Blogs

Many persons in Bengaluru want to set up their own venture. Are you one of them? Are you unsure about the kind of legal structure you need for your activities? Gyan, the business advisor, recently met Anil and Peter, who wanted to start a new venture. They were unclear about the benefits of setting up a company and wondered if the cost would be prohibitive.Gyan referred them to a couple of specialists who could walk them through the regulatory aspects of creating a venture and registering with the concerned regulatory authorities, based on the nature of their business and the…

Here's an email that came in with tips, on how to register for Voter ID, on the Hasiru Usiru egroup, and my responses, comments and suggestions are in blue:The 15th Lok Sabha election is round the corner and it is our duty to go out and vote. The polling will be held on 23rd April in Bangalore. If you have not registered to vote yet, please do so now. I totally agree with this. I had an Election Commissioner Voter ID card from 1992. I could not find the card number on the net or on physical lists anywhere. And…

I am not sure which BBMP office I should collect my form from, or which one I should submit it at. (Naturally, they are both not the same place...that would make it voter-friendly.)So I decided to register online at www.jaagore.comEverything went fine until I tried to fill in the form; I was unable to fill in the Assembly Constituency Number (the form would not take any entry.) So I was..and still am...unable to fill up the formAlso, the link given on the Jaagore form to find out the Assembly Constituency Number does not work; I had to go to the BBMP…

“When was Citizen Matters launched?” was my deliberate question to our editor. I wanted to know why we have forgotten this important date (It's March 3rd 2008). “Well there are so many dates… umm umm…why… well ya March 3rd…” the enthusiasm in this answer was overwhelming. Yes of course it has to be, just that it was unlike my expression: It is our First Anniversary!! We are 1 year and 15 days old magazine!! It’s a moment to celebrate and it’s a date to be remembered.For all of you who are reading Citizen Matters religiously (or even irregularly), we have…

  Just sometimes, one gets entertained when one least expects it...  With thanks to L.Shyamal, whom I know as an experienced ornithologist with a great sense of humour...  ⊕

  I have my old Election Identity card, but it was issued a long time back, and I cannot find any trace of it online at all. So I went.yesterday (Monday) to the BBMP office in J P Nagar 2nd Phase, showed the card, and asked the guy there what to do. He smiled (felt rather strangely) and said, "You have to go to Jayanagar 4th Block and get this card deleted and bring us back a stamped certificate to that effect."  This was quite irritating. Why cannot the system do the change without making me run around from one office to…

For the past several weeks I have been interacting with a BDA official for a story I am working on. I must add that he has been very patient with the number of phone calls I make to him during various times of the day and the few times I have met him. He has obligingly answered all my queries, shown me some documents and so on. As my story required to get a photograph of the model of the project, I continued hounding him to for this photo-op. His dilly-dallying continued for a couple of days. One fine morning…

A group of us had gone birding to Bannerghatta on Saturday, the 14th of March...and what better way to wind up a most enjoyable morning than to go to Brahmins' Coffee Bar, that practically-heritage fast-good-food joint, in Basavanagudi?BCB is an outstanding eatery. That is, one has to stand outside to eat, because it's a tiny little joint, which produces its speciality traditional Kannada breakfasts, with the Chutney Master having been doling out chutney for several years....Since there were 9 of us, we had quite an agglomeration of plates, and wanted to eat togther...so we were thrilled when we saw the…

Is there anything such as 'Blogger's Block'? Sure if the writers can get writer's block, what's stopping the bloggers from getting one? My feeble attempt at pun aside, we do get it. What gets my goat is that when no idea hits me, there is no dearth for advice. Putting down a few. Stop working in front of the computer. Go out. Keep looking, there are loads of topics. You just have to keep your eyes open. I know; writing is hard. That's what I have been telling you. Do something different. Drink a glass of water. Walk around. Close…

Dear Readers, As the fourth issue goes to press, we’d like bring to your attention some good tidings and some worrisome ones.At Citizen Matters, we have always believed in the power of editorial work that combines professional journalism with citizen journalism. In Supriya Khandekar and Vaishnavi Vittal, we have two staff journalists who are both talented and committed to bringing you interesting and insightful stories from around our city. Do look out for their ‘In focus’ pieces, as well their community writing and guides and primers.And equally, we have been very fortunate to continue to run into a stream of…