GENRE: LN

Jyoti Aware, a municipal school teacher came to Mumbai in 2009 and since then has been staying in a rented house in Mumbai's northern suburb of Kandivali with her husband and two pre-teen children. Two years back, she purchased a house in Mira Road, a suburb outside Mumbai for Rs 30 lakh, since that was the only place where she could afford a house. However, she could not shift to the new house for that would increase her commute time four times, besides making it difficult for her children to continue in the same school. "The new house is far,…

It has been a decade since the Carlton Towers fire tragedy on 23 February, 2010. On Saturday, Beyond Carlton, a citizens' initiative that was formed after the incident, organised a fire safety awareness programme at the National Gallery of Modern Art to pay tribute to the nine lives lost -  Akhil Uday, Benzie Kumar, Fayaz Pasha, Madan Purohit, Rajesh Subramanian, Savitha R, Siddhartha Padam, Sunil Iyer, and Surabhi Joshi. As part of a series of events to create awareness and prevent fire accidents, we, at Beyond Carlton, had also launched a social media campaign #IamAFireChamp. On behalf of Beyond Carlton,…

SAP offices closed after H1N1 cases  After a couple of employees in the German software group SAP were tested positive for the H1N1 virus in Bengaluru, sources in the Indian arm of the company said Thursday that they had shut down all national offices for sanitisation. SAP India offices in Bengaluru, Gurgaon and Mumbai have been temporarily closed and employees have been asked to work from home. As per WHO (World Health Organisation), H1N1 symptoms include fever, chills and sore throat, like seasonal influenza. However, it is characterised by higher fatality rates among healthy young adults, as well as greater…

Bembala is a Bengaluru-based organisation – an initiative of the citizens group, Whitefield Rising– is a free and confidential volunteer-run support center for women and children who face abuse or violence. The alarming rise of violence against women and children is of critical concern for Bengaluru today. A group art show “Oorja” will be held at The Art Corridor Taj West End, Bengaluru from 23rd Feb to 2nd March 2020 in association with Mr. M G Doddamani. “Oorja” or Energy in Sanskrit is the defining expression of the human spirit, that energy or life force which inspires and unifies us to reach…

Translated by Sandhya Raju 2019-ம் ஆண்டில் ஏற்பட்ட கடுமையான தண்ணீர் பிரச்சனையை தொடர்ந்து சென்னை பெருநகர  குடிநீர் மற்றும் கழிவுநீர் வாரியம் (CMWSSB) சில இலக்குகளை வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. இது நிறைவேறினால் நம் நகரம் தண்ணீர் பாதுகாப்பு உறுதி பெறும். இது வரை முற்றிலும் தண்ணீர் வசதி பெறாத பகுதிகளுக்கும் , போதிய அளவு தண்ணீர் பெறாமல் இருந்த பகுதிகளுக்கும் இந்த ஆண்டு குடிநீர் வாரியம் தனது சேவையை அளிக்க உள்ளது. இதனுடன் கீழ்கண்ட முயற்சிகளையும் முன்னெடுக்க உள்ளது: 1. கழிவு நீர் மறுசுழற்சி நகரத்தில் அதிகரித்து வரும் தண்ணீர் தேவையை பூர்த்தி செய்ய, கழிவுநீர் சுத்திகரிப்பு நிலையங்களை அதிகரிக்க குடிநீர் வாரியம் திட்டமிட்டுள்ளது. கொடுங்கையூர் மற்றும் கோயம்பேட்டில், ரிவர்ஸ் ஆஸ்மோசிஸ் சுழற்சி முறையில் இரண்டு சுத்திகரிப்பு நிலையங்கள் தற்போது உள்ளன. இவை தலா 45 mld அளவு நீரை தருகின்றன. அருகில் உள்ள தொழிற்சாலைகளுக்கு இந்த நீர் பயன்படுத்தப்படுகின்றன. இதன்…

40% progress in road-cum-Metro rail flyover The BMRCL (Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd) has made 40% progress in the road-cum-Metro rail flyover on the 3.2 km stretch between Ragigudda, JP Nagar and Central Silk Board on Marenahalli Road. This section is part of the Bommasandra - RV Road line in Phase 2 of Namma Metro. BMRCL says that the most complex activity was the launching and fixing of wings to the spine segment of the road flyover, which is now completed. This is the first road-cum-rail flyover in the city. The Rs 330 crore structure has a four-lane flyover at…

Apprehension loomed large in the mind of homemaker Geetha Dhananjaya, when she first accompanied the Bengaluru City Police (BCP) to their night rounds in Kumaraswamy Layout, in mid-September. Now however, the 45-year old, sporting a salwar kameez, says she has become a regular at the night rounds. Geetha is part of the Neighbourhood Watch Committee (NWC) of the city police. “Being a homemaker, I was not used to being around cops though all of them were women. So initially I had agreed to accompany them with a bit of reluctance,” Geetha says. Geetha is among the 45 NWC members at…

Mumbai, known for long as the city that never sleeps, is now that in the literal sense too. One of the first decisions that Aaditya Thackeray, the new state cabinet minister of tourism and environment, took to promote tourism, generate employment and revenue was a pilot project that allows select malls and eateries to stay open all day and night. With the experiment on for over a week now, the reaction of citizens and shop owners has been mixed. The criteria to stay open includes commercial establishments in non-residential areas, gated communities with CCTV surveillance, those with parking facilities, security…

As the rejuvenation of Bellandur and Varthur lakes is underway, the NGO Bangalore Environment Trust (BET) has written an open letter to the state government, requesting course correction. The expert committee on lake rejuvenation had recommended that both the lakes be desilted, but BET's letter points out that it'd take 53 years to remove the toxic silt-cum-slush in Bellandur lakebed, and 20 years for Varthur lakebed! This is because toxic waste has flown into the two lakes, unimpeded, for the last 50 years. BET's calculations are based on a recent study by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). More importantly, the…

Citizens, industry bodies slam BESCOM’s tariff hike proposal Citizens and industry representatives slammed BESCOM’s (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) proposal to increase electricity tariff by Rs 1.96 a unit in the coming financial year. At a public hearing held at the KERC (Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission) on Friday, the advocacy group B.PAC (Bangalore Political Action Committee) said the Commission should ask BESCOM to "submit realistic projections” and streamline power procurement at low costs, instead of passing on the increase in purchase cost to consumers. As per B.PAC's analysis, BESCOM has not shown any improvement in key metrics such as power purchase…