Blogs

Our good friend Avinash is a relieved man these days. His elderly father is just back home from hospital, after a debilitating bout of dengue fever. Avinash's dad is lucky to be recovering, because in AECS Layout near Whitefield where he lives, there are increasing cases of dengue fever. “My parents' neighbour, a woman, died of the fever. Now her 18-year-old son is battling dengue,” says a worried Avinash. And I know of other people affected by the virus. In my son's school, his class teacher's five-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, are slowly recovering (as I write this),…

18 corporators of BBMP became members of the first Metropolitan Planning Committee of the Bangalore region. This is an important and hard-won step forward in getting a proper planning body for the city. There are many drawbacks in the way the MPC has been constituted, but at least we have an institution that is supposed to do the planning now. Making it work effectively is another ballgame altogether, and we must work with the State government to properly devolve powers to this body and give it some real teeth to fix the city. Around the country, only a few MPCs…

One Bengaluru for Lakes (OBL) is conducting a seminar "One Bengaluru, One Voice, One Demand" on 21st September 2014 at Senate Hall, Central College. Please attend the seminar to get an update of the current situation of Bangalore's lakes, what the Government proposes to do, the idea of One Bengaluru for Lakes, and the key demands and action plan sought from the Government. Open to the public. No registration needed.  Please also visit www.greenpeacex.in/p/OBL and sign the demand to ask "ASK KARNATAKA CM TO IMPLEMENT 6 STEPS TO SAVE BANGALORE LAKES".    

Another ‘Cycle Day’ was successfully conducted by Yelahanka United Environment Association (YUVA) in partnership with Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), Urban Development Department, Government of Karnataka and BCOS - in Yelahanka New Town next to Allalasandra Lake this 14th September 2014, Sunday morning (6:30 to 10:30 a.m.).   The last Cycle Day was held a couple of months ago and can be read about here. Cycle Days are being organized with the objective of popularizing cycling within the locality thereby helping in reducing motorized traffic, reduce pollution, reduce fuel consumption and improve health and fitness.   Around 4500 citizens including Honorable Speaker of…

A week has sped by but the story telling event we had on Sept. 6th in collaboration with The Storywallahs is so vivid in our minds as if it took place, well, today. The occasion for special too - celebrating International Literacy Day.  The day was murky from morning and when it began to rain at around 2 p.m., we were relieved. If it rains now surely it won't during the story telling. We reached the lake well in advance, set out the registration counter and ... it rained. We took the table to the gazebo, wiped it dry and…

Bellandur Buzz…Issue # 18September 12th 2014 Shared fortnightly by: bellandur-forum@googlegroups.com Mandur Landfill closes on December 1st With barely three months to go for the closure of Mandur landfill, pressure is building up on BBMP to manage city's waste responsibly. Special Commissioner (Municipal Solid Waste) Darpan Jain is banking on citizen's co-operation and the top Palike officials’ efforts. BBMP has taken up segregation drive in Bellandur ward on pilot basis. Kasa Muktha Bellandur, citizen volunteer group is proactively working with the BBMP officials in this respect. He hopes this model can be replicated in the other 198 wards with time. A new…

There will not be water supply in some areas of Bengaluru on September 18 and 19, as Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is conducting emergency maintenance of pumps and electrical circuits, in Cauvery 1st and 2nd stage water supply system, in T K Halli, Harohalli and Thathaguni. The affected areas, according to a press note from BWSSB, are: Jayanagar J P Nagar Basavanagudi Chamarajpet Mysore Road Wilson Garden Hombegowda Nagar Shanti Nagar Neelasandra K R Market area Johnson market and surrounding areas  Related ArticlesBribe the valveman to cut water supply, and make money selling water!How much are you…

The road between C V Raman House and MES College is near-empty and traffic-free. This makes it an ideal location for a food street. Pic: Ramesh Sreekantan Which Malleshwaram resident is not familiar with the Chinese food stalls set up every evening on 15th Cross, between 8th Main and 10th Main? They occupy the footpath in front of Panchavati, the house of the well-known Nobel Prize winning Physicist, C V Raman. The food stalls, which started with an auto rickshaw selling `Hot hot Chinese food' in the evening, have now increased. Now there is a stall serving meals at lunchtime,…

"If there is magic on earth, it is contained in water." - Loren Eiseley Bangalore Film Society and Deep Focus cinema along with the partners of the film festival; Rolling Frames Film Society and Birdspot – Bird Habitat Observers, with support from Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, welcome you to the 9th edition of Voices from the Waters International Traveling Film Festival on Water - a community outreach event on water in everyday life  addressing the most important issues – potable water for house hold needs, agriculture and industry. Festival Venue: National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) Bangalore, Palace Road, Vasanth Nagar, Bangalore Festival…

Today, I’m writing about the vitally important topic of whether Indian cinemas should have intermissions just for the sake of tradition. (Spoiler alert: I don’t think they should.) I watched my first movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, in Bengaluru at Forum Mall about two months ago. As an American, everything has been new in India, but this cinematic experience felt familiar as I sat in a comfortable chair absorbed by the on-screen action. Then the lights turned on abruptly. The screen image flickered and froze before turning green. I thought the projector had broken. But it was only…