Koramangala: The commercial hub

Bangalore: Not a well-known name till the late 70s, Koramangala and HSR Layout which was close to Adugodi village, has now transformed into a huge residential and commercial hub, housing a large number of IT firms.

Just three kilometres from Koramangala, is the well-designed HSR layout. Divided into seven sectors, HSR Layout (officially called Kengal Hanumanthaiah Layout) is self-sustained with its shopping malls, parks and infrastructure. A favourite among techies, Koramangala has everything, from shopping complexes to the best hospitals and educational institutions. "I chose to live in Koramangala because it is centrally located. We have easy access to the best hospitals like St John's, Hosmat, Manipal, and even Narayana Hrudayalaya is not far off," says HT Sangliana, former member of Parliament.

Besides, he adds, reputed educational institutions are also close by. The major ones being the Christ institution, Jyothi Nivas College and St John's Medical College. "There are so many eateries. The Koramangala Club which is one of the best clubs in Bangalore, is also here. It is self-contained, with parks, an indoor stadium and a whole lot of other facilities for the residents," says Sangliana. Even passport office is close by. All these things make Koramangala the best locality to live in.

However, Arjun Award winning athlete Ashwini Nachappa feels commercialisation has reduced the lung space in the area. "It was a lovely residential area when I came here in 1992. It had a lot of open space and greenery. Now, there is no space to even park vehicles in front of our houses. Things have changed drastically," she says.

"Though there are pro-active resident welfare associations (RWAs), the best shopping complexes, hospitals and educational institutions, my concern is that it is losing green space. In the next five years, it will become more commercialised like the rest of Bangalore. The RWAs have to take up these issues," Aswhini adds.

But South Indian actress Nettoo, a resident of Koramangala, thinks that though traffic is heavy in front of malls like Forum and Oasis, the bylanes in Koramangala make way for smooth movement of traffic. "What makes Koramangala more likable are the bylanes.

The different blocks and BDA complexes provide for easy movement of traffic," she says.
She points out that the mix of culture makes the area unique. "The place is not only for youngsters. Many senior citizens have also made Koramangala their home. We have everything here so youngsters needn't go to Commercial Street or MG Road to have fun. I have been residing here for the last five to six years. But it is sad that there aren't many Kannadigas," says Neettoo.

Wheel jam caps hill bandh

Police post in Manipur village, strike hits hills & rebels arrested
OUR CORRESPONDENT

Imphal, Nov. 27: A 24-hour bandh called by the Peoples Democratic Alliance, a political party, paralysed normal life in the five hill districts of Manipur.

The bandh, which began at midnight last night, was called in protest against the deployment of India Reserve Battalion personnel, police commandos and members of the village volunteer force in the hill districts of Ukhrul, Tamenglong, Chandel, Churachandpur and Senapati.

“The bandh was total and peaceful in all the five hill districts. The support was overwhelming,” Gaidon Kamei, the spokesman for the Alliance, said after visiting some of the districts.

He said the intention of the government to deploy the state forces was to crush regional aspirations of the tribal people, which could not be accepted.

The other demands of the hill-based party include the amendment to the Village Authority Act, 1956, a separate land law for the hills, clear reservation policy for the hills and implementation of the National Tribal Policy, 2006.

Kamei said the hills needed separate laws for protection of land, forest and economic rights of the inhabitants.

He said the village authority act was outdated and because of it there was chaos in tribal society.

Shops and business houses also remained closed in the headquarters of the five hill districts.

The bandh, however, did not affect academic activities and examinations in schools were held uninterrupted.

Coinciding with the hill bandh, a 24-hour chakka bandh was called by the Senapati District Students Association along the Imphal-Dimapur national highway since midnight last night in protest against the state government’s failure to repair the road.

The chakka bandh disrupted supply of essential commodities and vehicular movement, with trucks and passenger buses remaining off the highway.

The Imphal-Dimapur national highway is the main supply route to Manipur.

This is not the first time the student body imposed bandhs along the route. A 20-day economic blockade was observed in November last year over the same demand.

The association had also staged a five-day roadblock along the highway in November 2007.

“We had suspended our agitation after PWD K. Ranjit Singh promised us that the road would be repaired. But nothing came of the assurances,” Psokrehrii Khrasi, the president of the student body, said.

He said Union home secretary G.K. Pillai, during his visit to Senapati district in August this year, had promised to sanction funds for the road repair. However, the promise is yet to be fulfilled.

The student body has also demanded the opening of a fire station and a State Bank of India branch along the national highway at Tadubi in Senapati district.
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BSF opens fire at smugglers on border

GUWAHATI, Nov 27 – Firing by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel deployed along the border with Bangladesh continued for the second successive day, as the troops had to open fire to prevent anti-national elements from crossing over with smuggled goods. Meanwhile, BSF seized smuggled goods worth more than Rs 40 lakh within the last 24 hours in the Assam-Meghalaya frontier.

BSF sources said that the troops seized 155 cattle heads, country boats, liquor and other contraband items in different parts of Dhubri, West Khasi Hills and Garo hills areas along the international border in the last 24 hours. The value of the seized items is estimated to the tune of around Rs 31 lakh.

Sources said that the BSF men deployed in the Salapara BOP in Dhubri district last night opened fire in self-defence on a group of smugglers. Sources revealed that the troops saw movement of smugglers in the area and when challenged, the smugglers attacked the BSF men with sharp weapons forcing the security men to open fire. The smugglers managed to escape under the cover of darkness but the BSF men managed to seize cattle worth Rs 10.80 lakh.

In another incident in the same area, BSF arrested one Sanwar Hussain of South Salmara and recovered cattle worth Rs 40,000 from him.

Mizoram Govt to take back Bru refugees

AGARTALA, Nov 26 – The Mizoram Government has finally assured to take back uprooted Reang refugees sheltered in relief camps in North Tripura’s Kanchanpur subdivision within next two months. The assurance came at a meeting on Wednesday at Kanchanpur SDM Office where BDO of Zwalnuam block in Mamit district, T Robert and SDM Kanchanpur DK Chakma were present. At the meeting, the hardships faced by refugees were discussed threadbare.

Interestingly, no representative from refugees attended the meeting. No decision was taken in the meeting to provide ration money to the newly uprooted Reang families.

The BDO has assured all the Bru people living an uprooted life in Tripura will be returned to Mizoram within the next two months. The assurance has but brought somewhat relief among therefugees leading in pitiable living condition and ration facilities.

Most of the big guns of the refugee camps are presently in Delhi with their demands of rehabilitation in Mizoram.

The Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF) has already held the Mizoram Government responsible for the deplorable plight of the Bru people. “They (Mizoram Government) have failed to protect the interest of the minority Bru tribesmen even after a series of ethnic strife since November 9,” said Evlish Chorkhy, president of therefugees’ body.

It may be noted that about 8000 Bru tribesmen were uprooted from Mizoram following ethnic violence after killing of a Mizo youth and taken shelter at Damcherra in Kanchanpur subdivision.

Mizoram government disburses Rs20 lakh for Bru relief

Aizawl: Mizoram government has distributed Rs20.55 lakh and other relief materials to the 385 Bru families displaced by the recent outbreak of communal wave in the western part of the state, official sources said here today.

Relief materials included 1,155 silpouline for construction of temporary shelters, 770 blankets, 158.72 quintals of rice, 7.70 quintals of dal, 36 bags of clothes and 70 numbers of large utensils.

"Some of them who had fled to neighbouring Tripura have also received the relief materials and returned to their new habitations," an official said.

Around 500 Brus belonging to about 100 families fled to Tripura due to the recent spurt of communal tension triggered by the murder of a Mizo youth by Bru militants on November 13, they said.

Earlier the three major churches donated more than Rs6 lakh and relief materials to the state-level relief coordination committee, drawing flak from NGOs of the border district Mamit.

Mizo body receives 641 child abuse complaints in 4 yrs

Aizawl: A total of 641 complaints on child abuse have been received by Mizoram's Child Welfare Committee since its formation on September 22, 2005, CWC Chairman Lalengruali Sailo said Thursday.

"The highest is sexual abuse against children and we have identified 127 child sexual abuse during the past four years," Sailo said on the sidelines of a programme on the occasion of World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse.

Out of the 127 cases, reported in over four years, a high 107 were incidents of sexual abuse by adults, she said.

CWC, working in coordination with the administration and human rights' bodies, has registered 22 cases of physical abuse and two cases of using child labour while there were 18 cases of sexual abuse perpetrated by minors.

CWC Secretary Zodinpuii said a high incidence of child sexual abuse, was by older relatives of the victim like uncles, step-fathers and people close to the family.

She felt there could be more cases of abuse as many parents and victims dare not approach the CWC for fear of stigmatisation of the victims.

On the day the Aizawl-based NGO Centre for Peace and Development organised a procession.