Shoulder surgery workshop

To create awareness about shoulder surgery and improve the skills of the surgeons in India, an Indo-US shoulder course will be held at Coimbatore on October 25 and October 26.

Organised by Ortho One, a Coimbatore-based orthopedic specialty care centre, the two-day course will include shoulder replacement, articular surface replacement, arthroscopy and shoulder rehabilitation workshop. Founder and chairman of Ortho One, Dr David Rajan said, "Shoulder injuries especially cuff injuries are common among athletes in various sports like cricket, tennis, volleyball, basketball, golf, etc. About a decade back, joint surgeries usually meant knees. Now, shoulder surgery is gaining prominence." Still the number of shoulder surgeons is very less as compared to western countries like US, where each city has at least two surgeons specialising in shoulder injuries, he added.

Hospitality education seminar

Two international hospitality schools will jointly organise a hospitality education seminar here on September 1. According to a release, the Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, and Glion Institute of Higher Education, both based in Switzerland, will offer Indian students a chance to get to know about their courses. Both the institutions offer hospitality education through a combination of hands-on exercises designed to instil management competencies, a range of academic subjects in general education, and professional internships. Programmes in hotel management, entertainment management, food and beverage management, and also programmes in marketing and finance will be offered. Interested students can attend the seminar at The Coimbatore Club at 5.30 p.m.

Median work starts at Avinashi road

The State Highways Department has commenced the preliminary work for a median on Avanashi Road from the flyover till Bypass Road.The median is to prevent motorists from cutting across the road at their will resulting in accidents and traffic jam in peak hours.

The 16-km stretch of Avanashi Road from the flyover till Neelambur bypass road was widened into a six-lane road by the State Highways Department recently at a cost of Rs. 27 crore.The road is the busiest road in the City as it has a large number of corporate houses, industrial units, hospitals, colleges and hotels on either side of the road besides being the only approach road to the airport from the city.

Avanashi Road happens to be the gateway to vehicles coming from and bound for Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Chennai and even Bangalore. The road has been facing tremendous pressure. Hence it was widened into a six-lane road.The highways authorities had called for expression of interest from corporate houses to sponsor advertisements on the median.Meanwhile, a court ruling went against hoardings and advertisements.Following a request from the highways and the district administration, the Government sanctioned Rs. 3 crore.

The tender process is over and pre-casting of concrete blocks for construction of the median has begun at the yard. Earth work too has commenced.The median will cover about a 10-km stretch.

Waste managment programe on track

The Rs.96-crore Integrated Solid Waste Management Scheme of the Coimbatore Corporation is well on course, according to Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra.“The scientific closure of accumulated waste at the compost yard at Vellalore was on and the work on creating a landfill site for the disposal of non-biodegradable waste is over,” the Commissioner said. The works to establish a facility to convert biodegradable waste into manure had begun. Two out of the four transfer stations had been completed.

Garbage collected from houses or shops would first be offloaded at the transfer stations. From there, it would be taken to the Vellalore yard.The works were on from two ends – primary collection and disposal – because both should be in place if waste disposal had to be complete.The purpose of segregating waste at source would be defeated if the composting and landfill facilities were not established. At the same time, disposal would become difficult if waste was not segregated at the point of generation (houses and commercial establishments).

Therefore, the Corporation had already created nine model wards in the city to try out source segregation. Bins to biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste separately had been distributed and conservancy workers assigned to these wards had been trained to propagate the message of segregation.

“The first phase of awareness creation the model wards is over. We plan to intensify it with volunteers from schools and colleges,” the Commissioner said. “The model wards are a testing ground for the scheme. We intend to identify the problems in the implementation of all components of the scheme and rectify these. In three to four months from now, we will launch an intensive drive in the other 63 wards in the city,” he said.

The Corporation had tied up with the Karl Kubel Institute of Development Education at Mangarai near the city to provide orientation to conservancy workers.

Railways continue to neglet coimbatore !!

The Railway Passengers Association, Coimbatore, has criticised the demand for a new railway zone by carving out major portions from the existing Southern Railway region with headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram.

A release from S. Vaidyanathakrishnan, secretray of the association said that such a move if materialises will go against the interests of Tamil Nadu and reduce the status of Southern Railways.Mr. Vaidyanathakrishnan said the functioning of Nilgiris Mountain Railway was now affected because of poor track maintenance and frequent engine failures.He said funds should be allocated to maintain the heritage status of the railway system.Coimbatore, the largest revenue earner next to Chennai in Southern Railway continues to remain neglected. Coimbatore, which was under the Podanur railway district was merged with the newly-formed Olavakkod Division (now Palghat Division). Divisional Headquarters was located on Palakkad despite the availability of infrastructure at Podanur.

Mr. Vaidyanathakrishnan said that Coimbatore had been omitted from the list of model stations announced in the recent Railway Budget.The new railway division at Salem too is neglected. Coimbatore Junction lacks space, terminal facilities and coach maintenance.No new trains were being introduced and even the existing trains were being extended to destinations in Kerala.

Mr. Vaidyanathakrishnan wanted to know why the Thiruvananthapuram – Palakkad Amritha Express was not being extended up to Coimbatore. The demand to introduce night trains to Chennai and Coimbatore is yet to be fulfilled.The Podanur Station should be developed into a terminus by making use of the land available, he said. The railways should reclaim the unused land which were being encroached upon.North Coimbatore railway station should be developed into a satellite station by getting land from Food Corporation of India. Land of NTC should be procured to extend the yard facilities.

The doubling work between Coimbatore and Irugur should be expedited.More funds should be provided to expedite the gauge conversion work between Coimbatore and Dindigul.The other demands included introduction of a circular railway along the peripheral areas of Coimbatore and running of more local trains between Coimbatore – Mettuppalayam and Coimbatore – Erode and including Coimbatore in the list of proposed model stations.

Will Mysore Airport pose threat to CBE airport ?

The Mysore airport may be ready for operation next month. But it could be an airport without aircraft landing or taking off. The inauguration inched closer with the Airports Authority of India planning to ask the DGCA to send a team to inspect the site at Mandakalli. Tentatively, the DGCA could visit Mysore in the first week of September.

This comes amid CM B S Yeddyurappa’s Sept 15 deadline for the authorities to complete Phase I and operationalise the airport during Dasara festivities. But airlines are still far from sure of Mysore’s potential. So far, no airline has charted out any flight-path to Mysore.

“The market situation does not make it feasible for us to operate flights to destinations that we are unsure of,” said one airline official. Airline and government sources told TOI that the state government was approaching various airlines and pushing them to start flight operations to Mysore on the opening day. Sources said that the government wants airlines to operate a Bangalore-Mysore flight. Airlines, however, say that such a flight is not feasible. “It is pointless to have a flight from Mysore to Bangalore as the time of travel by air (including the landing and take-off time) will be less than 30 minutes,” said a senior official of a full service airline. It will also take at least one hour to get to the Bangalore airport from the city and passengers would have to arrive one hour before the departure.

But Capt G R Gopinath, seen as the father of low-cost aviation in India, differs. He says a Mysore-Bangalore flight will get enough traffic for an airline to break even. “The current traffic to Nanjangud, Madikeri and Ooty use the Coimbatore airport, which can be now serviced by the Mysore airport. Mysore gets a lot of traffic from Maharashtra and Gujarat.”

Yarnex 2009 !

In the face of growing competition from around the world, more and more Indian manufacturers of apparel and home textiles are moving up the value chain,” said Mr. P. Krishnamurthy, CEO, S S Media & Marketing, Bangalore, organizers of the show. “This is a direct reflection of consumers’ demand in India and overseas for higher quality and value added products.” Weavers in this belt have already appreciated the announcement of a tailor-made show for yarn products instead of including yarn as a small sub-segment as part of a larger trade show.

A major highlight at the show will be the ‘Capacity Enhancement Workshop Series for the Textile and Clothing Enterprises’ titled ‘Building Competitiveness through Value Addition.’ To be held on the second day of the show i.e. Saturday, September 5, 2009 between 09:45am and 1:30pm, the program will be conducted in two sessions.’

The first part will be titled ‘Assistance for Apparel Value Chain Enrichment – New Government Schemes for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.The second session will discuss ‘Avenues for Moving up in the Value Chain with Traditional Textiles and Clothing Segments.’ The sessions will be addressed by well-known personalities from the government, academic and industrial segments.

Yarnex 2009 comes from the house of S S Media & Marketing, organizers of the Fabrics & Accessories Trade Show, an event that is held yearly in Bangalore. The show recently completed its sixth successful year in a row.

Water quality monitoring at major river basins

Central Water Commission (CWC) under Ministry of Water Resources monitors water quality at the key locations covering all the major river basins of the country. It has a three-tier laboratory system for analysis of the parameters for monitoring.The Level – I laboratories are located at 258 field water quality-monitoring stations on major rivers of India. The physical parameters such as temperature, colour, odour, specific conductivity, total dissolved solids, pH and dissolved oxygen of river water are observed in these laboratories.

The Level-II laboratories located at 24 selected divisional headquarters to analyse 25 physico-chemical characteristics and bacteriological parameters of the river water. The Level–III/II+ laboratories are located at 4 places namely Varanasi, Delhi, Hyderabad and Coimbatore. 41 parameters including heavy elements/toxic parameters and pesticides are analysed periodically in these laboratories.

CWC computerizes the data generated in the Data base system and disseminates in the form of Hydrological Year Book and Status Reports. Water Quality yearbooks are published and water quality bulletins also issued regularly.

CET for MBA programme in AU

Candidates who have applied for admission to the MBA programme of the Anna University, Coimbatore, under ‘other category’ should appear for the Anna Common Entrance Test on August 29.

According to a release from the university, they should report to the School of Management Studies at 10 a.m. for the test. Part-time MBA core and full-time MBA in airport and airline management, banking and insurance management, retail and supply chain management and international business management are being offered

Enrolment for health insurance scheme begins

District Collector P. Umanath launched the enrolment of beneficiaries for the State Government’s health insurance scheme at Pollachi on Friday.A press release from the district administration said the Government had tied up with Star Health Insurance to provide a cover of Rs.1 lakh for a period of four years for the treatment of 51 types of ailments that included heart and kidney disorders.

People with an annual family income of Rs.72,000 could avail themselves of this scheme. The release said 7.8 lakh families in the district would benefit from this scheme.A press release from the Collectorate said the enrolment of 305 families began at Okkilipalayam Village in the Pollachi sub-division of the district. Of these families, 194 were already under a social security scheme for farmers.Enrolment camps began at Valparai on Friday.

More camps

The district administration said in an earlier press release that the insurance company would conduct camps at various places in the district to enable people to enrol for the insurance benefit.At a meeting convened by District Collector P. Umanath on Monday to discuss the implementation of the scheme, it was said that the beneficiaries could enrol at the camps by furnishing identification cards provided to them by the welfare boards (those for farmers or unorganised sector workers) in which they were members.

These people could use the identity cards given by the welfare boards till the insurance firm issued its cards. Those who were not members of any workers’ welfare boards should obtain a salary certificate from the Village Administrative Officer(VAO), furnish their ration cards and submit a filled-in insurance application.Those who did not possess a ration card would have to produce any other identity proof.

Committees

All the beneficiaries should come to the camps with their family members and get photographed for enrolment. The insurance company had formed 60 committees to carry out the enrolment in the district.The administration had asked the insurance company to have a number of committees for the enrolment as the district was huge.The State Government had taken particular care in ensuring that the applications were easy to fill in, a press release issued by the Collectorate said.

Space had been provided in the application itself for a declaration on the salary. The VAO needed to only sign on it.The Collector told officials that they should be very clear during the camps that the names of children, not mentioned in ration cards, could be included in the insurance scheme after a certification by the Village Administrative Officer or the elected head of local bodies.

The administration had initiated the forming of committees comprising VAOs, Village Assistants and welfare workers in villages to co-ordinate the task of enrolment. Similar committees would be formed in the city corporation limits also.Special Gram Sabhas would be held on August 30 to discuss the scheme.

Information campaign

The Collector said an intensive information campaign would be carried out in village panchayats, town panchayats, municipalities and corporation areas on the camps to be held in these areas.Handbills and posters would comprise the other forms of information campaign.

Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency to work with sago units

The Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA) will work with the sago units in Namakkal and Rasipuram areas to help them install biogas plants.Chairman and managing director of TEDA R. Christodas Gandhi said about 100 units in the belt had already installed biogas plants. Another 50 proposed to invest in similar projects. “We have already started talks with them,” he said here on Friday, inaugurating a two-day conference on “Renewable Energy in Pulp and Paper Mills” organised by the Indian Agro and Recycled Paper Mills’ Association.

A.K. Dhussa, director in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, explained that there were two aspects to these projects. One was production of biogas from industrial waste and the other was power generation from biogas. The Union Government provided Rs. 50 lakh subsidy for production of 12,000 cubic metre of gas (one MW equivalent) and Rs. 1 crore subsidy for generation of one MW from the biogas. The region had about 450 sago industries and the potential for energy production from the waste in these units was 60 MW. Mr. Gandhi suggested that the agency could work with the paper industry too to help the sector tap the renewable energy potential. “We can work together regarding investment patterns, technology and consultancy.”

The solar energy scenario in the country would explode with the implementation of the Solar Mission.In Tamil Nadu about 25 per cent of the total energy generation was from wind. The shortage of 20 to 30 per cent faced now could be made up by tapping the potential in solar.The State Governments were likely to come out with their policies for solar energy after the Centre announced the Solar Mission, he said.

Mr. Dhussa said the pulp and paper industry had the potential to generate nearly 60 MW from industrial waste. The units generated solid and liquid waste. The solid waste could be burnt and power could be generated from the liquid waste through biomethanation. Technology and Government support was available for this.The units would save on the waste treatment cost. During the last three years, nearly 45 biomass gasifier projects with nearly 60 MW thermal capacity and 20 gasifier projects for power generation had been installed in the country.

K.G. Foundation awards for doctors

The K.G. Foundation would give away on August 31 the Dynamic Indian of the Millennium Award to five doctors, in recognition of their contributions in their areas of speciality.

Those chosen for the award are: Valluvan Jeevanandam, heart transplant surgeon and chief of the Department of Cardio-thoracic Surgery at the University of Chicago; Ramakanta Panda, Vice-Chairman and cardio-vascular thoracic surgeon at Asian Heart Institute; Krishna S. Iyer, Director of the Department of Paediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery at Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre; Anil Gangadhar Tendolkar, cardio-thoracic surgeon of Prince Aly Khan Hospital and Anil Kumar Mulpur, Vice-President and Clinical Director at Narayana Hrudayalaya Malla Reddy Hospital in Hyderabad. A press release from K.G. Hospital Chairman G. Bakthavathsalam said the award was being presented to mark the centenary year of the K.G. Group of Institutions. He said the K.G. Eye Hospital had done 90,000 free surgeries and the K.G. Hospital had done 650 free heart surgeries.

Provogue ventures into real estate !

Sources tell that Provogue, the retail player is looking to foray in its residential development sector. 20-40% of the land from Prozone, which is into mixed use development projects, will be converted and used for housing development.

Liberty International, which is Provouge’s partner for these mall destinations, will continue to remain the partner even for the housing development part of it, now in the Prozone project it could probably be the first one to see residential development to take place, one of the reasons is that retailers have downsized their rental space demand in these malls. So the company has a lot of property which can be developed for other users and plus residential projects always deliver on a faster turnaround basis. The company says that it is indeed working on a residential development plan although nothing concrete has been decided yet.

The first Prozone is expected to become operational by May 2010 in Aurangabad. There are other projects which have been developed for companies like Indore, Coimbatore, Nagpur and interestingly Jaipur and Lucknow which are two main projects for Provouge. So Prozone Mall destinations have been shelved for a while and the company is exploring other options as to how it can use this land further.

Planters wary over labour shortage, rising cost !

Acute labour shortage, increasing social cost and the future implications of Asean free trade agreement have dampened the spirits ofthe planters notwithstanding the good time the plantation industry is having in the last one year.

With the planters having lot of woes relating to labour shortage and implementation of Minimum Wages Act, Union minister for labour and employment, Mallikarjun Kharge is expected to be present as the chief guest at the 116th annual conference of Upasi, which would be held at Coonoor on September 15.

A full day session on commodities, where the latest technological and scientific advancements in the plantation sector would be showcased, is expected to precede the conference.“Tea, coffee, cardamom and rubber plantations are doing better now after eight years of suffering. I think the next 4 to 5 years will also be good for us,” said United Planters’ Association of Southern India (Upasi) president and Jay Shree Tea & Industries managing director DP Maheshwari.

Upasi chief told the predominant cause for worry in the Indian plantation sector is the acute shortage of labour. “Half of our labourers have migrated to other industries despite good wages. So, we are now trying to find some solution by mechanising certain jobs,” he added.Maheshwari said the increasing social cost is also affecting the industry. “Today, the prices have gone up and so we are able to absorb it. But if the prices come down, then the industry will be in doldrums,” he added. For example, he said, the social cost per kg of tea amounts to Rs 8 to Rs 10.

He said, the government should intervene and give some relief to the planters. “The fixation of minimum wages without any rationale is a political move. The Minimum Wages Act came into play in the unorganised sector. But we are doing negotiations for the past 15 years and this industry does not need Minimum Wages Act,” he added.

He said Kerala enforced the Act and Tamil Nadu followed the suit. Another impediment facing the plantation sector is the Asean free trade agreement, which will bring down the import duties from the current 100% to 45% by 2019 for certain items like tea, coffee and black pepper.

Ullas Menon, secretary general of Upasi said the reduction in import duties would put lot of pressure on local planters.With added social cost and lesser import duties, the domestic plantation industry will suffer,” he added., when spoke to the labour unions in Nilgiris, the workers seem to be a lot happier now. “There are no problems now as the plantations are paying us the minimum wage of Rs 115.50 per day. Our only concern is the poor medical facilities available in the plantation,” said INTUC Plantation Workers’ Union general secretary VK Raju.

IAS Training Center propost at BU !

Bharathiar University here proposed to start an IAS training centre, its Vice-chancellor Dr C Swaminathan said today.With the proposal of an intake of 100 students, the versity would hold discussions with IAS Academy in Chennai on August 28 on modalities for beginning the centre, Swaminathan, told reporters, after assuming the charge.

On monitoring over 200 affiliated colleges, he said that a flying squad would be created in the university, which would carry out surprise checks in these coleges on infrastructure, availability of faculty and other amenities.The university would also strictly monitor ragging activities and take stringent action against erring students and colleges.New students, who are apprehensive of ragging would be given counselling, so that they can attend colleges without fear, he said.

Swaminathan also said that more attention would be paid for formulating 'need-based curriculum' and extending routine training to teachers.

Lane system from Sep.15th on Avinashi Road !

P. Sivanandi, Inspector-General of Police, who took charge as City Police Commissioner on Thursday, said that lane system would be implemented on the newly-widened Avanashi Road with effect from September 15. Inspector-General of Police, West Zone, Pramod Kumar was holding charge as City Police Commissioner till date from July 31.

Mr. Sivanandi on promotion was posted as Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore City and was transferred within a few weeks because of the Election Commission norms. Talking to reporters, Mr. Sivanandi added that adequate policemen would be posted on Avanashi Road to sort out teething problems and to ensure lane discipline. There would be vigil at signals to trap violators.

Similarly, visible policing would be sustained and reaching people at doorsteps with FIR copies would be given impetus, he said.

Events today at kovai !

Religion

Sadhana Sadhan: Devotional music, Sadhan premises, 11 a.m.

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan: Upanyaasam, Velukkudi Krishnan, Sri Rama Doodhan, Bhavan’s auditorium, 6.30 p.m.

Chaturmasya Sankalpa Seva Committee: Discourse, Bhandrakeri Mutt Swamijee, 1 A, 4th street, Tatabad, 8 a.m.; Discourse, Sri Raghavendraswamy Temple, Sullivan Street, 6 p.m.

Thiruvasaga Punidhar Peravai: Thiruppugazh Isai classes, Kurundham Ezhilgnanavazhipattu Thirukootam, 12th Cross Street West, New Thillai Nagar, Vadavalli, 6 p.m.

Arsha Vidya Gurukulam: Classes on Bhagavad Gita, Vidya Vikasini School, 6 p.m.

General

Kasthuri Sreenivasan Trust: Spectrum 2009 series, exhibition of paintings, Trust premises,

9.30 a.m.

The Coimbatore Productivity Council: Training, Team building and leadership skills, conference hall, Race Course, 9.30 a.m.

EEPC India Southern Region: Seminar, Trade Agreements between India and Neighbouring Countries and Emerging Business Opportunities, C. Rajendiran, Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax, chief guest, The Residency,

10 a.m.

Organising Committee: Conference, Renewable Energy in Pulp and Paper Mills, R.C. Gandhi, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency, chief guest, The Residency, 11 a.m.

COINDIA: Seminar, Computational Fluid Dynamics, COINDIA complex, 9 a.m.

Karpagam University: Lecture, Marketing Strategies to New Liberalised Economy, university premises, 3.15 p.m.

Avinashilingam University for Women: Course, Legal literacy for tribal women, Thondamuthur Block, 10 a.m.

Sree Narayana Guru College: Session, Social and Communication Skills, college premises, 10.30 a.m.

Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology: Lecture, Employers’ expectations, college premises, 2 p.m.

Sri Krishna Arts and Science College: Intra-departmental exhibition, college premises,

10.30 a.m.

Dr. G.R. Damodaran College of Science: CEO’s words series, college premises, 10 a.m.; Workshop, Out of Home Advertisements, 10 a.m.

Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science: KnockiT, college premises, 9.30 a.m.

KGiSL-IIM: Seminar, Environment and You, institute premises,

12 noon

SNMV College of Arts and Science: Inauguration, Associations of Commerce, college premises, 11 a.m.

CSI Bishop Appasamy College of Arts and Science: Seminar, Ethical Hacking, college premises, 10.30 a.m.

RVS College of Arts and Science: Free blood grouping and blood pressure check up camp, college premises, 9.15 a.m.; Lecture, Microprocessor and Microcontroller, 1.30 p.m.

Dr. SNS Rajalakshmi College of Arts and Science: Lecture, Recent Trends in IT, college premises, 10 a.m.

Maharaja Arts and Science College: Red Ribbon Club orientation programme, college premises, 10 a.m.

V.L.B. Janakiammal College of Arts and Science: Workshop, Blackberry, college premises,

10 a.m.

PSG College of Technology: Workshop, Quality Tools for Sustainable Growth in Apparel Industry, college premises, 9.30 a.m.; Conference, Intelligent and Efficient Electrical Systems,

10 a.m.

Sri Jayendra Saraswathy Maha Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science: Onam celebrations, college premises, 10.30 a.m.

Christ the King Polytechnic College: Silver jubilee celebrations, alumni meet, college premises, 2 p.m.

Dr. N.G.P. Arts and Science College: Inter-departmental meet, college premises, 10 a.m.

Kalaivani College of Technology: Faculty Development Programme, college premises, 10.30 a.m.

Hindusthan College of Arts and Science: Seminar, A Glimpse of Indian Banking, college premises, 2 p.m.

National Model MHSS: Dramatics, school premises, school premises, 10 a.m.

Bharathi MHSS: Annual Sports Meet, school premises, 8.30 a.m.

Rotaract and Interact Clubs: Installation, Divyodaya Hall, 6 p.m.

Coimbatore Lions Club: Training workshop, Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Raja Street, 2.45 p.m.

All India Central Government Pensioners’ Association: Meeting, Ramana Gounder Poovathal Thirumana Mandapam, Mettupalayam Road,

9 a.m.

ISKCON: Self development course, ISKCON premises, 6 p.m.

Organising Committee: Lecture, Right to Information Act, Annamalai Hall, 4.30 p.m.

Kairali: Onam fair, Kairali showroom, near Saibaba Temple, Mettupalayam Road,

10 a.m.

Gujarat Handloom Handicrafts Emporium: Exhibition and sale, Jeyam Hall, Race Course, 10 a.m.

Contemporary art institue to open up !

Every so often, artists such as S.H. Raza, Anjolie Ela Menon and Satish Gujral have registered their protest on the lack of proper art appreciation courses in colleges. Concerns have been articulated - minus any results. In such a scenario, an energetic Rajshree Pathy appears as a ray of hope.

Rajshree, an art collector for over 25 years and a businesswoman from Coimbatore, recently co-sponsored the India Art Summit, Delhi's biggest and so far most impressive art fete. She is to also open an art institute and museum of contemporary art under the Coimbatore College of Contemporary Art (COCCA). She has named the entire venture Contemplate.

Says Rajshree, also a design enthusiast: "These are coming up where my textile mill used to be. The art institute will have post-graduate, under-graduate and short certificate courses. We will have a world-class faculty, including those from abroad, and will focus on all kinds of media separately - visual art, video, audio, digital, new media, et al."Not only that, the courses would also include interesting topics such as 'weaving spirituality in art' and have special focus on craft.

Alive and interactive

The museum will display works of contemporary artists. To begin with, it will have works mounted from her own collection, from Raza to Rameshwar Broota and Souza to Chintan Upadhyay. The museum, asserts Rajshree, "would not be a dead place with two visitors at a time". It would hold interactions with the artists whose works are displayed, discussions, seminars and guidance. The works of contemporary artists from other countries would also be featured regularly. .

Big plans, big stakes and a big venue. What would be the biggest draw in a city that is barely introduced to art, especially in terms of art galleries? Rajshree replies rather contemplatively, "Coimbatore is a university area with over 100,000 students. It is peaceful - a must to think and produce art."

Moreover, the course fees, she promises, will be "very affordable". "My intention is to spread awareness of art to the masses. Today, our students don't even know who Raja Ravi Varma is, forget contemporary artists. On the other hand, abroad, even small children are aware of Picasso. This is because art teaching has not been taken seriously at the primary level. We have IT, engineering and medical colleges, but how many art institutes do we have? There is nothing called art journalism in India. Courses on art as a business, how to curate art shows, art appreciation and its aesthetics; there is so much to explore for an art student."

Discussions on affiliation with foreign faculties are on, and Contemplate is likely to be "fully operational" by 2011. "With a residential programme as an added feature, we also plan to expand to other cities," says a smiling Rajshree.

Runaway boy restored to parents

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel at the Coimbatore Railway Junction on Wednesday restored a 11-year-old boy who ran away from his home to his parents.According to Railway Protection Force, Sub-Inspector, R. Muthusamy and Head Constable George spotted the boy Rahul Singh on the platform at Coimbatore Junction on Tuesday morning.The boy knew only English, Telugu and Hindi.

The RPF personnel managed to get his phone number and informed the parents in Hyderabad.The boy’s father Janardhanan Singh along with his wife came to Coimbatore and took his son from the RPF personnel who took care of him for the last 28 hours.

FMSCI National raching championship !

The third round of the Rolon FMSCI National Racing Championship will be held here this weekend with 100 riders from various parts of the country fighting it out for top honours.
The qualifying sessions will be held on Aug 29 and the main races the next day.

The championship would feature two races and non-championship Honda support races will have two in the 125 cc and one race in the 150 cc lass.The championship has six classes -- two in expert category, one in intermediate, two in the novice and one in the moped category. Experts will compete in the group B4 stroke 130 top 165 cc and FIM 600 cc 4-stroke super bikes classes.

P Karthik of Team TVS racing leads the championship table in group B 4 stroke 130 to 160 CC lass with 38 points, K Rajini heads the table with 38 points in Group A FIM 600 cc super bikes 4-stroke.In the Open class, Harry Sylvester is in the lead with 20 points, while Tharun Raj with 34 points leads the Intermediate class.

TNAU entered MoU with BPCL !

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University here has entered into an MoU with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Mumbai for jointly undertaking sugarcane development activities in East and West Champaran districts of Bihar.The HPCL plans to set up the first of its kind project, which would convert sugarcane juice directly into ethanol in the sugar mills viz. Sugauli and Lauriya, Dr S Jeyaraman, Director, Centre for Soil and Crop Management studies of the University said in a release today.

The Rs 70 lakh integrated project involves the sugar factories for manufacture of white plantation sugar from 50 per cent mixed juice, thereby making available entire bagasse for co-gen power plant and balance 50 per cent mixed juice and molasses generated during manufacture of sugar for the ethanol plant, he said.

The project is envisaged to have a crushing capacity of 3,500 tonnes per day at Sugauli and Lauriya in a location which has ample production of sugarcane in the vicinity.The project included setting up of a 60 kilo litre per day distillery unit for producing ethanol for captive utilisation and sharing to other oil marketing companies, along with a 20 MW co-generation plant where surplus power would be exported, Jeyaraman informed.

BSNL to supply Free SIM cards

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Coimbatore has announced free supply of mobile prepaid Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards i.e., Tamil Nadu Vasantham and Tamil Nadu Anant.

Top-up voucher

Subscribers while availing themselves of the free SIM cards should purchase minimum top-up voucher for Rs 55 and get talk time for Rs 55.The offer is valid up to August 31 , a release from the BSNL said. Prospective customers should contact the BSNL authorised franchisees and retailers. Top-up coupons at lower denominations for Rs. 10 and Rs. 20 have been introduced with effect from August 20.

Twenty per cent additional talk time is allowed to the recharge vouchers and top-up coupons of maximum retail price of Rs. 550 and above.This offer is also valid till August 31, the release said.

Dalmia extend its Institute of Construction !

Dalmia Cement will extend its Institute of Construction to Coimbatore city this year, said its Chief Executive Officer and Wholetime Director, T. Venkatesan.

Addressing presspersons here after the distribution ofcertificates to the second batch of students of the Dalmia Institute of Construction here on Monday, Mr. Venkatesan said that the institute, started as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, has proved its mettle, through its six-month certificate course in the last two batches.Placement to the trainees was guaranteed and all the trainees had been recruited as ‘Quantity Surveyors’ and ‘Site Supervisors’ by various design and construction organisations.

He said that based on its success in Tiruchi, Dalmia Cement has planned to start a similar institute in Coimbatore. It has also been planned to impart training to 100 persons every year through each institute.He attributed the immediate placement prospects for the trainees to the serious scarcity of skilled supervisors or workers in construction industry.Intensive training including practical sessions at construction sites; training on spoken English and conversational Hindi have proved an added advantage for the trainees.

He said that the new batch would undergo the free training from September. Candidates who had completed the polytechnic or Plus Two course would be eligible for admission. Preference would be given for women candidates.On the company’s new projects, Mr. Venkatesan said that its new plant at Ariyalur, with a production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes, would be readied within a couple of months.

The Assistant Executive Director (Marketing) Antony Joseph, said that practical sessions helped the trainees understand the proper use of construction materials.The Executive Director, Dalmiapuram Unit, J. V. Gungune was among those who were present.Three trainees, in their feed-back, spoke on the advantages of the certificate programme which created a sense of confidence in them in material and manpower management.

CCI aksed to setup sale depots !

The textile ministry has asked Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to set up sale depots at Coimbatore and Madurai in Tamil Nadu in order to control the rise in the raw material price, Speaking at the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of Southern India Mills Association (Sima) at SITRA auditorium here on Saturday, the Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran said CCI would set up sale depots in Tamil Nadu in the coming 2009-10 cotton season itself (October-September) .

The depots will store cotton bales from producing states like Gujarat and Maharashtra and sell them to local mills. The minister expected the measure to benefit the local mills obviating the need to import cotton. Availability of cotton at doorsteps will reduce production cost of yarn by about Rs 2 per kg. But, he wanted the mills to pass the benefit through the value chain.

Earlier, Sima chairman Dr K V Srinivasan appealed to the minister for easing the supply of raw materials and make them available at competitive prices. Later in the day, after inaugurating the four modernized mills under National Textile Corporation (NTC, Mr Maran said, the ministry has instructed NTC to look at the option of manufacturing technical textiles in its existing units in Coimbatore.

"NTC will soon submit a project feasibility report for manufacturing medical textiles or geo textiles or agri textiles in one of these mills," he added. The minister also urged the industry, particularly the conventional textiles sector, to make efforts to create more marketing and technical awareness on technical textiles products. He said , the government will set up a speciality centre of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) here to cater to the needs of local industry and provide design, technology and management inputs for individual units as well as for the industry.

"NTC will hand over its 7-acre land to NIFT to set up the campus which will also host the centre for apparel and textiles studies (CATS)," he added.

ESIC medical college @ CBE !

The State’s first Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College that offers undergraduate and paramedical courses such as nursing and pharmacy would come up at the ESI hospital complex at Varadarajapuram near here. Dr B Mohamed Ali, medical superintendent of ESI Hospital, told Express that the proposed medical college would offer undergraduate and paramedical courses while the Aynavaram ESI Hospital in Chennai would offer post-graduate courses.

The groundwork for the proposed medical college is almost over as a team from Medical Council of India (MCI) had visited the complex and inspected the site where the ESIC medical college is to be constructed, he said. Even the Local Planning Authority in Coimbatore has given its plan approval for construction of medical college inside the ESI Hospital complex.

Work is moving at a faster pace as the structural feasibility study is underway. The Union Labour Ministry, under which the ESIC comes, would float a tender on August 24 in New Delhi, he added. The medical college with the state-of-the-art facility would be set up on one lakh-odd sq m at an estimated cost of Rs 420 crore, he said, adding that the joint director of ESIC (sub-regional office in Coimbatore) is the nodal agency for the college project.

“It has been planned to shift the mortuary and demolish the existing ‘C’ type staff quarters during phase-II of construction of the medical college complex. A student hostel also forms part of the medical college project,” Ali stated. He added that the entire project would be executed by Union Labour Ministry since ESIC comes under its ambit.

And MCI norms of minimum standard requirements for medical college would be strictly adhered to by ESIC while initiating the project, he said. As per the proposed plan, the department of anatomy on 3,400 sq m would come up on the ground floor and the department of bio-chemistry and community medicine on the fi rst floor. The second floor would accommodate the department of physiology, department of microbiology and the department of pharmacology.

The administration block would come up in phase I. Similar ESIC medical colleges would be established in Kerala and Karnataka in the next phase.

UNIDO launching new cluster programme !

Within a broader cooperation programme, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) is launching new industrial projects totaling nearly US $ 9 million to benefit industry in India. Agreements on this were signed earlier this month (on 7 August 2009) in Vienna by the Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Shri Ajay Shankar and UNIDO Director-General Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella.

DIPP has conceptualized an Integrated Cluster Development Programme (ICDP) wherein clusters which received infrastructure interventions under its prestigious Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (IIUS) were targeted for Technological Interventions through Technical Cooperation services of UNIDO. The clusters selected are Auto-Component at Pithampura (Madhya Pradesh), Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Pune (Maharashtra); Machine Tools at Bangalore (Karnataka); Foundry at Belgaum (Karnataka) and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu); Chemicals at Ankhleswar (Gujarat) and Leather at Kanpur (Utter Pradesh).

A US $ 5.9 million Integrated Cluster Development Programme for India will focus on technology, management, skill development and the environment. It will be implemented by 2014 at sites in Pithampura, Chennai, Pune, Ankhleswar, Kanpur and New Delhi, matching the specific needs of each industrial location.

The Programme will offer turnkey solutions to each of the identified clusters to help them address technology, quality or environmental constraints, encompassing a comprehensive package of services – ranging from energy efficiency and water conservation to cleaner production and lean manufacturing. “Lowering the consumption of energy, raw materials and water in industry; reducing the waste and pollution intensity of enterprises; and improving the productivity of industries, leading to enhanced competitiveness – these are the essential underpinnings of the Integrated Cluster Development Programme. Through this flagship programme, the project will avail UNIDO’s expertise in the key areas to achieve the vision of a Green Industry”.

“The 2009-2014 Integrated Cluster Development Programme for India will help tackle poverty issues and contribute to environmental sustainability”. The cluster programme combines projects that will help improve resource productivity and environmental performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in particular in automotive components, leather and chemical sectors. They will focus on enhanced market access for small and medium sized automotive component manufacturers in Indian auto-clusters. They will also enable local leather-based industry to sustain conversion of locally available raw hides and skins into exportable products either directly as genuine leather or as derived finished products – for example, footwear.

The projects will provide employment and income opportunities without jeopardizing the livelihood of the human settlements through environmental degradation, and without threatening the rapidly depleting water sources and agricultural land. A separate project worth US $ 3 million, a part of ICDP, will deal with upgrading India’s machine tools industry.

According to UNIDO “The machine tool industry is the backbone of India’s engineering sector. It has come a long way, but now needs to be further strengthened to cost-effectively produce quality machine tools through technological upgrade and market development. The Indian industry has an abundance of skilled manpower, basic raw materials, and a rising class of technical entrepreneurs. By addressing productivity, quality, reliability, service and technology, the performance of the Indian machine tool enterprises can be greatly improved.

The machine tool industry project will be implemented by the UNIDO-International Centre for Advancement of Manufacturing Technology (ICAMT) within the framework of the ongoing Country Programme of Cooperation between India and UNIDO for 2008-2012.

Project relating to Foundry clusters at Belgaum and Coimbatore will be launched shortly. UNIDO is the only specialized agency for industrial development in the UN system and has been working with governments, business associations and private companies to solve industrial problems for more than 40 years.

CTS Techno campus opened !

Government policies, availability of skilled manpower and the presence of a vibrant industry are some of the reasons that attract investments to the State from multi-national companies, Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said here on Sunday.Inaugurating the Coimbatore Techno-campus of Cognizant, he said the State’s annual software exports now was about Rs. 36,600 crore as against Rs. 29,490 crore the previous year.

The Government was developing Information Technology parks in different locations in the State, such as Coimbatore, Madurai and Tirunelvelli. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi framed an Information Technology policy for the State in 1997.Though globally the sector was affected by the economic recession, the slowdown had not affected the industries in the State. About 15 per cent of the country’s exports were from Tamil Nadu.

The new facility of Cognizant here was located on a 23 acre plot in a special economic zone. In the first phase, the company had invested Rs. 180 crore.When Cognizant started its operations in Coimbatore in 2005 it planned to increase its headcount here to 400 in the first year. But, it went up to 900. The total number of employees in Cognizant was 64,100 and about 40 per cent of them were in Tamil Nadu.Coimbatore had a strong industrial presence and educational facilities.

Hence, the company would be able to recruit from the institutions in Coimbatore and nearby places. The city also had connectivity, power, water supply and good air connectivity, he said.Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology A. Raja said inadequate infrastructure had been identified as one of the disadvantages faced by the electronics hardware manufacturing sector.

Hence, the Centre had decided to establish Information Technology Investment Region. These regions would be provided excellent infrastructure by the Government.Minister for Information Technology Poongothai said the Government was focusing on inclusive growth. Availability of quality education facilities and infrastructure helped in the development of the State. It was developing IT parks in different cities, including, Salem, Tiruchirapalli, Hosur and Tirunelvelli.

Inordinate delay in Irugur line doubling criticised

The Coimbatore Consumer Cause (CCC) has criticised the inordinate delay in completing the railway line doubling work between Coimbatore and Irugur, which has been dragging on for the last 13 years.In a memorandum to the general manager of Southern Railway and Commissioner of Land Administration, Government of Tamil Nadu, CCC Secretary K. Kathirmathiyon said that because of the single line track between Coimbatore North and Irugur, the arrival of most of the trains from Chennai was getting delayed.More trains between Coimbatore and Erode could not be operated.

Diverted

In addition, a number of important trains on the Kerala – Chennai sector were being diverted at Irugur to Podanur and vice-verca thus skipping the Coimbatore Junction.The doubling of track for 16.6 km between Irugur and Coimbatore North was actually approved and included in the budget in 1996 with an estimated cost of Rs. 37.94 crore and the cost was revised.During August 2006, the Railways had announced that nearly 75 per cent of the work was completed and promised to complete the work by March 2008.

After March 2008, the consumer body was informed that the work would be completed before August 2009. Now the Railway has undertaken the construction of bridge works, which will take a few more months.The State Government had almost completed the acquisition formalities in respect of 36 cents at Ganapathy.But still, the 1.07 acres to be acquired between Irugur and Peelamedu would take a long time.

Originally, the area was under Palladam taluk (now Tirupur district) under the jurisdiction of Revenue Divisional Officer, Tirupur. Now the area had come under the jurisdiction of Sulur taluk, i.e. RDO, Coimbatore. Based on Railways request in February 2009, the RDO, Coimbatore, had sent the proposal to the government for administrative sanction.But lot of formalities had to be completed for the purpose and it may likely take a minimum period of another 18 months.

Only after that, the Railways could carry out the remaining work.Further, the shifting of a temple on the platform of Peelamedu Railway Station remains to be sorted out.Even though the original estimate was Rs.37.94 crore, nearly Rs. 53.39 crore was spent so far out of the Rs.55 crore allotted.But still, the work could not be completed.

Jobs aplenty for Home Science graduates

Earlier women preferred home science subject for bettering their own homes and living conditions.But, now they take up the subject for seeking employment outside the homes.This is not wrong as there abundant opportunities for them in this field, Arindham Basu, Director, South India Textile Research Association, said here on Friday.He was inaugurating a two-day Southern Regional Seminar on “Gearing Home Science Curriculum towards Better Career Prospects”, jointly organised by the Home Science Association of India (HSAI), South Zone, and Avinashilingam Advanced Centre for Education and Research in Basic Sciences, at the Avinashilingam University for Women.

“Since there is a great demand for home science graduates, what they are taught should be given importance. There is a need for the curriculum of such subjects to be revamped every five years. If we do not modify such disciplines, then our students will be left behind. It is essential that the curriculum be designed in such a manner that the home science graduates are industry-ready when they step out of the institution,” Mr. Basu said.

He stressed the importance of college/ university education and said that graduates should be able to face the industry even without industrial training. The value of such students in the industry would be very high.

African catfish a threat to Kelavarapalli reservoir ecosystem, says study

A study by scientists of Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI), Bangalore, says that African catfish – C. gariepinus – is negatively impacting the commercially important fishes in Kelavarapalli reservoir in Krishnagiri district.The study by Preetha Panikkar and M. Feroz Khan has now been published by Elsevier, a leading international publisher of science and health information (elsevier.com).

Though the Fisheries Department of states like Karnataka has banned the culture of African catfish, considered by many as a menace to the whole freshwater ecosystem, interestingly Tamil Nadu, where the Kelavarapalli reservoir is situated, has not banned it.This fish fetch higher price than tilapia as there is a market for it in certain parts of this State. They enter the reservoir from culture ponds adjacent to river South Pennar during rain and floods. But Nile Tilapia, a dominant invasive fish found in the reservoir, has a positive impact on Indian major carps such as Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala.

Nile Tilapia, most abundant in the commercial catch and available throughout the year, still remains at limited levels.Phytoplankton and detritus form important food source of these groups. The littoral areas of Kelavarapalli reservoir are full of nests of Nile Tilapia and they breed during South-West Monsoon (July-September).There is heavy demand for this fish, especially from poor local people, as it is affordable to the lowest income group in the area.

The scientists modelled the reservoir ecosystem designing its food web and tracing the energy flow incorporating all living organisms and their interactions in the food web. This is the most advanced way of quantifying the flows in ecosystems so that scientific management of reservoir ecosystem can be done for sustainable fisheries management.The scientists used mass balance model to prove the validity of their findings. The study comes at a time when many in the fisheries sector have expressed their concern over the farming of invasive fish varieties, Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), Mozambique Tilapia (O. mossambicus) and African catfish.

Since reservoirs are considered to be growing resource in India with enormous fish yield potential and supporting capture fisheries activities, the study is the first attempt to assess the impact of invasive fishes on reservoir ecosystem through ecosystem-based approach for management of reservoir fisheries. Its objective included documenting and quantifying the tropic structure of the reservoir, evaluation of the role of invasive species in the reservoir ecosystem and gaining an insight into the properties and development status of the ecosystem.

The study finds that this reservoir is relatively at a developmental stage or a young ecosystem which is vulnerable to disturbances (natural or anthropogenic).Though the production is high in young ecosystem, care should be taken not to exploit it indiscriminately. The study points to the need to take up some sort of conservation measure atleast during the breeding period of Nile Tilapia.

9 more tested positive for Swine Flu ....

Nine more persons have tested positive for A (H1N1) influenza in Coimbatore. These include seven girl students of a private school in the city.Already three girls of this school had tested positive and were said to have been cured.

Of the other two positive results that arrived late on Wednesday, one was a 16-year-old boy and the other a four-year-old girl.All of them were stable as they had been put on treatment even as the results were awaited, official sources said on Thursday.Along with these nine, the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital got the results of seven other cases. But, these were negative.

The hospital sent the throat swabs of five new suspected cases to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases on Thursday.The sources indicated there was concern over persons with flu symptoms slipping out of the quarantine ward at the hospital.A 17-year-old boy from Erode escaped from the ward on July 23 on knowing that his test results were positive. The boy was brought back the same evening and put on a course of oseltamivir.

He was discharged after a week’s treatment.A 22-year-old man from Gudalur in the Nilgiris District, who complained of flu-like symptoms, slipped out of the ward on Tuesday, despite claims from the hospital that the vigil was tight.Patients insisted that they wanted to undergo treatment at home than at the hospital.The sources pointed out that the option of house quarantine actually defeated the efforts to prevent the spread of the influenza virus.The Union Health Ministry had offered this option in the light of a huge inflow of cases in other cities such as Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Referring to complaints from the public of poor facilities in government hospitals, the sources said these and the space to expand the quarantine wards would have to be provided if hospital stay was made compulsory.On the disadvantages of house quaratine, they said there was no guarantee that infected children would remain at home, especially if the parents faced the compulsion to go to work.The parents were not willing to reveal that their children had flu, especially because of the public attaching an unwarranted stigma to it. So, there was the possibility of the infected children mingling with the others as part of efforts to conceal the truth, the sources said.

It was better to share information on suspected or positive cases in the neighbourhood in order to check the spread of the flu, they said.

Powerloom strike continues.....

The strike by job working powerloom units that commenced on August 5 in Tirupur and Coimbatore districts continued on Thursday, with no solution in sight.

P. Kumarasamy, secretary of the job working powerloom units’ association, said there was no progress in the talks held here on Wednesday by the Joint Labour Commissioner with the job working unit owners and master weavers.

The job working unit owners propose to organise a fast at Karumathampatti on Saturday.

still a favoured destination for higher education - Australia

Though the most favoured subjects of those aspiring to go abroad were management and engineering, the latest that were in great demand were the courses in Networking and VLSI Design.The Australian Education Fair, organised by Mentor, saw higher education aspirants being counselled and given spot admissions here on Thursday. More than 300 candidates who had completed undergraduate / engineering course or were in the final year visited the fair.

It had teaching representatives from Australian universities counsel students on education abroad, courses offered and eligibility factors, through exclusive interviews. They were interviewing candidates for the February and July 2010 intake.Students were given options to choose post-graduate courses at the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, Swinburne University, RMIT University, La Trobe University and University of South Australia.

According to Vivek Anandan P., Chief Executive Officer, Mentor, the fair was mainly organised to instil in the prospective students a sense of confidence that Australia was a safe place to stay and study.Maintaining that the unique selling proposition of Mentor was its after-landing services, Mr. Vivek said to add to that Mentor had tied up with Living Career to offer training for students to enable them pick up part-time jobs and also at a later stage train them for full-time jobs.

“The candidates who have registered this time are mostly those who have completed undergraduate course. They have decided to go in for higher studies because of the lack of good jobs and the slow down,” Mr. Vivek said.For R.N. Srinath, a final year engineering student of Kongu Engineering College, Erode, it had always been a dream to go to Australia to pursue M.S. His decision-making moment came on Thursday.

His father A. Raghunathan was confident his son would have a safe stay there. “I am keen to send my son over there because of the good living conditions. Others will behave with us the way we behave. I am not worried about my son,” he added.

GETIT relesed buying guides 2009 !

GETIT Info services, publishers of directories and information products today released its new buying guides for Coimbatore for 2009. The first copy was received by B. Bala Naga Devi, Deputy Inspector General of Police from Ms.Sinduja Togo, Senior Sales Manager of GETIT.

A release from GETIT said that the new directory prepared using a proprietary new multi-level categorisation system which is set to revolutionise the way products and services are sourced. The categorisation of services is done by classification of products instead of in alphabetical order. Ms. Sinduja said that soon GETIT’s digital products will be based on this new revolutionary system.

GETIT will distribute over 1.75 lakh copies across the city free of cost. For copies, GETIT could be contacted at 0422-4335555.

Road digging blows a hole in Siruvani water line

In the latest of a series of such incidents, telephone cable-laying work damaged a Siruvani drinking water supply line on Alagesan Road at Saibaba Colony in the city on Thursday, leading to a pool of water stagnating in that area.The Coimbatore Corporation said that despite the best of its efforts to prevent line bursts, digging without knowing the location of the water lines continued across the city.

Many a time, this had been pointed out to both government and private telecom service providers. But, there was no respite from the problem, the civic body said.An anguished resident on Alagesan Road, P.K. Ramachandran, pointed out that the local contractors to whom the pit digging work had been awarded had no sense of responsibility while going about this task.

All they seemed to be bothered about was to finish the job of digging trenches for the telephone cables to be laid. Damaged to water lines in the process seemed to be considered inconsequential.“These people should coordinate with the local Corporation officials in order to avoid damage to water lines,” he said.

Mayor R. Venkatachalam agreed with this point. He said the contractor in-charge of the work should coordinate with the Corporation’s junior engineer in charge of the Ward. “But, this is not happening,” he lamented. The workers who dug the trenches would not know the location of the water line.Only the Corporation official in-charge of supply would know, he pointed out.At the same time, the engineers too should be proactive enough to maintain a vigil because these instances are on the rise,” the Mayor said. “But, despite our call for this, there is not enough vigil to prevent this problem. It is not enough to react only after the Mayor or the Commissioner issues an order after a water line has been damaged,” he said.

Mr. Ramachandran sought to remind the telecom service providers and the Corporation that what happened on Thursday was not an isolated incident, but had already assumed epidemic proportions at Saibaba Colony and elsewhere in the city.“A lot of water is wasted before the leak is plugged. Adding to the damage is the delay in stopping the pumping of water,” he said. Mr. Ramachandran also pointed out that the restoration of the road after laying the cables was haphazard.The Mayor said a permanent solution lay in providing ducts for all cables.

This would eliminate the need to dig the road.

Pump set price may go up !!

Pump set makers, facing a sudden surge in demand due to poor monsoon, may hike prices to offset the rising costs of copper and steel. They usually offer 2-3% discounts as demand would be quite low during the monsoon season. “Since July-September is off-season for us we extend discounts across all categories. But as copper and steel prices have gone up we are increasing prices,” says G Rajendran, managing director of CRI Pumps. Copper futures hit an 11-month high last Friday on MCX and stood at Rs 310.25 a kg. Copper is a key raw material used for winding in the pump set’s motor. Steel prices have also moved up marginally.

CRI has increased prices by a minimum of 5% last week and other may soon follow suit. “We would have to increase prices by at least 5%,” says Jayakumar Ramdass, president, Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association. “Nobody even thought about it (price hike) last month. We may have to take a relook at our prices now,” says V Krishnakumar, president, Indian Pump Manufacturers’ Association.

With discounts no longer available and a price hike in the offing, farmers may end up paying 7-8% more than normal for pump sets in a weak monsoon season. But that isn’t denting sales with replacement purchase in some categories going up by 20-30%. “There is a gap between demand and supply,” says Rajendran. The industry, which sees a 20% drop in sales during the season, is registering around 15% growth now, he says. Though the organised pump set industry is expected to post a double digit growth on the back of a weak monsoon, industry players are not exactly happy. “Business has peaked, but it is not a good sign. It would result in a disaster next year,” says Krishnakumar.

While farmers would start buying high-end pumps in right earnest to get more water, it would leave them with little money for the next season. High head pumps that can draw water from greater depths are in demand, say industry officials. Agricultural pump sets, accounting for about 60% of the Rs 3,500-crore market for organised pump sets, witnessed around 6% growth last year.

The pump makers in Coimbatore cater to about 45% of the demand for farm pump sets in the country.

Govt. Nods for case against AU V.C !

The state government on Tuesday informed the Madras High Court that it has granted permission to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register a corruption case against R Radhakrishnan, vice-chancellor of the Anna University-Coimbatore. A counter-affidavit of the deputy secretary of the higher education department, filed in response to a public interest writ petition seeking registration of corruption case against Radhakrishnan and his prosecution, said the government accorded its sanction to the DVAC on July 30.

The counter, filed by G Sankaran, special government pleader for education, said the government has asked the DVAC to “register a regular case” on the allegations contained in the proposal of the DVAC director as well as the contents of an affidavit filed by advocate S Sivapandi, who filed the PIL. Sivapandi’s counsel N R Chandran has been arguing before the first bench, comprising Chief Justice HL Gokhale and Justice D Murugesan, that the DVAC be directed to register a case, investigate and file a final report on Sivapandi’s complaint. Suitable action should also be initiated against the vice-chancellor on the basis of the findings, he had argued.

The counter, pointing out that the permission to register a case has been accorded, said the PIL may hence be dismissed by the court. Though the matter figured in the list of the first bench, it could not be taken up for further hearing on Tuesday. In the petition, Sivapandi wanted the court to restrain Radhakrishnan from continuing in the post of vice-chancellor. “If he is not prevented from functioning as vice-chancellor, he will tamper with records of the university and also coerce officers of the university to give false statements to the police,” he said.