GENRE: LN

Bangalore, India’s garden city, has slowly become the garbage city - like most major Indian cities and towns. One of the main culprits has been single use disposables like plastic carry bags, plastic and paper cups, plastic and Styrofoam plates, etc. The 'Single Use Plastic Ban campaign' has brought together MLAs and Corporators, BBMP officials, RWAs, citizen groups, activists and social organisations to stop the menace of single use disposables, and implement the waste segregation at source rule in their rspective wards. As of date, more than 20 wards in Bengaluru have already launched this campaign and almost an equal number are in…

Karnataka High Court. Pic: Akshatha M The Karnataka High Court has dismissed the petition filed by plastic manufacturers and traders challenging the State government’s decision to ban single use and non-recyclable plastic products across the State, based on technical grounds. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice Ravi Malimath dismissed the plastic manufacturers plea to grant a stay on the plastic ban. The court cited that an alternative legal remedy lies before the petitioners to question the government notification banning the manufacture, supply, sale and use of plastic products. The alternative remedy lies in the form…

Chairman of Taxation Committee M Shivaraj presenting the BBMP Budget. Pic: BBMP The ruling party in BBMP, Indian National Congress which used to criticise the Bharatiya Janata Party till last year for presenting unrealistic budgets, faced the same allegation this time, from the BJP which now sits in the opposition. The BBMP council floor witnessed a heated exchange between Congress and BJP leaders even as the Mayor opened the floor for presenting the budget. BJP corporators who wore black ribbons around their necks, protested against the Council’s decision to hike the property tax. Opposition party leader Padmanabha Reddy, former Mayor…

Trailblazer. Screen-scorcher. Essayer of powerful roles. Padma Shri and national award recipient who mesmerised the world in a short but brilliant career. Say 'Smita Patil' and there is that special glint in the eye of movie enthusiasts who had the privilege of watching this charismatic actor on screen. Whether it was Bhumika, Manthan, Gaman, Arth or Mirch Masala, movie after movie Smita breathed magic into every role, transforming effortlessly into the character she played on screen. Achiever and performer extraordinaire, Smita would have been 60 if she were alive today. Join us, a group of Bangaloreans, as we celebrate her…

Pic: BBMP   Full text of the BBMP budget speech 2016-17 presented by M Shivaraju, CHAIRMAN, TAXATION AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, BBMP, BENGALURU I heartily welcome all who are present in the Kempegowda Council Hall and I request your permission to present the Bruhath Bangaluru Managanagara Palike‟s Budget for the year 2016-17. Remembering with high gratitude, the great personality, the social reformer Sri. Basavanna, who was in the court of Bijjala during 12th century A.D. and made revolutions in Kalyana with his social justice, welfare of all. Transparency in his all walks, religious insight, with the greater responsibility of bringing in…

With the last date for receiving applications under Akrama Sakrama scheme having come to an end, the BBMP has received a lacklustre response from people willing to apply under the scheme. The number of applicants in entire BBMP limits is as low as 37, as on the last day - March 22nd, 2016. The State government introduced Akrama Sakrama scheme last year and gave a time frame of one year from March 23rd, 2015 to March 22nd, 2016, for people to apply seeking regularisation of unauthorised buildings. Thanks to the ongoing court battle, lack of publicity by the government authorities…

Repair Café is organising its 5th workshop on March 19th 2016. It is being hosted by The Green Path situated at Seshadripuram, from 11.30 am to 4 pm. Apart from repairing and upcycling, other highlights of the workshop include Talk show on Water Conservation by Aditi Hastak from Biome Workshop on basics of Kitchen Gardening Screening of a documentary film, Economics Of Happiness So what is Repair Café?  Repair Café is a community gathering where repairers, volunteers, visitors come together for the purpose of repairing household articles. A repair man busy at work. Pic: Purna Sarkar Since our first Repair…

With a continued influx of people setting down with Bengaluru, a majority of the population is now living in apartments. On Saturday March 19th, ApartmentADDA, an organisation that hosts private, secure portals for apartment complexes, is conducting a workshop aimed at citizens living in these apartments. Citizen Matters is the media partner for the workshop. The workshop, Neighborhoods of Tomorrow, will bring together various members of the society—apartment management committees, subject matters experts, representatives from the city administrations—to arrive at solutions to the problems that every neighbourhood faces. The workshop, touted to be India’s largest convention of management committee members,…

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) —Namma Metro—organised a special tour of the new Metro stations of Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha and Majestic Interchange stations, on March 15, 2016. Metro Public Relations Officer Vasanth Rao had earlier promised some ''Happy News' on Twitter, and he was probably referring to the opening of East-West corridor of Metro soon. Bangalore Incharge Minister K J George, BMRCL MD Pradeep Singh Kharola. Pic: Shree D N The plan was to take Bangalore In charge Minister K J George, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Managing Director Ekroop Caur and media representatives to Cubbon Park, Vidhana…

In order to scientifically process Bangalore city’s municipal solid waste (MSW), the State Government has set up seven compost plants, which are large facilities with required machinery and construction. Kannahalli is the largest one (can handle 500 tonnes per day), located in the outskirts of the city. One of India’s major companies in waste management, IL&FS Environment, is undertaking the operation and maintenance of this plant. There were issues with the composting facility, as the villagers near the plant complained of bad odour and other problems, and stopped garbage lorries from entering the facility for a few days. A notice…