Category Archives: Records, All

Badaga leader remembered on birth anniversary

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All

H.B. Ari Gowder, a well-known leader of the Badaga community, the largest indigenous social group in the Blue Mountains, was remembered on his 121st birth anniversary on December 4.

Some members of the community gathered at the Nilgiris Cooperative Marketing Society (NCMS) here and garlanded a bust of the leader installed near the threshold of the Society’s multi-purpose hall. Among them were the president of the Society Kannabiran and T.M. Kullan of Tribal Solidarity. Participants pointed out that Gowder has for long been considered as the uncrowned king of the Badagas.

A widely respected philanthropist, he was instrumental in the NCMS coming into being in the 1930s to protect farmers from middlemen and unscrupulous members of the mercantile community.

Members of the Academy for Badaga Culture (ABC) Trust led by its president Manjai V. Mohan also paid floral tributes to the leader.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore/ by D. Radhakrishnan / Udhagamandalam – December 09th, 2014

Together, they fly Guinness flag

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion
An aerial view of the national flag formed by volunteers who created a Guinness record in Chennai on Sunday / PTI
An aerial view of the national flag formed by volunteers who created a Guinness record in Chennai on Sunday / PTI

30,000 Chennaiites break record with ‘human Tricolour’

At 4 a.m. on Sunday, Chennaiites started gathering at the YMCA grounds here; a few hours later, a Guinness World Record was broken. Over 30,000 people came together to create the world’s largest human formation of a national flag, surpassing Pakistan in this feat.

Nine months ago, a sports club in Lahore made the first attempt to create a human national flag of Pakistan with 28,957 people and held the record for the largest formation till Sunday.

Seyda Subasi-Gemici, adjudicator of Guinness World Records Ltd., said, “It is a big historical day for India. I was very touched when I saw people gather around 5 a.m. and wait till noon in this heat to be a part of this event. They have truly showed their unity today.”

India is prepared to create such huge records and they can recreate this at any point in time, she added.

She recollected how she visited Chennai last year for “Parle Golu Galatta 2011,” the largest doll collection.

Isak Nazar, Governor of Rotary Club International 3230 that organised the event, said, “This achievement that people of Chennai have made is special. We organised this event to instil patriotism among the people and let future generations know about the importance of national flag.”

Planning for the event started 10 months ago.

“We mobilised people from colleges and corporate firms over a period of time. We had a set of architects who planned this,” Mr. Nazar said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – December 08th, 2014

Centurian Freedom Fighter Paints Bleak Picture of Country

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

Virudhunagar :

A freedom fighter, who turned 100 on Sunday, has  said he was not happy with the way the country has been progressing and painted a bleak future for the nation. He also rued  that even another movement like the freedom struggle has had have no impact.

The freedom fighter B Ramasamy, a resident of Ayan Reddiapatti village near Kariapatti Taluk in Virudhunagar district, had fought for independence, along with Congress leader Kamaraj.

“Even if we launch another freedom struggle, it will be difficult to set right the course,” he said.

B Ramasamy
B Ramasamy

He recalled he had taken part in several freedom movement-related activities  since the age of 15. “We fought for the freedom, but the country is not  where we expect it to be. The youngsters should imbibe only good things from society, leave out the bad, and should work to steer the country to the right path,” he said.

On Sunday, on the occasion of his 100th birthday, his family and people from his village celebrated his birthday as if it were a village festival. They arranged for folk music and dance shows. In one spot near the dais,where the programmes were on, the villagers cooked food in huge vessels.

Ramasamy was born on December 7, 1916. He worked as a teacher in a primary school. In 1939, he was booked for giving shelter to a freedom fighter, Nedunkadu Ramachandran of Kerala in the Nellai conspiracy case, against the British and was sent to  Alipuri jail. He worked also as the editor of a journal called Veerapandian. From 1966, Ramasamy was given a freedom fighter’s pension of `150.

“Ramasamy, who followed the footsteps of the father of our  nation Mahatma Gandhi, struggled for freedom of the country. He was given five acres of land by the government but he donated the land to the Bhoodan Movement. Ramasamy is a selfless person, he still doesn’t have a house he could call his own,” a villager said. There are many youngsters who have been inspired by him, they added.

Former Education Minister and Thiruchuli MLA Thangam Thennarasu attended the celebrations.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com /  The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Kaushik Kannan / December 08th, 2014

TNSC Bank Wins National Award

Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All
State Minister for Cooperation K Raju receiving the award from President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Wednesday | express
State Minister for Cooperation K Raju receiving the award from President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Wednesday | express

 Chennai :

Tamil Nadu Cooperative Minister K Raju on Wednesday received the National Award for the best State Channelising Agency on behalf of Tamil Nadu State Cooperative Bank for providing loans to the differently-abled. The Minister received the award at a grand function held at New Delhi.

The TNSC Bank is one of the channelising agencies of the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation.  Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has chosen the TNSC Bank for this award.

Former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa introduced the scheme to provide interest-free loans to the differently-abled.  As per the scheme, the government will bear the interest on the loans if they repay the loans in time.  During the past three and half years, Rs.71 crore has been given as loans to the differently-abled.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / December 04th, 2014

‘Sthala Vriksham’ to be preserved through cloning

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Nature, Records, All

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has asked the executive officers of temples and departmental inspectors to adopt cloning to preserve Sthala Vriksham or tree unique to each temple.

Describing every Sthala Vriksham as a unique germplasm, a recent communication of the department urges the officials to take the help of experts from the Agriculture Department or the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) for the task.

Among the prominent examples of Sthala Vriksham are the Kadamba at the Meenkashi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai; the Vanni at the Magudeshwara Temple at Kodumudi and the mango tree at the Ekambershwara Temple at Kancheepuram, the last two being 3,000-3,500 years old.

The communication, issued by Additional Chief Secretary R. Kannan to HR&CE Commissioner P. Dhanapal, also asks the executive officers to ensure that enough clones are kept in carefully quarantined, separate places in nandavanam or flower garden. Even in private temples, the HR&CE inspectors should take steps to preserve Sthala Vriksham. The operation should be certified by an international body for its quality.

A notice board, giving the Tamil, English, Sanskrit and botanical names of each species with details of the legend, should be put up prominently. It should also give the details of the cloning operation, such as the method used and the persons involved, the letter says, citing the case studies of cloning carried out in the past 10 years, including those of the Vanni of Kodumudi and the mango tree of Kancheepuram.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by T Ramakrishnan / Chennai – December 03rd, 2014

After 15 Miscarriages, 40-year-old Neyveli Woman Gets Bundle of Joy

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technologies
S Abhirami along with her newborn baby girl | express
S Abhirami along with her newborn baby girl | express

Chennai :

After suffering 15 prior miscarriages, a 40-year-old mother delivered a healthy female baby at a private hospital in the city recently.

S Abhirami (40) and G Sridhar (44), hailing from Neyveli, were married in 1995. Abhirami became pregnant that very year. However, a miscarriage occurred when she met with an accident. The couple did not realize, at the time, that the accident was not the cause of the miscarriage but what doctors would call “cervical incompetence.”

During the years 1996, 1997 and 99 Abhirami conceived, with all pregnancies miscarrying.  Abhirami approached a private hospital in Cuddalore to help her deliver a healthy baby.  The Cuddalore doctors put a surgical suture at the mouth of the uterus in an attempt to avoid a miscarriage and make the uterus capable of holding the baby. Several attempts to deliver of a healthy child with the surgical suture failed and the mother lost four more foetuses to miscarriage.

“Then she approached a private hospital in Coimbatore, who followed the same procedure for four more pregnancies unsuccessfully. Without losing hope and with determination, Abhirami approached the Aakash Fertility centre for help in 2011.”

After a few more miscarriages while being treated by the Aakash Fertility clinic (now adding up to 15) Dr K S Jeyarani, director of Aakash Fertility Centre, said on Saturday, “16th time I did not want to make any mistakes and we wanted to save the baby of the mother. After much diagnostic assessment, I sutured just above the mouth of the uterus using laparoscopy procedures, during the pre-conception period. After Abhirami conceived on February 2014, she was kept under observation, delivering a healthy, girl child, by caesarean section, weighing 2.5 kg, on November 27. It all happened because of the sheer determination and the confidence of Abhirami.”

Abhirami, visibly elated with her baby in her arms said that she did not want to use the services of a surrogate mother or even adopt a baby as she had no problem conceiving naturally. “All my babies, I conceived naturally, and again I was worried about the words of the society. People talk about a woman negatively and do not treat them nicely, if a woman cannot deliver of a baby. I had to face all these throughout my ordeal of delivering a term baby. I took up the challenge and succeeded in it,” added the mother.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / November 30th, 2014

An author, yet again, at the age of 91

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
S. Venkatraman travelled across the country over the past two years to collect material and photographs for his book — Photo: V. Ganesan / The Hindu
S. Venkatraman travelled across the country over the past two years to collect material and photographs for his book — Photo: V. Ganesan
/ The Hindu

After his first train ride in the 1920s, Venkatraman went on to work with the Railways and has now authored his second book on the Indian rail network

In the late 1920s, five-year-old S. Venkatraman boarded a train for the first time from Madras to Vijayawada, along with his father. He was smitten.

In 1942, he joined the Railways. As a culmination of his love for trains, 91-year-old Venkatraman travelled across the country and has come out with a book on the Indian Railways.

Indian Railways – The Beginning up to 1900 is a reminder of the glorious past of the world’s largest rail network.

The book comprises 534 pages and 600 pictures, including some rare ones in black-and-white.

But launching the book was not an easy task for this retired railway employee.

Over the past two years, he has travelled to Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to collect details and take pictures of railways stations and trains.

“I also went to Bombay from where the first train chugged out. I travelled on nearly 350 trains and spent many lakhs compiling the book,” he says.

Mr. Venkatraman joined the Railways as a materials manager (stores) in Hubli and retired in 1982.

“I began writing the book more than three decades after retiring. My wife Lalitha, who was a lecturer of political science at Banaras Hindu University, was my inspiration. She passed away four years ago,” he says.

His first book Indian Railways at a Glance was a success. “The British had a separate coach for women, refreshment bars in stations and compartments with seating capacity of 200, way back in the 1880s. There were no toilets in trains then,” says Mr. Venkatraman, who feels that privatisation is the only way ahead for the Railways.

He says he is bringing out books on Railways out of sheer interest and not for profit. “My book should be a wake-up call to the railway administration that is now facing infrastructural deficiencies,” says Mr. Venkatraman, a member of the Indian Railway Fan Club.

He feels his efforts will be rewarded when more youngsters, especially in the Railways, learn about the heritage of our trains.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Vivek Narayanan / November 28th, 2014

Philately, not just a hobby but also an investment

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Students at ‘Kovaipex 2014’, a district-level philatelic exhibition at Techno Park, TNAU, in Coimbatore on Thursday. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
Students at ‘Kovaipex 2014’, a district-level philatelic exhibition at Techno Park, TNAU, in Coimbatore on Thursday. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu

P.R. Krishnan, who is into export business, considers some of his most profitable investments to be those made outside that business. For, his best returns have come from philately.

Mr. Krishnan, a senior philatelist in the city, says, gold purchased for Rs. 100 in 1949 will be worth around Rs. 79,000 now. However, stamps bought for the same amount in the same period will now be valued in excess of Rs. 3.25 lakh, more than four times that of the gold’s value. “Today, stamp collection is the best investment avenue for youngsters,” he adds.

Mr. Krishnan is the secretary of Philatelist Club of Coimbatore, playing its role with India Posts in organising a three-day philatelic expo “Kovaipex” that began here on Thursday.

Manju P. Pillai, Post Master General of Western region, says the expo is a quadrennial event that is being given a fresh impetus this time around. All the schools in the district have been invited to send their students for the expo. It features 144 frames holding thousands of stamps collected by many young and senior philatelists in the city.

Rare stamps such as the ‘Scinde Dawk’, the first Indian stamp released in 1852, ‘Sandalwood Scented Stamp of India’ released in 2006 and ‘Kurinji stamp’ released later in the same year to celebrate the legendary blossoms of Western Ghats also find a place of prominence.

U. Srinithish, Class VIII student of PSG Public School, says, “I have a personal collection of around 500 stamps that is something of a generational inheritance. They were passed down from my grandmother to my father and now, to me. Its value struck me only after visiting this expo.”

Competitions are also being held for the best collection. Students from various schools in the city visited the exhibition, which is being held at the Techno Park II and III on TNAU premises on Marudamalai Road. Entry is free for the expo, which will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. It concludes this Saturday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Srinithi Mahendran / Coimbatore – November 28th, 2014

IIT-Madras shows the way in low-cost housing

Business & Economy, Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technologies

Chennai :

With real estate prices and cost of construction on the rise, owning a house in cities remains a dream for the middle class. But it might soon be a thing of the past, courtesy IIT Madras and its efforts to popularize the cost-effective, rapid and eco-friendly method of construction using Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) panels.

After the successful construction of a two-storey building at the IIT campus in June this year using GFRG panels, experts from the civil engineering department of the institute are close to an agreement with Tata Housing Development Corporation Ltd to build a housing project at Boisar, a suburb in Mumbai, for low-income groups.

The GFRG building method essentially uses glass fibres and specially calcined gypsum plaster to make the regular panel stronger and water resistant.

According to Shinto Paul, structural design engineer for the GFRG building at IIT-M and PhD scholar at the civil engineering department, the foundation for the building is laid in the regular manner and GFRG panels are used for erecting the remaining superstructure with minimum concrete usage except at the joints and cavities of the panel. Once the foundation is constructed and the panels are erected, the main structure can be built in a few days.

However, while using GFRG panels, all floors should ideally have the same floor plan. Curved structures and domes are best avoided or concrete can be used for such areas.

“The rapid low-cost housing project is headed in the right direction and we are in talks with Tata Housing to use the technology for mass housing projects. We are also collaborating with various state governments and housing structures are already being built in Kerala using this technique.” said Bhaskar Ramamurthi, director, IIT Madras.

A senior official with Tata Housing confirmed the development and said the pilot project discussions were under way. The pilot module of the Boisar project consists of nine buildings, each with five floors and eight apartments on each floor. After the construction of the pilot module, the project may be scaled up with more buildings. It is estimated that the total cost of construction will be limited to less than 1,200 per sqft.

“We have been getting numerous enquiries about the project after the completion of the demo building at our campus,” said A Meher Prasad, head of the department of civil engineering, IIT Madras. The 1,981sqft two-storeyed building at the IIT campus, with two one-bedroom and two two-bedroom apartments, was completed in just a month at a cost of 24 lakh.

“We are constructing a 54-unit housing building for Kerala government at Chottanikara at a cost of 1,000 per sqft. The idea is to bring down the cost of constructing the structure and the customer can choose the remaining accessories and fittings,” said Shinto Paul.

As of now, the GFRG panels are being manufactured at FACT-RCF Building Products Ltd (FRBL) in Kochi, a joint venture between The Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mumbai. Proposals have been mooted to the Union government and more manufacturing units for GFRG panels are expected to be set up across the country to further scale down the transportation cost of the panels.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Binoy Valsan, TNN / November 24th, 2014

Award of merit for educationalist

Education, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

This is a significant year for India and Australia to build bilateral relations and strengthen economic ties between the countries, Patrick Suckling, Australian High Commissioner to India, said here on Saturday.

He was in Chennai to present the Indo-Australian Award for Meritorious Service to Elizabeth Varghese, chairperson, Hindustan Group of Institutions.

Highlighting the significant aspects of recent meetings between Prime Ministers of India and Australia, Mr. Suckling said their mutual visits helped to intensify the relations between the countries.

Drawing comparison between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, he said both were deeply committed to values and development. Pointing out that several agreements were signed for sustainable development, Mr. Suckling said mutual contributions by the communities in both the countries were also significant. He lauded Ms. Varghese for her achievements in male-dominated fields and also for her pioneering work in the engineering and education fields.

Accepting the award and citation given by the Indo-Australian Association and Australian Consulate General, Chennai, Ms. Varghese said, “This award is recognition for my work in the fields.”

Deputy Consul General to South India Stuart Campbell and Indo-Australian Association’s vice-president Eugenie Pinto also spoke.

The Indo-Australian Award for Meritorious Service was presented to Elizabeth Varghese of the Hindustan Group of Institutions

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – November 23rd, 2014