Archive for category Madurai
Awareness Meeting on “Do not use Mobile Phones while Driving Vehicles”
Posted by ganesh in Communication, Departments, Health, Madurai, Mobiles, Public, Transport, accident, government, illegal, meeting, police, programme on March 11th, 2010
Do not mix driving and talking. This was the message conveyed at an awareness meeting on “do not use mobile phones while driving vehicles” conducted by the Regional Transport Authority officials for the motorists in the city on Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion, RTO (Madurai central) T.G. Thomas said that talking over mobile phones and riding/driving vehicles was more dangerous than drunken driving. Vehicular checks carried out by the authorities (on drivers who were spotted talking over phones) revealed that they (drivers’) were not concentrating on the driving. He underlined the need for self-discipline among the drivers and suggested to stop their vehicles and talk on the phones, if it was very urgent.
Motor Vehicles Inspector Amirtheswaran narrated the mental agony underwent by a family which had lost one of their member’s in a road accident. Investigations revealed that the victim who was talking over the mobile phone was hit by a lorry near the busy Netaji Road intersection.
Inspector of Police (Traffic) A. Balakrishnan appealed to the drivers’ present at the meeting to take a pledge that they would not talk over the mobile phones while driving their vehicles from today onwards. “Everyday, I booked at least 4-5 motorists on charges of speaking over mobile phones under Section 184 of Motor Vehicles Act and imposed a fine of Rs 1,100,” he warned.
Motor Vehicles Inspector J.K. Baskaran said that at least 50 per cent of the road accidents reported was due to careless driving. It had also come to light that the drivers’ talked over their phones.
Rajinikanth from Aravind Eye Hospital said that research by experts suggested less talking over mobile phones as it would affect the ears. Mobile phones produced electro magnetic waves and long conversations over the phone may affect hearing. Persons may use ear phones as an alternative. Wherever there was weak signal, do not use the phones, he advised.
Suresh Kannan proposed vote of thanks. Maxi drivers, auto rickshaw drivers among others attended.
Six persons, including four school children injured travelling overturned
Six persons, including four school children, were injured when the school van in which they were travelling overturned at Valayankulam village under Kallikudi police limits, here today.
Police said the van belonging to Al-ameen Primary School was carrying a group of students to school, when the mishap occurred.
The injured students Janani (6), Hema Prasad (4), Jegadeesh (4) and Vijayashankar (6), the van driver and cleaner were treated at Government Hospital at Tirumangalam.
One of the injured Hema Prasad, who suffered head injury, was later shifted to a multi-specialty hospital in the city.
The condition of the injured students was stated to be stable,
TN govt should set up a defence park near Madurai in CII
Posted by ganesh in Communication, Departments, Health, Information, Madurai, Other, Public, budget, government, programme on March 11th, 2010
The Tamil Nadu government should set up a defence park near Madurai to take advantage of the country’s offset policy, the state chapter of industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) says.
‘We have submitted a proposal to set up an defence industrial park near Madurai to union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers M.K. Alagiri. This is one more effort to industrialise southern Tamil Nadu,’ C.K.Ranganathan, chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Council, told reporters here Wednesday.
Under India’s defence offset policy, if the equipment acquisition value exceeds Rs.300 crore, products equivalent to 30 percent of the contract value have to be locally manufactured.
Appreciating the Tamil Nadu government’s health insurance scheme for poor people, Ranganathan urged the state to offer attractive incentives for hospitals to be built in rural areas.
‘Without incentives, hospitals in rural areas are not viable,’ he remarked.
According to Ranganathan, CII-Tamil Nadu’s suggestion to formulate an industry-wise policy has been accepted by the state government.
He said CII is now studying cost-effective ways of making cities better places to in live through its City Connect programme.
‘Muthamizh Perarignar’ award was conferred on Solomon Pappiah
Posted by ganesh in Award, Communication, Culture, Information, Madurai, anniversary, programme on March 11th, 2010
The 35th anniversary celebration of the Madurai Tamil Isai Sangam began at Raja Muthiah Mandram here on Wednesday. M. A. M. Ramasamy, Pro-Chancellor, Annamalai University, inaugurated the festival which runs for 10 days.
In tune with the tradition of honouring exponents in the fields of ‘iyal, isai and natakam,’ the ‘Muthamizh Perarignar’ award was conferred on popular debater and orator, Solomon Pappiah, by M. Jayapaul, Judge, Madras High Court. The award carries a citation and ‘porkizhi’ (purse).The Judge also gave away awards to other artistes on the occasion.
Delivering the presidential address, Mr. Jayapaul appreciated the efforts of the Tamil Isai Sangam and said that Western world gave us great exponents of western classical music like Beethoven and Mozart, while Tamil Nadu gave great music composers like Ilaiyaraja and A. R. Rahman. “Likewise, we expect the Tamil Isai Sangam to produce such musical geniuses,” he said.
A. Surianarayanan, Chief Income Tax Commissioner, released the 35th anniversary souvenir and the first copy was received by philanthropist Meena Muthiah. In his acceptance speech, Dr. Pappiah praised the work of Tamil Isai Sangam and said that it was a great feeling to receive this honour and promised to live up to the expectations of the experts in Tamil language.
Security at Major Temples in hi-tech Surveillance cameras installed at Meenakshi Temple
Posted by ganesh in Communication, Information, Madurai, Temples, electronic, government, illegal, modification, police, programme on March 10th, 2010
As part of an exercise to upgrade security at major temples in Tamil Nadu, hi-tech surveillance cameras will soon be installed at the world famous Meenakshi Sundareswar Temple in Madurai. Work on installing the 32 cameras began on Monday with technical support from Information Technology major HCL.
The Meenakshi Te
mple was among the vital installations in the State that faced threat from Lashkar-e-Taiba a few months ago, following which security was enhanced. The project to install cameras being executed at a cost of Rs.48.5 lakh envisages provision of a security blanket to the temple complex and its vicinity, official sources told The Hindu here on Monday.
The number of cameras could also be increased on the advice of the security agencies. Apart from advanced Internet protocol-operated dome cameras, electronic alarms, sensors and control room apparatus would also be installed.
TECHNICAL PERSONNEL
The installation work is expected to be completed in two months.
Technical personnel from HCL will be working on the project for one year to provide maintenance and other services. Two control rooms are being established, with one to be monitored by security agencies and temple staff. The surveillance cameras to be installed at vantage points would cover the entire temple premises and four Adi streets surrounding the temple, besides some portions of the Chithirai streets.
Most of the cameras will be kept at concealed locations. Due care would be taken to ensure that devotees are not affected by the installation work, a temple official said.
Once the project is completed, it would significantly enhance the security of the temple and provide the police personnel with vital inputs in protecting the complex, he added.
Installation of surveillance cameras at major temples follows recommendations made by the State intelligence at a security audit meeting held recently. “We have suggested that closed circuit television network be established at major temples and iconic buildings,” Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) M.S. Jaffar Sait said.
Additional Director General of Police (Economic Offences Wing) G. Thilakavathi said it had been suggested to open icon centres for safe custody of antique idols.
SR special trains in ‘Ammavasai’ festival on March 15
Posted by ganesh in Departments, Festivals, Information, Madurai, Railway, Rameswaram, Temples, Transport, government on March 10th, 2010
Southern Railway will operate a pair of passenger special trains in connection with ‘Ammavasai’ festival on March 15 at Rameswaram.
A statement said that Madurai-Rameswaram passenger special will leave Madurai at 9.45 p.m. on March 14 and reach Rameswaram at 2 a.m. the next day.
The Rameswaram-Madurai passenger special will leave Rameswaram at 1.05 p.m. on March 15 and reach Madurai at 4.55 p.m. on the same day.
These trains will stop at Madurai East, Silaiman, Tirupuvanam, Tirupacheti, Manamadurai, Sudiyur, Paramakkudi, Sattirakudi, Ramanathapuram, Uchipuli, Mandapam and Pamban.
The number of following trains will be changed with effect from July 1.
Train No. 6101/6102 Chennai Egmore-Rameswaram-Chennai Egmore Express has been revised as Train no. 6701/6702,
NABARD sanctioned to farmer improving a sugarcane harvester invented.
Posted by ganesh in Agriculture, Departments, Health, Information, Madurai, electronic, modification, planted, vehicles on March 8th, 2010
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs. 1.38 lakh to a farmer here for improving a sugarcane harvester he invented.
While present models of sugarcane harvesters in the market mainly cater only to big farmers having more than five acres, this invention meets the requirements of small farmers having one or two acres, R. Shankar Narayan, Assistant General Manager, NABARD,
The funds have been provided under NABARD’s ‘Rural Innovation Fund’ set up to encourage grass root innovation that will improve productivity and income of farmers. The farmer, P. Kantharaj (42) of Arapalayam, has been given the grant to fabricate five more units of his harvester and also improve the efficiency and reduce its weight.
“Madurai district has a lot of small farmers who are also facing a labour shortage. They can make use of Mr. Kantharaj’s invention,” Mr. Shankar Narayan said.
Even the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University’s (TNAU) Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute at Tiruchi and National Innovation Foundation at Ahmedabad have expressed interest in this project and have imparted technical inputs, he said.
The farmer also took part in a South Indian Sugarcane and Sugar Technologists Association’s exhibition, he said.
A project implementation monitoring and review committee, chaired by Mr. Shankar Narayan has been formed with KN. Subramanian, Lead District Manager and agriculture experts included as members.
The farmer has also been training to prepare an activity chart and action plan to indicate the timeline to fulfil the project. This assistance will help the farmer take his innovation to a commercial scale, he said.
Mr. Kantharaj said that his sugarcane harvester can cut two tonnes in one hour or 16 tonnes in an eight-hour shift. A team of 25 labourers need eight hours to cut 15 tonnes. This petrol-powered equipment is powered by a 1.5 horsepower motor and weighs a total of 45 kg. It is also very easy to operate.
“My main problem is not inventing this equipment. It is the inability to manufacture it on a large scale to meet the large demand. I hope that some manufacturers will take notice and take up large-scale manufacturing so that many farmers could benefit,”
Initiative called ‘Public Health towards Villages’ is going to be launched in every village
Posted by ganesh in Communication, Health, Madurai, Public, government, programme, tamilnadu on March 8th, 2010
A new initiative called ‘Public Health towards Villages’ is going to be launched in the State to strengthen healthcare in every village.
Under this plan to be started in a few days, the Department of Public Health is issuing orders to its district officials to hold weekly review meetings at the village health sub-centre level and understand the requirements of local people by deputing the field staff.
S. Elango, Director of Public Health, told The Hindu here on Sunday that the decision to “introduce a new roadmap for public health” was taken at a State-level review meeting of the Health Department held in Chennai on March 4.
“We have explained the proposal to Health Minister M. R. K. Panneerselvam and Principal Health Secretary V. K. Subburaj. They had given consent to implement this idea which is aimed at involving the village people in public health issues,” he said.
The pattern of review meetings in Health Department will be changed by moving from the usual State/district level meetings to village health sub-centre level to know the ground situation better. According to Dr. Elango, some health sub-centres in the State were not functioning up to the desired level and hence the mode of review is being changed to bridge the gap.
For every 30,000 population, there are six health sub-centres. So far, their performance is being reviewed at district level meetings only through the medical officers of Primary Health Centres.
“By launching the ‘Public Health towards Villages’, we are confident of activating the entire rural health network of 8,600 health sub-centres and 1,539 Primary Health Centres in the State,” the Director of Public Health said. Dr. Elango said that the proposed village-centric model of review will help in better monitoring of implementation of public health activities and schemes.
Focus will be given to key issues such as maternal and child health, village sanitation, infectious diseases, maternal deaths, nutrition status, utilisation of funds given under State and Central schemes, implementation of State government schemes such as Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Assistance Scheme and the overall maintenance of health sub-centre.
“Health staff in every district will be sensitised on the needs of rural people. This will be a major next step in public health activities of the Tamil Nadu government and we have asked the field staff to be alert to public requirements,” the Director said.
UG/PG Semester Examinations from April 20
Posted by ganesh in College, Departments, Education, Information, Madurai, examination on March 6th, 2010
The examination dates for undergraduate/postgraduate April semester examinations of Madurai Kamaraj University have been announced.
The UG semester theory examinations will commence on April 20 while the PG semester theory examinations would begin on April 26, according to a press release. The last date for receipt of filled-in forms without penalty for the private candidates is March 18. Applications will be accepted up to March 25 with a penalty of Rs.100 and the application forms received after that date will not be entertained. Applications can be downloaded from the website: www.mkuniversity.org/forms.html.
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