Articles by Abhishek Angad

Two years ago, a direct selling company, RMP Infotech got its website redesigned adding new marketing initiatives, that subsequently increased company’s visibility to new customers. Likewise there are businesses, mostly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with minimal online presence or totally offline and there is a dire need to bring them online for their growth, says Sangeeta Dilip who was instrumental in redesigning the website.  Sangeeta Dilip. Pic courtesy: Sangeeta Dilip Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, Bangalore based Sangeeta, 27,  saw opportunity in this segment and found startupfreak.com to help offline SMEs go online. She left Wipro Technologies in 2009…

Shridevi Mahadevan quit her well paying software professional job and started a performing and fine arts enterprise-‘Navarasa’ in Koramangala in 2009. 34-year-old Shridevi, dancing since her childhood; she learned Bharatnatyam, and later Kathak. She also had passion for theatre and worked with Bangalore based Script Peoples Theatre for several years. Shridevi Mahadevan. Pic courtesy: Shridevi Mahadevan It was in  the year 2009 when she was doing one-year Executive Management course at IIM, that she decided to channel her love for performing arts into an entrepreneurial venture Predominantly focused on dance, Navarasa also imparts developmental theatre training, experimental workshops in pottery,…

Bangaloreans don’t need to look to Cauvery for augmenting water supply, the solution to the Bangalore's water problem remains in treating sewage water. A report by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says that around 60% of sewage water in Bengaluru remains untreated. It states that the city has 14 Sewage Treatment Plants with a capacity to treat 721 Million Litres per Day(MLD) but only 302 MLD gets treated. This report titled ‘Excreta Matters’ was released by Sunita Narain- CSE director-general in Bengaluru on June 28th. The report analysed water-sewage situation in 71-cities across India, including Bengaluru.    Sunita suggests…

S Laxminarayan, 36, a software engineer by profession, is also a part-time urban farmer. He aims to get people started on kitchen gardening. He is a co-founder of Garden City Farmer’s Trust that aims to spread awareness on organic farming. He lives in ISRO layout with his wife Sowmya M, a physiotherapist. S Laxminarayan. Pic: Abhishek Angad Excerpts from his interview.You use a bicycle for commuting while your motorbike and car are covered in dust. Are you a green enthusiast?Well, I am just getting ready for the future. Natural resources are depleting due to use and abuse of it. So…

In the last few years, a large part of the city's low lying areas were affected by flash floods, due to heavy and continuous rains. The RWA members of these areas have been trying hard to get BBMP and BWSSB to fix these issues. This year practically all roads have been dug up for either laying BWSSB pipes or for new flyovers. Will BBMP re-lay the roads in time? Digging at Bismillah Nagar, near BTM Layout. Pic: Abhishek Angad BBMP has taken up desilting the Storm Water Drains (SWD) in the four valleys - Koramangala, Hebbal, Challaghatta and Vrishabhavati, to…

A real estate lawyer by profession, Vatsala Dhananjay, moved to Bangalore in 1990 from Coimbatore. After completing her law degree in 1993 from SJRC Law College, she got married and moved to Koramangala. She has been a lawyer for nearly two decades now. Vatsala Dhananjay. Pic: Abhishek Angad You been in Koramangala since 1993, how have seen it growing?When we came here it was very quiet and had many vacant plots. It was not even in BBMP limits. Suddenly it was a buzz that koramangala is a good place and lot of commercial activities took place.Did you always know you…

On 3rd June, Sunday afternoon two people pretending to be BESCOM officials talked R Nagarajan and his wife Swarnalatha, residents of  BTM second stage, into buying fake CFL bulbs. R Nagarajan and his wife Swarnalatha. Pic: Abhishek Angad According to Nagarajan, one of the posers identified himself as a Junior Engineer, Srinivas. The poser then convinced Nagarajan that BESCOM was distributing CFL lamps to senior citizens to use in place of the regular incandescent bulbs. Fake CFL bulbs. Pic: Abhishek Angad Nagarajan says, “they gave us 12 lamps for free and another 12 for the cost of Rs 2400, which…

On 8th May, BBMP issued a notice meant as a final warning to unlicensed health units to obtain trade licenses. But this was not the first time; BBMP had issued the notice thrice before - first on 5th December 2010, second in February 2011 and the third in June 2011.Despite these notices, 937 health units out of a 2648 hospitals surveyed by BBMP were unregistered as of March 2012. Early morning at 6, the bi-medical waste collectors-Maridi at work. Pic Abhishek Angad The notice makes it mandatory for health units to have an up-to-date receipt of tax payment, an authorisation…

Bal Krishna Birla, who hails from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, came to Bangalore in 1995 after passing out from IIT- Kanpur. He worked in various joined Infosys as a software engineer and worked for around nine years. Later, after couple of other stints he started his first entrepreneurial venture and co-founded Potluck Restaurant in BTM in July 2006.  He was also the co-founder of famous ‘AskLaila’- a local information online service in October 2006. M K Birla. Pic: Abhishek Angad His interest in old hindi songs paved the way for another venture”Bhoole Bisre Geet” where interested community assembles and sings. Continuing…

With all the traffic around it is easy to miss Star Briyani near Silk Board junction. But once you step inside the food will definitely catch your attention. The menu seems too short. But the taste more than makes up for the length of the menu. They have only three types of briyani - chicken, mutton and egg. In fry or kebab we were left with limited chicken, mutton and fish items.Ambur Briyani has a royal legacy.  It is said to have evolved from Arcot briyani, from the kingdom of Nawab of Arcots.  Ambur is a small little town in…