Good morning, Chennai!
🌤️ Today’s weather: High: 35 ℃ | Low: 27 ℃ | Mostly sunny for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The Guindy National Park was originally a game reserve and was part of the larger Guindy Lodge estate, which later became the Raj Bhavan.
🏏 CSK’s foray into women’s cricket?
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are reportedly looking to enter the Women’s Premier League (WPL) with a new team.
What’s it about? CSK could make its entry into the WPL with a new franchise. Rumours surrounding the entry increased with the expected announcement of Rupa Gurunath, N Srinivasan’s daughter, to the board of the Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL).
- CSK is reportedly currently studying the financial feasibility of owning a WPL franchise. A team is looking into the experiences of five other franchises in the WPL.
- Rupa Gurunath’s plans include coaching centres for school kids, fan engagement activities, and increasing revenue through more sponsorships and merchandise sales.
Ownership: While UltraTech Cement recently bought India Cements, CSK wasn’t part of the deal. N Srinivasan and his family are the primary promoters of CSKCL.
🥃 Bar licenses suspended
The state government cancelled the bar licenses of several 5-star hotels in the city.
What’s it about? The government suspended the FL-3 bar licenses issued to 5-star hotels. Many revellers expressed their unhappiness over the suspension of licenses of their favourite watering holes.
- The hotels included the Taj Club House, Radisson Blu, Hyatt Regency, and The Park. According to officials, the bars in these hotels violated bar rules and served liquor illegally.
- Many patrons who preferred branded liquor were allowed to take their own purchased liquor and use it at the bars of these hotels. Many of these were bought from other states.
Losses for TASMAC: Many high-end whiskeys and imported vodkas were served in the bars but weren’t reported in the sales book. It resulted in a loss for TASMAC and the excise department.
🏞️ Renovated children’s park
The revamped children’s park in Guindy is now open to the public.
What’s it about? After 14 months of work, the renovated children’s park in Guindy was inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin. The park has been closed since last June for renovation work.
- The park now has a double-dome 30,000 sq feet aviary for birds. The ungulate enclosures near the entrance will have spotted deer, a black buck, and sambar deer.
- The park also has two cafeterias – one outside near the parking area and the other inside. There’s also a library with over 500 books on wildlife for kids and adults.
People-friendly: Nearly half of the 22 acres were planted with endemic grass. Officials have carved paths that can facilitate golf carts to ferry visitors.
🚇 Airport metro demands
Passengers want more amenities as footfall increases at the Airport Metro station.
What’s it about? Since the increase in footfall at the Airport metro station, passengers want better regulation of the ticket vending machines, ticket counters, and automated fare collection (AFC) systems. Many passengers take the metro to the airport since it’s cheaper and faster than a taxi.
- Passengers who deboard flights have to wait in long lines to purchase a ticket. Some weren’t aware of alternative methods of buying a ticket.
- Passengers, especially those new to the city, want metro officials to better manage existing ticketing systems and alternate ones.
Shortcomings: Even with the 3-4 ticketing counters already set up, they aren’t enough to keep up with the high footfall. Passengers still have to wait in long queues.
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🗞️ In other news…
- To generate revenue, the Chennai Metro has sought external experts to develop spaces in and around phase 2 stations.
- Inflation and GST have affected the sale of biryanis in Chennai.
- Justice Kumaresh Babu inspected the temples expected to be demolished for the Chennai Metro.
- A double-decker road and metro line are expected to come up on the Poonamallee-Sriperumbudur section of Chennai-Bengaluru Highway.
- The Chennai Corporation wants amendments to the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies (TNULB) Act so its powers aren’t curtailed.
That’s it for today. Have a great day!