CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Nandini curd and milk packets bought on the same day. Both show different dates, with no clarity on whether it is use-by date or date of manufacture. Pic: Shree DN Milk has benign associations – of innocence, goodness and wholesomeness, unlike other (invigorating) drinks. But Nandini milk, marketed by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF which boasts of being one of the largest in south India) is calling those images of wholesomeness into question with tactics that flout statutory guidelines. KMF issues clarification, agrees to put 'Use By' on stamping Additional Director, Quality Control Division, KMF, has issued the following clarification…

With Ganesha Habba right around the corner, preparations to celebrate the festival are in full swing. Traditionally, the idol would be sculpted out of earth from river banks. After worshipping divinity in this earth icon, it was returned back to the earth by immersing it in a nearby water body. This represented the cycle of nature, from creation to dissolution. However, with the advent of Plaster of Paris (POP), things changed. Idols are now made of materials that are detrimental to the environment. POP idols should never be immersed in water; it is insoluble in water and releases a host…

  I recently discovered this site and it was a pleasure to find a forum to engage with fellow residents of Bengaluru city. While I am not a Kannadiga, or indeed a localite, I have been in Bengaluru (on and off) for a total of about 11 years now. I woke up this morning to several news items, across India, about the horrendous behavior of men. Eve-teasing... what not...? It got me thinking... Isn't Bengaluru too a victim of this? I have never understood why (predominantly) Indian men, do not seem to understand the difference between staring, letching, ogling and…

Just concluded BBMP Elections saw ward no 198 - Hemmigepura stand second in voters turnout. This ward reported 59.4% voter turnout, to stand next to Siddapura where 62.14% voted were polled. This is because, various layout residents of Kanakapura road are together and having a good net work among themselves. They have prepared a vision document for their aspiring corporators and submitted when they met them during the election campaign. The Residents Welfare Associations together decided to ensure they followup with their residents and ensure they go out and vote. Infact many associations helped the residents to find out their name…

  Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka (CEO-KA) has published the list of applications for inclusion in the electoral rolls, ahead of BBMP elections in Bengaluru. 3,66,640 of 4,65,377 applications are approved. However, a search for voter names (with relative names) as given in the list show that more than 99% of these names are not added to the voter list for the forthcoming BBMP elections. Either the citizens are not included as voters though their applications are shown approved or the names are entered differently from what is shown in the approved list. Of 58,097 applications for deletion of names…

Members of the Indiranagar 2nd Stage Residents Welfare Association met to discuss what they would like to see happening in Ward 80-Hoysala Nagar and Ward 89-Jogupalya. Here is their wishlist for their neighbourhood from corporators aspirants. Their demands are common those of citizens in many other wards in the city - better waste management, safe passage for pedestrians, better sanitation. Here's what they had to say.  Sewarage drains and moris The sewarage drains in the residential layout of Indiranagar 2nd Stage, 10th and the 10th A Main crosses from 1st to 10th have become clogged. The drain pipes are very old,…

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Bangalore in association with Bangalore-based NGO Saahas, organised its flagship event called ‘Walk-a-Thon’ for creating awareness about Zero Waste on August 9th at LalBagh Botanical Garden. The walk was organised to raise cognizance and sensitise people about this issue which has been plaguing our society for far too long and needs to be addressed immediately. The event was organised by Udyam, the social responsibility cell, in association with Rang, the cultural committee of NMIMS. The day started with a corporate event at the institute, where the guest speakers and participants from the NGO came…

50% women reservation for BBMP council, gimmick or empowerment? Pic: Abhishek Angad Dear Rahul Ji, You breezed in and out of Bengaluru warning the Chief Minister and City Ministers of serious action in case Indian National Congress (INC) loses the BBMP Elections. Good to know that you are talking tough and telling the Ministers who are from Bengaluru City to win or get ready to be axed. There is no doubt whatsoever, that if all the INC MLAs and Ministers from Bengaluru work in the interest of the party, INC will get an absolute majority in BBMP Elections. But at…

Traffic at the Marathahalli-Sarjapur Outer Ring Road. File pic.  It has been two years since I wrote this on the sorry state of commuters and residents along the Outer-Ring-Road. Fast forward to the present, nothing much has changed. It might in fact have gotten worse as more and more bottlenecks have sprung up. In these two years, more people have added their own cars to the roads, more buildings have come up and more companies have moved in to the stretch between Sarjapura Road and Doddanakundi. Ecospace, a word that now mainly conjures up images of traffic jams when heard…

The Bengaluru City Police and Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) are proud to announce completion of the first phase of the CCTV project where 42 out of the 104 Police Stations have been equipped with CCTV cameras and surveillance in an effort to bring about greater transparency and make citizens, especially women and children feel safe when they visit a police station. The Bengaluru City Police and B.PAC with support from various city-based organisations have worked together for over a year on this project, long before the Supreme Court directed the Central Government and all states to install CCTV cameras…