Category Archives: Education

Tamil Nadu toppers like to study medicine

Education, Records, All
Jaya Suriya.
Jaya Suriya.

Namakkal: 

The odds of poverty in life did not dampen the spirit of S. Jayasuriya, who bagged the first rank in higher secondary examinations this year and shared it with another student S. Abinesh, both hailing from private schools in Namakkal. The first rankers secured 1189 marks out of 1200.

“I am overjoyed, so is my family. I did not expect the first rank, though expected some state rank. Now, I will pursue my dream to do MBBS and specialise in Orthopaedics,” said Jayasuriya of Vidya Vikas Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Tiruchengode in Namak-kal.

Jayasuriya’s mother Anandhi is a tailor and father Senthilkumar has been bed ridden, after an accident a decade back. Despite coming from poor background, he scored 197 in Tamil, 194 in English, 198 in Physics and 200 marks in Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.

“I always kept my family’s financial situation in mind, which helped me focus on studies. I thoroughly studied the subjects from the beginning, set a target before me and achieved it,” said the first ranker. “It is a proud moment for us all. My son had understood our poverty and focused on his studies,” said his mother Anandhi, shedding tears of joy.

Equally elated was S. Abinesh, a student of Green Park Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Namakkal, who shared the first rank. “I will become a cardiologist, which is my passion,” he said adding that one need to develop an interest for studies to be success-
ful.”

“We need to concentrate on the subject of study, understand it clearly and study well,” said Abinesh, son of P. Sekar and Latha, who scored 196 in Tamil, 193 in English and 200 in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.

Abinaya wants to do CA

Tamil was H. Abinaya’s second language till class ten. But in order to get more marks, she shifted to Sanskrit and achieved her target by securing state second rank in the overall category. Abinaya, a student of SDAV Higher Secondary School in Chengalpattu scored 1191 marks out of the total 1200.

She got centum in Commerce, Accountancy, Economics and Business Maths. “My English mark was only 193. Had I scored even one mark more, I would have got state first rank,” said Abinaya, who got 198 in Sanskrit.

Her father Hari­hara Subramanian is working in a private company, while mother Sornam is a teacher. While her parents expected her to follow the footsteps of their elder daughter and study for engineering, Abinaya changed tracks by choosing commerce group in class eleven. “I wanted to follow the foot steps of my uncles, who are practising CA,” said Abinaya.

Sainithya secures joint state third

R. Sainithya (17) has started her journey towards chartered accountancy in a jubilant mood. Even though she is just another person in her family to aspire for CA, as her father and two sisters are already in the financial profession, still she has garnered more glory at a young age by achieving joint third rank in Plus-2 exams this year.

A student of GRT Maha­lakshmi Vidyalaya in Ashok Nagar, Sainithya was aspiring to emulate her eldest sister Sri Lakshmi, who was a school topper in Plus-2. But then, Sainithya achieved more than she expected. She scored centum in Commerce, Accountancy and Business Maths. Her total score was 1190 marks, which includes 198 in Sanskrit.

Nivedhitha scores 198 in Tamil

For A.S. Nivedhitha, achieving a state rank was a dream that she narrowly missed two years ago in class 10. But this time in Plus-2, she made it in style, scoring centum in three subjects. The Zion Matriculation Higher Secondary School student scored full marks in Computer Science, Maths and Chemistry. She got 198 in Tamil, 192 in English and 197 in Physics.

She was ranked third among students who chose Tamil as second language in the state. She scored 1187 out of the total 1200. Nivedhitha’s parents M. Swaminathan (civil engineer) and S. Sailakshmi (bank employee) were elated to see their daughter achieve state rank.

“I want to become a computer engineer,” said a beaming Nivedhitha, who did not take any special coaching. School correspondent N. Vijayan said his school always discouraged students from taking private classes. “We always give coaching with individual attention. So we inform our students not to take special tuition outside,” he added.

TN toppers aim for cardiology

Namakkal: A.K. Kanmani and U. Manothini of Green Park Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Namakkal have secured 1187 marks.

For U. Manothini, though becoming an IAS officer was the childhood dream, a heart surgery performed on his father had made her to change her goal when she was at Class VIII. “I know the pain my father suffered with heart ailments. Hence, I decided I should study cardiology and become a doctor,” said Manothini, a native of Thanjavur.She also said that since her village was not developed, she would serve there as a cardiologist.

Kalaivani, daughter of a private bus conductor Elangovan and mother Sivagami, too wants to serve people as cardiologist. Though hailing from a poor family, she was offered education free of cost at her school, Kurinji Matriculation School.

Her marks are  Tamil – 198, English – 190, Physics – 199 and 200 in Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology. The marks of A.K. Kanmani, native of Perambalur, daughter of Kaliyamoorthy, were: Tamil – 198, English – 192, Physics – 197 and 200 in Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics – 200.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / May 10th, 2013

Tamil Nadu: Boys corner top two ranks in Plus-2 exam

Education, Records, All
Kaavya’s classmates lift her on hearing about her marks in Chennai on Thursday.— DC
Kaavya’s classmates lift her on hearing about her marks in Chennai on Thursday. — DC

Chennai: 

Breaking the trend of the last few years, two boys secured the first spot this year in the Plus-2 examination. However, girls did outshine boys once again with 91 per cent pass percentage as against 84.7 per cent by boys.

Last year the pass percentage among girls and boys had stood at 89.7 per cent and 83.2 per cent respectively. A total of 13 students, including seven from Namakkal district, sha­red the top three ranks.

Jayasuriya S from Vidyaa Vikas Boys High­er Secondary School, Namakkal and Abinesh S from Greenpark matriculation higher secondary school, Namakkal shared the first spot with a score of 1189 of 1200 marks.

Palaniraj S from Vidyaa Vikas Boys Higher Seco­ndary School, Namakkal and Akalya R from Sri Vijay Vidyalaya matriculation higher secondary school, Hosur shared the second place with 1188 marks. Nine other students shared the third spot.

But Chennai girl is ‘unofficial’ topper

Neither happy-go-lucky ch­a­racter nor a personal tr­a­gedy at home could stop S. Ka­avya (17) from attaining glory in her Plus-2 examination. Kaavya, who scored 1192 out of total 1200 ma­rks, may not officially be the top ranker of the state, but she had every reason to be happy on Thursday, as she has scored 100 per cent in four subjects. Inte­re­s­t­i­n­g­ly, this Chennai girl, who studied French as her second language, has scored th­ree marks more than the official state topper.

Only child of bank manager father A. Shanmugam and housewife mother S. Sh­anthi, Kaavya, who sco­red full marks in Comm­e­rce, Accountancy, Business Maths and Economics has decided to become a chartered accountant. “I am not going to join any college. I have already started att­ending classes for CA foundation course,” she said, adding that studying in London School of Eco­no­mics is her dream.

Kaavya, who was class captain of 12 C at Rosary Ma­triculation Higher Seco­ndary School in Santhome, developed interest in vario­us subjects at a very you­ng age. She completed her BA in Hindi through priva­te ex­ams and holds gr­a­de-3 ce­rtificate for guitar and gr­a­de-2 certificate for dru­ms fr­­om Trinity College Lo­n­d­on. This apart, she al­so pl­a­ys chess and enjoys tr­­y­i­ng out new recipes. Her ne­xt ta­­­rget is to learn swimming­.

“She is a very friendly person. As a class captain she never showed off her power,” said S. Sathvigha, who studied with Kaavya fr­om LKG. Their class te­acher Elizabeth Rani, who taught commerce and acc­o­untancy, praised Kaav­ya for her obedient, sincere and hard working attitude. “Her hand writing and presentation would be neat. She always finished within top three ranks in the class,” Ms Rani added.

School principal Mary Zacharia pointed out that the school has introduced continuous assessment programme last year, which seems to have yielded res­ults. “We started compulsory morning test (7.30-8.30 am) and special coaching in the evening (2.30-3.30 pm). It has proved helpful,” she said, adding that the school used to achieve lot of state first ranks earlier, but this year’s result was its best performance in the last one decade.

Meanwhile Kaavya’s mother Shanthi dedicated her daughter’s success to her sister’s son, Jayendra Prabhu, who died after meeting with an accident when Kaavya was in the midst of her exams. “We had to leave Kaavya in the care of our neighbours and attend my nephew’s funeral. Despite our absence and tragedy in the family, she managed to score well in the exam,” Shanthi added.

90 government, private schools get 100% pass

Of the 400-odd schools (government and private) in Chennai city over 90 have secured 100 per cent pass percentage.

According to an analysis provided by the directorate of government examinations, several government schools had a pass percentage of over 80 per cent. Some private schools like Little Flower Convent higher school for deaf and blind, A. V. Meiyappan matriculation higher secondary school, Jai Gopal Hindu Vidyalaya matriculation higher secondary school, West Mambalam, Shri A Ganesan matriculation higher secondary school, Velachery Sri Krishnaswamy matriculation higher secondary school, KK Nagar and several others scored 100 per cent results.

Correspondent of a private matriculation school in Chennai says its obvious that city schools would produce 100 per cent results as it had better faculty, infrastructure and especially electricity for students to work in the laborato-ries.

“There is disparity even in the city with top schools scoring more marks and some schools located in northern suburbs securing less marks”, another administrator said.

source: http://www.deccanchroincle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by N. Arun Kumar / S. Sujatha, DC / May 10th, 2013

TN State Board Results 2013 : This Corporation school creates record of sorts

Education, Records, All

 It was the only Corporation school to achieve a centum pass

Madurai Corporation's Sethupathi Pandithurai Higher Secondary School on New Jail Road created a record of sorts by achieving cent per cent pass in the Class XII examination./ Photo: R. Ashok / The Hindu
Madurai Corporation’s Sethupathi Pandithurai Higher Secondary School on New Jail Road created a record of sorts by achieving cent per cent pass in the Class XII examination./ Photo: R. Ashok / The Hindu

Sethupathi Pandithurai Higher Secondary School, managed by the Madurai Municipal Corporation and located next to a public toilet on New Jail Road here, created a record of sorts with all the 41 students of the school passing the Plus Two examination this year.

This was the first time since its establishment as a high school in 1937 and subsequent upgradation as a higher secondary school in 1978 that the institution, functioning with limited infrastructural facilities, had registered a centum pass in a Board examination.

It also turned out to be the only school among the 14 Corporation schools in the city to score a centum pass this year.

The other schools registered a pass percentage ranging between 85 and 99.2.

School headmistress A.Esther Emma Olive said the fete could be achieved only because of the cooperation of the students, their parents and six higher secondary teachers. She said special classes were taken up to 8.30 p.m. for the students.

Fruitful efforts

The efforts had borne fruit as the school first rank holder V.Veerapandi, son of a casual labourer, scored 1,025 marks despite studying in the science stream.

“Almost all of our students are from Below the Poverty Line families. It is a real challenge to groom them and we are doing it successfully with God’s grace,” she added.

Corporation Chief Educational Officer R.Mathialagan said 2,537 students from the 14 Corporation schools had appeared for the Plus Two examination this year. Of them, 2,365 passed.

The pass percentage was 93.04 which was very close to the district’s pass percentage of 93.77.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by Special Correspondent  / May 10th, 2013

From corporation school to seats of power, temple

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

Coimbatore :

With vivid memories of their school days three decades ago, 70-odd Class 1972-batch students of Ramanathapuram Corporation Higher Secondary School shared their twists and turns of the life at the alumni meet on Wednesday.

Sri Varahi Manikandan Swamikal, who runs an orphanage at an ashram at Periyanaickenpalayam, minced no words in narrating his story ‘From Manikandan, The Schoolboy, to Manikandan, The Swamikal’.

“After my school days were over, I did three post-graduation courses and an MPhil. Then I turned to spirituality and now I run an orphanage besides doing other charitable activities,” he told his friends who were eager to see him in his new avatar. He was definitely the star of the evening and cynosure of all eyes.

S Pannerselvan, the president of the association, said they were holding the annual alumni meet of the batches between 1972 and 1975 for the second time in a row. “Now most of us have retired and spend days with grandchildren. It is just a great feeling for as to catch a glimpse of our old friends,” he said.

Pannerselvan said the plan of a reunion cropped up after some of them met at a function. “The reunion has also helped to develop the school,” he said. P Ramadoss, the headmaster of the school, said the authorities have improved the standard of the school with the support of the alumni students.

“Until three years ago, this school was among the worst schools in the corporation. Thanks to the support of alumni members, now our school is among the best in the area,” Ramadoss said.

K Devadass, who retired as a deputy collector, attributes his interest in Tamil language stemmed from his education at the school. He said studying in corporation and government schools was in no way a setback. “Almost all of us entered government service, became engineers, teachers and were in no way inferior to anyone. This is an important message we want to convey,” he said.

The old students say they are planning to help the school to get ISO Certification. “We want our school to be placed the best in the state. We hope to deliver this at the earliest,” Pannerselvan said.

Coimbatore: Sri Varahi Manikandan Swamikal who runs an orphanage along with an ashram at Periyanaickenpalayam was on a different routine on Wednesday. He was among the 70 odd alumni who were attending the alumni meet at the Ramanathapuram Corporation Higher Secondary School on Wednesday evening. Like Manikandan who studied in the year 1972 batch at the school many of them had taken interesting turns in their lives.

He says that they planned to start the get-together after some of them met each other at some common functions. “We came together and this has even helped the school in many ways,” he said. P Ramadoss, the current head master of the school says that the support from the various alumni students have helped in improving the standard of the school.

“Before three years his was among the worst school in the corporation,” said Ramadoss. In their endeavours to improve the academic winning percentage and their standards they received the support of the alumni who had passed out in earlier years. Now they are among the best schools in pass percentage.

K Devadass, who retired as a deputy collector attributes his interest in Tamil language stemmed from his education at the school. He says that studying in corporation and government schools have no way affected their quality. “Almost all of us have entered government service, become engineers, teachers and were in no way inferior to anyone. This is an important message we want to convey,” he said.

The old students say that they are planning to help the school to get ISO Certification. “We want our school to be among the best. We hope to deliver this at the earliest,” says Pannerselvan.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / May 03rd, 2013

Campuses connect with communities on air waves

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technologies
Touching Lives: Run by the students of M.O.P Vaishnav College for Women, M.O.P FM accords priority to issues affecting underprivileged women. / Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Touching Lives: Run by the students of M.O.P Vaishnav College for Women, M.O.P FM accords priority to issues affecting underprivileged women. / Special Arrangement / The Hindu

 FM radio stations at three colleges spread hope, cheer and awareness in neighbourhoods across the city. Vasudha Venugopal tunes in

A few years ago, many city colleges were swept up on a wave of enthusiasm for community radio. While most of these campus initiatives flickered weakly and sputtered out, three are still burning bright. The students-run FM radio stations at Anna University, Loyola College and M.O.P. College have grown into thriving centres of education and entertainment for the neighbourhoods they were targeted at.

M.O.P FM

Run by the students of M.O.P Vaishnav College for Women, this community radio gives priority to issues plaguing underprivileged women. Women in the slums around the M.O.P. campus constitute its major target group. The radio station, launched in 2005, also deals with health care, entrepreneurship and related issues.

There are programmes that specifically target women domestic helpers and their children.

“These women are often unaware of the care they should take during pregnancy. It was only after one of the doctors in our shows asked a listener not to miss her regular scans that she went for a long-pending scan. Fortunately, she discovered she was going to have twins then,” said a volunteer.

Volunteers take the trouble to get off air and connect with these women in a more real manner.

“Our primary focus is to encourage these women into entrepreneurial roles,” said a student. So, while these women are trained over the radio in vocations such as beauty care, money management, catering and fashion designing by experts, they are engaged in interaction with college principal Nirmala Prasad in an attempt at helping them.

Interviewing achievers from the community is another key area. Said a student serving at M.O.P FM, “We interviewed this girl when she topped her school in Class X exams. Her parents were pavement dwellers. She came back for an interview when she again topped her school, this time in Class XII exams. Now she studies with us, in our college.”

LOYOLA FM

This community radio, started by the students of Loyola College in 2005, has 20 programmes designed to serve 23 slums in Nungambakkam and Chetpet. The effort to reach out to these slum residents in this manner has brought the issues plaguing them into sharper focus.

“Every student in Loyola has to spend at least 120 hours every year in social service activities, and the radio station enables them to reach people they have to assist,” says Rex Babu Jaysingh, project manager at Loyola FM.

Loyola FM is also a big-hearted promoter of efforts at creativity. It lends its air waves to music created by student bands.

ANNA FM

After grueling work involving three houses, domestic help Shanthi settles down to listen to Magalir Neram every day on Anna FM. This 32-year-old mother of two does not stop with lapping up advice from doctors and experts drawn from a variety of fields. She sometimes dons the cap of an active participant, sending in recipes or getting involved in other ways.

“We started with the women in the slums of Kannigapuram. With a view to making them feel comfortable, we encouraged participant only from women,” said Christie, who manages the station. A graduate of electronic media, Christie got in on the ground floor. From 2004, when Anna FM was launched, she has seen this community radio touch numerous lives. “For a short period, I worked with other organizations. I came back to Anna FM when I realized nothing else I do could be more fulfilling.” The possibility of sustained engagement with neighbourhoods appealed to Christie and eventually brought her back to the world of community radio. Christie says the reward of community radio is two-fold. “There is so much to learn from people. And there is so much more to give back to people.”

Anna FM is on air for nearly 11 hours a day and seeks to engage women from subaltern sections. Social awareness programmes are a hallmark of this station. And interestingly, the listeners are sometimes roped in as resource persons. As part of orientation drives, people in surrounding neighbourhoods are taken on a tour of the station. They are encouraged to go on air, after which they are allotted slots. In an effort to involve the community, radio sets have been distributed to people in nearby slum.

“Our programmes are largely related to health, hygiene, education, setting up an enterprise, developing new skills and yoga. Almost everything geared to developing people into better and happier citizens,” said Christie. “True empowerment is possible only when you impart skills to the community and let them take charge of their lives.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by  Vasudha Venugopal / Chennai, April 29th, 2013

74 IIM-T students find placements in Cognizant, KPMG

Business & Economy, Education

Tiruchi : 

About 74 students from the first batch (2011-13) of IIM-Tiruchippalli (IIM-T) have been placed with companies such as Cognizant, KPMG and BPCL, among others, at annual salaries ranging from Rs 11.5-18.25 lakh.

These successful placements for the 2011-13 batch were notwithstanding the difficult economic environment, an IIM-T release said, adding that this was the largest first batch among new IIMs in India to have registered for final placements.

Prominent recruiters like Cognizant Business Consulting, KPMG, Perfint Healthcare, BPCL, Indian Bank and Berger Paints have each recruited four or more students.

It was a good mix of profiles to choose from, both in terms of broad domains and specific roles like corporate banking, product liability management, international sales, general management, operations consulting and supply chain planning, the release added.

Six students opted out of the placement to pursue specific interests in niche sectors/roles such as dental healthcare management and product management.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News / by PTI / Tiruchi, April 30th, 2013

TN doctor bags UPSC sixth rank

Education, Records, All
Thamburaj.
Thamburaj.

Chennai:

“Hard work brings success and that’s my victory mantra,’’ said Dr Ashok Arun Thamburaj who secu­­red all India sixth rank and first rank from Tamil Nadu in the civil service final exam, results for which were announced on Friday.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle on phone from Karnataka, where he has been posted for election duty, Dr Thamburaj said he had crac­ked the ex­am in 2011 in his first attempt to choose IPS (Delhi cadre) and at present he was under probation at the national police-training academy in Hyderabad.

“Right from my childhood, I wanted to become an IAS officer but I scored 197 out of 600 in Zoology in my first attempt due to which I had to take IPS. But now I am sure that I have scored more”, a jubilant Thamburaj said.

97 from TN clear civil services exam

Ninety-seven candidates from Tamil Nadu have cleared the UPSC civil service main exam this year for which results were announced on Friday. A total of 998 aspirants have been selected for 1,091 vacancies in four services, including Indian Admin­istrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and Central Services (A&B).

According to civil service trainers, 97 students from Tamil Nadu have cleared the final interview to join the civil service. “This year it was not an easy walk for students they had to take on the tough interview panel which fired aspirants with several questions. As our students had good training to answer any kind of questions they managed to outperform others to bag several slots in the list,” one of the trainers said.

Another trainer from a top city based IAS coaching academy felt that more engineers and doctors have been successful in clearing the exam as they were trained to clear analytical oriented questions.

Interestingly for the third consecutive year, a woman has topped the prestigious examination. Forty five students from Mayor Saidai Sa. Duraisamy’s Manida­neyam IAS academy cracked the finals successfully to get a slot in the all India list.

TN top ranker clears exam in second attempt

Dr Ashok Arun Tham­buraj, who secured all India sixth rank and first rank from Tamil Nadu in the civil service final exam, said he had taken Geography and Zoology as optional papers as he thought these papers would fetch him high marks.

He stood first from class I at St.Bedes Higher Seco­ndary School at Sant­home. Thamburaj had secured state first among police officers’ children and received chief minister’s gold medal.  Tham­buraj said he had belie­ved in change which made him attempt civil service for the second time.

As an MBBS student, Thamburaj had bagged two gold medals in Surgery and Gynecology subjects and finished his house surgeonship at Madras Medical College. He is the son of T. Ashok, former principal of the police training college in the city. His sister Vijayarani works as assistant professor at a private medical deemed university in the city.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by N. Arun Kumar – DC / May 04th, 2013

Son of daily wager makes it to civil services

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Coimbatore :

Five students from the region have made it to the civil services this year.

The standout performer among them is S Suresh Kumar, the son of a daily wager, who, in his third attempt, secured the 343rd rank. Kumar graduated in BSc plant biology from PSG college of Arts and Science and did his MA in defence studies from Madras University.

The 24-year-old, who chose political science and Tamil literature as his optional papers, started preparing for the UPSC examination while studying for his post graduation. He took tuitions and worked as a students’ reporter with a local magazine to make his ends meet. “My parents would never let any of us work. My mother began to sell food to make my ends meet,” says Suresh, who is now pursuing his M Phil at the South Asian University in Delhi.

Suresh’s father, M Subburaj, worked as a daily wager at a garment manufacturing firm. A few months he moved joined a relative’s firm as a salesman. Thenmozhi, his mother, would cook food for college students to supplement Subburaj’s income. Suresh’s brother, Sathish Kumar is pursuing graduation in a Coimbatore college.

For the political science paper and interviews, Suresh took the help of city-based Higher Studies Centre, which is run jointly by Coimbatore Corporation and Government Arts College. All the five candidates from the region selected for the services had got coached at the institute.

Suresh, who expects a posting in IAS or IFS, wants civil service aspirants not to lose heart with failure. “Hard work never fails. Be persistent in what you do,” he adds.

Another candidate, P Krishna Kumar stands at 460. “I’m a businessman turned civil servant,” says 29-year-old Krishna, who belongs to Uthukuli in Tirupur. An engineering graduate, this was Krishna’s fifth attempt. He helped his father in their rice mill business while preparing for the examination. “Never give up. There may be obstacles, but passing the civil services examination is surely achievable,” he says.

The others from the region who have been ranked by the UPSC are B Abhinaya Nishanthini at 817, N Manoj at 771 and P Karthikeyan at 789.

source: http://www.m.timesofindia.com / The Times of India – Mobile / Home / TNN / by Arun P.Mathew / May 04th, 2013

Museum in Gummidipoondi offers a ‘hearty’ welcome to visitors

Education, Records, All, Science & Technologies
Visitors at the Maurice Lev & Saroja Bharati Cardiac Museum at Frontier Mediville at Gummidipoondi on Saturday. / Photo: V. Ganesan / The Hindu
Visitors at the Maurice Lev & Saroja Bharati Cardiac Museum at Frontier Mediville at Gummidipoondi on Saturday. / Photo: V. Ganesan / The Hindu

In the vast room guarded by a solid ornate wooden door are about 8,000 hearts. None of them beat. Jostling against the translucent fluid in glass jars, the hearts sit, in all sizes, shapes, colours, and stages of disease. Welcome to the Maurice Lev and Saroja Bharati Cardiac Museum at Frontier Mediville in Gummidipoondi, about 50 km from the city.

The museum has not only hearts – most of them human, with some animal specimens – but also heart components. “If we put every specimen we have in a jar of formalin, we’ll need 10,000 containers,” says K.M.Cherian, chairman and CEO, Frontier Lifeline Hospital and Frontier Mediville. “It is the largest collection of cardiac pathology hearts anywhere in the country, possibly even the world,” he claims.

Pathology is the branch of medicine that studies the altered anatomy of an organ. A surgeon corrects the structure or functionality of an organ, and so, unless he or she gets the pathology and biochemistry right, he or she is likely to be just a person with a scalpel.

The museum gets its name from the primary contributors to the heart section, Maurice Lev and Saroja Bharati, from the Maurice Lev Congenital Heart and Conduction Systems Centre, Chicago. It cost about $1,00,000 to ship the specimens, and a further $1.5 million in insurance, Dr. Cherian says.

“I had not even imagined that these hearts we collected since the 1970s would be in India one day. But, here they are,” Dr. Bharati explains. “Every heart is different. When you look under the microscope, even the hearts of identical twins are not identical.” As someone who has written the pathology reports of over 9,000 hearts, she should know.

In the museum, inaugurated by Governor K.Rosaiah on Saturday, are hearts at various stages of disease, and repair, diaphanous valves which put you in awe of a cardiac surgeon’s skills, pacemaker probes nesting in hearts split wide open.

“This has been my dream. I visited Prof. Lev and Bharati in Chicago when they were just setting up the museum to spend months studying the anatomy of the heart,” he explains, giving us a personal guided-tour of the museum on its inaugural day. “I want students to benefit from this wealth of information, completely free of cost. Some professors of pathology from other countries have also expressed interest in visiting the museum.” And what is the favourite specimen in the hall? Dr. Cherian doesn’t bat an eyelid, “Mine.” It probably is happiest ticking in the good doctor’s chest cavity at the moment, but is it to be available for display sometime in the future? “For sure!” he says, “I don’t believe either in burying or burning the body.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Ramya Kannan / Tiruvallur – April 28th, 2013

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University enters into MoU with BCRL

Education, Nature, Science & Technologies

Coimbatore :

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) on Friday entered into a MOU with Bio Control Research Lab (BCRL), the R and D division of Pest Control of India, for a cooperative work in the field of biological control of crop pests and diseases.

BCRL, as part of this Public-priavate Partnership, will help in accomodating TNAU UG students for internships and PG Students to do part aof their research in their lab on topics like Pheromone technology and urban pest management in both education and research, a university release said here.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India /  Home> Education /  by  PTI / April 27th, 2013