UAE realty boom gives wet grinder industry a boost

Kovai exporters find new market as construction sector sets up giant kitchens to feed workers

Published: 05th May 2018 04:53 AM | Last Updated: 05th May 2018 04:53 AM 

By L Rajagopal
Express News Service

COIMBATORE: Steep rise in construction projects across the UAE has helped the wet grinder industries to witness a steady export growth. There is a good demand in the international market for wet grinders manufactured in Coimbatore. Various types of grinders are exported to the US, UK, UAE, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia among other countries.

There are 60 industries established across the district, out of which 15 belong to big sector and 45 fall under the tiny and small scale sector. Over 300 spare parts and accessories manufacturing units are associated with this sector, which directly or indirectly employs 10 lakh people.

There are three kinds of grinders — floor model, tilting and table top. In the domestic segment, the price of the grinders starts from `2,000 to a maximum of `8,000. Under the commercial segment, the minimum price starts from `10,000 to a maximum of `2 lakh.

While this is the off season for sale of grinders in the domestic sector, increase in job orders from various foreign countries has helped the grinder export market see a steady growth. Especially, the steep rise in the construction projects across the UAE has helped the export market in a big way. More construction projects are witnessed across UAE nations For each project, they are establishing a giant sized kitchen to provide food for the workers. More construction projects mean more job orders for the industry here.

Coimbatore’s Trident engineers managing partner R Selvaraj told Express, “As far as the export market is concerned, it is witnessing a good growth. There is more demand for giant size grinders of 10 litres, 15 litres, 20 litres and 40 litres.

In May, till now, two containers have already been sent to the ports for export to Dubai and Doha. Each container will have the capacity to hold 40 grinders, which is valued at Rs 18 lakhs. Hence, this month, within four days, `36 lakh-valued grinders have been exported. Other kitchen equipment is also in good demand in the export markets.” The Central government is helping in many ways.

Alumni gift car to Tamil Nadu school teacher on retirement

Most of the teacher's students have gone on to become government employees, doctors, engineers and chartered accountants.

Published: 04th May 2018 07:37 PM |

By M Manikandan
Express News Service

NAGAPATTINAM: Adi Vaathiyar was the moniker students gave R Anandraj, a teacher in the Natesanar Higher Secondary School in Vedaranyam. Much before corporal punishment was banned, he used to take his students to task if they fared poorly.

Having endured his treatment and landing good jobs, his students have come together to buy Anandraj a car as farewell gift when he retires on May 13.

Residents of Ayakkaranpulam fondly recall the services of Anandraj in helping students pursue their chosen subjects.

Most of his students have gone on to become government employees, doctors, engineers and chartered accountants. A quite a few of them are in white collared jobs in the US, UK and Singapore.

“The village was known for its agriculture, but now boasts locals who are in placed in high-ranking positions in the government or as white-collar employees. We owe our success to the 60-year old Anandraj who used to run a tutorial in Ayakkaranpulam in the early eighties,” said Chozhan, who now works in an MNC.

“But for the tutorial centre which he ran free of cost, we would not have become teachers, doctors or engineers. He is retiring from service on May 13. As a token of our love, we are pooling money to buy him a car,” said Jayakandasamy, a student who works alongside Anandraj in the same school.

Jayakandasamy said, “When our teacher beat us, it was painful. Now we realise he treated us the way he did only for our good and to make sure we had a bright future. We are happy to buy a car to our beloved Adi vathiyar. Many of his students are in good jobs and move around in cars, but our teacher rides a two-wheeler. Hence the decision to buy him a car.”

Anandraj, who has taught over 20,000 students, said he is not interested in receiving a car bought with the hard-earned money of his students. “Initially, I did not agree as my three sons are in good jobs. But due to the overwhelming show of love by the students, I accept their gift, but reluctantly. I was just doing my duty as teacher and helped these students. For that I was paid a salary,” he said nonchalantly.

For 1,500-odd aspirants, ordeal just begins as they embark on journey
Swetha Arumugam*, a student from Tirunelveli, who aspires to crack NEET, will go on a 12-hour bus journey to Ernakulam first and then a one-hour journey by auto, to write her test on Sunday.

Published: 05th May 2018 05:12 AM | Last Updated: 05th May 2018 07:11 AM

 

By Sushmitha Ramakrishnan

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Swetha Arumugam*, a student from Tirunelveli, who aspires to crack NEET, will go on a 12-hour bus journey to Ernakulam first and then a one-hour journey by auto, to write her test on Sunday. She is among hundreds of students from Tamil Nadu, who have been allotted test centres in another State.

Over 1.1 lakh students from Tamil Nadu will be writing NEET on Sunday. Students board a train in
Tiruchy on Friday, to write
their exam | Express

And as a result of the Supreme Court’s last-minute stay on the Madras High Court’s directive to set up extra NEET exam centres in the State, over 1,000 students from the State will have to take at least an overnight journey to write their test.

“The CBSE could not allocate centres for roughly around 1,500 students within the State,” a senior CBSE official from the State told Express.

Even as the State government promised on Friday to subsidise students’ travel to exam centres outside State with `1,000, students will not receive their funds until after the exam. While a majority of the students travelling outside Tamil Nadu to take the exam have been allotted centres in Kerala and Karnataka, at least a few hundreds will have to travel as far as Rajasthan and Sikkim.

School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan, on more than one occasion, defended that only students from private and CBSE school were allotted centres outside the State. However, sources in the School Education department confirmed that at least 98 students from government schools were allotted exam centres outside the State.

Priya Shyam*, another NEET aspirant from a government school in Thoothukudi, will be travelling to Ernakulam with her father on Saturday. While at least five of her schoolmates will be writing their exams in her centre, her father refused to send his daughter alone with other students. “Not only for her safety, I’m also going there to provide her moral support,” said Shyam Vel,* her father.

While students are irked over the CBSE officials’ inability to arrange enough exam centres within the State, NEET director Sanyam Bharadwaj said that members of the board tried their best to accommodate all students within the State. “Around 80,000 students appeared for NEET last year. Over 30,000 more students applied this year. While we could allot centres for 1,10,000 students within the State, we weren’t able to do so for the rest,” he explained, adding that the number of centres would be increased next year.

It is unclear if students writing tests in other states will get a Tamil question paper. Commenting on this, he said that students appearing in other States would take the exam in English. He argued that NEET centres needed specific facilities which could not be made available in Tamil Nadu on short notice. He claimed that students who were allotted centres in Delhi or far-off places chose those centres of their own accord. However, a student writing her exam in Jaipur said that she, like a few of her friends, gave those centres as their last preferences.

Inadequacy of number of NEET centres in Tamil Nadu has spurred a controversy among opposition parties. In response, the State has promised to operate two buses in the morning to help students from Tirunelveli reach Ernakulam. “This additional bus service will continue till 6th — Govt Quick Transport Corporation,” Sengottaiyan tweeted.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami also announced on Friday that the government would reimburse up to `1,000 for second-class train tickets (or equivalent for bus) for students and parents who are travelling to other states. The money can be obtained from their school principals as an advance. “If there is any difficulty, I would like to inform you that you can contact the District Chief Education Officer or call the School Education Department helpline 14417,” he tweeted. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan ordered all police and district heads to make arrangements for students coming from faraway places for NEET. Help centres to be installed at bus stand and railway stations.
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NEET aspirants leave for centres in Kerala 
 
R. Krishnamoorthy
Tiruchi, May 05, 2018 00:00 IST
Many question rationale behind assigning centres outside TN

Students from Tiruchi appearing for NEET on Sunday at centres in Kerala began their journey by the Ernakulam Express train and buses from here on Friday.

Some also faced last minute travel hitches. One such candidate, Nitish, son of an auto driver Senthil (48), was left stranded as he had not booked tickets. A pensive Senthil said he dropped the idea of taking his son by train as there would be no space even to stand in the unreserved compartments. “I am thinking of taking my son by bus to Coimbatore or Erode and from there to Kerala by train or bus on Saturday, on Saturday, to cut down expenses,” he said.

There were several students and parents in a similar predicament. But, the number of Tiruchi students assigned centres out of Tamil Nadu could not be ascertained either by the Education Department or the coaching institutions. Chief Educational Officer Ramakrishnan said 234 students of government and government-aided schools availed themselves of the benefit of free NEET training at various centres across the district. But, the department had no idea as to how many students from private schools had applied online for the exam. Headmasters of government schools have been issued instructions to provide assistance to parents of those students who have been assigned exam centres outside Tamil Nadu, as directed by the Government, the CEO said.

According to a manager of a coaching centre here, students of private schools had applied through their respective institutions, and there would be more than 8,000 medical aspirants from the district.

V. Manivasagan, State president of Tamil Nadu Higher Secondary Post Graduate Teachers' Association charged the CBSE with causing inconvenience to the students of Tamil Nadu with an "ulterior motive" of forcing the parents who had till last year sought abolition of NEET.

M.A. Aleem, president, Tamil Nadu-Pondicherry Association of Neurologists, questioned the rationale behind assigning centres outside Tamil Nadu when there were 25 MCI-approved medical colleges in the State that were ideal for functioning as exam centres.

Five-day Yercaud festival from May 12 

Special Correspondent 
 
SALEM, May 05, 2018 00:00 IST

The annual summer festival and the flower show in the hill station of Yercaud will be held from May 12 to 16.

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami will inaugurate the five-day festival on May 12, in the presence of Ministers Dindigul C. Srinivasan (Forest), Vellamandi N. Natarajan (Tourism) and R. Duraikannu (Agriculture).

District Collector Rohini R. Bhajibhakare held preliminary discussion with the officials on the successful holding of the event at the Collectorate on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Bhajibhakare said that all efforts have been taken for holding the summer festival in a fitting manner.

The Horticulture Department has taken steps to decorate the Anna Park with more than one lakh flowers for the flower show. Moreover, fruit show and vegetables decoration show will also form part of the festival.

The achievements of various government departments will be showcased through a special camp on all the five days. The Animal Husbandry Department will organise dog show, the Integrated Child Development Programme will conduct healthy baby contest, traditional food contest, and the Mahalir Thittam rangoli contest. Tourism Department will conduct various competitions for tourists.

The Collector directed the officials to take steps for keeping the hill station clean and tidy and garbage-free on the festival days to welcome the tourists and also create infrastructure, medical, drinking water and other facilities. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation will operate special buses from different parts of western districts to Yercaud. She said that the usage of plastic bags and other articles have already been banned on the hill station and called upon the tourists to make the annual event a plastic-free festival.

The Forest Department has taken steps for distributing about one lakh saplings free of cost to the visiting tourists during the festival days.

R. Sukumar, District Revenue Officer, R. Sadheesh, Corporation Commissioner, Arul Jothi Arasan, project director, M. Prabhu, deputy director of horticulture, Janarthanan, District Tourist Officer and others were present.

Velankanni lodges reel under water shortage 
 
R. Krishnamoorthy 
 
Nagapattinam, May 05, 2018 00:00 IST

There has been a spurt in number of pilgrims during the summer vacation

Hotels and lodges in Velankanni are grappling with water shortage as there has been a spurt in the number of pilgrims visiting the town during the summer vacation.

While drinking water is supplied by the Velankanni town panchayat twice a week, for other purposes like washing and cleaning, the hotels and lodges are dependent on water supplied by privately operated tanker lorries.

There are over 150 small lodges within a radius of three to four kilometres from the Velankanni shrine, and their water requirement goes up substantially during the week-ends.

According to Town Panchayat sources, the number of visitors during weekdays ranges from 10,000 to 15,000, and during weekend, the turnout soars to over 20,000.

Big hotels located two to three kilometres away from the seashore have been able to dig very deep borewells, to meet their daily needs, but those within one kilometre from the coastline are not able to derive any utility of the highly saline groundwater.

"We purchase water in quantities ranging from 3,000 litres to 12,000 litres on a daily basis from tanker lorries depending on the demand situation. Fortunately, we are not yet in a situation of lowering occupancy due to shortage of water," Kannaiyan, a functionary of the Velankanni Hotel and Lodges Association said.

The water is supplied by tanker operators who have dug borewells in private lands in the surroundings of Velankanni town including Sikkal and Therku Poigainallur village.

The town panchayat that sources water from the Kollidam Combined Drinking Water Scheme has executed two large tanks with storage capacity of nearly five lakh litres from where water is supplied to the hotels and residential localities for drinking purposes once in two or three days, and, at times of acute demand, once a week.

The local body has put up RO plants, each with a capacity to process 2,000 litres of groundwater, at 19 locations, to augment water supply across the 15 wards, official sources said.

With sea water ingress on the rise over the years, the hotels are in a situation of perpetual dependence on private tanker lorries.

While stating that salt water intrusion is a constant threat to groundwater quality, Mr. Kannaiyan felt the situation could be remedied through establishment of a desalination plant.

The small lodges in the region lack the financial mite for such a project that would entail enormous costs, he said.

We purchase 3,000 litres to 12,000 litres of water on a daily basis... Fortunately, we are not yet in a situation of lowering occupancy due to shortage of water

Kannaiyan
Velankanni Hotel and Lodges Association

Card payment norm troubles engineering aspirants 
 
Karthik Madhavan 
 
COIMBATORE, May 05, 2018 00:00 IST

Use of debit or credit card to apply for admission to engineering courses through the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission (TNEA) 2018 process seems to have troubled a few aspirants. With the admission and counselling process going completely online this year, the aspirants will have to apply online and during the application process pay online as well.

A few aspirants found this difficult in the first two days of the application being made available online, said sources in two of the three TNEA Facilitation Centres (TFCs).

They reached the TFCs fully prepared to apply online but did not have either credit or debit card. They offered cash. But the people manning the TFCs rejected them saying that they did not accept cash and should pay only using either debit or credit cards. Or through net banking facility, said sources.

People, who offered cash to pay for the application, were under the impression that they would have to pay cash to apply, as they did in the past or did so with other institutions. For such aspirants, the people manning TFCs suggested that they call up friends or family members get their card details to complete the online application process, they added.

The other big issue was of the aspirants not having e-mail account. Anticipating the problem, the volunteers at the TFCs helped them in creating e-mail accounts as well. The other issues were wrong entries or spelling mistakes in entries and queries related to community to be entered in the application form.

A source at a TFC said the confusion was related to similar sounding communities like Vanniyars or Vaniyars. The volunteers had helped out aspirants in such issues as well.

As far as CBSE candidates were concerned, the volunteers had to tell them that they would have to wait till the publication of results as they would have to enter marks online. Plus Two students under the State Board need not wait as they could enter their 2018 Plus Two examination registration number. For, the TNEA would directly get the marks from the School Education Department based on the registration numbers entered.

The first two days saw 92 aspirants apply at the TFC at the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, 22 aspirants apply at the TFC at the Anna University Regional Centre, Coimbatore, and 141 aspirants apply at the TFC at the Coimbatore Institute of Technology.