Category Archives: Science & Technologies

First electric engine pulls out of Madurai

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technologies
Vaigai Express on the newly electrified track at Madurai Railway Station on Wednesday / Photo: S. James / The Hindu
Vaigai Express on the newly electrified track at Madurai Railway Station on Wednesday / Photo: S. James / The Hindu

When loco pilot J. Basheer Ahmed pressed a button that sounded the horn of an electric locomotive on Wednesday morning, it marked not only the departure of Vaigai Express from Madurai railway junction, but also announced the arrival of electrified tracks in the Madurai-Dindigul section.

After the Commissioner of Railway Safety cleared the Dindigul-Virudhunagar electrified tracks recently, Madurai railway division officials on Wednesday began the operation of AC locos in Vaigai Express, Pandian Express and one pair of Madurai-Dindigul passenger train.

After a simple puja on the tracks of platform number two at the junction, the Chennai-bound Vaigai Express was hauled by an electric locomotive for the first time from Madurai.

The Vaigai Express chugged out of the Madurai railway station on Wednesday, marking the arrival of electrified tracks in the Madurai-Dindigul railway section. / File photo / The Hindu
The Vaigai Express chugged out of the Madurai railway station on Wednesday, marking the arrival of electrified tracks in the Madurai-Dindigul railway section. / File photo / The Hindu

Hitherto, the trains from Chennai were being pulled with electric locomotives either up to Tiruchi or Dindigul.

“The electric locomotive emanates no smoke and produces lower level of noise,” a railway official said after the inaugural function of the electrified tracks.

A senior railway official said besides being pollution-free, the AC locos helped the crew members negotiate looplines easily.

Better visibility 

For the crew members, the design of the AC locos would provide better visibility of the tracks.

The electric engines had higher haulage capacity and can also attain high speed quickly. The running time of Pandian and Vaigai express trains would be reduced by around 20 minutes as changing of diesel and AC locomotives was not required in Tiruchi or Dindigul.

Earlier, the in-coming Pandian Express was also hauled with an electric engine up to Madurai junction. Very soon, a total of eight express and passenger trains would use electric locomotives between Chennai and Madurai, another railway official said.

Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer G. Sugind and Divisional Operations Manager (General) A. Rajakumar, and Madurai Station Manager C. Solomon Sevathiah were among those present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by S Sundar / Madurai – February 12th, 2014

Third time lucky: PS School wins Times Science Quiz

Education, Records, All, Science & Technologies

Chennai :

Students of P S Senior Secondary School in Mylapore won the third edition of the Times Science Quiz held in Chennai on Wednesday. After two years of missing the trophy, S Abhinav and V Thejas qualified, maintained a lead and won this year.

“We have a special interest in science quizzes and that is why we have been at this event every year,” said Thejas, a Class 11 student of P S School.

More than 1,200 participants from 70 schools across Chennai competed in the written preliminary round. Six teams made it to the final round of the quiz held at Chinmaya Heritage Centre in Chetpet.

“It was a wonderful experience to be part of the quiz. This time, it was pretty challenging but we managed to maintain the lead throughout because of our preparations,” said Thejas.

Quiz master Akshya Ananth held the audience rapt with his ready wit. Pranav Krishnan and R Amrodh of PSBB School in Nungambakkam were the first runners-up.

The event was held by The Times of India in association with Karpaga Vinayaga Educational Group. Sriram Rajagopal, vice president, HR at Cognizant, Annamalai Regupathy, managing director of Karpaga Vinayaga Educational Group; Meenakshi Annamalai, director of Karpaga Vinayaga Educational Group; P Venkatesh, co-founder and director product, Maveric Systems; and Ninan Thariyan, vice-president, The Times Group, participated in the event.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai> Schools / TNN / January 30th, 2014

School where Ramanujan studied celebrates 150 years

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

Kumba :

Town Higher Secondary School in Kumbakonam, which started as a primary school in 1864, reached a milestone at the start of this year when it completed 150 years.

The school, which moulded stalwarts like mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, former Union finance minister  T T Krishnamachari, HCL chief Shiv Nadar, mridangist Umayalpuram Sivaraman and many famous personalities from different walks of life, celebrated its 150th anniversary at a three-day function, which began on January 26.

The school was started by retired English head constable Martin who was also its headmaster. Later, it was managed by Indians and local philanthropists donated a piece of land where a big building was constructed. The new school building was inaugurated in 1892.

Ramanujan was a student of the school in 1898 and it was here that he came across a book titled ‘Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure Mathematics’ written by G S Carr. Influenced by the book, he began working on mathematics on his own, summing geometric and arithmetic series, says a write up on Ramanujan by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Governor K Rosaiah who took part in the celebrations on Wednesday said that the educational institution produced several eminent and great citizens of India.

“Starting with a humbling beginning, when we turn back and see the years passed by, this great institution has been doing remarkably well right from its inception,” Rosaiah said. “I am delighted to see that his renowned temple of learning is seated in the heart of this temple town” he added.

The governor also appealed to the teachers to build students into men and women of sound mind with a good heart coupled with a fine blend of character. The 21st century belongs to the knowledge society and it has opened tremendous opportunities. The schools and educational institutions should take it as their onerous responsibility to build the youth into leaders of tomorrow. “The national’s future progress depends on our ability to innovate,” he said.

Earlier, accompanied by Union shipping minister G K Vasan, the governor paid floral tributes to the statue of Ramanujan.

Speaking to TOI, Umayalpuram Sivaraman said, “Discipline was the hallmark of the Town High School. Headmasters were very particular about students coming to school on time and used to stand at the gate. The very look of the headmaster used to make us run and never turn late in the following days.” He studied in the school from 1944-45 till 50-51.

The teachers of the school were affectionate and took personal care of the students. “The standard of teaching was very high and there was no escape from showing the report card or assessment sheets to parents. The teachers used to counsel students who were poor in some subjects and also inform the parents,” said Sivaraman.

Many of the old students have paid back in kind to the school by donating money towards renovation of buildings, providing computers and other modern equipment for the school. Shiv Nadar has provided computers, an LCD projector and other accessories worth Rs 60 lakh to the school.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Trichy> Primary School / TNN / January 30th, 2014

‘India will dominate the knowledge age’

Education, Science & Technologies
A. Sivathanu Pillai examines an exhibit at Kurukshetra on Wednesday — Photo: V. Ganesan / The Hindu
A. Sivathanu Pillai examines an exhibit at Kurukshetra on Wednesday — Photo: V. Ganesan / The Hindu

Mr. Sivathanu Pillai recollected how a team of students helped develop an indigenous supercomputer

A motivated team of young students from College of Engineering, Guindy and IIT-Madras played a key role in the development of indigenous supercomputer PACE+ for strategic purposes, said A. Sivathanu Pillai, Distinguished Scientist & Chief Controller of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace.

Speaking at the inauguration of Kurukshetra, the techno management fest of the College of Engineering, Guindy, Mr. Pillai said the indigenous development of intercontinental ballistic missiles such as Agni V was possible because of “innovations made by students.”

The innovation in supercomputing made a few decades ago paved the way for indigenous development of “re-entry technology” for missile development.

“The supercomputer developed by Anna University students was 20 times faster than the Cray supercomputer denied to India by the U.S,” he said.

“Indians have great brains. But the brain needs some triggering,” said Mr. Pillai pointing to the success of the BrahMos supersonic missile. He stressed the need for stimulating more innovative young minds to transform India. “We can be a global leader if scientific minds come together for innovation. We are going to dominate the knowledge age with over 580 million youth below 35 years,” he said.

“Kurukshetra is a stimulating event for students of the current generation,” said M. Rajaram, Vice-Chancellor of Anna University. “Participants at the fest get an opportunity to interact with students from all over the country. It gives us exposure to new technical and management aspects of innovation,” said Nivedita Sairam, student director for projects, Kurukshetra 2014.

A range of events, workshops and lectures on technology and management will be organised from January 29 to February 1. Some of the key attractions include exhibition by National Disaster Response Force, space trek mobile planetarium, 3D floor painting, apache pro performance, 3D printing, robo face and live coding. The Hindu is the media partner for the event.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – January 30th, 2014

National conference on bio-pesticides

Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologies
Chennai :
Resistance to chemical insecticides among mosquitoes is considered a setback in vector control. Researchers in colleges across the city and the rest of the country are trying to come up with bio-pesticides to fight back.

Studies on bio-pesticides were the highlights of the two-day national conference on ‘Zoology for Future Education and Research’, organised by the zoology department of Queen Mary’s College for Women on Thursday.

A team of researchers from Presidency College presented a study on the larvicidal efficacy of Lantana camara against the larvae of three mosquito species – the Aedes aegypti, Anopheles stephensi and Culex fasciatus. Hemalatha P, Elumalai D and professor Kaleena P K of Presidency College presented their results on how the extracts of the plant showed potent larvicidal efficacy, and how further studies on developing it into a bio-pesticide showed promise.

S Nagalakshmi, a research scholar of Queen Mary’s College, spoke about the efficiency of vermicompost tea along with synthetic pesticides in controlling mealy bugs that attack fruit trees, including guava and mango. Mixing vermicompost tea reduces the concentration of the synthetic pesticides to sub-lethal levels with good results.

P Balakrishna, chairman, National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai, inaugurated the conference, and spoke about the importance of basic sciences like botany and zoology, which formed the basis for studies on which multi-billion dollar industry depend.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai>  Presidency College / by M. Ramya, TNN / January 03rd, 2014

Hygiene Comes First on This Butcher’s Block

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Science & Technologies
BatchaBai’s meat shop in T Nagar | P Jawahar
BatchaBai’s meat shop in T Nagar | P Jawahar

Sparkling white tiles, gleaming metal counters, spotlessly clean knives and the soft humming of refrigerators… This could be the sight that greets you when you walk into a run-of-the-mill meat shop on the streets of Chennai. Not in a few years or even a few months, but right now.

The Meat Sciences Department of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), has been providing meat retailers free designs and consulting services to convert their shops into places where hygiene is the priority – and they have been doing it for the past five years.

“We have been giving out designs and consultation to any entrepreneur who wishes to start up or modernise his business,” says Robinson Abraham, Head of theMeat Services Department. “All they have to do is approach us.” Consulting at a private firm would be prohibitively expensive to the small businesses that most meat shops were, he pointed out.

But when asked about what these five years of free consulting has engendered, he points to just one operating shop in Chennai. The BatchaBai meat shop in Kilpauk stands as a silent testimony to what a few well-thought out improvements in slaughter house design can do.

There are counters made of stainless steel, teflon cutting boards, rounded edges to prevent wiping hands on tables and white tiles to make any spattered blood visible. Compared to the ill-lit, ill-washed rooms that most meat shops offer, the sight is almost unreal in its cleanliness. “These are very small but necessary design elements,” points out R Narendrababu, one of the three professors in the department. “They improve the hygiene of the shop tremendously.”

The reason why hygiene comes in a sad second in the owners’ list of priorities, he adds, is because consumers themselves have been desensitised to the dangers of bad hygiene. “Unless people refuse to buy meat from shops that don’t adhere to basic hygiene norms, retailers will never feel the need to implement these practices,” he says.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Jonahan Ananda – Chennai / January 29th, 2014

History beckons GRH’s plastic surgery dept

Nri's / Pio's, Science & Technologies

Madurai :

It is celebration time for the department of plastic surgery at the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) here, as it enters its Golden Jubilee year. The department, then named ‘Plastic and Facio-Maxillary Surgery’ centre started functioning with 12 beds from January 26, 1964, thanks to the efforts of Dr Sam C Bose, one of the pioneers of plastic surgery in the country.

The centre was the second to be started in the state after the one in Government Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai. Now, it has become the only plastic surgery department across all government hospitals to provide comprehensive treatment for all kinds of problems including cleft lip and palette surgery, critical burns injury, hypospandias and other congenital disorders correction and facial ortho correction for accident victims.

To ensure that the standards are maintained high at the department, many retired heads of department and professors still contribute to help shape up the plastic surgeons. Every Saturday, about four retired professors and eight faculty members would teach the six postgraduate doctors. The special attention has helped the students of the department to excel in their field. PG students of the department consequently won gold medals at the Dr MGR Medical University for the year 2012 and 2013, said R M Raja Muthaiya, head of the department. The PG seats and two seats for MCH available in the department are much sought after by the students.

Best cosmetic, reconstructive and hand surgeons in the United Kingdom – Dr Mehboob Ali from Ilayankudi and Dr J Srinivasan from Rajapalayam are alumnus of the Madurai Medical College, said 84-year-old Dr Bose, who founded the department.

Within few months of its inception, the centre became famous for accurate surgeries. As many as 100 children with cleft lip problem were operated in just three months. The department was sought after so much that people from all parts of Tamil Nadu thronged the centre. The 2,600 cleft lip conducted by Dr Bose between 1964 and 1987 in his tenure was one of highest number of procedures in the world at that time.

The department was pioneer in all the developments in plastic surgery then. Specialists like Dr Harold Keith McComb from Australia along with a team visited the department and stayed here for three weeks in September, 1964. They were stunned by the department’s performance as it was advanced on a par with any hospital in the world, Bose said reminiscing the old days.

Now, the department treats around 600 critically-ill burn injury patients. However, cleft lip surgeries drastically reduced to just one or two in a month since Smile Train, an NGO, not only does it free but also provide monetary assistance to parents of the children.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai> Plastic Surgery / by V. Devanathan, TNN / January 25th, 2014

Clock tower at Mint ticks again

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Science & Technologies
Last year, a team of Corporation officials involved in the construction of Mint flyover decided to give a fresh look to the clock tower./ Photo: K. Pichumani / The Hindu
Last year, a team of Corporation officials involved in the construction of Mint flyover decided to give a fresh look to the clock tower./ Photo: K. Pichumani / The Hindu

60-ft-tall structure became defunct decades ago

A century ago, British officers at Fort St. George used to fire cannonballs at 8 p.m. every day, it is said.

The practice stopped after the first standalone clock tower was built at Doveton junction in the early 1900s.

One such clock tower, at Mint Junction, that had been defunct for decades, got a lifeline on Friday when it was run on a trial basis following repairs.

The 60-feet-tall clock tower was revived by the Chennai Corporation and P. Orr & Sons. Each aluminium dial on the clock is four feet in diameter.

“Most of the mechanical iron equipment was rusted and jammed as lubricants had dried over the years. We repaired the clock completely free of cost,” said S. Vel Mani, senior manager, P. Orr & Sons.

At present, the city has only four standalone clock towers — at Mint, Royapettah, Doveton and Pulianthope.

It was last year, when a team of Corporation officials was involved in the construction of Mint flyover, they decided to give a fresh look to the clock tower and roped in experts from P. Orr & Sons.

Run on weight-driven mechanism, the clock has a pendulum, a swinging weight, as its time-keeping element.

Six iron plates have been tied to a metal rope and connected to a chain of wheels.

When the wheels rotate, the iron plates go down and the brass pointer on the dial of the clock moves.

Once the plates hit the floor, the clock stops working. Once a week, maintenance staff in charge of the clock will key it by lifting the plates to run the clock.

A classic example of art-deco architecture, the features of the clock tower include high use of cement concrete, linear model, thin lines, rich usage of colours and fewer floral engravings.

“The architectural style of the clock towers and cinema theatres built in the city in the 1900s were influenced by the industrial and French revolutions,” said historian Sriram V.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by D. Madhavan / Chennai – January 19th, 2014

Farmers opt for mulch farming to battle odd seasons

Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, Science & Technologies

Madurai :

Even as the climatic conditions are not favourable and drought-like condition appears imminent, a group of farmers from Kannanur village in Chellampatti Union are confident to tide over the crisis with the system of mulch farming. In mulch farming method, the root soil of the plant is covered with the plastic sheet or organic materials. The method is beneficial to save moisture on the earth, reduce weed growth and protect the soil fertility.

The farmers in the village were desperately looking out for some alternative since they were finding weeding laborious and finding workers for the task was even more troublesome.

P Kaniraja (37) from the village stumbled upon a news about mulch farming of using plastic sheets in Tharapuram and Thuraiyur in Trichy district. A school drop out; the progressive farmer keeps track of all new inventions in the field and wanted to try mulch farming in 2008. He attempted mulch farming on tuberose which turned out to be a huge success for him. “We chose tuberose since it is 1,000 day crop and the mulches can be used for long without replacing,” Kaniraja said. While in conventional farming he used to run around for agricultural labourers for weeding but along with his wife Sathya, he completes weeding work in just few hours once in a while.

“Weeds are real menace in tuberose and it will cause lot of damage if not removed on time. The soil will lose its fertility since weeds consume the nutrients and chemical fertilisers have to be used in that case. It bears lot of financial burden on the farmers. Mulch farming is really beneficial for the farmers since we are relieved of weeds and additional cost on fertilising the soil,” says M Selvam, another tuberose farmer from the village.

Another great benefit of mulch farming is that the plastic layers prevent moisture loss from the ground and the plants require lesser water. Sprinklers are ideal for irrigation. “In conventional irrigation method, water has to be pumped three to four hours continuously for an acre of cultivation but operating sprinklers for 15 minutes in a day is all sufficient for the plants. We can irrigate on alternate days also,” Kaniraja explained.

Some 10 farmers from the village are making use of mulch farming and they are actively promoting it among their friends. “Initially, five of us adopted mulch farming and many other farmers are showing interest due to its benefit. There are around 10 of us in the village and two more started it recently,” said Selvam.

“It will be beneficial to fight drought season also since it requires hardly 1/10{+t}{+h} of the water used in conventional methods,” said Kaniraja. Out of his interest, he had created a rose garden under mulch farming in nearby Arul Anandar College at Karumathur. College principal, Fr Xavier Vedham said that the model farm is attracting a lot of farmers. “We have kept it as demo model and many farmers are visiting to have a look of it,” he said.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai> Soil / TNN / by J Arockiaraj, TNN / January 22nd, 2014

Madurai hosts world meet of eye hospitals

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

Madurai  :

About 100 delegates representing reputed eye hospitals from across the world have arrived in Madurai to participate in the first annual meeting of the World Association of Eye Hospitals (WAEH) in India. The five-day event commenced here on Tuesday with a board meeting of WAEH. The meet would be officially inaugurated on Wednesday.

Aravind Eye Care System, Madurai, is hosting the eighth edition of WAEH meet that commenced in 2007.

Ophthalmologists and eye surgeons will discuss various developments and problems in their field during the sessions. Representatives of hospitals, including some centuries-old eye hospitals, are attending the event, said Johannes Cornelis Adrianus, president of WAEH.

Various topics, including digital innovations in eye-care and extended roles of non-medical staff, apps in healthcare, current and future developments in the ambulatory care environment, future healthcare and technology to improve efficiency will be discussed elaborately, Adrianus said.

The meet is an opportunity for WAEH members to interact and exchange knowledge about professional topics.

R D Thulasiraj, executive director of Aravind Eye Care System, said latest technology available globally is available in India also. Medical tourism is picking up in India with several foreigners from small developing nations arriving. All new technologies and methods in the field would be shared during the gathering, said.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / January 22nd, 2014