GENRE: LN

If you live in Hoodi, and want to go to Varthur Kodi in Whitefield, you don't have to take out your car anymore. Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Company's (BMTC) new Chakra service will connect entire Whitefield in efficient local loops, thereby reducing the traffic burden on road. The BMTC introduced new Chakra services for Whitefield, after months of engagement with the local residents. Midibuses (light weight minibuses) introduced on the new Chakra route 8 and 8A, will travel clockwise and anticlockwise respectively, between TTMC-ITPL-Varthur Kodi-Kundanahalli-TTMC. Chakra services being launched in Whitefield. Pic:Pavan Kulkarni The buses introduced on Chakra route 9 and…

Website of the BBMP Restructuring Committee features the progress made by the Committee. A three-member Government Committee formed in order to work out the modalities of dividing Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has been also entrusted the task of restructuring BBMP. As Ravichandar, one of the members of the BBMP restructuring committee puts it, the Committee aims to structure it in such a way that: quality of life improves in Bengaluru for decades to come quality services are accessed by all citizens; accountability of elected representatives and service providers Bengaluru features among top 50 global cities on liveability The Committee also…

A press note from Bangalore Traffic Police details the plan for new year eve on MG Road and nearby areas. Here are the excerpts: A large number of people, motorists as well as pedestrians, traditionally throng MG Road, Brigade Road, Residency Road, St.Marks Road and Church Street on the New Year’s Eve. In the interest of public safety and convenience it is necessary to restrict and regulate the movement of vehicular traffic and parking of vehicles on MG Road, Brigade Road, Church Street, St Marks Road, Rest House road and Residency road on the night intervening between 31/12/2014 and 02/01/2015.…

Blast site on Church Street, Bangalore. Pic: Press Trust of India. Just before new year 2015 celebrations begin, Bengaluru saw a real low intensity blast on Sunday night. Three people were injured in the explosion that took place around 8.30 pm, in front of Coconut Grove Restaurant on Church Street, near MG Road. A woman later succumbed to injuries in hospital. Bhavani, a 38-year-old woman from Chennai who was in Bengaluru with her kids for the Christmas vacation, died at Mallya Hospital. She suffered head injury and severe blood loss. Kartik, who is a relative of Bhavani and a student…

The Committee for Restructuring BBMP has released a preliminary report and sought more time to complete the work given to it. The report was released on Tuesday, December 23rd 2014. The report promises more involvement for citizens. It says that a website is under construction and will be an important vehicle to disseminate the committee’s activities and get feedback from stakeholders, particularly citizens. A very important element of the committee’s consultations will be to understand the expectations of citizens from the restructuring exercise, the report states. The committee formed in September 2014 has B S Patil (retired IAS officer), Siddaiah…

Every year, come Christmas, I get nostalgic. Thanks to my convent school education, it is indeed my most favourite festival in the year. All I really want to do is go back in time, to my school days and relive the wonderful Christmas celebrations we had. Decorating the playroom, lots of carol singing, putting up the nativity play (I have proudly played the part of Joseph on two occasions at least), waiting for Santa (typically the tallest girl from the tenth standard) to distribute gifts and finally, getting a sip of Christmas wine in a one of those really tiny…

Bellandur Buzz Issue # 25 Date: 19th December 2014. This fortnightly newletter is published by the citizen group bellandur.forum@googlegroups.com Meeting the minister - updates   Residents meet the minister to discuss various local issues Sri Ramalinga Reddy, the Minister in charge of Bangalore visited the neighborhood on Monday morning. A group of residents met him on Monday morning at 8 am at Kaikondrahalli Lake. He was accompanied by several BBMP officials. SWM Special Commissioner Darpan Jain also dropped in a little later. The following topics were discussed: Lake - Joint commisioner to get Kaikondrahalli lake boundary surveyed by Tahsildar within 1 week…

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) made it clear to the plastic manufacturers in the city that they have to go by the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, that bans plastic below 40 microns. Producers seem to agree, however they think enforcing the rule by the BBMP is the biggest problem. BBMP Joint Commissioner for Health Yatish Kumar instructed the plastic manufacturers to provide details of the quantity of plastic they are generating, so that they can provide BBMP some percentage of their turnover to manage the waste, as part of Extended Producer Responsibility. The meeting between BBMP Health…

A vegetable vendor rents a bag to a customer. Pic: Vignan Gowda Vignan Gowda, Business Excellence and Operations Manager with an IT firm and a resident of Sanjay Nagar, spearheaded several clean up drives in his area. In all the clean up drives, he observed a pattern: polythene covers comprised a significant portion of the garbage. It was this that led him to do something about it. Gowda mobilised several other active members in the locality to figure out what they could do to reduce the usage of plastic. The group then decided to tackle the problem at the source.…

The flag-off ceremony.Pic: NBF As the countdown for the close of nominations for the Namma Bengaluru Awards 2014 (NBA) has begun, Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) in association with BTV, the media partners for the awards, organised the flag off of the display vehicle from Dr Rajkumar Memorial grounds at Peenya.  The display vehicle will move around the city to enable citizens to nominate their heroes from right where they are.  The vehicle was flagged off by well-known director of the Kannada film industry, MG Shrinivas who now is making his debut as an actor in his new movie “Srinvasa Kalyana”.…