An eye donation camp held here on Friday in connection with the birth anniversary of Helen Keller, has reportedly entered the Assist World Record with nearly a lakh pledging to donate their eyes.
Lions Club International, which organised the eye donation awareness camp at Quaid-E-Millath Government College for Women, claimed that about a lakh people undertook the pledge during the day, making it the biggest such programme ever.
“The last record was 22,000, and we created history today to emerge on top according to Assist World Record,” said a proud G Manilal, Governor, Lions Club district 324-A8.
Most of the volunteers were students from institutions in the city like Stella Maris and MGR University among others.
“We have circulated forms to college students of whom many have registered. The rest are waiting for their parents’ approval. We are expecting the registration to cross one lakh,” added Manilal.
Each person who registered was given a smart card, which had important medical data about him/her, including the consent to donate eyes.
Justice P Jyotimani, member, National Green Tribunal, New Delhi, distributed the eye donation smart card, which was received by popular director-actor Thangar Bachan.
Dr KS Seetha Lakshmi, principal, Quaid-E- Millath Government College, and many eminent eye surgeons attended the camp.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / June 30th, 2014
This cave painting depicts men, women and children dancing during a festival | Express
Paintings that are over 3,000 years old, belonging to the Sangam period, showcasing the love and valour of Tamils, were discovered in the Andipatti hills near here on Sunday.
V Narayanamorthy, Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Research Institute, and his team came upon the paintings when they were inspecting some caves, west of Andipatti hills.
He said, “The faded paintings have been found in over 10 places in the cave and were painted in white colour using a mixture of limestone, natural gums and herbal extracts.”
One of the paintings shows a group of women carrying pots of water on their heads, while another shows men, women and children dancing together at a festival, holding hands. What’s interesting is that this kind of dance can still be seen in the Paliyar and Puliyar tribal communities, the archaeologists said.
Another picture shows people getting ready to sacrifice a goat for a festival.
The paintings also tell stories—one of an elephant captured and trained, on which the king goes for a ride surrounded by guards. Several scattered paintings depict men, women and tigers and hunts undertaken.
The caves were in frequent use about 2,000 to 3,000 years ago.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sates> TamilNadu / by Express News Service – Palani / March 04th, 2014
US President Barack Obama plans to appoint a Madras University graduate and alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology as a member of the National Science Board of National Science Foundation.
The proposed appointment of Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan, Senior Vice President of the Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development at Arizona State University (ASU), was announced by the White House Friday with 15 other key administration posts
“Our nation will be greatly served by the talent and expertise these individuals bring to their new roles. I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead,” Obama said.
At over thirty, the Obama administration has more Indian-Americans working at high places than in any other previous administration.
Panchanathan, who has held his current position at ASU since 2011, previously worked as a Data Communication Engineer for International Software India Limited in Chennai, India in 1986.
He received a BSc from the University of Madras, a BE from the Indian Institute of Science, an MTech from the Indian Institute of Technology, and a PhD from the University of Ottawa, Canada.
Panchanathan has held a number of positions at Arizona State University since 1998.
He has been a foundation chair professor in Computing and Informatics since 2009 and a founding Director of the Centre for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing since 2001.
Panchanathan founded the ASU School of Computing and Informatics in 2006 and the Department of Biomedical Informatics in 2005.
Prior to working for ASU, Panchanathan served at the University of Ottawa as a founding Director of the Visual Computing and Communications Laboratory from 1990 to 1997.
He worked as Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 1994 to 1997, and Assistant Professor from 1989 to 1994.
K. Manoj Kumar (right) at work with his team members in his mushroom farm near Kadachanenthal in Madurai./ Photo: R. Ashok / The Hindu
Besides running mushroom farms, Manoj imparts training too
K. Manoj Kumar, who was born with hearing and speech impairment, never let his disability deter his dreams and success.
A B.Com graduate with gold medal from St. Louis College for Hearing Impaired in Chennai, Mr. Manoj’s entry into the league of achievers is motivating.
Seven years ago, Mr. Manoj and his wife M. Krishna Kumari, a microbiology graduate, started a small scale mushroom farm at Pudhupatti.
Ever since, there is no looking back for the couple, who run ‘Udayan Mushroom Farm,’ which now exports oyster and milky mushroom to Kerala, Hyderabad and Maharashtra.
“We had to shift our farm to Kadachanenthal because the environment at Pudhupatti was not conducive. Initially, when we started farming, we found it difficult to sell even one kilogram of mushroom,” says Mrs. Krishna Kumari.
Today, Mr. Manoj’s enterprise has 25 small scale mushroom farms functioning under it and he has trained around 500 persons in the past two years on mushroom cultivation.
His team of support staff in the farm include three hearing impaired persons and four persons who underwent rehabilitation for mental disabilities.
“I started my own mushroom farm inspired by their success and with the help of their encouragement. The business is quite profitable,” says Shantha Devi Akilan Davis, an elderly neighbour of the couple. She is also involved in the training activities undertaken by Udayan Farm.
J. S. Gopinath, who underwent rehabilitation at M.S. Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation, says he enjoys working under Mr. Manoj.
“He has taught me how to cultivate mushrooms. I also learned to rear ornamental fish,” he says. Mr. Manoj also rears “fighter fish” for his father’s farm.
According to P. Moorthy, co-ordinator of the training programme, a large number of differently abled people have benefitted from the training.
“There is a high demand for mushrooms in the market. Most of the people who underwent training here had physical disabilities or were from an economically backward background. This has helped them sustain their livelihood,” Mr. Moorthy says.
The simple person that he is, Mr. Manoj attributes his success to his wife, who has been his major support all along.
“People with hearing impairment generally tend to depend on others for income. We wanted to be self-reliant. We are also happy to support others in need,” signs off Mrs. Krishna Kumari.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by M. Vandhana / Madurai – June 17th, 2014
Family members of Major Mukund Varadharajan at the function on Wednesday./ Photo: R Ravindran / The Hindu
At a function, a host of distinguished personalities paid their respects to Major Mukund Varadharajan
The Tapovan Hall at the Chinmaya heritage centre on Tuesday evening witnessed the city paying respects to a son who sacrificed his life safeguarding the boundaries of India.
Major Mukund Varadharajan (32) of the 44 Rashtriya Rifles was killed in an encounter with terrorists in Shopian district, South Kashmir, on April 25. Mukund, who hailed from Chennai, was cremated with full state honours.
A large section of people including former civil servants, military personnel, judges and other noted personalities gathered in the evening to commemorate the brave soldier from the city and honour his contributions to the country. Also present were his family members, including his young daughter.
Gita Menon of Chinmaya Mission began the tribute, saying “We bow to the proud son of India.” She went on to add that soldiers provide a sense of security to every citizen in the country.
Nonagenarian V. Kalyanam, who was the personal secretary of Mahatma Gandhi, was also present during the evening. In his brief words to the Major’s family, who were in the front row, he said the officer was a brave man and wished the family well.
“Brave men like Mukund give their today for our tomorrow,” stated retired Colonel David Devasahayam from the Indian Army, to the applause of those gathered in the auditorium. Retired IAS officers M G Devasahayam and Naresh Gupta also paid tributes.
Swami Mitrananda, acharya of Chinmaya Mission, Chennai, honoured the late Major’s family members with a memento towards the end of the evening which concluded with a mime titled Paapa by theatre artist Krishna Ganapathi. A video recording of tributes by personalities who couldn’t attend was also screened.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Events / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – May 21st, 2014
Drums Sivamani with 1000 drummers record at YMCA ground, Saidapet. / Photo: M. Karunakaran / The Hindu
Percussionists from the city made an attempt to set a Guinness record
The sun couldn’t scorch the spirit of a thousand drummers from having a crack at the Guinness World Records. Organised by the Stage Light Music Artist Union (SLMAU) to gain recognition and raise funds for its members, they were attempting to break the record, which was previously held by 798 drummers from the U.K., who played for six minutes and 30 seconds.
Led by ‘Drums’ Sivamani, the well-known percussionist, who started his career as a stage artiste, the group of over a 1,000 drummers was supposed to play for a little more than 10 minutes.
It was a logistical nightmare: how do you instruct a crowd (that also comprised kids as young as three) of over a 1,000 to set up their drum-kits? Thanks to the hardworking volunteers, it was possible.
On the day of the performance, the star-percussionist was walked into the venue accompanied by Tamil folk artistes performing the traditional Karagattam.
After taking the stage, Sivamani said that he would like to teach the group the first lesson he received from his master. “This is my gift to you,” he said and performed the two-stroke ‘Daddy-Mommy’ routine and its many variations.
As the sun was going down, the countdown began. After a minute’s silence for the blast victims, Sivamani began swishing his sticks. Unexpectedly, the group missed Sivamani’s beats right from the first 20 seconds. It took a while before the sounds got synchronised. Soon after, a volunteer announced that the group had successfully broken the old record.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Udhav Naig / Chennai – May 05th, 2014
Doctors at Raja Sir Ramasamy Mudaliyar (RSRM) Hospital in Royapuram successfully carried out a complicated hysterectomy on a 39-year-old paraplegic from Kumbakonam.
Kavitha (39), who was paraplegic and suffered from myelomeningocele, a birth defect in which the backbone and spinal canal do not close, was self-dependent until she suffered a prolapsed uterus a year back.
Private hospitals in Kumbakonam and Thanjavur refused to perform vaginal hysterectomy on her as it was difficult to administer anaesthesia and perform the surgery. She then approached doctors at Raja Sir Ramasamy Mudaliyar Hospital in Royapuram.
Doctors said the woman, who was less than three feet tall, was unable to recline, slept in prone position (on the belly), always sat up when awake, could only crawling around, and defecation and urination was involuntary. She had previously undergone a surgery to remove a cyst on her spinal cord.
A team of seven doctors operated on Kavitha on May 13. “In most cases, it is safe to administer anaesthesia in the spine and the surgery is done with the legs held up. But in her case, she was paraplegic from waist down. If she is not given anaesthesia, there could be a hypertensive crisis and there are chances of her dying on the table,” explained Dr AL Meenakshi Sundaram, anaesthetist, who was part of the team that performed the surgery.
A doctor explained that Kavitha was made to lie in a 45 degree head-up tilt position and anaesthesia was given through her windpipe with the anaesthetist standing on a stool. “We could not lift her lower limbs up like it is done in regular cases. She was also on manual ventilation throughout the surgery,” doctors said.
After the surgery, Kavitha was put in the intensive care unit. She is expected to be discharged in three days, said doctors.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / May 16th, 2014
M. Ganapathy and Chitra Ganapathy at Kadambavanam./ Photo: S. James / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Chitra and M. Ganapathy’s resort Kadambavanam, near Madurai, has evolved into a hub of Tamil heritage
Projects do not drive the passion. It is the other way round where passions drive amazing projects. This is exactly what happened with architect M. Ganapathy and his cost accountant wife Chitra Ganapathy. They have given shape to a unique endogenous tourism model where people can experience traditional and true Tamil living.
Called Kadambavanam, the Temple of Tamil Traditions, the retreat is situated 22 kms from Madurai on the Natham Highway. It is a place where domestic and international tourists can soak in Tamil culture and the Tamil diaspora can reconnect with their roots. Kadambavanam, according to legend, once covered the entire Madura region before giving way to the ancient city of Madurai.
Chitra and Ganapathy come from conservative backgrounds and have a very traditional upbringing. Chitra’s father, Dr.Nambi Arooran, was the grandson of the great Tamil Scholar Maraimalai Adigal considered the ‘Father of the pure Tamil movement’. Her mother Dr.Sarada Nambi Arooran, is a renowned Tamil scholar too. Ganapathy’s maternal grandfather Shri.S.S. Subbiah Pillai was instrumental in consecrating “Pazha muthir solai”, the sixth holy abode of Lord Muruga in Madurai.
More than a decade ago Ganapathy bought 22 acres of land nestling between the Sirumalai and Alagarmalai range. It was a green carpet stretched to the horizon, scalloped by wild fields and hills and strangely calm. “I instantly knew I had to do something different here,” says Ganapathy. But at best the couple could only think of building a weekend retreat cottage for the family. But soon one thing led to another and ideas began to take shape in their heads.
Both Chitra and Ganapathy feel very strongly about the culturally rich Tamil heritage. So they thought they would do something to nourish that. “Initially we were hesitant,” says Chitra, “because neither of us is from the tourism industry and nor are we rich.” But despite the hurdles, they decided they would establish a kind of cultural prototype in Tamil Nadu.
Tourists rarely gain any insight into Tamil traditions when they come on a temple-hopping visit to the State, they say and people do not realise the value and privilege of being a Tamilian. For three years the couple toyed with the idea of how to revive, preserve and showcase Tamil culture.
Initially the small weekend cottage would be lent to friends. But then Ganapathy decided to build some more. Gradually, the idea of an ethnic resort was born and 15 cottages were built surrounded by mango, coconut, tamarind and 40 other varieties of trees.
While Ganapathy focussed on landscaping and designing the property, Chitra launched herself into marketing. “But the response was lukewarm,” she says. They spent lot of money attending travel marts and networking with travel agents but it did not fetch the desired results. “That is when we realised the need for some value-addition,” says Chitra. The idea of a cultural centre emerged because an important part of the Tamilian way of living is their performing arts. The couple thought of Kadambavanam as a place where forgotten traditions could be revitalised. Says Ganapathy, “This project was never meant to be commercial, What is important to us is to rediscover the treasures of our culture.”
Today, Kadambavanam serves up eco, rural, culinary and spiritual tourism, arts and crafts and native history and literature to its guests. “We are not here just for show. We have built an ambience that takes guests back in time,” says Ganapathy. “They hear lots of stories that generate interest in exploring further. It is an end-to-end package packed with lots of activities, stories and cultural programmes,” he adds.
Chitra and Ganapathy are also involving the local community in their social entrepreneurship model. “The feedback is good now,” they say, “We feel happy that we are being talked about in wider circles.”
What kadambavanam offers:
Visitors to Kadambavanam are welcomed at the entrance by a huge statue of the village guardian Lord Aiyanar riding a white horse. Every door step is decorated with kolam.
The cultural centre is a twin campus with a picturesque 500 seater auditorium, an elaborate temple complex, games pavilion, puppetry theatre and an ethnic Tamil kitchen. Regular cultural shows of classical and folk arts of Tamil Nadu are held in the evenings followed by a sumptuous Tamil ethnic dinner. The aesthetic architecture has a rustic charm stamped on it.
Dance and music programmes begin with the beating of the traditional murasu (an ancient drum used to call the attention of people to important announcements). There are different shows each day from Bharatanatyam to Carnatic music, Tamil martial arts, rustic puppetry shows, killijyotishyam and traditional games such as kittipul, pandi (hopscotch), golli gundu (marbles), and pallankuzhi.
Guests can do yoga and meditation, undertake village and nature walks, hill trekking and bicycle trips. Visit jasmine farms or stay put for cookery demos.
The ethnic resort has 15 air conditioned cottages that combine rustic charm with all modern comforts; ‘ Adisil’ ,a 120 seater semi-open, multi-level eatery at an elevation of 100 feet offers a fabulous view of the surroundings; Madhuvanam’ ,the bar ; ’Peravai’ , the banquet hall with a theatre style seating capacity of 110 persons ; ‘Sittravai’ , the board room with a seating capacity of 45 persons; ‘Vetaveli’ , the maidan that can host up to 2,000 guests; ‘Pulveli’ ,a scenic lawn that can cater to around 300 guests and; ‘Thadagam’, the State’s third largest swimming pool spread over 8,500 sq.ft.
Is catching up as a fancy destination for weddings, receptions and film shooting and also corporate meetings and school camps.
Future vision of Kadambavanam:
– Nature cure spa offering detox therapies and rejuvenation packages.
– Library with a large and good collection of books appealing to all age groups
– Audio visual hall for screening select Tamil movies
– Arts school offering ‘crash courses’ on classical and folk arts and crash courses in Tamil language.
– Crafts bazaar where artisans will make and sell their wares directly
– ‘Living museum’ showcasing many interesting aspects of a bygone lifestyle
– Fifteen more air conditioned cottages coming up
What they say:
“We based our project on statistics and are hopeful. If 60 per cent of FTAs come to Kadambavanam, it will ensure the project’s survival.” – Chitra
“People just don’t come and get inside the air conditioned comforts of a building here. Rather they hear stories, see beyond and understand.” – M. Ganapathy
source: http://www.thehindu.com / Th Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Soma Basu / Madurai – April 24th, 2014
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation – Fri, 11 Apr 2014
By Nita Bhalla
An Essmart Global representative trains a village shopkeeper on technology products that are helping improve life for poor rural communities and small scale-farmers in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, India./ Photo taken by Essmart Global in 2012
Mumbai , India, April 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
A start-up Indian social enterprise has come up with an innovative solution to one of the country’s biggest development challenges – helping the rural poor easily access basics such as clean drinking water and electricity.
Essmart Global is bringing affordable products such as solar lanterns, rechargeable batteries and water filters to the doorsteps of mud-and-brick villages through a unique partnership with shopkeepers in south India.
“We bring different technologies that are appropriate to rural areas to existing market places such as rural ‘kiranas” or ‘mom-and-pop stores’, and make these products available through a catalogue,” said Prashanth Venkataramana, Essmart’s head of operations in India.
“Customers will have access to the products they want and get them delivered within a day, without having to travel to the cities and towns where these products are generally only available.”
Venkataramana was speaking on the sidelines of the Sankalp Unconvention Summit in Mumbai, where hundreds of social enterprises from around the world have gathered to showcase their ideas for development.
The three-day conference has seen social entrepreneurs pitching products such as solar lanterns, clean cooking stoves, and irrigation tools which use less water or agriculture instruments which make processing crops more efficient.
India has witnessed stellar economic growth over the last two decades, yet one third of the country’s 1.2 billion population still lives below the poverty line.
Seventy million households – 35-40 percent of the country’s 1.2 billion people – have no access to electricity, while 100 million do not have access to clean drinking water.
But while there are thousands of products which can help address these issues, most are not easily available to the rural poor – largely because village retailers cannot afford to buy in bulk, a key requirement for manufacturers.
GOING THE LAST MILE
Essmart Global, in essence, acts as a distributor and buys products in bulk, which are stored in local warehouses. When a customer orders a product from the catalogue in his village store, it is dispatched and delivered to the shop the next day.
“We provide any product which can improve the quality of life of people living in rural areas. These are products such as solar lanterns, water filters, tablet computers, rechargeable batteries and rechargeable flashlights,” he told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“There are also products which can help them in their occupations such as agricultural equipment, little gadgets that can work on their farms or fields.”
The social enterprise, which began operations in August 2012, provides 45 products to 400 village stores in the west of Tamil Nadu state and works with around 20 large and small manufacturers.
The company has sold some 2,200 products so far, with the most popular being solar lanterns which sell for around 1,400 rupees ($23).
For more expensive products, such as a solar-powered water pumps for irrigation, Essmart helps customers arrange a line of credit with the manufacturer or through a microfinance company. All products come with a warranty.
Venkataramana said one of the most exciting outcomes is not just that the business helps rural customers, but that it also benefits villager retailers.
“These rural shops generally only sell fast-moving consumer goods such as shampoos, soaps, toothpaste etc which they make little (profit) on,” he said.
“What we are getting the shopkeeper to do is sell technology products which he wouldn’t normally sell and helping him increase his margins. In fact, stores which have worked with us, have seen a 30 percent increase in their monthly income by selling products from Essmart.”
source: http://www.trust.org / Thomson Reuters Foundation / by Nita Bhalla / Friday, April 11th, 2014
Kirloskar Brothers Limited (KBL), announced that its all-women Coimbatore plant has bagged a prestigious award by the Limca Book of Records for its project ‘Mahila Mission 20’. The project has achieved a milestone of assembling a pump in 17.25 seconds, making it a national record, stated a company release.
The silver jubilee of the Limca Book of Records dedicated to the cause of Empowering Women honoured Dr.RV.Rajkumar with the recognition on behalf of the entire female workforce of Kirloskar Brother s Limited ,Coimbatore plant. The award was offered in the presence of numerous dignitaries, leaders, decision makers and bureaucrats from various participating companies.
Sanjay Kirloskar , Chairman and Managing Director of Kirloskar Brothers said, “It is a proud moment for us to be recognised for our accomplishment towards women empowerment. Our all-women Coimbatore plant has received many significant awards and this recognition further reaffirms the abilities of our female employee’s.”
He further added, “With the dedication of our associates, we have successfully reduced the assembly time from 60 seconds to a record breaking 20 seconds; thereby increasing the plant production to 34000 pumps per line per month. I am extremely overwhelmed to have such a committed women workforce that settles for nothing but the best.”
KBL’s all women Coimbatore plant was established in 2011. The plant manufactures different models of domestic pumps and has 65 women between the age group of 19 to 30 employed on the shop floor. KBL is the only engineering company in India which operates with 100% female associates in the manufacturing process, stated the release.
source: http://www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / Home> News> News By Company> Corporate Announcements / by Jayashree Bhosale, ET Bureau / April 11th, 2014
