The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Sound mind in a sound body

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 15, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Sound mind in a sound body

Over 200 students of the Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College, Sivakasi, were benefited by a five-day camp on `art of living,' for betterment of their health and mind, organised by the college management on the college premises.

G. Gunasekaran, a disciple of Sri Sri Ravishankar, conducted the camp, which focussed on breathing exercises and the art of living practices.

Sevagapandian, Principal, inaugurated the camp, which was held in two sessions. The second phase of this course will be held in August.

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The Arasan Ganesan Polytechnic College, Sivakasi, in an effort at providing a boost to industry-institute interaction, organised open house exhibitions exclusively for industrial personnel, to show their infrastructure, available resources and training facilities, from July 1 to 8.

Over 25 industrialists and government officials visited the exhibition for the Electronics and Communication Engineering department held on July 8.

Faculties and students of the department demonstrated the operation of various equipment like digital storage oscilloscope, circuit design and PCB design software, MDS, VLSI design station, various transducers used in industrial applications and the latest bio-medical equipment.

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It takes a number of days for the newcomers of a college to come to terms with the new environment. Hence, to dispel fear among the freshers, the Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader College for Women in Ramanathapuram conducted a one-day orientation programme.

While extending warm welcome to the new ones, the Principal, Sumaayaa Dawood, introduced every heads and teachers of the college.

The newcomers were divided into many batches to get themselves introduced and that they were given interesting topics to discuss.

Trainers elaborated on various college activities, course methods, evaluation, sport activities and other extra curricular activities to the students. Though, the orientation programme was meant for the newcomers, the college administration also utilised the opportunity to find out the talented students in various fields, including sports and fine arts.

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The role of non-formal education in population control was stressed at a function held at the Gandhigram Rural Institute to mark the International World Population day on Tuesday.

In his special address, the Gandhigram Institute of Rural Health and Family Welfare Trust Director (in-charge), C. Ramajujam, he elaborated the implications of an exponential population growth and highlighting socio, economic, educational and religious factors, which act as stumbling blocks in population control.

He said cultural and religious sentiments were responsible for gender inequality as well as increase in population.

In his special address, S. Gurusamy, Head, Department of Sociology, pointed out the hiatus between population size and resource availability, which determine the level of development in the Indian context.

He made a fervent appeal for women's literacy with a focus on girl children, empowerment of women through education, employment and social participation.

Family should be kept as a basic unit in the micro-level planning exercise wherein women should be the main focus. Women's participation in decision making at grass roots level would set in motion an integrated development of family, community and society at large. Sociologists were playing a greater role in this regard, he added.

Earlier, the students of GRI took out a rally at Chinnalapatti and interior villages to create an awareness of population explosion and its adverse impact on development.

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(Contributed by M.R. Aravindan in Madurai, C. Jaishankar in Ramanathapuram and K. Raju in Dindigul.)

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