Z-Blogs

Here's an announcement I got via Hasiru Usiru:Those who want unbaked, uncoloured Ganesha vigrahams of the size that can be dissolved at home in a bucket of water and poured back to join your garden soil, can contact3419177 or 9342303247or email Chandra Ravikumar atchandraravikumar@hotmail.com⊕References

Two weeks ago, on a Saturday afternoon as another hectic week at Citizen Matters had wound down, we received a phone call from one Mr G (name held back) asking us whether we could distribute the Citizen Matters print magazine in the Vijaynagar area of the city. He spoke in fluent Kannada and English, and from his voice it seemed he was in his late forties. At first it was not clear why we must take him seriously, since the only thing he would give away about himself was a first name, and that he was an ‘IT consultant’.Let’s cut…

Recently I happened to go to Gandhi Bhavan to cover an event. It was only a couple of months ago that I heard that Bangalore has something called the Gandhi Bhavan but had no idea where it was located. Neither did my father when I asked him how to get there (we all expect dads to know everything, don’t we?). It’s unfortunate that on Kumarakrupa Road, Chitra Kala Parishad (CKP), Sindhi High School or even the Janata Dal office are the only names that come up but never Gandhi Bhavan which is right next to CKP and opposite Sindhi High…

The thing about blame is that it usually comes full circle. As incidents of viral fever (Dengue, Chikugunya, etc.), in the city started increasing, we decided to investigate why there was such a widespread spurt this time, how it was being tracked, who was tracking it, what they were doing about it, if it could have been averted and how. We discovered a number of worrisome realities, and do not miss our report on pages 6 and 7. Here’s our view. First, the blame game. Doctors quietly charge the BBMP for failing in mosquito eradication this year in water logged…

Are you interested in writing a business plan? Is it to show to an investor? If you are planning to write a plan for your business or to help someone or are just curious about the noise made about business plans, here is a game for you to play. A game, where you get to be a virtual entrepreneur, without going into the pain of actually having a real company out there to run. If you are game for this game, think of yourself as an entrepreneur starting or running an existing business and...read on...First: The backgroundBefore thinking of preparing…

Ranga Shankara continues its endeavour to encourage art and theatre among children, by organizing a Painting Day on the 2nd of August, 2009.The Painting Day is a precursor to a mega event for children, which will be announced shortly. This is an opportunity to unleash one's creativity and indulge innovative minds in mixing colors and creating unique shades! The art pieces will be exhibited at Ranga Shankara for over a month. Furthermore, Ranga Shankara has invited a couple of senior artists of Bangalore to paint away with the children. Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 Venue: Ranga Shankara Time: 11 AM…

The 5th International Canopy conference from 25th October - 31st october, 2009, in Bangalore, India.Details here For those interested...ATREE is also organizing a painting competition on the theme "Forest canopies" as part of the International canopy conference. Check the link for more details here ⊕References

Around 18 years ago, a piece of paper carried the following sprited words, as a reasoned explanation for a series of amendments to a hallowed document. Here's how the words read: "In  many  States  local  bodies have become weak  and  ineffective  on account of a variety of reasons, including the failure to hold regular elections, prolonged supersessions and inadequate devolution of powers and  functions.   As  a  result, Urban Local Bodies are  not  able  to perform effectively as vibrant democratic units of self-government."Recognise Bengaluru in the situation there? The hallowed document is our Constitution and the words in the quote above…

Dear Nandan,The central government recently appointed you, a Bangalorean, as the head of the ambitious Universal Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and you accepted. Congratulations. Please address one key question to set the right expectations amongst citizens early on.In your book, Imagining India, you have rightly recognised that we are a country full of random, disconnected procedures for IDs and ‘ID proofing’. Everything from passports, to phone lines to ration cards to driver licenses, voter rolls, water connections, BPL cards, gas connections, bank accounts and more involves citizens interacting with a local, state or central government agency, PSU or private…

CycleReCycle.in is a project aimed at recycling cycles that are unused, broken, abandoned and bringing them back on road.The project borrows ideas from http://www.recycledcycles.com/, http://www.kiva.org/ and http://thebicycleproject.blogspot.com/The goal is to build a platform where people can contribute time, money, effort, equipment, information so that more and more cycles can get onto the road.The project will be run on a not-for-profit basis.Please get in touch with them, if you: 1. Have an old/unused/broken cycle/cycle-part and want to give it away 2. Know abandoned cycle/cycle-part and can help retreive it it 3. Have time to spare to collect cycles, get them fixed…