Times Chennai E-PaperMarch 09, 2009Page 3
Chennai, March 09:
Mr Justice H LGokhale, who was sworn inas the new Chief Justice ofMadras High Court, todaysaid the legal fraternity inTamil Nadu was passingthrough a difficult phase.Replying to felicitations atthe welcome ceremony atthe Madras High Court, hesaid the citizens'expectations on the judiciary has increased.''We have to meetthe expectations of thecommon litigants'', headded.Without directlyreferring to the February 19clash between theadvocates and the police inthe court campus, MrJustice Gokhale said thelegal fraternity waspassing through difficulttimes.''The Bar had agreat role to play in thiscourt'', he said andquoted a couplet fromTamil epic 'Thirukkural'and appealed toadvocates to follow it.Earlier,Advocate GeneralMasilamani welcomedhim and said Mr JusticeGokhale has assumedoffice as the 43rd ChiefJustice of the MadrasHigh court.GovernmentAdvocates, and officer-bearers of variousAdvocates Associationsunder the banner of JointAction Committee (JAC),participated in thewelcome ceremony.A lawyer UdayaBanu, belonging to theCongress SC/STAdvocates wing, createda flutter when he came tothe function sporting ahelmet.When askedabout it he sarcasticallysaid since he fearedattack from the police, hewas wearing it as aprecautionary measureto protect himself.
-Agencies
New CJ reminds HC Bar of its responsibilities
Chennai, March 09
The last date forsending nominations forthe Tamil Nadu YoungWomen Scientist Award-2008 and the LifetimeAchievement Award forWomen-2008 has beenextended up to March31.A press releasefrom Science City saidthat the application formis available on its websitewww.sciencecitychennai.com.Scientists mayalso call Science Cityoffice on 24454054 or24454034 for furtherdetails.
Last date for sendingnominations extended
Chennai, March 09
Besides “ladies”and “gents”, publiclavatories in Chennai maysoon offer a third option —for transgenders. TheChennai MunicipalCorporation has set asideRs 45 lakh for a pilot projectto build three suchlavatories for transgendersin the city.While theconstruction is expected tobegin after the polls, theofficials have alreadyidentified areas with aconsiderable transgenderpopulation in south andcentral Chennai. The firstwill be built in Saidapet,where it will cater to thoseliving in Kothamedu,Theedeer Nagar andAthuma Nagar.Each lavatory,with both male and femaleurinals for those who haveundergone sex change aswell as those who are yet todo so, is estimated to costabout Rs 12-15 lakh.Muncipal CommissionerRajesh Lakhoni said thatmore such toilets would bebuilt, depending on theresponse.For the moment,the response has beenrather mixed. While thereare some who havewelcomed the move, manyfeel that it would lead tomore isolation of thetransgender community.“I don’t agree with this.We want to mingle withthe mainstream. Wedon’t want to beseparated like this,” saidAasha Bharathi,president of the TamilNadu AravanigalAssociation. “Usingseparate toilets will openthe way fordiscrimination. We wantto be considered asfemales. In our hearts,we are women.”But Lakhoni counteredthat the move was aimedat “extending recognitionto the community andmainstreaming them”.Pointing out that thescheme was announcedin the budget last month,he said a survey revealedthat 99 per cent of therespondents did not wantto use the same toilets astransgenders.Supporting thegovernment’s decision,Rose Venkatesan,India’s first transgenderTV host who anchorsIppadikku Rose, said itwas a good start. “One ofthe most basic needs istoilets. It is a big problem,because not everyonehas undergone a sexchange. This is a goodidea, but in the long run, Isee a society where thereis no difference and alluse the same toilets,” shesaid.Venkatesan uses the“ladies” toilets. She hadissues when she was stilltransitioning from male tofemale, but her celebritystatus ensured that shefound acceptancequickly.However, Dr Lakshmibai,associated with the TamilNadu AIDS Initiative thatworks with over 15,000transgenders in the state,denounced the move.“On the one hand, we aretrying to get themaccepted as women andmainstream them, butthis creates moreisolation. If they have touse separate toilets,there are more chancesof them gettingvictimised,” she said.With a population ofabout 30,000transgenders, TamilNadu has implementedseveral schemes forthem, including thecreation of welfareboards, separate voteridentification cards andration cards and free sexcorrection operations.Recently, the stateGovernment allocatedRs 1 crore for a grouphousing project for thecommunity
-Agencies
Civic move on toilets fortransgenders sparks off debate
Chennai, March 09 :
V. Vignesh andN Keerthivasan fromGKM College ofEngineering andTechnology emerged asthe winners at the firstedition of 'Design ACE-2009', State LevelEngineering DesignContest conducted byBarry-WehmillerInternational Resources(BWIR), concluded onMarch 7, 2009, inChennai. The contestreceived anoverwhelming responseof more than 100 entries,out of which 15 teams gotthrough to the finals.The valedictoryfunction was presided byDr. R. Radhakrishnan,Vice Chancellor, AnnaUniversity Coimbatore.The 3 monthlong contest is anendeavor by BWIR topromote and encouragedesign capabilitiesamong the engineeringstudents.The contestantsof 'Design ACE-2009'submitted one innovativedesign and a businessproblem design alongwith a short write-up. Thefinalists got anopportunity to presenttheir models in front of jury for 15 minutes.The winnerswere awarded a cashprize of Rs. 30,000. B.Manoj and K.Ramkumar, PSG Collegeof Technology won theSecond Prize of Rs.25000 while K.Y Balajiand S.Suganesh ofSona College ofTechnology stood thirdwinning Rs. 20, 000. Thetop three teams, inaddition to the cash prizeswere offered a paidinternship at BWIR to workon real-time projects andlicenses of SolidWorks.In addition to this,BWIR announced its plansof BWIR AcademiaInitiative Program 'Seedingnew Talent Pool, for aninnovative tomorrow'.Announcing this innovativeindustry-academiacollaboration, SenthilKumar, Vice President andSenior Partner -Operations, BWIR said"This is our first step tobridge the divide betweenthe industry practicalitiesand academic curriculumswhich would address thegreat demand forindigenous specializedengineering talent".
-Agencies
GKM College of Engineering andTechnology Win 'Design ACE - 2009’
Chennai, March 09
Pay Rs 18,000and reach Tirupati in 30minutes from Chennai.This and many similar journeys will now bepossible with theChennai- based Indra AirPrivate Limited (IAPL) allset to launch coptercharter services to selectpilgrimage centres insouth India.On March 12,the company will launchits charter service toTirupati, according to W TS David, the generalmanager (commercialand operations), IAPL.“Soon, the serviceswould be extended toThiruvannamalai andSabarimala,” he said.IAPL hasimported the Enstrom480B helicopter from theUS. The aircraft, whichcan carry fourpassengers, can flywithout refueling forthree hours, said David,pointing out that theflying time toThiruvannamalai is 20minutes, while Tirupati is30 minutes away andSabarimala is two hoursaway.David said thatcompany plans to buymore aircraft soon, addingthat a twinengine, seven-seater Bell 407, a six-seater Agusta 109 and a12 seater-CessnaCaravan will be added tothe company’s fleet.The financecontroller of the company,C A Padmine, said politicalparties have shown greatinterest in chartering thecopter for electioneering.“A demo was done inHyderabad for politicalparties last week,” shesaid.
-Agencies
Now reach Tirupati in just 30 minutes
Chennai, March 09 :
Call it a turnback to the days of theRaj when India wascalled a land of the snakecharmers but a privateschool here has hit upona novel idea of removingexamination blues fromthe minds of students ofClass X with the help ofthe very same reptiles.The authoritiesat the EverwinMatriculation HigherSecondary School atsuburban Kolathurbrought snakes to theschool premises with thehelp of the staff of theGuindy Snake Park toremove examinationblues.More than 3,600students, fromKindergarten to Class X,had the experience of alifetime to learn aboutsnakes whose verymention sent shiversdown the spine.Billed as ''StressBuster Regime'' ahead ofClass X BoardExaminations, beginningon March 18, the SnakePark staff displayedabout 14 types of snakes,both poisonous and non-poisonous, and allowedthe students to handlethem.''Defeat the fearbefore fear defeats you isthe mantra behind thisnovel initiative to preventstress from taking a tollon the performance of thestudents inexaminations,'' SchoolPrincipal BPurushothaman andsenior Vice-PrincipalKalaiarasi told UNI.Though Yogaand pranic healingsessions had becomeorder of the day inschools to beat exam-related stress, this wasfor the first time a livedemonstration withsnakes, snake-related jokes and ''SnakeAasana'' were organisedin a school. There wasnever a dull moment inthe nearly three-hour-long demonstration asthe Snake Parkauthorities led by DrKannan, EnvironmentEducational Officer,exhibited various types ofsnakes and patientlyanswered a volley ofquestions raised byenthusiastic students.''It's a learningexperience as well for thestudents as the event isalso an awarenesscampaign to remove themyths and misgivingsabout snakes and snake-bites,'' they said.‘'Though thestudents have beenpreparing for the boardexams for the last one-and-a-half-years (learningStandard X portions fromthe second term ofStandard IX), they are bitworried about theirperformance in the exams.''A live-in demo with snakeswould help them not only toremove exam fear but alsolight up their mind andmake them stress-freewhen they sit forexaminations, MrPurushothaman said.The studentswere also taught''Bhujangasana'' (cobrapose), a form of Asana, torelieve the stress. The idea,mooted by the schoolmanagement, had gonedown well with thestudents, and the schoolauthorities oozedconfidence that the Class Xstudents would come outwith flying colours byscoring good marks in theboard exams.
- Agencies
Playing with snakes for studentsto move up the ladder
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