ACHIEVEMENT  - 1 ::

ST JUDE’S VOLLEYBALL TEAMS TO GO FOR INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

P S SUNDAR 

The boys and girls volleyball teams of St Jude’s Public School and Junior College, Kotagiri, have done proud to the school, Nilgiris district and Tamil Nadu state by getting selected to represent the country in the international championship to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in December.

"In the national youth championship 2016 held in Bengaluru, known as ‘The Big 7 Events and Entertainments’, where 32 schools from country’s different parts vied, our teams annexed the title and qualified to contest for international championship”, St Jude’s Chairman P P Dhanarajan toldme after honouring the players and coaches Ramesh and Vanaja Sekar. 

“Our girls defeated the reigning champion, Carmel Convent, Bengaluru, and our boys defeated VET School Bengaluru and got selected to go to Kuala Lumpur”,  St Jude’s Principal D Saro said.

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LANDMARK -- 1:

MADRAS CHRISTIAN COLLEGE ALUMNAE TO MEET AT OOTY

P S SUNDAR

The Nilgiris chapter of Madras Christian College Alumni Association (MCC-AA) will meet at Ooty on Saturday to enlist greater participation of Alumnae at the 125^th anniversary of the college Alumni Association.

“We have many Alumnae in Nilgiris and this meet will help us draft our strategy to contribute to the success of global re-union scheduled to be held in Chennai in August”, co-ordinator Ravichandran Broos told me. 

“Alumnae can contact me on phone 94435 24078, Devaraj (Kotagiri) 94864 50200, Desingh Rajan (Ooty) 94430 45593 and Sam Mathew (Gudalur) 94430 61309 for details of the meet”, he said.

The  MCC-AA was founded in 1891 and is hailed to be one of the oldest such bodies in the country. 

The illustrious Alumnae of this college include Dr S Radhakrishnan (India’s former President),

Indra Nooyi (CEO, PepsiCo)

and Raja Ramanna (nuclear scientist).

The Alumnae are widespread across the globe and hence the 125^th anniversary lays accent on the global re-union.

This re-union will reiterate the college’s watchword “EweR” where E refers to Excellence and R for Relevance and ‘We’ the student and faculty – which means, the student and faculty will work for Excellence and Relevance in every sphere.

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BILLIARDS & SNOOKER -- 6:

WORLD BILLIARDS CHAMPION MOTIVATES NILGIRI PLAYERS

P S SUNDAR 

Billiards and snooker lovers in The Nilgiris had a pleasant surprise with the visit of World under 21 Champion S Shrikrishna from Chennai.  He played many friendly frames with the lovers of these cue games from Nilgiris as also summer tourists. 

Mariam Agnish, India’s No: 2 and Tamil Nadu state title holder, added colour to the events with her games.

“Shrikrishna (16) is present title holder in World Billiards championship conducted by International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) at Russia.  He is the first Indian player to hold this title.  Likewise, Mariam Agnish (15) is the first player from the Nilgiris to participate in an official international tourney when she was selected to play for IBSF under-18 snooker championship.  We, therefore, organised friendly plays to encourage youngsters from Nilgiris and summer visitors.   The interaction with them has motivated even seniors to take the game seriously”, R Muralidharan, Member of Executive Committee of Nilgiris Billiards and Snooker Association, told me.

Shrikrishna’s father and coach N Suryanarayanan gave many useful tips to excel in international cue games.   “These have helped Srikrishna emerge as the first Indian to have won all six titles – sub-junior, junior and senior in both Billiards and Snooker”, he said.

“My target for 2016 is to win World Snooker Championships in Under 18 and Under 21 as also Billiards Championship in under 21”, Shrikrishna added.  

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EXAMS -- 4:

NILGIRIS POSTS 91.29% PASS IN PLUS TWO

P S SUNDAR 

In Plus Two exams whose results were announced on Tuesday, of the 7,942 students who wrote in Nilgiris district, 7,250 have passed posting 91.29 per cent pass.  This was higher than last year’s 86 per cent pass result.

Thirteen schools have secured centum pass results against six last year.

Centum marks have been secured by 44 students in Accountancy, 40 in Commerce, five each in Business Management and Mathematics, two each in Chemistry and Computer Science and one in Botany.

S Deepthi of Bethlehem HS School, Ooty, bagged the First Rank in Nilgiris district scoring 1188 marks out of 1200.   Daughter of Selvaraj, driver in Government Transport corporation and Gracy, homemaker, Deepthi wants to become a Chartered Accountant.

Guru Mukilan of St Thomas HS School Gudlaur came second scoring 1176 marks and S Sruthi of Shanthi Vijay Girls’ HS School Ooty came third scoring 1174 marks.

Nilgiris Collector Dr P Sankar honoured in Ooty in the presence of Chief Educational Officer Ganesamoorthy  the rank holders who had studied taking Tamil as a language.

STANES STUDENTS TOP IN COONOOR

Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Coonoor, has done well in the Plus Two exams.

Two students – Norah Judith and Kavishree – have topped the Coonoor segment scoring 1,172 marks out of 1,200.    Both studied in the Science stream and hence have the second highest total marks among the Science stream students in Nilgiris district.  Overall, the school has bagged the fourth highest marks in the district.

Norah’s father Jairaj works for Repco Bank and her mother Stella Rosaline is teacher at Timbre Tops School.   She wants to become a computer science engineer.

Kavishree’s mother Rajalakshmi is a home maker.   She wants to pursue Agriculture Science degree and then become an IAS officer. 

“298 of the 302 of our students have passed.  As many as 10 of them have topped in the State in different subjects scoring centum – Mathematics 3, Chemistry 2, Computer Science 2, Accounts 2 and Commerce 1”, Stanes Principal Glenn Croning told me.

“As many as 31 students scored over 1,100 marks and 93 over 1,000 marks”, he added.

CRESCENT STUDENTS BAG RANKS IN ‘OTHER THAN TAMIL’ CATEGORY

Two girls of Crescent Castle Matric Higher Secondary School, Ooty, have secured the first and third ranks respectively in Nilgiris district among students who studied with a language other than Tamil.

“Our student K S Madhumitha has secured 1185 marks out of 1200, She had taken French instead of Tamil.  She has scored centum in Commerce”, Crescent Correspondent Umar Farouk told me.

“Our student S Janani has come third in Nilgiris district among those with a language other than Tamil.  She has scored 1166 marks.  She studied French", he said. 




"In our school, Reny Agnes who studied Tamil has come second scoring 1171 marks which includes centum in Biology and Mathematics.  The school has posted cent per cent pass”, Farouk added.

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HAPPENING -- 17:

WHEN UKG CHILDREN DONNED GRADUATION GARB!

BY P S SUNDAR

It was an enthusiastic sight amidst parents and grandparents of children at Crescent Play and Primary School Ooty as they witnessed their wards being honoured for ‘graduating’ in UKG.

The 154 children donned the convocation garb, including the wise-man’s cap, as done in a University convocation when D Arumugam, Principal, Crescent Castle Matriculation Higher Secondary School, presented them the ‘graduation scroll’.

“This is the 15^th year we have been conducting graduation ceremony for children who pass out of our campus completing their UKG.  As their primary education ends now, they all will move to other schools of our group for pursuing ICSI or state Board curriculum”, Crescent Correspondent Umar Farouk told me.

“This ceremony motivates parents to offer the highest and best possible education to their wards.  It has been instrumental in all our students studying well as they go to higher classes and passing in Tenth and Plus Two public exams with many of them scoring ranks”, he added.

AWARD -- 8:

US HONOUR FOR NILGIRIS SCIENTIST 

OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY IN VETHA UNIVERSITY IN USA

BY P S SUNDAR

Dr Shanmugamurthy Lakshmanan, a scientist hailing from a tea growing family in a small hamlet Jagathala near Coonoor, has done his village, the Nilgiris district and India proud by bagging the coveted ‘Star of the Universe’ honour.

This honour was conferred on him at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA, by the Society for Universal Oneness, an intellectuals’ organisation of scientists, researchers, engineers and doctors, working to use technology to create eco-friendly and peaceful world.

The citation said that the award was to hail Dr Shanmugamurthy’s initiatives to bridge the gap between ancient and modern science.

“My endeavour is to make available for the benefit of mankind the best of Eastern and Western sciences through the Vetha Centre for Trans-disciplinary Studies.    This is a unique educational facility offering comprehensive curriculum based on fundamental axioms found in Ayurveda, Siddha, Yoga and similar scientific traditions of the East which will be used with modern western scientific approaches”, he told me.

“This award hails my initiatives to establish a Vetha University in the USA with global partnership to facilitate students from all over the world study courses.  For the Indians, this is a great honour as most of their traditional sciences will now be learnt by foreigners”, said Dr Shanmugamurthy Lakshman, who holds Ph.D. in Applied Physics.

He said that this will open new doors for children to study life-oriented courses covering healthcare, lifestyle management, architecture, agriculture, and the arts, to name a few.  He said that they can contact the Vetha University for admissions.

“Ours is a traditional tea growing family.  We are also into vegetable cultivation.   I had the dream of making Shanmugham a popular personality in the USA so as to help ventilation of India’s supreme ethos.  He has now done that and this recognition is a credit to the entire tea growing families in the Nilgiris”, his father J B Lakshmanan told me.  But, Lakshmanan was also in Government service .. retired Deputy Collector...

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HAPPENING -- 16:

ANOTHER RECOGNITION FOR MARIAM

BY P S SUNDAR

Tamil Nadu Government has honoured J Mariam Agnish (14), Coonoor-based billiards and snooker state and national champion with financial assistance through Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) for her participation at the World Snooker Championship in Russia.

“I have received ` 30,000 and thank the Government and SDAT for the recognition given to my performance.    This was to partly fund my participation at World Under 18 Snooker Championship conducted by International Billiards and Snooker Federation in Russia”, Mariam told me.

“I was the first sportsperson from the Nilgiris to represent India in an official international snooker tournament.   The present recognition from the Government is a definite encouragement for me to scale newer heights in international cue game”, said Mariam who is the current Tamil Nadu state championship title holder in Billiards sub junior and No: 2 in Billiards Sub-Junior National championship.

“For furthering my performance at international level, I need a world quality Billiards Table and global-standard coaching.  Hailing from a poor family background, I am unable to afford these.  I have appealed to Chief Minister to extend possible help to me for these”, added Mariam, ninth-standard student of St Joseph’s Girls’ Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, Coonoor.

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