The excitement in the air is almost palpable. Fuelled by large doses of adrenalin and adventure quintessential to extreme sports, spectators are gearing up for the popular Malabar River Festival in Kerala.
In its fourth edition, the festival will be held this month at Kondencherry, near Kozhikode.
Scheduled to take place from July 28 to 31, the competition, organised on behalf of Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society by the Kerala Kayak Academy and Bengaluru-based Madras Fun Tools, will see athletes vie for the total cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh in categories that include BoaterCross, Downriver time-trial and Slalom.
The number of events this year has seen a slight dip. There may be around 60 events compared to the 110 held last year, said Manik Taneja, CEO of Madras Fun Tools.
Also missing from the event will be a big team of Olympians with the mega-sporting event scheduled to be held in August.
However, the event will see the participation of more female participants (10) compared to the usual average of five, mostly from India, UK and Italy, Mr. Taneja said.
For further details about the Malabar River Festival, visitwww.malabarfest.com.
The fourth edition of the event will be held at Kondencherry, near Kozhikode, from July 28 to 31
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / Bengaluru – July 26th, 2016
The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) has chosen SME policy researcher P.M. Mathew for its Senior Fellowship.
Mr. Mathew is the senior fellow and director at the city-based Institute for Small Enterprises Development, a policy research group and think tank.
Research
He plans to initiate long-term research on the global SME policy in the new millennium.
He is a former member of the Consultative Group on Unorganised Sector at the PMO and member of the SP Gupta Committee on Development of Small Enterprises at the Planning Commission.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – July 25th, 2016
The author of Tamil prayer Neeradum Kadaludutha was a philosopher, historian and epigraphist
He is known as the author of the Tamil prayerNeeradum Kadaludutha , which is part of his verse drama ‘Manonmaniam’. But few people know that P. Sundaram Pillai was a philosophy professor at the Maharaja’s college in Trivandram for over 15 years and the work was dedicated to Robert Harvey, Professor and Head of the Department of the College.
Sundaram Pillai, who died at the age of 42 in 1897, was also a historian, an epigraphist and a government official who held the post of Commissiones of separate revenue.
“He dedicated his work to Dr. Harvey as it was he who had recommended the appointment of Sundaram Pillai in his place after he decided to leave for England. He had even named his house as Harverypuram,” said A.K. Perumal, whose new book Manonmaniam Sundaranarin Innorupakkam (‘The other side Manonmaniam Sundaram’, NCBH), throws light on the multi-faceted personality of the author of the Tamil prayer.
‘Manonmaniam’ has its roots in Lord Litten’s ‘The Secret Way’, which was part of the collection of ‘The Lost Tales of Miletus’.
It was made into a film by Modern Theatres in 1942. The prayer song was set to music by late M.S. Viswanathan, but M. Karunanidhi, the then Chief Minister, deleted a few lines.
Sundaram Pillai’s family was from Kalakadu in Tirunelveli district and moved to Alapuzha in the 18th century.
“He had studied Tamil in school. It is not clear how he had learnt Tamil literature in Kerala even though he was in touch with great Tamil scholars of his time, including U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer and C.V. Damodaram Pillai,” said Mr. Perumal.
When he was the principal of the MDT Hindu School he learnt Saiva Siddantha from Kodakanallur Sundara Swamigal and held a long discussion with Swami Vivekananda during his visit to Kerala.
As the Commissiones of separate revenue, the temple management was under his control and it came in handy for his research on epigraphs.
“As a historian he established with substantial evidence that Saivaite saint Thirugnana Sambandar belonged to 7th century and his English essay on the subject was published in the journal of the Madras Christian College. He also wrote an early sovereign of Travancore, an in-depth study of Travancore history,” said Mr Perumal, who has collected the essays.
Lost letters
“Unfortunately, we are not able to get many of his letters and photographs. Since he was a Congressman, police seized many documents from his residence, including his correspondence with Swami Vivekananda. They are lost permanently,” said Mr. Perumal.
‘He was in touch with great Tamil scholars of his time, including U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer’
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cities> Chennai / by B. Kolappan / Chennai – July 24th, 2016
