SOCIETY

Most old time Bangaloreans will vouch that shopping in the noisy, congested lanes of Chickpete and Balepete is a unique experience and more importantly, easy on the wallet. Bangalore Pete (city), built in 1537 AD during Kempegowda reign, is now a thriving wholesale market. Though most people who visit here are retailers, who buy their supplies at wholesale prices, there is also a huge retail shopping populace who regularly visit for the economical prices and the sheer range on offer.It was a long time since I went shopping in this area; so when my aunt requested me to accompany her…

Once upon a time, buses were...boring. Not boring only because one had to wait endlessly for them, but also because the buses were uniformly coloured and so dull. All that has changed now, and I would like to share with you some of the rainbow bursts that ply through the city’s roads, some sporting pictures of nubile maidens and some messages laden with deep significance. I decided to take a ride on a couple of these buses just to talk to the conductors and the drivers. In some instances, the driver had been assigned recently to the bus, and was…

Arts and Culture Shivaji's story retold in exhibition For history lovers, stories about Chatrapathi Shivaji are fascinating, and there have been many attempts to highlight the heroic deeds of this great Maratha King. In one such attempt, Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism (FACT) has organised an exhibition of colour pictures along with historic records that trace the life of Shivaji. The exhibition is on in Mainy Sadana on Lavelle road till October 5. (Prajavani, Sunday, Sept 28) Business ITC push carts for vegetable vending may come to Bangalore After successfully trying their hand in supermarkets, big players like ITC have now…

“You know you’re in Bangalore, you know you’re in the Silicon Valley of India, when you go to play golf and the caddy on the first tee says you can either aim at the Microsoft building or the IBM building. You know you’re in Bangalore when you see the Pizza Hut advertisement says ‘gigabytes of taste’,” famously said the US journalist Thomas Friedman in 2004. Ever since, reams have been written on outsourcing, the software boom and the rise of the uber-smart, uber-rich new technogeeks of Bangalore. But whatever happened to the other Bangalores, the ones that shun the arc…

Business & Economy 11 floor apartment to come up in just two months Well known property developers Golden Gates Properties is planning to construct an 11-floor apartment in just two months. An architectural firm called Hock has prepared the design for the building, to come up near Yeshawanthapur. An earthquake-resistant aluminum system used by the developers can enable the fast construction. (Kannada Prabha, Thursday, Sept 25) Floating hotel on Halasuru lake The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) is planning to set up a floating hotel on Halasur lake (better known as Ulsoor lake) to attract tourists. Similar hotels have…

Calling for nominations for the third The Anupama Jayaraman Memorial Award 2009 for young women journalists. For: Women Journalists 25 years and below.Topic: Human rights and social justiceDeadline: 15 October 2008Language: Any Indian LanguageThe press meet was held at Press club, Bangalore and addressed by Ms. Ammu Joseph, senior journalist and founder of the Network of Women in Media, India; Ms. Nirmala Jayaraman, Anupama' mother and Ms. Anita Cheria a human rights writer.Award DetailsThe Jayaraman family and the Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) jointly announce the Anupama Jayaraman Memorial Award for young women journalists for the year 2009.…

Business & Economy No deadbody, no insurance Basavanna, a retired KSRTC driver from Malavalli, lost his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren in the 2004 Tsunami, when they were on tour in Chennai. However he was not able to get their dead bodies. The insurance company denied compensation, contending that there was a possibility of them being alive as the dead bodies were not recovered. Basavanna argued that he had performed the last rites of the dead. He has now filed a writ petition in the High Court against the insurance company for their refusal to release compensation. (Prajavani, Tuesday, Sept…

We volunteers at the Association for India's Development (AID), Bangalore chapter, are collecting relief material and cheques, to be sent to our people/partner groups in Bihar. Full details, click here.Contact:pulkitparikh [at] yahoo [dot] com or 99161-73750This is a request for your support. You can also conduct a collection drive in your office, apartment and among your friends. We plan to dispatch all collected items on the 25th of this month. Here are the details on what to collect, where to send, what AID is doing in Bihar, etc. We encourage you to disseminate this appeal far and wide.Donating money: Online…

Populations worldwide are ageing. Young today is old tomorrow. Better living conditions, lower birth rates and medical science advancements have increased the life expectancy of humans. This would also mean increase in the population of the elderly. The coming years will see an increasing amount of aged couples and widows, many of whom may continue to feel the pressure of earning a livelihood due to lack of social security and insurance. At the same time, the process of aging will be accompanied by increased vulnerability to illness and death. All these features of aging imply that the problems of the…

 For four days last week, Thursday to Sunday, BMTC dropped the bus fares for the city's Volvo buses to Rs.1. The Hindu reported on 16 September that several buses suffered damages to tyres, suspensions, blowers, window screens, seat fabrics, and more. ⊕