BENGALURU BUZZ

Last budget before polls Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's second budget was presented on February 17th. It included a CM Vidya Shakti Scheme for students and a Gruhani Shakthi scheme for women. Meanwhile, the opposition leaders came to the Assembly with a 'flower-on-the-ear' or 'Kivi Mele Hoove' protest, alleging that the government had fooled the people with false promises. Source: Indian Express Aero India events The 14th edition of the Aero India show 2023, held at the Air Force Station, Yelahanka, saw a large turnout . About 266 partnerships, including 201 MoUs, 53 major announcements, and nine product launches were firmed…

Aero India show to be held The 14th Aero India show will be held over five days, from February 13th to 17th. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the show at the Air Force Station in Yelahanka. More than 731 exhibitors will be participating in the event. The show will include aerial displays, a large exhibition and trade fair of aerospace companies. Due to Aero India 2023, commercial flight operations will be partially shut till February 17th. On February 14th, Defence minister Rajnath Singh will host the Defence Ministers’ Conclave, even as Aero India is held parallelly. As the Conclave…

Push for suburban railway, city projects The Union Budget has allocated Rs 450 crore for the BSRP (Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project), with a total capital outlay of Rs 1,350 crore for 2023-24. However, not a single rupee has been released by the Centre for a similar sum earmarked for the project in the previous financial year, sources said. Meanwhile, the Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited has sought an €800-million (Rs 7,140 crore) soft loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the German investment and development bank KfW, which will cover 60% of the project cost. Parallelly, the state…

R-Day at Chamrajnagar Idgah Maidan For the first time, Republic Day was celebrated, on January 26th, at the Chamrajnagar Idgah Maidan ground amid tight security, as North taluk assistant commissioner, revenue department, Shivanna, unfurled the national flag at 8 am. MLA BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan and Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha MP, PC Mohan, were also present, under elaborate security. Naadageethe and Raitha Geete were played, and later, students from BBMP and government schools performed cultural programmes. The West Division police deployed over 150 police personnel and installed over 50 CCTV cameras. There were celebrations at a number of places in…

BBMP's annual budget preponed The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) will present its annual budget day for the next financial year on February 15th, in anticipation of the start of the model code of conduct before the Assembly elections. Last year's budget, presented on March 31st, was delayed as the budget copy was released at midnight. This year, the BBMP is in a hurry to present the budget as it wants to get the state's approval before the code of conduct sets in. Meanwhile, former mayors and corporators have demanded that the allocation made in the name of corporator and…

'Rapid road' develops cracks The BBMP’s (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) ‘rapid road’ experiment in Old Madras Road near Indiranagar, inaugurated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai last month, has already developed cracks in several places. Civic authorities had claimed that the 375-metre stretch of Old Madras Road in Indiranagar, built using new technology, would last for 40 years. The government plans to take up white-topping using the old method. Bommai agreed to the third phase of the project comprising 89 roads, at Rs 1,429 crore, to fit the 2022-23 scheduled rates (SR). The IISc (Indian Institute of Science) has agreed to…

266 COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru, highest among metro cities Bengaluru Urban district reported 266 active COVID-19 cases (309 cases were reported in Karnataka) on January 4th. The city has the highest number of cases among metro cities. New Delhi and Mumbai reported 32 active cases each and Chennai reported 27 cases on January 3rd. However, on January 3rd, the test positivity rate in Bengaluru came down from 2.2% on December 25th to 0.3%. Dr Thrilok Chandra, special commissioner (health), BBMP, said testing has been ramped up to 5,000 a day. No samples with BF.7 or XBB.1.5 variants have been found…

Caution over COVID-19 The City Police Commissioner, C H Pratap Reddy, issued a set of guidelines and strict vigilance measures to take precautions during the festive month. Wearing masks is mandatory in indoor and closed places, such as pubs, bars, restaurants, malls, offices, buses and trains. Schools are making masks and sanitisers mandatory, instructing children to maintain social distancing and not share food, among other things. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has mandated COVID-appropriate behaviour, including face masks, due to TAC (Technical Advisory Committee) recommendations. The Health Minister, Dr K Sudhakar, has urged people to take precautionary booster doses,…

Potholes back on roads after heavy rains By December 12th, 11.30 p.m., Cyclone Mandous led to a thunderstorm in Bengaluru and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) observatory recorded 75 mm of rainfall this December. For HAL airport, rainfall recorded was 53.4 mm and for Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), it was 67.2 mm. Heavy rains jammed many roads and held up traffic, in Silk Board Junction, Basavanagudi, Queen’s Circle and Sulthanpet Main Road, due to poor drainage. The continuous showers ruined the roads and brought back potholes again, while recently-built roads also developed potholes. New potholes developed in a recently-laid road…

HC nod to axing trees for metro line The High Court, on December 7th, said that the BMRCL (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Lmt) can go ahead with the felling and translocation of trees, as outlined by the Technical Expert Committee (TEC). It has permitted the BMRCL to fell 466 trees, translocate 21 trees, and retain four trees on the Kempapura to Shettigere stretch on the Phase-2B of the Metro line to Kempegowda International Airport. The BMRCL can also remove 114 trees, translocate 12 trees, and retain three trees on the Central Silk Board to Kodineesanahalli metro station stretch of the…