Good morning, Bengaluru!
🌫️ Today’s weather: High: 27 ℃ | Low: 18 ℃ | Mist.
🧐 Did you know? Bengaluru has four sister cities – Chengdu, Cleveland, Minsk, and San Francisco.
🌆 SWIFT Sarjapur
The Karnataka government has unveiled plans to develop a SWIFT (Startups, Workspaces, Innovation, Finance, and Technology) City near Sarjapur.
What’s it about? Minister MB Patil has emphasised that the SWIFT City will mirror other prominent tech centres like ITPL and Electronic City, spreading across over 1,000 acres to serve as a new hotspot for innovation.
- The SWIFT City will be close to major IT hubs, with excellent connectivity to NH 44 and NH 48.
- The city will be featuring 150m wide roads, state-of-the-art offices, co-working spaces, residential blocks, and schools.
Following KWIN: This announcement follows Karnataka’s earlier launch of the Knowledge, Wellbeing, and Innovation (KWIN) City, situated between Doddaspete and Doddaballapur, about 60 kilometres from Bengaluru. Spanning 2,000 acres, KWIN City aims to be a parallel growth hub offering equitable opportunities across sectors, supporting the state’s economic expansion, and contributing to India’s GDP.
🏢 Flat mela
The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) successfully hosted a Flat Mela on Saturday, attracting an impressive turnout.
What’s it about? Approximately 600 attendees visited the event, and 200 of them paid the initial deposit on the spot, securing allotment letters for their chosen flats. An additional 50 individuals provided cheques, with their allotment letters scheduled for issuance today.
- The BDA highlighted that the flats were sold at older, pre-revised rates during the mela, which likely contributed to the enthusiastic response.
- However, prices of unsold units will soon be updated.
Banking support: The event also featured participation from representatives of various banks, enabling attendees to explore financing options on the spot.
📖 BLF
The 13th edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) opened on Saturday, drawing bibliophiles from across Bengaluru for a vibrant celebration of books, ideas, and creativity.
What’s it about? The annual event featured renowned voices from diverse fields, offering thought-provoking discussions and engaging experiences across a variety of topics. The festival catered to a broad audience, covering subjects such as music, science, fiction, culture, and traditions.
- Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan and historian Manu Pillai engaged in discussions on the profound topic of mortality in a discussion titled “Why We Die”.
- In another session, violinist L Subramaniam and vocalist Sadhana Rao explored classical music.
CLF: A dedicated Children, Literature, Fun (CLF) program also featured at the festival with over 75 sessions tailored for young readers, focusing on fun and creativity while fostering environmental awareness.
🚦 Two-year violations
The Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway has recorded 13 lakh traffic violations from 2022 to 2024.
What’s it about? Leveraging the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), authorities imposed fines totalling ₹90 crore, though only ₹4 crore has been collected. In 2024 alone, 4.1 lakh cases were booked, with fines of ₹24 crore, yet only 15,000 cases have been resolved, leaving ₹23 crore in pending fines.
- The most common violation was driving without a seatbelt totalling 7 lakh cases.
- Other popular violations included overspeeding and lane indiscipline.
Leveraging AI: The ITMS employs AI-powered cameras installed at strategic points across the 119-km, 10-lane highway, including five cameras each in Mandya and Ramanagara regions and two in Mysuru. These cameras automatically detect violations, identify vehicles via registration numbers, and notify owners through SMS.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Is your workplace in an IT park?
- My workplace is in an IT park.
- My workplace is not in an IT park.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What would your dream neighbourhood in Bengaluru look like?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In Other News…
- FashionTV has launched its first F Cafe in the city.
- Plans are underway to expand community tourism across the state after the success of Siddi Community Tourism in attracting global visitors.
- V Somanna, the Union Minister of State for Railways has proposed a new train service from Chikkamagaluru to Tirupati via Bengaluru.
- Lucky Ali was granted relief by the Karnataka HC in a case of trespassing and intimidation.
- A CAG report has found that BMTC’s ageing fleet is hampering its operational efficiency.
That’s it for today. Have a great day!