Category Archives: World Opinion

These women won the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest display of crocheted Christmas decorations

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion

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Members of Mother India’s Crochet Queens, consisting of over 6000 members in 13 countries discuss their latest Guinness World Record

Colourful snowmen, Santa Claus bobbleheads and shimmering snowflakes, each carefully woven with yarn, were quickly arranged in a row as a group of women waited in anticipation next to their creations. They were among 350 women of Mother India’s Crochet Queens (MICQ) who showcased a whopping 66,158 decorations, in an attempt to set their fourth Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Display of Crochet Christmas Decorations. Four hours of careful counting later, the new record was set.

Mother India’s Crochet Queens (MICQ) was founded in 2016 by Subashri Natarajan and currently consists of over 6,000 members in 13 countries. Previously setting records for the largest crochet blanket, largest crocheted scarf and largest display of crochet sculptures, the group, which also consists of cancer survivors, stroke patients and physically challenged members, was trying to break the previous record of 4,416 crochet Christmas decorations achieved by British group Women’s Weekly.

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Subashri set the ball rolling in February, and coordinated through 28 goodwill ambassadors across nine countries. “We picked 120 designs and sent it to the organisation for approval. Fixing a target of 100 crochet pieces per participant, I initially aimed towards creating 10,000 designs, not anticipating that we would produce six times the number.”

Participants, from the age of six to 89, busied themselves knitting angels and Christmas trees onto sheets of netlon, while exploring colours and patterns. Applique, a two-dimensional needlework technique combined with amigurumi, the Japanese art of crocheting, resulted in funky gingerbread men and tiny reindeer. Pushing the boundaries of crochet, the women also decided to narrate the history of Christianity through 33 different scenes, beginning with angels appearing before the shepherds. A colour scheme was decided and through CAL (Crochet Along), dolls were couriered in and assembled. With 55 participants from Chennai, and designs sourced from cities like Madurai and Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu contributed the maximum number of pieces, with Karnataka coming in second.

When asked what the pieces would be used for, the members spoke about using their skills for charity and social work. Biji Rajan, goodwill ambassador for Tamil Nadu, mentioned, “Having worked with the Tamil Nadu Police Department in the past, the group has distributed scarves to the blind, and toys to Government school students. We knitted cotton and silk caps for cancer patients at St Jude India, Mumbai.” For their Jawan Project, 3,600 crocheted cowls and caps were distributed to the Army in 2018, and they are currently working on 18,000 scarves for soldiers.

So what will the group’s next record attempt be? Subashini said, “We are now working towards converting the Christmas designs into blankets, cushion covers, mobile cases and sling bags. These will be distributed to approved orphanages, churches and NGOs.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Art / by Aditi Subramanian / September 26th, 2019

Guinness Record: Nine visually challenged people stitch ‘world’s largest jute bag’ in Coimbatore

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Members of the transgender community and students of a technical institute in Coimbatore assisted the visually challenged people during the process of stitching the bag to make a record.

Nine visually challenged people stitched the 'world's largest jute bag' measuring 66ft-tall and 33ft-wide in just five hours.
Nine visually challenged people stitched the ‘world’s largest jute bag’ measuring 66ft-tall and 33ft-wide in just five hours.

Coimbatore :

With an aim to make an entry in Guinness World Record and spread awareness about no-use of plastic, nine visually challenged people have stitched the “world’s largest jute bag” measuring 66ft-tall and 33ft-wide in just five hours.

Members of the transgender community and students of a technical institute in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district on Friday have assisted the visually challenged people during the process of stitching the bag to make a record.

Shashi Kala, the Chairman of Yuva Foundation, who orgainsed this attempt, said, “Nine visually challenged people from Yuva Foundation set out to make a Guinness World Record by sewing a 66-feet high and 33-feet wide jute bag without a handle. The jute bag was stitched to sensitise the people to stop using harmful plastic bags and switch to eco-friendly alternatives.”

Alluding to the famed speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the Independence Day where he urged the people and shopkeepers to eliminate the use of plastic bags completely, Shashi Kala said, “We have to launch a war against the plastic. This is the reason why our people have stitched a jute bag.”

She added, “Through the attempt, we also want to prove it to the society that differently-abled people have their own ability and it is our responsibility to give them confidence and encouragement.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by ANI / September 01st, 2019

A century old, and creaking

Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion
The facility clearly needs better maintenance.
The facility clearly needs better maintenance.

Once a lifeline for motorists and railway workers, the steel overbridge in Perambur Loco Works is now in a state of neglect

The British-era steel overbridge across the railway line in Perambur Loco Works is eroding. Signs of erosion will be visible to anyone who bothers to take a close look at the facility. Often, motorcyclists using the overbridge stick to one lane as half of the carriageway has eroded, exposing rusted steel beams beneath it.

Located between the railway stations at Perambur Carriageway and Villivakkam, the steel overbridge was built in the early 1930s to connect railway institutions, including Loco Works and ICF. It has two steel bridges with bitumen-topped ramps that are separated by a concrete sloppy median. The steel bridge towards Periyar Nagar and Kolathur is older; the second bridge was constructed by the Chennai Corporation in 2011 to decongest the lone narrow bridge.

For long, the overbridge was the only source of connectivity to various institutions from Loco Works and Perambur.

It’s still popular among a section of people. Even today, hundreds of railway employees and motorists use the overbridge to reach the rail line. As the main entrance of Loco Works is located near the ramp of the overbridge, it is convenient for the staff to reach the bridge. But, maintenance of the overbridge is deteriorating.

Over the years, the overbridge and its ramps have been damaged due to poor maintenance and weathering. Most of the electrical fittings including bulbs on the lamp posts are either damaged or stolen. Overgrown bushes on the concrete median block the view of pedestrians, who are mainly rail commuters from Loco Works railway station and railway employees.

The speed breakers on the ramp especially towards Periyar Nagar are not painted. The connecting roads to the bridge also do not have adequate street lights, forcing motorists to rely on the headlights of the vehicles.

“At night, we cannot see the unevenness of the carriageway, especially towards Perambur. I have seen people skid on the overbridge,” says K. Shanmugam, a motorist from Perambur. He says most of the street lights on the ramp are not functioning and many pedestrians carry small pocket-sized touch lights to cross the section.

“Steps will be taken to give a facelift to the overbridge soon,” says a Corporation official.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by D. Madhavan / August 31st, 2019

Meet the man who built a dosa batter empire in the US

Business & Economy, Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, World Opinion
On the grind According to Mani, four containers of the batter are sold every minute across the US
On the grind According to Mani, four containers of the batter are sold every minute across the US

Every day, fresh batter for spongy idlis and crisp dosas makes its way across the West Coast of the US to homesick Indians, and Americans enamoured by this gluten-free, vegan treat. A man from Thirunelveli is behind it all

In a quiet neighbourhood in San Jose, California, a young Mexican boy opens rice and dal bags. He apportions them onto 150 containers using an automatic weighing and dispensing machine; then soaks them in water. Another operator, cleans the rice and lentils, and loads them onto the 34 custom made stone wet grinders. The machines start whirring and another Mexican employee, wearing a head net and apron, hovers over them with a super-size spatula, constantly checking on batter thickness.

“There are 25 employees who work here, and they can pronounce the names of Indian food and ingredients more articulately than I can,” smiles Mani Krishnan, founder and president of Shastha Foods, which makes 12,500 kilos of fresh idli and dosa batter every week. With this batter, approximately 100 million dosas have been served across the US, over the last 16 years. “Let’s simplify that further,” he adds. “Every minute, four containers of Shastha idli or dosa batter are being sold across the US”.

Hailing from Kadayam village, Thirunelveli, Mani recounts that when he decided to start this business in 2003, it was neither new nor unheard of in America. “There were already players in the market. I think the system that I created, helped me maintain quality, ensure consistency in delivery and also scale up. I am proud to say that it is Indian technology at work in the US.”

Prior to becoming a foodpreneur, Mani managed a profitable business selling Intel processors, mother boards and hard disk drives to Indian organizations for 18 years. “I had 25 offices in India. However, that business went South and I came to a point where I had to re-build my life from scratch. I was in my 40s by then.”

The genesis

Using his experience in Indian import, Mani decided to bring filter coffee powder to America. “We stumbled upon the idea to sell idli batter in 2003; we did not do a formal market study but we made an observation; it was the phase when there was a steady rise in Indian nuclear families in the US and people had no time to buy the rice, soak it, grind it and allow it to ferment”. In the beginning, Mani would grind the batter using Ultra1.5 litre grinder and deliver the containers to Indian stores in San Jose. Today, his batter is in 300 stores across the West Coast of the US.

“I envision batter to be distributed the same way we get our milk everyday,” he says. The first batch was delivered in his car. As the company grew, they acquired a refrigerated cargo van. “Soon, we out-grew that and we invested in small refrigerated trucks. We now use three small 14ft refrigerated trucks and a cargo van because we need to drive through city roads and smaller neighbourhoods; we need to be able to park!” he quips, adding that delivery happens seven days a week.

Mani Krishnan at the facility | Photo Credit: special arrangement
Mani Krishnan at the facility | Photo Credit: special arrangement

The first five years, Mani faced challenges which were beyond his kitchen. “There were restrictions on the import of two main ingredients required to make the batter: rice and dal. At one point, I was buying rice from Africa, Dubai and USA. Once you are in production, you need to supply; stopping is not an option,” says the 66-year-old, who holds a Masters in Accounting from the University of Bombay.

The heart of Shastha’s operations is a 7,000 square foot spotless kitchen with several stone grinders in stainless steel drums, which have been customized to work in rhythm. Mani and his friends brainstormed to create a process flow for the plant to minimize overall movement. “I learned that one cannot come up with 100 percent accurate design in the initial stage itself. As the business grew, we had to make minor modifications to meet the new challenges. The 100 percent organic products launch in 2017, is a good example. This was not envisaged in the early stages but when this new line of products was approved, I had to make some minor modifications without disrupting the production of the other 13 varieties of batter, and still launch the organic line.”

A fresh plate of khitchari made of millet batter | Photo Credit: My Friday Food Swings
A fresh plate of khitchari made of millet batter | Photo Credit: My Friday Food Swings

Rise of the millets

Though it sounds uncomplicated, most people still find it a challenge to make idli batter, which will result in softest idlis, every single time. “Processes can be automated; the quality and consistency can be maintained only by human intervention. We process small batches. Our batter is a combination of rice, urad dal and salt. We don’t add any other ingredients.”

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Rice cakes from afar
  • “There are no artificial ingredients in Shastha batter variants to make it last forever,” explains Soma Sengupta, a California-based food blogger (My Friday Food Swings). A working mother and food blogger, she created two recipes using the Shastha batter which was showcased at the Incredible India booth at the Travel Adventure Show in Santa Clara in 2019. “I created a multi millets adai with their readymade batter and the ayurvedic millets khitchari. My inspiration was of course the super grain millets.” At her home kitchen Soma tweaks traditional recipes with a little fusion for her daughter. “With the Shastha dosabatter I often make a dosa quesadilla with cheese, peppers and some pasta sauce. I also make pizza uttapams and idli pops served with guacamole.”
  • Since dosas are vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free, a large non-Indian population is also trying the ‘steamed rice cakes’. One such customer is Brad Osterhout, from Roseville, California who has been using the batter for almost one year. “I was trying different foods with friends at work and loved the taste and protein available in the batter,” he says, adding “Quinoa was the first batter I tried and I really enjoyed the taste. I paired it with vegetables and a mango chutney. I learned to make dosas from YouTube videos.”

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Along with his wife Anandhi, Mani experiments with most of the batter at home, sharing it with colleagues and friends for feedback, before going large scale.

“Hands down, our idli and dosa batter are still the most popular and fast selling product line. However, batters like the brown rice dosa, oats dosa, quinoa idli, millet dosa, adai, pesarattu are also doing well,” reveals Mani. He has been given the nod of approval for his vegetable idli batter from his close circle of friends, and it will soon be available in the market. “My future plan is to grow the non-idli dosa batter business; which is primarily millets.”

A believer in old school word-of-mouth advertising, Mani actively supports Indian events at the Bay area. His idlis are served at gatherings conducted by the Tamil Mandram, at the Spring Festival, Concord Murugan Temple and Livermore Temple. “The goodwill has carried us through. The community and Indian grocery stores have supported our journey, so we believe in giving back in our own way.”

With a gleeful smile, Mani says he is keen on introducing a robot, which will pack 25 containers of batter within a minute. “Robotics will increase productivity and efficiency. I don’t have to constantly ask my team to spend less time on their phones!” jokes Mani. Just then a notification from Doordash and Grubhub appear on his phone, to collect a container of pesarattu batter and idli batter. In the other room, his administrative staff are managing the online orders. Meanwhile a team is creating an icebox to package batter for deliveries in other parts of the US. Looks like there is much more grinding to do.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Food / by Jayanthi Somasundaram / August 27th, 2019

The long road to St Petersburgh

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

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Meenakshi Sai Arvind and her team plan to cover 20, 000 km in two vehicles while spreading awareness about cervical cancer

In 2017, Meenakshi Sai undertook a road trip from Coimbatore to London. “That trip changed my life. I learnt so much from the different people I met on my way. My confidence increased manifold. I decided I wanted to do another road trip; so I researched for a year, set up route maps, marked the stop points, and so on. My brother Sanjay Subbian was the first to join me and four close friends, Sharath Madhav, Pradeep Yuvaraj, Sheila Verghis and Jomet Mani joined later. The only two people that I did not know from earlier are Madhuri Sapru and Anjana Kaul. They came forward seeing a post I had put up on Facebook inviting people to join.”

The eight of them are driving 20,000 km across four countries in two Tata Hexas upto St Petersburgh. It is not just a long drive, it has a purpose. XPD Trans-Siberian 2019: Beyond Asia, as the expedition is called, will spread awareness about cervical cancer.

“Cervical cancer is common among Indian women. It is also the only cancer that has preventive vaccines. We hope that the visibility that we receive will turn people’s attention towards this issue and bring in more sponsors to buy these vaccines for women from underprivileged background,” explains Meenakshi, who is also the managing trustee of RR Trust that organised the expedition.

The team was flagged off recently by social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham, athlete Gomathi Marimuthu, and and Indian Navy veteran Rajiv Choudhry. The journey will take them through Nepal, China and Russia. “We will drive through the day and rest at night. We plan to cover an average of 600 km a day. The highway between Vladivostok and Saint Petersburg, known as the Trans-Siberian highway, is the longest in the world. It is also dangerous as the place is sparingly populated and secluded. It stretches for a distance of 11,000 km.” The expedition is also taking along spare parts for the vehicle and fireproof jerry cans filled with fuel. They will come in handy especially in the long desolate stretches, especially in Siberia, that may not have fuel stations.

The only thing Meenakshi is worried about is Acute Mountain Sickness when they reach the Everest Base Camp. “The air will be thin there. We are carrying apparatus to keep a check on our oxygen levels, besides oxygen cylinders.

The team will also carry dehydrated vegetable biryani and tamarind rice. “We will eat it when we crave local food. I do not eat meat and finding vegetarian food in Russia can also be challenging. We are just being cautious.”

They plan to reach Saint Petersburg on September 27. “We will be flying back on October 1 and the cars will be shipped home.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Susan Joe Philip / August 23rd, 2019

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar: A shining star of astrophysics

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

This great astrophysicist strongly influenced our understanding of stellar objects, black holes, white dwarfs and conducted remarkable work on Newton’s seminal work titled Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

As a young boy, astrophysicist and mathematician Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar had a deep desire to be like Isaac Newton. Often, he used to go to the beach alone, and pray: ‘Oh God, may I be like Newton!’(Illustration: Rushikesh Tulshiram Gophane)
As a young boy, astrophysicist and mathematician Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar had a deep desire to be like Isaac Newton. Often, he used to go to the beach alone, and pray: ‘Oh God, may I be like Newton!’(Illustration: Rushikesh Tulshiram Gophane)

Chandra, as he was widely known, was born on October 19, 1910, in Lahore, to Tamil parents Sitalakshmi Balakrishnan and Chandrasekhara Subrahmanya Ayyar. His father was the deputy auditor general of the Northwestern Railway. The family moved to Allahabad in 1916 and settled in Madras in 1918.

Early life and education

Chandrasekhar was homeschooled till the age of 12. He then attended the Hindu High School at Triplicane, Madras and studied at Presidency College, Madras from 1925 to 1930. During this stint, he met Lalitha Doraiswamy and they got married in 1936.

A highlight of his college years was the publication of his paper, The Compton Scattering and the New Statistics. Successes such as this strengthened his determination to pursue a career in scientific research despite his father’s wish for him to join Indian Civil Service.

In 1930, Chandrasekhar was awarded a government scholarship to pursue graduation at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom and he joined Trinity College. During this time, Chandra became enamoured with the subject of white dwarf stars. He explained how when stars run out of hydrogen, they become unstable and collapse in on themselves. But the most massive stars explode into a supernova and then collapse down into neutron stars, or black holes. He earned a PhD in 1933 and was elected to Prize Fellowship.

Career

In 1937, Chandrasekhar was appointed assistant professor in the University of Chicago – a position he continued in for his entire career spanning six decades. In 1947, he was appointed the distinguished service professor of theoretical astrophysics and, in 1985, became the professor emeritus.

As the editor of The Astrophysical Journal (1952-1971), he transformed the private publication into the National Journal of the American Astronomical Society. Apart from his work at the University, he also conducted research at NASA’s Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research.

In 1990, he began working on the detailed geometric arguments in Sir Isaac Newton’s famous work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which is considered a significant work in the history of science. He died on August 21, 1995 of a heart attack.

Chandrasekhar Limit

He is best known for the discovery of the Chandrasekhar Limit, which he came up with as a student. Using this, he proved that there is a maximum mass which can be supported against gravity by the pressure made up of electrons and nuclei.

Awards, achievements

Chandra was honoured with the Padma Vibushan in 1968. In 1983, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics along with William A Fowler for work on the structure and evolution of stars. He was, however, upset that the citation mentioned only his earliest work and not his later ones. Chandrasekhar was awarded the Gold Medal of Royal Astronomical Society (1953), the Royal Medal (1962), and the Copley Medal (1984).

He has authored several books including – An Introduction to the Study of Stellar Structure (1939), Principles of Stellar Dynamics (1942), and Newton’s Principia for the Common Reader (1995).

Interesting Facts

1. He was the nephew of Sir CV Raman, who was a Nobel Prize recipient. Chandrasekhar became a US citizen in 1953, retired from the University of Chicago in 1980, and continued to be a researcher.

2. In 1979, NASA named the third of its four Great Observatories after Chandrasekhar. The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999.

3. The Chandrasekhar number, a vital dimensionless number of magneto hydrodynamics, was named after him as were the asteroid 1958 Chandra and the Himalayan Chandra Telescope.

4. The Chandra Astrophysics Institute runs an initiative for high school students interested in astrophysics. They are mentored by scientists from MIT and sponsored by the Chandra Observatory.

5. His brother, S Balakrishnan, revealed that as a boy, Chandra had a deep desire to be like Isaac Newton. He used to go to the beach alone, and pray: ‘Oh God, may I be like Newton!’

Source: famouspeople.com; notablebiographies.com;Wikipedia

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India> Inspiring Lives / by HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, New Delhi / August 21st, 2019

App uses AI to detect banana pest, diseases

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion
Versatile: The App can detect symptoms on any part of the crop and is trained to read even images of lower quality. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Versatile: The App can detect symptoms on any part of the crop and is trained to read even images of lower quality. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

An App using this tool can diagnose the disease and give treatment options

Identifying diseases and pests on banana crops will now be just a click away. Researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence system (AI) which can look at photographs and tell what disease the plant has and also give recommendations and treatment options to the farmers. The results showed that the model was over 90% accuracy.

Training the network

The neural network was given about 20,000 images showing diseased and healthy plants. “Just like teaching a kid to tell an elephant from a horse, we taught the AI to identify leaf, root, fruit diseases and pests. Pictures from Uganda, Colombia, Congo and India were fed into the system for the training,” says Dr. Sivalingam Elayabalan from the Department of Biotechnology, Imayam Institute of Agriculture and Technology (IIAT), Trichy, Tamil Nadu. He is one of the authors of the study published in Plant Methods.

The tool is now incorporated into an App called Tumaini, meaning hope in Swahili, and being tested.

Expansion of scope

The team is planning to add more diseases based on regions and also make the App available in local languages. “When users take the photo, it gets uploaded to a global system for large-scale monitoring. Also, it is automatically GPS-tagged so we know what and where the problem is. We are also planning to incorporate high-resolution satellite monitoring to check the health of large fields,” explains Dr. Michael Gomez Selvaraj, from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia in an email to The Hindu. Dr. Selvaraj is the senior author of the paper. The App can detect symptoms on any part of the crop, and is even trained to read images of lower quality.

Major Indian diseases

The app is now being tested across many countries and when the confidence of 100% is reached it will be available for free download. “Yellow leaf spot and Fusarium wilt are the major fungal diseases in India and farmers spend a lot of money on fungicides. Apart from the fungal disease, the viral disease such as Banana Bunchy top virus is a big problem in hilly areas of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Northeast region. The App can tell the farmers in advance bringing down the treatment costs,” says Dr. Elayabalan. “We are now testing the App in Tamil, and it will soon be available in Hindi and Malayalam. The National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have shown interested in the App.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Science / by Aswati Pachi / August 17th, 2019

IIT-Madras develops cells to be used in cancer research

Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

The research is significant as stem cells are difficult to isolate and grow. Research is being conducted all over the world, to extract and culture CSCs for cancer understanding and drug development.

Chennai :

Researchers of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) have found that subjecting cancer cells to microgravity, results in the formation of giant cancer cells with stem-cell characteristics, which can be used for cancer research and drug development, said a statement issued by the Institute.

The research was led by Professor Rama S Verma, Stem Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras. Speaking about the research, Verma said the stem cells obtained using micro. The research is significant as stem cells are difficult to isolate and grow. Research is being conducted all over the world, to extract and culture CSCs for cancer understanding and drug development. gravity can also be used to understand the nature of the cancer cells, their proliferation and cell death pathways, which in turn, can help in the identification of target zones for drug development.

He further added, “We have shown that simulated microgravity can be used for the development of stem cell structures for drug testing, instead of animal models. Cancer Stem Cells(CSC) are important in cancer research because they not only instigate the formation of tumour, but are also involved in recurrence of tumours after cancer treatment.”

The research is significant as stem cells are difficult to isolate and grow. Research is being conducted all over the world, to extract and culture CSCs for cancer understanding and drug development. “These stem cells can be used for cancer research and drug development,” said Verma.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / August 21st. 2019

Innovative app fetches Chennai girls top spot in U.S. contest

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion
Girl power: Social Relay, the team which won the Technovation challenge.
Girl power: Social Relay, the team which won the Technovation challenge.

‘Baton’ designed to maximise the impact of initiatives started by interns in the field of social work.

‘Social Relay’, a team of three school girls from Chennai, bagged the first place at Technovation Girls organised in the United States of America by Technovation, a global not-for-profit organisation that focuses on technology education. The team won a prize money of $12,000.

The team members — Akshara Vasanth, a Class VI student of PSBB School K.K. Nagar, Ishwarya Kanagaraj, a Class VII student from the Panchayat Union Middle School Poothapedu and Stella Arokiasamy, a Class IX student of Our Angel Matriculation School — were mentored by Tanya Elizabeth Ken, a Class XI student of Kola Perumal Chetty Vaishnav School. Both Stella and Aishwarya stay at Paadhai, a home in the city for destitute children.

At the World Pitch 2019, the finals, Social Relay pitched their app ‘Baton’, which was designed to maximise the social impact of initiatives started by social work interns or students’ internships. “The app works around the idea of a relay race, where the baton is handed over and aims to hand over incomplete social work initiatives from one intern to another so that they are not affected by internships which last only for a limited time. It will bring together social workers, students, corporates, NGOs and volunteers,” the team said.

Dreaming big

Speaking from California, Akshara Vasanth said she was thrilled with her team’s win. “This is not just a great opportunity for me, but for girls from across the world. We are looking forward to develop our app further and take it across the country as well as the world,” she said.

The team from Chennai was among six from across the world in the junior division at the World Pitch, which was the final event of Technovation Girls, where they exhibited the functioning of their apps. Over 2,000 teams from 57 countries participated in the competition and six teams each were selected as finalists in the junior and senior division.

“Lack of a social worker empowerment tool is a problem across the world and the team believes that Baton is the solution, as it brings together key stakeholders for achieving social impact, while optimizing social work,” said Tanya, speaking from California.

“I hope more girls are inspired and encouraged to delve into technology and innovation,” she added.

The program encourages girls between the ages of 10 and 18 years from across the world to use technology and apply the skills needed to solve real life problems.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – August 19th, 2019

Health matters: This Chennai sexagenarian is invincible

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Sprinting towards her dreams and knocking down stereotypes, T Rukmini Devi is yet to befriend retirement — her game is still on.

T Rukmini Devi. (Photo | R Satish Babu, EPS)
T Rukmini Devi. (Photo | R Satish Babu, EPS)

Chennai :

Training sessions at Jawaharlal Nehru outdoor stadium. Core strengthening at the gym. Badminton and table tennis for leisure. A toned physique, brisk gait and a sporty demeanour, T Rukmini Devi looks anything but 64. The sexagenarian’s daily schedule is packed with workout sessions, alongside other club roles. She is not hassled by her hectic routine. CE caught up with Rukmini after her morning practice to know what keeps her going.

“I took up sports out of my interest. My father served the military services back then. Our lifestyle was active, organised and disciplined. He brought me up as a bold girl. Right from inter-school competitions, parades, to international level competitions, I’ve taken part in all kinds of activities. After marriage, I had to take a break to focus on my children. Now I’m back after 15 years. That void is filled and I’m living my dream again,” said Rukmini who was born in Mumbai.
Rukmini moved to Chennai from Hyderabad in 1980 and started working with the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB). She retired as the assistant manager in the Public Relations Department four years back.

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Aging while playing

She finished her schooling in Bengaluru and moved to Hyderabad for higher studies. “Nowadays, I take part in flag hoisting, we distribute sweets to underprivileged kids and spend our time at old age homes or Corporation schools,” said Rukmini, who lives with her husband Chandrakanthan and two daughters in T Nagar.

After completing her MSc in Physics from Osmania University, she joined the Indian Railways through sports quota and worked there for two years. She was part of the Indian Railways Basketball Team. Between 1974 and 1980, she represented and captained the Andhra Pradesh Basketball Team and the Andhra Pradesh Handball Team in the years 1978 and 1979. In 1982, she joined the Indian Overseas Bank. She headed the basketball and tennikoit team.

After a gap of 15 years, she represented India at the Veterans Athletics (now known as Masters Athletic Meet) in Thailand in 2008, Malaysia in 2009, Taipei in 2012 and Singapore in 2016. In the 2016 Masters Athletic Meet, she won a gold medal in the pole vault, a silver medal in the high jump and a bronze medal in the hammer throw. At the National Masters Athletic Championship held at Bengaluru in 2017 in the above 60 age category, Rukmini won a gold medal for the high jump, pole vault and 4×400 relay with a silver medal in the hammer throw and 4×100 relay.
The laurels continued at the nationals championship held at Guntur from February 6 to 10 where she won three gold medals in the above 60 age category for the high jump, hammer throw and pole vault. She has created a national record for pole vault covering a distance of 1.65 m with the previous record being only 1 m.

Second innings

Rukmini seems invincible at this point as she also won gold medals for the hammer throw and triple jump and a silver medal for triple jump at the first-ever Women’s Athletic Nationals held at Goa on June 29 and 30. Rukmini has received many awards at the club, district and international level. Recently, she was also honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award in sports by the All Indian Lioness Multiple and Lions Clubs.

“One needs the right exposure. I prefer working out on the field or dancing in my class any day over watching television. We get to meet people from different countries on international tours. Our fitness is nothing compared to their dedication. So I want to make the best of what’s available here, train people, learn, and achieve. I’m glad to see many women taking part in these competitions and bringing pride to our nation,” she said.

Passionate about dance from a young age, she recently joined the Athmalaya School of Dance for Elders. She is also being trained for badminton and table tennis for the veterans group. Rukmini is known to be passionate towards service to mankind. She enjoys singing and dancing in her spare time. She has also learned Kuchipudi from guru Rajasulochana and comperes for Doordarshan along with tournaments and meetings.

“My family motivates me. People can always find their second calling at any point in life. One needs to speak their mind to the children and set their priorities right. Never use taking care of grandchildren or retirement as an excuse. It will make you sluggish and invite unwanted thoughts. As parents, we need our independence too,” said Rukmini who is preparing for an Asian meet in December in Malaysia.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Vaishali Vijaykumar / Express News Service / August 17th, 2019