GENRE: In Focus

There are about 900-odd Kalyana Mantapas in Bangalore today, with
10 new wedding halls coming up every year. Yet, plenty of consumer-unfriendly practices prevail, adding avoidable stress to wedding planning, finds Deepa Mohan.

At a public meeting on 24 January, around 175
associations and groups dissented against Sakrama. Their resolutions will go to the Governor, High Court and political parties. Samuel Jacob reports.

From fixing potholes on a ward’s roads to pathways for the city’s parks and more, BBMP officials are breaking down contracts
into Rs.5 lakhs or lesser. A Banashankari citizen’s RTI applications helped trace a web of corruption. Sunil Tinani has more.

Is the Sakrama scheme legally tenable? By many accounts, it appears to be a shoddy piece of legislation designed to skirt what is really a breakdown of civic administration, finds Samuel Jacob.

We regularly read reports in the news about citizens being awarded compensation from consumer courts on disputes with errant vendors. But how does this all work? Where does a Bangalorean have to start? Wise Buy guides you.

How do some involved citizens perceive the BDA – the state-created planning and development authority for Bangalore. Is it an IT-savvy organisation and has it helped the city, or is it a corrupt body just not upto its job?

This cacophony of houses, shops, offices and commercial units is one of the many tank beds that have been converted to layouts in the city. But short-sighted, unplanned and ad-hoc development has led to flooding and severe drainage issues for residents.

A profile of India Nature Watch, an online resource for Indian wildlife photography buffs.

Is the water you drink safe enough?

A visit to CUPA’s Bannerghata Rescue Centre and PfA’s animal hospice in Kengeri shows the centres doing their best for the animals.

Since May 2007, the water board has made rainwater harvesting (RWH) mandatory for new constructions and appears to be quietly enforcing this rule.

Will the Lake Development Authority’s (LDA) public private partnership (PPP) model protect or destroy Bangalore’s last remaining lakes?