GENRE: LN

The Finance Bill, or the Union Budget as we popularly know it, is one of corporate India's most awaited annual events. Each year after the budget is announced, it triggers widespread debate amongst the masses and the intelligentsia alike. This year after the resounding re-election of the UPA government, the entire nation was looking up in anticipation as to what the budget would hold for us. A week after the budget was announced, SIBM (Symbiosis Institute of Business Management) Bangalore took the initiative to decipher the true meaning of the budget for the common man and what it meant for…

BBMP has introduced new application forms IV and V  for the year 2009-10 and updated the online calculator in their website.  I have found the following anomalies in both and wrote to the Commissioner, DC Revenue and other officials . So far nobody has replied; none of the  mistakes have yet been corrected. The anomalies are going to affect the entire public in the BBMP areas as the rules and columns in the forms and calculator are contradictory.            #1.  The Instructions to the Tax Payer at S.No.2 in the Forms state that "Depreciation cannot be claimed for 2009-10 and 2010-11…

Citizen Matters, Bangalore's own community news magazinepresents a local panel discussion & info session on "Career counseling and options: What can I do?" An opportunity for students and parents to understand aptitude and career options, get an idea on how to choose a career, etc. When: 11 July, Saturday at 12PM to 1.30PM Where: Magnus School of Business, 13th Cross, 6th Main, JP Nagar 3rd Phase, Blr-78(Near S Hotel and Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, See map herePanel Ms Annapurna Murthy (Manasa Consultants, Career Counselor), Wg Cdr R Shankar (BASE, JEE specialist), Dr Surekha Chukkali (Christ College, Sr Lecturer), Gautam S Rao…

 Citizen Matters, Bangalore's own community news magazinepresents a local panel discussion & interaction on "Know more about water: water harvesting, water quality testing, water diseases and more" The panel will have both experienced citizens and experts demonstrating simple techniques and ideas, and taking questions from the participants.When: 11 July, Saturday at 10.30AM to 12.00PM Where: Magnus School of Business, 13th Cross, 6th main road JP Nagar 3rd Phase The panel:Mr Nagaraj Podukotai (experienced RWH user), Mr R Navneeth Kumar (Project Engineer, Indian Institute of Science), Mr Sharada Prasad (Arghyam, water NGO), Dr Balagangadhar (Scientist, KSPCB), Dr Bobby Joseph (Professor, St Johns…

On 31st March 2009, Citizen Matters reported about a proposal for a cycle track around Madiwala Lake (see here). Initiated by RideACycle Foundation (RAC-F), the proposal was submitted to the Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) on 17th February 2009. Former BMLTA Commissioner Gaurav Gupta got the sanction of the Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao for this project during his tenure. Madiwala lake (pic: Meera K) On speaking to Gaurav Gupta (when he was the BMLTA Commissioner) about this project, he said it would be carried out by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) with BMLTA providing technical expertise. “We have requested…

Savitha Swamy, a research scholar from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) is initiating an urban ecology project which involves surveys on  biodiversity in various neighborhood parks in Bangalore. Savitha is looking at the long term sustainability of Bangalore's urban green spaces. This study will be used to come up with models to conserve urban green spaces and the biodiversity that it shelters which is disappearing in an alarming rate. People’s attitude influences environmental conservation action in the city (pic: Jahnavi Pai) The central question of this study is “how do the urban green spaces function…

On 25 June 2007, the erstwhile Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy handpicked the new Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner, S Subramanya. Circa 2009. Unable to trace the body of a 6-year-old who apparently fell into a storm water drain and a defamation case against Lok Ayukta Santhosh Hegde, Subramanya gets transferred, apparently after causing much embarrassment to the BJP government. Is it justified to hold Subramanya responsible for the death of Abhishek? Should he have done the work of a drain inspector? Was the transfer an answer to the problems of the public? Citizen Matters has also received claims…

How many of you did not get to vote in the Lok Sabha elections because you couldn’t find your name in the electoral list? While many people scrambled to register their names, a factory found itself in the list with its gender and father's name specified. Pramod Goni a social worker who lives near the factory, says Printflex factory was registered under the electoral list of Constituency No 151 and Polling Part No 239 in Nagappa Reddy and Kushal (NRK) Layout in Mahadevapura. The factory is located on Nagappa Reddy Layout Main Road. The electoral officer listed ‘Printflex’ as the…

The participants in their golden age put on their running shoes and impressed one and all, with their enthusiasm and stamina. It was an ordinary lazy Sunday morning but the bright spirit of the "silvers" added cheer to the Kanteerava Stadium on the morning of 31st May. Senior Citizens at the run (pic: Monika Monalisa) Harmony for Silvers Foundation, a Mumbai based non-governmental organisation conducted the run for senior citizens under the umbrella of the Sunfeast 10 K run. An initiative of the Dhirubhai Ambani Memorial Trust, it was founded in 2004 by Tina Anil Ambani, and working to enhance…

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has released a list of  property owners who have paid the property tax for their properties for the year 2008-09 on their website. I do appreciate the efforts they have put to collate the enormous amount of data, but the list is defective in several aspects.It is very difficult to locate one's name in the list due to the following reasons:Mismatch in addressesThe ARO office, the Ward Name and the Street given in the website do not match with what was given in the property tax application form. The result is that you may possibly…