Category Archives: Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

UK-bound to expand studies on her own people

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Aneesha
Aneesha

Thiruvananthapuram  :

Twenty-three-year old Aneesha from Valiyathura fishing hamlet is now in the league of elite research students. She has become the only student from the state to be selected for training in biodiversity and taxonomy from the famous Field Studies Council, an environmental education charity in the United Kingdom.

Eldest daughter of fisher parents Ani and Reena, Aneesha has always set herself high standards in academics. After studying at local schools and graduation from St Xavier’s, Thumba, she bagged the 18th rank in an all-India exam to get admission at the MSc programme conducted by Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry University, on its Port Blair campus in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. She is the first student from a fishing community to join the campus.  ‘’When I contacted the University for a stipend reserved for fishermen’s children, the authorities were not aware of it,’’ she says with a chuckle.

According to Aneesha, it’s her interest in the people and life of fishermen community she hails from that got her into marine ecology. She is also part of the NGO Friends of Marine Life, which conducted the first documentation to prepare a bioregistry in Thiruvananthapuram coast for Kerala State Biodiversity Board in 2013-15.  The effort made her realise that fishermen like her father who depend on hook-and-line fishing are in for trouble as the natural rocky reefs are getting damaged by pollution and construction activities in the name of development. Her house situated at the south of Valiyathura pier was affected in the recent sea surge which, according to her, has to be partly blamed for dredging activities nearby.

‘‘After completing my studies, I want to expand my study to the entire coastline of the state and document the eco-sensitive areas,’’ she says.  Aneesha says she can be more effective in research as she understands the ‘language’ of her own community.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram /  by Unnikrishnan S / June 22nd, 2016

Arya Premji no more

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All

Thiruvananthapuram :

Arya Premji, wife of social reformer the late M P Bhattathiripad (Premji) was laid to rest here on Monday.

Arya Premji, 99, died at her son, senior journalist Neelan’s residence here on Sunday. Her body was cremated at the Santhikavadam on Monday evening.

Arya and Premji were part of the state’s renaissance history for being the second couple in the Namboodiri community to engage in widow marriage.

Arya was born to Neelakandan Namboodiri and Umadevi Antharjanam of Karuvattu Mana at Anthikkad in Thrissur in 1917.

She got married at the age of 14 but became a widow a year after. Premji married her when she was 27.

Premji, then a proof reader with ‘Desabhimani’ daily, had triggered a debate in the community by marrying a widow, which eventually resulted in the community ostracising them.

Arya Premji was elected to the Thrissur municipal council as a Communist party candidate in 1964.

She is survived by sons M P Neelakandan (Neelan), Hareendranathan, retired Colonel Induchoodan, daughter Sathi, in-laws Santha, Leela, Varada and Parvathy. Her son KPAC Premachandran had predeceased her.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / May 24th, 2016

12-year-old California student ready to start university

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

A 12-year-old Sacramento student who already has three community college degrees and has been accepted to two University of California campuses says he plans on studying biomedical engineering and becoming a doctor and medical researcher by the time he turns 18.

Tanishq Abraham has been accepted to UC Davis and received a regents scholarship to UC Santa Cruz, but he has yet to decide which university he’ll attend, reported Sacramento television station CBS yesterday.

“I think I’ll be 18 when I get my MD,” he said.

Tanishq started community college at age 7 and last year he received associate’s degrees from American River College, a community college in Sacramento, in general science; math and physical science; and foreign language studies.

Professors at the college didn’t initially want him in their classes because of his age. But finally a professor agreed to let him attend if his mother, a doctor of veterinary medicine, also took the class. “There were times when I had to explain general relativity and special relativity to my mom,” he said.

Biology professor Marlene Martinez said he was never afraid to ask lot of questions. “In lecture he would always pop up with ‘so, does that mean …’ or ‘what about this?’ ” Martinez said.

Tanishq, who joined the IQ society Mensa at a tender age of 4 has always picked up knowledge quickly, his father, Bijou Abraham, told NBC News.

“We tested him and discovered that he was pretty smart,” he said. “We were surprised when we started giving him advanced stuff and he was picking it up really fast.”

Tanishq says child geniuses are often seen as odd. “When you think of a genius, you think of a mad scientist kind of thing,” he said.

But he pointed out he’s just an ordinary kid who likes learning and microscopes but also playing video games. “I just think learning is fun,” Tanishq said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> International / PTI / Sacramento – May 23rd, 2016

Rich tributes to Krishna Menon in U.K. on his 120th birth anniversary

Amazing Feats, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

Despite his prodigious intellect, Indian statesman V.K. Krishna Menon was no armchair intellectual and threw himself into local British politics and life. / The Hindu Photo Archives
Despite his prodigious intellect, Indian statesman V.K. Krishna Menon was no armchair intellectual and threw himself into local British politics and life.
/ The Hindu Photo Archives

“To describe Mr. Menon was like trying to contain the Niagra in a flask,” former civil servant P.N. Haksar famously said of him.

The life and multi-faceted contributions of the Indian statesman V.K. Krishna Menon (1896-1974), especially the less-known phase of his life in Britain, were remembered at a meeting organised by the V.K. Krishna Menon Research Institute at the Nehru Centre in London.

Speakers at the meeting included Cyriac Maprayil, Director of the Krishna Menon Institute; Virendar Paul, Deputy High Commissioner of India; Sir Peter Lloyd, former Minister of State for the Home office; and Chaya Ray, a lawyer who offered interesting reflections on Mr. Menon who she knew as a child in London.

“To describe Mr. Menon was like trying to contain the Niagra in a flask,” said Mr. Maprayil, quoting the former civil servant P.N. Haksar.

Prodigious intellect

Despite his prodigious intellect, Mr. Menon was no armchair intellectual and threw himself into local British politics and life. He an elected Councillor for Camden Town for four terms and was conferred the Freedom of the Borough for his public services.

As a member of the library committee, he wanted to see “as many libraries as pubs” in the area, Mr. Maprayil noted. His interest in promoting reading led him to set up Penguin paperbacks in 1935 with Sir Allen Lane. For a time during the war, he even acted as an air raid warden for his area.

Indian League role

Better known and documented are his activities in the India League, which he founded in 1929 and which canvassed support in Britain for Indian independence.

His contacts were wide and influential and included Bertrand Russell, J.B.S. Haldane, Michael Foote, Aneurin Bevan, E.M.Forster and Marie Seton.

1962 war defeat ‘hard on him’

Sir Peter Lloyd noted how Mr. Menon was invariably “right, but at the wrong time.” India’s defeat in the Indo-China’s war was “hard on him”, Mr. Lloyd said, “not the kind of payback he was looking for from the Chinese.” But on non-alignment, “his timing was right,” as it made the two power blocks take note of newly independent nations, even as it gave the latter a “sense of autonomy as equals rather than as players with client status.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News / by Parvathi Menon / London – May 04th, 2016

Church award for Dayabai

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All

The annual feast of the Bethel Saint George Orthodox Pilgrimage church at Nalila in the district commenced on April 23 and will conclude on May 5. Parish priest Fr. Jose M. Daniel said a highlight of the festival is the presentation of the Georgian award.

Social worker Dayabai has been selected for this year’s award and it will be presented to her at a function to be held at the church in the morning on May 1.

The function in this connection will be inaugurated by N.K. Premachandran, MP.

Former Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson will speak and the Metropolitan of Ahmedabad diocese Geevarghese Mar Yulios, will present the award.

The annual convention in connection with the festival will be held in the evening on that day.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Kollam – April 28th, 2016

Google honour for Kochi techies

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Wading through the plethora of recipes on the Internet for an easy-to-cook dish, six engineering graduates were led to their eureka moment.

It all began with the culinary dilemma of six young bachelors.

A screenshot from the video of the app.
A screenshot from the video of the app.

Wading through the plethora of recipes on the Internet for an easy-to-cook dish, six engineering graduates were led to their eureka moment. “How about forming a start-up and developing a recipe book app?”

A year later, the app named Recipe Book, refined by artificial intelligence with over six lakh recipes, is basking in the glory of being picked as the Editor’s choice in Google Play. “It is the first app from India to receive such an honour,” said authorities at the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) Startup Warehouse at Infopark, where the start-up is based.

Even as that recognition had barely sunk in, came another: “We have been told that our product will be featured in the prestigious Google I/O, an annual global event showcasing creative coders and their innovative products, to be held in California next month. A Google team is also on its way to profile our company,” Nikhil Dharman, one of the founding members of Recipe Book, told The Hindu.

The app, which boasts a million downloads in over 67 countries on Google Play Store, shot to the top in USA Google Play placements on April 14.

The integration of ‘snap n make,’ an artificial intelligence-driven smart feature, into the app in December seems to have won over the Google Play editorial board.

The features works on a highly imaginative level — take a snap of any food ingredient and the app identifies its diverse features, and a mere shake of the phone will list out all possible recipes using that ingredient.

“We are working on a more refined version of the feature, ,” said Bestin Jose, another founding member.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by M.P. Praveen / Kochi – April 29th, 2016

Roger That! Mathachan Ashan Keeps Ham Radio Buzzing

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technology

Mathachan Ashan operating his ham radio at his residence in Idukki (photo courtesy: Vincent Pulickal)
Mathachan Ashan operating his ham radio at his residence in Idukki (photo courtesy: Vincent Pulickal)

Idukki :

When connectivity is no longer a barrier in this digital age, does using wireless telegraphy for communication make any rational sense? Apparently Yes!

Mathachan Ashan, the first ham radio licensee in the district, is operating it successfully, especially at times of natural calamities.

For Septuagenarian, Puthanpurayil P M Mathew, better known as Mathachan Ashan among his dear and near ones at Ambalakkavala in Kattappana here, ham radio is not just a means of communication, but an integral part of his life. It was in 1982 that he bagged the licence for running a ham radio for the first time in the history of Idukki.

He later upgraded his license to first grade in 1995. The Central Ministry of Communication and Information Technology’s Wireless and Planning and Coordination wing is the authority that provides ham radio licences. Hams have to pass a test consisting of three papers on rules and regulations on ham radio, fundamental theory of radio, and morse code. Now, around 50 hams are there in the district alone.

People used to rely on him for passing urgent messages when even land phones were not so popular and available. So he is still treasuring all his old communication devices. Mathachan Ashan, who got lured into the world of electronics when he happened to see a radio exhibition at his school, also interacts with hundreds of other hams in and out of the country every day through his ham radio.Ham radio plays a crucial role when communication facilities get damaged in disaster like situations and wherever mobile phone coverage is very weak. Even the governments approaches private hams, at times of calamities. The district ham radios were in the forefront to help out the government for communication during Thekkady tragedy and  Pullumedu stampede occurred. Mathachan Ashan remembered how he contacted the relatives of Kattappana natives at the time of Peruman tragedy and Kashmir flood through his ham radio.

“Through the ham radio, I and my friends tracked seven of the doctors from Erankulam who went missing in Kashmir during the flood. “Later, they contacted to thank us. It’s really a great feeling when we realise later that we did a big thing,” says Mathchan Ashan.

source: httpP://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Sruthi Paruthikad / April 25th, 2016

Choice School bags Architizer A+ Award

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

Kochi:

The Choice School, Thiruvalla, has been selected for the Architizer A+ Award for the best designed educational project in the world. The programme focused on promoting and celebrating the year’s best architecture and products.

An online voting was also conducted as part of the selection process. The design has received more than four lakh votes in the public voting.”We are extremely honoured to receive the award. The complete design was carried out jointly by a Kochi-based Kumar group and a New York-based architecture firm,” said Jose Thomas, president, Choice School. tnn

“The building is a four-storeyed structure that can accommodate 3,000 students. The work is expected to be completed by June this year,” said Jose.

The award will be presented on May 12 during a week-long event to be held in New York.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kochi / TNN / April 21st, 2016

ICAR award for nutmeg farmer

Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technology

He got the award for developing a devise to de-shell the nutmeg seeds

Sachidanandan Velliyath, a 65-year-old farmer from North Aduvassery, Ernakulam, won the prestigious Innovative Farmer Award of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

He received the award from Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh on March 21 at New Delhi during the National Agricultural Fair – Krishi Unnati (Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela), said a press release here.

Development of a nutmeg decorticator, a devise to de-shell the nutmeg seeds, made him eligible for the award.

Since manual nutmeg de-shelling is laborious, it was not economical to produce kernel though it fetched double the price. The issue could be solved with the introduction of the new machine. The capacity of the nutmeg decorticator, powered by a 0.5 HP electric motor, is 150 kg per hour and costs Rs.28,000.

More than 140 farmers in Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have purchased this machine.

The Krishi Vigyan Kendra – Ernakulam of CMFRI had selected Mr. Velliyath as the Best Innovator and was recommended for the prestigious award, the press release added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – March 28th, 2016

Man to Go on Reminiscent Bicycle Tour Across State

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, Travel, World Opinion

Kozhikode  :

Twenty-five years after Jose Michael, a native of Nadakavu in Kozhikode, who travelled along with his friend from Kozhikode to Europe on a bicycle in the late 80’s, the 51-year-old will pedal from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod to reminisce about his bicycle days in Europe.

Setting out on a voyage to Europe in 1987, at the age of 26, he covered Greece, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Netherlands within a period of three years. “Though such trips are mostly planned, we had no planning at all. We had only one goal– to reach Europe. Initially, we really doubted if we could complete the mission. Memories from the trip are still fresh”, Jose recalls.

BookKERALA22ndmar2016Joseph penned the  duo’s experience during their  fun-filled voyage to the western world in his book titled, ‘Simple Sense’, which was published recently by Blue Berry publications.

In the travelogue, he has detailed the adventurous trip he took with his friend, Alex James, who was also from Kozhikode. “The book happened only because of my friend’s encouragement,” he said.

JoseMichaelKERALA22mar2016

In his twenties, Jose had a strong desire to settle in the western world. Although he knocked the doors of many embassies, he couldn’t achieve his goal.

Finally the idea struck him to get a bicycle and go on a world tour. The next challenge on his way was to find a sponsor and a companion for the voyage.

Rotary club of Calicut Midtown sponsored the mission titled ‘The Rotary friendship mission to Europe’.

During the trip, they had to encounter many physical and mental hardships. However, they fought the odds to reach the destination.  Jose also went on an all India tour on his bicycle in 1995.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / March 22nd, 2016