OPINION

We all know Capt. Gopinath as the pioneer of low cost aviation in India. It's another matter that this whole business model is no longer viable, thanks to the vagaries of petrol price fluctuation and governmental rules and regulations. The fact remains that, in a time of monopolistic aviation practices, Capt. Gopinath undertook to start Deccan Aviation, which made traveling by air affordable to the common man for the first time. So, in our minds, this sense of ‘Capt. Gopinath empathizes with the common man’ was a kind of article of faith. And the news that he is standing for…

The phrase “environment-friendly printing” could be defined as an oxymoron, just like “genuine fake” or “happily married”. If you want to protect the environment, you should not be printing – plain and simple! Everything about printing is harmful to the environment – the toner or inks, the media or printing substrates and more than both of these put together, the waste generated through printing. Print waste (Pic courtesy: Lalana Zaveri) But print communication is a necessity in today’s market-based economy. By one estimate, the size of the digital print market in Bangalore itself is between Rs.80-100 crores per year. So…

The BBMP has recently decided and communicated its method and metrics for property tax collection from Bangaloreans. The reclassification of tax zones has led to an increase of at least 33 per cent for all properties whose zonal classification has changed. And the new tax policy keeps revising once every 3 years, with a mandatory 15 per cent increase. The Citizens Action Forum of Bangalore is taking objection to the new scheme.BackgroundProperty Tax has been bothering the citizens of Bengaluru for more than a year now. And even after a year the confusion has not lessened. Probably what has changed…

‘Because the wind wants to feel your hair, and the earth wants to touch your feet.'- Kahlil GibranWe live in nature, but we don’t live naturally. We live on the earth, but we don’t touch it. Ninety per cent of the time, we hide from the sun. We use hot water to bathe, which is a fast, functional affair. Most of the time we condition the air we breathe. In winter, we keep warm and in summers, we protect ourselves from the heat. We burn most of the vitamin in food before we eat it. In fact, we protect ourselves…

As the terror attacks and their aftermath play out in Mumbai and on the TV networks, the usual questions are making the rounds in Bengaluru. Illustration: Sujay Ramiah. Citizens around the country are going through a mix of reactions. They range from shock to worry to frustration to angst to numbness and to even a desperation to look away and move on.The attacks have again pointed out how easy it is to plan, penetrate, set up, and launch such offensives in Indian cities. That worry isn't about to go away soon. Developments: Prakruthi, a citizens group becoming known for rejuvenating…

About 30 years ago, one of my colleagues was transferred to Calcutta. A year later he came to his hometown on a holiday and it was shocking to hear his experience about the notorious traffic jams of Calcutta. Sitting in the peaceful and slow city of Bangalore we could not envisage those serious traffic jams. But then, we had no clue that we would be experiencing such jams right here very soon! Pictures of a beautiful bungalow from different angle Pic: Sudha Narasimhachar.When I used to go to work on MG Road then, I used to leave home (Yelahanka Satellite…

Rock On is quite unlike any other movie that the Bollywood factory has churned out. It is the first Hindi movie that deals with rock music as its central theme, and is refreshingly different from most of the standard fare that we, as cinema-goers, have been subjected to. While the public in general seems to have been greatly appreciative of the movie, as box-office records would illustrate, I had mixed feelings about it once I walked out of the multiplex and walked back into reality, where rock bands were struggling to make it big, despite the odds being stacked heavily…

This is a quick primer by for Bangaloreans on borewells, open wells, recharging, and undergound acquifers. Bangalore originally used to rely on open wells more than borewells. Open wells get their water from shallow acquifers that lie at depths of less than 80 feet from the ground. Many parts of Bangalore still have open wells. Illustration: Sripathy Konada, Biome Environmental Solutions. Click for larger picture. Borewells are in essence, narrow holes dug deep into the ground. A borewell taps into a deep acquifer, which essentially water in rocks. Because waters of shallow acquifers are subject to contamination (in part to…

The incoming BJP government was quick to announce that one of its top priorities would be to improve infrastructure in the capital city, especially in transport. This is not the first time that such a promise has been made by the state government, but there are reasons to believe that this time the political will is stronger, and also that the administrative capacity to actually achieve some of the objectives is now available with various departments. There are, at the outset, three kinds of choices to be made. Once these are settled, the rest of the effort towards making Bangalore…

In Metro vs Traders: legal test coming up, we explained how land acquisitions are being carried out under Bangalore's Namma Metro project. The acquisitions are premised on the notion of eminent domain and public purpose. The experiences of eminent domain cases in other cities across the world help us understand the nuances involved when the state decides to take away private properties in the name of public purpose. The Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius first explained the term eminent domain. According to him, the state has the right to take away private property for implementing projects that will serve public purposes,…