Good morning, Chennai!
🌤️ Today’s weather: High: 31 ℃ | Low: 22 ℃ | More sunny weather for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The first lighthouse in Madras was built in 1796 on the roof of the Exchange Building (present-day Fort Museum). It was 99 feet above sea level.
⚽ Fair play on and off the field
The NGO Enabling Leadership (EL) helped organise a mixed-gender football league to promote equality and inclusivity.
What’s it about? Sports, art, and a curriculum are all that EL needs to impart good education and life lessons to youngsters. With the 2023-24 Mixed Gender Football League, students learn the importance of gender equality.
- The league involves over 500 government school kids between 9 and 13 years old. Twice a week, students lace up their boots and practice dribbling, defending, and shooting with their coaches.
- EL hopes the outreach programme can extend to rural schools in the future. EL CEO and founder Ravi Sonnad hopes gender mainstreaming through this approach will help change minds.
Beyond the football field: Some of the lessons imparted by EL have helped students in the classroom. While earlier boys and girls were separated, they now interact and help each other.
💧 Increasing water literacy
IIT Madras has launched a four-month certificate course to create water-literate citizens.
What’s it about? The four-month course, called Water Quality – An Approach to People’s Water Data, will also help form a database of ground, surface, and piped water quality. The course has been designed in partnership with Israel’s Tel Aviv University.
- The theory classes will be conducted online and offline about water quality and its impact on human health. Offline practicals will have students studying water quality from ten houses.
- The course fee will be ₹1,500 and be refunded after the course is completed. Those enrolled will get field test kits. For the offline practicals, students can pick cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, and Trichy.
Initial pilot: The pilot project had IIT Madras train students from Stella Maris College, Madras Christian College, and some from Erode. They collected water quality data from 300 houses in Chennai and Erode. The data was then uploaded online.
🎭 Saarang begins
The annual cultural celebration of IIT Madras is underway as it celebrates its 50th edition.
What’s it about? IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti inaugurated the opening of Saarang 2024. This year marks its 50th edition. It runs till January 14 and is expected to attract around 80,000 people.
- This year’s event is dedicated to the Tamil Nadu’s culture and traditions. For the first time in its history, there’s a dedicated night for classical music and folk art from the state.
- There’s a dedicated area called Saarang Village where spectators and attendees can assemble. There’ll also be a campaign called Urjam to encourage people to adopt renewable energy sources.
Performers: The festival will showcase many known talents. On the final day, Farhan Akhtar will perform. Other renowned celebrities like Nassar, Gautham Vasudev Menon, and Usha Uthup will participate in the Spotlight Lecture Series.
🏗️ Brigade Group’s Chennai plans
The real estate company is planning multiple infrastructure projects across the city.
What’s it about? Bengaluru-based Brigade Group will develop about 15 million square feet of real estate in Chennai by FY2027. A majority of that will be residential projects. In the next two years, the company will add 4 million square feet of residential space and 1 million square feet of commercial space with an investment worth ₹3,400 crore.
- The company is currently working on a ₹1,000 crore 1 million square feet mixed development project at Mount Road. It’ll have two towers. One residential and the other with offices and smaller retail outlets.
- The company is also planning a 3.5 million square feet residential project in the IT belt in Sholinganallur. The company expects high demand for these apartments which are expected to cost ₹1-2 crore.
Chennai’s real estate revival: The city’s real estate sector has picked up pace. Last year, there were 10.8 million square feet of office transactions. That was a 92% increase from 2022.
✨ Things to do…
Here are some fun and interesting things to do in the city over the weekend!
- Rock Night 2024 at Saarang will feature Thaikkudam Bridge as the headline act this Saturday.
- For the cosplayers, Chennai Comic Con brings you its 2024 Cosplay Workshop this Saturday.
- Experience a unique show with the immersive The Real Van Gogh this Sunday.
- Paadadha Paatellam is a fun-filled music open mic for all genres happening this Sunday.
- Catch live performances and other festivities at the open-air carnival The Enchanted Woods this weekend.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll Results:
- I have worked in a co-working space: 40.0%
- I haven’t worked in a co-working space: 60.0% 🏆
That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!