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Rotary Bangalore Palmville in association with Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) today organized an award ceremony to give away My Place of Pride Awards 2017. My Place of Pride is an initiative to recognize eco-friendly communities in Bengaluru city and encourage sharing of best practices and motivate people to adopt sustainable practices. The contest was for the following categories: The Contesting communities were evaluated on the following: Self declaration Polling Physical inspection 102 communities comprising over 200,000 citizens across the city registered for the contest. 57 communities made it to the second shortlist base on their Self – Declaration submissions detailing…

I got this photo of a stray dog, with a plastic juice or shake container in its mouth.     We have now conditioned even the animals around us to like processed food, lots of sugar. They have learnt to try and ingest plastic in a bid to get that food. I wonder where we are headed....

Intrigued by the subject title? I am writing about the fact that the new plastic number plates on cars are, very frequently broken off during even small impacts with obstacles, leading to number plates that are incomplete and cannot be used for identification of the vehicle in case of an accident or any other situation.  What was wrong with the old metal number plates, and why did we have to introduce more plastic, which, in this case, is less sturdy and has far less of a lifespan? One cannot blame the owners of the cars, as the number plates are…

Bengaluru is almost entirely dependent on the state of Karnataka for its electricity supply; nothing wrong in with that in appearance. However, inability of the state to respond consistently to the city’s power demands coupled with the failure to diversify its power generation sources impose a large hurdle on the city’s competitiveness and quality of life. BESCOM, the institution responsible for power distribution in eight districts of Karnataka including Bengaluru Urban and Rural, accounts for almost half of the state’s total demand out of which 2,400 MW are reserved for Bengaluru. With a total electricity demand of about 7,000 MW…

The EMPRI office at Doresanipalya Forest Campus was abuzz from 8 a.m. on Tuesday, 14th March 2017. EMPRI staff, researchers, citizen activists, representatives from BBMP, Hasiru Dala,  workers and rag pickers, all wearing black Tee shirts waited for the signal to start off a procession. The message was simple but vital -  Say no to Plastic.    Roping in a few residents from the area, we from PNLIT were also a part of the procession shouting slogans and walking from EMPRI Office towards our Puttenahalli Lake. It drizzled. People on the road took shelter and listened to our slogans as…

Padma Bhushan Sudha Ragunathan's concert on 25th February at MLR Convention Centre kept us enthralled from the first varnam. About a couple of hours into the concert, she gave a short speech appreciating our effort in restoring the lake and promising whatever help she could render to us and to the environment. This of course made the audience applaud but her next statement won us over completely. The day before the concert, she'd contacted a friend, Gayathri Gurumurthy who writes under the pen name of "Saraswathi" and got her to write a song celebrating lakes! Being a composer as well, Smt…

We are, according to the traditional calendar,only in Vasant Ritu. But in Bangalore, this is the hot season. The temperature is rising steadily, and so, too, is the demand for water. Sitting on a plateau, having depleted our water-table alarmingly, we are facing tremendous difficulties for water, and the fact was brought home to me by the sight of these women (it's still a sad fact of life that you will hardly find men queueing up with pots) sharing a water source, on this occasion, for washing.   How are we going to fare during Grishma Ritu, I wonder?

The Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike and Citizens for Bengaluru met the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday, demanding Bus Bhagya in the upcoming State Budget. He listened to our demands on 'Halve the Fares and Double the Fleet' and has agreed to consider our demands presented in the memorandum along with 'Janara Budget Goshti' conducted yesterday. With the budget coming up on Wednesday, it is important that the State Government considers our demands so that by encouraging public transport traffic congestion can be eased and air pollution reduced. We believe the Congress government can bring significant changes to the city by encouraging ordinary…

Much like the nurturing of our Puttenahalli Lake, the PNLIT concert featuring Padma Bhushan Sudha Ragunathan on 25th Feb. at MLR Convention Hall was a community event with several volunteers from the locality chipping in. Our heartfelt thanks to them, our donors, Jenesys Technologies, concert sponsor, and to Brigade Hospitality for the venue and accommodation for the artists.     Here's how the day unfolded ...   The lake and its premises had never looked as clean as it was when Smt. Sudha Ragunathan paid a visit on the morning of 25th Feb. After the visit of renowned ornithologist Zafar…

The Sudha Ragunathan Concert at MLR Convention Centre on 25th February 2017. had music and the lake at its core. Here's a review by A.K. Venkat, a resident of the lake neighbourhood and Carnatic vocalist.    Sudha Raghunathan sings for Puttenahalli Lake   Accompanied by on the Violin: Sri B V Raghavendra Rao on the Mridangam: Sri Neyveli Skanda Subramanian on the Morsing: Sri R Raman Venue: MLR Convention Centre, Brigade Millennium Date: Saturday 25th February 2017         Smt Sudha Raghunathan began the concert with the Varnam Ninnukori in the raga Vasantha, appropriately chosen with the season in mind. Rendering…