Governance

  Now here is an Example Suppose you have a property in the city that fell into tax Zone E, your tenanted area is 450 sq ft and self occupied area is 950 sq ft then following will be your tax calculation: Gross Unit Area Value - Rs 22200.00 Depreciation Amount -  Rs 5328.00 (the depreciation is of 24 per cent) Net Unit Area Value - Rs 16872.00 Property Tax - Rs 3374.40 Cess (24 per cent) - Rs 809.86 Total Property Tax - Rs 4184.26 Rebate of 5 per cent - Rs 3975.00 (If paid in full on or…

We all often read in newspapers about various raids that the Lokayukta of Karnataka does on various officers and catches them red-handed taking bribes. And most of us wonder how do they get to know of this. If one of us comes across an officer who readily accepts bribes, how do we tell the Lokayukata about that? Where do we complain? Will the Lokayukta consider the small complaints that do not involve a one crore-rupees scam?Well, the answer is yes. And filing a complaint is not as daunting as it may seem, considering our collective experience of access to government…

On 1st December, B N Vijay Kumar, MLA(BJP), Jayanagar constituency (which includes Jayanagar and JP Nagar), distributed pamphlets to all residents of his constituency asking them to inform him if they find vacant sites which is not protected by either the BBMP or BDA. Vijay Kumar says that he often gets complaints from his constituents about unused government land being misused or getting encroached upon. To verify the complaints, he went around his constituency and found that there were a lot of unprotected land sites owned by government or city corporation, which were not fenced or marked, near BBMP parks,…

Voter registration for Bengaluru's MNC employees is now as simple as a walk to their cafe!VoteDeIndia has been conducting such drives at MNC campuses throughout Bangalore, most recently at Cognizant and Sasken. VoteDeIndia is volunteer, non-profit and non-partisian initiative run by a group Bangaloreans from the Infotech sector to increasing voter (electorate) turnout. The drive, which started with on-campus registrations in September, has been helping non-registered voters to register, so that they become eligible to get a voter ID. So far, VoteDeIndia has been successful in getting around 1000 members to sign up. VoteDeIndia helps individuals in: (1) Accurate identification…

Last week, the Election Commission announced that producing voter identity card is mandatory in all future elections. I talked to a revenue officer from BTM layout. He confirmed it would be mandatory to have photo identity card from next election onwards. Revenue offices in the respective areas have setup facility to get the photo identity cards. This is where one needs to get the cards. List of assembly constituencies and ward numbers are given in: http://www.bangalorevoterid.org/pdf/Delimited%20constituencies.pdfRevenue offices details are available in: http://www.bangalorevoterid.org/pdf/BMP-RV-E-AUG03-P-401.pdf.pdf In the past few elections, one could show any valid identity proof at the polling booth, as long…

What’s in a name? Plenty of politics… looks like.Anytime soon, Bangalore is expected to be officially christened Bengaluru. But the issue is now stuck with the Union Home Ministry. The name Bengaluru, though, appears to be catching up fast, with several major corporate houses and television channels adopting the new name. The official nod for the change in name has, however, not been given yet. Also, the confusion over how to spell the new name (‘Bengalooru’ or ‘Bengaluru’) still prevails. The Centre reportedly has no objection to permitting the change of 12 of the 13 names sent across by the…

What is the authoritative answer on what documents are needed if your vehicle is stopped for checking? An RTI application was filed with Bangalore's police department to find this out. You might say why need RTI application for this. We all produce our driving licence and vehicle papers if a traffic constable stops us. Many of us 'negotiate' the fine amount and pay, or we show our papers and move on.But do we know if the constable is even asking for correct documents or, more importantly, if he is entitled to check the vehicles and collect a fine? More than…

Bangalore, a peaceful city that was once covered with a canopy of trees, and the IT capital of India, is no longer just that. Many say it is slowly turning into a hot bed of crime. The importance of self defence is gaining ground, and training centres in martial arts like jujutsu, taekwondo, kick boxing, etc., are in demand. Ashwin Mohan and Snehal(on the floor). Pic: Sindhu Kashyap.Martial arts is a serious business that works on all levels; on the physical level it helps the individual remain fit and healthy, on the mental and emotional level it infuses a great…

On 14th August 2008, the United States Consulate decided, as part of their fresh initiative to engage with the Indian public, to host a panel discussion on "Meeting the Challenges of Terrorism", at the Taj West End, Bangalore. This was done along with EVAA (Exchange Visitors Alumni Association), of which Janaki Murali, (Group Leader, Education and Research, Infosys Technologies) is the President for the southern region. The 'Challenges of Terrorism' discussion on 14 August, at Taj West End (Pic: Deepa Mohan)The US Consulate was represented by Ragini Gupta, Consul for Cultural Affairs. The panel discussion was led by Dr D…