PEOPLE

Residents of J P Nagar have a reason to smile. B S Angadi, 49, the new Inspector of Police is an accomplished officer with major international experience. In this exclusive interview with Citizen Matters, he talks about his experiences and the challenges in his job.  A native of north Karnataka, he joined the police force 1990. He is a BCom and an LLM graduate, with four years experience as an advocate before joining the police force. With experience and skills in sharp shooting, driving and English language, he was chosen by the UN peacekeeping mission in May 2002 to serve…

We, the Proud Indians, are a group of young, regular Indians with regular aspirations who deeply believe that an honest and strong India will be possible only when each of us is willing to strive in that direction. Proud Indians is a small group from Hyderabad from varied backgrounds. Through the walk they aim to inspire citizens to be honest at a personal level, to help tackle corruption. The group started their walk from Kanyakumari on December 18th. In the first segment of the walk from December 18th-31st, they covered 500 kms in Kerala . On January 1st, they started…

It's interesting to observe... Our pavements and footpaths are full of people who are trying to eke a living in a city that they have moved into. Amongst these are the immigrants from Rajasthan, who make these ceramic artefacts:Several of these patterns seem to be the most popular, including square containers for Tulsi plants, vases, and Shirdi Sai Baba statuettes. They certainly add colour to our footpaths, even as they block them for pedestrians! ⊕

Bengaluru is one of India's more vibrant hubs for startups. But this startup near Whitefield is a firm few people would have expected. A Hoskote farmer has launched his own grocery supermarket. H Krishna Murthy, 40, a farmer who goes by the name Krishna, opened his swanky outlet, A1 Fresh World (A1FW) at Kadugodi last month. Krishna hails from Kolathur village in Hosakote and runs an 18-acre farm. Not unlike the major players in this sector, A1FW carries everything from fresh vegetables, dry groceries, diary foods, confectionary, beverages, savouries and so for. Hoskote-based farmer Krishna Murthy, who opened a supermarket…

  Here's what I just wrote to the egroup (bngbirds) of the Bird Watchers' Field Club of Bangalore just now:  Hi everyone,I'll be writing about the very enjoyable 2nd Sunday birding outing, especially with the children and teachers of Sri Vani School of Magadi Road....but before that, I have to tell you about events that unfolded just after we dispersed.When going back, I realized that the "birding bag" I carry (binocs, bird book, water bottle, camera, sketch pad) had been mislaid, and we narrowed it down to the area where we had seen the Spotted Owlet (near the Bamboo thicket). When we…

When we come across a unique not for profit organisation, social campaign or initiative, we may be interested in knowing more about its regular activities and achievements. But do we try to find out why and how it started? Irrespective of their size and successes, many civil society organisations (CSO's) or non-governmental organisations (NGO's) have a distinct personal story behind them. Some organisations like Sangama (helps sexual minorities) or the Association of People with Disabilities (APD - supports disabled persons) were started to highlight and counter the challenges or discrimination that an individual or a community experiences and assist them.…

   Around mid August this year, 21 volunteers from 14 countries arrived in southern India to work and learn from marginalized communities about their challenges pertinent to health and sanitation. They were part of "Health on Stage", a six week project where they learnt to use forum theatre to initiate simultaneous dialogues on public health in low income areas of Bangalore, Mysore and Chennai. And on 30th September, the 3 groups of participants, their trainers and faciliators gathered in Bangalore to share their experiences with healthcare professionals, media persons and theatre artists.It is well known that water related illnesses are…

On the 14th of October 2011, Citizen Matters organized a meeting of several of the writers who contribute to the magazine. From 4 pm onwards, people started trickling in, and after a round of self-introductions, people got to discussing the various issues that faced the city of Bangalore...prime among them being, of course, civil administration. While this was going on, tea, coffee and snacks were being served: Several of the writers gave their inputs: And along with Padma and Meera, Subbu moderated the meeting, and elicited responses and inputs of various kinds from the authors. Many of the contributors came…

Wise words About the Green line between Greece & Cyprus A potent message Facts on Northern Ireland's religious divide Separating Palestine and Israel Symbols of peace? US shuts out Mexicans The performers pause Why do people build walls between their territories? To ensure privacy? Or safeguard themselves and their belongings? But the borders between "neighbours" such as the United States of America and Mexico, India and Pakistan, Israel and Palestine and other places have been doing much more than protecting the citizens of the respective countries. In fact, they have managed to sow the seeds of violence and animosity apart…

Shikshana, a non-profit organisation based out of Bangalore, is working towards improving the quality of education in government primary schools by participatory intervention. The representatives talk to the school administration, teachers and students about their opinion on how to make the learning effective. In some schools students are encouraged to perform through incentives. File pic: Padmalatha Ravi This approach is completely alien in a setting where schemes are made at the power centers and the benefits trickle down. ‘I've been working for twenty two years, and this is the first time someone has come asking for what I think', remarks…