Giving clothes a second innings: Employees of Re-Stitch Point. Photo: K. Pichumani
For 25 years, this small establishment in Mylapore has made a business out of a need to alter clothes, reports Liffy Thomas
Finding a tailor who specialises in altering stitched clothes is a challenge. More likely than not, your regular tailor is not keen on alteration work. If he accepts such work, he is likely to sit on it for a few weeks. And then, you don’t always trust the road-side tailor with an expensive dress.
For 25 years now, this shop specialises only in alteration of clothes for men and women. Re-Stitch Point at Mylapore does not take up stitching jobs. It does not have to. It has a huge number of customers giving it re-stitching jobs.
Not many tailors are keen on taking up such work, so that makes us different from most tailors, says M. Sashikala, who owns the shop.
Five tailors and two front-office staff take care of the day-to-day activities: taking measurement of customers and altering clothes.
From patchwork on an old and torn jeans to re-sizing a salwar kameez , the shop does it all, except for altering blouses.
A good number of customers want clothes altered for sentimental reasons.
For instance, a lady customer wanted a pair of trousers worn by her brother, who passed away, altered to fit her so that she could continue to wear it.
“It was a low-waist trouser and we had to add extra material to make it her fit,” said a staff that altering was more challenging that stitching.
Amjad Khan, who has been working in the shop for the last two decades, says the most difficult task is increasing the waist. “Unlike other parts that have extra stitches, here we have to get almost matching material to increase the waist,” he says.
Re-Stitch is keen on expanding, provided it gets more employees.
The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.
The PSG Group of Institutions will be the third in the country to start an independent bioethics centre. The official announcement regarding the centre was made on Wednesday morning at the PSG Institute of Medical Sciences & Research.
This will be third centre exclusively set up for bioethics and related research. The other two centres are in Chennai and Mangalore.
The PSG Centre for Research and Bioethics will be setup within the PSG Institute of Medical Sciences Research. The institute will offer a postgraduate diploma programme on bioethics. “A lot of clinical trials are conducted in India, and the growing pharmaceuticals market has evoked several research projects on new drugs. Consequently, there have been several debates on bioethics that govern such research,” said registrar-research, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Dr Sudha Ramalingam.
The postgraduate diploma course is a one-year course, and would be taught through distance education. The programme would started from the current academic year, and admissions for the 2015-16 batch began in July. “It is a batch of 20 students, and we have only a few seats left,” said Ramalingam. The tuition fees for the course has been set at Rs40,000. The institute would also offer scholarship to four students with merit. “It will be a partial tuition fees waiver,” Ramalingam said.
The course, taught through the distance education mode, is recognized by Bharathiar University. “There would be five contact sessions every three months. Students would be continuously monitored through online assignments. There would be a final exam at the end of the course,” said Ramalingam.
Any graduate is eligible to apply for the course. “People in the pharmaceutical industry and those in biology, biotechnology and allied fields would find better job opportunities after they complete the course. For people in academia, it will be a value addition,” said Sudha Ramalingam. The course is likely to be upgraded to a two-year Masters programme in the future. This course could also help people become part of ethics committee in colleges and educational institutions. “Every institution has an ethics committee that monitors the activities of the staff and students. Not just research, but routine activities like classroom sessions, tours, laboratory activities, events and hostels too,” said Ramalingam. “This course would not only teach ethics in biology and related fields, but it encompasses philosophy, law and public health.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / August 06th, 2015
All 30 participants who enrolled for the National Radio Controlled Car Racing championship were qualified on Friday for the main events to be held on Saturday and Sunday.
All 30 of them maneuvered their cars through the laps within the minimum time during the qualifying rounds held on day one of the championship.
The championship, being held at GEEDEE driving institute in Eachanari, will see engineering students actually build or buy a car which can be radio controlled and guiding it through the many laps. The driving institute has a special track where you can take a radio controlled car and race them.
The cars are usually an eighth of the size of a normal car, and except a gearbox, will contain all the features of a real car. The cars, which run on methanol, can touch a speed of up to 120 kmph and can rise from 0 to 100 kmph in just three seconds.
The competition was created by the Coimbatore Radio Control Racers Association along with the Kovai Modelers Club to get more youngsters interested in automobile engineering, car building and also have a lot of fun. It will also expose mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering students to the fundamentals of automobile engineering.
The actual races will be held on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / by Pratiksha Ramkumar, TNN / August 14th, 2015
Musician Vikku Vinayakaram performs at the 40th year celebration of Doordarshan. Photo: B. JothiRamalingam / The Hindu
As it completes 40 eventful years in chennai, Doordarshan vows to continue as family-oriented infotainment channel.
On the occasion of Doordarshan Chennai’s 40th anniversary, several celebrities and dignitaries flocked to the Narada Gana Sabha on Wednesday to celebrate the channel that defined television for them.
They also offered suggestions on the route it should take in the future.
Actor and director Bhagyaraj recalled how Doordarshan launched many a film career. “It is from DD that the world of cinema got several musicians and actors. Music director Deva and actor Vadivukarasi were involved in DD programmes before entering films,” said Mr. Bhagyaraj, who has directed Kadhaiyin Kadhai for DD-Podhigai.
“Programmes on my grandfather and violinist Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai have been telecast,” actor Thyagu said.
“We are enjoying the limelight because of DD. My drama, Ayya Amma Ammama, has been telecast eight times since 1982,” said Mr. Ramamurthy, who has done nearly 48 plays for Doordarshan.
Danseuse Padma Subrahmanyam, who performed at the launch of DD in 1975, was back on Wednesday to give a Bharatanatyam performance. “I am glad to be associated with DD for many decades. I remember giving a solo performance on Krishnayya Tubhyam Namaha and Silapadigaram then,” said Ms. Subrahmanyam, who has been performing for DD every year.
“I have performed in many Bharatanatyam shows and even produced programmes like Konjum Salangai,” said veteran actor Vennira Aadai Nirmala.
“I watch DD-Podhigai regularly because of the importance it gives to classical music and Bharatanatyam,” she added.
Governor K. Rosaiah said that with programmes on health, education, career counselling, film and agriculture, Doordarshan catered to diverse viewers.
He lauded DD-Podhigai for creating awareness of government schemes and staying a family channel despite stiff competition from private satellite channels.
Adopting the latest technology in production and ensuring more advertisements would take DD-Podhigai ahead of other channels, he said.
Earlier, A. Suryaprakash, chairman of Prasar Bharati, elaborated on the need for a public service broadcaster in these days of mushrooming private satellite channels.
Recalling the popular programmes, including sports quiz, he said, “We will continue to offer quality infotainment and unbiased news and raise awareness on government schemes.”
Nadoja Mahesh Joshi, additional director general (south zone), Doordarshan, and N. Thyagarajan, additional director general (engineering, south zone), also spoke on technological changes that DD has undergone.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by K. Lakshmi / Chennai – August 13th, 2015
Sangeetha with headmistress Ruby Puthotta (left), her parents and teachers. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan / The Hindu
Designing a robotic racing car, she stood out in the ‘Building Bridges’ programme at the University of Rhodes Island
Sangeetha does not drive a racing car, but she just might help you drive one. This class IX student of Siva Swami Ayyar Girls Higher Secondary School recently designed a robotic racing car at the University of Rhodes Island, Kingston, United States. She is one of 20 students who took part in ‘Building Bridges’, a four-week cross-cultural and academic programme that introduces students to engineering and robotics.
Of the eight students selected from India, Sangeetha is the only one from the state representing a government-aided school. Robotics classes were the best part of the programme, she says, which allowed every team to design a car. Each of the participants was teamed with participants from the United States and Pakistan.
“For two days, our car did not move. Once we learnt coding and the technicalities involved in sensor technology, we stayed late into the night to finish designing the car,” she says.
Sangeetha plans to pursue a career in mechanical engineering and also design an autorickshaw for her father, an autorickshaw driver.
Although much of the expense for the trip was borne by the organisers, her parents spent around Rs. 7,000 towards the preparations she had to make for joining the programme. “She had to do a lot of reading, so we got her an Internet connection and some clothes for the journey. We borrowed money but that’s fine as she has made us proud,” say her parents S. Rajakumari and L. Subramani.
Sangeetha, a national level Silambam player, also stunned everyone with her Silambam performance at the meet.
The Mylapore school got an opportunity to send a student to the programme after it partnered for the ‘STEM Education’ programme, for which five schools from the city were selected.
“The entire class VIII was made to take a test to check one’s interest in science and technology. Twenty were short-listed and trained for almost a year in spoken English, leadership skills and science and maths,” says V. Prema, teacher in-charge of the project. Verizon Technologies and Institute of International Education sponsored the student.
Sangeetha is grateful to the secretary of the school Leela Narendran, headmistress Ruby Puthotta and other teachers who encouraged her.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> DownTown / by Liffy Thomas / Chennai – August 08th, 2015
Pichai Sundararajan aka Sundar Pichai. / Photo: Kamal Narang / The Hindu
“Super excited about his progress and dedication to the company,” says Google co-founder Larry Page.
Google’s announcement on Monday that it would be subsumed within a new parent company called Alphabet had a bonus for people of Indian-origin world over: the company’s head of Products and Engineering, Chennai-born Pichai Sundararajan, was anointed the CEO of the new, “slimmed down” Google.
Underscoring his confidence in the man known as Sundar Pichai (43), Google boss Larry Page said of the restructuring in the company he co-founded with Sergey Brin, “A key part of this is Sundar Pichai.”
Mr. Pichai, who is a graduate of IIT Kharagpur and Stanford University, had “really stepped up since October of last year, when he took on product and engineering responsibility for our Internet businesses,” Mr. Page said in a blog post, adding that he and Mr. Brin were “super excited about his progress and dedication to the company.”
They may well have reason to feel fortunate that Mr. Pichai is the man to head their $66-billion revenue, $16-billion profit, company– by most accounts he combines a deep passion for engineering excellence with a rare managerial quality of attracting the best talent into the teams he works with.
Mr. Pichai started at Google in 2004, where he was known as a “low-key manager” who worked on the Google toolbar and then led the launch of the market-beating Chrome browser in 2008.
Following this his rise through the ranks of Google took on an increasingly meteoric tenor, and soon he became Vice President, then Senior Vice President, and ultimately was charged with supervising all Google apps including Gmail and Google Drive and finally given control of Android itself.
His promotion to Product Chief in October 2014 literally made him Mr. Page’s second-in-command with oversight of day-to-day operations for all of Google’s major products including maps, search, and advertising.
Some of Mr. Pichai’s colleagues describe him in the media as a skilled diplomat, including Caesar Sengupta, a Google Vice President who has worked with Mr. Pichai for eight years, and said to Bloomberg News, “I would challenge you to find anyone at Google who doesn’t like Sundar or who thinks Sundar is a jerk.”
Nowhere was Mr. Pichai’s easy blending of techno-diplomatic competence evident than in early 2014, when the fracas between Samsung and Google was reaching fever pitch, at the time over Samsung’s Magazine UX interface for its tablets, which Google felt may have been deliberately underselling Google services such as its Play apps store.
According to reports “Defusing the situation fell to Sundar Pichai, the tactful, tactical new chief of Google’s Android division. Pichai set up a series of meetings with J.K. Shin, CEO of Samsung Mobile Communications, [where] they held ‘frank conversations’ about the companies’ intertwined fates [and a] fragile peace was forged.”
Since then, Samsung has apparently agreed to scale back Magazine UX, and the two corporations have announced a broad patent cross-licensing arrangement to implement which they “now work together more closely on user experience than we ever have before,” according to Mr. Pichai.
Another apparent talent of Google’s new CEO – his thinking seems to be ahead of the curve. Although Mr. Pichai trained in metallurgy and materials science at IIT Kharagpur, and Stanford and did an MBA at Wharton, he was already deeply immersed in the world of electronics.
According to one of his college professors Mr. Pichai “was doing work in the field of electronics at a time when no separate course on electronics existed in our curriculum.”
The Google founders no doubt recognised that Mr. Pichai was a man on an evangelical-type mission for pushing the boundaries of technology.
Mr. Pichai most eloquently outlined this mission when he said, “For me, it matters that we drive technology as an equalising force, as an enabler for everyone around the world. Which is why I do want Google to see, push, and invest more in making sure computing is more accessible, connectivity is more accessible.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Technology / by Narayan Lakshman / Washington – August 11th, 2015
Sixty-four squares. That’s all it takes to create a level playing field between the blind and the sighted, said Charudatta Jadhav, founder of the All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB), on Saturday, at the premiere of the film, Algorithm, at PVR Skywalk in Chennai.
The film, directed by Ian Mcdonald, is a 100-minute black and white documentary that follows the lives of three young chess players between 2009 and 2011.
The film attempts to show that for the game of chess, you don’t need sight, just foresight; you don’t need eyes as long as you have vision. This was also underlined through a blind blitz game between five-time world champion and grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand and Jadhav. Anand and Jadhav tussled in a 10-minute game (of course Anand won), with the world champ facing away from the board and visualizing his moves. “For a moment there, I thought I had forgotten one of my moves, but luckily I hadn’t,” said Anand.
Krishna, who is featured in the film, took to chess at age nine because he wanted to play a game he could excel at. “I couldn’t and didn’t want to play outside with my friends because I couldn’t see the balls or bats they played with properly,” said Krishna, now a student at Loyola College. “Then my mother taught me to play chess and when I realized I could compete with people who could see, I decided to work hard to excel at it,” said Krishna, who has beaten many sighted champs over the years.
“Chess is about calculating and predicting moves,” said Jadhav, ” it is immaterial if you can see.” Unlike Krishna, who has been visually impaired since birth, Jadhav, now 47, went blind at 13. “It happened in a matter of days. I was a topper, sitting in school one day, when I began to see grey dots everywhere. My vision got fuzzy, and before I knew it I had lost my eyesight because of a retinal detachment,” he said.
“It was a depressing five years between 1980 and 1985, but chess changed my life… chess showed me that even the blind can be as independent as the sighted,” said Jadhav, who pursued software engineering because vision did not really matter in that field. Jadhav, now, head, innovation strategy, at TCS in Mumbai, decided to start the AICFB in 1998. “The blind do not want sympathy or pity. We want to be treated as equals,” said Jadhav,.
And that’s what McDonald has done in the way he portrays the champs – cheeky Darpan Inani from Baroda, the highest ranked totally blind player in India; gentle and eccentric Anant Kumar Nayak from Bhubaneswar; and the determined Krishna, who is fighting to conquer championships as well as his impairment. The documentary, though made in 2012, will release in theatres on August 21.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Kamini Mathai, TNN / August 10th, 2015
Out of at least 1 lakh plant species that humans can consume as food, hardly 30 are used as food and just three- wheat, rice and maize- predominantly get cultivated as food grains. In the unexplored plant species lies India’s wealth, said vice-chancellor of University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Dr D P Biradar here.
Biradar on Wednesday inaugurated the third ‘International Symposium on Underutilised Plant Species – Exploration and Conservation for Future Generation’ at the Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC & RI) under the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU). The first two symposiums were held in Arusha, Tanzania (2008) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2011). As part of the golden jubilee celebrations of AC & RI, Madurai, the third international symposium is being held by Krishi Vigyan Kendra of the institute in collaboration with the International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS), Belgium.
During the four-day event, researchers will explore the potential of underutilised plants as there is increasing endorsement at national and international levels on the important role that can be played by less-used crops and species in sustainable farming systems and human well-being.
Addressing the audience, Biradar said that according to the West, Indians are not aware of the immense value of these plant species found in their backyard. Plant species found in biodiversity-rich Western Ghats are worth a million dollars, he commented. In addition to being ignorant about their worth, Indians also tend to study these plants in isolation.
For example, a common weed like ‘coat button’ or ‘tridax daisy’ (tridax procumbens) can cure wounds. In the same way, wild vegetables that are yet to be domesticated have a lot of potential, like the wild bitter gourd which is getting more prominence in the food industry.
“There is a need for a multidisciplinary research approach on these underutilised plant species, which is going to be a boon to the Indian economy,” Biradar said.
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University VC Dr K Ramasamy said underutilised plants should be explored in a sustainable manner. He pointed out that though the Western Ghats were safeguarded, the Eastern Ghats from Kanyakumari to Kolkata was getting lost and its impact on environment was becoming visible in the present days.
Dr Bhimu Patil, director, vegetable & fruit improvement centre, A & M University, Texas, Dr Sandhya Gupta, vice chair, commission on plant genetic resources, ISHS, also spoke at the inaugural event.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, TNAU VC said they have identified 156 plant species in the state, of which 56 were medical plants.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Madurai / TNN / August 06th, 2015
MDMK leader Vaiko, senior Congress leader Kumari Anandan and VCK’s Thol Thirumavalavan and others paying homage to Sasi Perumal in E Metukkadu on Thursday | EXPRESS
Salem :
Eight days after his death, anti-liquor activist Sasi Perumal’s body was laid to rest in his native village, E.Metukkadu, here on Friday. Hundreds of political functionaries, civil society activists and general public paid their last respects before the body was buried in front of his house.
Sasi Perumal’s eldest son Vivek, relatives and social activists who were on a hunger strike ever since his death demanding an announcement from the State government on implementing prohibition, ended their fast after the last rites. As per discussions the six party front Makkal Nalanukaana Kootu Iyakam had with the family members, a memorial will be built for the Gandhian activist. Vaiko, who leads the front, handed over `5 lakh collected from the constituent parties to the family but since they refused, donated it for towards building the memorial.
The cremation was virtually hijacked by star leaders Vaiko, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan, CPM’s G.Ramakrishnan and Thamimun Ansari of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi who relegated members of Sasi Perumal’s Desiya Makkal Kootamaippu to the background and organised the final rites, right from crowd management to moderating condolence speeches.
Earlier, around 10.30 am, Sasi Perumal’s body was brought from Asaripallam in Kanyakumari by his younger brother and son Navaneethan, accompanied by Vaiko. Once the hearse van entered the city limits, police objected to the body being taken around in a procession saying it was school time. Vaiko assured police officials that they would ensure discipline and cautioned that preventing them would trigger unrest. Following this, police relented and allowed the body to be taken in a procession. Thirumavalavan, Ansari, leaders of IUML, CPI and CPM took part.
Sasi Perumal’s supporters and his son Vivek have announced that they would continue his struggle till the government makes an announcement on prohibition.
Meanwhile, Opposition leaders gave an unanimous call for total and immediate prohibition as against the gradual prohibition stand taken by some parties and anti-liquor campaigners.
Delivering condolence speech during the last rites of Sasi Perumal on Friday, MDMK general secretary Vaiko said, “Partial prohibition will only promote black market.”
Calling for a sustained struggle against liquor, Vaiko said the proposed memorial to be built for Sasi Perumal will only be built after ensuring total prohibition in the state.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder Thol Thirumavalavan said that Sasi Perumal’s struggle will be continued with vigour and concern.
He clarified to Sasi Perumal’s supporters and activists not to feel that the opposition parties have sabotaged their indefinite fast.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States>Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / August 08th, 2015
Doctors at Rajan Dental Institute performed a new technique where they grafted bones from the patient’s cheekbone.
Chennai :
More than the difficulty she faced while eating and speaking, it was the curious stares of people that upset 17-year-old Manju (name changed). The teenager, who was suffering from a genetic disorder, lost all her teeth by the age of 14, and found it difficult to step into college this year with dentures.
Conventionally doctors would graft the hip bone and give permanent implants in a procedure that spans over a year. But doctors at Rajan Dental Institute here performed a new technique where they grafted bones from her cheekbone and gave her implants – all within a week.
At the age of four, the patient was diagnosed with Papillon Lefevre Syndrome, a rare, genetic autosomal disorder that affects 1 in a million people. “It leads to progressive bone loss around teeth, and subsequent teeth loss. It is often treated by the usage of removable dentures from a very young age,” said Oral and Maxillo Facial surgeon Dr R Gunaseelan.
Two months ago, the doctor and his team performed a procedure called Zygoma Implant technique, in which the cheekbone’s support is used to implant.
“On the fourth day after Zygoma Implant surgery, Manju was given permanent artificial teeth that closely resemble her natural teeth. She is now able to talk without the fear of her dentures falling off and is more confident as an individual,” said the doctor.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / by Janani Sampath, TNN / August 07th, 2015
