alpha times, t nagar april 05, 2009

8/14/2019 Alpha Times, T Nagar April 05, 2009

1/8

VOL: 1 ISSUE 42 PRICE Re. ONE ONLYApr il 05, 2009

Putting Heart and Soul of your Neighbourhood

Alpha Tim es

To AdvertiseCall

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Reaches

55,000householdsevery week

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Observing that voter turnout in the polls in the countryft much to be desired, former CEC T S Krishnamurthy

n Saturday suggested that the electionmmission put in more efforts to create

wareness among the electorate abouteir democratic right.

"The percentage could becreased only when the voters turn inrge numbers and this could be done onlypeople realise that they have the right tote," he said at the launch of a websiteming to help voters make an informedoice by the Press Institute of India,

berty Institute and Friedrich Naumann, aerman foundation for liberal politics.auding the ef forts of Elect ion

Commission for improving thenduct of elections in each time, thermer chief election commission

ppealed to it to take every effort ineating more voter awareness, whichuld substantially increase the polling

ercentage.

M r .Krishnamurthy said thecoming Lok Sabhaelections would be evenbetter than the previouspolls since the EC hadtaken severa l newm e a s u r e s f o rimprovement. Stressingt h e n e e d f o r

improvement in thecoun t r y ' s e l ec to ra lprocess, he suggestedthat new technologycould be introduced

w h e r e e v e r i t w a srequired. He urgedmedia to provide somespace for the EC'scampaign to createawareness among theelectorate. Speaking onthe occasion, Tamil NaduChief Electrol OfficerNaresh Gupta said

efforts should be takenfor an error-free voters'list.

-Agencies

Former CEC seeks steps to improve voting percentage


2/8

Page 2 Alpha Times April 05, 2009

Dont oblige others, especially at the cost ofyour interests. It will be ideal if you execute your agendain a more risk-free manner.

For the week Apri l 05- April 11, 2009

A sensitive phase for emotional Taureans. Theywill remain confused and face some unfair criticism. Takesuch challenges in your stride dont lose your cool.

You will relax as your financial obligationsdecline. You are not immune from ups and downs of life.Wednesday happens to be your restless day.

An exalted Moon will bring joy and merriment.Helping a needy friend is on your agenda during thisweek.

Your dominant stars will earn you the reputationof a social butterfly. You need more time to cement abond between two hearts.

An unexpected change for the better should beon the way. You could cash in on an opportunity you havebeen waiting for since long.

With Venus on the back track, anunprecedented upswing in your routine expenditure. Youmay not overcome this crisis. Tighten your purse stringsand feel easy. Friday is your most expensive day.

The work could pile up in leaps and bounds.Your speed could slow, if you take new obligations.

You are in happy mood. You have done welland could do still better. But be fully in control of all facts.

Both Virgoans and Librans are sincere friends.Dont belittle them or under rate them. However, avoidCancerians or Scorpions.

OL : 1 ISSUE 42 April 05, 2009

Creative Aquarians should be in their element.Their freshness of thought, excellence will come to thefore. But remain tension-free.

A debility-prone Jupiter makes you dependent

on others. Dont be guilty if you spend on luxuries butcurb the urge to squander on Thursday.

- Dr. Anuj Vikram Sharma

Saibaba wanted to belong to all and beshared by all. He apparently found himself at ease inthis paradoxical situation. When pressed on whetherhe was Hindu or Muslim, he would often get very angryand abuse people. Once he told a devotee:" You havebeen with me for eighteen years now. Does Sai mean

for you only thesethree and a halfcubits of height?C e r t a i n l y ,Saibaba never

encouraged hiso w n w o r s h i p ,though in the lastyears he gave upresistance andaccepted the cultwhich the Hindustribute to him,often in a quiteostentatious form.Saibaba was ableto avoid clashesb e t w e e n t w ocommunities andsucceeded i nunifying them inan atmosphere of

general harmony. At this early period, Hindu worship of

Baba was purely individual. A devotee would bringflowers, bow to him, and ask for a blessing and leave.Mhalsapati was apparently the only one who honoredhim with a sandal paste puja.

Baba would often talk about Hindu gods,quoting from sacred texts and commenting uponpassages of Bhagavad Gita, the Isha Upanishad andso forth. The names of Krishna and Rama seem to havebeen particularly dear to him. With Muslim followers,Baba would always talk of Allah and Quran, oftenquoting Persian verses. Apparently one of his favoriteexpressions were" Allah rakhega vaisa rahena", that is,Let us be content with what we have and submit our willto Allah. On several occasions, Sai reassured hislisteners by saying that he, like them, was but a devoteeof Allah, a humble faqir with two arms and two legs.

In later years, Parsis and even a fewChristians would come to Shirdi. Saibaba respected allcreeds, true to his conviction that all religions are butparticular paths leading to one ineffable goal. All hadfree access to the Masjid: outcasters, lepers, dogs,birds and so on. Baba particularly enjoyed thecompany of untouchables and the ill. One BhagojiShinde, a leper, came to be one of Sai's closestdevotees. This was the reason why the Masjid came tobe known by the Hindu name of Dwarakamai, themany-gated mother. From the young faqir, most askedfor blessings of a material kind, progeny, jobs, curesfrom illness etc. very few requested spiritual guidance.

Visitwww.timeschennai.com

The decks have been cleared for the entry ofamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhis elder sonzhagiri into Parliament. The decision of the party told him for the Madurai Lok Sabha seat is a cleartempt not only to catapult him to the role of partyointsman in New Delhi but also to ensure that theventual passing of the chief ministerial mantle to Mrarunanidhis younger son Stalin goes unchallenged.r Azhagiri is a power to reckon with in south Tamiladu and has in the past not hesitated to remonstrateth his father against favoured treatment to Mr Stalin.y sending him away to the Centre and promising him ay role there, Mr Karunanidhi is hopeful that there

ould be no succession battle in Chennai.It has indeed been a while since DMK politics

egan revolving around Karunanidhi 's family. The wayings are, it would seem that it is sacrilege for anyoneutside the patriarchs family circle to aspire for the chiefinisterial office or for a key role as pointsman for thearty in Delhi. The irrepressible MDMK leader Vaikoas at one time in the DMK and was seen by many as aing star in DMK politics. It is no secret that he wasttisoned because he was perceived as a threat to

alins ambitions. After the last Lok Sabha elections, Mrarunanidhis grandnephew, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, tookn the role of pointsman in Delhi but when a newspaperublished by his brother carried a survey showing Mrzhagiri in poor light, he was sent packing and onlycently rehabilitated when the latter condescended.

With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner,r Karunanidhi indeed has much else to worry about.he recent PMK decision to leave the DMK fold andove over to Ms Jayalalithaas AIADMK combined withe anti-incumbency factor may give the DMK a rough

me. It is time Mr Karunanidhi shed his family obsessionnd put governance above all else if he is to have anyance of beating the AIADMK.

He belonged to All!

Its all in the family

T h e 8 9 t hyanthi celebrations ofa t h g u r u S h r i m a t hanthananda Swamigal

ll be celebrated at theh e n n a i O m S r i

kandasramam.On Apri l 12th

ing Vishakam the birthar of Sathguru Shrimathanthananda Swamigal,i Matha Bhuvaneswariula manthra Samputitha

h a n d i M a n g a l aahayagnam wi l l benducted. The day startsth the go puja at 7. 15 amo l l o w e d b yuruvandanam at 8 am. At30 am there will be the

oma and 27 nakshatraankalpam, followed bya n a p a t h y H o m a m ,

Navagraha Homam andAavahandi homam at 9.30 am. At 10 the SriBhuvaneswar i Mula

M a n t h r aS a m p u t i t h aChandi MangalaM a h a y a g n a mbegins followedby annadanam at12.30 noon. At 4PM the Homamc o n t i n u e sfollowed by theMaha Purnahudhiat 7. 30 Pm. AT 8pm abhishekam toSri Chakra PurnaM a h a M e r uf o l l o w e d b ydeeparadanai andp r a s a ddistribution.

Being SundayApril 12th there will beRagu K a la spec i a labhishekam to LordV eera S a rabesa ra rbetween 4. 30 and 6 PM

For participationand other details call the

C h e n n a i O m S r iS k a n d a s r a m a m ,1 K a m b a r S T ,Mahalakshmi Nagar,Selaiyur, Tambaram, Ch -73, ph - 22290134 /94446 29570, website -www.skandasramam.com.

Sathguru Shrimath SanthanandaSwamigal Jayanthi

T h ekumbabishekam of Sri

Varasiddhi VinayakaPanchamuga AnjaneyarT e m p l e o f S r iPanchamuga AnjaneyarTrust, Palaniappa Nagar,Gowrivakkam, will beperformed on April 8,between 8.30 a.m. and10.30 a.m.

Devotees are

requested to contribute incash or kind for the

kumbabishekam.DDs and cheques maybe made in favour of SriPanchamuga AnjaneyarKumbabishekam a/c.

F o r f u r t h e rdetails call: 94453 11891;94440 42055 or log on to:www.panchamugaanjaneyar.com

Kumbabishekam


3/8

Page 3Alpha TimesApril 05, 2009

Daily Trip toThirupathi

Alpha Timesin its endeavour to assist the generalpublic invites the grievances against the serviceproviders and utilities. All your letters may be sentby post /email and the same will be sent to therespective agencies and publish the action taken bysuch agencies. All letters to be addressed to

The Editor - Grievances Cell

Alpha TimesF5&6,Leo Complex, First Floor, 41,Madley Road,

T Nagar, Chennai 600 017.Email. [email protected]

Voice your grievancesAttention Readers

A month longamanavami celebrationst underway last week ate Mambalam based Sriam Samaj.

O n A p r i l 3a m a n a v a m i w a s

lebrated with religiousrvour. In the morningecial poojas coincided

th the moola parayanam Brahmasri T R

ajarama Iyer comp-letinge Yuddha Kandam andereafter the Ramar

attabhishekam. In thev e n i n g B r a h m a s r iannilam Rajagopalaanapadigal and his teamvedic pundits chanted

e Ganaparayanam of Sriishna Yajur Vedam.

eing the ninth and the lastay of the parayanam, theanaparayanam drew arge attendance.

The recitation of

Ganam wove a magicspell on the devoteespresent who listened theveda gosham with raptattention.

Speaking on theoccasion Nannilam

R a j a g o p a l aGanapadigal, heapedpraises on Sri Ram

Samaj managementa n d a d d e d t h a tM a m b a l a m w a s i sproved that they arerasikas of not onlycarnatic music butalso to Veda Goshamand that is clear withthe huge gathering atthis celebration. Healso said that the SriR a m S a m a jmanagement shouldcontinue Sri KrishnaY a j u r v e d aG a n a p a r a y a n a m

every year.Later Ramar

P a t t a b h i s h e k a mreligious discourse byBrahmasri MannargudiG o a p a l a k r i s h n aS a s t r i g a l b r o u g h tAyodhya to the fore.The portrait of Lord SriRama was taken inprocession after thePattabishekam.

S e e t h aKalyanam under theBhajan Sampradhayamwould be held on April 5at 9.00 am by UdayalurK a l y a n a r a m aBhagavathar and party.

Ramanavami celebratedwith religious fervour

To compla inagainst violations of themodel code of conductset for the Lok Sabhapolls, the district electionoffice has released thecontact numbers ofreturning officers andass i s tan t re tu rn i ngofficers in each assemblysegment . Return ing

officer (Chennai north)Mythili Rajendran can bereached at the toll-freehelpline-1077, Returningofficer (Chennai central)Ra jesh Lakhon i a t25383732 and Returningofficer (Chennai south) MBalaji at 25383693. Thedistrict election office inRipon Buildings can bec o n t a c t e d a t25383695/25619344.

T h e c o n t a c tnumbers of AssistantReturning Officers are asfollows:Thousand Lights9 3 8 1 5 1 5 2 4 3 ;V i r u g a m b a k k a m

The railwayswill run weekly specialtrains between Chennaiand Bangalore city toclear the rush during thesummer.

C h e n n a i -Bangalore City WeeklyExpress Special (0635)will depart Chennai onSundays at 11.30 pm(from April 12) and arriveat Bangalore at 7.30 am,the next day.

En route, thet r a i n w i l l t o u c hArakkonam (at 12.28am), Katpadi (1.23 am),Jolarpettai (2.40 am),Bangarpet (5.08 am),Whitefield (6.08 am),Krishnarajapuram (6.20am) and BangaloreCantonment (6.40 am).The last service fromChennai is on June 28.

In the return

direction, BangaloreCity-Chennai Weekly

Express Special (0636)will depart Bangalore onMondays at 11 pm (fromApril 13) and arrive atChennai at 5.15 am, thenext day.

En route, thetrain will touch BangaloreCantonment (at 11.10pm), Krishnarajapuram(11.24 pm), Whitefield(11.34 pm), Bangarpet(12.13 am), Jolarpettai(1.30 am), Katpadi (2.43am), Arakkonam (3.43am) and Perumbur (4.33am). The last servicefrom Bangalore is onJune 29.

The train has 18c o a c h e s i n a l l ,comprising one AC two-tier coach, three ACthree-tier coaches, 10second-class sleepers,two general second-class coaches and two

second-class luggage-cum-brake vans.

Special trains betweenBangalore and Chennai

A l w a r p e tB e n e f i t F u n d w i l ldespatch cheques tosavings, recurring and

fixed deposit accountholders from April 9.

I n a p r e s srelease, A. Raman,Commissioner appointedby Madras High Court,said they would beissuing cheques towards9th instalment of 5 percent of the principalamount, subject to a

minimum of Rs.1,000. Withthis, the total repayment todepositors will be aroundRs.58 crore. The cheques

drawn on ICICI Bank,Alwarpet branch, will bedelivered through courier inba tches as pe r t hemembership number ofdepositors. Depositors arerequested not to visit theoffice since the chequeswill not be handed over inperson, he said.

ABF cheques to be sentto account holders

hakra Vinayagar TempleSri Ramanavami Mahotsavam is being

lebrated in Arulmigu Chakra Vinayar Temple, 2, Southhandapani Street, T.Nagar.

The following is the schedule for concerts (allgin at 6.30 pm):

pril 4: Vidya Kalyanaraman (vocal), April 6 : Vasudhaavi (vocal), April 7 : Veena concert byG.R. S. Moorthy,pril 8 : Dual violin concert by Melakaveri Thyagarajand Villivakkam Raghuraman. April 9: Mohan Sathanamocal). April 10: Flute concert by J.B. Sruthisagar.pril 11: Gayathri Devi (vocal).

There will be a discourse on Ramayanam byK. Srinivasan at 6.30 pm on April 5.

Seetharama Samrajya pattabhishekam will be7 am on April 11 followed by Ekdhina lakshaarchanai. are welcome.

ri Srinivasamurthy MandiramSri Srinivasamurthy Mandiram 56, Ellaimman

il Street, West Mambalam is celebrating its 26thnual Sri Rama Navami Mahotsavam from April 4 to 14.

U.Ve.K.B. Devarajan Swamigal will givescourses on Srimad Ramayanam at 7 pm daily till April

Bombay sisters C. Saroja and C. Lalitha willesent a vocal concert at 7 pm on April 8. They will becompanised by Ananthapadmanabhan on violin,adipakkam suresh on mridangam and Narasimhan onatam. There will be a bharathanatyam program at 7

m on April 9. All are welcome.

hiridi Sai TempleShri Shiridi Sai Seva Samaj 9, Jaishankarreet, West Mambalam will have Sai Baba

aksharchana on Sunday, April 12. Those who want ton Laksharchana can register their names. 1st Batch:00 & 9.00 am, 2nd Batch: 9.15 & 10.15 am. 3rd Batch :.30 & 11.30 am, 4th Batch: 3.30 & 4.30 pm, 5th Batch:45 & 5.45 pm, 6th Batch: 6.30 & 7.30 pm. All areelcome.

Ramanavami Celebrations

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S. Subhakeerthana

The 27th Annualay celebrations of theSVN Murthy centreommenced wi th theamizh Thai Vazhthu (a

ayer). MK Srinivasan,esident and Medicalrector, Public Health

entre (PHC) welcomede and all.

For the next twours that followed, the

ildren presented some ofe most popularised talesom Indian mythology,cluding the Vamanavataram, a phrase frome Gita and briefly, thea s a v a t h a r a m . Ao m m e n d a b l e

erformance of Mahashnus incarnation asamana, a modest, poorwarf priest, to tame downe flamboyance and pride

King Mahabali andstore Indias authority toe heavens. A briefquence of lord Vishnus

ten incarnations was alsopresented.

Indian folklorewas another highlight ofthe event, where the

c h i l d r e np r e s e n t e d aKaavadi attam (aform of dancethat is mainlyperformed whileworshipping lord

Murugan). Theevent was gracedby M Mural i ,Managing Director, SriKrishna Sweets ands i n g e r S u d h aRaghunathan. Both,deeply touched by theperformance by thechildren, had words ofencouragement for theteachers as well as thec e n t r e . I h a v eparticipated in a numberof events, but none likethis one. Watching thesekids perform with so

BVSN Murthy Centre's Special children

performance par excellencemuch happiness makesme feel proud. I thinkparents play an importantrole in the success andjoy of a child. I have seen

it in my own life. Thet e a c h e r s a n dparents who havebeen responsible forsuch joy of the kids

deserve a specialm e n t i o n , s a i dMurali.

S u d h aRaghunathan, whopromised to do abenefit concert forthe school, with thehelp of M Murali,s a i d , S c h o o l

performances usuallyhave just entertainmentor just morals. This onehad both.

Ln S. J SharmaSecretary KalamandirMat. Hr. Sec. Schoolpresented a chalk mouldto the school.

T e a c h e r s ,Parents and officials ofthe school participated inlarge numbers on theoccasion.

A workshop onCorporate Excellencethrough Spiritual Culturewas held on Sunday atRamakrishna MissionA s h r a m a . D r RMahadevan, director,Indian Pistons was theguest speaker. He began

his talk by explaining thatSpirituality helps humanto be stable during interprocess transaction. Hewent on to say thatcorporates dont exist inisolation and so doeshuman being. You are apart of the society andyou should be consciousof your responsibilities,he said.

E v e r y o n eshould measure theirexcellence. To measureit, he pointed out saidcertain parameters that

Frost and Sullivan, thecompany that givesCorporate Excellenceawards, follows. He wenton to explain that evenindividuals can follow thesame.

They haves c o r e s f o r e a c hparameters, when theymeasure the excellenceof a company, he said.By comparing scorese v e r y y e a r ,improvements in thecompany are madeaccordingly. So, everycorporate has a plan to

rise up the ladder ofexcellence and so will anindividual, if they plan toexcel. Many corporateshave this perception that

corporate excellence andspir i tual i ty are twodifferent things and theydont twine at all, saidMahadevan, who is anIIT Alumni.

M a h a d e v a n ,brought to the light ofs t u d e n t s a n d

professionals the presenteconomic scenario andexplained that no onewas informed that theglobal meltdown wouldchange. He spoke aboutthe companies that led tothe collapse of the globaleconomy. After readingout a verse in Sanskrit,he explained that theperson who led thefinancial breakdownmust have had greed inhis mind. When a personhas a desire, he takesaction; if he loses he

would try again with anintense desire and thatends up in greed. Its likehow a person gambles ina h o r s e r a c e , Mahadevan pointed out.He went on to say that thes o l u t i o n t o s u c hbehaviour is to expectgood things and to thinkof good results out of thegood actions that aperson has taken. Manycollege students andworking professionalswere present for thespecial workshop.

Corporate Excellence throughpiritual Culture - workshop held

The complete half yearly

magazine forprofessional Education

for details call

99400 24556

The 54th musicstival organised by Sriam S am a j w i l l beaugurated on April 6, 6. m . a t A y o d h y aa n d a p a m , W e s tambalam. N. Murali,

Employers andmployees can file theirievances online withgard to their providentnd accounts. The Centraloard of Trustees hasr e a d y a p p o i n t e d

d d i t i o n a l C e n t r a lommissioners in differentarts of the country tocilitate this.

These Additionalentral Commissioners willct as administrative headnd monitor the businessctivities of Employeesr o v i d e n t F u n drganisation on a regularasis. Besides, they willok into the grievances ofmployees, employers orny particular officer withgard to employeesovident fund account.

N. A. Nair haseen appointed the firstd d i t i o n a l C e n t r a lommissioner for EPFamil Nadu (includinguducherry) and Kerala.

The complaints oredback with regard toon-settlement of claims,on-receipt of pension,eficiency in services, non-

compliance of law, failureto provide PF coverageand delay in settlingrefunds can be sent [email protected].

It may be noted that TamilNadu is the secondlargest region in thecountry in terms ofm e m b e r s h i p a f t e rMaharashtra. It has64,000 establishmentsc o v e r i n g 6 7 l a k hmembers.

File your PF accountgrievances online

Ramanavami Music festivalpresident, The MusicAcademy and managingdirector, The Hindu, willbe the chief guest. M.S.S u n d a r a R a j a n ,chairman and managingdirector, Indian Bank, will

be the guest of honour.The festival will feature aseries of concerts byeminent musicians.

Free computer educationB h a r a t i y a

Vidya Bhavans Gandhiinstitute of Computere d u c a t i o n a n dinformation technologycentres at Mylapore andT Nagar imparts freecomputer education tot h e e d u c a t e d

u n e m p l o y e d y o u t hb e l o n g i n g t o t h eeconomically backwardsection of the society.

The bhavan hastrained many students invarious job orientedcomputer courses likeaccounts assistant, DTP,C & C + + , V B . N e t ,

Multimedia etc for thepast 12 months. Thisy e a r B h a v a n h a sintroduced a new freecomputer course forsenior citizens who havecompleted 60 years.

Applications forthe next batch starting

May 2009 are alreadybeing issued at BhavansGandhi Institute 18-22East Mada S t reet ,M y l a p o r e a n d 1 2Thanikachalam Street, TNagar. Last date forsubmission of filled inapplications is April 13


5/8


Sri Nandalala Religious trust celebrated the Sri Rama Navami function withe blessings of Poojyasri Mathioli Sarasvathi for three days from April 01 to 03. .

Ramayanam was portrayed in stages with the model of Vishvamithrar

ham clearly depicting the conduct of the yaham by Sage Vishwamithra.Vedashree and Ramya from West Mambalam presented a devotional

ncert on Lord Sri Ramachandra Moorthy.The age old Ragamalika song Bhavayamiok the audience spell bound. Later Poojyasri Mathioli Saraswathi blessed bothe singers. The second day of the pooja ended with Seetha kalyanam and Theattabishekam of Ramachandramoorthy was ocnducted on the concluding day.

Mambalam singers presentsdevotional concert

FA ST T RA CKNEWSA Glossary of the book 'Entre Jeunes - 2'

prescribed for CBSE X Standard is now available,This pocket size book of 84 pages contains (1)Glossary by Lesson (2) Glossary French - English (3)Glossary English - French (4) Forme Nominale -Forme Verbale and (5) Contraires.

This book is conceived and compiled byMrs. Kala Sugavanam. She is an experienced Frenchteacher in Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School at

Chennai. This book is priced at Rs. 50/- per copy. Toget your copy, please contact Mrs Kala Sugavanam at93806 10306 or email: [email protected].

Pocket size Glossary

Aadithyaa Murali of National Public School,Gopalapuram, will present a Carnatic music concertat the Nageswara Rao Park, Mylapore on Sunday, aspart of the Sundaram Finance Kutcheri in the parkseries.

A disciple of V.Subramanian, Aadithyaa willbe accompanied by Shyam R. on the violin and byVarun Ramaswamy on the mridangam, according to arelease.

Kutcheri in the park

Sri Desika Darsana Diary and Guide with allthe regular features that make it special has beenreleased.

From the important dates in the Hinducalendar to the rituals connected to various occasions,the almanac is a ready-reckoner. It contains slokasand extracts from texts followed by devotees. It isavailable at 10, Lakshmipuram II Street, Villivakkam,Chennai 600049 and priced at Rs. 40. Phone 044-2618 0481.

Desikan Diary

In connectionwith engineering workbetween Kavaraipettaiand Ponneri from April 4 to15 the following will be thepattern of train services.

Trains partiallycancelled: MG-11 MooreMarket Complex (MMC) Gummidipoondi EMUlocal schedule to leaveMMC at 8.50 a.m. will runup to Ponneri and GM-20Gummidipoondi MMCEMU local scheduled to

leave Gummidipoondi at10.50 a.m. will leave fromPonneri at 11.06 a.m.i n s t e a d o fG u m m i d i p o o n d i ,according to a pressrelease issued by theSouthern Railway.

Change in EMUtrain schedule

Helpline

C r e d i t C a r dHolders Association ofIndia (CCHAI) has movedto set up a helpline for thebenefit of debt-riddenprofessionals and others.In Chennai, one can call25384061 for assistance.

Dry dayon April 7

T A S M A C- runliquor shops and barsattached thereto willremain closed on April 7on account MahavirJ a y a n t i , s a y s agovernment notification.

T Nagar's Silk tycoon Dr. Nalli Kuupusami Chetty inaugurated the coinexchange machine installed by Indian Bank at the Sri Kapali Temple

Mylapore.

Coin Exchange at Kapali Temple

Ramanavami at TTD centre

Seetha Kalyanam was celebrated at the TTD Centre, T Nagar on April 03being the concluding day of the Ramanavami Celebrations

SRM Nightingalea t . H r . S e c . S c h o o llebrated its 8th KGaduation day on April

This day is speciallyeant for encouraging theG Students. Around 88G Graduates receivedh e i r g r a d u a t i o nrtificates on this specialcasion.

The chief gueststhe day were famous

k singer Mrs.Anithau p p u s a m y a n d

r.M.Rajam Meenakshie td .D i s t r i c t f am i l yelfare medical officer.

T he p rog ramegan with the welcomed d r e s s b yG.Coordinator Mrs.

alavathi.Following this

ncipal Shanthi Sukumaresented the KG annualport. The objectives ofe school the especially

the health and habitsobjective received agreat applause both fromthe parents and the chief

guest.P res i den t i a l

address was given byMr V.N.Pattabiraman,D i r e c t o r , S R MInstitutions Ramapuramcampus.

The chief guestAnitha Kuppusamy sang

some folk songs andchildren's songs to

entertain the gathering.She said she wasimpressed by the displayof folk games likePallanguzhi and snakesand ladders when theworld is concentrating ongames like cricket andt e n n i s f o r t h eyoungsters.

She also addedthat parents must spendtime with kids despite

their busy work."K.G news letter

in associat ion wi thP apy rus C l ub was

released by chief guestand received by the SRMDirector.

L a t e r U K Gstudents took oath. Theyalso received awards onvarious categories likehoneybee awards, busybee, all rounder, spell

bee, Maths Olympiad andS c i e n c e O l y m p i a d

winners.In this academic

year the managementh a d i n t r o d u c e d aNESTCARE award forbest parenting

The cultural thatfollowed especially theVillupattu focused onhealthy and nutritiousfood was spell bound .

- Gowri Neelamegam

Crossing their first milestones


6/8


7/8


nd ia Gen e r a l E l ec t io n s 2009

an an EVM be pre-programmed by anybody to favourny party or candidate?o programme a substituted chip to transfer voteseferentially to a particular candidate, it would be

ecessary for the programme to identify the serial number ofe favoured candidate. Since the order in which thendidates appear on the reference ballot paper depends the nominations filed and found valid, it can't be predictedadvance before the list of contesting candidates is actuallyawn up

ow many persons are allowed at the time of thecruti ny of nominations by t he Returning Officer ?he candidate, his election agent, one proposer and oneher person (who can be an advocate) duly authorised initing by the candidate

an a person who is not a member of the party beominated as a star campaigner (leader) of the party f ore purpose?o

an a person conf ined in a jail vote in an election?uch a person can't vote if he is confined in a prison,hether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportationotherwise, or is in the lawful custody of the police

an a person contest the LS elections from as manyonstit uencies as he likes?o. He can't contest from more than two constituencies

What is EVM randomization ?randomization the serial numbers of all EVMs to be used

thin the jurisdiction of a District Election Officer are listed.he EVMs which are to be used in a particular constituencye then randomly selected through a computerized processhich is known as first-level randomization. Later, second-vel randomization is done by the Returning Officer toetermine which specific EVM will be used at a particularolling station of that constituency.

there any restrict ion on displaying post er of the partyoncerned or of the candidate on the vehicle during theocession?

ou may display one poster of your party or candidate own vehicle .

external fitting allowed in the vehicles used forampaigning?xternal modification of vehicles, including fitting ofudspeakers, would be according to the provisions of theotor Vehicles Act or any other local Act or rules

an a person who has been sentenced to impr isonmentr 2 years contest the elections?

o.

such a person is on bail, pending the disposal of hisppeal, can he contest t he elections?o. Even if a person is on bail, after conviction, and hisppeal is pending for disposal, he is disqualified fromntesting. But if his conviction is also stayed, then he canntest.

a voter does not know how t o use the EVM, whose helphould he take?he Presiding Officer will have a cardboard replica of theallot unit with him. Through this he will demonstrate to theter how to use the machine. He will, however, not beowed to enter the polling chamber, where the actual ballotit is kept .

an a person registered as a voter in a particular stateontest the Lok Sabha elections from outside thatate?e/she can contest the poll from any constituency in theuntry except the autonomous districts of Assam ,Sikkim

d Lakshadeep .

Voter's guide

fferent people have different viewpoints. Varun's way oftting forth his viewpoint may not be correct. May be he

anted to say something and could not put it rightly probablycause of his political inexperience

BJP Rajya Sabha memberema Malini on Varun Gandhi

dvani had said the black money stashed in Swiss banksould be brought back. They should first take care of the

ack money they haveSenior

ongress leader Kapil Sibal

here is a dictatorship in Bihar...conspirators are controllinge party....My decision to contest the election is in protestainst this dictatorship and value-less politics

---Estranged JDU leader George Fernandes

Sanjay Dutt's case was to be treated as a rarest of rarese, many others convicted for heinous offences wouldave pleaded with the SC to treat their cases as the rarestses citing this as a precedence

BJP GeneralSecretary Arun Jaitley

very party wants to give opportunities to youngsters, buthat ideology and what preaching are we giving them? Toclare in open public meetings that people's hands should cut off

Sharad Pawar flays BJP on Varun issue

Thus spoke the 'Nethas'

The progress ofa nation lies with its youth a powerful resource

that can either constructor destruct the entirenation.

As the youth ofI n d i a , i t i s o u rresponsibility to stepforward and help ourcountry grow. But thequestion is: are we doinganything to contributetowards the developmentand betterment of ourcountry? Have we reallyforgotten our moralresponsibility towardsour nation? Have weforgotten the countlesssacr i f i ces that ourforefathers made for thisnation?

S a d l y , t h eanswer to all thesequestions is yes. Whatwe are giving to thiscountry is nothing ascompared to what weshould.

The root of theproblem could be the lackof patriotism in us and thefact that we are souninterested in helpingour country prosper, letalone seeing it prosper.Patriotism is not justa b o u t l o v i n g y o u rcountry, it is a duty, anobligation, that a citizenhas towards his/her

c o u n t r y . I t i s t h eresponsibility of a civilianto swear allegiance andloyalty to the nation thats/he calls home.

T he fam ousIr ish l i terary cr i t ic ,George Bernard Shawv e r y r i g h t l y s a i d ,Patr iot ism is yourconviction that thiscountry is superior to allothers because you wereborn in it. It is this veryintensity that is lacking inour feeling of patriotism,and as soon as thisfeeling inculcates in ourhearts, there is nothingthat would prevent our

country from flourishing.We should not

lose track of the right path

simply because of theunfairness that prevails inour country or because our

leaders are doing the exactopposite of what weelected them for. As long aswe have pride in our nationand its people, we can worktogether to defend what wefeel is wrong and thereforeshould exemplify goodpatterns of behaviour forthe betterment of ourcountry, which in turnwould brighten up ourfuture.

What we need is afuture for the youth of Indiawhich is free from anydiscrimination. We need topromote a democratic andenlightened India whereyoung women and men

can enjoy freedom andsafety. It is crucial thatserious steps be taken toenable the youth tobecome active participantsin activities which fulfil theirdreams and ambitions,lead ing to the i r fu l li n t e g r a t i o n i n t h eeconomic, social, culturaland spiritual aspects ofsociety.

This vision issupposed to be translatedthrough various actionplans which can only bepossible with considerablesupport from the youth. Weare the youth of India

the pride and honour of ourcountry; and we need tounite and work together forour beloved nation, as ourfounding fathers havedone.

Sincere effort andhard work never goes towaste. The time has cometo take action and to bring arevolution in our countryand help it become like thedeveloped countries of theworld. Let us join hands tohelp lead our nation in theright direction and continuethe journey that wasinstigated by the Father ofthe Nation.

Let's vote for a

stable government

- S. Raghunathan

Youth of a nation:Trustees of posterity

Language Arts

English is adelightful language butcan at times be a ratherdifficult mountain toclimb. Reaching atop thiss t e e p a n d c r a g g ymountain takes a lot oftime and effort, but onceyou scale through withthe right amount ofd e t e r m i n a t i o n , t h efeeling of elation andsatisfaction is immense.

Idioms are partand parcel of the Englishlanguage. What is anidiom? An idiom is aphrase whose meaningis difficult or sometimesimpossible to guess bylooking at the meaningsof the individual words itcontains.

Incidentally, noton your Nelly! is a ratherquaint id iom whichmeans certainly not! andnot in a million years!Though this charmingidiom is not commonlyused, it still brings a smilew h e n e v e r u t t e r e d .I d i o m s a p p e a r i n

conversations all overthe English-speakingworld every minute of theday and we take them forgranted. Have you heardsomeone say they had abone to pick with you ort h e y c o u l d s m e l lsomething fishy? Haveyou wondered what onearth they were talkingabout? Yes? Okay then,lets get down to brasstacks.

Getting downto brass tacks is a phrasewhich means that earlyd i s c u s s i o n s a r ecomplete and one nowneeds to get to the heartof the matter thed e t a i l s . S o m esuggestions point to theorigin of this phrasebeing the Americandrapery stores wherebrass-headed tacks werenailed to the counter andused for measuring outfabric. The idea beingthat once the customerhad taken time to choosetheir material, putting it tothe brass tacks meantactually getting down tothe sale.

Let us discuss afew more interestingidioms. Shall we start

from scratch then? Nowstarting from scratch is as a y i n g w e u s e t oillustrate starting againfrom the beginning,regardless of how muchw e h a v e a l r e a d yachieved of a task.

Its origin datesback to the medievaltimes, when horse-racecompetitors would startat a line scratched intothe ground by either asword or a javelin. Ifcompetitors cut cornersor strayed from a setcourse of the race, theywould have to start againfrom the scratch line.

Oh dear, yourenot getting cold feet arey o u ? T h i s p h r a s eindicates a loss of nerveor to have doubts about aparticular situation. It hasits origins in the gamingworld, albeit a fictionalone. The story tells usthat in 1862, Fritz Reuter,

a G e r m a n a u t h o r ,described a scene in oneof his novels duringwhich a poker playerfears losing his fortunebut does not want to loseface by concedingdefeat. Instead, heexplains to his fellowpoker players his feet aretoo cold and he cannotconcentrate. This giveshim a chance to leave the

table and then slip awayfrom the game.Boo-hoo! you

cry out. Come; comenow, enough of thec r o c o d i l e t e a r s !Crocodile tears areconsidered to be falset e a r s o r s h o w i n ginsincere sorrow. In fact,crocodiles, after eating,shed excess salt from theg l and l oca ted j us tbeneath each eye, givingthe impression of tears.

According to anancient Egyptian legend,after the animal haddevoured its victim itwou l d i m m ed ia te l y

appear to be crying withremorse. The Egyptianscoined the phrase andapplied it to their double-dealing country folk whoshowed insincerity orfalse sorrow for theiractions.

What, do I hearyou say that you areactually alive and kicking,and ready to bite thebullet?

Ah, this is good!Alive and kicking is usedto suggest someone orsomething is lively andactive. In the last centurythe origin was thought torelate to a marketfishmonger who used thephrase to indicate his fishwere so fresh they werestill kicking in the trays.

To bi te thebullet is to carry out atask against the doerswishes. It means gettingon with something thatjust has to be done. Thisphrase has its origins inthe British Empire as theVictorians made friendsaround the world at thepoint of a gun.

A h - h a ! Y o uhave finally realized thatthis isnt mumbo jumboafter all, and, hence,

quite futile to beat aroundthe bush.Mumbo Jumbo

is the expression we usefor language that seemsnonsense and to have nodiscernible meaning. Forthe origin of this sayingwe travel to Africa.Mumbo Jumbo was alegendary sp i r i t i nvillages across Africawho was used by maletribal leaders in order tokeep the women of theirtribes in line.

W h e n a noutbreak of backbitingbecame intolerable, aman would dress up asMumbo Jumbo and visitthe main culprit in thedead of night and scareher rigid by shrieking andhollering. The trouble-making woman was thentied to a tree and given anold-fashioned thrashingby Mumbo Jumbo.

To beat around

Intriguing idioms

the bush is to approach asubject indirectly withouttackling the central pointdirectly. The saying is a300-year old huntingphrase related to beaterswho used sticks againstthe bush or undergrowth(wherever the prey hadtaken refuge) with theintention of scaring it outand into the line of thehunters guns.

Hmm, I see younow nod your head in

agreement. Clearly, youhave the bit between yourteeth. Bravo!

To have the bitbetween your teethmeans to go about a taskwith such enthusiasmand determination thatnobody can stop you.This term relates to themetal bar in a horses

mouth attached to the reignenabling a rider to steerand control the animal.

T h e r e f o r e ,enhance your English bylearning idioms. A piece ofwriting polka-dotted withsuch phrases makes anabsorbing read, while aconversation pepperedwith id ioms begui leslisteners, rousing theirimagination and creating acolourful tapestry of words.

Impress everyone

t e a c h e r s a n dclassmates, family andfr iends wi th yourknow ledge o f t hesecaptivating idioms. Getcracking! Go bananas!Have a lot of fun with idiomsand, for sure, youll betickled pink!

- S. Raghunathan


8/8

wned Edited and Published by S. Raghunathan Editorial and Advertisement Office: F 5 and 6 1st Floor, Leo Complex, New No: 41, Madley Road,T Nagar Chennai 600 017 Ph: 4286 7784 and Printed at New Merit Printers 14/51 Reddykuppam Road Saidapet Chennai 600 015


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