Monthly Archives: October 2015

C-MET transfers technology

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Two technologies developed by Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Thrissur, have been transferred to industries for commercial production.

Debashis Dutta, Group Co-ordinator, Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, handed over the technologies to give a facelift to the ‘Make in India’ programme of the government.

Sreekar Reddy, CEO, Speedlam Electomaterials, Hyderabad, and Manohar Nambiar, MD, Deem Sensing Technologies, signed the Technology Transfer agreement with C-MET.

The products developed by the C-MET are Flexible Microwave Substrates and NTC Fast Response Thermal Sensors.

Flexible microwave substrates are extensively used in a variety of high-end microwave circuit applications such as high power solid state amplifiers, patch antennas, missile guidance and mobile base stations. World over only a handful of industries are manufacturing these technologically and commercially important class of products, according to C-MET sources.

More than 70 per cent of the cost of any microwave device accounts for the base microwave circuit board and the availability of such circuit boards in the country are going to make a phenomenal change in the overall performance of the microwave industries, they added.

C-MET has developed a patented SMECH process methodology for the commercial manufacture of these circuit materials.

NTC chip thermistors are extensively used for accurate temperature measurement and control in automobiles, medical field and electronic appliances. C-MET has developed different NTC compositions, chip thermistors and chip in glass thermal sensors suitable for various temperature ranges of sensing applications. C-MET has developed extremely small sensors of sizes 0.3mmx0.3mmx0.3mm.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by Staff Reporter / Thrissur – October 13th, 2015

K A Isaac Commemoration

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education

IssacKERALA12oct2015

Thiruvananthapuram  :

Kerala Library Association organised the 10th Professor K A Isaac commemoration lecture at the Library and Information Science department’s lecture hall, University of Kerala. Dr Jagdish Arora, director INFLIBNET Centre Ahmedabad delivered the lecture.

Speaking on the occasion, Jagdish elaborated on 10 technologies librarians should know to improve and strengthen their institution. P Jayarajan, former country head British Council and library advisor Lamayalam University presided over. T K Subramoni, former chief manager British Library shared his memories of Professor Isaac.

KLA president K P Vijayakumar and general secretary Dr M Lalitha also spoke.

source:  http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Express News Service / October 12th, 2015

Kozhikode set to be hub for garment industry

Business & Economy

Kozhikode :

The city is set to make a mark in the garment industry. Under the title ‘Vasthra Mandalam’ the expertise of over 500 women skilled in designing and tailoring will be utilized for developing Kozhikode South into a major hub of apparel industry.

Apparel stitching and readymade garment units will be set up after imparting performance improvement training to select women. The Vasthra Mandalam project will be implemented in a phased manner and 100 women will be selected and trained in the first phase.

“The first batch of 60 women will be imparted performance improvement training at National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Kannur from October 16 to 26,” said Mohammed Basheer, coordinator of the project. The participants will be imparted residential training in such a way that the garments they produce can be branded and marketed, he said.

The Vasthra Mandalam scheme is initiated by social justice minister M K Muneer, MLA of Kozhikode South assembly constituency. The minister has also started discussions with garment brands across the country to cooperate with the scheme in such a way that the garment brand will supply the material and the women groups here will stitch the garment based on their demand.

Women who are presently running small tailoring units at home and small shops will be selected for the project with an aim to give them better training, exposure and regular income, said Mohammed Basheer, who is also the coordinator of Kozhikode district Kudumbashree mission. The project also aims to train women in designing wedding dresses and ornamentation , he added.

After the training programme at NIFT, women will be divided into different groups based on their skills. Women having expertise in stitching, cutting, designing, packing and other garment related works will be grouped together for the efficient functioning of the apparel units. A total of 60 women will be imparted training at NIFT at a cost of Rs 8 lakh. The garment units having state-of-the-art stitching, embroidery and other machinery will be started with financial assistance from banks. Women for Vasthra Mandalam will be selected by faculty of NIFT after practical and written tests. The tests would be conducted at mobilization camps. Facilitation units will be set up at six locations in the constituency by utilizing the local area development fund and asset development fund of M K Muneer.

source:  http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kozhikode / TNN / October 11th, 2015

Subhash Chandran wins Vayalar Award

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Novelist Subhash Chandran. Photo: R.V. Moorthy / The Hindu
Novelist Subhash Chandran. Photo: R.V. Moorthy / The Hindu

Novelist Subhash Chandran has won this year’s Vayalar Rama Varma Literary Award for his novel “Manushyanu Oru Aamukham”.

The award, to be presented on October 27, Vayalar Rama Varma’s death anniversary, carries a purse of Rs. 1 lakh, statuette and citation. The purse has been increased from Rs. 25,000 earlier thanks to support from the Government of Kerala.

Mr. Subhash Chandran had won the Sahitya Akademi for the same novel last year.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by C.  Gouridasan Nair / Thiruvananthapuram – October 10th, 2015

A museum for dance enthusiasts

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel

Thiruvananthapuram  :

A national dance museum, claimed to be the first in the country, will be inaugurated on Friday.

Located on two acres in Vattiyoorkavu, the Rs 12-crore Guru Gopinath National Dance Museum (GGNDM) will showcase the evolution, heritage and diversity of dance forms in India and abroad.

Promoted by Guru Gopinath Natanagramam, an institution under the department of culture, the museum has been named after Kathakali maestro Dr Guru Gopinath (Guruji).

“Our plan is to bring all information regarding dance in India and abroad under one umbrella,” said James Sunny, Natanagramam secretary.

The 42,000-square feet museum on three floors would have 10 galleries displaying paintings, statuettes, costumes, photographs, Indian musical instruments. An audio-visual presentation of various dance forms and a digital library, too, would be available.

“The costumes were purchased from professional dance costume makers in different parts of the country. As a tribute, we have devoted a gallery to Guruji, which will have his rare photographs and a 500-kg bronze statue,” said Yohesh Shrinivasan, chief designer.

A 5D theatre would be set up in the second phase. “Performances by foreign and Indian artists will be organized,” said T Venu Kumar, executive officer of Guru Gopinath Natanagramam.

He added that the museum would have avenues for research on various dance forms. Wax statues, too, would be displayed.

The central government had allocated a grant of Rs 6 crore for the museum. While the state government chipped in with Rs 5 crore, the Guru Gopinath Natanagramam contributed Rs 1 crore.

A 20-foot-high statue of sage Bharata would be an added attraction at the museum campus.

source:  http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / TNN / October 01st, 2015

Learning the Honey Business

Agriculture, Business & Economy
Participants at the programme on Beekeeping held at ICAR- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Peruvannamuzhi
Participants at the programme on Beekeeping held at ICAR- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Peruvannamuzhi

Kozhikode :

Beekeeping is a ludicrous business and a healthy profit can be gleaned if it is done after obtaining the proper training. A district level training programme on Beekeeping was organised at ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Peruvannamuzhi.

Classes on different species of honeybees, their behaviour, bee colony maintenance, significance of beekeeping, pest and disease management in Apiary (a place where bees are kept; a collection of beehives), different by-products of beekeeping etc were covered during the three day programme. Practical session on Beekeeping was also organised at District Agricultural Farm, Koothali and KVK, Peruvannamuzhi.

The trainees will be issued certificates and they are also eligible for obtaining beehives and other accessories at 40 per cent subsidy by the Horticorp.

A total of 36 trainees including rural youth and farm women from Kunnummal, Balusserry, Naduvannur, Thodannur, Chelannur and Perambra blocks of the district participated while 27 participants completed the training course successfully.

The training programme was led by K K Aiswariya, subject matter specialist (Plant Protection) of KVK.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / October 09th, 2015

A spiritual backwash from the sixties

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Travel

From the travel log of ISKCON founder Abhay Charan De during his stopover.

An artist’s impression of Abhay Charan De boarding the ship M.V. Jaladuta.
An artist’s impression of Abhay Charan De boarding the ship M.V. Jaladuta.

Fifty years ago, Abhay Charan De, a young man who was actively involved in Mahatma Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience movement, inspired by the teachings of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, agreed to his mentor’s request to spread Hindu culture to the Western world. He set sail on August 13, 1965, as the lone cabin passenger onboard M.V. Jaladuta, a cargo ship bound for the United States.

With a complimentary ticket courtesy Sumati Morarjee, owner of Scindia Steam Navigation Company, a two-month tourist visa and Rs. 40 in hand, embarked on the rigorous journey. On August 22, the ship anchored at Kochi. Abhay Charan De stayed at Mattancherry as the guest of the shipping agents, Jairam & Sons. Abhay Charan De in his diary records his Kochi stopover. “The dock is peculiar,” he writes, “because it is by nature full of small islands. Some of the islands are full with nice hutments formerly known as British Island.”

Abhay Charan De saw his books that had arrived from Bombay in five boxes loaded into the ship in the evening. He then went around Mattancherry and Ernakulam. “Out of the group of islands, two big islands joined by an iron overbridge are known as Kochi and Ernakulam.

The iron overbridge was constructed by the Britishers very nicely along with railway lines. The railways line is extended up to the Port. There are many flourishing foreign firms and banks. It is Sunday and the bazar was closed. I saw a peculiar kind of plantain that is available in this part of the country. The island known as Kochi is not an up-to-date city. The roads are like narrow lanes. The parts of the city where the foreigners reside are well situated. The buildings, factories, etc. all big, are well maintained. The Mohamedan quarters are separate from the Hindu quarters like in the other Indian cities.” His diary makes a mention of Ernakulam, which he found to be ‘up-to-date.’ “There is a nice park on the bank of the gulf and it is named Subhas Bose Park. It is good that Subhas Babu is popular in this part of the country. I saw the Kerala High Court and the public buildings, the High Court being situated in Ernakulam it appears that the city is the capital of Kerala.”

The movement he started, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), from a small shop space spread across the world.

This year marks the Golden Jubilee of Abhay Charan De’s, (who later became popular as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) visit to Kochi. The organisation will celebrate this historic visit with various programmes at TDM Hall, Ernakulam, on October 10, from 5 p.m. onwards.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by K. Pradeep / October 04th, 2015