Good morning, Bengaluru!
🌤️ Today’s weather: High: 30 ℃ | Low: 21 ℃ | A little cloudy for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The Madras Sappers, the oldest regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army, was formed in Bengaluru.
👩💻 Helping underrepresented communities
The ANSR Foundation will begin several programmes aimed at kids and young adults.
What’s it about? ANSR, the market leader in helping set up global centres for the world’s top companies, launched the ANSR Foundation. Its long-term goal is to reduce economic disparity and promote gender equality while fostering the next generation of technology pioneers.
- The programmes will be STEM-focused, with engaging classrooms and teachers in select Bengaluru schools in partnership with Mantra4Change and Let’s Do Some Good.
- The Foundation also launched new scholarships and PhD fellowships with the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani.
About ANSR: The company has created over 1.5 lakh jobs in India and brought in over $2 billion in investments. It has a strong record of women’s participation in the workforce to create a more equitable tech ecosystem.
🌾 Event on sustainable agriculture
The University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) will host its annual Krishi Mela to showcase the latest in sustainable farming.
What’s it about? The annual Krishi Mela by the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) from November 14 to 17 at Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra will spotlight the latest cutting-edge sustainable farming practices. This year’s theme is ‘Climate Smart Digital Agriculture’.
- The university will unveil the high-yield Maize hybrid MAH-15-84. It’s a single hybrid with a 14.2% higher yield than its predecessor. Others include the disease-resistant alasande variety KBC-12 and the Bajra Napier hybrid PBN-342.
- The fair will have 700 stalls to showcase organic farming, soilless agriculture, advanced irrigation, and integrated pest management. There will also be special exhibitions on horticulture, medicinal plants, and precision agriculture.
Inclusivity: A separate programme for differently abled individuals has been arranged called “A Day with Special Minds in an agricultural environment.”
🏞️ Lake encroachments
New findings show that 92% of the lakes in the city are encroached.
What’s it about? Information from the Bangalore Lakes Information System (BLIS) portal created by researchers from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, showed that most lakes in the city have been affected by encroachments. They published a journal of 175 lakes assessed since 2013 and noted that 92% are encroached.
- Temporal land use showed that the city’s landscape has transitioned from porous, with 68% vegetation cover and 274 lakes/wetlands, to a paved contiguous surface, with less than 3% vegetation cover and 193 lakes.
- Unplanned development projects post-2000 due to IT parks and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have resulted in rapid urbanisation with unrealistic land usage. It has led to a decline in the groundwater table.
About the BLIS portal: The portal has information on water quality, biodiversity, threats, and ecosystem services in the city’s lakes. It was launched on a trial basis four months ago. Since then, 2,728 people have viewed the site and used the available data. Most of the users are government officials.
🚮 Waste collection
Following a week of heavy rains, garbage has piled up across the city.
What’s it about? Following record rainfall this month, the city now faces a garbage problem. Loaded compactors are stuck near the Mitaganahalli and Bellahalli landfills.
- The civic body collects 3,500 tonnes of waste daily. It’s then transported to landfills for scientific capping. Due to the rain, the loaded trucks were stuck. It hindered waste collection last week.
- For three days, garbage collection was affected in the Yelahanka, Dasarahalli, and Mahadevapura zones. The trucks couldn’t move due to water stagnation, resulting in a backlog of 5,000 tonnes of waste.
What’s the BBMP doing? The civic body will hold a meeting to discuss the setting up of four integrated waste-to-energy plants on the city’s outskirts.
📊 Today’s Poll
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❓ Today’s Question
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🗞️ In Other News…
- A new law will be introduced to curb illegal construction in Bengaluru.
- Tech workers from Outer Ring Road sent over 200 postcards to the BBMP Chief Commissioner over the area’s poor infrastructure.
- A 54-year-old engineer residing in HSR Layout dedicates his earnings to urban gardening.
- North Bengaluru citizen groups will highlight poor road conditions with a pothole count.
- Mohandas Pai took to social media to criticise the state government for Bengaluru’s crumbling infrastructure.
That’s it for today. Have a great day!