Good morning, Chennai!
⛅ Today’s weather: Sunny with the possibility of some cloudy skies.
🧐 Did you know? The first standalone clock tower in the city, the Doveton Clock Tower, was built in the early 1900s. Before this tower was built, colonial officers at Fort St George would fire cannons at 8 pm every day.
🐍 Snake sightings increase
Rescuers work overtime as snake sightings have increased.
What’s it about? Due to rapid urbanisation, the number of snake sightings has increased, especially during the monsoon. Among those found are rat snakes and common kraits. The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service is on hand to help.
- The fire and rescue team received more than 1,200 calls across the city from November to December last year. It’s a 15% increase from the same period in 2021.
- The rescue team gets 4-5 calls a day during the rainy season. Most come from Red Hills, Avadi, Ambattur, and Villivakkam. Most rescue requests are from T Nagar and Mylapore.
Who said what? Herpetologist Gowri Shankar said there’s enough awareness that people don’t kill the snake but instead call the rescuers. Fireman Augustine Amarnath from the Virgambakkam fire station, who trained at the Guindy snake park, said they got 24 calls in November and December.
🛑 Digitally printed street signboards
Chennai will get thousands of new digitally printed street signboards with a 3D reflective surface.
What’s it about? With many signboards on streets in poor condition or damaged, the Corporation has decided to revamp them under the Singara Chennai 2.0 initiative. In 2021, the Corporation had the plan to include images of heritage buildings on signboards but eventually scrapped the idea. Only some signs have them.
- Last year, the Corporation identified 30,000 boards that needed to be improved. Since then, only 8,000 have been replaced.
- Replacing the signs will be done in phases. New boards will have the Singara Chennai 2.0 logo at the top and a 3D reflective surface for better visibility at night.
Problem with old signs: Some old boards are difficult to decipher as only a few letters are visible. The white letters are stencil-cut on the blue film. Sometimes, posters are repeatedly pasted and removed, damaging the film. There’s also no uniformity since some boards have information in Tamil and English with details like ward and zone numbers.
🎴 Kids’ games on Indian culture
A city-based edutainment company launched its collection of games to promote Indian scriptures and culture.
What’s it about? City-based Chittam launched its collection of board and card games for kids to help promote Indian culture and scriptures. It includes an activity book and a puppetry kit. There’s also a twist on the traditional rummy card game depicting monuments, dance forms, foods, etc.
- Sarathi, the activity book, has crosswords, riddles, interactive illustrations, and stories about Lord Krishna. The puppetry kit Bommalattam helps kids learn about characters in the Mahabharata.
- The card game, Bharata Vilas, sees players having to make a set by matching different categories. Suprabatham is another activity kit that teaches kids about 60 prominent Indians like Rajinikanth and Sachin Tendulkar.
Who said what? Founder Charanya Kumar said she sought inspiration from other countries that have different ways of incorporating their culture into games for children. The company will release another game called Mozhi in March. It’s a way for kids to learn English and Tamil.
📹 Analysing customer behaviour
TangoEye has developed software by studying video footage to analyse customer behaviour.
What’s it about? TangoEye can help answer questions like what type of store displays will attract customers. Will certain items and displays attract women shoppers? It recreates the digital footprint of every shopper without breaching their privacy.
- Their pitch to clients was deploying the software for a monthly subscription would help increase business by 1-5% points in the first quarter.
- The company developed a product to offer insights to retailers since their businesses are dependent on footfalls. The software would replace information provided by the staff that wouldn’t often be the actual scenario.
Company’s journey: Set up in 2018 by Suren Palanisamy, he learned the importance of data analytics during his time in New York as an investment banker. On his return to India, he began researching a deep tech product that could be launched and zeroed in on video analytics.
- Sangeetha Mobiles was the company’s first client. It now has Lenskart, Nykaa, and Duraflex and covers 3,000 outlets in more than 130 cities in India, Dubai, and Singapore.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Do you prefer budget smartphones or mid-range/premium phones?
- I prefer a budget smartphone.
- I prefer a mid-range/premium phone.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s the scariest movie you’ve watched?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Here’s a story about the cop who has been cycling to work for 23 years.
- D-lite Masala is a cooperative that brings people together with different skills to make different podis.
- Residents want a quick implementation of the Airport-Kilambakkam Metro line.
- ST Advanced Composites helped the UAE build its first-ever lunar spacecraft.
- Great Goals, the football and sporting academy for kids aged 4-16, marks its 10th anniversary this year.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I prefer living in the city: 25.0%
- I prefer living on the outskirts: 75.0% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
What’s your favourite non-Indian cuisine?
Giri: “Middle Eastern (Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, etc.)”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!