Good morning, Bengaluru!
🌫️ Today’s weather: High: 31 ℃ | Low: 18 ℃ | Mist.
🧐 Did you know? The KR Market (Krishna Rajendra Market, also known as City Market) was established in 1928. The place where it stands now was a battlefield during the Third Anglo-Mysore War, which took place in 1791.
🚌 “Ashwamedha” buses launched
New express bus service enhances Bengaluru-Mysuru connectivity.
What’s it about? Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah inaugurated 100 “Ashwamedha” express buses by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), aiming to bolster the transportation link between Bengaluru and Mysuru. The launch event, graced by the state’s Transport Minister and officials, marks a significant upgrade in inter-city travel services.
- In addition to Bengaluru-Mysuru, the service will extend to Hunsur and K.R. Nagar, with plans to introduce electric buses to further the eco-friendly travel initiative.
- The “Ashwamedha” buses, designed under the theme “Reconceptualising Travel,” offer modern amenities like bucket-type seating, tinted glasses, and LED lighting to ensure a comfortable journey.
Sustainable and affordable: This initiative reflects the government’s commitment to enhancing public transport infrastructure, promoting sustainable travel options, and ensuring affordable connectivity for its citizens.
🖥️ Advanced silicon tech
Calligo Tech plans to launch silicon with an advanced Posit computing system.
What’s it about? Calligo Tech, a Bengaluru-based semiconductor startup, is set to introduce its first silicon chip utilising the Posit number system for general-purpose computing. This innovative approach is expected to significantly enhance performance and accuracy in high-performance computing applications, including those requiring extensive mathematical computations.
- Research institutes in India, Singapore, and other countries are among the first slated to receive this silicon-based accelerator card.
- The Posit system allows for higher computational accuracy with fewer bits, potentially saving millions in industries like stock exchanges plagued by rounding-off errors.
Future prospects: Funded by notable investors and selected for a design-linked incentive program by the central government, Calligo Tech is on the verge of a breakthrough, aiming to raise Series A funding to further its design, development, and commercialization efforts.
🎷 Jazz fusion concert
Bengaluru welcomes Deborah Mannas and Mike Inot for a unique jazz concert.
What’s it about? The Kiara Academy of Performing Arts in Bengaluru is set to host a concert featuring Hong Kong-based artists Deborah Mannas and Mike Inot, along with The Soul Quintet and the Kiara Academy Choral Ensemble. This event promises a fusion of soul, R&B, and jazz, showcasing Deborah’s original compositions and popular covers.
- The concert will blend the talents of local Bengaluru musicians with the international flair of Deborah and Mike, offering a fresh take on jazz and soul music.
- The event is a testament to the dynamic interaction between artists, with room for improvisation and personal interpretation, emphasising the musicians’ role in enhancing and serving the music.
From Blr to HK: Scheduled for February 10 at the Koramangala Club Auditorium, the concert is a celebration of musical creativity and cross-cultural collaboration, highlighting Deborah Mannas’s journey from Bengaluru to Hong Kong and her evolution as a musician.
🧬 Innovative COVID tracking
CrisprBits’ OmiCrisp tracks COVID-19 variants in Bengaluru sewage.
What’s it about? CrisprBits, a Bengaluru-based startup, has developed OmiCrisp, a novel CRISPR-based gene editing platform, to monitor the spread of the highly transmissible JN.1 variant of COVID-19 through sewage samples in Bengaluru. This groundbreaking approach allows for rapid, accurate surveillance of the virus across 14 localities on a weekly basis.
- OmiCrisp has shown a 99% accuracy rate in both clinical and wastewater samples, distinguishing Omicron variants with precision.
- The platform demonstrates the potential of CRISPR technology in environmental surveillance, capable of detecting single base changes in the virus’s genome.
Future-proof: This initiative by CrisprBits, supported by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), represents a significant leap in pandemic preparedness, offering a scalable solution for tracking COVID-19 and potentially other infectious diseases in the future.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Does your office provide free/subsidised food?
- My office provides free/subsidised food.
- My office doesn’t provide free/subsidised food.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
Which latest movie did you NOT enjoy watching?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- With 6,000 foreign students, Karnataka hosts the highest number in the country.
- boAt has collaborated with the Namma Bengaluru Foundation to provide computer education to government school children.
- Construction work for a new bypass on the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway has commenced in Vellore.
- The 115-year-old Mythic Society Library in Bengaluru, one of the city’s oldest, contains over 46,000 books covering a wide array of topics.
- Bengaluru and Pune are among the top 10 cities globally with the most congested roads.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- My school friends are the closest to me: 36.4%
- My college friends are the closest to me: 63.6% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
Which is your favourite pub in Bengaluru?
Debtaru: “Toit, Indiranagar”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!