Good morning, Bengaluru! Wish you a happy Holi! The newsletter won’t be sent tomorrow as the team is taking a break today. We will see you on Friday.
🌤️ Today’s weather: It’s going to be sunny and breezy.
🧐 Did you know? To this day, Winston Churchill still owes the Bangalore Club ₹13 for defaulting on a bill. Then a young army officer, he lived in Bengaluru for three years between 1896 and 1899.
🥛 Possible milk scarcity
Amidst rising costs, farmers quit milk production.
Story so far: The milk production in and around Bengaluru has taken a hit. It has dropped from 14-15 lakh litres per day to 12-13 lakh litres in less than two months. If the trend continues, reporters suggest that the milk supply in the city will fall short of the demand. Bangalore Milk Union Ltd (Bamul) cites farmers giving up the trade as a cause.
- Bamul’s chairperson reveals that the government failed to protect farmers. While other states pay them ₹40 per litre, Karnataka pays ₹30. Even when Bamul officially sought price revision, the state didn’t budge.
- To deal with farmers bailing, Bamul has begun pruning its production of bulk milk packets and ghee, among other things.
Why it matters? Cost escalation of animal feed and insufficient revenue have rendered cattle farming an expensive business. As a result, Karnataka’s farmers are selling their livestock to their counterparts in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. Intermediaries facilitating these deals are earning around ₹2 lakh per cattle.
💃 Digital-human dance choreography
Humans and AI collaborate to create an immersive dance performance.
Story so far: Organised by Swiss Arts Council – Pro Helvetia, Human in the Loop (WIP) is a dance performance choreographed by humans and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dancers Diya Naidu and Parth Bharadwaj will bring the unique performance to life on March 11.
- Nicole Seiler describes it as a show which is like a laboratory on stage where AI’s contribution extends everywhere – to the dance, music, and light.
- An AI choreographer will whisper instructions into the dancer’s ears, who will then interpret and improvise on stage. The organisers will generate the instructions and the electronic music live.
Origin story: Seiler conceived the idea after she became familiar with robotics and AI while working on a research grant. She wanted to blur the lines between human and machine creativity.
🛺 Namma Yatri hits the bullseye
The Namma Yatri app hits the bullseye by shunning commission charges.
Story so far: Namma Yatri has enabled the autorickshaw drivers on its platform to earn ₹5.6 crore since its launch in November 2022. It is the first “open network mobility” application to offer autorickshaw facilities without intermediaries.
- The app has 41,112 drivers and 3,35,653 registered users. Till March 6, the drivers completed 3,37,762 trips. On March 5, they earned over ₹9 lakh. Namma Yatri charges ₹30 for the first 2 km and then ₹15 per km.
- Its developers soon intend to introduce metro-to-home pick-and-drop services, which will inhibit cancellation. Hospital-to-home facilities will be similar.
Why it matters? Auto drivers’ union in Bengaluru introduced Namma Yatri to counter the exploitation of autorickshaw drivers by aggregators Ola and Uber that charge high commissions. The platform’s open mobility concept allows drivers to earn without commission cuts.
🛣️ Boosting mobility in Mahadevapura
The suburb’s MLA has announced multiple public transport and road mobility projects.
Story so far: The new Mahadevapura Mobility Vision 2023-2028 aims to increase residents’ reliance on public transport and lessen the private vehicle crowd on the road. MLA Aravind Limbavali has released a new five-year mobility plan that will cost around ₹1,000 crore.
- The plan proposes changes across the board in public transport, last-mile connectivity, road infrastructure, and road safety.
- The authorities plan to roll out minibus services that can operate on narrow roads, cycle tracks, footpaths, and shared autos. Coming up soon are 14 new streets and 19 road-widening projects.
Why though? The new projects will boost mobility and provide residents with multiple commutes. The Whitefield Metro will begin commercial operations in the coming few days. In June, it will be connected to Byappanahalli and the complete metro network.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Do you put your sock on your left foot first or the right foot?
- I put my sock on my left foot first.
- I put my sock on my right foot first.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s a compulsive habit that you have?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Bengaluru FC defeats Mumbai City FC in the first leg of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) semi-final.
- BMTC offers free bus rides for women today on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
- KIA is named the best airport by ACI’s ASQ Arrival Survey Globally for 2022.
- BBMP shuts down 132 entities operating as illegal businesses.
- Grammy awardee Ricky Key alleges harassment by eyewear retail chain Lenskart.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I have ridden a Yulu: 18.2%
- I have not ridden a Yulu: 81.8% 🏆
That’s it for today. Have a great day!