Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: Sunny weather for the day.
🧐 Did you know? Chennai-based MRF became the first Indian company to export tyres to the USA.
🎧 Queer podcast
Two queer artists present their podcast as a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community.
What’s it about? Jenny Jet Jigarthanda and Nethu Night Neelambari recently launched their Tanglish podcast ‘Wh0relines’ to delve into topics like chosen family, pride marches, and queer representation. They hope the hour-long episodes are a safe space and a forum for the LGBTQIA+ community.
- Presenting the podcast in Tamil with a bit of English makes it more accessible even to people who aren’t very educated. They wanted to create a podcast that feels fun, relatable, and inclusive.
- The target audience is mainly young queer people who don’t feel like they have a safe space. The audience is mostly male, with about 26% female. Listeners are mostly in the 18-27 age group.
Origins and future plans: Both Jenny and Nethu are part of Chennai Pride, aka Orinam. Someone there suggested they start a podcast. Concerning the name, they wanted to have something dramatic and a bit taboo. They next plan to have guests on the podcast and create audio and video content on YouTube.
🛣️ Beautification drive
Chennai Corporation will work with corporates to launch its beautification drive.
What’s it about? The Corporation is looking to the corporate sector to help launch its beautification drive across 15 zones in Chennai. This includes planting native tree species, flowering plants, and shrubs.
- Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu met with urban local body officials to launch the program. They’ll now identify companies to work with to participate in all zones.
- According to Councillor TV Shemmozhi, the project will be successful only if there’s enough manpower to maintain the spaces. He cited Ward 104 as an example of a worker shortage to maintain the shrubs and plants.
Mixed results so far: Some stretches, like the underpass from Velachery to Adambakkam in the Adyar zone, are nice, but those under the Vijaya Nagar flyover need maintenance. Some plants between the Taramani and Vijaya Nagar Terminus need to be watered.
🌏 Chennai’s Climate Action Plan
With the launch of the Plan, Chennai aims to become carbon neutral by 2050.
What’s it about? Chief Minister MK Stalin unveiled Chennai’s first-ever Climate Action Plan (CAP). It’s a roadmap for the city to become carbon neutral by 2050, ahead of the national commitment of Net Zero by 2070.
- Stalin spoke of his government’s efforts to tackle climate change and protect the environment by reducing emissions and creating green jobs. Among these are the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission and the Green Tamil Nadu Mission.
- The government’s focus will be renewable energy, sustainable transport, solid waste management, and urban flooding, among others. Among the targets is 93% renewable energy by 2050, and 80% of inner-city travel by public transport, walking, and cycling by 2050.
Necessity: The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned about the risks of rising temperatures and rising sea levels as a threat to coastal cities like Chennai.
✈️ Airport amenities
The space outside the airport terminals will be spruced up with several amenities.
What’s it about? As operations begin at the newly built integrated terminal, the space outside the airport terminals will be livened up with landscaping and food outlets.
- The plan is to have a mini-hub with restaurants and seating areas for passengers. Officials want to change the landscape outside the domestic and international terminals. There’ll be walkways with good lighting and selfie points.
- Some landscaping work is already underway outside the integrated terminal. The old terminal will be demolished in the months ahead. The ongoing beautification work will be done in a phased manner over the next couple of years.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Have you travelled by business/first class on a flight?
- Yes, I have travelled by business/first class on a flight.
- No, I haven’t travelled by business/first class on a flight.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What international event would you like to see in the city?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Guindy-Alandur Road will be closed for four days due to Public Works Department (PWD) work.
- OMR and ECR residents struggle with water supply due to the lorry operator’s strike.
- Demand and leasing of warehouse space in Chennai lag behind other cities.
- Madhavaram-Retteri metro line covering 7 km will be ready by mid-2026.
- IndiGo’s international operations were transferred to the new integrated terminal.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- There is a Metro station in my locality: 27.3%
- There isn’t a Metro station in my locality: 72.7% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What historical/heritage site would you like to visit in the city?
Chitra: “Fort St. George”
Shiva: “Pallava Cave Temple of Pallavaram”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!