The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Perspectives on the planet

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 15, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Perspectives on the planet

Staff Reporter

Chennai: The Swarna Ananta Padmam (SAP) Foundation conducted its annual heritage day programme devoted to exploring cultural concepts of our planet based on Asian and Indian traditions here recently.

The programme began with a seminar on planet Earth. Srinivas Madabhushi of the Geological Survey of India, Bangalore, spoke on the origin of the universe, the spherical nature of the Earth, mid-oceanic lava ridges that spark thermal and seismic activity, earthquake zone mapping, groundwater testing with literature available in the Vedic and epic times.

Former Vice-Chancellor of the Thanjavur Tamil University Avvai Natarajan quoted from ‘Tolkappiyam’ to explain how Earth was seen from the Tamizh perspective and how the natural divisions of land contributed to the formation of personality and conduct.

Jasmine Hayakawa presented the Japanese view of the Earth and its resources. She pointed out that abandoning the respectful attitude to the Earth had contributed to the ills of pollution and related illnesses.

Students from six schools in Chennai and one from Hyderabad presented a dance drama on the birth of the planet Earth.

The Foundation also organised a seminar on ecology in which Paul Appasamy of the Center for Excellence in Environmental Economics, spoke on water crisis.

Rukmini Ananth of the SAP Foundation said developed nations may be able to adapt better to global warming, but poorer nations would fare worse and lose many resources.

A documentary on global warming by former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ was screened.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News Update

Stories in this Section