Blogs

If Dussehra 2013 was unique for PNLIT with a South City resident replicating Puttenahalli Lake in her Golu, this year it was a lady from Brigade Millennium who took us by surprise. Mrs. Anjana Shivakumar wanted to donate to PNLIT, the money she would otherwise have spent on gifts for her guests invited for Haldi kumkum!    What better celebration can there be of Mother Nature than by taking care of a lake? Mrs. Shivakumar and her 40 friends chanted Lalitha Sahasarnama invoking the Mother Goddess. When it ended, she announced that she was giving Rs. 5000 to PNLIT towards nurturing…

Trinity Woods and Acres is a 7.5 acres residential community, near Sarjapur Road. As part of Rainwater Harvesting implementation, it was decided to dig a 6ft diameter and 40ft deep recharge well at one of the lowest points in the layout that is near their currently yielding borewell (which is adjacent to Sarjapura Road). Dewatering with a bucket does not work out. Work proceeded uneventfully till we struck water at about 9ft. The water had no odour, looked clean, with pH 7.5 and TDS 1100ppm. The water seemed to continuously flow in at about 6-10 litres per minute. 6ft of…

In most democracies around the world, citizens have forgotten that there was once a time when their governments did not exist. At such times, other citizens - much like themselves - banded together to create governments in their own imagination. They debated what their countries should look like, framed Constitutions and laws, and put together various kinds of Republics in which we live now. 'Creating' government is taught in our history books like a one-time event, but in fact it is something that needs constant renewal. Of course it is not sensible to re-imagine everything every year, and some things…

Today, on occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi and the Clean India Mission - Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) organized a lake cleaning program around the Allalasandra Lake in Yelahanka.   Dr Lakshmi from Karuna International Bangalore, along with SWMRT, organized a Poster exhibition that depicted the effect of plastic on the streets on cows that eat them, and solid waste management.   Over 1000 local citizens, including MLA Mr S.R. Vishwanath and Corporator Mr Muniraju participated in the program. The storm water drains and the roads leading to the lake were cleaned by BBMP workers. The participants took a pledge to keep the…

On 26th September 2014, over 200 National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers from Government First Grade College, Yelahanka attended a five-hour workshop on Lake Conservation. The workshop was organised by Mr Govindraju, Program Co-ordinator NSS and conducted by members of Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) - Mr Ravi Gangadharan, Mr Jagadeesh Giri and Mr Jagadeesh KT, supported by Ms Deepa. Mr Muniraju, Corporator of BBMP Ward 4 and Dr HR Prabha, Principal of the college were present at the event. YUVA members spoke on how lakes can solve the problem of water shortage and excess rainfall which floods the city. They presented the methodology adopted…

Today, 28th September 2014, Bangalore is playing host to the first ever Red Bull Flugtag in India. Red Bull Flugtag (Flugtag=flight day) is an event organized by Red Bull in which competitors attempt to fly home-made, size- and weight-limited, human-powered flying machines (max 10m/30 ft, 150 kg/330 lbs). The flying machines are usually launched off a pier about 30 feet (9.1 m) high into the sea (or suitably sized reservoir of water). Most competitors enter for the entertainment value, and the flying machines rarely fly at all. The first Red Bull Flugtag competition was held in 1991 in Vienna, Austria. It was such a success that it has been held…

Dr M B Krishna writes:   The birthday of Dr Joseph George who started the group birdwatching activities in Bangalore falls on the first of October. It is now over two years since his demise. So it was thought to have a memorial talk for theoccasion. Since Dr George did so much to show that non full time professionals too could be contributing to our knowledge of birds, it was thought Shyamal would be the best person to give the talk for the day. Especially so since Shyamal's recent visits to the museums in London and Tring have given him new perspectives and hearing bits and…

Pic courtesy: CME and The Bangalore Conservatory If music be the food of life, play on... So said the Bard. What if music is life to you? What if, only the glorious notes and the wondrous chords make sense, what if everything else to do with everyday living, means nothing? What if you are Samuel Marcus? Samuel, or Sammy, as he is called, is 27 years old. He has an older sibling and he has loving parents. And he has, in the words of people who have heard him, the 'voice of an angel'. Sammy, you see, is blessed with…

Bellandur Buzz…Issue # 19September 26th 2014 Shared fortnightly by: bellandur-forum@googlegroups.com   Bhoomi Utsav at Prakriya School Like every year, 2nd october, Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated by Bhoomi network as a day long festival of organic food and produce, folk art and craft, music, dance and talk… Come connect with nature and hang out with friends amidst lovely trees and gardens! The festival features Stalls selling mouth watering organic eats and produce. Pollinated seeds and saplings for your kitchen garden. Talk sessions on composting, gardening and more. Crafts, music, dance and storytelling for kids. Venue: Prakriya Green Wisdom School campus, No:70, Chikkanayakana Halli Road,…

You are already composting your waste in aerobic method. As the logical next step meant to use the home-made compost, you have set up an organic vegetable garden. By now you are addicted to the fun of growing, eating, composting and re-growing. You want to maximise the yield, but don't want to spend on it. You have heard vermicompost is good for plants, but when you check the price for curiosity, here is how it looks.  On ebay, people sell a kg of vermicompost for 150 rupees! Sometimes it is even more - Rs 150 for 500 grams! In some…