GENRE: LN

The contractor who built the recently inaugurated JP Nagar underpass is now in the dock for poor quality of work. BBMP is planning to withhold Rs.2 crores of payments to pressurise the contractor to finish the work. JP Nagar's 15th Cross underpass. Incomplete and riddled with issues. Pic: Yogaraj S Mudalgi Poor quality of asphalting and water stagnation along drains of service roads have been among the many issues, along with a whole host of unfinished work. BBMP's technical vigilance committee (TVC) gave a report to Commissioner Siddiah in January. On Feb 2, BBMP's Executive Engineer inspected the site and…

On this Saturday, February 13, if you happen to be travelling to Mysore don't be surprised to see more than 50-70 cyclists who will take to this route for the Bangalore Brevets 300 km ride. This is part of a series of ongoing brevet rides in the city, held as qualifiers to the prestigious Paris-Brest-Paris event, an approximately 1200 km ride that happens once in four years. This year, the Paris ride will take place in August and a few lucky riders will travel from India to participate in the event.   A brevet is a self supported ride where a cyclist…

From February 7, infotech companies along Outer Ring Road are using a city-provided Common Bus System (CBS) to transport their employees to and from work. The system, initiated by Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) - which comprises 24 companies including Cisco, Intel, AOL etc - is expected to get more IT employees to use buses instead of private vehicles. BMTC Managing Director Syed Pasha dressed in white shirt towards the back of the bus, and Seetharam Vishwanath, ORRCA General Secretary at the flagging off ceremony of CBS on February 4. Pic courtesy: ORRCA. ORRCA reached an agreement with the…

500 Tibetans from Bengaluru held a candle light vigil at Gandhi Square on February 4th evening to protest the media speculation about Karmapa, and hurting the sentiments of all the Buddhists. Tibetan students in Bangalore light candles to say Karmapa lama is not a Chinese spy "Last week, the police raid found a few million rupees in the form of dollar, Yuan and two other dozens of currencies from the transit residence of H.H. the 17th Karmapa, at Sidharpur in Dharamashala, and the Indian government is suspecting him as a Chinese spy, and even the national media reported Karmapa, a…

Bangalore kids were at their creative best at the First Lego League Tournament 2010, a robot designing competition held at tech-major SAP Labs on Saturday 29th January. Bangalore's ‘Robo Pundits' from National Public School (NPS), Koramangala, scored 265 points beating Mumbai's score of 225. The next regional will be held at New Delhi. The competition is now between Bangalore and Delhi for the coveted opportunity to represent India at the finals in Atlanta, USA. Robo Pundits with their trophy. Pic courtesy: Robo Pundits The competition open to anyone in the age group of 9-16 and teams can have a maximum of…

In what appears to be the tip of the iceberg, the owner of a HP (Hindustan Petroleum) petrol bunk in Banashankari caught the driver of a fuel tanker siphoning off 150-200 litres, valued at Rs 6000-7000. The incident happened on Tuesday, February 1st.  The truck from which petrol was siphoned off by the driver. It has been stationed at the petrol bunk while investigations are going on. Pic: Navya P K Mani Siddaiah, owner of Mahadeswara petrol bunk in Banashankari 3rd Stage, says that the truck driver has admitted to removing the petrol by opening the locks on top of…

Terming 'wholesale' construction of flyovers and underpasses and widening roads as ineffective, Praveen Sood, IPS, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) said that following rules while driving using public transportation is a better way to handle the traffic woes of Bangalore. Sood was speaking as part of a talk on 'Role of citizens in traffic management' at the  Rastrothana Hall in 5th Block Jayanagar. RWAs can play active role in checking illegal parking. Pic: Yograj S Mudalgi 'Road discipline and etiquette key to regulating traffic' Sood lamented on the lack of discipline among drivers of motor vehicles in the city. "We…

Bangalore's ‘India Against Corruption' (IAC) rally on Sunday was not as much a crowd puller as it was expected to be. While the Saaku rally in December - organised by the same coalition of 18 organisations - had drawn a crowd of about 800, this rally had around 300 citizens from the city. The Bangalore Indians Against Corruption march on Jan 30th Sunday. Pic: Karthik Raman. In addition to the coalition, the Art of Living Foundation also participated in organising the rally. The decision about the event was taken impromptu, to coincide with the Delhi rally, where the Jan Lokpal…

Ramanagaram shot into fame with the film Sholay in the 70s. But this small town just outside Bangalore has been the hub of silk-industry, rock climbers' haven and home to several temples. Panaromic View from one of the hills. Pic: Usha Hariprasad A peep in to the history: Ramanagaram known as Closepet before independence has seen a great many rulers. It has been ruled by Gangas, Cholas, Hoysalas, Vijayanagara, Mysore kings, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.  During Kempegowda rule the place was also referred to as Ramagiri and Ramagiridurga.  The district is surrounded by seven majestic hills Shivaramagiri, Yatirajagiri, Somagiri,…

It's been an interesting beginning to the New Year for cinema buffs in Bangalore. January began with the screening of the Travelling Film South Asia (TFSA) at the Bangalore International Centre. This mobile campaign is part of an initiative to promote and popularise the best of South Asian documentaries at more than 50 international venues between the regular Film South Asia Festivals that are held in Kathmandu once in two years. Outstanding festivals screened at this festival are then chosen to travel across the subcontinent.  In this spirit, the festival reflected the contradictions and the cinema of South Asia, with…