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Karnataka Today newsletter | Rewind 2024: Weather woes, crime waves, culture rows

From scorching summer and water crisis to flooding of homes and IT corridors — Bengaluru saw extreme weather events in 2024. The unpredictable weather had a bearing on the agricultural yield in the State, of course, but it also laid bare the poor standard of infrastructure in Bengaluru.

The year also saw the announcement of big-ticket projects in the domain of civic infrastructure and mobility. Crime dominated headlines with several high-profile cases, including the Renukaswamy murder involving actor Darshan, the Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse scandal, the Rameshwaram Cafe blast, as well as rising cybercrime.

There were debates galore around linguistic issues during the year, including the fracas over 60% Kannada usage in signboards, language wars between Kannnada and Hindi speakers in the online space, the uproar over Hindi imposition, and jobs reservation for Kannadigas among other issues. The Kannada film industry also delivered a mixed bag in terms of ideas and impact. Read about all these developments in our collection of 2024 year-enders.

Hours before New Year celebrations kick off in Bengaluru, City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda advised revellers to refrain from using whistle and full face-mask, citing law and order concerns.

“The decision was taken following a few stray incidents from the previous year when the overuse of whistles caused chaos, drowning out public announcements and emergency warnings. The full-face masks were flagged as a security risk, with some people may be using them to conceal their identities while being involved in anti-social activities. Some anti-social elements may use this to take advantage and involve in eve-teasing, harassment and public nuisance,” he said.

The Bengaluru City Police and Bengaluru Traffic Police have also issued traffic advisories for areas in the city that may witness dense congregation, apart from a list of do’s and dont’s, parking restrictions as well as details on extended operational timings of BMTC and Namma Metro. Find all the details here.

A leopard was spotted in the early hours of December 31, at the Infosys campus of Mysuru triggering alarm among the IT company’s employees who have been instructed to work from home or remain indoors. The company’s Global Education Centre is located in Mysuru and employees have been told to stay indoors till the area is sanitized by the forest department.