GENRE: LN

Such dumps will be a thing of past if the city starts segregating waste at source. Pic: Bhavna Anegundi Divide your trash, to conquer it. Segregate your garbage it into three categories, to make life easy for everyone! Put in simple terms, this is what the High Court of Karnataka ordered in the hearing of the Public Interest Litigation on garbage problem in the city, on December 17, 2015. Two bins and one bag, brought to the High Court of Karnataka by solid waste management activist Sandya Narayan captured the attention of the judges, who agreed with the way they…

Outer Ring Road traffic on a usual weekday. Picture Courtesy: Mayur Channagere   The ORR stretch from Ibblur to Marathahalli is home to Ecospace, Embassy Tech Village, Prestige Tech park and Cessna Business Park. In addition we have a world class hospital, scores of commercial buildings, offices and approximately 50,000 residential units (and still growing). Several lakh square feet of space, both residential and commercial, is under construction. The Sarjapur road, adjoining ORR, houses Wipro corporate office - currently 10,000 employees. A new Techpark sprawling on 65 acres is coming up in Carmelaram, near Decathlon Sarjapur road. Many more residential…

Look at this video. Rain water—rather more of a cesspool—greenish, smelly water—collected in an open abandoned granite mine, being filled in a "Drinking Water" tanker. The location is right next to RBD Stillwaters (next to Lakedew Lake/ Puravankara Skywoods), in Harlur near Parappana Agrahara Main Road and Kudlu Road, on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Such tankers also deliver drinking water to many residential projects including apartments. They also deliver water for upcoming constructions in the nearby areas. Banibrata Dutta, a concerned resident who lives in an apartment near Sarjapur Road, shot this video. He says: “Who knows, it could even…

Chennai is fighting the worst rain in a hundred years and the floods are causing unimaginable devastation and tragedy. Many are watching the tragedy and the fightback live on television and internet and wondering how they can help. The Centre has sent the army and naval forces for rescue work. All modes of travel to the city have been shut down. Event as the Met Department has warned of more rains for next four days, reservoirs are overflowing and the deluge is likely to increase. This tragedy has brought out most unlikely scenes, thus proving once again that humanity is…

On November 30th 2015, Monday, soon after Bengaluru Mayor N Manjunath Reddy called off the monthly council meeting citing model code of conduct for Legislative Council election as the reason, opposition party leader Padmanabha Reddy hurriedly convened a press meet. In his press meet, he accused the BBMP Commissioner and Chief Audit Officer of releasing Rs 179 crore for Programme of Works, violating the High Court and Karnataka government’s order to strictly follow seniority while clearing bills. The BBMP has released Rs 179 crore for works in different wards in K R Puram, RR Nagar and Yeshwanthpur legislative constituencies for…

What a day! It was a treat to see people pouring out of streets and alleys to join the human chain, merge in seamlessly, bringing their own posters, chanting their own slogans, and through small acts of kindness, reinforcing each others' faith in the compassion that is at the core of all of us. One protestor brought biscuits and drinks for the rest of the gang. Another stepped off the bus unaware of the protest, but joined in spontaneously and started coordinating the walk towards Vydehi. Buses gave free rides to the protestors gathered at Marathahalli and Kundanahalli. Men, women…

When I was a kid, every so often, something in the house would go kaput, many a time, because my brother or I felt the need to meddle with it. Living in a remote area in the Nilgiris meant that we would have to wait to get it fixed till we travelled to town. My father would try disassembling and assembling to fix that VCR or whatever small item that was acting up. The times have changed though. But in a changing environment, where people don't have the time to go to a service centre or more often, find nobody…

Residents of Whitefield who are tired of the poor infrastructure facilities in the area, will take to streets on Monday, November 30th, 2015. They have launched Save Whitefield campaign to protest against the government authorities’ apathy over improving infrastructure in the area and make it livable. A Facebook Page Save Whitefield says: “On 30th November, we all march out of our homes and workplaces to be part of a peaceful protest from 10 am to 1 pm, to bring the city, media and authorities’ attention to the civic and infrastructure woes of Whitefield and neighbouring areas in East Bangalore.” The…

Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF), the flagship literary event on the cultural calendar of Bangalore city, is all set to roll out its fourth edition on December 5th and 6th 2015 at Hotel Royal Orchid, Old Airport Road. The BLF has emerged as the second largest literary conclave in the country that brings the best of minds in the world of literature to Bengaluru. Building on the success of the earlier editions, this time the festival brings together nearly a hundred stalwarts from the world of literature, in various languages, both from India and abroad. Subodh Sankar, Vikram Sampath and Shinie Antony…

Temperature is dipping down to 16 degrees. Gone are the days when the sun scorched at 40 degrees - 22 degree is the hottest part of the day now. The weather almost makes it feel like old-time Bangalore. Gloomy sky. Drizzles throughout the day and night. Heavy downpour by the time you leave office. Water logs, traffic jams. This is the typical rainy season in Bengaluru, though rains gave us a miss during the South West monsoon in May - June. This November, the incessant rain that soaked Bengalureans has broken the all-time record. As on November 19th morning, the…