GENRE: In Focus

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBBMP) on February 17th 2014 presented a Budget of Rs 7773.08 crore for 2014-15. However, there are not many new projects, while the emphasis is made on paying pending bills and continuing spill over works. Debt-ridden cash-strapped BBMP had come under fire in last July for presenting an imaginative Budget of Rs 8498 crore. Out of the expected Rs 8445,26 crore, BBMP could collect only Rs 3208.95 crore. This reduced the estimated expenditure for 2013-14 to Rs 3236.15 crore, and the pending payments and announced works in the last Budget spilled over to the 2014-15 Budget.…

Plan outlay - State Budget 2014-15. Chart courtesy: Budget document Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's pro-agricultural, pro-poor Budget seems to concentrate more on the rest of Karnataka, but it hasn't neglected Bangalore totally. The allocation to the city seems to focus more on addressing infrastructural problems than anything else. Two major elevated corridors - one to smoothen the airport traffic and another to ease the pressure on outer ring road, will be major step towards reducing travelling time for Northern and Western parts of the city. But these also mean that the city will lose some more precious green cover. The Budget…

The Chord Road, or 'West of Chord' Road as it is popularly known, is an important road linking Tumkur Road in the North to Mysore Road in the South Bengaluru. As the name suggests it is a 'chord' — a straight line joining two points on a circle — cutting across the ever expanding circle that is Bangalore. Unlike most roads in Bangalore, when it was built several years ago a lot of planning went in to it — the road is a wide double road with service  roads on either sides. It had a beautiful canopy of Gulmohar and Rain…

Off late, there has been a huge confusion on the cable TV networks across the country, including Bengaluru, with implementation of set top box. Many cable TV subscribers are not able to understand the development in this direction. Here is an attempt to throw light on this ongoing issue. In 1991, the Indian government started a series of economic reforms including the liberalisation of the broadcasting industry, opening it up to cable television. This led to an explosion in the Indian cable TV industry. The Cable TV Act was passed in 1995. With the advent of technology, the cable service providers…

The State Ministry of Forests, Ecology and Environment has assured that the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority will be reconstituted within a month and clearances given to the mixed development project coming up between the Bellandur and Agara lakes would be reviewed. The assurance was given in the meeting conducted by Upa Lokayukta, Subhash Adi on Friday January 17th 2014. The Member Secretary of Ministry of Forests, Ecology and Environment, Ramachandran who was also a part of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, was summoned to the meeting, to investigate the alleged irregularities by Mantri Developers on the land between…

People in Bengaluru can now heave a sigh of relief. According to draft rule notification of Akrama Sakrama, all buildings which are completed and have occupation certificate or PID Numbers issued shall be eligible for regularisation under these rules. Even other buildings are eligible, subjected to certain conditions. Akrama Sakrama application (application for regularisation of unauthorized developments) consists Part-I, Part-II and Part-III. Part-I: For the regularisation of plot in an un-authorised sub-divided land / layout. Part-II: For regularising the land use violations. Part-III: For the regularisation of unlawful buildings. Submit the completed application form with the documents required within three…

Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department’s interim report on the alleged KPSC recruitment scam has indicted various officials exposed in the TV9 sting operation a few months ago, in the alleged demand for ‘under-the-table’ money from KAS aspirants. The investigation was carried out after a FIR was filed by the Department of Public Administration and Reforms (DPAR). The report by CID of Karnataka confirms large scale malpractice, corruption and favouritism in the selection of Grade A Gazetted Probationary Exams of 2011. Apart from the eight people named in the FIR, CID has found out the involvement of many others who acted as…

Like every other year, 2013 has been eventful. When one thinks of the big things that took place in Bengaluru this year, citizen-led initiatives such as the lake rejuvenation movement, Whitefield Rising and everyday heroes who shone, stand apart. They are indeed a reason for celebration. Then there are those which we may very well want to brush under the carpet, but cannot as a result of their impact they have on our lives - the state of roads, the multiple pothole related deaths, women’s safety, the lack of accountability on the part of our government etc. Let’s take a…

With the recent examples of harassment charges against journalist Tarun Tejpal and supreme court retired judge A K Ganguly, the issue that most companies choose to ignore has come to the fore. Even in Namma Bengaluru, there are hundreds of such cases that go unreported for various reasons. These are high profile personalities - but what about the millions of others working in various offices across cities, towns and villages in India? Are they aware of their rights? What constitutes sexual harassment at the workplace? Are they aware that there are clear work and personal boundaries? How can a woman…