Good morning, Bengaluru!
⛅ Today’s weather: Some sun, some clouds, and light winds.
🧐 Did you know? The Lady Jehangir Memorial Hall was built by Sir Jehangir, a Parsi businessperson, in honour of his wife, Lady Goolbai Kothari. After Jehangir and Goolbai came to Bengaluru, Goolbai is believed to have taken ill and passed here.
🛵 Taxi-bikers protest
Following the auto driver union’s diatribe against bike taxis, the latter protested for protection.
Story so far: After the autorickshaw associations’ strike against bike taxis in the city, taxi bikers staged a demonstration demanding protection from harassment by the former. The demonstration was held at Freedom Park on Monday. It saw over a thousand participants.
- There are about 1.20 lakh taxi bikers in Bengaluru, and more than 5 lakh people, including their spouses, parents, and children, rely on their earnings.
- A lack of employment opportunities compels people to work as taxi bikers. They are often assaulted and robbed by customers. Despite registering FIRs with the police, there’s been no redressal.
Case history: On December 16, 2022, Wicked Ride, Bounce’s parent company, received a license to operate e-bike taxis in Karnataka. Bike services are validated under the Karnataka Electric Bike Taxi Scheme, 2021.
- On March 23, 2023, the bike taxi association of Bengaluru filed a petition after the autorickshaw union head urged drivers to burn all bike taxis in a Facebook video.
🌉 Ejipura flyover: a monument to delay
In a hilarious twist, Bengalureans honour the delayed Ejipura flyover as a monument on Google maps.
Story so far: Tragedy met comedy when anonymous users marked the Ejipura flyover as a monument called Bangalore’s Stonehenge, referencing a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England. The flyover project has been delayed for six years and has inconvenienced several residents.
- Under the location marking, users satirised the project’s delay. After Google took it down, another one popped up. Screenshots of the location on Twitter prompted a discussion on urban development.
- A user argued that the abandoned flyover had been the cause of several traffic jams for the past five years, with no end in sight.
The delay: The 2.5-kilometre-long highway route will link Kendriya Sadan to Ejipura through the Sony World signal. From 2018-2019, the Ejipura construction made a 32% headway. Between 2019-2023, the progress made was 10%.
🐄 Political rallies cause cattle deaths
In March, two political rallies led to food poisoning-induced cattle deaths.
Story so far: Twenty-two cattle in the state’s Yadgir and Raichur districts died of suspected food poisoning this month. Both cases were reportedly due to the cattle being fed leftover food from a JD(S) candidate’s election campaign and BJP’s Vijayasankalpa Yatra.
- In the recent JD(S) case, the cattle had consumed carbohydrate-heavy food. The animal husbandry department’s initial probe showed that the cattle ingested 5-6 kg of stale food.
- In the previous BJP case, seven cattle died after consuming yatra leftovers. After the event, villagers complained to the animal husbandry department.
Remedies: After hearing about the Yatra’s unintended consequences, BJP Raichur’s district president Ramanand Yadav confirmed that the cattle had suffered from food poisoning. He claimed to have compensated the farmers.
🧑🎓 Scholarships for KA students
A city-based education trust provides financial assistance to students across Karnataka.
Story so far: The Danish Education Trust (DET) revealed it endowed scholarships amounting to ₹1.2 crore to 502 students across Karnataka in the current academic year. The trust was founded in 2006 by Husna Sheriff and concerned citizens.
- In the 2022-23 academic year, it helped 103 aspiring doctors, 105 aspiring teachers, 90 aspiring engineers, and 58 students of homoeopathy, Unani, and Ayurveda.
- The trust has also provided scholarship funds to students in veterinary science, law, agriculture, pharmacy, journalism, nursing, and physiotherapy.
Why it matters? In the latest infusion, 350 recipients were girls. In the past seventeen years, the trust has helped 3,500 students. DET intends to increase the scholarship amount to ₹1.5 crore in the upcoming academic year, to reach more students.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Would you like to live in a village or a city?
- I’d like to live in a village.
- I’d like to live in a city.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
Which TV show character do you think represents you best?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Bengaluru logs over 100 Covid cases in a single day, the highest in Karnataka.
- Ramachandra Guha delivered Ravi Sondhi Spirit of Bangalore Lecture 2023.
- The BBMP will hold surveys to achieve the elimination of measles and rubella.
- Volunteers from Beyond Boundaries and Project Smile provide iftar snacks for attendees at government hospitals.
- CM Basavaraj Bommai lays the foundation for a 2.93-km ropeway to Nandi Hills.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I watch the Women’s Premier League: 40.0%
- I don’t watch the Women’s Premier League: 60.0% 🏆
That’s it for today. Have a great day!