lesson in longevity: A row of leather shopt on Vepery High Road. / Special arrangement / The Hindu
Old leather shops on Vepery High Road prove they are made to last. YUIMI VASHUM reports
“My shop is like a studio for me, this is where new designs are born, and old ones are preserved,” says Abdullah (name changed), manager of a 25-year-old leather shop in Periamet.
A stretch, lined with leather shops, on Vepery High Road in Periamet is very easy to miss unless you are given to exploration. Being the oldest and the only area in Chennai that deals with tanned and semi-tanned leather on a large scale, you expect the place to be reeking of a thick smell of leather. But it is free of any strong smell.
With the city being invaded by big branded fancy apparel companies, this age-old leather lane is expected to go out of existence.
But Afroze Ahamed says, “This place will never run out of business, for we are the originals when it comes to leather”.
A sales man from Lee Grien Store says, “We get around two hundred customers daily and our business is finally booming”.
The shopkeepers know each other by their first names and chat over a cup of chai like old friends.
But when a customer shows up, they shrug off their friendliness and get competitive, rushing to meet him.
“Our biggest competitors are the other leather shops here; we couldn’t care less about the rest.
People who know good leather know it is only to be found here,” says S. Amjad of the Belt World store.
At a time when old businesses cannot be expected to withstand the currents of change, it is amazing that the leather show rooms on the Vepery High Road have survived to this day.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Yuimi Vashum / Chennai, April 03rd, 2013
Moving away from black, brown, tan and burgundy leathers, here is a line-up of leather products with floral and tribal art-work that will be on display at Hotel B R Mathsya, T Nagar. Designed and created by Nandini Sharma, this expo will display products like handbags, clutch purses, travel pouches, decorative boxes, executive folders, mobile pouches and photo frames.
Nandini has used a variety of materials such as leather, felt, tissue, hand-woven fabrics, decorative motifs, beads, stones and hand-painted leather appliqués, and combined them with a creative twist to make useful products for homes and offices.
The products will be on display on April 5 and 6 (Friday and Saturday) from 3 pm to 8 pm at the hotel’s conference hall and part of the proceeds will be donated for a noble cause towards the development of under-privileged women and children.
For further information, call 98410 58101.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Services – Chennai / April 04th, 2013
Teachers and students of Fatima College watching a documentary ‘Back to Tradition’ in Madurai on Tuesday. / Photo: G. Moorthy / The Hindu
The Chinese discovered a 4,000-year-old bowl of well preserved noodles made from foxtail millet and broomcorn millet at the Lajia archaeological site in 2002. Though such a discovery is yet to be made in India, it is no doubt true that the nutritious millet was once upon a time a staple diet of Indians too, says a group of students from Fatima College here.
A documentary film produced by first year postgraduate students of the English Department claims that millet lost their prime position in Indian kitchens due to excessive importance given to rice and wheat during the Green Revolution in 1960s.
The film, titled ‘Back to tradition — reviving legacy of small millet,’ was released by principal Rev. Sr. A. Jospin Nirmala Mary here on Tuesday.
Produced in association with the Centre for Development Communication of the DHAN Foundation, a non-governmental organisation here, the 12-minute documentary film highlighted how millet was superior to rice in terms of its nutritive values. Almost all millet varieties had much higher content of protein, magnesium and calcium than rice, it averred.
The students had visited rural pockets like Sengapadai, close to Thirumangalam near here, and interacted with the locals who cultivated and consumed millet as a preferred diet. They had documented rural women ruing about their urban counterparts relying excessively on electrical mixer grinders because they lacked the stamina to work on manual pounders.
“Women these days are weak because their diet does not contain nutritious millet preparations like Kammangkoozh and Kelviragu kanji,” says Ravimani, a farmer woman of Sengapadai.
Similar opinions were expressed by other villagers who cited consumption of millet to be the reason for rural people to possess the energy required for physical labour.
The students ended the documentary with a stress on the need to give back the prime place that millets once enjoyed in Indian kitchens. They also recalled with gratitude the support they received from M. Rosary Royar, Head of the Research Department of English; P. Krishnamurthi, team leader of CDC, DHAN Foundation and filmmaker T. Veerabathiran in producing the film.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cities> Madurai / by Mohamed Imranullah S. / April 17th, 2013
Seeking to give a push to the production of famous Chettinadu Kandangi sarees, Tamil Nadu Government on Wednesday said it would take steps to help weavers and help them get silk threads.
“The government would take steps to increase the production of Kandangi sarees by weavers in the state. If they come forward, the government would source silk threads to them,” state Handlooms and Textiles Minister S Sundararaj informed the Assembly.
He was replying to a query by Karaikudi MLA Cholan C T Palanichamy during the Question Hour. Palanichamy wanted to know whether the government would set up a Silk Welfare Board in Karaikudi.
Minister Sundararaj also said that the government would source silk from Bangalore and Mysore, if weavers in the state were interested.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> National / by PTI / Chennai, April 17th, 2013
Two students of Gandhigram Rural Institute, in Dindigul district’s Gandhigram village near here, have won the first prize with a cash award of Rs 40,000 at the National Student Research Convention held in Mumbai recently.
According to S. Karthigai Selvi, a Ph. D. student and M. Raj Kumar, an MCA student, their project, titled Radiological support system of brain abnormality detection from MRI Scans, was selected under the health science and allied sciences category.
The two say that the first 20 minutes is critical in a trauma care situation to save a patient. Their application could be used during such an emergency situation. When an MRI scan is done for head injuries, it could be made available through cloud computing and accessed through smart phones. The physician, using this application, can easily locate the injury and alert the supporting staff on the appropriate surgery plan, they explained.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Industry> Education / by Correspondent / Madurai, April 03rd, 2013
CHAMPION:The Mylapore Club team poses with the VGN-Prince of Arcot Trophy.— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan / The Hindu
Mylapore Club won the VGN-Prince of Arcot trophy after defeating VGN by 20 runs in the final here on Sunday. Sandeep Srinivasan scalped six for 19 as VGN, chasing a target of 122 in 20 overs, was bowled out for 102.
The 15-club tournament, which is in its fifth year now, came to a close with a prize distribution ceremony at the Amir Mahal Palace.
Prince of Arcot Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali, Chairman and Managing Directors of the VGN group, V.N. Devadoss and Pratish respectively, and former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu N. Ram gave away the prizes.
The scores:
Final : Mylapore Club 122 for seven in 20 overs (Karthik Narayanan 35, Surender two for 17, Arunai Vel two for 30) bt VGN 102 in 17.4 overs (Sridhar 35, Sandeep Srinivasan six for 19).
Semifinals : MCC 125 for eight in 20 overs (J. Harish 62, Rohan three for 27, Samrudh two for 16) lost to Mylapore Club 128 for two in 16.3 overs (Karthik Narayanan 40 n.o., Ashwin 36).
Indiranagar SC 129 for seven in 20 overs (K. Venkatesan 37, Louie Marieno 42, P. Sivakumar five for 27) lost to VGN 130 for four in 16.5 overs (E. Sivakumar 33 n.o., Vivek 51 n.o.).
Special awards: Man of the tournament : Karthik Narayanan (Mylapore Club); Best batsman : Vijay Nirmal (Presidency Club); Best bowler : P. Sivakumar (VGN); Promising youngster : D. Anchit (Mylapore); Outstanding contribution : Srinivasan (Presidency).
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sports / by Sports Reporter / Chennai, April 01st, 2013
A trade delegation from the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TNCCI) will be participating at the International Franchise Expo which would be held in New York from June 20 to 22. In wake of the preparations, Jennifer A McIntyre, consul general of the US consulate general and James Golsen, principal commercial officer from the consulate interacted with the members of the chamber on Thursday.
As many as 60 members from the chamber who are into various industry and trade will be visiting US during these days and participate in the franchise expo where 400 more companies from 100 countries are expected to participate.
Addressing the event, McIntyre said that US-India trade is expected to increase as the countries are to enter another treaty shortly. She assured help from the consulate for the members visiting the US.
Announcing various measures from the consulate to facilitate the visiting delegation, Golsen said that Mala Venkat, commercial specialist will accompany the delegation and render her expertise in the field. They will help them with entry, meetings with the desired companies, workshop and site visits. He also assured accessibility to industrialists, experts and politicians if required by the delegation. However, the delegation has to go through the regular procedures in the visa applications, Golsen said. Besides, they will organise a welcome meeting for the delegation upon returning where they can share the feedback of their visit to franchise expo, he said.
Senior president of the chamber, S Rethinavelu said that it is the first time, TNCCI is taking a delegation to the United States though they were contemplating such attempt for the last one decade.
N Jegadeesan, president of the chamber said the expo will be very helpful for entrepreneurs in Madurai. “The exposure towards 400-plus companies for franchising will be great experience and they are coming from all continents. There may be some companies in our neighbouring countries and we may not be aware of them. We can strike a deal of franchising with interested companies,” he said. The response to the delegation is overwhelming and they are planning to limit the numbers to 60. Lot of young entrepreneurs from the chamber are very eager to attend the expo, he said.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / April 05th, 2013
Pierre Fournier, Consul General of France, Puducherry, releases the Braille edition of ‘Kutti Elavarasan’ and A. Chermathai, secretary, IAB, receives the first copy at Sundararajanpatti on Wednesday /. Photo: S. James / The Hindu
‘Kutti Ilavarasan’ given away to 40 institutions across the State
“One sees clearly only with the heart because what is essential is invisible to the eye,” says a fox to the little prince in the French classic The Little Prince. True to those words, a group of children who could see everything with their hearts but nothing with their eyes had gathered at the Indian Association for the Blind (IAB) at Sundararajanpatti near here on Wednesday for the release of a Braille edition of the book translated into Tamil.
Pierrre Fournier, Consul General of France at Puducherry, released the Braille edition and A. Chermathai, secretary, IAB, received the first copy. Ms. Chermathai, 62, was among the first batch of visually challenged people who benefited from rehabilitation programmes conducted by the IAB during its inception in 1985. She worked as a government school teacher for long and associated herself with the IAB after her retirement.
The IAB was founded by S.M.A. Jinnah, a visionary who lacked the use of his eyes since the age of 13. It was administered by a managing committee comprising 13 members, six of whom were visually challenged women and three visually challenged men.
It runs a higher secondary school and assists the visually challenged in gaining education from Standard I to post-graduation. It also helps them become self-reliant and employable.
The association joined hands with United Way of Chennai, a philanthropic organisation, to start the IAB-UWC Finishing School aimed at assisting visually challenged youth seeking employment. The school was also inaugurated on Wednesday in the presence of Shyamala Ashok, Executive Director, UWC. K.N. Subramanian, Lead District Manager, Canara Bank, participated in the function and distributed CD players to visually challenged students of Standard IX.
The CD players were donated by Ability International Charitable Trust in the United States. C. Rama Subramanian, a renowned psychiatrist and also the president of IAB, said that the Braille edition of the French book, translated into Tamil with the title ‘Kutti Ilavarasan,’ would be distributed in 40 institutions, including 10 schools, 10 colleges and 10 organisations involved in rehabilitation of the visually challenged in the State.
S. Ramakrishnan of Cre-A publications in Chennai had taken the initiative to bring out the Braille edition of the book in Tamil. Appreciating the effort, the Consul General said that it was one of the greatest books of the century which almost every French citizen, including himself, knew by heart. It had been translated into more than 200 languages and around 14 crore copies of it had been sold since it was published in 1943.
“I am delighted to release the Tamil Braille edition on the 70th anniversary of the book’s publication. It is written for the child within an adult,” he said.
Mr. Subramanian applauded the work of IAB and said that it had been mandatory for all banks to provide education loans to visually challenged students who had successfully completed Standard XII. “We are also providing financial assistance to those who want to be self-employed,” he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by Special Correspondent / April 04th, 2013
Mills in Tirupur, often regarded as the knitwear hub of India, have finally reported a growth in exports for a quarterly period following nearly three years of decline.
In 2009-10 and 2010-11, exports dropped by around 20 per cent while in 2011-12, the output was generally flat. Knitwear exporters attributed the five per cent growth during the first three months of 2013 to business from several new markets that have been explored over the last 12 months.
These include Japan, South Africa, Israel and South America while there has also been a slight upturn in orders from the US.
US-based NRIs form majority that obtain birth/death certificates from Corporation.
Non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the United States are the most prolific when it comes to obtaining certificates for births/deaths recorded in Chennai.
As many as 41,300 birth certificates have been downloaded in the US, from the Chennai Corporation’s website, since September 2008.
The Corporation simplified the process of issuing birth and death certificates in 2008 by enabling downloading of the documents free of cost from any corner of the world. The number of death certificates downloaded in the US is 8,350 during the same period.
The number of NRIs availing the service has been increasing every year, an official said. Singapore has downloaded the most number of birth (14,000) and death (2,190) certificates among Asian countries.
The European country with the most downloads is the United Kingdom. As many as 6,820 NRIs in the UK have downloaded Chennai Corporation’s birth certificates and 1,130 have downloaded death certificates. Among the Gulf countries, a large number of persons from the United Arab Emirates have downloaded birth (353) and death (52) certificates.
Births and deaths have been registered, and certificates issued, in all zonal offices by birth and death registrars since January 1991. Computerised birth and death certificates too are issued in the zonal offices.
Those born in the city between 1879 and 1990, however, can get these documents issued only at Ripon Buildings. More than 1.1 lakh births and about 39,000 deaths are registered in the Chennai Corporation every year.
The civic body issues a copy of the birth or death certificate free of cost if the event is registered within 21 days of its occurrence. A late fee is collected from those who fail to register before 21 days.
Beyond 30 days, the order of the Corporation commissioner is required, in addition to the late fee, for registration of birth. If it is delayed beyond a year, the birth is registered based on orders from a judicial or metropolitan magistrate alone.
In such cases, applicants have to spend more than Rs. 2,000 for a certificate because of the legal processes involved.
Efforts are underway to improve recording of births and deaths by creating awareness on timely registration among residents.
Birth and death certificates can be obtained from http://www.chennaicorporation. gov.in/online-civic-services/ birthanddeath.htm.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Aloysius Xavier Lopez / April 14th, 2013
