VIT student bags gold medal for project
A Civil Engineering student of VIT University bagged a gold medal in the All India Design Competition for engineering students.
Aditi Palaspure, a third year student of B. Tech Civil Engineering had won the prestigious medal for her project on predicting compression index of clay for designing shallow foundations.
Participation
She had started working on the project last year for the university’s Project Based Learning programme and went on to participate in the competition.
The competition is organised annually by the National Design and Research Forum of the Institution of Engineers (India).
It invites entries from students studying in various engineering disciplines including aerospace, agricultural, chemical, civil, electrical, environmental, marine and textile, a press release said.
“Marine clay has a property to shrink in dry weather and it tends to swell during wet weather. Hence, buildings that come up on such clay can undergo damage. This can be predicted if the compression index of the soil is known,” she explained.
When force is applied to the soil, the changes that occur are measured with the help of compression index.
“However, the present methods to determine the compression index are carried out in laboratories and are expensive and time-consuming, she added.
Aim of project
“My project aims to explore how we can predict the compression index of soil using easily determinable properties of soil, in lesser time,” she said.
She received a gold medal and a certificate for the project at a ceremony held in Karnataka.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Staff Reporter / Vellore – October 27th, 2015
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Political parties pay homage to Maruthu Pandiyar brothers
Madurai :
Members of political parties and state ministers paid homage to the Maruthu Pandiyar brothers during the Guru puja function held on Saturday in Thirupathur in Sivaganga district.
The two brothers, who are well-known for their relentless endeavour against the British rule were hanged in the fort of Thirupathur on October 24, 1801.
Every year political parties, members of various communities and public, observe their day of death as Guru puja.
Sivaganga district collector S Malarvizhi hoisted the flag at the memorial in Thirupathur on Saturday and garlanded the statues of the brothers. People who came in their own vehicles with passes obtained from respective police stations were allowed to enter the memorial. Police checked all the vehicles and told a few to take specific routes to reach the venue. Further, the movement of vehicles was monitored through checkposts, which were specially created for the purpose.
Members of the DMK, including district secretaries Sengai Maran and Manimuthu led by former Minister K R Periyakaruppan staged a protest, when the state government’s propaganda vehicle screened government programmes on its LCD screen near the venue. They said the police acted in favour of the members of the ruling party. Also, MDMK leader Vaiko paid a visit to the memorial.
A posse of six hundred police personnel led by the Sivaganga SP S Dorai and five deputy superintendent of police (DSP) were deployed for the event.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Madurai / TNN / October 25th, 2015
Puthiyamputhur readying up its garments for Deepavali
Production of readymade garments at Puthiyamputhur has gained momentum ahead of Deepavali festival, to be celebrated on November 10.
Now, tailors are busy stitching garments with power machines in garment units at Puthiyamputhur, a village attached to Ottapidaram taluk. With just sixteen days left for the festival, readymades were being consigned to most of the garment shops across Tamil Nadu.
This year also net-designed and embroidered churithars remained top-picks and were produced mostly to suit buyers’ demands, T. Manohar, president, Clothes and Readymade Garment Traders Association, Puthiyamputhur, told The Hindu on Friday.
With the advent of technology, designs of readymade churidhars were photographed with smart phones and sent through ‘whatsapp,’ to buyers for approval before tailoring. Besides, buyers were also placing orders after taking a look at the sample garment. Unlike the previous years, quality of the dress material, design have improved and cost also increased. The fabric was procured from Surat, Bhilwara, Mumbai and Ahmadabad.
Churithars made of fabrics including soft net, silky net and other varieties of ‘thousand putta’ and ‘matti net’ were top choices among buyers selling in garment shops. Churithars were stitched to suit people across ages – from three to 20 years, he said.
On churithar designs, he said long, collar-typed, coat-type ones were all produced at prices ranging from Rs.250 to Rs.800.
Further, he said a remuneration of Rs.70 was given to a tailor for stitching a garment. A tailor could earn a minimum of Rs.700 to a maximum of Rs.1, 500 a day, if he worked from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Most women in the houses at Puthiyamputhur and its surrounding places were also engaged in stitching garments that were collected from garment units. But, K. Raja, former president of the Association, expressed dissatisfaction over the prevailing trend. He said readymade garment business at Puthiyamputhur had been facing a declining trend year after year since garments produced at Calcutta, Nagpur, New Delhi, Mumbai and Indore at cheaper costs were being pushed into the market.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Praveen Paul Joseph / Tuticorin – October 24tth, 2015
The Silk Route’s Unsung ‘Coolie’ Workers
Chennai :
The sunny weaver enclosure of Pillayar Koil Sandhu, Kancheepuram somehow feels empty. There are no spinning wheels or bamboo ‘Paruttam’ outside homes. Nothing to show these are homes of weavers. The only give-away is the lone man stretching out the dyed silk threads under the sun at the end of the narrow cemented lane.
“Many have left. We used to have as many as 2,000 weavers in every society besides the many private contract weavers,” rues S Ganapathy, a fourth generation weaver. “Now, there are less than 10,000 in this town.”
Many causes surface: unable to pay their children’s hefty college fees, unable to build or buy a house, low wages, etc are some of reasons this reporter heard. It’s not just the weavers who are in dire straits. Even those that used to pedal away on a second loom (usually bought with a wife’s membership in a society or through private contracts) are worse off.
These men and women are, in the purest sense of the word, ‘Coolie workers’, even if they bring to life wonderful patterns and designs on the rich Kancheevaram silk.
Selvi knows this all too well! Despite frequent complains of back-ache and fatigue, the 40-year-old mounts on the loom and pulls at the Jacquard machine to bring forth her weave to embed another stretch of yellow silk. She keeps at it for 8-10 hours a day for a pay that could maybe buy her family of four a single meal at a cheap eatery.
But Selvi worries about none of that. She pedals on, taking the situation in a different light than one would assume. “It’s alright. With the radio on, it’s a lot of fun. We don’t even feel the hours passing,” she smiles.
For many workers like her in this town, weaving is the only trade they know and silk is the only language they speak. There are hundreds like her dotting the silk town, quietly working away in the background.
But her optimism doesn’t change reality. She still has two daughters to raise and educate. Her husband works at a paint shop and does odd jobs and it’s a joint struggle to put food on the table.
For men, who have suffered loss of a gradually waning tradition, other quick-pay jobs in the offing lead them away from their long-trusted loom. Former silk weavers now do manual labour and work inside factories to make ends meet. The elderly have taken to work as security guards in offices and industrial estates.
“They have to worry about things like a salary and raising family. Some of our men in the community aren’t even getting marriage alliances. During my grandfather’s time, it was a pride to belong to this lineage of silk makers. No one wants to marry a silk weaver anymore,” avers Swarna, a weaver. “Situation has changed far too much in the last decade or so. People lack a sense of pride in taking up weaving. Everyone wants their children to go to college, not sit with them and work.”
There is an elderly worker pedaling away at the clack-clacking machine in her family’s shed. They’re chattering cheerfully, but the exhaustion is apparent. Comfortable retirement is an illusion for most. All they can hope for is more years of crafting beautiful and world-renowned silk sarees…the only livelihood they know.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Amrutha Varshinii / October 21st, 2015
Pain clinic, counter for ‘nilavembu kudineer’ at Siddha hospital soon
Distribution of concoction begins at Tirunelveli Collectorate.
With the district experiencing intermittent drizzle and the north-east monsoon likely to set in within a week, the district administration, in association with Government Siddha Medical College here, has started distributing ‘nilavembu kudineer’, a wonder concoction that gives great relief and ensures speedy recovery for patients suffering from various types of fever.
Since the patients suffering from dengue or chikungunya experienced accelerated recovery on consuming ‘nilavembu kudineer’ during previous fever outbreaks, demand for the concoction is mounting every day, and the number of patients waiting in the long queue at Government Siddha Medical College Hospital for getting the herbal compound would unequivocally explain its efficacy.
While around 300 litres of ‘nilavembu kudineer’ is being distributed to the patients coming to Government Siddha Medical College Hospital for treatment every day, up to 500 litres of this concoction is being prepared here and sent to various parts of the district for free distribution on request from the heads of local bodies.
Collector Karunakaran has instructed the hospital authorities to ensure the distribution of the concoction to the public coming in large numbers to the Collectorate to participate in the weekly grievance day meet on every Monday.
“Since this herbal drink, a proven remedy for fevers, provides a lot of relief and expedites recovery, we’ve planned to give it to the public till the end of this rainy season,” Dr. Karunakaran said.
However, the ‘pain clinic’ which would be started during this season at Government Siddha Medical College Hospital every year to give the much-needed relief to the patients suffering from fever and its excruciating side-effects, is yet to be started.
“We’re yet to receive any formal order from the government. We’ll start the ‘pain clinic’ if we’re asked to do so,” said Soundararajan, Principal, Government Siddha Medical College Hospital, Palayamkottai.
However, faculty member Subash Chandran, who accompanied the Principal when the distribution of ‘nilavembu kudineer’ was started at the Collectorate on Monday by Dr. M. Karunakaran, said that the special counter for concoction distribution and the pain clinic would be started shortly after getting permission from the higher-ups.
“We’ll send a proposal in this connection and get the approval at the earliest,” Dr. Subash said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Tirunelveli – October 21st, 2015