Radio Frequency Identification system for library books soon

Education, Science & Technologies

Beep will alert whenever a book is taken out at MKU library

The Madurai Kamaraj University library, which has a collection of three lakh printed books, will soon have a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system. Once the RFID system is put in place, each time a book is taken out of the library without proper entry, a beep would alert the librarian.

Varsity sources told The Hindu on Friday that a couple of proposals have been prepared to make the university’s Dr. T. P. M. Library a digital library and these proposals will be submitted to Vice-Chancellor Kalyani Mathivanan shortly.

“RFID will prevent incidents of stealing/theft of books from the library. Even if a person takes a book by mistake, it would alert us,” said B. Suresh, university librarian.

The library will soon get a collection of 3,016 e-books on various subjects.

He said the electronic version of textbooks will provide easy access to students and research scholars.

The university already has in its collection 8,700 e-journals procured through Infonet Consortium.

“The e-books will be useful for students of all colleges. They can download and copy in a pen drive or we will provide them with CDs,” Mr. Suresh said.

The e-books can also be accessed by university departments.

A proposal to develop a herbal garden on the library premises is also on the anvil, sources said.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by Shastry V. Mallady / February 02nd, 2013

3D model traces course of Vaigai

Science & Technologies

Artists at work on the compound walls of the Madurai Medical College in the city on Thursday. / Photo: S. James / The Hindu

A three dimensional model tracing the course of river Vaigai is being set up near Simmakkal here, ahead of ‘Maamadurai Potruvom’ celebrations scheduled on February 8, 9 and 10.

According to S. Chandran, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Thiagarajar College of Engineering, who is supervising the project, 50 per cent of the work is over and the rest will be completed in five days. Collector Anshul Mishra, who inspected the spot on Thursday, said the project had been initiated to educate the students on the Vaigai.

An exhibition containing photographs of the river, its dams and tributaries is also likely to be organised. Those who have relevant photographs can contact the secretariat, post box number: 107, 139,140 Kamarajar Salai, Teppakulam, to exhibit them.

The project, estimated at a cost of nearly Rs.4 lakh, will cover the entire stretch from where the river originates, its course, its tributaries and the place where it merges with the ocean, said Mr Chandran.

“We are also planning on a recycled water mechanism to portray the course of the river in the model,” he said.

Students from architecture and civil engineering departments of Thiagarajar College of Engineering are involved in the project, which will stay intact for two weeks.

Lighting and other decorations will adorn the model, and the place surrounding the ‘Vasantha Mandapam’ in the Vaigai, he added. The Public Works Department has also undertaken works to clean the hyacinths around the ‘Vasantha Mandapam’ and the corporation has initiated works to lay roads around the mandapam. Artists are portraying the glory of Madurai on the walls near the collectorate.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by Staff Reporter / Madurai, February 01st, 2013

Aero show attracts thousands

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technologies

  Students looking at the exhibits at Aeroplus 2013 that began in the city on Thursday. / Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu

For the thousands of children in the city who would have wished to touch aeroplanes that soar over the skies, it is a dream come true as Aero Plus 2013 was inaugurated at Nehru College of Aeronautics and Applied Sciences at Kuniamuthur on Thursday.

Being held from Thursday to Sunday, the seventh edition of this exhibition features Bell 47 GF helicopters and other single propeller aircraft such as Cessna.

A new addition is the Hawker Siddeley HS.125 1A, a twin-engine mid-size corporate jet. Going beyond just getting to see them, the children could also get to know about the thousands of components in an aircraft as the students of the college explained in detail the intricacies and engineering behind these machines.

The college has a Cessa 150 D, Lear Jet 25B, King Air C90 Beechcraft, and Bell and Enstrom f28 helicopters to provide training to its students

According to P. Krishna Kumar, chief executive officer and secretary of Nehru Group of Institutions, the objective behind the exhibition was to motivate students to take up aeronautic science and create awareness among the general public.

The institutions’ students benefit from the opportunity it provides to explain what they have learnt in the course regarding the functionality of each parts and its configuration.

Earlier, addressing the inaugural function, chief guest P. Vinodh Kumar, Regional Head (General Aviation), Air Works India Engineering, Pune, said that the aviation sector was highly interesting as it was demanding and challenging.

The company provided maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services in 12 airports in the country for business and general aviation customers.

Mr. Vinodh Kumar, himself an alumnus of the Nehru institution, said that those entering the field must be prepared to put in a lot of hard work.

R. Krishna Moorhty, Executive Director of KTVR Knowledge Park for Engineering and Technology, said that air travel was set to increase exponentially in the country.

The exhibition is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on January 31 and February 1 and between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. on February 2 and 3. There is no entry fee.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com /Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Staff Reporter / February 01st, 2013

New lease of life for temple tank

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

The Dhenupureeswarar temple at Patteeswaram, about 10 km from Kumbakonam, is a significant vestige of the period dating to 7th century AD. But the way its tank was maintained all these years showed no signs of respect for heritage.

Till recently, the supply channel to the tank remained in disuse with silt occupying most space. Whenever the need for filling the tank arose, water was drawn from a nearby borewell. Virtually, everyone became oblivious of the existence of the supply channel. Thanks to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the supply channel has now got a fresh lease of life.

Identified under the category of rejuvenation of traditional water bodies, the channel restoration work saw the utilisation of manual labour for removal of silt from the channel, which is known as Pampapadiyur channel.

Measuring 2.6 km long, the channel, used to get its supply from the Thirumalairajan river, cuts across houses in the village. So, when the district authorities began tracing the alignment of the channel, they found it a daunting task. The renovation of the channel involved dovetailing Panchayat funds with the MGNREGS. Launched in early December, the entire work was carried out in 45 days. Now, the temple tank gets water through the channel, says K. Baskaran, District Collector, with a sense of fulfilment.

To give an account of the social profile of the composition of the MGNREGS workforce at Patteeswaram, Scheduled Castes account for a little over 50 per cent of around 1,240 persons, to whom job cards have been issued.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by G. Srinivasan / Thanjavur, January 30th, 2013

Circor opens facility in Coimbatore

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies

        Wayne Robbins

Circor Flow Technologies India Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Circor International, has opened a manufacturing facility in Coimbatore with an investment of Rs.23 crore.

Wayne Robbins, Chief Executive Officer of Circor International, and Sriram Natarajan, Country Manager of Circor India, told presspersons here on Wednesday that the company started operations in India in 2009. In June 2010, it acquired the valve business of Mazda in Ahmedabad. The facility was closed in December last year.

In Coimbatore, the company had set up a 60,000 sq. ft. facility, and had space for expansion. It would produce valves mainly for the power and oil and gas sectors. About 40 per cent of the company’s production in India in 2012 was exported, and this year it was expected to be 60 per cent.

To expand the portfolio of products

The company proposed to expand the portfolio of products made in Coimbatore by including more varieties of valves. “We see growth in India in manufacturing, the market, and exports and also the services we provide,” Mr. Natarajan added. The company provided employment to nearly 150 engineers here and had fabrication, machining, assembly and testing facilities here.

Circor had manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe, Brazil and China and now in India.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Business> Companies / by Special Correspondent / Coimbatore, January 31st, 2013

First batch of Thanjavur Medical College medicos meet

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, Science & Technologies

   old memory:       Doctors of the Twin Medicos 1959 batch at a reunion in the city recently.

Fifty-four years ago, 70 students were admitted as the first batch of the Thanjavur Medical College. But with the new campus being under construction, they joined the fifth batch of the Madurai Medical College (comprising 100 students), earning the sobriquet ‘Twin Medicos’ that stuck on and got renewed at every reunion.

The two-day reunion of the ‘Twin Medicos 1959 batch’ was an informal meeting of old friends who specialise in various fields from paediatrics to geriatrics. Of the original 170, 64 made it to the 13{+t}{+h}get-together. The reunion saw the maximum participation in recent years, said Mohamed Farook, orthopaedic surgeon and member, organising committee.

The meet included a sightseeing trip to the historic Grand Anicut (Kallanai) and a group photo was taken on location.

Among the most illustrious of the classmates was V.S.Natarajan, pioneer in geriatric medicine in India, and recipient of the Padma Shri and B.C. Roy Award. He was felicitated along with recipients of the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University’s Lifetime Achievement Award and doctors who had won recognition from various medical bodies. Surgeon Dr. Zawahir presided over the meet.

Close to 10 medicos flew from America, Europe and Australia to attend the event with their families, said the organising committee members.

The medicos took home a souvenir with photographs and an update on each of their classmates. Featured among the pages were sepia tinted photographs of sharing food in the hostel mess, cultural programmes and medical college life in the 1960’s- a handy trip down memory lane.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com /Home> National> Tamil Nadu /by Staff Reporter / Tiruchi, January 30th, 2013

Rs 100 crore TNPL manufacturing unit inaugurated

Business & Economy

Chennai :

The Rs 100 crore cement manufacturing facility of Tamil Nadu Newsprint Papers Ltd  (TNPL) was formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa  here today.

She inaugurated the plant by video conferencing. The plant is the first to be set up at Kagithapuram in Karur district by TNPL using dry ash  and limestone as raw material, an official release here said.

With a capacity of producing 600 metric tonnes per day, the plant would initially recruit 300 persons, it said.

Noting that TNPL reported profits of Rs 108.94 crore for the period 2011-12, it said the dividend amount of Rs 12.22 crore was presented to Jayalalithaa by Industries Minister S P Velumani on the occasion.

source: http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com / Home> News> News By Industry> Int’g Goods/Svs / January 30th, 2013

Narain Karthikeyan Looking Set To Move IndyCar

Sports

The Indian F1 driver is in talks with a number of teams to land a position in the American single-seater racing.

The only Indian F1 driver Narian Karthikeyan is understood to have set his sights on IndyCar for the 2013 season, following the demise of the HRT racing team.

The Spanish-based HRT announced last month that the team was up for sale and was looking for a new buyer.

However, the racing team could not find any takers and eventually failed to cough up the entry fees for the 2013 season by the said deadline.

Veteran racer Pedro de la Rosa and Indian Narain Karthikeyan  were HRT’s drivers last season, but both finished in the bottom two of the drivers’ standings.

So, now with F1 plans on hold, the 36-year old Narian Karthikeyan is having preliminary talks with a  number of teams, including Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport to land a position in the American single-seater racing for the 2013 season.

“Up until now, the focus has been on F1, but now is the time to look seriously at alternatives. I want to continue to race single-seaters and, outside of F1, IndyCar is the best option,” Karthikeyan said.

The racing driver has a partial budget to bring from longtime sponsor Tata Motors and said he could strike a deal with an IndyCar team if there’s an opportunity that would provide sufficient preparation.

“Getting a test would be a good first step and a chance to adapt to the car and see where we are. I know there aren’t dozens of paid IndyCar drives, but it’s a big series and it’s growing, so there’s the chance to race professionally after the first year. We’re still just talking for now,” Karthikeyan further added.

Outside of F1, Karthikeyan has previously raced in NASCAR Trucks in 2012, where he made a total of nine appearance and a 11th position at the Texas Texa Motor Speedway went down as his best result.

Though there is big difference in NASCAR and IndyCar, the fastest Indian drives hopes the oval racing experience he has under his belt will do him good.

source: http://www.leadindianews.com  / Home / Monday, January 28th, 2013

Foreigners love doses of Indian culture

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, World Opinion

Chennai:

 “I don’t comprehend the language but the exquisite expressions and graceful movements of the Bhara­tanatyam dancers have captivated me,” says Alan Smith, a visitor from USA.

Like him, over 300 foreigners join a number of locals in flocking to watch a performance at the Mahab­ali­puram Shore Temple, venue of the Indian classical dance festival. A plea from various quarters for a running commentary in English for the benefit of international audience has not materialised this year too. Tamil Nadu Tourism Develop­ment Corporation have still managed to come up with a rewarding experience for foreigners.

“This time we honoured with a shawl foreigners who attend the festival all days. We encourage them to give away certificates to the artistes,” a senior TTDC official said.

Marina Arkell from London has been a regular visitor to this month-long festival, which draws to a close on Sunday. Moved by her attachment to Bharatnatyam and Tamil Nadu folk arts, TTDC’s managing director Hemant Kumar Sinha honoured her with a shawl and memento. Like her, Leomie Sechk­elaar and Marjoe Roze from Holland have also been watching the events daily. “It is the great culture and tradition of Tamil Nadu that has been attracting me to this festival since the last two decades,” Dalach from Israel.

“The annual dance festival is attracting foreigners and domestic tourists alike, in large numbers, and we have received many repeat visitors from London, Holland, Russia and France,” an  official said. About 1,500-2,000 persons flock to the venue in weekends and sit enthr­alled watching the intricate footwork and elaborate abhinaya of dance.  The festival has been attracting top dancers who have won the coveted Padma Kalai­mamani awards. About 8,000 foreigners were said to have patronised the festival last year as opposed to 7,800 in 2011.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC, J.V. Siva Prasanna Kumar / January 25th, 2013

3D model of Vaigai to adorn Madurai festival

Science & Technologies

Madurai :

A three-dimensional model of the Vaigai river , measuring 100m is being readied capturing the river from its origin to confluence. Once the model is ready, one need not travel the entire length of the river that originates from Periyar lake and travels through numerous villages in five districts in the state and empties into the Palk Strait in Ramanathapuram, to witness its beauty.

The 3D model is to be constructed as a part of ‘Maamadurai Potruvom’, a three-day festival planned from February 8 to 10, to celebrate the rich heritage and tradition of the temple city. Celebrating the contribution of Vaigai is one of the three key aspects of the festival.

The model of the river would be constructed similar to the models of jallikattu, elephants and west gate of the Madurai fort that are being unveiled in the city. Talking about the preparation for the construction, S Chandran, associate professor, civil engineering department of Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TCE), who is one of the experts roped in for the project, said the model would be built with inputs from architectural experts.

“The place for the construction has been identified at Albert Victor Bridge near Goripalayam. Work will commence from Saturday. We hope that the construction would be completed in a week’s time. At present, cleaning of the place is being carried out,” he said.

Besides Chandran, G Balaji, head, department of architecture, TCE and C P Mohan Kumar, assistant engineer, public works department are also part of the team. “More experts and students of architecture from TCE would be roped in for the construction,” said a district administration official.

“In addition to the 3D model of the river covering the entire 298-km in 100m, rare photographs of the river would be on display for the public. Digital banners consisting information about the river and messages to preserve it would also be displayed,” the official said.

It is also planned to allow the students from government and government-aided schools to visit the model on the first day of the three-day programme. While the second day would be allotted to students from other private schools, it would be open for the public on the third day. If the situation demands, it would be kept open for three more days for the public, he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Madurai / by V. Devanathan, TNN / January 25th, 2013