Good morning, Chennai!
⛅ Today’s weather: Partly sunny and humid for the day.
🧐 Did you know? YMCA Madras is one of the oldest NGO networks. It was founded in 1890 by David McConnaughy.
👩🏫 Learning English
Students in government schools undertake role-play sessions in English to help them better learn and speak the language.
What’s it about? At several Corporation schools in the city, students participate in role-play sessions to help them better understand and speak in English. Several schools in Old Washermenpet, Royapuram, Mylapore, and Thiruvanmiyur have begun to undertake this exercise.
- By having students reenact situations like between a doctor and a patient in English, officials hope it’ll help them learn and speak the language with confidence.
- Apart from these sessions, some schools also have mandatory English-only assembly sessions in the mornings. Other schools also have their students read English newspapers.
Why English? Principals from some government schools say English is the need of the hour as it’ll help students with employment opportunities in the future.
💉 Vaccination survey
A new survey has shed light on the perceptions of patients on vaccinations.
What’s it about? A survey by the Institute of Community Medicine from the Madras Medical College assessed the attitudes and perceptions of patients about adult vaccination and the vaccination status of patients at outpatient services in primary health centres.
- The survey showed that, among adults, diseases preventable by vaccines, like tetanus, pneumonia, and hepatitis B, are a source of mortality and morbidity. 92.7% of those surveyed said adults need to be vaccinated.
- Nearly 31% said they didn’t keep a record of vaccines taken, and 65.5% believed in herd immunity. About 80% said vaccinations were recommended when they were adults, and 83% were aware of adult vaccination.
What are the takeaways? The survey shows an overall positive picture given adults’ perceptions about vaccinations and since most reacted positively when they were recommended vaccinations.
👩💻 All things tech
TechnoVIT 2023 from VIT Chennai will showcase drones, robots, and new-age technology.
What’s it about? The tech festival of VIT Chennai, TechnoVIT 2023, will showcase a range of new-age technologies and gadgets. This year’s edition, from October 5 to 7, is expected to see over 20,000 students. Last year, the event had 15,000 from 130 universities and colleges from six states.
- The opening day will have a drone flag show and drone VR experiences. There’s a data-thon to showcase people’s analytical and problem-solving skills through data-driven solutions.
- The second day will see robots take centre stage at the robotrail. Autonomous robots will navigate complex terrain. There’ll also be a robowar where robots will do battle. There’s also a startup hunt where aspiring business leaders can pitch to industry experts.
Other events: The final day will also be the ProHackathon. Technology enthusiasts will solve complex challenges in a race against time. The ADZAP will challenge marketing aficionados to craft ads that inspire and inform.
🗣️ A new lease on life
Former Al Qaeda hostage Stephen McGown will visit the city for the 2023 International Kindness Festival.
Who is he? In his book Six Years a Hostage: The Extraordinary Story of the Longest-Held Al Qaeda Captive in the World, Stephen recounts his time as an Al Qaeda captive. After being abducted in Timbuktu, he practices empathy to learn about his captors who were mostly 18-year-old boys wielding AK-47s.
- Mahima Poddar, the founder of The Kindness Foundation, was looking for people to share stories of resilience, and Stephen was the perfect choice. The foundation works to help people grow and thrive.
- The festival will include several talks and activities to celebrate and discuss the science, ethics, practicality, and beauty of kindness. The conversation with Stephen will be a fundraiser where an audience will get to interact with him.
Details: The International Kindness Festival 2023 will be on December 9-10 at the Sir Mutha Venkata Subba Rao Hall. The non-profit fundraiser will be on October 7 at the Hyatt Regency and the interactive sessions for students will be on October 9 at the Music Academy.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Are you a good public speaker?
- I am a good public speaker.
- I’m not a good public speaker.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s a lesser-known place in the city for a heritage walk?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Unfinished drain work has left several sections of the Radial Road in a mess.
- Kadapperi and Periya Eri lakes suffer from groundwater contamination due to sewage and industrial effluents.
- Fever cases in Avadi have increased as the Corporation steps up vector control measures.
- Anand Kumar Bhowmik from Parry’s Corner has earned his fame by being a Mahatma Gandhi lookalike.
- A technical glitch affected several flights at the Chennai airport.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- Chennai should have its own Namma Yatri app: 100.0% 🏆
- Chennai doesn’t need its own Namma Yatri app: 0.0%
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What would a movie about Chennai be called?
Suchi: “East or West, Chennai is the best!”
Chitra: “Chennai – Past Meets Present”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!