From Singapore to Saidapet, alumni of Madras Christian College are gearing up for a reunion of a lifetime. Celebrating 179 years of the institution, students from across generations will come together for the second Global Alumni Reunion on August 6-7.
At 125 years old, the MCC Alumni Association, which is organising the event, is the oldest in the country. Members of the association have been putting the word out for more than three months. “Many alumni have booked tickets from across the world to fly in for this special event,” says C Selvaraj, secretary of the association, and as some students would remember, former head of the Department of Economics.
Besides posting the details on social media where the excitement is abuzz, and sending out e-invites for the reunion, the alumni group has sent out about 1,000 postal letters — so as not to miss out on the elderly who don’t have an e-mail address. With close to 2,000 people expected, on similar lines of the first Global Alumni Reunion held three years ago, even a rather formal principal R W Alexander Jesudasan is unable to keep the nostalgia out of his voice.
“It’s really moving to see our past students (although they may be old now) go back to the rooms where they once stayed on campus… with a sort of child-like excitement,” he recalls. “It’s really a sight to behold.”
With a reputation for showcasing some of the best musicians and bands over the years as well, MCC has planned two performances — one, a trip down memory lane put together by the alumni and the other, by present students for the alumni. Veteran musician Timmy Madhukar, who is coordinating the show, gives us a preview. “We’ve got all the favourite tunes that were blasted in the halls back in the day — Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, a little bit of John Denver…”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express Features / July 18th, 2016
The Royal Society of Biology, London, has elected S. Vincent, Dean of research, Loyola College, as a fellow of Royal Society of Biology, a press release said. By its resolution, the society elected Mr. Vincent on July 1 for his outstanding contribution to biological sciences, the release said. Mr. Vincent came up with a biophysical method for quickly finding the levels of metal accumulation and toxicity based on electrical conductivity of proteins.
His contribution will help solve crisis in water management and vector-borne disease management. — Staff Reporter
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – July 24th, 2016
It was a matter of great pride for Alliance Francaise in India that all instructors in its 17 centres are Indian nationals: Director
On the job:Pierre Emanuel Jacob, Director, Alliance Francaise Madras (AFM), Sarah Belrhali, course director with L. Geetha Sree, Tiruchi centre in-charge, on Saturday.— Photo: M. Moorthy
“Alliance Francaise Madras looking at expanding faculty in satellite institutes”
The popularity of French language learning in India is not just proof of the warm relationship between France and India, but also reflective of a globalised workplace where knowing the language could be a plus for Indians in multinational companies too, say top officials of Alliance Francaise Madras (AFM).
Speaking to The Hindu ahead of a function to felicitate the 27 students of the centre’s Tiruchi chapter who had passed Diplome D’Etudes En Langue Francaise (DELF), Levels A1 and A2 exams, at Sri Sivananda Balalaya’s Ramalinga Nagar campus, Pierre-Emmanuel Jacob, Director, AFM, said,
“There are over 80 French companies in Tamil Nadu, and nearly all of them require workers who are fluent or at least competent in French, besides technical skills. So it is a plus now to know the language. There is also an attraction towards France among Indians – who associate it with culture, arts and love. French is the second foreign language taught nationwide, so we are already dealing with students who have had some exposure to it at school level.”
When asked about maintaining the quality of instruction, Sarah Belrhali, Deputy Director – Course Director, AFM, said, “It is important to have a high standard for our teachers from the beginning. We hold regular training workshops for them, which includes making them spend time in France, so that they can learn to communicate like a native speaker. We also conduct student surveys to find out if their requirements are being met.”
Mr. Jacob added that it was a matter of great pride for Alliance Francaise in India that all the instructors in its 17 centres are Indian nationals. “Sometimes they have greater mastery over French than even the native speakers, such is their dedication,” he said.
The centre would be looking at expanding the faculty in satellite institutes in Madurai and Coimbatore based on demand, said the officials.
The Tiruchi branch (established in 2010) has 38 students under the tutelage of L. Geetha Sree in the current batch.
Till date, 500 Tiruchi centre students have cleared the DELF exams.
Saturday’s function started with two minutes of silence in homage to the victims of the recent terror attacks in the French city of Nice.
Students presented a short cultural show in French, featuring a song, a recipe demonstration, and a skit, among other items.
Ms. Geetha Sree, co-ordinated the function, which also had K.G. Meenakshi, Correspondent, Sri Sivananda Balalaya, as a special guest. The AFM, a non-profit organisation, was established in 1953.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / Nahla Nainar / Tiruchi – July 24th, 2016
Searching for some information the other day I was delving into The Madras Tercentenary Commemoration Volume when I noticed that there had been an officially constituted Madras Tercentenary Celebration Committee in1939 and that it had been chaired by a Dewan Bahadur S E Runganadhan. The name struck a chord and I recalled having written briefly about him in his role as Vice Chancellor of the University of Madras. It was as Vice Chancellor (1937-40) that he had ensured the publication in 1939 of the 20,000-word addendum to the Tamil Lexicon (1924-1936). And it was while Vice Chancellor that he had steered the celebrations of Madras’s 300th birthday, which included the publication of the Tercentenary Volume and a History of Madras by Rao Saheb C S Srinivasachari who had been the first Professor of History at Annamalai University.
Srinivasachari’s Vice Chancellor at Annamalai University had been its first, Samuel Ebenezer Runganadhan (1929-35). Starting from scratch, Runganadhan had developed at Chidambaram the country’s first private university to a level of the country’s pioneering ones — Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Allahabad. Runganadhan had come to Annamalai after heading a college and teaching English at Presidency from 1908 to 1915 and heading that famed Department from 1919 to 1929.
The quintessential ‘brown sahib’ in immaculate Western attire, speaking impeccable English perfectly pronounced, and displaying the elegant manners of English gentry, he was considered a better teacher of English than any Englishman. It was only his occasional outbursts of temper over carelessness and shoddy work that cracked the veneer, it was said. But it was also said that it was the standards that he set that helped Annamalai University sink deep roots and grow into an institution of repute, a reputation unsullied until recent years.
Invited to serve on the Council of the Secretary of State for India in 1940, Runganadhan moved to London and from there it was but a step to being appointed High Commissioner of the Government of India in 1943, the year he was knighted. He was succeeded by V K Krishna Menon in 1947, who became Independent India’s first representative in the U.K.
The years immediately after the end of the war in Europe saw Indian students wanting to come to the U.K. for higher studies; the U.S. had not yet been ‘discovered’. But with its own war veterans returning to civvy life and Britain’s limited number of universities and polytechnics having to cater to them, Sir Samuel had his hands full trying to find seats for Indian students (I was one he couldn’t help) — especially with all the pressures being exerted on him. Getting Indian victims of the war — the wounded in hospitals, stranded sailors from torpedoed ships, and released prisoners-of-war — back home with the limited passages available was another problem that he had to tackle. And not least of all, he had to ensure the supplies India’s nascent industries needed. But he coped and survived and returned to India to enjoy a long retired life involved with various Christian activities like the Christian Medical Colleges and the YMCA.
The Best cricketers
The mention of A W Stansfeld of Best & Co in this column on June 13 reminded me of an era when the British business houses expected their ‘officers’ (they’re ‘executives’ nowadays) to be members of clubs and participate in the activities of such institutions, particularly in sport. Stansfeld’s firm (later Best & Crompton) was one of the most sports-minded of the lot and contributed significantly to Presidency teams and sports administration. Stansfeld, like Robert Carrick, Robert Denniston (later to be knighted) and E K Shattock, played cricket for the State and was to later say that the fact that he enjoyed playing cricket had a great deal to do with his being recruited by Denniston.
When Stansfeld sailed for India in 1937, Best’s London representative cabled Madras, “Sending A W Stansfeld. Left hand bat, played Kent Second Eleven.” Hastening Stansfeld’s departure from London was the fact that he was needed to replace Raymond King who was going on Home Leave. King himself was to remember his arrival in Madras at about 9.30 a.m. on a Sunday morning in January 1929. No sooner had he sat for breakfast with a colleague in the chummery, there was a call for him. It was from Denniston. “The A team (Madras Cricket Club) is one short,” said the legendary Denniston (Miscellany, July 28, 2003) after the usual warm welcome. “Would you be a good chap and join us?” And, since you don’t say ‘no’ to the boss even if you have spent two nights on the train for Bombay, there was R M King, later to be Chairman and Managing Director of the Company, on the field at 11.30 a.m.! He goes on to recollect, “At lunch, I signed the membership form and by 6 pm the following day I performed a similar action for the Gymkhana Club as I was required to play rugger against HMS Emerald on the Thursday of my first week.”
The most talented of the Best cricketers was, however, the burly Robert Black (Bob) Carrick. The ‘Four Musketeers’ of early Madras cricket were Daniel Richmond (also to be later knighted), Robert Denniston (Denny to all), C P Johnstone and H P Ward, the former two for their administrative contributions though their cricketing role was not insignificant, the latter two for their cricketing prowess, making the two Oxbridge Blues amongst the best ever in Madras cricketing history. But if they were the musketeers, they needed a D’Artagnan. And that was Bob Carrick.
Carrick, described as the ‘Jessop’ of Madras cricket and a player who could hit sixes on request, it was said, played for the Presidency for 18 years, including turning out against A E Gilligan’s team in 1927. C Ramaswami described this public school (Winchester) product as “the idol of the crowds”, a “natural cricketer who lifted the ball over the ropes with ease. His off-drives and hits to the long-off and long-on were pleasing to watch. Brilliant in fielding, his medium paced bowling was often used.” But typical of the best sportsmen of the age, Carrick was an outstanding all-rounder.
By 1929, Carrick had won the South India Golf Championship at Ooty nine times, on every occasion he participated. He played hockey for the MCC’s title winning teams, he muddied himself at rugby and soccer for the Gymkhana Club in championship events, and was a regular at the South Indian Tennis Championships. They don’t make them like that any more.
The Tom Kibble wedding
A picture out of the past
Prof. Rani Siromoney of Madras Christian College sends me this wedding picture from the past through Prof. Joshua Kalapati, the chronicler of MCC, as a reminder of the connection Prof. Tom Kibble, F.R.S., internationally renowned mathematical physicist, who passed away recently, had with MCC. He was the son of Prof. Walter Frederick Kibble, the third head of MCC’s Department of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, a department Kibble Sr. served from 1924 to 1961. His wife Janet was head of the women’s hostel in Guindy.
Tom Kibble was born in Madras, when MCC was in George Town, and grew up in Tambaram till he left for the U.K. for higher studies in the 1940s. In Madras, he schooled at Doveton Corrie. I wonder how many there remember him.
Walter Kibble was the mentor for several students who went on to teach at MCC, like Rani and Gift Siromoney and George Abraham.
Today’s picture of Tom Kibble’s wedding dates to 1957 and on the extreme right are Walter and Janet Kibble.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Metroplus / by S. Muthiah / June 19th, 2016
Consisting of 1,330 couplets, the Thirukkural is part of the Tamil sangam literature and was authored by famed poet Thiruvalluvar. (Representative image)
Chennai:
When Carnatic musician Chitravina N Ravikiran decided to set the 1,330 Thirukkural verses to tune, music just flowed through him. Notes and rhythmic structures effortlessly set themselves to suit the ancient couplets and history was made. A project that was to take 50 hours of work was miraculously finished in 16 (composing) hours, creating a world record.
The Historic Thirukkural Project, which was completed on January 14, was launched in India on Thursday at the Narada Gana Sabha by Potramarai president L Ganesan.
“The project is unique as the verses are secular, non-religious and non-regional. But the verses haven’t been brought on to a music or dance platform, except sporadically. The idea of the project is to enrich the classical repertoire by setting the couplets to tune. Also, it’s easier to remember something when it is presented in melodious tunes,” says Ravikiran, who was inspired by celebrated poet Sri Vedanta Desika who is believed to have composed over 1,000 verses overnight in praise of Lord Ranganatha.
The project was conceptualised on January 9 and Ravikiran got to work almost instantly, beginning as early as January 12, as he didn’t want to lose the momentum. Consisting of 1,330 couplets, the Thirukkural is part of the Tamil sangam literature and was authored by famed poet Thiruvalluvar.
And musically rendering one of the most revered works of Tamil language was quite challenging even for the Chitravina virtuoso.
“The couplets are unevenly sized and it was difficult to fit them in the existing talas. I had to come up with different rhythmic structures to make them fit lyrically,” says Ravikiran, explaining that he used his musical and lyrical experience to tune the verses as faithfully as possible.
The harmonious rendition of the ancient verses was launched on Thursday and is available on Ravikiran’s YouTube channel.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Cities> Chennai / TNN / July 05th, 2016
Deep connections:Students looking at an ancient ring found at Pattarai Perumbudhur.—Photo: B.Jothi Ramalingam
Romans used the city as a transit hub to trade with northern States
For ancient Romans, Chennai was not just another trading port town along the coastline. Instead, the city was a key transit hub for them to carry out their trade.
New findings have emerged after a team of archaeologists from the Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department found broken pieces of roulette ware, a Roman royal household ware, at an excavation site in Pattarai Perambadur, a small village with around 600 farming families on the western outskirts of Chennai.
“Presence of roulette ware far away from the coastline is interesting because it indicates Romans traded beyond coastal towns,” R. Sivanantham, deputy director, Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department, told The Hindu.
Funded by the State government , the three-month-long excavation, which ended last Tuesday, was monitored by the Commissioner of the Department, D. Karthikeyan. The team comprised J. Baskar, archaeological officer (Chennai); J. Ranjith, Arcot curator; and P. Baskar, epigraphist, Poompuhar.
Three sites excavated
Archaeologists said this was the first time evidence has emerged on Roman presence in western parts of the city, indicating they travelled away from the coastline. The three ancient sites – Nathamedu, Aanaimedu and Irularthoppu – in Pattarai Perambadur village were excavated with 12 trenches.
The team found most of the 200 antiques, including stone tools, pot shreds, beads made of ivory, glass and terracotta, conical jars and a ring well from Irularthoppu hamlet in three small trenches.
Palaeolithic age
They found an entire sequence of habitations since the early Palaeolithic age (10,000 years ago) to early Christian era.
Presence of rouletted ware, conical jars, hopscotch, lid knob of various sizes and a deer horn indicated that the site acted as transit route to the Romans for trading.
For instance, a two-feet-high conical jar with holes was among the findings. As per the Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology, such jars with holes were found mainly in ancient towns such as Bairat and Sambar in Rajasthan and in Vaishali (Bihar). Such jars were used to hold incense sticks.
First time in T.N.
Interestingly, the jar with holes has been found for the first time in Tamil Nadu, the team members said.
They believe that as it was an ancient town located along the Kosasthalaiyar, the site might have been a key link connecting the Romans with northern States via Andhra Pradesh. Pot shreds with boat graffiti found at the site also support this theory because transporting goods by boats was common during the ancient times, the team members said.
“As the site was located en-route Kancheepuram, a trading and cultural capital during the ancient times, the Romans, before proceeding northwards, might have halted there. Northern traders might have done the same before going to Kancheepuram,” said D. Thulasiraman, regional assistant director (retired) of the Archaeology Department.
Archaeologists have found rouletted ware, conical jars, lid knobs of various sizes and deer horn
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / D Madhavan / Chennai – July 04th, 2016
California-based broadband services and technology company VisSat has set up a R&D centre here – its second facility outside the US – to tap the high-speed Internet connectivity potential in the region.
The research and development (R&D) centre, which now has about 40 people, would scale it up to 250 over the next three years, ViaSat India’s Vice President Sathya Narayanaswamy said.
“There are about 40 employees. It will grow to 250 over the next three years. There is a huge growth market. There are about 13 crore Internet connections in India. It is nearly 10 per cent of the (total) population,” he told reporters.
Listed on Nasdaq, a US stock exchange, the company currently serves seven lakh customers in North America and Canada through the ViaSat-1 highest capacity satellite launched in 2012.
The Chennai facility would be the global research and development centre and its second after the United Kingdom facility outside US.
“Our first facility outside United States is in United Kingdom. So this will be second largest R&D Centre for us”, ViaSat Commercial Networks, Senior Vice-President, Kevin J Harkenrider said.
The company, however, declined to reveal the amount of the investments made at this centre.
He said the company planned to launch ViaSat-2 satellite broadband platform in 2017 that would more than double the bandwidth and increase coverage seven-fold over the prior generation.
“Now, we are planning to launch our second satellite ViaSat-1 by early 2017. It will be built by Boeing and will be launched from Ariane, French Guyana. That launch will help to us to cover across North America and across United Kingdom, Middle East and Africa”, he said.
In 2019, ViaSat will launch first of three ViaSat-3 class satellite platforms that would offer 1,000 Gbps of network capacity, making each satellite equal to the total capacity of all commercial satellites in space.
The third satellite system was planned to cover Asia Pacific region completing the company’s global coverage.
The company was in talks with the Ministry of Communications and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to launch their service in India, Harkenrider added.
VIJ APR ADI ABI
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / PTI / June 30th, 2016
Uniphore’s CEO says software built around speech will change the face of technology
: It was in 2007 that Umesh Sachdev struck upon the idea that took over his life.
“If voice could be used to communicate with machines, we would solve massive problems. That’s when we started building speech recognition and artificial intelligence based software products, which have today become Uniphore,” said Mr. Sachdev, Uniphore’s co-founder and CEO who recently made it to Time Magazine ’s 2016 list of 10 millennials changing the world.
After Mr. Sachdev and his co-founder Ravi Saraogi completed Computer Science engineering, they got onto the entrepreneurial stride and conceptualised the speech recognition software.
The idea was to reach millions of users who were not part of digital revolution due to illiteracy or language constraints.
“We wanted to use technology which allows people to interact with devices such as mobile phones in their vernacular languages and connect to the internet to access information and carry out transactions. That was the motivation to develop vernacular language speech recognition and voice biometrics,” said Mr. Sachdev, who started the venture at the IIT Research Park in Chennai.
Citing an example, the 30-year-old Sachdev said, “Imagine a housewife in a village who wishes to recharge her cable TV (DTH). Today, she is able to do so by dialling a number and saying her command in one of 14 Indian languages and the transaction is fulfilled.
In near future, these applications will be smarter. It will remind her that her daughter’s school fee is due and that she should also transfer it along with the TV bill.”
Empowering people
Having pioneered Indian and Asian vernacular languages, Uniphore is now investing in ‘natural language’ and ‘artificial intelligence’ capabilities.
“The impact of this, we believe, would empower people in various ways in the coming years,” Mr. Sachdev said.
The startup firm has added over 70 global languages and expanded to South East Asia, the Middle-East and the US.
Till date, the startup has received investment from a series of investors, including IDG Ventures India; India Angel Network; Ray Stata, the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Analog Devices; and YourNest Angel Fund.
It also received seed investment from IIT Madras’ Rural Technology and Business Incubator; Villgro Innovations Foundation; and the National Research Development Corporation.
Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan has also invested an undisclosed amount in the firm.
Having pioneered Indian and Asian vernacular languages, Uniphore is investing in ‘natural language’
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Sangeetha Kandavel / Chennai – June 27th, 2016
It was a dream came true for V Keerthana, a Class 9 student of Maniyakarampalyam corporation higher secondary school, when she was selected to deliver a speech at the 15th anniversary celebrations of the NGO American India Foundation at Richmond in Virginia.
The NGO was instrumental to introducing technology-enabled learning in corporation and government schools across 10 states in the country. Keerthana was accompanied by A Anju, science teacher at P N Pudur corporation higher secondary school, who delivered a speech at a function organised in New York.
Keerthana said she was filled with excitement and was awed at the sight of an aeroplane. She held onto her teacher’s hand as she entered the Chennai airport. She was the first in her family to have boarded a flight and to cross borders. After the successful US trip, the duo returned to the city a few days back.
Keerthana not only represented the country, but also made the city proud as she received a standing ovation at Richmond in Virginia after she delivered the speech. “I spoke about my family and my experiences. Also, I explained as to how technology-enabled learning transformed my life and personality. After my speech, the entire audience stood and clapped. That moment will remain in my memory forever,” she said.
Having studied in a Tamil medium corporation school till Class 6, Keerthana was introduced to English language only when she joined Maniyakarampalyam corporation higher secondary school. “But I had keen interest in the language and would watch English channels and shows to improve my spoken English,” Keerthana said. Another moment that she holds dear is the first sight of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s gates. “It is my dream to pursue my higher studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and I was overwhelmed at the sight of university gates. Everyone I met encouraged me to work hard and reach greater heights, she further said.
Keerthana’s mother Dhanalakshmi said they were a bit apprehensive at first about sending her daugther to the US. “We were a little worried initially, but we knew that she would be safe. It is a dream came true for all of us. Since she turned 11, she has been telling us that she would visit the US and would pursue her studies there. We knew we could never afford it, but always encouraged her to study well,” Dhanalakshmi said.
Keerthana’s father is a mill worker, while her mother is a home maker. “Many people, including my school head master, helped me for the 10-day trip. Volunteers of American India Foundation arranged everything for us,” said Keerthana.
With just $29 in hand, Keerthana managed to purchase something for her entire family. A statue of liberty stands tall at her home that not only reminds her of the trip, but inspires her to pursue her dream.
Anju is equally happy with the US trip. “I feel very proud and still wonder if it was a dream. We learned a lot from the trip and met many people, including the governor of Viriginia,” she said.
Corporation commissioner K Vijayakarthikeyan said he was proud of their achievements. “I feel very happy when these children get this kind of exposure. We will continue to promote many activities and encourage students to pursue all their dreams,” he said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / by Komal Gauthami, TNN / June 26th, 2016
A book follows the lives and achievements of two engineering geniuses who changed the face of irrigation in India in the 19th century.
There is a thin but bright skein that runs through, and indeed often gets obscured by, the darker history of colonial rule in India. This thread represents the work of the small but extraordinary group of colonial innovators who pushed the boundaries in a diverse range of fields — from engineering to archaeology, from botany to triangulation and mapping.
A recent book by Alan Robertson, Epic Engineering: Great Canals and Barrages of Victorian India follows the lives and achievements of Arthur Cotton (1803-1899) and Proby Cautley (1802-1871), two engineering geniuses who changed the face of irrigation in India in the 19th century. Cautley designed and built the 700-mile Ganges Canal, and Cotton harnessed for irrigation the flow of two of the great river deltas of South India – the Cauvery and Godavari.
Though contemporaries in India, and equally qualified, the two men could not have been more different in their approach to engineering problems. The book deals in some depth with the bitter public battle in England when they returned after their India postings, over the efficacy of their respective engineering designs in India.
According to Robertson, Cautley was recognised and honoured by his Victorian contemporaries, although it is Cotton who is remembered over a century and a half later in the Indian mind — celebrated as he is in writing, popular lore and public statuary in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. In the 1930’s Cotton built the Upper and Lower Anicut to regulate and divert for irrigation the flow of water in the Cauvery and Coleroon (Kollidam) rivers. He then turned his attention to the Godavari delta, where in the 1930s the destruction of the weaving industry was exacerbated by a famine that together resulted in the death of one in four persons. The Godavari’s flow in monsoon was three times greater than the Nile in flood, Robertson writes, therefore greater the challenge. The many ingenious solutions Cotton devised to practical problems as they cropped up during the construction of the four-mile long Godavari anicut provides a flavour of the unconventional genius and the times.
In the same decades Cautely was making progress, though with some embarrassing reversals, on the Ganges canal. Later, in the adjudication of the dispute between Cautely and Cotton — who argued that the location of the headworks of the canal was wrong — a government committee sided with Cautely. However, “within a few years Cotton’s main criticism was quietly acted upon…” Robertson writes.
Historical archives and private collections in Britain still hold many stories on India including those that are already known but are waiting to be enriched with new information. Interestingly, the author of this enriched biography, Alan Robertson, was a nuclear physicist with an abiding interest in history. This led him to a post-retirement MA degree at King’s College on the mid-19th century indigo industry in India and on to the fascinating lives of the two Victorian water engineers.
Unfortunately, Robertson died before his book was published. Finding no publishers ready to accept the manuscript, it was eventually published privately by Catherine Hamilton, Robertson’s sister. Jeremy Berkoff, an irrigation expert who worked for many years with the World Bank edited and completed the manuscript.
Epic Engineering: Great Canals and Barrages of Victorian India
Alan Robertson / Beechwood Melrose Publishing, 2013, 254 pages
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books / by Parvathi Menon / London – June 14th, 2016
