Category Archives: World Opinion

GOAL POST : Scottish sojourn

Education, Science & Technologies, World Opinion
Aarthi Rathnasabapathi / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Aarthi Rathnasabapathi / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

It was a dream come true for Aarthi Rathnasabapathi at the Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland.

I was born and brought up in a beautiful and pleasant township of Udumalpet, near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. I completed my schooling in a reputed school where my chemistry teacher was my source of inspiration. My area of interest was science, science and only science. While searching for science- related courses, I enrolled myself in Industrial Biotechnology at an institute in in Sathyamangalam. I completed my undergraduate degree with distinction and then decided to pursue my higher studies in my chosen area of Biological sciences in United Kingdom. I began researching on most institutions that would meet my requirements and ended up at Edinburgh Napier University. Their on-campus facilities, academic atmosphere and the enriching international student community atmosphere in the university was excellent. I got admission at the institution’s Drug Design and Biomedical Science programme.

Edinburgh Napier University, which is located in Scotland’s capital city, imparts good quality technical education in allied fields of research and technology. The most fascinating part of the programme for me were the modules on drug design, toxicology, Immunology and Biotechnology and Drug discovery. The course was geared more towards research than analytical study and I enjoyed how both theory and laboratory classes were equally distributed in the modules.

I still remember the models that my drug design module professor used to bring to class. Those drug models not only improved my imagination but also explained clearly about the drug-drug interactions. I never missed my toxicology classes, because of my professor and the way he made each class interactive and interesting. I loved the questions and answer sessions and group discussions after every class, which allowed me to grow in confidence and share my views and ideas to the group.

At each and every stage, we had course-works, poster and power-point presentations. With the help and guidance of my professors, I received distinction for my poster presentation on SiRNA technology and by the end of my academic programme, I realised my dream of designing a prodrug for cancer with the help of my professor Dr David Mincher.

Completing my masters, I started my career as a Research Assistant in Edinburgh Napier University where I continued my intense research in designing macromolecular prodrugs for cancer. At the end of nine months of my research at the university, I received an offer from Lab901 and worked on quantification of DNA and RNA using TapeStation. After my short-term experience with Lab901, I returned to India and joined as a Scientist in the Discovery biology division of Anthem Biosciences, Bangalore.

At present, I am working on the screening of chemical entities for various diseases especially on cancer cell lines. With two years of experience at Anthem, I found myself specialised in assay biology sector in performing and optimizing various in-vitro assays and other confidential in-house projects.

I would proudly say that my master’s education had given me a strong foundation for my future PhD in the field of drug discovery on cancer.

Email: aarthirathan@gmail.com

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Education Plus> Colleges / by Aarthi Rathnasabapathi / Chennai – February 16th, 2014

Plea to govt on death centenary of Thillaiyadi Valliammai

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

People of Thillaiyadi village in the district have urged the Tamil Nadu government to observe the death centenary of Thillaiyadi Valliammai, a close aide of Mahatma Gandhi  during his satyagraha struggle in South Africa .

When Gandhiji started his satyagraha against racial discrimination in South Africa , Valliammai, a 15-year old daughter of an immigrant worker from Thillaiyadi, joined him in the agitation.

She was imprisoned for three months during which she suffered from viral fever. She died on her 16th birthday – Feb 22, 1914.

The Thillaiyadi village panchayat  has sent a memorandum to the Chief Minister urging the government to observe the death centenary, falling on coming Feb 22, in a fitting manner.

Soon after his return from South Africa, in 1915, Gandhiji visited the ancestral home of Valliammai in Thillaiyadi.

Years later, Gandhiji had once remarked that it was Valliammai’s sacrifice that increased his resolve to fight for India’s independence.

In 1971, the then DMK Government headed by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi built a spectacular memorial for Valliammai at Thillaiyadi where a statue of the girl, manuscripts of Gandhiji and several rare photographs have been kept.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> News / by Press Trust of India / Nagapattinam (TN) – February 15th, 2014

Coimbatore – finalist in Earth Hour City Challenge 2014

Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

The city would compete with other cities in a public campaign for the ‘We Love Cities’ award that would be presented in Vancouver, Canada, Commissioner G. Latha said.

The World Wildlife Fund has selected Coimbatore as one of the finalist cities in the Earth Hour City Challenge 2014, said Commissioner G. Latha at the recently held urgent council meeting.

The challenge for civic bodies across the globe was to take innovative action towards greener, cleaner and more sustainable cities, while inspiring other cities to do the same.

A WWF release said that among the 163 cities from 14 countries that participated in the challenge this year, 33 have qualified for the finals. Aside from Coimbatore, Kochi and Hyderabad had also made it to the finals, following a thorough assessment by international jury.

The city would compete with other cities in a public campaign for the ‘We Love Cities’ award that would be presented in Vancouver, Canada, Ms. Latha said. For Coimbatore to win the challenge, the city’s residents should log on to www.welovecities.org and vote for Coimbatore, the Commissioner said and appealed to the city’s residents to do so.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / February 21st, 2014

Namibia: Schlettwein Looks At Value Addition At India’s Largest Copper Producer

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

Tuticorin, India :

During a visit last week Thursday to Sterlite Copper, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, which owns the Skorpion Zinc mine in southern Namibia, Minister of Trade and Industry, Calle Schlettwein, reiterated Namibia’s stance on beneficiation in the mining industry. In mining, beneficiation is a variety of processes whereby extracted ore from is prepared for further processing or direct use.

The process encourages economic development at the point of mineral extraction and increases the proportion of the value derived from asset exploitation, which stays ‘in country’ and thereby increases the benefits for local communities. Sterlite Copper, based in the port city of Tuticorin in the district of Thoothukudi on the southern tip of India, represents copper business in India of Sesa Sterlite Limited, the principal operating company of Vedanta Resources. Sterlite Copper initially started producing cables and then moved into rod production and then to smelter activities and refining, after which it also acquired copper mines. These mines feed around 5 to 7 percent of its captive consumption. Sterlite is one of the fastest growing private sector companies in India and is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in India. Sterlite is also the first Indian metals and mining company to get listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2007.

Since the inception of the massive industrial plant in Thoothukudi in 1996, the district of Thoothukudi went into a developmental phase as per capita income increased three-fold, while the overall literacy rate increased to 92 percent from 81 percent. The material handling capacity of Tuticorin port also doubled as Sterlite played a pivotal role by importing huge volumes of copper concentrate and exporting copper and also other raw materials and finished goods. The plant now produces copper cathodes and copper rods from the imported copper concentrate, as well as sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid and hydro-fluoro silicic acid.

According to Ponnuswamy Ramnath, Chief Executive Officer of Sterlite Copper, Sterlite is continuously and consistently taking steps to become an international player in non-ferrous mining and metals. “Sterlite set up a wholly owned new company – Sterlite Opportunities and Ventures Limited in 2002, which acts as a vehicle for its acquisitions and mergers. Sterlite acquired the copper mines of Tasmania (CMT) in Australia via acquisition of their holding company Monte Cello Corporation,” said Ramnath. The Sterlite copper rod plant is now India’s largest copper producer with 400 000 tonnes annual capacity, resulting in an Indian refined copper market share of about 40 percent.

source: http://www.allafrica.com / allAfrica / Home> English / by Edgar Brandt / February 03rd, 2014

Tripura Foundation rewards children with hope

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, World Opinion
The Hope Hero 2013 awards aims to recognise underprivileged women and children — Photo: K. Pichumani / The Hindu
The Hope Hero 2013 awards aims to recognise underprivileged women and children — Photo: K. Pichumani / The Hindu

Twelve-year-old N. Archana, a native of Edayapatti village in Pudukottai district, wakes up early, cooks rice and curry, goes to school and often returns home to be beaten up by her drunken father.

In between this all this, she finds time to take care of a 100-year-old blind woman who she fondly refers to as ‘Periyandi paati’ who lives in her village. On Wednesday, she emerged as a winner of the Hope Hero 2013 award instituted by Tripura Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to help underprivileged women and children.

“My grandmother asked me to take care of Periyandi Paati. If I don’t, who else will? Every morning, I help her clean herself, buy her coffee and breakfast with the little money I have and call the 108 ambulance service if she falls ill. Now, I want to use this prize money of Rs. 4,000 to help her,” says Archana, who learnt to be optimistic and service-minded at the HoPE Learning Centre, founded by Tripura Foundation.

A.A. Gowtham, who works with Tripura Foundation, said they adopt the phonemic intelligence technique to teach children. “In this method, we teach them sounds with vowels and consonants that activate specific parts of the brain. It helps in improving their concentration, memory, intelligence and even makes them more compassionate,” he said.

Elaine Kueper, global director of Tripura Foundation, said these sound techniques that were taught by Baskaran Pillai, founder of Tripura Foundation, personally helped her overcome depression in her life. “People who have been benefitted by this technique keep sending donations which enable us to keep these centres functioning,” she said.

R. Maithin Raj, another student of HoPE who also emerged as one of the winners, had persuaded his friend Ajit’s parents who discontinued his education to resume it. “Due to poverty, his parents wanted him to work and forced him to leave school. Then, I had a tough time convincing them and took help from one of the HoPE officials to do it. Finally, it worked and he should be back in school very soon,” he said.

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

Global trade, M&A will be vital part of courses: Bala V Balachandran

Business & Economy, Education, World Opinion

Q&A with Founder & Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management.

Bala V Balachandran
Bala V Balachandran

Great Lakes Institute of  Management which began from one campus in Chennai and expanded to Gurgaon is now coming up with its third campus in Mumbai. In an interview with M Saraswathy, Bala V Balachandran , Founder & Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management talks about the new campus and the plans for this year. Excerpts:

You have planned a Mumbai campus? When would it be launched? 

By December 2014, we will identify the location for the institute in Mumbai. We are in talks with philanthropists in this city who can provide us land for the campus. By June 2015, the campus should be ready to welcome students.

How different or similar will this campus be to your other centres? Are looking to set up more campuses in India? 

Each of our campuses have their own personalities. Though there would be visiting faculty, a core faculty will be present in Mumbai. Unlike the Chennai or Gurgaon campus, Great Lakes Mumbai will focus on the banking and financial services sector. Further, international trade and Mergers & Acquisition will be vital part of the curriculum and courses, since this is the country’s financial capital.

At present we are not looking to set up additional campuses. Earlier, we had a plan to set up a campus in Bhubaneshwar. We were toying with this idea for sometime. However, we decided against it since there are not internship opportunities there and the job market there is also slow. Hence, the plan was shelved. But in the future, we would be happy to have a campus in East India.

There were talks of big corporate houses like Godrej and Tatas investing in the institute. Is there any update on this? 

We were looking to sell 51% in the institute and were in talks with companies like Tatas and Godrej for this process. But later we understood that these companies were not very comfortable in investing in the higher education space since it was very crowded. After an internal evaluation, we decided against bringing in external investments. But top executives from these companies are on our Business Advisory Council.

Are there any international tie-ups on the anvil? 

IAE Bordeaux University School Of Management – Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV has announced in association with the Great Lakes, a 6 weeks program in Bordeaux, intended for PGPM students from Great Lakes. We also are associated with Yale University for Yale-Great Lakes Center for Management Research.

Now, we are looking for tie-ups with international finance schools. further, we are planning to have a tie-up with a US institute for promoting entrepreneurship on our campus.

Placement season at business schools has been muted. What has the experience been at Great Lakes? 

Surprisingly, we have had a good placement season till now. About 240 of our 360 students in Post Graduate Programme in Management have already been placed. The average salary was Rs 11.5 lakh and highest has been Rs 42 lakh. We have had 70 new companies coming to the institute this season. By February end, the entire batch will be placed.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Management> Q & A / by M Saraswathy / Mumbai – January 30th, 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

Extreme devotion on display as Malaysia marks Thaipusam

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Nri's / Pio's, World Opinion

Malaysian Hindu devotee Karthi Gan grimaces while tapping his feet to the beat of ritual drums as two men plunge dozens of sharp hooks into his chest and back.

The painful ritual is Karthi’s way of giving thanks to the Hindu deity Muruga as part of the country’s colourful annual Thaipusam festival, one of the world’s most extreme displays of religious devotion.

Celebrated also in India and other areas with significant Tamil communities, the three-day festival that kicked off yesterday is marked with particular zest among Malaysian Indians.

Hordes of Hindus flock to temples across the country with offerings, many showing their fervour via extensive piercing or by bearing the elaborately decorated burdens called “kavadi” that are carried to religious sites.

“I got what I asked from Lord Muruga,” said Karthi, a 31-year-old engineer, who prayed during last year’s festival for “a good life”.

“I got a new-born baby. I got a new home,” he said late last night, when he and thousands of others began the slow and painful process of affixing their kavadi in the northern state of Penang.

His styrofoam kavadi structure — a frame attached to his hips and crowned by a peacock-eye design — was relatively light.

The piercing, however, had him feeling “a little nervous” ahead of the ritual just outside a Hindu temple, but he soon joined dozens of others who submitted to the ordeal.

Installing the kavadi, however, is merely the beginning.

In Penang, devotees then paraded barefoot for hours today through the streets of the state capital Georgetown, carrying kavadi that can weigh as much as 100 kilogrammes.

Participants swayed trance-like to drumbeats that had throbbed since yesterday.

Cheered on by friends and family who danced and chanted, the processions culminated in an 800-step climb to a hilltop temple for prayers.

Thaipusam commemorates the day when, according to Hindu mythology, the goddess Pavarthi gave her son Lord Muruga a lance to slay evil demons.

More than two million of racially diverse Malaysia’s 28 million people are ethnic Indian, mostly descendants of labourers brought in under British colonial rule. Most are Hindu.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> National> News / AFP / Georgetown (Malaysia) / January 17th, 2014

Tamil writers across globe to meet in Coimbatore

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, World Opinion

The event by Center for Tamil Culture is to be held from January 20 to 22

The Center for Tamil Culture will organise a three-day meeting of eminent Tamil writers and scholars across the globe in the city from January 20 to 22.

Titled ‘Thayagam Kadantha Tamil’, the international conference will see the participation of 35 experts from all over the world, said Nalla G. Palaniswami, founder-chairman of the Center, here on Friday.

The experts include R. Karthickesu from Malaysia, Cheran and A. Muthulingam from Canada, Nagarathnam Krishna from France, S. Ponnudurai from Australia, Shanmuga Siva and Muthu Nedumaran from Malaysia, Ulriche Nicholas from Germany, Kalaimagal from China, Seethalakshmi and Azhagiya Pandian from Singapore – all experts in their field, said senior journalist Maalan, who is the convener of the international conference.

Seven sessions

There would be seven sessions which will focus on literature, media, technology and education, for the four were important to take Tamil to the next generation.

Sirpi Balasubramaniam, one of the trustees of the Centre, said that there were writers, scholars and experts from 12 countries to talk about their experience.

They will elaborate on their understanding of language, how they viewed the Tamil publishing world, how technology had helped bridge the divide among Tamil writers and many more interesting topics.

This was not the first programme. The Centre for Tamil Culture had conducted such an event, he said. It had also organised events focussing on Tamil writers from the Kongu region and honouring writers, he added.

Improving quality

Later talking to The Hindu Mr. Maalan said that the main aim of involving writers from outside Tamil Nadu will help improve quality of works published here. In other words the participants would surely bring in variety and experience that would enhance quality to whatever was available locally.

It would also bring in new sections to Tamil literature just as there was American literature, African literature. He also hoped that in addition there would also be dialogue and synergy among the writers.

He said that it was wrong to say that the Tamil diaspora literature was dominated by those from Sri Lanka, though it was true that there were many from the island nation, who shared their experience of being away from homeland and the struggle they went through.

The Tamil diaspora literature included publications from people from Australia, Switzerland, Canada, the U.S., Malaysia and Singapore. And their experiences and works were as varied as any other. At the conference one could find feminist literature, post-modern literature and much more.

Mr. Maalan said that a concerted effort was needed to take the works of writers outside Tamil Nadu to readers across the world and suggested that e-publishing could be a way out.

e-publishing

Though a few publications in Tamil Nadu encouraged writers from abroad, the best way forward was e-publishing. But it was not uploading content that was converted into the printable document format.

It had to be e-publishing in the real sense, he said and added that efforts were also being made to take the works to the mobile platform. He also welcomed the government support to such endeavours.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Karthik Madhavan / Coimbatore – January 18th, 2014

WRI ties up with German university for power source evaluation

Education, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

Trichy :

The Welding Research Institute (WRI) has signed a protocol of intention with Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany for joint working in the area of power source evaluation facility.

The pact was signed at a function held at the WRI of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on Thursday in the presence of A V Krishnan, executive director, BHEL, Trichy and senior executives.

On behalf of Leibniz University, Prof Dr Ing D Rehfeldt exchanged the signed protocol with R Easwaran, general manager (WRI & Labs), BHEL, Trichy.

Krishnan said that WRI has taken the right initiative to become a world class institute and this research – academia partnership will augment its efforts to develop a centre for welding power source evaluation which would be helpful to the nation in a big way.

He also said that by bridging the technology gap, WRI can evaluate the current generation power sources, which have several advanced features and needed to be evaluated for their dynamic characteristics. Various manufacturing sectors in the country would benefit through the development.

Prof Rehfeldt said that Leibniz University is looking forward for the joint establishment of the power source evaluation facility at WRI.

It is not only the hardware and software of the equipment, but the human mind working on this, that would fully unleash the potential of the technologies, said Rehfeldt.

Easwaran said the modern inverter-based power sources have many added features for improving the depth of penetration of welds, making spatter-free welds, welding thin sheets, etc and understanding the dynamic characteristics of the power sources required a high power data acquisition system in tandem with a high speed visualization system as well as automation even manual welding, to avoid human hand unsteadiness.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Trichy> Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited / TNN / January 18th, 2014