Student from Assam killed in group clash at Annamalai University

Cuddalore:

           An engineering student from Assam has been killed in a group clash between students from Bihar and Assam studying at Annamalai University in Chidambaram in the district, police said. Dharupa Joth Dhatha (23), a third-year student, was killed last night when the students used deadly weapons in their they clash with each other near the university, police said. Two students of the university, including one from Bihar, has been arrested, they said. Adding that the clash took place due to previous enmity, they said police has been posted at the university in the aftermath of the incident. 

Read more »

Petition seeking release of lifer dismissed release of John David

             The Madras High Court today dismissed as withdrawn, a petition seeking the production and release of John David, serving life imprisonment for the 1996 murder of a first year medical student. The petition's mother J Esther said that at the time of murder her son was 19-years-old and 20 years when convicted in 1998. She submitted that as per the Tamil Nadu Borstal Schools Act and a ruling of the Supreme Court, "adolescent offenders" had to be detained in a Borstal School only upto 23 years of age. Therefore, he could not be sent to prison to serve the remaining part of the sentence. 

              Hence, the detention of her son, who had crossed the age of 23 years, was illegal, the petitioner claimed. On March 11, 1998, a Cuddalore District Sessions Judge had sentenced David, a second-year medical student to a double life imprisonment for murdering Pon Navarasu, son of former Madras University Vice-Chancellor Dr P K Ponnusamy. David was, however, absolved of the crime by the Madras High Court on October 5, 2001. On April 20 last the Supreme court overturned the High Court order and restored the trial court's verdict. Recording an endorsement by the petitioner's counsel withdrawing the petition with the liberty to raise the plea before the appropriate court, a Division Bench comprising Justices C Nagappan and M Satyanarayanan dismissed the petition as withdrawn.

Read more »

அண்ணாமலை பல்கலைகழகத்தில் பி.ஏ. அனிமேஷன் படிப்பு அறிமுகம்

             இளங்கலை அனிமேஷன் மற்றும் விஷுவல் தொழில்நுட்ப சினிமா தயாரிப்பு என்ற படிப்பினை அண்ணாமலை பல்கலைக்கழகம் அறிமுகப்படுத்தியுள்ளது.  இதற்கான ஒப்பந்தம் ரிலையன்ஸ் நிறுவனத்தின் அங்கமான பிக் எய்ம்ஸ் நிறுவனத்துடன் அண்மையில் ஒப்பந்தம் கையெழுத்தாகியுள்ளது. 

 இது குறித்து ரிலையன்ஸ் அனிமேஷன் துறையின் தலைமை செயல் அலுவலர் எஸ்.கே.ஆசிஷ், அண்ணாமலை பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் துணைவேந்தர் டாக்டர் எம்.ராமநாதன் உள்ளிட்டோர் சென்னையில் செய்தியாளர்களிடம்  கூறியது:  

                ஓவியம் வரையும் திறமையுடன் கற்பனை வளம் அதிகமாக உள்ள மாணவர்களுக்காக இந்த பாடத்திட்டம் அறிமுகப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்தப் படிப்பு திரைப்படத் தயாரிப்பில் அனிமேஷன் மற்றும் விஷுவல் தொழில்நுட்பங்களை விரிவாகக் கற்றுக் கொடுக்கும். இந்த தொழில்நுட்பங்களைப் பயன்படுத்தி எவ்வாறு திரைக்கதைகளை உருவாக்குவது என்பது குறித்து கற்றுக் கொடுக்கப்படும்.  அனிமேஷன் கதாபாத்திரங்களை வரைந்து உருவாக்குவது, அவற்றுக்குக் குரல் கொடுப்பது, அவற்றின் பாவனைகள், முகக்குறிப்பு உள்ளிட்டவற்றை உருவாக்குதல் குறித்தும் பயிற்றுவிக்கப்படும். 

              இதில் பாடத்திட்டங்களை அண்ணாமலை பல்கலைக்கழகம் உருவாக்கும். செயல்முறை பாடத்திட்டங்களைப் பொருத்தவரை, நாட்டின் பல்வேறு நகரங்களில் அமைந்துள்ள ரிலையன்ஸ் நிறுவனத்தின் அனிமேஷன் ஸ்டுடியோக்களில் பயிற்றுவிக்கப்படும்.  தேர்வுகள் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தால் நடத்தப்பட்டு, பட்டம் வழங்கப்படும். இந்தப் பாடத்திட்டம் அண்ணாமலை தொலைநிலைப் பாடத்திட்டத்தின் மூலம் வழங்கப்படும் என்று அவர்கள் தெரிவித்தனர்.

Read more »

Annamalai University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mailam India Limited

CUDDALORE: 

          Annamalai University, Chidambaram, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mailam India Limited (MIL), Puducherry, to promote research in industry-oriented welding.

          Under the agreement, the MIL will offer fellowship in the style of “Mailam India Research (MIR) Fellowship.” According to K. Raghukandan, professor and Head of the Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Annamalai University, it is for the first time in the country that a private company is sponsoring fellowship to foster welding-related research in an academic institution.

               The pact was signed by Registrar M. Rathinasabapathi and Managing Director of MIL Sivagurunathan in the presence of Vice-Chancellor M. Ramanathan. B. Palaniappan, Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, V. Balasubramanian, Centre for Materials Joining and Research, Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Annamalai University, and C.G. Saravanan, professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, were present.

          Mr. Raghukandan said that the Puducherry company, located at Sedarapet, is one of the leading manufacturers of welding goods such as electrodes, filler wires and filler rods. Under the programme, one research scholar would be selected for the fellowship and research projects jointly decided by the university and the company. Candidates with M.E. or M.Tech degrees in welding, metallurgy, manufacturing, production, material science, and willing to do full-time Ph.D. in Annamalai University would be eligible to avail themselves of the fellowship.

           The selected research scholar would get a stipend of Rs. 18,000 a month in the first year, Rs. 20,000 a month in the second year and Rs. 22,000 a month in the third year. Apart from this, the person would get Rs. 50,000 a year as contingency grant. So, under the fellowship programme, the MIL would contribute about Rs. 9 lakh for each of the research scholars. Mr. Raghukandan further said that the Centre for Materials Joining and Research would provide infrastructure and guidance. He hoped that this arrangement would give a fillip to research activities of the university.

              As for the centre, he said that it had received research and development grants aggregating to Rs. 6 crore from various funding agencies such as the University Grants Commission, the All India Council for Technical Education, the Department of Science and Technology, the Defence Research and Development Organization and the Department of Atomic Agency.

Read more »

Distance education candidates too should be offered government jobs Says, C.R.K.Murthy Professor of IGNOU

Making a plea:Vice-Chancellor of Annamalai University, M. Ramanathan, speaking at a workshop held on the University premises at Chidambaram on Friday. 

CUDDALORE: 

            Policy-makers ought to remove the mental block in providing government jobs to those candidates who obtain degrees through distance education mode. It is not in the interest of higher education to reject outright those candidates as unfit for government jobs, said C.R.K.Murthy, Professor of Distance Education, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

           He was delivering a speech at the inaugural session of the two-day workshop on “Development and revision of self-learning study materials” organised by the Directorate of Distance Education, Annamalai University, in association with the IGNOU, at Chidambaram on Friday. It had been the practice of the private sector to evaluate the new recruits not on the basis of the mode of education but on the basis of personality profile and communication skills. There were at least 450 universities and 30,000 colleges in the country offering formal education but all of them could not claim that they were stickler to standards, as the quality of the outcome vastly varied.

          Therefore, discriminating the candidates of distance education mode in government jobs was tantamount to denying them social acceptance. It could be set right only through political will and the Distance Education Council had been taking up the issue in various forums. Mr. Murthy further said that the Council was also impressing upon the institutions offering distance education programmes to raise the bar and prove that their products too were eminently employable.

        He also noted that at the international level, there were 100 open universities, of which 60 were located in Asia and India alone accounted for 15 such universities. He hailed Annamalai University as one of the forerunners in starting the distance mode of education and becoming popular in enrolling candidates across the country. When hardly 10 per cent of the eligible age group was pursuing higher education in the country, democratisation of higher education could be possible only through distance education mode, Mr. Murthy said.

Vice-Chancellor, M. Ramanathan, said that from the days of sending correspondence courses through posts distance education had progressed a great deal by using all modes of communication such as tele-conferencing and satellite linkage.

         He said that the self-learning materials should be diligently designed and periodically upgraded by infusing them with quality, user-friendliness and flexibility for which every teacher ought to work studiously and with a sense of dedication. Mr. Ramanathan insisted on necessary changes in the curriculum framework. Ashok K.Gaba,resource person from the IGNOU, S.B.Nagewara Rao, Director, DDE, Annamalai University and S.Ravi, coordinator, participated.

Read more »

Affordable zero-emission vehicles a challenge, says expert

B. Palaniappan, Dean, Faculty of Engineering (second from right), Annamalai University, releasing the proceedings of the AICTE sponsored staff development programme on “Engine electronics and alternate fuels” on university premises at Chidambaram on Monday.

CUDDALORE: 

          With emission control norms getting rigorous all over the world, the automotive sector is now facing the challenge of producing zero-emission vehicles which are affordable too. It calls for a re-look at engine management, according to Thalavai Venkatesan, general manager, engine systems engineering, Continental Automotive Components (India) Pvt.Ltd, Bangalore.

             He was delivering a speech at the inauguration of the 15-day Staff Development Programme on “Engine electronics and alternate fuels,” sponsored by the All India Council for Technical Education, and organised under the aegis of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Annamalai University, at Chidambaram on Monday.

          Mr. Venkatesan said that engine care was no more the exclusive domain of the mechanical engineers. The quality of combustion had direct impact on the level of exhaust and therefore engine management had come to get increased focus. With electronics coming to occupy a major role in driving the engine and controlling its performance, the hybrid technology termed “mechatronics” had assumed great importance in the automotive sector.

        Though “mechatronics” as a subject was not popular, its application in vehicle manufacturing was getting accentuated, Mr. Venkatesan said. According to G.Muralidharan of Anna University (a visiting faculty in mechatronics), the electronically controlled engine and other automobile systems led to improved fuel economy, reduced pollution, improved driving safety and reduced manufacturing cost. B.Palaniappan, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Annamalai University, categorically said that the mechanical department was a pioneer in tapping the solar energy because it firmly believed that only it could solve the power crisis.

          All research endeavours in harnessing renewable energy and validating alternate fuels should ensure that these were economically, technically and socially feasible and relevant. Therefore, Mr. Palaniappan said that the university had been propagating and patronising inter-disciplinary approach in this regard. And to make research works purposive, Annamalai University that had become part of the National Knowledge Network, had been promoting technology enhanced learning.

           N.Krishnamohan, Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, said because of the intensified research works taken up by his department the number of Ph.Ds it produced would soon double from 10 to 20.

Ethanol usage norms

            C.G.Saravanan, Professor, Mechanical Department, said that electronics and alternate fuels were important for achieving the emission characteristics. Brazil had taken measures to enhance the ethanol usage norms from E-65 (a mix of 65 per cent of ethanol and 35 per cent fossil fuel) to E-95, whereas India was contemplating to raise the norms from E-5 to E-10. Mr. Saravanan said that industrial visits would also form part of the fortnightly programme in which experts from all over the country participate. A.P.Sathiyagnanam, coordinator of the programme, also spoke. On the occasion, Mr. Palaniappan released the hard copy of the proceedings, while Mr. Venkatesan released the soft copy of the same.

Read more »