1. Whitefield-Challaghatta Purple Line metro begins operations, connects East and West Bengaluru
Without any formal inauguration and celebration, the long-awaited Whitefield-Challaghatta Namma Metro corridor (Purple Line) quietly commenced operations on October 9 at 5 a.m., seamlessly connecting the eastern and western parts of Bengaluru. The direct link between the two ends of the city covers a total of 43.49 km with 37 stations in approximately 76 minutes, at a fixed end-to-end fare of ₹60.
Meanwhile, at around 10 a.m. on Monday, Majestic metro station witnessed an overwhelming crowd. Commuters complained that despite trains running every 3 minutes during peak hours, the metro crew struggled with crowd control. The much-anticipated launch also took on a political colour as the BMRCL did not allow photo journalists to take pictures at the stations. Sources said all fanfare would be saved for the grand official inauguration to be led by PM Narendra Modi and CM Siddaramaiah in two weeks.
2. Spark from cracker box caused fire in Attibele godown, claims witness
While a team of forensic officials is trying to ascertain the cause of the fire that claimed 14 lives at an Attibele cracker shop, Logashwaran, a 21-year-old labourer from Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu — who witnessed the horrible accident and lost 8 of his relatives — told the police that the fire was set off by a spark in a cracker box that was being taken inside the godown.
On October 6 morning, workers were told to unload a consignment of crackers from a truck that had arrived from Tamil Nadu. Around 1 p.m., during lunch break, the shop owner’s son Naveen Reddy and manager Lokesh were standing near the cash counter supervising the work. A few seconds after lunch, a spark in a box containing crackers ignited the fire that soon spread across the godown. Naveen, who sustained burn injuries on his hands, came running out of the godown as others started running helter-skelter, Logashwaran said.
3. Karnataka hopeful of Centre acknowledging ‘green drought’ and quickly releasing funds
The inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) wound up its tour of 13 drought-affected districts in Karnataka today and is expected to submit its report to the Centre in a week. Karnataka is hopeful that the Centre will acknowledge what it has termed as a ‘Green Drought’ this year, caused by erratic rainfall, damaging crop output.
The ICMT assessed crop damage, NREGA work and fodder situation, among others and the State is expecting the Centre to release funds for drought relief at the earliest. Earlier, the State had pegged the losses at ₹30,432 crore, and has sought ₹4,860 crore from the Centre.
4. South Asia’s first aircraft recovery training school set up at KIA in Bengaluru
Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has established South Asia’s first aircraft recovery training school (ARTS), in the premises of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru. Recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the institution is entirely dedicated to providing hands-on training for aircraft recovery, and is equipped with state-of-the-art disabled aircraft recovery equipment (DARE)
5. Senior Kannada journalist G.N. Ranganatha Rao passes away
Senior journalist, writer and translator G. N. Ranganatha Rao, 81, passed away in Bengaluru on October 9, 2023 from age-related ailments. Rao wrote several books on journalism, including an exhaustive history of Kannada journalism. He also wrote several short stories, novels, satires, criticism and poetry. He is most known for translating William Shakespeare, D. H. Lawrence, Franz Kafka and O’ Henry into Kannada.
