Civic

For the third time, we are getting Lifedream skills to town. You can now pitch in to teach the youth who badly need intervention to get a leg up and become employable slowly redeeming their self esteem as well in that process. You already saw Christina's story. The ideal candidate is someone between 18 and 28, female. In some cases we can take 17.5 years or 30. The minimum education is 8th standard pass/fail, but we can have graduates also - depending on their 'level' they benefit, as the course is designed that way. This is targeted towards poor students…

It's been a year since we moved to this home in ISRO Layout. A terrace for the kids to play, another terrace for our Kambha / stand-in pot and yet another one for my terrace garden plot. Perfect? No. What set off the home-happiness balance was the empty plot next door. It's been a year long journey of attempts to locate the owner, getting BBMP to stop dumping in the site and stop burning garbage and dry leaves in the site. Telling the PKs, calling the BBMP control room, catching supervisors in action setting fire to garbage piled up. We…

Sudheendra and Channa Keshava, two civic activists undergoing the civic leadership training (B.CLIP) from B.PAC, organised a waste management awareness program in their wards on Saturday. Nagapura and Shivnagara wards in Bengaluru saw the coming together of the local community, elected representatives, pourakarmikas and the local government school children on the morning of January 10th, for a noble cause. So far several wards across Bengaluru such as Shivnagara, Nagapura, Kadugodi, Marappanpalya, Bapuji Nagara, Malleshwaram and Vidyaranyapura have been significantly benefitted from the initiatives of the leadership training program, and the multiplier effect will slowly but surely change the landscape of…

Taking Stock So much has been done. Over the coming days, we will share a series of newsletters focused on a topic or two at a time so we don't overwhelm you in one annual review :). In summary however, its been a year of phenomenal citizen engagement. It is only when we pause a moment and look back can we see how far we have come. All this work however, brings us only to Base Camp. The climb will begin now and we are ready for it. Stay current with all the happennings via our blogposts at www.whitefieldrising.org as…

Citizen Matters co-founder Meera K receiving Manthan award in News Delhi. Pic: Navya P K On the evening of December 4th, Citizen Matters won yet another award. The tally, including reporting awards won by our erstwhile reporters Navya P K, Vaishnavi Vittal and Supriya Khandekar, is now six, in six years. The last five have come in three years. It is an even split now between awards for individual storytelling and for the publication itself. What do these awards mean to me, a journalism entrepreneur and innovator? One way to answer this question is to see what our work has…

Citizen Matters co-founder Meera K receiving Manthan award in New Delhi. Pic: Navya P K This is yet another feather in our cap—and your cap too! Your own web magazine for city and hyperlocal news, Citizen Matters, has won its sixth award in its sixth year. Support us today Oorvani Media, the company that publishes Citizen Matters, began its journey as an angel-investor funded startup. We are indebted to the original angel Bangaloreans who helped us develop this news magazine as a platform for hyperlocal news, between 2009-2013.Today our journalism is completely funded out of Oorvani Foundation, a non-profit charitable…

WR Open House. Come see what this is all about! A year and a half of existence. Over 40 projects initiated. 4500 Facebook members. Over 100 active doers. Increasing visibility for Whitefield. Good engagement with Government. Brookefield, Hoodi and ECC Rising are emerging. Postive changes happening, slowly but surely. Come join and instantly be a part of the change. There are no fees, no mandates, no organization structure. Its not an NGO, a trust or a club. Its just like minded residents that have had enough of the status quo and want to make a difference. Come, engage and empower…

Pic: Sreerekh VidyadharanPic: Sreerekh VidyadharanPic: Sreerekh Vidyadharan‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); Ramamurthy Nagar witnessed a rare occurence on the morning of November 23rd 2014. Parents along with students of Jaigopal Garodia Rashtrotthana Vidyakendra (JGRVK) in collaboration with the BBMP, Ward Corporator and residents of the area, were out on the streets at 7 am; not to protest, but on a Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, with brooms and other equipment in hand. This initiative was not only meant to make a difference in Ramamurthy Nagar, but also to serve as an inspiration to people in other schools and localities to…

So the non-profit you support is raising funds and you are busy reaching out to all your friends. The ones who are settled abroad are particularly targeted. A $100 donation (or its equivalent in INR), while giving huge satisfaction in doing a bit of charity would hardly pinch their pockets there, and make a huge difference here. It probably would not cross your mind that receiving money from “foreigners” without having FCRA Prior Permission/ FCRA Registration is violating the law and your non-profit can land up in serious trouble. Here is what you need to know when you collect donations…

“A politician thinks of the next election while a statesman thinks of the next generation.” As Bangalore continues to grow both in size and numbers, there is a greater and dire need to ensure that the city’s infrastructure and public institutions are geared up to work effectively to ensure a better standard of living. In keeping with achieving these goals, Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) launched the B.PAC Civic Leadership Incubator Program (B.CLIP). B.CLIP aims to create a pool of informed citizens who have the ability to work on various issues important to the citizens of Bangalore and act as…