Bangalore Discussions

[JhonJ]

Bangalore is like bisi bele bhaath

BANGALORE: Explaining once and for all his much-debated advocacy of renaming Bangalore to Bengaluru, veteran litterateur Dr UR Ananthamurthy told a packed audience during one of the concluding sessions of the Bangalore Literature Festival on Sunday: "I didn't do it for the sake of [asserting a certain] identity. I requested for this change as it is the name used by the common people. I have learnt how to say New York, Paris, Madrid. In the same way, people living in this city should learn how to say Bengaluru. In New York, people speak many languages, but English is the language that defines the city. In the same way, I wanted Kannada to be the language that defines the city."

URA's statement may help clear up - or further stir -- the unceasing ideological conflict between a resurgent pride in Kannada language and culture and the 'outsider' issue, but what is likely to be forgotten is the acclaimed writer's subsequent, arguably more significant, statement: "Identity is important, but generosity is equally important."

During a discussion in which a wildly enthusiastic and participatory audience bore out the truth of panelist Shobhaa De's statement -- that every Bangalorean believes himself or herself a stakeholder in the city -- some of Bangalore's best minds debated the past, present and future of 'Multiple City' Bangalore. Apart from URA, journalist and theatre person Prakash Belawadi; actor Ramya; former member of the Infosys Board of directors TV Mohandas Pai and author Shobhaa De - who represented Maximum City Mumbai - took part in a hearty dialogue moderated by civic analyst V Ravichandar.

Questions of identity are never too far from the debating table in this city, but when it came to Bangalore's identity, the answers were unique and varied. While Belawadi called it a "troubled adolescent", Shobhaa De likened it to bisi bele bhaath -- "tasty, flavourful and replete with a diversity of ingredients".

source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/17552132.cms

[JhonJ]

Bangalore Literature Festival ends with tributes to Raj



Actor Puneeth releasing a book on his father Rajkumar at Bangalore Literature Festival on Sunday

The Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) concluded on Sunday with a tribute to thespian Rajkumar. The late actor’s son Puneeth Rajkumar and filmmaker Maya Chandra launched a coffee table book on Dr Rajkumar.

Puneeth reminisced his experiences about Dr Rajkumar during a session ‘Bangarada Manushya: Bangalore Literature Festival tribute to Dr Rajkumar’.

“My father brought us up normally like any other kid in a family. More importantly, he kept us grounded,” he said. The proceeds of the coffee table book, co-authored by Prakruthi Banavasi, would be channelled for education of children, he said.

“Coming from a theatre background, Rajkumar maintained discipline towards his work. Never did he bring work into the house. During the period 1960-2000, my father did not know the value of money, as that was delegated to my mother, while he concentrated on work,” he said.

Audiences quizzed Puneeth on the quality of Kannada cinema and why Kannada movies have failed to replicate the lineament of Dr Rajkumar’s films.

“Let me tell you, Kannada cinema is producing some good movies of late. And as filmmakers, we have to change with time,” he said adding that he would not dare to portray even a single role of his father fearing he would not do justice.

A short version of a documentary titled ‘Dr Rajkumar - An Analysis of the Phenomenon’ was screened after the session.

Directed and produced by Maya, the documentary features testimonials about Dr Rajkumar from his contemporaries, including Vishnuvardhan and Amitabh Bachchan.

“My father and Amitabh shared a special friendship. They would meet whenever their shooting venues were the same. For instance, the movies Coolie and Bhakta Prahlada were shot at the same venue,” Puneeth added.

source:http://newindianexpress.com/cities/b...cle1373305.ece

[MysoreOne]

State Govt approved to rename Bengaluru Int Airport as Kempe Gowda Int Airport

[Cygnus-X1]

Originally Posted by MysoreOne

State Govt approved to rename Bengaluru Int Airport as Kempe Gowda Int Airport

Great!

[gentem]

just passed the resolution.. state govt cant approve as aviation is central govt subject

[Cygnus-X1]

Originally Posted by gentem

just passed the resolution.. state govt cant approve as aviation is central govt subject

True, but GoK is also a partner in this venture that is private & not part of AAI /IAAI.

[JhonJ]

Save more in provident fund, but take home less as salary

MUMBAI: A recent circular issued by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation - which comes under the ministry of labour and employment - will reduce the take home pay of salaried employees. As per this circular, various allowances paid to employees will have to be added back to the basic salary and provident fund contributions computed against this higher value. This, in turn, will mean a lower take home pay.

The circular dated November 30, 2012, was issued after internal review meetings held in late November and has been forwarded to Employee Provident Fund offices across India.

Historically, most companies have been computing provident fund (PF) contributions (at 12% each by the employer and employee) against basic salary and dearness allowance only. However, the definition of basic wages has been a contentious issue, with PF authorities claiming that companies split the basic wages into various allowances to reduce the quantum of PF contributions.

The circular deals with this "splitting up" practice adopted by employers. It states that basic wages will include all allowances which are "ordinarily, necessarily and uniformly" paid to the employees. Thus, various allowances such as conveyance, educational allowance, medical allowance, etc., will have to be taken into consideration while computing the PF contribution.

Refer the link for Pictorial explanation , was not able to copy the image URL LinK.

Last year, the Madras high court and the Madhya Pradesh high court in two separate cases had held that various allowances paid by the employer to its employees under different heads such as conveyance, education, food concession, medical, special holidays, night shift incentives, city compensatory allowance, etc., qualified as basic wages under section 2(b) of the PF Act and needed to be included while computing the PF contribution.

Based on these judgements, PF officials carried out audits on India Inc and raised demands to recover the differential PF contributions. Later, pending dismissal of the writ petitions filed by these companies, the audits were held in abeyance.

"Following this circular, the PF officials may once again, commence audits of Indian companies to ascertain whether the PF contribution has been rightly computed and deposited," says Yatin Pathak, chartered accountant.

Sonu Iyer, partner, Ernst and Young, points out a possible shelter that could be available in respect of employees in India. Proviso to paragraph 26A of the PF Scheme allows PF contributions by the employee as well as the employees on a maximum notional level of Rs 6,500 per month, instead of the entire salary (including various allowances). The rate remains the same at 12% each for the employer and employee contributions respectively.

"Not many employers have opted for this route, as PF is part of the employees cost to company and it also gives a tax shield to the employees. Now, if the employer organisation suddenly wishes to exercise this option and compute PF contributions only against Rs 6, 500 per month, it is not clear whether the PF authorities will oblige," Iyer explains.

Expatriate workers from India also have to contribute to PF, even if their salary is paid outside India (unless they have exemption owing to a social security arrangement with the country to which they have been deputed). Unfortunately, for them this notional limit of Rs 6,500 doesn't apply. "If an employer has expat workers, there is a higher likelihood of their being subject to scrutiny by PF authorities," adds Iyer.

A similar matter is up for interpretation before the Supreme Court, but until then, PF authorities are likely to commence audits and raise demands on India Inc, based on the circular.

source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/b...w/17563456.cms

[JhonJ]

Originally Posted by MysoreOne

State Govt approved to rename Bengaluru Int Airport as Kempe Gowda Int Airport

Resolution to call Bengaluru International Airport Kempe Gowda airport

BANGALORE: The Karnataka assembly on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre to name Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) as Kempe Gowda International Airport. Law and parliamentary affairs minister S Suresh Kumar moved the motion in the assembly in Belgaum, which was supported by all members.

source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/17566019.cms

[JhonJ]

Weather transition brings in ailments

Bengaluru: The virus is on the prowl after temperatures dipped in the city with hospitals registering a rise in viral infection cases.

The fluctuations in the weather with the mercury dropping in the mornings and late evenings, and the day remaining quite warm, have led to a spurt in infections, said doctors who say infections and allergy cases have gone up by 15-20 %.

Experts say the sudden change in temperature favours the spread of vector-borne diseases. Says Dr Dwijendra Prasad, Cons*ultant Internal Medicine, BGS Global Hospital “The number of viral infection cases has shot up in the past one week.

Most of them are coming in with complaints of cold, fever, severe body pain and bad throat. Elderly people and small children are more vulnerable to these infections, as their immunity power is relatively less.”

"It is not just the general public, even a few doctors at the hospitals have a bad viral cold" she added. Dr H. Paramesh, Medical Superintendent, Lakeside Hospital said, "Generally during this time of the season, we see an increase in the number of viral infection cases. In the past three-four days, the number has increased by about 20%."

Smaller clinics across the city too have witnessed an increase in the number of patients.

source:http://www.deccanchronicle.com/12121...rings-ailments

[JhonJ]

City hosts Kashmiri students



Brigadier Adolf S Pinto, Deputy GOC of Karnataka and Kerala-Sub-Area along with the Kashmiri students during their visit to Karnataka and Kerala-Sub-Area

A group of 36 children (18 boys and 18 girls) in the age group of 13 to 16 years from primary and high schools of Katwa District of Jammu and Kashmir visited Bangalore as part of the National Integration tour from Kashmir to Bangalore under “Operation Sadbhavana”, organised by the third Battalion of JAT Regiment of the Indian Army.

According to a press release, they also visited Jaipur, Agra, Hyderabad en route Bangalore.

From Bangalore they will be proceeding to Chennai, Trivandrum, Kanyakumari and will then return to Jammu and Kashmir. The tour which started on December 1 will conclude on December 18.

They visited the Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area and met Brigadier Adolf S Pinto, Deputy General Officer Commanding of Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area of the Indian Army.

During their stay in the city, they will call upon Governor H R Bharadwaj and visit various tourists’ places in Bangalore.

This tour is aimed to give exposure to poor school children from the remote border regions of interior Kashmir about the world outside their villages and help them get involved in mainstream activities.

source:http://newindianexpress.com/cities/b...cle1374364.ece

[gentem]

Originally Posted by Cygnus-X1

True, but GoK is also a partner in this venture that is private & not part of AAI /IAAI.

They can pass resolution not to leave a drop of water of kaveri to tn the point is they dont have authority so nobody cares:

TN assembly passes resolution seeking clemency for Rajiv’s assassins
R Satyanarayana, TNN Aug 30, 2011, 12.28pm IST

[JhonJ]

Originally Posted by Cygnus-X1

Great!

It's very old news, central Government had cleared it long Back .
But state govt passed it now, since state elections are on it's way.

It's Kempe Gowda Airport soon

BANGALORE: Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) will soon be formally rechristened 'Nada Prabhu Kempe Gowda Airport'.

Renaming BIA after the city's legendary founder moved a step closer to reality on Friday with the civil aviation ministry deciding to place the proposal before the Union cabinet at its next meeting, for final approval. With this, Bangalore will join the league of leading international airports like O'Hare Airport at Chicago, Charles De Gaulle Airport at Paris, Chhattrapati Shivaji Airport at Mumbai and Subhash Chandra Bose Airport in Kolkata to be named after leaders and prominent people from these cities. The government-run KSRTC and BMTC bus stand at Majestic (Subhash Nagar) was named after Kempe Gowda a decade ago, and renaming of the airport comes at a time when the state is celebrating his 500th birth centenary.

Since Tipu Sultan also had a close connection with Devanahalli, there was a demand to name the airport after him. Besides, there was a proposal from North Karnataka to name it after freedom fighter Kittur Chennamma and social reformer Basavanna.

Aviation protocol allows naming of airports only after a certain category of personalities. On Friday, external affairs minister S M Krishna, during his visit to Bangalore, announced that the Union civil aviation ministry had accepted his proposal to rename BIA. Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh also informed Krishna that the issue would be brought before the cabinet at its next meeting.

It has been more than a year since the Karnataka cabinet recommended that the Centre rename BIA on the lines of Chennai's C N Annadurai airport and Delhi's Indira Gandhi airport.

Who is Kempe Gowda?

Kempe Gowda was a chieftain under the Vijayanagar empire, credited with the building of Bangalore, which will very soon become Bengaluru. He ruled between 1510 and 1570 AD from Yelahanka. He established Bangalore city in 1537. Legend has it that he and his minister, Veeranna, and adviser, Gidde Gowda, went on a hunt and reached Shivasamudra, near Hesaraghatta, from Yelahanka. As he took rest under a tree, he is said to have envisioned building a new city, and rule from there. After he got the nod from emperor Achyuta Deva Raya of Vijayanagar, he built Bangalore fort and the city around.

source:http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...n-bose-airport

[JhonJ]

Small Confusion will it be renamed as, "Bengaluru Nadaprabhu Kempegowda International Airport" or else "Nadaprabhu Kempegowda International Airport."

As DNA India says ""Bengaluru Nadaprabhu Kempegowda International Airport" long back.

Bangalore International Airport gets a new name, it’s Kempegowda

Bangalore International Airport (BIA) will soon be getting a name to reflect the aspirations of the local populace. The airport would be named after Kempegowda, the founder of Bangalore. The approval for carrying out the name change has come just at the right time as the city is celebrating 502nd birth anniversary of its founder.

The Union ministry of civil aviation has approved the long pending proposal of by the state government after continued efforts of external affairs minister SM Krishna.

According to sources close to SM Krishna, the civil aviation ministry has already given its approval for christening BIA after Kempegowda. The proposal is expected to get a final stamp of approval in the next cabinet meeting of the Union government. BIA is expected to be renamed as Bengaluru Nadaprabhu Kempegowda International Airport.

The naming of the airport was delayed as the issue had ignited heated arguments among various communities and organisations, with demands for naming it after Tipu Sultan, social reformer Basaveshwara and former Dewan of Mysore Sir M Visvesvaraya.

There was fierce resistance over the names of Kempegowda and Basaveshwara as they were seen represent the two dominant communities in the state – Vokkaligas and Lingayats.
Tipu Sultan’s name was suggested by many outfits representing the Muslim community by citing the fact that Tipu was born at Devanahalli, where the airport is situated.

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Slightly old news.

Published: Thursday, Nov 29, 2012, 9:27 IST
By Merlin Francis & Aishhwariya Subramanian | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA

For the last couple of months, city school students have beenworking on projects to save the environment. From analysing the Varthur Lake, setting up a butterfly park in their schools to convincing parents to send children to school on school buses instead of using private transport and even compostingwet waste in their schools, these students are coming up with ideas for sustainable development that will protect the environment.

These projects are part of the ‘Greening with Goethe’ initiative that won the United Nation’s Project of the Decade award last year, in its first edition itself. The Environment Youth Conference, which will take place from December 1 to 3, is being organised in association with the the Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP) of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) at IISc.

Greening with Goethe asks students to identify environmental issues around their neighbourhood and identify methods to save the environment. The students are guided by scientists from IISc and the Bremen University in Germany. Last year, students from Germany and from various cities in India participated in Greening with Goethe. This year, about 150 students have registered to participate. Apart from Bangalore, other cities taking part in the Environment Youth Conference include New Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Thrissur, Thiruvanathapuram. Czech and German students will also join the conference.

“The idea behind the conference is to literally catch them young. We have put forth issues to the youth such as mobility and solid waste. The main focus is to save the environment and how it tends to deplete with the urbanisation process,” says Prof TG Sitharam, chairperson, CiSTUP.

Sitharam also adds that this would also be a perfect chance for youth to directly mingle with the members of the industry who will be attending the event. “We have the chairman of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Dr Vaman Acharya attending the event. Dr Abdul Kalam will be addressing the students on the third day. There will be several people from KSPCB throughout the event. Students will have direct access to the officials and they can talk to them and askquestions,” he adds.

The event will give the students a chance to hold talks withscientists who have come down from Germany as well as the ones in IISc. According to Sitharam, the relationship will continue post event.

“We will be having more meetings with German scientists over the next few days and we are planning to continue to interact with the students even after the event is completed and make sure that something useful comes out of this for the students too,” he says.

Another highlight of the event is that students from certain schools will be filming the whole programme and will be turning it into a mini movie. “I am definitely excited because the students will be doing this on their own. I am excited to see the final product soon,” he adds.

DNA

[gentem]

Is Bangalore facing an identity crisis?
By Purba Dutt, TNN | Dec 11, 2012, 12.00 AM IST

Was there ever a time when we did not believe that namma Bangalore was the best city in the country to live in? So when a survey declares Bangalore as India's best city to live in, it is indeed our rah-rah moment.

But once we're done with the gloating and chest thumping, it's time to remove the blinkers from our eyes for a reality check. While there is much that is right in and with the city, there is enough that brings it down. It is a city of paradoxes and contradictions. Here's a look...

Garden City versus Garbage City Once known and loved for its green lungs, verdant tree-lined roads and lush green parks, Bangalore is now becoming synonymous with uncollected waste. Piles of it lie unattended at every corner. As rodents and vermin breed uninhibited, and pestilence hangs in the air, we are slowly but surely in danger of losing the Garden City tag.

IT City versus Infrastructurally-challenged City This is the city where world-class IT companies have set up shop. For a city so steeped in technology and communications, it's an irony that our roads are primitive, our public transport mostly inaccessible or inadequate, the power situation erratic, and the traffic crazy. Surely, technology and our spirit of enterprise and innovation can make short work of all these negatives.

Pub City versus Nightlife-deprived city Time was when the city slogged through the day and let its hair down, come night. Then the politicians and the police decided to rain on our parade, and asked us to go to bed by 11 pm. The pubs are still there, but the party poopers' curfew means that we don't get to hang out, chill and have ourselves a good time once past the deadline.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...cs/8588314.cms

They stopped google from street view of first city in india

chuck the conservative bjp... no place for them in karnataka

[Cosmicbliss]

Gentem, do you think BJP will get a shock in 2013 assembly polls?

[gentem]

not just shock, a clean wipe out.. only in mangalore side there is some communal tension.. i tried lobbying for extension of night deadline, only to hit rss roadblock.. problem with bjp is after sidelining of vajapayee and advani, now it is under tight fist of rss, i dont see a way out for bjp


Sankeshwar resigns as MLC, attacks RSS
Hubli / Belguam / Bangalore, Dec 11, 2012, DHNS:

After resigning as the member of the Legislative Council, businessman-pol*it*ician Vijay Sankeshwar of BJP on Tuesday made a scathing attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Addressing reporters in Hubli, Sankeshwar said the RSS was the real high command of the BJP in Karnataka and, the party had resorted to “Operation Lotus” on the instructions of RSS leaders.

Sankeshwar, who has identified himself with former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s Karnataka Janata Party, said the RSS was controlling the BJP in a “dictatorial” manner. Raising questions about the RSS’ finances, he said that he was repeatedly asking the RSS to be accountable to the public and disclose its financial dealings as it receives thousands of crores of rupees as donations.

“The RSS leaders say that they are not after money, power or publicity. But, it is not true. Though RSS is doing good work as a patriotic and Hindutva organisation, its attempts to control the BJP is not correct. Though I have been associated with the RSS for the past 52 years, I am not happy with its conduct during the past decade. RSS leaders extracted enough milk from milch cow G Janaradhana Reddy, mining baron and former minister,” he alleged.

Sankeshwar said that instead of engaging in “backdoor politics,” the RSS should indulge in direct politics. “I have not participated in any RSS activity in the last two years,” he added. The BJP leaders have no control over the RSS leaders such as Santosh and Satish who have been drafted for BJP work, he remarked.

[barrykul]

BJP is going to lose the next round in elections.

Visiting Bluru after nearly 2 years, I see the decay and rot setting in City administration. The entire city is in disrepair. I travel the airport road daily from Whitefield side to the city. No road is without issues. There are potholes with sidewalks dug up, numerous unscientific road speed breakers, garbage dumps are all over the place. The airport road has 5-star Leela Hotel. There is a huge pot hole in front of the hotel. Visiting dignitories include foreign heads of state like Ukraine's president. Nice going to showcase your city by the admin of the day. BTW, I heard there are 6000 such speed breakers, the lazy police and city admin put a speed breaker if there is a reported accident. Journey by car/bus is bone jarring over these stupid speed breakers. Meanwhile every other day some ruling city councilor or tax official is hauled up by Lokayuta court for graft. (Tis time to make an example of these characters, hang 5 of them or confiscate their entire lifetime savings/wealth and this would stop for good). I am yet to see any road work, cleaning crew, side walk repair, nothing. The entire place is in some time warp. No city official is on the spot, directing crew of any kind. The police aimlessly walk the streets, the traffic police don't care about traffic jams nor regulating the system. I wonder what these city officials/workers do for work?

In the not to distant past, I recall Bluru as a garden city, clean and neat, roads well paved and some semblance of traffic discipline. All of this has vanished and we are rapidly hurtling towards chaos and destruction. Quite a telling tale for the capital of India's IT.

[JhonJ]

State to get transformers from Kerala, West Bengal

The State government has decided to increase the transformer repair facilities in the State and also procure quality transformers from West Bengal and Kerala government-owned companies, to meet the energy demands.

Minister for Energy Shobha Karandlaje, in a reply to a question in the Legislative Council, raised by E Krishnappa (JD-S) on Tuesday, said that among the four lakh transformers installed in the State, at least 5,000 turn defunct every month. Delay in the repairs had been causing problems. Preference has been given for repairing transformers installed for drinking water schemes, she said.

It has been proposed to establish more transformer repair centres in the State and install CCTV cameras to keep a tab on the works, she said and added that the transformer failure rate was more in the jurisdictions of Hubli Electricity Supply Company and Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company.

Drought and failure of borewells had forced farmers to install irrigation pumpsets illegally on a large scale, which led to transfarmer breakdowns, forcing the department to increase the number of repair centres, she said.

Replying to another question raised by BJP MLC Bharati Shetty, Karandlaje said that her department was committed to provide quality power to the consumers during summer next year, despite the drought conditions faced by the State this year. The minister said all South Indian states are facing an acute power shortage, and only Gujarat was self-sufficient.

source:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...rala-west.html

[JhonJ]

Khoday offers 500 acres for trash landfill

BANGALORE: Liquor baron Hari Khoday has offered to give the BBMP some 500 acres of his land on Kanakapura Road for setting up a landfill. It's adjacent to the Tataguni Estate, which belonged to the late Russian artist Svetoslav Roerich.

The Khoday Group's offer could provide a temporary solution to the current garbage crisis.

BBMP commissioner Rajneesh Goel said the Khoday Group is one of the 36 companies which came forward to set up a bio-composting unit at the old landfills. Goel said: "I haven't met Khoday representatives yet. They may have met the mayor. They'll present us their action plan."

Confirming the Khoday Group's proposal, mayor D Venkatesh Murthy said: "Our officials will inspect the land. We'll see what is best for BBMP to solve the garbage crisis."

source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/17579994.cms