Good morning, Bengaluru!
🌦️ Today’s weather: Thundershowers and a gentle breeze throughout the day.
🧐 Did you know? The Dodda Aladha Mara is one of the oldest and biggest trees of its kind. The Banyan tree is 400 years old and spreads over 3 acres. It’s become a picnic spot due to being only 28 km away from Bengaluru.
🌎 Creative climate action
KUPU, a weekend festival, was about creatively engaging with climate action.
About the programme: The Youth Conservation Action Network (YouCAN) organised KUPU, a two-day festival dedicated to climate action, at the Bangalore International Centre this weekend. It’s named after the Hawaiian word for sprout and aims to inculcate creativity in the fight against climate change.
- Children participated in several events, including a photojournalism workshop, a paper sculpting workshop, a film screening, and a music performance.
- It included Policy pe Charcha, a discussion on Karnataka’s climate future, featuring Rainmatter Foundation’s CEO Sameer Shisodia, Citizen Matters’ cofounder Meera K, and others.
Why it matters? More than anything, the festival provided a channel for people to creatively express their concern for the environment. It was a unique way to cultivate climate awareness in children. Parents acknowledged that the festival’s interactiveness made it interesting for all age groups.
🏫 Proposing traffic education in schools
The Bengaluru Traffic Police will request the government to introduce traffic education in school syllabi.
Studying accidents: The city’s traffic police plans to request the state education department to include traffic education in schools across Karnataka to spread early awareness. The decision was spurred by the findings of a report that disaggregated accidents between 2020 and 2022 based on factors like gender, age, location, education, occupation, types of vehicles involved, and road types.
- In 2022, people with primary education as the highest qualification were involved in 105 fatal accidents and 22 self-fatalities. Those with secondary education caused 209 fatal accidents and 46 self-inflicted fatalities.
- 2022 recorded the highest number of road fatalities of people aged between 21 – 30, with 140 men and 17 women.
Why though? MN Anucheth, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said the report’s valuable insights will shape effective enforcement, engineering, and awareness measures to reduce road fatalities. He mentioned they are already devising strategies to enhance safety and are planning ways to integrate this knowledge into school education, in addition to the ongoing Safe Route to School project.
💼 Making informed career choices
The Times of India’s Mission Admission was an exhibition expo for Bengaluru’s students.
Story so far: TOI’s Mission Admission, organised at the Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc) JN Tata Auditorium, was aimed at readying pre-university students from grades 11 and 12 to make informed career choices. It covered seven sessions on studying abroad, guidance for CET and ComedK, and panel discussions on engineering, design and architecture.
- Heads of the city’s well-known engineering colleges formed most of the panel with Professor S Sadagopan, former director of the International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIIT-B), as moderator.
- The discussions revolved around computer science courses. The consensus was that even a minor or online computer science course can help students.
Other insights: KNB Murthy, the Vice Chancellor of Dayanand Sagar University, argued that all technology in the world is connected by math. He also said that products come with an expiry date for a reason and that one should strive for life-long learning.
🚸 New ways to decongest traffic
Portal piers could help Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) ease traffic.
Story so far: In an unprecedented move, the BMRCL will permit single-lane traffic under the metro viaduct at the twin flyover near Doddanekundi. In most settings with metro viaducts, to-and-fro traffic flows on two sides of the road. Portal piers will help the metro authorities here.
- The Mahadevapura Task Force and residents suggested portal piers to the BMRCL back in 2019.
- The first, single-flow middle lane will open in the coming week. The BMRCL is using the funds allocated for Phase 2A to bear the costs.
How it works: Two pillars will be constructed on either side of the flyover, providing a pathway in the centre lane. These twin pillars will be designed to accommodate a skywalk to connect metro stations to IT parks.
📊 Today’s Poll
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Do you invest in the stock market?
- Yes, I invest in the stock market.
- No, I don’t invest in the stock market.
❓ Today’s Question
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What is your ideal way to spend your birthday?
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🗞️ In other news…
- Bengaluru will get moderate rainfall over the next 5 evenings.
- A shuttle bus at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport collided with a pole.
- Bike taxi drivers appeal to the Karnataka government against the proposed ban.
- Here’s a piece memorialising a father from Bengaluru on Father’s Day.
- Nehru’s letters and Phule are back in the revised Karnataka school books.
That’s it for today. Have a great day!