title: Namma Metro

text: Construction of the 7.5 km elevated section of a new pink line between Kalena Agrahara and Tavarekere (previously Swagat Road Cross) stations, estimated to cost ₹575.52 crore (US$81 million) began post tendering in February 2018. The tender includes the construction of the elevated viaduct, 5 stations and car depot line to Kothanur depot.


title: Namma Metro

text: BMRC initially floated tenders for the construction of the 13.9 km underground section in four packages during June 2017. However, the tenders were cancelled as all the bids received were far too high (higher by nearly 70%) at Rs.8553.45 core (US$1.28 billion) when compared to BMRC's estimated total of Rs 5047.56 core (about US$760 million).


title: Namma Metro

text: The second round of tendering resulted in tenders being awarded to three firms during March–June period, 2019. One of the firms (L&T) won two bids.


title: Namma Metro

text: The total awarded tunneling tenders for the underground sections was ₹5,925.95 crores (appx US$812 million).


title: Namma Metro

text: Pre-tunneling construction work and piling for stations began in May 2019 by L&T. Tunnel boring using TBMs began in July 2020 by L&T. Tunnel boring work by the other two contractors (viz. Afcons & ITD-Cem) was commenced during 2021.


title: Namma Metro

text: In September 2016, then-Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah announced that a new 18 km (11 mi) line connecting Silk Board with K.R.Puram would be included in Phase 2 as Phase-2A of the project. The line would be along the eastern half of Outer Ring Road and is proposed to have 13 stations – Silk Board, HSR Layout, Agara, Ibbalur, Bellandur, Kadubeesanahalli, Kodibisanahalli, Marathahalli, ISRO, Doddanekundi, DRDO Sports Complex, Sarasvathi Nagara (previously Mahadevapura) and K.R. Puram. The cost was estimated to be ₹4202 crores. BMRCL prepared the detailed project report for the proposed line and submitted the DPR to the state government on 28 October 2016. Phase 2A was approved by the State Cabinet on 1 March 2017. The ORR Metro line (Blue line) will have interchange stations with the extended Purple Line at K.R.Puram and with the proposed R V Road – Bommasandra line (Yellow Line) at Silk Board.


title: Namma Metro

text: Tenders for ORR Metro line (east) were called during February 2018 and IL&FS emerged the lowest bidder for all packages. However, the tenders were quashed due to cash flow problems and bankruptcy proceedings by the firm. A second round of tendering was done during December 2019 and bids were received by multiple firms during March 2020. There are two packages. The first package included 2.84 km of ramps for a flyover at Central Silk board junction in addition to 9.859 km of viaduct with six elevated stations. The second package was for 8.377 km viaduct with seven elevated stations, 1.097 km depot line and a 0.30 km pocket track.


title: Namma Metro

text: There had been a proposal to build a 33 km (21 mi) high speed rail line from MG Road to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), at a cost of ₹5,767 crore (US$810 million). This was to be executed by an independent SPV, but later it was decided that BMRC would manage this project and a regular metro line with fewer halts would be built instead of a high speed rail, thus travel time between city to airport would be less. As early as in February 2012, the Central Government had also requested BMRC to start work on the airport link during Phase 2 itself.


title: Namma Metro

text: Following this, during September 2016, suggestions were invited from public to choose any one of nine possible extension routes from existing and proposed metro lines to the airport. The proposed extension routes had an average length of 30 km (19 mi), and cost estimates ranged between ₹4,500 crore and ₹7,000 crore. A 25.9 km (16.1 mi) extension from Nagawara via Kannur and Bagaluru was the shortest, while the 35.4 km (22.0 mi) extension from Yeshwanthpur via Yelahanka, Kannur and Bagaluru was the longest of the proposed routes. BMRC received 1,300 responses from the public. A 25.9 km (16.1 mi) extension of the Kalena Agrahara (previously Gottigere) – Nagawara line via Kannur and Bagaluru to the airport emerged as the most popular choice.


title: Namma Metro

text: Since Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) forbade underground construction from the southern side of the airport (due to security as it would have to pass beneath the airport's second runway), the shortest route options (i.e. extending the Pink line from Nagawara directly north) were eliminated. An alternate route proceeding north till RK Hegde nagar and then turning west to Jakkur was then explored. However, even this had an obstacle as a high-pressure petroleum pipeline was passing through the originally proposed route.


title: Namma Metro

text: Bangalore Development Minister K. J. George announced on 12 May 2017 that the government had finalized the Nagawara-Ramakrishna Hegde Nagar-Jakkur-Yelahanka route to the airport. On 10 January 2019, the State Cabinet approved a change in alignment for the proposed metro line to the airport. The new line would begin at Krishnarajapura (K.R. Puram) and be aligned along the northern part of ORR (Outer Ring Road), passing Nagawara, Hebbal, and Jakkur before heading towards the airport along Ballari road. The line would be 39.8 km long, about 8 km longer than the route previously proposed. It is estimated to cost ₹10,584 crore (US$1.5 billion) almost twice as much as the previous route's estimate of ₹5,950 crore (US$830 million).


title: Namma Metro

text: The Union Cabinet cleared two much awaited lines of the Bengaluru Metro's Phase-2A and 2B on 20 April 2021. Phase-2A and Phase 2B lines total a distance of 58.19 km and were approved at a cost of Rs.14,788 crore. The projected ridership on both these lines in 2026 is estimated at 7.7 lakhs. Construction of the airport line is expected to begin by October 2021.


title: Namma Metro

text: Phase 2 originally involved extending four reaches of the two lines in all directions and two new lines (Yellow Line and Pink Line).


title: Namma Metro

text: The ORR-East Line was later included as Phase 2A followed by the Airport Line (as a continuation of the ORR-East Line) as Phase-2B. The line was later named as Blue Line.


title: Namma Metro

text: Construction of Phase 2 has been divided into six (elevated) reach extensions and four underground sections. Construction of Phase 2A has been divided into two (elevated section) packages. Construction of Phase 2B has been divided into three (elevated section) packages. Airport stations have not been included with tenders as they will likely be built by Kempegowda International Airport.


title: Namma Metro

text: Phase 1 missed nine deadlines, and its cost was revised four times. The initial cost estimate for Phase 1 when it had been approved in 2006 was . The increase in length from increased the total cost to . Delays caused further escalations. The cost escalated to in 2011 and in 2015. The final cost to build Phase 1 was estimated at . Land acquisition for Phase 1 accounted for .


title: Namma Metro

text: The Central and State Government funded 58.91% of the cost. The remaining 41.09% was secured through loans from domestic and foreign financial institutions. BMRCL secured through long-term loans and by selling bonds, while the remaining cost was funded by Central Government and the State Government. BMRCL secured loans from several agencies – from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO), from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the rest from the French Development Agency. Approximately 10% of the 6500 crore had to be paid as interest by the BMRCL each year. The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) estimated that this amounted to an interest payment of per day. BMRCL stated that interest component wasn't that high but it was "definitely more than per day".


title: Namma Metro

text: BMRCL announced plans on 13 June 2013 to issue 10-year bonds. The proposed bonds received a credit rating of "IND AA" from India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra). Namma Metro MD N. Sivasailam announced on 3 August 2013 that the issue of bonds would be postponed as the market was volatile. He stated that the metro would "be in the market soon when it is stable".


title: Namma Metro

text: On 3 January 2012, the Karnataka government approved a budget of for Phase 2 of Namma Metro project. Phase 2 is estimated to cost . Land acquisition is expected to account for . The Central and State Governments will fund around 15,000 crore. The State and Central Governments will bear 30% and 20% of the project cost respectively. The remaining will be obtained through senior term loans. BMRCL is permitted to raise up to 9,000 crore through loans.


title: Namma Metro

text: On 27 March 2012, Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed an agreement to lend $250 million to BMRC to part-finance Phase 2. The loan marked the multilateral lending agency's foray into the urban transport sector in South Asia, the ADB said in a press release. The loan, approved by the ADB Board in March 2011, is the first ADB loan to the urban transport sector without recourse to sovereign guarantees. In 2016, the Agence Francaise De Development (AFD) sanctioned a 1,600 crore loan for the project. The rate of interest on the loan is linked to Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) + 130 basis points. In early 2017, the European Investment Bank agreed to loan 3,700 crore to BMRCL, with a repayment period of 20 years at a rate of interest lower than the one on the AFD loan.


title: Namma Metro

text: In May 2017, BMRC received in-principle approval from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to fund construction of the Gottigere-Nagawara line through a 3700 crore loan. The line is being co-financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Central and State Governments.


title: Namma Metro

text: Indian firms Biocon and Infosys announced that they would provide funding for the construction of the Hebbagodi and Electronics City metro stations respectively on the RV Road-Bommasandra Metro line. BMRC expects that each firm will contribute towards the project. Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw stated that the company wanted to fund the project because it would help decongest the city. Both Biocon and Infosys have offices located near the stations.


title: Namma Metro

text: BMRCL secured a $318 million loan from JICA in March 2021, and a $500 million loan from the ADB in August 2021 to fund construction of the ORR-Airport metro. The State and Union governments will contribute , and the Karnataka Government will pay an additional for land acquisition.


title: Namma Metro

text: During the first month since the opening of Reach I of just 6.7 km, about 13,25,000 people travelled by metro. On average, 41,390 people took the train every day, while the average daily revenue was . The BMRC earned a revenue of in its first month of operation. However, during the first six months of operation, average ridership went down to 24,968. The BMRC earned a total of during the same period. Namma Metro posted a profit of after about one year of operations of Reach I. BMRCL estimates that nearly 80 lakh passengers travelled on the system in its first year of operations. Namma metro is also pursuing selling retail space within the metro stations to generate non-fare revenue.


title: Namma Metro

text: BMRC procured 150 metro coaches for fifty 3-car train sets in DMC-TC-DMC formation for Phase l of Namma Metro from BEML - Hyundai Rotem at a cost of Rs 1,672.50 crore (Rs 16.72 billion). Coach specifications were as follows. Dimensions: Length-20.8m, Width-2.88m, and Height-3.8m. Each coach had a seating capacity of about 50 and standing capacity of 306 (basis 8 per sqm). Thus, each train had a capacity of about 1000. Traction is through four 180Kw motors in each motor coach. The trains have a maximum speed of 80 kmph and axle load of 15 tonnes. The trains operate on 750V DC with third rail bottom power collector system. Features include stainless steel body fully air-conditioned coaches, longitudinal bank of wide seats, wide vestibules between coaches, non-skid and non-slip floor surfaces, wi-fi enabled, four wide passenger access doors on each side, wide windows, automatic voice announcement system and electronic information and destination display system.


title: Namma Metro

text: Thus, initial operations began with 3-coach trains. Each train had a capacity of 1000 passengers. As loads increased with increasing ridership, all trains were converted to six coaches.


title: Namma Metro

text: The first train set made a trial run in December 2010. In early 2017, BMRC floated tenders for an additional 150 coaches to convert all trains to 6 coach trains on the two Phase 1 routes. On 27 March 2017, BEML announced that it had won an 1,421 crore contract to supply the coaches. The first six car train was introduced on the Purple Line on 23 June 2018. By January 2020, all trains had been converted to six coaches.


title: Namma Metro

text: Free Wi-Fi service was made available to commuters on 31 July 2013. Passengers also have emergency voice communication with train staff through a speaker system. Passengers are provided with a call button to communicate with the driver or control center during an emergency.


title: Namma Metro

text: In December 2009, the ABB Group was awarded the contract to provide power solutions for the first phase of the planned metro network. ABB designed, supplied, installed and commissioned four substations that receive and distribute electricity, each rated at 66/33 kV, as well as the auxiliary and traction substations. ABB also provided an integrated network management system, or SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition), to monitor and control the installations. BMRC currently pays BESCOM 5.7 per unit of electricity.


title: Namma Metro

text: In 2016, BMRCL signed an agreement with CleanMax Solar to set up solar installations at Baiyapanahalli and Peenya stations. After Phase 2 of the metro is complete, CleanMax Solar will set up similar installations at the metro depots in Challaghatta, Whitefield, Kothanur and Hebbagodi. Per the agreement, CleanMax Solar will bear the cost of installation and the BMRC will pay CleanMax a rate of 5.5 per unit of electricity for three years. Following the three-year period, all six installations will be transferred to the BMRC. According to the BMRC director of operations NM Dhoke, "The 1.4 MW installation can generate up to 10,000 units, which help power the depot facilities. However, it is not sufficient to power the trains, but it will help us save 51 crore over 25 years on energy".


title: Namma Metro

text: In February 2019, Alstom was awarded a GBP 62 million contract to provide electrification systems for Phase II of the Namma Metro. The company will construct 56 substations to supply power for Phase II of the system.


title: Namma Metro

text: In September 2009, the consortium led by Alstom Project India Limited was awarded a contract worth to supply control and signalling system for the first phase of the project. The consortium is led by Alstom and composed of Alstom Transport SA, Thales Group Portugal S A, and Sumitomo Corporation. Alstom will provide the design, manufacture, supply, installing, testing, and commissioning of the train control and signalling system and Thales will provide the design, installing, testing, and commissioning of the telecommunication system for Phase 1 of the metro system. It includes the Urbalis 200 Automatic Train Control system which will ensure optimal safety, flexible operations and heightened passenger comfort.


title: Namma Metro

text: The integrated control center at Baiyyappanahalli has direct communication with trains and stations are CCTV fitted with visual and audio service information. Passengers have emergency voice communication with train staff.


title: Namma Metro

text: There are 51 stations on the Namma Metro network. Majestic station is the largest with a total floor area of .


title: Namma Metro

text: Initially, there were no toilets at Namma Metro stations. BMRCL eventually heeded public demand, and the metro's first toilets were opened at Baiyappanahalli and Indiranagar stations on 21 June 2013. As of February 2017, there were 33 ATMs at Namma Metro stations.


title: Namma Metro

text: The 12 underground stations built during Phase II will be smaller in size than the underground stations built in Phase I to minimise land acquisition costs. All Phase I underground stations were 272 meters long and 24 meters wide, except for Chickpet and K.R. Market stations which had the same width but were 240 meters long. In contrast, Phase II's underground stations are shorter at 210 meters but retain the same width.


title: Namma Metro

text: On 17 February 2017, Uber announced that it would open booking counters at 12 metro stations by the end of March 2017. The counters enable commuters to book an Uber, and is aimed at commuters who do not have access to the internet or do not have the Uber mobile app installed on their phone. Ola Cabs announced a similar arrangement on 22 February 2017.


title: Namma Metro

text: Under phase-1, two depots were built at Baiyyappanahalli and Peenya. For the line extensions in phase-2, BMRC is building additional depots at Anjanapura on the Green Line and at Challaghatta and Kadugodi for the Purple Line. For the new lines in phase-2, depots are being built at Kothanur (Pink Line) and at Hebbagodi (Yellow Line).


title: Namma Metro

text: For the Blue Line (airport line, phase-2A), the Baiyyappanahalli depot is planned to be used as two depots are being built for Purple Line at its ends. In addition, a depot is planned at Doddajala, near the Trumpet inter-change. The depot at Baiyappanahalli has an operations control center for managing the metro network and also a training center.


title: Namma Metro

text: The BMRC granted permission to Hydrobloom, a start-up company, to grow hydroponic plants on the pillars of the Namma Metro. Pillars covered with plants are referred to as vertical gardens. Hydrobloom had previously developed a vertical garden on a metro pillar near Rangoli Art Centre next to the MG Road Metro station. The gardens are intended for beautification and to reduce air pollution.


title: Namma Metro

text: , BMRCL has two road-cum-rail rescue vehicles that can be used to perform evacuations or re-load derailed trains back onto the track.


title: Namma Metro

text: The trains are equipped with derailment prevention equipment, and the tracks are equipped with concrete barriers to prevent trains from leaving the viaduct. The support pillars are earthquake-proof and are designed to have a lifespan of at least 100 years. Trains are equipped with sensors to detect impending collisions, and have automatic braking systems to prevent speed limits from being exceeded. In case of train stoppages midway between stations during emergencies, pavements beside tracks are provided on elevated viaducts as well as in underground sections.


title: Namma Metro

text: Yellow tactile tiles are used at all stations to guide the visually impaired. The tiles start at the ramp and lead to the staircases and lifts. Disabled and elderly passengers can avail a wheelchair at all metro stations. The wheelchair can be used by the passenger to board a train and then dropped off at the destination station. In February 2017, BBMP and BMRC began a project to upgrade all footpaths along metro routes. The project is estimated to cost 40 crore and was scheduled to be completed in 18 months.


title: Namma Metro

text: BMRCL, in a public-private partnership, harvests rainwater from the viaducts on the rail system. The private partner, Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development (KRIDL), collects the water at multiple points, treats it, and sells it in bulk as potable water. Pipes inside each metro viaduct pillar carry the rainwater from the viaduct down to underground tanks located beneath the median. When these tanks overflow, the water is diverted to 5 metres deep rainwater harvesting pits. Two rainwater harvesting pits are installed between each pillar. The average distance between the two pillars is 28 meters. As of March 2017, a of the elevated metro is covered by the rainwater harvesting system. With the completion of Phase 2 of the metro, the BMRCL will cover a total of with rainwater harvesting systems. Around 8 crore litres of water are expected to be collected annually.


title: Namma Metro

text: BMRCL also harvests rainwater from the 140 acres depot facility at Peenya. Water will be collected from the sq foot roof and stored in two tanks with a capacity of 50,000 litres each. Rainwater harvesting is also planned in existing and under-construction stations. The water harvested will be supplied to places where needed, and any excess will be used for groundwater recharge.


title: Namma Metro

text: BMRC has installed a water harvesting system along Reach 1 and will be doing the same for Reaches 3 & 4. Installation of flower beds was delayed due to garbage being dumped on the median by garbage collectors, BMRC will also set up flower beds on Reach 1 with assistance from the horticulture department. However, the work related to this has slowed down due to garbage contractors dumping garbage along the median, due to the lack of a waste management plan in the city. BMRC also planned to rejuvenate Kengeri and Veerasandra lakes using water collected from a nearby corridor.


title: Namma Metro

text: MIFARE DESFire platform, developed by NXP Semiconductors, was selected to manage the Automated Fare Collection (AFC) for Namma Metro. The system uses contactless smart tokens and contactless smart card. Tokens are available only for a single journey. Smart cards can be used for multiple journeys. There is currently one type of smart card available on the metro – "Varshik".


title: Namma Metro

text: BMRCL began selling tokens through automatic ticket vending machines (ATVMs) on 4 December 2012 at MG Road, Indiranagar and Baiyyappanahalli stations. The service will eventually be expanded to all metro stations. The touchscreen-enabled ATVMs are available in 3 languages – English, Kannada, and Hindi. Commuters can purchase a single journey token by selecting the destination station or the amount in the ATVM. They can also add value or add trips to the contactless smart card. Commuters can purchase up to 8 tickets at a time and can get the receipt printer for card recharge. ATVMs accept coins of 5 and 10 denominations and 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 denominations of currency notes. However, the ATVM cannot differentiate between 1 and 2 coins.


title: Namma Metro

text: In November 2016, BMRC began accepting online payments to recharge smart cards. Tickets cannot be purchased online. Approximately 68% of passengers on the metro use smart tokens and 32% use smart cards.


title: Namma Metro

text: Metro system in Bengaluru charges full fare tickets for children above 3yrs of age which is against the Indian government circular date 6 March 2020, No. TC-II/2910/2016/child fare/VIP. Circular number 12 states that "Children under five years of age shall be carried free and purchase of any ticket is not required". "In case of children of age 5 years to under 12 years of age (in case of no berth) only half of the applicable fare shall be charged and in this case, a minimum distance of charge shall not be applicable". (CC30 of 2017 dated 24 April 2017). Similarly Karnataka government public transport system does not collect fares from children under the age of 6 yrs and half fares from children under 12 yrs of age. Unfortunately Bengaluru metro decided to include 3 ft as a criterion to decide who is classified as a child. The average age of Indian babies at 3 yrs is much more than 90 cms. Since BMRCL is a joint venture of the Government of India and the Government of Karnataka, it should be expected to follow Government of India/ Karnataka rules.


title: Namma Metro

text: The metro service runs between 05:00 and 23:00 hours. The service starts at 07:00 hours on Sundays. There are trains every 8 minutes between 08:00 and 20:00, and every 10 minutes at other times. On weekdays, trains operate at 4-minute intervals between 09:00 and 10:00. The headway is slated to decrease to once every three minutes after completion of Phase I. The end-to-end travel time on the Purple Line is 35 minutes, and on the Green Line 45 minutes.


title: Namma Metro

text: Metro services have occasionally operated beyond 23:00 hours. Services are usually extended on festival days or when an international cricket match is held in the city.


title: Namma Metro

text: The Purple Line's Reach-1 of 6.7 km was the first to open during October 2011. On the first 3 days of operations of Reach-1, 169,019 people rode the metro. At the end of the 4th day, about 200,000 passengers had already commuted on Namma Metro. During the first month since opening of Reach-1, about 1,325,000 people had travelled by metro. Thus, on average, 41,390 people took the train each day during the first month. However, the average ridership during the first six months of operation dipped down to 24,968.


title: Namma Metro

text: The northern section of Green Line (Reach 3,3A - 9.9 km) opened during March 2014. About 25,000 passengers travelled on the northern section on the opening day. In the first month of operations of the Green Line stretch, 762,000 people used the line, at a daily average of 24,605.


title: Namma Metro

text: Reach-1, Reach-3/3A and Reach-2 (opened during November 2015) operated independently until the east–west underground section of Purple Line (connecting Reaches 1 and 2) was opened during April 2016. Once the east and west reaches were inter-connected with the intermediate underground section of Purple line, ridership surged hugely to nearly 100,000 a day on the line in the first few days. After the north–south underground section was opened (simultaneously with the elevated reaches 4,4A in the south), the network provided connectivity in all four directions with interchange between the lines and this increased ridership further, reaching between 350,000 and 360,000 on average by December 2017.


title: Namma Metro

text: As ridership kept growing, overcrowding became a serious concern. Hence, 3-coach trains were converted to 6 coaches. The first six car train was introduced on the Purple Line on 23 June 2018. By January 2020, all trains had been converted to six coaches.


title: Namma Metro

text: During 2019–20, the annual ridership was 174.22 million (average during the year was thus 477,315). The maximum daily ridership of 601,164 was on 25 October 2019 while the highest daily revenue of Rs.1.67 crore was on 2 March 2020. During January 2020, ridership averaged 518,074.


title: Namma Metro

text: Due to Covid pandemic, services were halted from 25 March 2020 onwards. Operations resumed on 7 September 2020. During the second wave, operations were again halted from 27 April 2021 to 20 June 2021. Services remained limited throughout the pandemic period and ridership was low due to enforcement of constrained capacity and social distancing norms, as stipulated by the state government.


title: Namma Metro

text: The system is designed for a maximum train speed of . However, the Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) fixed the speed at which trains are allowed to operate commercially as on straight sections, on curves, and in stations.


title: Namma Metro

text: The Karnataka State Industrial Security Force (KISF) is responsible for security on the Namma Metro. Bangalore Police conducted detailed mock drills at metro stations for the first time on 25 March 2017. Police officials stated that the drill was to assess readiness to deal with situations such as hoax bomb calls, terrorist infiltration, or attacks. Sniffer dogs, bomb detection and disposal squad, anti-sabotage squad, and Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) were involved in the drill. Police had previously conducted basic mock drills, but this was the first one aimed toward dealing with specific threats. The chosen day was a Saturday, when crowds are usually larger, in order to make the drill more challenging for officers. The BMRCL had not informed of the drill in advance.


title: Namma Metro

text: The Bangalore Metro Rail (Carriage and Ticket) Rules 2011 limit the weight of personal baggage to 15 kg. Rule 3 says: "No person shall, while traveling in metro railway, carry with him any goods other than small baggage containing personal belongings not exceeding 60cm x 45cm x 25cm in size and 15kg in weight, except with the prior approval of the metro railway administration." The rules also prohibit carrying explosive, inflammable, and poisonous substances.


title: Namma Metro

text: The Metro Railway (Operations and Maintenance) Act, 2002, imposes fines and in some cases jail sentences for offences committed on the metro. Anyone indulging in sabotaging the train or maliciously hurting or attempting to hurt other passengers while travelling in the metro can face imprisonment for up to 10 years. Pasting posters or drawing graffiti on the walls of stations or trains is punishable by a fine of 1,000 or imprisonment for up to 6 months. Traveling in an inebriated state or creating nuisance in the train is punishable by a 500 fine. Passengers are monitored at security checkpoints and those that are causing trouble, heavily drunk, or carrying forbidden items are not permitted to board. Spitting on the metro premises is punishable by a fine of 100.


title: Namma Metro

text: The BMRCL launched a Namma Metro app for Android devices in 2013. However, it had limited features. The app was officially re-launched on 4 November 2016 with additional features. The app was developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC). The app allows users to purchase and recharge smart cards, locate nearby metro stations and also provides information related to parking, train frequency, route map, and fare details.


title: Namma Metro

text: To meet the growing traffic demands, a 124 km (79 mi) Phase 3 was initially proposed in May 2016. Certain significant sections that were proposed for Phase 3 were included in Phase 2 as Phase 2A and Phase 2B for 58.19 km.


title: Namma Metro

text: In December 2019, BMRCL unveiled a Comprehensive Mobility Plan as tabled below for subsequent phases:


title: Namma Metro

text: On 7 March 2020 it was announced that two corridors totalling 44.65 km will be implemented as a fully elevated system. under PPP mode with the target to complete the construction within 2027. On 4 March 2022, during budget speech by the state government, a new corridor spanning 35 km from Hebbal to Sarjapura was announced. The Chief Minister stated that action would be taken to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed corridor estimated to cost around ₹15,000 crores. The DPR of the 44.65 km two corridors announced earlier will be submitted to the Central Government for approval. The two corridors Hebbal Kempapura to JP Nagar (along ORR on the west) and Hosahalli to Kadabagere were estimated to cost ₹13,500 crores. Thus Phase 3 will be likely for a total of 80 km.


title: Namma Metro

text: Several films and commercials have been shot on the Namma Metro premises. The BMRCL charges for shooting inside a metro station, and for shoots inside a metro train during peak hours between 6 am to 10 pm. During non-peak hours, from 10 pm to 4 am, the agency charges for shoots inside metro stations and inside a train. The film producers must also make a security deposit of , as insurance for the metro property. Film shoots are permitted during three slots – 6 to 8 am, 12 pm to 2 pm, and 9 to 11 pm. Kannada films can avail lower rates.


title: Namma Metro

text: The first film to shoot on Namma Metro was the Kannada blockbuster "Ugramm" in 2013. Later many other Kannada movies including 2015 film Rana Vikrama starring Puneeth Rajkumar and Adah Sharma, were shot using Namma Metro's facilities.


title: Namma Metro

text: The 2012 Malayalam film "22 Female Kottayam", starring Fahadh Faasil and Rima Kallingal also has a song sequence shot in the Namma Metro coach.


title: Namma Metro

text: In December 2016, Tamil film "Imaikkaa Nodigal", starring Nayanthara became the first film to shoot scenes inside the tunnel stretch of the Purple Line. According to BMRC officials, prior to this film, one Kannada film, one Telugu film and several commercials had been shot on the Namma Metro premises.


title: Namma Metro

text: In February 2017 a mobile game based on Namma Metro was released. It is called the Bangalore Metro Simulator 2017, which includes users to drive both Purple Line and Green Line. But the game is now not available in Google Play.


title: Namma Metro

text: In August 2021, the Karnataka government requested large corporations with offices on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) to consider extending remote work policies until the end of 2022 to reduce traffic congestion during the soon-to-be initiated Metro rail construction on the stretch from Silk Board to KR Puram. Due to questions raised by IT companies and employees awaiting return to their offices, the government issued a clarification that it was not mandatory.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Ralph Breaks the Internet is a 2018 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 57th animated film produced by the studio and the sequel to the 2012 film "Wreck-It Ralph", it is directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston (in Johnston's directorial debut), written by Johnston and Pamela Ribon from a story by Moore, Johnston, Ribon, Josie Trinidad, and Jim Reardon, produced by Clark Spencer, and executive-produced by John Lasseter, Jennifer Lee, and Chris Williams, the film stars the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Alfred Molina, and Ed O'Neill. In the film, Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz must travel to the Internet to get a replacement for the "Sugar Rush" cabinet's broken steering wheel and prevent Mr. Litwak from disposing of the game.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: The first discussions about a sequel to "Wreck-It Ralph" began in September 2012, and the new installment went through three different scripts before the filmmakers settled on the final plot. When the film was officially announced in June 2016 as "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2", much of the original cast confirmed they had signed on, with new cast members added in 2018. It is Walt Disney Animation Studios' first computer-animated film sequel and is the first sequel from the studio to be created by the original film's creative team.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: "Ralph Breaks the Internet" premiered in Los Angeles on November 5, 2018, and was released in the United States on November 21. The film grossed over $529.3 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 91st Academy Awards, 76th Golden Globe Awards, 46th Annie Awards, and 24th Critics' Choice Awards, losing all four awards to "".


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Six years after the events of the first film, Ralph and Vanellope have stayed best friends, hanging out after work in Litwak's Arcade. Ralph is content with their life, but Vanellope longs for excitement and expresses how bored she has become of "Sugar Rush" predictability. To please her, Ralph sneaks into her game and makes a secret road. The next day, when Vanellope fights the arcade player's control to test the track, the cabinet's steering wheel breaks. As the company that made "Sugar Rush" is defunct, and the cost of a replacement wheel on eBay is too high, Litwak decides to scrap "Sugar Rush" and unplugs the game, leaving its citizens homeless. The Surge Protector finds homes for all "Sugar Rush" citizens as a short-term measure as they figure out how to save the game, with Felix and Calhoun adopting the racers. Remembering eBay, Ralph and Vanellope travel through Litwak's new Wi-Fi router to the Internet, a place where websites are represented as buildings in a sprawling city, avatars represent users, and programs are people.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: The search engine KnowsMore directs them to eBay, where they win the auction for the steering wheel by unintentionally spiking the price to only to find they have just 24 hours to raise the funds, or they will forfeit the bid and lose the wheel. On the way out, they run into clickbait salesman J. P. Spamley, who brokers items obtained from video games and offers them a lucrative job of stealing a car from Shank, the lead character in the popular racing-centered battle royale game "Slaughter Race". They steal Shank's car, but she stops them before they can leave the game with it. Suggesting another way to make money on the Internet, she proceeds to make a viral video of Ralph and uploads it to video-sharing site BuzzzTube. She directs them to BuzzzTube's head algorithm, Yesss, who capitalizes on Ralph's video popularity. They decide to make more videos, which will earn them the money for the wheel if they attract enough views. Vanellope offers to help advertise the videos, and Ralph has Yesss send her to Oh My Disney. There, while being chased by Stormtroopers for advertising on the site, Vanellope befriends the Disney Princesses as well as Anna and Elsa, being encouraged by them to discuss her sense of un-fulfillment and reaching an epiphany in the form of an "I Want" song on the subject. Ralph makes enough money to buy the wheel but finds Vanellope talking with Shank about staying in "Slaughter Race", having felt at home there due to its relative novelty and unpredictability compared to "Sugar Rush".


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Worried of losing his friend forever, Ralph asks Spamley for a way to draw Vanellope out of the game and is brought to the dark web vendor Double Dan, who provides Ralph with a virus, Arthur, that feeds off insecurities and replicates them. When Ralph unleashes Arthur into "Slaughter Race", it replicates Vanellope's glitch, triggering a server reboot. Ralph, Shank, and the others help Vanellope escape before the game resets. Vanellope blames herself for the crash, but Ralph confesses to her that the crash was actually his fault. Outraged, Vanellope throws away his hero cookie medal and runs off.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: As a guilt-ridden Ralph finds his now-cracked-in-half medal, Arthur copies Ralph's insecurities and makes duplicates of Ralph. The clones overrun the Internet in a DoS attack, all chasing after Vanellope to keep her for themselves. Ralph saves her and attempts to lure the clones into a firewall, but they form a giant Ralph monster that seizes them both. Ralph comes to accept that Vanellope can make her own choices, letting go of his insecurities. This also causes the giant Ralph monster and the clones to disappear, and Ralph and Vanellope reconcile. Ralph gives half of the broken medal to Vanellope and they bid each other a heartfelt farewell as Shank has arranged for Vanellope to respawn in "Slaughter Race".


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Back in the arcade, "Sugar Rush" is repaired, and Ralph partakes in social activities with the other arcade characters as he stays in touch with Vanellope over video chat, feeling content with his newfound ability to be independent.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: The first twelve characters in the Disney Princess line appear, along with Anna and Elsa from "Frozen". All were voiced by the voice actresses who originated the roles, except for Cinderella and Aurora, who were voiced by the voice actresses who currently portray them in Disney Princess material, Jennifer Hale and Kate Higgins, respectively, as Cinderella's original voice actress, Ilene Woods, died in 2010, and Aurora's original voice actress, Mary Costa, had retired, and Snow White, who was voiced by screenwriter Pamela Ribon, as Snow White's original voice actress, Adriana Caselotti, had passed away in 1997. Additionally, Rajah (Jasmine's pet tiger), Meeko (Pocahontas' pet raccoon), Cinderella's mice (including Jaq and Gus) and her bird companions, and Prince Naveen (in frog form, whom Ralph mistakes for Frogger) also appear in the film.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Several characters from other films and media also cameo with their original or current voice actors, such as Roger Craig Smith as Sonic the Hedgehog, Maurice LaMarche as Tapper, Brad Garrett as Eeyore from "Winnie the Pooh", Corey Burton as Grumpy from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", Anthony Daniels as C-3PO from "Star Wars", Vin Diesel as Groot from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear from "Toy Story".


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Additionally, Melissa Villaseñor voices Taffyta Muttonfudge, one of the "Sugar Rush" racers, replacing Mindy Kaling from the original film; Bill Hader provides the uncredited voice of J. P. Spamley, a personification of clickbait pop-up ads represented as a desperate salesman who cannot make a sale; John DiMaggio voices Arthur, an insecurity virus; Sean Giambrone (English YouTuber Daniel Middleton/DanTDM in the UK version, but not on the UK home release) voices eBoy, an eBay employee who informs Ralph of the status on the eBay item deadline; Flula Borg voices Maybe, an algorithm who is an assistant to Yesss; and Dianna Agron voices the news anchor covering the virus in the real world. Ali Wong, Timothy Simons, GloZell Green, and Hamish Blake, respectively, voice Felony, Butcher Boy, Little Debbie, and Pyro, all of whom are other characters in "Slaughter Race" as Shank's racing crew. The film's directors Rich Moore and Phil Johnston reprise their roles as Sour Bill, Zangief (Moore), and the Surge Protector (Johnston), respectively. YouTube personalities Colleen Ballinger, Dani Fernandez, and Tiffany Herrera also voice cameos, with Nicole Scherzinger having a cameo voice role in a mid-credits scene, too.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Similar to the first film, "Ralph Breaks the Internet" includes a number of cameos and references to video games and various Disney properties, including their own films, Pixar films, "Star Wars", Marvel Comics, and The Muppets franchises. The band Imagine Dragons (whose song "Zero" is featured in a trailer for the film, as well as its end credits and soundtrack) make a cameo appearance in the film, with the members voicing themselves. The video game "Fortnite Battle Royale" is briefly shown, including the battle bus and the floss dance. Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' former writer, editor, and publisher, makes a cameo appearance in the film.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: The filmmakers revealed that the film originally featured a joke about Kylo Ren being a "spoiled child", which was later cut from the film by request from Lucasfilm because it would undermine his role as a villain. Also cut from the film was C-3PO being mockingly called R2-D2 and BB-8 by the princesses. Additionally, the film would originally include "The Golden Girls" characters, but it was later cut because the directors felt it was a bizarre juxtaposition. The legion of Ralph clones, which forms a gigantic Ralph monster, resembles the King Kong character from various films. During production, the giant monster form was dubbed "Ralphzilla" after Godzilla.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: In September 2012, Rich Moore said that there were already ideas for a sequel, and in March 2013, Moore said that he and Disney had ideas about a sequel that would bring the characters up to date and explore online gaming and console gaming. Moore stated that many of the crew and voice cast were open to the sequel, believing that they have "barely scratched the surface" of the video game world they envisioned. He also stated that he planned to include Tron in the sequel, which appears briefly in the film, where Ralph and Vanellope race at the beginning. In 2014, the first film's composer Henry Jackman said that a story for the sequel was being written.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: In March 2016, Moore stated that a sequel was still being planned. In June 2016, Walt Disney Animation Studios announced that the sequel would be released on March 9, 2018, with Moore and Phil Johnston attached, and that its story would be one where "Ralph leaves the arcade and wrecks the Internet".


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: In March 2017, the sequel's title was officially announced as "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2", with Moore returning as director joined by the first film's co-writer, Johnston, and Clark Spencer also returning as producer. In July 2018, Disney removed "Wreck-It Ralph 2" from the film's title.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Two working versions of the script had been scrapped before settling on the one used for the film, according to head writer Josie Trinidad. In one version, Vanellope had become self-absorbed by the Internet, gaining popularity and becoming a celebrity among the users. Ralph had been thrown in jail where he met the search engine Knowsmore, and they had partnered together to escape prison and help bring Vanellope back to her normal self. A second version had Ralph becoming an Internet-famous celebrity and would have been challenged by an anti-virus program named BEV that served as a super cop and would have been the story's villain. Trinidad said neither of these versions captured what they felt was the centerpiece of the sequel, being how Ralph and Vanellope reacted to the new world of the Internet and realizing they have separate paths going forward.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Producer Clark Spencer said that "the film is about change. Two best friends are about to realize that the world won't always be the same. The internet is the perfect setting, really, because it's all about change—things change by the second". Director of story Jim Reardon said that it was intimidating to set the film on the Internet, stating that "[They] looked at how [they] could make the internet relatable on a human level—like how Game Central Station aka the power strip mirrored a train station in the first movie." Reardon, however, said that Disney "didn't want to make the movie about the internet", instead focus on Ralph and Vanellope's friendship, and to treat the Internet as "the place where the movie takes place". Josie Trinidad claimed that the filmmakers "didn't want to just give the audience more of that friendship — [people had] to see that relationship grow."


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: The designs of scenes within the Internet were based on tours made of One Wilshire in Los Angeles, as it is one of the world's largest telecommunications centers. The filmmakers did not approach any of the companies (outside of Disney) that are represented on the Internet and strove to include net branding from all across the world. They also had to explore various Internet memes, making sure to avoid those that lacked long-term presence on the Internet. While the film addresses many positive elements of the Internet, the filmmakers did not want to shy away from covering some of the more unpleasant aspects about it, in part fueled by the success of tackling racism indirectly within "Zootopia". They wanted to follow the same approach as they had with Judy Hopps in "Zootopia", where she experienced, learned, and overcame the racism aspects, and have Ralph similarly learn and become a better person without having to actually solve the issue of hostility on the Internet.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: The scene where Vanellope is introduced to the Disney Princesses came from screenwriter Pamela Ribon. In 2014, Ribon was still working on "Moana" when Disney began internally pitching ideas for the sequel to "Wreck-It Ralph", Ribon recognized that like the title character of "Moana", Vanellope fits the definition of a Disney Princess. When work formally began on the sequel after the completion of "Zootopia", Ribon pitched the idea of Disney poking fun at itself by having Vanellope meet the other Disney Princesses in the green room of OhMyDisney.com, the Disney fan-driven website. Further inspiration came from a BuzzFeed online quiz that asked which Disney Princess the user was; Moore thought it would be interesting if Ralph had encountered that quiz and ended up in an argument with Vanellope over the result. The script was written by Ribon, which she wanted to include the various tropes of the Princesses, with them making in the final cut for the film. Moore and Johnston were satisfied with the script.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: In July 2015, John C. Reilly said he had signed on to reprise his role of Ralph in a projected sequel. In March 2017, Jane Lynch, Jack McBrayer, and Sarah Silverman were reported as being set to reprise their roles. In December 2016, Alan Tudyk confirmed his return in the sequel as a different character, named KnowsMore, after previously voicing King Candy in the first film. In August 2018, actress Gal Gadot joined the cast as Shank. The production team on the film was able to secure all the Disney Princesses' original voice actresses, except for Adriana Caselotti as Snow White, Ilene Woods as Cinderella, and Mary Costa as Aurora, due to the formers having both died in 1997 and 2010 respectively, while the latter retired from acting in 2000. Jennifer Hale and Kate Higgins, the current voice actresses for Cinderella and Aurora, were hired for the film; Pamela Ribon, the film's co-screenwriter, performed Snow White's voice for temporary tracks, but the team considered it a good substitute, allowing Ribon to voice her in the final film.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: The film contains over 150 unique sets and 5,726 assets, and includes the highest number of characters in any Disney Animation film, with 434 individual characters with 6,752 variants. One of the Disney animators who helped out to bring the Disney Princesses into CGI animation was Mark Henn, who was also the original supervising animator of princesses Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan, and Tiana. Henn also served as the supervising animator for the film's background hand-drawn animated characters. Animators had to work out various techniques to take the different styles of animation into a single approach, and figure out the proportions of the characters using official figurines. Unlike their original film counterparts, the Disney Princesses in the film were rendered in a more cartoony style with bigger eyes and ears.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: In the initial trailer for the film, the African-American princess character Tiana appeared to have a lighter skin tone, a narrower nose, and more European features than she did in the 2009 film "The Princess and the Frog". This led to some backlashes on social media as these drew her appearance away from that expected of African-Americans. As a result, Disney contacted Tiana's voice actress, Anika Noni Rose, and the advocacy group Color of Change to redesign Tiana for "Ralph Breaks the Internet" to make sure she resembles more closely to her 2009 appearance; the updated character model was revealed in the second trailer. The same treatment was given to Pocahontas, the titular character of the 1995 film, as many viewers had pointed out that she was also given a much lighter skin tone.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: A scene featured in the film's original teaser, released in March 2018, involving Ralph and Vanellope invading a children's game and feeding pancakes to a bunny to the point that it is implied to explode, was heavily discussed prior to the film's release; however, the scene was eventually cut from the film and instead placed halfway through the credits. The post-credits scene involves what starts as a teaser for "Frozen II" but cuts to Ralph rickrolling the audience by starting to sing Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". While producers Spencer and Moore had an idea of Ralph doing a "Wreck Roll" early on in the film's development, they never incorporated it into the story. As it was one of the last scenes added, the producers had gotten Reilly, who was on vacation with his family at the time, to come into a New York City studio to record for the day so that the animators could work from that.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: On September 19, 2018, Imagine Dragons released the lead single from the soundtrack titled "Zero", which plays during the end credits of the film. On October 23, 2018, the music video of "Zero" was posted on Imagine Dragons' YouTube channel. The film features an original song called "A Place Called Slaughter Race", performed by Sarah Silverman and Gal Gadot, written by Tom MacDougall and the film's co-director Phil Johnston, and composed by Alan Menken; the song's pop version, "In This Place", was performed by Julia Michaels. The film also features songs from various Disney Princess films, as well as Demi Lovato's cover of "Let it Go" played in the beginning of the "Oh My Disney" scene. Ralph also rickrolls the tune "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley in a post-credits scene. The soundtrack was composed by Henry Jackman, who also composed the score from the previous film.<ref name="/Film"></ref> It was released digitally on November 16, 2018, and on CD on November 30, 2018.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: To coincide with the film's release, "Fortnite Battle Royale" made a cameo appearance of Ralph via an "outdoor cinema screen" in the game's location "Risky Reels" and added the emote dance Hot Marat, which was available as a limited time offering. For "Wreck Urselfie", a mobile experience used to build scenarios with Google Home featured Ralph and Vanellope stuck inside users' smartphones, as Google BrandLab used Google's API Cloud Vision. The first WhatsApp experience that allowed fans to connect with Ralph and Vanellope while they navigated the Internet and ended up in WhatsApp. Amazon, which promoted the film with its products FireTV and the Kindle Fire, and its subsidiary IMDb, announced the "Pre-Black Friday sale" through the "themed landing page," which was seen in the scene where Ralph "broke" its home page. Furthermore, fans had some Disney offers and continued to connect the purchase of the film's tickets. Carvana and Disney collaborated to promote the film's release throughout a multi-channel campaign. The film collaborated with the mobile in-cinema game Noovie Arcade, which tied the video game used in the film's teaser, the "pancake milkshake", causing audiences to have each other's challenges and gain scores and milkshakes at least 21,100 theaters including AMC Theatres, Cinemark, and Regal Cinemas. The virtual reality experience based on the film, which was created in collaboration with ILMxLab and The Void, titled "Ralph Breaks VR". Aside from the film, it takes on a different plot. Additional marketing partners for the film included BAPE, eBay, Fandango, Mailchimp, McDonald's, Netgear, and Purple.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: In the month of the release of the film, the world builder video game "Disney Magic Kingdoms" included a limited time Event focused on "Ralph Breaks the Internet" to promote it, with the characters involved in a new storyline unrelated to the events of the film, including Ralph, Vanellope, Yesss, Shank, Spamley, Fix-Felix, Jr. and Caulhoun as playable characters, some attractions based on locations of the film, and the Comfy Costumes that Cinderella, Ariel, Belle and Jasmine wear in the film.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: "Ralph Breaks the Internet" premiered on November 5, 2018, at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. The film was originally scheduled for general release on March 9, but it was pushed back to November 21. "Ralph Breaks the Internet" was also released in IMAX and 3D formats.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: "Ralph Breaks the Internet" was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on digital on February 12, 2019, and on Blu-ray and DVD on February 26. Bonus features include a behind-the-scenes featurette, a short highlighting some of the Easter eggs hidden throughout the film, deleted scenes, and the music videos for "Zero" and "In This Place". A feature exclusive to the digital release is a featurette on the artists going to race car driving school to research all the driving in "Slaughter Race". In its first week, "Ralph Breaks the Internet" sold 225,099 DVDs and 816,890 Blu-rays as the most sold film on both formats in the United States. Overall, "Ralph Breaks the Internet" sold 616,387 DVDs and 1.4million Blu-rays, adding them up to get a total of 2million copies, and made $47.7million through home media releases.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: "Ralph Breaks the Internet" grossed $201.1million in the United States and Canada, and $328.2million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $529.3million, against a production budget of $175million.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: In the United States and Canada, "Ralph Breaks the Internet" was released alongside "Creed II" and "Robin Hood", as well as the wide expansion of "Green Book", and was originally projected to gross $67–77million from 3,900+ theaters in its five-day opening weekend. The film made $18.3million on its first day (including a pre-Thanksgiving record $3.8million from Tuesday previews) and another $10.2million on its second. It went on to debut to $55.7million in its opening weekend (a five-day total of $84.5million), finishing first at the box office and marking the second-best Thanksgiving opening behind Disney's "Frozen" ($93.6million). In its second weekend the film made $25.8million, dropping 54% but remaining in first. For the third weekend, it topped the box office once again with $16.1million, dropping 37%. In its second and third weekends the film finished ahead of "The Grinch", marking the first time where animated films reached the top two spots at the box office for two consecutive weekends.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, down from the "A" earned by the first film, and those at PostTrak gave the film four stars out of five.


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Bilge Ebiri of "The New York Times" gave the film a positive review, saying that "somewhere amid the film's ornate imagery and deliriously irreverent humor, we might begin to realize that we're watching a terrifying, incisive satire about the ways that a life lived online makes monsters of us all". Brian Lowry of CNN said that "The colorful action should delight tykes, but the smart, media-savvy asides make it especially appealing to grownups". Kerry Lengel of "The Arizona Republic" gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying "what makes the movie compelling, despite the subdued dramatic payoff, is that it is a heightened reflection of our experience—our love affair, really—with our gadgets, our apps and, yes, our brands". Peter Hartlaub of the "San Francisco Chronicle" gave the film three stars out of four, stating that the film is "almost always inspired in the moment" and said that "the new characters are all pretty great", though he said that the film's first third "struggles to find its focus", and felt that Felix and Calhoun's subplot "would have worked better as a pre-movie animated short". Chris Bumbray of "JoBlo's Movie Emporium" said that the film "is just as solid" as the first film, and said it was compared to the science-fiction film "Ready Player One". Bryan Bishop of "The Verge" described the film as ""The Lego Movie" of Disney films", stating that it "soars when it sends up the studio's own films, but its portrayal of the internet feels a little optimistic for 2018."


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Oliver Jones of "The New York Observer" gave the film a two-and-a-half score, saying that ""Ralph Breaks the Internet" is a candy coated, hard shined brick of postmodernism—a Vitamix smoothie of gags, nostalgia, product placement and Fruity Pebbles". Alonso Duralde of "TheWrap" said that "Within a few years, the specifics of the viral-video gags in "Ralph Breaks the Internet" will be as dated as a Tay Zonday joke". Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" said that the "sequel to the 2012 film is somewhere between "Ready Player One" and "The Emoji Movie", summoning up a zero-gravity spectacle of dazzling colours and vertiginous perspectives, a featureless and inert mashup of memes, brands, avatars, and jokes".


title: Ralph Breaks the Internet

text: Directors Rich Moore and Phil Johnston said that a "Ralph Breaks the Internet" spin-off film focusing on the Disney Princesses could be made depending on the audience's response, and "if there's a good story to be told". Also, John C. Reilly says that he has an idea if a third film was to be made, he would consider seeing Ralph and Vanellope "beaming themselves right out into space".


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: "Can't Help Falling in Love" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley for the album "Blue Hawaii" (1961). It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss and published by Gladys Music, Inc. The melody is based on "Plaisir d'amour", a popular French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini. The song was initially written from the perspective of a woman as "Can't Help Falling in Love with Him", which explains the first and third line ending on "in" and "sin" rather than words rhyming with "you".


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: "Can't Help Falling in Love" was featured in Presley's 1961 film "Blue Hawaii". It has also been recorded by many other artists, including Swedish pop group A-Teens, and the British reggae group UB40, whose 1993 version topped the US and UK charts. It was listed as one of the greatest songs by "Rolling Stone", ranking #403 in the list's 2012 edition.


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: Elvis Presley's version of the song topped the British charts in 1962, spending four weeks at no. 1. The single is certified Platinum by the RIAA, for US sales in excess of one million copies. In the United States, the song peaked at No. 2 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 behind Joey Dee and the Starliters' "Peppermint Twist" and went to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for six weeks.


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: During Presley's late 1960s and 1970s live performances, the song was performed as the show's finale. Most notably, it was also sung in the live segment of his 1968 NBC television special, and as the closer for his 1973 Global telecast, "Aloha from Hawaii". A version with a faster arrangement was the closing number in Presley's final TV special, "Elvis in Concert". "Can't Help Falling in Love" was also the last song he performed live, at his concert in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena on 26 June 1977.


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: The recording appeared on the 1997 CD re-issue "Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3" as a bonus track and on the 2002 career retrospective collection "".


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: In 2015, the song was included on the "If I Can Dream" album, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Presley's birth. The version uses archival voice recordings of Presley and his singers, backed by new orchestral arrangements performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: The song is used as an anthem by several English football clubs since the 1960s, including Huddersfield Town, Hull City, Swindon Town and Sunderland.


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: According to a 2020 survey by OnBuy, the song is the most popular choice for couples as the song for the first dance at their wedding.


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: In 1993, British reggae band UB40 covered the original 1961 Elvis Presley recording as the first single from their 1993 album, "Promises and Lies". The song was released on May 10, 1993, and eventually climbed to No. 1 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, staying there for seven weeks. It also topped the charts of 11 other countries, including Australia, Austria, the Netherlands, New Zealand (where it was the most successful single of 1993), and the United Kingdom where it topped the chart for 2 weeks.


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: The song appears on the soundtrack of the movie "Sliver", the trailer for "Fools Rush In", and an episode of "Hindsight". In the US, and on the "Sliver" soundtrack, the song title was listed as "Can't Help Falling in Love," rather than what appeared on the record sleeve, which included parentheses around the words "I Can't Help". The single version of the song also has a slightly different backing rhythm and melody.


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: In his review, Rovi Staff from AllMusic noted that "carried by the hit "Can't Help Falling in Love", "Promises and Lies" finishes UB40's transition from a reggae band to an adult-contemporary band that plays reggae-pop." Another editor, David Jeffries said the song is "representing the ultra-slick, easy to swallow side of the band". Larry Flick from "Billboard" wrote, "U.K. dancehall stars indulge in Elvis Presley memories on this first single from the soundtrack to Sharon Stone's new movie, ""Sliver""." He added that it "has a pillowy, midtempo pace that dabbles in island beats and radio-conscious funk. Brassy horns are a jolting, though ultimately pleasing, element in the arrangement. A fun respite from usual top 40 fare."


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: Marisa Fox from "Entertainment Weekly" said the song is "this album's equivalent" of their earlier version of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine", noting that the band "revitalize" it. She also noted that "they try some snappy new production tricks", like the "full-blown orchestrations" on the song, adding that "those kinds of enhancements only make the blend that much more infectious." James Masterton wrote in his weekly UK chart commentary, that "this was a hit almost before it had even been released." Pan-European magazine "Music & Media" viewed it as a "reggae remake that sounds like the sun will never stop shining." Alan Jones from "Music Week" described it as a "predictable ramble through the Elvis Presley/Andy Williams/Stylistics perennial". A reviewer from "People Magazine" called it a "Rasta-Lite" version.


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by American filmmaker Neil Abramson. It was published on YouTube in June 2009. The video has amassed more than 61 million views as of September 2021.


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: The song was the A-Teens's first single from their third studio album, "Pop 'til You Drop!", as well as for the "Lilo & Stitch" movie soundtrack, which was originally scheduled to include several Presley tracks, the A-Teens picking it for inclusion in the soundtrack. It was later also featured as a bonus track on their third studio album, "New Arrival" for the European market. The video had thus tremendous exposure on several television channels, with the A-Teens eventually including the song in their third album. As a result, the song had two music videos, one to promote the Disney movie, the other for the album. It is also shown in the teen pop compilation album "Disney Girlz Rock".


title: Can't Help Falling in Love

text: The video was directed by Gregory Dark and filmed in Los Angeles, California. It had two different versions. The "Disney Version", as the fans named it, features scenes of the movie, and also new scenes of the A-Teens with beach costumes. The "A-Teens Version" of the video, features the A-Teens on the white background with different close-ups and choreography, and scenes with puppies and different costumes.


title: A Very British Scandal

text: A Very British Scandal is a 2021 historical drama television miniseries, starring Claire Foy as Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll and Paul Bettany as Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. Its production company, Blueprint Pictures, previously made "A Very English Scandal" (2018), about the Thorpe affair. Written and created by Sarah Phelps, "A Very British Scandal" premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 26 December 2021. It was released on Amazon Prime Video on 22 April 2022. Foy won "Best Actress", during the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for her performance.


title: A Very British Scandal

text: The three-episode series dramatises the marriage of Margaret and Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll and Chief () of Clan Campbell, and the media frenzy surrounding their 1963 "Argyll v Argyll" divorce case.


title: A Very British Scandal

text: Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll, is a member of the House of Lords in the 1960s. He meets Margaret Sweeny and falls in love with her while he is still married to his second wife Louise.


title: A Very British Scandal

text: After marrying Margaret, Ian Campbell announces that he intends to leave his estate to his oldest son. Margaret―who stands to gain nothing if her new husband passes away―starts rumors that Ian's children are illegitimate.


title: A Very British Scandal

text: It became a notorious and scandalous legal case, featuring accusations of adultery, forgery, theft, violence, drug use, and bribery. The series explores the social and political climate of postwar Britain, and attitudes toward women in the 1960s.


title: A Very British Scandal

text: In March 2021, it was announced that Claire Foy and Paul Bettany had been cast in the lead roles of "A Very British Scandal", a follow-up to 2018's "A Very English Scandal", and that Sarah Phelps would write and executive produce, with Anne Sewitsky directing and executive producing.


title: A Very British Scandal

text: The series was filmed in Scotland and England, including at Scotland's Inveraray Castle (home of the Duke of Argyll), Glen Etive in the Scottish Highlands, Edinburgh's Parliament House, the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane Hotel, Kimpton Fitzroy London Hotel, Goldsmiths' Hall in London, and the Rivoli Ballroom in London.


title: A Very British Scandal

text: The series premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC One on December 26, 2021, and released in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand on Prime Video on April 22, 2022.


title: A Very British Scandal

text: In the United States, Amazon has entitled "A Very British Scandal" as the 2nd season of "A Very English Scandal".


title: A Very British Scandal

text: Lucy Mangan of "The Guardian" gave the series five out of five stars, praising the writing and casting of the leads, as well as the portrayal of Margaret Campbell as an independent woman but not as a heroic figure. Ed Cumming of "The Independent" also gave the series five out of five stars, writing that Foy and Bettany are "both exceptional." Carol Midgley of "The Times" was less complimentary, awarding three out of five stars, but also praising Foy. Anita Singh of "The Daily Telegraph" gave it two out of five stars, criticising the shift in tone and style from "A Very English Scandal", and feeling that it failed to make Margaret a sympathetic character.


title: Agra

text: Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the fourth-most populous city in Uttar Pradesh and twenty-third most populous city in India.


title: Agra

text: Agra's notable historical period began during Sikandar Lodi's reign, but the golden age of the city began with the Mughals. Agra was the foremost city of the Indian subcontinent and the capital of the Mughal Empire under Mughal emperors Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Under Mughal rule, Agra became a centre for learning, arts, commerce, and religion, and saw the construction of the Agra Fort, Sikandra and Agra's most prized monument, the Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favourite empress. With the decline of the Mughal empire in the late 18th century, the city fell successively first to Marathas and later to the East India Company. After Independence, Agra has developed into an industrial town, with a booming tourism industry, along with footwear, leather and other manufacturing. The Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The city features mild winters, hot and dry summers and a monsoon season, and is famous for its Mughlai cuisine. Agra is included on the Golden Triangle tourist circuit, along with Delhi and Jaipur; and the Uttar Pradesh Heritage Arc, a tourist circuit of Uttar Pradesh, along with Lucknow and Varanasi.


title: Agra

text: The name Agra is explained by different derivations, all of which have low verifiability. The most accepted one is that it had its origin from the Hindi word "agar" meaning salt-pan, a name which was given to it because the soil in the region is brackish and salt used to be made here once by evaporation. Others derive it from Hindu History claiming that the Sanskrit word "agra" () which means the first of the many groves and little forests where Krishna frolicked with the "gopis" of Vrindavan. The term "Agravana" hence means grove forest.


title: Agra

text: Agra was also known as Akbarabad in the Mughal era. The name was coined by the emperor Shah Jahan, in honour of his grandfather Akbar.


title: Agra

text: Agra has two histories: one of the ancient city on the east, or left, bank of the river Yamuna, going back so far as to be lost in the legends of Krishna and Mahabharata and reestablished by Sikandar Lodhi in 1504–1505; the other of the modern city, founded by Akbar in 1558, on the right bank of the river which is associated with the Mughals, and known throughout the world as the city of the Taj. Of ancient Agra little now remains except few traces of the foundations. It was a place of importance under various Hindu dynasties previous to the Muslim invasions of India, but its history is unclear, and possess little historical interest. The 17th century chronicler named Abdhullah said it was a village before the reign of Sikandar Lodi. The king of Mathura had used the Agra fort as a jail. The degradation in the status of the site was a result of the destruction brought upon it by Mahmud of Ghazni. Masud Sa'd Salman claims to have been there when Mahmud assaulted Agra, claiming the Raja Japal surrendered after seeing a nightmare. Mahmud however proceeds to pillage the city.


title: Agra

text: Agra's period of historical importance began during Sikandar Lodi's reign. In 1504–1505, Sultan Sikandar Lodi (reigned 1489–1517), the Afghan ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, rebuilt Agra and made it the seat of government. Sikandar Lodhi appointed a commission which inspected and surveyed both sides of the Yamuna from Delhi to Etawah and finally chose a place on the left bank, or the east side of the Yamuna, as the site for the city. Agra on the left bank of the Yamuna grew into a large flourishing town with royal presence, officials, merchants, scholars, theologians and artists. The city became one of the most important centres of Islamic learning in India. The sultan founded the village of Sikandra in the northern suburbs of the city and built there a "Baradari" of red sandstone in 1495, which was converted into a tomb by Jahangir, and now stands as the Tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani, Akbar's empress.


title: Agra

text: After the Sultan's death in 1517, the city passed on to his son, Sultan Ibrahim Lodi (reigned 1517–26). He ruled his sultanate from Agra until he was defeated and killed by Mughal Emperor Babur in the First battle of Panipat, fought in 1526.


title: Agra

text: The golden age of the city began with the Mughals. Agra was the foremost city of the subcontinent and the capital of the Mughal Empire until 1658, when Aurangzeb shifted the entire court to Delhi.


title: Agra

text: Babur (reigned 1526–30), the founder of the Mughal dynasty, acquired Agra after defeating the Lodhis and the Tomaras of Gwalior in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. Babur's connection with Agra began immediately after the battle of Panipat. He sent forward his son Humayun, who occupied the town without opposition. The Raja of Gwalior, slain at Panipat, had left his family and the heads of his clan at Agra. In gratitude to Humayun, who treated them magnanimously, and protected them from plunder, they presented to him a quantity of jewels and precious stones as a token of homage. Among these was the famous diamond Koh-i-nur. Babur went on to lay out the first formal Mughal garden in India, the Aram Bagh (or Garden of Relaxation) on the banks of the river Yamuna. Babur was determined to establish the seat of his government at Agra, but was almost dissuaded by the desolate appearance of the region, as clear from this quote from his memoir "Baburnama":


title: Agra

text: Very few vestiges remain of Babur's city, of his fruit and flower gardens, palaces, baths, tanks, wells and watercourses. The remnants of Babur's "Charbagh" can be seen today at Aram Bagh, on the east side of Yamuna. Babur was followed by his son Humayun (reigned 1530–40 and 1555–56), but he was completely defeated at Kanauj in 1539, just nine years after his ascension, by Sher Shah Suri, an Afghan nobleman, who had submitted to Babur, but revolted against his son. In this brief interruption in Mughal rule between 1540 and 1556, Sher Shah Suri, established the short lived Sur Empire, and the region was eventually reconquered by Akbar in the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556.


title: Agra

text: Under Akbar (reigned 1556–1605), and followed by his grandson Shahjahan, Agra was immortalised in the history of the world. Akbar built the modern city of Agra on the right bank of Yamuna, where the majority of its part still lies. He converted the city into a great centre of political, cultural and economic importance, connecting it with the various parts of his vast empire. Akbar raised the towering ramparts of the Agra Fort, besides making Agra a centre for learning, arts, commerce, and religion. Akbar also built a new capital city of Fatehpur Sikri, around 35 km from Agra. The new capital city was later abandoned. Before his death, Agra had become probably one of the biggest cities in the east, with huge amounts of trade and commerce happening through its "bazaars". The English traveller Ralph Fitch who visited Agra in September 1585 in the life-time of Akbar, writes about the town:


title: Agra

text: These impressions of Fitch are corroborated by another European traveller, William Finch, who remarked about Agra:


title: Agra

text: Agra continued to expand and flourish during Akbar's successor Jahangir's reign as he wrote in his autobiography "Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri":


title: Agra

text: Akbar's successor Jahangir (reigned 1605–27) had a love of flora and fauna and laid many gardens inside the Red Fort. Akbar's mausoleum at Sikandra was completed during Jahangir's reign. The Jahangiri Mahal in Agra fort and the tomb of Itmad-ud-daulah were also constructed during the reign of Jahangir. Jahangir loved Lahore and Kashmir more than Agra, but the latter continued to be the first city of the realm. It was, however, Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–58) whose building activity raised Agra to the pinnacle of its glory. Shah Jahan, known for his keen interest in architecture, gave Agra its most prized monument, the Taj Mahal. Built in loving memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the mausoleum was completed in 1653. The Jama Masjid and several other notable buildings like the Diwan-i-Am, the Diwan-i-Khas, the Moti Masjid, etc., inside the fort were planned and executed under his orders.


title: Agra

text: Shah Jahan later shifted the capital to Shahjahanabad (now known as Delhi) in the year 1648, followed by his son Aurangzeb (reigned 1658–1707) moving the entire court to Delhi in 1658. With this Agra began rapidly declining. Nevertheless, the cultural and strategic importance of Agra remained unaffected and in official correspondence it continued to be referred to as the second capital of the empire.


title: Agra

text: The decline of the Mughal empire caused the emergence of several regional kingdoms, and in the late 18th century the control of the city fell successively to the Jats, the Marathas, the Mughals, the ruler of Gwalior, and finally the British East India Company. The Jats of Bharatpur, waged many wars against the Mughal Delhi and in the 17th and 18th century carried out numerous campaigns in Mughal territories including Agra. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the city came under the influence of another post-Mughal Empire power, the Marathas, before falling into the hands of the British East India Company in 1803. In the years 1834–1836, Agra was the capital of the short-lived Presidency of Agra, administered by a Governor. It was then the capital of the North-Western Province from 1836 to 1868, governed by a Lieutenant-Governor. Agra was one of the centres of the Indian rebellion of 1857.


title: Agra

text: During the Indian rebellion of 1857, when East India Company rule across many parts of India was threatened, the news of the mutiny at Meerut reached Agra on 14 May. On 30 May some companies of the 44th and 67th Native Infantry sent to Mathura to bring in the treasury mutinied and carried off the treasury to the rebels in Delhi. With the fear of the rebellion spreading to Agra as well, the rest of these native infantry battalions, which were part of the garrison at Agra, were successfully disarmed by the British on 31 May. However, when the Gwalior contingent mutinied on 15 June, all other native units followed. On 2 July the rebel force of the Nimach and Nasirabad contingents reached Fatehpur Sikri. Fearing advance of the mutineers to Agra, some 6000 Europeans and associated people moved into the Agra Fort for safety on 3 July. On 5 July, the British force stationed there attempted to attack an approaching force of Mutineers, but was defeated, and the British retreated back into the fort. The Lieutenant-Governor, J.R. Colvin, died there, and was later buried in front of the Diwan-i-am. The mutineers, however, moved over to Delhi, it being a more important attraction for the rebels. Despite an uprising by a mob and extreme disorder in the city, the British managed to restore partial order by 8 July. Delhi, in turn, fell to the British in September, following which an infantry brigade led by Brigadier Edward Greathed arrived in Agra on 11 October without any opposition from rebels. But shortly after their arrival another force of mutineers attacked the brigade by surprise, but was defeated and routed. This minor victory for the British was named the Battle of Agra. It is to be said that, the uprising in Agra was relatively minor compared to Delhi, Jhansi, Meerut and other major rebellious cities and regions. After this British rule was again secured, and the British Raj ruled the city till the independence of India in 1947. The capital of the North Western Provinces was shifted from Agra to Allahabad in 1868. Gradually, Agra declined to the position of a mere provincial town, and its prosperity declined:


title: Agra

text: Agra's role in the Indian Independence movement is not well documented. However, in the years between the mutiny and independence Agra was a major centre of Hindi and Urdu journalism. Paliwal park(formerly Hewitt park) in Agra is named after S.K.D Paliwal, who brought out the Hindi daily "Sainik".


title: Agra

text: Post India's independence, Agra has been a part of Uttar Pradesh and has gradually developed into an industrial city, with a significant contribution to Uttar Pradesh's economy. The city is now a popular tourist destination and hosts tourists from across the world. The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort received UNESCO World Heritage Sites status in 1983. The Taj Mahal witnesses tourists, photographers, historians and archaeologists in massive numbers all around the year. The Taj Mahal has become a symbol of India and its soft power. Post Independence, Taj Mahal has been visited by world leaders like US Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower (1959), Bill Clinton (2000), and Donald Trump (2020). Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom had visited Taj Mahal in 1961 on her India visit. Taj Mahal has also been visited by Russian President Vladimir Putin (1999), Chinese President Hu Jintao (2006), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2018) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (2018). Agra is the birthplace of the now extinct religion known as Din-i-Ilahi, which was founded by Akbar and also of the Radhaswami Faith, which has around two million followers worldwide. Agra is included on the Golden Triangle tourist circuit, along with Delhi and Jaipur; and the Uttar Pradesh Heritage Arc, a tourist circuit of Uttar Pradesh, along with Lucknow and Varanasi.


title: Agra

text: The region around Agra consists almost entirely of a level plain, with hills in the extreme southwest. The rivers in the region include Yamuna and Chambal. The region is also watered by the Agra Canal. Millet, barley, wheat and cotton are among the crops grown in the surrounding countryside. Both Rabi and Kharif crops are cultivated. The deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri is about 40 km southwest of Agra. The sandstone hills near Fatehpur Sikri and on the south-eastern borders of the district are offshoots from the Vindhya range of Central India. Agra is about 210 km away from the National capital of New Delhi(via Yamuna Expressway), about 336 km from state capital Lucknow(via Agra-Lucknow Expressway), and about 227 km from Kanpur(via Agra-Lucknow Expressway). The city has an average elevation of 170 metres above sea level.


title: Agra

text: Broadly speaking, the climate of Agra is classified as "BSh" by the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system. This is the tropical and subtropical steppe climate, a major climate type of the Köppen classification that occurs primarily on the periphery of the true deserts in low-latitude regions, forming a transition between the desert climate ("BW"), and the more humid subtropical and tropical climates.


title: Agra

text: The city features warm winters, sweltering and dry summers and a monsoon season. The Agra district, from its proximity to the sandy Thar Desert to the west, is relatively dry, and has greater extremes of temperature than districts further east. The hot west wind, "Loo" blows mainly during April, May, and June with great force and can cause fatal heatstrokes. The monsoon rains usually begin in the first week in July; and generally end in mid-September. However, the monsoons, though substantial in Agra, are not quite as heavy as the monsoon in other parts of India. The weather moderates by the middle of October. The region around Agra, the northwest Indo-Gangetic plain is prone to extreme fog in the winter months, which is caused due to natural factors like low winds, low temperatures, availability of moisture apart from air pollution. This phenomenon often leads to big delays and sometimes cancellation of trains due to poor visibility. Agra has high levels of air pollution and one of the worst AQIs in India. In a study conducted by WHO using data from years 2010–2016, Agra ranked as the 8th most polluted city in India, along with other nearby cities including Delhi, Kanpur and Faridabad.


title: Agra

text: The Taj Mahal has faced significant damage due to air pollution and sewage discharge into the nearby Yamuna river. The white-marble Taj Mahal is turning yellow and green because of filthy air in the world's eighth-most polluted city. The Taj Mahal flanks the garbage-strewn Yamuna river and is often enveloped by dust and smog from smokestacks and vehicles.


title: Agra

text: The Yamuna River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Agra is the second largest contributor to River Yamuna's pollution, after Delhi. The river's pollution has caused several problems for the Taj Mahal such as 'Attacks by Bugs and their Green Slime', foul stench and corrosion of Taj Mahal's foundation. The river has as many as 90 "nalas" or drains opening into it. Though the municipality has claimed to stop 40 of these drains, the bigger ones, "Bhairon", "Mantola", "Balkeshwar" "nalas" continue to discharge huge quantities of untreated waste water without any check. Activists say that the Yamuna river bed between Itmad-ud-Daula and the Taj Mahal has become a dumping ground for pollutants. Polythene, plastic waste, leather cuttings from shoe factories, construction material, are all thrown into the river.


title: Agra

text: Less than 7% of the Agra district is under forest cover. The only major wildlife sanctuary near Agra is Keetham Lake, also known as Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary. The lake has nearly two dozen varieties of migratory and resident birds. Within the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary is the Agra Bear Rescue Facility, which is India's first sanctuary for 'dancing' bears. Operated by Wildlife SOS, Free the Bears Fund and others, the facility has rehabilitate over 620 sloth bears, which were exploited by a nomadic tribe known as the Kalandars as 'dancing bears', despite the practice being illegal since 1972.


title: Agra

text: With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the fourth-most populous city in Uttar Pradesh and twenty-third most populous city in India. As per the 2011 Census of India, Agra city has a population of 1,585,704; its metropolitan population is 1,760,285. The sex ratio of Agra city is 875 females per 1000 males, while the child sex ratio is 857 girls per 1000 boys. The average literacy rate of Agra city is 73.11% of which male and female literacy rates are 77.81% and 67.74% respectively.


title: Agra

text: Hinduism is the most followed religion in Agra city with 80.68% of its population adhering to it. Islam is second most followed religion in the city of Agra with 15.37% of the population following it. These are followed by Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity and Buddhism at 1.04%, 0.62%, 0.42% and 0.19% respectively. Approximately 1.66% stated 'No Particular Religion'.


title: Agra

text: Agra district comes under the Agra Police Zone and Agra Police Range, Agra Zone is headed by an additional director general (ADG)-ranked Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, and the Agra Range is headed by a deputy inspector general (DIG)-ranked IPS officer.


title: Agra

text: The district police is headed by a senior superintendent of police (SSP), who is an IPS officer, and is assisted by six superintendents of police or additional superintendents of police for city, east, west, crime, traffic, and protocol, either from the IPS or the Provincial Police Service. Each of the several police circles is headed by a circle officer in the rank of deputy superintendent of police.


title: Agra

text: Agra Municipal Corporation or Agra Nagar Nigam (AMC or ANN) is the Municipal Corporation responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Agra. This civic administrative body administers the city's public services. The mayor and municipal councillors are elected to five-year terms. The Agra Municipal Corporation oversees four zones (Hariparvat, Lohamandi, Tajganj and Chhata) which are further subdivided into 100 wards. The AMC boundary encompasses an area of 121 square km. The Agra Development Authority (ADA), is develops new housing, infrastructure and colonies in the city.


title: Agra

text: Agra district has two Lok Sabha constituencies, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, and nine Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha (Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly) constituencies. The MP for Agra constituency is SP Singh Baghel, from Bharatiya Janata Party. Ahead of the election the for 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, it was announced that two more districts, including Agra, could become a police commissionerate before the elections.


title: Agra

text: The electricity power distribution and bill collection in Agra is the sole responsibility of Torrent Power, a private sector company. The control of power distribution in Agra was handed over to Torrent Power from the state-owned UP Power Corporation Ltd in 2010, in an effort to move towards power reforms and cutting the massive distribution losses in the state. This was the first time power distribution was privatised in Uttar Pradesh, except for Noida-Greater Noida falling under the NCR.


title: Agra

text: Agra has three primary sources for municipal water supply: water treatment plants at Sikandra and Jeoni Mandi, and groundwater using tubewells. Since a large portion of the water demand is fulfilled from the Yamuna river, which is a highly polluted river, water quality in Agra is usually poor, with unhealthy levels of chlorine required for purification. The city's groundwater is also unfit for drinking, and is saline and high in fluoride content. Both sources breach CPCB standards. To provide the city with adequate water supply, the Gangajal pipeline project has been initiated. It includes a 130 km long pipeline laid to bring Ganga water from Bulandshahr's Upper Ganga canal to Agra. The project has been launched, but has faced criticism due to frequent pipeline leakages.


title: Agra

text: Though most of the city uses cylinders for cooking gas, piped natural gas is also available in select localities, including Kamla Nagar and others. The service is provided by Green Gas Limited.


title: Agra

text: Due to the presence of the Taj Mahal and other historic monuments, Agra has a booming tourism industry as well as royal crafts like "Pietra Dura", marble inlay and carpets.


title: Agra

text: 40% of the population depends largely on agriculture, and others on the leather and footwear business and iron foundries. Agra was the second most self-employed in India in 2007, behind Varanasi, followed by Bhopal, Indore and Patna. According to the National Sample Survey Organization, in 1999–2000, 431 of every 1,000 employed males were self-employed in the city, which grew to 603 per 1,000 in 2004–05.


title: Agra

text: Tourism has a significant role in the economy of Agra, with upwards of 9.5 million tourists visiting Agra and surrounding monuments in 2019. The city is home to Asia's largest spa called Kaya Kalp – The Royal Spa, at the ITC Hotel Mughal in Agra. Other hotels include Taj Hotel and Convention Centre.


title: Agra

text: Sanjay Place is the trade centre of Agra. There are about 12 major and medium scale industries, producing electrical goods, pipes, leather goods etc. There are about 7,200 small scale industrial units. Above 1.5 lakh pairs of shoes per day are manufactured in Agra by the various footwear units. Agra city is also known for its leather goods, the oldest and famous leather firm Taj Leather World is in Sadar bazar. The carpets, handicrafts, "zari and zardozi" (embroidery work), marble and stone carving and inlay work.


title: Agra

text: Agra amassed a GDP of 40,210 crores as per the data released by UP Government for the year 2018–19, thus the 3rd rank in the state.


title: Agra

text: In the Swachh Survekshan 2020, Agra ranked 16th nation-wide, and 2nd in the state after Lucknow, which was a big jump after 86th in 2019, 102nd in 2018, and 263th in 2017. In the Smart city Rankings, which are pan-India rankings for 100 cities which is released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs based on the progress/completion rate of Smart City projects, Agra ranked 1st, based on the rankings released based on work done by department concerned under the Smart City project from 1 October 2019, to 1 March 2020.


title: Agra

text: As of August 2020, Industrial activity in Agra has been affected as a result of the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced people to remain confined to their homes. The sectors worst-hit are the iron foundries, tourism, leather shoe industry in Agra. It is estimated that the loss in the tourism industry due to COVID-19 restrictions is approximately ₹ 2,200 crores.


title: Agra

text: Taj Mahal is mausoleum complex in Agra, built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal ("Chosen One of the Palace"), who died in childbirth in 1631, having been the emperor's inseparable companion since their marriage in 1612. India's most famed building, it is situated in the eastern part of the city on the southern (right) bank of the Yamuna River, about 1.6 km east of the Agra Fort, also on the right bank of the Yamuna. The Taj Mahal is distinguished as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a blend of Indian, Persian, and Islamic styles. Other attractions include twin mosque buildings (placed symmetrically on either side of the mausoleum), pleasant gardens, and a museum. The complex was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983, and is one of the New Seven Wonders of the world. The Taj Mahal is the most visited tourist spot in the India, attracting nearly 6.9 million visitors in 2018–19.


title: Agra

text: The chief architect was probably the Persian architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori. Designed as a unified entity according to the principles of Mughal architecture, the five principal elements of the complex were the main gateway, garden, mosque, "jawab" (literally 'answer', a building mirroring the mosque), and the mausoleum, with its four minarets. The construction commenced in 1632 with upwards of twenty thousand workers from India, Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and Europe working to complete the mausoleum itself by 1639, the adjunct buildings by 1643, with decoration work continuing until at least 1647. In total, construction of the 42 acre (17 hectare) complex spanned 22 years.


title: Agra

text: It can be observed from Agra Fort from where Emperor Shah Jahan gazed at it for the last eight years of his life, a prisoner of his son Aurangzeb. Verses of the Quran are inscribed on it and at the top of the gate are 22 small domes, signifying the number of years the monument took to build. The Taj Mahal was built on a marble platform that stands above a sandstone one. The most elegant and largest dome of the Taj Mahal has a diameter of , and has a height of ; directly under this dome is the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan's tomb was erected next to hers by his son Aurangzeb. The interiors are decorated with fine "Pietra dura" inlay work, incorporating semi-precious stones.