Monthly Archives: August 2015

Asian Conference on Cervical Cancer Begins at CMC Today

Science & Technologies, World Opinion
Christian Medical College, Vellore
Christian Medical College, Vellore

Vellore  :

In a bid to increase public awareness of cervical cancer, considered to be the most common cancer among women in India, the Christian Medical College is hosting the Sixth Asia Oceania Conference on Genital Infections and Neoplasia (AOGIN) from August 27 to 29 at its campus.

The theme this year is “HPV infection and HPV related cancers”. There will be five concurrent workshops on the first day on Colposcopy, Community Screening, HPV detection, Cytopathology and Research Methods. In the evening, there will be a public meeting on measures adopted to increase awareness of cervical cancer, its prevention and treatment. This will be followed by the AOGIN-India Presidential Oration by Professor Shalini Rajaram from New Delhi.

Over 15 international universities’ faculty members and over 50 national universities’ faculty members will be taking part. There will be lectures, debates, panel discussions and video presentations. The topics covered will be basic science of HPV, vaccination, screening for pre-cancer and treatment of cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, anus and oropharynx. The conference will end with a round table discussion on “Collaborations and linkages to tackle cervical cancer”.

It is hoped that the conference will increase public awareness, stimulate young doctors, galvanise NGOs and increase leverage with the government to take preventive steps to fight cervical cancer in India.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> TamilNadu / by Express News Service / August 27th, 2015

Library Dept’s Workshop Gives Insight into Scientific Writing

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technologies

Vellore :

The Department of Library Services, Christian Medical College conducted a regional workshop on ‘Scientific Writing’ in collaboration with the University of Madras to enhance communication skills.

Dr. Amudavalli, Head of Library and Information Science Department, University of Madras, in her opening address titled “Introduction to Scientific Writing” emphasized the importance of communication and presentation skills. She said reading books enhanced writing skills and said despite advancements in technology, there is no replacement for books and newspapers.

This reinforces the larger role that librarians have to play in information transfer. The librarian provides personalised service to users, she said.

Professor Dr. Nagaraj Sitaram, from Dayanand Sagar College of Engineering, Bengaluru, presented an informative session titled “Preparation and Presentations of Research Proposals” and dealt with the dos and don’ts in research preparation and proposals. He addressed the elementary principles beginning with identification of the problem, composition, organisation, precision and fluidity in writing to support scientific findings in order to be published.

Dr. K.P. Vijayakumar, a professor from the University of Kerala in his topic on “Research Report Writing” emphasized efficient writing skills through experts sharing their views and experiences on the essentials of scientific writing. Dr. V Chandrakumar, University of Madras spoke on Reference Management.

There were about 90 delegates from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Puducherry

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> TamilNadu / by Express News Service / August 27th, 2015

Cancer Inst to be centre of excellence

Education, Science & Technologies

The Centre has given the go-ahead for the state to convert Adyar Cancer In stitute into a centre of excellence and a State Cancer Centre.

Announcing this in the assembly, chief minister J Jayalalithaa took credit for the upgrading of the institute and praised it for the good work it has been doing to treat cancer patients for many years. She said the institute would be upgraded at a cost of `120 crore.

The chief minister had in a 2013 letter to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought that the institute be upgraded.

“A proposal for upgrading the centre as a national centre is pending with the Union ministry of health and family welfare and it may be approved to enable it to expand and strengthen its capacity to treat cancer patients in larger numbers,” Jayalalithaa had stated. In a statement in the assembly on Tuesday, Jayalalithaa said, “The Centre has accepted the request to make the cancer institute a centre for excellence. It will be [done] at a cost of Rs 120 crore.”

The state will also provide mammography equipment to 15 district government hospitals at a cost of Rs 2.25 crore, she said.

Thanking the chief minister, Adyar Cancer Institute chairperson Dr V Shanta said the institute will spend the funds allocated to it over a period of 10 years. “It can be used only for purchase of equipment and construction of buildings,” she said. “We cannot use the funds for maintenance or to increase salaries of our employees. It is great honour that our work has been recognised.”

Stating that the cancer institute is a leader in its field, Dr Shanta said it could play a leadership role for all cancer treatment centres in the state.

“It is my dream to assume a leadership role and coordinate the screening and prevention measures being done by various centres in districts. As a nodal agency we will be able to collate data collected from these centres and analyse it,” Dr Shanta said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / by B. Sivakumar, TNN / August 26th, 2015

The curd-sellers of Kennedy Street

Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
15mpCurdSeller
15mpCurdSeller

It is rather typical of several Mylaporeans to pride themselves on the fact that their area has two streets named after John F. Kennedy. Sadly for them, Kennedy Streets 1 and 2 have nothing to do with the President of the U.S. who was assassinated on November 22, 1963 at Dallas, Texas. For that matter, these narrow thoroughfares that connect Luz Church and Musiri Subramania Iyer (Oliver) Roads do not even commemorate any other Kennedy. The two lanes are actually a throwback to the not-so-distant pastoral past of our city. Names recalling that verdant history abound — Ayanpuram (now Ayyanavaram) — the hamlet of cowherds, and Mandaiveli — pastureland, are two such examples. The Kennedy Streets are part of the same heritage.

They are both Kannadian Streets and commemorate a community of curd-sellers who, as the name suggests, were Kannada speaking. This sub-grouping among Lingayats had some distinctive trade practices — they carried on their heads a woven basket in which was a mud pot that contained the curds. The whole ensemble was covered with a thick black woollen blanket, no matter what the season of the year was. Setting out early in the morning, they would cover all the streets, shouting alternately ‘thayiroooo’ (thayir is Tamil for curds) and its Telugu equivalent — ‘perugu’. Given the blanket and the weird cries, mothers conveniently used them to scare their kids into submission.

Edgar Thurston (1855-1935), the anthropologist, studied the community very closely and devoted several pages to them in his Castes and Tribes of Southern India, a book he wrote with K. Rangachari and published in 1909. As per this work, which also has a photograph of a Kannadian, the tribe was to be found in plenty, numbering 4,000-strong around the Chembarambakkam Tank and in Kanchipuram District. It does not mention the Mylapore settlement. The authors trace the community’s arrival in the Madras area to the 17th Century.

That was when the Lingayats had revolted against the Mysore king, Chikka Deva Raya and were ruthlessly suppressed. Those that survived took to a nomadic existence. In the 18th Century, which according to Thurston, was the most troublesome that India had seen, with armies “passing and re-passing the Ghats”, the Lingayats attached themselves to the troops, as purveyors of milk and butter. With peace, a large group settled outside Madras and came to be known as the Chingleput Lingayats.

Given the Tamil Brahmin’s affinity for curds, a group of Kannadians settled in the two lanes of Mylapore and catered to the local market there. Carrying the curds balanced on two pots suspended across the shoulders or head led to the community being referred to as Kavadigas also. Their settlement in Mylapore too morphed with time — becoming Kunvadi and later Kannadi Street. From there to Kennedy was but a step. What happened to the Kannadians? Bottled (later sachet) milk must have driven them out of business. There is no trace of them and both streets are quiet residential localities today.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Featurer> MetroPlus / by Sriram V. / Chennai – August 14th, 2015

Beggar, BA, Bankrolls Education of Children

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Karaikudi :

You might have spotted differently-abled people seeking alms. But have you ever come across any such person using the money so generated for charity? Meet 73-year-old R Selvaraj, who begs for a living but gainfully utilises the money by buying stationery for disadvantaged school students in the neighbourhood.

Selvaraj, a resident of Karunanidhi Nagar in Tamil Nadu, is polio-afflicted and has been a mendicant in the Karaikudi new bus stand since 2006  after he gave up his job as a cycle mechanic. “I’ve been helping disadvantaged students since 1968 after I witnessed children from poor families struggling to get educated due to financial problems. But only after 2006, when I could not get any job, I started imploring people for alms for the welfare of the students,” he said.

R Selvaraj boards a bus at the Karaikudi bus stand (left); he distributes notebooks to disadvantaged children
R Selvaraj boards a bus at the Karaikudi bus stand (left); he distributes notebooks to disadvantaged children

Selvaraj, however, added that he never appealed to anyone after telling them that he has been helping students. “I frequent buses on the Madurai, Tirupattur and other selected routes as I am unable to handle all the routes. I seek alms from each passenger. Sometimes they ignore me. Some donate as much as they can. Even if people ignore me, I never take it to heart,” he said, adding, “Though I board buses with difficultly, I do it for the children. If a student wants a bag, I try to get it and surprise him or her with it. When I do such an act, it gives me immense satisfaction.”

Through social media and by talking to people, he has got some benefactors. One such person from Chennai has been sending Rs 500 every month without fail for the last two years after learning about his service.

Selvaraj said he couldn’t recollect the number of students he had helped so far. But this year he has helped around 26 students who stayed near his home to buy notebooks, pens, pencils and other stationery.

“On an average, I get Rs 400 a day by seeking alms. Through this I get Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 per month and from regular benefactors I get at least Rs 2,000 per month. Overall I get Rs 12,000 to Rs 14,000 per month, of which I spend Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 on children every month,” Selvaraj said. In the evenings, he offers tuitions to those he have been helping. He teaches students from classes I to X. “Though I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, I teach all subjects. Sometimes I find it difficult to answer questions. At such times, I reread the text,” he added.

One of his students, R Anand, said, “I never knew that he sought alms to help us. When I came to know about it, I was surprised.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> The Sunday Standard / by Vignesh V. / August 23rd, 2015

Indian medicine, at 1/100th cost, saves Aussie’s life

Science & Technologies, World Opinion
The story is also a vindication of sorts for India's patent regime that is often criticized in the West for not honouring intellectual property rights in medicine.
The story is also a vindication of sorts for India’s patent regime that is often criticized in the West for not honouring intellectual property rights in medicine.

Less than four months ago, Greg Jeffery was on the verge of getting liver cirrhosis. The 61-year-old Australian, suffering from hepatitis C, desperately needed a drug called Sivoldi to reverse the life-threatening condition.

The problem was, each Sivoldi pill cost over 1,000 Australian dollars and the total treatment regime of 84 tablets would have set him back by around 100,000 dollars.

Jeffery, a historian and author, didn’t have that kind of money. Desperate to source the drug at a cheaper rate, he landed in Chennai three months ago. There, he not only got the drug but bought it for less than one-tenth the price in Australia.

“The same treatment with the same drug in India is $900,” Jeffery told Australian TV channel, ABC.
” Basically as soon as I got home I started taking it. Within 11 days all my liver functions had returned to normal and within four weeks there was no virus detectable in my blood — I was essentially cured,” he told the channel.

Jeffery’s story, now all over Australian media, has renewed the debate on whether life-saving drugs should be priced so high.

” If you haven’t got the money, for a lot of people it’s a death sentence — you die,” Jeffery told ABC. ” I was right on the edge of cirrhosis of the liver, once you get cirrhosis you then open up to tumours and cancer.”

And just like the protagonist of Hollywood movie Dallas Buyers Club, Jeffery is now helping other Australians in a similar situation to source the drug from India.

” I get about 40 to 50 emails every day, seven days a week and they are from people who have hep C, whose mother or father has hep C, wife or husband has hep C,” he told the channel.

The story is also a vindication of sorts for India’s patent regime that is often criticized in the West for not honouring intellectual property rights in medicine.

In January this year, India’s patent office rejected the patent application for Sovaldi (chemical name sofosbuvir) from US pharma giant Gilead Sciences on the ground that there was little evidence to show that ” minor changes in the molecule” had substantially improved the drug.

What made the ruling possible was a controversial provision in India’s law that says patent applications can be turned down if they fail to show sufficient novelty and inventive steps.

The decision opened the doors for Indian manufacturers to copy the drug and sell it cheaply. According to one report, 10 Indian companies were now making sofosbuvir. Two Hyderabad-based companies have reportedly priced their copied version at a retail price of Rs 19,900 per bottle of 28 tablets of 400 mg dosage, which is one-90th of Gilead’s price.

Earlier, a study from Liverpool University had claimed that sofosbuvir could be produced for as little as $101 for a three-month treatment course.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Science / TNN / August 21st, 2015

THUS SPAKE COOUM – Stirring expressions of patriotism

Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion
Arya Bashyam being taken away by the police after he hoisted the tricolour at Fort St.George in 1932. Ilustration: Satwik Gade
Arya Bashyam being taken away by the police after he hoisted the tricolour at Fort St.George in 1932. Ilustration: Satwik Gade

From the tricolour being hoisted at Fort St.George to filmgoers at Gaiety defying imperialist high-handedness, Cooum has witnessed some defining moments of the Indian freedom struggle

All of us are in some form of shackles, self-imposed or otherwise. I was made to flow freely, but the dead weight of man-induced sewage has reduced me to a piteous crawl. If I could, I would break free of this shackle. But I am just a river, and I can’t. My own helplessness has made me an admirer of those who have shaken off their yokes. For one, I have been a witness to stirring expressions of love for the country, when it was under British yoke.

MadrasWeekCF19aug2015

Everyone loves a hero. Everyone is enthralled by people who put their lives on the line for the common good. On the 26 of January in 1932, in the whole of India, there was none more heroic than Arya Bhashyam. Even today, I develop goosebumps as I recall how Arya Bhashyam, his face afire with a deep-burning love for his country, clambered up the incredibly tall flagstaff at Fort St. George, and replaced the Union Jack with the Tricolour. When he climbed down, his eyes were aglitter with pride and a sense of accomplishment. There was no trace of fear in those eyes, when the guards pounced on Bhashyam.

It surprises me no end how we forget our heroes – most of them, I mean. I got to see T. P. Kumaran Nair, when he was lodged in the Madras Central Jail in the early 1940s. A handsome and guileless man, he was on death row. Arrested when he was returning from Singapore and tried for treason, he did not seek mercy and faced death fearlessly. He courted martyrdom and found it on July 7, 1944, and had the honour of Subhash Chandra Bose calling him Shahid-e-Hind (martyr of Hindustan). Nair worshipped Bose and he trained cadets in the Indian National Army. It’s a pity that except for a road in Nellicode, Kerala, that bears his name, T.P. Kumaran Nair remains largely forgotten.

There were many common people who made a contribution to the freedom struggle who will forever remain in the shadows. During stilly nights, the cries of people being beaten inside the Gaiety cinema come back to me.

It was 1939 and Thyaga Bhoomi, a Tamil film based on a work by writer Kalki, was being screened in defiance of ban orders from the British Indian government in Madras. The government saw in the film a subtle call to support the freedom movement. It acted on the assumption that the Congress party had a hand in it. The ban order was served when the film was in its 22 week at Gaiety. The people behind the film, which included S.S. Vasan and K. Subramanyam (who made the film) chose not be cowed down: they ran free shows of the film at the cinema. It was during one such show the police barged into the cinema and beat up the audience. Despite the pummelling, they stayed inside.

Doveton House in Women's Christian College where Tipu Sultan' sons are believed to have been held captive.
Doveton House in Women’s Christian College where Tipu Sultan’ sons are believed to have been held captive.

Then there are certain structures proximate to where I flow, which are not readily associated with the freedom struggle. But they have had a part in it. Tipu Sultan’s sons were held captive at the timeworn Doveton House in Women’s Christian College.

Then the Tipu’s weapons of war on display at the Madras Museum bring back the past powerfully for me. For visitors to the Museum, they are relic of the past. Flowing – actually, crawling by the Museum – and looking at these instruments, I could hear the distant sounds of a spirited struggle.

Sources: Venkatesh Ramakrishnan of the Chennai Cooum Group, The Hindu Archives and the Madras Musings

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Prince Frederick / August 20th, 2015

Shots from the past – memories in black and white

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

A less ornamented Kapaleeswarar Temple, a Hema Malini when she wasn’t a star or when wedding photography meant a visit to the studio after the ceremony . The people be hind the images of Madras are still holding fort but are changing with the times to capture pictures of a new era. On August 19, World Photography Day , we go back to an era when photography was manual, dark rooms secret repositories of knowledge and printed photographs only preserves of memories.

Photo Emporium, which still stands tall in Chennai, was established in 1927 by A Thirunavukarasu. “Those were the days of expertise and innovation. In 1959, my father was making a video on Satya Sai Baba in Putaparthi. As there were frequent power cuts, he shot the video using the light of four to five cars,” says A K Rajkumar.

A lot of what the present Photo Emporium is now is due to the business acumen of A T Kathiresan, Rajkumar’s father. It was under him that the studio set up offices in Mumbai and Kolkata and it became one of the first importers of cameras from Japan, Ger many and Italy, cut films, single-use flashbulbs and photo mounts. The studio has been associated with illustrious families like those of the Murugappa Group, Apollo Hospitals and the Chettiars for three generations, documenting the developing city through its connections with industries like Binny , Weston Crompton and Parry & Co.

Long-standing relationships have also helped Sathyam Studios in Mylapore survive 83 years. V V Giri, musicians G N B, singer T V Rathinam and Cho Ramaswamy were regulars. Despite the small space, which houses the photo studio, it has a roomful of old cameras, glass negatives and numerous black and white pictures from a time when getting a photograph taken was a big occasion. “Even for weddings, people used to take only a couple of pictures. The newlyweds and the family would all come to the studio for a photograph,” says C S Balachandra Raju, the octogenarian owner.

His father C Satyanarayana Raju, the founder of the studio, was a self-taught man like most early photographers in the city . This passion runs through generations, as Balachandra’s three sons have also taken after their father.Hence though the daguerreotype camera was much before his time, B Anand, the youngest son, knows how to use it. “We have kept all the old cameras for their heritage value. But in this age of quick and easy photography , few people appreciate this art form,” says Anand.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / by Arpita Bose, TNN / August 19th, 2015

THUS SPAKE COOUM – The scene of great battles

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All
Illustration: Satwik Gade
Illustration: Satwik Gade

‘Valourous Chola Prince Rajaditya was killed right in front of my eyes by a poisioned arrow’

A great city grew on my banks, but did you know that they have been sites of the clash of civilisations?

The location was close to what you now know as the spot where the dam was constructed across me at Keshavaram, where Kosasthalayar splits to do her own thing. It was near the location of this modern dam that I witnessed a bloody war of much importance, many moons ago.

MadrasWeekCF19aug2015

In 949 AD, the combined armies of the Cholas and Cheras were led by the Chola crown prince Rajaditya, son of King Parantaka-I. The army met a fierce enemy in King Krishna III of the Rashtrakuta kingdom at Thakkolam (now technically placed in Vellore, but quite close to Kancheepuram), to whose aid came the forces of Ganga dynasty.

On a fateful afternoon, Rajaditya, the valorous Chola prince, was killed right in front of my eyes by a poisoned arrow, altering forever the history of the Tamil kingdom. Owing to the death of the prince, the crown later moved to his younger brother Arinjaya Chola and thus paved the way for the ascension of his descendants Raja Raja-I and Rajendra-I, two of the greatest Chola emperors, at a later point.

Imagine this: If not for the Thakkolam battle on my banks, you may not see the iconic Brihadeeshwarar temple today in Thanjavur since Raja Raja Chola would not have become a king.

A few kilometres down Thakkolam, the Polilore battlefield (Pullalur), again near my waters, was where the British forces faced tremendous losses in the Carnatic wars.

In 1780, Tipu Sultan faced off with British East India Company commander Colonel William Baille, inflicting deeps wounds to the British ego. As I watched the guns and canons blaze on either side, Baille was captured along with many of his troops and taken to Srirengapattna in Mysore.

But a year later in 1781, they returned to the same spot for another encounter.

The British side, now reinforced with better fire power, defeated Hyder Ali under the leadership of Eyre Coote. I remember that the Polilore field had witnessed another ancient but less decisive war as well, when Chalukyas led by Pulakesin II and Pallava King Mahendraverma-I took on each other. The former won.

Source: Venkatesh Ramakrishnan, Chennai Cooum group

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by SruthiSagar Yamunan / August 17th, 2015

Unsung heroes of India freedom struggle find place at Race Course

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

Coimbatore :

The regular walkers at the Race Course were in for a small surprise on Friday morning as portraits of several unsung heroes of the freedom movement were displayed on the path. Everyone knows about Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhagat Singh and other freedom fighters as our history lessons in school were complete without them. But names like Akkamma Cherian, Usha Mehta, Hemu Kalani, Durga Bhabi, Leela Roy and Bhima Bai Holkar hardly appear in any text book nor are many children taught about their sacrifice for the motherland.

“With each portrait that I pass, the only feeling I have is that I have done nothing for my country so far. These people gave up everything to ensure that we live in a free country but we should ask ourselves what have we done to better our country,” said Saroja, a home-maker from Salem. D Yuvarajan, 12, pointed out to a portrait depicting the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and told his mother all that he learnt in school. “I am not familiar with many of these leaders and so I am asking my mother to explain their contributions to me while I am sharing what I know with her,” he said.

A government arts college student was moved by the story of Hemu Kalani, who was hanged at the young age of 19, and said that he would definitely go back and read more about these unsung heroes. “I am very interested to read more about their life and their struggle. I am interested in learning more about each of them,” said S M Arun Boopathy studying BSc Maths.

For some it was a day to play quiz and find out who knew better history. “We both have seen nearly 30 portraits so far and we are testing each other as to who knows more about them. But the sad part is we did not even recognise half of them,” said R Ashish, who was with his friend Samuel.

The portraits are on display outside All Soul’s church at Race Course till 6pm on August 15.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / by Komal Gautham, TNN / August 15th, 2015