Since February 2022, Karnataka’s guidelines for international arrivals to Bangalore International Airport and Mangalore Airport have been relaxed. The removal of the Air Suvidha form, effective from November 21, has made it a lot easier to travel to India from the United States and other countries. Besides, full-vaccination or pre-departure RT-PCR testing is no longer a mandatory requirement. However, the wake of a subvariant of Omicron BF.7 causing a COVID-19 surge in China and other countries has pushed India to take precautionary measures.

The latest circular on “India’s Guidelines for International Arrivals” states, “All travelers should preferably be fully vaccinated as per the approved primary schedule of vaccination in their country of citizenship or residence.” If you’re fully vaccinated and taking flights to Bengaluru from USA or any other country, make sure to carry the vaccination proof. As of now, travelers from only five countries – China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong – have to take an RT-PCR test before traveling to India.

Picture Credit: The Hindu | Sudhakara Jain

Post-arrival random testing and quarantine

As per Indian government’s guidelines for international arrivals that Karnataka complies with, not everyone is subject to a COVID-19 test on arrival at Bengaluru Kempegowda Airport and Mangalore. Random testing is back at all international airports in India. Only 2% of the total passengers of an inbound flight are selected for random COVID-19 testing. If you’re in the 2%, you will undergo an RT-PCR test. You can exit the airport or proceed for a domestic flight to the final destination once your samples are collected. Only children below 12 years are exempted from post-arrival random testing. However, if found symptomatic in thermal screening, they will be tested.

The state government of Karnataka requires those randomly tested individuals to home-quarantine themselves unless the result of their random testing comes negative. If the result comes positive, the samples will be sent for genomic sequencing to determine whether it is the BF.7 Omicron variant. If signs and symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 develop after your arrival in Karnataka, they must contact the nearest health center or the national helpline number 1075.

“The elimination of Air Suvidha is a welcome move. Now fully-vaccinated travelers can take last minute flights to India from USA or any other country in the event of a family emergency without worrying about filling in an Air Suvidha form. Earlier, some of our customers could not immediately travel to India immediately in the exigency of death in family because of the mandatory Air Suvidha form,” said the chief travel advisor of IndianEagle.com, a leading air-ticketing partner of Indians in America.

Post-arrival procedure at Karnataka airports 

Karnataka’s guidelines for international inbound travelers include mandatory thermal screening and pulse oximeter reading on arrival at Bangalore and Mangalore international airports . Every traveler flying in from abroad undergoes thermal screening and pulse oximeter testing. If you are found symptomatic (feverish temperature, cough, cold, sore throat), you will be isolated and taken to a dedicated medical facility for payable COVID19 testing. If you test positive with severe symptoms, you will be quarantined and treated at a paid or government facility until you are negative. The treatment and quarantine costs will be borne by you.

Who can travel to Bengaluru, India from abroad? 

All Indian passport holders, foreign citizens with/without OCI/PIO cards, and foreign nationals having valid visas to India (as per the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines) can travel to Bengaluru. All PIO cardholders including those having the handwritten ones can travel to and from India until December 31, 2023 as the PIO to OCI conversion deadline is extended. Do also check the latest OCI card news with respect to travel to and from India.

COVID19 testing at Bangalore International Airport 

Kempegowda International Airport has a dedicated COVID-19 testing facility for passengers, both inbound and outbound. The 24/7 COVID testing center near the arrivals area of the terminal offers both Rapid RT-PCR tests (Abbott ID NOW) and regular RT-PCR tests. The result of a Rapid RT-PCR test is available within 30 minutes, whereas the regular RT-PCR test results are delivered within 5-6 hours from the time of sample collection. A Rapid RT-PCR test costs a few times more than the cost of a regular RT-PCR test at Bangalore Airport.

This guide on flying in to and arrival in Karnataka is part of our continued effort to provide the latest information about travel to and from India.  We, at Indian Eagle, have addressed thousands of travel concerns and queries during the pandemic in the past two years, thereby ensuring hassle-free boarding and arrival for travelers. Indian Eagle, a most trusted travel-booking partner of Indian Diaspora, is committed to making international air tickets to India available for reasonable fares.

The post Traveling to Karnataka? Know What Guidelines Apply to International Arrivals at Bengaluru Airport appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

The topic, Devotion vs Malnutrition in India, has been debated over the years. Pouring in gallons of milk over Shivlings is an age-old tradition during Mahashivratri, while India is one of the few countries with the highest rates of malnutrition. However, people are embracing rationale in choosing survival over tradition, fight against malnutrition over wastage in the name of devotion these days.

Gangadhareshwara Temple in Bengaluru City has adopted a middle-of-the-road solution to let devotees offer litres of milk to the shivling and make the best use of their devotional offering in a hygienic setting. Located in T Dasarahalli, this Bengaluru temple has the no-blind-devotion-and-no-wastage policy in place throughout the year. If devotees offer milk at Gangadhareshwara Temple, they get buttermilk as prasadam in return.

Picture Credit: MantraTimes (left), BangaloreMirror (right)

Lord Shiva being the presiding deity, Bangalore’s Gangadhareshwara Temple receives about 500 liters of milk every Monday. The milk offering measures a lot more than that on festive occasions. On Mahashivratri, a few thousand litres of milk pours in at the temple. Just imagine what a colossal waste it would have been, if the temple authority had let the devotion of people drain away.

The initiative to convert the milk offering for the deity into buttermilk prasadam for devotees is the brainchild of Eshwarananda Swamy, the head of Gangadhareshwara Temple. The thought – milk not available to a few million kids in India should not be wasted at any temple; rather, it should be recycled or reused to serve devotees and others – made him research a lot as to how the temple could set a positive example for other temples around. Thus, the middle-of-the-road solution was found and implemented.

Items such as vermilion and flowers are not mixed with milk during abhishekam of the Shiva idol at Gangadhareshwara Temple in Bengaluru. Both priests and devotees are required to pour milk on the shivling first in a hygienic way, and then offer other ingredients during abhishekam, adhering to the temple guidelines.

“We follow a hygienic process wherein the milk offered to the deity can be fermented, so that it turns into buttermilk. As the process takes a day, we usually serve buttermilk to whoever visits the temple on Tuesdays. We distribute buttermilk as prasadam only after checking its quality with the help of food quality analysts,” said Eshwarananda Swamy.

Also Check: Amazing Story of America’s First Jyotirlingam Shiva Temple

The temple visitors can consume the buttermilk there only or take home. The temple does not allow people to take the buttermilk home in plastic containers, adhering to its strict hygiene policy. Whoever visits the temple is encouraged to follow hygienic practices and is dissuaded from using plastics.

Scores of people queuing up to receive the buttermilk prasadam at Bengaluru’s Gangadhareshwara Temple, is a common sight to behold every Tuesday. Since the temple started recycling the milk to produce buttermilk and distribute it as prasadam, devotees have been offering more milk.

The post This Shiva Temple in India Gives Buttermilk Prasadam in Return of the Milk Offered to the Deity appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

The market for direct flights from USA to Bengaluru, India has remained untapped till date. However, American Airlines is all set to unlock the economic potential of this route later this year and jump into the fray with Emirates Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa and Qatar Airways that operate one-stop flights to Bengaluru from the United States.

Adding to the list of nonstop flights between USA and India, American Airlines will launch a daily nonstop flight from Seattle to Bengaluru in October 2020. The direct Seattle-Tacoma to Bengaluru flight is the second such service to India from the United States’ west coast, following the existing nonstop SFO to New Delhi flights. However, it is the first ever direct flight from the US to Bengaluru, the silicon valley of India.

With the launch of daily nonstop Seattle to Bengaluru flights, American Airlines is looking to cash in on the corporate demand for business flights to Bengaluru (BLR Airport) from the west coast. The upcoming service is likely to make Indians of San Francisco Bay Area, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and New Mexico choose one-stop SEA-BLR itineraries over multi-stopover itineraries to Bengaluru, India.

“Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) is all set to welcome American Airlines’ 285-seater Boeing 787-9 for flights to and from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. It will help establish Bengaluru Airport as the Gateway to South India for the west coast of the USA,” said the MD and CEO of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL).

India’s third busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, Bengaluru Kempegowda Airport is known for its high-tech infrastructure and world-class facilities. With two runways, the airport accommodates operations of Air France, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways, KLM, Japan Airlines, Thai Airways, and other international airlines.

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru will soon enter the league of major international airports with smart restrooms, like Hartsfield Jackson Airport, Atlanta. The restrooms at BLR airport will be equipped with Flight Information Display Systems to disseminate all flight details at a mere touch of a finger on the mirror. Read more about Kempegowda BLR Airport’s amenities including biometric boarding, automated bag drop and world-class entertainment arena.

Also Check: Alerts and Updates for USA to India Travel 2020

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Major airports of India are catching on to the latest technology for infrastructural enhancement and better service to travelers. It is evident from the top rankings of major international airports of India in the first Airport Service Quality survey by the Airports Council International (ACI). Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru topped the list with 4.67 points out of five. India’s Bangalore City airport deserved the top ranking for its latest and upcoming developments, including automated self-bad drop facility to biometric boarding.

With a host of new world-class features and amenities in the offing, Bengaluru International Airport is all set to make your travel paperless, hassle free, ultra comfortable and cheaper. We at Indian Eagle Travel took a short walk through the corridor of consistent development at Kempegowda Airport, Bengaluru.

Bangalore Airport: Fully-automated Baggage Drop within 60 Seconds

Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru became the first Indian airport to have introduced the fully automated self-bag drop facility for the fastest check-in. Recently, 16 automated baggage drop machines have been integrated to the state-of-the-art infrastructure of the airport. Those traveling from Bengaluru International Airport are no longer required to stand in long serpentine queues for baggage check-in. Remarkably, the automated baggage drop facility at Bangalore Airport has made the whole baggage check-in process a task of 45 to 60 seconds.

Currently, the facility is available only for those traveling on Air Asia and Spicejet. It will be extended to other international airlines operating flights to USA and other countries from Bengaluru. Travelers carrying excess luggage to check in won’t be able to avail the facility. Once you’re done printing your boarding pass from any of the 32 kiosks at the airport, do tag your bags and drop them off to the automated machines where the bags are automatically weighed, measured and scanned before they are transferred to the baggage handling systems.

Bengaluru Airport: Smart Security Lanes for Fastest Security Check

Bengaluru City airport is to be done with separate queues for security screening of male and female travelers soon. In a first of its kind in India, Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) has inked a deal with a UK-based security technology developer to zero in on an advanced security system which will be installed by December 2018. Not only men and women passengers will be screened together, but also the wait time for them will be lessened considerably.

Bangalore International Airport is all set to introduce Smart Security Lanes with Automated Tray Retrieval Systems (ATRS) at check points, both domestic and international. The existing manual lanes for security screening will gradually be phased out to make way for installation of the Smart Security Lanes in a phased manner. The project will be completed in March 2019, thereby enhancing the passenger screening capacity by 50%.

The smart security lanes with automated tray retrieval system will automatically push cabin bags and trays with passengers’ belongings into the screening machine and move empty trays to the next passengers. Thus, travelers will be relieved of the hassles of looking for empty trays and pushing their bags into the X-Ray machines at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru. Evidently, the whole screening process will be a lot more efficient.

Bengaluru Airport: Facial Recognition for Biometric Boarding

Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) is all set to make the whole boarding process paperless early in 2019 by introducing biometric self-boarding technology. Catching up with the proliferation of facial recognition of travelers at US airports, Bangalore City airport seeks to reduce paperwork for futuristic air travel experience. Once biometric technology for facial recognition is in place, Bengaluru International Airport will be the first Indian hub of paperless air travel.

Bangalore Airport: Reduced User Development Fees for Travelers

To benefit both domestic and international travelers, Bangalore International Airport has already slashed the user development fee (UDF) to a considerable low. Effective from September 16, 2018, Bengaluru City airport’s user development fee for international flyers has been cut to INR 400 from the previous INR 1266. It has made international air tickets from Bengaluru cheaper. The UDF component of domestic airfares has been reduced to INR 100 from the earlier INR 306.

However, Bengaluru Airport’s user development fees will be increased in 2019 and 2020. The current INR 100 per domestic passenger will be raised to INR 139, which will continue to be levied from April 2019 until March 31, 2020. It will be increased further up to INR 179, starting April 2020 and continuing until March 31, 2021. Similarly, the existing INR 400 per international traveler will be increased to INR 558, starting April 1, 2019. It will apply until March 31, 2020. International airfares will include INR 716 per passenger from April 2020 until March 31, 2021.

Flights from Bangalore may not necessarily get cheaper if operating airlines chose not to pass on the benefit to their passengers.

What was your recent experience of traveling to or from Bengaluru Airport? Why not share with us and other readers in the comment section below!!!

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It is said that passion knows no bounds. Bengaluru-based Yathaarth Murthy’s passion for singing knows no geographic barriers. A 12-year-old student in the Silicon Valley of India, Yathaarth Murthy has the national anthems of 215 countries at the tip of his tongue. Anthemology is his intense passion for a greater purpose.

Yathaarth Murthy has not only memorized the national anthems of 215 countries in those countries’ respective languages but also recited English translations of the national anthems out of his impeccable memory. He discovered his passion for Anthemology during a class on Hindustani music. Surprisingly, he memorized the national anthems of as many as 215 countries just in 4 years.

This aspiring anthemologist has showcased his rare talent in different parts of the world, including the United States, the Solomon Islands, Sierra Leone, Saint Lucia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu. Recently, he returned from San Francisco to Bangalore after having spellbound many California Indians with his remarkable endowment at show during his visit to the San Francisco Chronicle in the Bay Area.

Bengaluru-based Yathaarth Murthy is keen on pursuing Anthemology as he believes that this new branch of study helps explore the socio-cultural landscape of the economically disadvantaged countries and make the world aware of their socio-economic problems. He aims to bring to the mass the cultural richness of the lesser-known countries, which is eclipsed by the urban glare of the developed countries.

Practicing music is part of his daily routine. Initially, he learned the national anthems of three countries – Nepal, Sri Lanka and Japan – from his music teacher. When he approached the teacher to make him learn the anthems of other countries including the lesser known nations out of a strong urge to explore the culturally diverse demography of the world, the teacher turned down his pleas. Yathaarth did not give up on it.

Also Check: This Bengaluru Girl has a Planet Named after Her

Currently in the 7^th grade, Yathaarth Murthy has discovered many interesting facts about the national anthems while learning them, such as the national anthem of Greece has 152 verses, singing the Macedonia anthem after 6 pm is unlawful, and it takes 27 minutes to sing the national anthem of Argentina.

He believes that the collective message of the national anthems of the countries can be instrumental in promoting world peace. That’s why he wants to travel along the length and breadth of the world, and teach the children of one country to respect the culture of another country.

12-year-old Yathaarth Murthy from Bengaluru made his way to the Limca Book of Records for having sung the national anthems of 112 countries in 2017. He debuted as a TEDx speaker earlier in 2018 and talked about his ongoing journey to accomplish Anthemology at the Bezos Speech in California in April this year.

Now he is looking to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. He also wishes to appear as a guest on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Travel Beats is an Indian community portal by Indian Eagle, a leading international travel organization. We celebrate the achievements of young Indians across the world and publish the Indian Diaspora news besides sharing updates on air travel, India tourism, US visa and immigration.

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Bengaluru is all set to have India’s first smart international airport by December 2018, though Hyderabad RGI Airport is already done with a pilot trial of biometric scanners. Bengaluru Kempegowda Airport (BLR) has come a long way in the process to implement Aadhaar-enabled entry of travelers in sync with India’s vision of smart airports.

Everything from entry to boarding at Bengaluru Kempegowda Airport will be streamlined to transform it into a seamless experience for travelers under the initiative. Once the Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric e-boarding system is in place, the airport will be able to handle tickets and ID proofs from the initial checkpoint to the boarding gate within 10 minutes per traveler. 15 minutes will be reduced from the current 25 minutes of screening.

Kempegowda International Airport’s Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric e-boarding project is expected to commence on March 30 in 2018. December 2018 is the anticipated deadline for the completion of the project. All the other Indian airports will be brought within the purview of the project in 3 months from its completion at Bengaluru Int. Airport.

Known as the ‘digi yatra’ program, the new Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric e-boarding system is likely to benefit travelers boarding international flights from Bengaluru, most probably, by October 2018.

With increasing numbers of cheap flights to Bengaluru from the USA and other countries, Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) registered air traffic growth by 22.5% in 2016. Total 22.18 million passengers traveled to, from and through Bengaluru Airport in 2016. 45 airlines connect Bengaluru City with 66 destinations in India and abroad. The airport receives average 60,000 footfalls a day.

Part of Bengaluru Airport’s growth strategy, the Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric e-boarding system will digitize and quicken the entry, screening and boarding of passengers given the increasing volume of air traffic. Interestingly, Bangalore Kempegowda Airport is looking to be the cargo hub of South India, whereas Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi Airport is likely to be the hub airport for South and Central India in the coming five to 10 years.

The ‘digi yatra’ program will also boost airport security and alleviate delay in flight departure schedules apart from facilitating real-time authentication of passengers’ identity. With the Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric e-boarding system at Kempegowda International Airport, passengers will no longer need to display their IDs and boarding passes at several checkpoints. Checking-in at the airport and boarding flights will be a stress-free and hassle-free experience.

As a smart airport, Bengaluru Kempegowda Airport will be digitally empowered to reduce the waiting time, enhance operational efficiency and increase the shelf life of resources. On top of all this, security of the airport will be strengthened, which is a pressing need of the hour. Madurai International Airport (IXM) is gearing up to install the biometric access control system for enhanced security. – Indian Eagle 

Recently, Bengaluru outran San Francisco, New York, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and other 38 global cities in the race to become the world’s best digital environment city. Hopefully, Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport will give a tough run to the world’s best airports in the future.

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The race is no more about globalization but digitalization. With everything going digital from urban milieus to rural landscapes across the globe, which city does have and offer the best digital environment for business was a million-dollar question. Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India, proved to be the dark horse in the digital world, racing ahead of 45 global cities including San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Beijing, Singapore, London, Tokyo and Shanghai.

Picture Credit: PTI

Bengaluru scored the highest on the index of digital environment and met all parameters, according a most recent Bloomberg report based on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s survey among 2620 executives and one-to-one interviews with over 15 business leaders from 45 cities worldwide. Bengaluru stood out in the survey on innovation, entrepreneurship, technology development, ICT infrastructure, financial environment, digital security, people and skills.

India’s primary IT hub, Bengaluru is followed by San Francisco, Mumbai, New Delhi, Tokyo and Berlin in the race for digital environment.

While global leaders expressed their confidence in the current digital environment of Bengaluru, Indian professionals in the Silicon Valley of USA may beg to differ. Most of the IT professionals in Bengaluru work hard to get H1B visas to the Silicon Valley of USA, as per a ‘Bengaluru vs San Francisco’ discussion on Quora. Once they arrive in the land of ‘American Dreams’ they try to cement their feet on the soil of America. Reverse migration (from San Francisco to Bengaluru) hardly occurs, but they travel to India at least once in a year.

Of all the companies surveyed by the Economist Intelligence Unit, 48% confidently said that they have no issues when it comes to relocating to Bengaluru in order to take the city’s digital environment. Out of this 48% were 45% in Europe, 53% in Asia, 48% in the United States, and 46% in Australia.

Citing differences between Bengaluru and San Francisco in terms of digital security, the report states that train travelers in San Francisco were unable to pay for their rides due to the hacking of the transport system’s servers. On the other hand, demand for people with digital security skills and knowledge of advanced data analytics is high in India’s Silicon Valley.

“India’s cities may suffer more than most from infrastructure deficits, pollution, poverty and other ills, but when it comes to the environment for digital transformation, their executives are remarkably optimistic,” the report quotes analysts.

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Just imagine what it would be like if a sky drive replaces the existing nightmarish road trip to and from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). No need to ride a time machine for those surreal moments of super convenience much ahead of the present time!

Bengaluru, which grapples with dreadful traffic congestion during peak hours, is to get dedicated helicopter-taxi service to and from the airport. Helicopter-taxi service in Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India, would be the first of its kind in India. It’s a much needed relief from the sluggish pace of road journey not only for local commuters but also those on trips to Bengaluru from USA, UK, UAE, Singapore and other countries.

Photo Credit: TheHindu.com

Frequent flyers to and from Kempegowda International Airport dread the clogged streets of Bengaluru. Bengaluru has a growing population of a little over one crore, and 67.22 lakh vehicles crawl the roads. With its inadequate civic infrastructure and lackluster public transit facilities, the city has fallen behind the ever-growing transport needs of both locals and visitors. Bengaluru’s road length has grown from 960 kms in 1974 to 13,000 kms in 2007 while the number of vehicles has increased by 6099% in the same period.

The uninformed traveller is in for a shock after disembarking their international flights to Benguluru. The boom in the number of vehicles has resulted in gridlocks slowing the traffic to snail’s pace during peak hours. The journey to and from Kempegowda International Airport, depending on traffic and destination, takes 90 to 180 minutes. Travellers in the city have to account for long hours of traffic in their plans to be on time for flights from Bengaluru to USA or some other country. To alleviate this hassle, KIA has launched a Helicopter-taxi service.

Also Check Upcoming Bullet Trains in India

India’s first helicopter-taxi service in Bengaluru is expected to cut the travel time drastically. If the things go as planned, a typical journey between Bengaluru’s Electronics City and Kempegowda International Airport, which usually takes 120 to 180 minutes by road, is projected to be completed in 15 minutes. Initially, a Bell 407 chopper will be deployed for heli-taxi service between Kempegowda International Airport and Electronics City in Bengaluru.

Reportedly, India’s first helicopter-taxi service in Bengaluru is likely to begin in three months with a competitive fare of INR 1,500 to 2,500 for a 50-km ride. The proposed helicopter-taxi service in Bengaluru will spread far and wide once the plans to get the currently inactive 90 helipads operational across the city are actualized. The upcoming heli-taxi service in Bengaluru can also be used to ferry patients in times of medical emergency.

Also Check Indians to Get Visa-free Entry to Qatar

Being a thriving IT hub of India, Bengaluru is a major destination for flights from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York, Detroit, Newark, Boston, Beijing, Dubai, Tokyo, Singapore, Bangkok, Shanghai and other cities. San Francisco to Bengaluru is one of the busiest routes in the global network of international airlines. Those traveling to Kempegowda International Airport will be able to fly high like eagles above the snail-paced traffic on roads. Thanks to India’s first helicopter-taxi service in Bengaluru!

Indian Eagle is a leading international travel organization booking cheap international flights to and from Bengaluru. Indian Eagle’s community portal, Travel Beats publishes the latest travel, tourism, visa and immigration news alongside inspiring stories of Indians at home and abroad.

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Differences come up between Bengaluru and New Delhi when these two Indian cities are compared to each other. Despite differences, they have one thing in common, and that is talent. Recently two New Delhi students won the Grand NASA Prize 2017 for their underwater human settlement project. Bengaluru is not lagging behind. A 16-year-old Bengaluru schoolgirl joined the elite club of extraordinary young Indians for having got a planet named after her.

Sahithi Pingali, a class 12 student of Inventure Academy, is the Bengaluru city girl whose name inspired the name of a planet in the Milky Way galaxy. One of the rarest distinctions in the world, this honor came her way as a reward for her extensive, insightful study on the pollution of lakes across Bengaluru City.

Sahithi Pingali participated in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), one of the most prestigious pre-college-level science competitions in the world, and became one of the 2,000 finalists for her research paper, “An Innovative Crowdsourcing Approach to Monitoring Freshwater Bodies.”

Image Credit: Economictimes.Indiatimes.com

The paper contains her valuable insights into how to tackle foaming buildups of pollutants on the surface of lakes, which the Bengaluru girl Sahithi Pingali gathered through her self-programed mobile phone app and using her self-made lake monitoring kit to crowdsource data on environmental issues. The paper was so interesting and impressive that she won the second prize in the Earth and Environment Sciences category of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Los Angeles.

Bengaluru, once upon a time the city of lakes, was referred to as a ‘city of burning lakes’ in an article published on TheGuardian.com and dated March 1, 2017. On the evening of February 16, the middle of Bellandur Lake, the biggest in Bengaluru City, caught fire which raged on for 12 hours. The reckless dumping of waste and channeling of untreated sewage containing effluents into the lakes of the city is not only plaguing the public health but also creating water scarcity in the city. According to the article, it is one of the reasons why scientists at Indian Institute of Science Bangalore think the Silicon Valley of India will be uninhabitable by 2025.

Sahithi Pingali’s award-winning study on the pollution of Bengaluru city lakes is expected to help scientists protect the city from environmental calamities, and millions of people from health hazards. No wonder why she is now among the fewer than 15000 people in the word who treasure the honor of having minor planets named after them. Bengaluru girl Sahithi Pingali is also an intern at the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department of the University of Michigan.

Sahithi Pingali took home three awards including the above-mentioned second prize out of the 21 awards bagged by the Indian participants in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, Los Angeles. The minor planet in the Milky Way galaxy is named after her by the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in USA, which has the right to name minor planets after outstanding achievers in science and technology.

Sahithi Pingali’s self-engineered mobile app helps users collect water-testing data from a cloud platform and understand it easily. The app works on test strips by means of electronic sensors to check the physical and chemical properties of a water sample, irrespective of its source. An in-built recognition and mapping feature of the app indicates the level of impurity in water based on the color of the test strip. This data is stored on a cloud platform, which she calls a ‘water health map.’

Apart from the planet named after her, Bengaluru girl Sahithi Pingali has treasured several laurels such as the Grand Award at the IRIS Science Fair in Pune, and the gold medal at the International Sustainable World Engineering Energy Environment Project (ISWEEEP) Olympiad in Houston.

Travel Beats is an Indian community portal by Indian Eagle, a leading international travel booking organization. We celebrate the achievements of young Indians across the world and publish the Indian Diaspora news besides sharing updates on air travel, India tourism, US visa and immigration.

Inspiring Stories of Young Indian Achievers

• 14 Young Indians in USA Won Junior Nobel Prizes
• Chennai Boy Won NASA Prize for His Celestial Elevator
• Assam Girl Asks PM Modi to Teach Northeast Indian History
• NRI Teen Makes Saltwater Drinkable for Millions of People

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India is all set to revolutionize the way it travels long distances by considering the next-generation travel infrastructure for Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. Hyperloop, a futuristic transport technology, is expected to reduce travel time between Delhi and Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, Mumbai and Chennai, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram speeding up transportation as high as 1100 km per hour.

Proposed by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX / Tesla, Hyperloop technology can make it possible to travel faster inside a long tube with controlled environment than in the air. During an event in New Delhi yesterday, four super high-speed rail corridors have been identified in India. These Hyperloop corridors will interconnect Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Jaipur, Indore, Coimbatore and Thiruvananthapuram.

Hyperloop technology was proposed first as a replacement to the California High Speed Rail in 2013. Pod-like vehicles carrying people or cargo will glide through long airless tubes at an accelerated speed due to very low aerodynamic friction. This system is supposed to build India’s financially and environmentally sustainable transport infrastructure for ultra-high-speed travel. Hyperloop transportation promises to be cost-effective, energy-efficient, environment-friendly, safe and quiet.

Image Credit: InsightsonIndia.com

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. India is open to accept new infrastructural challenges for its accelerated growth. Millions of people in India have been depending on the traditional transportation infrastructure from the colonial times, which has changed a little with the launch of Gatimaan Express and Double-Decker trains. The upcoming Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train will further facilitate the changing landscape of travel in India.

With Hyperloop technology in place, India will experience greener, cheaper and more reliable point-to-point mass transportation with the speed of an aircraft, the capacity of a train, and the comfort of a car. The Hyperloop rail corridors will make it possible to travel faster than a private jet and cheaper than a bus. The objectives of Hyperloop transportation seem aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for transforming India for generations.

The Hyperloop transport system will cover 736 km between Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram in only 41 minutes via Coimbatore and Kochi. It will cover 1317 km from Delhi to Mumbai via Jaipur and Indore in only 55 minutes. The distance of 1102 km between Mumbai and Chennai will be covered in 50 minutes via Bengaluru. The travel time for 334 km between Bengaluru and Chennai will be reduced to 20 minutes.

However, Hyperloop technology is still a concept which is at the development stage. Hyperloop transport system is expected to be introduced first in the US state of Nevada later in 2017.

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