Good morning, Bengaluru!
🌧️ Today’s weather: Expect light rain showers and some breeze.
🧐 Did you know? Captain Praveen Sharma and Captain Kanishk Sharma are reportedly the only father-son commercial pilot duo based out of Bengaluru. They have flown a plane together too, with Sharma Sr as captain and Sharma Jr as first officer.
📈 TLB Recommends: Real estate as an asset class is three times larger than the stock market, but often lacks the abundant information and knowledge available for stocks. Bridge that gap with Open House – the ultimate weekly real estate newsletter.
🐈 Feline fever
Cats are now a popular pet in Bengaluru.
What’s it about? The increased presence of feline food and accessories at pet stores indicates that perhaps felines are gaining wide acceptance as pets. Cat food distributors like Royal Canin and Whiskas have experienced a massive surge in sales.
- Before the Covid-19 pandemic, only 2-3 out of 10 pet food sales used to be for cats. This has risen to 6 now.
- Several cat-themed cafes like PURRed and @Charlie’s Bangalore have emerged and are extremely popular. They charge a nominal fee for hanging around to pet the cats.
Adoring testimonies: Many Bengalureans attest to the ease of keeping cats as pets. They are independent, they don’t require leashes and are good company. People also reveal that they didn’t have to modify their lifestyles after adopting cats.
🎭 Children’s theatre festival is back
The annual theatre festival, beginning tomorrow, will feature several plays to spark children’s imagination.
What’s it about? The 14th iteration of the annual AHA! Ranga Shankara Theatre For Children Festival 2023 will begin tomorrow. On the theme ‘Life is Beautiful,’ it will feature five plays, storytelling, theatre games, and clowning workshops to help children discover and understand the beauty of the world.
- Through powerful storytelling techniques, the plays will explore the concept of home, hidden worlds, aspirational quests, and the magic of clowns.
- The opening play is Just Hiss, an English-Hindi-Kannada play about non-violence and forgiveness by Vivek Vijayakumaran.
Sparking creativity: Directors Sananda, Rupesh, and Vivek unanimously agree that theatre plays a pivotal role in enriching children’s lives and should be made part of educational curricula. Live performances are especially essential for kids surrounded by digital devices, as theatre brings images to life, sparking their imaginations and encouraging active participation.
- They can teach valuable lessons in human interactions and the significance of teamwork for success.
🏠 Illegal residential plots
Several civic amenities (CA) sites have been illegally transformed.
The plot: More than 90 CA sites in the ongoing Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, originally intended for public use, have been unlawfully transformed into residential plots. This conversion might deny civic amenities like schools and hospitals to the allottees who purchased sites there years ago.
- Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar disclosed this in response to MLA S Suresh Kumar in the Legislative Assembly, stating that the 94 CA sites cover an area of 64 acres.
- Shivakumar identified the converted CA sites in various locations, including Kanelli, Kodigehalli, Kenchanapura, Ramasandra, and Kommaghatta among others.
Ongoing probe: Shivakumar clarified that the investigation is ongoing. The authorities are investigating the possible complicity of engineers. Bengaluru Development Authority’s internal report found that 31 engineers and seven surveyors were involved. However, no action has been taken yet.
🤳 Getting the OnePlus experience
Bengalureans will enjoy a seamlessly connected electronics shopping experience at the newly inaugurated OnePlus store.
Story so far: In Bengaluru, OnePlus has unveiled its newest OnePlus Experience Store at the Forum Mall, situated on Konanakunte Cross, Kanakapura Road. Spanning 1,711 square feet, this store promises an immersive haven where tech enthusiasts can fully immerse themselves in exploring and experiencing OnePlus products firsthand.
- The complete OnePlus product ecosystem will be on display, including their premium flagship smartphones, popular Nord devices, OnePlus TVs, monitors, and wearables.
- It will create a unique shopping experience for community members. They can test and buy the recently launched OnePlus 11.
Win-win: The entire OnePlus community, involving the brand and customers, will benefit from the store. Customers will get an engaging and personalised experience, while the brand will learn more intimately about customers’ likes and preferences.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Does your neighbourhood get flooded often?
- My neighbourhood is often flooded.
- My neighbourhood isn’t often flooded.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s your favourite board game?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Tech-savvy landlords pull data about prospective tenants from cloud servers.
- The Supreme Court allowed the prime accused behind the 2008 Bengaluru serial bomb blasts to visit Kerala for treatment.
- 15 persons from Bengaluru booked for off-roading in the forest in Sakleshpur.
- Chandrayaan-3 second orbit-raising manoeuvre performed successfully.
- Around 26 political parties will participate in the Opposition’s two-day mega meeting in Bengaluru.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- Bengaluru is bike friendly: 10.0%
- Bengaluru is not bike friendly: 90.0% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
How would you rate public spaces and streets in your area on a scale of 0-10?
Datta: “5 – We have a few parks and the roads are mostly clean.”
Sriranga: “7 – Sufficient spaces are there, but not maintained well.”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!