Category Archives: Education

Maths workshop, talent contest, quiz

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

In connection with the 124 birth anniversary of Nobel Laureate Sir. C.V. Raman, birth anniversary of Indian Scientist Nobel Laureate Sir. C.V. Raman and National Science Day which falls on December 22, Nehru Children’s Cultural Association is organising a mathematics workshop from to 9th December 4 to 9 for school students. Mathematics talent contest and mathematics quiz competition will form a part of the programme only for those attending the workshop.

Winners will receive certificates and prizes during Ramanujan’s birthday celebrations, which will be held on and 23 December 22 and 23 at SASTRA University, Thanjavur and Kumbakonam. Dr. K. Kannan, Professor and Head of the Department of Mathematics and Dr. R. Srikanth, Professor of Mathematics, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, will conduct the mathematics workshop.

They will give lecture on innovative ideas in maths which will cover elementary number theory, theory of numbers, music in maths, elementary mathematical modelling, pattern recognition, solve Olympiad problems and competitive examination problems.

Admission would be on first-come-first-servebasis.

Interested students can contact M.R. Sugumaran, president, Nehru Children’s Cultural Association, at 81444 16484 on or before November 30.

Classes : Monday to Friday :4.30 a.m to 6.30 p.m Saturday : 2 p.m to 6.15 p.m Sunday : 8.30 a.m to 12.45 p.m

01.12.2012 : Saturday : Inauguration : 4.30 p.m to 6.30 p.m

09.12.2012 :Sunday : Valedictory : 9 a.m to 1.15 p.m

Function : 22 & 23 December : SASTRA University, Thanjavur & Kumbakonam

source: http://www.thehindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / November 25th, 2012

Tree count at 80,000 after 1st phase of census

Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature

The first phase of tree census covered educational institutions / Photo: R. Shivaji Rao / The Hindu

Number of exotic species trumps indigenous ones in city; second phase to begin by month-end

Exotic species of trees such as gulmohar and copper pods outnumber indigenous ones in the city.

This was one of the findings from the first phase of a tree census spearheaded by the urban forestry division. The second phase is likely to begin in the last week of November.

Over 80,000 trees have been enumerated in Chennai so far. The census is being carried out in two phases with nearly 150 botany students and staff from various city colleges serving as volunteers. The programme began in August 2011 at Guindy National Park.

While the first phase covered mostly educational institutions, the second one will facilitate ward-wise enumeration of trees.

Some of the places covered in the first phase are Guindy National Park, IIT-Madras, Anna University, Theosophical Society, Ramakrishna Mission, Stella Maris College, Ethiraj College for Women, Nandanam Arts College and Queen Mary’s College, an official of the forest department said.

“During the census, we collect details such as the species of the tree, its girth which is the measurement of its circumference, approximate height, age, and its importance,” he said.

So far, over 150 species of trees have been identified. Forest officials are confident they will be able to find more species as the census progresses.

“Exotic species are prevalent now because they were popular until a decade ago. It is only over the past ten years that many indigenous trees were planted,” another forest official said.

The tree census that began in Pune three years ago has not been completed yet. The census has also been carried out in some areas in Mumbai and Bangalore as well, the official said.

D. Narasimhan, associate professor, Madras Christian College, who is the project coordinator of the census, said, “We work for about six to seven hours a day during the weekends. Since we cover residential neighbourhoods in the second phase, we will need the cooperation of residents.”

The census is likely to be completed by February 2013, he said.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Sunitha Sekhar / November 12th, 2012

Cancer awareness programme at SRM Medical College

Education, Science & Technologies

Chennai:

SRM Medical College and Research Centre in the city’s suburb organised a cancer awareness programme on Sunday. The programme was aimed to raise awareness and understanding about cancer that is affecting more and more people across the world.

Addressing the gathering, chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute Dr V Shantha said, in India, cancers are more often associated with tobacco use, but lifestyle changes are also aiding cancer in a large number. Shantha distributed prizes for the ‘Pathology Prize Competition’ , organised as part of the awareness programme. SRM University vice-chancellor (VC) M Ponnavaikko, pro-VC (Medical) P Thangaraju attended the programme.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / November 12th, 2012

‘Entrepreneurs need to be versatile, proactive’

Business & Economy, Education

 Common goal: Suresh Bose, Head – HR, Sterlite Copper Private Ltd, Tuticorin, addressing a meeting of Business Line Club of the Department of Management Studies of Dr Sivanthi Adithanar College, Tiruchendur, on Sunday.

Madurai, NOV. 7:

A successful entrepreneur does not reach the top of the pyramid by chance. He/she should have in him/her three significant skills to succeed, namely, being sweet, smart and humble. These need to be combined with hard work, forethought and long-term vision and mission to take them to the peak, according to Suresh Bose, Head – HR, Sterlite Copper Private Ltd, Tuticorin.

Addressing a meeting of Business Line Club of the Department of Management studies of Dr Sivanthi Adithanar College, Tiruchendur, on Sunday, he said that entrepreneurs of the present generation who have succeeded have demonstrated these skills very well. Citing the real experiences of Anil Agarwal, founder of Vedanta Group, of which Sterlite is a part, he said that the group had made many strides in its industrial production, exhibiting the significance of these skills.

Basic understanding of the business module is a prerequisite for success, he added. Diversification of the business to other core competency areas add more value and weight in keeping the financial results growing on the right track, he said.

He stressed on the need to stay well connected with a business daily, and appealed to students to nurture the practice of staying tuned to the habit of reading a business newspaper to build their confidence level and overall awareness of the market scenario. Stating that a challenging market awaited their entry, he stressed on the need to be versatile and proactive, engaging themselves in group discussions and role plays as part of improving their communication skills.

He also appealed to them to make periodical industrial visits during their academic career and get to know the realities in the corporate world as part of their curriculum so that they become market ready while they moved out of the gates of the institution.

Highlighting the various eco-friendly activities of Sterlite Copper, he said that budding management students should always look for synchronising the business models with the economy and allocate a permissible budget to give back to the society the due share as part of social cause.

G. Sathish Kumar, Sales Executive, The Hindu, Tirunelveli, earlier gave a brief introduction on the BL Club activities. Dr Tamilarasan, Head of the Department was also present.

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Home> News> Education / by Hindu’s Correspondent / Madurai, November 07th, 2012

Home is where the art is

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment

Innovative:  Using trash for cash.

So you have a load of unwanted stuff cluttering up your room. Here’s something you can do with them…

To teach is a pleasure and when it’s the fun kind of teaching, it’s even more pleasurable. Three schools where handpicked by the students of the Department of Communication, Madras Christian College, Chennai, for their Public Relation campaign ‘Cut the Crap’, which was based on recycling.

Newspapers became beautiful files, bottles pen stands, cardboard became photo frames and bits of cloth transformed into surukkupais. There is no such thing as ‘waste’ and the material in our homes can be made into something extraordinary with very little investment.

An exhibition ‘Recycled Creativity’ was set up in Madras Christian College, of a home which has its interiors made out of newspapers, cardboard, tins, bottles, cloth and everything we see as ‘crap’, to show how our rooms can be re-worked with just a little bit of creativity and a whole lot of trash.

The campaign went on for five days. On three days children from Balar Kalvi Nilayam, Vepery, Clarke School for the Deaf, Mylapore and Presidency Girls Higher Secondary School, Egmore participated.

About 250 children from these schools loved what they did and the schools are also planning to teach their school mates.

 

DEVAKAR R., VIII, Balar Kalvi Nilayam, Chennai

I made a pen stand and the idea was very new to me. I never thought waste could be turned into something as good and useful as this. I felt happy and I learnt so much, I felt loved and that encouraged me a lot. My friends have asked me to teach them.

PAVITHRA J., VII, Presidency GHSS, Chennai

We have never done anything like this before; it was a lot of fun and I really liked it. I want to teach everyone what I have learnt beginning with my little sister and my friends from other schools. I learnt how to make a plaited file and will use this to put all my papers in it. If I make more, I’m going to sell it at Rs. 50/- each.

SIDDHANTHA DAMALA, VIII, The Clarke School for the Deaf

I enjoyed this very much. Found it very interesting as well. I will teach my friends and family.

As told to Divya Thiagarajan and Nirmal Joseph Sebastian

Photos (Quotes): Prashanth Gurunathan, Divya Thiagarajan and Nirmal Joseph Sebastian

 

Make a pen stand

Method

1. Tear old newspaper into rectangular shapes and keep the size according to the water bottle you have cut. You may need around 30 to 35 of these.

2. Roll the rectangular sheets of paper and stick the end as you finish it.

3. Now glue the rolls to your water bottle

4. Cut the extras on the top of your pen stand in any pattern you like.

5. Decorate with paint, sequence or you could just leave it plain.

6. Once you let it dry, your pen stand is ready!

Photos: Prashanth Gurunathan

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Life & Style> Kids / by Divya Thiagarajan /  October 29th, 2012

Tirukkural goes into Punjabi now

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

Chennai:

The next time Union minister P Chidambaram recites Tirukkural couplets in Parliament, elected members from Punjab need not feel left out. The Tirukkural, a Sangam period collection of more than 1,000 rhyming couplets, will soon find its place in Punjabi book shelves too.

A retired principal of the government college of Faridkot in Punjab, Dr Tarlochan Singh Bedi has translated the ancient classic into Punjabi. It will soon be released by the Chennai-based Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), an autonomous body of the Union ministry of human resources development. The centre, established in 2007 in Chennai to promote classical Tamil, is working to bring out translated versions of 41 Tamil classics, including the Tirukkural.

Bedi said there were similarities between the ideas of Guru Nanak and those in the Tirukkural. “The focal point of the Tirukkural is feelings of love for human beings, which is what Guru Nanak preached too,” he told TOI over phone. Bedi has written many articles on the cultural and linguistic similarities between Tamil and Punjabi. His son is Tamil Nadu agriculture secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, who is well known in Cuddalore for his tsunami rehabilitation work in 2004 when he was district collector.

“I heartily welcome the translation of the Tirukkural into as many languages as possible, for it is a unique contribution of the early Tamil civilization and culture. It is a universal treatise,” said former IGNOU vice-chancellor V C Kulandaisamy. The professor, who is also the former chief of the Tamil Language Promotion Board, said the Tirukkural was relevant even today, given its secular outlook.

The Tirukkural has been translated into English, Latin, German, French, Dutch, Finish, Polish, Russian, Fiji and Malay languages. CICT is on the verge of completing translations into Telugu, Kannada, Manipuri and Nepali with the help of experts from Mysore, Chennai, Madurai and Delhi. Expert committees have been set up to evaluate the quality of the translations.

Meanwhile, Tamil scholars alleged that CICT has been slow to produce major works, including definitive editions of ancient Tamil classics, which were planned years ago. “CICT should have been a powerful academic body by this time,” said former University of Madras vice-chancellor Pon Kothandaraman, better known as Portko. He said his critical edition on Tolkappiam, an ancient literary classic, which was submitted to the institute years ago, has not yet been published. CICT officials said the projects are in various stages of progress.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Chennai / by Julie Mariappan, TNN / October 29th, 2012

Misericordia University Honors Angela Asirvatham

Education, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, Science & Technologies
                                                           Dr. Angela Asirvatham
 DALLAS, Penn., United States
  • Misericordia University recently honored Dr. Angela Asirvatham for excellence in scholarship, teaching and service to the campus and community.  Asirvatham, an associate professor of biology, was presented the Judge Max and Tillie Rosenn Excellence in Teaching Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to student learning and development.
  • According to the Dallas News, the award is given annually to an outstanding faculty member elected by a vote of the students.Asirvatham joined the Misericordia faculty in 2003 as an assistant professor.
  • The Indian American holds a doctorate in physiology from the Department of Biological Sciences at Kent State University and a master of science degree in reproductive physiology from the Department of Animal Sciences, University of Wyoming.She also holds a bachelor of veterinary science, the equivalent to a doctorate of veterinary medicine, from the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University in Chennai.
  • source: http://www.indiawest.com / Home> News> US Indian> News Dispatches / October 29th, 2012

Foldable vehicles dominate design expo

Education, Science & Technologies

An effort to transform future of surface transport

Will ‘foldable, transformable’ vehicles revolutionise the road surface transport scene for passengers in the years to come?

The answers seems ‘Yes’, going by three young Engineering students teams from across the country stealing the show at the just concluded ‘India Inventor Student Design Competition’ at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras here.Varad Patil and Ameya Ganapatye of the Fr C Rodrigues Institute of Technology, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, walked away with the first prize for innovatively designing a ‘foldable bicycle’, amid global concerns to go green by reduction of carbon monoxide (a greenhouse gas) releases into the atmosphere.

A digitalized 3-D model of a ‘foldable three wheeler’ by three students of PSG College of Technology Coimbatore, – Messrs L P A Shanmuganathan, T Manojkumar and B Aravind-, grabbed the second prize in the All-India competition.Not to be left behind was a two-member students team from the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar,- Messrs.

Shashank Agarwal and Dhwanil Shukla-,  who were adjudged the third prize for their innovative design of a ‘transformable car’, namely a four-wheeler that can be made into a two-wheeler.

The competition was organized by IIT-Madras and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in association with engineering design software maker Autodesk, B Nagarajan, Deputy Registrar, IIT-Madras said.

Competition

While over 1100 teams from various Engineering colleges in India registered for the competition, more than 400 designs were received for the meet, he said.

The participating ‘student teams’ this year “digitally designed a futuristic or innovative foldable / transformable vehicle using Autodesk products.”

A renowned five-member Jury comprising industry and academic experts evaluated the new designs submitted by the student teams, from among whom the top 12 teams were short-listed in an intensely creative competition.

The three top winners were chosen from that list, pointed out Nagarajan.

Vision

The objective of this All-India competition was to “sensitize young minds to India’s Design requirements and engaged them in developing innovative solutions. In doing so, we hope to nurture budding talent in our country with a focus on the design needs of the Nation,” said Prof M Ramanathan, Department of Engineering Design, IIT-Madras.

While the selected National finalists will take part in a four-day ‘boot camp’ to be held at Singapore from Nov 5, the winners will compete for ‘World Skills India In Mechanical Engineering Design (CAD – Computer Aided Designing)’ at the forthcoming ‘World Skills Competition (WSC)’ the largest skills competition, to be held in Germany in July 2013, Nagarajan said.

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> National / Chennai, DHNS / October 23rd, 2012

Inter school quiz competition held

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

NSN Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chitlapakkam, won an inter-school quiz competition held at Lakshmiammal Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chromepet. It was conducted by Srividya Madar Sangam, New Colony, Chrompet, on September 29. After the preliminary written test, top five schools qualified for the finals. A wide range of question related to current affairs, science and technology, art and literature, general knowledge, audio round and rapid fire round were posed by quiz masters Gopi, Sumathi and Savithiri.

Radha Badrinath, Assistant Professor of Commerce, Ethiraj College for Women, presided and distributed the trophy and cash award to the winner NSN Matriculation School, Chitlapakkam, represented by Harshan Shyam, A. Muthusamy and R. Gowtham. SRDF Vivekananda Vidyalaya, Chrompet, represented by Navin Sridhar and Sai Prakash, were the runners-up. Vel’s Vidyashram, Pallavaram, secured the third spot.

Vasantha Ramaswamy, president of the Madar Sangam, welcomed the students and guests.

Gomathy Sugritham of the Sangam thanked the gathering.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / October 20th, 2012

NBT goes all out to motivate regional language publications

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

Book lovers browsing through the collection at the final day of the book fair in Tiruchi on Sunday. /  Photo: M. Srinath / The Hindu

The National Book Trust (NBT), India, under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, is going all out to motivate the regional language publications to participate in a big way at the World Book Fair scheduled at Pragathi Maidan in New Delhi in February next year. Until its last edition, the World Book Fair organised by NBT, was held once two years. Following overwhelming response from book lovers, it was decided to make it an annual affair.

The NBT has already launched an exclusive World Book Fair 2013 website to create awareness on the forthcoming expo, Mr.T.Mathan Raj, assistant editor (Tamil), NBT, told The Hindu on Sunday. The book fair in Tiruchi organised by NBT concluded on Monday.

50% discount

To rope in more regional language publishers, the NBT has been providing 50 per cent discount in stall rent. NBT has also come forward to provide one stall free of cost to each regional language publishing association .

In Tamil Nadu, this offer has been made to BAPASI, which has been organising Chennai Book Fair successfully every year.

The regional publishing houses, which will find the rent of stalls too high, can take advantage of this offer, to display their works. He said that every year one country will be accorded the status of ‘guest of honour country’ at the World Book Fair.

For the February 2013 fair the honour has been bestowed on France. The theme of the forthcoming fair is ‘tribal literature’ and the NBT has planned to register indigenous literature in a big way at the World Book Fair.

Platform for discussion

The World Book Fair will provide a good opportunity to regional publishers to meet renowned writers and publishing houses of world languages, with whom they can hold negotiations on vital issues of copyright, and forge links.

Referring to the Tiruchi Book Fair, which the NBT organised for the first time in association with district administration and Rotary Club of Tiruchi, he said that the fair was a big hit and the locals wanted to extend the expo by some more days.

Mohammed Hussain, president, Rotary Club of Tiruchi, said that the fair had gladdened the book lovers of Tiruchi and neighbouring districts and publishing houses that had put up stalls.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Tiruchirapalli / by Syed Muthahar Saqaf / October 16th, 2012