CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Sex worker unions codemned the step taken by the Karnataka State government for forming Jayamala Committee to conduct a survey of sex workers by making false promises of free housing and loans. Karnataka Sex workers Union organized a protest in Townhall recently, against the exclusion of Sex workers organisations by Jayamala Committee. Sex workers and Human Rights activists participated in this protest. Sex workers protested near Town Hall recently. Pic: Manohar Elavarthi The General Secretary of the Karnataka Sex Workers Union Bharathi said: “The Government of Karnataka formed a committee headed by Smt. Jayamala to study the situation of Sex…

Thousands of dogs serve our country as part of the Indian Army, the Police, the Railway Police Force, CISF, etc. About 1,200 serve in just the Army. At VOSD (The Voice of Stray Dogs), we call them Patriot Dogs. We have been keeping these dogs discharged by the Karnataka, Kerala, and Railway Police Forces among others. Sandhya from Mangalore Police. Pic:VOSD Patriot Dogs are trained in various specialties like explosive detection, tracking down insurgents or terrorists, and mounting massive search-and-rescues. From the tender age of just two months, they serve our country through the prime of their lives - usually…

On any normal weekday morning, if you take a peek into Google maps with Traffic on, and zoom into the East of Bengaluru, you can see some dark lines forming around Tin Factory. This gets input from two green lines – the Old Madras Road and the Outer Ring Road from Kalyan Nagar. The ORR from Kalyan Nagar used to be a mess, but these days things seem to be in some sort of control. This dark line extends all the way till the KR Puram Railway station, becoming green again as traffic rushes out from that point, like kids…

Air pollution has always been a mainstream concern with an underwhelming response towards remediating the situation. More recently, the interest has been re-ignited in India with several Indian cities having the highest levels of air pollution in the world. In addition, a report estimates over 650,000 deaths in India in 2015 due to outdoor (ambient) air pollution alone, and an even higher number due to indoor air pollution (1.2 million). These are only mortality estimates, and the impact on morbidity is a lot more widespread. News articles on air pollution and its impacts in Bengaluru are usually based on studies…

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…

BBMP contract workers protested in front on BBMP on Womens' Day. Even as the BBMP had organised exhibitions and other programs for Women’s day, more than a thousand women contract Powrakarmikas of Bengaluru gathered at the BBMP head office to ask the BBMP, why these working women were being denied their rights. Workers from Indiranagar, RT Nagar, Koramanagala, Hegganahalli, Kengeri, Ramamurthy nagar, Gandhinagar, Banaswadi, Yelahanka and several other areas, braved threats from contractors and participated in the protest. The Contractor of Horamavu and Rammurthynagar has even threatened to fire the workers for being part of the protest. Students, several activists…

It was 11.25 am on a hot Thursday morning. I had been sitting on a hard wooden stool for roughly 70 minutes at that point and my butt was uncomfortably numb. There was no end in sight to my vigil. I was waiting for a notary, whom I didn’t know from Adam, to issue me a signed official document (on a Rs 20 stamp paper issued by the government, no less!) certifying I was who I claimed to be. All this, so that I could move a step forward in getting my residential address changed on my driving license. If…

It started off as a typical day. The autowallah announced the meter doesn't work as we entered the godawful intersection. I asked for him to cross it and stop. He offered to drop me at my destination and take what I give since I go this route to work daily and must know what it costs. I agreed despite my better judgement and as soon as we reached, he demanded double. I gave him the usual and started walking off, he grabbed my hand trying to stop me and then followed me into the Kamat where I went to grab…

Send it back to where it came from... after it has been thoroughly segregated and composted, of course. We’re talking about sending the biomass part of the waste a city generates back to the soil. This would ensure the recycling of nutrients, creating closed economies as is the need of the hour, and virtually trigger off a positive domino effect. It remains a fact that we are a country with a rich history of recycling, the returning of nutrients in the way that the Karnataka State Agriculture Department is proposing plays to that history. The department has proposed that the…

Pillars on the East-West Metro corridor will see a unique makeover in near future. The Ugly Indian is partnering with Government of Karnataka, BBMP and BMRCL (Namma Metro) for the Vijayanagara Vybhava initiative - transforming 6kms of Metro pillars and medians in Bengaluru with a Hampi-Vijayanagara theme! COME AND BE PART OF the inaugural spotfix this Saturday at 9am. All are welcome! Right outside Vijayanagar Metro Station, Bengaluru. Details and registration here: https://www.facebook.com/events/414628052207391/ Facebook page Karnataka Government Updates has more details. The post says: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) are working on…