Governance

A doctor by qualification, C N Ashwath Narayan has been a long-time Malleshwaram resident. He contested the assembly polls from Malleshwaram thrice, and has won twice, his entry as a winner being in 2008. He, directly or indirectly, was a part of many businesses and charitable trusts, including Padmashree Medicare Private Limited, TKN Global Education Services, Padmashree Charitable Trust, Padmashree Diagnostics and Malleshwaram Sports Foundation, but not anymore. He has been in the news in recent times for the multiple manifesto outreach programs he has been organising. His administrative initiatives have been largely in the medical sector with Health and…

He has contested polls three times earlier, and has lost it to more powerful candidates from recognised parties. Yet, former AAP Spokesperson for Karnataka, Ravi Krishna Reddy, is an undeterred independent candidate, who has chosen Jayanagar assembly constituency for the elections going to be held in May 2018. Losing has not killed his spirit, but has only served to invigorate it. Jayanagar is where his journey started a decade ago, when he contested as an independent candidate. After joining political parties for some time, he is back to give the polls another shot, as he believes lawmakers have true power.…

Every year, an MLA is given Rs 2 crores every year, to spend on developmental works in his constituency. There are around 180 expense items sanctioned under Aravind Limabavali’s MLA Local Area Development Funds, out of 10 crores in five years. ☛ Click here to see what an MLA is allowed to spend Local Area Funds on. It appears from the data that Limbavali spent more than half of the funds in building bus shelters.  107 bus shelters costing a total of Rs 5.02 crores have been spent.  There are also curious facts in the way the money was spent. For example, when…

After a meeting with the heads of various political parties, the District Election Officer, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad conducted a press meet to informed the media of nomination procedures for the upcoming election, on Monday, April 16, 2018. The filing of nominations for the polls will begin on 17th April, 11am onwards. Between 17th and 24th, nominations can be filed between 11am and 3pm. The Commissioner specified rules for the nomination process: not more than three vehicles and five people including the candidate can be present within 100m of the office of the RO. Nomination paper and the format for…

Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, website has been playing Peekaboo with the citizens for some time. When we think that we have found it, at last, it misbehaves for a few days and hides again. If you are a visitor without purpose, it could be entertaining to see various avatars of the site. Now I see the home page of Drug Control Department when I try to see the CEO’s site. However, by entering http://164.100.80.163/ceo3/ we can get the CEO’s page. Peekaboo! In addition to different websites appearing when we look for CEO-KA website, the data we get from different official…

Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan is a two-term Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Malleshwaram, contesting for a third time from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A doctor by qualification, he is considered to be an approachable MLA, by the people of his constituency. In a free-flowing conversation, he talks about his work, beliefs and his plans if he is elected again. Edited excerpts from the interview: This is your third election contest. When you contested for the first time, what was the one problem in Malleshwaram which you thought was most evident, and what is the status of that problem today?…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) undertook this study focusing on the 27 Assembly constituencies and today released the rating of the MLAs. Bangalore city in spite of being progressive city in several segments, voter turnout in the city is the lowest in the past elections. Bengaluru has voted 47.22% and 58.27% respectively during 2008 and 2013 Assembly elections. B.PAC under it’s Election Habba initiative carried out a range of initiatives/programs. Initiatives Impact One Million New Votes (OMNV) campaign to facilitate new voter registrations 14,830 Registered Forms, 56 Campaigns across residential communities, Tech campuses and educational institutions Myconstituency,MyManifesto toengage with communities…

Each year, an MLA is given Rs 2 crore to spend on developmental works in his constituency. He/she can allocate the funds for government, community and health infrastructure, to create permanent solutions to the problems. This article gives an idea on how and what can the funds be spent on. ☛ Click here for full data set of works done/ sanctioned under N.A Haris’ MLA Local Area Development Funds. An MLA is given Rs 10 crore for spending on his constituency in five years. N.A. Haris’ accounts show an expenditure of Rs 9.34 crores in five years. He appears to have…

In a tragic incident, a Class 12 student riding a two-wheeler died in an accident at Thirumangalam in central Chennai in the first week of April. The case drew even more attention than usual, as Chennai Police, in a first, arrested the mother for letting the minor boy ride without a driving license. Chennai police seems to have followed suit of the Hyderabad police in this case, with reports of the latter having launched a massive crackdown against underage driving, are arresting the parents.  Business Standard recently reported that police in the Telangana capital catch more than 30 minors behind…

This is a 'Green Manifesto, objective of which is a commitment from the candidates contesting the elections to include “A Healthy Environment for the Well-being of the citizens” as an agenda in their general Manifesto. “Namma Kasa Namma Jawabdari” is the basic principle on which this document is drafted. A healthy environment is the ultimate source of everything critical for our survival - providing healthy food and materials, to the land we live in, water sources that sustain us to the air we breathe. We want clean habitat for ourselves and also for the villages that surround our city. We…