Now, cotton textiles with medicinal value

They are successfully tested at research, development levels

VALUED:M.T. Wakode, Director, Khadi and Village Industries Commission, second from right, viewing the cotton clothes in Gandhigram on Wednesday.

DINDIGUL: Natural Dye Research unit of Gandhigram Trust has developed cotton textiles with medicinal value that can cure diseases, it is claimed. The textiles have been successfully tested at research and development levels. The trust has developed three varieties of cotton fabric – in turmeric, light yellow and dark green colour – that could prevent bacterial infection, cure allergies and enhance immunity.

The green fabric is dipped and processed in turmeric, myrobolon (kadukkai) and indigo (Avuri extracts). Later, it is treated in Tulsi extracts. This will reduce allergic disorders in a person.

The second type of cloth is processed only with turmeric and myrobolon (kadukkai). It is meant for new born and children who lick their dress. The yellow cloth is processed with turmeric and treated with tulsi extract to enhance immunity.

Briefing the value of the new medicinal fabrics, the unit’s chief chemist S. Murugesan said that usually children chewed the tip of their dresses.

Chewing medicinal textiles would not harm their health. Actually, the medicinal cloth would help in improving immunity. Moreover, indigo and turmeric clothes would scale down allergy levels, he added.

Introducing the medicinal cloth at a State-level workshop on dissemination of natural dying technologies to volunteers and khadi manufacturers held at Gandhigram on Wednesday, trust secretary M.R. Rajagopalan said that it was successful at R and D level. “We want to improve it further,” he said.

The Gandhigram Trust was working on manufacturing natural water colours used for painting by school children. Existing chemical-based dyes would cause harm to their health but natural colours would not have any adverse impact, he added.

Inaugurating the workshop, Khadi and Village Industries Commission Director M.T. Wakode said clothes dyed in chemical-based colours had several side effects.

Gandhigram Trust should take a lead role in developing and propagating natural dyes, he said. The unit consultant and GRU professor R. Sri Rangarajan said that natural dye production did not cross even 1,000 tonnes whereas present demand for chemical dyes was one million tonnes. Use of natural dyes by khadi units that manufactured 0.5 per cent of total textiles produced in the country would be a big support to it.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/15/stories/2010051566860600.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu.

Academy coming up to train construction workers

DINDIGUL: A construction academy will be established soon to impart training to construction workers with an aim of upgrading their skills and updating their knowledge in civil construction, said Pon Kumar, Chairman, Construction Workers’ Welfare Board.

He was talking to press persons after disbursing welfare aid to hundreds of workers at a function held here on Saturday. They would be trained on masonry, painting, electrical wiring, carpentry and other required fields in civil construction. Such training would help young construction workers sharpen their skills. The place for establishing the academy would be finalised shortly.

It would be set up at one place as a pilot project and later extended to other parts of the State.

Already, the Board had trained 41 women on painting. Special arrangements were also made with the Chennai Corporation to give top priority to these trained women painters in offering painting contracts.

Of the 20 lakh members in the Board, three lakh workers had received welfare aid worth Rs.98 crore in the State. Dindigul district had 2.26 lakh members of which 13,850 got the welfare aid, he added. Efforts were on to scale down the age limit to 55 years from 60 years for women workers to avail pension benefits.

Moreover, various procedures to get pension were also simplified for the convenience of the workers, he added.

“Tamil Nadu is the only State that has 26 welfare boards for workers in the unorganised sector in the country.” The government had sanctioned Rs.50 crore for the board this year. This amount would be increased in the coming years.

“We had covered 19 districts so far. The main aim of the meeting with workers was to listen to their grievances, demands and expectations and to know their practical difficulties if any in getting welfare aid from the board.”

The chairman announced that the board would distribute welfare assistance to 3,000 workers in the district at a function to be held in Dindigul on May 2.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/26/stories/2010042650700300.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

102 physically challenged persons get jobs at mela

DINDIGUL, India: For the first time, private companies offered jobs to 102 physically disabled persons and persons with developmental disorders through a mega job mela organised by the district administration here recently. Most of them joined duty in the respective companies on Saturday itself.

While one disabled got supervisory job in a spinning mill to check quality of yarn, another one joined as warden and yet other one became a legal adviser to a spinning mill. Thirteen persons joined duty as computer operators and rest of the recruits as industrial workers.

The job mela also provided opportunity and financial assistance to enterprising disabled to set up their own businesses.

Collector M Vallalar, who inaugurated the mela, said that disabled persons and persons with developmental disorders tend to have special skills in a particular field. Opportunity should be given to such persons. They were not weak, as perceived by many.

Disabled persons should not hesitate to grab an opportunity. Over 40,000, out of a total population of 20 lakhs in the district, had some developmental disorder or other. They could not expose their skills owing to lack of opportunity, he said.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/29/stories/2010032953760300.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

141 children selected for advanced treatment

DINDIGUL, India: As many as 141 children with different types of physical deformities have been selected for advanced treatment, including corrective surgeries, at a leading private hospital in the district under the State government’s scheme of Kalaignar Insurance Scheme for Live Saving Treatments.

Inaugurating a special screening camp here on Thursday, Joint Director of Health Services T. Jayabal said that acute cases that needed immediate surgery and treatment were identified out of 240 patients who took part in the programme meant for special children aged up to 14 years.

Children with polio, cleft foot, cerebral palsy and other deformities were identified for corrective surgery and advanced treatment.

Arrangements had been made to provide free aids and appliances such as callipers and artificial limbs to them after surgery, under special assistance offered by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

The District Rehabilitation and Development Office sent call letters to 300 special children to take part in the camp.

Joining hands with the Department of Health Services, it conducted two ortho camps for elders and identified cases were treated at MIOT Hospital in Madurai.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/19/stories/2010031962400800.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

“Equality should be there in quality of education”

Educational system must be upgraded, says Professor — PHOTO : G. KARTHIKEYAN.

DISCUSSION:R. Ananthasayanam, Professor, Bharathiar University, addressing a symposium in Dindigul on Friday.

DINDIGUL, India: Equality should be maintained in quality of education and not in quantity. Educational system should meet the growing demands in various sectors. Mere equality in syllabus and subjects will restrict growth of education in diversified fields, according to R. Ananthasayanam, Professor, Bharathiar University.

He was addressing a State-level symposium on ‘Trends in educational research,’ at K. Nanjappa Gounder College of Education here on Friday.

The present educational system has been meeting all our requirements. This system could be upgraded to improve its quality. Any new system, including ‘Samacheer Kalvi,’ should be introduced on trial basis. First, a model should be created and implemented in one area. On the basis of its success, it should be spread to other places, he said.

At present, two-third of the total number of students who appeared for SSLC alone will go for higher secondary course and the two-third of students in HSC will go for higher education. But this number was insufficient to fill all seats in the existing higher educational institutions in the State.

“If all students who appeared for SSLC directly went to higher educational institutions, there would be vacant seats in arts, science, medicine and engineering colleges and teacher training institutes in the State.”

The total number of higher educational institutions would go up in future. Where are the schools to produce students to meet the demands of ever-growing higher educational institutions?, he asked.

Upgrading quality of present system would suffice to make education a quality one. ‘Samacheer’ should be on quality and not on quantity, he pointed out.

Narrating how to do research on education, he said that learning should be a continuous process. Psychology and behaviour of children were important in analysing their skills and learning abilities. Evaluation and behaviour of children could be your research areas.

More research was needed on mental problems of the children, he added.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/13/stories/2010031361490300.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu