Regai Recounts Kallars’ Fight Against Draconian Act During the Colonial Era

Historical Links, Pre-Independence
A still from documentary film Regai, in which Piramalai Kallar community members are forced to affix their thumb impression under the Criminal Tribes Act | express
A still from documentary film Regai, in which Piramalai Kallar community members are forced to affix their thumb impression under the Criminal Tribes Act | express

Madurai :

The historical struggle of subaltern groups against the Colonial government in Southern Tamil Nadu has rarely been touched upon by local historians. Even those events that came to light in the recent years were distorted by fringe political groups, which gave a communal twist to them.

In an attempt to recall one such struggle, an independent documentary filmmaker, Dinakaran Jai of Sivaganga, has documented the struggle of the Piramalai Kallars against the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) enacted in 1871, which resulted in 16 Kallars, including a woman, being shot dead at Perungamanallur near Usilampatti in Madurai by the British Police.

Speaking to Express about his documentary film Regai, (fingerprint) on the eve of 101th anniversary of the Perungamanallur incident which happened on April 3, Dinakaran Jai, a Tamil graduate, said he stumbled upon the Kallars’ struggle against the draconian CTA when he read a book on Maruthanayagam from Ramanathapuram. “When I searched for history books to learn more about the struggle, I couldn’t find any research work on it,” he said. He then spent nearly three years searching for colonial documents in Tamil Nadu archives to gather verbal information about how the Piramalai Kallar community members were subjected to various forms of punishment by the Colonial government for revolting against the CTA. “Originally, the Colonial Government introduced the CTA in 1871 classifying many subaltern communities, tribes and nomads as criminals, and forcefully restricted their movement within the villages. These restraints by the British police forced the Kallar community people to take out a march from Perungamanallur to Thirumunagalam on April 3, which ended in the police firing, said Dinakaran

The Colonial government amended the Act in 1911, 1924 and 1944. However, it was repealed after various leaders including George Joseph, U Muthuramalinga Thevar, Varadararajulu, the then Adi-Dravidar Minister Muniaswamy, fought against it, said Dinakaran.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Gokul Vannan / April 03rd, 2015

Where saving lives is a routine

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technologies
A. Kennedy, district project coordinator, Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, Vellore, hands over a certificate to an emergency medical technician on Thursday.— PHOTO: C. VENKATACHALAPATHY
A. Kennedy, district project coordinator, Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, Vellore, hands over a certificate to an emergency medical technician on Thursday.— PHOTO: C. VENKATACHALAPATHY

Emergency medical technicians honoured for service

For A. Sharmila, an emergency medical technician (EMT) with the 108 ambulance network, the last six years has been about saving lives. More importantly, she has also helped to create a change in deterring a section of people from unsafe delivery practices.

“One of my earliest cases was a labour pain in Keeranur, The call was from an interior village on a hill. I saw a woman sitting on a pregnant woman in labour trying to push the baby out. She was bleeding profusely. We took her in the ambulance and she delivered her baby onboard,” she said.

With the mother and child hospitalised safely, Ms. Sharmila learned that this was way the villagers have been delivering babies for years. She went on to visit the village around 10 to 12 times for demonstrating safe practices.

“Such a situation prevailed prior to 2008. We cater for many pregnant women,” said Ms. Sharmila, who has helped 81 mothers deliver their babies on board the ambulance, she added.

Ms. Sharmila is now with thaanipadi ambulance in Tiruvannamalai.

Thursday was the day to recognise the efforts put in by EMTs like her as GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), which operates the ambulances, celebrated the National EMT Day.

Several male EMTs have also helped mothers deliver babies on board the ambulance. Like A. Charles, another EMT at Vaniyambadi, who has 11 ambulance deliveries to his credit. “In fact, my first case was delivering a baby with cord around the neck. I attended to another woman who had previous caesarean section but delivered the baby in the ambulance,” he said.

EMTs should never get angry or emotional when handling patients, E. Ramarajan, an EMT with Avoor Primary Health Centre ambulance, Tiruvannamalai, stressed.

“A year ago, I attended to two persons aged 24 and 25 involved in a road accident. Both suffered head injury and fractures. We rushed them to the Government Hospital, Tiruvannamalai, and then to another centre. Recently, they called us and said they were doing well,” he said.

Six EMTs – three each from Vellore and Tiruvannamalai – received the Best EMT Award on the occasion. There are 41 ambulances in Vellore and 28 in Tiruvannamalai, with both districts accounting for nearly 200 EMTs.

Handing over the awards, A. Kennedy, district project coordinator, Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, Vellore, said the EMTs played a pivotal role in saving lives as they bring the patients to hospitals on time.

“This golden hour is important as doctors, however experienced, will be able to save lives if patients are brought on time,” he said. He also asked the EMTs to take care of their safety and asked the district officers to conduct annual medical check-up for them.

R. J. Shriraman, district manager of GVK EMRI, Vellore and Tiruvannamalai, said the best EMTs were selected based on certain parameters such as highest number of life saving cases and those who secured above 85 per cent in the exam held in the refresher training.

Jayageetha, chief medical officer of Government Pentland Hospital, and Krishna Kumar, head of Finance, GVK EMRI, Chennai, spoke.

VK Emergency Management and Research Institute celebrates the National EMT Day

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by Staff Reporter / Vellore – April 03rd, 2015

In search of a fruit tree

Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature

Chennai has the right weather for many fruit-bearing trees, but lack of rain and poor upkeep has left government nurseries without saplings.

If you are a tree lover who wishes to raise fruit bearing trees in your backyard, here is good news and bad news: With just a few square foot of land you can have some trees, but the gov ernment horticulture nurseries just don’t have enough saplings.

Fruit-bearing tree saplings such as mango, jackfruit, guava, pomegranate, sapodilla and custard apple are supposed to be sold in the department-owned nursery in Aathur, a village near Chengalpet. One has to travel nearly 60km to the south on the GST Road and another 2.8km west after reaching Chengalpet town to get to the nursery .

A visit to the place on Wednesday revealed that the nursery right now has only mango tree saplings and each sapling is priced at `50. This is one of the oldest horticulture nurseries, started in 1961. The dilapidated building inside the nursery reflects the state of affairs. Take a walk around and the wilting saplings show the impact of acute water scarcity in Kancheepuram district due to monsoon failure last year. Local people said an attempt was made to sink bore wells inside the premises at a depth of 350ft recently, but it failed to fetch water.

When contacted, horticulture department officials said fruit-bearing tree saplings are sold in four nurseries in Kancheepuram district. In Chennai there is nursery in Madhavaram, where one could get flowering, ornamental flowers and avenue species of tree saplings. The one in Kilpauk has been converted into a training centre and the one in Tiruvanmiyur now sells only manure.

“The nurseries in Kancheepuram sow the seeds of fruit bearing trees in May every year. After grafting, it takes at least three months for the saplings to be ready for sale. Quality saplings are sold only between September and March and some of the additionally raised saplings would be available for sale beyond March,” an official said. In order to overcome the water shortage, the department has created two pools inside its Madhavaram nursery , where rainwater was stored. This helped in recharging the groundwater table there.

Interestingly , a private nursery just opposite the horticulture nursery in Aathur has a variety of fruitbearing tree saplings, but at a higher price. A Banganapalli mango species sapling here is sold at Rs400 and that of a jack fruit at Rs700. J R Babu, owner of the nursery , said the mango seeds come from Seemandra and the jack fruit from Virudhachalam in Cuddalore.”I also faced water shortage this time. I drilled a bore well and was lucky to strike water at 350ft,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by P. Oppili, TNN / April 02nd, 2015

Now, a Planet Named After Chess Grand Master Viswanathan Anand

Leaders, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

VishwanathanCF03apr2015

Chennai :

Here’s a question for the nerds… what do Roger Federer, Jesse Owens, Arsene Wenger, Donald Bradman and India’s Viswanathan Anand have in common?

Well, apart from all of them being connected to some sport, they all have  minor planets named after them. The former World Chess Champion joined this unique club when a minor planet (4538), located roughly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, was named after him.

The newly-named minor planet, (4538 Vishyanand), was discovered by Kenzo Suzuki of Toyota, Japan, on October 10, 1988.

A staff members of Minor Planet Center, Michael Rudenko, was invited to name the object as it remained unnamed for more than 10 years.  “The idea of naming a minor planet for Anand was entirely my own,” Rudenko told Express exclusively. “After careful consideration I selected him because in addition to being a great chess player he is also a gentlemen and astronomy enthusiast,” Rudenko said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Swaroop Swaminathan / April 03rd, 2015

GH institute wins accolades abroad

Science & Technologies, World Opinion

For over five years, William Abraham was in constant pain. It was so excruciating, he would take leave from his job as a computer operator and stay at home for a couple of days.

Today, eight months after his surgery for chronic calcific pancreatitis at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (GH), Mr. Abraham, 34, has no pain.

His surgery was a combination of two procedures. The delineation of the procedures, as a research paper, won GH’s Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology the ‘Best Free Paper’ award at the Asia Pacific Hepato Biliary Pancreatic Conference held in Singapore, recently.

“Chronic calcific pancreatitis is a condition in which stones develop in the pancreas,” said S.M. Chandramohan, head of the institute.

This could happen to people living in the tropics, or due to alcohol usage, or unknown factors too. Frey’s procedure was a surgery performed on these patients to remove the stones. But the problem was, pain recurred in up to 20 per cent of patients after the surgery,” he said. “One of the reasons for pain after surgery was the irritation of the nerves. Once they were de-sensitised, there was no pain,” said D. Kannan, professor at the institute.

A study performed by the institute between January 2013 and July 2014, when 66 patients were operated on for this condition, showed that with the injection of alcohol, or celiac plexus neurolysis, 97 per cent of patients did not suffer from pain, post the surgery.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – April 03rd, 2015

60 years of exemplary service

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technologies
(From left) Sugalchand Jain and Dr. V. Shanta of the Cancer Institute, writer Sivasankari, R. Seshasayee of Ashok Leyland and N. Ram of Kasturi and Sons Limited at the function—Photo: M. Vedhan
(From left) Sugalchand Jain and Dr. V. Shanta of the Cancer Institute, writer Sivasankari, R. Seshasayee of Ashok Leyland and N. Ram of Kasturi and Sons Limited at the function—Photo: M. Vedhan

On the occasion of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Cancer Institute (WIA), its chairman V. Shanta recalled the years of struggle that the team faced to ensure that the hospital functioned properly.

Speaking at the function on Friday, she recalled the formative years of the institute, when it was difficult to find donors.

“ Today, we have a new problem, with no space being available on either of our campuses for any development,” she said.

The Cancer Institute (WIA), founded by Muthulakshmi Reddy in 1954 when her sister died of cancer, started out as a four-bedded hospital. Sixty years later, it is a 500-bed speciality hospital.

N. Ram, chairman, Kasturi and Sons Ltd., said the negative portrayal of cancer in the media and culture was a problem. “In recent years, the scenario had changed a bit, but the problem continues to take a toll,” he said.

The Diamond Jubilee Book of the Cancer Institute was released by Mr. Ram. Ram Santhanam of the TVS Group, Sivasankari, Tamil writer, N. Sugalchand Jain, chairman, Management Committee, Cancer Institute (WIA), K.R. Purushotham from the Satyanarayana Trust, N. Sankar, chairman, Sanmar Group, and A. Krishnamoorthy, chairman, The Amalgamations Group, were present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – March 31st, 2015

Kayaking team goes on eco-drive in Gulf of Mannar

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Sports

Tuticorin :

A five-member team, including a woman, that has been paddling their fibre kayaks for six days on the scenic Gulf of Mannar Sea completed their expedition here on Sunday, doing so with the satisfaction that they have been able to educate at least some coastal communities on the need to keep beaches free of pollution and littering.

Jehan Driver, Arjun Motha, Rizwan Gani, John Suganth and Charmine Pereira from Quest Expeditions and Aqua Outback had set off from Kuntakal near Rameswaram in Ramanathapuram district on Tuesday, flagged off by Ramanathapuram district collector, K Nandakumar. They were received here by Coastal Security Group (Marine Police). The team paddled for 49km a day and camped in some beach at night. “We stopped at coastal villages and talked with local people. We told them how important it was to keep their coastal environment clean and protect their resources for sustained living,” said Rizwan Gani. Jehan Driver, who led the team, explained that the objective of the expedition was to create awareness about the vast natural reserves Tamil Nadu has to offer and the sustainable practices that will keep it pristine. The expedition also aimed to promote Kayaking as a sport and let people know the importance of preserving the natural environment of the marine biosphere to encourage other sportsmen and sportswomen to practice and enjoy their non-motorised sports.

“Gulf of Mannar is a marine eco-system in the country that has remained clean till now and it should be protected. We could share this message among the people we met in the coast during our paddling. We collected more information on the beaches, besides watching pristine islets to check if there are any poaching activities. We could see that marine life is still flourishing in the region and we should protect them together,” Driver said. The team also expressed their concern about untreated sewage mixing in Gulf of Mannar waters. Based on their findings, they will prepare a report which they will submit to concerned government agencies, they said. Government agencies like Indian Coast Guard and Coastal Security Group and additional director general of police, C Sylendra Babu were of great help, they said. Having succeeded in their first venture, they plan to turn this into an annual event to keep the tradition alive.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / March 30th, 2015

Women achievers felicitated in Tiruchirapalli

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
PROUD MOMENT:Thenmozhi and Sister Stella who received awards for writings in Tamil and social work.— PHOTO: A. MURALITHARAN
PROUD MOMENT:Thenmozhi and Sister Stella who received awards for writings in Tamil and social work.— PHOTO: A. MURALITHARAN

At World Working Women’s Day

Women achievers in various fields were honoured at the World Working Women’s Day observation organised by Department of Women’s studies, Bharathidasan University, here on Friday.

Sister Stella, founder of Asisi Farm and Training Centre, Kanyakumari, was honoured for her social service and Thenmozhi, Tamil writer for her Tamil writings.

Karpaga Kumaravel, Syndicate member, Bharathidasan University, gave the awards to the achievers.

A. Puratchikodi, faculty, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Anna University, Chennai Regional Office, said sexist tendencies started even at the level of brining up children. Daughters were discriminated against sons. Preference for son still prevailed in spite of strides made in various fields.

“Women are afraid to even walk on the streets of Delhi after 8 p.m. and they openly concede this,” Ms. Puratchikodi said.

N. Manimekalai, Director and Head, Department of Women Studies, Bharathidasan University, said that inequality should be removed.

Prizes distributed

Prizes were distributed among winners in various competitions.

Students of Srimad Andavan Arts and Science College here won the first prize for group dance.

Students of Chettinad College of Arts and Science College won the second prize, and Bharathidasan University Constituent College at Lalgudi won the third prize.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by Special Correspondent / Tiruchi – March 28th, 2015

Ettimadai village still untouched by development

Business & Economy, Nature

Coimbatore :

While most panchayats close to the city have grown rapidly in the last ten years, the Ettimadai town panchayat has remained the same, with very little development. While residents await good drinking water, wide roads and job opportunities, local body officials are completely out of tune with their needs. However, some industrialists predict that once the airport expansion begins, opening up the southern end of the airport, the area might become ideally located for development.

“Ten years ago, I was working in a spinning mill in Madhukkarai, but the mills and workshops closed down and we had no choice but to continue farming and rearing cows,” said R Kanakaraj, a milkman in the village. Residents said that even basic amenities such as good roads and drinking water were lacking in the area. “In the last ten years, several colleges were set up here but not even one private player was allowed to set up an establishment in the village,” said S Shanmugam, an auto driver. Some panchayat sanitary workers said that they did not have many job opportunities in the area and thus several people were moving out of town to look for work. “We don’t even have a health centre here,” said Subramanian, a local. A few residents blame the inefficiency of the panchayat president for the lack of development.

The village officials said that they have done all that they could for the village. “It is located in the border area and thus many people don’t like to settle down here. Proximity to mountainous terrain and forests do not allow the land to be sold to industries,” said a town panchayat official. According to industrialists, the entire stretch after Madhukkarai became a hot spot for development after the Vellalore integrated bus stand was announced. “Moreover, since all other stretches have been developed, the south-western stretch of Coimbatore including the bypass road would definitely develop in the next three years,” said D Nandakumar, president, chamber of commerce.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Komal Gautham, TNN / March 26th, 2015

Sports Day celebrated

Education, Sports

National Engineering College, Kovilpatti celebrated its 31st sports day on Thursday. Nikhil Chittarasu, Commonwealth games silver medallist and high jumper, from the Southern Railway was the chief guest and declared the sports meet open. K.R.Arunachalam, Member, Managing Committee of the college presided over the meet.

Mr. Chittarasu said students should take part in sports activities along with academics. Further, he emphasised the importance of physical exercise to lead a healthy life. He also appealed to the students to work hard to achieve their desired goals.

Raghu, Director of Physical Education, presented the annual sports report and said the college team participated in events of football, volleyball, best physique, hockey, handball (women) and ball badminton (women) tournaments in Tamil Nadu Inter Engineering Sports and Games (TIES) held at Sri Sairam Engineering College, Chennai from January 29 to February 12 this year. S.Shanmugavel, Principal and students attended.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by Staff Reporter / Tuticorin – March 29th, 2015