Category Archives: Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

A shop of his own, a disease to win over

Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologies
Yogarasu Kumaran, along with two other young men, also recovering from mental illnesses, runs a vegetable shop at Villivakkam market, facilitated by Better Chances, an NGO working in the field of mental wellness -- Photo: K. Pichumani / The Hindu
Yogarasu Kumaran, along with two other young men, also recovering from mental illnesses, runs a vegetable shop at Villivakkam market, facilitated by Better Chances, an NGO working in the field of mental wellness — Photo: K. Pichumani / The Hindu

City NGO helps those with mental illnesses lead better lives, make a living

Until three months ago, K. Yogarasu Kumaran would sleep, wake up, eat, then go to sleep again, all day long, every day.

Diagnosed with schizophrenia, the 25-year-old had shuttled between private mental health facilities for years, but none, he said, had really helped.

Today, Mr. Kumaran, along with two other young men, also recovering from mental illnesses, runs a vegetable shop at Villivakkam market, facilitated by Better Chances, an NGO working in the field of mental wellness.

For a lot of people who are recovering or have recovered from mental illnesses, finding a job is a huge challenge. “This is what we wanted to address. Additionally, we also wanted to make them a part of community and ensure their illness is not stigmatised,” said Porkodi Palaniappan, director of Better Chances.

When Mr. Kumaran decided that enough was enough and that he wanted to change the way he lived, he joined Better Chances. “At first, I had anger issues every day. But over time, I began taking my medication again, and recently, I stood first in the screen-printing class at the centre,” he said.

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With vegetables sourced from Koyambedu market and space given to them by the owner of the premises S. Krishnan, the shop, called Roots, is bustling on Saturday morning.

Tomatoes, onions and greens line the front section, and Amul Raj, who was earlier treated for schizophrenia, calls out to customers.

Mr. Raj, said Ms. Palaniappan, thought at one point he would never get out of an institution. Now, he dreams of entering politics some day.

The tables at the shop have been made by a carpenter who has also recovered from a mental illness, said Ms. Palaniappan, and the two women who help out at the shop are mothers of children with Down Syndrome.

“The idea is to empower people — both those with illness and caregivers — with opportunities to work,” she said, adding she hopes to facilitate more such initiatives soon.

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

Building libraries, rack by rack, book by book

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features
The student volunteers are also building their own bookshelves — Photo: M. Srinath / The Hindu
The student volunteers are also building their own bookshelves — Photo: M. Srinath / The Hindu

If you have books that your children have outgrown or don’t need anymore and are wondering what to do with them, the students of IIT-Madras have a solution — donate them to the needy.

The Pledge a Book Project, which started a couple of months ago, is building libraries for the underprivileged.

The students have tied up with different NGOs to help them set up bookshelves and libraries. Their first library was established through Avanti Fellows, an NGO that trains students for IIT-JEE. Around 100 JEE-related books were donated to the organisation and the students also supplied bookshelves. The team is collecting books from anyone who is willing to donate.

“Most people have some books that they do not use anymore. Whether they are IIT-JEE reference books or novels, there are people who need them,” Shubham Jain, a student volunteer said.

Once they collect the books, they sort them and then determine where to set up libraries based on the category. To save costs, the students are also building their own bookshelves at the Center for Innovation workshop.

“Many of the children’s reference books will go to the IDF’s Bal Gurukuls. We are also willing to tie up with any NGO that requires books for adults or children,” Romil Shah, another volunteer said.

Pledge A Book was initially started as part of IIT-Madras’ technical festival Shaastra 2015, but now, the project’s volunteers are planning to take it further.

“In the days to come, we also plan to start a programme that promotes reading among communities. In the future, we hope to establish libraries in different neighbourhoods. We are also looking for corporate support,” he said.

The Pledge a Book project is also supported by UNESCO. For further details contact shubham@shaastra.org.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Kavita Kishore / Chennai – October 09th, 2014

When a duo punched above their weight

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
The match between Sita Bai of Tanjore and Kamala Bai of Malabar saw enthusiastic crowds but also led to controversy./ The Hindu Archives
The match between Sita Bai of Tanjore and Kamala Bai of Malabar saw enthusiastic crowds but also led to controversy./ The Hindu Archives

The 1st all-woman boxing bout lasted only 3 rounds but ignited a fiery debate

Sunday was a fine day for Indian women’s boxing at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon. Olympic bronze-medallist M. C. Mary Kom, L. Sarita Devi and Pooja Rani entered the semi-finals, assuring medals for the nation. However, it was right here, in Madras city, that the first punches in women’s boxing in the country were thrown.

It was Saturday, the 15th of March, 1931, when two Indian women stepped into the ring for a bout of professional boxing at the famous White City Carnival held in the city. Looking fierce in knee-length shorts, sleeveless jerseys and gloved fists, the women appeared every bit combat-ready. Kamala Bai of Malabar and Sita Bai of Tanjore were trained boxers, touted to be in good form. Singapore’s English daily The Straits Times reported that this was arguably a first for India.

Visibly excited, The Hindu published an article five days prior to the event urging its readers to brace themselves to witness for the first time two ‘Indian ladies’ meeting in the boxing arena — until now the most exclusive preserve of men.

Large crowds, including a number of Europeans, assembled to watch history in the making. While the first two rounds saw the boxers on the defensive, the third round saw them packing a punch, exchanging double jabs, hard rights, hooks, and uppercuts. Disappointingly, by round three, the session drew to a close with referee V.E.J Brackstone of Messrs. Parry and Company declaring it a draw.

Despite their underwhelming performance, both Kamala Bai and Sita Bai stayed in the news — even making international headlines for days to come.

‘Shocked and pained’

The fact that two Hindu women dared to ‘invade’ the boxing ring also left many Indian men and women ‘shocked and pained’. Florida’s The Evening Independent published a report on March 16, 1931 titled ‘Women Boxers arouse India’. The story stated that ‘feminine India was up in arms’ with the female boxers facing ‘social ostracism and disgrace,’ having engaged in a boxing match in Madras.

For a country that had for centuries relegated their women to rigid domesticity, ‘ladies boxing’ became particularly hard to digest.

Mahatma Gandhi for instance found this to be especially problematic. He was quoted in Pennsylvania’sReading Eagle as saying women boxing was ‘degrading, disreputable and totally unbecoming of the finer instincts of Indian womanhood.’

Today, as the country celebrates the laurels of our women boxers, it seems only appropriate to pause and acknowledge the spirit of Kamala Bai and Sita Bai. For if not for them, we as a nation may have not dared to imagine the likes Mary Kom, L Sarita Devi and Pooja Rani fighting the good fight.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Nitya Menon / Chennai – September 30th, 2014

‘Locks’ Fall as Dalits Get Access to Salon

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features
A barber giving a Dalit man a haircut, at Veerasingampettai village in Thanjavur district on Wednesday | express
A barber giving a Dalit man a haircut, at Veerasingampettai village in Thanjavur district on Wednesday | express

Thanjavur :

Dalits of Veerasingampettai village in the district on Wednesday got their first haircut in three years at the local salon. The service had been denied to them due to the diktat of some dominant caste members of the village.

G Thangappan, a Dalit farm worker got his haircut in the presence of leaders of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front, S Vigneswaran, revenue inspector of Kandiyur, and Anandathandavam, inspector of police.

“For the last three years, I used to get my haircut at Kandiyur, about 2 km from here,” said Thangappan.

U Punniyamurthy, a Dalit and local unit secretary of CPM,  said, “Till three years ago, Dalits used to be serviced by two salons in the village. However, when a PMK man got elected as village leader of the dominant community, Dalits were denied service at the salons.”

The two salons located on the land of a Mariamman temple at Veerasingampettai, used to service not only Dalits of the village but also those from the neighbouring hamlets of Thiruvedikudi, Thiruchchotruthurai and Kalyanapuram. However, for the last three years the Dalits from these villages were also denied service.

A Muthamizhselvan of Thiruvedikudi said two months ago a Dalit youth from Thiruchchotruthurai was roughed up by members of the dominant caste for questioning the denial of service at the salons.

Offering of service to Dalits at the salons in  Veerasingampettai was the result of a campaign undertaken by the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication front (TNUEF), which had announced action on the issue on September 30. However, a peace meeting was conducted by Tiruvaiyaru Tahsildar on September 29 and it was agreed by all parties present that the services would be offered at the salons from Wednesday. However, TNUEF members became agitated when one of the two salons, owned by a person called Gunasekaran, remained closed.

TNUEF members and Dalits pointed out that the shop, which used to open around 7 am, remained closed till 10.30 am. “Only after the intervention of revenue officials and some members of the dominant caste, the salon was opened,” said Sathish, a Dalit youth. He also pointed out that Sureshkumar, son of Dhanapal, who used to offer hairdressing services at one of the salons, was conspicuous by his absence at the meeting.

Chinnai Pandiyan, district secretary of TNUEF, told

Express that such untouchability prevailed in Varahoor village in Tiruvaiyaru union also. He said in Varahoor, the Dalits were also denied laundry services.

G Neelamegam, district secretary of CPM, V Jeevakumar, C Packirisamy, district secretariat members of CPM, and Sami Natarajan, farmers wing district secretary, were present in Veerasingampettai when the Dalits were offered hairdressing service in the salon.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by N Ramesh / October 02nd, 2014

Tiger census brings together an eclectic group of people

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Records, All

Udhagamandalam :

The All India Tiger Census 2013-2014 held in the three divisions of the Nilgiri forests and the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), brought together a varied group of people, many of them participating for the first time in the tiger census.

A large section of the volunteers are members of different NGOs involved in wildlife activities and students of the forest college and wildlife zoology. A few of them had participated in the census previously and wanted to experience the thrill of it again. People from across the board participated including software engineers, fashion designers, business men and even journalists.

The seven-day tiger census started with a training programme on December 16 in Ooty. The volunteers were transported to their respective allotted beats in the forest areas on the same evening.

The breathtaking and exciting field survey started at 6.30 am on December 17 on the transect lines in all the beats in the three divisions of the Nilgiris forest as well in the MTR. The following five days included activities such as carnivore sign survey, ungulate encounter rate, vegetation and human interference and pellet counts of herbivores.

S Sathesh Premnath, a senior software engineer from Coimbatore, who is attending the census for the first time, said, “It was a fascinating experience. I was completely bowled over by the sense of adventure in spotting indirect signs and direct sightings of animals like elephants and gaurs. The census made me more aware of my social responsibility.”

For Karthick, a business man from Chennai, who is a wildlife enthusiast and has visited several forests and tiger reserves in India, the census was a great learning experience. “It is very exhilarating just wandering the forest searching for signs of carnivores and once in a while actually spotting a wild animal,” he said.

R Parameshwari, a first year student of Wildlife Zoology in the Ooty Government Arts College said, “On the first day of survey I was actually afraid to enter the reserve forest. But the forest staff encouraged me and were very supportive. I soon forget about my fear and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, despite the rough terrain we had to cover”.

Dr. K. Bharanidharan, assistant professor of the Wildlife Department in the Forestry College and Research Centre in Mettupalayam said, “Around 36 students from our college participated in the census in MTR. Though theoretically they are familiar with the wildlife subject, nothing can beat hands-on experience”.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Shantha Thiagarajan, TNN / December 23rd, 2013

TN Girl’s Journey From Kiln to French Stardom

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion
Janagi with friends
Janagi with friends

Nagercoil :

A poor girl’s dream to make a mark in Tinsel Town was more than fulfilled when she got the chance to act in a major role in a French film. Thirty- year-old Janagi, the daughter of a brick kiln worker from a remote village near Aralvoimozhy in the district, bagged the role of Gracie in Son épouse (His Wife). But Janagi’s journey to stardom was not easy. A performing artiste from Devasahayam Mount near Aralvoimozhi, she was the youngest of five children to Devasahayam, a brick kiln worker, and Virisithal, an anganwadi worker. “After completing my plus-two, I was compelled to go for tailoring and other menial jobs as my family was very poor. During that time, I was attracted to what my cousin Selvi did — she was part of a local cultural troupe Kalari and she used to act in plays,” said Janagi, speaking to Express. She later joined the troupe and learnt various folk arts. She was with them for three years, during which time she also managed to complete BA Tamil through correspondence. When she joined another cultural troupe Murasu, she got the opportunity to participate in a workshop organised by the National School of Drama held in Nagercoil. The workshop helped her hone her acting skills and she later enrolled in a three-year full-time diploma course in dramatic arts at NSD and successfully completed the course. In the course of time she got to know Prema Revwathy, who was a member of director Gautham Menon’s production team.

Not only did she get the opportunity to work as an associate director in the French movie Son épouse, directed by Michel Spinso, but Revwathy also got her the role of Gracie, said Janagi.

Gracie is the friend of the main character, Catherine, a drug addict, etched by Charlotte Gainsbourg. After Catherine’s untimely death her spirit enters Gracie. “I learnt French to act in the film,” said Janagi. The film was released in Paris a few months back.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> The Sunday Standard / by S. Mahesh / September 07th, 2014

Startup city in focus – Chennai: 9 startups to watch out from Chennai

Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Chennai has always been known for its automobile and IT industry. The cultural capital of the south sees a presence of a major part of India’s automobile industry. In terms of IT export, Chennai is ranked second in India. It is often seen as the secondary financial hub following Mumbai. One of the fastest growing cities in the world, Chennai is home to more than 20 Indian companies that have a net worth of more than USD 1 billion.

In terms of legacy startups, Chennai has given us Bharatmatrimony. Founded in 1997 by Murugavel Janakiraman, who later met his wife through his own matrimony site, the company has 130 offices in India, with offices in Dubai, Sri Lanka, United States and Malaysia to cater to its customers beyond India. BharatMatrimony is one of India’s largest and most trusted matrimony brands. They were the pioneers in matchmaking and have been early birds in the mobile space with their matchmaking apps on almost all major platforms.

According to software products thinktank iSpirt, at least five Indian product companies have crossed or are on track for a $1 billion valuation, and the list includes one from Chennai. Can you guess the name?

ChennaiCF22sept2014

The startup that is currently making waves and is an inspiration for many product companies emerging out of Chennai is Girish Mathrubootham co-founded Freshdesk.Girish is not prominently visible in startup meetings but does a lot of activity that directly benefit startups, such as investments and mentoring. He even gives space to startups to work as part of his office space. The provider of SaaS-based customer support platform for enterprises, has secured $44 million in funding till date which includes a $31 million in a Series D round of funding by investors Tiger Global Management, Accel Partners and Google Capital.

And talking of legacy and inspiration for startups, how can one miss Sridhar Vembu co-founded Zoho that takes on two giants simultaneously – Google and Salesforce.com. First, it speaks volumes on the founders behind it and the ability of the organization to move at the speed of its market or stay ahead of its competition. Zoho was born in the Valley but its developer team is in India. And if you couldn’t guess, the answer to the question mentioned in the beginning of the article is Zoho.

If you begin talking about Vembu, you need to stop somewhere. His incredible energy and focus to build a world-class product company and focus only on that, makes him a rare breed among product entrepreneurs. His guts just overawe you. He has built a unique bootstrapped company and has turned down acquisition overtures from Salesforce.com. This story has acquired some sort of a legendary status in itself as an anecdotal reference to Sridhar’s ability to shrug off naysayers and believe in himself.

Another startup from Chennai that has captured global attention is Indix. Founded by Sanjay Parthasarathy and Sridhar Venkatesh in 2012, Indix is a big data startup that is building a catalogue of over 1 billion consumer products from all over the world. Their intention is to help brands to be able to compare their prices, thereby assisting them to make crucial business decisions. In simple terms Indix is personalizing the results for product search that you get if you google it, all the while itself being neutral. Indix already has a database of over 200 million products and plans to scale to over 1 billion listings in the next two years. Till date, the startup has received four rounds of funding totaling $15.9 million.

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Chennaites, listen up. TechSparks, the flagship event of YourStory is coming to your city this Friday (September 19). Get ready to listen and engage with Sridhar Venkatesh, Co-founder, Indix. Get your tickets here.

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First let us take a look at a few older startups which can now be termed upstarts.

OrangeScape – A company with two platform software. Visual PaaS – a cloud application development platform and KiSSFLOW a workflow-as-a-Service platform. OrangeScape has marque enterprise customers include the likes of Unilever, Citibank, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and its KiSSFLOW is the #1 in its category and used by 9000+ companies across 108 countries.

BankBazaar.com – Started by Adhil Shetty, Arjun Shetty and Rati Rajkumar, this online financial marketplace lets you search across all top financial institutions of India and get instant customized rate quotes on loans and insurance products. They raised Rs.80 crores in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital and existing investor Walden International in early 2014. While most online financial portals operate on a referral mode where they capture phone numbers and sell them to different banks and agents, BankBazaar.com offers real time approval for loan applications. Presently, they offer services of nine banks. They also have a mobile product accessible on smartphones.

Chargebee – Founded in June 2011 by Krish Subramanian, KP Saravanan, Thiyagarajan T and Rajaraman S, ChargeBee is primarily a subscription and recurring billing solutions for businesses across different industries. With its plug-and-play capability, businesses can automate billing, invoicing and leverage transactional emails to improve communication with their customers. The company had raised its first round of $350k from private investors in December, 2012. Earlier this year it raised another $800k from Accel Partners.

Stayzilla – In 2006, Yogendra along with his backbencher friends at college, Sachit Singhi and Rupal Surana, believed that the fragmented ‘stay’ market could be brought online and made structured. It was 2005-06, when India was going through the Internet revolution but still wasn’t quite internet savvy as today. They started under the name of Inasra.com but then they rebranded it to StayZilla – stay in every ‘zilla’ (district) — in 2010. As of today, it has more than 15,000 stays listed in a network of more than1100 cities in India. They clock more than 500 bookings per day. The company is funded by Matrix Partners prior to which it had raised its angel round from IAN.

vakilsearch – Founded by Hrishikesh Datar in 2010, vakilsearch is a web-portal that provides legal services on the internet. Services provided by vakilsearch includes, legal advice support, documentation services including will, rental agreements, non-disclosure agreements, incorporation of companies, Limited liability partnership firms, intellectual property registration and advice, tax filing and accounts related services. The information needed for creation of basic agreements are collected through simple questionnaire online and supplemented through telephonic calls, if needed and the document is delivered through postal services.

Caratlane – Founded in 2007, the portal has helped customers go beyond local family jewellers for their needs and tap ‘the world’s largest collection’ of solitaire gems and innovative contemporary designs via the Net. Earlier, Tata’s Tanishq had transformed India’s jewel market via a trusted name in branded jewels. CaratLane sources directly from vendors, eliminating inventory and real estate costs. It educates customers about jewellery designs, hires gemologists in the sales team, forms partnerships with banks for outreach, and targets male as well as female shoppers.

Contus – Contus is a leading mobile app development company that fulfills web and mobile app requirements. Apptha, the powerful marketplace of Contus is a storehouse of all themes and extension needs for different platforms like Magento, WordPress, and Joomla. Mobecommerce of Contus is another notable marketplace delivering mobile-based products cost-effectively. Founded in 2008, Contus serves more than 40 countries all around the globe.

Unmetric – Founded by Lakshmanan (Lux) Narayan, Kumar Krishnasami and Joe Varghese, Unmetric works with leading brands and agencies across the world and provides them competitive intelligence 10,000+ global brands across 30 industry sectors. Brands use this intelligence to then comprehend and calibrate their social media efforts. The company has worked with global brands like Subway and Toyota.

Now, let us look at 9 promising startups from Chennai that you should watch out for. These are in no particular order and the list has been curated based on the team, innovation, market size and their current execution stage.

Turing Research Labs Pvt Ltd, Frilp

Frilp is an application focused on connecting users with local services and businesses through recommendations from friends and colleagues. From the business owners’ perspective, Frilp helps the 40 million SMEs and consumer facing businesses to get an online presence where they are recommended by their happy customers. Ex-Goldman Sachs analyst Shyam Anandaraman started Frilp and he was joined by Senthil Kanthaswamy. The startup secured $500,000  in angel funding from a group of individuals including Girish Mathrubootham, co-founder and CEO of Freshdesk Inc last month.

Demach Software India Pvt Ltd, Konotor

Started by Srikrishnan Ganeshan, Vignesh Girishankar and Deepak, Konotor is basically a two-way communication channel for app developers to allow their users to interact with the app. Konotor integrates with an app and has a WhatsApp-like appearance which blends in with the app interface. Users of the app get a separate tab or icon via which they can reach out to the app developers, who in turn can take in feedback, answer queries, etc. It received USD 125k in funding from Qualcomm Ventures and Accel Partners in May earlier this year.

ContractIQ

Founded by Ashwin Ramasamy and Visalam Ramakrishnan, ContractIQ takes requirements of buyers of services (80% of them for mobile apps) and from its database of “devshops” (small, independent businesses providing mobile app services, product development, software development, or others) suggests potential matches for the buyer. The devshops (vendors) are charged a fee for bidding for the prospective client and only three of them can bid for a particular project. The vendor base consists of trustworthy developers validated by ContractIQ so that the buyer can confidently seek. It ultimately becomes a win-win for buyers and developers.

Imprimatur Print Services Pvt. Ltd, Stickystamp

With StickyStamp’s in-house printing infrastructure one can create personalized merchandise, stock in their state-of-the-art warehouse and drop-ship to customers in any part of the world. The concept in itself is not new, but the startup has been getting rave reviews on Social Media for its high quality execution and has a great line-up of clients including Freshdesk, HackerRank, HasGeek, Myntra etc. Co-founded by Isaac John Wesley and team in May this year, this startup has already broken 7-digit revenues in slightly more than four months and has shipped 1000+ shipments in this period.

SkillAngels

Sarav Sundaramoorthy believes that every child has some innate talent that can be and must be nurtured in the right way. With SkillAngels, a startup that he founded in 2013 along with Kalpana Murthy and Parimala Vageesan, Sarav is trying to break the rut of education system and redefine the learning process for children by focusing on cognitive skills development (comprising of memory, visual processing, focus & attention, problem solving & linguistics), life skills and social skills development. SkillAngels is a digital platform that fosters the aforementioned five areas of brain skill development by gamifying the learning process.

MyEasyDocs

Founded by Avira and Thomas Tharakan, MyEasyDocs was incubated at IIT Madras Research Park. It mainly consists of two portals for online document verification; myeasydocs.com and directverify.in. DirectVerify.in enables background screening agencies and employers to verify employees’ educational credentials without any online registration. MyEasyDocs.com allows users to store, verify and share the verified documents online to whomever concerned.

Avaz App

The app has been built to help kids with autism, cerebral palsy or communication disorders in general. Through the selection of pictures representing certain words or phrases, the user is able to articulate his need or emotion, using a mobile device. Once a sentence is formed using the different pictures, the app then speaks it out loud, helping the user communicate as well as learn from the process. It also allows you to track the child’s progress. The app also has an integrated keyboard which allows the child to alternate between selecting pictures and typing text.

Mad Street Den

Mind Abled Devices dabbles in artificial intelligence. Co-founded by Anand Chandrasekaran and Ashwini Asokan, the couple aims to build machines that can replicate certain human elements, making them more ‘intelligent’ and relevant. It offers a cloud-based MAD stack that can be incorporated into existing or upcoming applications. The idea is to build certain AI pieces and make them readily available to the world, saving a developer (or other users) a large amount of time and infrastructure that would otherwise be invested in building it.

Bode animation

Bode Animation works for crafting explainer videos for depicting businesses and their services. They offer 6 different styles of videos starting from 2D animation, stop motion, handcraft motion, 3D, whiteboard and blackboard. They work for informative, humorous, interactive, any kind of video that suits your startup’s personality. They also work with number of data visualization tools to generate infographics and other data based stories.

There are several other startups from Chennai. The list above is intended to be neither a ranking of Chennai startups nor an exhaustive list of all startups. 

A walkthrough of the Chennai startup ecosystem

The earliest ecosystem driver for product companies in Chennai was a product showcase event called proto.in. This was where many companies made their first product presentation or showed their prototype to an audience consisting of their peers, experts, and investors. Run by a team, of which Vijay Anand was a part, proto.in eventually did not achieve scale like many product companies until it folded after making intermittent appearances around 2011. Many product companies that later started are sure to vouch for the fact that proto.in acted in many ways as their inspiration to startup.

The next major arrival on the scene was Chennai Open Coffee Club, kickstarted by Siddarth and Vaithi. The weekly Sunday meetings drew huge crowds of as much as 100 at the beginning in 2009 for an informal meetup of entrepreneurs, wannabe entrepreneurs, and those generally interested in startups.

The Startup Centre is another incubator which was started by Vijay Anand and acts as an incubator to several startups. Bangalore-based Eventifier was incubated there.

TiE Chennai is another institution which has taken up the startup cause in helping entrepreneurs find feet in Chennai. Its annual flagship event TiECON Chennai, which enters its eighth edition this year, has become very popular among entrepreneurs for the variety fare it dishes out. Through the year, TiE Chennai runs several entrepreneurship-related events.

The latest on the startup scene is the filterkaapi mafia, a closed group of product entrepereneurs who believe that entrepreneurs can as a community help each other.

At YourStory, we are bullish about Chennai and are sure that it will grow into a very big startup hub.

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 Chennaites, listen up. TechSparks, the flagship event of YourStory is coming to your city this Friday (September 19). Get ready to listen and engage with our keynote speaker Sridhar Venkatesh, Co-founder, Indix. We have four informative sessions and super-useful workshops lined up for you as well. Seats are getting sold out fast. Get your tickets here.

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source: http://www.yourstory.com / YourStory.com / Home> by Abhash Kumar and Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy / September 16th, 2014

Denmark keen on conserving memorial to Dutch sailor

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

Chennai :

Denmark appears to be keen on preserving Schmidt Memorial on the Elliot’s beach in Besant Nagar. The structure was put up in memory of a Danish sailor who gave up his life to save a drowning English girl off the beach.

On Friday, Danish ambassador to India Freddy Svane and S B Prabhakar Rao, honorary vice-consul of Denmark for Southern India, will visit the site along with R Anandakumar, regional joint commissioner (south) of the city corporation.

The civic body had taken up the restoration in November 2014 at an estimated Rs 15 lakh after beachgoers and activists complained that the heritage monument had been converted into a toilet and was also being used as a bar. On December 30, 2012, a few residents placed wreaths at the memorial to commemorate K A J Schmidt’s 82nd anniversary.

The memorial was ordered built in 1930 by Madras Governor Lieutenant-Colonel Sir George Frederick in memory of Schmidt, a Dutch sailor who lost his life while trying to save a girl from drowning in the sea. The epitaph on the memorial stone reads, “To commemorate the gallantry of K A J Schmidt who drowned near this spot on December 30, 1930, while helping to save the lives of others.”

With Schmidt’s 84th death anniversary coming up on December 30, beachgoers have urged the city corporation to initiate steps to ensure that the monument is protected from further acts of vandalism.

Residents of Besant Nagar, who had for long fought to the get the monument restored, are happy. Kamakshi Subramaniyam, a resident, said there was a need to conserve the structure. “There should be a comprehensive plan for the protection of this heritage structure. Technical and financial support from Denmark would be an additional benefit. The coordination between the Denmark consulate and corporation will prevent future vandalism.”

The fact that the restoration is nearing completion has thrilled regulars to the beach. Raghav Kumar, a frequent visitor, said: “It’s the only heritage structure on the beach. There is a need to conserve this landmark. The story of the sailor should act as a model for future generations.”

He said strict action should be initiated against those trying to misuse it. “Members of the public should also be made responsible to protect the monument,” he added.

The corporation is considering deploying security guards and constructing a compound wall around the memorial.

source: http://www.timesofindia.com / Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / September 19th, 2014

Art for living

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features
CREATIVE TALENT: These women are the agents of change in the drought-prone hamlet in Sivaganga district. Photo: G. Moorthy / The Hindu
CREATIVE TALENT: These women are the agents of change in the drought-prone hamlet in Sivaganga district. Photo: G. Moorthy / The Hindu

The women of Nedumaram Village strike an example of self-sustenance by making beautiful art pieces out of palm leaves for a living

On a scorching Sunday afternoon, a group of women from Nedumaram village huddle inside the Government complex. They assemble to make artefacts out of palm leaves. It is a joy to watch their fingers move in synchronisation through the bunch of thin palm leaf strands. And in no time the strands get perfectly entwined and interwoven into various shapes. They take a break and beam at each other’s creativity. Soon the silence is replaced by banter and giggles. Their master Tamilarasi appears strict and instructs them to concentrate on their work. The ladies return to the strands of palm leaves in their hands. Like this they spend hours making beautiful baskets, trays, fashionable beer-bottle holders, doom sets, chocolate boxes and puja plates.

These women are the agents of change in the drought-prone hamlet in Sivaganga district. The turning point came when an NGO in collaboration with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) conducted art classes for them three decades ago.

CREATIVE TALENT: Colourful artefacts made out of palm-leaf. Photo: G. Moorthy
CREATIVE TALENT: Colourful artefacts made out of palm-leaf. Photo: G. Moorthy

“I was 10 years old then and six of us attended the course for six months. A foreigner lady came from Kanyakumari to teach us palm-leaf art,” recalls 40-year-old Tamilarasi. She now teaches the art to the entire village. “We were taught only the basic baskets,” she says, “We have invented so many other products now.”

What started with a small group has evolved into a women’s self-sustenance movement in Nedumaram. Today, there are 100-odd women, a mix of young mothers, older women and school-dropouts all from poor families and with a sorrowful saga to narrate. Their lives are much in contrast to the colourful wares they make. Most of them own small lands but curse the rain gods for pushing them to poverty. Some complain of their abusive alcoholic husbands, some worry about the future of their kids. If there is anything that gives them moments of happiness and helps them to earn, it is the palm leaf work.

“We work from home and on an average earn around Rs.100 to 120 per day,” says Karpagavalli, who lost her husband two decades ago. “I was wondering how I would bring up my two children. This work provided me a stable livelihood.”

Says Anandhi, who has been doing palm-leaf art for 20 years: “Only if it rains, we go for agriculture work. Otherwise we are engaged in palm-leaf work round the year. We earn more than a daily wager and each of us maintains a savings account in banks. We feel empowered.”

“Making these art pieces gives peace of mind and we feel happy about being able to make such beautiful things,” says Meena who along with Tamilarasi has showcased the palm wares at expos across the country.

“Three years ago, we took part in the National crafts expo at Delhi and we did business worth Rs.6000 on the first day itself. We made the art pieces during the two-day train journey.”

The women source the bundles of dried palm leaves from Ramanathapuram. One leaf weighing about a kilogram costs Rs.20. The leaves are laid out in the sun to dry for two days, after which they are cut to required measurements.

“The Ramanathapuram palm leaves are the best. Once dried, they turn white in colour and hard in texture,” Tamilarasi explains the process of palm art. The dried leaves are cut into strands varying in thickness and length using a small machine. Colour powders dissolved in boiling water are used for colouring the strands. “We can make any required colour by mixing the common five colours – red, yellow, blue, green and black,” says Tamilarasi.

The women find the method of weaving also simple. They use the single knot technique, which is repeated in different permutations and combinations to get the circular, square and rectangular shapes. Sometimes, the thick palm strands are used as the base for weaving with the thinner strands on them.

Palm leaf art made in Nedumaram reaches customers across the globe. The Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan is one of the major buyers. They also get orders from Hotels and resorts from nearby Kanadukathan and Karaikudi, or from big cities like Chennai and Bangalore and many foreign tourists. A chunk of the orders come through South Indian Producers Association, in which the group has been enrolled.

“Since the products are eco-friendly, even organic shops place orders. There are some export agencies that buy artefacts from the women of Nedumaram,” says Michael, Joint Director of Tirupattur Rural Uplift Project Association, an NGO functioning in Sirukoodalpatti village, which helps the women in pricing and marketing their wares. “We educate the women on how to price the products taking into account the raw-material cost, transportation and labour cost.”

“We have scripted a successful story so far. But now there is a shortfall in the supply of palm leaves caused by failure of rains and rampant felling of palm trees in Ramanathapuram district,” points out Tamilarasi. As a result, the price has gone up. “We only hope the remaining palm trees are protected and a lot more get planted,” she says.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by A. Shrikumar / Madurai – September 17th, 2014

Jaw can be reconstructed with abdominal fat, says expert

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technologies
Dr. S.M. Balaji (Photo: DC)
Dr. S.M. Balaji (Photo: DC)

Chennai:

Many of his surgeries are first-of-its kind and he is the doctor who introduced the latest technological advancements in reconstruction of facial defects to the city.

Director of Balaji Dental and Craniofacial Hospital at Teynampet and famous facio-maxillary surgeon Dr S.M. Balaji, says more specialists are needed in this particular field. Noted for making a great difference to the confidence and life of his patients, Dr Balaji is known for some of the most dynamic innovations in his field of specialty. In an interview to Deccan Chronicle, Dr Balaji explains how patients with jaw defects can expect to be completely normal people after surgery.

Excerpts from the interview:
Q) You are a pioneer in applying latest technology of tissue engineering. Can you explain the recent developments in the field?
A) Earlier, we used to remove the tumour of the jaw and take the bone from the hip or the leg and do a microvascular surgery for reconstruction of the jaw. It used to be a long procedure as it would go on for 10-12 hours. Also, anaesthesia is prolonged and the scar is so visible in the leg.
Now you can take the abdominal fat to reconstruct the jaw. Adipose stem cells present in the fat have inherent ability to grow into other tissues like bone, cartilage and tendons. People do liposuction and throw away the fat but it can be utilised. Since this technique is new, so far only three patients have undergone the reconstruction using abdominal fat.
Q) What kinds of defects are seen?
A) If somebody meets with an accident, a part of the bone, say, in the upper jaw, is lost and reconstruction is needed.
In case of oral cancer, after the cancer treatment, the person has to undergo reconstruction, otherwise there will be disfigurement. Given the incidence of oral cancer, more specialists are required in this field and the cost of reconstruction is affordable.
Reconstruction of facial defects has evolved over the recent years due to latest technological advancements. Craniofacial defects, be they congenital (by birth) or acquired (by accidents) or removal of tumour or cysts, they could be successfully rehabilitated.
Q) Recently, you rehabilitated a one-year-old Maldivian child with a rare type of facial bone disorder. Please explain.
A) He was born with a disorder in which the jaw bones are destroyed and gradually replaced by fibrous tissue which would cause difficulties in eating, speaking and disfigured appearance. His jaw tumour was entirely removed through the mouth without any scar in the facial region.
Using rhBMP-2 and titanium plate we reengineered the jaw bone and six months later, we could see a good amount of normal bone jaw formation and the boy was given fixed dental implants to replace his missing teeth. For the first time in the world, a rare type of jaw bone disorder was rehabilitated completely.
Q) What is rhBMP-2 and explain its benefits.
A) Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 is a biotechnologically engineered version of a protein that is otherwise normally found in the human bone.
Yes, this miracle protein stimulates the body’s own cells to convert into bone forming cells. Such cells lay down new bone at the site where the protein is placed.
By using this technology, the second additional surgery for grafting bone from the hip or rib to close the defect is entirely avoided. This technique is a boon in cases for closure of bone defects, such as alveolar cleft, a common birth defect (gap in the teeth-bearing region of the jaw).
Distraction osteogenesis is another revolutionary new technology that besides lengthening the bone, associated structures such as skin, soft tissues, nerves and blood vessels are also created.
In cases that require extensive removal of jaw bone in case of tumour or cysts, the residual jaw defect is reconstructed using plate-guided transport distraction osteogenesis that enables growth of new bone and soft tissues along the customised plate in accordance with each patient.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / Uma Kannan / August 31st, 2014