It was that time of the year again when animal lovers thronged the famous horse shandy in Andhiyur in Erode district. Horses, cows and goats of different breeds and hues were on display for sale on Wednesday and buyers from across the state assessed their pedigree and their worth with a practiced eye. The Andhiyur horse shandy is generally hosted during the Gurunathan Swamy temple festival. Started by Tipu Sultan to sell old army horses to the public, the shandy is more than two centuries old.
Various breeds of horses including Kathiawari, Kathuria, Nokhra and Marwar, goat varieties such as Tellicherryi, Pakistan Kurumbai, Jamnapari, Assam hill goat and Sirohi and a wide range of cows such as Kangeyam and Ongole were available for sale at the shandy. V R S Raja, a participant from Nachipalayam in Coimbatore boasted of his ?Marwari’ horse which is a pedigree breed. “My horse is 6.5ft and is the tallest in this shandy. It is three-and-a-half-years old and costs 25 lakh,” he said. According to him, the tallest horse is 6.8ft tall.
The Tellicherry and Pakistan Kurumbai goats were popular attractions at the shandy. The Tellicherry is preferred for its meat and milk production while the Pakistan Kurumbai is known for its bravery. “A Tellicherry goat weighs 25kg at six months while a normal goat weighs only 18kg at the same age,” said S Arunkumar, an MBA graduate. Unable to find a job, he began rearing goats and now it has become a full-time business for him.
G R Siva from Trichy is passionate about the Kurumbai breed. “My goats are reared to fight. I also have three elephants and Arabian horses which are a high-maintenance breed,” he said. Other goat varieties such as Jamnapari and Sirohi also drew the crowds. “One Jamnapari goat costs 1.5 lakh in the market. It is known for its high milk yield, giving 4 litres of milk daily,” said P Velumani, who has more than 10 Jamnapari goats in his farm in Madurai district.
G V Adhimoolam, a businessman from Erode, showcased his first class Ongole cows at the fair. A pair of Ongole cows would cost 7.5 lakh, he said. “It could go up to 25 lakh depending on its height and beauty,” he said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / August 14th, 2014
Why is genetic diversity important for the survival of organism? This was one of the themes that was discussed at a three-day workshop on ‘Genetic diversity, molecular evolution and genomics’ held by the VIT University recently.
Professor S S Khora, Dean in-charge, School of Bio Science and Technology, VIT University said, the last few decades had seen rapid progress in understanding diversity at the molecular-level, thanks to the development of range of molecular tools. These tools had allowed scientists measure genetic diversity at various levels of population and address broad issues related to molecular evolution. Several laboratories in the country including VIT University were engaged in research in these areas, he pointed out. Professor R Uma Shanker from the University of Agricultural Science, Bengaluru, who was the convenor of the workshop, discussed a topic related to forest genetic resources. Dr G Ravikanth from ATREE, Bengaluru, delivered a lecture on DNA bar-coding.
Topics such as ‘Genomic tools in genetic diversity’ by Dr Nataraj Karaba, USA, ‘Molecular Evolution’ by Dr H A Ranganath and ‘Comparative Genomics’ by Dr R Siva of VIT University evoked good response.
The workshop provided an opportunity to students to get a hands-on feel of some of the software used in population genetics.
Around 200 students, research scholars and faculty members from in and around Vellore were present at the workshop, sponsored by the Indian Academy of Science, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Science.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / August 20th, 2014
FINDING HER SPACE Akemi loves the temples of Mylapore and tamarind rice Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu
August 22 is Madras Day. Raveena Joseph profiles Akemi Yoshii Purushotham who grew up near Hiroshima but is happy to make Chennai her home
It’s 1995 and superstar Rajinikanth, with lustrous leading lady Meena at his side, is riding a horse carriage. He is being chased, of course, by a group of no less than 20 men with carriages of their own. When they chance upon a gorge, Superstar’s super horses rise to the occasion and fly across, leaving the chasers defeated.
In a small town called Yamaguchi near Hiroshima, as this scene from the movie Muthu unfolds on screen, an otherwise stoic Japanese audience breaks into applause. A young Akemi Yoshii, sits among them, clapping along.
Today, Akemi Yoshii Purushotham, a Chennai resident, remains a fan of Rajinikanth movies. In fact, she watches Chandramukhi everyday to pick up a few Tamil words. Her mother-in-law now converses to her in Tamil, so that she can practise the words she is learning. She also watches Tamil television channels in the evenings, even though the jokes still elude her.
“Naan Tamil padikirane,” she giggles, after taking a few minutes to come up with something clever to say. Having lived here for over six years now, she feels that knowing the language helps her understand the city, its people and culture, better. It’s definitely earned her a few fans, one among them an auto driver, who insisted on shaking her hand for her negotiation skills.
“When I first arrived in Chennai, I thought there were many people here. I also thought there were many animals on the road. It was crazy and at the same time, it felt like I’d come back home,” says Akemi.
While studying Gastronomy in Australia, Akemi met some Indians who spiked her interest in visiting India. She made the shift to Chennai in 2008 when she heard about a job opening for a Japanese translator, wanting to continue her research into ancient Indian food. In a couple of months, she met Purushotham Bhasker, a software engineer in the company she worked for, who was interested in learning Japanese. A year later, she married him, even though he only managed to pick up a few odd words of the language.
Five years hence, Akemi has a routine and a rhythm to her life in Chennai. Out of bed by 7 a.m., she starts her day with yoga. She heads to the kitchen to make breakfast right after and has to choose between the usual suspects — idli, dosa, upma or toast. Then, she makes and packs lunch for her husband — rice, kozhambu, koottu. She works as a freelance translator from home and when she has to leave the house, she doesn’t set out without a pottu on her forehead. She often makes a Japanese dinner for herself and when her husband returns from work at 10 p.m., she practises her Tamil and asks to have her doubts cleared.
An expat who has completely taken on the culture of the city, she’s finds her bliss in the finer things that Chennai offers. A lover of Mylapore temples and a fan of prasadam, Akemi particularly likespuliyodarai and sakkarai pongal. She’s been lured by the sound of Carnatic music that takes over the Madhya Kailash Temple during Navratri. She’s tasted sukku kapi while sitting barefeet at Besant Nagar beach. She has woken up early in the mornings to watch women drawing kolams during Margazhi and has abandoned cutlery to indulge her hands during meal times. When her friends visit, she takes them to shop at Nalli Silks and follows it up with masala dosa at Murguan Idli or sandwiches at Amethyst.
Akemi notices the nuances of Chennai and in turn, celebrates its culture. She complains about the heat and the mosquitoes and gets rather amused by serious looking men who stack buckets on their head, hoping to sell them on the road. She has found the simple pleasures of living in Chennai.
Patrick Martinent and Chong Bee Bee / The Hindu
Patrick Martinent and Chong Bee Bee
French-born Patrick Martinent met Malaysian of Chinese origin Chong Bee Bee in Singapore. He proposed to her in Jaipur. They decided to settle down in Chennai. 17 years later, they’ve picked up a bit of the language, met many warm-hearted Chennaiites and made the city their own. Accompanied by their two teenage daughters, it’s become tradition to eat South Indian food every Sunday. Their usual haunts include Saravana Bhavan, Murugan Idli Kadai, Apoorva Sangeeta and Hot Chips. Because even though Bee Bee likes her spicy south Indian prawn curry, Patrick’s favourite is the clichéd idli-sambar.
Dominique Lopez
Dominique Lopez
“I had to move to Chennai if I wanted to live with my husband, I had no other option,” says Dominique Lopez. Born and raised in Paris, she came to Chennai to find that it had a different way of living and thinking. There was a lot of adapting to do because the city demanded that she become more accommodating and shed her European mindset. Three-and-half years later, Chennai has grown on her and she makes the most of it. The trees, the sea, the colours at the Koyambedu flower market, the life at Marina beach, women with jasmine in their hair and drives along East Coast Road. There’s an undeniable charm to a city that offers all that.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / Madras 375 / by Raveena Joseph / Chennai – August 21st, 2014
There’s a little known story about Sir C P Ramaswami Aiyar, corroborated by a piece of furniture. It stands plain and tall, so tall in fact that it keeps the writer on his feet and denies him the luxury of a chair. “So he wouldn’t nap,” explains Nanditha Krishna, Sir CP’s greatgranddaughter, “It had been predicted that the child, CP, would never pass an exam in his life, and it was to counter that forecast that his father had the table built.”
It continues to stand long after its prodigious student’s passing, preserved in a corner of a suite on the first floor of The Grove, CP’s house on Eldams Road. Arranged alongside are a day bed, a writing desk and a few of his personal effects. The house itself is a monument to his life — of professional ambition, political fervour and common domesticity. Built in 1885-86 by CP’s maternal and paternal grandfathers, it was erected on a plot of land that was part of an expansive property called The Baobab, after an eponymous tree. The land had belonged to John Bruce Norton, whose son Barrister Eardley Norton was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress.
Norton sold part of his property in 1875 to P Chentsal Rao Pantulu (first Registrar General of Madras), who in turn offloaded part of it to Conjeevaram Venkatasubbaiyar, CP’s maternal grandpa. He had the house built in the colonial style with a colonnaded front porch, but suitably adapted within to house the practical and cultural exigencies of south Indian living, like a ‘kalyanakoodam’, a hall reserved for marriages.
The house structurally is as it was, even though it has lately been put to alternate use — as the office of the C P Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation, lecture hall, research centre, library and art gallery. Although old rooms have found new purpose — the C P Art Centre was originally a cowshed; the Venirul Art Gallery once housed a boiler, saunas and massage rooms; the kalyanakoodam made for a convenient lecture hall; three big suites upstairs have been absorbed into the Indological Research Centre, and a bathroom is now part of the library.
The foundation has adopted a ‘use as is’ approach, fitting in modern amenities without compromising the original form and material. “I refused to put in a false ceiling in the kalyanakoodam just to accommodate a few split ACs, so I had about eight split ACs installed around the hall, kept the old ceiling fans and added a few new ones and replaced the CFLs with LEDs to keep the place from overheating…,” says Krishna, director of the foundation, walking us past Burma teak pillars, Belgian ceilings, and Venetian floors still in impeccable condition.
The foundation spends `2-3 lakh every year on maintenance. To save the couple of hundred photographs and prized art collection (including an 8-ft Roerich portrait of CP), it has sheathed the backs and sides of the frames in transparent plastic. It’s a historic house that has welcomed all rank and file of man and beast — from Ramsay MacDonald, to Mahatma Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Annie Besant, Indira Gandhi and “any dog in Madras that wished to make it their house”. Political visitors apart, little else has changed.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Joeanna Rebello Fernandes , TNN / August 22nd, 2014
Tamil novelist R Natarajan (50) has won the 2014 Bala Sahitya Akademi award for his novel ‘Vingnana Vikamadityan Stories,’ a collection of short stories for children based on science. A press release issued by the Sahitya Akademi after its meeting in Guwahati said Natarajan is among 23 authors of various languages who have been chosen for the Bala Sahitya Akademi Award for their contribution to children’s literary field. The Bala Sahitya Akademi award is given to contributions to children’s literature.
Natarajan has authored several short stories based on science fiction, including Alaska Aisha in Tamil, with a million copies being sold. The “Vingnana Vikamadityan collection is based on the original Vikram-Betal stories. “In Vignanana Vikramadityan, the Betal questions the King and the queries focus on 12 diseases and their remedies,” Natarajan told TOI.
The book was released in 2011 and more than 16,000 copies have been sold so far. “The book gives interesting details about each disease, how it is caused, what is the cure for it, who discovered it and how it can be prevented. All this is explained to the Betal by King Vikaramaditya,” said Natarajan. Some of the diseases dealt in the book include polio, cancer and diabetes.
So far Natarajan has written 72 books of which 42 is based on children and subjects dear to them. “Most of my compositions are based on science and it will be lucidly written so that children understand it easily,” said Natarajan.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by B Sivakumar, TNN / August 23rd, 2014
It’s an heirloom Anglo-Indian cuisine food festival at the Vivanta by Taj-Connemara, a top chef said, proudly showing a 108-year-old notebook containing recipes of a bygone era.
“The deciphering of the handwritten recipes in the notebook was the only challenge we faced while bringing back to life the dishes mentioned in it,” Arzooman Irani, executive chef at Vivanta by Taj-Whitefield Bangalore, told IANS here.
He was here to host the “Chronicles of Whitefield” Anglo-Indian food festival at Vivanta by Taj-Connemara Chennai located on the Binny Road here at The Verandah restaurant Aug 22-31.
The Made in Austria note book contains the recipes of around 120 dishes.
“It was the family recipe book handwritten by Harry Blake, one of the original settlers of Whitefield near Bangalore. The notebook was handed over to us by his granddaughter,” Irani said as he served a ginger wine.
The non-alcoholic drink surprised one with its sweetness – and the ginger flavour that followed.
What is unique about the dishes is that they are not very spicy nor are they bland. The dishes are very tasty, flavourful, mild and light on the stomach.
The only spicy item is the fried masala prawn which Blake himself has termed spicy prawn.
“The dishes are made with locally available ingredients. While Blake made his fish curry with the fish caught in the local lake/pond, the prawns came from Madras (Chennai),” Irani said.
He said the whereabouts of Blake’s granddaughter are not known as she has shifted after her husband’s demise.
“She gave us the notebook two years back. We started our work after that and launched the menu at our hotel in Whitefield recently,” Irani remarked, adding that 35 of the 120 recepies were being served.
The ginger wine was followed by mulligatawny soup – a broth made with lentils and pepper. Blake gave a fruity twist to the soup by adding finely cut apples.
For the main course, Irani offered rice varieties – coconut, tomato, cabbage – along with vegetable stew, muttonball curry, country captain chicken curry and Blake’s signature dish – Harry’s fish curry.
The vegetable stew made with coconut was different from the Kerala variety, which is spicier than Blake’s stew.
Similarly the muttonball curry and the country captain chicken curry were very flavourful and not spicy and could be safely consumed by children as well as adults.
The tasty fish curry gave out the good flavours of mustard.
“True the dishes are not very spicy. But this is how the Anglo-Indians settled in Whitefield cooked their food and ate. We also checked with other Anglo-Indian families there who said their dishes are not spicy,” Irani said.
“For the present generation, we offer an experience. It is an experience of going back into the history and tasting the dishes made during those times,” Irani said.
A meal for two, without alcohol, would cost around Rs. 3,500 including taxes, said Irani.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> LifeStyle> Food / by IANS / August 21st, 2014
A NEW WORLD At the entrance to DM Street / The Hindu
Devaraja Mudali Street in George Town packs in a vast variety of merchandise, and some unusual history to boot
The mid-day sun is merciless, footpath non-existent and, to top it all, a mega traffic jam is hooting in the middle. That is Devaraja Mudali Street (off Evening Bazaar) on a working day. But overlook these irritants (try!) and plough through the 500-metre distance to where it meets NSC Bose Road to discover its true worth: DM Street trades in some of the most colourful merchandise in Park Town, and is home to one of the most heart-warming stories of the early British era.
Shopping here is fun. I ask Dhandapani, whose shop rather breathlesslyManufactures Indian Human Hair Exporter Specialist in Gents/Ladies Wigs Wholesale Dealers of Drama Wigs and Ladies/Gents Design Buns, Hair pieces Chauri Hair, where he gets his goods from. “Wherever mottai is done!” he returns. For 30 years, he has been peddling hair — real (washed/cleaned/combed) and synthetic — to numerous hair-seekers. “Original is expensive — 200-a-foot, has five-year guarantee, synthetic 85/ft (one-year only),” he tells a customer who needs a chauri.
Down its length, DM Street’s closely-packed shops buy and sell glass of all kinds, plywood, picture-frames, hardware, sanitary fittings, watches — “from everywhere,” according to Kotilingam (78) whose picture-framing outlet has marked 50 years in business. DM Street connects two major thoroughfares; its twin temples attract crowds. I walk past dour-faced men who won’t let me photograph their shops and weary labourers on their unloading trips to reach the all-things-pooja row of shops.
“This is VM Subramanyan Chettiar shop of 52 years,” smiles the handsome third-generation scion who sits surrounded by colours and fragrances from bales of thali-thread, cones of turmeric, kumkum, boxes of namakkatti, sandalwood, joss-sticks and sambrani. “Want to offer anything at the temples?”
I had overshot it. Mounds of dirt and demented parking now effectively block the entrance. To much relief, a long corridor of woodcraft shops keeps the interior cool. Before crossing into the praharam, I look up right and on a faded blue board, find divine history. The board, put up by the Chenna Malleeswarar/Chenna Kesava Perumal Devasthanam, names Guhasri Rasapthi as the writer: The temple precinct is in the middle of the city, at Park Town, it says, and gives proof of age. The translation: “Some 300 years ago, during the East India Company rule under Sir Pigot, an ancient temple in what was called Chenna Kesavapuram on the seashore to the south of High Court was broken up and rebuilt in 1762 by philanthropist (vallal) Muthukrishna Mudaliar (Kottai Iyya), elder grandfather of the present manager (Dharmakarthar) of the temple.” Inside, a flexi-board propped on the pillars of the main mandapam elaborates the narrative and says, “these were known as Pattanam and Flower Bazaar temples.”
I get an accurate version from historian Varadarajan: the temple is mentioned in Beri Thimannan’s 1648 records, he says. In 1673, Dr. Fryer had called it Madras Pagoda where town meetings were held. Governor Pitt’s map of 1709 confirms its presence at the High Court premises. It withstood the 1750 French invasion but was pulled down by the British in 1759 and the bricks/stones were used to build Fort St. George’s northern wall. In 1762, the East India Company offered a compensation of 565.5 pagodas to the local Hindus who had started an agitation. Governor Pigot stepped out to calm nerves, allotted 23,944 sq.ft of land (equal to the temple area) on Jengu Ramaiyya Street (DM Street now). The twin temples came up on this site. The twin-temple construction, done in the late Vijayanagar/Nayak style, started in 1766, got over in 1780 on a total expenditure of 15,652 pagodas. Records tell us that Pigot was present at the Kumbabhishekam. They quickly became popular venues for discourses, kutcheris and non-political events. And till evacuation in 1914, tulasi thirtham from the temple was carried to the High Court for witnesses to take their truth oath on. Today, devotees leave locks on the doors of Narasimha sannadhi for blessings, families get young men and women to meet in front of Sengamalavallithayar for match-making. The Siva-Vishnu temples have stood side-by-side as symbols of caste/creed/sectarian amity for centuries.
“Mr. Pigot was a good man,” agreed Executive Officer Yuvaraj, who has brought out an updated version of temple history (Rs.60). “May be the figures of violinists and angels you see on the roof of the Bramarambikai sannadhi were carved in appreciation of an Englishman who respected the sentiments of the people he ruled.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / Celebrating George Town / by Geeta Padmanabhan / Chennai – August 22nd, 2014
The gold dust is yet to settle. Fresh from her stellar show at the Commonwealth Games along with partner Dipika Pallikal, 27 year-old Joshna Chinappa is in a happy zone.
With the Asian Games round the corner, she isn’t game for a break yet.
After her return to the city, Joshna took time off on Wednesday for a freewheeling chat with TOI.
With the Asian Games round the corner, Joshna isn’t game for a break yet. (TOI Photo)
Excerpts:
How would you sum up your CWG experience and how different is this win from any of your other ones?
I had a great time at Glasgow . The stadium was fantastic, the crowds great and the atmosphere electric. All my wins have been special in some way. But to win gold at the Commonwealth Games for India has been a long-cherished dream. I worked really hard with my trainer Rajamani ahead of the event. That it’s incidentally India’s maiden squash medal at the Games makes it even more special.
After the tri-nation win in Malaysia, were you upbeat of your chances as a pair and what are the adjustments you had to bring about in your game to complement each other better?
Dip and I were confident that as a pair we could win a medal. We took it one game at a time though. I didn’t have to adjust much because we are both strong on our respective sides and we both knew what we had to do on court to win our games.
What are the tournaments you’d be focusing on next?
I have already moved on to my next event and will be getting back to training soon. My next event is the Malaysian Open and Hong Kong Open in two weeks. After which there’s the Asian Games in Incheon.
How would you rate your chances at the Asian Games?
I have a good chance in the individuals. As far as the team event is concerned, we won a bronze in the last edition in Guangzhou so I hope we can go higher than that this time.
In what way are you hoping that this win will help change the way squash is viewed in the country and what are your expectations from the state government to help improve the state of the sport?
We do get a bit of support from the central government. Our chief minister has always been encouraging towards sport and sportspersons and we’ve always been rewarded when we win at big international events. I hope this win will spur more youngsters to take up squash and work hard. We need more squash courts in Chennai and more kids being supported if the sport has to take a leap into the future.
How did you celebrate after the win?
We went for shopping the next day. I prefer spending time on my own when I’m not training or watch a movie or catch up on TV shows (I watch way too many!). Revenge, The Following, Real housewives of Beverly Hills are some of my favourites.
FAST FIVE
Biggest fantasy: To own an island.
Biggest fear: Visiting the dentist.
Worst moment: When I got injured and the doctor in America told me I needed surgery and couldn’t play for a month.
One thing you can’t do without (apart from squash): I can be a bit superstitious… might need to cut down on a few.
One thing you hate about yourself: I don’t hate much about me except that I need to relax a bit more.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Sports> More Sports> Others / by Susan Ninan, TNN / August 07th, 2014
Situated between commercial establishments on Armenian Street, opposite the Madras high court, is the Armenian Church. One of the oldest churches in India, tombs of about 350 Armenians can be found there. But, according to Satenig Batwagan, researcher and historian at the Society for Armenian Studies, Paris, that number actually pales in comparison when one considers the ‘countless Armenians’, who led a happy and prosperous life in old Madras.
Currently in Chennai to organise ‘Armenians in Madras’, an exhibition at Armenian Church as part of the Madras Week celebrations, Ms Batwagan says, “a lot of Armenian school children, today, are aware of the role played by Armenians in Madras. They are curious to know about their past and Madras, especially, played a significant role.” Tracing the movement of Armenians to modern day Chennai, Ms. Batwagan says, “Unlike other Europeans, like the Portuguese, Dutch and French, who also came during the 17th and 18th centuries, the Armenians were primarily merchants and had no colonial intentions. Thus, they were well regarded by locals.”
Giving a measure of the prominent connection between Madras and Armenia, she says it was here in the year 1780, that Shahamir Shahamirian wrote the first constitution for the Armenian state. Another person, Haruthyun Shmavonian, priest at the local St. Mary’s Church brought out Azdarar (The Monitor), the first ever Armenian periodical, in 1794. Quite appropriately, he is referred to as the founder of the Armenian Press. Besides, an altar curtain made in Madras in 1789 can be found at the treasury in Edjmiadzin, holy city of Armenia.
Sadly though, not many among the residents of the city are aware that the Armenians were also benefactors of the city. Khodja Petrus Uscan, a prosperous merchant, originally constructed the Maraimalai Adigal Bridge or Marmalong Bridge, across the Adayar River, in 1728. In addition, he was also instrumental in facilitating access to St. Thomas Mount by building the steps leading up to the church.
“When I mention the contributions to our people, they express surprise. It has taken a lady from Paris to highlight the rich Armenian heritage of Chennai, when ideally, citizens here should have been made aware of much earlier,” Trevor Alexander, caretaker of the Armenian Church says.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / by Venkatesan Parthasarthy / August 19th, 2014
A copy of the patent being handed over to Srilavanya by VIT Chancellor G Viswanathan on Wednesday | EXPRESS
Vellore :
Imagine travelling in a long-distance train with no idea about the current location, no internet connectivity to identify the spot through GPRS and not knowing when to alight.
What if there’s a gadget inside the compartment that has its own communication network and provides value-added services such as details of the location, the approaching station, food items available in the pantry, social networking with co-passengers and alerts about one’s destination without disturbing others? This is exactly what two students of MS Software Engineering attached to the VIT University have developed in the form of an in-vehicle network based mobile solution, that has received US patent now, for the very first time in the university.
“I am so delighted that we have been able to get the US patent for the very good work done by two of our students – Srisudha Garimalla and Srilavanya Paleti and their guide Dr K Ganesan of TIFAC-CORE at the University,” said VIT Chancellor G Viswanthan, briefing about the patent on Wednesday. He said an application had also been filed for an Indian patent.
He said the application for the US patent was filed in 2011, the details of which were published on the Internet for objection, if any, to the concept and ownership . “We got the approval for the patent on August 5, 2014,” he said, adding: “The patent has been obtained in the shortest period.”
Srilavanya, who is employed at Schneider Electrics at Bengaluru, recalled that it took two years for them to work on the application, which provided a cost-effective, value-added service to passengers, who are travelling in trains, ship or buses where access to internet was problem. “I have experienced the problem while travelling from Vellore to my home town in Vijayawada by train, which made us work on a solution,” she said. Her classmate Srisudha, while explaining about the application said, the hardware built by them comprised GPS, Wi-Fi and bluetooth modules with necessary software. This unit, which provides its own communication network without internet support, can be fixed on the roof of the train compartment.
When a passenger enters the train, he/she has to switch on the bluetooth module on the mobile phone, upon which the software developed by the girls would be downloaded to the mobile phone. The user has to enter certain details such as his destination.
The hardware unit will save this information and remind the passenger with an SMS when the destination arrives. A passenger who is asleep will get the alert with a vibration on his mobile. If the train is running late, the passenger need not wake up early.
Another in-built feature of the system is information about food items available on the train. The passengers can place orders through mobile phone, said Srisudha, presently a senior developer with Sapient Private Limited, a leading multinational company in Bengaluru.
Passengers can get to know about the medical help available onboard during an emergency and can publish request for sharing hotel accommodation and transportation like taxi/auto.
Ganesan said 16 patents had been filed by VIT so far. The US patent received now could be used anywhere in the world, he added.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by V. NarayanaMurthi / August 21st, 2014
