Good morning, Chennai!
🌤️ Today’s weather: High: 37 ℃ | Low: 27 ℃ | A little cloudy for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The first proper roads of the city originated from Fort St. George. The earliest is said to be the Northern Road, which initially led to Royapuram.
👩💻 Tapping AI talent
Software engineering company Ascendion plans to hire freshers for its new GenAI Studio.
What’s it about? New Jersey-based Ascendion is into AI-powered software engineering and recently launched its new GenAI Studio in Sholinganallur. The company plans to hire 180 college freshers and people who can write code.
- Chennai is home to the company’s largest share of its core AI team. Among the company’s Chennai staff, over 30% are focused on AI. The company plans to quadruple that in the next few years.
- The company is training engineers on AI so it can be used as part of their work, with software engineering being the area of specialisation.
Chennai hub: The Chennai studio is part of the company’s six major innovation hubs globally. According to one of its executives, India is the primary delivery hub, with Chennai having many Core AI experts.
🏖️ Boosting coastal tourism
.jpg){kind=link}
The Chengalpet district administration will host a surfathon and other events to boost tourism.
What’s it about? The city’s shoreline has immense tourism potential, and district officials are looking to capitalise. The proposed surfathon event will be carried out in partnership with the Madras Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) and corporate sponsors.
- Several tourists who come to Mahabalipuram engage in surfing. Organisers will work with surf schools to conduct the event. There are several surf schools along the coastline.
- There are locales in North Chennai that have yet to be tapped. Captain Vivek Shanbhag from the Royal Madras Yacht Club said sailing can also be promoted.
Government initiative: The state government has recognised the tourism potential and will undertake a study to map locations, including in Chennai, to promote adventure tourism like water sports.
🎒 School stationery sales stall
The sales of school stationery items have stalled as school reopenings have been delayed.
What’s it about? The pattern of sales of school stationery has become uncertain for many shops with delays in school reopenings. Stocks of notebooks, pens, and pencils have arrived, with sellers awaiting a pick up in sales.
- Sellers have to compete with e-commerce sites, which have a wider reach among consumers. There’s also the issue of GST on things like bags and umbrellas, which has impacted sales.
- Small-scale sellers have also been affected since brands like ITC Classmate sell their notebooks directly through schools at MRP rates.
Budgetary concerns: The prices of items have also increased, and middle-class families have to account for that in their monthly budget. School bags can go up to ₹2,000, and pencil boxes are priced above ₹100.
💡 Frequent power cuts
As people continue to toil away this summer, nighttime power cuts have added to their woes.
What’s it about? Last week, the city’s power demand reached new heights of over 4,700 MW and 101.755 million units. According to officials, it’s the first time power consumption crossed 100 million units. With the increased power demand, residents on the city’s outskirts have experienced intermittent power cuts.
- For many, power cuts at night have become a routine occurrence. They’ve also said that contacting TANGEDCO’s centralised customer care to file complaints is difficult.
- Residents in Velachery, T Nagar, and Mylapore have also complained of frequent power cuts. On Saturday, power officials met with chief engineers and formed 60 special teams to assess the situation.
Keeping up with the demand: Since there’s no deficit power supply, officials were able to manage the demand. However, as temperatures increased, transformers and underground cables needed to be repaired and maintained which resulted in power cuts.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Where did you follow this year’s election coverage?
- I followed the election coverage mostly on TV.
- I followed the election coverage mostly on social media.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
If you could only eat one type of cuisine for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- More dog bite incidents have left residents anxious and the Chennai Corporation on the back foot.
- The Chitlapakkam Lake has become a source of pride and an example of urban lake restoration.
- The Tambaram to Chengalpattu elevated corridor has been scrapped in favour of multiple flyovers.
- Threads of Times exhibition at the DakshinaChitra Museum weaves together different artistic voices.
- Several tourist spots in the city are well-maintained, but difficulties remain in getting information.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- The Smart City initiative has helped Chennai: 55.6% 🏆
- The Smart City initiative hasn’t helped Chennai: 44.4%
That’s it for today. Have a great day!