source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Santosh Christy / August 17th, 2014
V M Muhammad Rafique, Deputy Commissioner of Kochi City Police, receiving President’s Police Medal
Monthly Archives: August 2014
Twinning Tale Delivers More Wonders
Mallappuram :
Less than a week ago, gynaecologist Laila Beegum supervised the birthing of a set of identical twins to a couple from Kodinhi village, now known globally for the high number of multiple births. The twin babies born on August 7 this year took the total number of such deliveries witnessed by her to 452.
Though the total number of twins in the village has now crossed 500, the mystery behind the phenomenon is yet to be unravelled.
Located close to Tirurangadi town in Malappuram district, Kodinhi village, with its high twinning rate, garnered global media attention around six years ago. At Kodinhi, twins account for 42 per 1,000 live births while the global average of twinning is reportedly around six per 1,000.
Brazil’s Candido Godoi and Nigeria’s Igbo-Ora have witnessed similar birth phenomenon. Attempts by several scientists and organisations to find the secret behind the high twinning rate have failed to bear fruit.
Recently, Dr N K Sribiju, public health consultant, Taluk Hospital, Tirurangadi, approached the state government seeking permission to conduct a genetic study on the local populace.
“Surely, there would be a scientific reason behind the birth of a huge number of twins in such a small area. But, the secret can be revealed only through a detailed genetic and environment study. We are awaiting permission from the ethical committee of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology at Thiruvananthapuram for the same,” said Dr Sribiju.
Significantly, more than 90 per cent of the couples from Kodinhi who reported twin births conceived normally. “Hence, IVF treatment cannot be considered as a reason for the high rate of twinning in Kodinhi,” Dr Biju said.
Dr Laila, who runs Laila’s Hospital, Chemmad, said multiple births are not just being reported by persons born and brought up here.
“Many women who came to Kodinhi after marrying someone here have also experienced twin birth. So, it could be due to some mysterious element of nature.
“Earlier, we conducted a water test but the results were not conclusive,” Dr Laila added.
Twins and Kins Association (TAKA) of Kodinhi believes that their village has the most density of twins in the world and is planning to approach officials of the Guinness Book to claim a record.
Get-together
“There are families having three pairs of twins and triplets at home. A 90-year-old man here is the eldest among the twins who are alive,” said Bhaskaran Pullani, president, Twins and Kins Association, which is planning to organise a get-together of all Kodinhi twins.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Santosh Christy / August 17th, 2014
Diver got a bravery award, but little after that
Agra :
Shanshah Khan received the President’s Award for Bravery at the tender age of 11 for his attempt to rescue four children drowning in the Yamuna.
However, Shanshah, now 18, lives in penury and says he cannot eat the certificate and trophy, and wishes that the President had given him some scholarships for his studies. “I am managing my studies of my own. It is sad that the government remembered to give me an award but forgot that I cannot eat and drink the certificate and trophies. I would have been thankful to the President if she had given me some scholarships for studies,” Shanshah told TOI.
The youth lives in a small hutment on the bank of the Yamuna with his family of nine members and hardly has space to keep the award. His father, Bissa Khan, is also working as a diver and has rescued several people.
Of the four children rescued by Shanshah in 2007, two were rescued alive while two died due to breathlessness. He received more than a dozen bravery awards, medals and certificates for his bravery from local NGOs and the district administration. He received the President’s bravery award in 2009 from then President, Pratibha Patil, at Rashtrapati Bhawan which he has kept in a big suitcase gifted to him by an NGO.
Youngest among his four brothers, Shanshah is a hero in his locality. His friends used to tease him that one day he would rescue a girl drowning in the river and she will be his heroine, forever. Married just six months back, Khan is happy these days because of his high school result. He has just passed Class X from CBSE and managed to get 7.2 CGPA. He wants to pursue his studies further.
However, Bissa said poverty snatched his son’s dreams of becoming an engineer. “My son wanted to be an engineer but I was unable to send him to a proper school. I am proud of what he has done and is doing in life. We do not want medals, but a little help and respect from people.”
Bissa has to look after a big family of nine persons and is struggling to manage even two square meals per day. “People do not give me anything for rescuing them. I also don’t ask for anything. May be their lives were not valuable for anyone, but mine is, for my family. Even police and the district administration do not give the divers anything for their acts of bravery, apart from felicitation on Independence and Republic day,” he added.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / TNN / August 12th, 2014
M A Aziz selected for Indian Police Medal
Hyderabad :
Mr. M A Aziz has been selected for the award of Indian Police Medal for his remarkable services by the government of India on the occasion of Independence day.
It would not be out of place to mention here that Mr. M A Aziz was appointed in Police Communication Department in 1980.
Earlier he was presented many awards in recognition of his services; worth mentioning among them being Police Seva Padakam, Uttam Seva Padakam and Suraksha Seva Padakam.
Siasat news
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Hyderabad / Saturday, August 16th, 2014
Muslims’ role in Indian Independence and development of country remarkable
Hyderabad :
Addressing the youth on the occasion of Independence Day Celebration, Maulana Peer Syed Shabbir Naqshbandi Iftekhari, president All India Religious Leaders Association said that history bears witness that Muslims played remarkable role in Indian Independence and development of country. Even today they pledge to sacrifice everything for their beloved country.
Maulana Peer Syed Shabbir Naqshbandi Iftekhari was addressing flag hoisting ceremony at schools run by Sultan ul Uloom Educational Society. He spoke on Muslims role in freedom struggle.
Siasat news
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Hyderabad / Saturday, August 16th, 2014
Kick-starting ‘Lady Freedom’
On Sunday, brand new scooters will be delivered to 1,000 women under a ‘mass bank loan’ scheme of the Calicut City Service Cooperative Bank. The initiative, titled ‘Lady Freedom,’ is part of a ‘women empowerment’ programme conceived in connection with the Independence Day celebrations,
The loan scheme with a reduced interest rate (11 per cent) was introduced by the bank in collaboration with the authorised dealer of a major two-wheeler company in the city, said bank chairman C.N. Vijayakrishnan at a press meet here on Thursday. “A sum of up to Rs.50,000 is being given as credit by the bank which will be repaid by the borrowers in 30 monthly instalments,” said Mr. Vijayakrishnan.
The borrowers had made a down payment of Rs.2,225 and produced one person as guarantor. The vehicles will be distributed at a public function at the Zamorin School grounds at Chalappuram in the city at 10 a.m. on August 17. Mayor A.K. Premajam will inaugurate the programme.
District panchayat president K. Jameela will inaugurate the distribution of free helmets to all the women. Cooperative Society registrar S. Lalithambika will hand over the first key. Mr. Vijayakrishnan said around 15,000 women had registered for the loan scheme. “The scheme will be made available to the rest of the applicants as well in the coming weeks,” he said.
Following the “overwhelming” response to the scheme, the bank had decided to launch a car loan scheme for women in the coming days, said the bank chairman. “Up to Rs.5 lakh will be given in loan as per the scheme,” he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / Staff Reporter / Kozhikode – August 15th, 2014
Disappearing trades: Gatekeepers of celluloid era fade out
As digital projectors slowly replace traditional, analog ones, film projectionists have become obsolete
There was a time when a film projectionist could make or break the fortune of a cinema theatre.
While the hallowed grounds of projection rooms were where celluloid film rolls whirred into action, bringing to the screens movie magic, the projectionist was the gatekeeper who ensured the show went on without a hitch.
But not anymore.
As digital projectors continue to replace the traditional, analog ones in most theatres across the world, film projectionists have simply been made obsolete.
The few, remaining ones in the city, such as 63-year-old P.S. Mohamad Mohideen Khan who has been projecting images for the past 44 years, feel the death of film projection will diminish the awe and magic of cinema.
Mr. Khan, who now works at the second-tier Srinivasa theatre in West Mambalam, developed an interest in the projected image as a child. He says, “As a young boy, I used to pass light through the film and project the image on to a screen.”
He then went on to work at several theatres, most of which, he says, have been turned into ‘car sheds or garages’.
The phasing-out of film projectors altered the cinema-going experience of the younger generation.
“The big bulky projectors could kindle the curiosity of the audience when they entered a cinema hall. Visiting the so-called projector room was a part of the movie-going experience. It is not there anymore,” says Mr. Khan.
He says it was no easy job: a projectionist had to be alert all the time and it involved hard labour.
“It was a tough job, no doubt about that. One had to monitor how the images were projected on the screen all the time. If the carbon arc burnt too close to the film, it could make the images on the screen dark,” he says.
These days, Mr. Khan operates both digital projectors and the analog, British-made Westrex that uses a Zenon bulb.
What does he think of the future of cinema projection? “Where should it go further? It has already come down to pushing a button to play the film,” he says.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Udhav Nag / August 13th, 2014
No netagiri, only iNetagiri, if this techie from Lucknow has his way
Entrepreneurs are among those who are most influenced by decisions made by the government. And as leaders in different spaces, you would have a strong opinion or two about politicians, governance and the general state of affairs. The problem is, how do you get your ideas across to your elected representatives? That’s where iNeta, a futuristic platform for transparent politics, can make a difference.
The rise of AAP and catapulting of IIT grad Arvind Kejriwal into the chief minister’s seat in Delhi after mass campaigns involving citizens indicates that the time is ripe for initiatives like iNeta. If an awakened electorate wants to have a say in governance, what better way than to use technology and the web to facilitate the process?
An idea whose time has come
Software engineer Akram Khan started thinking about this long before Anna, AAP and Arvind arrived on the scene. He was talking politics with his flatmates in Hyderabad in 2007, when it struck him that there was a need for a new age communication platform to dialogue with elected representatives. He was working with Mindtree then. The consensus was that meeting leaders to tell them about any issue was very cumbersome if not impossible.
Around then, Tata launched the Jago Re campaign, and Akram’s friends thought he had come up with an idea whose time had come. But it remained dormant as Akram didn’t know how to develop on it. He went on to do other things: An MBA, a stint as the business development guy with his friend’s startup Innocent Technosoft – a mobile application and game development company based in Lucknow – and a startup of his own in the software consultancy space.
It was 2012 and a next generation platform that enables open governance still didn’t exist. So, “I thought, why not take it up again? By now, I had enough experience and knowhow to develop it,” Akram told YourStory.
iNeta went live on 2 October 2013 – the birth date of Mahatma Gandhi. The space in which iNeta operates is different from other platforms like Voterite, which are more into campaigning. “iNeta is about solving people’s problems. It is about open governance and taking e-governance to the next level.”
It is based on the idea that people want to talk to elected leaders about issues that affect them. “People need an audience with their leaders. It is an attempt to make governance open source, like how it should be in a true democracy,” explained Akram.
“It is often rightly said that the road to Delhi goes from Lucknow and that is where we are based. It is the hub of political activity in India,” Akram says. He runs iNeta with his friend, Ankur Srivastava, an IT engineer and a clean politics enthusiast.
“We are funding iNeta from our own pockets right now. Since I am a web developer, there are no bills to pay for developing the site. But of course, there are other costs. We are looking to expand and hire cartoonists, writers and analysts. So we have to look at ways this could be achieved,” Akram says.
Risks of the plunge
Akram says it was his basic curiosity to look for solutions to problems around him and see if they succeed or not that led him to entrepreneurship. “I am already working on my next idea while I develop iNeta for scaling.”
Like most entrepreneurs, the big risk for Akram too is financial. He has an education loan to pay off. The EMI makes him “always cash-strapped”, he quips. “Apart from that I am not afraid. I believe persistent effort is required for success and if I keep at it I would be successful.”
Born and brought up in Lucknow, Akram did his engineering from the Manipal Institue of Technology. After eight years in South India, he moved back to Lucknow to startup. “My initial plan was to develop a site like shiksha.com while I was doing my MBA in 2009. But it did not materialize and I had to drop it,” he recalls.
He learnt web development while working at Innocent Technosoft. “I was more of an idea guy and always used to look for someone to develop it. Since I did not have enough funds to get my ideas developed, I thought, let me try building one on my own. I trained myself in web development and started doing web consultancy to make money,” he says.
Akram lives in a joint family, where his mother looks after the house and father runs a manufacturing unit for textile accessories. His younger brother is a doctor. He has two sisters. One is a journalist with a leading Urdu newspaper in Noida and the other is doing her M.Tech in Biomedical engineering.
Getting politicians to respond
The political climate of India is such that it would take mainstream parties a lot of time to understand the power of a platform like iNeta and how to effectively utilise it, Akram feels. “We have spoken to several political leaders who liked the idea but are not quite keen to get on board as they think it might hurt them – which could be true, but this kind of platform is the future.”
The problem iNeta tackles is quite universal. People elect their leaders and then get to see them only when their elected term is about to get over. Even if a leader really wants to connect with people, there is no dedicated platform for this. It is impossible for him to meet every individual in his constituency anyway. This is where iNeta comes in with a web-based interactive solution.
Talking numbers, there are 790,000,000 (79 crore) voters in India. Of these, 120,000,000 (12 crore) are first-time voters. “We consider all the voters as part of our market because everyone at some stage or the other has a problem and would like their leader to be available to at least listen,” Akram says.
Currently, they have a working product ready and live. “We are improving it on a daily basis. Funding would really speed up our expansion plans.”
The best part about iNeta, he says, is seeing how happily people receive the idea when he talks to them about it. “When we tell someone about iNeta there is a big smile on their face as if this is something which they have been looking for and would love to use.”
To take it forward to a larger audience, they plan to try an SMS module, where people would get to know more about the contestants in their constituencies by sending an SMS. “We would be creating a blog and introducing our website in our Facebook and Google+ groups and other online forums. Later on, we might go for online advertisements as well,” he says.
Right on top of their list of priorities, though, is to get political parties on board, using the platform to engage with voters. “As they are the ones who would eventually answer to the people, unless they come on board, it is a useless idea. So that is top priority as of now.”
If enough people get on to iNeta, we bet politicians will soon follow, in this election season.
Are you curious about how Arvind Kejriwal won over Delhi in a year of starting the Aam Aadmi Party? You might like this: 5 secrets to the success of AAP
source: http://www.yourstory.com / Your Story / Home / by Malavika Velayanikal / February 10th, 2014
Calicut University’s Course in Vocology to Bring Your Silky Voice Back
Thrissur :
This just might be the good news the playback singers, actors, anchors, teacher, lawyers and politicians, who earn their livelihood through their voice, in the state have long been waiting for.
In a development that will cheer thousands of voice professionals and voice patients who have developed various voice disorders, the Calicut University has come out with a unique graduate programme in Vocology, the science and practice of voice habilitation and rehabilitation, in collaboration with Chetana National Institute of Vocology, Thrissur.
This is the first time in the country that an Indian university is offering a course in vocology with an aim of producing vocologists who habilitate vocal behaviour – a speech-language pathologist, otolaryngologist, vocalist trainer, or voice coach.
Based on the proposal submitted by the National Institute of Vocology, the University gas given permission (U.O No6304/2014/admn) to the Vocology institute to frame the syllabus and other things related to the launching of the course, said Dr Musthafa, director of SDE, Calicut University.
There are hardly a dozen major vocology institutes across the world mainly in developed countries like NCVS Summer Vocology Institute in USA and institutes in Finland, Japan, Turkey, and UK. “There is a huge dearth of trained vocologists in the country since vocology is not widely taught in academic institutions in the country as an independent discipline. Celebrity voice professionals, including film stars and vocalists, are used to confront with voice disorders and seek rehabilitation and the return of their operational voice or to benefit professionally from vocal habilitation by learning to optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of their speaking voices,” said Fr Paul Poovathingal, the first vocologist in the country and the principal of National Institute of Vocology. “This six-semester course will equip a batch of 20 candidates to deal with all kinds of voice professionals and voice patients suffering from puberphonia (male having female sound), vocal cord paralysis, vocal nodule, phonatry gap, patients with wrong voice production, breathing techniques and poor lung pressure, and other voice disorders,” said Poovathingal. “Actor Mohanlal and even the late Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, who had lost his functional voice suddenly at the peak of a concert, have confronted with voice disorders at one point of time in their careers. Some of the eminent professionals have even vanished from their field for ever after voice disorders developed,” said George S Paul, an academician and a physicist.
The high-level of pollution in lifestyle and surroundings is taking a toll on the voice professionals and they often need the help of professional to overcome the difficulties in their voice production and to discipline their voice. So vocology being a new branch of knowledge, there is great scope for job in this sector, he added.
The syllabus for the course is being prepared by Fr Paul Poovathingal, George S Paul, Dr R Jayakumar, famed laryngologist who performed surgery on Mohanlal, V R Prabodhachandran Nair, a linguist, in consultation with Dr Ingo Titz of USA, who is considered as the father of Vocology.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Dhinesh Kallungal – ENS / August 11th, 2014
Afsal bounces back in 800m
Kochi :
Young Palakkad athletes Mohammed Afsal and mourning Varsha MV hogged limelight on the concluding day of the MK Joseph Memorial 12th Kerala State Inter-club Athletics Championship here. The Sunday evening crowd were treated to some interesting and intriguing races.
In boys (under-18) 200m event, Joseph Joe M of Mercy Kuttan Athletics Academy, emerged winner in a hotly contested race in a record new time of 22.11 seconds. Joseph was challenged by Jyothi Prasad of Centralised Sports Hostel, Kasaragod who also bettered the meet record (22.49s). Ernakulam Sports Academy’s Vishnu KP (22.76s) took the bronze. The four-year-old record (22.53s) stood in the name of Binish K Shaji.
Parli HSS runner Afsal, who was dominating the middle distance for the past couple of seasons, bounced back after tasting defeat in 3000m on Saturday to Rahul PR of Mundur, with a flawless effort in boys (u-20) 800m race on Sunday. Afsal surged ahead of the bunch from the start and never looked back and he touched the tape first winning the two-lap event with a meet record (1.53.96).
His school mate Varsha, who established a meet record in 10000m in gilrs (u-20) on the opening day returned to starting point to run 5000m after attending the final rites of her grandfather who passed away on Friday.
But she saw threat from Vidhya KK of Mundur who closely followed her all through the 12 and half lap but the experienced Varsha breasted the tape first to complete rare a golden double in record time. Varsha clocked 17 minutes 32.47 seconds obliterating Thara MD’s record of 17:55.8 set last year.
“All my relatives including my parents wanted me to return to track as soon as possible after the final rites of my grandfather was over on Friday itself. I took rest on Saturday and decided to run today. I also thoght that if i win a gold it would bring happiness to my relatives and I’m glad that I won in record record ,” Varsha, who like Afsal is trained by PG Manoj, said.
Jisna Mathew, a trainee of PT Usha, showed her immense talent when she ran a blistering race to clinch the girls (under-16) 200m in record time. It looked Jisna was racing against herself as she finished the race with a yawning lead. Mercy Kuttan trainee Linet George took silver (27.04s) and Fathima PP of Navamukunda Sports Academy was third (27.13s).
The final day also saw seven more meet records mostly in throw events. Athira Muralidharan (U-20, hammer throw, 43.60m, MA College), Rajna J (u-18, javelin throw, 40.80m CFD, Mathur), Anju Kuriakose (u-18, hammer throw, 40.12m, SGHSS, Kothamangalam), Aleena Vincent (u-18, hepthalon, 4227 pts, CSH, Kollam), Anju Murukan (girls U-16, 3000m 10:42.07, Parli HSS), Aswathy Binu (girls u-14, SAI, Tvm 600m, 1:40.01) and Nibin M Binu (men 800m, 1:55..58 SNC, Punalur) who entered the record books.
Overall 1.SAI, Tvm (480 pints), 2 Parli HSS, Pkd (262.5), 3. Assumption College, Changanacherry (243), 4. SGHSS, Kothamangalam (237), 5 Alphonsa College, Pala (150.5), 6. MA College, Kothamangalam (138), 7 Mar Basil HSS, Kothamangalam (119.5), 8. Kalladi HSS, Pkd (114), 9. Mundur HSS (104.5), 10. Malabar Sports Academy, Pulloorampara, Kkd (104.5), 11, Sai Kollam (75), 12 SNVHSS Vannappuram, Idk (67), Usha School Of Athletics Kinalur (65), 14 SB, Changanacherry (62), 15 St. Thomas Pala (60), 16 Mathirappilly School Athletics Trust (67), 17 SAI Kkd (58), 18 Navamukunda SA, Thirunavaya (53), Vimala Tsr, (49), 20. Mercy Kuttan Athletics Academy, Ekm ((48).
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kochi / TNN / August 12th, 2014