GENRE: LN

In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at the High Court of Karnataka, the CMH Road Shops and Traders’ Association has challenged the legality of the Metro Rail Project implemented by the BMRC (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation). On 18th and 20th August, Justice Gopala Gowda and Chief Justice P D Dinakaran heard legal arguments. Citizen Matters has been following the proceedings.Is the Metro legal? Government: ‘yes’, Traders: ‘no’ Pramila Nesargi, legal counsel representing the CMH Road traders, argued that in both Kolkata and Delhi, the metro was constructed after the passage of the “Metro Railways Construction of Works Act”. This Act…

In late July, the Red Ribbon Express rolled into Karnataka, and into Bangalore, with much fanfare. It was going to be the average citizen's eye-opener to the world of HIV and AIDS, and hopefully, the train was also going to raise some funds for the cause. I was at the Cantonment railway station at 7pm on 25 July. The journey of the Red Ribbon Express was inaugurated from New Delhi on 1st Dec 2007. The train's mission is to spread awareness of AIDS throughout the country. I had seen the train at Nagpur, on 21st December 2007, but I could…

The 10th of August saw a protest, amid much publicity, by the entire musical fraternity of Bangalore, accompanied by some of the most famous Bangaloreans and owners of commercial establishments hit hard by the recent ban on live music and dancing in places that serve alcohol. But there was another protest by the musicians of the city that took place on the 13th of August for a cause that wasn't publicised as much as the former was. Music Enthusiasts jam up to re claim the Music Strip at Cubbon Park 3rd August 2008 (Pic: Arvind Padmanabh , Sudhaker Shenoy)As a…

Arts and Culture Ganesha idols dearer this year? Even God is not immune to price rise, it seems. This time around idols of Lord Ganesha may cost more, as sculptors of idols face severe problems in the wake of rise in the fuel and paint costs. Labour costs too have almost doubled. Ganesha idol worship is common in every household during Ganesha Chaturthi which falls during the first week of September. It remains to be seen if there will be a shortage of idols in the market this year. ( Vijaya Karnataka , Wednesday, August 20 ) Crime From live…

Doddanagamangala, a village approximately two kms from Electronic City junction has been struggling against all odds. It has no roads, no water, no KEB connection and no sanitation. About 30 families live in single room sheds with asbestos sheet roof above their heads to protect them from sun and rain, with water supplied in tractors once a week.About 200 people, a majority of them from economically weaker sections of the society, had purchased land from local farmers when land was available at an affordable price since the area did not have any amenities. Settlements in the area took place between…

Believe it or not, Bangalore does have a traffic control room. It is called the Traffic Management Centre and is situated on the first floor of Ashok Nagar Police Station. As you enter the air-conditioned room, you will see five LCD screens mounted on the wall. All of them are connected to computers. The screens show a grid of nine small screens with traffic movements captured through cameras. Any one of the junctions from the screen can be enlarged and seen in particular. LCD screens with a grid of traffic various junctions (Pic: Supriya Khandekar)The system uses two types of…

Jayanagar 5th Block is one of the oldest and planned locality in Jayanagar. The birth place of Infosys was at 5th Block. Many eminent personalities who lived/living include- Sri Narayana Murthy, Sri Sri Ravishankarji, noted poets Pu thi Narasimachar, Gopalakrishna Adiga, Shashi Deshpande, noted film personality Vishnuvardhan and noted physicist Padmasri Dr Ramanath Cowsik.The Resident Welfare Association is a 27 year old registered association and has been carrying out many developmental activites.As a part of the citizen charter (see Candidates converse with voters, the association had organised an interaction meeting with Jayanagar MLA, B N Vijay Kumar and officials of…

Arts and Culture Govt apathy may cost city the NSD regional centre The government's failure to provide suitable a space to the prestigious National Drama School (NSD) may result in the city losing its much hyped regional centre. The centre was sanctioned after activists staged a series of protests. The government has asked them to hold plays in Gurunanak Bhavan in Vasanthnagar (behind the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Comitttee office, near the Karnataka Badminton Association), reluctant to provide land for the centre. Regional director of NSD Suresh Anagalli cautions that all plans of the regional centre may be put on hold…

"No power cuts for Bangalore", says H Nagesh, Director Technical, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM). The rains towards the end of July have helped increase the water levels of the reservors resulting in increase hydel power generation. He also sounded cautious about the coming weeks. "Presently the load shedding is stopped for Bangalore alone but if the rains continue in this way there might not be any need for power cuts throughout the state. But if there is irregular rainfall then scheduled power cuts will be implemented", he says. Last month, Bangaloreans all over were experiencing severe power cuts. Karnataka…

Business With rise in prices of raw materials, hotels have jacked up their prices as well. All dishes at the Darshini hotels are to become dearer by Re 1 and by Rs 2 in other hotels. Idly-vada-dosa aficionados are unhappy with this increase, feeling that a raise of 50 paise would have been sufficient. There are an estimated 6000 Darshini hotels in Bangalore (source for numbers not cited). ( Prajavani , Wednesday, July 30 ) City Life Fuel price hike no deterrent for bikers Despite inflation and rise in the cost of fuel, bike craze among the youth remains. More…