The famous Palani panchamirtham, given as ‘prasadam’ at the Murugan temple there, has been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
This is the first time a temple ‘prasadam’ from Tamil Nadu has been bestowed with the GI tag. The application was filed by the Joint Commissioner/Executive Officer, Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani Swamy Thirukkoil, North Giriveethi, Adivaram, Palani.
Chinnaraja G. Naidu, Deputy Registrar of Geographical Indications, confirmed that the GI tag had been given for the panchamirtham.
“The certificate will be posted on the GI website soon,” he said.
The panchamirtham is a combination of five natural substances — banana, jaggery, cow ghee, honey and cardamom. Dates and diamond sugar candies are added for flavour.
The panchamirtham is an ‘abhishega prasadam’ (food that is a religious offering), which is served in a semi-solid state. It is sweet in taste and one of the main offerings for Lord Dhandayuthapani Swamy, the presiding deity of Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani Swamy Temple, situated on Palani Hills.
Not even a single drop of water is added during the preparation of the panchamirtham. This gives it its classic semi-solid consistency and taste. No preservatives or artificial ingredients are used.
As per the GI application, the geographical area for production of panchamirtham is Palani town in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu. It lies within latitude of 10.44 ° and longitude of 77.52 °.
According to the GI application filed, the Palani panchamirtham is prepared under the guidance given by the CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute) Mysore, a government of India undertaking.
The whole process of producing the panchamirtham is automated. It is doubly ensured that the hygienic aspects are maintained. Devotees who visit the temple are offered the panchamirtham as a prasadam in the hill temple as well as in stalls run by temple administration at Adivaram. Is is believed that the panchamirtham cures diseases of devotees.
Chennai-based IP attorney P. Sanjai Gandhi pointed out that the GI tag would boost the local economy in Palani. He added, “Tamil Nadu has so many temples, mosques and churches. Each of them has a unique historic origin.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by Sangeetha Kandavel / Chennai – August 14th, 2019
Bonding over sustainable fashion & conscious living, three feisty women set up Wildflower — a brand that resonates with their cause.
(L to R) Anjula Giriram, Sangeetha Arul and Shibi Kumaramangalam seker.archanaa@gmail.com ARCHANAA SEKER The writer is a city-based activist, inyour- face feminist and a media glutton Photo: R Satish Babu
Chennai :
Friends Sangeetha Arul, Anjula Giriam and Shibi Kumaramangalam had a vision — to organise pop-up events that were different from the rest. So, the trio established Wildflower in 2018, a platform that promotes sustainable and ecofriendly brands from all over India. “We believe that conscious shopping decisions can make a positive impact on the environment, society and lifestyle,” share the trio. In a freewheeling chat with CE, they discuss their journey, life lessons, philosophies and more. Excerpts follow.
Tell us about your journey in event management?
Sangeetha: I was in the communication field and coordinating has been one of my strong skills. When I was in the US from 1999 to 2012, I used to help around with Tamil Sangam, a group where all the US-based Tamil people would gather and conduct events. I realised that management was one of my strengths and decided to put it to good use. Anjula and I went to college together, but were doing different things. We met after a long break in 2012 and decided to start our own company.
Shibi: I’m a lawyer and I predominantly work in the field of women’s rights, sexual harassment at the workplace. But I’ve always been interested in sustainable fashion and conscious living. When I heard about Sangeetha and Anjula’s business idea, I was impressed with the way they had put everything together — promoting conscious consumption. I decided to collaborate with them for the pop-up, which aimed to promote awareness about ethical fashion.
How do you choose the brands you work with?
Shibi: When it comes to choosing brands, we ensure we invite brands which promote sustainable living and fashion. For instance, Last Forest is a brand that we support. They come from Kotagiri and work with the Toda tribe. Apart from ensuring that a brand is ethical, we also focus on the procurement process, that is sourcing and packaging is done in an eco-friendly way.
We follow a strict no-plastic policy. We try to promote the concept of ‘less waste’ by creating awareness on reuse, repurpose and recycle. We want to show people that being environmentally friendly and conscious is not unaffordable. Working with local brands not only supports local entrepreneurs, but it also enables the customers to develop a good rapport and relationship with them.
What is the first step towards a sustainable lifestyle?
Sangeetha: We send out around 80,000 bags of garbage every day, just think about the volume of consumption and wastage. I believe that rather than just a handful of people working towards a sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle, thousands of people doing it imperfectly is fine and that makes a huge difference. We need to encourage people to take small steps…it will go a long way. Shibi: I’m very passionate about sustainable fashion and conscious living. This is my first venture with Wildflower, we organise events that promote conscious consumption. It is not about making profit, but we want to introduce shoppers to a sustainable principle.
What is your most memorable event of all the events you have organised so far?
Sangeetha: The first event which was held in March 24, 2018 at Hiranandani called Spring Fling Fashion was quite memorable. We had to start from scratch — right from finding vendors, talking, convincing and sourcing from them, everything had to be done. It was trial and error. Another challenge was to get in touch with these sustainable brands from all over India
. People were apprehensive. We learned a lot from the event. Though it was challenging, it was a learning curve and served as a stepping stone for us to do bigger and better. Our dream is to extend our help to all the start-ups and budding women entrepreneurs. We want to help them with marketing and communication services. Anjula: We had just started and everything was new to us, but it was nice to see people turn up from different parts of the country to Chennai. We received excellent response for our first event.
Tell us about a typical day.
Sangeetha: My day starts at 6 am. As soon as I send my children to school, I start preparing for my meetings, as per the day’s schedule. I usually have phone calls lined up with vendors and clients. By the end of the day, I am exhausted.
Event management is challenging, but I love my job! Shibi: I send my six-year-old daughter to school, go on with my day job, meet friends in the evening and hang out with them. I feel women are inherently very good multi-taskers. Sometimes I also help to rehabilitate abandoned pets. Anjula: I’m a part-time home baker. First thing is to manage the house and my child. I read when I’m not baking or busy meeting people for the events.
What are your life philosophies?
Shibi: Surround yourself with positive people and positive energy. Do one good thing and try to give back. Life is short, eat the cake, drink wine, buy the shoes. Sangeetha: I try to live a balanced life, hoping to make a small positive impact on the environment and society. Anjula: Whatever life throws at you, take it slow.
What do you love about Chennai?
Sangeetha: A big chunk of my life was in the US. But currently, Chennai has become a place where I can do what I love while being surrounded by friends and families. Shibi: I’ve lived away from the city most of the time and there is no place like home. With my regular meet-ups with my friends at Chamiers and exploring new places — Chennai offers a beautiful experience.
Anjula: I grew up in a conservative environment and after moving to Chennai from Sivakasi after my marraige, I was able to be myself without people judging me. I meet friends and feel quite lucky. Not everybody gets to do that.
How do you recharge your energy at the end of the day?
Sangeetha: When everybody goes to bed, I ensure I spend time with myself. The peace helps me get through the next day. Shibi: Socialising and Netflix Anjula: I read books.
What are the life lessons you have learned through your work experience?
Sangeetha: We couldn’t say no to people before and now we know where to draw a line. I learned to be tough and sure of what we want from others and their expectations. You can’t please everyone. Anjula: I learned new skills from the most unlikely places and people. I am not a social person, but I realised I could be if I wanted to. From printing to creating promos, we learned the nuances of the business.
What plans do you have for Wildflower?
Sangeetha: Currently, we are keeping it small and taking forward all the lessons we have learned more sustainably. It’s about quality and not quantity for us. We want to make a difference. Shibi: We don’t want people to just buy, but also know about the products and become ethical in consumption. We want to provide our customers with affordable cotton dresses which are not mass-produced…skincare brands which recycle ‘dabbas’, cloth pads.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Rinreichui Kashung / Express News Service / August 01st, 2019
These students devote three-four hours every day after college and now their work has come to fruition as they have raised `1 crore from sponsors and finally built a pod and a 40-metre test track.
Bengaluru :
At an event hosted by Atria Institute of Technology on Tuesday, aerospace engineering student from IIT Madras, Sai Madhav, presented his team’s prototype pod for the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod competition to his audience.
Avikshar Hyperloop is one of the 22 teams out of the 1,600 teams worldwide and also the only team from Asia that has qualified to the finals. It is a group of about 30 students from inter-disciplinary backgrounds who have been working on creating their own pod since September 2017. These students devote three-four hours every day after college and now their work has come to fruition as they have raised `1 crore from sponsors and finally built a pod and a 40-metre test track.
SAE India, a member-driven organisation which acts as a knowledge partner for students and faculty in automotive and aerospace engineering, hosted its second event in its lecture series that deals with aerospace engineering. It also functions as a think-tank and a policy maker. The second lecture was specifically about the Hyperloop, an almost too-good-to-be-true transportation service proposed by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. The Hyperloop, if installed, seeks to reduce travel time drastically. It is supposed to be a land-based transportation service where pods, that house passengers, can levitate and zoom through tunnels by having the air pumped out of them in order to create a near-perfect vacuum for greater speed. It boasts of a travel time of just 30 minutes from Bengaluru to Chennai.
Being the main speaker at the event, Madhav’s presentation and video of the only Indian team to qualify for this competition impressed a mixture of faculty, students and heads of the SAE group. He also talked about how the plan for building their pod looked solid on paper but when it came to the actuality of making it, they faced a lot of discrepancies. Being in the stability team, he deals with a lot of mechanical aspects of the pod. During the question-and-answer session, the question of the safety of the passengers was raised as the Hyperloop project has bragged about reaching speeds up to 500-600 km/hour. “Yes, passengers will feel major deceleration effects. All this is new and I can only hope that newer research yields positive results,” he said. J Munirathnam, who is on the Board of SAE India for aerospace, also said the project will have to be built after taking into consideration the degree of g-force that the human body can withstand.
“This is completely new. We have the freedom to explore it. If you look at building a car, parameters have already been established for it. That is not the case here,” Madhav said.
The hype about hyperloop
The Hyperloop, if installed, seeks to reduce travel time drastically. It is supposed to be a land-based transportation service where pods, that house passengers, can levitate and zoom through tunnels by having the air pumped out of them in order to create a near-perfect vacuum for greater speed.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Chinmay Manoj / Express News Service / July 11th, 2019
Preserving for posterity: A. Parameswaran, has been collecting seeds of native vegetables and fruits | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Oddanchatram-based organic farmer A Parameswaran has created a bank of over 300 varieties of seeds of native vegetables and fruits
Patches of dark rain-bearing clouds gather in the far west, masking the lofty peaks of the majestic Anamalai mountains that separate Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The South West monsoon has set in, but the interior Dindigul district of southern Tamil Nadu falls in the rain shadow region, getting only an occasional drizzle and a breeze or two. At the Kuttiyagoundanpudur village near Oddanchatram in Dindigul district, the red ochre soil in A Parameswaran’s six-acre farm is athirst for some moisture. The brinjal saplings are wilting in the harsh sun; baby vegetables take shelter under the skimpy shade of the leaves.
“But my plants will not die as they are native to this region. The drizzle is enough for them to sustain till October when the North East monsoon will bring us rains,” says Parameswaran, an aeronautical engineer-turned organic farmer.
The 28-year-old has been collecting seeds of native vegetables and fruits for the past three years. He now has a collection of over 300 varieties of seeds of different vegetables and has set up the Aadhiyagai native seed bank, from which he provides seeds to farmers in the neighbourhood.
“I grew up watching my parents till dry land and though I graduated in Engineering, my love for agriculture remained intact. That’s why I returned to my village,” says Parameswaran. The pocket around Oddanchatram, despite being arid and devoid of any perennial water source, has emerged as the vegetable hub of the State. The market in Oddanchatram is the largest in Southern India, in terms of the volume of vegetables it sends on a daily basis to a majority of Kerala and some parts of Karnataka. “But that’s all because of production-focused agriculture. Genetically-modified seeds, flush with pesticides and fertilisers are giving the results,” says Parameswaran.
“Until some two decades ago, we never had to buy seeds. We would let some of the yield dry up on the plant itself. And seeds from those vegetables/fruits were used for sowing in the next season. Today, a farmer spends 20 per cent of his investment on seeds. At the Government seed bank, 100 grams of seeds are sold for ₹3,500 and about 150 to 200 grams of seeds are needed for an acre of land.”
Parameshwaran realised the importance of saving native seeds after attending a workshop at Vanagam in Karur, where he was inspired by the ideals of organic farmer pioneer G Nammalvar. “That was also the time when things like Bt brinjal were hot topics.” He went around villages across Tamil Nadu over he past couple of years, speaking to older people, learning about the various vegetables native to specific regions. “I was surprised that I ended up noting down names of about 100 varieties of brinjal alone. A lot of them were already lost and were nowhere to be found. Likewise, there are as many varieties of lady’s finger. Ever seen a pink ladies finger? You can find it in the Kongu belt,” he adds.
“Gradually, I found out some native varieties that people continued to sow in small patches of land either in their backyards or in farms. These were used for family consumption and was not sold in the market. That’s where I collected the seeds from. Now, I encourage every farmer in my village to set aside a small patch to grow native vegetables.”
Parameswaran also sets up terrace gardens and backyard farms for people. “Last month, I set up a native vegetable farm in one cent of land for a friend in Madurai. Even in congested cities, people can grow these native varieties. They don’t need much of any resource. Native seeds are naturally potent, drought-resistant and have high immune levels against pests and diseases.”
“The only reason why native vegetable varieties are not commercially viable in today’s production-result-oriented agriculture is that they are long-standing crops. Winged beans and sword beans are not as popular for the same reason. Some native plants may live for a year and yield only after four months from sowing. There’s one variety of lady’s finger that lives for four years. Whereas, genetically modified brinjal’s life span is only four months and it yields within 20 days and the farmer can keep going in for the next batch of plants in quick succession,” he adds.
Parmeswaran is now in the process of collecting seeds of native vegetables from Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
For details, visit aadhiayagai.com, facebook.com/aadhiyagaiseedsavers or call 085263 66796
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Homes and Gardens / by A. Shrikumar / July 06th, 2019
Flipping the pages of their 50-year-old legacy, the partners of Rathna Offset Printers on Peters Road talk about competition & future of print
Photo: Martin Louis
The quaint two-storied building of Rathna Offset Printers on Peters Road is hard to miss. Fifty years old and one of the pioneers in printing technology, the company has stood the test of time. It’s evident from how the name has been rooted in customer-centric service and quality at affordable prices until today, in the fiercely competitive print space. It has grown steadily into a 200-strong workforce. Print is alive and so is their business.
Past forward
The family-owned business is currently shared by six partners. Three bothers — B Rajkumar, B Ashok Kumar, B Suresh Kumar — and their children — Nakul Rajkumar, A Aadithya Sharan, and Akshara Suresh Kumar. “My father had five brothers. The eldest one, Rajalingam, laid the foundation stone of what we have today. Around 1968, there was an International Trade Fair at Anna Nagar. He purchased the first single-colour Russian offset machine. After which, he opened a small space in Border Thottam in early 1970. In 1974, he purchased six grounds from an Anglo-Indian in Royapettah, the current space. However, he left the company in 1977,” says Rajkumar.
Chennai :
The brothers are from Sivakasi, known for its printing industry. However, they ventured into this industry after completing their engineering degree in Chennai. “Our hometown is the frontrunner of printing industry. It has a rich legacy and has been functioning effectively for decades. The dry weather makes it conducive for the printing process,” he says.
The company purchased its second printer in 1978. The present partners officially took over the company in June 1985. They purchased their third printer and first multi-coloured machine in 1988. “There were established printing companies when we got into the field. We were new to this and picked up a few tricks from our cousins who were already into the business in Chennai. Our approachable and amicable attitude along with communication skills helped us get orders for textbooks and magazines from 1990. We used to give the quotation then and there.
We learned everything on the field and that’s how we earned the trust of our clients. In fact, we explained the costing and competitive pricing that garnered us patrons, eventually. Our work spoke for us,” he shares. The company has around 800-900 clients and more than 2,000 digital clients. There are 75-90 regular customers. The owners opened another printing and packaging unit in a bigger area at Poonamalle in 1994. The publishing press unit was opened in 2010.
Calendars, diaries, posters, brochures, coffee table books, invitations, envelopes, cards, tabloid and flyers are a few among their range of finished products. “Our main clientele is the digital divisions of the publishing houses and print on demand,” says Aadithya. Every time a new machine is purchased, the employees go through multiple stages of training until they are familiarised with their equipment.
Behind the covers
The sound pre-press, press and postpress infrastructure make this company one-of-a-kind. It’s 5 pm. The offset-printing unit on the ground floor is dingy and bustling with activity. The scent of ink, glue and unused paper fills the air. The sound of huge printing machines running simultaneously is deafening. The colour scheme of inks in all the printers is standard — cyan, yellow, magenta and black. Bundles of paper are loaded and unloaded. Hot and freshly printed sheets emerge out of the machine rapidly and get collected in a basket for the next stage.
On the first floor is the prepress section that is relatively calm and bright. The printed output in various sizes goes through stages of cutting, binding and laminating. They’re put together into textbooks, novel covers and magazines,and given a glossy finish. We notice workers meticulously involved in various stages of production. Heaps of finished products to be dispatched are arranged in corners. The second floor has a space that takes care of web and digital work, and print on demand projects.
They have sheet-fed offset, web-fed offset and digital machines. “Each step is carried out in a specially designed equipment to ease the process. There’s a machine for trimming the edges of a book, one for binding a book and stitching it together, and then the wrappers are manually added. It’s fascinating how every step delivers a perfectly completed product,” says Aadithya.
The company has an advanced set of commercial printers that include sheet-fed machines, saddle- stitching machines, folding machine, knife-cutter and single gelatin printing machine. “This is an unorganised, cost- and labour-intensive industry. From printing to packaging, one has to keep hopping around to different places for the final output.
But our place is a one-stop solution and this is the reason we have loyal customers for years now. There’s business round the clock. We are busy when schools reopen and then there’s one festival or the other. As far as the future is concerned, I think the print industry is flourishing. We need to have more units in our country to develop the industry,” says Rajkumar.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / July 06th, 2019
Yamaha Corporation of Japan opened its factory in Kanchipuram for musical instruments under the Make in India initiative.
The factory has been launched in Kanchipuram
Chennai :
Yamaha Corporation of Japan opened its factory in Kanchipuram for musical instruments under the Make in India initiative. Takashi Haga, MD, Yamaha Music India, said that Yamaha Music India plant is fully geared up to produce the full line of Yamaha Musical Instruments.
Stating that Yamaha has designed and created the most versatile and customised portable keyboard for Indian customers, he said the new keyboard will address the requirement of all customers. Under the Chennai factory project, the musical instruments will be manufactured in India and sold in India.
By 2022, Yamaha has committed an investment of Rs 500 crore which will generate jobs to 800 people. Under phase-I, the company will manufacture acoustic guitars and portable keyboards which will be later diversified to portable audio speaker from 2020.
Yamaha is planning to tap education institutes in India which stress on the importance of learning music. The products are expected to be unique, efficient and customised to suit the needs of music teachers, students, and professionals.
World over the music industry is on a growth trajectory. Thus, Yamaha Music India will not only produce its equipment for the Indian market but make India its major export hub. The company plans to upgrade its factory as and when required depending on the growing demand.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / May 28th, 2019
This team of four engineers are going great guns since the launch of their start-up AI Aeronautics six months back.
The police and forest departments have also approached AI Aeronautics
Chennai :
This team of four engineers are going great guns since the launch of their start-up AI Aeronautics six months back. It has been incubated at Maker Village, and is making waves even in international market due to their penchant for customisation.
“The idea emerged while I was pursuing my PhD in Aerial Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. But, the idea to launch a start-up is a recent one,” said Vishnu V Nath, founder and VP, engineering. It was set up with a seed investment of Rs 15 lakh. “The money was pooled in by us. Later, we got Rs 10 lakh from the government as a part of Niti Prayas,” he said.
The aim was to develop a viable product that matches the requirement of the customer at a minimal cost. “We build a customised flying platform that can be used in reconnaissance, aerial 3D mapping for survey, smart agriculture and disaster management,” he said. The efficiency of the product was proved during a demonstration that was held for the State Disaster Management Authority.
“Our drone carried out an aerial 3D mapping of the flood-affected areas. It helped predict the level to which water will rise if the dams are opened again. This will help in disaster management,” he said.
The police and forest departments have also approached him. “We gave a demo to Kerala police. They want to use the product for surveillance, crowd monitoring and VIP security. Features like the ability to downlink high-resolution real-time videos, an artificial intelligence-based algorithm to detect and track the number plates of suspect vehicles and also identify persons of interest through facial recognition make our product attractive to them,” said Vishnu.
The hybrid UAV that AI Aeronautics has developed can fly up to two hours within a 40 km radius. “We worked with the Archaeology Department for a pilot project in which the UAVs were used for aerial mapping and disaster estimation by creating a map of the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple,” he said.
At present, the start-up is doing a research project with IIT-MK. “We have successfully tested a prototype for DRDO in association with NPOL. The DRDO project is worth Rs 20 lakh. Another work amounting to Rs 8 lakh was done for a virtual reality company,” he said. The projects in the pipeline are a prototype that can carry a payload of one kilo. “Two other projects for prototypes that can carry five kg and 24 kg payloads too are underway,” he said.
The team is expecting a future investment of Rs 10 to Rs 15 lakh. “We want to use the domain efficiently. Also, we have been asked by Walmart to use the drones to help solve their space management issues,” he said.
In a Nutshell
● AI Aeronautics was started by four engineers six months ago.
● It was set up with a seed investment of Rs 15 lakh most of which was pooled in by them while the rest was funded by the Government under Niti Prayas
● The hybrid UAV that AI Aeronautics has developed can fly up to two hours within a 40 km radius.
● The team is expecting a future investment of Rs 10 to Rs 15 lakhs
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Anu Kuruvilla / Express News Service / May 16th, 2019
Read on to discover where your chocolate comes from,
Nagappa and his team of three usually have their hands full with cocoa pods. It is the fag end of harvest season, after all. But today, their attention is elsewhere.
Heavy showers — that were barely felt in Chennai city — hit hard on the 30-acre farm 60 kilometres away along the Tirupati highway, felling a 20-year-old mango tree near its entrance. “The farm owner, Vijay Kumar sir, is on his way from the city,” he says. His visit is a rare occurrence, so Nagappa, Kamalakanni, Meghala and Panjo are now tackling the fallen tree, hacking its parts and clearing it away. Of the 249 mango trees here, this is one they will miss everyday. Under its shade, on a rare clear patch of land, is where they spend a significant part of their day, shelling (or hacking, more like) cocoa pods.
Once he has a minute to spare, Nagappa demonstrates: He takes a plucked pod and places it on an upturned metal basket. Holding the curved, rolling fruit still with one hand, he picks up a thick, heavy stick with the other, and gives it two sharp whacks. A crack appears along the shell and he prises it open, to reveal an interior vaguely similar to that of a custard apple. It’s larger, of course, and the beans — covered in sticky sweet, white pulp — stick together in a cluster much longer. He plucks out a single little bean to taste: bite into it, and you will see a bitter, deep purple substance. That is the cocoa the world worships.
Harvest time
The farm used to have 3,000 cocoa trees. “Vardah felled many of them: we now have about 2,500 left. But we will also be planting 500 saplings brought in from Andhra,” says Nagappa. Each tree produces about 50 pods a year, a majority of them between April and May. So another part of the team’s work involves visiting each tree as often as they can, to pluck the pods before they get overripe. And how can they tell when they are just right? “You have to know each variety like your child, or they might fool you with their appearance,” smiles Nagappa. Of the four varieties, some turn helpfully yellow when ripe for plucking. Others need their harsh surface scratched by nails before they show their true colours. Yet others don’t change colour at all, “and we pluck them anyway. Especially now, with just a few weeks left in the season, they’ll invariably turn out to be ripe,” says Nagappan confidently.
He should know: he is incharge of not only the farm’s cocoa trees, but also its 250 mango trees, 400 sapota trees, 700 coconut trees and even more gooseberry (amla) trees. Some of them grow in isolated patches while others help each other out. The cocoa, for instance, can only grow in shade, and hence is planted under dense clusters of coconut trees. Large leaves of both stay untouched on the ground when shed, to fertilise the soil together.
“We start working at 8 am and wrap up by 5 pm,” says Kamalakanni, who lives on the farm with her husband while the rest go home. “We water the young trees, check for diseases and bugs, and pluck whatever is ready.” It’s not easy, when you have thousands of trees.
Once the cocoa pads are shelled, they move to fermentation. Among other clients, the farm has tied up with bean-to-bar chocolate maker Cocoatrait, which has been giving them tips on identifying different varieties, how to pluck them so as to speed up the next batch of fruit, and how to ferment. “All these factors play a big role in the final flavour of the end chocolate, so we are happy to tie up and work with farms directly,” says Nitin Chordia, founder of Cocoatrait, who has also done consulting works for farms in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
Inside a closed room, pungent with a sweet stench like that of cheap wine, stands a little wooden box lined with banana leaves. It is filled to 75% capacity with cocoa beans, left to heat and ferment by themselves. The box perforated with small holes to stick a thermometer in, and is unpacked regularly to shift the beans around, ensuring equal heat throughout.
But that process takes time. As the harsh afternoon sun teases them from behind wisps of cloud, the workers take a break where the shade of the mango tree once used to be: scraping coconut from its shell and popping it in their mouth. Behind them is strewn a carpet of brick red cocoa shells.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Food / by Meghna Mazumdar / May 15th, 2019
Sounthirarajan said the Indian government granted him a patent in November 2018 for his Super Sonic Hydrogen IC Engine.
Coimbatore-based mechanical engineer Sounthirajan Kumarasamy with his special eco-friendly engine. (Photo | EPS)
Coimbatore :
An engine that runs on distilled water and even rain water? Stuff of dreams, you say.
No, insists a city-based mechanical engineer. Sounthirarajan Kumarasamy claims his engine will break down water and be propelled by hydrogen. And emissions, how about oxygen for a change!
His prototype, he claims, can be used in all vehicles from two-wheelers to trucks.
source: http://www.youtube.com
Sounthirarajan says the Indian government granted him a patent in November 2018 for his Super Sonic Hydrogen IC Engine, which he says he will debut in Japan.
The class XI dropout from Kangayam in Tirupur did the research for his project at the District Central Library in Coimbatore. “During the initial years, I used my old defunct jeep to learn about the hardware,” said Sounthirarajan, who hails from a farming community.
The Indian government granted Sounthirarajan a patent in November 2018 for his Super Sonic Hydrogen IC Engine
“Utilising the thermal losses in the engine, hydrogen could be burned that helps vehicle run. I have currently designed the engine with the capacity of 100cc, which could emit oxygen while it’s running. All the tests were successful,” he told Express.
Sounthirarajan established his company in 2010 and says he has opened a branch in Tokyo a few months ago. He also runs an incubator cell at the PSG-Science and Technology Entrepreneurial Park (PSG-STEP), Coimbatore. He has been ‘working on designing this machine’ for the past ten years.
He said, “With my invention, you can run your vehicle for 200 km with just 10 litres of distilled water. We had even tried running the engine with rainwater and it bore fruit.”
Sounthirarajan now plans to organise an international summit in Kyoto soon to showcase his work to potential buyers from across the world.
He says that his machine could be sold for Rs 1.5 lakh for a four-wheeler. If it’s a two-wheeler, then he says the price will be around Rs 65,000.
His colleagues Prakash, Sathish, and Chandrasekar assisted him.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / May 11th, 2019
Solar energy panels installed at a powerloom unit in Somanur.
E. Bhoopathi, a powerloom weaver in Somanur, invested ₹6 lakh in 2013 to install five kw solar energy system at his weaving unit. Generating at least 20 units of energy a day through the system, he is a motivation to many other weavers who are waiting for favourable policies to invest in solar power.
“Power cuts were crippling production six years ago and we could not afford to run the weaving unit with 10 looms on diesel generator. So I decided to go in for solar energy,” he says. The system is not connected to the grid and is supported with a battery. He is able to run the looms for seven to eight hours a day using solar energy.
Mr. Bhoopathi adds that the Government provides power subsidy to powerloom units. Further, net metering facility is not available for industries that went in for rooftop solar energy panels.
Hence, it is not attractive to many. But, if the powerloom units can connect the solar energy system to the grid and supply the excess power generated to the grid, many weavers will go in for it.
The PowerTex scheme implemented by the Union Government extends subsidy to powerloom units that want to tap solar energy.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by M. Soundariya Preetha / Coimbatore – May 03rd, 2019
