Assiduous students of College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, were all smiles on Thursday as they received awards from Arun C Bharath, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Commissioner of Income Tax, Chennai, for their academic excellence in the current year. The additional controller’s office reported that 71 students from the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes were awarded endowment projects and scholarships.
Bharath, an alumni of the college, congratulated the students saying, “Although several colleges are affiliated to Anna University, CEG students stand out from the rest.” He advised the students to learn life skills that would aid in the development of the nation and more importantly, participate in the voting exercise.
“As students of a government institution, your engineering degree is subsidised by taxpayers’ money and hence you have a moral obligation to serve the country,” he said. With funny anecdotes, the civil servant shared incidents from his college life, which kept the audience in delight.
Registrar of Anna University S Ganesan made a lighter speech, comparing academic and cultural programmes of the college. On a serious note, he also informed that the college had published a number of scholarly papers and stood at the 76 percentile in the h-index, an index that attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar.
C Chellappan, dean, College of Engineering, and K Ilamparuthi, chairman, faculty of Civil Engineering, presided over the programme.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / April 12th, 2014
Alpha G.K Matriculation School, Aravenu celebrated its Varsha Utsava recently.
A look at the events in schools in Tamil Nadu this week
Alpha Matric hosts ‘Varsha Utsava’
Nilgiris:
Alpha G.K Matriculation School, Aravenu celebrated its Varsha Utsava recently. Ellapan, a world record holder in Thirukkural was the chief guest. He delivered a speech about the importance of Thirukkural, with 31 different ways of presenting it.
School chairman Sadasivam and correspondent Indra Sadasivam presided over the function. Annual report was presented by Principal Amudha Vishwanathan. Students from classes LKG to X performed different cultural programs. The highlights were yoga, karate and silambam.
Parents’ Day at Sacred Heart
Villupuram:
The First Parents’ Day of Sacred Heart Central School was celebrated recently. The Correspondent, Rev.Sr.Malar CSST and Principal, Rev.Sr.Jyothi CSST attended the function. The Chief Guest, Pandia Rajan presided over the function. The theme revolved around nature and the importance of women. One performance presented the lives of famous women such as Mother Teresa, Malala and Kalpana Chawla. Other performances included skits and songs.
St John’s Public School, Jalladianpet, near Medavakkam recently celebrated its Annual Day.
Annual Day at St John’s Public School
Chennai:
St John’s Public School, Jalladianpet, near Medavakkam recently celebrated its second Annual Day at the Chennai Convention Centre in Nandambakkam. Dr. R. Kishore Kumar, Correspondent of the school, in his address said that the outreach focus for 2013-14 was “Progressive Schooling” and highlighted the school’s multi-polar approach.
Students were awarded for academic proficiency, and good performances in sports & culturals. Teachers were also awarded in various categories.
Students put up performances like dances and plays. The School’s Annual Magazine, VOICE, Vol 2 and the Annual Report Booklet were released.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> School Space / April 01st, 2014
It was the conclusion of yet another successful year for Rajalakshmi Engineering College (REC) as it celebrated its 13th graduation day in a grand fashion recently.
M Rajaram, Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, and M Narendra, chairman and managing director of Indian Overseas Bank, were the guests of honour on the occasion. They congratulated the new engineers and encouraged them to become pioneers in their fields of expertise.
“Be innovators instead of following the herd — not just in the technology sector but also in manufacturing areas that contribute to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation,” said Narendra.
Rajaram praised the students for their successes in college and advised them to be respectful to their parents and teachers who, he said, had a significant role to play in their development.
More than 1,000 students were officially declared engineering graduates. Among them 60 were Anna University rankers.
While they were being felicitated on the occasion by Rajaram annd Narendra, Thangam Meganathan, chairperson, Rajalakshmi Institutions, G Thanigaiyarasu, principal of REC, and C R Muthukrishnan, advisor to REC, were present.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / April 01st, 2014
Director Bhagyaraj releasing the DVD at a function in the city on Sunday | R Satish Babu
With media becoming a popular tool that anybody can access and grab people’s attention, even doctors now opt for short films to convey their messages effectively.
Jayasekar, a doctor from Tiruvarur, who has been penning his experiences of treating patients as short stories and has released few as books, has now chosen short films as an effective medium to showcase real life incidents that focuse on many societal and medical issues.
Oru Pudhu Ulagam is one such short film that talks about early marriage and society’s attitude towards the girl child and education in a town called Thirukannapuram. Derived from one of his short stories called Theeranadhi, Jayasekar made this short film with the help of people with media exposure like M J Prakash, who directed the movie in just three days on a low budget casting people from NGOs in that region.
“All my short stories are real life incidents that happen in my patients’ lives. The people’s thoughts are still backward in places like tiruvarur, Tanjai and many districts down South. I wanted to bring these issues out into thepublic and create awareness about how they will affect the society. And films are one such medium to do so,” said Jayasekar who has written nearly 40 short stories to his credit and is confident about transforming his stories into films, in future.
This maiden attempt of the doctor and crew members was appreciated by K Bhagyaraj, renowned film director, who released the short film DVD on Sunday.
“Beyond all those technical issues in the 10 min short film about the girl child, there is a genuine message which must be appreciated.This medium must be utilised in the right manner to convey the right message,” said Bhagiaraj.
Besides the short film, a book for pre-diabetic patients, Neerizhivai vella Eliya Vazhigal, was released on the occasion.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / April 01st, 2014
Vaidyanatha Iyer Road in Shenoy Nagar is named after a great son of Madurai – A Vaidyanatha Iyer (1890 – 1955). Other city landmarks that are named after Iyer are Mela Vaidyanathapuram near Thathaneri and Keezha Vaidyanathapuram near Mahaboobpalayam. His statue, which is installed near the Meenakshi Temple, recalls his leadership in securing the entry of dalits to the popular temple on July 8, 1939. This act earned the wrath of the orthodox Brahmins who excommunicated him from his community. Known popularly as Madurai Iyer, he worked tirelessly for the upliftment of dalits.
Though belonging to Thanjavur, the Iyer family moved to Madurai during his childhood. Iyer studied at the Sethupathi School in Madurai, and later in Madura College. After graduating in Law he started his own practice and soon rose to become one of the reputed lawyers of his time.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Iyer participated in the Indian Freedom Movement and took up the cause of dalits. Mu Chidambara Bharathy (54), provincial Congress committee member and state convener of the OBC wing of Congress in Madurai, said Iyer and his wife Akilandammal worked in the slums on weekends. Over a period, they turned out to be the foremost champions of dalits in the city. Iyer organized the historical temple entry movement which is commemorated ever year here.
“As he led the dalits into Meenakshi temple, orthodox Brahmins locked the temple for three days. They installed “Balameenakshi’ (Infant Meenkshi) on Tamil Sangam Road and filed a court case against the temple entry. C Rajagopalachari, the premier of Madras Presidency, intervened and passed a special ordinance turning temple entries legal. “Rajaji’s special ordinance could be termed as an achievement of Iyer because the government led by him collapsed shortly and the temple entry bill would have not come up later,” Bharathy mentioned.
“When Iyer passed away in 1955, dalits thronged the funeral in large numbers and mourned his death more than others,” he remembered.
As MLA representing Melur from 1946 to 1951 he was popular, especially among dalits in the constituency. The Harijan Sevalaya in Shenoy Nagar came up during the joint efforts of Iyer, noted Gandhian N M R Subburaman, woman Congress leader Thayammal and the TVS Group. N Pandurangan, a 77-year-old Congress functionary residing in Shenoy Nagar, said the free hostel for dalit students benefitted many. Former Tamil Nadu Minister P Kakkan and former Melur MP Maruthiah were its inmates.
“When Shenoy Nagar was created in 1951, the streets there were named after Iyer and Kakkan. TVS Group used to operate buses on the wide streets there,” Pandurangan recalled. “Iyer was a simple man and stood for the cause of dalits till his last breath,” he noted.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / J. Arockiaraj -TNN / April 13th, 2014
Marking the completion of 160 years of the Indian Railways, the Madurai railway division has organised a photo exhibition with a set of 28 posters narrating the history, heritage and salient features. The exhibition, which began on Sunday will go up to April 2 and is arranged at the concourse area of the eastern entry.
Addressing reporters, divisional railway manager, A K Rastogi who inaugurated the exhibition said the photo exhibition showcases the evolution and growth of the Indian Railways from 1853. The exhibition is divided into topics such as interesting information on Indian Railways; evolution and heritage; cultural significance and the resources displaying its indigenous production units which keep the railways self-sufficient among others.
The segment of interesting facts contains information like 11,000 trains plying across the country on any given day carrying 2.20 crore people. With 63,940 km track route, it is the fourth largest in the world connecting people across the country as well as the backbone of the economic growth.
The heritage and evolution part shows the picture of the first train that chugged between Bombay and Thane – the 34 km stretch – in 1853 and its earlier versions of coaches hauled by bullocks. The consecutive pictures show how the railways transformed from steam engines to electric locomotives at present.
The pictures under the title Railways connecting cultures, show that how the tracks traverse across the cultures in the country with a special mention of Vivek Express, the longest train connecting Kanyakumari with Dibrugarh in Assam. The train covering 4,200 km connects Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam in its 82-hour journey.
The heritage section also includes luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels, Golden Chariot and the Deccan Odyssey. The last segment of the exhibition displays the assets of railways like Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi (DLW), Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai, Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Kapurthala and Rail Wheel Factory (RWF), Bangalore.
One of the pictures shows the international collaborations of Indian Railways at Tanzania, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Mozambique and the export of locomotives to countries like Vietnam, Tanzania, Mali, Senegal, Togo and Sri .
The exhibition is open from 8.30am to 6pm and entry for the visitors is free.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / March 31st, 2014
S. Kasim and S. Babu, Nadhaswaram vidwans and grandsons of the legendary nadhaswaram exponent Sheikh Chinna Moulana, feel there is no place for ego in music. / Photo: M. Moorthy / The Hindu
Kasim and Babu are the inheritors of nadhaswaram exponent Sheik Chinna Moulana’s musical legacy in more ways than one. Nahla Nainar listens to their story
Grandsons or disciples? “Before we are grandsons of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sheik Chinna Moulana, we are his disciples,” asserts Subhan Kasim. Speaking about his maternal grandfather and acclaimed nadhaswaram exponent is clearly a matter of great pride for Kasim, who with his younger brother Babu, was handpicked by the maestro to continue the family’s musical legacy.
Kasim and Babu meet visitors at ‘Alaphana’, the 1950s-era house in Srirangam that was formerly Sheik Chinna Moulana’s residence and is now Kasim’s home. A hot breeze stirs up the dry leaves outside, but the mood inside is one of quiet reflection. It will be 15 years this week since Sheik Chinna Moulana died at the age of 74.
“From 1982, after I graduated from college, until Thatha’s last concert in 1999 in Chennai’s Music Academy, where he was awarded the Sangeetha Kalanidhi title, I was performing with him,” recalls Kasim. “Thatha never had a retirement phase, he just kept working, or teaching.”
The Dr. Chinnamoulana Memorial Trust set up by Kasim and Babu will be hosting its 15th Shradhanjali (commemorative gathering) at Tiruchi this week.
Music in the veins
Originally from Karavadi in Andhra Pradesh, the family has over three centuries of experience in playing the nadhaswaram. “Thatha belonged to the Chilakaluripet school of music,” says Kasim, naming the town in Guntur district. “Among his gurus were his own father, Sheik Kasim Sahib, and later, Sheik Adam Sahib.”
Despite emerging as a noted performer in the Andhra style of Carnatic music, Sheik Chinna Moulana decided to explore the Thanjavur ‘bhani’ (school) which allows for greater variations in presenting ragas. “From an early age, Thatha was influenced by the recordings of T.N. Rajarathinam Pillai (1898-1956). He migrated to Tamil Nadu to get trained in the Thanjavur style of playing by the Rajam-Duraikannu brothers of Nachiarkovil for four to five years,” says Kasim.
Sheik Chinna Moulana’s career took off in the early 1960s, and Kasim believes it was the exposure to the Thanjavur ‘bhani’ that helped immensely. The maestro decided to make the pilgrimage town of Srirangam his home. Kasim, who accompanied his grandfather to Tamil Nadu early on, studied at the Srirangam Boys High School, and went on to graduate in Physics, at St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchi, while getting his music education at home.
Babu joined the in-house gurukul in his teenage years, and was educated up to Standard 8 in Andhra Pradesh. “We started our training with smaller versions of the nadhaswaram,” says Babu in halting Tamil, “Then, as we became older and and our hands grew accustomed to reaching all the fingering holes, we were given the regular-size instruments.”
The nadhaswaram, together with the ‘thavil’ drum, are often referred to as ‘mangala vadyam’ or auspicious instruments, showing their importance to sacred music in southern India.
The nadhaswaram’s use as a solely temple-based instrument for daily prayers and processions was slowly introduced to a more public and secular platform by royal families and later, the landed gentry.
“Nadhaswaram is an integral part of our society,” says Kasim. “Few occasions – weddings, housewarming ceremonies or prayers – are complete without its music.”
The days of concerts that would start late and go on past midnight are well and truly gone, says Kasim. “Artists today have learned to compress what was being done in four hours, to two-and-a-half. Most of the concerts these days are held from 7 to 9.30 p.m., which is a good duration. It allows more women to attend as well,” he says.
Concert exposure is as important to the artist as getting practical instruction, says Kasim. “I learned a lot about presentation and public relations while performing with Thatha,” he says. “These days, with overseas assignments, the artists must be prepared to interact with people of other nationalities too.”
Above all barriers
Kasim and Babu maintain an extensive audio-visual archive of their grandfather’s music concerts at home. Some video samples, such as Sheik Chinna Moulana and shehnai virtuoso Ustad Bismillah Khan exchanging ideas on fingering techniques on the two instruments, are shown to students of the Saradha Nadaswara Sangeetha Ashram, a school established by Sheik Chinna Moulana and today run by his family in Srirangam.
A typical day for the brothers starts off with breathing exercises (pranayama), and is followed by practice sessions on the nadhaswaram. Afternoons are reserved for vocal music lessons for the students, followed by instrument training in the evenings. “We spend the rest of the day in updating ourselves,” says Kasim. “Unlike before, there are hundreds of compositions being brought out these days, so as active performing artists, we must be familiar with what is going on in the arena.”
As to whether there’s any sibling rivalry during concerts, Kasim replies: “I support my brother when he takes the lead, and he supports me when I take the lead. There is no place for ego in music.”
The success of Muslim artists like Sheik Chinna Moulana and Bismillah Khan in a sometimes exclusively Hindu cultural sphere is a great example of India’s syncretism. Both the brothers, presently the special nadhaswaram artists of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, feel that music is above matters of faith.
“Thatha often used to say ‘music is my religion; perfection is my aim.’ In northern India, most of the doyens of classical music are Muslims. You have the Kirana gharana, Bade Ghulam Ali, Roshanara Begum and so on. Those who speak of religion cannot ignore the contribution of the Mughal dynasty to the field; ragas like Malkauns, Amir Kalyani and Darbari Kanada all have an Islamic origin. Only those who are ignorant about music object to Muslims in the field,” smiles Kasim.
What is more pertinent is institutional support for classical music in India, he says. “The temple’s day begins and ends with nadhaswaram music. But increasingly, even big temples are doing without these musicians. The government should step in by paying exponents a decent salary and encouraging their employment,” says Kasim. “The backing of sabhas is crucial as well, because it helps in the musicians’ professional growth.”
Tribute to the maestro
The Dr. Chinnamoulana Memorial Trust, set up in 1999 by his grandsons Subhan Kasim and Subhan Babu, will be hosting its 15th ‘Shradhanjali’ (commemorative gathering) at Hotel Sangam on April 13 and 14.
At the event, the trust will be presenting nadhaswaram instruments to six deserving students this year, and for the first time, ‘thavil’ drums to three pupils, as part of the corporate social responsibility initiative of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). In addition to this, a purse and citation each will be presented to senior artists Pandhanallur P.K. Ramalingam Pillai (nadhaswaram) and Needamangalam C. T. Kannappa Pillai (thavil).
Concert performances include a vocal recital by T.K. Krishna on April 13, and a nadhaswaram rendering by M. Sivadivel the next day. The event is being organised in co-operation with Rasika Ranjana Sabha, Tiruchi.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Nahla Nainar / Tiruchirapalli – April 11th, 2014
In his heyday, Mr. Evers also remembers being the master of ceremonies at a function in Thiruvayaru, considered the birthplace of Carnatic music./ Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam / The Hindu
George Evers has been the anchor at hundreds of Anglo-Indian weddings and social events since the 1960s. He tells Nahla Nainar how he became an accidental emcee
No Anglo-Indian wedding or social gathering in Tiruchi has been complete without George Evers as the master of ceremonies. Despite emceeing nearly 900 weddings however, Mr. Evers is hesitant to call it a profession.
“Emceeing came accidentally into my life,” says Mr. Evers, 77, as his dog Molly and wife Doreen give him company at their home in Karumandapam. The then-Southern Railways clerk was asked to take over as master of ceremonies from a colleague who had emigrated to England in 1962, and since then, has been “stuck into it,” till as recently as 2014’s New Year party.
“Even now, when I say I’ve gone too old, people want me to host their functions. I have emceed functions of several generations of families, mainly as a friendly gesture. I can’t call it a profession as such, because I didn’t really earn money from it. After I stopped working in 1995, people began to think that ‘Uncle has retired, maybe he requires some money,’ and they’d pay me something. But all along, I’ve never quoted any rate for my work,” says Mr. Evers.
In his heyday, Mr. Evers also remembers being the master of ceremonies at a function in Thiruvayaru, considered the birthplace of Carnatic music. “My main advantage was that I could sing with the orchestra. Whenever the band boys would run out of songs, for the Railway Institute’s ballroom dances for instance, I’d take the microphone and belt out a few numbers to keep the patrons happy,” he says.
Busy calendar
Working in the Railways let him keep up his alternative job as his rail-pass helped out in the commuting. “Sometimes, I used to be sent conveyance, but mostly I’d just hop on and off the trains – I’ve been to functions in Madurai, Erode, Villipuram, Nagapattinam and so many other places. I made a lot of friends during these occasions. I really enjoyed what I did, and of course, it was because my wife was very co-operative. Doreen sacrificed a lot to just let me do this.”
Such was his popularity that Mr. Evers was persuaded to return as an emcee after a stroke in 2004 paralysed the left side of his body for over a year. “I don’t think I’ll be up to it this year, because my eyesight has weakened,” he rues.
Nostalgia
Mr. Evers grows nostalgic when he speaks of his childhood, as the ninth born of a family of five boys and five girls. “My father Isaac Martin Evers was a railway guard. He had no knowledge of his parents, but my Dad did tell me he studied in Adyar (Chennai) at St. Patrick’s convent school. My mother’s father was Irish,” says Mr. Evers.
The young George Evers started kindergarten at the Madurai Railway School, and then, when his father retired in 1944, the clan shifted to Mannarpuram, Tiruchi. “Since 1944, I had my schooling in Campion (Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School) and finished Matriculation in 1954,” he says. “I joined the Railways in 1957 as a commercial clerk, with my first posting at Dhanushkodi.”
Mr. Evers shifted back to Tiruchi after marriage to Doreen, his neighbour in Mannarpuram, in 1962 and has stayed on here since then.
The memories that the couple share of Tiruchi hearken back to a time when there were few automobiles on the roads. “Most of the children used to walk to school, Campion for the boys and St. Joseph’s convent for the girls,” says Mr. Evers. “Some boys used to even walk all the way from Golden Rock (Ponmalai) if they had missed the 8.30 a.m. Students’ Special train. It was good, kept us healthy. Besides, there were no buses or cars crowding the roads then. Motorbikes were still rare, and owning a bicycle was a luxury,” he adds.
“My parents put us boys in boarding at Campion because they felt it would make us independent and disciplined,” says Mr. Evers.
At home, the lifestyle had an Indian flavour with a Western finish. “We’d have dosai and chutney for breakfast, but bread, butter and jam was always there on the table,” recalls Mr. Evers.
“Our Western culture and our fluency in English helped Anglo-Indians secure jobs in the Railways, Customs and Telephone departments,” says Mr. Evers. “But as the years go by, I feel our community has become more Indian. After all, if you are going to live in Tamil Nadu, you’ve got be a Tamilian, you can’t live like a Britisher.”
As in the case of many Anglo-Indian families, inter-racial marriages have become common. “Even within my own family, my daughters-in-law are Tamilian,” says Mr. Evers. “We don’t have the custom of arranging marriages in our community. In my case, my mother and father had nothing to do with our marriage. I had seen Doreen and fallen in love with her and we had to get permission from her parents to get married. Our parents just set the date,” says Mr. Evers with a twinkle in his eye.
The days ahead
The abolition of job quotas for the Anglo-Indians in the 1960s led to an exodus that continues today. “In Tiruchi, I think around 3000-4000 families have stayed on, though many people left for United Kingdom and Australia in the 1970s and ’80s,” says Mr. Evers, who is a member of both the Campion Old Boys Association, Melbourne and All India Anglo Indian Association.
“We never used to get huge salaries like today,” says Mr. Evers, adding that he was earning Rs. 2500 when he retired. “But we were able to keep the wolf from the door, because the commodities were not so costly then.”
The Evers have six children (five sons of whom the eldest passed away in 2001 and a daughter), and six grandchildren. So would Mr. Evers be doing the honours as emcee at his grandchildren’s weddings?
“If God spares us,” laughs Mrs. Doreen as her husband smiles at the suggestion.
Dancing the nights away
Mr. George Evers on how dance has defined Anglo-Indian social life in Tiruchi
“The Railway Institute the Head Post Office was converted by Europeans into a dance hall. They used to have regular dances there, with live band on stage.
“To know how to dance became part of the culture. And if you didn’t know how to dance, there was no point in going to the Railway Institute, because you’d just have to sit down.
“There used to be many styles of dancing – slow fox trot, fox trot, waltz, rock and roll – all that used to be called ballroom dancing.
“People don’t patronise Western dance now like they used to, even during the festive season. Another main reason is that the children have to go back to school on January 2, which makes it tough for parents who want to dance away the night on New Year’s Day. They can’t stay up late and then rush to get the children ready for school the next day.
“This New Year’s ball was very disappointing. In 1967, there used to be no less than 800 people in the hall, and there would be at least 300-400 couples on the floor, dancing. But on the first of this year, there were only four-five couples on the floor.
“In those days they’d dance till six in the morning, and even when I’d tell them to go home, they’ll plead ‘one more song’, ‘one more song’. So I came up with a solution: I’d tell the band boys to play the national anthem!
“Everybody would stand to attention, and couldn’t ask for more. That became my signature closing tradition.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / by Nahla Nainar / Tiruchirapalli – April 05th, 2014
The CEG Tech Forum has brought out a book that relies on archives, old college magazines and alumnus’ memories
Robert Bruce Foote, considered the father of Indian prehistory, delivered lectures on geology in 1861 and 1862 here, and as far back as 1938, students designed an automatic dosa machine which became hugely popular.
‘College of Engineering, Guindy – A journey through time 1794-2014’, a book brought out by the CEG Tech Forum, relies as much on archives, old college magazines and newspaper cuttings as it does on its alumnus’ memories to reconstruct a 220-year-old eventful journey.
From black-and-white photographs of the materials and telecommunications laboratories to the changing logos, the book not only traces the origins of the institution that started as a Survey School in Fort St. George, but is also a compendium of interesting nuggets and insights into its evolution.
From student elections to canteen menus, from its architecture to the establishment of various departments, the book not only attempts a chronological account of the oldest technical institute in the country, but also offers glimpses of a vibrant campus life.
For instance, it describes how a transport committee was formed in college to ferry students from Saidapet and Mambalam to its campus. “There was a 26-seater Ford V-8, a 16-seater Morris van and an eight-seater Morris car that belonged to the college. The cost was three Annas per mile for the van, and four for the car,” the book notes.
It chronicles the repercussions of the Great Depression on engineers here. It also delves into the transformation of the institution from a predominantly European institute to an Indian one, its contribution to the city and its infrastructure, as well as the developments in recent years.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Asha Sridhar / Chennai – April 10th, 2014
Farmers of five blocks in the district have brought more land under rice fallow-crop cultivation in a bid to increase production./ Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu
For the past two months, farmers of five blocks in Tiruvallur have been working hard to double the output of pulses in the district.
The farmers of Minjur, Cholavaram, Gummidipoondi, Ellapuram and Tiruvallur blocks have brought more land under rice fallow-crop cultivation. In this method, seeds of pulses, including green gram, are sown a few days before the paddy harvest and the seeds germinate due to the little moisture that is retained in the soil.
A total of 12,303 hectares of land are under pulse cultivation in the district, of which 6,500 are under rice fallow-crop cultivation, an increase of 2,000 hectares from last year. The farmers have set themselves a target of 1.20 lakh tonnes of pulses as against 70,000 tonnes last year.
According to an agricultural officer, rice fallow-crop cultivation would help double production. The farmers take care to leave about three-fourths of a foot of paddy stubble so that the saplings of the pulses are not harmed. This is an 80-day crop; during the period, farmers spray the plants with DAP twice.
According to officials in the agricultural department, these villages, which are known for paddy cultivation, are also taking up pulses due to government intervention. “Pulses do not need much care and there is no need to plough the fields in this method. We provide them five kg of free DAP per acre,” said an agricultural officer.
The department has been encouraging more farmers to take to this intermediate crop as it does not require much water and the spraying of DAP will also help increase the yield, the official explained, adding that the production was expected to go up from the usual 500-600 kilos per hectare to one tonne per hectare.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Deepa H. Ramakrishnan / Chennai – April 01st, 2014
