Category Archives: Education

National seminar on Philosophy at Madras University

Education

V-Ramasubramanian,-JudgeCF29mar2013

V Ramasubramanian, Judge, Madras High Court, speaking at the seminar on Tuesday | R Satish Babu / The New Indian Express

A three-day seminar on ‘The Philosophy of Prof T M P Mahadevan’ was organised by the Department of Philosophy, University of Madras, here on Tuesday. The seminar was inaugurated Justice V Ramasubramanian, Judge, Madras High Court.

Justice Ramasubramanian, in his address, recalled and praised the efforts and contributions of Mahadevan to the field of philosophy, religion and human values. He further said that there was a need for the University of Madras and other universities to focus on subjects like Philosophy and History. He further stated that nowadays philosophy, which teaches ethical and human values that form the basis of  a good society, is not being taken seriously.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras, Professor T Thandavan, in his speech, praised the efforts and works 0f T M P Mahadevan and recalled how Mahadevan helped in advaitha, At the same time, the VC also assured that he would extend all possible help bring the subject of philosophy on a par with other subjects.

The other dignitaries who spoke at the seminar included Prof  S Paneerselvam, HOD, Dept of Philosophy, who  welcomed the gathering, Prof G Mishra, Dept of Philosophy, University of Madras, Prof Bhuvan Chandel, Member Secretary, CSC, New Delhi and  Prof Sebastian Velassery, Dept of Philosophy, Punjab University, Chandigarh.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / March 27th, 2013

Modern gadgets to improve teaching by visually challenged

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologies

Madurai :

To keep abreast of latest technologies that enhance teaching, the visually challenged teachers under the banner of Blind Teachers Association (BTA), Madurai Branch, arranged a special technical session for their members. More than 300 visually challenged teachers are members of the branch that has jurisdiction from Karur to Kanyakumari districts and 90 of them from Madurai and nearby districts participated in the workshop held on Saturday.

Pune-based innovation company, Persion Technologies, announced during the event that it will come out with an interactive whiteboard for blind teachers by next month. Kiran Deshpande, director of the innovation and applications wing at the company, said the whiteboards will display whatever one keys into a laptop. The company will be also offering the device at comparatively cheaper prices, he informed.

V Elangovan, BTA chairman, observed that the teaching technology is changing fast and the education department too adopts lot of such technologies into teaching. “We feel that we should be adequately prepared for the technologies in the market. The response from our teachers was very enthusiastic,” he said.

At the worshop, teaching-aids developed by the Pune firm were demonstrated. An input-cum display device helps to feed all standard shapes, charts, scientific and mathematical symbols in any standard application. A Braille embosser for printing ordinary books into the Braille and a scanner device that reads out the printed sheets were also found useful for blind teachers.

“The general challenge we face during the class room is the control of students because we can’t see the activities of the students in a class. Using such modern equipment will help to increase the involvement of students,” said M Kalidoss, a history teacher in Kodukkampatti High School in Madurai.

Nicholas Francis, director of Helen Keller  Talking Library, who inaugurated the workshop, remarked that the visually challenged are the pioneers in utilising modern technologies among the differently abled community. “The visually challenged teachers should not be left behind with technological advancements and should strive hard to learn these scientific tools,” he said.

Elangovan said that the association is planning to hold similar workshops in Tirunelveli in the coming days for the benefit of blind teachers from Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / March 25th, 2013

Rotary Club Award for Irai Anbu

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Education, Records, All

V Irai Anbu, Principal Secretary, Personnel and Administrative Reforms, has received the ‘For the sake of honour’ award from the Rotary Club of Madras Vadapalani.

Shanthi Selvam, president of the club, presented the award to Irai Anbu for his noble contribution to the student community, at a function here on Thursday. “The cause is more important than the goal,’’ said Irai Anbu, in his acceptance speech.

At the same event, Dr Jothi Clara J Michael and Shurthi Jauhari were honoured with the ‘rotary vocational excellence awards’ for their exemplary services in the field of nursing and Hindustani music, respectively.

Sarada Venkatraman, a Carnatic musician of Ashok Nagar was also awarded with ‘Rotary Appreciation Award’ for her excellent service to the women and kids. “Music and art enrich every person, so every child has to be trained in any one of the fine arts,’’ observed Sarada.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / March 23rd, 2013

Several sectors get boost in the budget

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, Science & Technologies

ChennaiCF22mar2013

*Compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre for drought-hit farmers in Cauvery delta.

*12,000 milch animals and 6 lakh sheep and goats for 1.5 lakh poor women.

*Rs 50 crore for water conservation and canopy improvement programme
*Special project for eco- restoration of rivers and water bodies under Chennai River Restoration Trust (CRRT)
*New ship building yard at Thoothukudi
*Creation of 25000 acres of land bank
*Special incentive package for MSME
*Rs 10 crore for promoting rural BPOs
*Four grade separators to be installed at a cost of Rs 271 crore
*600 MW thermal power station in North Chennai to be commisioned by may 2013
*Rs 2000 crore for highways development programme
*Creation of State Highways Development Authority
*60,000 solar-powered green houses
*Rs 750 crore allocation for Metrorail
*Rs 2 crore grant for Tamil University in Thanjavur
*Rs 250 crore World class ocenarium at Mammalapuram
*Study on multi modal transport integration to be taken up in the city.
*Solar installations for government buildings at a cost of Rs 11.7 crore
*Rs 750 crore for village infrastructure
*Special health insurance scheme for pensioners
*Comprehensive health insurance scheme for  Lankan Tamil refugees
source:  http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Politics / by DC / March 22nd, 2013

Nod for 2 Tamil subjects in SPM

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, World Opinion

COMMUNITY’S REQUEST: Najib says students can take Tamil language and literature for total of 12 subjects

Klang :

PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced yesterday that secondary school students could now take two  Tamil subjects in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, resolving the long-standing request by the Indian community.

These are among the initiatives taken by the ruling coalition to meet the Indian community’s requests, in addition to other socio-economic efforts which are being carried out to alleviate the burden faced by the community.

Speaking to a 50,000-strong crowd at a meet-the-people gathering themed “Pilihan Rakyat” (People’s Choice), organised by MIC, he said there should be no problems if students wanted to add Tamil language and Tamil Literature for their SPM from now on.

“They can now take a maximum 12 subjects, including Tamil language and Tamil Literature. No problem with that,” he said, to thunderous applause from the audience.

He also emphasised the ruling coalition’s priority on job opportunities and also places of worship, which he said the Parti Keadilan Rakyat-led Selangor government had failed to deliver.

“Since the last election in 2008, we haven’t demolished any temple. Instead, we have given numerous allocations for countless temples and Indian associations.

“Compared with the opposition, in Selangor, they have demolished seven places of worship, including a private temple in Sepang.

“Why would they do such a thing? Don’t the Indians have the right to pray at their own place?

“If BN takes over, we will never do that.”

Najib noted a huge achievement by the Federal Government where it had resolved close to 7,000 cases of stateless Indians in the country.

“We have given allocations, such as giving out loans to Indian entrepreneurs. About RM58 million has been distributed to small and medium enterprises.”

He added that judging from the many initiatives, the Indian community should throw its support behind the ruling coalition in the coming election so it would continue to implement transformation for the country.

“We learnt a bitter lesson in the 2008 election. I know that the voters did not want the opposition to win (in the last election).

“They only wanted to send us a message that BN has to change, and that is what we did.

“For the past four years, we have been bringing changes after changes, programmes after programmes, allocations after allocations to help the Indian community. And we know the people want us to do more.”

This, he said, was proof that BN’s promises to the people had been fulfilled, unlike the opposition’s unkept promises which he described as “Janji tinggal janji” .

“Look at their (recently launched) election manifesto. Those are not promises. If there’s no promise, what’s the value? There’s no value at all,” he said to loud cheers from the crowd.

Najib also said the “mood” within the BN camp was encouraging, as it had received overwhelming response at their gatherings, indicating the people’s strong support for the ruling coalition.

“I was in Kelantan recently, and its ‘Gelombang Merah’ was so strong and we have a good chance to end Pas’ administration in the state.”

Not only would the show of support be an indicator of victory, Najib said that it would translate to the support given to him as prime minister.

“This will be the first time I will be contesting to get the mandate from the people as prime minister and the first time I will need your full support so that I can continue my work as prime minister because we have big plans in store.”

He said government’s transformation agenda would be crushed if no support was given.

“Moreover, the opposition’s manifesto did not mention anything specifically about the Indian community.

“They tried to fool the people. But this time, we are confident that the Indian community will be with us. Tomorrow will be ours and tomorrow BN will shine and will go forward with the support from the Indian community.”

Earlier, Najib announced that he was adding another RM10,000 to MIC’s RM90,000 in funds which were collected by the party for the fallen heroes in Sabah.

MalaysiaCF19mar2013

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak meeting with the people at SMK Meru in Klang yesterday. Pic by Syarafiq Abd Samad

source: http://www.nst.com.my / New Straits Times / By Ahmad Fairuz Othman  &  Rahmah  Ghazali / news@nst.com.my / March 18th, 2013

IT employee gears up to join Army

Education, Science & Technologies

KrishnamurthyCF17mar2013

Chennai:
After working for three ye­ars at TCS as a software engineer, Ooty’s B. Kris­h­namurthy (26) is all excited to don the olive green uniform and join the 43rd medium regiment at Ajmer as a lieutenant next month.
Ready to pass out from the Officers’ Training Acade­my (OTA) on Saturday, Krishnamurthy spoke to DC about his experiences in the OTA, the difference between IT job and serving in the armed forces, the lack of awareness about army in TN and how it feels to be the first uniformed person in his family.
“I was attracted to the armed forces right from my childhood days as the Madras Regiment was stationed at Ooty. But as like all youth, I did computer science engineering and took up a job with TCS. But during recession time, I decided to move towards my first love. I cleared Service Selection Board examination in my first attempt and joined OTA. Wearing the olive green uniform gives me tremendous happiness. I want to reach the top in my desired profession and continue serving the country even after my retirement,” said Krishnamu­rthy, who excelled in running and general academics during the 11-months course at OTA.
“When I joined the course, I struggled physically because I was not used to physical activities. My IT job was more sedentary and we used to have snacks and tea at 4 pm in our office, while at OTA I was busy playing sports. But with rigorous training I was able to compete with even the NCC cadets in a span of three months,” reminiscenced Krishna­mur­thy, who noted that discipline and comradeship comes naturally to the cadets. “I used to wake up only after 8 am during my TCS days, but now even when I am at home, I am not able to sleep after 3.30 am,” he added.
Only child of K. Bala­chandran, who retired as section officer at Hindus­tan Photo Films, and schoolteacher Kalyani, Krishnamurthy wants more youth to join armed forces from Tamil Nadu.
“When I first met a few north Indians at OTA, they explained to me everything about the course. I was not even aware of the basics. It showed how much we lacked in knowledge about the army,” he added.
For one, who had not ventured out of the state except for a lone visit to Shirdi, Krishnamurthy got a mix of entire India at OTA and has now mastered Hindi too.
source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC  / by S. Sujatha / March 16th, 2013

TN girl is GATE biotech topper

Education, Records, All
deepaCF16mar2013
Chennai:
A final year B.Tech student of the SASTRA University, Thanjavur, Deepa Rajagopalan, has bagged the all India first rank in biotechnology in GATE this year.
The res­ults were released Fri­day morning by  the Indian Institute of Tech­nology (IIT), Bombay, which coordinated GATE.
With a score of 80, Deepa has emerged first amongst the 16,159 candidates who appeared for GATE-2013 in the biotechnology str­eam. “Although I’ve been preparing for the past three years, I put in a lot more effort  from Dece­mber last year and my two internships at the Indian Institute of Scie­nce (IISc), Bengaluru and University of Michi­g­an, too helped me in writing GATE,” said an elated Deepa.

AP students ace tech aptitude test

Hyderabad: Students from Andhra Pradesh have outdone their peers in other states in the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE-2013) results announced on Friday.

AP had the most number of students declared qualified at 22,746. The second place went to Uttar Pradesh (22,400), followed by Mahar-ashtra (9,951), Bihar (9,820) and Kerala (8,992).

Pune student Rohit Ronge, who took the exam from Hyderabad, secured All-India First Rank in Instrumentation Engineering.

AP student Chakradhar Reddy secured sixth rank in the Electrical Engine-ering while Parth Lathigara, also from AP, secured 10th rank in the Electro-nics and Communication Engineering stream.

Out of the 9,84,855 candidates who took the exam 1,36,699 have qualified which is 13.88 per cent.

Among the candidates who qualified, 72,125 belong to General category, 41,237 to OBC-NC, 18,936 to SC, and 4,401 to ST category. There were 1,136 physically challenged candidates who qualified in various categories.

The online exam for 2,02,223 candidates, in 15 papers, was conducted in 572 centres spread over 123 cities across the country, on January 20. The offline exam for 9,98,505 candidates in the remaining six papers was conducted in 992 centres in 183 cities and towns on February 10.

“Aspirants in Civil Engineering increased substantially this year to 67,472 from 36,000-odd last year,” said Aditya Reddy of GATE Forum, a popular coaching institute.
source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com /  Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / by N. Arun Kumar / March 16th, 2013

Living my dream

Education

KarthikeyanCF12mar2013

Karthikeyan Subbarayan’s tryst with Germany’s scientific community began at IPK-Gatersleben.

Life’s opportunities as well as my own curiosity led me to Germany as a post-doctoral scientist. After schooling from a municipal elementary school and Anderson Higher Secondary School, Kanchipuram, I did my undergraduation and postgraduation at Madras Christian College (MCC) and VELS University, Chennai, respectively. During my initial college days, I was a member of the Scrub society of the MCC and was involved in the institution’s conservation activities to preserve the 365-acre campus. Later, it drove me to apply biotechnological strategies to conserve medicinal plants during my master and doctoral studies in VELS University.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST), India, sanctioned a travel grant to present my doctoral work in a conference at Gent University, Belgium, which provided an opportunity to expose myself to the European scientific environment. Later, I was selected from among the 194 worldwide applicants for the Leibniz-DAAD postdoctoral fellowships. This paved the way to IPK-Gatersleben, Germany. The Genebank at IPK represents one of the largest cryo-collections in the world. Here, my goal is to reveal the undisclosed stress factors in order to improve cryopreservation methodologies.

Deutschland

My experience in Germany has been invaluable. Germans are friendly by nature. In addition to my research activities I learned German and this enabled me to understand the German culture. Above all, the exposure helped me to understand myself. Living away from the comfort zone of home and homeland, made me confident, dynamic and flexible. This is exactly what today’s employers are looking for.

Every place in Germany is picturesque. The place where I lived Gatersleben is a village, and it is here that the international research institute and a world-class industry are located. It is temperate throughout with warm summers and cold winters — prolonged periods of frost or snow are common.

At the IPK, the scientific library and documentation include classic library services and special care databases such as continuous updating and maintenance of the publications, presentations and posters of the scientists. At IPK there are 16 Indian PhD scholars and scientists. We presented Indian values at the ‘The open day festival’ organised every year by IPK which provides a platform to communicate with the Germans. My weekends are usually spent at Gatersleben-Indoor stadium. Sometime I visit Leipzig’s traditional restaurants and pubs. At Leipzig, my favourite is chocolate. It is one of the most popular flavours in the world, and in Germany there is no exception. Chocolate is so loved in Germany that it is engrained into the culture.

Inspiration

The DAAD (The German Academic Exchange Service) offered scholarships and I got the chance to participate in DAAD scholarship-holders meet ’12 in Gottingen, a home of 44 Nobel Prize Winners. This event inspired me to present my paper at the historical Linnean Society, London, in October 2012.

The writer is a post doctoral fellow at In Vitro Storage and Cryopreservation, Group//Genebank Department, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Germany.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> / Features> Education Plus> Colleges  / GOAL POST /  by Dr. Karthikeyan Subbarayan / March 11th, 2013

‘Be not job seekers, but job creators’

Business & Economy, Education, Leaders, Records, All

RajakumariCF10mar2013

Rajakumari Jeevagan, Founder and Managing Partner, Wings and Waalai Group of Hotels, Madurai, addressing students as part of Business Line Club lecture at St Mary’s College, Tuticorin. / The Hindu Business Line

Madurai , MARCH 8:

“Be not job seekers, become job creators’’ said Rajakumari Jeevagan, Founder and Managing Partner, Wings and Waalai Group of Hotels and Chairperson of “WE (Women Entrepreneurs)’’ forum of Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Madurai.

She was delivering a lecture on ‘Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship’ under the Business Line Club of the Department of Commerce, St. Mary’s College, Tuticorin, recently.

The event was sponsored by Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Tuticorin.

She said India is changing from a traditional society where the duties of women, especially at home as dependents, were stressed more. Today, women are equal partners in the process of growth and development and a significant productive force in the economy. A good number of them have risen to occupy high and commanding posts in public life. But this is not enough. The contribution will become more fulfilling only when they emerge as job creators, and not remain mere job seekers.

Opportunities abound around in their immediate environment. Only they need to be identified and grabbed. The Government aims to empower women and help develop their skill-levels. There are various programmes under implementation and institutions support such programmes, she said.

Citing her own experience, she spoke of the transformation from a humble housewife to an entrepreneur. She observed that one can become an entrepreneur either independently or as a team. Hard work and self-belief, coupled with uninterrupted focus are vital. A larger perspective and a sense of business climate are also necessary. Constant up-gradation of knowledge and a flair for technology adoption will also help women entrepreneurs. Under Indian conditions, circumstances such as family support and background do matter, but not for those who are determined, she said.

The capability for multi-tasking and a search for new things and value addition should be a constant endeavour. She urged the students to penetrate themarket, discover something new and start a business, a product through brand-building.

Earlier, R.Thangapandian, Regional Manager, TMB, explained the schemes of the bank, especially for promotion of education and entrepreneurship. Dr J. Ellora, Head of the Department, was present.

(With inputs from Paul Joseph)

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Home> News> Education / by The Hindu Correspondent / Maduran, March 08th, 2013

MCC felicitates alumni Seshan, Chandrika Tandon

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence

Mcc felicitates alumni SeshanCF08mar2013

T.N. Seshan and Chandrika Tandon are being felicitated at MCC on Wednesday. —DC

Chennai:

 Though two alumni —T.N. Seshan, former chief election commissioner and Cha­ndrika Tandon, foun­d­er of Tandon capital associates — represented two different periods in Mad­ras Christian College, they both went on to achieve in their respective fields wit­h­out forgetting their roots.

And when MCC, which completed 175 years, and the MCC Alumni Associ­ation decided to recognise the accomplishments of various alumni, they cho­se to honour these two al­umni in its first edition of the alumni series held on Wednesday.

Seshan completed BSc Physics (honors) in 1952 and joined the college faculty. “Education has ch­­anged out of shape now. Everyone should have a vi­s­ion to make MCC wor­ld-class in education. Departments like English should be upgraded,” he said.

Another alumnus who was felicitated was Chan­drika Tandon, who completed B.Com from MCC in 1973 and went on to work with 20 global institutions, their boards and CEOs.

Chandrika who founded the advisory firm Tandon capital associates also has a passion for music. She said, “I studied in Holy Angels, T. Nagar and ne­v­er went to Tambaram fr­om T. Nagar. It was difficult for me to convince my mother.

Also, my mother was having this plan of getting me married at a young age.” Though Tandon’s family was very conservative, she said that her focus and commitment to win and achieve in her field made her determined to overcome many obstacles in life.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / March 07th, 2013