Category Archives: Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

‘I dedicate the award to my family, doctors and staff’

January 30, 2016Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technologiesadmin

Recently, there was jubilation at a multi-specialty hospital in West Tambaram over a rare honour bestowed upon its founder. He had been chosen for the coveted Padma Shri Award and the joy of those who worked with him knew no bounds.

The man, as we all know, is D.K. Srinivasan, who started the Hindu Mission Hospital in West Tambaram along with his friend Dr. C.S. Gangadhar Sharma, a leprologist, on December 5, 1982. What was just started as an outpatient ward in a small shed, over three decades ago, is now a majestic landmark on GST Road with 220 beds. The hospital serves 500 outpatients and 100 inpatients every day.

D.K. Srinivasan, founder-secretary of the hospital, gave up his businesses to serve the poor by offering them medical care at subsidised rates. Apart from providing healthcare, he is instrumental in offering quality education to the underprivileged and first-generation students through Valluvar Gurukulam Higher Secondary School, Grand Southern Trunk Road, West Tambaram. “Initially, it was quite difficult; balancing the funds from donors and meeting out the demands of the public were major challenges,” says Srinivasan.

Today, the multi-specialty hospital has grown by leaps and bounds and has a raft of facilities including 9 operation theatres and offers various specialties, including cardiology, spine surgery, neurology, orthopaedics and also an intensive care unit for children.

It charges Rs.200 per sitting for dialysis, conducts 200 free Intraocular Cataract Lenses (IOL) eye surgeries, distributes free artificial limbs and callipers, free speech and hearing therapy for special students. The hospital also conducts free medical camps regularly in various areas in the region, including Mudichur, Kancheepuram and Tambaram. During the recent deluge, the hospital provided free medical treatment to over 6,000 flood-affected victims and free dialysis for 40 patients. On how he feels about the award, he says, “I dedicate the award to my family, doctors and staff of the Hospital.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> DownTown / by T.S. Atul Swaminathan / Chennai – January 30th, 2016

IIT-M Lads Design Foldable Rail Ramp

January 27, 2016Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologiesadmin

Chennai :

Ever wondered why railway coaches should have just the vertical footboard that is risky for passengers? This could soon change if the idea of a group of IIT Madras students, who have designed a semi-automatic one to be fitted to the coaches, becomes a reality.

Designed at one of India’s premium technology institute’s tech festival Shaastra, the idea has already attracted the attention of top Railway officials. Impressed by this project idea along with two other ones that won the ‘Indian Railways Design Challenge’, Railway officials have decided to try out these modifications in upcoming coaches. The contestants were asked to design a suitable mechanism or device that could be fitted to the bogie or moved about on the platform without major alterations to the coaches.

Taking up this task, team ‘Innovators’ comprising mechanical and civil engineering students from IIT, had created a foldable semi-automatic footboard. Explaining its working principle, Borde, a team member said, “On arrival at the station, the guard should press a centrally-connected switch so that the steps, with multiple pin joints and controlled by single pneumatic cylinder and micro-controllers, roll out. When the switch is pressed again, these would fold back.” Borde’s team had designed a standard four-bar mechanism, which will be attached to the bogie with the fixed pivots attached close to the door. This mechanism consists of a ladder, a stepped ramp and a pneumatic telescopic bar.

A student event-organiser, Surya said, “One of the team members, whose father lost a limb while getting into a train, came up with this innovative automatic footboard design for Southern Railway coaches. This could end the woes of the elderly and differently abled persons.”

Speaking to Express, Narendra Borde, one of the team members said, “Every year, hundreds of passengers get either maimed or even killed while entering or exiting trains through the steep footboard. This is because of the large gap between the platform and the coach.”

While Borde’s team’s project was selected as one of the top three projects by Southern Railway officials who were the judges, another team from IIT-M secured the first place.

Raj Dandekar, a student from the team said, “After taking the maximum and minimum gap into consideration (229-305 mm) across India, with no major modifications in the coach design, our mechanism can help 22-24 people comfortably entrain and detrain within 180 to 250 seconds.”

The students claimed that the total cost of this device would be around Rs 8,300.

R Kuppan, Chief Mechanical Engineer, Southern Railways, who attended the event said, “We are generally skeptical when it comes to student projects, but today their projects were outstanding. The winners will be given a chance to work on their ideas with Railway engineers to develop them and we will try it on our railway coaches.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Ram M Sundaram / January 25th, 2016

‘Feel honoured to be selected’

January 26, 2016Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technologiesadmin

Gastroenterologist T.S. Chandrasekar, the founding chairman of MedIndia Hospital, said he felt honoured to be chosen for the award for his medico-social work in the field of gastroenterology.

Dr. Chandrasekar, who has several firsts to his credit including the Braille chart on hygiene that he created last year, is also the founder of the MedIndia Charitable Trust. A graduate of Madurai Medical College, Dr. Chandrasekar also founded the department of medical gastroenterology at Coimbatore Medical College.

His hospital is affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University to offer post-doctoral fellowship programme in advanced GI endoscopy.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / January 26th, 2016

Tanker Awards on Monday

January 23, 2016Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologiesadmin

A dialysis unit inaugurated in 2013  Express

Tamilnad Kidney Research (TANKER) Foundation presents its 23rd annual charity and awards night on January 25. The evening is dedicated to Malathi Venkatesan, a trustee of the foundation, who passed away last year. The chief guest for the function will be Vikram Kapur, IAS.

The keynote address, titled ‘Living a normal life despite being on dialysis’, will be delivered by Kamal D Shah, director, patient services, Nephro Plus Dialysis Centres.

The foundation has completed 22 years of service for the underprivileged with kidney ailments. From June 1993, the foundation has provided 1.74 lakh free and subsidised dialysis for 883 patients. N The foundation has four subsidised dialysis units across the State. These units have 42 dialysis stations. It conducts 1,933 dialyses per month, of which 1,749 are free of cost with help from the Chief Minister’s health insurance scheme and other donors.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / January 23rd, 2016

I never expected to win this award: Latha Sundaram

January 23, 2016Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, Alladmin

When Latha Sundaram got a letter from the consultants of the Women Achievers Award project by the Ministry of Women & Child Development in the fag end of 2015, she chose to keep it under wraps. Latha won the award for her contribution to “Access to justice and protection of women and their rights” in the #100 women contest to recognize women who are the pride of the nation.

“Frankly speaking, I never expected to win this award. So, I waited until I got the official confirmation from the Union Ministry. Once the list was up, everyone from the Railway fraternity, including the Railway minister Suresh Prabhu congratulated me.” Interestingly, Latha is the first railway employee to win the award.

53-year-old Latha has been an employee of the Indian Railways for the last 33 years and has undertaken many cleanliness programmes through her charitable trust, Aram Foundation (she has been with the foundation for over four years and is the managing trustee of the same). “As the managing trustee of the foundation and an employee of the Railways, we have been cleaning the Coimbatore Railway station periodically. We have been getting many volunteers from colleges and we are planning to devise a mechanism, through which the cleaning process can be done in a systematic manner. We have also been painting the walls of all stations across Salem division.”

In the meantime, Latha’s trust also provides many counselling services for children in corporation schools. “These children do not get personal attention and that is what we are trying to focusing upon. We have been conducting self-defense training, cleanliness & traffic awareness programmes, pre-marital counselling and smart class guidance to these children. This apart, we have been providing counselling to prisoners as well, where the primary focus is upon women and children. We are planning to take these programmes to Tiruppur and Erore as well in a phased manner.”

Though Latha says that she finds it tough to manage her time between social service, Railways and her family, she has absolutely no qualms about it. “There are two things I strongly believe in- to give back to the society as much as possible & never come up with an excuse when it comes to social service. I have always believed that women are extremely crucial to the well-being of the society and for a society to flourish, women have to be empowered. I grew up in a family of teachers and I have seen my parents facing many a hardship to transform their students into good individuals. I intend to follow the same. I am also extremely grateful to my trust and every volunteer who have provided yeoman service to the women and children.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Coimbatore / by P. Sangeetha, TNN / January 17th, 2016

National award for MSU professor

January 23, 2016Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologiesadmin

A.G. Murugesan receiving the national award from Union Minister for Chemicals Anantkumar in New Delhi recently. Joint Secretory of Ministery of Petrochemicals Avinash Joshi looks on.

A.G. Murugesan, Professor and Head, Sri Paramakalyani Centre of Excellence in Environmental Sciences, Alwarkurichi, a satellite centre of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, has won the national award of the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemicals for his innovative research in polymer from natural resources.

He received the award from Union Minister for Petrochemicals Ananthkumar at a function in New Delhi recently. The Ministry is recognising scientists and innovators by giving national awards for the past five years.

Dr. Murugesan was selected for the sixth national award under the category ‘Innovation in Polymeric Material’ for his research in biopolymer from natural resources. The award includes a memento, citation and a shawl.

The awardees were selected by a high-level juries committee under the chairmanship of S.K. Nayak, Director General of Central Institutes of Plastic Engineering and Technology, Haryana.

Prof. Murugesan is doing research in different aspects of industrial toxicology, natural resources management, environmental impact assessment, bio-remediation and bio-energy generation using microbial technologies.

He has produced a biopolymer – Poly Hydroxy Butyrate B – from water hyacinth.

Dr. Murugesan, who has received several State awards, has guided 34 research scholars so far, published more than 675 research papers and authored six books on environment. He is a Fellow in several top-level academies of the country. He has also served as expert member in several high-level environmental committees, including the Ministry of Environment and Forest’s State-level expert appraisal committee for two consecutive terms.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Tirunelvelli – January 23rd, 2016

CA Final Topper Clears Exam in One Sitting, Makes Chennai Proud

January 20, 2016Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, Alladmin

Chennai / Vijayawada :

A 23-year-old BCom graduate from Chennai, James John Britto, has emerged the national topper in his maiden attempt in the final Chartered Accountant exam, the results of which were announced on Sunday. Trailing him was Mohan Kumar Nagolu from Thottamledu, a non-descript hamlet under Chodavaram village panchayat near Srikalahasti in Chittoor district in Andhra, who emerged second.

A resident of Mogappair, Britto completed his graduation in Loyola College. The final exam of one of the most toughest and rigorous professional courses in the world was conducted in November. Britto’s overall score was 595 out of 800 (74.38 per cent) which secured him the first rank in the country. The CA exams are divided into three levels — Common Proficiency Test (CPT), Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) and the Final Examination.

“After clearing the foundation exams (CPT), I started preparing for the intermediate exams (IPCC). Since I did not wish to discontinue, I was preparing for the IPCC alongside my UG course,” said Britto.

On strategies he adopted to clear the exam, which people with even five to 10 years of professional CA experience find tough, he said, “I stuck to my basic plan of studying hard for 10-12 hours on an average everyday and this eventually peaked during the last few weeks of preparation.”

When asked about his future plans, one thing Britto was clear about was that he wanted to work in the city.

“As of now, I am looking at employment and have kept options open regarding the nature of the company. But one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t prefer working abroad as I love working here in the city,” said Britto, son of A Raja, a leading chartered accountant.

His father being in the field for nearly 30 years was one of the factors that Britto said contributed to his great success. “My father, who is in the same industry for close to 30 years, helped me a lot during the preparations and I would say his role was crucial throughout the CA exam journey.” Of the 42, 469 candidates who took up the exam last November, only 2,440 (5.75%) managed to clear the exam.

Nagolu Mohan Kumar from Tirupati and Avinash Sancheti from Kolkata secured the second and third rank in the final exam with scores 572 (71. 5 per cent) and 566 (70.75 per cent) respectively. When Mohan received a call from Manoj Fadnis, the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), informing him about his results, Mohan Kumar was literally on cloud nine.

“My happiness knew no bounds when Manoj Sir called me up and told me that I had secured the all-India second rank. The call was immediately followed by another one, this time from M Devaraj Reddy, vice-president of ICAI. I was thrilled and shared the news with my family,” Mohan Kumar told Express over the phone. Mohan, who pursued the CA course right from Intermediate, took coaching from Superwhiz in Vijayawada and did his articleship with Datla and Associates in Hyderabad. He attributed his success in the CA final to hard work. “Since November, four months prior to the commencement of exams, I had been studying 12 to 13 hours a day, including Sundays,” he said, opining that systematic preparation is the key for success in CA exams.

Mohan Kumar’s father N Nagaraju Reddy is a farmer, while his brother Bhanuprakash has completed his BTech. Kumar’s entire family celebrated his success with the villagers also joining them.

Going forward, Mohan Kumar said, he wanted to work with a good MNC for three-four years before going for own practice.

Meanwhile, Superwhizz principal S Venkateswara Rao said along with Mohan Kumar, the institute had bagged three more ranks within the first 50 ranks. J Harsha Sai bagged the 7th rank, M Swathi the 32nd and P Pradeep Rai secured the 50th rank at the national level. The ICAI also released results for the CPT exams conducted during the December 2015 on Sunday. The overall pass percentage for this exam was around 34.45 percent as only 34,129 out of the 99,077 candidates who appeared for it cleared the test.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / January 18th, 2016

Chennai floods: 14 heroes honoured

January 19, 2016Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, Alladmin

Chennai :

They have no cutouts in cinema theatres. They have no big fan following. They led a simple life just like anybody else until the rain gods lashed their fury on Chennai in December.

They rose to the occasion. They saved lives and brought smiles to many others. “We had to make a choice. Whether to sit at home or get out there and save people,” they said. They then became real heroes.

On Monday, 14 people, who volunteered in flood relief work and did a heroic job, were honoured with awards at the Adding Smiles Ambassador Awards 2016 organised by Adding Smiles Foundation.

“We were doing our duty to help someone who is in need,” said Blue Cross general manager Dawn Williams, one of the awardees, in a video on the awardees.

All the 14 volunteers, including Peter Van Geit, Chennai Trekking Club founder and senior citizens of Anandam Homes, were presented with ‘Real Hero Awards’.

Awards were also given to celebrities, who were active during flood relief. The team ‘Mana Madras Kosam’ with Telugu film actors including Navdeep, Kajal Agarwal and Samantha , Sathyam Cinemas and Tamil actor Parthepan were presented awards.

“I am doing whatever little I can do. I have changed myself. As you grow older, you get fearless and want to do things before you go away,” the award winning composer said.

Activist and founder of NGO Prajwala Sunitha Krishnan, team from National Award winning Tamil film Kaaka Muttai, former RBI governor C Rangarajan, national paralympic swimming champion Madhavi Latha, founder and dean of Great Lakes Institute of Management Prof Bala V Balachandran, acid attack survivor Soniya Choudhary were some of the awardees in the ‘ambassador awards’ category.

The highlight of the evening was music composer AR Rahman, who was one of the awardees in ‘Adding Smiles Ambassador Awards’ category. The category included people, who have come the hard way to live a dream and spread smiles in the life of others by way of help.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / by V. Tejonmayan, TNN / January 19th, 2016

Click and repair

January 18, 2016Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Featuresadmin

Need a plumber? Help is just a click away

How do I fix a dripping, leaking faucet? How to repair and replace a ceiling fan? Homemaker P.V. Kailasi faced a tough time to maintain her independent home at Vadavalli.

“While people living in apartments have access to a network of service providers, independent house owners have to verify the credentials of a plumber or an electrician before letting them in. Since the segment is highly unorganised, it is difficult for one to contact the right person to get the job done on time and at the right price,” she says.

Kailasi along with her son S. Vivek, a design engineer have started www.servicedeal.in that connects a verified datapool of plumbers, carpenters, gardeners, and electricians with customers who are in need of help.

“We thought an online platform would be the best way. We have built our database after verifying their credentials . Once they fulfil the criteria we give them a photo proof ID and enrol them. When a customer makes a request on the portal, we check the availability of the service provider and send a representative to inspect the job. We mail a quotation and designate work after getting the approval from the customer,” says Vivek.

Kailasi, who operates the website out of her home, says communication skills are vital. “You are constantly liaising between two parties. We get a minimum of two calls per day from R.S. Puram, Saibaba Colony and Vadavalli with requests as varied as broken shower tap, broken glass window, a fan regulator or a ceiling fan. We have to learn the exact location and address and communicate it to the servicemen,” she says.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / K. Jeshi / January 18th, 2016

Kumbakonam college physicist bags CSIR project

January 18, 2016Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinionadmin

R. Radha is one of the eight physicists to get it

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has awarded a research project to physicist R. Radha, Director, Centre for Nonlinear Science, Government Arts College, Kumbakonam.

The CSIR will fund the project to the tune of Rs. 25 lakh and Dr. Radha is one of the eight physicists to be awarded the prestigious research project in Physical Sciences in 2015.

The Centre had come out with 30 international publications in the last five years while Dr. Radha received international recognition for pioneering research work from fora such as INSA Royal Society of London Visiting Fellow, INSA Polish Academy of Science Visiting Fellow, Third World Academy of Sciences UNESCO Association Award and is a Visiting Scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Kumbakonam – January 18th, 2015

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