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This past weekend, around 50 youngsters from diverse backgrounds including designers, entrepreneurs, web developers, photographers and farmers amongst others, brainstormed the ideas for sustainable living. This was the Bangalore edition of the Global Sustainability Jam.The event started on 2nd November, Friday evening, and ended on 4th, at the ThoughtWorks office, Koramangala. Seven teams proposed designs for sustainable solutions for any problem around the theme ‘heartbeats'.Sustainability Jam is conducted world-wide to propagate sustainability enabling the people to learn and find design based approaches to problems in any field - environment, financial or social. Participants slog over a weekend for 48 hours…

There was a time in my life when a vacation meant packing a few clothes in a bag, a couple of books, camera, a brush, toothpaste, cream, comb and a few other essentials. It was usually done in about an hour the night before the said vacation, even if there was an early morning flight.That was then. And there is now. I have spent the entire day packing and it isn't even done yet. And the flight? It isn't until Saturday. Pic: Wikimedia commons Yes I know. That sounds extremely scarily organised. But I'm no longer packing for one. I'm…

In the previous two articles, we have discussed how to assess if you are at risk of heart disease, and how to confirm or rule it out. This will result in one of the three scenarios: You have gone through your physician's examination and investigations, and he declares that you do not suffer from heart disease. Before you start celebrating, please understand that it may mean "for the time being". If you are at risk, you still need to modify your lifestyle, lower your risk factors, and have a periodic reassessment programme.Your physical examination and investigations suggest that you have…

In the previous article we discussed whether you are at risk of having heart disease. However, just knowing that you are at risk is only one part of story. You also need to recognise if you have heart disease. Medical science is full of instances of men/ women losing their life because they did not recognise and respond in time to features of heart disease.Symptoms : What should make you suspect?Most of people understand that the cardinal sign of having a heart disease is severe chest pain. While this may be true in most of cases, there is a large…

A curator is usually a caretaker of cultural heritage like museum and art galleries but Latha Heble, curates a park. She looks after the Koramangala 3rd block park. People call her the curator of the park. Originally from Mangalore, Latha who has lived mostly in Bangalore, got married to Suresh Heble in 1964. After her husband retired as Air Vice-Marshal from Air Force, they settled in Koramangala 3rd block.A graduate from JJ school of arts, Latha paints her walls with murals when she is free. Latha Heble at the park How did you end up being a curator of the…

In a yet another attempt to raise awareness, Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) plans to conduct a painting competition on 29th April at Cubbon park.BTP encourages painters of all age groups to participate in the event titled 'Road safety through painting'. Participants need to bring their own painting materials and can use water or oil paints and crayons. BTP will provide drawing sheets. Speaking to Citizen Matters, M A Saleem, IGP and Additional Commissioner of Police(Traffic), pointed out that the event aims to promote safety measures while driving. He adds, "We have already invited Chitrakala Parishad students to make the event…

This information was shared by the members of the newly-formed Sarakki Lake Area Improvement Trust. We are pleased to announce a new voluntary, non-profit trust - Sarakki Lake Area Improvement Trust (Regd). The Trust will help restore and rejuvenate the once pristine Sarakki Lake (also known as Jaraganahalli Lake) which has fallen prey to unprecedented encroachment, pollution by entry of untreated sewage from surrounding layouts, uncontrolled growth of water hyacinth and the consequent disappearance of birds and fishes. We want to spread awareness of the consequences if Sarakki Lake were to disappear, work with the agencies responsible for restoration and…

More than 100 granite factories and 10 quarries located in Jigani industrial area in Bannerghatta adversely affects the health of residents in five villages in the surrounding areas.Around ten thousand people are living in the villages of Kallabalu, Mahanthalingapura, Krishna doddi, Poojigana Palya, Ellammana doddi and in Bellar Bande suffer from respiratory disorders and other allergies due to dust from these granite factories. A quarry in Mahathalingappura, one of the ten quarries in Bannerghatta which cause respiratory disorder to the people. Pic: Sankar C G "The granite factories are located in Jigani industrial area and the quarries are near to…

It started with an idea - how practical it would be if we could get schools to grow their own gardens. It would not only give children a hands-on experience with organic gardening, pests and plants, but also enable them to enjoy the produce in their mid-day meals. Loyola school teachers at the terrace garden. Pic: S Laxminarayan I discussed this idea with our mentor Dr B N Vishwanath and fellow members of the Garden City Farmers Trust, an NGO working to spread awareness on organic urban farming. We got an immediate thumbs up. Then began my search for funds;…

KEB layout in BTM 1st stage has only one park - until about two years ago this park had a play area which catered to children from the layout and surroundings. But the children's park was demolished by the BBMP in January 2009, to build a road through the park. The road was built to aid traffic and parking for a Sai Baba temple opposite the park. There are about 50 children residing in the layout, who mostly play on the roads as their play area in the park was demolished. Pic: Navya P K Children in the layout now…