This government school in Kurichi leads the way in empowering girls

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports

The school offers training in various disciplines like fencing, judo and taekwondo.

Coimbatore :

While the Ministry of Human Resource Development has only now started to give importance to martial arts training for girl students as part of its self-defence programme, this government higher secondary school in Kurichi has been a pioneer in the field with seven of its students getting ready to participate in a State-level meet to be held soon.

Even its first year of training, as many as 120 of its 147 students participated in the divisional meet concluded in the city; 91 of them managed to bag medals too. The school offers training in various disciplines like fencing, judo and taekwondo.

At a time when most government schools in the city and rural areas alike concentrated on conventional games like kabaddi, volleyball and football, this schools took the initiative to introduce martial arts with the help of its physical education teachers P Sivaprakasham and N Nisar. This training was then extended to the school’s girl students in the form of self-defence lessons. Teachers wanted them equipped to handle any situation they might face. After being briefed about the different forms of martial arts, many girls volunteered to be trained in fencing; they also managed to win a few medals, he recalls.

Five girls — S Swetha, D Mercy, R Ranjani, of class XI, and Rajeshwari (class X) and K Logeshwari (class IX) — have been qualified to participate in the State-level event to be held soon in Kankeyam
of Tirupur district. The girls, on their part, are happy to have overcome all odds to make a mark in the sport. Though their mothers were hesitant to allow them to be trained in martial arts, all parents are now happy that their girls have managed to achieve so much. Now, they eagerly inquire about fencing practice before asking about academics, narrates Swetha.

Headmistress N Shanthi cannot appreciate the effort more. The teacher’s job is not just to improve the students’ skills in academics; they should also identify their talents and put them on the path of development. She also remarks that such training has increased attendance among students. A year ago, only 50 per cent of students were willing to attend classes; this has increased to 95 per cent, she claims.

While the school might have its reasons to introduce martial arts to its students, the motivations for single mother M Gowri are quite simple. Raising her two girls — M Praveena and M Durgadevi — on her own, after the demise of her husband, she wanted them to be fiercely independent.

When the school announced self-defence lessons, she was more than happy to sign them up for it. True to spirit, the girls managed to bag a silver medal in karate and Praveena has a bronze in fencing to add to it. It was the mother’s aspiration that pushed them to their best, Praveena declares.

The school allows students to excel in swimming too. Four boys — T Akash, V Mahadevan, M Muthukathiravan, S Logeshwaran (all class VIII students) — were identified after teachers saw them
swimming in the Kurichi lake, located adjacent to the school.

All these boys had not had formal training before. Akash learnt to swim in the Kuruchi lake, for Mahadevan it was a check dam near Madukkarai and Muthukathiravan and Logeshwaran had the good local old wells.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Prabhakar T / Express News Service / November 29th, 2018

T.N. bags cadaveric organ donation award for 4th time

Records, All, Science & Technologies
Rally to create awareness on organ donation | Photo Credit: K. Ananthan
Rally to create awareness on organ donation | Photo Credit: K. Ananthan

Transparent process a key reason for success: Minister

For the fourth consecutive year, Tamil Nadu bagged the Best State Award in cadaveric organ donation from the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar received the award from the Ministers of State, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Anupriya Patel during the 9th Indian Organ Donation Day programme in New Delhi on Tuesday. Additional Secretary (Health) Nagarajan and Member Secretary of Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (Transtan) R. Kanthimathy were present.

High number of donors

The Minister, in his speech, said Transtan, was a first of its kind initiative in the country. So far, 6,886 organs were retrieved from 1,198 donors in Tamil Nadu, which is well ahead of other States.

OrganDonationCF29nov2018

“We have made the organ allocation process transparent, and this is one of the reasons for continuously doing well. We have participation of NGOs and have taken the programme to tier II cities,” he said.

The State consistently has a high number of organ donors. At 899 organs that were utilised (November 2017 to October 2018), the State has achieved maximum utilisation of donor organs to benefit end-stage organ failure patients, officials said. The year marked the State’s first bilateral hand transplantation at the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital. Transtan coordinated another bilateral hand transplantation at Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry.

A number of multi-organ transplantations — heart-lung, liver-kidney, pancreas-kidney, liver-pancreas, liver-heart and small bowel and abdominal walls — were done. The State has more than 1,000 empanelled doctors for certifying brain stem death.

This year, Transtan started to collect post-transplant and organ utilisation reports after each transplantation. The authority streamlined the website of Tamil Nadu Network for Organ Sharing, updating the waitlist and streamlining the organ sharing registry.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by Staff Reporter / November 28th, 2018

Watch: This Madurai antique bike collector has a unique selection

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Sports

source: http://www.youtube.com / The Hindu

S Jeyanth Kumar feels like a warrior when he rides the 1942 model bikes BSA WM20 and the Triumph 3HW.

“Both of these beauties were bought by a Bengaluru-based biker at a military disposal and the machines have seen the war field during World War II.

I bought them from him for ₹5 lakhs each a few years ago. Now, their antique value is double that.

But, I don’t plan to part with them,” says Kumar, who rode a 1964 model Royal Enfield Bullet to college.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Lifestyle> Motoring / by The Hindu Net Desk / November 28th, 2018

150-year-old sub post office in the Nilgiris needs renovation

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
One of the oldest post offices in the Nilgiris, the Fernhill post office in Udhagamandalam. | Photo Credit: M_Sathyamoorthy
One of the oldest post offices in the Nilgiris, the Fernhill post office in Udhagamandalam. | Photo Credit: M_Sathyamoorthy

The Fern Hill sub post office, which has been functioning in the same building since the late 1800s, is in need of urgent renovation, with a portion of the wall holding up the structure sustaining severe damage and in danger of caving in.

The post office, which operates in two expansive rooms, is an ideal example of colonial architecture, and is believed to have been built during the time when the Maharaja of Mysore moved to the Nilgiris.

Venugopal Dharmalingam, honorary director of the Nilgiri Documentation Center (NDC), said that it was probable that the building belonged to the Maharaja, who in turn allowed for the post office to be set up there, sometime in the 1870’s.

“Fern Hill itself has a very interesting history, with it making up the early British township in Udhagamandalam,” said Mr. Venugopal.

There had been plans to shut down the sub post office in Fern Hill a few years ago, but opposition from heritage enthusiasts had ensured that the building remains open to the public to this very day. However, lack of maintenance of the building has led to the wooden roof overhanging the front elevation of the building, sagging and in danger of collapse, while other signs of structural damage are also visible to the rear of the main structure.

Mr. Venugopal Dharmalingam believes that preservation of heritage structures is important, but said that to conserve buildings of historical value in the Nilgiris, they need to be identified first. “Firstly, what constitutes a heritage structure, be it a building, a bridge or even a lamp post, needs to be clearly defined, and then the historical value of such structures need to be assessed,” he added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Rohan Premkumar / Udhagamandalam – November 26th, 2018

11th edition of Coimbatore Vizha launched

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
L. Balaji Saravanan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), launching the logo of the 11th edition of Coimbatore Vizha in the city on Saturday. | Photo Credit: M_Periasamy
L. Balaji Saravanan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), launching the logo of the 11th edition of Coimbatore Vizha in the city on Saturday. | Photo Credit: M_Periasamy

The 11th edition of Coimbatore Vizha, to be held from January 4 to 12, was launched here on Saturday. L. Balaji Saravanan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Coimbatore city, released the Vizha logo at the Victoria Town Hall in Big Bazaar Street.

Coimbatore Vizha, an initiative facilitated by various individuals and organisations in Coimbatore, serves as a unique platform for the people to celebrate the spirit of Coimbatore. ‘#Celebrate Coimbatore’ is the hashtag for this edition of Coimbatore Vizha and the focus is ‘Impact and Inspire’.

Over 150 events have been planned in various locations in and around the Coimbatore city. Continuing the trend of 10th edition, a double-decker open top bus will be in the city throughout the Coimbatore Vizha week.

Coimbatoreans will also get to experience art street, and outdoor movie fest.

An open quiz hosted by Sujith Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Coimbatore, street food festival from Codissia to Jennys Residency, heritage car show, Coimbatore science and technology festival, Coimbatore Vizha parade, sports festival are the new events planned for the 11th edition of Coimbatore Vizha. School pavilion, college pavilion and industry and experience zone are also on the cards.

“We must appreciate the citizens and the organisers for the success of the festival over the last 10 years,” said Vishnu Prabhakar, Chairperson of Coimbatore Vizha.

Dipender Singh, chairperson of Young Indians Coimbatore Chapter, Ramesh M., Chairperson of CII Coimbatore, R.Ramamurthy, president of Codissia, D. Srinivasan, president of Coimbatore District Hoteliers Association, V. Lakshmi Narayanan, president of Chamber of Commerce, C.R. Swaminathan, past chairman of CII Southern Region, Shankar Vanavarayar, past chairman of Yi National and founder of Coimbatore Vizha, R. Mahalingam – Airport Director, Coimbatore, B. Praveen Kumar, Co-Chairman of Yi Coimbatore, attended the launch ceremony.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Saranya Rayappan / Coimbatore – November 25th, 2018

Iravatham Mahadevan, leading scholar on the Indus Valley and Tamil Brahmi scripts, passes away

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion
Scholar Iravatham Mahadevan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Scholar Iravatham Mahadevan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In the last three decades of his life, the Padma Shri-laureate had devoted himself to the study of India’s early writing systems

Iravatham Mahadevan, 88, one of the world’s leading scholars on the Indus Valley Script, the pre-eminent scholar on the Tamil Brahmi script, passed away in Chennai early on Monday after a brief illness.

Mr Mahadevan is survived by his son Sridhar Mahadevan and two grand children, Vandana Vidyasagar and Vinay Vidyasagar.

A former member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Padma Shri-awardee joined the service in 1954 and took voluntary retirement in 1980 after holding various positions in the Central and Tamil Nadu governments.

He was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1970 for his research on the Indus script and the National Fellowship of the Indian Council of Historical Research in 1992 for his work on the Tamil Brahmi inscriptions.

In August 1987, he became the Editor of the Tamil daily, Dinamani, where he succeeded A.N. Sivaraman, who held the post for over 45 years.

In the last three decades of his life, he devoted himself to the study of India’s early writing systems. He kept in active touch with leading scholars of early India, including the historian Romila Thapar and the Finnish specialist on the Indus Valley Script, Asko Parpola.

‘The Indus Script – Texts, Concordance and Tables,’ compiled by Iravatham Mahadevan with a grant from the Indian Council of Historical Research and published by the Archaeological survey of India in 1977, continues to be a definitive and an indisputable resource for Indus Valley scholarship.

His ‘Early Tamil Epigraphy’, first published jointly by Harvard University and Cre-A in 2003 and later by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil as a thoroughly revised version in 2014, is regarded as the most authoritative work on early South Indian epigraphy. Mr Mahadevan also established the Indus Research Centre at the Roja Muthiah Research Library with his personal funds.

Mr Mahadevan was awarded the Padma Shri in April 2009.

A man of letters, principles, and philanthropy, he founded the Vidyasagar Educational Trust, in memory of his late son, to support under-privileged students.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by M.V. Bhaskar / Chennai – November 26th, 2018

Experiment with colours, techniques at this workshop

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

In her art studio on Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Kalpana Yuvarraaj’s office is surrounded by canvasses with half-finished paintings.

Kalidass was invited to conduct the two-day workshop by Kalpana Yuvarraaj
Kalidass was invited to conduct the
two-day workshop by Kalpana Yuvarraaj

Chennai :

In her art studio on Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Kalpana Yuvarraaj’s office is surrounded by canvasses with half-finished paintings. The studio has artworks from various artists hung up all over the room from both established authors and her students, which she shows with equal pride. As the founder of the Artists’ Conclave Foundation, Kalpana will host a workshop today and tomorrow for aspiring artists by bringing in National Awardee Kalidass Jayaraman. The two-day workshop will focus on portrait painting using oil and acrylic paint on canvas and linen.

“It is a pleasure to work on linen, and it has a smoother finish. Fungus will not grow on the canvas, and it can be preserved for a long period of time. Then it can be preserved as a heirloom piece by our participants,” said Kalpana, whose studio also functions as an incubation centre for aspiring artists who have other commitments. She hopes that the workshop will help participants tap into their artistic potential and aesthetic understanding of their environment.

The workshop will have blind contouring and gestural drawing. The former trains artists to focus on a certain part of the face while painting and the latter trains them to draw hands in specific mudras. For this, Kalpana felt that Kalidass would be the best teacher to bring in.

“I would like to share the result of my experimental work of using acrylics as a base creating an abstract background incorporating glue gun (to create textures, water spray bottle to remove the excess paint). I use oil paint to create a portrait as oil creates a vibrated effect on matte-based acrylic,” said Kalidass, who will be flying down from Singapore to conduct this workshop.

Kalpana feels that sharing techniques between artists can help other artists, professional or amateur, improve, while Kalidass feels that the addition of mega art fairs akin to those held in New Delhi and Mumbai will help the artist community flourish.

The two-day workshop will be held from 10 am to 2 pm at the Artists’ Conclave Foundation office at Khader Nawaz Khan Road today and tomorrow. The registration fee is Rs 4,000. For details call: 9841024078

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Rochana Mohan / Express News Service / November 24th, 2018