Good morning, Chennai!
☀️ Today’s weather: High: 30 ℃ | Low: 22 ℃ | Clear skies for the day.
🧐 Did you know? Areas in the city like Purasawalkam, Pulianthoppu, Perambur, and Mandaveli are named after plants.
📦 Boxes to give back
A group of teenagers formed TheMonthlyBox to give back to society.
What’s it about? A group of teenagers wanted to find a way to give back to society and formed TheMonthlyBox in December. The goal was – what do kids from less privileged backgrounds need? Books, Clothes, stationery, etc. They focus on collecting these items every month and donating them.
- It began by collecting books. In a month, over 100 books were donated by residents and given to All The Children, an orphanage in OMR.
- Last July, this group of youngsters decided to make a difference by cleaning up Model Shcool Road in Sholinganallur. Along with others, they cleaned up plastic and other dry waste.
What’s next? Dikshitha Kedhari, the founder of the organisation, wants to be affiliated with bigger organisations like UNICEF. The goal is to donate 5,000 items this year. They’re expanding the donation boxes to other apartment buildings.
🤝 Research on DeepTech
IIT Madras and VIT-AP signed an MoU for cutting-edge research and collaboration.
What’s it about? The partnership between the two universities is to establish a foundation for research, academic excellence, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Dr Manu Santhanam, Dean (ICSR) from IIT Madras, signed an MoU that recognised VIT-AP as a spoke institute under the Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) project led by IIT Madras and the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- The MoU lays out a framework for both institutes to jointly undertake innovations in research programmes in emerging deep technologies and sustainable development.
For everyone’s benefit: Delegates from both universities stated the partnership will advance knowledge sharing and enable students and researchers to excel in frontier technologies to address real-world issues.
🔋 Hyundai’s battery plant
The automobile manufacturer began operations at its EV battery assembly plant in Chennai.
What’s it about? Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) reached 92% localisation in its manufacturing operations and began assembling electric vehicle battery packs at its Chennai plant. The company made the announcements at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025.
- The newly commissioned assembly plant is operated jointly with Mobis Indian Limited. It has an annual capacity of 75,000 units in its first phase and will produce both NMC and LFP-type battery packs.
- The upcoming CRETA Electric will be the first model to use locally assembled battery packs. The company works with 194 vendors to source over 1,200 components at the Chennai facility.
Company milestones: The company has also localised advanced components like panoramic sunroofs and tyre pressure monitoring systems. The localisation efforts have generated foreign exchange savings of $672 million since 2019 and created over 1,400 jobs.
🚆 Request to resume MRTS services
Suburban passengers demand the resumption of certain cross-sectional services.
What’s it about? Over two months ago, MRTS train services from Chennai Beach resumed. However, the Southern Railway has yet to resume services from Avadi, Pattabiram, and Tiruvallur to Velachery. These routes are used regularly by IT employees, college students, and employees from Chepauk and the Secretariat.
- MRTS services were halted between Chennai Beach and Chintradipet stations due to railway line work that began in August 2023. Once it was completed, services resumed last October.
- Despite the resumption of services from Beach to Velachery, direct connectivity is still unavailable. 13 train services were operational before the fourth railway line work but were reduced to 8.
Unhappy passengers: The delayed arrival of direct trains to the Beach station affects those who want to change to the MRTS train that runs in 20-minute intervals. Some passengers now choose to board trains at Central Station and change to the MRTS at the Park Town Station.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Do you prefer a holiday by the beach or in a hill station?
- I prefer a holiday by the beach.
- I prefer a holiday at a hill station.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
Which smartphone brand do you trust the most?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Sundaram House Finance expands its presence in Chennai with a new Emerging Business branch.
- IIT Madras admitted five athletes under its Sports Excellence Admission (SEA) category.
- Chief Minister MK Stalin promised to name a street in Mylapore after S Ve Shekher’s father, SV Venkataraman.
- A new exhibition at the Anna Library pays homage to MLK and Gandhi.
- Area-based contractors will be deployed in all 15 zones to help tackle waste collection.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I have gone on a religious pilgrimage: 33.3%
- I haven’t gone on a religious pilgrimage: 66.7% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
Which Indian authors do you read the most?
Suchi: “Though not a big fan I read Chetan Bhagat.”
Shiva: “Kalki Krishnamurthy (read before the movie, read OG reprint from magazine)”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!