Rathinam Group of Institutions, with The Hindu as media partner, presented the Icons of Coimbatore award here on Monday. A release from the Rathinam Group said Bishar Al Shaar, Deputy Ambassador, and Salam Socar, Cultural and Media Attache, Embassy, Syrian Arab Republic, presented the awards in the presence of Madhan A. Senthil, Chairman of the Rathinam Group of Institutions.
Mr. Senthil said his group has been identifying persons for the award since 2013. Mr. Shaar said Syrian students were keen on pursuing their higher education in India because of the hospitable nature of the people and the culture. At present, there were 400 students in various Indian institutions. He also said that Syria looked forward to rebuilding the country with Indian support.
The recipients of the award were Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of Isha Foundation, Manickam Athappa Gounder, Chairman, MAK Group of Companies, Jaya Mahesh, Founder, Jaya Mahesh Body Sculpting Therapy, Vignesh Prabhu, Illusionist, R. Manikandan, coordinator, Kovai Kulangal Pathugappu Amaipu, Manimekalai Mohan, Founder, SSVM Institutions, Nanjil Nadan, Tamil writer, A. Rajkumar, Chairman and Director, Clinical Operations, GKNM Hospital, Rajesh Govindarajulu, jeweller and columnist, R. Sathy, Headmistress, Panchayat Union Primary School, Madukkarai, K. Priyanka, chess champion, A. Kanniyappan, Para Olympian, Balaji, radio jockey, R. Raveendran, Secretary, Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore, and S. Vengojayaprasad, Diabetologist and Consultant Physician, Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.
R. Manickam, Chief Executive Officer, Rathinam Group of Institutions, presided over the function.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Special Correspondent / Coimbatore – February 26th, 2019
It was a celebration of women, their strengths and achievements at the Hyatt Regency, at the Women Achievers Awards organised by FICCI FLO.
Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit was present Nakshatra Krishnamoorthy
Chennai :
It was a celebration of women, their strengths and achievements at the Hyatt Regency, at the Women Achievers Awards organised by FICCI FLO. The chief guest of the event was Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit, and the special guest was Suhasini Maniratnam. They were welcomed by chairperson Anupama Shivaraman.
The theme of the awards this year was Shakti, to honour the strength and patience of women. More than 30 entrepreneurs were present along with their friends and families. “Women have come a long way, by getting recognised in various fields and sectors. In the past, success was affiliated with men alone. Now, this has changed and will balance out in the future,” said Suhasini.
After a three-member jury analysed the participant’s contribution in various fields and sectors, seven were listed as winners. The award for the outstanding women category was given to Sangeeta Sumesh, a high-performance coach, ED & CFO, author, and global professional speaker, and Dr RA Karthika, research scholar and associate professor.
The award for outstanding social entrepreneur was given to Srimati Kesan, CEO, Space Kidz India. The outstanding upcoming entrepreneur award was given to Sruti Harisubramaniam, founder of Goli Soda. The outstanding NGO award was given to Anew.
The outstanding women entrepreneur award was given to Kaveri Lalchand, owner of the Kaveri Cloth line.
“The award should be named ‘Achievers Award’, omitting women, because we have reached a point where women are as strong and empowered as men and it’s time to move beyond comparing platforms,” said Kaveri.
The Governor, while stating how proud he was to witness events where women inspire each other, asked the entrepreneurs to reach out to poorer sections of the society. The event ended with a Kuchipudi and Kathak performance, conceptualised by Jigyasa Giri and performed by S Uma Murali and her team.
Saluting strong women
The theme of the awards this year was Shakti, to honour the strength and patience of women. A three-member jury judged the participants.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Rinreichui Kashung / Express News Service / February 27th, 2019
The second edition of Yuva Sammaan Awards was held on Saturday evening with pomp and show at the MOP Vaishnav College for Women.
The awardees were given a citation and `1 lakh each D Sampathkumar
Chennai :
The second edition of Yuva Sammaan Awards was held on Saturday evening with pomp and show at the MOP Vaishnav College for Women. The Awards were initiated last year by the college to recognise and appreciate female achievers under the age of 35 in the fields of performing arts, sports and entrepreneurship. The awardees were given a citation and Rs 1 lakh each.
College principal, Lalitha Balakrishnan delivered the welcome address. Kumaravel, founder of Naturals Salons; Rohini Rao, a competitive sailor, and Priyadarsini Govind, a classical dancer, were the chief guests. “I have not only empowered women, but I have been benefitted because of it. I believe that the ability to think differently is the essence of good entrepreneurship. I want all of you to look at every problem as an opportunity to provide a solution,” said Kumaravel.
The jury comprised Ranjini Manian, CEO of Global Adjustments; S Venkatraman, senior consultant in the education sector of UNESCO; S Vaishya Subramaniam, writer; and Thangam Meghanathan, chairperson of the Rajalakshmi Education Trust. Thirty-five nominations were received by the college. Sruti Harihara Subramaniam, director of ‘Harmony with AR Rahman’, founder of Goli Soda and MOP alumna, won the award in the Entrepreneurship category. The other nominees in this category were Varthika Neethi Mohan of Farm@Home; Barkha V Mehta, specialising in advertising and marketing; Mathanghi Kumar, chef and partner at the Summerhouse Eatery; Savitha Chandrasekaran, specialising in robotics and product development; and Prasitha Sridhar, founder of Shopzters.
In the sports category, squash player Deepika Pallikal Karthik bagged the award. She is the first Indian to break into the top 10 in the PSA Women’s ranking. The other nominees in this category were Anitha P, basketball player and gold medalist; K Shamini, table tennis player; Sai Samhitha, tennis player; and MD Thirushkamini, cricketer.
Charumathi Raghuraman, carnatic music violinist, won the award in the performing arts category. In her acceptance speech, she thanked her family ‘for being a support system’. Carnatic vocalist and playback singer Saindhavi Prakash, Bharatanatyam dancer Vaidhevi Harish, and playback singer S Mahasri were the other nominees. Three MOP alumni — Janani Hamsini, carnatic singer; Kavyalakshmi Muralidaran, dancer, and Sudha RS Iyer, violinist/vocalist, — were also nominated.
Super Singer Junior 3 finalist Anu AP performed two songs, The band ‘One Note Stand’ rendered a mash-up of AR Rahman songs.
Performances by students
As part of the event, MOP students performed garba, a contemporary dance performance to the remix of the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, and a thillana.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / February 25th, 2019
With the help of 3D printing technology, doctors reconstructed the jaw of a 20-year-old woman from Sudan at a private hospital in the city recently.
The patient, who preferred anonymity, approached Gleneagles Global Health City with a contour deformity of the lower jaw. She had undergone surgery to remove a benign tumour of the jaw a few months ago in Sudan.
A segment of the lower jaw bone was removed and the gap was bridged with the plate which caused major contour deformity in the due course and she could not close her mouth. She had difficulty in swallowing and her major concern was the face deformity and the absence of teeth on that side. The team of doctors, headed by S. Selva Seetha Raman, senior consultant plastic surgeon, Gleneagles Global Health City, planned for the reconstruction of the jaw bone.
The doctors with the help of 3D printing technology and CT scan image created a 3D mirror image of the opposite side to reconstruct an entire jaw bone model.
The newly launched Moore Market in Velachery takes visitors on a trip to the past with its collection of books and antiques
A doorway made entirely of books welcomes you into the newly launched Moore Market, a bookstore/café/antiques marketplace at Grand Square in Velachery. As you step inside, there are rows and rows of books flanked by two cafés and coffee tables that invite you to sit down and spend a leisurely afternoon sipping some fine brews from Coorg and read a book.
But it’s the ceiling that truly captivates me. There are books of all kinds — paperbacks, hardbound and graphic novels — suspended from the ceiling, some even doubling up as lamps with naked bulbs speared through them.
The brainchild of Zarook Shah, owner of Grand Square, the store takes visitors back in time with its impressive collection of antiques. There are rows of records, coins, telephones, cameras, camel bone walking sticks, grandfather clocks, utensils, armchairs, radios and other knick-knacks to choose from. “I wanted to recreate the nostalgia of the iconic market that was once everyone’s favourite shopping destination in Madras,” says Zarook.
In fact, the launch of the space last weekend treated audiences to screenings of Laurel and Hardy, and Charlie Chaplin movies played on a vintage film reel projector. The launch also saw two book signings and an auction kept people on their toes. The auction began as low as ₹1 and the item that sold for the most amount was an ancient seal for ₹30,000. “Going forth, the auction will be a regular affair,” says Zarook, who is keen on keeping the memory of the iconic market alive.
As a child, Zarook would make it a point to make that weekly trip to Moore Market, behind ChennaiCentral, with his siblings and cousins. The halls and corridors of the imposing colonial structure would be buzzing with activity as hawkers and vendors would sell everything from books, clothes, antiques to even pets of all kinds. Behind the market was a lily pond and the zoo (which has now moved to Vandalur). And it was in this area that the annual Jumbo Circus would be held, another draw for Zarook.
“Moore Market was where we went for entertainment. There were no malls and cafés back then and we looked forward to our weekly trips to the market. I was an avid reader and books were my best friends. It was there that I found several page turners — Aesop’s Fables, Amar Chitra Katha, Hardy Boys and National Geographic,” he says. “But we would make it a point to ask our driver to park the car some distance away and walk to the market. Because, the vendors would quote different prices to those coming on foot and those coming by car,” he laughs.
In fact, Moore Market was the favourite shopping destination for most people in Madras till it burnt down in 1985. The fire that changed the face of Central Chennai, also led to a new complex for the vendors of the market, albeit without its colonial charm and flavour. “But it just isn’t the same any more,” says Zarook.
The jeweller-turned-businessman admits that he’d always dreamed of opening a bookstore with a café in it and when the opportunity finally presented itself, he decided to give his plans a twist by incorporating some history into it. While the antique collection will be changed every other week by Bidfe, whom Zarook has partnered with, the space will also host events to encourage upcoming artistes and entrepreneurs.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style / by Ranjani Rajendra / February 21st, 2019
Grand plans: Founders of Pickyourtrail Srinath Shankar (left) and Hari Ganapathy
Will be used for expansion and product innovation
City-based travel technology start-up Pickyourtrail has raised ₹21 crore ($3 million) in a Series A round of funding. This round was led by Kumar Vembu, CEO of GoFrugal, Girish Mathrubootham, CEO of Freshworks, Shyam Sekhar, founder of iThought, and Rajagopal Subramanian, CIO of Entrust.
The start-up intends to use this capital infusion for continued product innovation, scaling up the proprietary technology platform, expansion of its technical team and creating brand awareness. The firm also wants to tap the Tier 2 and Tier 3 market where digital penetration is still not very high but there is a significant number of people taking trips.
Founded by Hari Ganapathy and Srinath Shankar in 2014, Pickyourtrail was launched with the idea of providing people the ease of planning international vacations. Pickyourtrail’s proprietary algorithm takes into account over 40 factors like duration, travel time, ratings, and so on, to build personalised itineraries that travellers can further customise and book. Post booking, travellers use Pickyourtrail’s app to keep track of bookings, get real time information on flight and weather updates, restaurant recommendations and on-trip chat support.
Growing interest
Hari Ganapathy, co-founder of Pickyourtrail, said that people are slowly getting comfortable booking vacations online. He added, “We have had about 10,000 plus travellers who have picked their trail with us till date. Of this, more than 95% were Indians and the remaining 5% of people are from Singapore, Dubai, U.S. and people in West Asia who come to know about our product online.”
The start-up claims that it is unique from other portals in the market. “Our focus is trying to use tech to personalise and create last-mile delight and with our understanding of vacations, having travelled to about 50-plus countries ourselves, we have a core understanding about how consumers behave and how they buy,” said Mr. Ganapathy.
Mr. Shankar said, “Personalisation is a mantra that’s been around in travel. I believe that our algorithms across personalisation, routing and price matching are industry first in their approach and output.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Sangeeta Kandavel / Chennai – February 19th, 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
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.
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
Carrots cooked in alcohol may soon be a popular source of lasers.
Chennai :
Carrots cooked in alcohol may soon be a popular source of lasers. Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) have demonstrated the possibility of generating laser in an eco-friendly way, by using carrots as a lasing material, according to a statement issued by the institute.
The laser, generated through this technique, has immense potential in the field of bio-imaging.
Currently, the most common lasing materials, such as Indium-Gallium-Arsenic and Gallium-Nitrates, are manufactured using toxic chemical processes which are harmful to the environment. The new technique that the researchers have come up with uses just minimally processed carrots.“We fondly call this kitchen laser,” exclaimed Sivarama Krishnan, one of the guides of the research.
The research was undertaken by a team comprising Prof C Vijayan, Assistant Professor Sivarama Krishnan, and Venkata Siva Gummaluri, a PhD research scholar, from the Physics department of IIT-M.
The discovery itself was a result of the after-work-hours fun experiment, said Sivarama Krishnan. “We were pumping light through various organic materials and found that carrots have lasing properties. For example, we also tried orange juice and tomato juice,” he said. What set the humble carrot apart was the optically active bio-pigment called carotenoids present in the vegetable.
Although the fluorescence quantum yield of carotenoids is much less, compared to standard organic laser dyes, the vibrational spectra can be obtained even with extremely low concentrations of carotenoids, said Sivarama Krishnan. “We could easily increase the concentration of caretenoids on the surface of the carrots, by simply cooking it in alcohol. Then we pump light through a slice of the surface to get laser,” he said.
While the traditional polymers used were toxic and non-biodegradable, there has been search for more eco-friendly fluorescent polymers. In this search, the team looked at biological molecules as probable lasing sources.
Speaking about the importance of this research, Vijayan said, “There is now a move towards development of green, sustainable materials for various applications, including in photonics. The need for green photonic technologies is obvious in the current times where sustainability, bio-compatibility and degradability are of paramount importance.”
Carrots, in addition to having carotenoids, also have cellulose fibres that contribute to multiple scattering of photons and resultant optical amplification for Raman random lasing. The demonstration uses a process, first discovered by CV Raman, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930.
The researchers plan to advance their research to make the material more commercially viable. Currently, this material has potential as it is natural, bio-compatible, safe to handle and highly reliable.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Sushmitha Ramkrishnan / Express News Service / February 05th, 2019
