Monthly Archives: May 2013

Meet the karate siblings of Coimbatore

May 13, 2013Sportsadmin

Coimbatore :

There is a sense of extreme pride beam on their faces when S Manoharan, a lathe workshop proprietor and his wife Geetha Manoharan, watch their daughters Ridhanya and Shamita engage themselves in a mock Karate display. Dressed in traditional white Karate robes, 14-year-old Ridhanya is a Karate black belt holder while her sibling, 11-year-old Shamita is a brown belt. They both mean business when they start making some swift moves at the courtyard of their father’s workshop adjacent to their residence in Sowripalayam here in the city.

Ridhanya, a class 9 student of Alvernia Matriculation Higher Secondary School, has already carved a name for herself in both Kata (movements) and Kumite (fighting) rounds of Karate at district, division, state and national level while her sister Shamita, a class 6 student of the same school, has already won a district-level karate championship and is gearing to go up to the next level of the sport. “I always wanted to nurture my daughters like they are my boys. They also like it that way I guess. I have assured total support for both of them in pursuing their dreams in both academics and co-curricular activities,” says Manoharan.

Ridhanya has been learning Karate since she was eight years old. She has since won many tournaments including the recent All India tournament held in Himachal Pradesh on April 21 and 22. Karate fighters from all across the nation participated in the tournament conducted in affiliation with the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs of the Union government and the Asian Karate Federation. “I feel extremely proud when my daughters come home with their medals. But I also cannot deny the fact that both my and my husband will be at ease when our daughters grow old and go out for higher education and career. We are sure that they will be able to take care of themselves,” says Geetha Manoharan.

Ridhanya also adds that having a solid sports background will help them to get admission in colleges and even a good career based on their sporting merits. Though she regularly practises Karate for more than two hours either in the morning or evening, she has never allowed it to adversely affect her academic performance. “I maintain good grades in school. My teachers and principal Sr Celina are very supportive and constantly encourage and help me both in my studies and sports,” says Ridhanya.

Ridhanya often helps out her sister Shamita in making the right moves while they are free at home after coming from school. Shamita has already won a gold medal in a district-level Karate tournament and is confident that she will give a tough competition for her elder sister in bringing home maximum number of medals. “Both Ridhanya and Shamita are extremely talented and have been training hard, which reflects in their performance,” says A Selva Sankar, coach and Karate trainer.

Apart from Karate, Ridhanya has also come first in district and divisional level boxing tournament. She is being trained in boxing at her school and earlier this year bagged the third spot in state level boxing tournament. “Shamita will also start training for boxing in the coming months,” Selva Sankar adds.

source: http://www.m.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India – Mobile / Home / by Binoy Valsan, TNN / May 05th, 2013

Tamil Nadu: Boys corner top two ranks in Plus-2 exam

May 12, 2013Education, Records, Alladmin

Chennai:

Breaking the trend of the last few years, two boys secured the first spot this year in the Plus-2 examination. However, girls did outshine boys once again with 91 per cent pass percentage as against 84.7 per cent by boys.

Last year the pass percentage among girls and boys had stood at 89.7 per cent and 83.2 per cent respectively. A total of 13 students, including seven from Namakkal district, shared the top three ranks.

Jayasuriya S from Vidyaa Vikas Boys Higher Secondary School, Namakkal and Abinesh S from Greenpark matriculation higher secondary school, Namakkal shared the first spot with a score of 1189 of 1200 marks.

Palaniraj S from Vidyaa Vikas Boys Higher Secondary School, Namakkal and Akalya R from Sri Vijay Vidyalaya matriculation higher secondary school, Hosur shared the second place with 1188 marks. Nine other students shared the third spot.

But Chennai girl is ‘unofficial’ topper

Neither happy-go-lucky character nor a personal tragedy at home could stop S. Kaavya (17) from attaining glory in her Plus-2 examination. Kaavya, who scored 1192 out of total 1200 marks, may not officially be the top ranker of the state, but she had every reason to be happy on Thursday, as she has scored 100 per cent in four subjects. Interestingly, this Chennai girl, who studied French as her second language, has scored three marks more than the official state topper.

Only child of bank manager father A. Shanmugam and housewife mother S. Shanthi, Kaavya, who scored full marks in Commerce, Accountancy, Business Maths and Economics has decided to become a chartered accountant. “I am not going to join any college. I have already started attending classes for CA foundation course,” she said, adding that studying in London School of Economics is her dream.

Kaavya, who was class captain of 12 C at Rosary Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Santhome, developed interest in various subjects at a very young age. She completed her BA in Hindi through private exams and holds grade-3 certificate for guitar and grade-2 certificate for drums from Trinity College London. This apart, she also plays chess and enjoys trying out new recipes. Her next target is to learn swimming.

“She is a very friendly person. As a class captain she never showed off her power,” said S. Sathvigha, who studied with Kaavya from LKG. Their class teacher Elizabeth Rani, who taught commerce and accountancy, praised Kaavya for her obedient, sincere and hard working attitude. “Her hand writing and presentation would be neat. She always finished within top three ranks in the class,” Ms Rani added.

School principal Mary Zacharia pointed out that the school has introduced continuous assessment programme last year, which seems to have yielded results. “We started compulsory morning test (7.30-8.30 am) and special coaching in the evening (2.30-3.30 pm). It has proved helpful,” she said, adding that the school used to achieve lot of state first ranks earlier, but this year’s result was its best performance in the last one decade.

Meanwhile Kaavya’s mother Shanthi dedicated her daughter’s success to her sister’s son, Jayendra Prabhu, who died after meeting with an accident when Kaavya was in the midst of her exams. “We had to leave Kaavya in the care of our neighbours and attend my nephew’s funeral. Despite our absence and tragedy in the family, she managed to score well in the exam,” Shanthi added.

90 government, private schools get 100% pass

Of the 400-odd schools (government and private) in Chennai city over 90 have secured 100 per cent pass percentage.

According to an analysis provided by the directorate of government examinations, several government schools had a pass percentage of over 80 per cent. Some private schools like Little Flower Convent higher school for deaf and blind, A. V. Meiyappan matriculation higher secondary school, Jai Gopal Hindu Vidyalaya matriculation higher secondary school, West Mambalam, Shri A Ganesan matriculation higher secondary school, Velachery Sri Krishnaswamy matriculation higher secondary school, KK Nagar and several others scored 100 per cent results.

Correspondent of a private matriculation school in Chennai says its obvious that city schools would produce 100 per cent results as it had better faculty, infrastructure and especially electricity for students to work in the laborato-ries.

“There is disparity even in the city with top schools scoring more marks and some schools located in northern suburbs securing less marks”, another administrator said.

source: http://www.deccanchroincle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by N. Arun Kumar / S. Sujatha, DC / May 10th, 2013

TN State Board Results 2013 : This Corporation school creates record of sorts

May 12, 2013Education, Records, Alladmin

It was the only Corporation school to achieve a centum pass

Madurai Corporation's Sethupathi Pandithurai Higher Secondary School on New Jail Road created a record of sorts by achieving cent per cent pass in the Class XII examination./ Photo: R. Ashok / The Hindu — Madurai Corporation’s Sethupathi Pandithurai Higher Secondary School on New Jail Road created a record of sorts by achieving cent per cent pass in the Class XII examination./ Photo: R. Ashok / The Hindu

Sethupathi Pandithurai Higher Secondary School, managed by the Madurai Municipal Corporation and located next to a public toilet on New Jail Road here, created a record of sorts with all the 41 students of the school passing the Plus Two examination this year.

This was the first time since its establishment as a high school in 1937 and subsequent upgradation as a higher secondary school in 1978 that the institution, functioning with limited infrastructural facilities, had registered a centum pass in a Board examination.

It also turned out to be the only school among the 14 Corporation schools in the city to score a centum pass this year.

The other schools registered a pass percentage ranging between 85 and 99.2.

School headmistress A.Esther Emma Olive said the fete could be achieved only because of the cooperation of the students, their parents and six higher secondary teachers. She said special classes were taken up to 8.30 p.m. for the students.

Fruitful efforts

The efforts had borne fruit as the school first rank holder V.Veerapandi, son of a casual labourer, scored 1,025 marks despite studying in the science stream.

“Almost all of our students are from Below the Poverty Line families. It is a real challenge to groom them and we are doing it successfully with God’s grace,” she added.

Corporation Chief Educational Officer R.Mathialagan said 2,537 students from the 14 Corporation schools had appeared for the Plus Two examination this year. Of them, 2,365 passed.

The pass percentage was 93.04 which was very close to the district’s pass percentage of 93.77.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by Special Correspondent / May 10th, 2013

Chola period Buddha statue found by archeologists near Nagapattinam

May 11, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independenceadmin

Nagapattinam :

An ancient stone statue of Lord Buddha containing inscriptions believed to be dating back to 11th or 12th century during the later Chola period has been found by a group of archaeologists and historians at a village in the district.

The statue was found in a bush at Kranthi village earlier this week, during a field study undertaken by the members of association of archaeologists here.

The statue of Buddha, in meditative posture, is 32 inches tall and 22 inches broad. The face portion had sustained damage, association secretary Ramachandran told PTI today.

Dr B Jambulingam of Kumbakonam, a renowned historian, said the statue contained all the features of the Buddha statues of the later Chola period, like broad shoulders, long ears, slender fingers and curly hair.

“The inscription in the statue suggests that the statue might belong to the 11th or 12th century AD,” he said, and added that Buddha statues with such inscriptions were very rare.

Over 64 Buddha statues have been unearthed in the past from the erstwhile Chola country comprising of the present day Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvaur, Tiruchirappalli and Karur districts, he said.

The district administration had been informed about the statue and it would arrange for detailed archaeological examination, Ramachandran said.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / by PTI / May 04th, 2013

Who’s the best?

May 11, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leadersadmin

The Hindu Super Mom 2013 on May 19

The Hindu Super Mom 2013 is here. The contest, in its fifth edition too, celebrates motherhood. The contest is designed to find the city’s Super Mom based on intelligence, communication skills, personality, creativity, multitasking skills and presence of mind. The rounds are inspired by the day- to-day activities of a mother.

The contest is divided into three phases — prelims, semi finals and finals. The prelims will be conducted at Hotel Savera on May 12, and includes a written test and a group discussion to gauge the knowledge of the participants. Top 50 scorers qualify for the semi-finals, from whom the finalists will be chosen. It will be conducted on May 19 at Express Avenue atrium.

The last date of registration is May 11. A special workshop for expecting mothers too will be conducted by LifeCell, as part of the contest. Prizes worth Rs. 1 lakh await the winners and there are prizes for the participants too. Mothers of any age group can participate. Registration form can be downloaded at www.thehindu.com/supermom2013 and mailed to thehindusupermom2013@gmail.com. For details, call 99406-15300 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Events / May 09th, 2013

From corporation school to seats of power, temple

May 10, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Educationadmin

Coimbatore :

With vivid memories of their school days three decades ago, 70-odd Class 1972-batch students of Ramanathapuram Corporation Higher Secondary School shared their twists and turns of the life at the alumni meet on Wednesday.

Sri Varahi Manikandan Swamikal, who runs an orphanage at an ashram at Periyanaickenpalayam, minced no words in narrating his story ‘From Manikandan, The Schoolboy, to Manikandan, The Swamikal’.

“After my school days were over, I did three post-graduation courses and an MPhil. Then I turned to spirituality and now I run an orphanage besides doing other charitable activities,” he told his friends who were eager to see him in his new avatar. He was definitely the star of the evening and cynosure of all eyes.

S Pannerselvan, the president of the association, said they were holding the annual alumni meet of the batches between 1972 and 1975 for the second time in a row. “Now most of us have retired and spend days with grandchildren. It is just a great feeling for as to catch a glimpse of our old friends,” he said.

Pannerselvan said the plan of a reunion cropped up after some of them met at a function. “The reunion has also helped to develop the school,” he said. P Ramadoss, the headmaster of the school, said the authorities have improved the standard of the school with the support of the alumni students.

“Until three years ago, this school was among the worst schools in the corporation. Thanks to the support of alumni members, now our school is among the best in the area,” Ramadoss said.

K Devadass, who retired as a deputy collector, attributes his interest in Tamil language stemmed from his education at the school. He said studying in corporation and government schools was in no way a setback. “Almost all of us entered government service, became engineers, teachers and were in no way inferior to anyone. This is an important message we want to convey,” he said.

The old students say they are planning to help the school to get ISO Certification. “We want our school to be placed the best in the state. We hope to deliver this at the earliest,” Pannerselvan said.

Coimbatore: Sri Varahi Manikandan Swamikal who runs an orphanage along with an ashram at Periyanaickenpalayam was on a different routine on Wednesday. He was among the 70 odd alumni who were attending the alumni meet at the Ramanathapuram Corporation Higher Secondary School on Wednesday evening. Like Manikandan who studied in the year 1972 batch at the school many of them had taken interesting turns in their lives.

He says that they planned to start the get-together after some of them met each other at some common functions. “We came together and this has even helped the school in many ways,” he said. P Ramadoss, the current head master of the school says that the support from the various alumni students have helped in improving the standard of the school.

“Before three years his was among the worst school in the corporation,” said Ramadoss. In their endeavours to improve the academic winning percentage and their standards they received the support of the alumni who had passed out in earlier years. Now they are among the best schools in pass percentage.

K Devadass, who retired as a deputy collector attributes his interest in Tamil language stemmed from his education at the school. He says that studying in corporation and government schools have no way affected their quality. “Almost all of us have entered government service, become engineers, teachers and were in no way inferior to anyone. This is an important message we want to convey,” he said.

The old students say that they are planning to help the school to get ISO Certification. “We want our school to be among the best. We hope to deliver this at the earliest,” says Pannerselvan.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / May 03rd, 2013

Music festival

May 10, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainmentadmin

Gnanasambandam Odhuvar presented ‘Paadalisai’ vocal concert at the 97th monthly music festival of the Tamil Isai Sangam, Tiruchi, recently. He was accompanied by Tiruchi Ganapathi Iyer on the violin and Tiruvanaikovil Ganesan on the mridangam.

Keerthana of Thanjavur, who is pursuing CA, was honoured with the title ‘Tamil Aruvi’ at the festival. The sangam selects a vocalist who performed at the monthly music festival during the year and honours them with the ‘Tamil Aruvi’ title.

P. Selvaraj, chairman, Shivani Group of Educational Institutions, and vice president of the sangam, conferred the title. N. Mohan, and S. Kesavaraj, offered felicitations.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review> Music / May 02nd, 2013

Designer footpaths to be disabled-friendly

May 9, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Science & Technologiesadmin

Chennai :

Every morning, state government employee Aruna Devi dreads changing buses at Adyar depot to get to Chepauk, where her office, Ezhilagam, is located. Being visually challenged, Aruna prefers putting her life on the line and waiting on the road rather than getting on to an uneven pavement and risking a fall.

Adyar depot on LB Road is the main transfer point for thousands of residents of East Coast Road and Thiruvanmiyur like Aruna, who have to reach various parts of the city. People, share autos, autos and buses share space in the congested depot. The pavements are uneven, narrow and have a number of obstacles and breaks.

“When the bus does turn up, we have to rush to get in,” says Devi, treasurer of the State Forum for Rights of Women with Disability. “I can’t risk tripping on the broken pavement or bumping into an electricity box. I prefer waiting on the road,” she says.

Taking into account complaints from the disabled and other residents, the corporation has started laying disabled-friendly pavements. “The new pavements are designed by architects taking into account different needs of commuters and the road’s length and width,” said mayor Saidai Duraisamy . “Disabled people can get on and off the pavements using slopes. They will be 1.8m to 4m wide to allow a wheelchair,” he said.

The pavements, built of granite, will not have barriers. “I have asked them to move all barriers like streetlights, transformers and junction boxes to a lane parallel to the foot path,” said Duraisamy.

The pavements, which have been designed for 71 bus route roads, will be even and of uniform width. “They will extend evenly from the beginning to the end of the road,” said a corporation official. “They will not be more than six inches high, making it easy for old people to get on and off,” said the official.

For a city with 448 bus route roads, which run for 353km, and more than 8,000km of interior roads, pavement lengths are dismal. “A bus route road needs to have uninterrupted footpaths on both sides,” says Raj Cherubal of Chennai City Connect. Bus route roads such as Nungambakkam High Road have tea shops on pavements. MG Road in Besant Nagar does not have a pavement on one side.

In response to an Right to Information Act application filed by nonprofit organization Transparent Chennai last year, the corporation said only 829km of the 2,149km of roads in the city have pavements. This was based on the data collected from the erstwhile 10 zones.

The corporation laid new pavements with anti-skid tiles on Santhome High Road, Kamaraj Avenue, C P Ramaswamy Road, Wallajah Road and TTK Road. However, they are too narrow for two people to walk side by side and have been dug up often for civic work.

Experts say cities like Singapore and London have pavements on either side of interior roads. Every inch of road space however narrow needs to have space for people to walk.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Pratiksha Ramkumar, TNN / May 03rd, 2013

Girl with the golden pose

May 9, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Sportsadmin

Meet P. Nikarika, perhaps the only practitioner of competitive yoga in the city talks about striking a balance between yoga and academics

If you find yourself looking at children and saying “Kids, these days…” before launching into a flashback on how disciplined your days were in your childhood and how it has all gone out of vogue, meet P. Nikarika. All of 17, she doesn’t spend time ‘hanging out’ with friends. She eats five small meals a day and her diet includes salads, nuts and dry fruits, and chicken and fish once a week. Junk food is adefinite no no.

It’s with intense discipline that the youngster has scaled the fast growing ‘competitive yoga’ world. Nikarika’s day begins at 4.30 a.m. “I do some light yoga and then finish all my work for school. School starts by 8 a.m.,” she says. After school (Chettinad Vidyashram), she spends three hours on yoga usually and if she is participating in a competition, her practice sessions go on for four hours.

She comes from a family of sportspersons. While her father is an equestrian, her mother was an athlete. Nikarika’s elder sister is a national-level swimmer. “I have been performing yoga since I was six years. I was also a swimmer,” she adds. Her yoga teacher in school asked Nikarika to demonstrate for a school day event and she entered the world of yoga competitions soon after.

“Once I started doing yoga, it took me away from swimming,” says Nikarika, who has won nine international medals in yoga competitions held in different parts of the world, including India. A gymnastics enthusiast, Nikarika is interested in rhythmic and artistic yoga too. “I watch videos of gymnasts from around the world, and try to learn from them. Rhythmic yoga is a lot like gymnastics,” she says, “It also includes music and steps.” At the Asia meet in Thailand in 2011, Nikarika was placed fifth in Yogasana, but, to her surprise, she won a silver medal in the Artistic Yoga event. “Since I have the flexibility, I am able to adapt to other forms,” she says. In Chennai, Nikarika says she is the only practitioner of competitive yoga. “There are some girls in Madurai whom I meet at National-level events and we get paired in team events, I enjoy working with them,” she adds.

“Yoga has influenced every aspect of my life,” Nikarika muses. “Because I get a good workout, I sleep undisturbed and do not feel tired despite waking up at 4.30. a.m. In fact, I don’t even need an alarm. I eat at the right time and even when I do face some obstacles, I calmly breathe in and out – the most important thing yoga teaches me – and tell myself, ‘Life is full of surprises. Some of them are pleasant and some unpleasant.’” She adds with a laugh, “But that was before 3 Idiots came, now I just tell myself ‘All is well’. ” Nikarika is now waiting for her class XII exam results. “I am definitely going to study something that has to do with the body. Medicine or dentistry courses top the list. Then there’s nutrition and dietetics too and courses like Body Mechanics that I am looking at,” she says before signing off.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Lakshmi Krupa / April 14th, 2013

Prestige launches Forum and Polygon

May 8, 2013Business & Economyadmin

Forum Vijaya Mall, Chennai / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

The Prestige Group, along with Vijaya Productions, has launched Forum Vijaya Mall in Vadapalani with over 100 shops on four levels. There are over 20 food and beverage outlets, a food court that can seat 850 people, a nine-screen multiplex that will open up soon and much more. The Mall has an Indian touch, with many of its restaurants and retail outlets being Indian brands such as RmKV, Poppat Jamal and more.

Prestige has also launched Prestige Polygon, a commercial office space on Anna Salai, with 5,34,499 sq. ft of built-up area. It has an expansive frontage and can be accessed via Rathna Nagar Main Road.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Habitat / May 03rd, 2013

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