Despite no formal background in baking, Rinky Kothari (27) has been running her own home-based baking company called Frost Goddess for a year. City Express catches up with her to know more about her journey into baking and how it crystallised into an enterprise.
A flight steward before she took up baking, Rinky shares her opinion on both these professions. “Baking needs a lot of hard work and patience. When you put in all of that, the rewards are good and it motivates you further. I didn’t get this job satisfaction when I was an air hostess,” she begins.
Though she makes both cakes and cupcakes, she works only on themed cakes, and orders are usually delivered home. Rinky designs the cake herself according to the customer’s needs. “Designing is the toughest part. It requires a lot of creativity,” she says. “If you have the creative bentand the passion, you can make a wonderful career out of baking.”
So how does Rinky, a homemaker and a mother, manage all of it? “It’s all because of my family — their support means everything to me. In 2011, I practised baking for fun and made cakes only for my family and friends. After three years, I began to scale up my baking work to include customers from outside my family circle. Since 2015, through word of mouth and social media, I now have a steady stream of customers,” she beams.
Frost Goddess will soon have a commercial outlet in the city. Rinky mastered this skill by reading and practising it on a small scale. For orders, call Rinky at 9176631031.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / byVidya Gowri Venkatesh / July 16th, 2016
A surgical team in a city hospital has claimed to have successfully performed a ‘Domino Transplant’ using a liver with a rare genetic disorder called Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy (FAP).
The procedure is technically more complicated but allows the hospital to expand the number of patients who can benefit from this lifesaving surgery, Dr Nalla G Palanisamy, Chairman of Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital, claimed at a press conference today.
The first transplant recipient, 36 year old male was suffering from chronic leg pain, had approached KMCH, where the doctors suspected a rare condition of FAP, which was later confirmed by a nerve biopsy and genetic study testing at Royal Free Hospital, London, he said.
FAP is a genetic disorder that causes a protein called Amyloid to get deposited in nerves, kidneys and heart to cause multi organ failure and is a hereditary disorder which runs in families.
The second patient, was a 50-yer-old man and was diagnosed with decompensated cryptogenic cirrhosis for which liver transplantation was the only solution for both patients.
With two transplant teams performing simultaneous surgeries, the patient with FAP, received a new liver from a brain dead donor.
Then the FAP affected man’s liver was transplanted or Dominoed into the second patient.
Even though the second patient had received a liver with a genetic disorder, typically the condition will not impact his health for at least for another 15-20 years, Vivekanandan claimed.
NVM RC
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / PTI / July 06th, 2016
TEMPLE TERMINUS:An SETC bus has been using the space in front of Sri Athmanathaswamy Temple at Avudaiyarkovil in Pudukottai district as a terminus.— Photo: A.Muralitharan
Although Avudaiyarkovil is noted for its famous temple dedicated to Sri Athmathaswamy built by Manickavasagar, not much effort has been taken for developing it into a tourist centre.
No adequate parking facility is available for vehicles by which pilgrims from different parts of the country arrive at this small village panchayat. Haphazard parking of vehicles is an eyesore all along the East Car Street in front of the temple premises. The fact that a bus belonging to the State Express Transport Corporation is being parked right in front of the temple speaks volumes about the potential for pilgrims and tourists visiting the village and the need for a bus stand in Avudaiyarkovil.
According to its residents, the halting of the bus in front of the temple has been causing inconvenience to the devotees. M. Pazhaniappan, a trader, said that the bus, bound for Chennai, leaves Avudaiyarkovil at 8 p.m. but is halted in front of the temple right from the morning. Although the transport authorities have been advised not to use the temple zone as a bus stand, it has fallen on deaf ears.
Official sources said that Avudaiyarkovil had been declared a heritage town by virtue of religious and architectural significance of the temple. A proposal has been taken up for setting up a bus stand in Avudaiyarkovil.
Some development works were taken up at an estimate of Rs. 25 lakh way back in 2004-05 but that was quite meagre.
There was a strong case for developing Avudaiyarkovil into a tourism attraction centre with generous financial sanction, feel its residents. They said that there was no spacious cottage for devotees visiting the temple. Only a small cottage, that too donated by Erode-based donors, catered to the needs of pilgrims.
Seashore belt
Further, the Tourism Department should also take up steps for starting restaurants so that apart from Avudaiyarkovil, the tourism potential of the seashore belt of Avudaiyarkovil taluk could be fully utilised.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by M. Balaganessin / Pudukottai – July 12th, 2016
The Society for Educational and Entrepreneurship Development (SEED) has selected Dhirajlal A. Gandhi, Chairman, Salem city based Dhirajlal Gandhi College of Technology, for the ‘best academic administrator-2016’ award. The award is in recognition of Mr. Gandhi’s contribution for effective institute-industry linkages.
The award will be presented to Mr. Gandhi by Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education at the two-day national summit on “Sustainable Institute Industry Partnership – SIIP 2016” scheduled at New Delhi on July 21 and 22.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Salem – July 13th, 2016
Inland fisheries production has shot up fourfold in Tamil Nadu in the last three years, said state agriculture secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi on Tuesday.
Addressing a gathering on the occasion of the 35th foundation day celebrations of Nabard here, he said the government had taken steps for enhancing the production in inland fisheries. Places like Mettur and Bhavani Sagar were focused and facilities at an outlay of Rs 354 crore were provided for the purpose, he added.
In his keynote address, additional chief secretary, finance, K Shanmugam sought farmers to engage in mixed farming. They could also grow vegetables for short-term income, apart from concentrating on red gram which gives better returns, he said.
Noting that Tamil Nadu recorded 120 lakh metric tonne of agricultural production last year, he said that the state was targeting 140 metric tons of production this year.
Farmers clubs, which adopted innovative methods and technologies and played a proactive role in ensuring agricultural prosperity for bringing change in different spheres at village level, were felicitated on the occasion.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / Yogesh Kabirdoss / TNN / July 12th, 2016
A solar-powered hand pump developed by a teacher has simplified and reduced the costs involved in irrigation of small fields.
M Manikandan, a wiring and electrical teacher at the TVS community college in Madurai, said that this would be the good solution to many small farmers who do not have electric powered motors on their land. “It costs about Rs15,000, but I am ready to help any farmer who needs it because I want my invention to benefit farmers and the public,” he said. If fitted to street taps, in water scarce areas, the solar power hand pump would save time and energy for many women.
V Murali, from Paravai who works in a private firm said that he was always passionate about having his own orchard, but his financial situation enabled him to purchase only five cents of land. He had started planting a variety of saplings on his land, and each morning watered them manually with the help of his father by catching water in buckets. But it was time consuming and laborious as the plants started growing. “I went to banks seeking loans for setting up a pump system, but was refused the same because my plot was too small and it did not have a building on it,” he said.
In desperation he decided to dig a borewell and fit an electric motor and work out the finances later. It was then that he came across Manikandan who decided to invent a solar power hand pump for him, as his plot received copious sunlight during the day.
Solar panels were fitted on two pillars along with two 12-volt batteries and a small 1 Ah motor connected to them. The handle or force rod of the hand pump is connected to the motor. The device can pump out 1,200 litres of water per hour, and 12,000 litres per day. Murali is relieved because he has now dug out channels in his plot so that when the water reaches all his plants.
His well is just 100 feet deep, for deeper wells the handle of the hand pump will have to be elongated, according to Manikandan.
He is now in the process of inventing a submersible pump which can be powered by solar power. This would be a breakthrough technology and will go a long way in saving power, he added.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Madurai / by Padmini Sivarajah / TNN / July 11th, 2016
Since he lost his left ear lobe in an accident last month, 14-year-old Jayanth has been wearing a cap pulled down over his ear. He will throw that cap away coming weekend when his new 3D-printed ear arrives from Mumbai.
“The ear will be made of polyjet plastic and coloured to match his other ear,” says Chennai-based maxillofacial surgeon Dr John Nesan who is handling Jayanth’s case.
After providing organ models for surgeons to practice, 3D printing service providers are now making exact replicas of diseased organs in the latest marriage of technology and healthcare. While ear lobes and teeth are easy to print parts, teams are working on printing liver cells which is a complex task.
“The cost and ethics involved in using such 3D bio-printed living human tissues for medical research is much better than animal and human trials,” says Chandru. “In the long run, these technologies will allow on-demand manufacturing of personalised human organs, and alleviate the acute shortage,” says Chandru.
In Bangalore, at Pandorum Technologies, Arun Chandru and his team are working on 3D printing live cells to be used in liver toxicity studies. “The cells are printed into tissue-like architectures, which are then grown in bio-reactors for further study,” he said.
“To print the cells we use what is called a bio ink, which is a mixture of cells and hydrogel,” says Chandru, who adds that the cells are printed into tissue-like architectures, which are then grown in bio-reactors for further study.
On June 27, interventional cardiologist Dr A B Gopalmurugan of SRM Institute of Medical Sciences, Hospital, Chennai, used a 3D printed rubber heart to help prep for a complicated stent insertion. In November 2015, city-based cardiac surgeon Dr K M Cherian used a 3D model before operating on a child with a complex congenital heart disease.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Chennai / Kamini Mathai / TNN / July 10th, 2016
Best of Chennai Volume 2 tells a vibrant story of the metropolis through perceptive articles and beautiful visuals. Editor Sandhya Mendonca talks to DEEPA ALEXANDER about the making of the coffee table book
The Sangam Lobby at ITC Grand Chola, with its elegant white stucco and spectacular copper-and-bronze horses, is an ornate narrative of Chennai, a city that Sandhya Mendonca celebrates in her latest book. As she sits to be photographed at the head of a sweeping staircase, she holds in her hands Best of Chennai Volume 2, to be released that evening by the Governor of Tamil Nadu, K. Rosaiah. Published by Bangalore-based Raintree Media, the book — sixth in a series published in India — is part of a unique format that is brought out in over 40 countries by Global Village Partnerships to showcase entrepreneurial spirit and bridge cultures.
Coming seven years after the first volume published in 2009, Best of Chennai Volume 2 is an opulent production, a slim slab that covers topics as far afield as culture and corporate icons, education and hospitality, luxury and logistics, spaces and entertainment and media and start-ups.
“It took our team of nine, the better part of a year to lay it out,” says Sandhya Mendonca, editor-in-chief, Raintree Media, who conceived and edited the book. Mendonca, who holds a Masters in Political Science and started out as a journalist, took her love for writing and editing further, when she founded her media brand 12 years ago. “I handled public relations for events with artistes such as Mark Knopfler and Sting, and taught as visiting faculty at IIM-B. I had explored nearly all aspects of communication… it was time to become a publishing entrepreneur.”
“The first book I published was on a golf course in Bangalore. I approach publishing like an artist does his painting — and therefore, the book was designed like a golf ball, with birds that populated the course as page holders. I got hooked to doing different kinds of books filled with both style and substance,” says Mendonca. An eye for unusual layout and a love for celebrating communities pictorially led to Raintree producing handsome customised volumes on the culture of states, gymkhana clubs, Raj Bhavans, cricket teams and schools. Fiction, articles for magazines and websites, and books in the Best of… and Marvels of… series artfully mix travel with scenes from the everyday.
“The Best of… series is part of Sven Boermeester’s Global Village Partnerships. When Sven travelled to Australia, he decided to create a template to show the best of what is local. Most people feel they know everything there is to know of their city or country, but that isn’t always true. The Best of… series has the same format across the world, whether the regions they feature are homogenous or culturally diverse. In particular, they look at businesses and what makes the region tick,” she says.
Decades of photojournalism have illustrated Chennai’s major themes and trends, so how different then is this book from others? “It serves a fresh dish. You try to find hidden aspects even in the many stories and people that are known in the city. Not many in Chennai are aware of the Officers Training Academy or how Real Image Media Technologies enhances their cinema experience or that Ajit Narayanan, who pioneered an app for children with communication impairments, is an IIT-Madras boy,” says Mendonca.
The book decodes Chennai’s history from its gracious days as modern India’s first city with its garden houses and elegant boulevards, to its status as a hub for films, fine arts, start-ups and education. It celebrates change through finely-scripted articles by both producers and guest writers, such as dancer Anita Ratnam and film critic Baradwaj Rangan. It interviews heads of established business houses, hotels, restaurants and building conglomerates, who have shaped the city’s many incarnations. “The business houses here are icons, their work is mindboggling, but they are very low-key about it. So, the book has some rare interviews where these corporates speak of the role of their companies.”
It also captures the zeitgeist of our culture — dance, music, art and theatre — from the classical to the common. “This is a city framed by the idea of culture,” says Mendonca, flipping through the pages punctuated with a rich tapestry of artwork by Achuthan Kudallur, S. Nandagopal and K. Muralidharan. “The book focusses as much on mainstream culture as it does on the alternative,” she says, alluding to Sofia Ashraf’s music video on the mercury pollution in Kodaikanal and the incredible work of the common man during the floods. “It weighs on Chennai’s culture and commerce in equal measure. A community that hinges only on commerce will have no soul.”
It is this essence of the book that Governor K. Rosaiah endorsed at the launch, when he commended the team for capturing the city’s indomitable spirit. “The book nicely depicts the bouquet of culture, architecture and commerce of Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai,” he said.
It should be read not only because it celebrates the city but also because it celebrates us.
(Priced at Rs. 3,000, Best of Chennai Volume 2 is available at Odyssey, Chamiers and online.)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Metroplus / Deepa Alexander / Chennai – July 08th, 2016
Sathyanarayana Kolla got a graft that was imported from Israel
Chennai :
Believed to be the first such surgery in India, an aortic arch replacement without open surgery has been carried out at SRM Institute for Medical Science (SIMS) hospital.
“It is a life-threatening operation. Across the world, the operation without open surgery has been done only 16 times before,” said Dr V V Bashi, senior cardiothoracic surgeon and chief of aortic surgery at the press meet today. The arch is one of the main areas of the aorta, the largest blood vessel, that supplies blood to the head, brain and upper limbs.
A 53-year-old patient, Sathyanarayana Kolla, who has been diagnosed with a dissection and aneurysm of aortic arch, a bulge in the portion of the aorta closest to the heart, had approached SIMS hospital from Hyderabad after many doctors had declared open surgery was risky for him.
Endovascular treatment (a keyhole approach), was not done in India before due to lack of availability of grafts and expertise that were needed for the operation. “As everyone’s arch of aorta differs, the grafts can’t be bought readymade,” said Dr A B Gopalamurugan, senior interventional cardiologist and chief of endovascular intervention. The grafts were imported from Israel.
A few days before the surgery, the entire process was done on a trial and error basis with a rubber mould of the patient’s aorta to ensure the feasibility of the patient, they said.
Once Dr Bashi carried out a procedure on the patient’s neck to divert the blood vessels to the brain and head, Dr Gopalamurugan performed the endovasular procedure to replace the arch of aorta with the graft. “If the arch bursts, the person will die within 3 to 4 mins,” said Dr Gopalamurugan. The operation lasted for almost five hours.
As it affects one of the many organs, the symptoms varies with different people. For Sathyanarayana, it led poorer kidney function.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / July 09th, 2016
Rich tributes were paid to the British Governor of Madras Presidency Sir Thomas Munro on Wednesday on the occasion of his death anniversary. This year also marks the 190th year of his visit to The Nilgiris.
Dharmalingam Venugopal, Director of the Nilgiris Documentation Centre, which had organised the function, said that it was on this day in 1827 the Governor in Council in Madras, headed by Sir Thomas Munro finally recommended to the Court of Directors of the East India Company to establish. The Nilgiris as a convalescing station for invalid British soldiers. It resulted in establishing the first hill station of the British Raj at Ootacamund.
Superintendent of Police, The Nilgiris, Murali Rambha, who was the chief guest, said that it was the authority of the Government headed by Munro that laid the foundation for a British hill station in The Nilgiris.
Congratulating the Nilgiri Documentation Centre for its ongoing efforts, Mr. Murali Rambha urged that it was essential for the local people of The Nilgiris to recognise and remember the contribution of such great administrator to preserve the beauty and environment of The Nilgiris. Representatives of Make Ooty Beautiful, Nilgiri Library Book Club, Nilgiris Educational and Research Foundation and Sullivan Court participated.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Special Correspondent / Coimbatore – July 07th, 2016
