Monthly Archives: May 2012

Lakshmi Vilas Bank signs MoU with TCS for centralization of process

Mumbai, May 11, 2012:

 Lakshmi Vilas Bank, the leading, fast-growing Private Sector Bank today signed a MoU with TCS for centralization of back office operations and document management system.

This arrangement would facilitate centralization of the key processes like account opening, KYC compliance, loans and advances, Trade Finance, ATM card management and many more. This agreement would enable all the branches of the bank to collect applications or request forms from customers and forward them to Central Processing Cell (CPC) for processing. CPC (Central Processing Cell) will be responsible for all centralized business processes and Datacenter (DC) will provide and maintain IT related services like servers, data storage, network etc. The documents comprising of application forms and supporting documents collected at branches will be forwarded to the scan station for scanning and indexing. Primarily the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) will be deployed for data and document management.

The entire process would be implemented in two phases. Phase I would include the processes like Savings Account Opening, Current Account Opening, CC-OD/ Loan Account Opening (Post Sanction), Centralization of account opening under Financial Inclusion and more. Phase II will include Trade Finance, Opening Demat Accounts and 3 in 1 Accounts

Speaking on the occasion Mr. P.R. Somasundaram, MD & CEO, Lakshmi Vilas Bank said, “Centralisation is a natural and significant step in our journey towards leveraging technology for providing a faster, efficient and standardized service without, of course, losing our traditional ‘personal touch’ through our fairly large network.  We were looking for a technology partner who could bring in a banking-specific solution to the table to centralize the bank’s back office operations and document management system. This tie-up will assist the Bank in providing a single platform that can be used for centralizing all the processes.”

Mr. G Srinivasa Raghavan, Country Head, India Business, TCS added, “Banks are increasingly focusing on simplifying branch operations for enhanced customer experience and integrate back office operations for higher employee productivity.  TCS is delighted to partner with LVB in helping them transform branch processes and help establish integrated back office operations for higher cost efficiency.

source: http://www.lvbank.com / Home> Shareholders Info> Press Release / Mumbai, May 11th, 2012

Tyrexpo India to focus on radialization

Truck tire radialization to be a focus at second staging of Tyrexpo India in Chennai

A major focus at next year’s Tyrexpo India exhibition in Chennai will be the development toward increased radialization of truck and bus radial tires (TBR) in India.

Tyrexpo India 2013 will take place at the Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai, India, July 9-11, 2013.

Event organizer ECI International has identified truck and bus tire radialization as one of the most topical issues for the domestic market and will reflect this in the structure and content of the three-day exhibition.

“Indian and international tire manufacturers are making huge investments in new production capacity for TBR radials for the domestic market,” says Paul Farrant, managing director of ECI International. “We want to reflect that dynamic trend at Tyrexpo India by creating a focus on truck tire manufacturing, with tire makers, technology experts, materials suppliers and service providers making a contribution to the show.”

Due to a variety of factors, including poor road infrastructure, heavily overloaded commercial vehicles and a subsequent lack of OEM demand, TBR radials account for just 10% to 15% of the huge commercial vehicle market I India.

But with government plans to build 35,000 kms of new roads over the next two years, the 2005 Supreme Court ruling on the overloading of trucks and increased interest from CV and bus manufacturers, the picture is set to change radically, ECI International points out.

Between them, Indian tire makers Apollo, BKT, Bridgestone India, Ceat, Dunlop India, Falcon Tyres and JK Tyre are in the process of commissioning or building more than a dozen new tire factories in India, with many of them dedicated to producing truck and bus radials. Industry estimates predict that by 2013 there will be an additional 25% manufacturing capacity for TBR radial tires.

And it’s not just Indian companies that are driving this change. Michelin Groupe is reported to be investing 800 million in its new Chennai plant, which will have a capacity of 300,000 radial tires, and Continental Corp. is said to be spending 50 million euros to increase its truck radial capacity in India by 2013.

Industry sources estimate the Indian tire industry’s annual turnover at Rs 300,000 million (£3.8 billion), with exports accounting for Rs 36,000 (£455.8 million) of this. During the year to the end of September 2011 an estimated 119.2 million tires were produced in India by 39 tire companies; the 10 largest manufacturers produced 95% of the total.

Truck and bus tires accounted for 65% of tire industry turnover, with the replacement market making up around 70% of this.

ECI’s Farrant adds: “With the continued rapid expansion of the Indian tire industry there will be greater interest in and demand for associated services for tyre distribution, fitment and repair. Another of our aims for next year’s exhibition will be to reflect this trend by attracting suppliers of workshop equipment, repair and maintenance products and distribution experts to participate in the show.

“With no other event dedicated solely to the tire and service industries, we are confident that Tyrexpo India 2013 will consolidate the strong impression it made in 2011 with an even stronger show next year.”

In anticipation of a larger show ECI has taken an option for a second exhibition hall at the Chennai Trade Centre to cope with additional exhibitor demand from both Indian and international suppliers.

For more information, go to www.eci-international.com.

source: http://www.moderntiredealer.com / Home> News / May 16th, 2012

Her aim: to serve society better from a policy-making position

In the conventional sense, she was settled for life. A dental surgeon by profession, she cleared the Civil Services examination in the third attempt in 2009 and was serving in Group ‘A’ in the Indian Postal Service.

But 28-year old V.S. Alagu Varsini from Pollachi was not a content person.

Because, her dream was not just to become an officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), but to realise the dreams of many from the position of a policy-maker.

IDENTIFIED

When Ms. Varsini started her dentistry practice after completing her course in Chennai in 2005, she came across many people suffering from oral diseases due to harmful practices. The main cause she identified was tobacco and the illegal vending of it.

Though she wanted to do something about it, she realised it would be best if she did it from a different position and not that of a dentist.

She could not bear the thought of people dying from oral cancer.

She visited Hyderabad and Delhi, started preparing for the Civil Services and made her first attempt in 2007.

She failed in two consecutive attempts.

But she was successful in her third in 2009 when she got the 737 rank. Instead of continuing as a dentist and making the fourth attempt, she joined the Indian Postal Service and started serving in Ghaziabad.

It took her two years to make the next attempt.

But she is not unhappy about the delay because she says she used the two years to analyse her weaknesses and also get ample opportunities to interact with IAS officers of her own batch and seniors that helped her do her interview well.

The necessary motivation also came from her father who himself had written the Civil Services examinations years ago.

And, she has exceeded her expectations in that, Varsini who in her last attempt got the 737 rank, catapulted to the 77 rank that gave her the fourth place in Tamil Nadu.

FIELD EXPERIENCE

“I knew I had done my exams well.

But I was not able to articulate confidently in the interview in the last attempt.

The field experience that I gained in the last two years made me overcome this and I was able to face the interview without inhibitions,” says Ms. Varsini who was not sorry she could not take leave, being an officer trainee, to prepare.

Now that she has entered the IAS cadre, Ms. Varsini hopes that some day she will be in a key policy-making position when she will draft policy notes to put an end to the menace that snatches away many precious lives.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Amutha Kannan  / May 15th, 2012

‘The more you kick me…’

Ignoring threats and entrenched interests, the admired and controversial T N Seshan helped clean up India’s elections. T E Narasimhan meets the changemaker in retirement

It is with some trepidation that I walk into T N Seshan’s house on St Mary’s Road in Chennai. It is called Narayaneeyam, which is the title of a medieval text composed by Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, a Sanskrit poet of Kerala. Seshan is the no-nonsense former cabinet secretary and chief election commissioner; he also won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 1996. He is credited with having helped clean up Indian elections — and is, perhaps not surprisingly, known to have a short fuse.

Seshan’s office wanted the list of questions ahead of our meeting, and informed me that he would not answer questions on national politics, nor discuss any issue outside the original list of questions.

So I reach his house 15 minutes early. Unlike the other residences in this upmarket neighbourhood, Narayaneeyam, where Seshan lives with his wife Jaya, is built in the Kerala style. A sparkling-clean car stands in the driveway. There is a small garden and a verandah. A Ganesha idol rests on the floor, and a picture of Ganesha above the main door. A CCTV camera keeps an eye on visitors.

From the foyer a staircase leads up to the living room and library. At the stroke of 3 pm, I am let into the visitor’s room on the ground floor. Seshan, who will turn 80 next week, is dressed in a half-sleeve brown shirt and veshti, the kind of dhotiworn by Brahmins. He has put on weight since he was last in the news.

The room is serene; the only noise is the rumble of an old air-conditioner. Where he sits, within arm’s reach are two remote controls and a cordless phone. On display behind him, and also around the television set placed in front of him, are the various accolades and souvenirs he has received. In one corner is an idol of Ganesha; in another, an automatic foot massager. To one side is a shelf with audiocassettes and a cassette player. He offers a drink of buttermilk.

In spite of the repressive “advisory” of his office, Seshan speaks freely. He has aged since his government days, but still speaks with his famous conviction. Not once does his memory falter.

Tinnellai Narayana Iyer Seshan is best remembered as the man who cleaned up Indian elections. To the public he was a hero. And he revelled in that status. A Delhi journalist who watched Seshan conduct a “town hall” meeting in those days remembers that he handled the audience with great skill. Dressed in a loose kurta and pyjama, he was direct and crisp, and impatient with long-winded questions. His punch line for the evening was: “Tu cheez badi hai bhrasht bhrasht” (“You are very corrupt-corrupt,” a take on a then-popular film song).

Another journalist remembers Seshan’s informal monthly get-togethers when he was the cabinet secretary (the country’s top bureaucrat). He once asked a secretary to furnish some information to journalists the very next day, although it was a Sunday. He relented only when the secretary remonstrated. His detractors called him authoritarian, egotistic, eccentric and publicity-hungry.

Sixteen years after he left the Election Commission in 1996, Seshan lives a quiet life. He devotes most of his time to the Internet, and to his library of over 1,000 books. The library upstairs, which he invites me to see, contains an eclectic mix of books on philosophy, politics, history, economics and Shakespeare.

He says he is currently reading the Vivekachudamani, a long Sanskrit poem composed by Adi Shankar, founder of the Kanchi Mutt. The poem is in the form of dialogue between a master and his disciple, where the master explains nature and the atman (the self, in Hindu philosophy). It should be noted that Seshan was attached with the Mutt when it was run by Jagadguru Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal (1894-1994). He also follows Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sai Baba and Amritanandamayi Devi, though he says he is not “over-attached”.

Seshan is on the faculty of the Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai, where he teaches leadership. He had been asked to lecture bureaucrats-in-the-making at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy in Mussoorie, but his frankness ensured the stint was short. “When I took the first batch, my first remark for the students was, ‘A paanwala will earn more than what you earn.’ I was being both brutal and fair.” Seshan had, in the past, set up the Deshbhakt (Patriot) Trust with like-minded people for social reforms. Now, however, he “only spends time at the Great Lakes Institute and at home”.

On the hard disk of his computer rests Seshan’s autobiography. “I have written my autobiography and it is ready. But I am not planning to publish it since it will hurt many people. I wrote it just for my satisfaction,” he says.

* * *

Seshan was the youngest of six siblings in a middle-class family. His father was a lawyer in the district court. “My father came up the hard way,” he says. “During our childhood, we were not denied our needs, but we didn’t live in luxury.” His mother once beat him for spending 4 annas (25 paise) on food in a restaurant without permission. “There are certain lessons you learn from your childhood. It is not that we shouldn’t spend money, but that we shouldn’t spend blindly. This incident helped me to be a clean-handed person in my career. You will not find even one single wrong rupee in my account. Money was not wrongly spent, be it public or personal. I lived with the principle of integrity, absolutely fearless.”

Seshan went to school in Kerala, then studied science at Madras Christian College in Chennai, where he says he won a gold medal for outstanding performance — but at the cost of his social life. He was a bookworm, in the college “hostel morning, evening and night”.

With few job opportunities in the early 1950s for young scientists, Seshan became a lecturer in the same college at 19. He left in 1953 because the monthly salary was a paltry Rs 180. He decided to make a career in the civil services, and topped the police examination in 1953. “I did not take up police service,” he says, “because I would have had to deal with criminals all the time and eventually would have become hard-hearted.” In 1955, he topped the IAS entrance exam and began his long journey as a bureaucrat.

Seshan started in Tamil Nadu and then moved round the country before arriving in Delhi. Despite the prominence of his later positions, he counts his time as director of transport for Madras as one of his most memorable assignments. There he managed 3,000 buses and 40,000 staff. One of the bus drivers once asked Seshan how he would grasp drivers’ problems when he did not understood bus engines or know how to drive a bus. Seshan took this as a challenge and not only learnt to drive but also spent long hours at the workshop. “I could dismantle engines and put them back and drive the bus also,” he says. Once he stopped a driver in the middle of the road, took the wheel and drove the bus, full of passengers, for 80 km!

* * *

But the assignment most Indians will remember Seshan for is chief election commissioner. He was chosen by the then prime minister, Chandra Shekhar. According to Seshan, the then law minister, Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy, played a vital role in the appointment, for which Seshan says he is still grateful. His association with Swamy goes back to Harvard University, where the government had sent Seshan to do a course in public administration, and Swamy was then teaching.

“I assumed the office when I didn’t know the rules and how the Election Commission operates,” says Seshan. “I had never conducted an election. I went with two principles: zero delay and zero deficiency.” During his early days on the job, Seshan identified over 100 common electoral malpractices, including the preparation of inaccurate election rolls, mistakes in setting up polling stations, coercive electioneering, spending more than the legal limit, using goons to snatch polling booths and general abuse of authority. The challenges were enormous, but Seshan says they didn’t intimidate him. “I am like a ball. The more you kick me, the more I will bounce back.” The cleanup began with his own office. Long lunch breaks were banned, and tennis and library during office hours was brought to an end.

It was Seshan who began issuing identity cards to voters. “We [the Election Commission] wanted to issue photo identification cards to all legal voters,” he says. “The politicians bitterly protested this move, claiming that it was unnecessary and expensive.” After waiting nearly 18 months for the government to act, Seshan announced that if voter identity cards were not issued, no elections would be held after January 1, 1995. A number of elections were, in fact, postponed for this reason. The Supreme Court eventually interceded and ruled that since voting was an inherent right of citizens, it could not be postponed indefinitely because voters lacked identity cards. Even so, Seshan’s insistence led the government to start issuing identity cards. By 1996, Seshan’s last year on the job, 2 million voters had ID cards.

The other reform related to election expenses, ostentatious campaign displays and residency requirements. Seshan instituted the practice of using election observers, who were senior officers of the National Tax Bureau. He also implemented Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act of 1951, which made it obligatory for candidates to keep an accurate account of their expenditure and set a ceiling on the amount they could spend on their campaign.

During the 1993 Lok Sabha elections, Seshan monitored electoral expenses round the clock from a control room at the Election Commission headquarters. One of his officers was assigned to each state. Altogether, according to reports, 1,488 candidates for Lok Sabha were disqualified for three years because they failed to submit an account of their expenses. It was reported that Seshan reviewed more than 40,000 alleged cases of false election returns and disqualified 14,000 potential candidates from public office. He was impervious to the demands of politicians; so much so that in 1992, when the Commission under him cancelled elections in Bihar and Punjab, some politicians tried to have him impeached.

“It was not that I introduced a new reform in the system,” says Seshan. “In fact, I didn’t even add one comma, semicolon or a full stop to the Act. Whatever was said in the Act, I implemented.”

Notwithstanding my original trepidation, and despite his fearsome reputation, Seshan is not curt, arrogant or bitter.

source: http://www.Business-Standard.com / Home> Life & Leisure / by T E Narashimhan / May 12th, 2012

2-day rose show begins in Ooty

Udhagamandalam, May 12 (PTI)

A 15-feet tall Indian Parakeet made of roses is the major highlight of the 11th two-day Ooty Rose Show which began here today. The Parakeet, with 12 feet width, is made of 8,000 roses and drawing huge crowds at the show in which more than 3,500 varieties of roses are on display.

Inaugurated by Nilgiris District Collector Archana Patnaik, other attractions at the show include 10-foot tall Panda made of 4,000 red and white roses, 10-foot Giraffe made of 6,000 roses and Rose Bull, with 12,000 roses, Santosh Babu, Commissioner, Horticulture and Plantation Crops, said.

PTI Cor NVM

source: http://www.ibnlive.in.com / Wires / Home> Wires> Latest News / PTI, May 12th, 2012

Balancing Act

SPEAKING THROUGH KARAGATTAM: M.A. Zaffar Hussain and T. Thavamani Photo: S. James / The Hindu

Karagattam dancers T. ThavamaniM. A. Zaffar Hussain tell Soma Basu their performance is an art form to be enjoyed by all

During the annual Chithirai festival at the Police Grounds recently, Zaffar Thavamani set the stage on fire. Those in the audience who thought the name belonged to one person were surprised to see two karagattam performers. In their traditional costumes, make-up and matching steps, the pair delightfully introduced innovations in their performance, playing with fire, dancing on stilts, doing stunts with bamboo sticks and displaying other acrobatics even as they balanced on their heads intricately decorated pots filled with sand and water.

At the end of the hour’s performance, the spectators realised art has no religion. Some curious minds enquired which of the two was Zaffar. A few wanted to touch his feet, so impressed were they with his serene looks and graceful performance. As always, Thavamani received encomiums for his brilliant display of skills.

Chartered accountant T. Thavamani and businessman M.A. Zaffar Hussain are the unlikeliest of birds to flock together given their respective family, educational and professional backgrounds. But karagattam binds them like Siamese twins.

Says Thavamani, “We were batchmates in school but only after joining college, we bonded.” “The connection happened accidentally,” adds Zaffar.

In 1986, both responded to an announcement for participating in a folk dance competition at the Madurai Kamaraj University Youth Festival.

“None of the existing performers wanted to register in folk,” recalls Thavamani. “That helped us to team up though neither of us was a dancer.” “Our college was interested in promoting traditional and folk arts and both of us wanted to contribute in some way,” says Zaffar. Both were trained in kavadiattam, poikkal kudirai, and mayilattam. They do not remember how or why Karagattam and they clicked, but both believe in divine blessing. That maiden performance was not just about representing the college or returning with a prize, which, of course, they did. It was more about understanding a dance form whose popularity was on the wane.

Thavamani points out, “Karagattam is restricted mostly to rural areas as temple functions to invoke the Amman.” Zaffar continues, “We felt the need to mainstream the dance and focussed on energetic performance based totally on skills.”

SPEAKING THROUGH KARAGATTAM: M.A. Zaffar Hussain and T. Thavamani Photo: S. James / The Hindu

No looking back

Today, the duo has taken the open-air dance form to closed auditoria. With more than 1,000 shows behind them, besides 100-odd temple functions, they are now sought after not only as artists but also as teachers.

For karagattam’s sake, they do everything free of cost. They take only travel expenses for their shows and some negligible payment for the accompanists. Both take time from their respective work schedules and performances and voluntarily train school and college students in karagattam.

“In the initial years, we learnt and chiselled our skills with every performance,” says Thavamani. “Today, we enjoy our performances more as a recreation. Awards and appreciation motivated us to keep going.” Zaffar adds, “Our audiences are elated with the chemistry we share on stage, the element of humour we impart to our shows and the way we are able to educate the people.”

Rising popularity

Their name and fame has crossed geographical boundaries. Apart from participating in cultural programmes, they are also invited to give private performances at birthday parties, weddings, sashti- and ashtapurti ceremonies. Thavamani’s job profile fetches them opportunities to showcase their artistry in other States and countries during national and international conferences of chartered accountants. “The response has always been overwhelming and we keep gaining confidence,” he says.

What troubles them is the travel. “We need a lot of accessories for our performances,” says Zaffar. “Transporting them often turns out to be a big problem as we ourselves like to carry our things for safety. If even one item gets misplaced, it upsets our performance. It is always a lot of hard work before the show. When people praise us, we forget the labour.”

Thavamani recalls an incident when they put all their things in a cycle rickshaw but the rickshaw puller refused to drive the vehicle because of the weight. The two dancers drove in turns to reach the venue. Another time they missed a flight after arguing for hours with the airport authorities for permission to check in a ladder!

Their friendship goes beyond the stage. The dancers tease one another for helping to choose and approving each other’s spouses. And with much success to smile at, Thavamani and Zaffar are daring to dream again. “We want to create a record with a non-stop 36 hour performance. We have the determination and family support. All we need is a sponsor who will take us closer to our dream.”

To unite

Zaffar, performs Karagattm with passion to “unite people”, but he is also an established pattimandram speaker, a hobby he started pursuing from 2000. He and his wife, a school teacher, together have done over 500 programmes at public functions and on television. He has also trained his daughter in karagattam, and she gives performances in her school functions.

FRIENDSPEAK: Thavamani says Zaffar is “cool” and rings in laughter wherever he goes.

Time Management

Thavamani knows how he manages his time. “I have a supportive wife who with a smile let me stick to part-time consultancy while she continued with her bank job to run the family.” As a child, he wanted to become an IPS officer. Since that did not happen, Thavamani volunteers as a traffic warden for Tamil Nadu Police, controlling traffic at assigned intersections four hours a week.

FRIENDSPEAK: Zaffar says Thavamani “has a solution for every problem.” “He is a very balanced person with leadership qualities”.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Arts> Dance / by Soma Basu / Madurai, May 10th, 2012

Mahabharata Mela at Kumbakonam in July

Mahabharata Mela, a dance programme in which 1,500 artistes would take part to create the Guinness record, would be held at the end of July at Kumbakonam.

The programme would be organised by Sri Abhinaya Kalai Kuzhumam of Kumbakonam under the Dasasahitya scheme of Tirupathi Tirumala Devasthanam (TTD).

The dance programme would be overseen by the officials of TTD and those who take part in the programme would be taken to Tirumala for a three-day dance programme during Purattasi Brahmotsavam in September, said a press release issued by the Kalai Kuzhumam on Sunday.

TTD has approved the Kalai Kuzhumam to conduct the programme as the Kuzhumam has been taking part in the Sri Vari Brahmotsavam and Padmavathi Thayar Brahmotsavam. Dikshithachariyar, special officer of TTD, has issued the orders approving the Kuzhumam to organise the Mahabharata Mela, said the release. Dikshithachariyar and Shanthi Sarvothaman, Tamil Nadu coordinator of TTD, would oversee the programme in July.

Interested artistes, who have completed the salangai puja and is above 12 years, could contact 8883143777 and 9791797373 to take part in the programme. Artistes from all over Tamil Nadu could take part in the programme.

Arrangements for the Mahabharata Mela are done by Suryanarayana, senior auditor of Kumbakonam, Balasubramaniam of Kumbakonam Paraspara Sahaya Nidhi Ltd, S.Ganesan, Director of V.G.Homes, S.M.Martin of Star Manitha Neya sangamam, and dance teachers Vijaya Sarathy and Guna .

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / National> TamilNadu / by Special Correspondent / Kumbakonam, May 07th, 2012

Two success stories with a message for IAS aspirants

Rank-holders prove medium of instruction and coaching centres don’t matter

It is a tale of two candidates who overcame different odds to emerge successful in the all-important Civil Services examinations, whose results were announced on Friday. While one has proved that poverty is not an impediment to success, the other has shown that there is absolutely no need for coaching centres to clear the country’s top examinations.

Both of them have brought pride to their families. Gopala Sundara Raj of Ramanathapuram secured the 5th place at the all-India level and the first place at the State level and R.V. Karnan of Sri Ram Nagar in Karaikudi in Sivaganga got the 158th rank.

Mr. Raj comes from Mavila Thoppu, a tiny village near Kilakarai. His mother S. Rajammal and father S. Shanmugavel could not study beyond standards III and V respectively.

Though they thought of putting him in English medium school since the early stage, their abject poverty did not allow them to do so.

However, the perceived disadvantages of having studied in the Tamil medium in no way affected his performance in the Civil Services examinations.

“I have no words to describe my happiness. Raj has not studied in a sophisticated atmosphere. He has brought meaning to our life. The hard work, sheer determination, dedication and sincerity have made him so special in our life. My pain is that his father is no more to hear the happiest news in our lifetime,” says S. Rajammal.

Her family owns no land or house and she is residing in a portion of her brother Mariappan’s house, a retired school headmaster.

His moral support and motivation helped Mr. Raj, who is currently an agricultural scientist in Rajasthan, in his endeavour. His sister, Sundara Yoga Lakshmi, is working with Infosys in Chennai.

Mr Karnan (27) was the all-India topper in the Indian Forest Service examinations in 2007.

His father R. Veeraragavan (56) is working as a librarian at Alagappa Arts College and his mother V. Vijayalakshmi is a sub-registrar in Karaikudi.

“My dream has come true. The Civil Services examinations are all about clearly understanding the methods and patterns well. I didn’t join any coaching classes for the preparations,” Mr. Karnan told The Hindu over phone from Maharashtra, where he is working as Assistant Conservator of Forests.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / News> States> TamilNadu / by C. Jaishankar / Ramanathapuram, May 05th, 2012

Mangoes, Mambalam, Mylapore

PERFECT FOR PICKLING Green mangoes

Don’t get in a pickle over raw mangoes. Just pickle them

“Excuse me, where can I find raw mangoes in the market?’ I politely asked the onion-garlic seller. He shaded his eyes against the fierce sun, looked me up and down, and said: ‘Vandutaanga da, cooling glasses potindu, vadu-maanga vaangarathikku‘. Well, that cut deep; but having braved many elbow jabs and painfully-trodden toes to get to the chaotically crowded Mambalam market, I wasn’t going to let one sarcastic comment stop me. So I decided to hunt them down myself. Several terribly jostled, sweaty minutes later, I stood in front of a sack of raw mangoes. Meenakshi, who owned that shop outside door No. 8 openly laughed when I asked if I could talk to her about raw mango pickle. “But I have never made pickle in my life, though I’ve sold raw mangoes for 25 years. I buy my mango pickle from the shop.” I tell her I’m no different and ask her about her goods and customers. “Oh, first-class raw mangoes,” she says, holding out one the size of a coconut. ‘It’s from Andhra, great for pickle. People come from all over Chennai and India to buy from me; there’s just one other big raw mango shop here, so lots of mamis from West Mambalam are my regulars. Yesterday, a sackful of my raw mangoes went to Singapore. 80 kg, best quality!”

Destinations for raw mangoes

She’s rightly proud of her reputation. When I ask around, Mambalam and Mylapore markets are on everybody’s lips as ‘the’ destinations for raw mangoes and vadu maangas; nobody but the sellers mention Koyambedu. Suseela Sundaraman, a fan of both markets, has been making avakkai at home for over a decade. “The avakkai, in some ways, is the easiest pickle to make, as it involves no actual cooking. You just have to get the proportion of the salt-chilli-mustard-oil right. I follow my mother-in-law’s recipe, she always preferred hand-pounded rock-salt and chilli.” As for the vadu maanga, Suseela likes the ones from Kumbakonam. “They’re bite-sized, tiny but tasty. Madurai vadu is also lovely, very fragrant, but with vadu maanga, it’s important to choose the ones with a stalk, if not, they tend to spoil very quickly.”

Agrees Saroja Krishnamurthy, who buys her maavadu from the South Maada street market, Mylapore. “The stalked-ones are more expensive, costing Rs. 150 a kilo. Size too matters, very small ones tend to be bitter and the very large ones are insipid. It’s important to choose firm, medium-sized vadus.” The sellers, surprisingly, seem happy to indulge the finicky buyers. Susi, a raw mango and vadu maanga seller in Mylapore has a tidy mountain of fragrant raw mangoes artistically arranged on wicker trays. A middle-aged lady in salwar-kameez fusses over her purchase, choosing one from this pile, only to discard it and ask for another. Susi is patient, and even a touch amused. While they’re being cut to the buyer’s exacting specification, she tells me that her raw mangoes are as good as gold. “Good pickle mangoes should be sour and have some fibre. I should know; I’ve been selling manga for forty years. Maamis from Mylapore and all over Chennai come looking for the vadu maanga; from mid-March, they start calling me, and as soon as I get new stock, they come immediately and get it. Avakkai manga used to be an Andhra favourite, but now others are also buying it.” This year, she says, thanks to lower stocks, raw mango prices are steeper.

Making avakkai

Sarasa Krishnamurthy, who, incidentally, has just pickled raw mangoes for the year, talks about her experience of making avakkai for nearly four decades. “When we lived in a joint family, it was a big process, since we pickled 70 to 80 raw mangoes, which we cut at home using a rudimentary machine. The avakkai was preserved in large porcelain jaadis — no fridge then — with a white muslin cloth tied on the lid, to keep it airtight. But this year, my batch is made with just 5 big raw mangoes from Mambalam. For a good pickle, the manga has to be mature; it’s important to cut it with a piece of shell at the inner edge, so that the manga does not turn soft and squish into the pickle.” She then quickly gives me her recipe for avakkai, making it sound fairly straightforward. A few hours effort, I think to myself, and I too can smugly tell guests, “Oh, that’s homemade, it’s quite simple you know…”

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Arts> History & Culture / by Aparna Karthikeyan / May 03rd, 2012

IIT-M aims at 2,000 Ph.Ds

The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) plans to increase the number of Ph.Ds to 2,000 in five years.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, director of the institute, said the institute had always focussed on developing research output, including students and faculty.

“We hade always wanted to increase Ph.D intake in this institute and the committee headed by former atomic energy commission (AEC) chairman Anil Kakodkar too reiterated it” he said.

Kakodkar committee recommended that IITs be rebranded as primary research institutes and increase PhD students from less than 1, 000 students to 10,000 by 2020-25, and the number of IITs from 15 to 20.

Prof. Ramamurthi said last year IIT-M admitted 300 students for the Ph.D programme but this year they had increased the number to 400 to produce 2,000 doctorates in five years.

 

“In the next few years we will increase our annual Ph.D intake to 700 per year provided we recruit more faculty to have 700 faculty on campus,” he added.

When asked about the institute’s plan for physical expansion, the director said last year the institute framed a master plan, according to which the institute could construct additional buildings in the remaining six acres.

“If the government wants us to increase student enrolment by another 50 per cent we need more land. Also for doing bigger projects we need more land,” he added.

source: http://www.AsianAge.com / Home> Metros> Chennai / DC, Chennai / May 02nd, 2012