunteers at the lake Saturday, 22nd June 2013The volunteers who come to work at the lake have always impressed us with their dedication and hard labour. The group of 30 Bosch employees who came to Puttenahalli Lake this past Saturday was no less. After a brief introduction and welcome, they set to work in two teams as planters and diggers.    The planters had a short stretch of flower bed in which to plant Lantana. Nupur guided them on how to take out the plant out of the pot with its roots intact, planting it in the pit and packing the…

The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) has now opened a FaceBook page. The page states: This is  the official BESCOM Page, containing information about Interruptions and BESCOM Procedures. The Meeting Proceedings [ORM/CRM/Board Meeting etc] will be available in this Page. You may post your grievances here which will be attended and resolved. But for any immediate grievances please feel free to contact our central helpline 080-22873333 or just SMS your grievance to 92431 50000 in the format given belowBESCOM<space>Sub-Division<space>nature_of_complaint   BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company)  has opened a new Face Book page, in a customer-friendly initiative:   <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bescom/669321596427980"> click…

redBus, the ticket booking business, headquartered in Bengaluru and funded by VCs in this city, is to be acquired by the South Africa-based multinational media group, Nasper, according to some media reports.  Many points are being raised on whether the founders (Phani et. al) and other stakeholders should remain invested instead of exiting. One never knows, what could happen if they wait. Yes, there could be a possibility of a higher exit at a greater value, but there is also a possibility of a value fall. It is for the promoters and other key stakeholders to think through options and take…

In an effort to empower hobbyist youngsters with concepts in plant taxonomy and systematics, an "Orientation Course on Plant Taxonomy" has been planned at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. The course among other topics, will cover: 1.Principles of plant Taxonomy, ecology & phyto-geography2. Herbarium, its preparation & curation3. Botanical Nomenclature4. Field visits This two-day course, conducted over the weekend is free of cost and is scheduled to be held in July. The age limit for participation in the course is 35yrs. The course will take a maximum number of 15 participants, on a first-cum first-served basis. Candidates have to…

Vinay Sreenivasa, <vinay.sreenivasa@yahoo.com>, writes: Dear all,   In the month of May, we at Hasiru Usiru started what we hope will be a monthly series of conversations on the city. Dr.H.S.Sudhira spoke about Averting the Tragedy of Commons for Bangalore  (http://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/articles/5299-hasiru-usiru-analyses-the-tragedy-of-commons)    This month, we want to do a walking talk.    On June 22, Saturday, Arun Kumar.N, Narayan and Sheshadri, passionate botanists and tree lovers will conduct a tree walk in Lalbagh. The walk will have discussions on the varous species of trees in Lalbgah, how to identify them, whether they are native or have been got in from elsewhere, what…

Vinay Sreenivasa, one of the indefatigable volunteers of Hasiru Usiru, writes:   Dear All,   As you may all be aware, the BMTC has biked bus fares by 16%, with the minimum rate now Rs. 6BMTC has been increasing the fares steeply every few months and the rate has almost doubled in the last 3 years.As a result even bus-travel has become unaffordable for a large number of people and they are forced to either walk or cut down on other essential expenditure.   Bus users in the city are a huge block (more than 40 lakhs) but as of now there…

The Governor has once again returned the Sakrama Bill. In any event, given the court case that is going on, any attempt by the government to circumvent the court was bound to land in trouble, so there's not much point in the Governor also getting embroiled in it. Let's face it - this Bill should be killed. It's a bad idea, always has been. But more than that, we should now be thinking about a scarier proposition - we have reached the stage in our politics where it is difficult to do good things because our representatives are being elected…

The bus fare increases are irrational, and unnecessary. There are at least three things which are wrong, and if these are fixed the bus service could be a lot better without needing to over-charge the poor. a) The government needs to recognise, in its budget, that bus service is a public service that needs subsidy. All over the world public transport is subsidised, because it is well-known that the positive values that result - lower congestion, for example - are far in excess of the subsidy itself. For some reason, the Karnataka government has steadfastly refused to subsidise the BMTC.…