Good morning, Chennai!
☁️ Today’s weather: High: 38 ℃ | Low: 24 ℃ | Mostly cloudy skies for the day.
🧐 Did you know? The Rotary Club of Madras is the third oldest Rotary Club in India after Kolkata and Mumbai.
🎨 Travelling plants
The new Travelling Plants exhibition at Alliance Française showcases botanical journies and histories.
What’s it about? To raise awareness about the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) and its extensive collection of over 27,000 specimens, the Travelling Plants exhibition was unveiled. Four artists who spent the month of March at IFP Puducherry are showcasing their works at the exhibition.
- The exhibition showcases the historical movement of plants through continental drifts, human migration, and the impacts of colonisation. It explores the socio-cultural movements of plans across different time periods.
- Wendy Therméa’s work shows humanity’s unintentional disruption of ecological balance. Rashmimala’s work explores the materiality of plants and their methods of preservation.
Discussions: The residency at IFP sparked discussions on invasive and non-invasive plant species and their relationships between indigenous populations, nature, and how they transform in urban environments.
🏡 Keeping homes cool
City architects provide suggestions and changes on how homes can be kept cool in the summer.
What’s it about? In the concrete jungle that’s Chennai, keeping cool in sweltering summer months is vital. It’s a daily struggle as climate change has resulted in record temperatures. Some city-based architects speak about the changes necessary towards sustainable architecture.
- With the IT and industry boom of the past two decades, the city has seen an increase in high-rise apartments and individual spaces. Concrete boxes heat up quickly. The lack of cross-ventilation is another issue.
- The solution lies in a mix of traditional and modern architectural designs. Balconies and service areas can be strategically located to ensure usable spaces don’t heat up. However, most people still favour false ceilings and air conditioners.
Practical options: Using terracotta jaalis or bamboo blinds with perforations can diffuse direct heat. Khus curtains made of natural vetiver grass roots help absorb heat from a space.
Rotary Club @95
To mark its 95th year, the Rotary Club of Madras will undertake several projects to build homes and restore lakes.
What’s it about? On the sidelines of the release of the fourth edition of “A Timeless Legacy” which chronicles the club’s history and legacy over nine decades, president Ravi Sundaresan said the club received ₹12 crore as corporate donations from eight states during 2023-24.
- To mark its 95th year, it will build homes for the homeless, restore lakes and set up mammogram units and dental clinics in remote areas.
- The fourth book has historical documents like the missives exchanged between a Rotary Club in the US and Madras in the early 1930’s.
History: The Rotary Club in Keokuk initiated The Peace Pipe to promote peace and understanding between different cultures. A ceremonial “peace pipe” was passed on from one club to another across the US, Canada, and around the world.
🧠 Funds for brain research centre
An IIT Madras alumnus donated ₹41 crore to the institute’s Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre.
What’s it about? V Prem Watsa, IIT Madras alumnus and founder of Canada-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, donated ₹41 crore to the centre. The centre was launched to build a global project to image the human brain at a cellular level by generating data and output.
- The centre has developed a high-throughput histology pipeline that processes human brains into high-resolution images at a petabyte scale.
- These data sets provide a unique view of the human brain to reveal cellular details. It’s being studied by neuroscientists for new discoveries.
Using the money: The grant will be used by the centre to scale up its research operations and the project to become a global R&D centre.
📊 Today’s Poll
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Do you enjoy shopping online?
- I enjoy shopping online.
- I don’t enjoy shopping online.
❓ Today’s Question
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If you could time travel to any point in history, where would you go?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Despite high court orders, the Korattur Lake continues to be occupied by squatters.
- The Chennai Corporation is in the process of identifying land to set up cow sheds.
- Heavy rains resulted in prolonged power cuts and outages in several city and suburban areas.
- Chennai’s minibus scheme will now allow bus operators to run services up to 25 km.
- A 22-member committee has been formed by the state government to prepare Chennai’s green logistics plan.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I’m following the Euro 2024 tournament: 33.3%
- I’m not following the Euro 2024 tournament: 66.7% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What’s your favourite birthday tradition?
Suchi: “Buying new clothes.”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!