She was also one of the first women doctors in India and the first woman house surgeon in the Government Maternity Hospital, Madras
Today’s Google Doodle celebrated Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi, a surgeon, educator, lawmaker and social reformer, on her 133rd birth anniversary. Dr. Reddi devoted her life to public health and fought the battle against gender inequality. The Government of Tamil Nadu announced on Monday that government hospitals in the State will celebrate her birth anniversary as ‘ Hospital Day ‘ every year .
Born in 1886 in Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu, Dr. Reddi was the first Indian girl student in the Department of Surgery at Madras Medical College. This was just one of her many firsts. She became one of the first women doctors in India in 1912, and the first woman house surgeon in the Government Maternity Hospital, Madras.
She co-founded the Women’s Indian Association in 1918, and as the first woman member (and vice president) of the Madras Legislative Council — making her the first woman legislator in India — she helped raise the minimum age for marriage for girls and pushed the Council to pass the Immoral Traffic Control Act, and the Devadasi system abolishment Bill.
She resigned from the Council to support the Salt Satyagraha. When three young devadasi girls knocked on her door in 1930, she established the Avvai Home to shelter and educate girls like them.
In 1954, she opened the Cancer Institute in Chennai and in 1956 was awarded the Padma Bhushan. She passed away in 1968 at the age of 81.
Here is Dr. Reddi herself on the role of women in an article published in the August 15, 1947 Independence Day edition of The Hindu:
“Indian women have a great role to play in the modern world, with its chaos and rumblings of another war. With their background of philosophy and religion, with their apprenticeship under Gandhian leadership, with the sense of motherhood strong in them they can be and should be the ambassadors of love, peace and unity. It is the Gandhian concept of non-violence alone that can save the world from a cataclysm. And it is the women of India alone who can carry the message best so that the world may come together in unity and peace.”
The Doodle showing Dr. Reddi guiding young girls and women was created by Bangalore-based guest artist Archana Sreenivasan. The Doodle page also displays other early concepts drawn by the artist for this occasion.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News / The Hindu Net Desk / July 30th, 2019
Various measures by forest officials helped this tiger reserve to consistently recorded more than 30 percent annual increment in tiger population, which is highest for a tiger landscape in India.
Chennai :
Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), which is created in 2013, is adjudged as the best performer in the country for its ability to increase more tigers between 2014-18 compared to any other tiger reserve in the country.
The award, instituted by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), was received by STR Field Director V Naganathan from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday during the release of 4th cycle of All India Tiger Estimation results, which coincides with the Global Tiger Day.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by S. V. Krishna Chaityana / Express News Service / July 29th, 2019
With absolutely no support from the government, Anuradha has been able to bag an international medal. Even after her recent victory, there has been no communication from the state government.
P Anuradha / M Muthu Kannan
Chennai :
It’s common to look for signboards on unknown roads. But, en route to Nemmelipatti in Pudukottai, huge flex boards with congratulatory messages for 26-year-old P Anuradha, a resident of the village who won a gold medal in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship held at Samoa from July 9 to 14, guide us. The 4-km stretch from Perungalur leading us to the lush green village is dotted with posters of Anuradha, the pride of Nemmelipatti.
We reach the village, which has a population of about 1,000 people. Just the day before we visited, Anuradha was given a hero’s welcome at Tiruchy airport and her village. For young girls in the village, Anuradha is a beacon of hope, of what can be achieved with pure grit, determination and hard work. The people of Nemmelipatti, Anuradha tells us, have always been supportive of her dreams. They have been a great source of support for her family.
We make our way to Anuradha’s house, find a quiet spot and chat with the champion who is soaking in the success of her win and her brother P Marimuthu, about the journey so far. Flanked by agricultural land, Anuradha’s house is a simple abode which her brother has built. From living in a thatched hut to having a house they call their own, Marimuthu is an example of what can be achieved by hard work. We sit in the verandah of their house, their rooster and goats also making us aware of their presence.
With absolutely no support from the government, Anuradha has been able to achieve an international medal. Even after her recent victory, there has been no communication from the state government. No word of congratulation from the CM or anybody from the state government. She was only felicitated by the collector of Pudukottai.
Sibling support
Like most teenagers, Anuradha was unsure about her career goals. She considered a career in engineering, but her brother had other plans for her. “I thought it would be better for her if she pursued sports. I didn’t want her to be one among the 1,000 engineering graduates without a job. So when she completed class 12, I wanted to expose her to the world of sports,” recalls Marimuthu. In 2009, he enrolled her into weightlifting training.
“I used to play handball in school. But, I was told that it is difficult to succeed in a team game. My brother’s friend suggested weightlifting would be good for me. That’s how I started training at the Pudukottai Government Stadium under master Muthuramalingam,” shares Anuradha, a Computer Science graduate from Rajah’s College.
Practice made Anuradha perfect. “I used to leave home at 5 am, train at the stadium from 6 am to 8 am and then attend college. I used to train again in the evening and reach home only by 10 pm,” she shares, confessing that she initially didn’t enjoy the drill. “I was the only girl training with 10 men. I was scared and unhappy. But my brother motivated me.”
Gold calling
The turning point in Anuradha’s life arrived when she bagged her first gold medal in 2009 at an inter-college meet. This victory helped her focus on weightlifting. She went on to win several medals in university championships and national tournaments.
In 2014, she completed her post-graduation in MSc Computer Science from JJ College. But, life came to a standstill. “I didn’t have a job, I wasn’t aware of how I could participate in national championships. There were no coaches or facilities in Pudukottai,” says Anuradha. Her distress turned into relief when she heard of the National Institute of Sports in Patiala, one of Asia’s largest sports institutes. But it came with its own price. Training at this facility required funds, which was a luxury that the brother-sister duo couldn’t afford.
Overcoming challenges
Talking about their ordeal, Marimuthu says, “I lost my father when I was in class 12. My mother was working as a coolie. We didn’t even have money for food. I discontinued my studies and started working in a factory. I was not able to provide the kind of food Anu’s training required. I hardly used to earn `4,000 per month. But, I knew that Anu had the strength to be a good weightlifter. So, I decided to send her to Patiala.” The coaching in Patiala cost `1.75 lakh a year. Marimuthu sold a portion of the agricultural land he owned and borrowed money from his company. He calls it his “best decision”. In Patiala, Anuradha met international weightlifters.
Making TN proud
In 2016, after completing her training, Anuradha returned home. She joined the TN Police Force the same year and joined Thanjavur District Medical College as a trainee sub-inspector. Two years later, she participated in the TN Police Weightlifting Competition and bagged a gold medal. For two consecutive years, she bagged gold in the Senior National Championship.
In March 2019, she had the chance to train at the Indian Camp in Patiala under Sai Central Government’s sponsorship. She participated in the trial for Commonwealth Championships in May and got selected. The rest is history. Anuradha hopes to help young girls pursue sports. “It took me 10 years to win an international gold. I could have done this four years back with proper guidance. I want to create awareness in schools about sports as a viable career. Students can go to the government sports hostels for training,” she says.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Sowmya Mani / Express News Service / July 27th, 2019
Elon Musk with the students team from IIT-Madras’ Avishkar Hyperloop
Avishkar Hyperloop from IIT-Madras met the SpaceX founder at this year’s hyperloop pod competition
Student innovators from IIT-Madras won tech entrepreneur Elon Musk’s admiration with their design of a hyperloop pod at a SpaceX organised competition in Los Angeles.
Avishkar Hyperloop, which was incubated at the Centre For Innovation at IIT-M, was the lone Asian team selected to enter the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition 2019 last month. Hyperloop is a proposed transportation concept of a network of vacuum-sealed tubes which can, theoretically, ferry people at great speeds sans air friction. The competition was held in Los Angeles last weekend with team members of Avishkar earning the opportunity to interact with Musk, founder-CEO of Space X, and Josh Geigel, co-founder of Virgin Hyperloop One.
One of the team members, Pranit Mehta, took to Twitter to share their experience. “Pleasure to have met and interacted with @elonmusk at the @SpaceX @Hyperloop Pod Competition 2019! Also, a wonderful experience for Team @avishkar_loop , the only Asian Finalist there! (sic),” he tweeted.
Avishkar was tasked with developing an indigenous design to build the first-ever self-propelled, autonomous Hyperloop Pod in India. They were among the 21 teams selected from a total of 1,600 applicants globally to participate in the competition.
Prior to the competition, team Avishkar was invited to visit the Los Angeles headquarters of Virgin Hyperloop One. “The @iitmadras @avishkar_loop student hyperloop team stopped by our Los Angeles headquarters to learn more about our progress in India. Always encouraging to see the next generation of thinkers embracing this transformative technology! (sic),” read a tweet by Virgin Hyperloop One.
The competition was, however, won by the team from Technische Universität München (Technical University of Munich), whose pod set a speed record of 463 kilometres per hour.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Science / by Pradeep Kumar / July 24th, 2019
Hosur-based Kenneth Anderson Nature Society (KANS) has been demanding that the Melagiri region in Tamil Nadu be declared a wildlife sanctuary named after Anderson.
Considered to be a pioneer of wildlife conservation, Anderson authored eight books and close to 60 stories about his hunting exploits.
While they are mostly about his encounters in the wild, the books also discuss the importance of conservation and upholding the rights of the forest dwelling communities.
According to the KANS, Melagiri is under threat from deforestation, irresponsible tourism and unplanned development.
Ironical as it may sound, the legacy of an India-born British hunter from India’s colonial past is now living on in the conservation efforts of a nature society, founded in his memory in Hosur in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, in 2008. Known as south India’s Jim Corbett, Kenneth Anderson studied and worked in Bengaluru (Bangalore at the time) in the 1920s. After 15 years in the posts and telegraph department, he took up his last job at the British Aircraft Factory in Bengaluru (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) as a factory manager. He was also an avid sport hunter, interested especially in big game.
But it is as a writer that he is remembered most widely today. Anderson authored several books based on his hunting exploits in the jungles of south India and is considered by many as among the first wildlife conservationists in the region.
A view of Jawlagiri made famous by Kenneth Anderson in his writings. / Photo by Peppin Jerold.
In fact, the Hosur-based Kenneth Anderson Nature Society (KANS) has been demanding that the Melagiri region in Tamil Nadu be declared a wildlife sanctuary named after Anderson.
According to S.R. Sanjeev Kumar, vice-president of KANS, this would invite global attention to conservation efforts in the region. The society works extensively to reduce man-animal conflict in Aiyur, Jawlagiri and Anchetty– all forest areas in Tamil Nadu that have repeatedly found mention in Anderson’s books.
With Karnataka’s Bannerghatta wildlife sanctuary to its north and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu to the south, Melagiri has two major elephant corridors that account for the huge numbers of the pachyderms in the area. The tiger reserves of B.R. Hills, Sathyamangalam and Male Mahadeeswaran Hills are also in the vicinity.
The biggest attraction of Melagiri is the Hogenakkal falls of the Cauvery river. Thousands visit the falls regularly to indulge in coracle rides and other river activities like river rafting, walks and medicinal baths. Trekking up the Melagiri hills, to enjoy the view of the Eastern and Western Ghats merging, is also popular among visitors.
Tourists paddling coracles at the Hoggenakkal falls. Photo by K.A. Shaji.
Wildlife conservation in Anderson’s writing
Anderson authored eight books and close to 60 stories about his hunting exploits. His first, Nine man-eaters and one rogue, first published by London-based George Allen and Unwin in 1954 was about the reasons behind tigers, leopards and panthers turning man-eaters and elephants turning rogue. He starts with a tiger that turned man-eater in Jowlagiri in Melegiri and a panther in Gumalapur, which caused 42 human deaths.
While all his books narrate his encounters in the wild, they highlight the importance of conservation and upholding the rights of forest-dwelling communities as well.
“Although he contributed immensely to the literary genre known as shikar writing in India, Kenneth Anderson remained relatively obscure. He never got the recognition Jim Corbett had won – probably because he was writing in Corbett’s powerful narrative shadow,” said Peppin Jerold, a wildlife enthusiast and an avid Kenneth Anderson fan.
Jerold is an engineer based in Bengaluru, who moderates a popular social media group titled Kenneth Anderson with 18,000 members who are avid readers of Anderson classics.
Among Jerold’s favourite Anderson stories is the one about Muniappa, a wily shikar guide well-known in the Melagiri division of forests spread across Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts. Muniappa once approached Anderson for help to kill a man-eater tiger that, according to him, was creating terror in Jawlagiri. Sceptical about Muniappa’s intentions, Anderson first undertook a fact-checking mission. Sure enough, he discovered that the alleged culprit was a panther with no inclination to kill human beings. Further investigation revealed that Muniappa had promised to make a gift of the animal’s hide to some senior forest officials.
The Jawlagiri forest bungalow where Anderson has stayed. / Photo by Peppin Jerold.
“The ecological horrors of hunting were less those days,” said Laxmeesha Acharya, president, KANS. “People like Anderson targeted only man-eaters and spared all other animals. They remained proven conservationists, who were extremely sensitive towards the fragile ecology of the region,” he added.
“Anderson hunted man-eaters mainly on the request of government and forest officials of that time in response to the fear that gripped local affected communities. But his stories are full of concern for the depleting animal population and the flora around. Going by the books, he had a keen sense of natural history and appreciation of the wild. He was also an expert on animal behaviour,’’ said R. Mohan Raj, Coimbatore-based conservationist and secretary of Tamil Nadu Green Movement.
Interestingly, a mango tree planted by Donald, Anderson’s son and a hunter himself, still provides shade to Muniappa’s grave, located in the Jawlagiri forest. Anderson succumbed to cancer in 1974.
What ails Anderson’s haven
Once infamous for the presence of number of man-eating tigers, Melagiri is the setting for 20 of Anderson’s most famous hunting tales. With more and more young fans taking to his writing, thanks to accessibility to his works on the Internet, Melagiri has been put on the global map. Its proximity to Bengaluru has also made it easier for wildlife enthusiasts eager to retrace Anderson’s jungle trysts in the region.
Many wildlife activists, say KANS members, have been inspired by the vivid tales of Anderson to pitch in with forest department officials in the region to conduct wildlife censuses, dig elephant-proof trenches and help forest-dwelling communities to live safely and in harmony with nature.
“People might have objections in calling a hunter a conservationist. But we have no information that Kenneth Anderson killed animals other than man-eaters and that too at the behest of local governments and forest officials. On the other hand, his books are still prompting youngsters to engage in conservation activities,” said Piyush Manish, a Salem-based green activist.
However, the region has been beset with problems. Deforestation and consequent soil erosion have been rampant.
“Large scale deforestation by the timber lobby and land mafias is killing a major portion of the Melagiri forests, especially on the banks of the Cauvery. Though little known outside Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, indiscriminate tourism is becoming a growing threat to wildlife. Wildlife offences are high in the region as violators can easily escape to nearby Karnataka by swimming across the river,” said Sanjeev Kumar, adding, “illegal laterite quarries are another cause for concern.”
“Located close to Karnataka and on the banks of the inter-state river Cauvery, Melagiri forests are now under stress mainly because of interference by timber lobby and land mafias,” said K.J. Sreekumar, an organic farmer and environmental activist based at Dhenkanikottai on the outskirts of Melagiri. “Wildlife offenders are managing easy escape by swimming across the river and running to the Karnataka region on the other side. Unregulated tourism in the form of large scale trekking and camping within the forests also posing as a big challenge to conservation,” he pointed out.
Tourism on the Kaveri has had an impact on the Melagiri forests. Photo by K.A. Shaji.
Native vegetation has also taken a hit with the unchecked growth of invasive lantana shrubs that are affecting the growth of other flora that herbivores like deer and elephants feed on.
It hasn’t helped either that Melagiri has been largely overlooked on the conservation map, and received very little media attention.
According to KANS president Acharya, Melagiri is a biodiversity hotspot that has fallen prey to unplanned development that has resulted in the unprecedented loss of wildlife. KANS has identified the number of hit-and-run deaths in the national highway stretch between Anekkal and Dharmapuri as the most alarming. The organisation has been conducting roadkill awareness programmes for the general public regularly.
“There is a forest village called Belekare located hardly 35 kilometres from Bengaluru’s Electronic City. But reaching there involves a huge risk because of the lack of any motorable road and presence of wild elephants,” said Acharya. The villagers were accused of helping poachers and the timber lobby. KANS has been working with the forest department to involve the 40 families in the village in conservation activities, said Acharya.
Fishing and cattle-grazing are now threatening the existence of smooth-coated otters in the region. An Otter Conservation Project in the Biligundlu Reserve Forest along the banks of the Cauvery is another KANS initiative. Conservation efforts are also on to protect four-horned antelopes and grizzled giant squirrels.
According to Acharya, most KANS members started engaging in conservation activities inspired by Anderson’s writings. Despite the challenges, the support that they have managed to garner through social media is driving their efforts. Locals in the area feel that an interpretation centre and museum on Kenneth Anderson, ‘the hunter, nature enthusiast and chronicler of wildlife’ close to the waterfalls can make create more awareness.
“Kenneth Anderson used to say that jungle was his birthplace and heaven. He had also wanted to make it his resting place. So, it is only fitting that this area be declared a wildlife sanctuary and named after him in order to inspire more people to join hands to save his beloved Melagiri,” concluded Peppin.
These students devote three-four hours every day after college and now their work has come to fruition as they have raised `1 crore from sponsors and finally built a pod and a 40-metre test track.
Bengaluru :
At an event hosted by Atria Institute of Technology on Tuesday, aerospace engineering student from IIT Madras, Sai Madhav, presented his team’s prototype pod for the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod competition to his audience.
Avikshar Hyperloop is one of the 22 teams out of the 1,600 teams worldwide and also the only team from Asia that has qualified to the finals. It is a group of about 30 students from inter-disciplinary backgrounds who have been working on creating their own pod since September 2017. These students devote three-four hours every day after college and now their work has come to fruition as they have raised `1 crore from sponsors and finally built a pod and a 40-metre test track.
SAE India, a member-driven organisation which acts as a knowledge partner for students and faculty in automotive and aerospace engineering, hosted its second event in its lecture series that deals with aerospace engineering. It also functions as a think-tank and a policy maker. The second lecture was specifically about the Hyperloop, an almost too-good-to-be-true transportation service proposed by Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. The Hyperloop, if installed, seeks to reduce travel time drastically. It is supposed to be a land-based transportation service where pods, that house passengers, can levitate and zoom through tunnels by having the air pumped out of them in order to create a near-perfect vacuum for greater speed. It boasts of a travel time of just 30 minutes from Bengaluru to Chennai.
Being the main speaker at the event, Madhav’s presentation and video of the only Indian team to qualify for this competition impressed a mixture of faculty, students and heads of the SAE group. He also talked about how the plan for building their pod looked solid on paper but when it came to the actuality of making it, they faced a lot of discrepancies. Being in the stability team, he deals with a lot of mechanical aspects of the pod. During the question-and-answer session, the question of the safety of the passengers was raised as the Hyperloop project has bragged about reaching speeds up to 500-600 km/hour. “Yes, passengers will feel major deceleration effects. All this is new and I can only hope that newer research yields positive results,” he said. J Munirathnam, who is on the Board of SAE India for aerospace, also said the project will have to be built after taking into consideration the degree of g-force that the human body can withstand.
“This is completely new. We have the freedom to explore it. If you look at building a car, parameters have already been established for it. That is not the case here,” Madhav said.
The hype about hyperloop
The Hyperloop, if installed, seeks to reduce travel time drastically. It is supposed to be a land-based transportation service where pods, that house passengers, can levitate and zoom through tunnels by having the air pumped out of them in order to create a near-perfect vacuum for greater speed.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Chinmay Manoj / Express News Service / July 11th, 2019
Preserving for posterity: A. Parameswaran, has been collecting seeds of native vegetables and fruits | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Oddanchatram-based organic farmer A Parameswaran has created a bank of over 300 varieties of seeds of native vegetables and fruits
Patches of dark rain-bearing clouds gather in the far west, masking the lofty peaks of the majestic Anamalai mountains that separate Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The South West monsoon has set in, but the interior Dindigul district of southern Tamil Nadu falls in the rain shadow region, getting only an occasional drizzle and a breeze or two. At the Kuttiyagoundanpudur village near Oddanchatram in Dindigul district, the red ochre soil in A Parameswaran’s six-acre farm is athirst for some moisture. The brinjal saplings are wilting in the harsh sun; baby vegetables take shelter under the skimpy shade of the leaves.
“But my plants will not die as they are native to this region. The drizzle is enough for them to sustain till October when the North East monsoon will bring us rains,” says Parameswaran, an aeronautical engineer-turned organic farmer.
The 28-year-old has been collecting seeds of native vegetables and fruits for the past three years. He now has a collection of over 300 varieties of seeds of different vegetables and has set up the Aadhiyagai native seed bank, from which he provides seeds to farmers in the neighbourhood.
“I grew up watching my parents till dry land and though I graduated in Engineering, my love for agriculture remained intact. That’s why I returned to my village,” says Parameswaran. The pocket around Oddanchatram, despite being arid and devoid of any perennial water source, has emerged as the vegetable hub of the State. The market in Oddanchatram is the largest in Southern India, in terms of the volume of vegetables it sends on a daily basis to a majority of Kerala and some parts of Karnataka. “But that’s all because of production-focused agriculture. Genetically-modified seeds, flush with pesticides and fertilisers are giving the results,” says Parameswaran.
“Until some two decades ago, we never had to buy seeds. We would let some of the yield dry up on the plant itself. And seeds from those vegetables/fruits were used for sowing in the next season. Today, a farmer spends 20 per cent of his investment on seeds. At the Government seed bank, 100 grams of seeds are sold for ₹3,500 and about 150 to 200 grams of seeds are needed for an acre of land.”
Parameshwaran realised the importance of saving native seeds after attending a workshop at Vanagam in Karur, where he was inspired by the ideals of organic farmer pioneer G Nammalvar. “That was also the time when things like Bt brinjal were hot topics.” He went around villages across Tamil Nadu over he past couple of years, speaking to older people, learning about the various vegetables native to specific regions. “I was surprised that I ended up noting down names of about 100 varieties of brinjal alone. A lot of them were already lost and were nowhere to be found. Likewise, there are as many varieties of lady’s finger. Ever seen a pink ladies finger? You can find it in the Kongu belt,” he adds.
“Gradually, I found out some native varieties that people continued to sow in small patches of land either in their backyards or in farms. These were used for family consumption and was not sold in the market. That’s where I collected the seeds from. Now, I encourage every farmer in my village to set aside a small patch to grow native vegetables.”
Parameswaran also sets up terrace gardens and backyard farms for people. “Last month, I set up a native vegetable farm in one cent of land for a friend in Madurai. Even in congested cities, people can grow these native varieties. They don’t need much of any resource. Native seeds are naturally potent, drought-resistant and have high immune levels against pests and diseases.”
“The only reason why native vegetable varieties are not commercially viable in today’s production-result-oriented agriculture is that they are long-standing crops. Winged beans and sword beans are not as popular for the same reason. Some native plants may live for a year and yield only after four months from sowing. There’s one variety of lady’s finger that lives for four years. Whereas, genetically modified brinjal’s life span is only four months and it yields within 20 days and the farmer can keep going in for the next batch of plants in quick succession,” he adds.
Parmeswaran is now in the process of collecting seeds of native vegetables from Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
For details, visit aadhiayagai.com, facebook.com/aadhiyagaiseedsavers or call 085263 66796
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Homes and Gardens / by A. Shrikumar / July 06th, 2019
In February this year, Jains Green Acres Flat Owners’Association was declared the second best in water management, among residents welfare associations in the country, under the National Water Awards – 2018. The Award has been instituted by the Union Ministry of Water Resources. The Association received the recognition for its efforts in conserving energy.
For a large community with 684 families, we are well aware that the water needs will be high, but we don’t have to worry about a crisis as we charted our water future even before the plans of the buildings took shape.
Jains Green Acres on Old Dargah Road in Pallavaram was built in 2008. During the construction stage itself, about 300 owners met every two to three months and brainstormed about having a proper rainwater harvesting structure and groundwater recharge system.
A percolation pit on the premises. Photos: special arrangement
Rooftop rainwater is being effectively harvested at each block with hedges created around each of the 22 blocks and the water being diverted from the terrace to the ground, which allowed for faster percolation of rainwater into the ground.
Water supply from the borewells sunk during the construction of the apartment were found to be inadequate when more residents started moving in and hence, 10 more rainwater harvesting wells with a depth of about 10 feet, were created at strategic locations. These wells helped us tide over the harsh summer season.
The builder had initially provided a sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 2 lakh litres, which was found to be inadequate with the per capita consumption of water.
So, we got the builder to enhance the plant to treat 4.5 lakh litres of water. The treated water was fed to the trees and flowering plants on the campus to boost the groundwater table.
In 2015, the Association decided to install water meters at each house and have the residents pay the bills based on consumption. This single measure to curtail excess consumption of water brought down the usage from about 4.5 lakh litres per day to 3 lakh litres.
(The writer is the president of Jains Green Acres Flat Owners Association)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / News> Cities> Chennai / by Sunil Kumar / July 02nd, 2019
Also, 3D animation videos in the app will provide directions for particular unit or labs in the hospital.
Chennai :
In a first-of-its-kind initiative to make government hospitals more patients’ friendly, Orthopaedic Surgery Department of Government Stanley Medical College Hospital launched a free mobile application ‘Stan Ortho’ on Thursday to enable the public to know about the treatment services provided by it.
The app is available on Google Play store, doctors said.
Speaking to Express, T Tholgapiyan, Head of the hospital’s Orthopaedic Surgery Department, said, “The app will provide all information about treatment options for a particular condition and its description.
Also, 3D animation videos in the app will provide directions for particular unit or labs in the hospital.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / June 01st, 2019
The visitors at Express Avenue mall curiously peered down to the central atrium from the above floors.
The event was held at Express Avenue Mall Debadatta Mallick
Chennai :
The visitors at Express Avenue mall curiously peered down to the central atrium from the above floors. On a blue stage set up between the two lifts, four people sit on the dais. Above them, the words ‘Mukti’ is printed on the stage in bold letters. The Mukti Foundation held an awareness event at the mall to educate the public on the organisation’s work in the field of disability, on Sunday.
Started in 1986, Mukti Foundation provides artificial limbs and ciphers free of cost for amputees. Thus far, the organisation has given away three lakh limbs, all produced at their centre in Meenambakkam. They also conduct camps across the state to provide limbs to the needy.
The chief guests for the event were Letika Saran, former Director General of Police, Varadha Kutti, state president for Tamilnadu Udavakaram Association for the Welfare of the differently abled, and T Ramakrishna, director of DD News. “For those so-called able-bodied people, we also need props, if not physical, to carry on with our lives. Not only mental support, but physical support is very important for everyone, especially people with disability,” said Saran.
The chief guests provided 15 customised limbs made by the Mukti Foundation’s team of highly trained technicians to 15 people. Their centre in Meenambakkam also employs people with disability (PwDs), and offers skill training and vocational programmes for PwDs to assist them in being independent in their lives.
In his speech, Ramakrishna said, “Most buildings are inaccessible. Even the language is prejudiced against PwDs. Children with disability in villages, especially girls, live in a vegetative state, without education or employment. I look forward to the day when people with disability are accepted into society.”
Mukti’s staff members were presented awards by the chief guests for their support and assistance. The evening ended with a karaoke performance.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / May 27th, 2019
