Seven prominent persons, including chairwoman of the Adyar Cancer Institute V Shanta and former vice-chancellor of Anna University E Balaguruswamy, were honoured with the ‘Doyens of Madras’ award by the Ambassador group of hotels on Thursday.
Chairman emeritus of Sankara Nethralaya S S Badrinath, former chief election commissioner T S Krishnamurthy, cricketer Kris Srikanth, IOB chairman M Narendra and Sundaram Fastners Ltd. CMD Suresh Krishna are the others who received the award instituted as part of the Madras Day celebrations.
“I am what I am due to the Cancer Institute. Every award I receive is for the institute as well,” said Shanta, after receiving the award. “There is a misconception that the quality of the service by a non-profit organisation is poor, but the Cancer Institute has always been there to bring smile to those who are suffering.”
Geoff Magee, vice-president operations of the Ambassador Group, said, “The event is not just part of our group’s corporate social responsibility, but because we wanted to celebrate Madras Day celebrations along with the city.”
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai> Persons / by Saradha Mohan Kumar, TNN / August 29th, 2013
Justice K.N Basha, a retired judge of the Madras High Court, took charge as the chairman of the Intellectual Property Appellate Tribunal on 28 August 2013. He was appointed by the Director of the Department of Industrial Policy And Promotion of The Union Ministry of Industry And Commerce.
About Justice K.N Basha
• Justice K.N Basha was born in May 1951 and he studied in Madras Christian College and finished his law degree in Madras Law College.
• He enrolled as advocate in 1976 and joined the office of senior advocate N T Vanamamalai.
• In 1985 he established independent practice as a civil and criminal lawyer.
•Justice K.N. Basha was appointed judge of the Madras high court on 10 December 2005, and he retired on 13 May 2013.
About Intellectual Property Appellate Board
Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) was constituted by the Union Government in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 15 September 2003 to hear appeals against the decisions of the Registrar under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
The Intellectual Property Appellate Board has its headquarters at Chennai and holds sitting benches at Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.
source: http://www.jagranjosh.com / Jagran Josh / Home> Current Affairs / August 29th, 2013
My diet differs from time to time depending on the kind of work I am doing. I am mostly on a low-carbohydrate diet. I prefer to give myself a day off from dieting every week, and eat the things that I love. Since the food that we eat and our mood is closely related, it is essential to enjoy the foods that we like to eat — of course, in moderate quantities.
I am not a gym person. I find walking on the treadmill very boring. I enjoy doing outdoor activities, like trekking and cycling.
I have always been a fan of pilates, even before I became Miss India, because it is learning a different exercise every day. It is a core exercise so it helps with my body posture in modelling as well. I have also always been interested in Zumba. It is very exciting indeed.
When it comes to my skin, I prefer to keep things natural. I cleanse and tone twice a day and that’s about it.
But I make sure to apply sunscreen while going out to avoid the tan, especially important for a climate like India’s. Sunscreen is not just good as a sun block, but it keeps the dirt from entering your skin pores as well.
I don’t use hair conditioner regularly, only after a show when my hair is exposed to chemicals. Even without it, my hair is naturally healthy.
But I have recently used a shampoo and conditioner, which claims to contain egg, and it has shown very good results.
– Rochelle is a model and TV anchor.
As told to Papri Das
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Lifestyle> Health & Wellbeing / DC / Rochelle Rao / August 29th,2013
The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) has elected an Indian-American as its zonal Secretary/treasurer.
Sockalingam Sam Kannappan, Chairman of Enforcement Committee of Texas PE Board, was elected Secretary and Treasurer of Southern Zone (SZ). South Zone has 18 boards under its control.
NCEES is the American National Professional Engineers (PE) Board coordinating 50 national PE Boards, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands. Engineering organisations from Canada , Mexico, Japan and other countries work with NCEES.
NCEES conducts examination for fundamental (FE) and Professional Examination (PE) through four zones.
Kannappan is a registered Professional Engineer in Texas with 25 years of experience in design, analysis, and software development for the petrochemical, refinery, and pipeline industries. He graduated with Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
Kannappan is a native of Nattarasankottai in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu.
source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> International> News / by Press Trust of India / New York – August 28th, 2013
Nirupama Vaidyanathan Sanjeev, one of India’s finest tennis players ever, still remembers that afternoon two decades ago in Japan when she lost a match from a winning position. She was done in by a sudden spell of cold weather. “I was totally unprepared as I was facing the extreme cold after coming from Chennai where the temperature was 42 degree. Internet was not so prevalent then for me to check the temperature level before leaving for Japan. The temperature there was sub-zero and I had just a light jacket,” said Nirupama, who was at her parents’ home in Race Course in Coimbatore on Wednesday, after releasing her memoirs, ‘The Moonballer’, in Chennai on Tuesday.
Presently settled in the US with husband and daughter, Nirupama calls Coimbatore her home, the city where her self-trained father taught her to play tennis. It was the Cosmopolitan Club at Race Course where she served and volleyed first. At Perks Matriculation School, she learned to be a winner. “The atmosphere at the school helped me a lot to hone my skills when I was a student there in the early 1990s”, she says.
Her father was her first coach. “I was from a modest background with no sponsors. It was my father’s effort that made me India’s number 1 tennis player at the age of 14 and the first Indian woman ever to win a round in a Grand Slam tournament,” she said.
Though tennis has a long history in India, women have had an insignificant presence. The Krishnans and the Amrithraj brothers at their peak figured in the top 25 ranks. The men did well in Davis Cup. So, when Nirupama started winning international matches, she was breaking new ground. “At a time when no one knew of professional Indian women tennis players, I ventured into this uncharted territory and scripted a path for youngsters to follow. I represented the country in SAF Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the Sydney Olympics apart from the Federation Cup. I have penned the book to inspire girls to take up tennis,” she said. Like Nirupama, her daughter Sahana, 7, too wants to play tennis at the international level.
The title of Nirupama’s book recalls her modest beginning. “I had beaten the best in India with the Moonball style,” she said. “I realised that I had a lot of stories to tell. The attempt is to inspire youngsters that where there is a will, there is a way,” she adds.
Cherishing her formative years as a budding tennis player in Coimbatore, Nirupama credits Perks Matriculation School for making her a winner. “The school’s impact on my sporting career is irrefutable. I joined Perks in February 1991, and in March 1991, I won the national women’s title,” she said.
“The Moonballer’, Nirupama says, is just the beginning. “My next book will be on parenting a Wimbledon champion and it will be a step-by-step guide for both the parents as well as the aspirants,” she said. Right from choosing a tennis racquet to identifying the right coach, she says the book will break down the entire process of becoming a winner into simple steps.
She should know. For the past eight years, Nirupama has been running Nirus Tennis Academy in the US with her brother, K V Ganesh. “It is a revealing experience to be a coach and many of my students are playing at university levels in the US,” she said. And, she continues to follow the scene in India. “A couple of players in India are doing ok, but the real problem is the difficulty in conceiving a team beyond them,” she says. For that, she thinks, more people needs to take up tennis or the game needs to be made more accessible to the public.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by TNN / August 08th, 2013
Mastan Sahib’s dargah in Royapuram./ by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Mastan Sahib’s songs greatly enriched Tamil poetry, in particular the Islamic genre.
That is a wish expressed in a film song. Ever since then, the musical mystic has intrigued me. Planning for a heritage tour of Royapuram, Karthik Bhatt and I are standing in front of the Rajah Sir Savalai Ramaswami Mudaliar Lying in Hospital. We have been told by our good friend Anwar that the Kunangudi Mastan Sahib Dargah is nearby. After asking around quite a bit, we go into Raman (earlier Rama Naicken) Street. It is a thoroughfare of indescribable filth but we trudge along.
We cross a St Mary’s School. The next big landmark is the Renukadevi temple. We pause to ask again and are told we have crossed the dargah. We retrace our steps to find it in a vast, unkempt compound. But once inside, it is a haven of peace and remarkably clean. The structure is simple; a verandah with rounded pillars fronts a vestibule behind which, are chambers with sepulchres. The principal one, facing the entrance, is that of Kunangudi Mastan. On either side are those of his disciples – Pulavar Nayagangal (Hazrath Sheikh Abdul Qadir), Hazrath Qadir Mastan Sahib, Madhar Bibi and Hazrath Ibrahim Sahib.
Kunangudi Mastan Sahib, who was given that name owing to his ever being steeped in spiritual bliss, is believed to have lived between 1792 and 1838. Born at Kunangudi near Thondi in Ramanathapuram district, he was named Sultan Abdul Qadir at birth. His parents, Nainar Mohammed and Fathima Bibi were wealthy but the son chose to give it all up, seeking the supreme truth. He became a Sufi, taking to the Qadariya order. His love for God he expressed in the form of songs. To him, God was the beloved and in some of the songs, in keeping with the Sufi tradition, he depicts the supreme being as feminine.
Songs of his songs such as ‘Manonmani Kanni’ and ‘Rehman Kanni’ could have been the inspiration for Subramania Bharati in depicting God as his Kannamma. Mastan Sahib’s songs greatly enriched Tamil poetry, in particular the Islamic genre. The 20th century veena artiste VS Gomathisankara Iyer even set them to Carnatic tunes, making them suitable for concerts. A compilation was published by Professor Abul Rahman in 1980.
At the dargah, an aged servitor welcomes us in. We pray in silence and just as we are leaving, are asked if we saw the subterranean chamber. An opening in one corner of Mastan Sahib’s shrine accesses this. You need to crawl and then literally fall into it. The space, where you can only squat, can accommodate just about two people. Mastan Sahib is said to have meditated there. Local legend has it that it was once an underground passage leading to Tondiarpet. It is believed that Mastan Sahib was referred to as Tondiar owing to his having come from Thondi. The area of Tondiarpet is therefore said to be named after him.
Despite the squalid surroundings, and the difficulties in getting there, Mastan Sahib’s dargah is well worth a visit.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Hidden Histories / by Sriram V / September 03rd, 2013
Former president APJ Abdul Kalam Tuesday highlighted the critical importance of manufacturing and technology in transforming India into a developed nation.
India is witnessing a wave of growth in manufacturing after its decline in the late 1990s. The current surge in the sector is touted to be much more promising than the first wave. But as this is slated to be more skills-intensive, technology and innovation would play a crucial role, Kalam said.
He was speaking before engineers and industry leaders on the role of manufacturing in India’s transformation to a developed nation at the Rockwell Automation On the Move 2013 (RAOTM-2013) exposition-cum-conference here.
Kalam outlined how the phenomenon of sustainable competitiveness, convergence of technologies and culture of excellence had assumed a pivotal role and stressed the need for creative leadership and ethical practices.
Industry leaders like Dilip Sawhney, regional director of Rockwell, said India was well poised to take advantage of this shift.
Frank Kulaszewicz, senior vice president, RA Global Operations, said Rockwell was focused on the biggest emerging markets such as India where there was a rapid growth due to the increased rate of urbanization and this had opened huge prospects for Rockwell’s products and solutions.
“Rockwell expects 60 per cent of its global revenues to flow from non-US markets, especially the emerging markets, by 2013-14,” he said.
Tom O’ Reilly, president, Asia-Pacific, Rockwell Automation, said the US-based company planned to put in some investments in the Research and Development sector and expand its tie-up with partners as India has “an immense potential in the industrial automation market”.
Noted Tamil filmmaker, writer and actor R. Manivannan died at his Ramavaram residence in Chennai on Saturday following a massive heart attack. He was 59. Having played character roles in more than 400 Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films, he made his directorial debut with Gopurangal Saivadhillai. His last and 50th directorial venture was Nagaraja Cholan MA MLA , a sequel to his 1994 blockbuster Amaidhipadai.
It all began for him when as a student in Sulur, Coimbatore district, he sent a 100-page fan mail to director Bharathyraja. And soon he found himself working as an assistant with him. Bharathyraja later introduced him as an actor in his film Kodi Parakkudhu and his popularity grew in both comic and negative roles.
Some of his best films as an actor include Mudhalvan, Sangamam and Ullathai Allitha, Amaidhipadai, and Avvai Shanmugi. He also turned writer with films like Tick Tick Tick, Agaya Gangai and Kadhal Ovium. And teaming up with his best friend Sathyaraj, he directed him in 25 films.
The combo worked wonders at the box office. His protégés include Vikraman, R. K. Selvamani, Sunder C, Seemaan, K. Selvabharathi, Radhabharathi and E.Ramadas who have now made a mark as independent directors in Tamil cinema themselves.
Always keen on making a film on the problems of Sri Lankan Tamils, he was a member of the “Naam Tamizhar” (We Tamils) group and in fact he supported the Sri Lankan Tamil cause so much that he said recently, “When I die, I want my body to be handed over to (Tamil director) Seeman and my funeral must take place under his guidance.”
Manivannan is survived by wife Sengamalam, son Raghuvannan and daughter Jothi.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / by Anupama Subramanian / June 16th, 2013
I. Mayandi Bharathi. / Photo: Soma Basu / The Hindu
On this Independence Day, meet Madurai’s oldest living freedom fighter, I. Mayandi Bharathi, whose spirit remains intact at 97
On August 9 every year, the Gandhi Museum in Madurai holds a function to mark the anniversary of Quit India Movement. In the last five decades, guests and invitees to the function changed. Not I.Mayandi Bharathi.
This year his attendance was doubtful as he was admitted to the hospital for treatment of dysentery. But the 97-year-old was restless and got himself discharged in time for the function.
You cannot miss the fire in his eyes as he presses the flashback button. Listening to him is like going back to the black’n’white era and reliving the historic moments that our generation has only read about in books or seen in films.
Mayandi Bharathi is Madurai’s oldest living freedom fighter who unfailingly attends the City administration’s Independence-Day function every year. There are 150-odd freedom fighters in Madurai district who are seated in a special enclosure and Bharathi’s chair is never vacant.
Though it’s been 66 years, the voice of young revolutionaries, he says, still reverberate in his ears, “Down with British Imperialism…Long Live Revolution…Inquilab Zindabad.” He was part of many such rallies and protests and was jailed over a dozen times. His life changed when he was 14. His classroom window allowed him a peep into the street opposite to where Government Rajaji Hospital stands today. “There were no buildings then, only forests. Hidden inside the shrubs was a toddy shop run by the British,” he recalls.
As part of the Congress-led picketing of shops selling foreign cloth and liquor, the Seval Dal workers were lathi charged during a protest in 1932. Watching the action from his seat, Bharathi grew restless. He excused himself from the class, rid his school bag of the books and notebooks and filled it up with stones and pebbles instead. “I ran to the spot and supplied stones to the unarmed protestors to help them to hit back. I too got beaten up by the police,” he can’t hide his smile.
When he reached home late that evening, he was admonished by his worried parents and asked to keep off such desh-bhakti activities. As he ate that night’s meal with 23 other family members (he was the 11th child for his parents, his mother bore 13 children and his father’s second wife had another five), Bharathi knew that his parents had already lost him to the patriotic fervour.
After that Bharathi became a regular at every rally that popularised swadeshi goods and khadi and boycotted collection of war funds. He went to prison numerous times between 1940 and 1946 and met several leaders of freedom movement including Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, K.P.Janaki Ammal, N.M.R.Subburaman, Sasivarna Thevar, Sitaramaiah, M.R.Venkatraman and A.Vaidyanatha Iyer who further inspired him.
Though he abided by Gandhian philosophy and principles, he was much in awe of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and was in the welcome committee when Netaji Bose visited Madurai in 1939. The mere recollection of the moment lit up his face. “I shook hands with him and remember he had a big hand. He told us the World War II had given us a golden opportunity to intensify the freedom struggle and win.”
An audacious freedom fighter characterised by altruistic values, Bharathi lives alone in a small cramped room on Kakathoppe Street in the heart of Madurai. At one end of the rectangular room is the kitchen and the other end has an old television perched on a small steel almirah. A charpoy in the centre seats him with support of pillows. His feet are swollen and he finds it difficult to walk without support. Every inch of space in the room, cot and the lone table is filled with papers, newspapers, booklets and books. He lives off the freedom fighters pension given by the Centre and is obviously too proud to admit that he has and continues to live in penury. He jokingly recalls how once his veshti was stolen by another patriot and he was left with only one for several months. “I never regretted the way I chose to live my life. I have no demands,” he says.
Bharathi has authored a dozen books – the first in 1939 and the latest this January – all on various aspects of the freedom struggle. He wrote for and edited the CPI journal Janashakti (1944-63) and the CPI-M’s Tamil daily Theekathir (1964-91). He laments though India attained “swaraj but sukhraj still eludes the people”. The lack of jobs and education, food and shelter, increasing crime and disrespect for women, the deepening caste-based and rich-poor divide – all dishearten him.
Remembered for giving fiery speeches, Bharathi wonders whether the billion-plus countrymen will ever be united to make India a super power and take on the challenges of modern society disabled by corruption and discrimination. Earlier, a leader’s call was enough to rouse the sentiments of the people and fight the British. But today, the so-called leaders ignore the welfare of the people, he rues.
Bharathi loves to narrate stories and meticulously maintains scrap books with photographs of leaders of the freedom movement along side notes scribbled by him. The day I called on him, he was working on his next book on the lives of different leaders. He saves his pension money to publish his books and distributes them among students, friends and laymen.
Driven by the dream of freedom, independence is Bharathi’s way of life.
(Making a difference is a fortnightly column about ordinary people and events that leave an extraordinary impact on us. E-mail soma.basu@thehindu.co.in to tell her about someone you know who is making a difference)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review> History & Culture / by Soma Basu / Madurai – August 14th, 2013
A R Rahman is a spiritual man. That’s probably why he rushed his staff to get their brand new premises of the KM College of Music up and running on Eid. The landscaping may not be perfect, going by the patches of grass on the lawn, the interiors may need a little more touching up and the location (on a rather bumpy gulley off 100 feet road) isn’t exactly posh, but the ‘Mozart of Madras’ is upbeat as he arrives at his new college. “Inshallah, it will all go off well,” he tells his wife Saira as he awaits the arrival of India’s industrial power couple Nita and Mukesh Ambani — the ‘under-wraps’ guests of honour for Rahman’s college opening. With a host of Hollywood and local films to score music for, Rahman took time to reflect on the journey that his ‘pet project’ has taken from a single room KM Music Conservatory, opposite his house, to this magnificent campus. Notes from the maestro’s mind:
How did this project come to be?
I’ve always been interested in music education, because there is this distance between what people in the music industry need and what is being taught. That was the vision behind KM Conservatory. Some time ago, the students staged a full-fledged musical and they managed a spectacular show with such a small rehearsal space on the old campus. I began to think that we could do a lot more with a larger space and that is how this unfolded. We can comfortably teach about 300 students here.
So, It’s a dream come true?
(Laughs) Everything is. This morning when I came here to see how things were going, I was astonished to hear western classical being practised in one room, while sufi music was coming from the floor above…there were so many musical confluences from all around, it finally made sense. There is room for experimentation and growth here, for every talented musician.
Is it financially viable to run such a top-of-the-line school of music?
Honestly, (clears his throat) it’s like I’ve got a knife to my neck when I think about the amount of work and money that we have pumped in. Like everything else, we’ll just have to wait and see. We have a superb studio here that will be rented commercially at night, so that ought to help!
Do you have partners or a franchisee model in mind. Reliance could be interested in this as a brand…
Not at the moment, no. I can say that things are comfortable at the moment and I am able to finance this institute without worry. When I figure out how much it takes to run things here, then I will think about whether we need partnership or any other support. I’ll know in a month’s time.
Do you see KM being in the league of a Berkeley or Julliard School of Music?
I’ve always felt that KM as a concept is in a different direction. Where Julliard and Berkeley have specified directions for where they see their students, we have always had a mix of musical styles – essentially we are Indian at the heart of it, but there is room and space for any kind of world music to play its part. We’re also trying to teach people how to adapt to the needs of any music industry and not just a theoretical one. We have the option of students doing an internship anywhere and even doing commercial work while they’re studying.
Has the attitude towards music education changed since you started KM in 2008?
Not much, but I’d like to think that we have made a difference somewhere. In India, there is this strange attitude that people have where even musician’s have towards their children taking up IT jobs – abroad, people are proud to say that their kids play for the Boston Chamber Orchestra or study at Julliard, but that’s not the case here. I wanted to change that. These days, music is limited only to cinema, cinema and cinema. I wanted to create an interest among people who wanted to make music and help them get to where they wanted to be – successful musicians, whether for music sake, for personal satisfaction or even to play in the industry.
So it’s about recognition of talent for you?
Right now it’s (industry) all about popularity. Things have changed to a small extent where small bands put stuff up on Youtube and if it’s good, it becomes a sensation. If it doesn’t, it just fades. But there is a lot of good stuff and talent out there that needs to be nurtured and we hope to bridge that gap.
Making music without knowing the industry must be tough
It’s a strange thing, but I’ve found that sometimes people with the best talent have dropped off by the industry very early, like the initial rounds of a reality show. Some musicians and singers may be really talented and technically good, but they get knocked out by the commercial aspects and others who aren’t quite talented make it. This needs to change.
You’ve been away from Tamil films for awhile and now you’re returning. Was it a planned hiatus?
Here’s the thing – Hollywood projects come calling only once and you really have to grab on to those opportunities. The good thing about most of those projects is that they take time and allow me a certain space to work. Setting up this kind of an institute could not have been possible without that kind of space or ‘resources’.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Entertainment> Interview / by Daniel Thimmayya / ENS – Chennai / August 10th, 2013
