Kicking their way to a better future; (inset) Ajit Sigamani.
By offering a no-cost programme, mixed martial arts trainer Ajit Sigamani seeks to improve the lot of underprivileged youngsters
Ajit Sigamani equips underprivileged youngsters for the battles ahead of them. How does he do that? By helping them deliver a punch here and a kick there. Punches and kicks usually don’t enter polite conversations, and so, before you let your imagination run away with you, here is the drift of it.
Ajit is a combat sports coach and the founder of a combat training club called Combat Kinetics (CK), and he provides free training in mixed martial arts (MMA) to such youngsters so that they carve out a career in martial arts, as coaches or as competition-level fighters.
Thirty-five years old now, Ajit was initiated into combat training at age eight, when he was enrolled for a Karate programme and from there, he went on to train in boxing, sambo, judo and Indian martial arts. (Ajit is the vice-president of the Sambo Federation of India)
With such grounding in mixed martial arts, Ajit started Combat Kinetics in 2011. The training at CK, Ajit says, is mobility-based and combines many sports. “Fitness and weight-loss are an natural by products,” he adds.
“Under a programme ‘Fight For Your Future’, we take care of not just the coaching, but also the nutritional needs of the students,” he says.
Ajit says that at the end of the programme, students either choose to become coaches or participate in tournaments around the world; and many have also been selected to University programmes and even landed jobs under the sports quota, on account of their MMA background.
Syed Abdul Nazzeur (Abu), started his MMA career at a time when his family was facing a financial crisis.
“I didn’t even eat properly during that time and my coach helped me get good food, the needed nutrition, the best training and now I have risen to a level where I train police officers and they call me ‘coach’. I even acquired English and soft skills training for free.”Abu won the first International medal for India in MMA in China in 2016, and now serves as a coach at CK.
Navya Rao, a graphic designer, tattoo artist and a former coach at CK, states that training in MMA builds one’s confidence.
CK has eight centres in Chennai and expansion plans are on the cards.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Priyanka Shankar / February 14th, 2019
Chennai-based children’s publishing house Karadi Tales has been shortlisted for the Audiobook Publisher of the Year Award.
The award will be presented at the 48th annual London Book Fair, on March 12.
Karadi Tales was a pioneer in the children’s audiobook industry in India, with stories narrated by acclaimed theatre and film personalities, and set to professionally performed music. The award has been attributed to the content of its books and partnership with the Karadi Path Education Company.
The picture books and audiobooks of the publishing house, founded in 1996, have featured in The New York Public Library’s Best Children’s Books, White Ravens, IBBY, the Amelia Bloomer list and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Program.
Translation rights
The translation rights for its books have been sold around the world. Karadi Path was founded in 2010 as Karadi Tales’ partner company to bridge the English literacy gap in the country by using stories and immersive learning and is part of the curriculum in over 3,000 schools.
Karadi Path has partnered with government programmes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the State Council of Educational Research and Training, and schools for tribal children, girl children, and minorities, and has been recognised by USAID and the San Francisco-based Project Literacy Lab for its effectiveness in environments with limited infrastructure and for first-generation English learners.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – February 16th, 2019
A two-day national conference on endoscopy is being conducted by gynaecologists in Chennai on February 16-17.
Chennai :
A two-day national conference on endoscopy is being conducted by gynaecologists in Chennai on February 16-17. The unique feature of this EVE Endoscopy Conference is that for the first time in India, an all-woman gynaecologist team will be performing laparoscopic and hysteroscopic surgeries at Sri Ramachandra Medical College, according to the organisers.
The surgeries will be relayed live to at a private hotel hosting the event where 200 to 300 gynaecologists will learn and discuss the surgeries. This first of its kind national event is being conducted under the aegis of IAGE (Indian Association of Gynaecological Endoscopy), OGSSI; ATNRCOG. International faculty from UK , Germany and Italy will be participating.
Dr Adeola Olaitan, a gynaecologist from London, will be demonstrating advanced cancer surgery.
Laparoscopic surgery or keyhole surgery helps women to recover from surgery quickly and does not leave a scar on the abdomen. Many conditions including early stage cancers, are amenable to laparoscopic surgery. The conference has sessions that caters to beginners as well as advanced state-of-the-art surgeries and discussions with experts.
With International Woman’s Day less than a month away, this conference also celebrates the fact that woman are in the forefront in all fields. This conference will be a boon to all aspiring endoscopic surgeons and especially for women gynaecologists, a release said.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / February 15th, 2019
Tributes poured in for renowned philanthropist and jeweller Surendra Manilal Mehta, who passed away at his residence last week. He was 96. Born on 14 June, 1923, in Palanpur, Gujarat, he spent most of his life in Chennai.
The son of Manilalbhai, who had served as Prime Minister in the princely state of Palanpur, Surendrabhai was the eldest of five siblings. Following the death of two of his uncles, he left Ferguson College, Pune, and came down to Madras in 1939 to assist and, later, manage the family firm, Bapalal & Co.
Along with his brother Harindra and cousin Suresh, Surendrabhai and his family created a bouquet of businesses which included the Barton’s brand in Bengaluru, coffee and spice estates in Salem and Yercaud, Deccan Finance and Dovel Pistons.
Subsequently, he founded Mehta Jewellery with his brother, Naresh, and his sons, Tushaar and Abhay Mehta.
Simply clad in a khadi dhoti, kurta and cap, Surendrabhai was a philanthropist and social activist. Social causes were very close to his heart and he passionately took up vegetarianism, ahimsa, organic farming and the study of Jainism.
Surendrabhai assisted and collaborated with the University of Madras to set up their Department of Jainology.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – February 15th, 2019
There are around 150 students getting trained at Chennai Rifle Club
Until a year ago 17-year-old T. Vigneswaran did not know anything about rifles or shooting. After his father S. Tirupathi, a second-hand book vendor, enrolled him in the student membership programme at Chennai Rifle Club, the youngster has been winning medals.
“For the past one week I did not get any income and it is hard to meet the household expenses. However I want my son to shine and I am sure he will win gold for the country in the Olympics if he continues his practice,” says Mr. Tirupati.
Many youngsters like Vigneswaran, a plus-two student in a government school in Kodambakkam, benefited after the Chennai Rifle Club opened its door to students in March 2018. “As on date, there are around 150 students, aged between 10 and 17 years, and some are from financially weaker sections of the society too,” said D.V. Seetharama Rao, honorary secretary of the club.
“I have won medals in school and national-level competitions and it would not have been possible without the support of my coaches Rajat and Prem Sai who allowed me to use their gun. I want to purchase my own weapon, but my father cannot afford it,” says Vigneshwaran, a first-group student, who aims to join the Indian Air Force.
There are a few students who are willing to do all they can, to excel in the sport. Kavin Vendhan, a 10th standard student, travels from Villupuram to Chennai daily to practice for competitions. “For me shooting is a divine experience. I leave Villupuram at 11 a.m. and reach Chennai at 2 p.m. After two hours of practice, I return home,” says Kavin.
Gopinath Ganesan says he will do everything to help his daughter Saahitya pursue the sport. “She is performing well. I am very happy to invest in a weapon that will help her win medals. This sport helps in her overall development,” he says.
D. Kumar, convenor, student’s coaching scheme, Chennai Rifle Club, said that the club funds the training of students from the weaker strata of the society. “All the students are put through a structured training programme at the club,” he says.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Vivek Narayanan / Chennai – February 11th, 2019
Nutpam builds virtual reality-driven training content for people working in large corporations and sectors like healthcare and education. Its VR simulators train people to not just learn but also get used to machines.
When we hear the term virtual reality (VR), our first thought might be of a sci-fi movie or a video game. However, many people are now realising the application of immersive technology to skill people in various sectors such as healthcare and other industries to train people. With platforms such as IBCricket, which brings the popular sport to your living room, and VRDevotee, which lets you immerse yourself in devotion at any place, VR is also garnering a lot of attention in India.
Meanwhile, Senthil Sarguru and Karthik Bavanandan, both 28 years old, set up Nutpam in 2016 at Mylapore, a suburb in Chennai, which builds solutions using VR. Its product uses immersive technologies to train industrial labour, doctors and students. The team says it uses AR, VR, internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) to bring immersive experiences into the app or even into the physical world.
“We strongly believe that our strength is in content making for immersive experiences. We have been developing VR/AR content in healthcare, enterprise, education, and other immersive experiences based on the client’s requirement,” says Senthil.
Nutpam’s 10-member team has expertise in scripting, modelling as well as programming for virtual reality.
Karthik Bavanandan, Co-founder of Nutpam
The early inspiration (and setbacks)
The founders say they were very inspired by Google and Facebook’s VR work. However, the team initially started off by offering 360-degree videography services for companies. But their common interest was VR technologies.
In 2016, when they were marketing their skills and looking for new projects, they were discovered by a client from Brazil. The project was about Human Anatomy VR training for medical students in Brazil. Hence, the trio bought their first VR hardware and began building modules, which they sold to the client in Brazil.
“For a year we were able to work on various 360 degree projects, and then we started using VR for companies,” says Senthil.
Simultaneously, they also started focusing at NGOs to deliver training and education to students using VR. Unfortunately, it did not work, and they ended up burning most of the money. Their first success came from one of the corporates, which asked the team to build a VR module to train employees to collaborate effectively. The results were good, and this deal proved to be lucky for Nutpam and it started making profits.
It is currently focusing on medical and industrial training with VR simulators. The founders claim that their unique selling proposition is integration of VR content, and leasing of VR headsets. The company presently competes with Tesseract, a Delhi-based startup which specialises in AR experiences.
The founders say it was challenging for them to find the right talent to build the technology, create image recognition, processing the content and regenerating a real world in the virtual world.
Senthil Sarguru, Co-founder of Nutpam
The training product
Nutpam’s product aims to simplify the effort for its clients and builds virtual reality-driven content for training. For example, it provides simulators to people to get used to machines in a thermal power plant, and avoids the risk of training them in a live thermal station.
“This kind of simulator-based training will make a huge impact on the society because it can take risks off industrial training, and make people perfect with their skills,” says Senthil.
Similarly, in healthcare, if a trainee doctor needs to understand the different cases of polyps that grows in the gut, it can be created using virtual reality and the doctors can be trained to insert an endoscope and guided to lift tissues for biopsy.
The company also operates in industrial training, facility management training and construction. Some of its prominent clients include L&T, Uber and Swiggy. Apart from India, it has clients in the US and Brazil.
The numbers game in VR
According to the founders, Nuptam is yet to gain substantial revenues as it believes the market for virtual reality will only pick up from 2020. The company’s revenue at present is less than Rs 50 lakh, said one of the founders. “Our revenue model is a services model. For any client who wants R&D services for VR, we manage that,” says Senthil.
The company has so far raised $500,000 from an undisclosed angel investor. It aims to double its clients by 2020, and plans to increase its revenues to Rs 3 crore or more and also turn profitable in the coming years.
According to research firm Statista, the VR industry is growing at a fast pace globally. The market for virtual reality hardware and software is projected to increase from $2.2 billion in 2017, to more than $19 billion by 2020.
The world of virtual reality is filled with opportunities as it is a new area of interest for corporates to train its employees, to connect with consumers and also build immersive content. As India is brimming with ideas about changing the nature of reality itself, it is only a matter of time before people end up living their digital avatars, and less of their human self.
Purasawalkam is home to many heritage buildings and so it is not surprising that there is one celebrating its bicentenary year.
CSI Missionary Chapel located at Mookathal Street, Purasawalkam, is commemorating the bicentenary of its consecration. It was established on December 25, 1819 and is considered to be the oldest church in Purasawalkam and Vepery.
A commemoration tablet with a brief narrative on the history of the chapel was recently unveiled marking the year-long celebrations.
Several eminent persons from London Missionary Society shepherded the Missionary Chapel.
It was Anna Drew (wife of William Hoyles Drew, presbyter of Missionary Chapel) who started a small boarding school, ‘London Mission Female School’ for deserving children at Kellys. It is now known to be Bentinck Girls Higher Secondary School, Vepery.
I. Samuel Prabhakar, Presbyter and Chairman, CSI Missionary Chapel, recalled his childhood days when he was a member of the church. He considers serving at his mother Church as a rare opportunity and honour especially during its bicentenary year. Several social activities, including free medical camps, have been conducted through the church.
This year, the church’s medical team has started veterinary services.
The building has some additions. In 1957, a belfry was added and the rear portion of the church was extended to accommodate growing congregation in 1975. There are plans to renovate the church without making any structural changes. At present, nearly 450 families regularly worship at the church.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by K. Lakshmi / February 08th, 2019
Tracing the journey of historian and author A.R. Venkatachalapathy, speakers discussed his contributions to the social and cultural history of Tamil Nadu at a seminar on Saturday.
Organised jointly by Kalachuvadu, Kadavu, and The Hindu Lit for Life, the second day of ‘Viruvum Aazhamum’ seminar had sessions on Mr. Venkatachalapathy’s many avatars as historical researcher, translator, author, teacher and scholar.
Tamil writer Perumal Murugan said Mr. Venkatachalapathy had compiled and brought out 17 books, including ones on freedom fighter V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, poet Bharathiyar and Tamil writers Maraimalai Adigal and Pudhumaipithan, to fill gaps in historical accounts. He also threw light on lesser-known personalities like A.K. Chettiyar, a Tamil travelogue writer, and contributed to new perspectives in history, he added.
Style of writing
Speakers also discussed his style of writing and his contributions to the literary field through prefaces and Dalit writings. His prefaces were distinct and could be compiled and published as books, some of the speakers said. Describing his captivating style of writing as more typical of fiction, speakers suggested that he write a book tracing the history of Tamil proverbs.
Mr. Venkatachalapathy has published 41 books in English and Tamil and has authored about 200 articles in various newspapers and magazines.
He is currently a professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – February 09th, 2019
Southern Railway general manager R K Kulshreshtha has appreciated the efforts of Perambur Loco Works which wrapped vinyl sheets in the interiors of 351 diesel power cars recently.
Southern Railway GM KR Kulshreshtha inspecting an overhauled diesel power car in Perambur on Friday. (Photo | Express)
Chennai :
Southern Railway general manager R K Kulshreshtha has appreciated the efforts of Perambur Loco Works which wrapped vinyl sheets in the interiors of 351 diesel power cars recently.On Friday, he along with principal heads of departments conducted annual inspection of Loco Works, Perambur and reviewed the various developmental works being done there.
A release said Perambur Loco Works, one of the oldest premier workshops of Southern Railway has progressed from carrying out repairs to Steam Locomotives in its formative years to upgrade itself with the latest technological advancement and become a modern workshop with its focus on repairs to coaches, diesel power cars, electric locomotives, self-propelled accident relief train and tower wagons. Chief Workshop Manager, Loco Works, explained to the General Manager all improvements and achievements by loco works team, including many innovations done by the staff.
The General Manager suggested that workshop should study and explore the possibilities of providing larger lookout glass in Diesel Power Cars for better visibility to drivers. Better sun visors should also be provided for the ease of drivers to avoid glare during train operation, he said.
During the visit to the electrical loco POH shop, improvements made in the re-cabling section, contactor section and the loco in which crew friendly features were provided for the comfort of the loco pilots and assistant loco pilots were also inspected.
Many locos have been provided with crew-friendly features such as air conditioner, increased moving space and improvement in drivers seat. A new cable cutting machine which cuts the power cables to required length so as to avoid strain to employees was commissioned during the visit, the release said.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / February 10th, 2019
Paying tribute to Western classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven, a new Indian classical raga Veetavanam has been created by Chitravina N. Ravikiran.
The name lends itself to multiple translations such as desired abundance, desired spring or desired forest. It forms the improvisatory prelude to his latest video Beethoven on 21 strings, which features the evergreen Fur Elise.
The musician’s creation, close to the Western minor scale that Fur Elise is composed in, draws from the Carnatic Keeravani. “Fur Elise actually uses several other phrasings and also every one of the 12 notes in a descending flourish at one point,” said Mr. Ravikiran, who has created a number of ragas, including Mohini, celebrating Mahatma Gandhi, and Choodamani, named after his mother.
“This raga is more a suggestive salutation to the great composer than an attempt to mimic him. I hope that this tribute is welcomed by musicians and music lovers of both the East and West,” he said.
On the challenges involved, he said that Indian classical has evolved along melodic lines and does not employ harmony. But even melody sections that may seem elementary on a piano (since 10 fingers are used) can be enormously challenging to negotiate with just one slide. “But the ‘singing’ quality of the Chitravina and its ability to execute enchanting micro-tonal nuances and also create dazzling effectscan bring out a completely different flavour of the piece, without affecting its integrity,” he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – January 29th, 2019
