Good morning, Chennai!
🌧️ Today’s weather: Mostly cloudy skies ahead with some rain.
🧐 Did you know? Elliot’s Beach is named after Edward Elliot. He was a chief magistrate and the superintendent of police of the Madras Presidency.
🛣️ Purpose for road safety
Here’s the story of how one father turned a personal tragedy into a campaign for road safety.
What’s it about? Freddy Rohinton Sanjana doesn’t want others to go through what he did when his son died trying to save a pedestrian through a median on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR). Other families have similar stories of personal loss that led them toward road safety awareness.
- Shortly after his son’s death, Freddy joined the non-profit Thozan for various programs encouraging people to wear helmets and seatbelts and obey traffic rules. He also runs the “OMR Roads: Chennai” Facebook page.
- The death of his son Pavit in 2010 thrust Manjit Singh Nayar into road safety campaigns. He’s part of the State Home Guard organisation and works with the government on road safety issues.
Challenges & purpose: Road safety professionals say it’s hard to find volunteers for road safety campaigns since people are hesitant. For the families, it’s a part of the grieving process. Channelling their grief into these campaigns helps them find purpose and heal.
🏗️ Fintech city
The foundation stone was laid for the new Fintech City and Tower in Nandambakkam.
What’s it about? The new Fintech City and Fintech Tower will be built at a cost of ₹116 crore and ₹254 crore, respectively. These two destinations are expected to become hubs for companies involved in next-generation technologies and services.
- The Fintech City is expected to attract ₹12,000 crore worth of investments and create employment opportunities for about 80,000. The 5.6 lakh square feet Fintech Tower could bring in ₹1,000 crore worth of investments and create 7,000 jobs.
- In Nandambakkam, 56 acres have been allotted to build world-class facilities for international and Indian banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) companies.
Policy initiatives: At the foundation stone laying event, Chief Minister MK Stalin spoke about the Tamil Nadu FinTech Policy 2021, which aims to make the state a Fintech hub by 2025. There’s also the Global Investors Meet in January 2024.
🚯 Privatising garbage collection
The Chennai Corporation plans to privatise garbage collection by 2024.
What’s it about? The Corporation is currently privatising garbage collection in the Thiru Vi Ka Nagar and Royapuram zones, with plans for Anna Nagar and Aambattur next. Officials want this to be done in all zones by 2024.
- So far, the responses from stakeholder meetings in some zones have been positive. The Corporation is studying how waste management can be done in several zones and will choose appropriate contractors.
- Some have welcomed the decision since sometimes the Corporation isn’t equipped to handle large amounts of waste. Private companies have the necessary equipment, like an eight-bin system and staff.
Consequences: There is some concern about the employment status of some employees. Deputy Mayor Mahesh Kumar said the permanent employees will be transferred to other work like road projects. With privatisation, the Corporation will save hundreds of crores in salaries and operation costs.
🛣️ Understanding travel patterns
Transport authorities will survey households to study their travel patterns.
What’s it about? The Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) will conduct household surveys across the city to understand people’s travel patterns. This is being done as preparation for the city’s comprehensive mobility plan.
- The surveys will be done through visits to about 50,000 houses. About 30,000 will be within the current Chennai metropolitan area and the remaining from the extended sections.
- Part of the survey will include a cluster study and vehicle camera-trapping methods. CUMTA officials want to gauge people’s travel preferences and patterns, with 7 or 8 such surveys planned.
Developing a mobility plan: The mobility plan will take at least 8 months, according to special officer I Jeyakumar. The plan will be prepared to integrate it with the Third Master Plan (TMP). It’ll be based on the green, resilient, inclusive, development-focused, and safe (GRIDS) principles emphasising people, not vehicles.
📊 Today’s Poll
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Should the fares for the metro be decreased?
- Yes, the fares for the metro should be decreased.
- No, the fares for the metro need not be decreased.
❓ Today’s Question
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What’s your go-to comfort food?
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🗞️ In other news…
- Actor Vijay interacts with school students in a possible first step toward politics.
- IIT Madras launched the National Center for Assistive Health Technologies.
- The Miyawaki Forests in the city have turned into garbage dumping spots.
- Moderate rains are forecasted for the city for the next couple of days thanks to a cyclonic circulation.
- Egypt emerged victorious against Malaysia in the Squash World Cup final in Chennai.
That’s it for today. Have a great day!