GENRE: Explainers

It's election month in the city and BBMP's revenue officers, who take on the electoral role of Returning Officers (RO) for the State Election Commission (SEC) are busy accepting nomination papers from contestants throughout the city.For the past three days the SEC has been reeling tens of numbers of nominations each day and a look at their numbers indicated there are more nominations than candidates. Even though some major parties have not declared their ticket lists, several hopefuls have filed their nominations with the ROs.Citizen Matters caught up returning officer C Thimmiah of R T Nagar to ask him a…

BE A COMMUNITY JOURNALIST! Join our public initiative to collect and share candidate information. Download the questionnaire and collect the info about BBMP candidates. You can use candidate affidavit, candidate supplied material, and/or speak to the candidate to gather the details. We will be continually uploading details as they are available right here. Keep watching! What is the election schedule? March 7th 2010 - Election code of conduct comes into force March 8th 2010 - Notification will be issued March 15th 2010 - Last date for filing nominations March 17th 2010 - Scrutiny of nominations filed March 19th 2010 -…

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa presented the state budget in the assembly on March 5th. What did the city allocated get in 2010-11? See our list below. ALLOCATIONS FOR BANGALORE Infrastructure For the next three years, Rs 18,872 crores has been earmarked for improving the transport system in Bangalore through metro rail, mono rail, roads. These funds will also be used to improve water and drainage facilities. The city's roads, footpaths and work on grade separator projects will be taken up by the BBMP at an expenditure of Rs 3000 crores. For commissioning of the first phase of the Metro…

Which are the schools in Bengaluru for children living with autism?Academy for Severe Handicap and Autism (ASHA)L-76/A, (Opposite to L-50) Kirloskar colony,HBCS 3rd Stage, 4th Block, Basaveswarnagar,Phone: +91 80 23225279 / 23230357Email: info[at]ashaforautism[dot]comSunshine Autism Trust280, 6th Cross, Domlur Layout,Phone: +91 80 65360892Email: rao_vanitha[at]yahoo[dot]com, Sunshineautism[at]vsnl[dot]netApoorva Centre for Autismc/o Lions Club of Sarakki,21st main, 1st cross, Marenahalli,J P Nagar Phase-2,Phone: +91 80 65710445 / 9243195154 / 9845076140Email: apoorva{at]SAIautismcenter[dot]orgRainbow Centre For Autism Spectrum DisorderSpastics Society of KarnatakaNew #31, 5th Cross, 5th MainIndira NagarPhone: 25280935, 25281831Communication DEALL47 Hutchins Road II CrossSarvajna Nagara (Cooke's Town)Bangalore 560 084Phone: 91 080 2580 0826Email: info[at]communicationdeall[dot]orgWhich are the support…

This is the final Bengaluru (BBMP) ward reservations list for the city council elections 2010 released by the Government of Karnataka on 3 March 2010. For the convenience of readers, Citizen Matters has sorted this list in three ways - by ward number, community (BC, SC, ST, women, general) and ward name.Key: BC-A = Backward Class, Category A, BC-B = Backward Class-Category B, G = General, W = Women, SC = Scheduled Caste, ST = Scheduled Tribe. RESERVATIONS BY WARD NUMBER  Ward No. Ward Name Reservation Type       1 Kempe Gowda BC-A 2 Choudeshwari BC-A, W 3 Atooru…

Governance Should you care about this plan? Read our news report here.1. Create new Bengaluru legislation that supersedes /encompasses all Bengaluru/Municipal body legislations like BWSSB Act, BBMP act etc - Bengaluru Region Governance Act, (BRGA) 2009.2. Establish the Bangalore Spatial Information Centre (BASIC).3. Strengthen the Lok Ayukta Act. 4. Amend the Karnataka Transparency Act.5. The Bengaluru City Report card to be presented by the BMRDA/MPC with Chief Minister as Chairman.6. Launch official city website www.nammabengaluru.gov.in7. Establish the Institute of Urban Planning and Governance (IUPG).  Roads, Traffic Management and Transportation1. Establish ongoing transport demand growth study and research.2. Make a single…

From yoga classes to aqua aerobics, kickboxing to Krav Maga or doing time on the treadmill, fitness now has interesting options to choose from.  Krav maga is a form of martial arts developed by the Israeli defense forces. The same goes for health clubs and gyms. This makes it even more important for the consumer to be aware of what they are opting for and what to be conscious about. WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A GYMa. Check if the gym has a physiotherapist, nutritionist, certified and well-informed instructorb. Speak to existing gym members for their feedbackc. Most gyms offer…

Most of us dutifully place the garbage bag outside the front door every morning or night and rush back in to line the dustbin with a fresh plastic bag. With this, we think we have done our job with waste disposal and the rest is a headache better dealt by the local municipality. Later in the day, when we see overflowing bins, garbage strewn all over the roads and pavements, we criticise the corrupt bureaucracy without losing an instant. It doesn’t even cross our minds that we too are to be blamed for the sordid state of affairs. Digest this:…

The long overdue city (BBMP) council elections have finally been announced by the State Election Commission (SEC). After a gap of three years with no council, Bengaluru will elect a council on February 21st 2010. The last elections to the BBMP took place way back in 2001. New dates for BBMP council elections. The SEC announced the calendar of events wherein election code of conduct will come into force on January 15th. The notification will be issued on February 1st and last date for filing nomination papers is February 8th. The nominations will be reviewed the next day, February 9th.…

During the second half this year – July-October in particular - as well during the previous two years, BBMP notified various roads in Bengaluru and outskirts for widening. BBMP’s notifications have appeared in Kannada and English dailies.The widening is being under BBMP’s transfer of development rights (TDR) scheme. If you are slated to loose property on the road because of widening, you are entitled to 1.5 times the square footage lost through a development rights certificate (DRC), which the BBMP says it will issue. For more on this, see our articles BBMP’s TDR scheme has few takers, many left clueless,…