Three generations of a farming family in Bagalkot district in Karnataka campaigned to drought-proof the fields and to conserve the soil and water. Their inspiration was a 170-year old book that until recently remained only in manuscript form. Shree Padre reports on the enviable results.

It may take more than random coverage of dramatic developments on the civic front for the media fulfil its promise of connecting citizens and governments. Mere reports based entirely on press statements and conferences in which plans are presented with little questioning won't do, writes Ammu Joseph.

Talk of the city's future is a lament over failing infrastructure, encroachments, and neglected millions. Civic-minded citizens are critical of the latest Comprehensive Development Plan, and point to its legal flaws, mismanaged process for citizen inputs, and misplaced priorities. Arati Rao reports.

Should Bangalore and its surrounding municipalities be merged into a single jurisdiction, as the state's politicians are now proposing to do? The Constitutional standard as well as Bangalore's abysmal record of administering even the core metropolis both argue against centralisation. The India Together editorial.

The area around the Nagavalli tank in Tumkur, Karnataka has been reeling under water scarcity for the past several years, with extensive sinking of bore wells not helping. But Jaya farm, owned by 75 year-old Jayanna and run by his middle-aged son Kumara Swamy, has become a ray of hope and self-help. Shree Padre reports.

Neither the protections of law nor interventions by the Supreme Court have ensured adequate minimum wages for the jobs performed by tens of millions of unorganised workers. Kathyayini Chamaraj reports on a recent survey by a Bangalore-based group showing how far below fair standards these workers have been pushed.

Two farmers from Chamarajanagar, Karnataka, took the state government to court for not giving them water for the past three-four years. The twist is that they approached a district consumer court, and won the case in less than a year. Veena N reports.

Disregard for local sentiment is now the norm in most large projects. At Tadadi, which has faced a long line of threats of displacement, the latest struggle is against a proposed 4000 MW coal-fired plant. With Coastal Zone regulators not very attentive to the violations of law, the villagers can rely only on themselves. Sudhirendar Sharma reports.

There seems to be a steady increase in the acceptance of Bt cotton by Karnataka farmers. And, after experiencing the disastrous consequences of spurious seeds, farmers are particular about buying only from authorised sources. But disturbing and worrisome trends remain, reports Keya Acharya.

The Karnataka Governor, T N Chaturvedi, recently asked the state government for an explanation on why the state wants the central government to clear the Dandeli dam on the river Kali. This, in light of the fact that state government departments had themselves recommended and shelved the project earlier. An India Together report.

It's 'ready to serve' and like a soft drink bottle or tetra pack, you can take it inside any office, drink and then dispose. Sold with the brand name Tender Fresh, 1500 – 2000 tender coconuts every day are reaching a clientele that reads like the who's who of Bangalore's software companies. Shree Padre reports.

The Belgaum City Corporation has in the last one decade has revived 16 big and 21 small dug-wells. Today, 2 million gallons (16 per cent) of Belgaum's water supply comes from these local wells alone, leading to precious cost savings that have paid back the revival expenditure long ago. Shree Padre reports.

Setting himself a target of a thousand trees each year, Dr Mahantesh Tapashetti has greened his neighbourhood and surrounding areas in Hubli by himself. Many residents appreciate his work, and the Forest Department has been happy to support him, supplying trees for his care and planting them each year. Shree Padre reports.

A hurriedly passed amendment to the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act last week gives MLAs unwarranted powers over panchayats, which are themselves a separate tier of local goverment. Nandana Reddy and Damodar Acharya say the amendment is contrary to the spirit of decentralisation and the Constitution.

27-year-old Ratnamma, a garment factory worker, was forced to deliver a baby on the streets of Bangalore. 20-year-old Gayathri was run over by the bus belonging to the Bangalore garment factory where she worked. Garment workers in Bangalore are caught in an exploitative web, reports Padmalatha Ravi.

Bagalkot district in Karnataka is today emerging as a model for how AIDS awareness can make all the difference in stemming the disease. It is also showing how it is not impossible to create an atmosphere where HIV positive people can continue to live with freedom, dignity and hope. Ramesh Menon reports.

When a teacher specially trained to handle children with special needs started work at a local government school in Bangalore, children were benefited and stopped dropping out. Padmalatha Ravi has more.

In Karnataka, job-training programmes are on offer at a number of institutes, and yet, students unable to make it into college are not lining up in large numbers. Ironically, a manpower crunch exists across industries at the entry level, placing employers in a bind. Padmalatha Ravi digs deeper.

The latest vocational education courses are presenting job opportunities for high school graduates that their poor parents lacked. Institutes conducting bilingual training are particularly helpful for students who are very likely to have not schooled in English medium. Padmalatha Ravi has more.

The village of Hebballi in the Krishna river basin is a striking example of a successful and sustainable piped water supply in rural India. While challenges still remain, this experience shows that some steps towards equity and sustainability can be taken in many other places too. S Vishwanath reports.

In the major metros, a range of new vocational courses is helping high school students find jobs in the rapidly industrialising sectors. What about job-seekers in small towns and rural areas? Padmalatha Ravi reports on two NGO-led training innovations in Tamilnadu and Karnataka.

Charles and Nirmala Sequeira were simply looking for something different to do. Little did they think that, many years later, their decision to start selling ice cream made from local fruits would catch on with customers, and open a new channel for value addition for local produce. Shree Padre reports.

An initiative at an educational institution near Mangalore ensures that the institution can do without water tankers during the monsoon months. Rainwater suffices and what's more, its borewell also gets recharged. Shree Padre reports.

This 58-year-old illiterate farm labourer has developed irrigated farming at a hilltop in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. His hard work, vision and never-say-die attitude have turned the land around and he now advises visiting farmers. Shree Padre reports.

A Karnataka Bank branch in Mysore is the setting for a unique tale of investment - in water. The bank's senior manager devised a simple plan to allow accumulated rainwater, which was earlier just pumped out and wasted, to percolate into the earth. Shree Padre reports.

S Ganesh Mallya, a high school teacher cum Sunday farmer in Yedapadavu in Karnataka, has greened his plot without borewells. Using simple techniques to catch rainwater, he has managed to raise the water level in his open well and grow a bountiful farm. Shree Padre reports.

The government school system is not a rationally driven and coherent apparatus of state policy. Instead, its everyday work is continuously and varyingly reshaped in the light of social, institutional, and policy related inflections, write A R Vasavi and Rahul Mukhopadhyay.

With lakhs of the city's long-term residents, traders and others likely to be affected, there is much opposition to Bangalore's road-widening plans. Protests against tree-felling have acquired a much deeper dimension. Kathyayini Chamaraj reports.

Over the years, nationalised banks have had to buckle up and polish their looks to serve new generation customers and meet stiff competition from the private sector. But the personal touch, valuable to many customers, has been lost, laments Sudha Narasimhachar a former PSU-banker.

Father Benjamin D'Souza's rain harvesting measures in four acres of the Tallur Church campus in coastal Karnataka have assured zero runoff for the last half a decade and watered neighbouring wells too. Shree Padre reports.

This is a bill that the Governor of Karnataka sent back to the state government in 2007 saying that it "evidently seems to undermine the Constitutional mechanism for rural development governance.." The same bill may be back in the state assembly soon, warns Nandana Reddy.

North Karnataka's flood victims feel that it was relatively easier to run away from raging waters than dealing now with a corrupt bureaucracy and eking out a livelihood fraught with imponderables. Savita Hiremath investigates.

Sloppy and biased surveys of damaged houses and paltry compensation have made the flood victims in Koppal and Bellary districts run from pillar to post to get what is rightfully theirs, writes Savita Hiremath.

Ankola railway station along the rainy Konkan coast is in a heavy rainfall area yet is suffering from water shortages. Shree Padre reports on half-hearted water harvesting efforts here.

"Trying to measure the success of water harvesting only with increased water level is not fair. The vegetation improves, so does the soil moisture.” Shree Padre reports on an arecanut farming family's success.

It takes more to feed the family amidst destroyed houses and ruined hopes. The flood-hit women in North Karnataka are putting up with more than what their menfolk could ever empathise with. Savita Hiremath has more.

For the last one year, Parameshwara Hegde Tumbemane hasn’t taken his banana crop to the market. He has instead used it to make sukeli, a delicious dried version and that is getting popular in the Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka. Shrikrishna D has more.

It has been known informally for long. But recently, animal nutrition scientists announced that areca leaf sheath fodder can replace paddy straw. This is timely, since paddy straw supply has been declining, notes Shrikrishna D.

For its work on child rights and participation in governance, Bangalore-based Concerned for Working children has received the big nomination this year. Navya P K has more.

Graduates are difficult to influence with money and liquor, says one BJP campaigner flatly about the race for Bengaluru’s MLC seat. The Lok Satta candidate meanwhile is targeting precisely the reform seekers amongst the elite. Navya P K reports.

The proposal to create two industrial corridors around Bangalore has generated heady excitement, but this needs to be tempered with rationalism and transparency around water and land acquisition, says B S Nagaraj.

Bangalore, once the poster-boy of new age India and its development, is now crumbling, having been sorely let down by the administration and politics of the state. As Karnataka heads for polls, Subramaniam Vincent, discusses the prospects and necessary preconditions for change with independent MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

There are two spheres of politics being played out in India at present. One is patronage, and the second, aspirational. During the just concluded Karnataka assembly elections, both were seen. More and more people are waking up to the aspirational one, writes Subramaniam Vincent

A retired physician in small-town Manipal in Karnataka sets an example in kitchen gardening and highlights the many benefits it brings apart from the yield itself. Shree Padre brings us his remarkable story.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented the maiden budget of the recently elected Congress government on July 12, but does his populist package promise anything beyond mere intent? Sridhar Pabbisetty elaborates.

Various independent studies and research reveal close to 20 per cent of students across India suffering from some degree of visual impairment. A new initiative from the Nayonika Eye Care Charitable Trust seeks to correct this through the combined efforts of a wider network.

As Gram Panchayats in Karnataka go to the polls this year, Madhavi Rajadhyaksha explores the untapped potential of these grassroots institutions and suggests ways in which their capabilities may be leveraged and capacity strengthened.

Legal and procedural lapses as well as disregard of critical public submissions are tarnishing the EIA of the proposed Tadadi Port in Karnataka. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Recent incidents, where sex workers were detained by the police and subsequently forced into a state shelter for beggars, are symptomatic of the continuous harassment faced by them and a basic lack of understanding of their realities. Pushpa Achanta elaborates.

A citizen’s probe unearths a racket in which toxic burnt waste is sold to farmers in the garb of vermicompost; what’s more, the packaging indicates involvement of a composting firm under the government. Shree D N and Akshatha M report from Bengaluru.