Help students improve efficiency, teachers told

Corporation Mayor R. Venkatachalam on Monday asked teachers who underwent yoga training programme to use the same to mould the students into better citizens.He was speaking at the valediction of the two-week training programme for corporation school teachers conducted at Sidhapudur, Ramakrishnapuram and R.S. Puram SRP Ammani Ammal School from November 9 to 21.

The nearly 12-day training programme had brought immense benefits to teachers by in terms of rejuvenating them and to renew the energy levels and balanced emotions of the teachers.Yoga would relieve teachers of stress, keep them fresh and energetic.This should reflect in their academic work and efficiency levels so that corporation school students do better in their academics.

Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra wanted a departure from conventional education and pre set procedures.Classroom atmosphere should not be merely making the students by heart the syllabus and repeat the same at examinations and get promoted. Corporation schools get only poor students unlike private schools having affluent students.Lack of affordability should not deter a student from getting a quality education.

Deputy Mayor N. Karthik said that yoga helped teachers regain and renew their self confidence, shape up their responsibility which would go a long way in imparting quality education to students at corporation schools. Education Committee Chairman R. Kalyanasundaram said that the objective behind imparting yoga was to ensure quality life for teachers and quality education to students.

He reminded the teachers that the benefits of the yoga programme should be reflected in the pass percentage of the Corporation Schools in the coming academic year.Chief Executive of Isha Yoga J.M. Balamurugan also spoke.

Power shutdown ..

In view of the proposed maintenance works to be undertaken at the Kurichi sub-station on November 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., there will be no power supply in the following areas; Sidco, Podanur, Kurichi, one part of Malumichampatty, one part of Sundarapuram, Vellalore and Eachanari.

Write a slogon and win a trip !!

R. Harihara Subramanian, a resident of Coimbatore, has won an all-expense paid holiday trip to various European destinations from Slice, PepsiCo’s mango juice drink brand.

According to a release from the Slice, he is the first winner of its unique initiative “Slice Pure Pleasure” Holidays which gives consumers a chance to win an all expense paid holiday trip to their dream European destinations like Paris, Vienna, Greece or Venice.

To participate in this competition, the users have to complete the slogan –“Every sip of Slice takes me on a pleasure trip because …” and email it to slice.pleasureholidays@intl.pepsico.com.

Every week, three winning consumers from Tamil Nadu will get a chance to win holidays to any one of these destinations.

Special teams to augment crime detection, recovery

The City Police have formed six special teams to detect the pending cases and to increase the recovery rate from the present 62 per cent to 80 per cent before December end, said P. Sivanandi, City Police Commissioner on Wednesday.The teams would focus on two-wheeler thefts, chain/bag snatching, house breaking and resolve the pending cases.

The teams would be functioning under the direct supervision of the Deputy Commissioners of Police, P. Nagarajan (Law and Order) and N. Kamini (Crime and Traffic).Because of the visible policing and anti-chain snatching squad at over 40 places in the city, the number of incidents of two-wheeler thefts had come down to two per day as against the earlier trend of six to seven per day and incidents of chain snatching cases had come down from 25 per month to 5 per month on an average.

The city accounted for 15 lakh two-wheelers and in many instances, the police had found that the stolen two-wheelers had been used for chain snatching.Three persons S. Premkumar alias Senthilkumar (24), R. Sathishkumar (26) and Jayakumar who were involved in a number of double murder cases have been detained under Goondas Act as part of the crime prevention drive.In a bid to make the Avanashi Road six-lane traffic into a very motorist friendly system, changes are being made.Government had sanctioned funds for repainting the lanes and works would start once rain stops.

The lanes would be repainted and re-organised with the first lane next to the centre median for two-wheeler riders and second lane for cars and the third and last lane close to the road boundary for the buses to steer away at bus stops/bays.A total number of nine cameras would be fitted on the entire stretch of Avanashi Road.Efforts are on to hold discussions with the Transport Department, Transport Corporations, private bus operators, Corporation and Highways Department for shifting five bus stops on Avinashi Road that are proving to be wrongly located either close to a signal or road turning.

Once the lane painting works are completed in the next 15 to 20 days, the new lane system would be enforced.To make the roads more motorist friendly, the speed breakers at places where it was not required had been removed and in places wherever it was required, they have been redone to make it friendly and easy to manoeuvre.

No-Horn Zone

As done in developed countries and metropolitan cities, the City Police have planned to conduct a area-wise study and based on public feedback, suggestions and opinion of motorists some pockets in the city would be turned into a no- horn zone.

TVH Marathon: a show of solidarity

Unity is strength. And, citizens of Coimbatore showed their might in a fitting manner by participating in large numbers in the TVH Marathon held here on Sunday. The weather, unlike the last time around, stood good. And that paved the way for a massive turnout for the marathon specially designed for the cause of educating the girl child. Those who took part were convinced that the message reached every household loud and clear. “It is not about numbers. What really matters is the involvement and the participation. To be frank, I found it overwhelming,” said India’s Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan.

“I had played my part in a couple of marathons in the past but I am happy to see it happening right in my hometown,” added the fastest Indian in the world, who flagged off the boys’ event.Narain said it is only going to get bigger from here as the news would have spread like wildfire by this time. “It is definitely a nice way to the spread the message. The rest is bonus.”

The Race Course Road, considered a ‘Walkers Paradise,’ was closed for once to accommodate the runners. It did upset a chosen few but those who attended it considered it a great privilege to be part of this big event. With billboards and banners practically in every tree and lamppost, and the band playing loud, the entire stretch of the road wore a festive look.The atmosphere was certainly electric. And, that set the tone and the pace for both the young and the aged to last their respective distance.

R. Rajesh of Government Arts College and K. Maheswari of Southern Railway raced to gold and glory in the men’s (10 km) and women’s (5 km) section respectively.P. Dhanapriya of PSGR Krishnammal and P. Karthick of Government Boys HSS, Ondipudur, did likewise in the under-18 girls’ and boys’ section, which stretched a distance of 5 km.There were many who were initially sceptical about the safety aspect of the event as the city had never witnessed a crowd like this before.

It did worry the organisers but at the end they heaved a sigh of relief as there was no real damage done. Cine actor Surya must be convinced as well that all his people came out safe.If an event of this magnitude managed to see the safer side it was mainly due to the large support extended by both the public and the police.The marathon, after close to a two-hour excitement, culminated at the Government Arts College.The top ten winners in each of the four categories were presented with cash awards and certificates by a host of dignitaries.And, those who played their part in the success of the show were also honoured.