Governance

In Bangalore, we see epic traffic jams on a daily basis. According the estimate in Revised Master Plan - 2031, Bengaluru's economy suffered a loss of Rs 3700 crore in 2016 due to traffic jams alone! The traffic jams can be reduced drastically if Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) can attract people to ride buses, instead of using private vehicles. So how can BMTC make the bus services irresistible to the public? A passenger would gladly take the BMTC bus for his daily commute, if it meets the following conditions: It must cover the entire trip, door-to-door, with minimal walking…

Samarth Mahajan does not match the common man’s imagination of an IIT-ian. While exceptions may not be all that rare, India still associates IIT with successful corporate careers, fat salaries and most recently, Sundar Pichai! One doesn’t really think of a 24-year-old graduate from IIT Kharagpur giving up a coveted FMCG job on a whim, getting up on unreserved compartments on trains and taking a 17-day journey across the length and breadth of the country, capturing through his camera the voices and lives of a vast majority of people from its cities, towns and villages. Samarth’s documentary The Unreserved, winner…

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Manjunath Prasad has said that properties in 110 villages added to BBMP in 2007, which are on B-Khatha list, will be regularised. These properties will be de-linked from the Akrama-Sakrama scheme, on which a public interest litigation is going on in the Supreme Court. It is not clear how many properties will benefit from this, and whether it will be vacant sites alone, or if it will include the built up properties as well. The statement comes in the backdrop of the Karnataka government's move to amend the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. This will regularise…

The rainbow is out, and rarely has it been brighter. A landmark Supreme Court verdict, delivered through four separate but concurring and stirring judgments, has decriminalized homosexuality by scrapping certain portions of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and also underlined the ‘primary objective’ of the Constitution as one of ‘establishing a dynamic and inclusive society’ that recognizes and grants the rights of all persons who identify themselves as ‘queer’. The mood among members of the community as well as those who work with them has been euphoric, for it has been the culmination of a long and…

Citizens demand immediate development of suburban railway network Civic collective Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) first initiated the #ChukkuBukkuBeku campaign, demanding better suburban train connectivity, in 2016. A demonstrative rail yatra was held on August 31st as part of the revived campaign, now called #ModaluTrainBeku.  The yatra was aimed at highlighting the time saved in commute during peak hours for regular commuters from IT firms around the traffic-choked Outer Ring Road. Sloganeering techies, RWAs, first-time riders and activists embarked on a journey from Yeshwanthpur railway station to Heelalige station on the local train numbered 76523 between 2:55 pm and 4:04 pm. The train…

I used public transport for the first time in the city this July, as I had to travel to Kempegowda Bus Station (Majestic BMTC City Bus Depot). As a complete newbie bus commuter in Bengaluru, I had an internship assignment to look at BMTC’s communication, and their interfaces and evaluate the overall usefulness. My mentor, from Co Media Lab, had suggested I use all mediums of communication available to me whether it be the BMTC app, Google Maps, or even physical brochures. A new perspective, he said, probably had a better chance of picking out certain gaps in the system,…

Election Commission of India (ECI) approved a proposal of a programme for Special Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls, by the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (CEO-KA). Of the nine listed activities in the letter, we the citizens should note the following: 1. House to house visit by BLOs 16 Jul to 10 Aug 2018 2. Rationalisation of Polling Stations 27 Aug to 15 Sep 2018 3. Publication of integrated electoral rolls 10 Oct 2018 4. Period for claims and objections 10 Oct to 20 Nov 2018 5. Disposal of claims and objections by 20 Dec 2018 6. Final publication of electoral…

Suddenly, what Bengalureans had not got for years - though they yearned for it - suddenly happened in a day. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials got active recently to knock down more than 5,000 illegal flex boards, banners and buntings from hoardings and electric poles. People could even file FIRs against offenders and hecklers who tried to stop them. On Thursday, the BBMP claimed that 21,140 flexes and banners  have been removed, though an estimated 2,500 hoardings still remained here and there. But how exactly did the BBMP suddenly get into action mode? It began at 10.30 am last Wednesday…

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the month with a "visual" move. He read out and defiantly tore a report sent by Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal on the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance camera systems in the capital. The LG's document referred to a monitoring panel, police licensing and public suggestions for installation of CCTV cameras. It said that every owner and data controller of camera systems culling information from the public needs to disclose the "purpose, number, location, manner of usage, handling and storage of data or information" as well as other related details. However, the CM is of…

"He will be missed, his extraordinary literary prowess, his political acumen, his satirical humour, his eloquent web of lyrical Tamil will all be missed.", says Aruna Subramaniam, a management consultant and active Chennai citizen, who remembers seeing Muthuvel Karunanidhi, or Kalaignar as he was called, with her uncle and his friends, on Marina beach in the days of 'less crowds, glittering sand, friendly sundal vendors, and the delicious Rita ice cream carts.' The sentiment is echoed by most Chennaiites of an older vintage today. The last of the titans is gone, and there is a deep sense of loss -…