Tribute to Kerala Governor M.O.H Farook

Tribute to Kerala Governor M.O.H Farook

 Kerala Governor M.O.H. Farook Thursday died in a private hospital in Chennai due to multiple myeloma - a cancer of plasma cells - at the age of 75, officials said. A seven-day state mourning has been declared in Kerala. Farook was recently granted leave to go for medical treatment to Chennai.The Kerala government has declared a holiday for all state government offices and the central government offices in the state capital will not function as well.

 Farook, a three-time chief minister of Puducherry and also a former union minister, was sworn in as Kerala governor Sep 8 last year. A graduate in economics, Farook was born in Karaikal, Puducherry, and was a Member of Puducherry Legislative Assembly between 1964-1991. He was twice the speaker of the assembly. Thrice elected to the Lok Sabha from Puducherry in 1991, 1996 and 1999, he served as a minister of state for civil aviation and tourism from June 1991 to December 1992 in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government. In 2004, he was appointed as the Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and held that post till December 2009. Between January 2010 and September 2011, he was governor of Jharkhand. In his younger days, Farook had participated in the struggle for the liberation of Puducherry when it was a French colony. He also took part in the struggle for the maintenance of an independent Puducherry when the late Morarji Desai was the prime minister.

 courtesy: manoramaonline.com, topnews.in

                                                                                          Prof. John Kurakar

St,Gregorios College, Alumni Association, Trivandrum Chapter. Family Get-together

St,Gregorios College, Kottarakara, Alumni Association, Trivandrum Chapter, conductiong a Family Get-together on 11th February 2012  at 5 PM, in Nalanchira, Trivandrum.   All Alumni's of St.Gregorios College, Kottarakara are requested to contact the following Telephone numbers.  9446852220, 9446577091, 9847105985.

Office Address:  St.Gregorios College Alumni, Trivandrum Chapter
                          C/o Comrade Info Systems, Opp.Kesavadasapuram Petrol Pump
                          Pattom P.O., Trivandrum -4

Alex Kaleelazhikam, Titus Mathew, Santhosh Jacob, Narayan Pandala, Sam Kurakar, Ravi Pillai and Mathew P. Babu

From Left (Benny Kutty, Mintu Mathew)  ,(From Right :Roy K. Varghese, Dr.Thankamma P.George)

RICH TRIBUTE TO SUKUMAR AZHIKODE

RICH TRIBUTE TO  SUKUMAR AZHIKODE

Malayalam writer and orator Sukumar Azhikode passed away on 24th december morning. He was 85. Azhikode was admitted to hospital Dec 7, last year and his condition had deteriorated in the past few days. Family sources said his body would be taken to his home in Eravimangalam and would be kept for an hour and then moved to the Sahitya Akademi hall. His body will then be taken to his home town in Azhikode in Kannur district and the funeral will take place Wednesday afternoon at the Payamabalam beach.

A quintessential critic in speech and writing, Azhikode's had been a powerful voice in the intellectual discourse in Kerala.An outstanding academic and teacher, Azhikode had served as chairman of the National Book Trust (NBT) and as member of the executive councils of Kerala and Kendra Sahitya academy. A recipient of high literary honours including the Kendra Sahitya Academy award, Azhikode hit national headlines a few years back by declining to accept Padma Shri holding such honours went against the spirit of Indian Constitution which saw all citizens as equal.

He was an ardent Gandhian till the end of his life, Azhikode was close to the Congress in his early life and in the 1960s even unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls as its candidate.

But later, he distanced himself from the Congress and moved close to the Left camp without compromising on his Gandhian convictions and the Nehruvian vision of a liberal and just social order.His great work 'Tatvamasi', an intellectual exploration of the eternal wisdom of the Vedas and Upanishads, is a widely appreciated work.

Azhikode's major critical works like 'Asante SeethaKavyam', a detailed textual study of poet Kumaran Asan's 'Chinthavishtayaya Seetha' (Seetha immersed in thought) are considered as classics of modern Malayalam literature. Azhikode headed the Malayalam Department of Calicut University and later retired as its Pro-vice chancellor. A prolific writer of columns and a powerful orator, his penchant to give vent to ire on social, political and cultural evils often sparkedcontroversies.

His MajorContributions in Literature

Aasante Seetakavyam, Ramananum Malayalakavitayum (Ramanan and Malayalam Poetry)

Mahatmavinte Margam (Way of the Mahatma), Purogamanasahityavum Mattum (Modern Literature and Others), Malayala Sahityavimarsanam (Criticism of Malayalam Literature), Vayanayute Swargattil (In the Paradise of Reading), Tatvamasi, Malayala Sahitya Patanangal (Studies on Malayalam Literature), Tatvavum Manushyanum (Philosophy and Humans), Khandanavum Mandanavum (Destructive Criticism and Constructive Criticism), Entinu Bharatadare, Azhikodinte Prabhashanangal (Speeches of Azhikode), Azhikodinte Falitangal (Jokes of Azhikode), Guruvinte Dukham (Sorrow of the Teacher), Aakasam Nashtapetunna India (India Losing Horizon), Pathakal Kazhchakal (Routes and Sights), Mahakavi Ulloor (The Great Poet Ulloor) . 

                                                        PROF.JOHN KURAKAR

THAKAZHI BIRTH CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

THAKAZHI BIRTH CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Thakazhi Samaraka Samithi will be celebrating the birth centenary of the story-teller and Jnanpith laureate, late Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai with a slew of programmes in the district from the end of January. Minister for Culture, K.C. Joseph was slated to kick-off the 90-day long centenary celebrations with a release of its logo in the district in the last week of January, Samithi secretary, Sreekumar Valiyamadhom said. The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy was likely to inaugurate the valedictory of the celebrations on April 17, he said.  The short stories of the great story teller will be the focus of the seminars to be conducted in 20 schools in the district. The Samithi is trying to start the first of these seminars in Thakazhi UP school, where the legendary writer had been a student. The contests for students of schools and colleges in caricature and essay writing were also planned, Mr. Sreekumar said.

The novels of the writer will be the subject of intense debate and discussions at the 20 select libraries in the district. These discussions, organised with the help of library office-bearers and members, would feature novel reading sessions followed by airing of views on the books by writers and participants, Mr. Sreekumar said. The highlight of the programmes will be a seven-day literary festival organised from April 10, which happens to be the writer’s death day to April 17, his birthday. The festival will include literary programmes during the day and cultural programmes in the evening. The play based on Thakazhi’s novel, `Randidangazhi,’ (Two Measures) by Kannur-based Sanghachetana and presentation of folk songs will be part of the cultural programmes. Actors, Madhu and Sheela, who immortalised the love pair, Pareedkutty and Karuthamma, in the film ‘Chemmeen,’ based on Thakazhi’s novel of the same name, will be honoured during the celebrations. Screenings of films based on Thakazhi’s works including `Naalu Pennungal’ (four women) by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and documentaries on Thakazhi will be held.

The Samithi is teaming up with Department of Culture to organize the events. Talks were also on to rope in Kerala Sahitya Akademi as one of the organizers, Mr. Sreekumar said. Thakazhi museum-cum-memorial hall, run jointly by the Samithi and Department of Archaeology, has been spruced up for the ensuing celebrations. The neglected building got a fresh coat of paint, thanks to the intervention of Minister, K.C. Joseph, who sanctioned Rs one lakh for its renovation.

  Prof. John Kurakar

VILLAGE COOKING GAS DISTRIBUTION CENTERS

VILLAGE COOKING GAS DISTRIBUTION CENTERS

As per the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG supply Yojana, 99 village cooking gas distribution centers would be set up in villages in Kerala within 6 months. The project aims to supply LPG to remote areas too. Various petroleum companies will set up the distribution centers and for that purpose the location have been finalized. In some places, the construction of supply offices have already begun. It is expected that the project would become functional within 6 months. Small scale distribution centers would se set up with a minimum 600 connections. Usually an agency would be allotted if there is need to refill more than 8000 cylinders. But in village centers, the cylinder has to be obtained from the centres and there will be no home delivery. With this move, the government aims to control afforestation and use of kerosene.

                                                        Prof. John Kurakar

BABY GIRLS MORE MALNOURISHED THAN BOYS

BABY GIRLS

MORE MALNOURISHED THAN BOYS

About 48 percent of pediatricians across Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, areas with most skewed sex ratio in India, have observed baby girls are more malnourished than boys, according to a survey released Tuesday,17^th January,2012.The Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) conducted an online survey among 679 pediatricians in these three states.According to the survey, about 65 percent pediatricians observed that the birth of a boy is more celebrated while 26 percent felt that celebration is equal at the birth of a baby with either gender.'The reason for conducting this survey on pediatricians was that they are perfectly positioned to observe gender discrimination playing out vis-a-vis child health,' said Mahavir Jain, organising secretary of the annual national conference of the Indian Academy of Pediatrician (PEDICON 2012).

Haryana has the lowest child sex ratio of 830 girls per 1000 boys followed by 846 in Punjab and 866 in Delhi against the 914 across India. 'Malnutrition is the breeding ground for all diseases and a major reason for deaths of children. About 1.3 million children do not get to live more than a year. Suppose we save these lives, then it will be a major step to achieve one of the the UN Millennium Development Goal,' said Rohit Agarwal, president of IAP.PEDICON will be held Jan 18-22 on theme 'Nuture with care -- dedicated to our precious daughters.'

                                                 Prof. John Kurakar

EDUCATION CANNOT BE A BUSINESS PRODUCT

EDUCATION CANNOT BE A BUSINESS PRODUCT

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam said education cannot be categorised as a business product or system and only great teachers can inspire quality learning. Addressing the students of Maharaja Sayajirao University and Prince Ashokraje Gaekwad School at two separate functions on Wednesday night, Dr. Kalam said, “It is not the great building or a great facility or great advertisements which give quality, but loveable education and great teachers do.”“Education at the primary level has to be delivered in an integrated way by great teachers through great syllabus and by promoting affinity between parents, students and teachers. It cannot be business product or system,” he said. He suggested educational institutions to introduce cutting edge technologies for enabling the students to make faster progress in their learning process. Capacity building through education will enable students to deal with the real world, particularly to grow in their professional career and participate in the national development, he said.

Research creativity, innovation, ability to use high technology, entrepreneurial leadership, and moral leadership capacities are to be built up among students in their formative years by educational institutions for their participation in nation building tasks, Dr. Kalam said. “If we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce ‘Autonomous Learner’ a self—directed, self controlled, lifelong learner who will have the capacity to both respect authority and at the same time is capable of questioning authority, in an appropriate manner,” he said Dr. Kalam also emphasised the need on students planting at least five trees and nurturing them for clean environment. The challenges of corruption and moral turpitude in the nation, environmental degradation and need of building a compassionate society have to be overcome for making the country economically developed nation by 2020, he said. Dr. Kalam also opened a scheme of Ramkrishna Mission Memorial which was launched at the youth convention at the C C Mehta auditorium of MS University as part of the 150th birth anniversary celebration of Swami Vivekananda.

                                                            Prof. John Kurakar