QChennai: Stalin Wishes Sonia on B’day; Chennai’s Water Crisis

Here is your roundup of the top stories from Chennai.

1. Stalin Wishes Sonia Gandhi on Birthday, Invites Congress Top Brass for Kalaignar Statue Unveiling

DMK President MK Stalin on Sunday, 9 December, met with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and INC President Rahul Gandhi in the former’s residence in New Delhi. Stalin wished Sonia Gandhi on her birthday and reportedly discussed a wide range of issues.

In New Delhi a day before the first meeting of all leaders who are part of the Grand Alliance against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Stalin met the senior Congress leader accompanied by former Union ministers TR Baalu and A Raja, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and other senior leaders.

Before leaving to New Delhi, Stalin spoke to the reporters at the Chennai airport and said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi has called for a meeting of all the Opposition parties in New Delhi and had invited Stalin to represent the DMK.

(Source: The News Minute)

2. Whither Rain? Chennai Stares at a Water Crisis

Water managers in Chennai are a worried lot, as the northeast monsoon has so far failed to replenish water resources.

If the rains remain elusive over the catchment areas of major lakes that the city relies on for its drinking water needs, this will be the third consecutive year that their levels fall to precariously low levels.

The city is now pinning its hopes on a weather system building in the Bay of Bengal to bridge the rain deficit and defuse the looming water crisis.

Managing water needs in the fast-expanding coastal city is a struggle every summer and the expectation is always for a bountiful northeast monsoon in the last three months of the year to fill up the lakes. The northeast monsoon replenishes water sources, including groundwater, till the next monsoon.

(Source: The Hindu)

3. Female Students Bear Brunt of Unchecked Moral Policing on Chennai Campuses

Two weeks ago, an hostel warden in the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras put up in the notice board, among other things, the number of ‘used condoms’ they found in a dustbin in the hostel room of a student.

The incident caused much outrage among the student community over what they see as moral policing of the students. When Express spoke to students of many other colleges in the city, the stories students shared were far more regressive. Often, mundane everyday activities of students, particularly female students, comes under scrutiny and starts defining their character.

The students are questioned for speaking to students from the other gender and sometimes sent out of the classrooms when the teacher thinks the dress of a female student is too revealing. Swarna*, a student in a women’s arts college in the heart of the city, says she was reprimanded by her hostel warden once for accidentally dropping a cover with sanitary napkins in front of her hostel room.

(Source: The New Indian Express)

4. IIT-M Sees Record No of Job Offers in Placement Season

A record 888 offers were made to students of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras during the first session of campus placement this academic year.

The session that ended on Saturday, 8 December, saw 195 companies offering jobs. The most number of offers (80%) were made to students of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Engineering Design.

As many as 136 pre-placement offers were made, taking the total to 1,024.

In 2014-15, the institute received 1,019 offers, including for MBA students. This year’s statistics do not include offers made to MBA students.

The second phase will begin mid-January.

Around 1,300 students registered for campus placements.

More than 490 job profiles from nearly 326 companies were received during phase I of placements, held from 1 - 8 December.

(Source: The Hindu)

5. Don’t Turn Veda Nilayam into Jayalalithaa Memorial: Chennai’s Poes Garden Residents

Residents of Poes Garden in Chennai’s Alwarpet voiced strong opposition to converting former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s residence, Veda Nilayam, into a memorial.

At the first public hearing conducted by the Madras School of Social Work (MSSW) in Teynampet, the residents said that the move will risk their safety, especially of the children and women, with people from across the state coming to the neighbourhood to visit the memorial and vendors setting up shops.

In 2017, the Tamil Nadu government had proposed to convert the former CM’s residence into a memorial and even allocated Rs 20 crore to acquire the property. Following opposition from activists, it was decided that the district administration would conduct public hearings and submit a report to the government.

(Source: The News Minute)