Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: High: 38 ℃ | Low: 26 ℃ | Hot and sunny weather for today.
🧐 Did you know? The RBI has a staff college in Chennai. It trains and educates RBI officers and other central bankers from India and abroad.
🗳️ Steps to increase voter turnout
The Chennai Corporation has stepped up efforts to increase voter participation.
What’s it about? As April 19 approaches, the Corporation has organised marches, marathons, and door-to-door campaigns to encourage people to come out and vote. Officials don’t want a repeat of the low voter turnout of previous elections.
- The awareness campaigns are being done to increase turnout by at least 10%. Officials are talking to people about the importance of voting by asking them to take a voting pledge and educating them through cycle rallies and beach art.
- Among the methods is a sticker campaign on gas cylinders and distributing pamphlets at yoga and wellness camps in parks. A Corporation survey found there’s a lack of interest in the elections, poor electoral enrollment, and urban apathy.
Some voting statistics: In the 2019 elections, voter turnout was 60% in Chennai, less than the state average of 72.4%. Of the over 3,700 polling booths analysed, 35 had less than a 40% turnout, and 350 had only a 40-50% turnout.
🗳️ Battle for Chennai Central
The Central Chennai constituency will see DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran looking to continue his winning streak.
What’s it about? Chennai Central has over 23 lakh voters and is among the smaller constituencies in the state. It consists of localities like Villivakkam, Egmore, Chepauk, and Triplicane. The DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran is running for the fourth time in this constituency.
- Among the issues locals are worried about include erratic water supply, traffic congestion, and poor flood mitigation measures like inadequate stormwater drainage systems come monsoon time.
- Maran is up against the BJP’s Vinoj P Selvam. The DMDK, as an ally of the AIADMK, has fielded B Parthasarathy. The AIADMK-led bloc and the Naam Tamilar Katchi have also fielded candidates.
What’s the history? In 2019, Maran won the constituency by easily defeating the PMK’s Sam Paul, securing over 4.4 lakh votes. After winning in 2014, Maran became the Union Minister for Information Technology under the Congress-led UPA regime.
🏢 Fostering startups and research
IIT Madras has launched the IIT Madras Research Foundation (IITMRF) to bolster startups.
What’s it about? The IITMRF has been set up to help startups that were born out of the institute’s technology ecosystem by helping them scale up, get access to global markets, and provide funding for research and innovation. Thirumalai Madhavnarayan will be its first CEO.
- Among the important focus areas will be patents, global market access, access to IIT Madras-created technologies for alumni, and scaling up international academic programmes.
- IIT Madras hopes the foundation will be a model for other academic institutions to take Indian ingenuity and innovation to the global arena.
IIT Madras’ credentials: IIT Madras already has 161 active patents in the US. Over 10,000 alumni are working in senior leadership positions at top companies, and many have founded startups.
🚮 Who’s generating garbage?
A survey of Chennai has shown that lower-income households generate more garbage.
What’s it about? The survey results were published in the International Journal of Science and Research Archive. It showed that socioeconomic status indicated by income influences waste segregation and generation practices. Low-income households find it more challenging to adopt waste reduction measures.
- On average, households with less than ₹25,000 in monthly income generate 5.2 kg of waste daily. Those with over ₹50,000 in monthly income generate about 3.2 kg.
- Residents have a recycling rate of 80% for paper and 65% for plastic. For glass and aluminium cans, it’s about 45% and 30%, respectively.
Other findings: The survey also showed a positive correlation between education levels and recycling rates. Educational and awareness programmes have played an important role in improving recycling rates in Chennai.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Do you carry your own bag for grocery shopping?
- I carry my own bag for grocery shopping.
- I don’t carry my own bag for grocery shopping.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
Which historical figure would you want to have a conversation with?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Tambaram residents continue to face civic issues as election campaigning continues.
- The Vandalur reserve forest is under threat since it’s being used as a garbage dump.
- Incumbent Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy outlines his plans for North Chennai.
- Postal voting for the upcoming Lok Sabha election has begun for those aged 85 years and above.
- Waders and flamingos have arrived at the Pulicat backwaters for the migratory season.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I would consider going on a solo vacation: 45.5%
- I wouldn’t consider going on a solo vacation: 54.5% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What was your favourite activity at school?
Suchi: “Combined Studies!”
Shiva: “Muthugu puncher with friends”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!