Corruption in the BMTC - Tickets

Supraja - 7-JUL-2010

Tickets not issued in BMTC buses -  The conductor asks commuters to opt for ticketless travel, by paying an amount lesser than the ticket value. Surprisingly, this is a regular practice.

High petrol prices - 59% levies in Bangalore, where does it all go?

Transmogrifier - 7-JUL-2010

[Promoting Transmogrifier's comment to a separate 'crowdsourcing' post - we need to know what is happening to the various taxes and cess that makes petrol so expensive for us. 59% of fuel price is levies, where is it all going today? Do share if you know.]

@ PublicAgenda, while conspiracy theorists make for good movie-making, it's time (like many here are suggesting) that we look at why we pay so much as in the way of levies (59%?) and much worse, get so little. Let's take two examples:

1. In one of the most capitalistic of societies, federal and state taxes, on average, are about 45.6c/gallon (for petrol) or 16.7% at today's price of unleaded petrol. What do you get for that? For 18.4c out of that (or 6-7%) you get 75,000 km of Interstate system on which you could cover 950km (that's the distance to Chennai... and back...and then back again) in 9.5hrs.

Do you support commuter rail service (local trains) for Bangalore?

idontspam - 6-JUL-2010

* Yes * No

Praja Blogathon 2011

deepakar - 5-JUL-2010

This is the project group to organize Praja Blogathon, a Civic issue theme based online blogging competition.

Say no to road widening in Bangalore - Petitions

indian - 5-JUL-2010

40,000 properties in Bangalore are likely to be demolished to widen 227 roads by displacing 38,000 to 2 lakh people for private vehicles. Pedestrians have no footpaths to walk. Road widenings must be stopped. Homes, properties and livelihoods of the citizens must be saved. Roads should be accessible for all sections of society.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-to-road-widening-in-bangalore

(Fully featured and comprehensive version)

http://www.petitiononline.com/roadwide/

(Patially featured and condensed version)

Twitter Tweet
http://bit.ly/d8EaOI http://petol.org/roadwide - Say no to road widening in Bangalore - Petitions

Why should I support this Bandh?

silkboard - 5-JUL-2010

Why should I be forced to support a strike call (bandh) that I don't agree with? Where is my freedom of expression? Why is my office shut? Why is my son's school shut as well? Are the officea and schools shut because they support the bandh, or are they 'scared'? Why can state government not guarantee rule of law on general bandh day? Real shame in today's day and age, such "goonda-giri' driven bandhs are the most farcical tools of public vote in a democracy.

Leaving aside the "how can a ruling party support a strike" thing and talking specifics, what is wrong  with total decontrol of fuel pricess to let the market forces rule? Kerosene price rise can be buffered towards a gradual decontrol, but the public needs to alter their fuel usage pattern - shift the burden away from fossils - and energy companies need that push to innovate.

IGI Airport Vs BIAL

Sanjeev - 3-JUL-2010

PM unveils world's 6th largest terminal at IGI Airport

Delhi today got a spanking new world-class Rs 9,000 crore airport that will integrate domestic and international operations and is expected to handle 34 million passengers annually

Kadugodi flyover - almost ready

admin123 - 2-JUL-2010

Since good number of members have sent petitions, DPAR complaints, RTIs and what not to chase status of this bridge, it feels good to see the flyover nearing completion.

Consumer Court experience

murali772 - 2-JUL-2010

Given the choice, very few amongst the middle and upper classes in the country will ever want to have anything to do with the government or its agencies, plainly because they lack the basic 'technology' of handling them.

Accountability of our emergency helplines

deepakar - 2-JUL-2010

Here's my experience with the Police emergency phone number, 100, that makes me pray that nobody ever has any emergency.

Last Saturday, I was returning by train from Thanjavur. While the train was waiting for a clearance to enter the railway station, I heard some commotion outside. Two guys, at least one of them very drunk, were fighting. The inebriated one was lying on the tracks (and hardly moving) and the other man was beating him up. This was at 4 AM and it was still pretty dark. Sensing danger to their lives if a train happened to approach on that track the passengers from my coach urged them to move away from the rails. Since they didn't pay heed, I decided to call the police helpline 100.

My first reaction when the lady answered the phone was surprise at the complete lack of urgency in her tone and voice. I explained the situation to her, and she asked me to call the railway police. There was no answer from that number so I dialed 100 again and got to speak to the same lady. This time she asked me to call the general railway helpline 197!