CITIZEN JOURNALISM

This is the letter sent to the BBMP Commissioner on March 14th 2010. Dear Sir, It is observed in our area and confirmed by residents that while digging roads for the purpose of asphalting, workers using JCBs (earth movers) are showing exorbitant arrogance towards woes of residents.   Telephone cables and slabs placed by residents in front of their houses are unnecessarily removed even when the same is not coming inside the portion for asphalting and not replaced after the work. This puts lot of inconvenience and expenditure to hapless residents. No responsible official are available at the time of…

A pilot project of Zero Waste Management (ZWM) was introduced in Dollars Colony, RMV 2nd stage on March 1st 2009. However, just after a few days after its inception the residents' association of the area called for the project to shut down.Dr Meenakshi Bharath, gynecologist by profession and a social activist had taken the initiative to bring in this ZWM project in Dollars Colony. A go-ahead was given by the Dollars Colony residents asociation, SHOW. ZWM, synonymously called "Vellore Model", an initiative from C Srinivasan from Vellore, has been in the action for years now in Vellore district in Tamil Nadu.…

The wait is almost over – after years of staring at the ramps of the Whitefield-Kadugodi railway bridge that went nowhere, we are happy to report that the first piece of steel girder over the rail lines was put in place at 1.30 am on March 26th, 2010. The sandblasted and painted steel girder section installed across the ramps, above the electrical lines. Pic: Satinder Randhawa. The work of placing the steel girder over the Whitefield Railway overbridge started just past midnight after the electric lines were disconnected from mains over most of the tracks. Two tracks on the Sai…

Koramangala Smartvote is a campaign aimed at increasing voter turnout for BBMP elections and helping residents make an informed choice.  Koramangala Smart Vote Volunteers have been conducting a door to door campaign since November 2009, to reach out to residents in Koramangala Ward 151. Apart from this mass outreach campaigns have been conducted at Christ College, Jyothi Nivas College,  Rotary Club of Koramangala, Ladies Clubs in Koramangala, CPWD quarters, Koramangala Club and at other social gatherings. Door to door campaign will be continued till around elections time. Additionally mass outreach events are being planned at Koramangala mosque and other social…

The three days of music and dance at Brigade MLR Convention centre, JP Nagar was a thorough treat for all music and dance lovers. Hats off to Manasi Prasad (Head - Music Project, Brigade Enterprises) and K N Sashikiran (Founder and Director of Carnatica) who made this event possible.On February 26th evening a grand inaugural concert by Ganesh and Kumaresh (violin) and party marked the beginning of the Utsav. The duo presented a remarkable blend of melody and synchronisation. The theme was "Six seasons". The first Vasantha Rithu in Bilahari Raga was meticulously executed and was followed by Greeshma Rithu…

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ( BJJ ) saw its opening in Bangalore this month at a two day workshop, organised by Independent Shootfighters Inc. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, is among the popular fighting techniques found in the Mixed Martial Arts scene.The seminar was conducted by Amit Bhalla from Los Angeles, who has been training at the Beverly Hills, Jiu Jitsu Club. The two-day seminar, conducted on the 6th and 7th of February covered various self-defence situations and number of ground fighting techniques and principles. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, is among the popular fighting techniques found in the Mixed Martial Arts scene.Brazilian Jiu Jitsu…

It was a much awaited event for all the climbers in and around Bengaluru. Some participants even travelled from other cities to attend the Rock Climbing fest organised at Turahalli on February 21st, 2010.Turahalli hillock is a place with lot of boulders and wildlife just off Kanakapura road and around 8 kilo-meters from Banashankari Temple in Bangalore South. I had visited Turahalli couple of times before along with my climber friends, but I had not tried much of the climbing at Turahalli. The whole effort was to promote the sport and make more number of people joining the climbing community.…

I got an oral summons from the Frazer Town traffic Police station on November 22nd 2009. While I kept racking my brain to remember if there were any unpaid parking tickets, I was shocked to find out that my car number was cited in a hit-and-run case on Nov 8. It made even less sense because on that day, I was not even in town. I was traveling to Mumbai the entire week on business!I took relevant hotel/ flight reservation details to the police station. The complainant did not show up. The police felt convinced that I was not involved.…

Cops were wiring me up with two tiny hidden video-cameras, two audio recorders, stuffing thousands of rupees in my pockets and briefing me like a military commander does his cadets prior to an offensive. One pocket had 1,000-rupee notes sullied with detective powder that would turn pink as evidence if dipped in treated water. A cameraman was recording this process. Had it not been for missing flood-lights and makeup artists, it could have been mistaken for a 007-style film shooting.This was on Wednesday, February 3rd. Inside the Lokayukta building, with instructions from Additional Director General of Police Rupak K Dutta…

Close to 500 employees from companies within the Salarpuria Softzone campus including National Instruments, Airvana Akamai, SonicWall and so on were treated to a collection of bikes from Track & Trail and SportsXS on January 22nd.It was the first of the cycling workshops conducted by Bangalore Bikers Club (BBC) in 2010. The workshop also provided a platform for existing bikers within the campus to know each other and may be start group commutes and ask for cyclist friendly facilities within the campus. Pic credit: Krish. Personal cycles from members of BBC were displayed for participants to check out. It was…