PRESS RELEASE

As many as 26 passengers, traveling in the Bangalore-Nanded Express, have been charred to death and several others injured, when the three-tier Air-Conditioned bogie caught fire in the wee hours, around 3-30 am, on Saturday, at Kothacheruvu near Puttaparthy in Ananthapur District of Andhra Pradesh. According to the District Public Relations Officer Thimmappa, on learning about the incident, the district administration led by the District Collector Lokesh Kumar swung into action and is carrying out relief and rescue operations. The Minister for Revenue of Andhra Pradesh, Raghuveera Reddy, who is also personally supervising the relief and rescue operations, has appealed…

Students of Inventure Academy, Sarjapura Road participated in the Namma Bengaluru Awards 2013 by nominating their heroes recently. What does BBMP stand for? Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike - Pat came the reply! What’s so unusual in this revelation? Well - nothing except that this came from a bunch of well meaning students in the prestigious Inventure Academy. If you thought today’s youngsters don’t care enough for their city, think again! They are aware of their surroundings and have kept their eyes, ears, heart and soul open in either contributing towards their city’s development or joining hands with those who are…

DJ halli in Bangalore has been in the news for several reasons primarily for the deaths of children due to severe malnutrition and associated medical illnesses and complications including disabilities. The community has met several times over the last few months and identified many problems in DJ halli. These are: 1.   Anganwadis which are inadequate for the population of DJ halli  and ill equipped to meet the needs of the children. Many children are still not enrolled in anganwadis and do not have access to any of the benefits. Children with SAM and cerebral palsy have even more difficulties in…

A student felicitates a Poura Karmika. Pic courtesy: CMCA Thousands of children from the member schools of Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness will be thanking Pourakarmikas across the city this month. The flag-off event for the Pourakarmika thanksgiving day was celebrated for the seventh consecutive year at the Rajkumar Gajinamane Hall, BBMP Head office, Bangalore. Narayan, the president of the Pourakarmika Union, was present on the occasion. In his speech Narayan said, ”People look down upon Pourakarmikas in the society but an organization like CMCA recognizes the Pourakarmika’s work including health and hygiene. I am really happy about this”. Children…

The Karnataka High Court comprising of a bench of Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice S N Satyanarayana rapped the government for having no action plan to clear encroachments despite having evidences with them. The Chief Justice accepted on record Namma Bengaluru Foundation’s detailed aide-memoire inter-alia listing out a representative list of large scale encroachments of government lands; the memo enlists details of 13 major encroachments in Bengaluru urban and rural district as mentioned in the JLC and Task Force report. Namma Bengaluru Foundation’s writ petition filed in public interest seeks the recovery of the land encroached as indicated…

If you are travelling to Bangalore International Airport on November 17, 2013, you will have to avoid the usual airport road from Chalukya Cirlce till Mekhri Circle. Be prepared in advance, with extra time for the commute and proper knowledge of the alternative routes. In view of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangalore and public meeting at Palace Ground on November 17, 2013, Bangalore Traffic Police has announced the following traffic changes from 6 am to 10 pm. 12781681101113231445615‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); Click on the slideshow to visualise the arrangements. I. General vehicles diversion…

A press note released on November 10 said that intensive verification of ration cards has begun in Bangalore, which will soon be extended to the other cities, districts and taluks in the State. Commissioner for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Harsh Gupta said in the press note that in view of the large number of complaints received from the public on the alleged bogus ration cards and misuse of ration by the Fair Price Shops, the Department has taken this initiative. How is verification carried out? Gupta said that the Department, which has 42 Food Inspectors in the Bangalore Informal Rationing…

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has monitored the ambient air quality using continuous ambient air quality monitoring system at two locations and manual monitoring stations at 13 locations (11 manual stations and 2 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations [CAAQMS]) in Bangalore city on occasion of Deepavali festival 2013. To see the impact of bursting of crackers etc. on air quality, round-the-clock (24 Hourly) air quality monitoring was carried out. The measured SO2 and NO2 values during normal days (29.10.2013) and Deepavali days (2nd and 4th Nov-2013) have not exceeded the National limits (SO2: 80 µg/M3 and NO2: 80 µg/M3).…

In a significant ruling, Justice A S Pachhapure of the High Court of Karnataka dismissed on October 11, 2013 the petitions that sought quashing of criminal prosecution of senior representatives of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwar (UAS), M/s Mahyco/Monsanto and M/s Sathguru, who have been accused by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and Karnataka State Biodiversity Board (KBB) of committing serious criminal acts of biopiracy in promoting BT Brinjal, India's first food GMO. The petitions dismissed by the Court are those filed by University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad,  R R Hanchinal, Vice Chancellor and H S Vijaykumar, Registrar of…

A unique effort dedicated towards social initiatives as part of the Raj Bhowmik Back-To-Society DREAM, Soulbath Peace Foundation organises an Annual Crafts Bazaar, a fundraiser event every year, to support a social initiative. This year the fundraiser supports the project promoting Education for Sustainable Development for Children in Rural India for Leadership, Citizenship and Empowerment. A unique exhibition and an opportunity for artistic, cultural and creative pursuit, it tells stories from the heart of rural India through its textiles, pottery and jewelry.  ‘Soulbath Peace Foundation Crafts Bazaar’ running successfully in its third year is being organized in Bangalore this year…