Good morning, Chennai!
🌧️ Today’s weather: A cloudy day with some rain.
🧐 Did you know? The Madras branch of the Poona Gayan Samaj formally registered itself as the Madras Jubilee Gayan Samaj in 1887. It was considered to be the first of the city’s Sabhas.
👩💻 Another member of the Saas family
SuperOps.ai is the latest entrant to make it big in the city’s Software-as-a-service space.
History: Arvind Parthiban and Jayakumar Karumbasalam spent a decade at Zoho learning the ropes and then built critical products at Freshworks. Now, they’ve come together for their startup SuperOps.ai. It helps IT-managed service providers (MSPs).
- The company provides a unified platform with built-in IT documentation, project management, and the recently launched networking monitoring feature.
- The MSP market is almost $200 billion globally, where companies outsource tasks when they can’t hire. SuperOps began with an eight-member team and now has over 120 people. They’ve added around 500 clients by building their product out of Chennai.
Company and market evolution: The company began by defining its culture code and communicating it to its team. It plans to strengthen its customer-facing team in the US and has hired industry veteran Juan Fernandez. Chennai’s SaaS ecosystem has boomed thanks to companies like Zoho and Freshworks.
🚕 Ola, Uber drivers’ strike
Ola and Uber drivers begin their 2-day strike over demands on bike taxis and toll booths.
What’s it about? Ola and Uber drivers have begun their 2-day strike from Monday demanding the prohibition of bike taxi drivers in the city and unlawful toll booths.
- The drivers are planning a substantial protest on October 18 in the city. They feel their earnings have been affected by bike taxi services and illegal toll booths.
- The Union Ministry of Road Transport introduced guidelines for app-based cab aggregators. States were asked to develop their own ones using the guidelines as a reference.
History: The Tamil Nadu transport department began confiscating two-wheelers shortly after Rapido launched in Chennai in 2019. They also asked Google and Apple to remove the app from their platforms.
🅿️ Assessing the GCC’s parking plans
How effective is the Chennai Corporation’s plan to end the city’s parking woes?
What’s it about? With the increased problem of lack of parking spaces, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has a plan. This includes removing abandoned vehicles, regulating parking policies, and having more parking spots.
- The civic body will create an app where people can locate parking spots in a particular area. With abandoned vehicles removed, activists and residents want regulated policies like making it mandatory for homes and apartments to have in-house parking.
- A recent survey showed the need for more parking spots. The Corporation, with the help of the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), will implement new parking policies and identify new equivalent car spaces (ECS).
What about street vendors? Additional parking spots are bad news for street vendors. Authorities recently met with the town vending committee and said they could set up shop in vending areas. However, places like Parry’s, Pondy Bazaar, and Mylapore Luz haven’t been categorised as vending or non-vending areas.
🥻 Showcasing Kanjeevaram’s best
A textile store in the city is showcasing a vintage collection of Kanjeevaram sarees to keep their tradition alive.
What’s it about? At Tulsi Weaves, textile expert Santosh Parekh has curated over 800 vintage Kanjeevaram sarees. With each having a unique history and story, they have found a new life.
- Each of these sarees is between 40 and 100 years old. Many were rescued from local sellers. Some of the techniques, like the 3-shuttle loom, are fading away.
- The exhibit is an opportunity to raise awareness about these traditional art forms and the diverse weaving techniques of the past and Kanjeevaram.
Details: The vintage collection is open to viewing at Tulsi Weaves at Eldams Road from October 18.
📊 Today’s Poll
(Only subscribers can participate in the polls)
Are you attending a World Cup match at Chepauk?
- I am attending a World Cup match at Chepauk.
- I’m not attending a World Cup match at Chepauk.
❓ Today’s Question
(Only subscribers can submit their answers)
What’s your favourite cultural landmark in the city?
Reply to this email with your answers.
🗞️ In other news…
- Chennai’s waste management issues continue as it looks to new methods.
- Sharon Rachel Aby, thanks to the Tamil Nadu BJP, will be able to participate in the 2023 Asian Para Games.
- Perungudi Lake bund road has become unusable due to the accumulation of waste.
- Vishnu Cars delivered 206 cars to New Pandian Travels, making it the highest tour vehicle delivery from a Maruti dealer to a Chennai customer.
- The HCL-Cyclathon in the city saw over 1,000 cycling enthusiasts.
🛋️ Local Lounge
Yesterday’s Poll:
- I attended a pub quiz night: 0.0%
- I haven’t attended a pub quiz night: 100.0% 🏆
Answers to Yesterday’s Question:
Which city personality would you read a biography about?
Suchi: “Abdul Kalam”
That’s it for today. Have a great day!