Blogs

Music from Kannada films continue to be very popular, despite media coverage of the challenged state of the Kannada film industry.Much of the credit has to go to music directors who continue to innovate, by combining elements of classical music with fast-paced rhythm and lyrics that appeal to the masses. Movie songs are seldom based on a single raga and often are a mix of several ragas. Let's explore some Kannada movie songs that are based on Indian classical ragas. Hamsageethe was a ground-breaking movie that featured classical music from Shyama Shastri's compositions to Jayadeva's Ashtapathis. The movie was based on the…

At the end of their tireless journey, one through light and dark, these deflated pieces of rubber lie awaiting another journey to serve mankind. At a tyre scrap yard near Kalasipalya market Recycling of used tyres has huge potential in India, considering the fact that India is the largest reclaimed rubber producer after China. The recycled products can be used as rubber crumbs, in automobiles, molded products, the cement industry, the footwear industry, to name a few. With a few good initiatives, the market has a huge potential for growth, including export options.

Halanayanahalli- off Sarjapur road is like many other parts of the city depends on groundwater for water needs. Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Center (KSNDMC) has put up a weather station at the Halanayakanahalli Gram Panchayat Office. We obtained the rainfall data from KSNDMC and here are the results... 878.5 mm from April to October 2015. Wonder, how much the total would be if November rainfall data is added.   Month Rainfall (mm) Rainfall days Highest rainfall event (mm) April 111.5 12 28.5 May 73.5 10 20 June 120 18 44.5 July 55.5 12 29 August 186.5 15 45.5 September 171.5 12…

The unprecedented heavy rains of the past few weeks has exposed the vulnerabilty of our erstwhile "City of Lakes" yet again... the vulnerability to flooding, primarily due to haphazard growth and inappropriate land use changes. The filling up of several lakes and the exploitation of the ones left back, coupled with similar mistreatment of the land in the immediate vicinity of their catchment areas has had undesired effects on Bangalore.     Mahadevpura Parisara Samrakshane Mattu Abhivrushi Samiti (MAPSAS) has been working very hard over the past few years to keep Kasavanahalli and Kaikondarahalli lakes, among others, alive and thriving. The…

So, did you read about what happened in Mali; that, there were 27 dead bodies after Malian commandos stormed the besieged luxury hotel to free those trapped inside? Incidentally, there were 20 Indians among the roughly 170 people taken hostage by those terrorists. Did you read about it, exclaim over it, anguish over it? Neither did I. On the other hand, I found myself horror-struck by the Paris attacks, I even cried watching that video of a gunman mowing down innocent café-patrons; and I couldn't bear looking at photos of the pregnant woman who was hanging on for dear life…

Can't find a clean public toilet? Consider using a vacant plot. Civic sense? What on earth is that?  Vacant plots in our city are considered as nothing but garbage dump yards.  And if they are under litigation, they are ignored by the concerned parties for obvious reasons. The civic authorities don’t seem to care, and irresponsible citizens and commercial establishments like hotels and pubs begin disposing their waste in these sites in the wee hours of the night or early mornings; sometimes even in broad daylight. This empty plot has become a garbage dump over the years. Pic: Praveen S…

Inviting nature lovers to plant 300 saplings at Kasavanahalli Lake.  This is the fourteenth lake where SayTrees will be doing tree plantation. Join this vibrant tree-planting group in its effort to increase the green cover of Bangalore and also save our lakes.  Date : 21st November 2015 Time : 8:30 A.M. Venue : Kasavanahalli Lake, Harlur Road Contact : Durgesh @ 9008659007   Please register at: http://bit.ly/1WYZNx1    

Update from People's Campaign for Right to Water-Karnataka <cawpka@gmail.com> 24th Nov 2015 The National Law School of India University & The People’s campaign for Right to Water invites you to a brain storming on   EVOLVING ROBUST LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SAFEGUARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER BODIES  10 AM to 1 PM 26 November 2015at the National Law School of India University, Nagarbhavi Bangalore The discussants includeShri. Ranjan Chatterjee IAS, Expert Member of National Green TribunalProf. Ramesh, NLSIUProf. Sairam Bhat, NLSIUShri. Ramacharya Puranik, Deputy Director, LDAShri. Rajendran Prabhakar, PCRW – Karnataka The brain storming is being held to collectively and urgently address the issue of the…

When you saw a teenager glued to a video game, did you think, "That kid is going to make seven million bucks!" That's what people like Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie) and Sean McLoughlin (Jacksepticeye) are making today. They play video games all day and then upload videos of themselves playing to the internet. And you thought playing video games was a waste of time, didn't you? What these guys do isn't easy, by the way - getting subscribers is probably the hardest thing on earth. Editing eight-minute-videos to make them fun to watch for us—the average attention span is probably about…

Whitefield. I know the very mention of that name is starting to remind people about all the things that are going wrong in that part of town. In my recent visits to that side too, I have been surprised by the degree to which the city has collapsed over there, and wondering what can be done to retrieve the situation. Rather than continue the litany of complaints, I thought I would put together the things that can be done to tackle the problem, initially focusing on roads and transport. A beeline of vehicles waiting on Varthur Main Road, near Kundalahalli…