Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: High: 34 ℃ | Low: 22 ℃ | Sunny weather for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The first Armenian Journal in the world was published in Madras in 1794. The Armenian church has a grave with an open book engraved with Azdarar, which means “The Intelligencer”, the journal’s name.
🌱 Sustainable farming
Maya Ganesh’s regenerative agriculture school garden spotlights sustainable farming and produce.
What’s it about? Maya Ganesh introduced the concept of the school in 2017. What was once a cluster of buildings is now a full-fledged school with creepers, fruits & vegetables, and tall plants. The venture into school gardens was inspired by the Govardhan Eco Village, where villagers practised organic farming.
- Maya contacted the APL Global School to set up a garden at their new campus at Thoraipakkam. The garden uses open-pollinated hardy variety seeds. They can withstand natural calamities to some extent.
- The school now has different kinds of root vegetables and 11 brinjal varieties. Herbal plants are used to keep pests away. The garden involves students from kindergarten to class 12.
Journey: Maya’s journey began with the 1987 United Nations report which sounded the alarm on climate change and highlighted its environmental, social, and economic impacts. Following her Masters from the University College of London, she began work on regenerative agriculture.
📽️ Dome of image and sound
Sun Dance is a new entertainment experience presented in a dome.
What’s it about? The new entertainment space at the Kelambakkam-Vandalur arterial road gives people an immersive 360-degree view inside a 14-metre dome with computer-generated visuals.
- Multiple projectors project a single image made by the software. The show, powered by Dolby Atmos, aims to give viewers a new sensory experience.
- A team of ten people from the real estate company Casagrand took 15 days to assemble the dome. The dome itself is manufactured by Fulldome.pro.
Family entertainment: The dome experience is open to all ages, with tales of popular stories like Peter Pan, Aladdin, and Moby Dick being projected. The tickets are priced at ₹100.
🌊 River restoration projects pending
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Major stakeholders for the river restoration projects have yet to submit their plans.
What’s the story so far? The State Pollution Control Board designated the Cooum River as the most polluted in the country. It’s responsible for preparing action plans for the Cooum and Adyar Rivers. However, stakeholders like the Chennai Corporation, the Water Resources Department, and others haven’t submitted their plans.
- A 2022 report showed that the Cooum had a biological oxygen demand (BOD) of 345 mg per litre, and the Adyar River had a BOD of 40 mg per litre. The BOD of the Avadi to Sathya Nagar stretch of the Cooum was 345 mg per litre.
- The pollution control board also listed Amravati, Bhavani, Cauvery, and other river stretches in the state. In a report to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Chief Secretary of the State Shiv Das Meena said water quality in the Cauvery, Bhavani, and Tamirabarani rivers improved.
What’s being done? The state government has allocated ₹1,500 crore to restore and beautify the Adyar River through the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust.
🛠️ Keeping track of civic projects
The Chennai Corporation launched a 24×7 dashboard to monitor civic and maintenance projects.
What’s it about? The dashboard was launched at the Corporation’s Integrated Command and Control Centre. The goal is to help keep track of and speed up civic and maintenance works across the city.
- The dashboard is a 24-inch wall screen with information on road work, stormwater drain projects, and other maintenance activities from city departments. The information includes project status, delays, details on tenders, etc.
- The revenue dashboard has information on taxes collected and defaulters. The dashboard can also interpret the data and provide faster analysis.
Previous dashboard: A similar dashboard was launched in 2013 in coordination with IT companies to track work on roads, stormwater drains, and bridges.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Have you tried going on a diet?
- I have tried going on a diet.
- I haven’t tried going on a diet.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s one item you would take to your own private island?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Centre for Innovation (CFI) students at IIT Madras showcased cutting-edge technology at the 16th Open House event.
- Law students participated in an electoral college simulation to understand the election processes.
- The Parandur airport will be mostly built over water bodies.
- Chennai-based Tattvaloka spotlights neglected Tamil Nadu temples in a new lecture series.
- Ennore residents formed a human chain at Elliot’s Beach demanding the closure of the fertiliser plant.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I have gone swimming on a beach: 12.5%
- I haven’t gone swimming on a beach: 87.5% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What’s the one superpower you would like to have?
Suchi: “To be invisible”
Shiva: “Telepathy like Jean not Prof. X”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!