Category Archives: Education

TN students make it to world list in Pearson exam

Education, Records, All, World Opinion

Chennai:

Three students from Tamil Nadu schools have made it to the list of world toppers in this year’s Pearson Edexcel global examinations, considered a gateway to some of the world’s leading universities.

Aishwarya Edward of Horizon International Academy in Chennai got the top rank in mathematics, while Nivedan Koirala and Vashti Parks of Hebron School, Ooty topped in mathematics, and Religious Studies respectively.

Edward who secured the top rank in Grade 5 said her teachers played a huge role in her success and also credited her habit of doing worksheets.

Nivedan Koirala, who secured 598 out of 600 in maths at the GCSE level (equivalent to Class 10 board), said the most important part of effective studying is to thoroughly understand the subject. “The interest in the topic is what finally gives you the motivation to practice questions or the problems sufficiently,” he said. He was particularly interested in physics, mathematics, and chemistry. “I wish to be able to study these subjects in depth. Being particularly passionate in pure physics, I dream of joining research to further increase my knowledge of the universe,” he said.

Sanjay Shivnani, vice-president and Business Head, Vocational, Pearson India, said India had the world’s largest population of youth. “If this zestful pool of youngsters is educated and channelised well, the Indian economy can stride a never-before path of growth. The stepping stone to this vision is world-class primary and secondary education,” he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / TNN / November 28th, 2015

IIT-M signs MoU with Japanese firm

Education, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

Chennai :

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japanese firm Alfa TKG Co Ltd, which provides technological support to the manufacturing industry, to work together in areas of research and academics.

Thanapadi Periasamy, president and CEO, AlfaTKG Integrated Solutions India Private Limited said: “There is a tremendous need for developing and applying high technological and manufacturing process automation and optimization solutions. Therefore it is our intention to form strategic alliance with leading technological and IT institutions.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / TNN / November 10th, 2015

VIT student bags gold medal for project

Education, Records, All, Science & Technologies

A Civil Engineering student of VIT University bagged a gold medal in the All India Design Competition for engineering students.

Aditi Palaspure, a third year student of B. Tech Civil Engineering had won the prestigious medal for her project on predicting compression index of clay for designing shallow foundations.

Participation

She had started working on the project last year for the university’s Project Based Learning programme and went on to participate in the competition.

The competition is organised annually by the National Design and Research Forum of the Institution of Engineers (India).

It invites entries from students studying in various engineering disciplines including aerospace, agricultural, chemical, civil, electrical, environmental, marine and textile, a press release said.

“Marine clay has a property to shrink in dry weather and it tends to swell during wet weather. Hence, buildings that come up on such clay can undergo damage. This can be predicted if the compression index of the soil is known,” she explained.

When force is applied to the soil, the changes that occur are measured with the help of compression index.

“However, the present methods to determine the compression index are carried out in laboratories and are expensive and time-consuming, she added.

Aim of project

“My project aims to explore how we can predict the compression index of soil using easily determinable properties of soil, in lesser time,” she said.

She received a gold medal and a certificate for the project at a ceremony held in Karnataka.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Staff Reporter / Vellore – October 27th, 2015

IITian wins award for tech to dispose sanitary napkins

Business & Economy, Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologies

Chennai :

Talking about menstrual health is still considered a societal taboo. It’s no hidden fact that Indian society dislikes anything to do with matters of menstruation and particularly menstrual waste. So how do we deal with this staggering amount of sanitary waste generated every month? What are the technologies to handle it?

With feminine hygiene gaining importance over the past decade, affordable, but non-biodegradable, sanitary pads are within the reach of many. Women either wrap soiled pads in paper and throw them along with domestic garbage or flush them down or throw them in water bodies. This dismal state of sanitary waste management pushed IIT-M alumnus V Ramachandran into developing Reprocide, a wall-mounted sanitary napkin destroyer that will incinerate soiled pads with minimal release of smoke into the environment. And for his efforts he was given the CavinKare-MMA Chinnikrishnan Innovation Award- 2015 recently.

What makes Reprocide different from other incinerators is that it has a twin chamber with thermal insulation to burn pads – this allows marginal fumes to get emitted. The 51-year-old electronic engineer, who worked on the machine for over two decades, said, “Many destroyers in the market have a single chamber. So when you open the chamber after using it, the smoke hits your face. Reprocide has twin chambers. We also have a programmable timer, which allows the machine to automatically switch on and off after a set duration.”

The machine burns the pads with its electrical heating system within few minutes. The ash could either be used as manure for plants or can be flushed out. Ramachandran’s machine, which was developed through his company Glo Life Care, has already been installed in many government schools and private companies across south India.

Ramachandran, who had earlier developed a sanitary napkin vending machine, began toying with the idea of an incinerator after he noticed sanitary workers struggling to find a convenient way to dispose used pads. “The drain in our street was clogged and when corporation workers got to work, they found large amount of sanitary pads blocking it. That was when I thought I should find a solution,” he said.

Reprocide is not just compact but packs a number of features to save power. The entire system is packed compactly in a sheet metal box coated with anti-rust proof painting. Ramachandran has developed nano models measuring 12.5 inch x 12 inch that can burn five napkins at a time and jumbo models measuring 10 feet x 10 feet that can burn 250 pads at a time.

“All the components, including the heating system, thermal insulation, temperature controller, emission and ash collection, have undergone several rounds of tests and certified by NABL accredited laboratories,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / by U. Tejonmayam, TNN / September 14th, 2015

After 49 Weeks, 279 Receive Wings at Officers Training Academy

Education, World Opinion
Proud parents KC Mahali and his wife after their son Dikshanth’s pipping ceremony at the Officers Training Academy on Saturday | MArtin Louis
Proud parents KC Mahali and his wife after their son Dikshanth’s pipping ceremony at the Officers Training Academy on Saturday | MArtin Louis

Chennai  :

A total of 279 cadets were commissioned as officers on Saturday,  including 230 gentleman Cadets, 33 lady cadets and 16 foreign cadets (15 were from Afghanistan and one from Lesotho, Africa) at the centennial passing out parade of the Officers Training Academy.

Maribenyane Samuel, from Maseru, Lesotho told Express that the training he received was of a much higher standard compared to the previous training he received as part of the Lesotho Defence Force, as the Indian Army was one of the largest armed forces in the world.  The 49-week training will help him as Platoon Commander with the Lesotho army, he added.

Suriya Narayanan from Tambaram, one of the 15 cadets from TN, is an engineering student who joined the army, preferring it over IT jobs and is the first in his family to do so. He said retired officers should help increase awareness about army vacancies and recruitment process  which would reduce unemployment tremendously.

K C Mahali, Additional Director General of Police (Welfare) was present at the event as his son Dikshanth Mahali from PSG Tech in Coimbatore was passing out and will join the Gorkha rifles as Captain.

During the parade, the Reviewing Officer, Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi presented the “Sword of Honour” to Senior Under Officer (SUO) Pragun Bali for his best all round cadet of the passing out course. Winner of Mr.OTA (on-stage show), son of Col Rahul Bali, Pragun had represented the country through youth exchange programme in Kazakhstan even before graduation.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / September 13th, 2015

Indian-Origin Boy Sweeps Australian Spelling Bee Contest

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion

Anirudh Kathirvel, a nine-year-old Indian-origin boy is Australia’s new spelling champion after he won the 50,000 dollars ‘The Great Australian Spelling Bee’ competition.

Kathirvel, born in Melbourne to a Tamilian couple won 50,000 dollars education scholarship along with an impressive 10,000 dollars worth goods for his school yesterday.

Anirudh said he could not believe his luck after winning the scholarship and asked his fellow spellers to “pinch” him.

“I need to rub my eyes and see if this is a dream,” he said adding “Nope.Nope.Nope.Real. I can’t describe it. It’s like the best day of my life.”

Anirudh said his favourite word to spell was ‘euouae’ as he liked the structure of the word as it was the longest word with consecutive vowels.

“Some of the other words I like to spell are feuilleton, cephalalgia, ombrophobous,” he said adding that he loves watching Indian movies.

Anirudh, whose parents Prithiviraj and Sujatha also migrated to Australia from Tamil Nadu 16 years ago, said, “I started reading from the age of two and slowly my reading passion evolved into my love for words. My parents encouraged and helped me to build up on my spelling.”

“My first spelling competition was when I was in grade 1. But my first year in the spelling competition was challenging.

“Gradually my confidence increased and I was pushing my spelling abilities to its limits. That’s how my spelling journey has begun,” he added.

He also can read, write and speak Tamil apart from English.

For him spelling practice has been his everyday routine and he said that he try and learn at least 10 new words per day.

“I research those words, find their meaning, their origin & the roots and their synonyms. I also practice my spelling on the different spelling apps,” Anirudh, who wants to be a neuroscientist, said.

“I am fascinated with the human body. The working of the brain is so complex. This created a great interest and I want to learn more & more about the brain.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to brain diseases like Alzheimer’s or schizophrenia. I want to look for those answers and help those people who suffer from those conditions. I want to be a neuroscientist,” he said.

Four Indian-origin children participated in the contest with another Indian-origin girl Harpita, 8, emerging in the top five finalists.

A total of 50 finalists were picked from over 3,000 children across Australia who had applied to be part of the upcoming TV show of Channel Ten that kicked off last month

source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Home> Magazine> News / by Natasha Chaku / Melbourne – September 05th, 2015

GKD School wins CIT Young Mind Quiz held in Coimbatore

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All

Coimbatore :

They have won several quiz contests, but it hurt them when they lost at the Young Mind IT Quiz in 2014. The team from G K D Matriculation School in Periyanaickenpalayam here returned with the intention to win the contest this year. And, they did it.

M Sharat Chandar and A S Hari Krishna became the champions of the Young Mind IT Quiz 2015 that was organized by Coimbatore Institute of Technology on Monday.

After competing with more than 400 teams across the state, the GKD Matriculation Higher Secondary School made it to the finals only to clash against the former champions from Vivekananda Vidyalaya in Chennai.

“I think the G K D team was well prepared. It reflected in the way they were shooting their answers for every question,” said the quiz master Giri Balasubramaniam.

“There was no specific strategy as such. We wanted play the game as usual,” said M Sharat Chandar. The team said that this quiz was easier for them because they prepared for another IT Quiz a few days ago.

The team won the quiz scoring 70 points in the five rounds of the finals. While the GKD team had strategically claimed their win before the final round ended, the fight for the runners up became closer between St Jude’s, Kotagiri and Vivekananda Vidyalaya. However, by the end of the final round, both teams managed to score 40 points each, and the quiz master called for a tie breaker.

Unfortunately, the St Jude’s team pressed the buzzer with excitement, but got the answer wrong, making Vivekananda Vidyalaya the runners up of the quiz.

The winners of the contest were awarded a trophy and an iPad each. All other participants were given a trophy and a tablet.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / by Adarsh Jain, TNN / August 31st, 2015

Library Dept’s Workshop Gives Insight into Scientific Writing

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technologies

Vellore :

The Department of Library Services, Christian Medical College conducted a regional workshop on ‘Scientific Writing’ in collaboration with the University of Madras to enhance communication skills.

Dr. Amudavalli, Head of Library and Information Science Department, University of Madras, in her opening address titled “Introduction to Scientific Writing” emphasized the importance of communication and presentation skills. She said reading books enhanced writing skills and said despite advancements in technology, there is no replacement for books and newspapers.

This reinforces the larger role that librarians have to play in information transfer. The librarian provides personalised service to users, she said.

Professor Dr. Nagaraj Sitaram, from Dayanand Sagar College of Engineering, Bengaluru, presented an informative session titled “Preparation and Presentations of Research Proposals” and dealt with the dos and don’ts in research preparation and proposals. He addressed the elementary principles beginning with identification of the problem, composition, organisation, precision and fluidity in writing to support scientific findings in order to be published.

Dr. K.P. Vijayakumar, a professor from the University of Kerala in his topic on “Research Report Writing” emphasized efficient writing skills through experts sharing their views and experiences on the essentials of scientific writing. Dr. V Chandrakumar, University of Madras spoke on Reference Management.

There were about 90 delegates from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Puducherry

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> TamilNadu / by Express News Service / August 27th, 2015

Cancer Inst to be centre of excellence

Education, Science & Technologies

The Centre has given the go-ahead for the state to convert Adyar Cancer In stitute into a centre of excellence and a State Cancer Centre.

Announcing this in the assembly, chief minister J Jayalalithaa took credit for the upgrading of the institute and praised it for the good work it has been doing to treat cancer patients for many years. She said the institute would be upgraded at a cost of `120 crore.

The chief minister had in a 2013 letter to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought that the institute be upgraded.

“A proposal for upgrading the centre as a national centre is pending with the Union ministry of health and family welfare and it may be approved to enable it to expand and strengthen its capacity to treat cancer patients in larger numbers,” Jayalalithaa had stated. In a statement in the assembly on Tuesday, Jayalalithaa said, “The Centre has accepted the request to make the cancer institute a centre for excellence. It will be [done] at a cost of Rs 120 crore.”

The state will also provide mammography equipment to 15 district government hospitals at a cost of Rs 2.25 crore, she said.

Thanking the chief minister, Adyar Cancer Institute chairperson Dr V Shanta said the institute will spend the funds allocated to it over a period of 10 years. “It can be used only for purchase of equipment and construction of buildings,” she said. “We cannot use the funds for maintenance or to increase salaries of our employees. It is great honour that our work has been recognised.”

Stating that the cancer institute is a leader in its field, Dr Shanta said it could play a leadership role for all cancer treatment centres in the state.

“It is my dream to assume a leadership role and coordinate the screening and prevention measures being done by various centres in districts. As a nodal agency we will be able to collate data collected from these centres and analyse it,” Dr Shanta said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / by B. Sivakumar, TNN / August 26th, 2015

Beggar, BA, Bankrolls Education of Children

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Karaikudi :

You might have spotted differently-abled people seeking alms. But have you ever come across any such person using the money so generated for charity? Meet 73-year-old R Selvaraj, who begs for a living but gainfully utilises the money by buying stationery for disadvantaged school students in the neighbourhood.

Selvaraj, a resident of Karunanidhi Nagar in Tamil Nadu, is polio-afflicted and has been a mendicant in the Karaikudi new bus stand since 2006  after he gave up his job as a cycle mechanic. “I’ve been helping disadvantaged students since 1968 after I witnessed children from poor families struggling to get educated due to financial problems. But only after 2006, when I could not get any job, I started imploring people for alms for the welfare of the students,” he said.

R Selvaraj boards a bus at the Karaikudi bus stand (left); he distributes notebooks to disadvantaged children
R Selvaraj boards a bus at the Karaikudi bus stand (left); he distributes notebooks to disadvantaged children

Selvaraj, however, added that he never appealed to anyone after telling them that he has been helping students. “I frequent buses on the Madurai, Tirupattur and other selected routes as I am unable to handle all the routes. I seek alms from each passenger. Sometimes they ignore me. Some donate as much as they can. Even if people ignore me, I never take it to heart,” he said, adding, “Though I board buses with difficultly, I do it for the children. If a student wants a bag, I try to get it and surprise him or her with it. When I do such an act, it gives me immense satisfaction.”

Through social media and by talking to people, he has got some benefactors. One such person from Chennai has been sending Rs 500 every month without fail for the last two years after learning about his service.

Selvaraj said he couldn’t recollect the number of students he had helped so far. But this year he has helped around 26 students who stayed near his home to buy notebooks, pens, pencils and other stationery.

“On an average, I get Rs 400 a day by seeking alms. Through this I get Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 per month and from regular benefactors I get at least Rs 2,000 per month. Overall I get Rs 12,000 to Rs 14,000 per month, of which I spend Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 on children every month,” Selvaraj said. In the evenings, he offers tuitions to those he have been helping. He teaches students from classes I to X. “Though I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, I teach all subjects. Sometimes I find it difficult to answer questions. At such times, I reread the text,” he added.

One of his students, R Anand, said, “I never knew that he sought alms to help us. When I came to know about it, I was surprised.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> The Sunday Standard / by Vignesh V. / August 23rd, 2015