Good morning, Bengaluru!
⛅ Today’s weather: Sunny with a few clouds in the sky.
🧐 Did you know? One of the city’s oldest lakes, the Yediyur lake in Bengaluru South, dates to the Hoysala era. The lake was once 18.2 acres in size, but through time, it has been encroached upon and is currently just 10.7 acres. The lake has existed for 1,400 years. According to historical accounts, Shantalaldevi, the wife of Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana, visited the lake and gave food to the needy.
🚆 Phase-2 Metro operations to start soon
The city’s primary IT corridors, Whitefield and Electronics City, are included in this most recent phase of the metro project.
What’s it about? Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced on Wednesday that the government would shortly begin operating Bengaluru’s second metro phase. He also added that the metro service to Kempegowda International Airport from the city would be made available by the end of 2023.
Reason for delays: According to Bommai, the reason for delays in constructing the metro line to the airport were the big business and residential buildings along the way, which had to be removed gradually.
Official’s take: Anjum Parwez, managing director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), stated last November that the city will have 175 km of metro rails by 2025.
- According to Parwez, Bengaluru will have 314 km of metro rail connectivity by 2041.
🚕 Ola to start EV cab service
The ride-hailing startup Ola intends to launch its own electric vehicle (EV) cab service and would start the trial in Bengaluru with about 1,000 cabs.
What’s it about? Along with standard taxis and vehicle services, EVs will be a separate category on the Ola app. The business eventually intends to increase the number of EV taxis to over 10,000 in the city in a single year. The service is comparable to BluSmart, an EV ride-hailing firm with headquarters in Gurugram that just launched operations in Bengaluru.
- According to one of the individuals, the firm intends to lease EV vehicles and sub-lease them to drivers who would receive variable compensation in addition to a set salary.
- As a “premium product,” the service would not feature driver cancellations, which are a common issue for customers in the Indian ride-hailing business.
Past attempts: This is the second time Ola is running an EV cab pilot. In 2017, it provided a comparable service in Nagpur using about 200 EVs in collaboration with the automaker Mahindra. The project was ultimately abandoned.
Why does it matter? The cost of operating an EV is greatly reduced because it costs less than ₹1 per km to operate one compared to up to ₹5 for diesel vehicles.
- Governments throughout the nation are encouraging the electrification of the fleet, with rules favouring EVs even as the tech-driven ride-hailing sector is increasingly being scrutinised for the costs of their services and the remuneration of their drivers.
🛰 Bengaluru startup launches satellite on SpaceX rocket
Bengaluru-based start-up Digantara used a SpaceX rocket to launch the Pushan Alpha satellite on January 3.
What’s it about? Digantara’s Pushan-Alpha satellite will travel in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) and serve as a space weather testbed.
- The satellite’s purpose is to enhance space situational awareness (SSA) applications, which will enable the gathering of knowledge about space objects and space weather phenomena.
- To assure sustainable space operations, the Bengaluru-based space tech start-up is developing its own SSA capabilities with ground- and space-based infrastructure.
Mission objective: The mission has three objectives. A radiation measurement in SSO is the initial step. The South Atlantic Anomaly, a weak area in the Earth’s magnetic field that shields the globe from large doses of solar wind and cosmic radiation, will also be evaluated for particle radiation. Thirdly, it will research space to improve space debris modelling.
Other launches: The Indian space industry sector has seen a spate of satellite launches, with this one being the most recent. Pixxel’s Anand satellite was launched in 2022 using a different SpaceX rocket, while Dhruva Space’s Thybolt satellites were launched using an ISRO launch vehicle.
- Applications for space situational awareness (SSA) will be improved with the help of Digantara’s Pushan-Alpha in the SSO.
✨ Things to do…
Here are some fun and interesting things to do in the city over the weekend!
- Enjoy live music with great food, handcrafted beers and cocktails at Windmills Craftworks, Shivaji Nagar, Basavanna Nagar, Whitefield on Friday and Saturday.
- Laugh out loud with Ministry of Comedy, the newest comedy club in Koramangala over the week.
- The Mini Canvas Painting Workshop starts on Friday. Walk in, grab a brush, dabble and learn at JP Nagar Phase 7.
- Visit the Ten Thousand Treasures by Dufa on Sunday and relish the stalls, workshops and music and food festivals at Jayamahal Hotel near Cantonment Railway Station Road.
- Watch romantic comedy specials starting on Saturday at the Art Gully Studio in Koramangala.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll Results:
- I prefer sending emails: 50.0% 🏆
- I prefer telephone conversations: 50.0% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What was the last movie you watched on the big screen?
Datta: “Avatar: The Way of Water”
Mohan: “Vikrant Rona”
Rahul: “Bladerunner 2049”
That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!