Madras Medical College (MMC) has been ranked first in the number of patients treated under the chief minister’s comprehensive health insurance scheme. A total of 691 private hospitals and 120 government hospitals participated in the scheme, which was launched on January 11, 2012.
As many as 35,000 patients were treated under scheme at five hospitals attached to Madras Medical College. The hospitals earned a total of Rs 53 crore during the period, a release fromMMC said. The five hospitals attached to MMC are Government General Hospital , Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Government Hospital for Women and Children, Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children and Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital.
Under the scheme, the sum assured for each family is Rs 1 lakh every year for a period of four years. The scheme covers 1,016 procedures, 113 follow-up procedures and 23 diagnostic procedures. The cost of the tests required for treatment is also a part of the insurance cover.
Any family whose annual income was Rs 72,000 or less, members of unorganized labour welfare boards, and, the spouse, children and dependent parents of such members in urban and rural areas are eligible for the scheme.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai> Madras Medical College / by Manish Raj, TNN / July 18th, 2013
Devi attending to one of her customers in her saloon in Tirupur district.— DC
Chennai:
“School mate Yasodha is my only friend. Nobody ever wants to be friends with me because I am doing a man’s job running this hair-cutting saloon.
Even my close relatives do not talk to me because I am forced to touch men while cutting their hair or shaving. But I don’t care”.
That’s Thangavel Devi, 30, who has been waging a battle of sexes for the last five years, fighting for space in what has been all along considered a male preserve.
There are any number of women hairdressers but most of them work in urban and semi-urban areas and they attend to only women customers.
Devi, who has done a degree in commerce but could not get a decent job, set up her own saloon at Palladam (Tirupur district), taking after her family trade.
Her father Thangavel is sick and has incurred big debts, so Devi slogs with scissors and blades on her male customers.
She also attends to a tougher facet of her traditional trade as ‘kudimagan’—attending to calls from bereaved families to clean up the dead body for preparing it for the last rites.
She gets Rs 1,500 per body as her fee and does not bother about the raised eyebrows around.
“I earn about Rs 250 averaging two-three cuttings and five-six shavings a day, a little more on Sundays. I also work at a nearby finance company as a bill clerk for a monthly salary of Rs 5,000.
I don’t have holidays because I need every rupee that comes my way to pay up the loan of a little over Rs 1 lakh taken by my father for his medical treatment”, said Devi, throwing light on her hard life in taking care of the family.
“I have two main goals in life — clearing our loans and fulfilling the dream of my brother, now in ninth class, to become a computer engineer”.
It is not just the physical hard labour that Devi must endure; there is also much mental trauma as almost the entire society around her boycotts her because of her odd career.
“Particularly, the women hate me because of my bold venture, but I need the money to save my family from starvation”, said Devi. When asked about her marriage plans, she shot back: “That will have to wait. Besides, it will be tough finding a man who will accept me the way I am”.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by S. Thirunavukarasu / August 19th, 2013
Chloe Tingle and Adam Smith, students at the University of Bristol, have travelled to the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu to look at ways in which the residents of a Mumbai slum and two remote villages can improve their lives by generating their own power.
India has a population of 350 million people, but a quarter of the country still has no electricity. Vast areas of Tamil Nadu suffer from intermittent electricity or no energy supply at all, making even the most basic daily tasks extremely difficult.
Students are visiting India as part of a project led by Bristol-based charity The Converging World
Chloe and Adam arrived in Mumbai on Saturday 27 July to undertake a fact finding mission as part of a project led by Bristol-based charity The Converging World (TCW), which has installed wind farms in the area, investing the profits into helping people who live in energy poverty.
The pair will run workshops in the Mumbai slum, where a solar project is underway at a local community centre, educating local people about the importance of renewable energies. They will then travel to the villages of Kalilaspura and Muthumakamura, which are close to wind turbines built by TCW, where they will assess the energy needs and lifestyles of the local people and will also meet local suppliers of biomass and biogas generators.
Both students are part of the Bristol branch of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), a student-run organisation working to remove barriers to development through engineering.
Chloe, who is in the final year of a Master’s degree in Engineering Design, is a volunteer project manager for TCW’s Access to Affordable Sustainable Energy programme. She says: “Our trip is a fact-finding mission to gain an appreciation of local lifestyles. Meeting with communities face to face is the best way to understand their needs and learn about how their quality of life could be improved.”
Adam, who has just completed a Masters in Physics, adds: “At The Converging World we are focussed on sustainability, so it’s important that we don’t go straight in and install energy systems that no-one understands how to use or maintain, that will be forgotten after a couple of years.”
When the pair return to the UK at the end of August they will continue to work on the project, using their research to compile recommendations regarding the best type of technology to use and which suppliers in India could help.
Chloe and Adam’s part time internships at TCW are sponsored by the University of Bristol and their trip to India has been self-funded through grants and fundraising events.
Peenal Jain: Creator of Zahana. / Photo by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
How often have you come across a store where apparel and accessories that are sure to make a statement are at give-away prices? Gaurav Dangi finds one such store.
In this fast paced world where everything is available at the touch of a click – a new online retail store has been opened by young Chennai entrepreneur, Peenal Jain. She has just completed her B.Sc Visual Communication from M.O.P Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai.
Dream comes true
The Online Retail Store Zahana is a home-based store, started earlier this year in January. When asked about the starting point of this store, Peenal says:” I kept seeing people market their products on Facebook. I always wanted to own a clothing store, but it involves a huge investment. When I told my parents about it, they were pretty confident that I would end up in loss.
Despite this they reluctantly gave me some money to start Zahana and the amazing response has made them proud. Online retail does not really require investment and that’s why it seemed a feasible option. But I still dream of owning a big store , may be a year down the line I can execute my dream.”
This women’s apparel and accessory store has all the latest trendy goods. While the materials are sourced from various parts of the country, most of them are designed by Peenal herself. The collection is put up online and orders are placed via social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. The consignment can be collected from her home or it is shipped to the customers via dependable agencies.
Get accessorised: At Zahana. / Photo by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Why Zahana?
Peenal says, “The main reason I started Zahana is because I love fashion and I always dreamt of owning a small store which is classy, trendy and yet light on the pocket.
Also there are not too many shops in Chennai that are affordable and trendy at the same time. For now I have started with social networking sites because they are a very easy way to reach out to the masses. The promotion cost is comparatively low than newspapers and other forms of media.” Her message for upcoming entrepreneurs: “Do a lot of market research, work on pricing, marketing, and photography of the product. Every product has a buyer; you just need to be patient! A lesson I’ve learnt in the process. Just follow your passion and it will work wonders for you.” From bracelets to funky mobile covers, shirts to dresses — you name it and you have it here on Zahana. Various offers and discounts are being offered on the site regularly leaving the customers with no second thoughts.
Unlike most other social workers who have chosen to do service for a living, this 42-year-old orthopaedic surgeon has come to the limelight in Coimbatore doing surgeries free for patients living below the poverty line.
Dr S. Karthik, who is inspired by Vivekananda’s books and quotes, decided to operate on poor patients for free and also educates them through his guidance. He said since he was born and brought up in Coimbatore, he has often visited Ramakrishna Mission in Periyanaickenpalayam to attend seminars to know about Vivekananda’s life history and principles.
A native of Palladam, he now resides along with his family at Ram Nagar residential area. Dr Karthik conducts free medical camp and provides free treatment for residents of the rural area through an organisation called ‘Nesam’.
In the camp, Dr Karthik with the help of a few other doctors, performs free health check-up for sugar, blood pressure and other medical conditions. Recently, they conducted camps at Kothagiri, Kethanur and Bharathi colony. Apart from this, Dr Karthik is also operating on poor children free of cost using Rotary funding.
Speaking to DC, Dr Karthik said he studied in the United Kingdom and had done his fellowship in Australia and New Zealand before returning to Coimbatore. “My aim is to provide the best preventive healthcare to the villages and the poor,” he asserted.
Besides running free camps, Nesam has done surgeries for many labourers injured in road accidents and other industrial mishaps. To make the free service better, Dr Karthik joined a team of doctors in Coimbatore, including Dr R.P. Dharmendra , Dr Bala Senthil Kumaran, Dr Jayanthi, Dr Raghu, Dr Usha and Dr Karthikeyan all of whom specialise in various fields.
Dr Karthik is also looking to extend his preventive healthcare awareness mission to schools in villages where stress levels are at an all-time high.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by DC / V. Palaniappan / July 29th, 2013
A 26-year-old girl has stormed yet another male bastion and has landed the job of a loco pilot in Madurai division of Southern Railway.
Though Madurai railway division already has a woman loco pilot, B A Deepthi, who recently joined as assistant loco pilot, is the youngest. Besides, she is the only woman to pilot trains now as the other loco pilots are assigned to control room.
Deepthi, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, joined duty on July 4 after undergoing a two-month training at Golden Rock, Trichy, and completing another 20 days of road learning exercise in Madurai division. Currently, she navigates passenger trains in the division.
“A job in railways was my passion from childhood, but I can’t say that I was very inclined towards piloting locomotives,” she said. After acquiring a diploma in electronics engineering, she applied for a job in the railways and cleared the examination.
Employees of the Southern Railway were surprised at a young woman coming to the job. Many passengers, who spot Deepthi, initially were also surprised. However, they all congratulate her. On Friday, she co-piloted Madurai – Dindigul passenger train, which arrived at the Madurai junction by 9.10am. When she arrived at Madurai junction, a group of women passengers praised her saying that she has become a role model for women.
Loco pilot K Vinod Kumar who piloted the Madurai – Dindigul passenger said Deepthi has already shown signs of excellence in the job. “The job needs high amount of concentration and a great sense of responsibility as hundreds of passengers travel, trusting us. Deepthi seems to have understood the job’s elements and is doing well,” he said.
As an assistant loco pilot, Deepthi is assigned the tasks of monitoring signals and communicating with the loco pilot of the train, keeping a watch on essential gauges of the locomotive, and assisting the loco pilot in operating the train. “I am enjoying my work and it is quite interesting,” Deepthi said. “I think there are some more women loco pilots in the division but they are doing office works. I enjoy piloting the locomotives at present and am learning the skills eagerly,” she added.
source: http://www.m.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India, Mobile / Home / by J. Arockiaraj / July 14th, 2013
Earned her Bachelors in physics, chemistry and mathematics from Madras Christian College in 1974. MBA, IIM-Calcutta, 1976. Master of Public and Private Management, Yale University, 1980
Married to Raj Nooyi; has two daughters, Preetha and Tara Earned $12.6 million last year
PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi and Cisco’s Padmasree Warrior have demonstrated how women can succeed at the highest level without sacrificing their personalities.
High Point: President Obama invited her for a discussion on the economic crisis facing the US in November 2012. In 2010, there was a strong buzz that she was being considered a successor to Ratan Tata. She declined saying she was having “too much fun at PepsiCo”.
Unwinding: In an interview with CNBC’s Off-the-Cuff programme, she said she likes watching the New York Yankees play, but puts the TV on mute so she can continue working. When she “really wants to blow off steam”, she plays rummy with her kids. In an interview with Good Housekeeping, she said she likes playing games like Bridge, Scrabble and Sudoku online. “My guilty pleasures are the websites where you can look at the fashions and see how different outfits will look. You can even take a picture of yourself and download it and play with the fashions!,” she told GH.
Early years: Nooyi grew up in Chennai where her father was a bank officer. Her career path in the US began in 1980 at the Boston Consulting Group, followed by stints in Motorola and ABB. In 1994, she joined PepsiCo as senior VP, strategic planning. With annual revenues of $65 billion, PepsiCo is the world’s second largest food and beverages company.
Career graph: As the head of strategy at PepsiCo, she was responsible for much of its restructuring. During her tenure, PepsiCo sold off the restaurant business and spun off its bottling operations, and acquired new businesses like Tropicana and Quaker Oats. In 2006, she was named CEO, only the fifth in PepsiCo’s history. With her at the helm, sales have nearly doubled and earnings have gone up by 30 percent. Nooyi has pushed PepsiCo to become a healthier company by investing in R&D to make soft drinks with less calories, chips with less sodium or yoghurt with more fruit.
She has taken the company global, cut costs by consolidating facilities and laying off more than 8,000 employees last year. She has made aggressive acquisitions in the BRIC nations. (PepsiCo spent $7 billion in buying two businesses in Russia alone). She is a fierce supporter of conscious capitalism and says a lot of inspiration for her thoughts on sustainability come from the tough times in Chennai where her mother would wake up at 3 am to store water.
Last year, the market feared that her position at PepsiCo would be under pressure, when activist investor Ralph Whitworth’s hedge fund invested $600 million in PepsiCo. Her critics say her push into “good-for-you” products is taking too long to show results.
Work-life balance: Nooyi says she made several sacrifices in managing her career and her family. But, in an interview with WSJ, she says every time her kids called during work, she would stop to take those calls. Even when those were only to ask her if they could play Nintendo. Nooyi credits her husband for his support; she says he took on half of her workload at home so she could continue building her career.
Padmasree Warrior
Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, Cisco Systems
Age: 52
Educated at IIT-Delhi (chemical engineering), Cornell University (Masters in chemical engineering)
Married to IIT-Delhi college-mate Mohandas. They have a son, Karna.
Responsibilities: In her current role, Warrior is charged with aligning technology development and corporate strategy to enable the $43-billion Cisco to anticipate, shape and lead major market transitions. She has led the company through 15 acquisitions in 15 months. In a recent interview, Chairman John Chambers named her as one of the people who could get his job when he retires in 2-4 years.
Warrior sees a huge shift in technology and how it impacts our lives in the next five years. In an interview to McKinsey, she said only 1 per cent of what could be connected in this world actually is; as these connections increase it will change how consumers shop, businesses handle data and individuals grapple with the data.
Poster women of tech: Warrior is among a handful of women executives in the overwhelmingly male-dominated technology world. Chambers said in an internal memo that only 22 per cent of Cisco’s workforce are women. Warrior admits that when starting out, she was intimidated as technology was considered a man’s domain. She considered a career in academia but took up a job at Motorola’s semiconductor factory in Arizona. She had given herself one year but ended up staying 23, rising to become the CTO. She came to Cisco in 2007 after Chambers pursued her for a year.
Biggest mistake: In an interview to The Huffington Post, Warrior says the biggest mistake she made in life was saying no to opportunities when she was starting out. “I thought, ‘That’s not what my degree is in’ or ‘I don’t know about that domain’.” In retrospect, at a certain point, it’s your ability to learn and contribute quickly that matters…I always tell women that the fact that you’re different and that you’re noticed, because there are few of us in the tech industry, is something you can leverage as an advantage.”
Unfulfilled wish: In an interview with Fast Company she says, “I would have dinner with PG Wodehouse. I have read all of his books at least 10 times over. I am a great fan of his character Jeeves. His intellectual brilliance and audacious sense of humour fascinate me.”
Work-life balance: When her son was born, Warrior was in charge of a factory at Motorola. It was a 24/7 job that put enormous stress on her family and herself. At one point, she moved her treadmill into her son’s room so she could exercise while looking after him. In later years, she says she came to realise that operating like this was a big mistake. In an interview to The Take Away she says, “The important thing to remember is it’s not about balance; it’s about integration… to really focus on making sure you’re integrating all four aspects of your work, your family, your community and yourself. And it’s not about trying to spend equal amounts of time on everything you do each day on each of these things, but making sure you’re paying attention to all the things that make it up as a whole human being.”
source: http://www.ibnlive.in.com / IBN Live / Home> IBN Live> Business / by Mitu Jayashankar, Forbes India / July 01st, 2013
A signboard has been put up as a tribute to motorman S.Manohar at the entrance to the Moore Market Complex in Chennai / Photo: R.Ravindran / The Hindu
S. Manohar, the motorman who brought a Chennai-bound suburban service to a halt seconds before he suffered a fatal heart attack and averted a potentially disastrous mishap on May 23, has been nominated for a Railway Board award.
The 48-year-old motorman, in a heroic act, had stopped the train GM 42032 within a few minutes of leaving Gummidipoondi, disengaged cabin controls and switched on the emergency flasher light before falling unconscious. Though the motorman was taken to the Perambur Railway Hospital later in the evening he did not survive the attack.
Manohar’s duty consciousness and ultimate commitment to the safety of passengers has been highlighted in a Southern Railway note to the Railway Board recommending him for a posthumous award, an official said. The nomination of Manohar for an award is over and above the compensation that is being worked out for his next of kin.
Railway administrators and workers have already hailed Manohar as a hero. A signboard put up as a tribute at the entrance to the Moore Market Complex, the hub of suburban services, describes him as a “hero who performed his duty even till his last breath”.
Southern Railway has also recommended an award to loco pilot V. Balachandran who had stopped his train (the GM 42029 Chennai-Gummudipoondi) on the adjacent line on noticing the flasher light on the other train.
Mr. Balachandran had entrusted his train with the guard before alerting the station master at the next station Kavaraipettai of the emergency. He then drove the train with Manohar in an unconscious state to Kavaraipettai. There, he helped make arrangements for transporting his co-worker to a hospital before walking back along the tracks for about four kms to resume duty on his train.
The previous occasion when railwaymen in Southern Railway were honoured by the Railway Board was in 2010 when four employees were given cash awards (Rs. 5,000 each) for averting a major disaster after a bomb blast damaged the track section at Sithani between Perani and Mundiyambakkam stations in Villupuram. The reward was announced for alertness, sense of responsibility and devotion to duty.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by M Dinesh Varma / Chennai – June 05th, 2013
Srikanth, story teller, visually-challenged person /. Photo: M. Srinath / The Hindu
The 47-year-old visually-impaired Srikanth works at Food Corporation of India and has found an avocation in story-telling
K. Srikanth was in class VII when his right eye went blurry and he had to discontinue formal schooling – retinal detachment had already blinded his left eye. But he was not the one to give up easily. Completing class VIII and class X through home schooling, he showed himself to be a great fighter.
Since he suffered complete loss of vision, shortwave radio has been his constant companion, especially the BBC. “As I wanted to achieve something, I felt miserable,” recalls Srikanth. The 47-year-old who works at Food Corporation of India (FCI), has found an avocation in story-telling. He is focused on developing the skill of narrating crime thriller and science fiction stories.
Listening to Pete Myers of Radio Netherland sometime in early 1990s helped him discover the story-teller in him. In 1994, he had a short stint with the All India Radio as compeer. For three years, he presented a show for the London Radio Station, up-linking from a centre in Abhiramapuram. Following the success of the show, he was roped in as RJ for the women’s radio station run by MOP College for Women. Here again, he played to his strength, narrating stories.
“I have a dream and that is to be the greatest storyteller,” he says.
Waiting for the big break in the media, Srikanth is, however, content at present to be narrating stories to co-passengers on his way to work. “There are 15 of us travelling in the van. The majority of them work at the Income Tax department. I enjoy sharing anecdotes and stories with them,” he says. After the van drops Srikanth’s friends at their office on Nungambakkam High Road, he heads towards FCI’s Chetpet branch, where the raconteur works as a receptionist.
A flair for English motivated him to purse first a bachelor’s, and then a master’s degree in literature through correspondence. Srikanth has not mastered Braille and much of his learning came from listening to lecturers at contact classes and getting help from student scribes who read aloud the lessons for him. “Professors such as Anand Kumar Raju (Madras University), Donald James and Brian Pepin who taught at The New College made English extremely interesting,” says Srikanth. He was inspired by noble thoughts contained in the works of Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling and other literary giants. During our conversation, he mentions ideas that served as an impetus to personal growth. Despite his inner strength, he could not ignore certain facts about him. “Learning was difficult. Things would not register easily and I had to concentrate more than others,” he says.
His failed in his attempt to get an M. Phil degree, but setbacks such as these have not quelled the desire to learn more. Srikanth is now trying to master the Brahma Sutras.
Srikanth can be contacted at 9952080063.
(A COLUMN ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEAT THE ODDS AND WON)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Downtown / by Liffy Thomas / May 18th, 2013
Writer Mari Selvaraj with his book | N Vinoth Kumar / Express
The infamous Manjolai incident, in which 17 persons succumbed in police brutality on July 23, 1999, has been brought out as an autobiographical short story.
The incident happened during a procession in support of the Manjolai estate labourers’ struggle for wages on the banks of Thamirabarani in Tirunelveli. The story is one among the 21 short stories penned by Mari Selvaraj, which has been brought out as a collection, Thamirabharaniyil Kollappadaathavargal, by Vamsi Books.
Probably, Mari Selvaraj is the first writer from Tirunelveli to document the incident through a short story and his short story collection has gained momentum in literary circles now.
Born in Puliyankulam of Tirunelveli district, Mari Selvaraj is the fifth son to his parents, who are agricultural labourers. “The freedom that poverty offered me has given me rich experiences and I have many stories to share,” says the author.
Speaking to City Express, Selvaraj shares about his journey as a writer to an assistant director in Kollywood. “My entire schooling was in my village. It was when I stepped into the law college, I first came to a town. But college life was not a good experience. The first question I faced was about my caste. Since I was considered as an insubordinate student, whatever I did went wrong. At one point of time, a police case was registered against me and that was when I discontinued my studies and ran away from home,” says Selvaraj.
Selvaraj came to Chennai with Rs 1400 and took up jobs in places like petrol bunks while simultaneously searching for a better job.
“My search ended when I joined as an office boy in the office of film director Ram,” he says.
Ram was making Katradhu Thamizh then, which had actor Jiiva in the lead role. “The film developed my interest in cinema. After the film, Ram had a break for three years. That’s when we came close by getting to know each other well. Ram gave me books and films, and guided me well. He also started a blog named Kaatchi for me so that I could convey my thoughts through writing. The stories of Thamirabharaniyil Kollappadaathavargal were first published in this blog. Later, I became an assistant director to Ram and it’s been seven years of my association with him.”
The stories in this collection travel in diverse platforms and are mostly about either politics or relationships.
“Party leaders see politics as business. Mine was ‘frustrated politics’ because whatever I lost in it during my early life have not been compensated till now. Tamil Nadu is in a state of ‘sexual poverty’. Having a woman’s friendship is considered a fantasy. At this juncture, understanding either sex becomes critical. I think my stories reflect that criticality.”
Inspired by writers G Nagarajan and Saadat Hasan Manto, Selvaraj wants to direct a film as well.
“Though I keep writing, my ultimate aim is to direct a film which brings reputation to whatever I learnt from Ram. I believe that will be the true respect to my mentor,” he concludes.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by N. Vinoth Kumar / ENS – Chennai / May 08th, 2013
