Monthly Archives: December 2012

Churches plan their Christmas specials

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Chennai :

This Christmas will be extra special for Reverend Father A M Chinnappa because it is his last as archbishop . After seven years as the head of the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore , 75-year-old Fr Chinnappa will retire and the new Archbishop Father George Antonysamy will take over from January. “This will be the last Christmas message that I give at the San Thome Basilica ,” says Fr Chinnappa.

“I will talk about caste issues and how it is more dangerous than terrorism or the electricity shortage ,” he says. With Christmas just a day away, churches  across the city are preparing to celebrate and pray. But for some, this Christmas is just a little bit more special than those that came before. At St Theresa’s Church in Nungambakkam, which celebrates 100 years this December, this will be the first Christmas inside the newly restored and expanded church. A new bell tower, ramps for the elderly, and LCD monitors have been installed. A church official says they will be filling the church with flowers this year to mark the special day. If it’s flowers in Nungambakkam, for Mylapore its extra services. A new tradition will begin at the almost 500-year-old Our Lady of Light Luz Church in Mylapore — an extra 9pm English mass on Christmas, New Year and Easter.

“The church was declared a shine in 2010. So, we are trying to include more services,” says  Parish Priest Father LC Raynna, who adds that an extra noon mass has been introduced on all weekdays. Christmas is likely to be a quiet affair at the St Mary Armenian Church in Parrys, which turned 300 on December 18.

As there are no Armenians left in the city, there will be no service at the church. The caretaker, Alexander, will open up the church, one of the oldest Armenian churches in India, to the public as usual but there will be no mass or special prayers. St George’s Cathedral near Anna flyover, which will mark its 200th anniversary in a couple of years, started off a little early. The Christmas celebrations were heralded in with a special fun and spiritual campfire on Saturday evening.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / December 24th, 2012

Charminar Biryani – As good as it gets!

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Food lovers in Chennai will already be knowing about the Charminar Restaurant in Gopalapuram, a place of fine dining which has received rave reviews in both print and social media in a relatively short timespan. Talking to City Express, Vidya, a promoter of the restaurant, says “We have carved a niche for ourselves for probably the best served Hyderabadi biryani in town and also for introducing exotic dishes such as sholay murgh, loose prawns and more, to food lovers in Chennai.” “We believe these reviews have been possible only because of our unwavering commitment towards quality and taste. We use only the best ingredients and never add additives, hydrogenated vegetable oil or other unhealthy alternatives. Most importantly, we make the Hyderabadi biryani the authentic way in the dum cooking style where the food is not exposed to direct flames, and hence gets slowly cooked — absorbing all the flavours of the special spices and juicy meat,” he adds.

Charminar has recently set up a takeaway kiosk chain called ‘Charminar Express’ to cater to its customers across Chennai. Vidya says of the new restaurant, “After seeing the tremendous response to our store, and with regular patrons coming from faraway places such as Tambaram and Ambattur, we decided to take our Biryani to other localities. We came up with ‘Charminar Express’ which will serve our signature Hyderabadi biryani and delectable kebabs, packed in high quality packaging to retain their distinctive aroma and taste, as well as ensure heat and hygiene. The first Charminar Express kiosk has been opened at the New Sekar Emporium compound, on Arcot Road in Kodambakkam.”  Charminar has a competition in store for its patrons this festive season. As a small token of appreciation, Charminar is running a lucky draw with prizes including gold coins, cellphones and gift coupons for all its customers who order biryani by the kilogram until the 1st of January.

The restaurant is also hosting ‘An evening with Santa @ Charminar’ — an event filled with fun, snacks and goodies for the children of the Life Giving Home Charitable Trust. The event will be held on December 23rd at 4.30 pm. For more information,call Charminar on 28111007, 95000 55001.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / December 22nd, 2012

A glorious moment for Jeevana

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All

The runner-up of The Hindu Young World quiz C. Sam Victor and Siddhartha Rao of Jeevana School. — PHOTO: S. JAMES

First from Madurai region to enter finals last year

For Jeevana School, it will be a glorious moment to be remembered. Siddharth Rai Tharkeswar and Sam Victor, ninth standard students from the school, were the first from Madurai region to emerge the first runner-up in the 13 edition of The Hindu Young World Quiz, held in Chennai recently.

This is the first time that Madurai region found a place among the winners in the history of The Hindu Young World Quiz. Incidentally, Jeevana School was the first from Madurai region to enter the finals last year.

It has been nearly two weeks since Siddharth and Sam won the trophy for the first runner up and a cash prize of Rs. 40,000, and their excitement is still intact. Speaking to The Hindu, the two students recalled interesting moments from their journey to the finals of the quiz competition. “From the beginning we were confident that we will reach the finals. Young World Quiz was something we looked forward to every year”, said Siddharth, who had been a part of the quiz for the past three years.

“We learnt how to be patient as we took part in the several rounds of quiz. Besides, the questions that were asked by Mr Ramanan were comprehensive from all the subjects and made us read extensively. The whole thing was challenging, yet exciting”, Sam added.

Siddharth and Sam had a breezy win at the regional finals held in Madurai on November 20. For all those who witnessed it in Madurai, the team’s cool composure was something that was appreciated.

The team did falter in the beginning rounds of the finals in Chennai, but managed to get a grip from the fourth round.

“We were very nervous in the beginning of the finals. We did know the answers to most of the questions, but the team from Trivandrum was swift in answering”, the students said. Nevertheless the modest boys remarked that the team from Loyola School in Trivandrum deserved to be the winners. And the students could not stop raving about the refreshing manner in which Quiz master V V Ramanan conducted the show. “Whether it was the regional finals, the semi finals or the finals, Mr Ramanan ensured that the quiz was interesting. Identifying the people hidden behind the matrix, questions on Google doodles and then the anagrams were riveting”, said Siddharth. However, he confessed that the team found most of the questions on western music quite difficult. “We will guide our juniors next year. They will hopefully bag the trophy next year”, he added.

“We are extremely proud of our students. God has been extremely kind to us in the past two years. We are humbled”, said Nirmala Visveswaran, Principal of the school.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by M. Vandhana / December 22nd, 2012

Google Doodles Srinivasa Ramanujam on his 125th birthday

Amazing Feats, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technologies

Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujam is being honored the Google way on his 125th birthday with a doodle. Born on December 22, 1887 in Madras, now Chennai, Ramanujam was mathematical wizard and his birthday is celebrated as National Mathematics Day in India.

Google’s Doodle shows an Indian child scribbling mathematical geometric figures in the formation of the word Google.

http://www.bgr.in/news/google-doodles-srinivasa-ramanujam-on-his-125th-birthday/

Ramanujam was introduced to formal education at the age of 10 and by the time he was 12 years old, he had covered advanced trigonometry and went on to discover his own theorems. As a teenager he carried out research on Bernoulli numbers and the Euler-Mascheroni constant.

While he was a mathematical genius he consistently failed examinations in other subjects that led him to change his college. He then took up a job and then sent samples of his work to the University of Cambridge.

At Cambridge, English mathematician GH Hardy called him to work alongside him. He went on to become a fellow of the Royal Society and a fellow at the Trinity College in Cambridge. He came up with 3900 results in mathematics. Most of these theorems were called unconventional at the time, but later have proven to be true. Prime examples of his work are the Ramanujam Theta Function and the Ramanujam Prime.

He passed away at the ripe age of 32 on April 26, 1920 in Chennai.

source: http://www.bgr.in / Your Mobile Life / Home> Google> News/ by Sahil ‘Bones’ Gupta / December 22nd, 2012

Epigraphy students from PSG find megalithic structure in Udumalpet

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence

Coimbatore :
An ancient box-like chamber made of crude stones believed to have been built in the megalithic period was discovered recently in Kongal Nagar Village near Udumalpet by a set of epigraphy students from Coimbatore. Known in archeological circles as dolemnoid cist, the chamber may have been built as early as in 5000 BC, according to epigraphy diploma students of PSG College of Arts and Science in the city and their teacher, who identified the cist.

Lecturer S Ravi and his team of 75 students went to the site after being told by a few local residents that they get old urns and pieces of earthen ware while digging or ploughing the land. The students spent three days in the village and found the cist accidentally amidst bushes in a corner of the village. “People worshipped at some of these burial  sites and they were unaware of its archeological importance. The place also contains slab cists which indicate that the area had ancient settlements. Even though the place has been mentioned as a megalithic site, there has been no proper study or the region’s importance so far,” said Ravi.

According to Ravi, materials that date back up to the megalithic period lie scattered over 300 acres of land in the village. While students found one cist almost intact, they also found stone pieces of many crushed cists in other parts of the village. In slab cist sites, stone slabs are normally found underneath the earth with chambers to keep metals or wares.

They normally indicate the prosperity of the habitation. However, dolemnoid cists are normally above the ground and used to keep dead bodies or skeletons. They are mostly devoid of valuables. “The dolemnoid cist indicates the early years of megalithic period when people mostly led a nomadic existence. Even though people of megalithic period used urns apart from red and black wares and metals, the dolemnoid cist found in Udumalpet did not have these things. It further confirms it was built during early megalithic period,” said Ravi.
The dolemnoid cist could have been built as a mark of respect to an important person in the group who died while safeguarding them from external attacks. Or it could be a tomb of a respectable member of the clan. The newly found dolemnoid cist has a port hole, a round opening with a diameter of 25 cm and thickness of 6cm.

The cist has a port hole since people then believed that spirits lived on even after death. Nomadic groups often offered prayers at such sites. Generally, dolemnoid cists are found in large numbers in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts in Tamil Nadu. However, the port hole is either on the eastern side or western side. “The most important finding of the dolemnoid cist found in Udumalpet is that it has the port hole on the northern side. This is something very interesting and the site needs to be studied by the archaeological department,” said Ravi.

V Jagadishan, a former epigraphist with Tamil Nadu  State Archeology Department, said the area is already identified as a megalithic site. The new findings must be researched further, he said. “Dr K Rajan, professor of history at Pondicherry University, had mentioned about the site in his research work. However, it is not sure whether there is a mention about this particular dolemnoid cist in his work,” said Jagadishan.

S Chinnasamy, president of Kongal Nagar Panchayat, said residents of the village have in the past got metal and earthen ware while digging the ground. However, no one knew the importance of it and many have been destroyed. “No study was ever conducted here. It is only when students and the teacher from PSG College came here we got to know the importance of the site,” he said. “We are planning to set up a committee to safeguard these ancient sites,” he added.

Students who were part of the study are naturally excited about what they have discovered. E Sangavi, an epigraphy student, said that it was an exciting trip for all the students. However, it was unfortunate that people were unaware of their importance which has led to many of the sites getting destroyed.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Coimbatore / by C.P. Sajit, TNN / December 20th, 2012

Three-day cultural fest in Srirangam

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

It will be held from December 21 to 23 at West Chitra street from 5 p.m. every day

Regional Centre for Art and Culture, the South Zone Cultural Centre, Thanjavur, Tiruchi District Kalai Manram, and Tiruchi District Welfare Committee will jointly organise a cultural festival from December 21 to 23 in Srirangam in connection with the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival.

The cultural programmes will be held at West Chitra street at 5 p.m. every day.

The festival will commence with mangala isai by the students of Government Music School at 5 p.m. on December 21, followed by Tamizhisai by Rasika Prasad troupe, Srirangam Sugaritha sisters respectively and bharatanatyam by Sivathanu Kalakshetra troupe. On the second day, Srirangam Abirami Bhajan Mandali troupe will present songs, followed by Tamizhisai by Kashyap Mahesh, bharathanatyam by Sri Chakram Music School students, and by Mayur Natyalaya Devika Sukanthi troupe.

The third and final day’s programme will commence with layakolam programme by the students of Government Music School led by Swaminathan, followed by bharathanatyam by Sri Puranthari Dance School’s Srividya Sundaresan troupe, nathalaya nattiyam by Dindigul Nathalaya Nattiyakuzhu. The festival will conclude with a dance drama by Revanath Muthuswami troupe. In a release on Wednesday, the Collector Jayashree Muralidharan called upon the people to witness all the programmes.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli /  by Special Correspondent / Tiruchi, December 20th, 2012

APJ Abdul Kalam uncovers 10-point agenda for India beyond 2020

Business & Economy, Education, Leaders, Uncategorized

New Delhi:

Former President-turned best-selling writer APJ Abdul Kalam uncovered a 10-point agenda for India beyond 2020 as a nation where the rural and urban divide will be reduced to a thin line, distribution of wealth will be equitable and education and value system will not be denied to people. The unveiling was performed on Tuesday.

The 10 commandments included “a responsive and transparent government”, “access to healthcare” and “sustainable growth”.

Outlining his vision of a shining India of the future at the Annual Penguin Lecture Series 2012, “Beyond 2020: Sustained Development Missions For the Nation”, Kalam said “sustainable development of the nation was the essence of India beyond 2012”.

Three aspects were the key to ensure sustainable development of the country, Kalam pointed out.

The nation needs “a steady economic growth of 9 per cent with minor variations of 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent”. The job profile of the future was “futhering of the technological nature of business and market aspirations” for sustainability that would provide continuous income and growth assurance in such a situation, the former president said.

“For millions of years, humanity has been taking more and more resources from the nature. Time has come to take less and less from nature to achieve sustainability, the formula for which is ‘a+b+c’. It will lead to well-being of the people and continuous growth,” he said.

The ex-missile man, who has been working on sustainable model for civic amenities in rural India under the project “Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA)” since 2003, said it could improve the lot of 700 million people who live in 600,000 villages of India by developing systems that would “act as enablers” for inclusive growth.

He said “physical connectivity, knowledge connectivity and electronic connectivity” could bring “economic connectivity” to people in the rural areas by acting as broad enabling systems.

Kalam cited a new concept — user connectivity pyramid — to implement “integrated solutions needed for technologies and applications to be sustainable”. He said “Societal Development Radar” — another new apparatus that he was trying to give shape — could become a watchdog by “monitoring and reviewing the user connectivity pyramid”.

Explaining the nature of the user connectivity pyramid, the former president said it was built on “natural resources, info-communication, convergence of technology, societal business model, applications and at the bottom end, the users”.

He used Uttar Pradesh with its population of 100 million young people as a case study to explain his development model.

Lauding the role of publishing houses, the former President, who has authored books like the “India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium”, “Ignited Minds” and “Turning Points: A Journey Through Challenges” said big publishers like Penguin could become partners in the country’s development success story by “presenting more researches and papers on the country’s success stories in the development in the form of books and e-books”.

source: http://www.pardaphash.com / Home> Education / by Vishal Srivastav / Tuesday, December 18th, 2012

Ramanathapuram to become solar energy hub

Science & Technologies

Madurai , DEC. 17:

Minister for Handlooms and Textiles S. Sundararaj, participating in a function at Ramanathapuram on Saturday, said that the district would soon become a hub for solar energy generation.

He said that more and more private companies have evinced interest in setting up units in the 100 MW solar energy park, part of a pilot project, to be established in over 500 acres at a cost Rs 920 crore at Pambur in Paramakudi taluk under the New Solar Energy Policy 2012 in the State.

The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Raasi Green Earth Energy recently. The process for acquisition of 500 acres of land in the village has been completed and Labour Minister would soon lay the foundation stone for establishing the park.

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Home> Industry / by The Hindu Correspondent / Madurai, December 17th, 2012

Elay Keechan tops the charts

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

The track features Gautham Karthik (left) on a boat. Madhan Karky (right) has penned the lyrics of the popular song.

The teaser of the song features Gautham Karthik on a boat, racing across the choppy sea waters.

‘Elay Keechan’ from the movie ‘Kadal’ was released as a single track on December 10. A week later, the entire soundtrack of the film ‘Kadal’ was released, but, ‘Elay Keechan’ has still managed to be a chart topper.

Composer A. R. Rahman has crooned this number, which has lyrics penned by Madhan Karky. The song which has been excessively downloaded online, has been widely acclaimed by music lovers across the nation too. Madhan, who was associated with the Mozart of Madras when he wrote ‘Irumbile oru Idhayam’ for ‘Endhiran’, is ecstatic about having bagged an opportunity to pen his second song under ARR’s composition.

He says, “On December 31, 2011, I was in ARR’s studio to write the song. So I spent my New Year’s eve along with ARR and Mani Ratnam sir. 2012 started with Elay Keechan and it’s ending with the release of the same song.”

Madhan has carried out extensive research to pen the lyrics, including words used by people in Thoothukudi.

Overwhelmed by the response received, he says, “Full credit goes to ARR for the brilliant composition and Mani sir for the unique concept.”

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Entertainment> Kollywood / by Deepika Ramesh / Tuesday, December 18th, 2012

Campaign to popularise Siddha concoction

Nature, Science & Technologies

:Students of Government Siddha Medical College here on Monday distributed pamphlets highlighting the efficacy of ‘nilavembu kudineer’, a siddha concoction, which is proved to be so effective in containing dengue and neutralizing the side-effects of the dreaded disease.

As ‘nilavembu kudineer’ and other siddha formulations are found to be very effective for counterbalancing the serious effects of dengue, the campaign to popularize the siddha concoction has been commenced. Around 10,000 pamphlets will be distributed to the public during the campaign.

The movement that was conducted around Vaeinthaankulam new bus-stand and Melapalayam by the students of Government Siddha Medical College, will be continued in other areas of Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> TamilNadu / by Special Correspondent / Tirunelveli, December 11th, 2012