GENRE: LN

The period of relief for people in Bengaluru using vehicles registered out-of-the-state is over, as the High Court has ruled that the stay on collecting taxes is not applicable to all. On April 8th, the High Court limited the stay on collecting lifetime taxes till further orders, applicable only to the petitioner of the on-going case that contested the tax levied on a particular petitioner. This has in effect vacated the unofficial stay on the collection of lifetime taxes from vehicles registered outside Karnataka, traveling in this state for more than 30 days. The order issued by the High Court…

Bellandur Buzz... Issue #33 Date: 8th April 2015 This newsletter is published fortnightly by the citizen group bellandur-forum@googlegroups.com. Surprisingly it has survived despite 32 previous lack-a-daisical issues!   The best waste management deal ever! Coinciding with the red moon last week, the local Aishwarya store has been bitten by the green bug. They have declared that they will no longer give out those illegal cheap plastic bags that clog Bangalore’s drains. As part of their CSR, they will hereby buy out the produce of all the impoverished roadside vendors and hand it out to customers in freshly printed newspapers. They will…

A girls hostel building run by one of the private educational institutions. Picture for representation purpose only. The killing of a girl student in her college hostel room in Whitefield has sent shockwaves in the civil society. Apprehension over the safety of girl students in schools and colleges, has now expanded to hostels too. Mahesh, who was appointed as the attender of Pragathi PU College two years ago, was also serving as the attender of the hostel after the college hours. He was allegedly allowed inside the hostel at any time and on the fateful night he entered the room…

Following the High Court’s directive to publish the final reservation list for 198 BBMP wards before April 13 2015, the Urban Development Department has published the draft reservation on April 4, inviting objections from public. (Here is the final reservation list for BBMP polls) This time, 50 per cent of the seats are reserved for women candidates in accordance with women quota. The womens’ seats that were 66 have been increased to 99. However, the reservation made by the government has not gone down well with the BJP, which is the ruling party in the BBMP. Going by the draft…

Karnataka High Court - Central Portico (Pic: Poornima Dasharathi) Even after what seemed like desperate effort by the State government to delay the BBMP election based on the BBMP restructuring and its plans to supersede the BBMP Council, the High Court on Monday, March 30th 2015, directed the State government to conduct the Palike election before May 30th 2015. It also directed the government to prepare the reservation list by April 13th, 2015. Judge B V Nagarathna pronounced the order after hearing the petition filed by some of the BBMP corporators and citizens seeking timely BBMP election. In the order,…

Smoke emanates from the garbage dumping site on an early morning. Pic: BWRCA's FB page Even after a month of the residents of Kadugodi near Whitefield writing a complaint to Karnataka Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) about the indiscriminate large scale burning of garbage in surrounding villages, the issue remains unsolved. Workers continue to burn low value plastic and other garbage in open fields at Khajisonenahalli, Seegehalli and Katamnallur Cross near Kadugodi on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Rampant burning of waste has become a cause of concern to the residents of the area who are forced to breathe polluted air and…

Bellandur Buzz Issue # 32 Date: 27th March 2015. This fortnightly newsletter is published by the citizen group bellandur.forum@googlegroups.com   Water Tanker rates in the neighborhood Based on the inputs from some residential communities in Bellandur Sarjapur road region, current water tanker rates appear to be hovering in the range of Rs 460 to 500 per tanker. Summer is approaching and the tanker guys are demanding for a revamp in the rates. New rate being asked for in most places in Rs 525 – 600. Residents wonder why the raise in prices when diesel prices have dropped last year. Perhaps the water sources are…

Our favourite event of the year is around the corner... Yes, we are talking about the Fête de la Musique! As each year, the celebration will take place on the weekend of June 21st. This time however, the event will be bigger with more venues across the city.  As always, it is a free event, a huge gathering that celebrates music of all genres. We thus, rely entirely on the motivation of bands who would like to get together in the spirit of the festival, in celebration of music and all things music, and are willing to play for free on that…

The Karnataka State cabinet accepted the interim report of BBMP Restructuring Committee, with an in-principle decision to divide Bengaluru into three municipalities. The Committee which has come up with plans on how to restructure Bengaluru City felt that dividing is the best way to rule this city, and suggested that there could be a structure of five to eight municipalities. The interim report was submitted to the government on March 19th, 2015. With this, it has become certain that Bengaluru will be divided into three or more pieces. If this happens, you will not have to travel all the way…

Amid the hue and cry over the death of IAS officer D K Ravi which has prompted the public and the opposition parties to demand for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the case, there seems to be differences of opinion in the IAS Officers’ Association on demanding CBI probe. A set of senior officials Citizen Matters spoke to said that the IAS Officers’ Association in its central committee meeting on March 17th did not pass a resolution to demand the State government to hand over the case to CBI. “In the meeting it was decided to wait…