Category Archives: Business & Economy

Adopting technology and innovation in farming sets them apart

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Records, All, Science & Technologies
Progressive practices:Velanmai Chemmal awardees with their certificates and mementos, at the State-level Farmers’ Day at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore recently. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Progressive practices:Velanmai Chemmal awardees with their certificates and mementos, at the State-level Farmers’ Day at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore recently. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

As it does every year, this time too the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University gave away awards to five select farmers from different parts of the State in recognition of their innovation and progressive methods followed in agriculture.

Instituted by the university, the Velanmai Chemmal Awards are sponsored by C.R.I. Pumps.

This year’s achievers included G. Mayilsamy from Sulur Kaliapuram, Coimbatore, for his contribution to seed and bio-fertilizer production by adopting new technologies, and also for making many other farmers follow them to turn them into progressive farmers.

G. Karikalan from Keelapatti, Karur district, for adoption of latest technologies in ensuring sustainable agriculture received an award too. He has also established a co-operative production company, which is operating successfully.

T. Rajkumar from Devankudi, Tiruvarur district, was recognised for his contribution to sustainable agriculture and service to farming community. He is involved in extensive use of mechanisation, from sowing to harvest of rice. He has also associated himself and other farmers with animal husbandry, to generate additional income.

A.P. Karuppiah, a banana farmer from Sinnamanur, Theni district, received award for his contribution and service to farming community. He has been instrumental in motivating farmers to form associations and take up processing technologies in making banana products

R. Suganthi from Neyveli in Cuddalore district, was recognised for her contribution to rural women’s development and service to farming community. She has been associated with making and marketing processed food products. She is also involved in spreading the food processing technologies of the university among women Self Help Groups.

According to Vice-Chancellor K. Ramasamy, the selection procedure is very stringent. “Applications for the award are distributed by the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs). The KVKs shortlist and submit a list of five names. These names are assessed by a five-member committee based on 10 criteria. The criterion is not only to do with their achievements, but also how much they can disseminate the knowledge that made them achieve great heights,” he said.

The final five were selected from the shortlisted 12. The winners of the award will visit all the colleges and campuses of the university to share their experiences with students.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / Coimbatore – January 19th, 2014

Engineer gets dream job past 50

Business & Economy, Records, All
L.Rajagopal / The Hindu
L.Rajagopal / The Hindu

Government job comes 22 years after he registered with employment exchange

Twenty-two years after he registered with the employment exchange in Tamil Nadu, L.Rajagopal’s dream came true: he landed a government job, six years before he is scheduled to retire.

He was given his appointment order for the post of assistant engineer in the Chennai Corporation about 10 days ago. On the first day of the training session for newly recruited assistant engineers at Ripon Buildings on Monday, Mr.Rajagopal along with other engineers half his age, declared his determination to contribute to welfare measures and civic improvement during his tenure.

After two frustrating attempts in his pursuit of his personal ‘Holy Grail’ – a government job – Mr. Rajagopal heaved a huge sigh of relief on the the first day of the training session.

He is the oldest among the 81 assistant engineers selected by the Corporation recently. The youngest engineer is 21 years.

The decision to opt for “private practice” after graduating from Tirunelveli Government Engineering College in the 1980s cost him a secure future, he rues. “I registered late with the employment office, in 1992. I was a (private) licensed surveyor in Srivilliputtur. As competition increased, I was unable to sustain the initial drive. By the time I understood the importance of a secure government job, it was too late,” says Mr.Rajagopal whose eldest daughter is all set to join college next year.

“In 2007, I appeared for a test, and on clearing it, I joined the TWAD Board, but thought the position offered at the TNPCB was better, so I moved. Unfortunately, that batch could not continue in service because of a court case. I was again left without a government job,” he says.

“Now, this new job seems challenging. I will certainly strive to bring about a change in civic conditions of my ward by giving additional focus on maintaining records,” promises Mr.Rajagopal.

“The coming six years will provide me a wonderful opportunity to explore the meaning of public service in life.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by Aloysius Xavier Lopez / Chennai – January 21st, 2014

City Rapunzels donate locks to cancer patients

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Chennai :

Rapunzel may have used her locks to allow her lover to visit her, but Chennai’s long-haired girls are using their locks to give hope to children with cancer.

The Rotaract Club of Women’s Christian College (WCC) has adopted an initiative where girls can contribute their hair to make wigs for poor cancer patients. The hair would have to be a minimum of 10 inches long. The students plan to get the wigs made and donate them to the Adyar Cancer Institute.

The girls, who plan to receive hair donations from the public, too, got the idea from Locks of Love, an American organisation that organises a similar donation. “We were looking to take up an initiative that will reach people directly,” said club president Rennee Saradha, a final year student who plans to tonsure for the cause. A group of students visited Adyar Cancer Institute to find out if wigs were required. “We need at least 100 wigs a month,” said Dr V Surendran, psycho oncologist at the institute.

Cancer patients lose hair during chemotherapy. While the hair does grow back once they are cured, patients, especially children and girls tend to feel embarrassed during the treatment. “Hair loss affects their body image,” said Dr Surendran. “So they become even more depressed during the treatment.”

Wigs in the country are expensive and are not easily available. A 10-inch wig costs between 4,500 and 6,000. “Many patients who come to our institute are poor, and they opt for free or subsidised treatment. They cannot afford a wig,” said Dr Surendran.

The initiative will be inaugurated on February 4 with the WCC students being the first to donate hair. “We aim to contribute at least 200 wigs from hair collected from the campus,” says Saradha who plans to contribute her 14 inch-long hair.

The girls have tied up with Green Trends Salon which will visit the campus everyday through February and cut and save the hair of donors. “We have started training our stylists to cut eight-inch locks from customers, but ensure their hair style and looks are not altered drastically,” said S Deepak Praveen, senior marketing manager of the salon.

What the girls need now are more volunteers to donate hair and sponsorship for the cost of making the wigs. “It is a labour intensive small-scale industry. They are charging us 3,500 to make a wig,” says Saradha. “Every rupee counts for the cancer-affected children.”

The Rotaract Club of Women’s Christian College (WCC) has started an initiative where girls can contribute their hair to make wigs for poor cancer patients. Rennee Saradha (left) and Ramya Ramachandran will be among the first to donate their hair.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Pratiksha Ramkumar, TNN / January 12th, 2014

Restaurant waste fuels Chennai noon-meal kitchen

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologies
The plant is yet to reach its full capacity. However, the gas generated now is enough to boil eggs, served to the students of Cantonment High School along with lunch./ Photo: G. Krishnaswamy / The Hindu
The plant is yet to reach its full capacity. However, the gas generated now is enough to boil eggs, served to the students of Cantonment High School along with lunch./ Photo: G. Krishnaswamy / The Hindu

Once the plant reaches full capacity, there will be enough gas to run the stove for 150 minutes, nonstop, every day

Food waste generated from restaurants has helped to light the stove at the noon-meal kitchen of a government school in St. Thomas Mount.

More than 150 children have lunch at the school every day.

Clean energy

A biogas plant was set up at Cantonment High School in St. Thomas Mount last week. Through the simple process of fermentation of degradable waste, the plant produces methane gas from food waste.

Through a pipeline, the gas reaches a conventional stove in the noon-meal kitchen of the school.

The plant is yet to reach its full capacity as trials are still on. However, the gas generated now is enough to boil eggs that are served to the students along with the lunch. Once the plant reaches full capacity, there will be enough gas to run the stove for 150 minutes, nonstop, every day.

Plant costs Rs. 25,000

The plant was inaugurated by S. Prabhakaran, chief executive officer of St. Thomas Mount-cum-Pallavaram Cantonment Board, in the presence of Army officers and elected representatives.

Hand-in-Hand, an NGO associated with the Board’s solid waste management project from 2009, has installed the plant, which costs Rs. 25,000. “This is a very small plant but can be scaled up in the future. It has resulted in significant savings in LPG usage,” said Mr. Prabhakaran.

Peter Durairaj, health superintendent, said the plant had now been filled with about one kilogram of food waste sourced from restaurants every day. The food waste is mashed before being poured into the plant.

The resultant sludge from the plant — high-quality manure — can be used in gardening.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by K.Manikandan / Chennai – January 12th, 2014

Vesti Day from January 7

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

VestiDayCF17jan2014

Chennai:

Co-optex has called young men across Tamil Nadu to participate in ‘Vesti Day’ (from January 7 until Pon­gal) to promote the use of the traditional attire.

U. Sagayam, managing director, Co-optex, said he had written letters to district collectors, secretaries of all government departments, vice chancellors of various universities and many voluntary organisations, suggesting they wear vestis on any of the days preceding Pongal.

“‘Vesti Day’ will also help weavers across the state to gain good profits,” he said, hoping that government officials and youth in colleges do so too.

Not many men wear the vesti to the workplace unlike the sari because “there is a misconception that the vesti is for rural men and farmers. But it is suitable clothing for men in all age groups and vocations,” said Saga­yam, who consulted fashion experts and doctors for their comparative view of the vesti and trousers prior to launching the initiative.

Fashion designers sugge­sted using models to draw attention to the vesti while doctors said that this was comfort wear for men in Tamil Nadu.

All male staff at Co-optex will wear a vesti on Jan­uary 7 to launch the observance.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / by Pramila Krishnan / January 03rd, 2014

75 years old and still washing strong

Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Science & Technologies
The unit is put to heavy use between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day. The hospital also has a modern laundry unit. / Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu
The unit is put to heavy use between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day. The hospital also has a modern laundry unit. / Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu

A British-era steam laundry unit at Govt. Stanley Hospital washes 100 pieces of linen at a time

Huge and nothing like modern-day washing machines — the steam laundry machines at Government Stanley Medical College Hospital have been in use for washing linen for close to 75 years.

The steam laundry unit consists of five washing machines, four hydro extractors to squeeze washed clothes, a four-roller ironing machine, a drying chamber and two boilers. “The hospital is 222 years old. These machines were manufactured in Britain and installed here before independence. Plenty of effort goes into maintaining the units,” said hospital dean, S. Geethalakshmi.

Hospital officials said they have to forge spare parts just to maintain the machines.

The unit is put to heavy use between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day. According to B. Jagadeesan, junior engineer in the steam laundry department of the hospital, each washing machine has a 100-kg capacity and can wash 100 pieces of clothing at a time.

“The washing machines carry a seal indicating they were made in Nottingham, England. They work on a reverse gearbox mechanism with a clutch,” he said.

Once the linens are washed, they are shifted to the hydro extractors and then to the drying chamber which has a steam pressure blower, and finally, to the ironing machine.

“Two boilers — one made in England and another in India — produce steam and provide supply to the machines through pipelines,” Mr. Jagadeesan said.

Only recently, the hospital installed a modern laundry unit, which consists of two washing machines, two hydro extractors and two drying chambers, to handle its increased bed strength and facilities.

Linen from the operation theatres located in the surgical block will be washed in the new laundry unit, while linen from other buildings will be washed in the old unit, Mr. Jagadeesan said.

“The new laundry unit has made the process of washing linen quicker. Now, the load is being shared between the old and new units,” the dean said.

The hospital’s bulk sterilisation machine, which can sterilise 100 instruments at a time, too belongs to the pre-independence era.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Serena Jospehine M / Chennai – January 09th, 2014

The street that has heavy metal all around

Business & Economy

Coimbatore :

Tall stacks of tyres, a small board tucked in the middle of the mound, and a tiny temple announces your arrival on one of the noisiest roads here- Patel Road. What follows is a beeline of shops- that sell iron and steel scraps, chequered plates, steel pipes, iron rods, textile machineries, automobile spare parts, casting iron, carbon and alloy steel; and offers services like retreading, sheet bending, steel cutting, pipe bending, fabrication work.

A smattering of houses here and there and the rest is occupied by the age-old, rundown godowns and shops. Dust wafts in the air, noise of welding steel and iron rip through the ears and heat engulfs the atmosphere- but no one here seems to be complaining.

R Janardhanan, an iron scrap merchant, who has been a permanent resident on the noisy street for the last 40 years, quips that the situation doesn’t matter to him anymore.

“This was my grandparents’ property and I moved in when I was merely 6 or 7. I spend my time locked indoors and hardly step out because of the grimy air. The vehicle movement on this road is terrific and even if a truck passes by, you need to run for a shower. At dusk, you will be swarmed by mosquitoes. But I have got used to all this.”

Barring a few buildings that came up in the recent past, the rest of the street is lined with old structures. Two-wheeler cover manufacturer P Vincent, who has been selling products for the last 25 years in a dingy shop, tells us, “You won’t believe but this street used to have some of the worst traffic jams when I started out. This was the only road that connected people to North Coimbatore and was like a deadlock when the railway gate was shut. Thankfully, the situation has improved after the bridge came up as commuters don’t have to wait for the train to pass. On Sundays, a deadly silence falls on the street.”

Historian Perur K Jayaraman considers this street an important one that contributed to the industrialization and growth of the city.

“A majority of the roads in the Ram Nagar area took the name of freedom fighters. This was no exception. The road, rightly named after the Iron Man of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel around the ’40s, houses hard metal industries. Industrial development was at its peak once here and it’s no surprise that the government too came up with its MSME Development Institute on this road.”

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore> Iron Man / by P Sangeetha, TNN / December 29th, 2013

Coimbatore’s botanical gardens to get seed vending machine

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Records, All

Coimbatore :

The Coimbatore Botanical Gardens is set to emerge as the first to have a ‘seed vending machine’ in the State.

The machine will dispense vegetable and flower seeds in affordable packets of 10 gm to 100 gm each (depending upon the price), priced at Rs 10 a packet, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor K. Ramasamy said.

The university has invested Rs 2.4 lakh on this machine.

Ramasamy said the university’s labelled seeds would be packaged and placed in the vending machine. The effort is aimed at encouraging kitchen and roof-top gardens.

The seed requirement for such potted plants is relatively less, and those looking for seeds invariably buy such packets at agri expos. The vending machine will enable garden lovers to source in quantities suited to their needs.

Seed packets would be placed in rows in 6 trays. The user can insert the Rs 10 note or coin, select the seed and collect the packet without waiting to be served, he added.

Depending on the response to this seed dispenser, the varsity plans to install more such machines in the coming days. “We have plans to install a seed dispenser for private seed producers as well. We are looking to create a small window for organic products too,” he added.

The vending machine will be formally inaugurated by State Agriculture Minister S. Damodaran on January 11.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / by L. N. Revathy    revathy.lakshminarasimhan@thehindu.co.in / Coimbatore – January 06th, 2014

New broad gauge bay inaugurated at Golden Rock workshop

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Records, All, Science & Technologies

Trichy:

The newly-converted broad gauge (BG) bay for undertaking both light schedule and heavy schedule attention of EMD locomotives, was declared open by the Trichy divisional railway manager (DRM) Manjula Rangarajan at the Golden Rock Workshop on Wednesday. The bay has been constructed with elevated platforms with a pit facility for attending to the bogie. The Railway Board has sanctioned Rs 14 crore for augmenting the infrastructure at the 42-year-old diesel loco shed that has bagged the annual rolling shield for best maintained shed five times in the last nine years. Manjula Rangarajan also commissioned the newly-installed reverse osmosis (RO) type water purifying plant for the benefit of 750 employees of this shed. The 250 litre per hour capacity RO plant happened to be a new year’s gift to the employees, she said. The workforce at the shed maintain 147 diesel locomotives (71 ALCO type, 53 EMD type high horse power locomotives and 23 DEMU power cars).

Since July 2011, the diesel loco shed at Golden Rock became the first in the country to maintain EMD type locomotives with 4500 horse power that are used extensive in both freight service and in express train service. “In order to home these new breed of locomotives, the Railway Board had sanctioned Rs 14 crore for augmenting the infrastructure and for the procurement of various tools, machineries required for maintenance,” she explained.

The DRM further said that the new bay had been specially constructed with elevated platforms for working alongside the locomotives and with a pit facility for attending to the bogie and under gear items with much ease. These bays would provide additional space required for increased holding of these locomotives, she added.

Earlier, under the leadership of the DRM, all the officers and division and engineers of diesel shed and faculty of Diesel Traction and Training Centre (DTTC) carried out mass tree plantation at the training centre. Only treated effluent water discharged with the effluent treatment plant would be used for watering these trees, she said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Trichy /TNN / January 03rd, 2014

‘Oo-tea fest’ to be a major tourist draw

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

 

The crowded venue of the tea and tourism festival at the HADP open-air stadium in Ooty—DC
The crowded venue of the tea and tourism festival at the HADP open-air stadium in Ooty —DC

Ooty:

The aptly titled ‘Oo-tea Fest’, the tea and tourism festival organised by the Nilgiris district administration, Tourism Department and the Tea Board of India, got under way on Friday, with the HADP open air stadium, the festival venue, packed with exhibits by Self-Help Groups (SHGs), food courts, music and  cultural programmes.

The sheen is missing, however, as only five tea factories, including the two state-owned units, have come for the exhibition, bringing with them varieties of Nilgiri tea for visitors to appreciate and savour.

M. Budhic­handran, Ooty MLA  who inaugurated the show, explained the various welfare schemes being implemented by the state government for tea growers. R.Ambalav­anan, Exec­utive Director of the Tea Board of India, South Zone, in his address, touched upon the history of Nilgiris tea and trends in consumption in recent times, appealing to the small tea growers in Nilgiris, who form the bulk of the farming community in the hills, to focus on good quality to fetch a premium price for their produce in the market.

Dr P. Sankar, collector of Nilgiris, said that tea was a health drink with cardio-protective and other related medicinal traits.  He said that everyone should come forward to lend their support to the product to ensure that it took care of their health as well as that of the economy of tea growers.

N. Chandrasekar, Secr­etary of the Nilgiris Hotels’ and Restaurants’ Associ­ation, said that tea and tourism were the lifelines of the hill economy and  that the organisers should plan this festival well in advance to make both a grand attraction in the winter just as they did with the flower and fruit show in the Nilgiris.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / by B. Ramachandran / December 28th, 2013