With over a three million titles on display, 340 stalls from leading publishers and distributors, this 10 day long Bangalore Book Festival (BBF) is open to public from 9th Nov till 15th Nov ( i.e. today) is claimed to be indias largest book festival….
(more…)

Hosur Round Table as service organisation is doing a fund raiser selling cracker gift boxes.

The proceeds of the sale will be used to promote education of underprivileged children by providing classrooms, mulitimedia education aids, salaries for teachers etc. Hosur Round Table also funds environmental projects through Kenneth Anderson Nature Society.

A primary school in Kodekarai a remote village in the Melagiris is being adopted by Hosur Round Table by sponsoring the salary of 2 teachers for a year. Thirteen class rooms have been constructed at various remote villages in the last few years and two multimedia education kits (projector, P.C and education material from classes 4 to 10) have been donated recently.

(more…)

‘Save GKVK’ Campaign – Community Protest

Date: 10:00 am – 11:00 am, Sunday, October 11, 2009

Venue: GKVK Main Gate on Bellary Road

Program: Protest against proposed 80 feet link road through GKVK campus

Issue
Proposed construction of a major 80 feet link road through GKVK campus entailing cutting of 3000 trees and destruction of several research plots

Current Status

GKVK has transferred the land to BBMP. BBMP has felled hundreds of trees and has initiated civil works. Court has issued stay order on further felling of trees. Forest department has filed a FIR and is investigating the issue. However, BBMP is still planning to carry on with road work. We have now lost hundreds of trees, but the land still remains. We can atleast regrow the trees and we can prevent a road from running through a green patch and destroying it. If we lose the land, we lose the battle fully and we’ll have a road running through an urban green patch, impacting the rest of the green patch negatively!

(more…)

Environment Support Group ®

in collaboration with

Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology

invites you to a workshop on

Urban Lakes as Ecological, Cultural and Public Spaces

A Workshop for Decision makers, Media, NGOs, Teachers, Students and the Public

Date: Saturday 26th September 2009

Time: 9.30 am – 4.00 pm

Venue: Marigowda Hall, Lalbagh, Near Double Road Entrance, Bangalore

(more…)

From:
Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 10:00am
To:
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 7:00pm
Location:
Alliance Francaise de Bangalore
Vasanthnagar

Phone:
919880969064
Email:
sujay.kotian@gmail.com

Young artists and photographers come together and display their Art works and photographs flowing in the lines of “Wild” life and what is left of it.

Artists: Abhijna Anand, Arjun Srivathsa,Prashanthi Nerallapalli
photographers: phillip ross, Ramnath Chandrasekhar, Vivek Vellanki

Display and sale of all exhibits, along with handicrafts by MOGHIYAS [ tribal folk of Rajasthan].

proceeds of the sale will be donated for wildlife
CONSERVATION- specifically the critically endangered CROC-GHARIAL and the CAT in peril-TIGER

(more…)

Simple steps to do if you see a tree being cut -
(Pls also read the full preservation of trees act for complete details , I’ve attached it with this email and am also pasting the link below -
http://hasiruusiru.org/joomla/images/stories/pdf/LawsAndPolicies/karnatakapreservationoftreesact.pdf)

Steps
Approach the contractor/workers cutting the tree. Ask them if they have the approval of tree officer, BBMP for cutting the tree.

If they dont have the order
Ask them to stop. Tell the that they are not authorised to cut trees and that they can be arrested for cutting trees without required permission. Please call the relevant tree officer.( Details in latter half of mail.)
Tell them the details – what’s happening and where. Ask her/him to come immediately and get the work stopped. If tree officer does not answer her/his phone, call their office number. If you dont get through to that, call the cops from the police station under whose jurisdiction the said road is located. Alert local residents and try and gather support (this could be counter-productive sometimes, they may want the tree to be cut) . And yes, pls take pics of the trees being cut.

If they have the order
Please have a look at the order and see what it says.
Does it have a BBMP seal? Does the order explicitly state that the full tree needs to be cut? Is it signed by the tree officer? Note – some times the tree officers permit the branches to be cut, but people use that to cut the whole tree. If permission is granted only for cutting branches, only branches can be cut, not the trunk. In case they have what appears to be a order, but the order looks fishy/incomplete, call the tree officer on cellphone/landline and inquire if permission has been granted.

In case they do have the order to cut trees and it looks like they have been granted permission, just double-check with the tree officer anyway. Call the tree officer on cell-phone/landline and speak to her/him confirming if an order has been passed to cut the trees in that location.

If they have the order and it looks like its genuine and the order allows felling of trees
If at the end you realise that the tree officer has granted permission to cut the trees, there is not much you can do at that moment to stop it. Ask the tree officer if trees are being replanted in the same area, to compensate for the trees being cut. If trees are not being replanted in the same area, thats a violation of the act.

Later, you can also file an appeal with the tree authority, BBMP against the
tree officer’s order.

(more…)

Environment Support Group is organising a workshop on ‘Understanding the
role and the importance of Wetlands in Urban spaces.’ The workshop will be
held on 26th September 2009 at the MariGowda Hall in Lal Bagh.

The various sessions are as follows:

-

Historical view of lakes in Bangalore
-

Current status of Lakes in Bangalore
-

Criticality of lakes for water security in Bangalore
-

Urban Lakes as functional eco-systems
-

Legal and Policy frameworks that govern lakes

The workshop aims to bring together Decision makers, Media, NGOs, Teachers,
Students and the general public.

(more…)

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS ANNOUNCES 2010 AWARDS

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) invites submissions for its sixth annual arts awards for young photographers, writers, musicians and bands. There are five awards to be won – one for music (Rs 50,000), two for photography (Rs 25,000 each), and two for creative writing (Rs 25,000 each).

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS was founded in 2004, in memory of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani who was intensely passionate about music, literature, films and the arts. Toto’s untimely demise spurred his family and friends to create a non-profit foundation that would encourage the young to give expression to their artistic ideas. The annual TOTO awards are intended to recognize excellence in the fields of photography, music and creative writing.

All submissions must be original and must be received before October 24, 2009. Young persons from all over India between the ages of 18 and 30 are eligible to apply. Full details about eligibility and the application process for each award category can be found at

http://totofundsthearts.blogspot.com

OR can be obtained on request from

totofundsthearts@yahoo.com

(more…)

YWCA is one of the hosts of the International Film Festival spearheaded by the Bangalore Film Society along with other NGO’s on the issue of water which is to be held on the 4th 5th and 6th September 2009 at the YWCA Arathi No 7, 6th Block, Koramangala,Bangalore 560 095. Tel Phone: 25634813/22238574/ 9739047011.

Here are the names of the films which will be screened at Arathi. Water is becoming a
very crucial issue for all of us and for which we all need to be concerned
about.

Kindly make a note of the film to be screened on Saturday at 4.00pm Living
Water: In the beginning where the Directors of the film will be present and
will take up the discussion afterwards. So please come and be part of
viewing this film in large numbers.

There will also be an inauguration of the International Film Festival at
4.00pm on 4th September 2009 at Alliance Francaise. All are welcome to
attend the Inauguration.

For any further queries, contact Latha Paul, General Secretary,YWCA of Bangalore City, on

9739047011.

(more…)

Places I Like
From a workshop by Stefan Koppelkamm
Photo Exhibition

17 – 29.08.2009, 9.00 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan

Inauguration on 14.08.2008, 6.30 p.m.
All are welcome!

The objective of the intensive 3-week workshop for Bangalore photo enthusiasts, conducted by German photographer Stefan Koppelkamm, whose exhibition Ortszeit/Local Time has just concluded at the Bhavan, was to define the personal criteria that determine the “quality of life” in a city. The focus was more on the routine and normal, rather than the unusual. Social aspects of the city (neighbourliness, the presence of smaller stores and cottage industries, etc.) that are not immediately discernible to outsiders were more important than outstanding architecture or excellent design.

The 15 participants – a mix of professional and amateur photographers – started their field work in the last week of July trying to visualise the intrinsic qualities of “their” places. In the second part of the workshop the group discussed the different projects and made their selection for the exhibition.

The places portrayed in this exhibition are as diverse as the city itself: They include bustling markets or shopping centres such as Russell Market or Avenue Road, secluded and peaceful areas such as the Mughal Fort and the Someshwara Temple in Ulsoor, Charles Correa’s Bimanagar township from the early ’70s and the L&T South City, a recent project on the periphery of the city which is contrasted by quarters like Malleswaram or Cooke Town, where the architectural heritage is threatened by land speculation and the building of freeways. Two of the photographers portray their favourite hangouts, one a small café in Indiranagar, the second one the famous Koshy’s in St. Marks Road.

For more details, visit

http://www.goethe.de/ins/in/bag/kue/en4905386v.htm

In the case of Avenue Road which is actually threatened by plans to widen the road, the exhibition might hopefully be a strong visual argument against the destruction of this unique architectural and socio-economic ensemble.

Featuring photos by:
Aniruddha Ghosh
Apurva Mathad
Archana Venson
Arnab Dey
Dayaprasad Kulkarni
Deepti Jois
Jyothy Karat
Kusum Dhar Prabhu
Mallikarjun Katakol
Peeyush Sekhsaria
Rahil Arora
Rajeev Malagi
Rajesh Pandey
Ravi Shankar Kolara
Swarna Kumarswamy