Category Archives: World Opinion

YES team to US

Business & Economy, Uncategorized, World Opinion

A 100-member delegation visits America to study business opportunities and improve bilateral trade

If the delegation of Young Entrepreneur School (YES), a youth development programme of the Tamil Nadu Chamber Foundation, signs a trade contract during their visit to the popular brand’s Visitors’ Centre in San Francisco, Madurai can expect a Levi’s jeans manufacturing unit.

“It is part of our plan,” says V. Neethi Mohan, Chairman, YES. “The Visitors’ Centre is a permanent installation in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Levi Strauss and Co. showcasing the company’s history and business. We will be visiting the Levi’s facility on June 23.”

The 17-day trip is titled as ‘Bizcover America’. Members drawn from various YES centres such as Chennai, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram, Karur and Sivakasi leave on June 8. The delegation will also visit US India Business Council, a premier business organisation representing America’s top companies investing in India. They have planned to visit New York, Washington, Niagara, Orlando, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“We have also planned to visit ZAPPOS.com, a popular online store for shoes and clothes based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The store is presently owned by Amazon.com. We will be there to study their business culture and understand their core values,” he says. The team’s prime focus is to improve trade links in food processing and garment industries.

According to Neethi Mohan, e-commerce is a rapidly growing business in the country as the total business done through online shops in the country at present stands at around one billion dollars and it is expected to grow up to 76 billion dollars by 2020. “Already showrooms are being converted into warehouses and businessmen are showing keen interest in e-commerce,” he says.

“The team will study the business models, tools for business development and their best practices. The key objective is to increase volume of bilateral trade and promote industrial investments,” says S. Rethinavelu, chairman of the foundation.

The group will also be at the Infocomm 2014, one of the largest professional AV shows in the world with more than 950 exhibitors from over 110 countries attending.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus /  by  T. Saravanan / Madurai – June 05th, 2014

CUMI eyes $10 million new sales from Africa plant

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

Carborundum Universal  Ltd (CUMI), part of the Murugappa Group , is expecting its South African plant to increase its sales by $10-million sales with the addition of new capacity.

The group had invested around 115 million Rand (Rs 63.6 crore at current currency rates) to hike capacity at the Bubble Zirconia plant to 5,000-tonne from last year’s 500-tonne. The plant produces electro minerals used in various applications in refractories for possessing thermal shock resistance.

K Srinivasan , managing director of Carborundum Universal Ltd, recently told analysts the Bubble Zirconia plant had been a big challenge for them as the production remained less than 500 tonne for the entire last year despite seeing an investment of 115 million Rand. “It took far more effort and time than what we thought it would be,” he said.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / by BS Reporter /  Chennai – June 06th, 2014

Trichy school shines in US contest

Education, Records, All, World Opinion

Trichy :

Seven students belonging to a city school bagged prizes at a creative problem-solving competition involving students from kindergarten to college. The annual event called the “Odyssey of the Mind” was held at the Iowa State University in the US last month.

The students of Alpha Wisdom Vidyashram Senior Secondary School who took part in the event came 21{+s}{+t} among the 236 teams that participated in the competition.

The competition was held by Creative Competitions, Inc, based in New Jersey. During the contest, team members work together at length to solve a predefined problem. They also participate in a spontaneously held contest where in players have to generate solutions to a problem they have not encountered before. The seven-member team from the school belonged to Classes 7 to 10. The students are R M Muthumeena, 12, C Indumugi, 14, S M Nhanthini, 15, P Aditya, 14, R Sivaprasath, 13, D Akshay, 14 and S Laushiya, 14.

Seven teams from India took part in the event. The students said that they won the hands-on competition by scoring 93 points. We solved problems with ease despite difficulties, said C Indumugi. Rajeshwari Ramakrishanan, the teacher who accompanied the students to Iowa, said the team also won the floating banner competition wherein they presented a temple-like structure.

Thousands of teams from throughout the US and from about 25 other countries participate in the programme annually. The 2014 event was held from May 28 to May 31. In the contests, team members are asked to apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Trichy / TNN / June 11th, 2014

Shooting inside a Shaolin temple

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion
Director Haricharan./ by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Director Haricharan./ by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

Director S. Haricharan is in China to film the life of Bodhidharma, said to be a Tamil prince

“Is the blue-eyed barbarian, as he is referred to in Chinese texts, a myth or real?” asks film director S. Haricharan (Thoovaanam), who is in China on invitation to shoot a film on the life of Bodhidharma, the 28th Patriarch of Buddhism. “I consider this a rare privilege and an even greater honour that I have been given access to shoot inside the Shaolin temple at Mount Song in the Henan Province of China. It is probably the first time that a film director from Tamil Nadu will have access to shoot inside the Shaolin temple. It is even more gratifying that I will be shooting a film on the life of the great Bodhidharma who, according to many available records, was a Pallava prince born in Kanchipuram!” says Haricharan.

Haricharan in front of the Shaolin temple./ by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Haricharan in front of the Shaolin temple./ by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

Prior to his visit to China, Haricharan went on a recce to Vaiyalur (Kanchipuram) to check out a culvert inscription available with A.S.I Chennai (provided by Dr. Maheshwari) that one Bodhivarman (a Pallava prince) did exist around the same period that Bodhidharma surfaced in China. “Did Bodhivarman, on embracing Buddhism and fearing persecution, flee from Kanchi via the Palar river to Mammalapuram and then board a ship to China? Did his father, the king, aid him in his efforts to leave Kanchi in search of a forefather who was already in China spreading Buddhism? There are many such unanswered questions. With hope in my heart and filled with pride and enthusiasm, I am on the way to China in an effort to try and unravel the mystery surrounding Bodhidharma,” says an excited Haricharan.

The director is accompanied by cinematographer Sharon and will be assisted by a Chinese crew while shooting at the Shaolin temple.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Cinema Plus / by Nikhil Raghavan / Chennai – May 31st, 2014

Ebrahim nominated to FIA Council

Leaders, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

The Governing Council of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of  India (FMSCI) has nominated Akbar Ebrahim, a renowned driver coach and former Formula race driver, as India’s deputy representative at the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA).

FMSCI Chairman Vijay Mallya endorsed the decision and the FIA was informed about this, according to a FMSCI Media release here Saturday.

Mallya is the Titular Delegate of India and a member of the prestigious World Motor Sports Council of the FIA, which is responsible for all aspects of international motorsport at every level from karting to Formula One.

Ebrahim has replaced Vicky Chandhok in the role and will represent the FMSCI to lend a hand to Mallya in the FIA, the release added.

Ebrahim said: “While my predecessor worked hard to get F1 to India, my priority now would be to get more Indians into F1 and its likes. We are going to work hard to create opportunities for our sportspersons to step out and take on the world.

“We will make sincere efforts to align with global best practices and avail all possible assistance from international associates.

“India has all that is required for our kids and our sport to unleash, and what we need to do now is to package and present our case to the world. To start the campaign, we need to lead the charge in the Asian Region.”

Ebrahim had recently met FIA President Jean Todt at the FIA Asia Pacific Region Motor Sport Forum in Sri Lanka, where Todt had drawn everyone’s attention to FIA’s taskforce that is currently in operation in the Asia Pacific region.

“The idea behind this initiative is to interact, assist and coordinate between motor sports federations in this region,” said Ebrahim.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-IANS> Sports / by IANS /  Chennai  – May 17th, 2014

Motorsports: Two podiums for Armaan Ebrahim

Sports, World Opinion

India’s  Armaan Ebrahim finished on podium in both the races in the second round of the Blancpain FIA GT Series here Sunday, marking a successful return after having suffered a high speed crash in the opening round in Nogaro (France) last month.

Driving for Fortec Motorsports in the Silver Cup Class, the Chennai driver finished an identical third in both the outings, less than a month after suffering a dislocated collar bone and a cracked rib in the qualifying of the sprint race.

In Sunday’s second race, Armaan’s car was hit from the rear early on, forcing him to drop behind, but recovered solidly to finish third. A stewards hearing later could see Armaan move up to the second spot in his class in Race 2 in which he finished 13th overall.

As the original car was completely written off and the new car due to arrive in another two weeks, Armaan drove the teams second car along with a new teammate, Miguel Torel.

The two one-hour tests was spent mainly on getting to grips with Mercedes SLS AMG as due to the crash in Round 1, no pre race tests were possible.

The grid being one of the most competitive in GT Racing with as close to six F1 drivers and most others being Platinum and Gold category drivers representing Factory teams, the top 14 cars were all within a second in Qualifying.

“Two podiums in the Silver Cup is a dream start after a bad crash in the last round in France. It takes a bit of time to get back in the groove especially when you have to contend with acute pain in the collar bone and ribs which makes it very difficult to be aggressive with the steering wheel in the high speed corners.

“Also, as this is the first time I am driving the Mercedes SLS AMG, it does require quite a bit of pre-season testing, and unfortunately we have not been fortunate to have that,” said Armaan.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-IANS> Sports / by IANS / Fawkham (Britain) / May 18th, 2014

Chennai’s three teams among top 10 in INDIAFRICA competition

Education, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

Chennai’s three teams, including that from  IIT Madras, have featured in the top 10 list of the INDIAFRICA Business Venture Competition.

“Two teams from IIT Madras and one from Loyola Institute of Business Administration have been ranked among the Top 10 from India at the 3rd INDIAFRICA Business Venture Competition,” a release said today.

The top 10 teams also include three teams from Delhi and one team each from Hyderabad,  Mumbai, Vijayawada and Mumbai.

The competition is open to students and young entrepreneurs from Africa and India.

It is organised by IdeaWorks as part of the ‘INDIAFRICA: A Shared Future’ programme supported by Ministry of External Affairs.,

It offers an outreach and people to people contact programme to forge partnerships between young people of Africa and India.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> National> News / by Press Trust of India / Chennai – May 19th, 2014

Fort City Fondly Remembers CMC Founder on Death Anniversary

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion
Tributes being paid to Dr Ida Scudder at her tomb in Vellore on Saturday | express
Tributes being paid to Dr Ida Scudder at her tomb in Vellore on Saturday | express

Vellore :

Dr Ida Scudder, founder of the Christian Medical College (CMC) here, was remembered on her 54th death anniversary on Saturday. M Gunaseakaran, head of the NGO ‘Dr Ida Anbukarangal’ paid tributes at her cemetery.

The idea of establishing the hospital was conceived in 1890 when Ida had come from the US to Vellore to help her missionary parents. She was requested by three men to help their wives who were in labour pain. Young Ida not being a doctor then, was afraid and reluctant to offer help, following which all three women died. The incident changed her views and inspired her to take up gynaecology as a profession. Ida died a spinster aged 90 in 1960.

The hospital was established in 1900 as a single-bed dispensary with the help of a grant from New York-based banker Schell. In 1903, Ida began training several compounders and six years later in 1909, she started the School of Nursing. Her most treasured dream was realised when a medical school for women was started in 1918, which trained licentiates in medicine and through her efforts  it became a Medical College in 1942.

Today, the college offers 85 recognised training programmes in medicine, nursing and allied health fields. Now, the hospital is a 2,500-bed super-specialty facility attracting patients from all over.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / May 25th, 2014

First planes land on runway across Adyar

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

Chennai :

Planes have started to roll on the country’s first runway with a bridge. Two flights — an A320 and a B737 — landed on the secondary runway at Chennai airport on Saturday, for the first time after it was extended across Adyar river at a cost of 550 crore.

The pilots had to peer out of the cockpit to control the plane’s altitude, speed and navigate because instrument landing system (ILS), which sends out signals that help a jetliner to home in on a runway, has not been installed.

An Air India Port Blair-Chennai flight was the first to land on the runway at 2.42pm and a Jet Airways flight from Goa to Chennai landed at 4.16pm. It was part of Airports Authority of India’s (AAI) efforts to commission the runway for use.

“Pilots followed visual flight rules as the runway does not have ILS. The runway was found to be fine and the landing proved that A320 and B737 can use it for landing without hassle,” said a senior AAI official.

The AAI has decided to use the second runway only when main runway is closed for maintenance. Besides the fact that it does not have ILS, there are restrictions on its usable length and available space for flight movement.

Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) cleared the runway as safe for use in March. Officials were satisfied with the third-party study conducted by Anna University after aviation experts raised concerns on safety of the runway bridge.

The bridge was built to extend the runway length to 11,500ft. In June 2013, DGCA asked the AAI to appoint an independent agency to evaluate the structural safety of the runway bridge. tnn

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India  / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / May 11th, 2014

Pioneer Of 24-hour Clinics In Malaysia Dies At 88

Business & Economy, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

Petaling Jaya :

pic: The Malay Mail
pic: The Malay Mail

The pioneer of the 24-hour medical clinic in Malaysia, Dr K.M. Reddy, has died at the age of 88.

Dr Reddy, who set up 25 clinics nationwide more than 50 years ago, died in London on April 19.

Dr Romel D’Silva, who ran one of his clinics and worked with him for about 40 years, described him as “a man for all seasons, who would help people regardless of their background”.

“The clinics were his innovation, his brainchild. There were none in Malaysia at the time and so he contributed a lot in this regard,” he said.

Dr Reddy was the eldest son of a landowning family in Madras, India. After graduating from Madras Medical College, he travelled to Malaysia in 1952 to further his career in medicine, dedicating his first 10 years to government service.

He started his career at the Penang General Hospital, which was then considered the medical headquarters of Malaysia.

“He started out as a general practitioner at the Penang General Hospital looking after the TB clinic there, and later a leprosy clinic in Pulau Jerejak,” Dr D’Silva said.

“In 1957, he went on to become director and head of the Sungai Buloh leprosy settlement, the second largest leprosy settlement in the world.”

There, Dr Reddy was dedicated to eliminating public prejudice against leprosy and assisting patients in their return to society.

“He was the first to start discharging leprosy patients. However, the government at the time thought it unsafe, even though by then they were not infectious or posed any threat to society,” Dr D’Silva said.

He left in 1965 to open his own private practice in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, which he ran daily until 9pm.

“His practice soon got a lot busier and it was then he thought it best that he run it for 24 hours,” Dr D’Silva said.

The clinic was equipped with advanced facilities and was staffed by four doctors.

“The original clinic was the biggest and busiest. After a while, he encouraged the doctors there to set up more branches elsewhere,” he said.

“The first branch was in Jalan Othman, Petaling Jaya, and the second in Setapak. By the time I first met him, he had set up 21 more clinics.”

Dr Reddy was a founding member of the Malaysian Medical Association. His pioneering work was at the forefront of rehabilitation projects, which the World Health Organisation and International Leprosy Association helped to develop further.

He was known to treat those in greatest need without charge. Such was his generosity that when in Bagan Datoh, Perak, he was known to receive gifts of coconuts in lieu of payment.

He moved to England in the 1970s where his five children and six grandchildren were educated and settled. Among his four daughters and a son, two of them — one daughter and the son — also became doctors.

Dr Reddy’s eldest daughter Jothi, who is a lawyer, said her father’s natural kindness and generosity carried over among his own children.

“He would often offer free services to those who couldn’t afford them,” she said.

“He was also a mentor to many and helped guide and inspire others to achieve their very best.”

source: http://www.malaysiandigest.com / Malaysian Digest / Home> News / Sunday – may 11th, 2014

– The Malay Mail
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/pioneer-of-24-hour-clinics-in-malaysia-dies-at-88#sthash.FxzKaYcc.dpuf