Bangalore Mélange: January 2008

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Airport to be named after Bengaluru

Deccan Herald

The Garden City may still be awaiting a green signal from the Union Home Ministry to get its name changed from Bangalore to Bengaluru. But the promoters of the new Devanahalli international airport have gone a step ahead and christened the airport “Bengaluru International Airport”.

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Subir Roy: Post-modern India of sudden death

Business Standard

Getting into Bangalore airport was not too difficult, the traffic on Airport Road was predictably heavy in early evening but manageable. But the scene inside was unbelievable. There were what looked like half a dozen queues snaking their way around the whole check-in area, making it difficult to get to the machines that scan your baggage or the check-in counters.

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Volvo bus unit planning to make India global component sourcing hub

Forbes

BANGALORE (Thomson Financial) - Volvo Bus Corp (VBC), a division of Swedish commercial truck maker AB Volvo, said it plans to make India its global sourcing hub for components in the future.

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Citizens, cops address traffic woes

Times of India

There are 40,000 road intersections in Bangalore and at least half of them should be manned by traffic cops. This means the 2,800-strong traffic department should have 20,000 personnel.

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Can we travel together?

Times of India

If one does not know how to arrange items in a single cupboard efficiently, purchasing two more would not solve the problem. As an artist, chaos interests me, but anarchy frightens. What we are confronted with in Bangalore are shades of anarchy. As someone once said, traffic explains the mind of the city.

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‘Krishna’s second innings is certain’

The Hindu

Congress leaders in Mandya district are upbeat about the possible return of Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna into active politics in the State. The party workers and the people of Mandya, the home constituency of the former Chief Minister, had always wanted Mr. Krishna to remain in State politics. They have waited three years for his return.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Don’t mess with this camera, you will be red-faced

Times of India

The countdown on the traffic signal timer has begun and you’re revving up your engine. But be warned, the next time you decide to jump the gun and take off, there’s a roving eye watching you.
Newly installed Red Speed Cameras at five major junctions capture the registration number of vehicles jumping signals.

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Integrated seamless solution needed

Times of India

Karnataka has proposed many projects to make transportation seamless, painless
Ideally, Bangalore city should have had a mass rapid transport system i.e., Metro Rail, at least a decade ago. We have now, in right earnest, started the work on positioning the 33 km of Metro Rail from Byappanahalli to Mysore Road (18.1 km) and from Yeshwantpur to RV Road Terminal (14.9 km). The project will be commissioned by December 2011.

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CMH Road widening from today

Deccan Herald

Final round talks with the traders association and the Assistant Commissioner of Police (East Division) was held on Tuesday.

V Madhu, MD, BMRC said contractors would begin footpath widening of 0.5 mts on either side of the CMH Road in Indiranagar from the Double Road stretch to S V Road curve in Ulsoor.

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Bangalore stays putt on golf turf

Economic Times

When you think Bangalore, you probably conjure up images of IT, coffee, salubrious weather and beer. You might be surprised to see golf added to that list — but the Silicon City has, in its inimitable way, given a twist to what’s elsewhere perceived as an elitist and fuddy-duddy pastime.

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Monday, January 7, 2008

B`lore needs apex body to manage transport

Business Standard

What Bangalore needs foremost to come to grips with its key traffic problem is an apex transport authority suitably empowered which brings within its scope all the government agencies and stakeholders who affect the city’s traffic flow and are affected by it.

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This device sees red if you jump the signal

The Hindu

The city police on Saturday set into motion another device for automation of enforcement of traffic offences, even as the Transport Department is yet to provide the details of the vehicles online. The new device called “Red Speed Cameras” will be used to book cases of against those jumping traffic signals and those indulging in rash driving.

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Plea to allow live bands in hotels, pubs

The Hindu

The Karnataka Restaurant Live Band Association, Bangalore, has submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Karnataka asking the Government to allow live bands in restaurants and pubs in the city. The association said that if discotheques are allowed to function, live bands should also be allowed to do so.

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BBMP strikes gold with LCD hoardings

The Hindu

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has netted Rs. 30 lakh a month for each of its state-of-the-art liquid crystal display (LCD) hoardings. At an auction held here on Friday, the BBMP netted Rs 2.1 crore a month as rent for the hoardings in seven prime locations.

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Govt wants low airport fee

Times of India

Fearing massive public outcry, the government has asked the private players developing new airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore not to make flying out of them prohibitively expensive for passengers.

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Karnataka to set up mega city police force for Bangalore

Times of India

The Union Home Ministry has promised to extend financial support to establish a "mega city police force" to address the security needs of the fastest growing city and IT hub, Bangalore.

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Friday, January 4, 2008

GLTS Event this sunday

Praja Bangalore

Our good friends at GLTS are organising an event to tidy up the road medians in Indiranagar. Below is their message to each one of us. Do participate if you can.

Dear Friend,

Wish you a very Happy and a prosperous New Year.

As our first initiative this year, we have planned a rally this Sunday (6th Jan,2008) on Old Madras road. We intend to fix the medians permanently and clean unwanted sand and dust lying on this stretch starting from Indranagar RTO to K.R Puram junction.

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State may be first to go to polls

Deccan Herald

Karnataka could be the first state in the country to hold assembly elections as per the redrawn assembly constituencies as the Union Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on Thursday is understood to have decided to implement the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission.

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Bangalore Open moves up a tier

The Hindu

The Bangalore Open, the premier event of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in India, is poised to take a quantum leap as the tournament, to be held in March, will be a mega Tier II affair with an overall purse of $600,000.

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Year of reckoning

Times of India

Rs 10,000 crore for Bangalore: this is the kind of investment the state will be ploughing in for major infrastructure projects. Megaprojects have been planned for better connectivity and traffic management in a rapidly growing city. While some of these projects have been on paper for more than three years, 2008 will be a year of reckoning for them.

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BBMP starts animal birth control programme

New Indian Express

Residents in parts of Greater Bangalore, CMC and TMC areas need not worry about the increasing stray dog menace.

As the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has started Animal Birth Control (ABC) programmes in the new wards.

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International film festival kicks off

Deccan Herald

Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan on Thursday said India was still in the ‘backyard’ of world cinema because the film industry in the country did not offer the much-needed space for serious, different cinema. He was speaking at the launch of the Bengalooru International Film Festival 2008.

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Governor for making Bangalore an international film festival centre

The Hindu

Governor Rameshwar Thakur has said that the State Government will urge the Centre to consider Bangalore as a major centre for holding international festivals on a permanent basis for promoting art cinema.

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Biocon finds solution to foul smell

The Hindu

Following a notice from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) about a foul odour emanating from its incinerator, Biocon has put in place an alternative solution to remedy the problem, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CEO of Biocon India Group, told The Hindu.

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Snag hits Bidadi project

Deccan Herald

The State Government and the project developer, Delhi-based real estate major DLF Universal, are locking horns over finalising the Development Agreement for implementing the mega project estimated to cost Rs 50,000 crores.

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Bangalore Mélange