Archive for category Chidambaram

TN Annamalai University at closed indefinitely due to violence on the campus

Posted by ganesh in Chidambaram, College, Communication, Death, Education, Information, Other, competition, government, illegal, student on March 5th, 2010

The Annamalai University at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu has been closed indefinitely due to violence on the campus following the death of some students.

“There was an instance of vandalism in the name of a students protest at the Examination Building and Raja Muthiah Medical College Hospital. Hooligan elements attacked the doctors and many others, including waiting patients, injuring the legs of a couple of doctors. All these developments have forced us to ask nearly 8500 students to vacate their hostels since the university is closed for the time being. Necessary arrangements have been made for the students to return to their homes, in cooperation with the railways,” said Dr. M Ramanathan, Vice Chancellor of Annamalai University, here on Thursday.

Consequent to the suspension of the classes and closure of academic institutions, the varsity authorities have asked the students to vacate their respective hostels.

Tension had gripped the university campus since Sunday, when Gautam Kumar, an engineering student hailing from Ranchi, allegedly died due to lack of proper treatment, after his two-wheeler collided with a truck.

Following his death, some of students went to meet Dr. M Ramanathan, Vice Chancellor of the University, to complain about the lack of proper medicare for Kumar.

The students were prevented from meeting Dr. Ramanathan and brutally chased away by the police deployed in the campus.

In the melee, some students drowned in a canal.

The three dead students were identified as Sumit Kumar of Jharkhand and Mohammad Sarfaraz and Ashish Rajan Kumar.

Kumar was from Jharkhand, while Sarfaraz and Ashish were from Bihar.

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Two students bodies recovered after Tamil Nadu varsity clash

Posted by ganesh in Attack, Chidambaram, Communication, Death, Other, Politics, competition, illegal, strike, student on March 3rd, 2010

The bodies of two students from Bihar were fished out of a canal near the Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu’s Chidambaram town Tuesday, two days after protests over their friend’s death turned violent as the police baton-charged the agitating youth, police said.

A body had been recovered from the canal Monday after some students jumped into it to escape the police batons.

The Annamalai University campus, around 230 km from here, has been tense since Sunday when Gautam Kumar from Bihar was injured in a road accident and was treated in a hospital in the town.

At the insistence of his classmates, he was being transported here when he developed complications. The vehicle was then taken to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry where he died.

The body was brought back to Annamalai Nagar in Chidambaram and a group of students from north India wanted to meet Vice Chancellor M. Ramanathan in connection with Kumar’s death. But Ramanathan said he would meet them at the university campus Monday.

The students then went to the university and went on a rampage, damaging property and police were called. Despite warnings by police, the students continued their violent protests and police baton-charged the mob, a police official said.

To escape the police batons, students ran in different directions and couple of them fell into a nearby canal.

While the body of Sumit Kumar from Jharkhand was recovered Monday, bodies of two more students from Bihar were fished out of the canal Tuesday, police.

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Annamalai University students violence, police lathicharged

Posted by ganesh in Chidambaram, College, Communication, Death, Information, Other, illegal, police, strike, student on March 1st, 2010

The Annamalai University closed Engineering courses indefinitely as violence broke out in the campus last night, after two students, hailing from Jharkhand died, one in a road accident and another drowned in a canal when police lathicharged the violent students.
Annamalai University
Police said about 300 students, all hailing from northern states, resorted to violence around 2300 hrs last night on learning that a second year student from Jharkhand, who met with an accident early in the day, succumbed to injuries in the night.

Gautham Kumar, the second year Electronic Communication Engineering student, who was travelling in his two-wheeler in the town, he was hit by a truck.

He was admitted to Raja Muthiah Hospital in the Univesity complex and as his condition worsened, he was shifted to the JIPMER hospital in Puducherry, where he succumbed to injuries last night.

Finding fault with the University for not providing the best medical facilties, about 300 students, who were staying in the hostel, came out and resorted to violence, pelting stones on University and Hospital buildings, smashing the windscreens.

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Chidambaram showcased as attractive tourist destination

Posted by ganesh in Chidambaram, Culture, Temples on November 25th, 2009

Chidambaram has a vast potential for tourism as it is endowed with renowned temples, mangroves, winding coastline and all-round greenery. Encircled by waterways of perennial nature it has also become the granary of the region.

In the recent World Travel Mart, held in London from November 9 to 12, Chidambaram has been promoted as an attractive tourist destination. R.M.Swethakumar, representing the hotel industry from the region, also formed part of the promotion team deployed in the Indian Pavilion there.

On his return Mr Swethakumar told The Hindu that during his travel there he distributed brochures and compact discs highlighting the tourism spots of Chidambaram. With the golden roof on the sanctum sanctorum, a thousand-pillar hall and sculpted figurines on the pillars the renowned Natarajar temple was a prime attraction for both domestic and foreign tourists, he said. While the foreign tourists viewed the temple as a cultural heritage the domestic tourists looked at it as a spiritual heritage. Despite the differing perceptions of the tourists, the temple with Lord Nataraja performing cosmic dance had an universal appeal and eternal charm.

The mangroves that act as a natural bio-shield and the intervening backwater at Pichavaram would enthral the visitors. It would be a visual treat to watch the sunrise and large number of exotic birds perching on the trees there.

Since, Chidambaram formed part of the temple circuit tourists might be interested in visiting another ancient temple at Gangaikondacholapuram, just 45 km from Chidambaram, and the Navagraha temples.

Mr Swethakumar said a visit to Chidambaram would provide a delectable package of spirituality, an insight into ancient culture and recreation avenues. He further said that tourism had a broader meaning as it also encompassed the socio-economic life of the region. There was a constant stream of tourists to Chidambaram which in turn contributed to the economic progress of the town, he said.Mr Swethakumar further noted that ever since the conception of the World Travel Mart and setting up of the Indian Pavilion, there was a significant increase in the tourist flow to Tamil Nadu, particularly to Chidambaram. The residents, however, feel that if little more attention is paid to improve infrastructure and take up necessary flood control measures the image of the temple town would go up several notches.

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The pharmacology sector needs to promote a holistic medicine system rather

Posted by ganesh in Chidambaram, Health, Public on November 14th, 2009

The pharmacology sector needs to promote a holistic medicine system rather than be disease-specific alone while manufacturing drugs, former Director of the Central Drug Research Institute V.P. Kamboj said here on Friday.

Mr. Kamboj, who was the chief guest at the inaugural of the annual conference of the Southern Regional Indian Pharmacological Society (SRIPS) at the PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, said ancient systems such as Ayurveda and Siddha had practised holistic therapy. These systems did not focus on one particular disease that a patient suffered from. They looked at a patient as a whole and identified all other conditions in the body that needed treatment.

A balanced diet, yoga and physical exercise were advised by these systems as part of the preventive medicine that they promoted.

“But, we have moved far away from these concepts. Young pharmacologists should advocate the concept of holistic treatment even as they get into drug research and development,” he said.

Mr. Kamboj pointed out that India has such rich biodiversity that it enabled the use of many plants for making medicines.

On drug research world-wide, he said that from an investment of $ 1 million in the 1960s, it was now $ 1.7 billion. And, the trial system had progressed from animal models to in-vitro. However, the success rate in gene therapy was dismal so far.

While research could continue on the one hand, the focus should be on a wider approach. Dr. Kamboj summed up that a diseases-free society could be created only with a holistic system of medicine.

President of SRIPS and Director of Tropical Botanical Garden Research Institute in Thiruvananthapuram A. Subramonium said pharmacology played a crucial role in health care and there was a need to create awareness on this among the public.

Drugs should be available to treat all diseases and medical conditions at an affordable rate. Newer drugs were needed to treat infectious diseases in view of the emerging drug resistance.

The health care and pharmacology sector should join hands to develop such drugs.

Even the West was looking at India as a centre for clinical trials as it had about 200 medical colleges, 15,000 hospitals and world class laboratories.

About 500 clinical trials going on since 2008 and 400 of these were sponsored by the drug industry.

Clinical trials were inevitable in the effort to produce new drugs, but it should compromise patient safety.

Mr. Subramonium called for greater focus on medicinal plants. The depletion of the plant population was a cause for concern as these could help in the development of new drugs.

There were reports that at least 100 plants had anti-diabetes property.

This called for proper research. Agro-technology and bio-technology should not be de-linked from pharmacological evaluation.

Organising chairman of the conference S. Ramalingam and secretary M. Ramanathan outlined the objectives of the conference. It was organised by the Department of Pharmacology in the medical institute and the PSG College of Pharmacy.

The organisers said the meet was sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology of the Union Government and the Indian Council of Medical Research. The deliberations on Friday and Saturday would focus on drug development and clinical trials and the challenges facing drug discovery efforts.

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Ramakrishnan’s teacher says the spark was there even during college days – N.S Govindaraj

Posted by Admin Madurai Tamilnadu India in Chidambaram, Science on October 8th, 2009

Chidambaram : Even as a student, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry, had the spark in him to climb great heights, his former teacher N.S Govindaraj said.

Ramakrishna’’s former teacher recalled that the Nobel laureate was a bright and sincere student who would reach great heights like Sir C V Raman, who won the Nobel for physics in 1930.

“Even when he was a student, I knew that he would reach great heights, even more than Sir C V Raman. He used to study and was very sincere in his duties,” said 82-year-old Govindaraj.

In Chennai, academics and students expressed happiness over the selection of Ramakrishnan for the top award.

“It’’s a very happy news. We should be proud of one of ours has got the Nobel Prize for science. Indians were known like C.V Raman was famous and was the first one to receive the Nobel Prize for physics from India. Later on there were other scientists who went abroad and then made names for themselves,” said P. John, Vice Principal, Loyola College.

Saran Rajkumar, a college student, said: “I am very proud that Ramakrishnan has got a Nobel Prize in chemistry.”

Ramakrishnan is the ninth person of Indian origin to bag the award.

Venkatraman along with Israeli Ada Yonath and American Thomas Steitz won the Nobel Prize for producing atom-by-atom maps of the mysterious, life-giving ribosome that has allowed researchers to develop powerful new antibiotics.

The Nobel prizes are given annually for achievements in chemistry, physics, medicine, peace, literature and economics. They were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the 1895 will of Swedish millionaire Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.

Presently, Ramakrishnan is a U.S. scientist at the Medical Research Council’’s Molecular Biology Laboratories in Cambridge.

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was born at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu in 1952.

He had his early schooling in Chidambaram and later did B.Sc (physics) from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, in 1976.

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