‘Feel honoured to be selected’

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technologies

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Gastroenterologist T.S. Chandrasekar, the founding chairman of MedIndia Hospital, said he felt honoured to be chosen for the award for his medico-social work in the field of gastroenterology.

Dr. Chandrasekar, who has several firsts to his credit including the Braille chart on hygiene that he created last year, is also the founder of the MedIndia Charitable Trust. A graduate of Madurai Medical College, Dr. Chandrasekar also founded the department of medical gastroenterology at Coimbatore Medical College.

His hospital is affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University to offer post-doctoral fellowship programme in advanced GI endoscopy.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / January 26th, 2016

Two Madurai students to attend first Seema Darshan

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Madurai :

Two students from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Narimedu, in Madurai will be the participants from Chennai region (Tamil Nadu – Pondicherry) to attend the first ever “Seema Darshan” to be held on the Indo-Pakistan border at Wagah in Punjab on January 26.

The Seema Darshan programme is being organised by the Ministry of Human Resource Development for school students. Students from Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas are eligible to participate in the programme which aims at encouraging students to witness soldiers in action on the borders.

M Ponni and K Bala Ramadas, both 11th,  12th standard students, edged out students in other parts of the state. They left for Delhi on Saturday evening. The 50-year-old Kendriya Vidyalaya-Narimedu has been having NCC programmes for the last 12 years. The NCC cadets are given intensive training.

Principal of the school C Muthiah said the two students had proved their prowess in firing, attended over 25 camps and had NCC-A certification. The programme aims at selecting 60 students from 32 Kendriya Vidyalayas and 28 Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti schools throughout the country. They will participate in the flag hoisting ceremony to be held on the Wagah border during the 67 th Republic Day celebrations and will have the honour of spending some time with the Border Security Forces (BSF) in their camps.

The two students said they were excited about this journey and that their school and parents had helped them achieve this. G S Murugan, NCC officer of the school, said the two students had brought laurels to the institution.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India/ News Home> City> Madurai / TNN / January 18th, 2016

I wasn’t aware my name was nominated in the achiever’s list: Shima Sendhil

Amazing Feats, Education, Leaders, Records, All

She hails from a family of educationists and is married to one. So, it was only natural that Shima Sendhil, who spent more than a decade in the US, came back to the country to help with the family run educational institution.

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The director of Rathinam Educational Institutions tells us, “I hail from a remote village in Ernakulam, Kerala and my father was a headmaster of a school there. We moved to the US, when I was just 15 years old. After completing my studies in the University of Florida, I worked for a private concern as a programmer for five years. I moved to Coimbatore to take over the family business after the stint. When my husband heard the news about the award, he was quite excited. He asked me to consider this achievement as a motivation to take up many more programmes for the benefit of students.”

Shima has been voted as one of the #100Women Achievers of India in the category of education by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. “I wasn’t even aware of the fact that my name was nominated in the list. It was only when the Ministry asked for my profile that I believed the news was true. A lot of credit goes to my husband for being a pillar of support.”

When it comes to education, Shima ensures that she doesn’t leave any stone unturned as far as benefiting her students are concerned. “We have associated with many corporate companies to provide skill-based training to our students, through their CSR activities. The activities include training in electrical work, plumbing, IT and even costume designing. The idea is to make our students more employable.”

Shima says that her five-year-stint in the US has helped her pick many tricks of the trade and implement them back home in Coimbatore. “For instance, we have upgraded many technical aspects in the college and have also begun providing smart classes for students.” This apart, Shima has also taken steps to provide scholarships to underprivileged students. “We have also been undertaking tree plantation drives, helmet awareness campaigns and providing support to the needy in the times of crises, like the Nepal earthquake and Chennai deluge. We are now envisioning a waste-free campus in 2016 by which we intend to reuse plastics and covert food waste into gas & thus, use negligible resources from outside. This apart, we have a plethora of new activities in the pipeline, focusing on women.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / P . Sangeetha, TNN / January 17th, 2016

Shampoo production modernised at Gandhigram Trust unit

Business & Economy

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Production capacity of the unit increased from 10 tonnes to 20 tonnes

Gandhigram Khadi and VIPC Trust, an ISRO-certified manufacturing company functioning under Gandhigram Trust, had modernised its shampoo production to improve quality and expand its market base, said K. Shiva Kumar, secretary, Gandhigram Trust.

Talking to media persons here on Thursday, he said that the unit had invested Rs. 10 lakh for modernising its plant to improve production and quality of the product.

Erection of modern mixing plant enhanced quality, helped maintain uniform colour and increase production also.

Similarly, production capacity too had been increased from 10 tonnes to 20 tonnes, he added.

Automating entire process

The unit had also planned to automate the entire production process from preparation to mixing and filling to labelling and packing.

Such modernisation was necessary to tap highly potential shampoo market and expand market base.

The total sale of aloe vera shampoo and herbal shampoo was Rs. 3.05 crore in 2014-15 and it rose to Rs. 3.23 crore in 2015-16.

About 51.7 per cent of the total sale revenue came through sale of 170 ml containers and share of 500 ml bottle was 45.58 per cent.

Sale of 110 ml container was 3.25 per cent.

Sachet sale picking up

Sachet sale was picking up well in rural market.

At present, the unit had successfully tapped shampoo and soap market in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

“We want to modernise the plant on the basis of demand and supply. Rapid modernisation will speed up production but scale down work force. The main aim of the unit is to create more jobs to rural women. We want to ensure that modernisation does not affect job creation,” he also added.

Own lab

The unit had its own lab to test the quality of products.

To ensure high quality, the unit utilised services of external labs in cities, he added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Staff Reporter / Dindigul – January 23rd, 2016

Tanker Awards on Monday

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologies
A dialysis unit inaugurated in 2013  Express
A dialysis unit inaugurated in 2013  Express

Tamilnad Kidney Research (TANKER) Foundation presents its 23rd annual charity and awards night on January 25. The evening is dedicated to Malathi Venkatesan, a trustee of the foundation, who passed away last year. The chief guest for the function will be Vikram Kapur, IAS.

The keynote address, titled ‘Living a normal life despite being on dialysis’, will be delivered by Kamal D Shah, director, patient services, Nephro Plus Dialysis Centres.

The foundation has completed 22 years of service for the underprivileged with kidney ailments. From June 1993, the foundation has provided 1.74 lakh free and subsidised dialysis for 883 patients. N The foundation has four subsidised dialysis units across the State. These units have 42 dialysis stations. It conducts 1,933 dialyses per month, of which 1,749 are free of cost with help from the Chief Minister’s health insurance scheme and other donors.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / January 23rd, 2016

I never expected to win this award: Latha Sundaram

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When Latha Sundaram got a letter from the consultants of the Women Achievers Award project by the Ministry of Women & Child Development in the fag end of 2015, she chose to keep it under wraps. Latha won the award for her contribution to “Access to justice and protection of women and their rights” in the #100 women contest to recognize women who are the pride of the nation.

LathaSundaramCF23jan2016“Frankly speaking, I never expected to win this award. So, I waited until I got the official confirmation from the Union Ministry. Once the list was up, everyone from the Railway fraternity, including the Railway minister Suresh Prabhu congratulated me.” Interestingly, Latha is the first railway employee to win the award.

53-year-old Latha has been an employee of the Indian Railways for the last 33 years and has undertaken many cleanliness programmes through her charitable trust, Aram Foundation (she has been with the foundation for over four years and is the managing trustee of the same). “As the managing trustee of the foundation and an employee of the Railways, we have been cleaning the Coimbatore Railway station periodically. We have been getting many volunteers from colleges and we are planning to devise a mechanism, through which the cleaning process can be done in a systematic manner. We have also been painting the walls of all stations across Salem division.”

In the meantime, Latha’s trust also provides many counselling services for children in corporation schools. “These children do not get personal attention and that is what we are trying to focusing upon. We have been conducting self-defense training, cleanliness & traffic awareness programmes, pre-marital counselling and smart class guidance to these children. This apart, we have been providing counselling to prisoners as well, where the primary focus is upon women and children. We are planning to take these programmes to Tiruppur and Erore as well in a phased manner.”

Though Latha says that she finds it tough to manage her time between social service, Railways and her family, she has absolutely no qualms about it. “There are two things I strongly believe in- to give back to the society as much as possible & never come up with an excuse when it comes to social service. I have always believed that women are extremely crucial to the well-being of the society and for a society to flourish, women have to be empowered. I grew up in a family of teachers and I have seen my parents facing many a hardship to transform their students into good individuals. I intend to follow the same. I am also extremely grateful to my trust and every volunteer who have provided yeoman service to the women and children.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Coimbatore / by P. Sangeetha, TNN / January 17th, 2016

National award for MSU professor

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologies
A.G. Murugesan receiving the national award from Union Minister for Chemicals Anantkumar in New Delhi recently. Joint Secretory of Ministery of Petrochemicals Avinash Joshi looks on.
A.G. Murugesan receiving the national award from Union Minister for Chemicals Anantkumar in New Delhi recently. Joint Secretory of Ministery of Petrochemicals Avinash Joshi looks on.

A.G. Murugesan, Professor and Head, Sri Paramakalyani Centre of Excellence in Environmental Sciences, Alwarkurichi, a satellite centre of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, has won the national award of the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemicals for his innovative research in polymer from natural resources.

He received the award from Union Minister for Petrochemicals Ananthkumar at a function in New Delhi recently. The Ministry is recognising scientists and innovators by giving national awards for the past five years.

Dr. Murugesan was selected for the sixth national award under the category ‘Innovation in Polymeric Material’ for his research in biopolymer from natural resources. The award includes a memento, citation and a shawl.

The awardees were selected by a high-level juries committee under the chairmanship of S.K. Nayak, Director General of Central Institutes of Plastic Engineering and Technology, Haryana.

Prof. Murugesan is doing research in different aspects of industrial toxicology, natural resources management, environmental impact assessment, bio-remediation and bio-energy generation using microbial technologies.

He has produced a biopolymer – Poly Hydroxy Butyrate B – from water hyacinth.

Dr. Murugesan, who has received several State awards, has guided 34 research scholars so far, published more than 675 research papers and authored six books on environment. He is a Fellow in several top-level academies of the country. He has also served as expert member in several high-level environmental committees, including the Ministry of Environment and Forest’s State-level expert appraisal committee for two consecutive terms.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Tirunelvelli – January 23rd, 2016

Sakthi sets yet another Guinness record

Amazing Feats, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

When B Sakthi, a civil engineering student of SNS College of Technology skipped backwards with his arms clasped at a popular mall in the city in October 2015, little did the audience expect that he would surpass two world records on that day. Sakthi made Coimbatore proud by entering the Guinness Book of World Records for doing the maximum number of backward skips- 46 skips in a minute. (a record hitherto held by Brittany Boffo, an Australian (40 skips in one minute). The result came in last December.

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And now, the 20-year-old has managed to achieve yet another feat. This time around, he has made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for doing the maximum backward skips- 25 skips in 30 seconds. This record was also held by Brittany Boffo (20 skips in 30 seconds).

“I was pretty confident about this feat as I had already achieved the more challenging record for 1 minute. One needs immense amount of stamina to continuously, skip backwards that too with your hands clasped. Moreover, I didn’t make a single mistake when I attempted both feats last year,” he says.

Right from his childhood, Sakthi had always wanted to do something different. “I used to watch record-making and breaking videos right from my school days and was quite inspired by them. I decided to do backward skips and soon started practising for it after I joined college. I started with endurance exercises including running in the morning for three hours and skipping for three hours in the evening. This apart, I underwent a strict flexibility exercise regimen and a strict diet.”

Now that he has set two records, Sakthi hopes to complete his studies and provide employment to many others. “My dream of achieving both feats has come true and my parents are elated. I now plan to concentrate on my studies and reach a position where I can dole out jobs to many other youngsters.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / by P. Sangeetha / TNN / January 17th, 2016

Crochet for a cause and a record

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion
Weaving colours At the Bengaluru chapter Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash / The Hindu
Weaving colours At the Bengaluru chapter Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash / The Hindu

The day to reveal the largest crochet blanket in the world stitched by Indian women is fast approaching. Karnataka too has contributed to this cause.

There’s a movement happening as you read this. The protagonists are women and children from age eight to 85.

Since August 2015, the group Mother India’s Crochet Queens, spearheaded by Subashri Natarajan in Chennai, comprising nearly 1,000 Indian women from India and other countries, including the USA, the Gulf, Europe, and Australia, have been busy with their hooks and yarn to beat the current record of the biggest crochet blanket in the world, that stands at 3,377 square meters set by South Africa in April 2015. But the intention is not just to create a world record, but to donate the blankets to the needy.

Subashri, who has been crocheting since she was 10 years old, says the idea for making the world’s largest crochet blanket was to make it a nationwide movement.

“I first approached my friends and relatives who know crocheting, but then the movement grew with people joining the Facebook group, and through word of mouth. Every thing these days is made out of machines. But crocheting is all hand work.”

She adds that crocheting isn’t a dying art, considering the number of women who are passionate about it. “Even children are participating. Our youngest participant is an eight-year-old girl. There are even young boys. There are schools in Kerala who have participated. It’s not true that children are only interested in technology and video games.”

Women from Karnataka have contributed to the event too. In Bengaluru, at Cubbon Park earlier this month, on a pleasant Saturday afternoon, colourful blankets were laid out, with women engaged in crocheting blankets. Padma Srinivasan, 75, and her friend Thiru Rajan sat together chatting and laughing as they nimbly crafted blankets. “Crochet has been a hobby since ten years for me,” says Padma. “I came to know about this event from a friend of mine in Chennai in December. I completed eight blankets in one month.” Thiru adds: “I have completed two blankets.”

Padma and Thiru are glad that they are contributing to a noble cause. “Through the thread—this mission binds women to bring love, peace and harmony. It is similar to the Swadeshi Movement, when it was the charkha and the thread that brought people together,” says a passionate Padma. Thiru adds: “Doing this for others is a great honour for me.”

A vibrant Varalakshmi S. had a number of blankets laid out in front of her. “I have stitched 67 blankets since August 2015. I learnt crocheting from my neighbour, from 1997 to 2002. I got to know of this event from Facebook.” What appeals to her is the passion behind the cause and that the blankets will go to charity. “Over the weekends I would decide colour combinations, and would crochet one blanket per day during weekdays.” For Mughda Manasa too, it is the cause that matters. “What interested me is that this is going to charity, and that this event has brought Indian women together from across the world.”

Poornima Kannan also says that she joined because it brought people from diverse backgrounds together. Dina Sengupta says blankets have been crocheted in Mangaluru, Hubli and Mysuru. “We had about five meets in the city. And subdivided groups according to area.”

Through Facebook and Whatsapp, crochet meets were organised. Technology, Subashri says, has been a boon. “We realised that Facebook alone wasn’t enough to get everyone together. So we created Whatsapp groups. We have co-ordinators and associate co-ordinator to help organise meet ups.”

Though the event was mostly self-funded, Subashri adds they received support from Knit Pro and Ganga wool manufacturing company in Noida. “Harish Mehta, secretary of MNM Jain Engineering College in Chennai, has also been very supportive,” says Subashri.

The initial target was to join 5,000 blankets together, but Subashri says they have even exceeded that. The final event will be held on January 31 at MNM Jain Engineering College, Chennai.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by  Sravasti Datta / Bengaluru – January 20th, 2016

CA Final Topper Clears Exam in One Sitting, Makes Chennai Proud

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

Chennai /  Vijayawada :

A 23-year-old BCom graduate from Chennai, James John Britto, has emerged the national topper in his maiden attempt in the final Chartered Accountant exam, the results of which were announced on Sunday. Trailing him was Mohan Kumar Nagolu from Thottamledu, a non-descript hamlet under Chodavaram village panchayat near Srikalahasti in Chittoor district in Andhra, who emerged second.

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A resident of Mogappair, Britto completed his graduation in Loyola College. The final exam of one of the most toughest and rigorous professional courses in the world was conducted in November. Britto’s overall score was 595 out of 800 (74.38 per cent) which secured him the first rank in the country. The CA exams are divided into three levels — Common Proficiency Test (CPT), Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) and the Final Examination.

“After clearing the foundation exams (CPT), I started preparing for the intermediate exams (IPCC). Since I did not wish to discontinue, I was preparing for the IPCC alongside my UG course,” said Britto.

On strategies he adopted to clear the exam, which people with even five to 10 years of professional CA experience find tough, he said, “I stuck to my basic plan of studying hard for 10-12 hours on an average everyday and this eventually peaked during the last few weeks of preparation.”

When asked about his future plans, one thing Britto was clear about was that he wanted to work in the city.

“As of now, I am looking at employment and have kept options open regarding the nature of the company. But one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t prefer working abroad as I love working here in the city,” said Britto, son of A Raja, a leading chartered accountant.

His father being in the field for nearly 30 years was one of the factors that Britto said contributed to his great success. “My father, who is in the same industry for close to 30 years, helped me a lot during the preparations and I would say his role was crucial throughout the CA exam journey.” Of the 42, 469 candidates who took up the exam last November, only 2,440 (5.75%) managed to clear the exam.

Nagolu Mohan Kumar from Tirupati and Avinash Sancheti from Kolkata secured the second and third rank in the final exam with scores 572 (71. 5 per cent) and 566 (70.75 per cent) respectively. When Mohan received a call from Manoj Fadnis, the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), informing him about his results, Mohan Kumar was literally on cloud nine.

“My happiness knew no bounds when Manoj Sir called me up and told me that I had secured the all-India second rank. The call was immediately followed by another one, this time from M Devaraj Reddy, vice-president of ICAI. I was thrilled and shared the news with my family,” Mohan Kumar told Express over the phone. Mohan, who pursued the CA course right from Intermediate, took coaching from Superwhiz in Vijayawada and did his articleship with Datla and Associates in Hyderabad. He attributed his success in the CA final to hard work. “Since November, four months prior to the commencement of exams, I had been studying 12 to 13 hours a day, including Sundays,” he said, opining that systematic preparation is the key for success in CA exams.

Mohan Kumar’s father N Nagaraju Reddy is a farmer, while his brother Bhanuprakash has completed his BTech. Kumar’s entire family celebrated his success with the villagers also joining them.

Going forward, Mohan Kumar said, he wanted to work with a good MNC for three-four years before going for own practice.

Meanwhile, Superwhizz principal S Venkateswara Rao said along with Mohan Kumar, the institute had bagged three more ranks within the first 50 ranks. J Harsha Sai bagged the 7th rank, M Swathi the 32nd and P Pradeep Rai secured the 50th rank at the national level. The ICAI also released results for the CPT exams conducted during the December 2015 on Sunday. The overall pass percentage for this exam was around 34.45 percent as only 34,129 out of the 99,077 candidates who appeared for it cleared the test.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / January 18th, 2016