Monthly Archives: February 2014

80% Subsidy on Solar Water Pumps

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologies

Here is a good news for the farmers of the district interested in installing solar-powered water pumping system to irrigate their farms.

The Department of Agricultural Engineering here has launched a new scheme to provide 80 per cent subsidy on solar water pumps with 5 HP capacity.

The criteria for availing this facility are that the farmers should have bore wells with a six-inch diameter with 300-feet deep water and they should have installed the drip or sprinkler system of irrigation system to irrigate their farms.

While the scheme aims at creating awareness on the use of alternative source of energy (solar) to the existing conventional power from the Electricity Board, the proposed system would use the advanced sun-tracking panels to ensure power generation throughout the day.

The cost of the system is `4.39 lakh and the subsidy component `3.35 lakh, which leaves the farmer’s contribution to be `1.04 lakh. The farmers should ensure that shadow-free space was available near the bore wells for the installation of the solar-powered water pumping system.

The companies that supply the solar-powered water pumping system would also install, commission and maintain the units for a period of five years. Interested farmers could contact the officials of the Department of Agricultural Engineering in Vellore, Wallajah and Tirupattur and make use of the opportunity.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service – Vellore / February 21st, 2014

Sail boat race for local fishermen held

Business & Economy, Sports

Rameswaram:

As part of its 37th Raising Day celebrations, the Indian Coast Guard station at Mandapam organised a boat race for the local fishermen on Thursday. The theme of the year was ‘Meenava Nanban’ (Friend of Fishermen) and country boats with sails participated in the event.

Fishermen from Vedalai, South Mandapam, Pamban, Tirkuvadi and Pudumadam villages sailed in 20 boats and competed in the race. The race covered six miles starting from Kali Temple in Pamban and the first place was bagged by the crew of Sabana Fathima, followed by the crew of Mohammed Taju and Sindurapoo boat. District collector, K Nanda Kumar flagged off the race in the presence of station commandant, Harish More.

“The aim of this event was to spread awareness among the fishing community and general public in particular about the need for conserving the environment, protection and harmonizing of ecological balance, upkeep of marine and coastal areas free from pollution. It was also to highlight the need for our fishermen to maintain vigilance at sea from anti-social and poaching elements who intrude into our waters for economic and other vested interests,” said commandant More.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / February 21st, 2014

Village of woodcutters lives of freebies

Business & Economy, Nature

Madurai :

At a time when environmentalists are urging people to plant more trees, here’s a village in Madurai where a majority of residents work as woodcutters. More than a 100 men of Poigaikaraipatti village have been woodcutters for years now. “People prefer woodcutters from our village, whenever trees are to be felled,” says V Chinnathambi, himself a woodcutter for more than two decades.

Earlier, people here used to work on farms. “But due to shortage of rain, we found it difficult to do farming or find farm-related work. So, many people started looking for jobs outside the village,” says Chinnathambi. That’s how many of the gravitated to cutting trees.

Now, contractors call them whenever a tree needs to be felled. If there is work, woodcutters leave the village early in the morning and work at the site till 5pm. “After lunch, we are provided snacks and tea. We are paid Rs 400 for a day’s work,” says K Veerakumar, another woodcutter.

But all isn’t well with their adopted profession either. Trees can’t be chopped any more at will. There aren’t, of course, many trees to cut. Moreover, stringent norms are in place to ensure that trees are protected whenever and wherever possible. This means woodcutters have less work these days.

“Many days we have no work at all. However, we manage because of the various government schemes. Our children study in government schools and we procure most of the essential commodities from ration shops or accesse them through the government’s public distribution scheme,” Veerakumar said.
Most families have very few demands except for quality education for their children. “Government should ensure that they provide quality education at government schools. We can not afford to send our children to private schools due to the exorbitant fees charged by them. Hence, government should ensure that they provide quality education. This will ensure a safe and bright future for our children,” says M Periya Kaalai, another woodcutter.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / February 20th, 2014

Queen Mary’s to go solar over 2 years

Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologies

The initiative will mark 100 years of the college’s existence

One of the oldest colleges in the country, Queen Mary’s College, plans to go solar soon, to commemorate the 100 year of its existence.

Hemamalini Rajagopal, head, physics department, said the college will begin with installing 15 solar streetlights inside the campus, and then work towards making the administrative buildings completely solar.

“Companies like Mahindra have come forward to help us. We have approached some companies for solar panels for the main building first,” she said.

Ms. Rajagopal said the project will take shape in phases over the next two years.

To mark the centenary year of the college, students, volunteers and staff members will start landscaping of the college campus soon to make it look greener and cleaner, said Maria Preethi Srinivasan of the English department.

As part of the celebrations, alumni and students of the college will bring out a coffee table book that will have details about the history of the college, interviews of alumni and old pictures.

“The college has seen much, from two world wars to several social struggles. The effort is to capture its transition from an institution built for the elite to one that serves the poorest of the poor,” said Prof. Srinivasan.

Among the highlights is a multi-lingual choir to be performed by students of the college. “Our focus has been on celebrating the multiculturalism on campus. Even recently, the guests at a seminar were greeted in six different languages,” she said.

Celebrations for the centenary year began last year with a sing-along event by the alumni. “We are also coming out with memoirs that can be sponsored or afforded by everyone. The event is a clarion call for every QMCian to chip in,” said Nithya Balaji, a committee member of the college’s Old Student’s Association.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Vasudha Venugopal / Chennai – February 21st, 2014

Titan opens ‘Karigar’ centre at Hosur

Business & Economy

Titan today said its jewellery division, that sells products under the Tanishq brand, has opened a ‘Karigar’ centre for manufacturing at Hosur in Tamil Nadu.

The centre aims at providing safe working and staying environment for over 300 karigars or jewellery artisans from Kolkata , Coimbatore, Trissur, Jaipur , Hyderabad , etc.

The facility provides dedicated work stations and comfortable accommodation for the craftsmen, the company said in a release.

“The Karigar Centre initiative emphasizes on overcoming the challenges associated with attracting and retaining good talent in jewellery manufacturing for the company,” it said.

The Karigar centre model will set a benchmark for the industry leaders to enable ‘karigars’ embrace their talent and pursue a sustainable, long-term and healthy career in this field. This initiative will transform the lives of Karigars coming from various parts of the country like West Bengal, Rajasthan and Kerala, the company said.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> National> News / Press Trust of India / Bangalore – February 20th, 2014

Dindigul becomes Corporation

About Chennai(Madras) / TamilNadu, Business & Economy

The Dindigul municipality has been upgraded as Municipal Corporation with effect from Wednesday.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa handed over the government order to Municipal Chairman G. Marudharaj. On receipt of the information, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam councillors celebrated the occasion by distributing sweets to the public and bursting crackers.

According to officials, the population of the newly created Corporation limits is 2.7 lakh.

The annual revenue to the exchequer is expected to be around Rs.30 crore.

The Chief Minister had announced at the Assembly on April 10, 2013, that the municipality would be upgraded as Municipal Corporation.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by Staff Reporter / Dindigul – February 20th, 2014

Research scholar gets award for scientific innovation

Education, Records, All

Madurai :

A PhD student from Bodi in Theni district has become the first woman from Tamil Nadu to bag the prestigious Bharat Siksha Ratan award.

U Umadevi (26) daughter of Dr Umakanthan, a veterinary surgeon is a research scholar at the Krishnammal College in Coimbatore. She has six patents in her pocket for drug designs including four for potentiators. She was instrumental in establishing a new branch in science called potentiology.

According to her, the wonder chemicals known as ‘potentiators’ discovered by her with the help of her father can enhance the performance of almost anything from vehicle fuel, cement, rubber and also reduce emission to a large extent.

“When mixed with petrol or diesel it enhances the performance of the latest engines known as multipoint fuel ingestion engines by 12% and that of older engines more. Emission is also reduced by 60 to 90%, reducing the exhaust and also the NOS and hydrocarbons and this has been proven at laboratory level,” she said.

When mixed with cement, it increases the strength of the concrete compression by 36% hence reducing the use of cement by an equal amount. Similarly, the tensile strength of rubber is enhanced by 42% so the durability of rubber goes up so much. When mixed with chicken feed, the broilers harvested in six weeks show just two per cent fat in their body while that of the normal broilers show 20 per cent. When sprayed on cigarettes and then inhaled, the nicotine levels in the cigarettes are reduced by nearly 90%, she said.

She was awarded the Bharat Siksha Ratan award given by the Global Society for Health and Education at a glittering function in New Delhi recently. She received the award from former Tamil Nadu governor Bhishma Narain Singh in the presence of Dr G V G Krishnamurthy (former election commissioner of India), Sardar Joginder Singh (former CBI director). Umadevi says she is proud to be the recipient of this prestigious award and that serving the nation is her vision in life.

Her father adds that they have six different types of potentiators for which they have patents for four. “We have approached major rubber manufacturers and cement industries with this chemical and explained its benefits, but they are not so happy with it. Some of them openly told us that we were finding means to reduce their business and not develop it. This is a really low-cost chemical which would be affordable and economical,” he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / by Padmini Sivarajah, TNN / February 18th, 2014

This family’s collective age sniffs 900 years

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion

Bangalore :

The battle for the title of ‘oldest family in the world’ may not be over soon. Just when 13 Manja siblings from Shimoga had staked their claim in the Guinness Book of Records for the spot, another family originally from Thanjavur wants to correct that. While the Shimoga family’s collective age is 880 plus years, the new contenders – a family of 11 siblings – say their ages total a whopping 899 plus years, adding up the months and days too.

On Monday, K V Rajagopal, an 87-year-old retired railway executive currently living in Bangalore, responded to a report in TOI dated February 16 on the Manja family, and claimed that his family beat them in the age battle.

Their family hailed from Thanjavur but later migrated to Nagpur, said Rajagopal, elaborating, “We are a family of 12 siblings of whom 11 are alive. The eldest is 92 years old and youngest, 73. Both live in the US. The collective age of the Manja family adds up to 880 plus and it struck me that we 11 siblings are older by 19 years.”

Rajagopal, the third son of G V Rajagopal and Ranganayaki who are now deceased, says all his siblings were born before Independence. “We have witnessed the freedom struggle as our father was a freedom fighter. All my five aunts studied on scholarships abroad during those days itself,” says Rajagopal.

Theirs is a cosmopolitan family, pipes in his daughter Priyamvada Srinivasan. “Gujaratis, Marathis, Jews, Americans, a German and Punjabi are all in it. I am happy to be a part of this rich old family,” she says.

Currently the family has 43 members. But they have never met at one place together. “We all have flown the nest. We had an ancestral house in Nagpur, where no one lives now. Even our childhood photographs are not with us. As six of my siblings live in the US, one each in the UK and Geneva and other two in Nagpur, we hardly get to meet together at one place, but we are in touch with each other,” says Rajagopal.

“But we are not in any race. I am yet to decide on giving a representation to the Guinness authorities,” he adds. The current holders of the record are London-based Brudennel family with a collective age of 855 years.

NEWEST AND OLDEST?

Rajalakshmi Raghavan (92) lives in the US

V Srinivas (89) lives in Nagpur

K V Rajagopal (87) lives in Bangalore

V Kannan (84) lives in the UK

Kalyani Raghavan (82) lives in Geneva

Dr Maithili Schmidt (80) lives in the US

Sulochana Glazer (79) lives in the US

Rangachari Raghavan (77) lives in Nagpur

Dr Renuka Sethi (76) lives in the US

Badra Raghavan (75) lives in the US

Susheila Bhagat (73) lives in the US

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore> Namma Metro / by Sunitha Rao, R – TNN / February 18th, 2014

Tribal students, Top Slip and technology make for a winning combination

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, World Opinion
Coimbatore Collector Archana Patnaik inspecting the Forest Department-runtribal school in Top Slip./ by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Coimbatore Collector Archana Patnaik inspecting the Forest Department-runtribal school in Top Slip./ by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

Wild Wing Trust plans to groom students to adapt to urban environment

For the students in Classes V, VI, VII and VIII in the Forest Department’s tribal middle school in the middle of forest in Top Slip, students have been having teachers from across the globe. The students and teachers meet at the predetermined time, watch and listen to one another, engage in the teaching-learning process and sign out for the day to catch up the next day for the next lesson.

This interaction among the tribal students and teachers across the globe had been made possible with the active involvement of Wild Wing Trust and support of eVidyaloka, an online organisation that facilitates e-learning.

Wild Wing Trust’s Managing Trustee C. Saravanan said that the organisation’s volunteers decided to help the tribal children after studying the forest and tribal community for long and coming to the conclusion in their education and empowerment lay the future of the forest.

The volunteers started off by visiting the school on weekends to help the children by providing cots, books, etc and meeting their other requirements. But that did not bring about the expected change. It was then that they decided to partner with eVidyaloka to improve the teaching-learning process.

With the help of software and other professionals from Coimbatore who worked abroad and were willing to teach the children, the Trust volunteers provided television sets, network connectivity to bring together the children and the teachers through a video conferencing system.

The online teachers complemented the teachers at the school in that they shared the teaching but provided additional resources like showing video clips, demonstrations, etc. to the students to help them understand better. Mr. Saravanan said that the online teachers also stuck to the Samacheer Kalvi syllabus.

And, the result of the online intervention has been good. Headmistress Vanaja Durairaj said that the students’ commitment towards had improved. “They listen more, study well and also come well groomed to the school.”

The Wild Wing Trust did not stop with that, though. It also took a group of students, who were interested in sports, to interact with cricketer Rahul Dravid in Bangalore. “This was part of our confidence building measure.”

The Trust’s next plan was to groom the students to adapt to urban environment so that they did not drop out of school when they head to the plains to pursue Class IX and X. Field Director of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) Rajiv K. Srivastava and Range Officer Xavier recently infused more life into the school by sourcing more teachers and bringing in more activities for the children.

The old building had been renovated to provide an ideal ambience. Forest Department sources said that they were encouraging the new teaching-learning activity so that the tribal children received quality education.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Karthik Madhavan / Coimbatore – February 17th, 2014

If you are creative, you win: Kalam

Education, Leaders, Science & Technologies
Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam having a word with S. Sunderrajan director of National Institute of Technology in Tiruchi on Wednesday. / Photo: A. Muralitharan / The Hindu
Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam having a word with S. Sunderrajan director of National Institute of Technology in Tiruchi on Wednesday. / Photo: A. Muralitharan / The Hindu

Laying primacy on innovation and creativity, the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Wednesday said that in the next 20 years India would grow in a big way in the knowledge society.

Innovation and creativity would result in a culture of excellence which would help in further elevating the country, Mr. Kalam said speaking at the National Institute of Technology here.

“Today knowledge is power and if you are creative you are the winner”, the former President said.

Noting that institutions would be judged by their creativity and innovation, Mr. Kalam exhorted students to aspire for attaining excellence without getting deterred by failures.

Universities and national institutions should prepare citizens of future with global outlook capable of strengthening the nation. Facing a new world, institutions should foster team spirit and carry out joint projects that would bring together multiple faculties and enable minds to integrate thereby, he said.

Today synergy was the mandate and working together would ultimately lead to sustainable development which was very much required, he said. Ignited mind of youth was the most powerful resource which the nation should make use of, he said. Increased student–faculty interaction would enable the young minds to expand their knowledge.

Earlier, Dr. Kalam honoured 15 distinguished alumni of the institution by presenting awards to each one of them. He inaugurated the golden jubilee science block on the occasion and interacted with students.

The Director, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi, S. Sundarrajan, welcomed the gathering.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by Staff Reporter / Tiruchi – February 27th, 2014