Monthly Archives: August 2013

Madurai students hail exhibition train; slam poor access to Kudal Nagar

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technologies

Madurai :

A stream of visitors thronged the KudalNagar station, near Madurai junction, on Thursday to explore a special train that is circling the country to promote awareness on science and biodiversity. Aptly named Science Express Biodiversity Special (SEBS), it reached Maduraiafter a four-day stay at Trichy junction.

The 16-coach train showcases the rich biodiversity of the country with each coach displaying in detail the different biodiversity zones of the country. The train also displays other facets of biodiversity and its impact on livelihoods of the people in specific regions.

The SEBS was inaugurated at Kudal Nagar station by V Ajithkumar, additional railway divisional manager, in the presence of railway officials. By afternoon students from more than ten schools visited the train, SEBS project staff said. “The response is very good and school students are the majority. We expect more people on the coming days as next three days are holidays,” commented Divya Pande, a project staff. “Comparatively, the response in south India is overwhelming. For instance, we had 57,000 visitors in a single day at Vizakapatanam, while the average visitor count for four days at a north Indian station is around 50,000,” she said.

“The exhibition train is very informative and the volunteers are explaining the concepts very well,” said D Dhya neswaran, a class 6 student of Equitas Gurukul Matriculation School in Dindigul. Students from government schools were also present for the event. The eager students from government high school, Valayankulam were seen jotting the information they had gleaned from the exhibts. “Our teachers brought us to have a look and we are very thrilled,” commented Roobarani, another school student.

The visitors, including students, had a tough time reaching the station as they had to negotiate the uneven road without proper metal tops. The access roads are poor and moreover the entry is confusing, said a school teacher from Valayankulam government school. The school vans have to navigate a dirt road nearby the Kudalpudur bridge to reach the station. It will be good if the railway authorities construct proper roads since many of the exhibition trains are stationed at Kudal Nagar regularly, the visitors said.

When contacted ADRM, V Ajithkumar said that the proposal to improve the roads is on anvil since the station was declared as Adarsh station recently. “We are working on the proposal and the station will be provided more facilities including roads in future,” he said.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai> Government School / by TNN / August 09th, 2013

Beach-goers to be protected from memorial on Elliot’s

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, World Opinion
The 80-yearold structure is in such bad shape that it is at risk of collapsing. The Corporation is now building a fence around it to prevent visitors from getting too close — Photo: M. Karunakaran / The Hindu
The 80-yearold structure is in such bad shape that it is at risk of collapsing. The Corporation is now building a fence around it to prevent visitors from getting too close — Photo: M. Karunakaran / The Hindu

The KAJ Schmidt Memorial on Elliot’s Beach is now in such bad shape that visitors are being protected from it.

The Chennai Corporation has begun constructing a fence around the memorial, to prevent beach-goers from getting close to it.

“The structure is in bad shape. There is a huge risk of its collapsing completely. So we don’t want any visitors getting too close to it. The safety of beach-goers is our priority,” said a Corporation official.

An estimated 20,000 visitors flock to Elliot’s Beach in Besant Nagar every day.

Work on the fencing started this week and will be completed next week, the official said. The project will cost approximately Rs. 4 lakh.

The civic body has also floated bids for restoration of the structure at a cost of Rs. 20 lakh. The restoration will only be carried out by sculptors experienced in lime mortar construction. The sculptors are expected to be from areas in the delta region. This work too, is expected to start shortly.

“The memorial is an important structure on the beach. I have seen it ever since I was a child. It is in terrible shape now. The government’s efforts to restore it will bring back several memories that many in the city cherish. But they should not tamper with the original structure,” said Srinivasan, a 70-year-old resident of Besant Nagar.

Saravanan, another resident of the area said the lack of adequate toilets in Besant Nagar was one reason many people used the area near the memorial for defecation at dawn.

The KAJ Schmidt Memorial bears a plaque that dates it to December 30, 1930. It was built to commemorate the gallantry of Schmidt, a European sailor, who drowned near the spot trying to save others from drowning.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – August 04th, 2013

WhatsApp, social networking sites keep friendship alive

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education
Students of S.S.Jain College in T.Nagar celebrate Friend­ship Day on the campus on Saturday. — DC
Students of S.S.Jain College in T.Nagar celebrate Friend­ship Day on the campus on Saturday. — DC

Chennai: 

Has the era of social networking sites and WhatsApp robbed Friends­hip Day of the personal element?

While psychologists bel­ieve it has, they also feel the change is inevitable in the world as we know it today.

“Be it teenagers or their parents, everyone has a smart phone now. All they do is text or click on chat to wish their friends. While there’s nothing wrong with that, its not the same as a meeting in person,” they note .

“Kids keep texting on WhatsApp and chatting.  Living with gadgets, children don’t have time to socialize. One-on-communication is definitely better,” says Dr Anjana Thadhani, consultant developmental paediatrician, advising parents to communicate with their children and get them to do more in the real world rather than in the virtual.

But Rajani Nanda­kumar, a psychological counsellor, believes there’s nothing wrong with having a social life in the virtual world.

“Today youngsters are always occupied with work and social networking sites allow them to stay connected with friends. We have to understand this virtual world and the friendships that they nurture,” she suggests, while acknowledging that this does deprive some of the pleasure of actually meeting  friends.

But with popularity being a huge yardstick with most youngsters, the Friendship Day chorus on the Net is unlikely to ease.

“It’s easy to tag all your friends and wish them, instead of meeting each one in person,” reasons Amrita Ranganathan, a college student, echoing the sentiments of many of her generation.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by Uma Kannan, DC / August 04th, 2013

Madras week: Cycling through the centuries

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

cyclingCF20aug2013

Chennai:

Cycling Yogis have been active on their heritage cycling tours for almost two years now and on Sunday, about 30 of them teamed up with the Madras Week Celebrations to ride through various historical and heritage sites of the Tamil capital.

“This is the second consecutive year that we are on this heritage ride as part of the Madras Week celebrations of this 374th birthday of our great city. It was a ride into history”, said Moulana Ramanujar of Cycling Yogis.

Starting shortly after five in the morning, the helmeted cyclists of different generations rode from the Ma­dras university’s institute of distance education to the high court plaque at the site where the shell from the German cruiser ‘Emden’ took away a part of the wall on the night of September 22 1914, and from there on through quite a few heritage soaked places before ending the adrenalin trip at the Parsi Anjuman in Roy­ap­uram that houses a 100-year-old building near which stands the Parsi Fire Te­mple called Dar-e-Mehar, built 1910.

Close to the Emden spot is the Obelisk adjoining the Dare House (Parry’s Cor­ner) that mentions the ‘Bou­ndary of Esplanade’ as on January 1, 1773.

“I felt a lump in my throat looking at that board and knowing that was the border dividing the then Madras into two parts, the northern one for the whites and the south for the locals. I was transported to that era, even felt the choking pain of not being able to enter a part of my own country because I am not white”, said Sunderarajan, recalling the dawn of time moments.

He said the visit to the cupola of Lord Cornwallis in front of the collector’s office—his statue had been removed to the museum as they said he was a harsh ruler—showed how dirtily we preserved our historical sites.

“In most other parts of the world, history is preserved so well; not here”. And the halt at the Royapuram rail station—the oldest in India that became functional in June 1856 as gateway to the city and hit its pinnacle when Prince of Wales Edward VII visited it on December 17, 1875—showed just the other side of Englishman who had kept the natives off his north Madras.

“The rail station showed that there was some white man even at that time who took the initiative to create a transport system that grew into the most significant public facility”, said  Sunderarajan.

“I felt good seeing the oldest rail station”, gushed Hussain Surti, 12, who had gone on his bicycle, with mom Zainab on her cycle. “It was great knowing that my city has so many historic places”, said the grade seven student of Hari Shree Vidyalaya, RA Puram.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / Tuesday – August 19th, 2013

Woman barber defies tradition, wields blade

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All
Devi attending to one of her customers in her saloon in Tirupur district.— DC
Devi attending to one of her customers in her saloon in Tirupur district.— DC

Chennai:

“School mate Yasodha is my only friend. Nobody ever wants to be friends with me because I am doing a man’s job running this hair-cutting saloon.

Even my close relatives do not talk to me because I am forced to touch men while cutting their hair or shaving. But I don’t care”.

That’s Thangavel Devi, 30, who has been waging a battle of sexes for the last five years, fighting for space in what has been all along considered a male preserve.

There are any number of women hairdressers but most of them work in urban and semi-urban areas and they attend to only women customers.

Devi, who has done a degree in commerce but could not get a decent job, set up her own saloon at Palladam (Tirupur district), taking after her family trade.

Her father Thangavel is sick and has incurred big debts, so Devi slogs with scissors and blades on her male customers.

She also attends to a tougher facet of her traditional trade as ‘kudimagan’—attending to calls from bereaved families to clean up the dead body for preparing it for the last rites.

She gets Rs 1,500 per body as her fee and does not bother about the raised eyebrows around.

“I earn about Rs 250 averaging two-three cuttings and five-six shavings a day, a little more on Sundays. I also work at a nearby finance company as a bill clerk for a monthly salary of Rs 5,000.

I don’t have holidays because I need every rupee that comes my way to pay up the loan of a little over Rs 1 lakh taken by my father for his medical treatment”, said Devi, throwing light on her hard life in taking care of the family.

“I have two main goals in life — clearing our loans and fulfilling the dream of my brother, now in ninth class, to become a computer engineer”.

It is not just the physical hard labour that Devi must endure; there is also much mental trauma as almost the entire society around her boycotts her because of her odd career.

“Particularly, the women hate me because of my bold venture, but I need the money to save my family from starvation”, said Devi.  When asked about her marriage plans, she shot back: “That will have to wait. Besides, it will be tough finding a man who will accept me the way I am”.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by S. Thirunavukarasu / August 19th, 2013

Rationalist ideologue Periyardasan passes away, donates body to MMC

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders
Abdullha Periyardasan.
Abdullha Periyardasan.

Chennai: 

Well-known Periyarist and psychotherapist Abdullha Periyardasan (64) passed away on Monday. As per his wishes, his family don­ated his eyes and his body to students of Madras Medical College.

A multi-faceted personality, Periyardasan was kno­wn for interpreting Peri­yar’s rationalist philosophy in simple terms for the common man. He acted in Tamil film Karuthamma which won a national award.

Periyardasan had climbed his way up from a middleclass family at Pera­mbur in Chennai, studied in RBCCC School and got degrees in Tamil literature, history and philosophy from Pachaiyappa’s College. He did his Ph.D. in philosophy at Oxford Uni­ve­rsity.

After his studies, he joined Pachaiyappa’s College as lecturer and continued to work for 34 years. Even after his retirement, he worked as visiting faculty. He impressed upon his family members to donate his body to medical students.

The general secretary of Thanthai Periyar Drav­idar Kazhagam, Kovai, Ram­ak­rishnan, said Periy­arism, Ambedkarism, Com­­­­­m­­­­unism and Budd­his­m were Periyardasan’s forte.

“He spread rationalist thoughts with his hilarious speeches and educated the masses. He had addre­ssed over 1,000 meetings in his lifetime carrying Per­iyar’s messages to the public,” he said. He added, “Born as a Hindu, he became an atheist in his teens influenced by Peri­yar but then he switched to Buddhism and later in his life, he went to Mecca and converted into a Muslim in 2010,” he said.

He wrote over 50 books, including a translation of Ambedkar’s last book. His son Valavan, a child rights activist, said Periyardasan was among the four persons invited by the world religion conference in 1983 and he talked on Budd­hism. He is survived by wife Vasantha and two sons Valavan and Suradha.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by Pramila Krishnan, DC / Tuesday – August 21st, 2013

Banana kisan mela on August 21

Business & Economy, Nature
The mela will be on theme 'banana fruit care' beginning from August 21 in Tiruchi./ FILE PHOTO: M. MOORHTY / The Hindu
The mela will be on theme ‘banana fruit care’ beginning from August 21 in Tiruchi./
FILE PHOTO: M. MOORHTY / The Hindu

A release of compilation of research achievements over the last two decades and an exhibition on latest technologies used in banana production will mark banana kisan mela to be organised by National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) on its premises near the city on August 21.

The mela will be on the theme ‘banana fruit care’. There is an acute need to improve stakeholders’ awareness on fruit care, which includes better production technology, post-harvest handling, storage, value chain management, and consumer satisfaction. It is these endeavours that underpin the mela, a press release from M.M.Mustaffa, Director of NRCB, issued here on Monday said.

The exhibition will showcase technologies for banana fruit care, banana production, quality tissue culture plants, value-added products , inputs for banana cultivation, and management of pests and diseases. The scientists would deliver talks on banana fruit care that includes pre and post harvest practices for better shelf life of banana fruit, marketability, and profitability.

They would also demonstrate in-house technologies for fruit care developed at the processing lab by NRCB.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by Special Correspondent / Tiruchi – August 20th, 2013

Silk steals the show at Tiruchi handloom expo

Business & Economy
Exhibition of handloom fabrics at Poompuhar showroom in Tiruchi on Tuesday. / Photo: R.M. Raharathinam / The Hindu
Exhibition of handloom fabrics at Poompuhar showroom in Tiruchi on Tuesday. / Photo: R.M. Raharathinam / The Hindu

10 per cent discount offered; Poompuhar expects sales of Rs. 7 lakh

Handloom products from different parts of the country such as Jaipur, Haryana, Varanasi, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal could be viewed and purchased at a special exhibition being conducted at Poompuhar showroom in the city.

The handloom exhibition was opened to public on Monday and will be held from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. till August 17, except Sundays at Singarathope in the city. The collections are priced between Rs. 60 and Rs. 15,000, and one could avail of a discount of 10 per cent on handloom items. The highlights of the exhibition are silk items priced between Rs.12,000 and Rs. 14,500.

The 13-day exhibition will feature unique collections such as Madurai Sungadi saris, Valanar saris, Banaras silk saris, cotton handloom saris, chudidhars, gaghra cholis, tops, skirts, and nighties.

Accessories such as Pashmina shawls, silk scarves, silk shawls, and silk bags are available.

Patchwork bed-sheets, sofa back covers, dewan sets, cushion covers, door and window curtains, woollen carpets, quilts, silk table cloths, silk wall hanging sceneries, and different silk products can be purchased. The stock value of the items on display is approximately Rs. 30 lakh, according to V. Ganesan, manager, Poompuhar.

Poompuhar expects sales of Rs. 7 lakh from this exhibition and hopes the revenue will help artisans who have put in a lot of hard work and dedication towards creating the items.

“Poompuhar has begun the selection process to provide training to 100 women on Thanjavur picture painting. The interviews are likely to be conducted shortly,” said Mr. Ganesan.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by Staff Reporter / Tiruchi – August 07th, 2013

Don’t have time to sit back and relax: A R Rahman

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Records, All

ARrahmanCF20aug2013

New Delhi :

He has been dominating Bollywood music scene for decades now and is the only Indian composer to win two Academy awards, but A R Rahman does not yearn for a break from work as he feels it is just the beginning of his career.

Known as the “Mozart of Madras” among his fans, Rahman started his journey composing scores for documentaries and TV shows before getting his first movie break with 1992 release “Roja”.

Since then he has given soul-rendering music in films like “Rangeela”, “Taal”, “Dil Se”, “Jodhaa Akbar”, “Swades”, “Rang De Basanti”, “Rockstar” and “Jab Tak Hai Jaan” and “Raanjhanaa”.

“I don’t have the time to relax. I still have so many things to do. My music school and so many other projects keep me busy. This is like God’s way of saying go on. I am here to make music and will continue doing so. Things have just started for me,” Rahman told PTI in an interview.

The music composer is all set to make his debut on the season 3 of ‘Coke Studio’ this year. He will be composing two Tamil songs, another song titled ‘Zariya’, with lyrics by Prasoon Joshi and a track based on Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Mind Without Fear’.

“I took up the show just for the joy of performing with artistes coming together from different cultures – ranging from Tibet to the Middle East.

“My compositions for Coke Studio celebrate cultures, under the overarching theme of happiness. I teamed up with Prasoon and Valee sir (Tamil Lyricist) to create the lyrics for a couple of my songs on happiness and am pleased with the outcome,” said Rahman.

source: http://www.indiatvnews.com / India TV / Home> Entertainment> Bollywood / August 07th, 2013

Food centre to help entrepreneurs

Business & Economy, Education
Students of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics of PSG College of Arts and Science at the Food Processing Plant filling sauce bottles and capping them./ Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
Students of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics of PSG College of Arts and Science at the Food Processing Plant filling sauce bottles and capping them./ Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu

The Food Processing Centre of PSG College of Arts and Science, set up in 2011, allows entrepreneurs to manufacture their value-added products, and offers a variety of courses to train people the techniques of value-addition.

Operated under the aegis of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics of the college, the centre has been set up by the college management, with partial funding from Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries. It is licensed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

The focus, according to, S. Radhai Sri, Associate Professor of the department and coordinator of the food processing plant, was to take forward the concept of reducing wastage and post-harvest handling of fruits and vegetables.

“It is also to help conduct research and outreach activities for entrepreneurs, members of self help groups, students, and also farmers, to enhance food safety in all spheres of the food system gamut,” she says.

“Equipment such as steam jacketed kettle, pasteuriser, homogeniser, fluidised bed drier, and pulper, can be used by food business operators for research and development work as well as product development. Consultancy services are also provided on product development and market testing,” she adds.

The unit has product lines for ready-to-serve beverages, jam, jelly, and sauce. It is also equipped for canning of fruits and vegetables, packed and flavoured milk production, instant mixes and masala powders, research and development, and quality checking laboratories.

The centre is equally interested in promoting its training programmes – ranging from one day to one year — for the benefit of those who are trying to establish themselves as entrepreneurs.

There are weeklong programmes on preparing products from fruits, vegetables, etc.

The one-year programme is a Diploma course on Post Harvest Technology approved by the Bharathiar University.

Admissions for the training programmes are open.

Contact

Those interested can contact the Food Processing Centre on 0422-4303300 (extension 3357 / 3314).

source: http://www.thehindu.com  / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / Coimbatore – August 08th, 2013