Monthly Archives: March 2014

Eight Corporate All-Male Basketball Teams Support this All-Women’s College

Education, Sports
WCC students from the Young Indians Club who organised ‘Game Changers’ recently | D SAMPATH KUMAR
WCC students from the Young Indians Club who organised ‘Game Changers’ recently | D SAMPATH KUMAR

A group of girls, in black tee-shirts and shoes, sat under the refuge of a shamiana at the Corporation Ground in Nungambakkam, watching men battling it out in the basketball court, soaking up the blistering Sunday morning sun. Eight all-male teams from various IT companies were part of the tournament ‘Game Changers’, an annual fundraiser event conducted by the Young Indians (Yi) Club of the Women’s Christian College (WCC).

Sarika Bapuji, student coordinator for the Young Indians student net, WCC, also the coordinator of the event, says that they chose to include only the all-male teams due to lack of women teams in the IT companies. “It isn’t really hard to find male basketball players. So many of them play. But I don’t think there are that many female basketball teams in IT companies. It wouldn’t have been possible to get enough female participation. That’s why we haven’t opened the tournament for the females yet,” she explains.

However, she quickly adds, “But we are a women’s college, and we definitely hope to include women teams in future. We will have to start our work a lot more earlier though.”

Each team is charged a registration fee of `5,000. The funds from the tournament are used for providing scholarships to the underprivileged students of WCC, belonging to the day batch. Last year, with the participation of six teams from five IT  companies, the club raised enough to provide scholarships for 34 students. This year, with an addition of two more teams, it plans to extend its help to a few more.

“Though the college supports many students, we hope to help those who fall under general quota and do not have any financial aid,” says Sarika.

The idea of Game Changers came up a year ago when Sarika thought about mixing her passion for sports and social work. Having heard much about the involvement of IT companies in various CSR activities, she decided to approach them along, with her Yi team. “The other reason why we chose IT companies is that they have a pool of young crowd and most of them have cricket, volleyball and basketball teams,” she says.

But out of the three games, basketball was the best option as it had a definite time span unlike cricket, says Uma, who is a sportsperson herself.

If getting participants was a challenge last year, this year, it was getting sponsorships. “Ten people brought out the event in just 20 days. And since our college cultural festival just got over, getting sponsorship was a major task. When it came to participants, it wasn’t that tough as last year, when players were hesitant to register without knowing enough about the tournament. There was no brand name to it then. Despite that they supported us,” says Sarika.

While CTS emerged winners, bagging a cash prize of `10,000 this season, Amazon and Wipro followed close behind as first and second runner ups.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Naveena Vijayan – Chennai / March 19th, 2014

Chennai-based Food Box gives packaged food in 90 secs

Business & Economy, Records, All

Encouraged with the response from its first Food Box, Atchayam founders are now planning units at Chennai central station and the airport to add to the ones at DLF IT park and Koyambedu.

In a first of its kind food-joint, three Chennai based entrepreneurs have started what they’re calling a “Food Box”. Just 200 metres off the Koyambedu bus depot in Chennai stands the Atchayam Food Box. Customers queue up like they do in front of an ATM machine and order pre-determined food combinations.

And within 90 seconds, piping hot food in neat packaging slides out of the dispenser, removing human intervention in the entire food packaging and delivery process.

Satish Chamy Velumani, founder and CEO, Atchayam Foodbox says, “Food box brings unparalleled convenience to customers. It’s not just a machine but a revolution in good packing and delivery. The food box is compact and convenient. Consumers can stand in the queue to receive their order and go upstairs where they can dine.”

So, how does it work? On receiving an order, the combo number is sent to a computer that directs a robotic arm to pick the right box from cold storage. A conveyor belt takes it to the microwave oven and then to the dispenser. The Food Box accommodates 227 packs and offers 25 combos from chains like Adyar Anandha Bhavan, Amaravathi, Karaikudi and MR Chows.

Ramesh Narayan, co-founder and CFO, Atchayam Foodbox says, “Investment was in R and D. We are still researching on the techniques. Total investment is Rs 5 crore. We are planning on multiple versions of it. It’s just a beginning.

Encouraged with the response from its first Food Box, Atchayam founders are now planning units at Chennai central station and the airport to add to the ones at DLF IT park and Koyambedu. The longer-term plan is to go national and so, the next time you’re traveling in Chennai, you now know where to grab a bite.

source: http://www.moneycontrol.com / MoneyControl.com / Home> News> Business / by Poornima Murali, Reporter CNBC-TV18 / March 18th, 2014

Clinical trials of siddha medicines vital: Expert

Science & Technologies

Chennai :

Regular clinical trials to test the toxicity of siddha drugs is essential, said Dr R S Ramasamy, director general, Central Council for Research in Siddha.

Delivering the 4th GCIM endowment oration at Sri Ramachandra University (SRU) on Saturday, he said, “Siddha medicines are being rigorously subjected to regular pharmacological studies to certify non-toxicity.” Referring to the recent uproar regarding toxicity in siddha medicines, he said constant research is being undertaken to identify toxicity in siddha medicines.

“There are fears that siddha medicine has toxicity. In order to prove them baseless and promote siddha medicine globally, we should encourage regular clinical trials,” said Dr Ramasamy.

He pointed out that 777 oil developed under siddha has been found to be effective against psoriasis and people from many parts of the country and abroad come to Chennai for treatment.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / March 09th, 2014

Trichy’s women achievers felicitated

Business & Economy, Leaders, Records, All
Mayor A. Jaya (right) handing over the Vocational Excellence Award to Chithra Visweswaran (second from left), president, Association of Bharthinatyam Artistes of India, at the International Women's Day in Tiruchi on Saturday. K. Meena, former Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University, is at left./ Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam / The Hindu
Mayor A. Jaya (right) handing over the Vocational Excellence Award to Chithra Visweswaran (second from left), president, Association of Bharthinatyam Artistes of India, at the International Women’s Day in Tiruchi on Saturday. K. Meena, former Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University, is at left./ Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam / The Hindu

Rallies, administration of pledges, and distribution of awareness pamphlets formed part of observance of International Women’s Day by various institutions and associations in various parts of the district. The organisers honoured differently-abled women in recognition of their talents in their chosen fields.

At a function organised jointly by the Tiruchi All Women Associations, Srimati Indira Gandhi College, and Inner Wheel Club of Tiruchi, Chitra Visweswaran, dancer, underlined the role of women to emerge successful. She appealed to youth to learn fine arts as part of their endeavour for personality development.

She was honoured with ‘Vocational Service Award’ on the occasion.

K. Meena, former Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University, said higher education empowered women on socio-economic plane. Women should be courageous to face challenges and uphold their self-respect and dignity. A. Jaya, Mayor of Tiruchi, offered felicitations.

Later, Ms. Chitra Visweswaran gave away prizes to women’s organisations in the city in recognition of their continued social service.

Rally

Women members took out a rally from Khadi Kraft to Roshan Mahal, at a function organised by People’s Development Initiatives (PDI).

U. Nirmala Rani, advocate of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, flagged off the rally. She gave away “Paalinia samthuva thondar” award for social workers who had toiled hard against atrocities on women.

Tamizhachi Thangapandian distributed awards among outstanding self-help groups.

Ms. Nirmala Rani gave away special awards to workers who had worked in the cause of gender equality.

J. Kavitha, treasurer of PDI, presented “Nambikkai Thozhar” award to couples with gender equality.

Public meeting

A public meeting was held under the auspices of the Pengal Viduthalai Munnani at Taranallur in which a discussion on responsibilities of women in the context of globalisation, was discussed at length. Anis Fathima, State coordinator, spoke.

Free food

Women members of Canara Bank Employees Union distributed food at St. Thomas Mercy Home in Crawford, according to J. Anantha Padmanabhan, State committee member of the Canara Bank Employees’ Union.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by Special Correspondent / Tiruchi – March 09th, 2014

Coimbatore: Award for Ekki Pumps

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technologies

Coimbatore :

Ekki Pumps has bagged the ‘Indian Leadership Award for Industrial Development,’ instituted by the Indian Economic Development and Research Association (IEDRA) and All India Achievers Foundation.

The Coimbatore-based pumps and systems manufacturing major is a strategic business unit of the Deccan Pumps group. Senior Manager of Deccan Pumps group S Purushothaman received the award on behalf of the company from former Governor of Sikkim Balmiki Prasad Singh.

The award was given away at the 73rd National Economic Development and Social Responsibilities Conference held in New Delhi recently.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> National / by The Hindu Bureau / Coimbatore – March 11th, 2014

Cvrde Conducts One-Day Workshop on Women Innovators

Education, Science & Technologies

As part of its International Women’s Day celebrations, the Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE), conducted a one-day workshop  on the theme Women Innovators in Growth of Science —WINGS ’14.

Dr V Shanta, chairperson, Cancer Institute, delivering the keynote address, said that women should aspire to be leaders and inspire the current generation that nothing is impossible for them to achieve.

Dr Avinash Chander, secretary, Department of Defence, DRDO, in his speech said that the role of women is changing from that of a home-maker to that of a nation builder and that science is one field that  helps impart  gender equality.

He also acknowledged the efforts of senior women scientists in defence missile and guidance programmes.

Following the inaugural session, there was a technical talk on safety management and a panel discussion on integration of women in decision-making.

The conference was attended by several women scientists among others in the DRDO.

Also, a panel discussion on how to harness the talent of women scientists and maintain gender balance in decision making, was conducted.

Besides, an infotainment session and a cycle rally highlighting the significance of CRVDE with live demonstrations of its various products, was conducted.

As a closing highlight of the day, cultural programmes by Kalakshetra were organised.

The workshop aimed  at bringing together powerful women leaders in science, technology and management, dedicated in their respective spheres.

The event format featured technical and powerful presentations intended to inspire profound discussions, enabling participants to transform ideas into creative solutions.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / March 12th, 2014

Bannari Amman’s subsidiary to set up mill in Dindigul

Business & Economy

The new plant will attract an investment of around Rs 250 cr.

Coimbatore-based Bannari Amman Group-controlled Bannari Amman Spinning Mills has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government for setting up a textile project near Dindigul, Tamil Nadu.

While the company officials were not available for comment, the company in an announcement to the National Stock Exchange said its “wholly-owned subsidiary Abirami Amman Mills Pvt Ltd has inked an understanding with the Tamil Nadu government .”

The company, however, did not disclose other details, including capacity and investment.

A senior official in the know said the new project would have a production capacity of 15,000 spindles.To set up a such large scale project, around Rs 250 crore would be required. The vertically integrated Bannari Amman Spinning Mills currently has a capacity of around 160,000 spindles at Dindigul. It caters to Tirupur, Kolkata and Kanpur markets. The mill exports 24 per cent of the production to Israel, Mauritius, Egypt, Taiwan and South Korea.

During the quarter ended December 31, 2013, the company reported a net profit of Rs 6.14 crore when compared with Rs 6.05 crore a year ago. Total income stood at Rs 174.96 crore as against Rs 146.25 crore last year.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / by T.E. Narashiman / Chennai – March 12th, 2014

MADRAS 374 : Letter from Japan: that special taste of a dosa

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, World Opinion

 

A south-Indian delight at a Japanese restaurant./ Photo: Ayako Kondo / The Hindu
A south-Indian delight at a Japanese restaurant./ Photo: Ayako Kondo / The Hindu

I was happily surprised when I found the word ‘dosa’ on a menu at Indira, a small Indian restaurant a 15-minute drive away from my parents’ house in Tonami.

I don’t know why, but in Japan, in general, an ‘Indian’ restaurant means a north Indian restaurant. Their menus only have items that seem to be of north Indian-style – like chicken curries that are heavy on the gravy and naan.

I hardly see chappatis in Indian restaurants here. It is only of late that south Indian restaurants have begun coming up, and most of them are still only in Tokyo. So for south Indian food-lovers in Japan living outside of the capital, it is somewhat of a privilege to get a taste of south Indian food.

So how come the dosa on that menu, I wondered. It may be hard for you to believe, but my hometown doesn’t even have a cinema, let alone an Indian restaurant serving dosas.

To find out, I chatted with the chef, a good-looking Indian man who speaks fluent Japanese in the dialect of my hometown. He said he was originally from Kolkata and had worked as a chef in Chennai for more than 10 years. He had then worked in Malaysia and had finally settled down in Japan. He brought dosas into the menu as he saw a fellow chef serving dosas in another restaurant and realised they were very popular.

And there it was, a simple dosa in front of me. As far as I know, Indira is the first Indian restaurant serving south Indian food in my home prefecture, Toyama. Is this something to do with globalisation? It doesn’t matter. I just hope dosa will serve as a trigger and that someday, I will get idlis or even vada, bonda, curd rice and lemon rice in my hometown!

(Ms. Kondo, who lives in Toyama, spent some time in Chennai as a student)

Chennai Central at The Hindu celebrates Madras Week

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source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Ayako Kondo / August 21st, 2013

Africa seeks Coimbatore’s help to develop cotton sector

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies, World Opinion
Members of an African delegation interacting with office-bearers of Indian Cotton Federationduring a visit to the federation's office as part of the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme,in Coimbatore, on Tuesday. / Photo: K. Ananthan / The Hindu
Members of an African delegation interacting with office-bearers of Indian Cotton Federationduring a visit to the federation’s office as part of the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme,in Coimbatore, on Tuesday. / Photo: K. Ananthan / The Hindu

Sixteen-member delegation meets members of the Indian Cotton Federation

Members of an African delegation have urged the cotton traders and textile mill owners here to assist them in developing cotton trade from their countries.

A 16-member delegation including Government officials and private players in cotton and textile sectors from six African countries met the members of the Indian Cotton Federation here on Tuesday.

The delegates are visiting some of the textile clusters in India, including Tirupur and Coimbatore, and having a meeting with the textile industry in New Delhi.

Vice-presidents of the Indian Cotton Federation K.N. Viswanathan and P. Nataraj told the delegates that textile mills in Coimbatore region are sourcing substantial volume of cotton from Africa. However, it is through international merchants and traders and they are interested in buying cotton directly from the African farmers and traders.

Indian trade and industry will be interested in investing in Africa and buying cotton from the African nations. Textile mills in Coimbatore region need more than 10 million bales of cotton a year and they buy most of it from Gujarat now. In the case of African cotton, there were issues such as the time taken for delivery, contamination and shade variation.

The shipments need to be regular and the infrastructure problems should be sorted out.

They are willing to assist the African sector. However, they need to know more about the volume of production in each country, the marketing season, Government norms, taxation, and security. This is the fourth African cotton delegation to Coimbatore in the last three months.

Milan Sharma, head-Africa Initiatives of IL&FS Cluster Development Initiative, told presspersons that the visit is organised as part of the Central Government’s Cotton Technical Assistance Programme for Africa.

The IL & FS is the programme manager for the project that aims at capacity building and technology transfer for development of the cotton sector in seven African countries.

Project

The project is on till 2015. It includes establishing a knowledge cluster in Benin, bio pesticide laboratory in Uganda, and skill development schools in Nigeria and Malawi. These will be in association with agencies such as the Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology and the Directorate of Cotton Development. The programme has been extended for trade co-operation. An Indian delegation will visit the African countries this year, Ms. Sharma said.

Exposure

The visit is to give an exposure and create awareness on the cluster concept.

The delegates were from Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Nigeria, Uganda, and Malawi. They explained about cotton cultivation in their countries, facilities available and steps taken to sell cotton directly to buyers in countries such as India.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Special Correspondent / Coimbatore – March 05th, 2014

Sherpalo’s Shriram talks innovation at IIT-Madras

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

Chennai :

Billionaire investor Ram Shriram is on a hush-hush trip to his hometown Chennai, where he delivered a lecture at the Indian Institute of Technology on Monday that was completely out of bounds for the media.

The founder of  SherpaloVentures  and one of the earliest investors in search giant Google spoke on “What Drives Innovation at Stanford and in Silicon Valley” at a closed-door event at the 620-acre campus that was open only to the faculty and students as well as a few special invitees.

source: http://www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / Home> News> News By Industry> Services> Silicon Valley / ET Bureau / March 05th, 2014