Category Archives: Education

Social scientist Pandian dead

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders

He was one of the finest authorities on the Dravidian Movement

M.S.S. Pandian, an eminent social scientist who wrote extensively on the Dravidian Movement, south Indian politics, cinema, caste, identity and several other socially relevant issues, passed away after a sudden heart attack here on Monday.

Prof. Pandian, 53, was moved from his residence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where he was declared dead. He is survived by wife and daughter.

He was serving in the School of Social Sciences’ Centre for Historical Studies and his sudden death has put the entire department in shock.

“He was a very good guide and although I was not his direct student, he helped me a lot whenever I asked him to,” said Ambedkar, a student at the SSS.

Academics from other universities who admired his work also mourned his loss. “He was one of the finest authorities on the Dravidian Movement and his book on it was considered radical when it was first published. His writings on the history of contemporary South Indian politics, caste and identity, also gave a boost to Subaltern Studies, which mostly had North Indian and Bengal subjects,” said Prabhu Mohapatra, who is an Associate Professor in Delhi University’s History Department and also one of Prof. Pandian’s oldest friends.

He added that Prof. Pandian’s book, “The Image Trap – M G Ramachandran in Films and Politics,” on the Tamilian superstar and his tryst with politics is also considered one of leading authorities on this subject.

Prof. Pandian was earlier an Associate Professor in the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai.

His publications in the best reputed academic publications were many and his research interests were Nationalism, Caste, Tamil cinema and Popular Culture, among others. He completed his Ph.D in Madras University in 1987.

Prof. Pandian has been writing for national newspapers and the ‘Economic and Political Weekly’ for several years and known for his incisive articles on Tamil Nadu and Dravidian politics in particular.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by S.N. Vijetha / New Delhi – November 11th, 2014

‘Friends, we are looking for you’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All
One for the album: A group photo of one section of the 1965 SSLC batch. / by Special Arrangement
One for the album: A group photo of one section of the 1965 SSLC batch. / by Special Arrangement

Students of the 1965 batch of P.S. High School are scouring the city for their old buddies.

The 1965 SSLC batch of P.S. High School, Mylapore, has understood the spirit of reunions, which is about honouring old ties. A small group of these old students are leaving no stone unturned in finding out the whereabouts of the rest of their friends from the batch.

This group, which is on the job, has the contact details of only 40. Not a happy number, considering the batch had eight sections with 250 students. As the reunion is scheduled for January, 2015, they don’t have much time left to trace the rest of them.

“Target setting is the order of the day and each of us has to locate four to five classmates,” says M.S. Sundararajan, former chairman and managing director of Indian Bank, who is the president of the old students committee.

Some of the batch mates at a recent get-together. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Some of the batch mates at a recent get-together. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

The goal is to locate 100 to 150 classmates before the reunion, planned to be coducted on the school founder’s day. Currently, the majority of the 40 identified batchmates are from ‘B’ section and the committee is looking for at least two people from the other sections who can help with the contacts of the others.

Sundararajan, a resident of Ambujammal Street at Alwarpet, says he is excited at the idea of the entire batch meeting after 50 years. He vividly remembers Sivaraman Street, where a few of his classmates used to come from. He plans to revisit the area in search of his friends.

K. Muralidharan, who created the pages on social networking sites to connect with the old friends, has little hope of locating people through Facebook or Twitter. “It looks like not many of my batchmates are tech-savvy. I have therefore decided to go to various streets,” he says.

Recently, he went to Luz Street and tried to get details of a few from a stationery store. “Some even shy away from attending the reunion for various reasons,” he said.

Not many of the teachers who taught the batch are alive, so the reunion will be a success only if a good number of old students turn up.

A souvenir has been planned for the occasion. To get in touch with the group, call Muralidharan at 98840 27239 or email jhamuna@gmail.com

Ooty student wins state level contest with thought provoking speech on nature

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Nature

Udhagamandalam :

A student of Class 12 of Crescent Castle Matric Higher Secondary School in Ooty bagged the first place in the state level elocution competition in English conducted by the forest department as part of their Wildlife Week Celebrations, held on Thursday in Chennai.

Having won the district level elocution competition held in Ooty earlier, Hanu Priya, a Badaga girl, was selected to represent the Nilgiris district in the state level competition held in Chennai.

“For the second time, Hanu Priya, has won the first prize in a state level competition. We are proud that she competed in the Wildlife week competition conducted by the forest department and won the elocution competition,” said Farouk Ummar, corespondent of the school.

Nurturing young minds to pay heed to the global issue of ‘deforestation’, Hanu Priya said, “The nature of man’s future depends on the future of our nature”. She said, only when the last tree has died, the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught, will man realize that he cannot substitute money for sustenance. “The guidance I received from my English teacher, Rukhia, helped me deliver a winning performance at the state level for the second time”, she said.

Her prize-winning speech had some thought provoking moments with ” man did not inherit earth from his ancestors, he, in fact, borrowed it from his children” and “a greedy man grabs more than what nature offers him.” On Friday, Hanu Priya met Nilgiris collector P Sankar. As a token of his appreciation for her achievement, the collector presented her with a small memento.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / October 11th, 2014

Girls from slums scale new heights

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Madurai :

In a society where the girl child is deprived of many facilities, the case of a girl child growing up in a slum is even worse. But for Malar Kodi, a girl from the Melavasal slums of Madurai, it wasn’t a hindrance in fulfilling her dreams. With an Assistant professor position at a Nursing College in Haryana, she has inspired many slum girls with her ”implausible efforts”.

It’s just one success story that has unfolded on the ‘International Day of the Girl Child’, because of the sincere efforts of Vidiyal, an NGO that has been working with children in eight slums around Madurai.

And Malar Kodi’s success story is a motivation to others at the NGO who are struggling to build their own career. “It was indeed tough for me to follow my career. We were financially poor. My father used to work as a shoemaker, whereas my mother worked as a sweeper at a Government Hospital in Madurai,” she said, adding, ”We were three children, including myself, and we couldn’t concentrate on our studies living in a small house in the slums,” said Malar Kodi.

With the help of Vidiyal, she pursued her BSc in Nursing from Nursing College in Madurai. She then went to Andhra Pradesh to work as a nursing tutor. “I had to focus on my career and in 2008, I pursued MSc in Nursing from Bangalore and later after two years, I worked as a lecturer in Shimla. Then, I went to Haryana to work as an Assistant Professor at a Nursing College,” she added.

Today, her parents have shifted from the slums to a rented apartment in Madurai. “It is the determination that helped me to achieve what I wanted to do in my life,” she said.

Like Kodi, the NGO has helped many who joined as volunteers to pursue their career in engineering, medicine and other professional courses. “For us, the girl child is utmost important. It is time we tell the world and the parents who are blessed with a girl child, that they are a beacon of hope,” said Sharmila Jim, project director of Vidiyal.

And on Saturday, the NGO, along with children, celebrated the occasion with an aim to inspire many more girls in future.

Many participated in various activities to commemorate the event. “We organise such events for the girls only to make them happy and inspire them in many ways. All these girls have enormous talent and they have proved it today,” Jim said.

The NGO also has a ‘child resource centre’ at the slum area for the children and a ‘parent’s forum’ wherein they counsel them to bring out the best in their children. “After completing their studies, they chose the career on their own and march ahead in life. We have been guiding them personally and financially as well,” added Jim.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiaitimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / October 12th, 2014

Sastra Faculty Bags Young Career Award

Education, Records, All, Science & Technologies

Tiruchy :

S Swaminathan, Director, Center for Nanotechnology and Advanced Biomaterials (CeNTAB) of SASTRA University has been selected for the Young Career Award in Nano Science and Technology for 2015, instituted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.

The Young Career Award will be presented to him in January 2015 during the Nano India Meet along with Dr P S Anil Kumar, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore who is the other selected for this award. CeNTAB has been involved in the research on the development of novel three-dimensional polymeric nanofibre scaffolds for tissue engineering of skin, cardiovascular arteries and nerve regeneration using aligned and random nanofibres.

Swaminathan received his Ph D from Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA, and his thesis on bone tissue engineering was nominated for the Best Dissertation Award. Swaminathan was the recipient of Materials Research Society of India Medal for 2009 and has also received the Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award from the Department of Biotechnology in 2006.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / October 27th, 2014

Girl Power: The Alisha Abdullah Racing Academy launched report

Education, Sports

AlishaMPOs21oct2014

Silverscreen goes to the launch of the Alisha Abdullah Racing Academy for Women

We walked into the venue of Alisha Abdullah’s racing academy launch on a wet, wet day. An older gentleman in a bright blue shirt was on the piano, playing a song that obviously held deep meaning for him. Before we could get closer to investigate, a bold dash of colour grabbed our attention.

There was no evidence of the biker chick in the Alisha Abdullah we saw yesterday. In a neat pink blazer and with her hair in an intricate braid, she looked like your average fashion conscious Chennai-ite. Albeit one with a higher purpose. After ushering us inside, she went away to pose for the photographers. Hashtag pretty in pink .

When Alisha’s father arrived with one of the guests of the evening – Akbar Ebrahim, the father of Indian Moto Sports – the event began. Akbar has literally seen Alisha grow – from that of a child obsessed with racing to a woman who has raced with the best of them. The fact that she has never considered her gender a ‘restriction’ and has excelled in what is essentially a man’s sport is an immense source of pride to both Akbar and Abdullah. “Motor sports is not the easiest place for anybody, much less a young girl. She could have thrown  a fit about many things, but she bore it all stoically and it is this strength that will help her with this new initiative of hers,” said a beaming Akbar on stage.

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When it was Alisha’s time to speak, she used it wisely. She spoke of the time when she felt intimidated at the races in Thailand; a ‘smaller’ country than India. “I thought I would easily finish in the top three, but I was beaten by eight very powerful women racers. I couldn’t compete on the same level and it got me thinking. What do they have that we Indian girls don’t?”

It was with this aim – to provide talented racers in India the guidance needed to survive in races abroad – that the academy was started. “I have been thinking about this for over three years. After a lot of brainstorming sessions with dad and mom, it was only this year that I could finally set up something concrete.” Alisha plans to recruit a hundred students for the academy and provide free training for them. And she will be doing this while juggling her successful and ‘satisfying’ racing career and the cinema opportunities too. “I want to use my stardom for the betterment and empowerment of women. When my film released, many women got in touch with me and asked me to help them drive super-bikes. It’s this need that I want to satisfy.”

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The academy was then duly launched by Renuka David, Bruce Schwack and Ashok Verghese.

Alisha hopes to begin the school soon and if all goes well, she will also embark on an extensive promotional tour to publicise it.

source: http://www.silverscreen.in / SilverScreen.in / Home> Events / Vandhana / October 21st, 2014

Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan students win debating championship in UK

Education, Records, All, World Opinion

Chennai :

Arushi Nayar, Akshay Venkataraghavan, Aditi Balaji, Abinaya Raman and K S Adhithya Kumar of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, K K Nagar, won the Debating Matters International Final 2014 held in London on October 18.

The debating championship was organised by British Council in partnership with the Institute of Ideas in the UK.

Student participants said the competition was known for its rigorous and intellectually challenging format that valued substance over style. The final round pitted students of PSBB Senior Secondary School, KK Nagar, against their peers from Franklin College of Grimsby, UK.

This year’s debate motion was, “We should be willing to compromise our privacy in the interests of national and international security.”

The Indian students spoke for the motion, while those from Franklin College in the UK spoke against the motion.

The PSBB students had to compete with the best in the country at the national level of the competition, after facing an online elimination round and zonal finals, before heading for the international final round in the UK.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by M Ramya, TNN / October 20th, 2014

For this blind student, PhD is another feat

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All

Coimbatore :

When Anjum Khan received her PhD on Monday, it meant more than it does to most doctoral candidates-the 27-year-old lost her vision at the age of five after an attack of measles and has studied entirely in Braille.

Anjum is an assistant professor of English at Avinashilingam University. Her family moved from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh to Coimbatore in 1993 for her treatment but doctors said she would never regain her vision.

“While my parents were thinking what next, the doctors told us about Avinashilingam school for girls,” says Anjum. She began learning Braille and use audio technology to help her read, write and study.

Her father, Mehmood Khan got a job at a private cement company in Madukkarai, 27km from Coimbatore. If Anjum had to continue her studies, Avinashilingam was among the few options as it had facilities and faculty to help her.

“I decided I would live in hostel and study. It is then that I realised that to gain something, one has to sacrifice something,” Anjum says. She lived in the hostel for 12 years from Class 6 till she finished her postgraduate degree.

After finishing school, Anjum joined the Avinashilingam University for Women to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. “She finished her masters’ degree and applied for her doctoral studies in 2009,” says S Kalamani, Anjum’s guide and an associate professor in the department of English, Avinashilingam University. “Anjum had to leave thehostel after her MA, but, regularly visited me every Friday and told me how her research was progressing,” she says.

Anjum’s younger brother Abid Ali died in a road accident eight years ago while she was doing her masters’ degree. “My father had bought him a bike to make his commute between college and home easier,” says Anjum.

“It was a difficult time for the family. But, I have faced so much that I treat happiness and sorrow equally,” she says. Anjum has dedicated her PhD to her brother.

Anjum did her research on ‘Ethnic Silhouettes: An Interpretation Of The Community In Select Works Of M G Vassanji In The Light Of New Historicism’. She became an assistant professor in January 2013 in the university in which she studied.

Besides teaching at the university, Anjum also teaches blind children Braille and computer operations. “I consider teaching a means to reach people,” she says.’

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Adarsh Jain, TNN / October 14th, 2014

Sivathanu Pillai wins Rotary award

Education, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technologies

Distinguished scientist Sivathanu Pillai, chief controller, Defence Research and Development Organisation, received the lifetime award from Rotary Club of Madras.

At a function held recently, S.N. Srikanth, president of the club, presented him with the award.

In his acceptance speech, Dr. Pillai said the indigenous missile development programme was among the great scientific accomplishments of the country.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – October 17th, 2014

Chennai hospital gets certification from national board

Education, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion
N. Ram, chairman of Kasturi & Sons Limited (centre), hands over the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Health Care Providers’ certificate to Sister Magdeline Fernandes, president of St. Isabel Society — Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam
N. Ram, chairman of Kasturi & Sons Limited (centre), hands over the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Health Care Providers’ certificate to Sister Magdeline Fernandes, president of St. Isabel Society — Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Saturday was a milestone for the doctors and nurses of St. Isabel’s Hospital in the institution’s 65-year-old run.

The hospital, which is run by the Franciscan Sisters, received accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Health Care Providers (NABH).

N. Ram, chairman, Kasturi & Sons Limited, who handed over the certificate to Sister Magdeline Fernandes, president of St. Isabel Hospital Society and the provincial superior, wished that the hospital would be able to continue its dedicated service to society.

He recalled how the hospital had taken care of M.S. Subbulakshmi at a very difficult stage. He said he was happy to note the hospital had been able to modernise and was also a teaching institution.

It took three years for the hospital to follow and implement the 625 stringent objective elements stipulated by NABH.

Though the Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception arrived at Goa in 1886, they came to Madras only in 1942 and the hospital was set up in March 1949. Initially, St. Isabel’s Hospital was a maternity home with a few beds. It has now grown into a 300-bed facility with 31 clinical departments.

Sister Celine Philip, administrator and president of St. Isabel Hospital Society, Sister Danis Mary, assistant provincial, Sister Betty D’Souza, vice-president of the hospital, Sister Philomina Joseph, medical superintendent, George Thomas, senior consultant and head of emergency medicine, and K. Ravi, ophthalmologist, were present on the occasion.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – October 12th, 2014