Bengaluru Archives - Read Selective

What Is Congestion Tax Imposed On 9 Bengaluru Roads, How It Will Impact Commuters

The proposed congestion tax aims to discourage the use of private vehicles during peak times and promote the use of public transportation as a means to alleviate traffic woes. This approach has proven effective in addressing traffic congestion, reducing air pollution, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

Congestion Tax Proposed For 9 Roads Leading To Bengaluru

The government is considering the implementation of a “congestion tax” on nine specific roads in Bengaluru, including the Outer Ring Road, during peak hours to combat the city’s worsening traffic congestion. The proposed congestion tax aims to discourage the use of private vehicles during peak times and promote the use of public transportation as a means to alleviate traffic woes. To facilitate the collection of this tax, authorities are exploring the utilization of the FASTag system, which has been operational in Bengaluru since 2021.

What Is Congestion Tax?

Congestion tax systems are designed to impose charges on vehicles entering designated urban zones during periods of high traffic flow. This approach has proven effective in addressing traffic congestion, reducing air pollution, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, it serves as an incentive for individuals to switch from private cars to public transportation. While congestion taxes have faced resistance in Indian cities previously, numerous global metropolises such as London, Stockholm, and Singapore have successfully implemented similar systems.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/what-is-congestion-tax-imposed-on-9-bengaluru-roads-how-it-will-impact-commuters-article-104138523

‘Never prepared for a show with dogs in cages backstage’: Comedian Trevor Noah roasts Bengaluru’s cancelled show

Criticising the Bengaluru venue, comedian and TV host Trevor Noah said it was ‘technically a building’ but the room where he was supposed to perform looked like a ‘semi-permanent tent’.

South African comedian Trevor Noah’s ordeal in Bengaluru seems to have provided fresh content for the artist, who trolled the arrangements at the venue during his show held in Mumbai on September 30.

Two shows of the famous comedian and TV show host scheduled at Manpho Convention Centre in Bengaluru on September 27 and 28 were cancelled due to “technical issues.”

“You know sometimes you feel like something is about to happen and it does. That happened to us in Bengaluru. We are driving to go to the venue. After about an hour and a half of driving, I was like, where are we going? The driver and everyone in the car was like this is the way we are supposed to go,” he said, referring to the massive traffic jam witnessed in Bengaluru on September 27 as people looked to travel out of the city with the long weekend approaching.

At some point en route to the Bengaluru venue, Noah said, the driver turned to a dirt road. “Where is this? Am I performing in the past? Where am I going? And they drove us to this venue,” he said.

Explaining the challenges he faced on entering the venue, Noah said that usually when he goes for a show backstage, “what happens is that there will be like an entrance you walk into. You emerge in a backstage area before you come and perform. Here, we walk through an alley that was full of dogs, half of which were in cages…. Some of those dogs are outside (while others are in). What have these dogs done? That’s what I want to know.”

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/never-prepared-show-dogs-cages-backstage-comedian-trevor-noah-roasts-bengaluru-cancelled-show-8964936/

Bengaluru: No More Carpooling in City, Check New Rules For Private Vehicles

Representational Image. (Photo: Shutterstock)

An easy and money-saving hack carpooling is now can land you in soup, as the Bengaluru government has banned the activity and the use of platforms that offer the same.

As per the details shared by the transport department, those who will be caught using a private vehicle for commercial purposes through applications like Quick Ride and Bla Bla Cars will face heavy challans of Rs 10,000, cancellation of their car registration, or both.

Cab Driver on Carpooling
The strict decision has been taken by Bengaluru’s transport department after getting tons of complaints from the local taxi drivers. While raising concern in the matter, the cab driver highlighted that these carpooling mobile application is killing the business as people have started using private vehicles with white number plates for commercial purpose, which is completely wrong and not acceptable even on legal terms.

Here’s How Top Official Reacted About Carpooling

Reacting to the new rule and carpooling activity in the city, Additional Commissioner for Transport (Enforcement), Malikarju C said that private vehicles can not be used for commercial purposes. if anyone is found violating the rule, they may end up facing serious penalties or authorities will cancel their registration certificate for six months, Malikarju added.

Despite introducing heavy challans and other punishments, the public in Bengaluru still finds the carpooling apps a convenient way of traveling as it costs less, makes their commute easy, and provides them a big relief from traffic.

Source: https://www.news18.com/auto/bengaluru-no-more-carpooling-in-city-check-new-rules-for-private-vehicles-8599249.html

Bengaluru: No More Carpooling in City, Check New Rules For Private Vehicles

An easy and money-saving hack carpooling is now can land you in soup, as the Bengaluru government has banned the activity and the use of platforms that offer the same.

Here’s How Top Official Reacted About Carpooling
Reacting to the new rule and carpooling activity in the city, Additional Commissioner for Transport (Enforcement), Malikarju C said that private vehicles can not be used for commercial purposes. if anyone is found violating the rule, they may end up facing serious penalties or authorities will cancel their registration certificate for six months, Malikarju added.

Source: https://www.news18.com/auto/bengaluru-no-more-carpooling-in-city-check-new-rules-for-private-vehicles-8599249.html

Dengue Outbreak Threatens Karnataka, Uttarakhand; More than 50% States’ Cases Reported in Bengaluru, Dehradun

While September’s reinvigorated rains might’ve brought a break from the unusual heat that had settled in over the country, it also brought with itself a new wave of dengue over Uttarakhand and Karnataka, with the states scurrying to manage the mosquito-borne disease.

According to sources, Uttarakhand has recorded over 1,130 instances of the viral illness, claiming 15 lives in the Himalayan state so far. Dehradun accounts for a large share of these new cases, amounting to over 655 infections in the capital city alone.

The situation is even more dire in Karnataka, where Chief Minister Siddaramaiah revealed that the state has been grappling with 7,000 dengue cases over the past few days. Over 4,000 of these patients hail from Bengaluru.

Both state departments have begun immediate action to curb the further spread of the disease, including spraying medicines and cleaning areas with resting water.

Source: https://weather.com/en-IN/india/health/news/2023-09-11-dengue-karnataka-uttarakhand-half-cases-bengaluru-dehradun

Dengue cases remain stubbornly high in Bengaluru, say doctors

Pediatricians report that 10% to 20% of dengue patients are now requiring hospitalization. Dr. Rajath Athreya, a pediatrician and member of the state’s Covid Technical Advisory Committee, notes that this includes admissions to the ICU.

In the South zone, which saw the highest number of cases in August, the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) has implemented a schedule to ensure source reduction activities are carried out in all types of localities, not just slums.

Dengue cases, which reached their peak in July, have not shown a significant decrease in Bengaluru, according to doctors.

Pediatricians report that 10 per cent to 20 per cent of dengue patients are now requiring hospitalization. Dr. Rajath Athreya, a pediatrician and member of the state’s Covid Technical Advisory Committee, notes that this includes admissions to the ICU.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/bengaluru/dengue-cases-remain-stubbornly-high-in-bengaluru-say-doctors-2680118

As Dengue Cases Rise, Bengaluru Launches Surveillance Dashboard, Mobile App

On Thursday, Karnataka Health Minister Gundu Rao reviewed the measures taken by Bengaluru’s civic body to contain the spread of dengue.

Over 3,200 dengue cases have been reported in Bengaluru in the past two months (Representational)

Bengaluru: Amid a surge in dengue cases in Bengaluru, Karnataka Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Gundu Rao Friday launched a disease surveillance dashboard and a mobile application for effective monitoring and curbing of the vector-borne disease.
The dashboard, a disease forecasting software, has been developed in partnership with the Department of Health, Bengaluru municipal corporation — Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) — and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK ) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to assist policymakers and public health officials in preparing for outbreaks and managing disease control activities.

According to officials, the dashboard uses Artificial Intelligence, or AI, to predict a surge in infections four weeks in advance. It provides a map of outbreaks across Karnataka at the district and sub-district levels along with case trends across years.

A four-week predictive risk map of outbreaks will also be made available to state and district officers. In addition to predictions, data from multiple sources is being standardised and streamlined for improved analysis.

Both the dashboard and mobile app are focused on dengue, to begin with, and the aim is to expand to additional diseases in the future, the officials said.

On Thursday, the health minister along with officials reviewed the measures taken by the BBMP to contain the spread of dengue.

More than 3,200 dengue cases have been reported in Bengaluru in the past two months, said the minister who has directed the civic body to intensify their efforts to control the spread of the virus.

According to him, 1,649 and 1,590 dengue cases were detected in July and August, respectively. As many as 416 cases have come to light in September so far.

The cases are on the rise because of stagnant rain waters, Mr Rao said on Thursday. He added that pesticides are being sprayed in Bengaluru to get rid of mosquitoes, which carry the virus.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/bangalore-news/as-dengue-cases-rise-bengaluru-launches-surveillance-dashboard-mobile-app-4371221

Pat On The Back, Then A Hug: How PM Modi Met ISRO Chief In Bengaluru

India scripted history on Wednesday becoming the only country to soft-land on the South Pole of Moon. India is also the fourth country – after US, Russia and China – to achieve a successful moon landing. The spacecraft was launched on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre situated in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Bengaluru from Greece to meet scientists to meet with the team of ISRO scientists behind the successful Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission. As soon as he arrived at the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network Mission Control Complex, PM Modi was welcomed by ISRO chief S Somanath, who he greeted with a pat on the back followed by a bear hug.

Earlier, while addressing his supporters at the HAL airport, PM Modi had said that he could not contain his excitement about the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. “I could not stop myself as I was not in the country, but I decided to visit Bengaluru first and meet our scientists right after visiting India,” PM Modi said, reasoning out his early arrival to the city.

“I requested Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister and governor not to come this early in the morning as I didn’t want to trouble them,” PM Modi said.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets ISRO chief S Somanath and congratulates him for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon pic.twitter.com/J8cRsftwv2

— ANI (@ANI) August 26, 2023

During his speech outside HAL airport, PM Modi also raised the slogan “Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan” slogan to praise the scientists.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/india/pat-on-the-back-then-a-hug-how-pm-modi-met-isro-chief-in-bengaluru-article-103078036

Yellow alert in Bengaluru as IMD predicts heavy rain in IT capital, 10 other Karnataka districts

The IMD has issued a yellow alert in the IT capital, Bengaluru, and ten other districts in Karnataka. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar chaired a meeting with officials on Tuesday and alerted them on adequate management amid the Bengaluru rains.

IMD has issued yellow alert in the wake of heavy rainfall in Bengaluru and 10 other Karnataka districts. (PTI/Representational)

In the wake of heavy rainfall, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert in Bengaluru and ten other districts of Karnataka for two consecutive days till May 31.

The Bengaluru chapter of the weather department mentioned the possibility of inundated subways, minor traffic congestion and fallen trees in some areas and asked commuters to maintain vigil.

The IMD has indicated high chances of downpours in ten districts, including Kodagu, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Chitradurga, Hassan, Gulbarga, Udupi, Chamrajnagar, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkamagaluru.

The alert came despite the rain stopping in the IT capital at 10:30 pm on Tuesday after hours of torrential rainfall through the evening.

Bengaluru received a total of 19mm of rainfall until 5:30 pm on Tuesday. Tech corridors like Bellandur reported instances of waterlogging and, as per reports, underpasses near Sankey Road and Lingarajapuram were waterlogged last evening.

Meanwhile, traffic snarls disrupted vehicular movement near the Outer Ring Road.

K’TAKA GOVT ALERT

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that he had ensured that “all officers including commissioners and joint commissioners are on high alert”.

“The safety of all citizens matters! Please stay vigilant and take all necessary precautions,” he said.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/india/karnataka/story/yellow-alert-bengaluru-10-districts-imd-forecast-heavy-rain-2386701-2023-05-31

Siddaramaiah as CM spent Rs 200 cr for serving tea to guests: BJP

Hitting out at the BJP’s allegations, Siddarmaiah said that in his five-year term, the government spent Rs 3.26 cr to offer meals, snacks to his guests

Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah. Credit: DH Photo

Bengaluru south district BJP president N R Ramesh on Monday alleged that leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah spent whopping sum of Rs 200 cr to serve meal and snacks to his guests in Vidhana Soudha during his five year tenure as chief minister between 2013-18.

Addressing press conference here, Ramesh said that even if Siddarmaiah presumed to have worked on all days of five-year term, it means that he spent Rs 11 lakh per day.

“Did he feed gold biscuits to his guests? This is clear case of loot and squandering of public money,” he said. He dared Siddaramaiah to account for the expenditure in public.

Hitting out at the BJP’s allegations, Siddarmaiah said that in his five-year term, the government spent Rs 3.26 cr to offer meals, snacks to his guests.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/state/karnataka-politics/siddaramaiah-as-cm-spent-rs-200-cr-for-serving-tea-to-guests-bjp-1197865.html

Coding for kids: These 6 startups are helping kids become programmers

From CodeYoung to Tinkerly, these six startups are helping kids to gain the required technical skills and make them future-ready.

Coding has become a modern-day toolkit to advance and ease our lives. It’s used everywhere – emojis, sharing memes, booking movie tickets, sending text messages, and even while you’re reading this article — almost everything is possible with just a few swipes and taps, all by coding.

The kids know this. This is why coding has become a buzzword in classrooms across schools in the country. Many students consider it essential to education alongside regular subjects like English, math, and science – to not only open doors for opportunities but also enhance other skills such as problem-solving, reasoning, creativity, logical thinking, and much more.

Here are some kid-focused coding startups that are enabling students to keep up with technology and helping sharpen their minds by imbuing problem-solving and analytical skills.

CodeYoung
Founded by IIT-Delhi alumni Shailendra Dhakad and Rupika Taneja in 2019, the Bengaluru-based startup Codeyoung offers live coding classes to K-12 students.

The startup offers four programmes: app development, Python, Scratch, and web development for the age groups of five to nine, nine to 14, and 14-16. Each course includes 48 classes and costs Rs 19,999. They offer classes twice or thrice a week, depending on the student’s preference.

“Our curriculum goes beyond drag-and-drop block-based programming and provides a real-world coding environment where students are taught industry-level languages like Java and Python. Our aim is to teach kids the fundamentals of logic and problem-solving,” Shailendra earlier told YourStory.

In September 2020, the startup raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round of funding led by Guild Capital to scale up in international markets and strengthen academic research, product teams, and technology.

Tekie
Founded by Naman Mukund and Anand Verma in 2017, Bengaluru-based Tekie is a live coding platform that brings the art of storytelling to make learning a movie-like experience.

The startup has also created the world’s first animated series on coding to teach text-based coding to kids.

“Coding education is still at a nascent stage in our country, primarily restricted to block-based coding. We want students to go beyond just getting introduced to concepts and learn to write real code. Keeping this in mind, we designed our course to teach text-based coding. We wanted to solve the gap in text-based coding for Class XI–XII students. The original idea was to be a B2B platform that could integrate with the school curriculum. But we iterated a lot on the product front,” Naman says.

In May 2021, Tekie raised $1.5 million in seed round funding led by GSV Ventures and Multiply Ventures to scale its operation to support the increasing demand.

Codingal Education
Founded in 2020 by Vivek Prakash and Satyam Baranwal, Bengaluru-based Codingal Education is an online coding platform for K–12 kids.

“Our mission is to inspire school kids to fall in love with coding, and we are building Codingal to deliver high-quality computer science education combined with world-class coding competitions. Codingal plans to build a robust passion economy marketplace for coding education that brings together the best-in-class educators and students who are eager to learn to code,” Vivek said.
In September 2021, the startup raised $1.2 million in its seed funding round led by Y-Combinator, Summer Capital, Rebright Partners, and Day One Syndicate to grow, empower, and nurture its rapidly growing community of K-12 students and coding teachers.

Source : https://yourstory.com/2022/05/coding-for-kids-tinkerly-codingal-codeyoung-codevidhya-tekie/amp

Rishabh Pant Breaks Kapil Dev’s Massive Near 40-Year Record In Sri Lanka 2nd Test

India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant scored the fastest Test fifty by an Indian batter on Sunday when he completed his half-century in 28 deliveries on the second day of the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru. With India having bowled Sri Lanka out for 109 early in the day’s play, the hosts extended their 143-run first innings lead with some quick scoring in their second innings. It was Rishabh Pant, batting at No. 5, who took charge of the innings and attacked the visiting bowlers to help consolidate India’s control.

With his brisk fifty, Pant broke Kapil Dev’s almost 40-year record of the fastest Test fifty by an Indian batter.

Kapil Dev had scored a 30-ball half-century while batting against Pakistan in the Karachi Test in December, 1982. Despite his heroics, Pakistan went on to win the match by an innings and 86 runs.

Earlier on Sunday, Jasprit Bumrah took a fifer, his first in a home Test, as India ran through Sri Lanka’s lower order and bowled them out for 109.

Sri Lanka had resumed batting at 86/6 on Day 2 but could add only 23 runs to their total.

India started their innings well, with Rohit Sharma scoring 46 and Hanuma Vihari chipping with a knock of 35.

IND vs SL: Shreyas Iyer’s 92 features in list of unwanted record held by Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag

Iyer created an unimpressive record despite playing a match-defining knock.

India found themselves in a spot of bother having lost half their side early after winning the toss on Day one of the second Test against Sri Lanka at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Having been reduced to 148/6, the hosts could have been bundled out cheaply had it not been for Shreyas Iyer’s vital half-century that helped them in crossing the 250-run mark.

The middle-order sensation made it matter yet again just like he had during the three WI T20Is that preceded the Test series. Iyer scored 92 runs off 98 deliveries. While he did reach his fifty with a splendid six, the Mumbai cricketer also went on to create an unwanted record as he joined two of India and world cricket’s batting megastars after falling eight short of a deserving century.

After being stumped by Niroshan Dickwella off left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama for 92, Shreyas Iyer ended up creating an unwanted record held by batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and his former opening partner Virender Sehwag. In fact, he became the fourth batter to be stumped while batting in the 90s.

Source : https://www.crictracker.com/ind-vs-sl-shreyas-iyers-92-features-in-list-of-unwanted-record-held-by-sachin-tendulkar-virender-sehwag/