Good morning, Chennai!
☁️ Today’s weather: High: 36 ℃ | Low: 29 ℃ | Mostly cloudy for the day.
🧐 Did you know? Mint Street got its name after the East India Company moved its coin-making facility to the locality in 1841-42.
🎨 Exploring the boundaries of creativity
A new art exhibition showcases the work of young Tamil Nadu artists and their social and cultural perspectives.
What’s it about? The group exhibition, titled, “Finite Versus Infinite”, will showcase the work of 12 young artists from the state. The exhibition will take place at the DakshinaChitra Museum till September 1 and is curated by Dr Ashrafi S Bhagat.
- The concept of finite versus infinite explores the boundaries of the physical world, like forests, mountains, oceans, and galaxies. The paintings explore these through the artists’ social, cultural, and political perspectives.
- Among the artists included are A Thalamuthu, Dharshana Bajaj, Namrata Arjun, and Rohini Mani.
Inspirations: The exhibition takes inspiration from factors that hinder human and artistic development, like financial, social, and language barriers. It provided the artists the freedom of diversity for artistic exploration.
✊ Samsung workers form union
Workers at Samsung’s Sriperumbudur factory have successfully formed a union and made demands of the company.
What’s it about? With the help of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), workers at the factory formed the Samsung India Workers’ Union (SIWU). They’ve now submitted their demands to the company.
- In its first general body meeting, SIWU passed a resolution extending its solidarity with the 28,000 striking Samsung workers in Seoul. The SIWU also applied for CITU affiliation.
- One of the first representations sent to the company was to reduce the number of working hours to seven from the existing nine, and working days from six to five.
Salary hike? E Muthukumar of the CITU said they’ll work with the SIWU to call for a fair wage hike and won’t accept a ₹2,500-3,000 increase. He said they will demand a ₹12,000 hike for an experienced worker.
🚍 No private buses from Koyambedu
The Madras High Court has refused to allow private buses to ply from Koyambedu.
What’s it about? The court passed the order on private buses from Koyambedu based on a writ petition filed by advocate B Ramkumar Adityan. The petitioner stated that the Kilambakkam terminus is inconvenient for passengers and private operators due to the limited number of bus bays for private buses.
- The petition argued that most private operators have their own offices and bus stands to pick up and drop passengers in and around Koyambedu.
- It also argued that the Kilambakkam terminus wasn’t properly planned and built and opened in a hurry since it faces connectivity and accessibility issues.
Government’s plans: The transport commissioner passed an order in January that stated private buses can operate only from Kilambakkam. The government planned to extend the metro from the airport to Kilambakkam and the suburban train network from Tambaram to Velachery.
🌧️ Forecast for July
The IMD has forecast above-normal rainfall for the city this month.
What’s the forecast? While some parts of southeast peninsular India might not get a lot of rainfall, Chennai could be one of the exceptions. The IMD has forecast above-normal rainfall and below-normal maximum and minimum temperatures for July.
- Two spells of rain at the beginning of the month pushed rain records to 12 cm at the Nungambakkam observatory. That’s 2 cm above normal.
- The northern parts of the state, including Chennai, may get spillover rain from a low-pressure patch that could form over the Bay of Bengal and bring rain to Odisha.
Past trends: In July, in six of the last ten years, the month ended with excess rainfall. Chennai begins to get thunderstorms after July 15 when there’s a break in the monsoon activity. Weak westerlies interact with the sea breeze, and the warm surface also heats up the air, which cools down and begins condensation.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Would you want to live in a different country for a year?
- I would live in a different country for a year.
- I wouldn’t live in a different country for a year.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
How many books do you read in a year?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- The storage levels in five reservoirs supplying water to Chennai have reduced since their catchment areas didn’t get heavy rain.
- Space around Perungudi Lake continues to be infringed on and filled with waste despite the Corporation’s efforts.
- Velachery residents have expressed concern about the highways department’s dip-raising technique to prevent flooding.
- The Rotary Club of Madras announced the launch of its HPVAX programme.
- Poonamallee High Road sees repeated traffic issues due to wrong-side turns by motorists.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I read newspapers daily: 54.6% 🏆
- I don’t read newspapers daily: 45.4%
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
Which media house/news publication do you get your news from most often?
Suchi: “Times of India”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!