Monthly Archives: October 2014

Jayaram conquers doubts after surgery to win Dutch Open

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Ajay Jayaram
Ajay Jayaram

For a long time, Ajay Jayaram was known for losing out on an Olympic berth to Parupalli Kashyap during the 2012 India Open. It seemed as if Jayaram had all but sealed the spot with some good performances round the year, but Kashyap pipped him courtesy a lucky break as the then World No. 4 Chen Jin gave the latter a walkover in the quarter-finals that eventually proved decisive.

Jayaram was crestfallen and since then has been trying hard to bounce back. He enjoyed a decent run but not as much he would have liked. To add to his woes, a shoulder injury during the Hong Kong Open in January this year put him out of action for more than six months.

Jayaram underwent a surgery and did the necessary rehabilitation. But at only his fourth tournament back, the Mumbai shuttler won the biggest event of his career when he clinched the Dutch Open Grand Prix on Sunday.

Ajay Jayaram wins the Dutch Open
Ajay Jayaram wins the Dutch Open

“Definitely it has surprised me. I played some good attacking badminton. I need to maintain this level of focus and discipline in the coming tournaments. That will be the key to getting good results,” Jayaram told MAIL TODAY.

“I am elated. It has been a tough few months. Even after I resumed playing, it wasn’t easy to find my rhythm. It took me a while to get back the match temperament and touch. But I am happy I managed to dig deep and get the muchneeded win which also happens to be my first Grand Prix title. I couldn’t have asked for a better comeback,” he said.

The manner of his win, coming against a tough field, should give Jayaram immense confidence. Beating the likes of third seed Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka (World No. 26) of Indonesia and top seed Rajiv Ouseph (World No. 29) of England would do him a world of good.

“With higher-ranked players like Ouseph and Rumbaka in my half, it wasn’t going to be easy. I secured convincing wins against both. The final was against an upcoming Indonesian (Ihsan Maulana Mustofa). It was a hard fought five-game battle which swung both ways. I had to dig deep and bring all my focus into play in the fifth game where I was 1-5 down. But I played well and was positive when it mattered.”

Coming back from the shoulder injury was never going to be easy and Jayaram admitted that he was often frustrated. “The first few tournaments were quite hard to adapt to. But I knew it was a matter of perseverance. There were trying moments when frustration set in. But I had to keep my chin up and keep working.” Now Jayaram has got a feel of the new scoring system that is being introduced at the Grand Prix level on an experimental basis. The 11-points best-of-five games scoring format has been criticised by many top players. “Although the game gets shorter, most of the match is played under more pressure which requires more focus. Hard to say if it is the way to go for badminton, but I’m glad I was able to adjust to it and do well.” Jayaram, who was ranked as high as 21st in early 2013, has now fallen to 66th, and with many Indian players going past him, he was not part of the Asian Games squad. Getting back to the national team is his priority.

“If I am able to maintain the same positive tempo, I’m sure I will regain my place in the core group,” he said.

source: http://www.indiatoday.intoday.in / IndiaToday.in / Home> Sports / by Avishek Roy / New Delhi – October 14th, 2014

Samayapuram temple earns 1.8cr by selling tonsured hair

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Nature, Records, All

Trichy  :

Just the mere strands of tonsured hair offered by devotees brought windfall to Samayapuram temple, the second highest revenue generating temple in the state. The temple authorities sold the tonsured hair for Rs 1.89 crore during an auction on Thursday.

Every year during the day of Ammavasai and Poochoriyal festival, many people swarm the temple. It is visited by about 3,000 devotees from various parts of the state on a daily basis. Devotees offer their hair in order to please the deity and wash away their sins and get one step closer to nirvana.

The temple collects all the tonsured hair and at the end of every year hold an auction, for which numerous bids are received, and these are not limited to Tamil Nadu, bids are made from various dealers from different parts of the country.

According to temple authorities, about 3,638kg of hair was auctioned off on Thursday and the tender was officially closed a few weeks ago.

A dealer from Vellore district bagged the tender for a sum of Rs 1,80,62,500. The temple started off the auctioning on a yearly basis but in recent months the amount of tonsured hair has increased and so the temple authorities have decided to hold an auction for the tender every two months.

This decision also gives an insight on the belief and devotion that people have for the Mariamman deity and the hoards of devotees that the temple pulls in on a regular basis. The funds will be used by the authorities for infrastructural changes in the temple. The money from the auction will be used to provide devotees better facilities and Rs 26 crore would be invested to build a cloak room with 96 bathrooms and a two-storied hair tonsure centre to handle the growing numbers of devotees.

The temple also plans to build solar plants at three locations inside the temple.

Solar plants would be implemented at the Ammavasai mandapam, Mudimandapam and near the guest house, said the temple authorities. Several projects are underway to improve the amenities of the temple.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Trichy / TNN / October 10th, 2014

Ninja Army of Delivery Boys

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies

NinjaCF13oct2014

A swanky building just off OMR is bustling with activity. Legions of men in uniform are constantly pouring in with huge bags on their backs and sheaves of papers in their hands; several take off on bikes, and there are vans and lorries queuing up to handle bulk shipments at E-kart logistics, a company that delivers Flipkart products.

These men are part of the e-tail army, the ones who zoom around the city on their two-wheelers, the ones who convert the few clicks from your laptop or mobile app to a product in your hands.

“We individually handle 40-50 deliveries a day. Around festival time, the number shoots to 70 and upwards,” say Ganesh and Mani, as they share and wolf down lunch from a stainless steel container. “Our shift starts as early as 7.30 am. Based on the orders, we split the routes and go about deliveries,” says Ganesh, rushing off to pick up his next consignment from the office after his brief lunch.

Ganesh is a field executive who drives a two-wheeler, while Mani drives a van. When orders are placed in bulk by companies, vans go out to deliver consignments, Mani informs.

Madhan is part of a team that does only one thing — reverse deliveries. That’s right, there are dedicated teams to pick up goods that are faulty, or those that don’t match the consumer’s specifications. “We get calls to pick up and return products for a plethora of reasons — the colour is different, the photo of the product shown on the web site is different and so on. We check it and take back the product,” says the lanky, soft-spoken 20-something.

“Sometimes, real mess-ups happen. Customers who returned the product get the same kind of product even the second time. That’s when we really face the music. But whatever happens, we stay calm,” he adds.

The executives are trained on how to speak to customers and are given firm instructions — no executive is supposed to call up a customer more than two times to check for an address. And the newbies are told to tag along with the more experienced ones for about 10 days to learn the ropes.

The number of products returned or exchanged, though, seems to be a touchy topic, with a source requesting anonymity while informing that if there are about 500 deliveries a day, about 80 of them — about 16 per cent of the customers — call back for a new product or to return them.

But Manigandan, Area Manager, says that they usually handle about 2,000 deliveries a day, but due to ‘Diwali spike’, they are now delivering 3,500 to 4,000 products a day. And that’s just from one hub alone. E-kart operates from seven branches in the city, so that works out to a whopping 14,000 deliveries in the city on normal days and double that during the festive season. Manigandan says that certain areas are ordering hotspots, such as those near SRM university in Kattankalathur and RMZ Millenia Tech Park in Taramani.

Coming back two or three times to deliver for customers who are not at a specified address, getting lost and driving through pothole ridden roads and even walking down lanes where bikes are too narrow to even enter, these delivery men accomplish what is no mean feat — 70-80 deliveries a day during festival season works out to a lightning fast 10 every hour, or 1.6 deliveries every minute. Mind boggling, ain’t it?

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> TamilNadu / by Varun B. Krishnan / October 13th, 2014

Chennai hospital gets certification from national board

Education, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion
N. Ram, chairman of Kasturi & Sons Limited (centre), hands over the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Health Care Providers’ certificate to Sister Magdeline Fernandes, president of St. Isabel Society — Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam
N. Ram, chairman of Kasturi & Sons Limited (centre), hands over the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Health Care Providers’ certificate to Sister Magdeline Fernandes, president of St. Isabel Society — Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Saturday was a milestone for the doctors and nurses of St. Isabel’s Hospital in the institution’s 65-year-old run.

The hospital, which is run by the Franciscan Sisters, received accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Health Care Providers (NABH).

N. Ram, chairman, Kasturi & Sons Limited, who handed over the certificate to Sister Magdeline Fernandes, president of St. Isabel Hospital Society and the provincial superior, wished that the hospital would be able to continue its dedicated service to society.

He recalled how the hospital had taken care of M.S. Subbulakshmi at a very difficult stage. He said he was happy to note the hospital had been able to modernise and was also a teaching institution.

It took three years for the hospital to follow and implement the 625 stringent objective elements stipulated by NABH.

Though the Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception arrived at Goa in 1886, they came to Madras only in 1942 and the hospital was set up in March 1949. Initially, St. Isabel’s Hospital was a maternity home with a few beds. It has now grown into a 300-bed facility with 31 clinical departments.

Sister Celine Philip, administrator and president of St. Isabel Hospital Society, Sister Danis Mary, assistant provincial, Sister Betty D’Souza, vice-president of the hospital, Sister Philomina Joseph, medical superintendent, George Thomas, senior consultant and head of emergency medicine, and K. Ravi, ophthalmologist, were present on the occasion.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – October 12th, 2014

Top technician feted by Yamaha

Science & Technologies, World Opinion
Meenakshi Sundaram, winner of the Yamaha World Technician Grand Prix 2014, is seen with Masaki Asano, MD of Yamaha Motors, India. Photo: Bijoy Ghosh
Meenakshi Sundaram, winner of the Yamaha World Technician Grand Prix 2014, is seen with Masaki Asano, MD of Yamaha Motors, India. Photo: Bijoy Ghosh

Two-wheeler technician Meenakshi Sundaram (34), a resident of Madurai, was a nervous man when he flew to Japan in September to represent India at the Yamaha 6 World Technician Grand Prix 2014.

However, he returned home with the coveted world title that he won on October 1 after beating 19 other contestants from 18 countries.

On Wednesday, Sundaram was felicitated by Yamaha in the city for his achievement. Clad in a bright red jumpsuit, the technician was overjoyed to receive the winner’s trophy from Masaki Asano, managing Director of Yamaha Motors, India, to thunderous applause.

Addressing the audience, Sundaram recalled the morning of May 5, 1998, when he joined a Yamaha service station in Arapalayam after completing class X. “My love for Yamaha’s RX 100 model drove me to join the team of mechanics. Now, I have come a long way and cannot believe I have been crowned top technician in the world by Yamaha,” he said.

In 2012, after clearing a written test, Sundaram got a shot at winning the National Technician Grand Prix India, but could manage only the 11 place. “I gave it another shot in 2013 and was one of the two winners who went on to represent India at the grand prix in Japan,” Sundaram added.

The biennial event in Japan, whose winners this year were from 18 countries, including New Zealand, Germany and Vietnam, was dominated by the Indian technician, who worked with a Yamaha R15 to showcase his talent. He excelled in five categories — trouble shooting, electrical wiring, wheel alignment, periodic maintenance and a written test — and was adjudged the overall winner in the commuter model class.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – October 09th, 2014

I Don’t Write for Awards, but Vilakku nomination Inspiration to Carry on: Konangi

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Konangi
Konangi

Kovilpatti :

Kovilpatti – based Tamil storyteller and novelist Konangi was recently nominated for the Vilakku Award, instituted by Vilakku Society, a cultural organization formed by a section of the Tamil Diaspora in the US. Reacting to the announcement, the author said, although he does not write for awards, such awards are a source of inspiration.

“It brings to mind a vilakku in my house, which I call Calcutta vilakku,” he says. “The lamp was gifted to my grandfather Baskaradoss by a Calcutta-based artist and was passed down to me. I keep it as the highest award. Now, this Vilakku (award) will also be one such source of inspiration.”

Born into a family of literary and theatre artists, he is one of the grandsons of legendary artist-poet and freedom fighter, Mathurakavi Baskaradoss. While his elder brother, S Tamilselvan, is also a known short-story writer, his younger brother S Murugaboopathy is a well-known theatre artist. His father MS Shanmugam, a retired land surveyor, was also a writer.

Konangi, whose original name is Ilangovan, studied up to PUC and has a diploma in cooperative society management. He got a job in the clerical cadre in a cooperate society at Kovilpatti and he says even from land records he looked for stories to tell.

Narrating one such story, he says, “There was a village called Seelankulam, which, according to land records, was located in the middle of Mel-Eeral and Keel-Eeral, Valapatti, Thambaloorani and T Shanmugapuram near Ettayapuram. The area had huge heaps of sand and housed only electrical transformers, telephone lines, and dogs.”

“It was said, during colonial times, the people of Seelankulam protested against the Ettaiyapuram Zamindar as they were affected by severe drought and were unable to pay tax. When the Zamindar’s officials came to collect the tax, they tied him to a tree. The angry Zamindar sent his army, which surrounded the village and destroyed it. Since then the village has been deserted.” He said he had collected several stories of the village from various sources and began writing a novel but was unable to complete it.

Konangi’s first short-story, Veechu, appeared in Thamarai magazine in 1980, and he has six collections, three novellas and three major novels. While many of his earlier stories like Kollanin Arupenmakkal and Mathimarkal Kathai were written in the subaltern perspective, the recent ones like Uppukathiyil Uraiyum Siruthai, Natchathiram Uthirntha Manthirachimizh to the novels such as Pazhi, Pithira and the most recent Tha, were written in the style of magical realism. When asked why the shift in style,

Konangi said, “Earlier stories were about the untold sufferings of people who lost their life due to suppression. But all stories cannot be written in the same style.”

“For example, when I roamed around the streets Hampi in Karnataka, I visualized the remnants of Vijayanagar period. When I began writing, they refused to appear in the linear style and demanded a kind of sculpting. So I invented a new styles depending on the nature of tales, he said.

On how he gave life to his stories, he says, “While my characters are highly instinctive, my stories take birth from the sub-conscious mind and often oscillate into the world of unconscious.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by S. Karmegam / October 06th, 2014

Kudankulam farmer sows groundnut developed by BARC

Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, Science & Technologies

Tirunelveli :

A farmer at Kudankulam in Tiruneveli district, where two nuclear reactors are situated, seems to be impressed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre’s contribution to agriculture. The farmer, T Selvaraj, on Thursday began to sow the TG37A type groundnut developed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

In June last, BARC invited a couple of progressive farmers, including Selvaraj, to the Palayamkottai prison where the inmates had sown the TG37A groundnut. The prison inmates sowed the groundnut in March and reaped the harvest in June.

Impressed by the successful cultivation at the prison, Selvaraj approached the BARC scientists. He was given 180kg of groundnuts to cultivate.

Selvaraj said he was planning to cultivate it in a one-hectare field. The sowing will continue for three days.

“I am convinced that this will give me good yields,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / by J. Arokiaraj, TNN / October 09th, 2014

CM announces cash awards for Asiad medallists from TN

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam has congratulated the 11 sportspersons from the State who won at the Asian Games, Incheon, South Korea. He also announced cash incentives for them.

Gold medallists Kush Kumar, Harinder Pal Singh and Saurav Ghoshal (squash), and Sreejesh Parattu Ravindran (hockey) will get Rs. 50 lakh each.

Silver medallists Aparajitha Balamurukan, Anaka Alankamony, Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallika (squash) will get Rs. 30 lakh each.

Bronze medallists Varsha Gautham and Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan (sailing), and Rajiv Arokia (400 m race) will be given Rs. 20 lakh each.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – October 10th, 2014

Building libraries, rack by rack, book by book

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features
The student volunteers are also building their own bookshelves — Photo: M. Srinath / The Hindu
The student volunteers are also building their own bookshelves — Photo: M. Srinath / The Hindu

If you have books that your children have outgrown or don’t need anymore and are wondering what to do with them, the students of IIT-Madras have a solution — donate them to the needy.

The Pledge a Book Project, which started a couple of months ago, is building libraries for the underprivileged.

The students have tied up with different NGOs to help them set up bookshelves and libraries. Their first library was established through Avanti Fellows, an NGO that trains students for IIT-JEE. Around 100 JEE-related books were donated to the organisation and the students also supplied bookshelves. The team is collecting books from anyone who is willing to donate.

“Most people have some books that they do not use anymore. Whether they are IIT-JEE reference books or novels, there are people who need them,” Shubham Jain, a student volunteer said.

Once they collect the books, they sort them and then determine where to set up libraries based on the category. To save costs, the students are also building their own bookshelves at the Center for Innovation workshop.

“Many of the children’s reference books will go to the IDF’s Bal Gurukuls. We are also willing to tie up with any NGO that requires books for adults or children,” Romil Shah, another volunteer said.

Pledge A Book was initially started as part of IIT-Madras’ technical festival Shaastra 2015, but now, the project’s volunteers are planning to take it further.

“In the days to come, we also plan to start a programme that promotes reading among communities. In the future, we hope to establish libraries in different neighbourhoods. We are also looking for corporate support,” he said.

The Pledge a Book project is also supported by UNESCO. For further details contact shubham@shaastra.org.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Kavita Kishore / Chennai – October 09th, 2014

DISAPPEARING TRADES – The sheen’s gone out of eeya paathram business

Business & Economy
Very few people prefer to use tin-coated vessels in the age of non-stick and stainless steel — Photo: K.V. Srinivasan / The Hindu
Very few people prefer to use tin-coated vessels in the age of non-stick and stainless steel — Photo: K.V. Srinivasan / The Hindu

Tin and tin-coated vessels, once seen in every household, are increasingly a thing of the past

‘Velli eeya paathram’… does that ring a bell?

The vessel that is ubiquitous with lip-smacking rasam is called eeya paathiram — eeyam meaning lead — but is actually made of vellieeyam, or tin.

Until a few decades ago, vessels made of this material could be found in every household. But now, stainless steel and non-stick have come to stay and the eeya paathram is rarely seen even as that unique rasam slowly recedes into memory.

“Tin melts at 250 degrees Celsius and can be placed on the gas stove only if there is water or rasaminside. Earlier, people would use charcoal-fired stoves that gave out less heat, and so, they could use tin vessels,” says R. Venkatakrishnan of A. Srinivasa Aiyengar & Son, Kumbakonam Vessel shop, opposite the Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Temple in Triplicane.

The shop has been in existence since the 1920s and was started by Mr. Venkatakrishnan’s great-grandfather. It stocks eeya paathrams weighing between 300 grams and one kg. “When the shop was founded, it primarily sold eeya paathrams which were used by people from all walks of life,” he said. “Today, a few customers who still use eeya paathrams, including families living abroad, continue to come to us. We make special, stainless steel vessels with lead lining and flat bottoms that can be used on induction and coil stoves,” he said. To make a tin vessel, a sheet of tin is taken and, using a mallet, slowly beaten into the required shape.

Two doors away sits M. Sampath, who has been working at M. Mani and Sons for 47 years now. The store is known for coating copper and brass vessels with tin and is called an eeyam poosara pattarai.

“As far as I know, apart from establishments in Kumbakonam, the Aiyengar store and ours are the only two places where the eeya paathram is sold and eeyam poosu is done,” said A.R. Muthu, who runs the store.

“The metal costs Rs. 2,500 per kg. Only the highest quality metal from Malaysia is used. We usenavacharam and tin and coat vessels. Some people prefer this as the coating is cheaper. But, our customers are dwindling by the day,” he says.

Apart from making rasam, people also store rice overnight in these tin vessels as the food does not get spoilt fast. Curds don’t turn sour very easily in such vessels.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Deepa H . Ramakrishnan / October 08th, 2014