Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA) is organising a two-day event here on Saturday and Sunday (February 22 and 23) to create awareness on the Chief Minister’s capital incentive scheme for solar rooftop systems for domestic purpose.
An official of the agency told The Hindu that a similar event will be held here on March 1 and 2.
The State Government has identified 17 vendors for the project and three of them have put up stalls at the Government Polytechnic College here to demonstrate the working of the rooftop systems.
The official said that a consumer who wants to install one kw rooftop solar system under the scheme will get Rs. 50,000 subsidy.
This includes Rs. 20,000 from the State Government and Rs. 30,000 from the Union Government. The plan is to have about 10,000 installations in the State initially. At least 5,000 of these are expected in this region (Coimbatore, Tirupur and Erode districts).
The consumer will have to submit an application to TEDA to get the benefit. It can be an application from an individual or a group of consumers (those who live in apartments). The TEDA will send a message to the consumer when it gives its approval.
The entire process will take about a couple of months. It will also give the consumer details of the vendors and the rates that they quote.
The consumer can choose the vendor. The consumer and the vendor will inform the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) about the installation so that it can provide net meter to the electricity service connection.
D. Devarajan of Sree Dev Solar Solutions, one of the vendors in the project and who has put up a demo system at the event, said that an one kw solar system can generate at least four units of energy a day.
This will take care of most of the essential energy needs of a household. A consumer who does not consume the entire solar energy generated can export it to the grid. With better awareness about the solar systems and the scheme, more consumers in the region are expected to go in for it.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by M. Soundariya Preetha / Coimbatore – February 23rd, 2014
Santikar Young (right), Designated Adjudicator, South Asia Elite World Records, handing over the ‘Elite World Records’ certificate to S. Annadurai (second left), principal, Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, and L. Sivakumar (left), vice-principal, for the record the college set in making the maximum number of handmade pollution masks within a given time./ Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
The students created 2,493 handmade pollution masks in 30 minutes
Students of the Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology have created a record for making 2,493 handmade pollution masks in 30 minutes, says a release from the college. Elite World Records has recognised the feat and issued a certificate.
Attempt
The release said that the students made the attempt as part of the Entrepreneurship Week 2014 celebrations, which the National Entrepreneurship Network promoted. Santikar Young, Designated Adjudicator, South Asia, Elite World Records, was present to judge the attempt.
The students created 2,493 masks between 11 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
The release quoting S. Malarvizhi, Chairperson and Managing Trustee, said that the objective was creation of awareness in the people that pollution prevention masks could be easily made.
The college principal and the vice-principal received the record certificate from the designated adjudicator, the release added .
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / Coimbatore – March 04th, 2014
Women who underwent the training on ‘Value Addition in Fresh and Dry Flowers for Commercial Venture’ showcasing their products at the end of the course at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore./ Photo: Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Another batch of women successfully completed a training on ‘Value Addition in Fresh and Dry Flowers for Commercial Venture’ at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University recently.
As many as 30 women underwent the 25-day free training, held under the aegis of the Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises of Government of Tamil Nadu.
The Department of Floriculture and Landscaping of the university organised the training, which included theory and practical sessions, and also sessions on managerial skills, marketing, financial management, preparation of project reports and so on.
Apart from homemakers, professionals who were looking for a change in job profile attended the training. They were taught many products such as making pencil stands, photo frames, greeting cards, flower vase, potpourri, wall hangers, bouquets, fresh flower and bamboo arrangements, etc.
A training manual, ‘Commercial Production of Seeds and Planting Materials of Flowers and Ornamental Crops’ was released and given to all the participants.
Participants, displayed the value added products they had made during the training and the best three makers from among them – M. Kanjana, R. Nirubha, and N. Mahalakshmi, were given the first, second and third prizes respectively.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / Coimbatore – February 26th, 2014
Sholai School principal and founder Brian Jenkins. (Photo / K K Sundar)
The sun set on the Empire in India decades ago, but its shining in the Palni hills near Kodaikanal. In Tamil Nadu’s very own Hogwarts, Sholai School with its founder Brian Jenkins,68, playing Dumbledore, a magical realm of green, rolling hills, continues to generate its own power and water by harnessing the energy of Nature. The school practices organic farming and grows pepper, coffee and seasonal fruits and vegetables. It also runs its own dairy, and not just produces its own organic milk and cheese but even exports home-grown coffee to Germany.
Students here are taught swimming, yoga, bird watching, horse riding, trekking and outdoor and indoor games. In the past, they have also built check dams and a bridge across a small river that runs through the campus.
Sholai School with its other divisions collectively called CLOAAT (Centre for Learning, Organic Agriculture and Appropriate Technology), is one of its kind in all of India.
It was founded in 1991 by Brian Jenkins (68), a British social anthropologist, thinker and teacher. Jenkins first came to India in 1969 to study Buddhist meditation at Bodhgaya. By then, he became familiar with Jiddu Krishnamurthy’s teachings, and later the man himself as he began teaching at Krishnamurthy’s Brockwood Park School in the UK. After 14 years in Brockwood, Jenkins decided to do something on his own. Krishnamurthy advised him to not be “a blueprint”.
With the small inheritance left to him by his grandmother, Jenkins began looking for a place in India and in 1989 found this scenic 100-acre area, 18 km from Kodaikanal.
“I did not have a master plan as people normally do; first we built a small building with a kitchen and a toilet. Then when we felt the need for another, so we built one more and so on,” says Jenkins. Today, the sprawling school complex includes a dining hall, a kitchen, the classroom block, a boys’ hostel, girls’ hostel, a library, and so on. There’s also a swimming pool and a badminton court with an auditorium in the pipeline.
From xenophobic to swindling locals, Jenkins had to deal with a lot before things settled down. “In the beginning, there was one teacher —me and my two children, my first students. Later a boy from Ladakh and another from the Gulf joined us,” he recalls. This is a far cry from the 51 students that the school has today, with a student-teacher ratio of 4:1.
Unlike conventional schools, students here are not grouped by age or class (entry level is 8 years and goes up to 19 years) but rather according to their academic abilities and liking.
“They have the choice of moving up or down the order,” says a teacher here. There is an interesting mix of students here with half being underprivileged local kids who receive 100 per cent scholarships.
The administration also steers clear of conditioning, a sentiment supported strongly by Jenkins and his mentor Jiddu Krishnamurthy. “In my school, children are learning not to be conditioned,” says Jenkins. That is why at Sholai mathematics is taught along with farming, science with carpentry and woodwork and games with masonry.
There is interplay of roles for teachers as well. Dhruv, a 24-year-old teacher from Bangalore teaches biology as well as milks cows on the dairy farm. The milk, like the coffee produced here, is sold with some being used to make cheese. Similarly, Bala, who teaches computers, and Josephine, who teaches developmental studies, are both involved in a government-funded GIS survey. In fact, Jenkins likes and encourages everybody to share their skills, encouraging practice rather than theory.
The school is powered by solar panels and generators powered by micro hydro energy. “We have some 70 solar panels. Our micro hydro is another contributor, our wind generator also gives us some power,” affirms Jenkins.
“For cooking, we burn wood and we also have a bio gas and a bio-mass, with the former being our biggest energy provider. We also have zero wastage,” says Jenkins.
Like no other
■ The school practices organic farming and grows pepper, coffee and seasonal fruits and vegetables.
■ It also runs its own dairy and not just produces its own organic milk and cheese but even exports home-grown coffee to Germany
■ Students here are taught swimming, yoga, bird watching, horse riding, trekking and outdoor and indoor games.
■ The school is powered by solar panels and generators powered by micro hydro energy
The Path finders
Mirambika, New Delhi
This New Delhi based experimental school run by Aurobindo Ashram is based on Sri Aurobindo and Mother’s principles.
Isha Home School, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Founded in 2005 by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Isha Home School strives to incorporate his educational approach into its day-to-day working.
The Valley School, Thatguni, Karnataka
The Valley School is based on the teachings of the eminent philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti.
Vikasana, Bangalore, Karnataka
Vikasana is a rural centre for education inspired by David Horsburgh’s philosophy of learning. It provides free education to children of all ages from landless farmers of neighboring villages.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Magazine / by Suinita Raghu / March 02nd, 2014
Members of the Krishnagiri-based Indian Rivers Knit Movement (IRKM), an NGO creating awareness about the need for inter-linking and networking of rivers, who are on a ‘paadayatra’ from Hosur to Chennai to meet Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, passed through Vellore on Tuesday evening.
They were received by the members of the National Waterways Development Technologies, another Vellore-based NGO, led by president K K Sridhar and secretary Venkatesan.
The paadayatra has been undertaken to highlight the importance of the inter-linking of rivers and the protection of farmers, said Sardhar, director of the IRKM who organized the event.
Floods and droughts plaguing India, drive farmers to commit suicide and the only solution, to ensure protection to the farmers, is to link all the rivers, he said.
The NGO would appeal to the CM to come up with a policy to set up waterways by linking the rivers in the country.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service – Vellore / February 20th, 2014
A.J. Rufina Amreen of Cauvery College for Women bagged the first prize in the book review competition held at Urumu Dhanalakshmi College./ The Hindu
Chetan Bhagat ’s ‘Revolution 2020’ was reviewed
The intercollegiate book review competition organised by the GC Pattabiraman Book Club of Urumu Dhanalakshmi College here on Friday brought to the fore the fact that given an opportunity, students can do anything in style.
The 24 book-reviewers from 12 colleges reviewed Robin Sharma’s ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’, Chetan Bhagat ’s ‘Revolution 2020’, and Shiv Khera’s ‘You Can Win’.
It was evident that the students had closely read the texts and proved their mettle by enthusing the listeners to read the books , said Prof. R. Panchanadhan, Director, Talent Consultancy, chief guest-cum-judge. He congratulated the college for organising the event and gave away the prizes to winners.
A.J. Rufina Amreen of Cauvery College for Women secured the first place winning the cash award of Rs.1,000. The second prize of Rs.750 went to Josephin Shamini of St. Joseph’s College, and the third prize Rs.500 was bagged by A. Vinodhini of Cauvery College for Women.
Cauvery College for Women won the over-all team championship, followed by St. Joseph’s College, and Holy Cross College.
A convict had killed the judge of the erstwhile Trichinopoli district on the court premises on February 22 in 1916
February 22 was an important day for the judicial officers and advocates of Tiruchi district. It was on this day in 1916 that H.O.D. Harding, the District and Sessions Judge of the erstwhile Trichinopoli, was murdered by a convict for a judgement he delivered, minutes before boarding a chariot on the court campus. The English judge from London had assumed office in October 1913.
The judge, known for his uprightness, had convicted an accused to life sentence in a murder case. The accused, who was subsequently granted bail by the High Court, reached Trichinopoli court with a deadly weapon and attacked Harding. The judge died on the spot.
Later, his body was flown to London. A monument was erected on the court premises in recognition of his service and every year on February 22 judicial officers and lawyers assemble at the memorial to pay their respects to the slain judge. This year too, P.Velmurugan, Principal District and Sessions Judge, along with Poornima, First Additional District Judge, A.R. Rahman, Second Additional District Judge, Balachandar, Chief Judicial Magistrate, and members of the Bar, placed a wreath at the memorial.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by M. Balaganessin / Tiruchi – February 23rd, 2014
A stall at Meditex 2014, a medical textiles exhibition, organised by the Centreof Excellence for Medical Textiles on the South India Textile ResearchAssociation premises in the city on Friday. Photo:M.Periasamy / The Hindu
It has 60 participants, including 25 from other States
Textile products used in the healthcare sector are not just bandages, surgical masks and gloves. It includes implants such as hernia mesh, hygiene products, use-and-throw surgical clothing, etc.
Coimbatore region is a well-known hub for both, textiles and healthcare facilities. The Centre of Excellence for Medical Textiles at the South India Textile Research Association here has organised a three-day medical textile exhibition and conference till March 2 to promote the use of these products and to develop the industry for these products.
Sakthivel Perumalsamy, head of the Centre of Excellence, told The Hindu on Friday that Meditex 2014 and Medineeds 2014 aim at creating awareness among the public on medical textiles. Be it policemen, rural women, conservancy workers, surgeons, industry workers or IT professionals, special textile products are available for their safety and hygiene. Seminars will be held on all three days for students, surgeons, police officers, textile mill workers, foundry workers, and hospital housekeeping staff.
The exhibition is to promote the medical textile industry here. It has 60 participants, including 25 from other States and one from Germany. They have exhibited machinery to make some of these products, surgical gowns, clothing, diapers, gauze materials, implants, special beds, bandages, etc. The country has just a handful of machinery manufacturers and most of them import the critical components for the machinery. The industry can tap the opportunity available in the range of products and the machinery.
Availability of water, washing the regular textile products, and drying these are becoming a problem to the hospitals. Hence, most of them purchase use-and-throw non-woven products and these are available in kits too. However, these should be to specific standards. These issues are highlighted at the event.
Further, a Mumbai-based hospital will demonstrate on Saturday a complete suit made out of composite textile material. It protects the surgeons from infections, he said.
The event is supported by the Union Ministry of Textiles and the exhibition is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Special Correspondent / March 01st, 2014
The file photo shows customers enjoying the famous ‘Iruttukadai’ halwa in Tirunelveli. The Tirunelveli Halwa is famous for its unique taste and long shelf life./ The Hindu
After ‘Kancheepuram Silk’, ‘Madurai Malli’, and Coimbatore wet grinders, makers of “Tirunelveli Halwa”, famous for its taste and long shelf life, and Tuticorin macaroons, an Indianised dish of European macaroons, are trying to get Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
With the GI tag helping the producers in better marketing, especially overseas, more and more producers are seeking to get the registration conferred on products definite to a geographical territory. Speaking at a meeting attended by 20 halwa manufacturers from Tirunelveli and three macaroon manufacturers from Tuticorin to discuss the possibility of getting the GI tags, officials said whether it was ‘Madurai Malli’ (jasmine) or wet grinder of Coimbatore, the tag had made them more famous and helped farmers and manufacturers to get a better price both in the country and abroad.
Additional Public Prosecutor Sanjay Gandhi said GI tag for the halwa or macaroon was possible only if the makers come together and apply for the tag as an association. The officials said there was a problem in getting GI tag for halwa since it was doubtful whether the owners of “Iruttukadai”, whose halwa is the most famous, would join others to get the recognition.
Assistant Registrar of Trade Chinnaraja G.Naidu said 21 products from Tamil Nadu had so far received GI tag while an equal number of others, including makers of ‘Srivilliputhur Palgova’ (milk sweet) have applied for it.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by PTI / Tirunelveli – March 01st, 2014
