Good morning, Chennai!
🌧️ Today’s weather: High: 33 ℃ | Low: 26 ℃ | Cloudy with a chance of some rain.
🧐 Did you know? In 1914, JW Madley, the civil engineer who built Madras’s water supply system, assembled an aeroplane and flew from Island Grounds over the Red Hills water reservoir to make an aerial assessment with photographs.
✉️ Postal memories
Chennai has a storied history of the humble yet important post office.
The history: From pigeons to horse and foot postal services to the royal receivers today, communication has evolved and changed. In the 1700s, the structure of a post office was set up by the East India Company. In Madras, the General Post Office was set up by Governor Sir Archibald Campbell in 1786.
- According to Postal Circle, it began as a scheme to convey mail to the East India Company and its servants. It has now grown into a system that handles over 80 lakh letters per day.
- The postal system, with its signature post boxes, was omnipresent. The postal department was always a staff-intensive department and an attractive destination for trade union movement.
Preserving history: Thirupurasundari Sevvel, architect and founder of Nam Veedu Nam Oor Nam Kadhai, began documenting post boxes during the pandemic. The group also undertook the postcard initiative that encourages people to write postcards.
🧑🏽 Chennai’s homeless
A new survey has shed light on the city’s homeless population.
What’s it about? To mark World Homeless Day, a survey by the Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) showed that over 8,000 families in the city were homeless. The survey was taken to understand and assess the profile and needs of the homeless population.
- Ambattur recorded the highest number of homeless people with 4,912, followed by Kodambakkam with 897 and 646 in Teynampet. The survey showed that 15% of the homeless were individual men, 4% were individual women, and 11% were elderly.
- Most took refuge inside railway stations, bus stands, and areas below bridges and flyovers. Over 3,000 slept under tarpaulin sheets and 3,200 in platforms without covers.
Shelters: There are 49 operational shelters in the city under the Chennai Corporation. 12 are for attendants of inpatients in government hospitals, and the remaining are for homeless people. However, there are no family shelters despite the city having a higher population of homeless families.
⚡ Zinc-air battery technology
IIT Madras and Hindustan Zinc signed an MoU to develop a zinc battery prototype.
What’s it about? The partnership between IIT Madras and India’s largest integrated zinc producer is a significant evolution of zinc-based battery technologies. The partnership will help develop a groundbreaking 1 kwh electrically rechargeable zinc-air battery prototype.
- Lithium-ion batteries dominate the Electric Vehicle (EV) market, but they’re expensive and present safety concerns. Zinc-based alternatives are better since they’re cost-effective and zinc is more abundant.
- Zinc-air batteries are becoming a popular alternative. It’s more stable than lithium-ion chemistry and safer for vehicles since it uses water-based electrolytes and no flammables.
Previous research: Research done by IIT Madras showed positive results that addressed the shortcomings of lithium-ion batteries. Used zinc battery packs can be removed and replaced with fully charged ones, increasing rechargeability.
🚌 Bus route rivalries
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Students from different colleges clash over bus routes for a sense of assumed supremacy.
What’s it about? Unique to Chennai in many ways, the “route thala” phenomenon is where students of rival colleges clash over bus/train routes, often resulting in injuries or even deaths. This week, a 21-year-old student was beaten up by Pachaiyappa’s College students and died in a hospital.
- Students come up with rival quotes and songs. For example, tweaked lyrics from a Rajinikanth song from the 1980 movie Murattukalai are popular among Presidency College students travelling on the Tiruttani-Chennai train route.
- While “Bus Day” celebrations are officially banned in the city, it hasn’t stopped instances of students hijacking a bus and riding on the rooftops and harassing passengers. They’ve also taken their rivalry to social media.
What about the police? The police have tried several methods but seem to have run out of options. Police officials used to leave their contact information with bus depot timekeepers and pass it on to drivers and conductors who alerted them when students created a ruckus.
✨ Things to do…
Here are some fun and interesting things to do in the city over the weekend!
- Explore diverse arts & crafts and handloom at the Meena Bazar exhibition this weekend.
- Rhythm meets passion with world-class drummers at the Chennai Drum Fest this Sunday.
- Navratri meets Electronic beats with a Garba performance and DJ sets at Concert Ratri this Saturday.
- Musician Amrit Ramnath comes to Chennai as part of his 10,000 Dreams Tour this Saturday.
- Savour mouthwatering biriyani for a good cause at Help On Hunger’s Moi Virundhu event this Sunday.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll Results:
- I have a National Common Mobility Card: 14.3%
- I don’t have a National Common Mobility Card: 85.7% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
Which Indian historical figure interests you the most?
Suchi: “Mahatma Gandhiji”
Akash: “Kamarajar”
Shiva: “Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose”
That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!