Good morning, Bengaluru!
⛈️ Today’s weather: Breezy with thundershowers.
🧐 Did you know? Bengaluru-based Raghu Dixit Project is a contemporary Indian folk band often hailed as India’s biggest cultural export. They have performed in over 1,500 concerts in over 30 countries.
🎎 Toy Face Tour
From July 7-23, the Toy Face Tour will be displayed at Church Street Social for design and tech enthusiasts.
What’s it about? Visual artist Amrit Pal Singh’s Toy Face Tour is finally in Bengaluru after making stops in Delhi and Mumbai. Apart from showcasing 25 toy faces made by Singh, the exhibition will have seven new faces, including MF Husain and Amrita Sher-Gil.
- Visitors can expect a collector’s Toy Room replete with full-scale teak wood furniture, accessories, and toy faces printed on canvas.
- The Toy Face Tour is on display at Church Street Social from July 7-23. There will be merchandise like pins, prints, totes, and tees.
Turn-of-events: For the Delhi-based artist, the doll faces were a happy accident. With 12 years of experience in the design industry, Singh stumbled upon this unique style in 2020 while illustrating. When he shared them on social media, the designs quickly became popular.
🌃 24×7 hotels approved
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar approved 24×7 operations for hotels and restaurants in Bengaluru.
What’s it about? Bengaluru is all set to embrace round-the-clock operations for hotels and restaurants. Following a productive meeting with members of the Bruhat Bengaluru Hotels’ Association (BBHA), Deputy CM DK Shivakumar approved the much-awaited demand for 24×7 operations.
- If everything were to go smoothly, the change can be expected in a week or ten days.
- BBHA members also urged Shivakumar to consider granting the hotel sector an “industrial status” and proposed a streamlined licensing process.
Who’s in? Of the 24,000 hotels in Bengaluru, 10% are prepared to work round-the-clock. Several establishments are interested in exclusively operating during nocturnal hours.
🚶 Enhancing pedestrian safety
The city police will clear up footpaths and make necessary improvements to enhance pedestrian safety.
Transforming footpaths: The Bengaluru Traffic Police have declared war against disorderly footpaths to improve pedestrian safety. All 48 traffic police stations are poised to clear up one pavement per day, ridding them of illegally parked vehicles and unsightly debris.
- The initiative is part of the #ReclaimFootpaths campaign. MN Anucheth, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said they’d prioritise the city’s main and arterial roads.
- The traffic police also plan to partner with municipal authorities to introduce infrastructural modifications essential to the footpaths’ renovation.
Watch out: Bengaluru witnessed a distressing series of accidents and fatalities involving pedestrians in 2022. The numbers speak for themselves: 248 lives were lost, while 819 individuals sustained injuries.
- This concerning trend stems from a combination of two issues: vehicles encroaching upon footpaths and insufficient infrastructure.
🟢 Reactivating waste processing plants
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s surprise visit spurs the reactivation of 3 waste processing plants installed a decade ago.
Surprise findings: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike announced plans to resume operations at three waste processing plants established in Seegehalli, Subbarayanapalya, and Lingadheeranahalli. DK Shivakumar inspected these plants to ascertain if the plants were racking up bills without operating.
- He asked the BBMP to restart the dormant Seegehalli plant. He was also at the partially operational Doddabidarakallu plant.
- At the Kannahalli plant, he uncovered the under-delivery of garbage and unfulfilled waste-to-energy plans entrusted to a private firm.
Doing better: Shivakumar plans to deploy personnel to monitor the number of garbage-laden vehicles dispatched to the plants. He will also scrutinise the bills to detect any mismanagement.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Are you going to watch Oppenheimer in the theatre?
- I’m going to watch Oppenheimer in the theatre.
- I’m not going to watch Oppenheimer in the theatre.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s your favourite place to go for live music in the city?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Data shows that 16k acres of revenue land was encroached in Bengaluru.
- Find out the twelve firefly hotspots identified in Bengaluru here.
- Ola launched a ‘No Cancellation’ Service in Bengaluru.
- George Freeman said Bengaluru is key to India-UK science and tech ties.
- Here’s a piece about Bengaluru’s transformation.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I have tried Meta’s Threads app: 33.3%
- I haven’t tried Meta’s Threads app: 66.7% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What’s one profession you would never take up despite a generous salary?
Rahul: “Laughing at boss’s jokes.”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!