Society

Justice Santosh Hegde, former Lokayukta and retired Supreme Court Judge, talked about the book - ‘Living in Bengaluru’ at the book release function. He said that though he has never endorsed any product so far, he will go ahead and recommend this book to every Bangalorean as it is a holistic book and every Bangalorean must have it. He was at the book release at Whitefield Club on 12th September, 2012. Living in Bengaluru book launch from left - Justice Santosh Hegde, Subbu Vincent and Sanjay Vijayaraghavan. Pic: Anisha Nair Sanjay Vijayaraghavan, a resident of Doddenakundi, has also written a…

The recent exodus of northeast citizens from Bangalore still remains fresh in the minds of Bangaloreans even as scores of those who left have started coming back. Everyone acknowledges that SMS messages with murder threats triggered the panic. Going deeper, several analyses have appeared in the media about underlying reasons for a distinctive minority community such as the NE citizens to flee. From a media standpoint, the exodus has resulted in a closer look at the power of people-to-people communications technologies like SMS, as well as social media such as Facebook. The nature of people-people communication with SMS and social…

I have been following rafiki, a theatre group, from the time when they used to stage the plays of Athol Fugard, South African playwright and novelist.They stage plays with ideological contexts and started working with children in the field of theatre, too. I have seen their struggles and their hard times, and so it was with even more satisfaction than usual that I noted that they collaborating with “Toto Funds the Arts” (TFA) to stage an adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s work at Ranga Shankara, on September 6th and 7th, 2012. A scene from Rafiki's play. Pic: Nitye Sood At first,…

I am an illustrator and a comic book fiend and I am going to wax eloquent over Bangalore’s first ever Comic Con that happened on the 8th and 9th of September at the Koramangala indoor stadium. Why such excitement over an exhibition of books that are ‘meant for children’ you ask? Simple, it’s because people have realised its not only meant for children. Only here could u see the Tintin crew chillin with the Grim reaper and the dark knight! Pic courtesy: Varsha S Chakkera That’s the beauty of an event like the Comic Con, all misconceptions people have about…

BBMP spends hundreds of crores annually on projects like road widening and flyovers, while allocating very low amounts for education, health, welfare etc. Dalit Bahujan Movement (DBM), a city-based group for SC/ST welfare, has been demanding useful schemes and funds for the community. Venkatesh M, an activist formerly with  state-level Dalit organisations, formed DBM in 2007 with the specific aim of getting government funding and schemes for SC/STs. It was in late 1970s that the central government initiated separate funding for SC/STs. Government announced the Special Component Plan (SCP) for SCs and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) for STs. Under SCP/TSP,…

On 8th September every year tens of thousands of people throng the St Mary's Church to celebrate St Mary's feast. This 130 year old church has been attracting devotees since its inception. History of the churchIt is said that christians from Tamil Nadu came down here during the 17th Century and built a small village, ‘Bili akki palli.' Thus named for the white rice they cultivated and also a number of white birds were found in those rice fields. The people, in order to practice their religion, built a hut and named it ‘Chapel of Kannakai Madha.' Eventually this became…

In Stanford University commencement address in the year 2005, Steve Jobs said that one can only connect the dots looking backwards. He was referring to the decisions one makes following their gut the value of which is clear only after some years. Alan Vincent D'Souza. Pic courtesy: Alan Vincent D'Souza It seems that a local boy, originally from Mangalore, is following the path that Steve Jobs paved. 24-year-old Alan Vincent Dsouza quit his engineering in his third year, because he did not find any value in the course and risked his career to formally start his own company, Vavia Technologies.…

Commercial Street, the fashion street of Bangalore turned even more colourful on Sunday the September 2nd. Around 100 participants shortlisted from an earlier preliminary competition gathered to display their talents in the art of Rangoli.Jyothi Kanagal, a participant. Pic: C R Sridhar‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');});The event was the grand finale of ‘Ranga Rang,’ the Rangoli Utsav organised as a part of the 50th Bengaluru Ganesha Utsava celebrations by Shri Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sangha, Basavanagudi. The main objective of this initiative was to nurture the artistic talents.The winner will walk away with 100 grams of gold.Participants, largely women,…

Craving for some peace and solitude? Then Shivagange, is the place for you. It is just 60 kilometers from Bangalore. This hill which is 1368 meters high offers complete rejuvenation of mind and body with its ancient cave temples and steady trek right to the hill top with man made steps and railings for support. At the top you are guaranteed breathtaking panoramic views of the entire surroundings. Panoramic view. Pic: Usha Hariprasad Colorful legends, mythological gods, cave temples and innumerable spring water fountains are what greet you when you start your climb on this rocky hill. Some of the…

Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda, brought home India's first silver medal in Paralympic Games in the men's High Jump F42 held in London. 24-year-old Girisha managed to jump over a height of 1.74 metres despite an impairment in his left leg. He took part in a three week long pre-games training camp at Basildon Sporting Village, which was sponsored by the Government of India. The rest of the time, he practised on his own. Girisha H N - Paralympics silver medal winner. Pic: Samarthanam A small town boy hailing from Hassan district in rural Karnataka, he trained with the Sports Authority of…