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Oct 31, 2009

Efforts on for median on two major roads

The Road Safety cum Traffic Advisory Committee meeting on Friday informed that efforts were underway for bringing in medians on Avanashi Road from Hope College railway over bridge till Avanashi and from Chinthamanipudur to Palladam on Tiruchi Road.

The meeting was presided by District Collector P. Umanath while Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra, Superintendent of Police N. Kannan and others took part. Meeting also asked the officials to ensure proper road markings at the Ganapathy – Athipalayam pirivu on Sathyamangalam Road.On the plea for caution sign boards on National Highways, the meeting informed that measures would be taken to consider the request and implement the same.

On the issue of reconstructing the small/narrow culverts on Mettuppalayam Road, the officials informed that the road was under the custody of National Highways, hence there was delay for taking up the works by State Highways Department. National Highways Department officials informed that a proposal has been sent asking permission for the works to be undertaken by the State Highways Department.The meeting also asked the concerned department to do the needful for setting right the pot holes from Neelambur to Karumathampatti on Avanashi Road to make the stretch motorable.

It was also asked to redesign the median near the CMC Hospital. The meeting also gave instructions for putting up speed breakers for regulating the flow of buses exiting for Palani and Palakkad from the Ukkadam bus stand. Highways authorities were also asked to take up works for constructing centre median from Karupparayan Koil to Convent in Pollachi.A plea for centre median on Huzur Road till Anna Statue could not be conceded, since the road width was not available.

Corporation was requested to take steps for maintaining the underpass beneath the Avanashi Road flyover for the flow of two-wheeler traffic without any hitch especially water stagnation and lighting. Transport Department was asked to consider the request for making the buses with route numbers 3 and 5 ply via Variety Hall Road. Authorities were also asked to evict encroachments in parking areas.

Power generation from Trees !!

Bio-Fuels Technologies India Private Limited has joined hands with the U.S.-based Clenergen Corporation for generating power from trees.Power generated from coal and hydel projects, atomic power plants and wind mills are not adequate to meet the ever increasing demand for power in India.Trees which are able to generate a minimum of 4,500 kw of power a cubic meter have been identified by Coimbatore based Bio-Fuels and Technologies India Private Limited.

Ganapathy Arumugam, Managing Director of the company said suitable technology has been developed for the purpose. Infrastructure for mass production was in place. In the first phase, steps would be taken to establish a biomass power plant in Namakkal to generate 1.5 MW. It would be operational by the end of 2009. Trees are being grown on 18 acres in Coimbatore and 210 acres in Udumalpet.

Drive against stray cattle


Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) conducted a drive against stray cattle on roads in Coimbatore East and took to custody 30 goats.They were brought to the cattle yard in the taluk office compound.District Collector P. Umanath and Superintendent of Police N. Kannan ordered the drive.

Special team

Joint Director of Animal Husbandry V. Jagadeesan constituted a special team led by SPCA Inspectors J. Fredrick Vimalan and R. Balakrishnan for the purpose.Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra provided trucks and conservancy workers to remove stray cattle from the roads.

The drive focused on Neelikonampalayam, Anjaneyar Colony, Puliakulam, Singanallur and Dhamu Nagar.The Corporation Zoo Director and Veterinarian R. Perumalsamy administered vaccine to goats. SPCA authorities have registered a case against goat owners under sections 11 (1) (h) (i) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of 1959/60.

New guidelines for passport issue !

The Passport Officer, Coimbatore, B. Balamurugan, has announced that the Ministry of External Affairs has issued new guidelines relating to passport application acceptance and miscellaneous entries.

The guidelines included: the present practice of transferring files from one passport office to another on receipt of income, police verification report stating that the applicant had moved out of the jurisdiction of the passport office is discontinued forthwith.

Speed Post Centres

The acceptance of applications by post is discontinued. The acceptance of passport applications through District Passport Cells and Speed Post Centres would be continued.The miscellaneous services on existing passport: it is noted that for any change in the particulars in the laminated page including correction of name of the passport holder or his father/mother/spouse, change in date of birth/place of birth/address etc a fresh booklet needs to be issued. The miscellaneous services for deletion of Emigration Check Required for police clearance certificate will be rendered on existing passport if police verification was clear.

All private school students in Coimbatore city to be screened


Students of all the 23 private schools in the city will soon be compulsorily screened for symptoms of A (H1N1) influenza, following an increase in the number of students testing positive for the flu in the last 10 to 15 days, Health Secretary V.K. Subburaj said here on Friday.

The rural areas of the district were not being included in this programme as cases were reported rarely, he told presspersons after reviewing the flu situation and preventive measures with Joint Director of Health M. Duraikannan, Deputy Director of Health S. Senthil Kumar and Coimbatore Medical College Hospital Dean V. Kumaran.

Such a massive screening of students would be done for the first time in the State by the public health machinery, he said. This had not been done so far even in Chennai, which was the other centre in the State along with Coimbatore that recorded many A (H1N1) cases.Eight of the 12 persons who tested positive here on Friday were aged below 15, he said.The Health Secretary attributed the incidence in both the cities to frequent international travel by people.

So far, 12.36 lakh passengers arriving by 8,842 international flights had been screened in the airports in the State.Totally, 1,869 people tested positive for the flu in the State. Of these 50 persons were still under house quarantine and 28 were in hospitals.

Orientation

In Coimbatore, another round of orientation would be conducted for private general physicians and hospitals on detecting early the symptoms of the flu and immediately referring the patients for tests and treatment.The Health Secretary said the orientation was necessary because awareness was low among doctors.The Dean of the CMCH and the City Health Department of the Coimbatore Corporation would conduct the orientation sessions.Assistant City Health Officer R. Sumathi and Resident Medical Officer of the CMCH P. Sivaprakasam were also present at the review.

The deaths that occurred in private hospitals were because of late diagnosis. Nothing could be done if too much time had been lost. “No one admitted to Government Hospitals died,” he pointed out. “And, we have effectively contained the impact of the flu.”Mr. Subburaj said that so far only seven persons in the State died of the flu.He said there was no such case in Coimbatore so far and there was no effort to conceal any.

The Health Secretary said oseltamivir capsules should not be sold over the counter. Medical shops authorised to dispense the drug should ask for a prescription. And, physicians should give a prescription only if the patients furnished a test report that said they were positive. He, however, said there was no need for a public health official to countersign the prescription.The drug was available only in 20 designated dispensing centres across the State and these included 10 in Chennai and two in Coimbatore.The proposed flu testing laboratory would begin functioning at the Coimbatore Medical College in another 10 days, Mr. Subburaj said.

Oct 30, 2009

Tata launches Photon Plus in Coimbatore

Tata Tele Services Limited on Friday launched Photon Plus for providing mobile broadband services with speed up to 3.1 Mbps. The launch was marked by G. Ramprasad, Chief Executive Officer of Tata Tele Services Limited, Tamil Nadu, handing over the first device to ace driver Narain Karthikeyan in the presence of Sunil Pillai, Chief Operating Officer – Tamil Nadu, Tata Tele Services Limited at a function held in the city.

Photon Plus services could be accessed using two devices – Router for SMEs and Business Enterprises which are configured with an in-built modem and has wi-fi capabailities and USB model for individual users.

Mr. Ramprasad said that the device is up to 20 times faster than the existing mobile wireless technology. The device is compatible to both desk top and lap top computers and one has to just plug and play. The activation could be done across the counter. The services are available in over 50 cities and towns across the country and by the turn of March 2010, TTSL plans to have the service commissioned in over 100 towns.

TTSL was confident of bagging a substantial market in Coimbatore, Mr. Ramprasad said. Coimbatore accounted for high net worth individuals and the city was an extremely potential market in the eyes of TTSL. Time-based packages are available from a lowest entry of Rs. 250, he said.

Seminar classes of MK university

The contact seminar classes of Distance Education, Madurai Kamaraj University, will be held on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 for the students of UG I, II, III year and PG I, II year and certificate and diploma courses at Thiyagai N.G. Ramaswamy Memorial Higher Secondary School, Varadharajapuram, Coimbatore- 641 045, according to a university release.

Spreading the message of waste management


As an essential part of its Rs. 96-crore Integrated Solid Waste Management Project, the Coimbatore Corporation is trying to generate awareness among the people on the need for a clean city and the segregation of waste and storage in separate bins at home as an essential requirement towards that end.

While the health wing of the Corporation is also involved in the sensitisation exercise, the civic body has enlisted the services of the students to take the message of waste management, especially segregation of waste at source, to the community.

The Corporation is implementing segregation of waste at source (at houses where garbage is generated) in nine model wards: Nos. 3, 6, 16, 23, 24, 25, 43, 49 and 63.Door-to-door collection as a pilot project has begun in all these wards. In all these, student volunteers of the National Service Scheme from colleges near the wards are being involved in generating awareness among the people.The Corporation says that awareness creation is made mandatory under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission., under which the waste management and a number of infrastructure development schemes are to be implemented in the city.

The Corporation has chosen Green Mother Trust as the consulting agency to create awareness among the public of the nine model wards on solid waste management.Based on the requirements listed by the Corporation, the trust trains the student volunteers in carrying out the sensitisation programme.Assistant City Health Officer R. Sumathi says the Corporation wants the message on segregation to reach every section of the community.The student volunteers will not only give the message in the model wards, but will also take it home, she points out.

Project Head of Green Mother Trust T. Priscilla said her organisation had formed a participatory committee in all the nine model wards with the help of the Corporation’s Sanitary Inspectors who are the Nodal Officers of the committee.The ward councillor is the head of the committee. It has as members, representatives from the residents’ association, the Corporation’s health wing and educational institutions in the locality.These members have also been trained by the trust to regularly monitor the waste management system in their wards and submit reports to an apex committee.

Ms. Priscilla says the trust has trained the women Self- Help Groups in the model wards on solid waste management practices.Training has also been given to sanitary workers and sanitary inspectors of the model wards, headmasters of all the Corporation schools and Corporation health workers.The trust uses methods such as puppet shows, street plays and songs to drive home the message of environment protection, segregation of waste at source waste minimisation.As door-to-door education is found to be an effective method, NSS volunteers from Avinashilingham University, K.G. College of Nursing and Coimbatore Medical College will play a role in the sensitisation component of the waste management project.

Nearly 500 volunteers from these colleges are being involved, she says.Students from the medical college fanned out across five model wards in the city on Thursday where the final phase of the door-to-door collection pilot project began.As many as 140 students from the medical college took the message of segregation to the public, along with the NSS Co-ordinators from the college R. Arun and P. Murugesan.

LMW sees increase in capacity utilisation

The capacity utilisation of textile machinery manufacturing major Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW) has increased from about 35 per cent during the previous quarter to 60 per cent now.

R. Rajendran, Chief Financial Officer of LMW, told on Wednesday that with the textile industry showing signs of revival “we hope there is scope for further improvement this year.”

The market started improving from August and the textile industry was registering good performance for the last two months.Hence, textile companies were going in for marginal expansions and some new projects too.“We have been able to improve sales in the second quarter and hope it will continue for the rest of the financial year,” he said.

The company had also installed two machines for trial run at the customers’ site in China through its 100 per cent owned subsidiary, he added.Even during the economic slowdown, China’a annual requirement was about four million spindles.By having a presence in China, the company hoped to capture a share in the Chinese market, he said.

Math to donate 50 Cr for flood releif

Mata Amritanandamayi has announced to donate Rs. 50 crore for flood relief works in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.In a release, the Math pointed out that flood relief activities were taken up in Bijapur, Bagalkot and Belgaum districts in Karnataka and Kurnool and Mahaboob Nagar in Andhra Pradesh.

A team of five doctors, para medical staff from the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Kochi, supported by telemedicine van and ambulance have been deputed. In both the States, the relief workers would distribute food grains, food items, blankets and clothes.

Besides, the Math wanted to support the flood victims in a more tangible manner.Plans were on for rehabilitation activities in these States for which the Math would spend Rs. 50 crore. The works included construction of houses. The details of implementation would be decided after a discussion with the State Governments.

Oct 29, 2009

Premier mills fory into luxary bed market

Premier Fine Linens , part of Coimbatore-based $200 million Premier mills group, plans to tap the domestic market for its luxury bedlinens. It has been catering to the global market, supplying to leading American and European brands like Calvin Klein, Westpoint Home and Sferra for the last 12 years.The company, which produces fashionable bed linens including duvet covers, pillow shams, blankets, coverlets, quilts, table linens and cushions, is planning to sell them under its own brand name Premier Fine Linens in India.

"We were predominantly exporting to the US (80%) and European markets. After seeing increasing demand for hi-end bed-linens in India, we consciously decided to launch our products here too," Premier Fine Linens MD Shanthi Srinivasan told . Premier will test the Indian waters, launching its brand in south by February 2010 and go national by June 2010.Though the size of the domestic furnishings market is not officially available, Ms Shanthi said, the initial surveys in the southern states have put the market size of branded luxury bed-linens at Rs 60 crore. Although the figure looks miniscule, nearly 65% sales of bed linens in the south are in the unbranded segment, she added.

"There are only a few branded players like Bombay Dyeing, Wellspun, Hot Wheels and Portico in India. So, we have decided to make a domestic foray under our own brand name," she said.
A vertically integrated company, Premier Fine Linens has its weaving and stitching units in Pollachi and processing house in Perundurai. At present, the stitching unit has a capacity to produce 1 lakh sheets per month. To cater to the local markets, it is looking to increase its capacity by 20%.

The company is initially planning to tap mid-segment and upper segment markets in India. "We are also looking to offer exclusive range of products (high-end bed linens) in boutique stores in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad," Ms Shanthi added. It has also tied up with CGH Earth Hotels and Hyatt in India and is slowly looking to increase its presence in the hospitality segment too.Premier reported a turnover of Rs 75 crore last fiscal. It is targeting the Rs 100-crore mark this year. Like other textile exporters, the company too saw a drop in exports orders from January 2009 in the wake of global slowdown.

"Though the market picked up by July and August this year, prices are still lower than last year’s. But we are running to full capacity," Ms Shanthi said. The company is also mulling a foray into Australia next month.

DSP held, lodged in jail

Subbusingh, a Deputy Superintendent of Police attached to the Tamil Nadu Special Police Battalion – Company 8, on deployment at Tihar Jail was arrested by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Police and lodged at Coimbatore Central Prison on Tuesday.Subbu Singh was accused of demanding bribe of Rs. 400 for settling a civil dispute in Sathyamangalam in 1992 when he was working as a Sub-Inspector.

He was acquitted by the Erode Court and on appeal, the Madras High Court awarded him one year rigorous imprisonment on corruption charges.Subbu Singh who became a DSP, went on appeal before the Supreme Court, which once again confirmed the one year sentence.

Based on the order, the DVAC sleuths sought orders for the arrest from the Erode court and secured him from New Delhi and lodged him at the Coimbatore Central Prison on Tuesday.

France focuses on development in smaller Indian cities


France is looking at Indian cities smaller than the metros, such as New Delhi and Chennai, for co-operation in the field of infrastructure development and education. This focus will be in addition to the periodical cultural exchanges it is already working on, Consul General of France Pierre Fournier told presspersons here on Wednesday.

After a meeting with Mayor R. Venkatachalam and other elected representatives at the Coimbatore Corporation, Mr. Fournier said some French companies had already set up shop in the country and were working in the field of infrastructure creation in India.To a specific question on whether his country would provide technical expertise on advanced transportation systems, he said: “We can look at that. Everyone knows that we have the fastest train in the world – the TGV.” France’s major industries were in the fields of energy, aircraft, high-speed trains and bio-technology.

Significantly, Mr. Fournier said there would be adequate focus on smaller cities such as Coimbatore. “Till now, the natural process was to look at New Delhi and then Chennai. Now, we want to know of the expectations of other cities such as Coimbatore,” he said.The French official said this was his first visit to a city other than Chennai after taking charge at the High Commission in Puducherry two months ago. There could be more visits to familiarise with the city’s requirements and also to work on various areas of co-operation. “The visit is based on the concept of co-development,” he said.

France stressed a three-fold increase in trade ties with India and in the last two to three years, the number of Indian students pursuing higher education in France had increased by four times.

Mr. Venkatachalam said more investment by French firms would improve Coimbatore’s economy and provide job opportunities.During the meeting with Mr. Fournier, the Mayor told him that Coimbatore was at the threshold of massive infrastructure development under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. Mr. Fournier visited some educational institutions, as part of his country’s initiative to showcase in other country’s the higher education avenues in France, chiefly engineering education, and the employment opportunities these provided.

“I am impressed with the quality of the engineering institutions, the quality of the education and the students in Coimbatore. We spoke to the students on the courses and scholarships available in France.” Mr. Fournier sought the support of the Corporation in promoting cultural exchange programmes. When he said France was one of the leading nations in the promotion of renewable energy, the Mayor said the Corporation too was embarking on a project for total use of solar energy in its office use and municipal services.

Students produce paper bags !!

Students of St. Joseph’s Matriculation Higher Secondary School on Tiruchi Road have added a new dimension to the war on non-biodegradable plastic bags.In this month alone, they have made 3,687 paper bags, accommodating a significant social commitment in their tight schedule for academics.Under a project initiated by the alumni association of St.Joseph’s school, the students of Classes VI to XII will make a minimum of 2,500 paper bags and provide these to shops and eateries.

The PULSE (People United to Love and Save the Earth) Project will work to replace the plastic carry bags with those made of paper across the city.Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra launched the distribution of the bags at the school on Wednesday by handing over the first set of paper bags to Managing Director of Nilgiris M. Chellaiyan.Treasurer of Residents Awareness Association (RAAC) of Coimbatore R.R. Balasundaram was among those present.

Secretary of the alumni association Jane Melanie said another set of bags was handed over the Managing Director of Thulasi Pharmacy Ramakrishnan.Some more paper bags were given to the bakery located opposite the school and also to the canteen inside the institution that was run by a women self-help group.“Sometimes the children buy lunch from the canteen and the food is packed in a plastic carry bag. We have provided the paper bags in order to eliminate the use of the plastic bags,” she said.Appreciating the project, the Corporation Commissioner said: “Apart from projecting the paper bags as a viable alternative, the awareness creation will be very important.

“We are not yet in a situation where plastic bags can be replaced totally.“But, there are alternatives such as paper bags and jute bags and this awareness is being created through such projects.Private establishments could promote paper bags by buying these from such students’ groups or self-help groups.“We want to try out a similar initiative in the Corporation schools and the alumni association of St. Joseph’s school has offered to train the teachers and students,” he said.A batch of teachers was trained by a resource person to make paper bags. In turn, the teachers trained the students.

Representatives of RAAC had also offered to train the students further.Melanie, the Librarian at the school for girls, said the entire paper bag programme was being pursued with a sense of social commitment and also a spirit of competition within the campus.“We have four houses and the one that makes the maximum number of bags gets a rolling shield. As for individual award, the student who makes the highest number is crowned Miss Gaia.“The title is named after the Greek Goddess who protects the environment,” Ms. Melanie said. “The competition was intense and Loyalty House got the shield. D.M. Venkatalakshmi, a Class IX student, made 1,461 bags (out of the 3,687) and won the Miss Gaia title,” she said.

Mr. Balasundaram said the project at the school was a very good initiative, especially because it involves students.Now, the message would reach their parents and this way the campaign against plastic bags would expand.The Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore offered to extend to the school the Wealth out of Waste programme it was carrying out in association with ITC.Under this programme, ITC paid residents, institutions and commercial establishments for the plastic bags or paper waste they handed over to it.

Art of Living course

The Art of Living part I course for imparting pranayama, meditation and Sudharshan Kriya will be held from November 2 to 5 at Teknoturf, 51-Kalingarayar Street, Ram Nagar (near Karpagam Lodge). For registration contact 94433-70608, 94433-56249/ 94431-26774.

Oct 28, 2009

Community radio, agritech portal launched at TNAU


It was a day of opening buildings and launching of new crop varieties, farm implements, an agritech portal and a community e-radio station.

Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam inaugurated these and pointed out that the TNAU had a rich tradition. Efforts must be made to uphold it at a time when the State and the rest of the country’s agricultural economy looked for breakthrough technology from farm scientists.

The British started the first agricultural college at Saidapet in the then Madras in 1876. As the soil condition and climate in Coimbatore was ideal for research, the institution was shifted to this city in 1905. The college building and another structure for research came up at Rs. 4.7 lakh in 1907.After a host of expansion activities since then, the TNAU had now constructed a centenary building whose ground floor and first floor measured 32,000 sq ft each. The construction of the building was initiated in the centenary year of 2005.

A press release from the university said the ground floor had 20 room, seven halls for office purpose, a waiting hall, a canteen, a lobby and a portico.The first floor consisted of four rooms, four meeting halls, a board room, a dining hall, a conference room, eight office rooms and a waiting hall.

A rainwater collection tank with a capacity of one lakh litres had also been constructed on the premises.While the building was inaugurated by Mr. Stalin, the Agriculture Minister released 11 new varieties of crops such as kudiravali, greengram, sesame, castor, cotton, sugarcane, Guinea grass, brinjal, snake gourd and cashew.The farm equipment released were, improved TNAU Dal Mill, twin row precision organic manure-cum-fertilizer applicator, worker-friendly areca nut stripper and multi-row power weeder for system rice intensification.

Mr. Stalin and Mr. Arumugam also visited the exhibition at the TNAU’s Technology Park where the new crop varieties, implements, location-specific technologies and agricultural inputs were on display.The agritech portal of the university had nearly one lakh pages on various subjects such as agriculture, horticulture, agriculture engineering, forestry, fisheries, animal husbandry, sericulture and seed certification.The community e-radio station of the university had been sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and World Media Foundation.The objective was to share the local agricultural information among the people in the local language.

Union Minister of State for Health S. Gandhiselvan, State Highways Minister M.P. Saminathan, Khadi Minister K. Ramachandran, Agriculture Commissioner S. Kosalaraman, Agriculture Marketing Commissioner Atul Anand, Coimbatore Mayor R. Venkatachalam and Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra were among those present at the inaugural. Former Vice-Chancellor of TNAU C. Ramaswamy was felicitated for initiating the project to construct the centenary building.

Deadlock persists over water tariff revision

The Coimbatore Corporation is yet to succeed in its efforts to convince the parties in the Council on the need to increase the tariff for drinking water supplied across the city under the Siruvani and Pilloor schemes.There are indications that the Corporation may hold yet another meeting with the leaders of the parties to facilitate an approval by the Council of the rates suggested by the Government.

In February this year, the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply suggested changes to the tariff on the grounds that these may help the Corporation in generating the revenue required to fund schemes to augment water supply, especially in the light of the civic body’s plan for 24-hour supply in the city.

Two to three all-party meetings failed to reach any accord over the tariff, as councillors were opposed to an increase. They wanted the supply situation to be improved first. Their argument was that people could not be asked to pay more when less water was supplied to them.The Corporation has begun the works on the Phase II scheme and it says that unless adequate revenue is generated under the water supply account the civic body will find it difficult to repay loans got to implement the Rs.113-crore scheme.

Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra says the annual revenue on the water supply front is only Rs.20 crore. A large chunk from this goes towards repairs to and maintenance of the lines in the existing schemes. The Central Government is providing 50 per cent of the project cost as grant. While the State Government will provide a 20 per cent grant or interest-free loan, the rest 30 per cent will have to be mobilised by the Corporation. This portion, in all probability, will come only in the form of loan with interest.

On the argument of the councillors that water supply will have to be improved before increasing the tariff, the Corporation says this is not possible.First, the scheme has to be implemented to improve supply. For this, funds are needed. And, the funds can come only through loans and grants.But, the Corporation has to demonstrate clearly its revenue-generation capacity if it has to get funds for the project, especially loan.

The demonstration of this capacity is a condition under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for the release of grants and loans.

Association demands judicial review of working conditions of loco pilots

The biennial general body meeting of the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) has urged the Railway Ministry to appoint a judicial review committee to look into the duty hours and rest patterns of loco pilots.

The meeting held here on Monday was attended by zonal president R. Murali. Presided over by central vice-president K.A.S. Mani, the event was inaugurated by the joint secretary general of the AILRSA, N.B. Dutta.It was addressed by secretarial member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sivagnanam, secretary of the Coordination Committee of Central Government Employees and Workers S. Karunanidhi, and joint secretary of the Dakshin Railway Employees Union R.G. Pillai.

The meeting condoled the death of 22 passengers in the recent Mathura train accident. It expressed anguish over routine comments by members of the top railway management putting the blame for accidents on “human failure” without addressing the causes for any such human failure.It is evident from past accidents that the railway management had not taken any corrective measures to avoid human failure by amending the draconian rules of Hours of Employment Regulations that are in force from 1931. This involved duty limit extending up to 13 hours, six continuous nights of duty a week and depressed weekly rest of 30 hours against 40 hours for similarly classified workers and prolonged outstation detention of 96 hours.

Though the system of working had changed much in the railways since 1931, issues pertaining to loco pilots and working conditions have not witnessed any change.Posts under the wrongly assessed and depressed sanctioned strength was not being filled up. This is resulting in denial of leave and weekly rest, worsening the situation. Under the guise of economy, safety was being compromised.The meeting demanded that the grade pay of Assistant Loco Pilots should be increased from Rs.1,900 to Rs.2,800. Distinct grade pays should be allotted to loco pilots handling shunting, goods vehicles, passenger trains, express and mail trains.

The meeting demanded revision of rate of running allowance as per the running allowance committee (RAC 1980 formula).

Agricultural varsities must focus on tackling crop diseases


Agricultural universities should focus on tackling diseases that affect crops and thereby the farm economy also, Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said here on Tuesday.

Inaugurating the Centenary Building of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) and other new buildings of agricultural institutions in various parts of the State, Mr. Stalin said that apart from developing new technologies to improve agriculture production, institutions such as the TNAU should find ways to prevent diseases in crops that hampered agricultural production.

Stressing the need to step up research to increase production and also bring more benefits to farmers, Mr. Stalin said agriculture experts were visiting Israel now to learn the advances in farm technology. “But, I am sure that there will be a time when people from Israel will visit India for this purpose,” he said.

Pointing out that the TNAU had the reputation of being a frontline agriculture university in the country, he said the institution should work to bring about a situation in which the rest of the world looked to India for expertise in increasing agricultural production.

Mr. Stalin, who unveiled commemorative plaques to inaugurate new buildings of agricultural institutions in Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Perambalur and Virudhunagar, said the State government was committed to improving the condition of the farmers.

The Deputy Chief Minister listed the Rs.7,000-crore farm loan waiver and the reduction of interest on farm loans as some of the welfare schemes of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government.Presiding over the function, Minister for Agriculture Veerpandi S. Arumugham said the government had provided benefits to the tune of Rs.931 crore since 2007, apart from the loan waiver.

Stressing greater focus on research, he said agriculture production could increase only with the adoption of modern technology. This was the compulsion of this millennium. Shortage of labour could be tackled only through modern irrigation methods. Another area of focus should be agriculture implements. Though the TNAU and other organisations came up with new implements, the country still imported implements from Japan and Australia.Releasing new crop varieties brought out by the TNAU and launching the university’s agri portal, the Agriculture Minister said efforts must be made for total indigenous production of farm equipment.

“The reason I stress this is that though paddy production (per ha) in the State is 5,000 kg, pulses 430 kg, cotton 375 kg, sugarcane 110 tonne and groundnut 1,500 kg, this has been rendered inadequate by a population of 6.24 crore (as per the 2001 census),” he said. “So, innovation in technology and farm practices and indigenous production of implements are vital to increasing agricultural production in the State.”

Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy, Principal Secretary and Agricultural Production Commissioner K. Nand Kishore and Coimbatore Collector P. Umanath were among those who spoke. TNAU Vice-Chancellor P. Murugesa Boopathy spoke on the founding and growth of the university and its contributions to the development of agriculture in the country.

Oct 27, 2009

Officials sensitised to birth, death registration

fficials from various departments were sensitised on the seriousness to be shown on Birth and Death registrations at a meeting chaired by District Collector P. Umanath on Saturday.

The meeting was presided by District Revenue Officer and District Births and Deaths Registrar, S. Moorthy and Assistant Director of Health Services, P. Duraisamy, Tahsildars, Regional Director of Municipal Administration, Chief Education Officer, Sanitary Inspectors, police officials.

Collector reminded the officials that births and deaths should be registered 100 per cent as per Section 18 of the Central Birth and Death Registration Act of 1969 and Tamil Nadu Births and Deaths Rule 2000.

Birth and Death Registration offices should have a name board, Mr. Moorthy said.

Textiles Committee reconstituted

The Union Textiles Ministry has reconstituted its Textiles Committee. T.Kannan, Managing Director of Thiagaraja Mills, Madurai, is the new Chairman of the panel.

The re-constituted committee includes Senthil Kumar, BKS Textiles, Palladam, M.Ramaswamy of Warsaw International, Tirupur, Sanja Jayvarthanavelu of Lakshmi Machine Works, Coimbatore, Britto Joseph of Madurai, Ajay Himatsingka, Chairman, Himatsingka Seide, S.P.Oswal, CMD, Vardhaman Textile Limited and Vijay Aggarwal, Creative Garment, Mumbai.
The other members are: Confederation of Indian Industry's Secretary General, Chairpersons of the Confederation of Indian Textiles Industry, Southern India Mills Association, Cotton Textile Promotion Council, Synthetic and Rayon Textile Export Promotion Council, Apparel Export Promotion council, Northern India Textile Mills Association, Indian Powerloom Federation, and Wool and Woolen Export Promotion Council.

The Presidents of Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association and Federation of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry and Director of Northern India Textile Research Association are also part of the new panel, along Joint Secretary and Director (Internal Finance) in the Textiles Ministry.
Textile Commissioner, A.B.Joshi, will be the Vice Chairman of the Committee.

The main function of the Committee is to ensure standard qualities of textiles both for internal marketing and export and manufacture and use of standard type of textile machinery. It is also responsible for establishing laboratories and test houses for the industry.

CyberKnife cancer cure at Apollo hospitals


Apollo Speciality Cancer Hospital in Chennai has installed latest state-of-the-art CyberKnife cancer cure equipment that could provide acute precision radiation treatment at 360 degree angle for patients with cancer.Talking to reporters, A.N. Vaidhyswaran, Senior Consultant Radiation Oncology at Apollo Speciality Cancer Hospital, said that it is an innovation in the treatment of cancer.

The CyberKnife brings an unparalleled approach to treating inoperable tumours. He said that the advanced technology behind CyberKnife uses real time guidance technology and computer controlled robotics to deliver an extremely precise dose of radiation to targets, avoiding the surrounding of healthy tissue and adjusting for patient and tumour movement during treatment.

The sophisticated treatment could be used as an alternative to open surgery occasionally.The treatment could even convert a technically inoperable tumour to operable one and does not cause pain and therefore does not require anaesthesia.

Vast majority of CyberKnife treatments are out-patient procedures allowing patients to continue with their regular activities.Many of the available high precision radiation techniques require application of some kind of frame around patient’s body.

For details, patients could contact 044-24334455 or send e-mail to cyberknife@apollohospitals.com or visit apollohospitals.com/cyberknife.

Improve condition of Valankulam Tank, Siruthuli appeals to Stalin

Siruthuli, the public initiative to conserve water bodies in and around the city, has appealed to Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for measures to improve the condition of Valankulam Tank, a major water body in the city.

Anguished over the lack of flow of water to the tank despite heavy rain during the South West Monsoon, Siruthuli has sought to bring to the Deputy Chief Minister’s notice the condition of the tank. Mr. Stalin is scheduled to visit the city on October 27.In a statement released to the press on Monday, Siruthuli described Valankulam as the Pearl of Coimbatore.

It was a strategically located tank situated in south zone of the city with the southern bund connecting Tiruchi Road in Sungam with Palakkad and Pollachi Road in the Ukkadam region.The Big Tank at Ukkadam and the rainwater from the city were the principal sources of water for this tank. There was rampant and indiscriminate dumping of building debris and garbage on the bunds and also into the tanks. This affected afforestation activities also.

Though the South-West Monsoon this year filled all the tanks in the city, not even a drop reached Valankulam. The connecting canal from Coimbatore Anaicut to Big Tank was being used as sewage outlet instead of carrying river water to the tank.Hence, the sluice was not being opened for the last three years even though there was heavy flow in the river. The sluice was close because of complaints of flooding of the LIC colony at Selvapuram area where the sewage inlets were directly connected to the canal.

With the intervention of Collector P. Umanath, debris that choked the canal between the Big Tank and the Valankulam, were removed. Because of this, water had recently started flowing into Valankulam.

Consul General of France arriving tomorrow

Consul General of France in India Pierre Fournier will be here on October 28 and 29 to interact with the authorities of the Coimbatore Corporation and also the heads of some private companies and educational institutions.

The interaction with the Corporation will be to know of the infrastructure facilities and projects to create more of these. Various courses, scholarships and job opportunities in France will figure in the discussions.

Oct 26, 2009

4 medicos held for ragging !!

The city police on Friday night arrested and remanded to custody four students of the Coimbatore Medical College on charges of ragging and causing injuries to 14 junior students.

The college authorities placed them under suspension.Muthukumar, Ramanan, Logesh, fourth year students, and Karthik, a third year student, face charges of ragging three students on October 19, and 11 students on October 21 in the college hostel.It is learnt that the seniors took the 11 students from the first and second year to the terrace and ragged them, besides inflicting bite marks on their hands.

One of the students alerted the hostel warden, who held an inquiry and reported the matter to the Dean.On completion of an inquiry by the Ragging Monitoring Committee, the Dean preferred a complaint.The arrested students hail from the districts of Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Salem.

Police invoked Section 323 (causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Ragging Act of 1997.

Tourism board to promote treccking !!


If you enjoy trecking through the grassy Top Slip and desolate rocky Tirusulam Hills, planning for it just got easier as Tamil Nadu Tourism Department (TTDC) is all set to promote trekking in a big way. The newly constituted eco-tourism wing of the department has decided to organise trekking expeditions in hilly terrain across the state.

In the first phase, three trekking expeditions are scheduled at Servarayan hills at Yercaud, Tirusulam Hills opposite the airport and Top Slip in Coimbatore on different dates from October last week to mid November. The trips to Yercaud and Top Slip will last for three days while trekking on Tirusulam Hills will be wound up in half a day.

The first trip to Servarayan hills near Yercaud is scheduled to kick-off on October 30 and end on November 1. The tour will cost Rs 2,000 per person including all expenses. "We have already received 14 bookings for this trekking expedition. Tourists will be taken to Yercaud by bus from TTDC head office at Wallajah Road," said an official of the department. Tirusulam trek is on November 7 while the three-day trekking trip to Top Slip is scheduled to start on November 13.

More such programmes are planned. "TN Tourism decided to have such programmes after we received feedback from people that they would love to go on trekking trips with us rather than with private guides. We received several letters from people asking us to start such programmes," the official said.Vidya Sagar, a businessman, said: "I have booked the trekking tour to Yercaud hills on October 30. As I am based in Salem I will be joining the team from Chennai at Yercaud. This is the first time I will be going on such an expedition. I am excited because the trip will help me visit areas were medicinal herbs grow in the hills."

This is the first time that TTDC will be conducting trekking expeditions in an organised way. Till now, tourism department's staff or approved guides used to guide trekking parties into the forest areas at Tirunelveli, Ooty, Yercaud and other places. But, "We decided to take bookings for trekking to promote adventure tourism and also let people experience lesser-known destinations," said a TTDC official.

"TTDC has been organising several tours. But, such conducted tours only help the tourists to see certain spots. They do not allow tourists to explore the area in a way a trekking programme can do," he added.

Plastic free zone at vadavalli !!


The residents of six colonies of Ward 4 in Vadavalli have begun an effort to create a plastic bag-free zone. Initiated by Vadavalli Super Garden Residents’ Welfare Association, the programme aims at ridding all the colonies of plastic bags by promoting the use of biodegradable jute bags.

P.S. Colony, Nehru Colony, Classic Gardens, Krishna Colony and Harini Avenue are the other residential layouts that have joined the programme. Together, the six colonies will try and create a model no-plastic bag zone in Vadavalli, a suburb west of the city that is struggling to find ways to dispose of garbage.

After the launch of the initiative on Sunday by Vadvalli Town Panchayat president Amirthavalli Shanmughasundaram, president of the Super Garden residents’ association A.G. Manickam said that at present, all the plastic bags and paper waste would be handed over to ITC Limited under the Waste out of Wealth project of the private firm and Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC). This project was already on in many parts of the city. The company paid the residents for the recyclable plastic bags and paper waste.

Mr. Manickam said the long-term objective was to stop the inflow of plastic bags to the colonies. RAAC’s promotion of the use of jute bags had been taken up by these colonies also.The effort now would be to enlist the support of the neighbourhood shops also. While the residents would be asked to take with them jute bags to shops, the residents’ associations in the colonies would also provide the shops with jute bags.

Oct 22, 2009

Rakindo builds Kovai Hill township !!


Rakindo Developers Pvt Ltd, a property development and master planning company involved in designing and developing properties and resorts in the Middle East, China, India and Europe, has appointed Mudra and Grey Worldwide as creative agencies for two of its upcoming projects.While Mudra will handle the integrated township project that is coming up at Kovai Hill, Coimbatore, Grey Worldwide will look after the creative duties of Orchid, a residential project consisting of apartments and row houses.

Confirming the development, a Rakindo Developers spokesperson said that after going through the presentations of the agencies that had taken part in a pitch, the company decided to appoint Mudra and Grey. “Mudra and Grey understood exactly what we need to communicate,” he added.JWT and Lowe are the two other agencies that had taken part in the pitch.

Joydeep Dasgupta, Head of Mudra Chennai said, “Initially, the communication will focus more on BTL activities. ATL activities will be undertaken some time later.”Rakindo Developers is a joint venture company formed by Rakeen, a global business company promoted by the Government of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, and Chennai-based mineral conglomerate Trimex Group. The project – Kovai Hills – will be developed over 1,000 acres with an 18-hole golf course as the centrepiece. The project involves setting up of luxurious golf course villas with scenic mountains and lush greenery in the background. Rakindo will offer these exclusive villas on ‘Own by Invitation Only’, a first in Tamil Nadu. The project is located southwest on the Coimbatore-Palakkad route and will have about 22 million sq ft of constructed space.

SIMA explores options to meet power demand

Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA), which represents a large number of textile mills in the organised sector, is exploring various options to meet the energy requirements of its members as the power shortage in the State is expected to increase with the drop in wind energy generation.

Association chairman J. Thulasidharan told that SIMA had submitted applications to the Power Exchange India from five member mills that had dedicated feeders.The association was also in talks with private companies for inter-State and intra-State third party power purchase by individual mills.Power was available at Rs. 6.50 to Rs. 7 a unit now and if the demand, the association might consider negotiating prices. Mr. Thulasidharan said the power requirements of the member mills were 550 MW and the connected load of the textile industry in the State was 1,800 MW. The mills in the State now faced 20 per cent power cut apart from peak hour restrictions and two hours load shedding a day.

Earlier, the mills had 40 per cent power cut. With the wind energy generation declining, the power cut was likely to be increased. The market was good now and power shortage would affect the mills, he said.The association appealed to the State Government to treat textiles, especially the processing units, as “continuous process” industry.The machinery and production process would be hit if the power cut was implemented in phases every day.

The power cut could be scheduled so that mills used grid power or the power purchased continuously for a specific period, he suggested. The association also appealed to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to facilitate third party purchase for small and medium-scale units by bundling the demand.

India tops in BPO list !

India has retained its top position on the advisory firm Global Services-Tholons ranking of the world's top outsourcing nations.Six cities -- Bangalore, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune -- are the favourite offshore destinations for global outsourcers, according to the fourth Global Services-Tholons Top 50 emerging outsourcing destinations survey.

India topped the list with revenues of $40 billion from export of information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) services in 2008. Its closest rival Philippines increased outsourcing revenues by 25% to $6 billion in the same year. The two nations were followed by Ireland, China and Brazil.

According to the study, India also grabbed the top slot in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the country. It had the highest FDI in the IT-BPO sector in 2008 at $46 billion, a jump of 46% from the previous year, even as global FDI flows decreased from $1.9 trillion to $1.7 trillion and several developing economies struggled to acquire investments from client nations.

Avinash Vashistha, CEO of Tholons, said it is not just cost arbitrage that is bringing in funds into the country "For a CIO (chief information officer) today, finding a centre of excellence is more than just to lower cost. It must consider location, risk mitigation for business, cultural affinity and scalability of the skilled workforce," he said."The service providers need to think through their offerings so as to differentiate as the competitive advantage is rapidly vanishing due to a cut-throat competition and market saturation."

Besides the top six Indian cities, the other cities that have been featured in Global Services-Tholons' survey are Chandigarh, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Thiruvananthapuram. They have made to the list of next 60 outsourcing destinations.

Training on Sulzer weaving machine ..


The South Indian Textile Research Association (SITRA) will organise a training on “Sulzer Projectile Weaving Machine” for one month. Candidates who have passed Standard X and are aged between 18 and 32 can apply. The annual income of the candidate should be Rs. 1 lakh or less and the applicant should be from backward, most backward or any denotified community. An interview will be held on October 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the association premises to select candidates.

Inter school competition

Rotary Club of Coimbatore Satellite and Rotaract Club of CUG in association with the Students Creative Council is organising the inter-school competition on October 24 at Mani High School, Coimbatore. More than 15 competitions such as debate, jam, group dance, group song, painting and lots more will be conducted for the students from Standards 6 to 12.

There will be a rolling trophy for the outstanding school and trophy for the school with maximum participation. For details Saba could be contacted at 99942-14047, Pranab at 99949-67573 and Dinesh at 99521-96495.

Surgery Live telecast to UK university !


Gem Hospital in the city shared its expertise in laparoscopic gastro-intestinal surgeries with participants at the International Conference on Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery, held at Dundee University in the United Kingdom on Tuesday and Wednesday.The procedures done during these days included splenectomy and surgery for cancer in the food pipe, Director of the hospital and gastro-intestinal surgeon C. Palanivelu, who led the two-day event, said in a press release.

Dr. Palanivelu and his team performed the surgeries and explained to the participants at the conference some tough surgeries that the hospital had been doing regularly. The teleconferencing method facilitated an interaction between the surgeon and the conference delegates. Gem Hospital was one of the three centres in the world that took part in the teleconference with the university. It was the only one from Asia, he said. The other centres were in Europe and the U.S.

Dr. Palanivelu performed laparoscopic surgeries for the cancer of the oesophagus (food pipe) and liver and splenectomy for blood disorder in a child. He said that with advances in telecommunication facilities, a surgeon could now demonstrate such complex surgeries form his own hospital and teach these to others across the world through teleconferencing.

Terms such as ‘tele-proctoring’ and ‘tele-mentoring’ have been coined by surgeons in recent years to denote such ‘remote teaching’ exercises, he said. Dr. Palanivelu said it was important that more surgeons took to laparoscopic procedures to treat complex problems as the minimally invasive method was of immense benefit to patients.

Oct 19, 2009

Classical Tamil conference from 24th June !!

With the board of International Association of Tamil Research (IATR) failing to come to a consensus on the suggested dates for the ninthWorld Tamil Conference, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced that a four-day international conference on Classical Tamil' would be held from June 24 next year in Coimbatore.

This means that the conference will be an independent event, and not be part of the World Tamil Conference series held under the auspices of the IATR for the last four decades in various countries. Tamil Nadu has hosted the conference thrice in the past in 1968 (Chennai), 1981 (Madurai) and 1995 (Thanjavur).

A resolution passed at a meeting chaired by chief minister M Karunanidhi on Friday said the conference should be held next year prior to the onset of the monsoon, before the end of the summer vacation of foreign universities and well before the work related to the May 2011 assembly begins. Taking all these into account, the dates were fixed late in June 2010.

The government had earlier planned to hold the conference in January 2010, but it was postponed by six months, acceding to requests from scholars for time to submit research papers. Even then, the government's plan had drawn criticism from opposition leader and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa that any conference not held under the IATR could not be called the Ninth World Tamil Conference'.

Subsequently, on the state government's request, IATR vice-president and eminent academician VC Kulandaisamy approached IATR president Noboru Karashima for the body's formal consent.

According to highly placed sources, two IATR secretaries-general, Karthikesu Sivathamby and E Annamalai, as well as representatives from Malaysia and Mauritius, were in agreement with the state's intention to hold the meet in June 2010. However, despite a majority of the IATR board supporting the government's plan, Karashima was insistent that more than one year was needed to organise the event. "He was stubborn even though 11 out of 13 members were against him. He wanted the conference only in January 2011," the sources said.

Eminent scholars and writers, including Jayakanthan, Iravatham Mahadevan, Avvai Natarajan, Porko, R Muthukumarasamy, K P Aravanan, Abdul Rahman and Sirpi, who attended Friday's meeting, suggested that since a majority in the IATR favoured the conduct of the conference, the state government could declare it the ninth World Tamil Conference as planned, the sources said. However, the CM did not want any controversy and decided to hold the conference with a new title, World Classical Tamil Conference'. The UPA regime had accorded classical status to Tamil in 2004.

Karashima has been heading the IATR for more than two decades. The world Tamil conferences are held from time to time without any specific periodicity.

Ex servicemen renewel before 23rd Nov !

Ex-servicemen who have not renewed registration at the Coimbatore District Employment Exchange between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008 can do so before November 23, 2009. Ex-servicemen in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts should submit all the documents for the renewal, a press release said.

Power shutdown !

Power supply will not be available in the following areas from 9 a.m .to 5 p.m. on October 20, owing to a shutdown at the Pollachi sub-station:

Pollachi Town, Mahalingapuram, Pollachi Rural, T. Kottampatty, Pollachi South, Samathur, Kanjampatty, Pollachi East, Kongu Nagaram, Zaminuthukuli, Pollachi West, Kolarpatty, A. Sangampalayam, Mill Kovilpalayam and Vadakipakayam.

Padayatra planned to highlight woes of Western districts

Accusing the State Government of showing discriminatory attitude and continued neglect of Western Tamil Nadu, Kongu Nadu Munnetra Kazhagam has planned to organise a massive padayatra besides a fast unto death in January 2010.

In a statement, Arunachalam of State Advocates Wing and Coimbatore City Convenor of the party, G.K. Nagaraj have announced that Government had failed to initiate any concrete measure for preventing the pollution of Noyyal river and that in turn polluting the ground water table. There had not been any lasting solution to the problems of dyeing units.

There had not been any concerted effort to widen, strengthen and relay the Mettuppalayam Road that stands as a tall example of congestion and frequent accidents. Speedy implementation of water supply schemes is the need of the hour. There had not been any reassuring measure to implement the Under Ground Drainage Scheme (UGD).

KMK also flayed the Government of having betrayed their interests by getting the Central University and Marine University to Thiruvarur instead of Coimbatore as originally planned.

Police recruitment exam on th Oct

Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore, N. Kannan has announced that call letters for the written examination to be conducted by the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board on October 25 for second graded constables have been despatched.

The call letters were despatched on October 8 in the self-addressed envelopes provided by the candidates in the application form.Those who do not receive their call letters/hall tickets by October 19 are requested to approach the office of the Superintendent of Police on Railway Station Road with proof for application and obtain copies of the call letters.

The examination would be held on October 25 at the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University.

Instructions

Candidates should be seated in the hall by 9 a.m. Candidates should use only black or blue colour ink ball point pen and should bring a writing pad.Candidates should have signed on the photograph on the call letters. Those without call letters would not be permitted to write the examination.

Candidates should not carry with them electronic gadgets such as cellular phones, cameras, calculators etc. to the examination hall.

Army recruitment result on th Oct

The results for the Common Entrance Examination conducted for the post of Soldier Clerk/SKT on August 30 will be announced on October 19, Army Recruiting Office, Coimbatore has said. Candidates are advised to report to Army Recruiting Office on October 19 with all original documents.

Oct 16, 2009

Crackers - Follow guidelines or pay fine !


The District Administration in association with the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has issued a set of guidelines for a safe and accident-free Deepavali.

As per the Supreme Court guidelines, firecrackers should not be used between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Smoke pollution caused by firecrackers would lead to breathing difficulties, allergy and other ailments, a release from Collector, P. Umanath said. Use of fire crackers should be avoided on roads that witness heavy traffic, places that witness congregations.

Use of firecrackers should be strictly avoided in areas close to hospitals, schools, court complexes.Those violating the fiat would be dealt with legally and would attract a fine of Rs 1,000 or even imprisonment. Public are requested to avoid using firecrackers that generate high levels of noise.The guidelines suggested that the money spent on firecrackers could be donated to provide education and clothes to poor children. Firecrackers should be burst in open grounds as a community celebration.

Avoid stocking firecrackers in one place, long incense sticks should be used to light firecrackers.Also, loose clothes should be avoided while bursting firecrackers and footwear must be worn.In case of burns, pour water over the wounds. Eyes should be washed properly if some foreign particle gets into them.Firecrackers should be used only under adult supervision. Children should not be allowed to stock firecrackers in their pockets. Firecrackers which fizzle out should not be re-ignited.

Also, keep sand and water ready before bursting firecrackers.To ensure that the festival of lights brings happiness and prosperity and to avoid accidents, use firecrackers that emanate more light and less noise, Dr. Umanath added.

2 Held for smuggling sandal wood

The Pollachi police on Wednesday night intercepted a car, arrested two persons transporting 100 kg of sandalwood in four gunny bags and seized Rs.40,000 found in one of the bags.

Inquiries revealed that the sandalwood was purchased from a person at Manupatti in Udumalpet and was being taken to a consignee in Namakkal district.The arrested were identified as Ramraj (34) of Udumalpet and Ramar (38) of Dharmapuri.

The car belonged to another person in Palladam area.

TNAU awaits approval for four varieties of Bt brinjal


Even as the bio-technology regulator, Genetic Engineering Approval Committee has given the green signal for the environmental release of Bt brinjal, the first genetically modified food crop to be allowed in the country, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University is awaiting the government nod for releasing four varieties of Bt brinjal developed by it.

They are, Co2-Bt, MDU1-Bt, KKM1-Bt and PLR-1-Bt.

Vice-Chancellor P. Murugesa Boopathy told that the university was involved in the development of Bt brinjal for the past six years. “The difference between the university and other developers is that we have developed varieties whereas others have developed hybrids. As we are releasing varieties, their seeds can be saved by farmers for sowing in the next season. Thus, there is no necessity for them to obtain the seed from companies.”

He said brinjal was an important cash crop benefiting poor and marginal farmers. It was cultivated on over 5.1 lakh ha with an annual production of about 8.2 million tonnes. In Tamil Nadu, it was cultivated over 7,676 ha with an annual production of 82,049 metric tonnes. The average productivity was 10.69 metric tonnes per hectare.

Dr. Boopathy said this crop suffered immensely because of attack by insects — fruit and shoot borer — at times causing 70 per cent damage. As traditional management strategies had failed, farmers relied heavily on chemical pesticides. “Unfortunately, they resort to indiscriminate application of pesticides to ensure a good harvest, which has led to harmful effects on environment and the health of farmers and consumers.”Explaining how Bt brinjal could effectively combat fruit and shoot borer, he said it imparted resistance and effectively controlled the larvae. The young larvae died as soon as they bit the tissues.

Bio safety tests

“The Bt-brinjal has undergone rigorous bio safety tests and has been found to be safe for human beings, animals and the environment.” Besides, the Bt crop would require just a few pesticide applications during early stages. As they were free from pesticide residues, they were safe for human consumption.Dr. Boopathy said that based on the final decision of the Centre, the university would approach the GEAC for formal release of these varieties.

Oct 15, 2009

Tight security for Deepavali shopping

Tight security arrangements have been ensured in all the busy commercial areas of Coimbatore city to ensure a crime and incident-free shopping experience during the Deepavali season, said P. Sivanandi, City Police Commissioner.Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Mr. Sivanandi said that 2,400 policemen had been deployed across the city. In addition to policemen in uniform, personnel in plain clothes were also mingling with the crowd on the look out for habitual offenders and those known for two-wheeler lifting, bag lifting, chain snatching and pocket picking. Police personnel had been deployed as decoys under the guise of platform vendors, salesmen and special teams had been equipped with a dossier of wanted criminals.

For ensuring better surveillance, watch towers had been installed at many places where binocular wielding police personnel maintain vigil. At many places across the city, surveillance cameras and speed dome cameras had been installed in addition to barricading for segregating the flow of pedestrians and vehicular traffic.For crowd management, the services of home guards were also being roped in. Vigil had been stepped up in buses to prevent pocket picking and already 15 pocket pickers had been taken into custody.

Special teams were functioning under the direct supervision of Deputy Commissioners of Police P. Nagarajan (Law and Order) and N. Kamini (Crime and Traffic).Mr. Sivanandi said that to prevent the movement of criminals, combing operations would be carried out at night by conducting lodge checks and vehicle checks at random points at frequent intervals.

Officials had been asked to shadow watch known depredators, history sheeters and ex-convicts and who were released recently from the prison.All cracker shops were being subjected to frequent inspection by officers and to prevent fire accidents, shop keepers had been asked to keep sand and water ready in front of their shops.

Of the 300 applications for fire cracker shops, 290 had been cleared.He exhorted the public to avoid using fire crackers in thickly populated areas and near hospitals.“Public are welcome to burst crackers in open grounds and common places.” He also requested the public to avoid sound generating cracker varieties after 10 p.m. and till 6 a.m.

Eight held during drive against criminals

City Police have arrested eight persons with criminal antecedents during a special drive conducted against criminal elements in the last three days.Talking to reporters, City Police Commissioner P. Sivanandi said that to combat incidents of crime, crime control drive was stepped up across the city. Special teams functioned under the direct supervision of Deputy Commissioners of Police P. Nagarajan (Law and Order) and N. Kamini (Crime and Traffic). The teams were led by Assistant Commissioners of Police L. Balaji Saravanan and Suresh.

The teams on October 14 nabbed two persons R. Satish alias Sathishkumar (26) and S. Prem alias Premkumar alias Senthilkumar (29) of Okkilaiar Street on charges of waylaying and robbing R. Rajan (39) of Periyar Nagar on Pankaja Mill Road of Rs.500 and wrist watch at knife point.Special teams intercepted Balaji alias Balasubramanian, Hari and Anand alias Poonaikan Anand. The trio were in the habit of robbing people at knife point and used to overpower resistance if any, by spraying chilli powder.

During investigation into waylaying and robbery case in Sai Baba Colony police limits, special police teams intercepted Jayakumar (28), Chellamuthu and Kumar. Enquiries revealed that the trio was involved in the murder of Karpagavalli. The body was dumped in a canal in Kamanaickenpalayam, near Palladam, in 2006.Mr. Sivanandi exhorted the public to be cautious while entertaining strangers.

Drive against touts by Railways

During a drive against touts and unauthorised ticket brokers, the Southern Railway has arrested 21 brokers and recovered cash and tickets worth Rs. 24,000 from them.Southern Railway had ordered for vigil at all railway stations to prevent touts and brokers from selling tickets at premium rates.

Accordingly, a team of officials from the vigilance wing of the Southern Railway along with officials from Salem Division conducted a drive at Coimbatore Junction on Wednesday and arrested 21 brokers. All of them were handed over to Railway Protection Force who, in turn, remanded all of them to judicial custody. Vigil has been stepped in all ticket reservation counters in the region.

Tipper to replace Bullock carts


Tippers that are five ft to six ft wide will replace bullock carts in the task of collecting garbage from narrow lanes in the city that are seven ft to 10 ft wide. The Coimbatore Corporation has purchased 12 tippers and three vehicles have been allocated to each of the four zones.

While each of these vehicles will have a large number of wards to cover now, more of these will be bought to ensure that adequate number of tippers to reduce collection time in all the 72 wards. There are plans to buy another 24 tippers so that one tipper is allocated to a unit of two wards.Ultimately, 157 bullock carts used till now to collect both biodegradable and non-biodegradable for residential colonies will be off the roads. The cart drivers will now be re-designated as cleaners of the tippers.

Narrow lanes

With this, the Corporation aims to remove bottlenecks in garbage collection in narrow lanes and reduce the time taken for collection and transportation.“Our primary aim is to remove the bullock carts from waste management. At the same time, people will have to segregate waste in the two bins we have provided and hand over these to the tippers,” according to Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra.An official explains that as per a Government of India order, animal-drawn vehicles should not be used for transporting garbage or any other materials.

Besides, the time taken by the carts to transport garbage was far higher than the one taken by motor vehicles.A cart can make only one or two trips. But, a tipper can make a minimum of three trips.So, the volume of waste cleared every day will be high, an official explained.

Chambers

A cart can hold only 500 kg of waste. But, tipper can carry 600 kg to 650 kg of segregated waste. The tippers had two chambers – one for biodegradable waste and the other for the non-biodegradable. This means the public will have to handover to the cleaner only segregated waste.The fully covered tippers will take the waste to the transfer station nearest to their areas of collection. The stations were being established at Ondipudur, Peelamedu, Sathyamangalam Road and Ukkadam.

Oct 14, 2009

obesity awareness week !!


About 500 patients treated for obesity and student volunteers of the National Service Scheme will take out a walk in the city on October 25 as part of a week-long obesity awareness programme jointly organised by GEM Hospital and Bharathiar University, Dr. C. Palanivelu, the director of the hospital told presspersons on Tuesday.The walk would be flagged of by former national hockey team captain V. Baskaran and athlete Valsamma. City Police Commissioner P. Sivanandi and Member of Parliament E.T. Basheer Ahmed would be present at the flag off.

Bharathiar University Vice-Chancellor C. Swaminathan would administer an oath of obesity prevention to the participants at the conclusion of the walk on the P.R.S. Grounds.

Workshop

A two-day international workshop on bariatric surgery would be held on October 23 and 24. Delegates could see live procedure such as laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass.On October 26, Union Minister of State for Health S. Gandhiselvan, State School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu and District Collector P. Umanath would participate in an obesity awareness programme. Mr. Gandhiselvan would release a book authored by Dr. Palanivelu.During the Obesity Week, free surgeries would be performed to poor people who suffered from morbid obesity. For more details, the hospital could be contacted on 0422-2325105.

Morbid obesity

Explaining why more focus should be given to obesity, Dr. Palanivelu said it led to a variety of problems such as diabetes, infertility, stroke and heart attack. It also had a psychological impact.Most obese people did not socialise.Morbid obesity was high in the U.S. and Latin American countries. Earlier, obesity surgery was treated as a cosmetic procedure. But, the World Health Organisation later brought it under the category of life-saving procedures.

Awareness

Obesity awareness should begin in schools. Children must be educated on the hazards of obesity. Excess weight in children mostly became an irreversible condition.“This is why we have included painting and essay writing competitions for students on this topic during the event,” Dr. Palanivelu said.Surgery apart, obesity awareness was being stressed as part of preventive medicine.The emphasis was on nutrition and not mere quantity of food. There was equal emphasis on good physique and clean habits, he said.

Install cams tells police to bankers !

City Police Commissioner P. Sivanandi on Tuesday urged bankers across the city to step up vigil on their premises by installing surveillance cameras to ensure secured atmosphere for their customers.He visited the branch premises of a bank on Oppanakkara Street where Prakash, an accountant of a metal firm, was robbed of Rs. 5 lakh on Monday morning.

Mr. Sivanandi said that the surveillance cameras had captured the image of a person walking away with the cash bag.With this evidence the police were confident of apprehending the accused within the next 48 to 72 hours.

Eye-opener

Mr. Sivanandi told that the incident should be an eye-opener for the banks to enhance security systems and vigil both inside and outside the bank premises. The very presence of such systems would bring down the crime rate, he said.Mr. Sivanandi said that Deputy Commissioners of Police P. Nagarajan (Law and Order) and N. Kamini (Crime and Traffic) had been asked to speak to all banks through their Assistant Commissioners and Inspectors on the need for stepping up vigil in and around the bank premises.

All banks should have surveillance cameras in the public area as well as the staff area, besides cash safe vault room and safety locker areas in addition to a few outside the banks to see whether any gang indulged in planning. Such cameras would also help zeroing in on suspects even after committing the offences.

ATM kiosks

Similarly, not just for the safety of the cash but also for that of the customers visiting the bank, all ATM kiosks should be equipped with cameras, he said.The police would sensitise the bankers to these issues and were confident of getting the co-operation of the bankers in bringing down the crime rate, Mr. Sivanandi said.

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