CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Bengaluru is home to Sandalwood, the Kannada film Industry. The industry produces 120-130 movies an year and has about 10% success rate like other major film industries of India. Unfortunately, unlike other film industries, Sandalwood is known for banning dubbing of content to Kannada. This unofficial ban on dubbing content effectively isolates Kannadigas who know only Kannada (approximately there are 2.5 to 3 crore Kannadigas who know only Kannada and no other language) from the sea of knowledge and entertainment that exists in other languages. A poster of Titanic, dubbed into Telugu. Pic courtesy: harithehero.blogspot.com We must note that the…

After a recent discussion on TV, I got the feeling that people hardly know what corruption is and generally share a feeling of despondency and lack of hope about reducing or eliminating it. However, corruption is a systemic failure like many others and can be and has been cured in many countries, and within countries, in many sectors. Over the last four years, anticorruption has been a significant part of my consultancy portfolio. Starting from my experience in ipaidabribe.com, a site that began to crowd-source corruption-related experiences of citizens, I have since worked in several countries and authored reports on…

Sweet Indrajao (Wrigtia tinctoria) is a small, deciduous tree with flowers that look like snow flakes. Native to India and Burma, Wrightia is named after a Scottish physician and botanist William Wright. The leaves of this tree yield a blue dye called Pala Indigo. The wood of this tree is used for making Channapatna toys. The wood is suitable for matchboxes, bobbins, engraving and printing-blocks, mathematical instruments and rulers. It is also suitable for stained wood inlay-work. Medicinal uses: A survey conducted showed that tribal people in Chhattisgarh district control diabetes with their own drugs prepared from plant sources proving…

Recently, there was an article in Citizen Matters by Ganga Madappa pointing to the fact the BMTC fares are higher than the distance indicates. I have been having a problem with this for some time now and given this opportunity, would like the share some information. As I understand it, BMTC buses are considered to be 'Stage Carriages' and their fares are governed by notifications put out by the government under the act. The latest notification that I could find dated 03-11-2010 on Maximum Fares for Stage Carriages in the State of Karnataka can be seen here: http://rto.kar.nic.in/Maxi%20rate%20for%20SC.pdf The notification…

Kudos to the Parliament and the Government for passing the Lokpal bill today. It goes along with a bouquet of legislation to combat corruption, starting with the Right to Information Act. Though Lokpal is a powerful tool, we still need to address the causes of the disease of corruption - electoral funding! 1. The reality of direct elections today is that large sum of money is required to reach out to the electorate and provide them with democratic information relating to their electoral choices. The official limits upon election expenses are irrational, barely meeting the appropriate levels of expenditure and…

The cancellation of the much awaited event, the fortnight-long Bangalore Book Fair, this year is a reflection of the state government’s inability to understand that good reading habits are important for its denizens. The fair at Palace Grounds was cancelled at the last-minute after the state Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) discovered a legal point on the venue in the light of the long-running battle between the heirs of the erstwhile Mysore rulers and the government on the ownership of Bangalore Palace Grounds. The purpose of any book fair is to create awareness about book culture in the…

Students of Inventure Academy, Sarjapura Road participated in the Namma Bengaluru Awards 2013 by nominating their heroes recently. What does BBMP stand for? Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike - Pat came the reply! What’s so unusual in this revelation? Well - nothing except that this came from a bunch of well meaning students in the prestigious Inventure Academy. If you thought today’s youngsters don’t care enough for their city, think again! They are aware of their surroundings and have kept their eyes, ears, heart and soul open in either contributing towards their city’s development or joining hands with those who are…

I am staying in a complex called Purva Panorama on B G Road Bangalore where we have 650 apartments. The time when no one was bothered or thought of doing segregation, we, Purva Panoramites, were way ahead in the process of segregation. We took our first baby step of Solid Waste Management in June 2011, right after a beautiful presentation by N S Ramakanth in our complex. Although there were not too many people present in the meeting as usual, we didn't waste time. We started  the project with just a few people in our team. Me, S.Venkatesh Kini,  Alok…

My write up last week attempted to quell some of the qualms one might have had about cycling to work in Bengaluru. In this sequel, we discuss some of the practical aspects. Okay, I am convinced - what do I do next ? 1. Visit a bike shop. There are a number of bike shops in Bangalore where you can get good quality bikes. Among the shops are: Decathlon - www.decathlon.in - Sarjapur Road - White field - Mysore Road. Pro Cycle - www.procycle.in - Indiranagar Bums on the Saddle - www.bumsonthesaddle.com - Jaynagar. They have recently opened a branch…

Will the experience of Campa Cola compound flat owners be a lesson to apartment owners in Bengaluru? The Akrama Sakrama scheme is creating havoc. Every builder flouts the sanctioned plan with impunity and there is no one to check. Eventually, the flat buyer suffers while the builder and corrupt officials profit from the illegality. The impression created by Akrama Sakrama is that illegality will be condoned later and therefore builders continue to build illegal structures and lure buyers. Most buyers trust the promises of builders and some, who know better, go ahead and buy believing that Akrama Sakrama will take…