Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: High: 36 ℃ | Low: 25 ℃ | Sunny for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The Cooum River originates from a village of the same name in the Tiruvallur district.
🎓 IT companies return to campuses
Several big IT companies will return to city campuses for placements.
What’s it about? Companies like TCS, Accenture, and Cognizant have told top engineering colleges that they will return to campuses to hire new talent. Last year, there were fewer campus placements as IT companies stayed away.
- TCS will hire in three categories – Ninja, Digital, and Prime. The pay package for Digital and Prime is ₹7 lakh and ₹9 lakh per year, respectively, for UG students.
- Universities like the College of Engineering Guindy (CEG) and Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) have trained students in interviewing skills, problem-solving, and Python programming.
Increased hiring: After a slowdown in growth in the IT sector, companies are expected to increase hiring from campuses thanks to revenue growth in the banking, financial services and insurance sectors.
🚇 More Pink Squad members needed
As metro ridership increases, passengers say the strength of the Pink Squad needs to be increased.
What’s it about? To boost ridership and ensure women’s safety, the Chennai Metro introduced the Pink Squad at its stations. In the first phase, 23 women experts in martial arts and security were deployed to patrol the ladies-only coaches. As ridership has increased, passengers say more Pink Squad members are needed.
- Many ladies-only compartments are now crowded, and passengers are forced to travel in general coaches. However, these aren’t managed by the Pink Squad members.
- Some passengers said the number of Pink Squad members in some stations is too few, and they aren’t present most days.
Women’s safety: The Chennai Metro’s Pink Squad was the result of a survey conducted with 12,000 women travellers last June. They patrol the stations and the ladies-only coaches.
🚌 Transport initiatives falter
Initiatives like the BRTS and bus priority lanes to boost public transport usage have failed to materialise.
What’s it about? To reduce traffic congestion and promote public transport, the government initiated schemes like the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and bus priority lanes (BPL). They’ve failed in their goals as more people prefer private transport.
- There’s a need to increase ridership on MTC buses, but that hasn’t happened. Despite the metro’s increase in passenger numbers, it’s only about 9% of the MTCs.
- At the same time, the number of two-wheelers has increased from 43.1 lakh in 2019 to over 73 lakh as of 2023. The number of cars has also increased to 16.2 lakh in the same period.
Challenges aplenty: Initial plans for the BRTS on the 10-km route between Pallavaram and Thoraipakkam faced challenges due to more two-wheelers on the roads. The number of buses has been stagnant for over a decade. Activists have called for a larger fleet with low-floor, electric, and air-conditioned buses.
🏞️ Children’s park footfall
The renovated children’s park at Guindy saw thousands of visitors over the weekend.
What’s it about? The newly renovated Guindy children’s park saw over 21,000 visitors over the weekend. That’s more than it got during Kaanum Pongal. The average footfall is about 8,000.
- Post-renovation, the entry fees have been increased. Adults have to pay ₹60, and it’s ₹10 for kids. Park authorities collected over ₹9 lakh in the past few days from ticket sales.
- Officials made arrangements for tea, coffee, water bottles and snacks as the number of visitors increased.
Complaints: There were complaints of inadequate food stalls and unregulated parking. The park has two cafeterias but hasn’t opened yet due to issues with the profit-sharing model.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Have you been to a literature festival?
- I have been to a literature festival.
- I haven’t been to a literature festival.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s an underrated aspect of Chennai?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Nandaman Govt Arts College, as part of its green initiative, will plant 300 saplings on its campus.
- Meningitis cases spike across the city with the onset of the monsoon.
- New low-floor buses are non-airconditioned and have ventilation issues.
- Several railway stations in the city have received complaints of lack of parking spaces.
- Environmentalists and activists held a march at Besant Nagar to highlight the impact of climate change.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- Dedicated cycle lanes would work in Chennai: 45.5%
- Dedicated cycle lanes wouldn’t work in Chennai: 54.5% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What’s the most memorable gift you’ve ever received?
Shiva: “Custom glass painting”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!