Her heart and soul were given to Theosophy

November 7, 2013Leadersadmin

Radha Burnier./ Photo: N. Sridharan / The Hindu

Radha Burnier, international president of the Theosophical Society, died here on Thursday after a prolonged illness. She was 90.

Radha Burnier played a role in enriching the philosophy behind Theosophy by making it relevant to present-day issues. She was actively involved with service-oriented organisations that deal with education, animal welfare and environmental issues.

“She breathed her last at 9 p.m. following an acute myocardial infarction. She had a mild stroke three years ago. She also battled cancer, had a surgery and her health deteriorated on Thursday. Yet she continued to be an inspiration for many youngsters. She was a great personality,” said S.D. Inbaraj, honorary medical officer of the Theosophical Society.

“She is a lady of highest principles and integrity. Her heart, soul and life were given to the cause of Theosophy,” said S. Harihara Raghavan, honorary general manager at the Theosophical Society.

“The body will be kept in the Headquarters Hall of the Theosophical Society, Adyar, for people to pay their last respects,” said Mr. Raghavan.

According to the Theosophical Society’s website, Dr. Burnier was in her fifth term as president of the Theosophical Society, having taken office as the seventh president in 1980. She supervised the research and publication work of the Adyar Library and Research Centre as its director during 1959-79. She was also a well-known exponent of Indian classical dance.

Dr. Burnier has lectured all over the world on Theosophical and cultural topics. Her talks and writings are known for clarity of thought and depth of vision. Dr. Burnier was born in the Theosophical Society’s estate at Adyar, Chennai, on November 15, 1923 into a Theosophical family. She was the daughter of N. Sri Ram who was the fifth president of the Theosophical Society. Her grandfather A. Nilakanta Sastri, a civil engineer by profession and a Sanskrit scholar, was an early member of the Society.

She played a major role in well-known director Jean Renoir’s classical film The River in 1948.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – November 01st, 2013

Indian Brit is new UK Dy HC

November 7, 2013Business & Economy, Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, World Opinionadmin

Chennai:

Bharat Joshi is the new British Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai.

He succeeds Mike Nithavrianakis who had served here for four very active years. Joshi will have a challenging task ahead as a major part of his Chennai portfolio is focused on enhancing the trade and investment partnership between the UK and the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Born in Croydon, UK, in 1969, Joshi joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1995 and has had diplomatic postings in Gambia, Dhaka and Qatar. He was most recently British High Commissioner to Cameroon and non-resident Ambassador to Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Central African Republic.

A specialist in crisis management, he had been deployed to the scenes of major incidents involving British nationals including after the bombing of the British consulate general at Istanbul in 2003.
He has spent much time in dealing with critical diplomatic issues, including promoting trade and human rights, besides climate change and UN policy issues.

Joshi said he is hugely excited “returning to my country of origin at a time when the UK’s relations with India are growing at a faster pace than ever before — evidenced by growing trade, the opening of new UK offices across India and regular high-level visits in both directions — is a dream come true.”

He said he was “looking forward to getting to know this part of the country and its people over the next few years.” Joshi is married to Bhakti for 17 years and they have two daughters. Cricket, badminton, history, reading and travelling are among his prime interests.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by DC / November 06th, 2013

Dhanush croons with legendary singer Janaki

November 7, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainmentadmin

Actor Dhanush, who is clearly a multi-faceted personality, shot to fame as a singer with Anirudh’s “Why this Kolaveri Di”, although he has also lent his voice to popular songs, like “Enga Area” from ‘Pudhupettai’, “Un Mela Aasaithaan” from ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’ and “Voda Voda” and “Kadhal En Kadhal” from ‘Mayakkam Enna’. After ‘Why this Kolaveri Di’, every song that’s sung by Dhanush is received with extra expectation and enthusiasm. But Dhanush hasn’t seemed to have disappointed his fans with his songs.

The next song that is keenly awaited is the track that he has crooned for his upcoming film, ‘Velaiyilla Pattathari’, which is also his 25th film. Dhanush broke the surprise on his microblogging website, “Velaiilla Pattadhaari team is honoured with the return of the legend S. Janaki amma. I am blessed and lucky to have sung along with her. Schedule three starts today. The film is 60 per cent complete. Audio soon. First look sooner.”

‘Velaiilla Pattathari’ is the directorial debut of cinematographer Velraj. Actress Amala Paul pairs opposite Dhanush. The film is produced by the actor himself. The sensational combination of Anirudh and Dhanush comes together once again for this film.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Entertainment> Kollywood / by DC / Deepika Ramesh / November 05th, 2013

Tee-shirts, denims the style quotient this Deepavali

November 5, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economyadmin

Though traditional clothes are being rejected in favour of casual wear, Kanjivarams cotton saris seem be going strong | Express

Casual is the buzz-word, at least as far as the purchases made by people ahead of the Deepavali festival is concerned. Sales of clothing items such as tee-shirts and denim trousers for both men and women seem to be spiralling in the many textile showrooms of T Nagar, the shopping hub of the city. The trend, employees of these showrooms say, is normal and is visible ahead of many a festive occasion.

Speaking to City Express, the salespersons at a leading store in T Nagar, located near the Duraiswamy Road-Usman Road traffic junction, concur that casual wear has been witnessing maximum sales this season. “A large section of our customers from all over the State are looking for casual wear. These people, who belong to the younger generation, are keen on tee-shirts and jeans. It is registering maximum traction,” they added.

Balaji, a salesperson at an adjoining clothing store, which also has a jewellery store, concurs. “Casual clothing is the order of the day.” This doesn’t mean that other styles of clothing have been consigned to oblivion. Although selling in lesser numbers, he states slim and narrow-fit and the style statement of the yesteryear, the good old boot-cut trousers, are back this season. According to him, sales of formal clothing are expected to pick up in the post-Diwali season – which is a year-on-year trend.

Unsurprisingly, women are spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting their attire. Churidhars and salwar suits in a mélange of choices – be it the Anarkali or Patiala styles – are also a big draw, adds Balaji. This is in addition to the silk saris and skirts that register comparative amount of sales.

When it comes to silks, despite having an encycloapaedia of options to select from, Kanchipuram silks are the most-sought after. As the sales manager of an 85 year-old silk showroom located near Panagal Park, Vinayagam, explains, “We have a wide range of silk saris, in an equally wide range of budgets to suit practically every customer. However, most end up asking only for Kanchipuram silks. People are unmoved even when show them varieties like Belgaum, Benaras, Arani and Dharamavaram silks.”

This season, the showroom has launched a new range of upper-end silks, with a base price of nearly `14,000, which the customers seem to be lapping up eagerly.

Pricing dictates the sales volumes, as he explains. “Silk saris in the price-band of `2,000-5,000 are witnessing the maximum sales. Saris in this category include single-side silk variant and those made out of silk-cotton and silk-polyester blends.” From `2,000 to nearly `2 lakh, looks like there are saris priced to suit every budget.

Cotton saris are not lagging behind either. The ‘Karishma’ variant of cotton saris and cotton-polyester blends – traditional favourite of people for gifts – are equally popular.

He anticipates that the sales of veshtis, steady so far, might pick up once the muhurtham season sets in – a period considered auspicious to solemnise marriages.

However, sales of the half-sari seems to be on the decline. Once a traditional favourite of young girls, not many customers are keen on purchasing it. As a the salesperson at another showroom says, “We can stock only those items that our customers demand. We cannot have such items wasting our floor space.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / October 31st, 2013

Former President Kalam to grace Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology’s convocation

November 5, 2013Education, Leaders, Science & Technologiesadmin

Allahabad :

Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad (MNNIT-Allahabad), is poised to hold its 10th Annual Convocation-2013 on Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi MP Hall Complex. The occasion will be graced by former President APJ Abdul Kalam as the chief guest while Prof VK Saraswat, chairman, Board of Governors, would preside over the function.

Speaking to newspersons on Wednesday, director, MNNIT, Prof P Chakravorty, said that during the convocation, 693 BTech, 77 MBA, 72 MCA, 9 MSc, 6 MSW, 404 MTech and 34 PhD students will be awarded degrees. For academic session 2012-13, 23 gold medals will be awarded to postgraduate students and nine to the undergraduate students.

Further, 18 sponsored gold medals are to be awarded across various academic programmes. This is in addition to the medals to be awarded to the toppers of the first, second, third and fourth years of undergraduate programs.

The coveted and prestigious Institute Gold Medal will be awarded to Shobit Srivastava of BTech (Computer Science & Engineering) for standing first amongst students of all branches of the Institute in the Final Year Examination of 2013. He will also receive a gold medal for standing First in BTech (Computer Science & Engineering) Final Year Examination 2013.

Archan Mudwel of Mechanical Engineering will be awarded the gold medal for standing first at BTech third year examination 2013, while Tanu Agrawal and Priyanshu Srivastava, both of Computer Science & Engineering, will be awarded gold medals for standing first in the second and first year examination 2013, respectively.

He said that the institute has continued to take large strides in its mission of academic excellence. In 2012, 66 new faculty members were inducted in various departments. This has taken the total faculty strength to 199, with 50 professors, 36 associate professors and 113 assistant professors.

During academic session 2013-2014, 1,485 students were admitted for various programs of BTech, MBA, MCA, MSc, MSW, MTech and Ph.D, out of which 92 students are from other countries.

In a new initiative, the institute has organized 22 Short Term Training Programs, Faculty Development Programs and Workshops during 2012-2013. Under the TEQIP II program, the Institute has been sanctioned an amount of Rs 12.5 crores towards implementation of several schemes such as innovative research, curriculum development, educational tours, training programs, networking, procurement of equipments, purchase of books, international visits and laboratory upgradation.

The Institute has maintained its excellent record of placements up to 85% during the session with ongoing placements of post graduate students also.

In terms of providing technical assistance to industries, government organizations, the institute has offered more than 290 testing and consultancy activities during the financial year 2012-2013. Altogether 40 research projects, with total sanctioned amount exceeding Rs 10.91 crores have also been sanctioned from various funding agencies, notably DRDO, DAE, ICSSR, DST, CSIR, UGC, DBT and UPPCB.

The Institute is looking at further initiatives towards renewable energy, rainwater harvesting, reusage and recycling of waste water, disaster management and energy conservation as its focus in coming years, he added.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad> Mnnit / TNN / October 31st, 2013

Solar photovoltaic plant for Rs 50,000

November 4, 2013Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologiesadmin

Picture for representational purposes only.

Chennai:

Fed up with power cuts? There could be a way out as it may be possible to install a solar photovoltaic plant of one kilowatt capacity on your rooftop for as little as Rs 50,000 under the new guidelines issued by the energy department on October 18.

Coming a year after the government announced its solar energy policy, the guidelines provide for a subsidy of Rs 20,000 for consumers looking to install a grid connected battery- less solar system on their rooftops.

While a one kW solar system without battery costs Rs 1 lakh, the consumer will have to invest only Rs 50,000 and the rest will be borne by the state and Union governments. His power troubles too could be over as a solar system of one kW capacity can generate approximately 1,600 units a year.

“If the bi-monthly electricity consumption of a consumer is more than 500 units then the total annual saving is likely to be Rs 9,200 which is higher than returns from conventional investment,” said the department in its order.

In the first year, the subsidy will be provided to 5000 solar systems at a cost of Rs. 10 crore and the next year to 10,000 systems. With the Tamil Nadu Electricity Development Agency (TEDA) acting as a nodal agency, consumers can either apply online through the TEDA website or manually.

If applying online, a signed printout will have to be submitted to the TEDA office in Chennai within three months. Domestic consumers, whose existing electricity connection is in the tariff class LT-1A with Tangedco, will be eligble and will be selected on a first come first serve basis.

They will, however, be expected to buy the solar plants from suppliers listed by TEDA. In case of apartments, flat owners can submit applications either individually or collectively.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / October 25th, 2013

A push for Tamil resources online

November 4, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Science & Technologiesadmin

There are few free online resources for users in Tamil. The biggest is Tamil Wikipedia, and its volunteers want to make more knowledge free and accessible to all./ File Photo / The Hindu

Tamil Wikipedia volunteers offer to help State’s top universities digitise scholarly works

A group of volunteers who contribute regularly to the free online Tamil Wikipedia are lobbying with the State’s top universities to digitise volumes of Tamil encyclopaedia to make accessible valuable content under open knowledge networks.

“There are various Tamil development agencies and universities that get funded to produce scholarly works in encyclopaedias,” says A. Ravishankar, an active volunteer of Chennai’s network of contributors to Tamil Wikipedia.

“These were initiatives started in the 1960s. So mostly they don’t have digital versions and are not accessible unless you buy the book. There are also many works that are out of print. We are looking to digitise these under open knowledge networks,” he says.

Unlike in Western languages, there are few free online resources for users in Tamil. The biggest free resource is the online encyclopaedia Tamil Wikipedia that recently celebrated its 10 anniversary in the city. It has over 55,000 articles written and edited by over 900 contributors, in an age group ranging from 11 to 77 years.

The transferring of such scholarly works online, under licences such as ‘creative commons’ or other ‘copyleft’ (opposite of copyright) agreements have already started around the world and in India. Recently, the University of Goa released its encyclopaedia in Konkani under the creative commons licence that allows for everyone to share information with proper crediting.

In 2008, Malayalam encyclopaedia ‘Sarvavijnjakosam’ was released under GFDL (GNU Free Documentation Licence) on the website mal.sarva.gov.in.

The task of digitising Tamil encyclopaedias would be labour-intensive even more than cost-intensive, and is an area where the Tamil Wikipedia network can pitch in, volunteers say. “There are no good OCR (optical character readers) for Tamil. So the work will have to be manual, and each of the articles will have to be physically typed. If we take up the work, we can save the universities a lot of money and also open up vast reams of knowledge for the common good,” Ravishankar adds.

The Tamil Wikipedia network has asked its volunteers to spread the message at all possible venues to free up knowledge. “You cannot lock up knowledge in books any more,” Ravishankar says. “It is time to free it for the world to read.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Karthik Subramanian / Chennai – November 04th, 2013

Exporters’ rush to secure space in Spices Park

November 4, 2013Business & Economy, Nature, Science & Technologiesadmin

A view of Spices Park at Muthupatti, near Sivaganga. / Photo: L. Balachandar / The Hindu

The park has come up on a sprawling 75.73 acres near Sivaganga

Exporters of spices in southern districts vie with one another to get a coveted space in the maiden Spices Park at Muthupatti near here.

When Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram laid the foundation stone for the park in the nondescript Muthupatti on the outskirts of Sivaganga in August 2008, not many exporters were aware of the facility on the anvil. And when he inaugurated the park on October 6 exporters started making a beeline to set up their units.

“Soon after the inauguration there was overwhelming response from the exporters and 25 units were booked in no time. There were more than 25 applications for the remaining 12 slots and they will be allotted on the first-come first served basis,” Mr S. Nallakannu, Deputy Director, Spices Board, Sivaganga, told The Hindu. The allotment process would be completed in the next two weeks, he added.

Each unit, measuring one acre and above was being allotted at the rate of Rs. 5 lakh per acre to the exporters, who were registered with Spices Board India. The exporters should set up the facilities within the stipulated two year period and those who failed to do so would forfeit the allotment, he said.

The Madurai based M/s Devi Industries has been allotted four units and it expected to commence the work shortly, he said. In the next two years, the park would be buzzing with activity, providing direct and indirect employment to as many as 2,000 people in this area, Mr Nallakannu said.

The park had been created mainly to empower the farmers who grow spices in and around the district and ensure better price realisation besides helping exporters to process the products and export after adding value, he said. Farmers from Ilayankudi, Kalayarkoil, RS Mangalam, Kamudhi could benefit from the park.

Established at a cost of Rs. 20 crore, the park has come up on a sprawling 75.73 acres. It was divided into two zones – facilitating zone and exporters’ zone. In the facilitating zone, two semi-automatic plants had been set up to process and add value to chilli and coriander (in one plant) and turmeric.

The plant for processing chilli and coriander had the capacity to grind the two products at 500 kg an hour and automatically pack the powder in 50 gm to 5 kg in retail packing and 5 kg to 50 kg in bulk packing. The plant also had the capacity to process two tonnes of whole chilli in an hour and pack them in 25 and 50 kg bags, he added.

The two plants were in operation and farmers could make use of the facilities to process their spices products and sell them after value addition and for better price realisation, he said.

The facilitating zone also had two godowns for keeping raw material and finished goods, a sterilisation plant, administrative office building, building for bank, fire fighting system and a power house, he said. The export zone had facilities like a 1.6 lakh litre capacity water tank, roads, underground water lines, stormwater drainage and weigh bridge, besides external lightings, he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> TamilNadu / by Walter Scott / Sivaganga – October 27th, 2013

We have 34 GMs in India because of ‘torchbearer’ Anand: Ramesh

November 3, 2013Leaders, Records, All, Sports, World Opinionadmin

Great sportsmen have a unique way of achieving milestones with an effortless ease which others from the same breed shudder to think of. What sets them apart is the fact that they are ambitious, think ahead of the times and venture into areas that none from their ilk could ever dream of.

Viswanathan Anand winning the World Junior Chess Championship and subsequently earning the GM title is an important landmark not just for Anand but for Indian chess too as it set up a chess revolution in India. Anand’s feat was similar to legendary Lala Amarnath’s achievement of scoring India’s first Test century.

“Anand winning the world junior crown was a remarkable feat. Being the first one to do so was all the more special,” said Manuel Aaron. Years of practice, dedication, sacrifice, travel helped Anand achieve something that was beyond the reach of youngsters at that time.

Although India had an IM in Manuel Aaron and several talented players, none could get near the GM norm. “There were quite a few talented players then like TS Ravi and others. Apart from his talent, what helped Anand was opportunities. Anand played many tournaments both within and outside Tamil Nadu. This exposure made him refine his game and his ability to learn (read from books) set him apart. The other players, however talented, could not go up the ladder due to paucity of exposure,” explained Aaron.

It is interesting to note that Anand in his World Junior match in 1987 defeated Simen Agdestein, who later became Magnus Carlsen’s first coach. Anand scored 9/13 to win the title and defeat Agdestein, the top seed in a crucial match in the middle of the tournament. Simen’s brother Espen Agdestein is now the manager of Carlsen. After that Anand won the Sakthi Finance International Grandmasters tournament and bagged the GM title.

GM RB Ramesh hails Anand’s feat of winning the GM title first and reckons it was an important landmark in Indian chess. “At that time we had only one IM in Manuel Aaron. No one could dream of becoming a GM and it looked like none would get there, for one needed money to go and play abroad. You have to play against and beat foreign players. Taking the cost in mind at that time, one thought becoming a GM was out of bounds,” said Ramesh.

“It is here that Anand like a torchbearer showed us the path and gave us the self belief that we (Indians) too could become GMs. His winning the World Junior title was special and the GM title later was like icing on the cake. It is because of Anand we have 34 GMs in India today. Hats off to Anand,” complimented Ramesh.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sport / by Ashok Venugopal / ENS – Chennai / October 24th, 2013

Learn winning strategies at MMA convention on Oct 25, 26

November 3, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Educationadmin

Chennai :

Want to make ‘winning’ a habit? Block your calendar on October 25 and 26 to attend the 12th All-India Management Students’ Convention organised by Madras Management Association, in association with the University of Madras. This year’s theme for the convention is ‘Winning Strategies – how to make winning a habit’.

The convention will provide an insight into the strategies of winners and draw lessons for young, aspiring managers to understand the determinants of success. The convention will also focus on inspired learning from competitive professions such as sports, politics, media, cinema and the battlefield. The finale of various on-going events such as Chanakya – The Mastermind (best management student of the year), paper presentation, business plan, the big debate and management quiz will also take place during the convention. Around 300 management students from various institutions are expected to attend the event. The convention will take place at the Centenary Auditorium of University of Madras.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home / The Hindu Bureau / Chennai – October 23rd, 2013

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