Good morning, Bengaluru!
☁️ Today’s weather: High: 30 ℃ | Low: 21 ℃ | A mostly cloudy day.
🧐 Did you know? The first printing press in Bangalore was set up in 1866 by Rev. J Garret.
🗣️ Japanese storytelling art form
Bengalureans will soon experience Rakugo, a 400-year-old Japanese comedic storytelling art form.
What’s it about? Despite the popularity of Japanese culture through food, cinema, etc, some traditional art forms haven’t garnered as much attention. One of them is Rakugo, a centuries-old art form of comedic storytelling. Santhosh Kaliyanaraman is hoping to change that with his upcoming performance.
- In his 90-minute performance, he will perform a mix of stories, which include a comedic ghost story from the Edo period and another about a thief learning his trade.
- The entire performance is in a dialogue format. The art form relies on subtle changes in posture, gestures, and tone of voice to differentiate between characters.
Personal journey: Santhosh travelled to Japan, where he previously lived and found a guru in Tokyo who taught Raguko in English. Following multiple performances in Tokyo, he decided to perform in India.
☎️ City’s MSMEs and Justdial
Justdial has emerged as an important platform for the city’s small businesses.
What’s it about? While Bengaluru is known as the IT capital of India, it’s also a hub for research and innovation. Alongside its technological prowess, the city has a thriving startup and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. Justdial has become a vital platform for their growth.
- Small businesses utilise Justdial to connect with customers and help them grow through their services. It has helped them expand their customer base and improve brand visibility.
- For Nisagra Spa, Justdial has helped the company expand their business by 30%. For GMATS Machineries India Private Limited, Justdial led to a 10-15% increase in leads relatively quickly.
The landscape: Bengaluru Urban has over 4.3 lakh MSMEs and another 82,000 in the rural areas supported by MSME Development Institutes that provide financial and skill development assistance.
🚶 Where are the footpaths?
Footpaths in the city are often encroached on by vendors and parked vehicles.
What’s it about? In many areas of the city, footpaths in residential areas are used as parking spaces for cars, autos, and two-wheelers. People sometimes place tree pots on them, and others dump construction debris and garbage. The situation is worse in commercial areas.
- In residential areas, house owners build permanent structures to protect their vehicles from the elements despite it not being their personal property.
- Unfortunately, footpaths are badly maintained and broken in many parts, making them risky for pedestrians. Some places where footpaths are heavily encroached are Kanakapura Road, Vasanthapura Main Road, and Vajarahalli 100 feet Road.
BBMP’s failure: A couple of years ago, the civic body allocated ₹60 lakh for every ward committee to develop footpaths. But subsequent maintenance hasn’t happened. Despite spending lakhs on tiles, vendors and others continue to modify them per their requirements.
🚇 Abandoning metro projects
The metro projects at Bettahalsuru and Chikkajala are likely to be dropped.
What’s the story so far? In 2019, the state cabinet approved the plan for metro projects at Bettahalsuru and Chikkajala as part of the Blue Line (phase 2B). Since the stations weren’t part of the original proposal, the centre didn’t provide the necessary funding and the state was expected to bear the cost.
- The stations at the two locations would connect to the Kempegowda International Airport. The proposed stations at Bettahalsuru and Chikkajala were expected to cost ₹140 crore and ₹130 crore, respectively.
- Since the stations weren’t included in the initial Detailed Project Report (DPR), metro officials are considering scrapping the project.
Initial interest: There was a private company that was interested in funding the Bettahalsuru station but backed out. It further put the project in doubt.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Do you have a DTH connection?
- I have a DTH connection.
- I don’t have a DTH connection.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
Which sport do you wish you could play well?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Bangalore Development Authority will repeat its e-auction process for 76 corner sites, hoping to earn ₹100 crore.
- Only 28% of formal jobs in the city will be located within 500 metres of transit hubs following the Namma Metro’s completion.
- 21% of participants in a new survey consume high-calorie baker products daily, revealing an unhealthy pattern.
- Table Space, the premium office solutions provider, has acquired a 5.5 lakh sq ft facility in Whitefield.
- KaleidEO Space Systems has developed an advanced high-resolution optical payload that can scan Bengaluru in a single pass.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I would consider cycling to work: 63.6% 🏆
- I wouldn’t consider cycling to work: 36.4%
That’s it for today. Have a great day!