PRESS RELEASE

Dear H D Kumaraswamy, Do you have children or grandchildren? The reason I ask is this: What future are we really gifting them? Have you got any idea what the specialists at the United Nations Climate change, COP conventions are deliberating these days? Let me offer you a flavor: They are debating which countries will take the upcoming waves of Climate Change Refugees. ie, when Maldives goes under the sea, who will receive the wave of refugees that will flee? When Bangladesh is fully under sea, who will receive those millions? These make it look distant. But then what I…

HSR Layout is known to innovate citizen and politician engagement year on year. The local politician here funds special projects every year for his birthday as he sees value in the association. This year for his birthday, MLA Sathish Reddy, has funded a one of its kind Composting Learning Centre - Swachagraha Kalika Kendra. It is visualised as a live learning centre for all kinds of composting. It houses most home and community composting solutions available in the market today and many DIY composting solutions as well. One of the BBMP Parks in Sector 4 has been developed to make this…

Come December, every year, thousands of music rasikas, practitioners, scholars and other curious on-lookers from all over the world descend on Chennai to experience the remarkable cultural coming-together that is the annual Music and Dance Season. However, the Tamil Heritage Trust (THT), has created a parallel ‘concert’ experience this year, which allows rasikas an opportunity to immerse themselves in the magnificent ocean of history, literature, fine arts, sculpture and architecture that is India’s Heritage. Pechchu Kachcheri 2018 is a celebration of heritage along with music. As part of the event, a series of lectures, Cholavanadu Kalayudaithu, has been organised that…

Garbage continues to be one of the biggest challenges in our city and can only be addressed by managing waste in a decentralised manner. More households should manage their waste ‘at source’ through home composting while the rest can be managed at a neighbourhood level. It is clear that with this degree of decentralisation, only a meager 5-10% of our waste would go to landfills. What is the key missing piece in this puzzle? Citizen Awareness. One such great initiative looking to solve this problem is 'SwachaGraha Kalika kendra' a composting learning center. It is a first-of-its-kind project in India,…

Mandran and NCBS (National Centre for Biological Sciences) have put together Jigyasa event for 2018, themed on Traditional Knowledge meets Modern Science. The event starts at 9.30 am on December 15, 2018 at the Dasheri Hall in the NCBS campus in Kodigehalli, Bangalore. This time the Jigyasa project features three languages, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi with eminent scientists participating to share their knowledge in their mother tongues. This event has been put together to benefit people whose primary language of communication is not English. Tamil: Prof. Sowdhamini and Prof. Dhandapani, from 10 am to 11.30 am. Prof Sowdhamini from NCBS…

INTACH Bangalore Chapter has organised a talk on 'MUZIRIS: The story and science of excavating an ancient port city', by Dr PJ Cherian. This will be held at The Bohemian House, (in the Woodlands Hotel Campus), Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road, Richmond Circle, Bangalore, on Friday, 14th December, 2018, 7 pm. With the Kochi Muziris Biennale opening on December 12th, it's time to find out all about Muziris! Archaeological excavations at Pattanam, near Kochi, have shown that it was likely the famed ancient port city known as Muziris to the Greeks and Romans and called Muciri Pattinam in classical Tamil…

A massive demonstration was organised on Wednesday, December 12, 2018, on the premises of the BBMP Head Office at Corporation Circle by the BBMP Guttige Pourakarmikara Sangha, affiliated to AICCTU, where over 1,000 pourakarmikas took part. They protested against the callous attitude of the BBMP Officials towards the workers.  After years of determined struggle by the pourakarmikas, the BBMP was compelled to abolish the contract system and take the contract pourakarmikas on their rolls, and make out direct payment to them. Despite this, at today’s protest, the workers highlighted the fact that the contractors were still working behind the scenes…

Youth Speak Summit 2018, a collaborative initiative of the U.S. Consulate General, Chennai and NalandaWay Foundation, is a two-day conference that will bring together young people from various spheres in one platform to learn, share, and inspire change. The summit will take place December 1-2, 2018 at the Madras Management Association Centre, Anna Salai, Chennai. The summit will comprise curated talks, panel discussions, workshops, contests, and art by some of the most inspiring minds in the country. The sessions will include talks by youth icons, discussions on issues, storytelling by young change-makers, clinics for counseling, panel discussions, human library, workshops, skill sharing sessions, and much…

Between 2012 and 2017, India’s polluting thermal power plants led to an increase in the levels of toxic sulphur dioxide in air by 32% and in PM2.5 levels by 34% across India, which has already earned the dubious distinction of being home to 14 of the world’s 15 most polluted cities, besides being ranked number one globally by The Lancet in terms of pollution-related deaths! Not surprisingly, the recent inclusion by the Union environment ministry of mandatory baseline health assessments and periodic health monitoring as a standard condition for all Environmental Clearances for Thermal Power Plants is being hailed as…

The Government of Karnataka (GoK) is planning to construct Elevated Corridors of around 90 kms at an estimated cost of Rs. 33,600 crores. The government claims that this will address traffic congestion in the city. There is opposition from citizens and experts alike for this proposed project. On November 17th 2018, the Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV) held a public discussion on ‘Elevated Corridors: The Need for Alternatives’ which brought together a panel of experts on mobility, city planning, urban commons and law, along with citizens to discuss issues surrounding this project. H S Sudhira of Gubbi Labs said, “Comprehensive…