Good morning, Chennai!
🌤️ Today’s weather: High: 31 ℃ | Low: 24 ℃ | Partly cloudy for the day.
🧐 Did you know? Anderson Road in Nungambakkam was named after Dr James Anderson who was the first to encourage the study of flora and fauna in South India.
🎭 Boost for rural artists
Chief Minister MK Stalin announced increased wages for rural artists participating in the Chennai Sangamam festival.
What’s it about? Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated the annual Chennai Sangamam – Namma Ooru Thiruvizha. The festival will take place across 18 locations in the city till January 17. Over 1,300 artists from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Goa, and others will participate.
- Stalin issued an official statement where he announced an increase in the daily wages to ₹5,000 for rural artists participating in the festival.
- After Chennai, the festival will be held in Madurai, Tiruchy, Salem, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli, Kancheepuram, Vellore, and Coimbatore. Over 50 folk art forms will be showcased along with food festivals and the sale of handicraft items.
Celebrating culture: The Chennai Sangamam festival has showcased and promoted Tamil culture and traditions over the past three years. It’s also a platform for artists from across the state to showcase their talents.
🚀 Space startup funding
Chennai-based OrbitAID raised $1.5 million to expand its operations.
What’s it about? The space tech startup announced $1.5 million in pre-seed funding led by Unicorn India Ventures and TANSIM, the entrepreneurship promotion body of the Tamil Nadu government. The money will be used to conduct in-orbit demonstrations.
- The start-up will conduct an in-space demonstration of docking and refuelling operations, expand its facilities for on-orbit servicing operations and advance its Standard Interface Docking and Refuelling Port for commercial readiness.
- Over the next year, the company will aim to achieve Technology Readiness Level 6 for its refuellable propulsion system and secure a fuelling contract from government or private space companies.
About OrbitAID: The company was founded in 2021 by Sakthikumar R, Nikhil Balasubramanian and Mano Balaji K. The company is betting on emerging technologies within space tech to meet India’s space ambitions. It recently tested its patented SIDRP on a zero-gravity flight in Florida.
🏢 Ecobox investment
Ecobox Industrial Parks will invest ₹400 crore for a new facility near Chennai.
What’s it about? Ecobox Industrial Parks is the newly formed operating platform of Logicap Advisors. It has acquired 50 acres to develop a greenfield logistics asset in Chennai’s Mannur locality. It’s the company’s first land deal of the year.
- A new 12 lakh sq ft facility will come up at the site to serve the increasing demand for modern logistics facilities. The site is well-connected to industrial corridors and the city’s manufacturing base.
- The project will support e-commerce, third-party logistics, and light manufacturing sectors. The company has taken over 3.6 million sq ft of industrial assets near Pune and Sri City near Chennai.
About the company: Logicap Advisors is the logistics arm of Alta Capital. It’s among the fastest-growing logistics infrastructure companies in India. Alta Capital was founded by Siddhartha Gupta in 2021.
🛣️ System for road-cutting
The Chennai Corporation will launch an automated system for road-cutting permits.
What’s it about? The Chennai Corporation will issue road-cut permits for residents and agencies under a new automated system beginning next month. The system will issue permits a few seconds after the application is submitted.
- Residents currently have to wait several weeks after getting a challan and paying the road cut charges at a bank. Many have complained about the drawn-out process after registering a request on the portal.
- The new system will accept online payments and calculate charges based on the measurement inputs. The permit will be given in a few seconds. Once the implementation agency hands over the road to the civic body, the road will be restored.
Previous shortcomings: There was previously no clarity on the penalties for builders who damaged new roads. Residents had to bribe officials to overcome delays in the issuance of permits.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Did you burn personal belongings during Bhogi?
- I did burn personal belongings during Bhogi.
- I didn’t burn personal belongings during Bhogi.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What items do you usually recycle often?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti sounded the alarm on the decline of indigenous cow breeds.
- Following a pre-Pongal surge, prices of several vegetables have decreased at the Koyambedu market.
- IIT Madras’ Entrepreneurship Cell will bring together investors and startups for its Startup Meetup in Bengaluru.
- The Sadayankuppam locality in the city is facing a growing waste management crisis due to illegal dumping and burning of waste.
- TVK leaders met villagers who opposed the Parandur airport project.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I usually buy clothes online: 25.0%
- I usually buy clothes in-store: 75.0% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What household items would you normally donate to charity?
Suchi: “Clothes, vessels”
Shiva: “Clothes and Toys”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!