Governance

With the BBMP elections just round the corner, parties considered to be at the fringe of Bangalore's politics have gotten off the blocks first to present their agendas and unveil their candidates. Leaders of the ten political parties, that have come together to form the Civic Front, address the media. Pic: Navya D'Souza. The Civic Front, comprising of ten political parties released their manifesto for the coming elections yesterday at a meeting near N R Square. The Civic Front is spearheaded by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and includes All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Indian National League (INL),…

BE A COMMUNITY JOURNALIST! Join our public initiative to collect and share candidate information. Download the questionnaire and collect the info about BBMP candidates. You can use candidate affidavit, candidate supplied material, and/or speak to the candidate to gather the details. We will be continually uploading details as they are available right here. Keep watching! What is the election schedule? March 7th 2010 - Election code of conduct comes into force March 8th 2010 - Notification will be issued March 15th 2010 - Last date for filing nominations March 17th 2010 - Scrutiny of nominations filed March 19th 2010 -…

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa presented the state budget in the assembly on March 5th. What did the city allocated get in 2010-11? See our list below. ALLOCATIONS FOR BANGALORE Infrastructure For the next three years, Rs 18,872 crores has been earmarked for improving the transport system in Bangalore through metro rail, mono rail, roads. These funds will also be used to improve water and drainage facilities. The city's roads, footpaths and work on grade separator projects will be taken up by the BBMP at an expenditure of Rs 3000 crores. For commissioning of the first phase of the Metro…

Koramangala Smartvote is a campaign aimed at increasing voter turnout for BBMP elections and helping residents make an informed choice.  Koramangala Smart Vote Volunteers have been conducting a door to door campaign since November 2009, to reach out to residents in Koramangala Ward 151. Apart from this mass outreach campaigns have been conducted at Christ College, Jyothi Nivas College,  Rotary Club of Koramangala, Ladies Clubs in Koramangala, CPWD quarters, Koramangala Club and at other social gatherings. Door to door campaign will be continued till around elections time. Additionally mass outreach events are being planned at Koramangala mosque and other social…

Recently, Smart Vote, a Bangalore-based citizens' group, discovered a number of errors in the electoral lists of several polling booths. While some were complete replicas of a neighbouring polling booth, others showed some names repeated several times in the same list. The issue was brought to the notice of the State Election Commission (SEC) which is overseeing the BBMP council elections. Even as these errors were being rectified, there seemed to be many more such anomalies going unreported. Chief Electoral Officer Dr C S Suranjana, at his office near Cubbon Park. Pic: Vaishnavi VittalIt's against this backdrop that Citizen Matters…

The State Election Commission has announced the BBMP council elections schedule, with March 28th 2010 as the day of elections. The election code of conduct has been in force since March 7th and will go on till April 6th.The last date for filing nominations is March 15th while the nominations will be scrutinised on March 17th. The last date for withdrawing nomination papers is March 19th. After polling takes place on March 28th between 7 am and 5 pm, counting will be done a week later on April 5th. If necessary, repolling will take place on April 4th.March 7th 2010…

GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKAPOLICE DEPARTMENTPROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE BANGALORE CITY.SUB : Issue of directions u/s 70 of The Karnataka Police Act, 1963 in fulfillment of the duties cast on the Police u/s 68 Sub Section F of The Karnataka Police Act, 1963. Deadlines set by Police Commissioner Bidari Filing of compliance status via Annexure A - 15th April 2010 Ensuring compliance with fire safety rules - 30th April 2010 Ensuring compliance of bldgs to approved plan - 30th June 2010PREAMBLE: 1. On 23rd February, 2010, fire broke out in a high rise building called Carlton Towers, in the limits…

The Karnataka Lokayukta has ordered a departmental enquiry against the BBMP Commissioner Bharat Lal Meena, BWSSB Chairman P B Ramamurthy and few other officials for a case of zoning violation in Jayanagar. Though the Lokayukta's orders are recommendatory and not binding, the order comes as another slap on the face of a city that recently witnessed the Carlton Towers fire accident. The Lokayukta issued this order on December 23rd 2009.Also, Meena and Ramamurthy, both IAS officers, have been slapped with a showcause notice by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms on February 17th 2010.BBMP had sanctioned a plan for…

The state government's proposal to construct a war memorial at the Indira Gandhi musical fountain park in Vasanthnagar, has met the ire of environment groups in the city, who allege that this project is being carried out by violating several legislations. At least 29 trees (or less) are facing the axe for the project. The groups, however, say that they are not against the construction of a war memorial itself, but are opposing the felling of trees. Proposed to be built over 6 acres and 22 guntas of this 17-odd acre park, the project has been initiated by the state's…

For months now, reservations for Bengaluru's city council seats have been in the eye of a storm. Citizens across the city have questioned the state government on the method used to reserve wards. In the process, cases have been filed both in the High Court (HC) and Supreme Court, both of who have quashed the original list released by the state.The list released by the government on 23 February is here. Ward reservation list.  To reserve the 23 wards for the Scheduled Caste (SC) community in the BBMP council elections, two methods have been under discussion lately. One method involves…