Articles by Subramaniam Vincent

Alright — so we’re all getting ready to vote throughout the country. Some states have already completed polling. Bengaluru's turn is tomorrow. How do you decide? This election, in particular, is seeing massive interest from all around the country. However, at least some of this interest is generated because of the silly way in which the Congress and BJP are continuing to differentiate themselves from each other, when the reality is far murkier. See through the “vote for PM” distraction First of all, on the BJP’s ‘Modi for PM” campaign, this country does not have a presidential system of government,…

Alright — so we’re all getting ready to vote throughout the country. Some states have already completed polling. Bengaluru's turn is tomorrow. How do you decide? This election, in particular, is seeing massive interest from all around the country. However, at least some of this interest is generated because of the silly way in which the Congress and BJP are continuing to differentiate themselves from each other, when the reality is far murkier. See through the “vote for PM” distraction First of all, on the BJP’s ‘Modi for PM” campaign, this country does not have a presidential system of government,…

Hello. Effective June 2013, Citizen Matters gets a new look and also a new engine and wheels underneath the stuff you see, read, and contribute to! We’ve made a number of changes. If you are wondering about this, read further. Otherwise, just continue using the site, nothing to worry. Most important changes A more spaced-out design. You can now login to CM using you Google, Facebook or LinkedIn social media accounts. We hope this make it easier for you to share articles, pictures, comments, discussions with your fellow citizens of Bangalore. The site will load faster than before and can…

Hello. Effective June 2013, Citizen Matters gets a new look and also a new engine and wheels underneath the stuff you see, read, and contribute to! We’ve made a number of changes. If you are wondering about this, read further. Otherwise, just continue using the site, nothing to worry. Most important changes A more spaced-out design. You can now login to CM using you Google, Facebook or LinkedIn social media accounts. We hope this make it easier for you to share articles, pictures, comments, discussions with your fellow citizens of Bangalore. The site will load faster than before and can…

"Please, please, mera change vaapas keejiye, please sir." She was in her thirties, nicely dressed in a blue churidhar with a gold-ish lining, spectacled, and worried.Furiously issuing tickets, the uniformed BMTC person she was pleading with was in the far upper corner of my favourite red monster 500 C. The bus had already stopped at  Marathahalli and departed. She panicked that she had not gotten her change back and had missed her stop.This conductor, middle-aged, spectacled, unusually chubby-cheeked, had not even heard a word of her plea. One of us fellow passengers called out to him. In the meantime he…

"Please, please, mera change vaapas keejiye, please sir." She was in her thirties, nicely dressed in a blue churidhar with a gold-ish lining, spectacled, and worried.Furiously issuing tickets, the uniformed BMTC person she was pleading with was in the far upper corner of my favourite red monster 500 C. The bus had already stopped at  Marathahalli and departed. She panicked that she had not gotten her change back and had missed her stop.This conductor, middle-aged, spectacled, unusually chubby-cheeked, had not even heard a word of her plea. One of us fellow passengers called out to him. In the meantime he…

In two years, I have gone from experimenting with public transport in Bengaluru to becoming a full user. I use the bus system almost 4 days a week, and carry the second most expensive bus-pass BMTC has to offer.Riding Bengaluru's bus system gives you a interesting vantage point into city affairs that I thought I would write about regularly starting with this post. First off, I developed a few nicknames of my own for the types of buses in Bengaluru. Even though BMTC has several types, I've simplified this here for making my point.Tin boxes: These are the normal BMTC…

In two years, I have gone from experimenting with public transport in Bengaluru to becoming a full user. I use the bus system almost 4 days a week, and carry the second most expensive bus-pass BMTC has to offer.Riding Bengaluru's bus system gives you a interesting vantage point into city affairs that I thought I would write about regularly starting with this post. First off, I developed a few nicknames of my own for the types of buses in Bengaluru. Even though BMTC has several types, I've simplified this here for making my point.Tin boxes: These are the normal BMTC…

BBMP Commissioner Rajneesh Goel is a smart man. To back up his ultimatum forcing apartments to do wet waste processing within, he brought up an unknown pollution control rule.Goel pointed out recently that builders of big apartments are already bound to set up waste processing facilities. Apparently the state's pollution watchdog, KSCPB, had made a rule in 2006 stating that installation of these facilities be made a condition to issuing Occupancy Certificates. This he says is reason enough for BBMP to stop collecting waste from apartments which do not have converters or compost pits! It is another matter that neither…

BBMP Commissioner Rajneesh Goel is a smart man. To back up his ultimatum forcing apartments to do wet waste processing within, he brought up an unknown pollution control rule.Goel pointed out recently that builders of big apartments are already bound to set up waste processing facilities. Apparently the state's pollution watchdog, KSCPB, had made a rule in 2006 stating that installation of these facilities be made a condition to issuing Occupancy Certificates. This he says is reason enough for BBMP to stop collecting waste from apartments which do not have converters or compost pits! It is another matter that neither…