Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: Sunny weather with increasing temperatures.
🧐 Did you know? The world’s first Armenian journal was published in Madras in 1794. Under the 245-year-old Armenian Church is the grave of Reverend Haruthium Shmavonian, decorated with an open book. It had the word Azdarar engraved on it, meaning, The Intelligencer. Reverend Shmavonian was its founder and editor.
🚶♀️ Making Chennai safe for women
What are the policies needed to make the city safer for women?
What’s it about? Women’s safety is something that the local and state government has concentrated on with several policies and initiatives. Whether it be public transportation or walking on the street at night, infrastructure and policy gaps need to be addressed.
- The Corporation’s Gender Lab works at the institutional level and feeds into changes at the societal level. While the framework and best practices exist, the question is how these are implemented on the ground to have a tangible impact.
- There are gaps in the existing laws concerning women’s safety. The trust women have in institutions like the police and courts should be measured to see how effective the laws are.
For starters: Public spaces should be inclusive, and the majority view shouldn’t be the way to look at it. Pritika Meenakshisundaram of the Foundation for Intersectional Climate and Urban Sciences (FICUS) suggested women police personnel in parks and women conductors and bus drivers. Jothilakshmi Sundaresan, an advocate, said police need to be sensitised and have adequate staff to support the judiciary.
🧹 Kids cleaning waterbodies
Several children from Kannagi Nagar help restore small ponds.
What’s it about? For several kids from Kannagi Nagar, it has become part of their daily routine to pick up plastic bottles and clean other waste from three small ponds in the locality. They were becoming dangerous for kids to pass through while going for their evening tuition. What began with 54 students has grown to 200.
- As they began the clean-up operation, it came to the attention of corporates and NGOs. They came forward to help restore the ponds as part of their CSR.
- They now have walkways and benches. The corporation will submit a proposal to install lights. While the staff maintains the saplings from time to time, the students have collective ownership of the lake.
Who said what? E Marisamy, who runs free tuition classes, said it was difficult for students to come in the evening since they had to travel through the pass with shrubs that had waste, reptiles, and insects. Second-year B.Com student S Lokeswari said the waterbodies are now safer throughout the day.
🚅 ICF output
The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) manufactured 2,700 coaches last year.
What’s it about? ICF’s GM BG Mallya said they manufactured 2,700 coaches in 2022-23, including about 2,000 Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches. They also made 12 rakes of Vande Bharat train sets.
- The factory has become the premier unit to manufacture Vande Bharat trains and newer designs of modern sets. It’s also working on a prototype of sleeper coaches for the Vande Bharat express.
- Officials want the ICF to make special types of coaches, like freight trains on the Vande Bharat platform and vista dome coaches for sightseeing. The ICF is tweaking its process to increase the number of coaches it can make.
Numbers: In 2021-22, the ICF manufactured 3,161 coaches, which was higher than the previous financial year. It was mainly due to the government wanting them to speed up the manufacturing of Vande Bharat trains. They made 2,261 LHB coaches in 2022-23.
🏍️ Betting on E-bikes
Motorcycle startup Raptee hopes its electric bike will become popular in the EV adoption race.
What’s it about? Raptee, the electric motorcycle startup from founders Dinesh Arjun, Keerthivasan Ravi, Karthik A, and Phunith V, is betting on its electric bike to enter the EV market. Given how crowded the EV market is, 70% of the ICE two-wheeler market is in motorcycles.
- The company wants to position itself as an upgrade from someone looking to buy a Bajaj Pulsar initially. A couple of years later, it’ll be an upgrade from a Hero Splendor.
- With the ARAI grant, the company is moving to the two-wheeler industry from low-voltage to high-voltage architecture. They’ve brought in talent like Royal Enfield veteran Jayapradeep V as Chief Business Officer.
The journey and future: The company was incorporated in 2019. Since then, it has received two grants. One from the ARAI for ₹20 lakhs for vehicle control units and more recently ₹3.27 crore for a high-voltage motor control drivetrain. In July 2021, the company raised $700,000 from investors. By the year-end, the company will scale up to 230 people and 1,500 in phase 2.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Do you own a tablet (iPad, Samsung Tab, etc.)?
- Yes, I own a tablet.
- No, I don’t have a tablet.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What do you do to destress?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Self Help Groups (SHGs) will be used to spread awareness of solid waste management.
- Traffic restrictions for several routes have been announced on IPL match days.
- Anna University relaxed its criteria for non-engineering faculty members.
- A fire atop the LIC building was put out in minutes, with no major losses reported.
- Progressive Painters Association (PPA) hosts an exhibition of paintings and sculptures to celebrate its 79th anniversary.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I like spicy food: 62.5% 🏆
- I don’t like spicy food: 37.5%
That’s it for today. Have a great day!