PRESS RELEASE

Residents of Koramangala and users of the Koramangala 3rd Block playground participated in a Walk/Run event conducted on March 6th. The event had two twin objectives – to raise funds for charitable purposes and to focus attention on the need to save the Koramangala 3rd Block Playground. More than 300 men women and children of all ages participated. Walk and run events were held two distance categories – 2.5 km and 5 km. Over 300 residents showed up for the Save our Playground walk/run event. Pic: Nitin Seshadri A civic amenity site located contiguous to the BBMP Playground in Koramangala 3rd…

My Dear Friends and Fellow Bengalureans, Warm (or perhaps ‘fiery’) greetings from me. Possibly, I do not need an introduction. Nevertheless, for those who still don’t know me: I’m the disrepute of Bengaluru - the frothy, foamy, toxic-filled, foul-smelling Bellandur Lake, which many claim has put Namma Bengaluru to shame on international landscapes. This would make for a pretty picture if we didn't know the reality. Pic: Sanchayan Nath Let me say, I owe this claim-to-fame to: The city’s mindless administrative machinery Unlawful encroachers All those who consider dumping waste (solid, liquid or industrial) in my waters their birth right!…

B.PAC submitted its strong objections to BESCOM’s proposal for increase of electricity tariff for FY-17. TV Mohandas Pai, Vice President and Revathy Ashok, CEO and Managing Trustee, B.PAC made the submissions to the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) during the public hearing conducted by KERC on Friday February 26th 2016. Following are the highlights of B.PAC’s submissions.  Capital Expenditure CAPEX for FY15 has nearly doubled – The sanctioned budget was Rs 763 crore, whereas actual CAPEX has increased to Rs 1474 crore in 2014-15. This amounts to an increase of Rs 711 crore. Such a significant increase in unplanned CAPEX…

Janaagraha’s Participatory Budgeting campaign in Bengaluru, called MyCityMyBudget, was launched on November 23, 2015. Over more than two months of hectic online and on-ground activity, the campaign reached out to various sections of the city’s citizenry to facilitate their identification of inputs to the forthcoming BBMP Budget. Citizens were asked to give inputs pertaining to their respective wards and neighborhoods. The campaign is now poised to move to the next phase of submitting the inputs received to the elected representatives and the relevant agencies. Sapna Karim, Co-ordinator, Civic Participation, Janaagraha, says: "Our team has complied the inputs and shared a…

The educational system in India is broken. Of course there are a few good schools, but the majority of our population is going through Government schools that have been proven to be inadequate, due to many reasons such as teacher absenteeism, wrote-learning sufficiency, lack of accountability, etc. (see James Tooley's research compiled in a book called The Beautiful Tree). Most of those forced to use the Government schools are in the Indian villages, where no alternatives are available. This rural population forms a majority of our population and it is disheartening and disturbing to see that majority Indian youth are…

Open Streets (OMG) is being held today, February 21st, on M.G. Road, Bengaluru. Celebrating Bengaluru OMG aims to revive the long-lost charm of the 'Boulevard of Bengaluru City'. Traffic will be restricted between Anil Kumble Circle and the Brigade Road junction on MG Road between 9 am and 9 pm, opening the streets for festivities that celebrate the city of Bengaluru in all its traffic-free glory. BMTC and BMRCL have extended their bus and metro services respectively, to encourage people to use public transport when commuting to the event. Special arrangements for free and secure parking for bicycles have also…

Srinivasa Mahal, Winner of the 2015 award in the Private (Residential) category. Pic: INTACH INTACH has invited nominations from you for the Second Annual INTACH Heritage Awards, given to Bengaluru's heritage buildings. Citizens can nominate the heritage buildings that they think deserve an award -- the beautiful ones that make you sigh, the charming ones that you think gave Bengaluru its unique charm, the hoary old ones that tell stories of our past. These awards help to showcase Bengaluru's heritage, and to keep heritage in the public eye, so do take a moment to nominate a building! Awards will be given…

Common Purpose, sponsored by Comic Relief, is running an online crowd sourcing challenge to explore how we can increase civic engagement in Bengaluru. The Common Purpose Challenge, which is also running in Manchester, United Kingdom is asking residents of both cities to work together to generate new ideas that will increase civic engagement. The winning ideas will be presented to a distinguished panel led by Academy Award winner David Puttnam, and including Director General of Police, Karnataka, MN Reddi and Trustee of Bangalore Little Theatre, Vijay Padaki. The challenge is hosted online through Crowdicity, an innovative crowd sourcing platform. Residents…

On February 8th, I had the pleasure of watching Beedhi Nataka (street theatre) at Jayanagar 4th Block, performed beautifully by the PG Commerce students of NMKRV College for Women. The team performed at Maiyas, Cool Joint, Ganesh Darshan and the 4th Block bus stand. At first glance, the performance looked like a discourse with nature, which then transformed into an ensemble of natures parade against the atrocities of man.  Snapshots from the street play. Pic: Madhuri SubbaraoSnapshots from the street play. Pic: Madhuri SubbaraoSnapshots from the street play. Pic: Madhuri SubbaraoSnapshots from the street play. Pic: Madhuri Subbarao‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');});…

Most of our neighbourhoods in Bengaluru are beset with infrastructure issues; issues that need to be fixed to ensure a better quality of life for us. In a city that is as cosmopolitan as ours, the issues are also not the same across the city; they differ from one neighbourhood to the next. Every year, our local government prepares an annual budget for the city, in which, budgets are allocated to all the neighbourhoods (wards). Also, a decision is taken on which issues would be taken up for work in each neighbourhood. So far, it was difficult, maybe even impossible…