GENRE: In Focus

The disturbing trend of 'criminalisation of politics' – which is simply or rather simplistically understood, as being the criminalisation of our elected representative bodies i.e., Parliament, state assemblies and other representative bodies - has engaged considerable attention of the Indian citizenry, for reasons that are too obvious to require any explanation here. When concerns around this issue were raised over a period of time, before the most important forum within the judiciary, the Supreme Court, some interesting pronouncements have come our way. Evidently, they have made an impact on the electoral process, even  though it is debatable whether such judicial…

After years of lobbying by Praja, CiSTUP (Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transport and Urban Planning, Indian Institute of Science) and Directorate of Urban Land and transport (DULT), Commuters Railway Services (CRS) has got primary approval from the state government on July 5th, 2013. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced this in state budget too. He said that the project will make use of Special Purpose Vehicle that will be floated under the name Bangalore Suburban Rail Corporation Limited. He also sanctioned Rs.200 crore for construction of 29 underbridges and overbridges for railway across the city where the tracks intersect roads. A feasibility…

Is going taller the only way to fund Bangalore’s infrastructure needs? A recommendation in a recent report to do just that has sparked off a heated debate between two of the city's influential elites on the future of the city and its skyline. What started off the skyscraper debate was the recent re-submission of the Karnataka Information and Communication Technology Group 2020 (KIG-2020) Report titled ‘Karnataka’s roadmap to global leadership by 2020’ to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. In it is a recommendation to allow for more high rises within the city, charging a toll for doing so and using that money…

Rajesh (name changed), one of the founder members of NGEF Housing Society, was in for a shock when he realised that he himself was not going to get a site in NGEF Layout, Mallathahalli. Rajesh had paid for a 40X60 site, but when he tried to get a khata, he was told that the site did not exist in the approved plan. It was instead part of the original land owner’s share. It was after a long legal battle that he was finally allotted a site. Many buyers are often not as lucky. Many have lost their money to House…

Monsoon has brought Bangalore many things to rejoice, and a bag of worries as well. While the much-needed respite from the scorching heat is a welcome change, the rains are also the indicators to be more careful about the reptile and rodent menace that increases every year during this time. It is not a rare sight to see houses flooded with water after a heavy downpour. This is especially so with houses which have been built on low-lying areas. This however poses a huge risk of reptiles, especially snakes, entering the houses. The city has been constantly reporting such cases…

"All my family members are there, I do not know what will happen to them and me,” weeps 74-year-old V Ravichandra, a resident of Yelachenahalli. He is waiting for the last five days to hear from his family which travelled to Badrinath, as part of the Char-Dham yatra. "My two grandchildren, aged four and nine years, are missing, along with my son and daughter-in-law. My family members have not been rescued. All I heard was that five people from their group of 19 have been rescued. But these do not include my family members,” said Ravichandra.Ravichandra himself has visited Uttarakhand…

The garden city that’s on the fast track to become garbage city has finally started understanding the importance of composting and recycling. Karnataka Compost Development Corporation, dedicated to composting, has come back to the limelight, by accepting extra organic waste. A Muniraj, Technical Head, Karnataka Compost Development Corporation, who has been serving the firm since 1976, explained the composting process followed at the KCDC. The KCDC has two microbial compost processing units and 300 pits that generate 200 tons of manure per day. Composting here is done by two methods - aerobic and vermi-compost.   Aerobic composting Aerobic compost involves…

Those who care to pause and observe would have perceived many interesting political developments in Tamil Nadu in the last few years. Of these, one of the most recent has been the student protests in support of investigating war crimes in Sri Lanka. Going by the reactions that one normally sees in the mass media, different events are perceived in isolation in the Indian media, resulting in some degree of empathy, some sympathy, but mostly dismissal, if not disparaging reactions, about the position of the state and how it has forced the foreign policy initiatives and so on. However, like…

Citizen Matters had earlier reported about a 72-acre SEZ-cum-township coming up in Agara village, near Koramangala 1st block. The project, named Manipal ETA Infotech, had got approval saying that BWSSB will meet its water needs. Citizen Matters had exposed that BWSSB’s NOC (No Objection Certificate) was only for a tiny area of the project, even though NOC is compulsory for the entire area. Also, the BWSSB said it did not even know about the project in its full size. The project site. Pic: Meera K. The project is a joint venture between Mantri Developers and Century Real Estate, with Century…

In Part I of this series, Citizen Matters blew the lid off the IISc report that revealed the encroachment of a major Rajakaluve by the SEZ project by Manipal ETA Infotech Pvt Ltd. This part will explain the random changes made by the BDA in the status of the project land, resulting in a change of status, from being a ‘valley zone' to an industrial area. The site has seen some rapid changes in the last decade. In ‘95, BDA had classified this land as largely residential and park area. In 2005, BDA started revising its master plan. In the…