ANNOUNCEMENT

PHYTOCONGRESS 2010

AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
HERBS AND HERBO MINERAL FORMULATIONS

6th & 7th February 2010

Organized by:
Centre for Advanced Research
in Indian System of Medicine
(CARISM)
SASTRA University
Thanjavur-613 401, India


Last date for submission of abstracts: 5th January, 2010

Abstracts should be sent to phyto2010@carism.sastra.edu

For complete details download the brochure here

Announcemnt

Roja Muthiah Research Library

Lecture series
by

Simeon Mascarenhas

on
PORTUGUESE EXPLORATION AND TRADE
PRACTICES IN THE INDIAN OCEAN FROM THE
15TH TO THE 17TH CENTURIES

Date: 2nd January 2010
Time: 5.00 p.m.

Venue:
Roja Muthiah Research Library
3rd Cross Road, Central Polytechnic Campus
Taramani, Chennai 600 113
Telephone: 2254 2551 / 2254 2552

-------------------------------------------------------

Abstract

Beginning with the arrival of Vasco da Gama on the west coast of India in 1498, Portuguese exploration blazed a pioneering trail of trade and cultural exchange never seen before in human history. Almost all later trade practices, and even some vital current ones, owe their origin to the early Portuguese explorers, traders, soldiers and, above all, administrators. Much credence, however, is given to the British, and in particular the English, for India's connection to the modern world. In fact the English, like the Dutch, only copied the Portuguese model of shipping and protection. Proof of deep Portuguese involvement, rather than meddling, in local affairs, no matter where they went, is seen in the centuries-old links between their so-called colonies although they were thousands of miles apart. After all, the Portuguese empire, the first European one to be established, outlasted all the others, ending only with the voluntary handover of Macau in 1999. "To understand India one must leave India". That involves leaving the comfort of the familiar English-speaking world, one of which we Indians are sometimes prisoners. Mascarenhas's lecture is an attempt to open minds to non- propangandist history and set the record straight, without in any way diminishing the achievements and contributions of any nation.


About the Speaker

Simeon Mascarenhas is an educator in one of Melbourne's Flagship State secondary schools. He teaches English, humanities and philosophy, and is a freelance writer with many published articles to his credit. Most of his research is centered on European-Indian relations in the Coromandel / Malabar area from the 15th to the 19th centuries, with specific reference to the neglected Portuguese component. Having a rich ethnic background of Portuguese, English, Scottish and South Indian blood, his area of interest comes as no surprise. After migrating to Australia in 1993, Simeon has carried out continuous and very fruitful research in Eur-Indian relations with often surprising results. He now also researches the India-Australia connection since the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. He is currently in India to conduct teaching-learning workshops at The CVCTV Meenakshi Achi Matriculation School, managed by the CT Education Foundation, in Kanadukathan, Chettinad. He is a talented amateur singer and pianist and enjoys travelling.

Weaving the Body with Words

Weaving the Body with Words

March 1, 2006

Kutti Revathi discusses her fraught position as a Tamil woman poet in a male-dominated literary tradition, and her view of poetry as a protest against “the silence into which the female body has been coerced”.

In conversation with N. Kalyan Raman.

NKR: For over fifty years since its founding in the 1930s, the tradition of ‘modern poetry’ in Tamil - ‘pudhukkavidhai’ - has been shaped and sustained exclusively by male poets. With this background, could you say something about choosing poetry as your mode of creative expression, and about the struggle to create a new and hitherto unexplored space for women in the arena of modern Tamil poetry?

KR: My first collection of poems, Poonaiyai pola alaiyum velicham (Light prowls like a cat), was a fortuitous effort; it was not planned consciously. Going to college to study for a degree in Siddha medicine was a very imporant milestone in my life. The underlying principles of Siddha medicine are all written in verse form. It was due to my passion for the language that I, who had joined college to study law, left to take up the study of Siddha medicine. Richness of language, diction, tone, style and form — for all these and more, the verses of Siddha medicine are a rare treasure of the Tamil language. I can feel the gifts from this body of work – robustness of language and fertility of ideas – still churning inside me. I wrote those early poems, one by one, out of my sheer love of poetry; and later, I compiled them into the collection, Light prowls like a cat. That first collection of mine, with its particular images, created a minor uproar in the Tamil literary milieu.

Words are like miraculous feats, really. Poetry, though it remains a frozen form, shapes language with emotion and at the same time, hones emotion through language. Moreover, unlike a novel or short story, a poem does not begin to disclose its meaning in just one reading. A poem takes a long time even to enter the mind; and in the same fashion, to leave it. As it languishes on the mindscape, a poem reveals itself, image by image, as a powerful tableau of emotions. Further, any word that emerges from a poet’s mind comes forth with the imprint of the poet’s blood. It is possible to say more, much more, about how poetry happens and works.

My reading of world literature in the interval between my first collection and the second, Mulaigal (Breasts), was truly wide-ranging. One by one, I read most of what are considered enduring classics of world literature, giving my mind and body over to the chemical changes they seemingly wrought in me. That would be one way to describe my journey. A man forges his early creative work from the expanse of his imagination and from the world of abstractions traversed by his mind. In contrast, a woman, I believe, mines the boarded-up space that is her body for words and offers them to the world. As a means of protesting the silence into which it has been coerced, the female body keeps imprinting on itself all the seasonal changes being wrought continuously by Nature.

NKR: Which of the following contributed significantly to your arriving at the language of your poetry and its thematic expanse:

– The tradition of women poets in Tamil, dating back to the classical Sangam period and beyond
– The inception and growth of the ‘modern poetry’ movement in Tamil and the new possibilities it has established for poetry over the past sixty years
– The feminist movement and its discourse related to the female body
– The works of western women poets in the latter half of the twentieth century – Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, Anna Akhmatova, Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou (to name just a few)
– In general, the achievements, setbacks, aspriations and struggles of Tamil society

KR: I look upon all the factors you have cited as ancillary. I believe strongly that giving oneself over fully to life’s experiences and subjecting it to keen and relentless observation are what gives a person the language for poetry and a fertile expanse of ideas. However much one may be impacted by knoweldge of world literature, the Tamil poetry tradition or by one’s acquaintance with the discourses of feminism, poetry in its entirety demands an endless enquiry into the self, and endless cycles of the self’s destruction and renewal. In particular, it is vitally important not to distance oneself from life’s struggles. Travelling to distant places and meeting different people are equally important. I believe that so long as you remain a poet, you must make yourself heir seemingly to several hundred strands of feeling and more; that you must observe keenly the tremors these emotions set off inside you. There are still many landscapes and realms of experience that women are yet to traverse; and many mindscapes that they never could.

NKR: “Poetry makes nothing happen,” said the famous poet, Auden. In some sense, this is true enough. Do you see the disturbances set off by some of your poems as a societal ‘event’, necessarily? How do you make sense to yourself of these ‘protests’ and ‘condemnations’?

KR: That “poetry makes nothing happen” can only stem from an objective, materialist conception of the world. The evolution of modern poetry as a form to be read in silence must imply that it is a form strongly capable of engendering subjective epiphanies. Modern women poets write poetry imbued with the capability of producing inner tremors. These tremors can be made sense of in various ways. To minds seeking liberation, they could connote the joy of freedom. Minds sufffering under oppression could perceive them as fantasies about the space they have yearned to traverse but could not so far. People always ask my why I do not write poems about societal concerns and issues, as though attempts to bring about inner renewal and inner transformation were not acts of social concern. I use my language only to loosen the fetters that have bound and shrunk a woman’s body. I have experienced poetry enter the beings of women in much the same way as performing arts do.

NKR: The ongoing ‘controversy’ about your poems (and those of other woman poets in Tamil) are largely based on male response to certain aspects of these poems which touch upon the female body. The debate revolves entirely on this axis. It is rather strange that the response of women readers to these poems about the female experience is not spoken of at all, and therefore, it largely unknown to the general community. Have women shared with you their response to your poems? Do you think it is a political strategy to exclude their response – even references to it, let alone exposure – from the current debate?

KR: This question makes me reflect deeply on the issue. To ignore women’s responses and to suppress expressions of their minds are not new to the Tamil tradition. A woman is always considered to belong to the third – and lowest – category of human beings. Because women’s reactions and ideas are suppressed in our society, they fail to evolve into a robust discourse. Even today, the debate continues to be based solely on western feminism, with the intellectuals in Tamil Nadu making a continued efffort to assimilate its ideas. Even ideas on sex are perceived from the vantage of western feminism. But the politics of women’s bodies in Tamil Nadu is unique in itself. Therefore, ‘Tamil feminism’ must formulate itself, taking into account Tamil culture, and the nature of women’s existence in a Tamil Nadu which is no more than a unit enjoying the benefits of the Indian republic’s larger political arena. Further, there is a need for continuous exchange of ideas on Tamil feminism between women writers in Tamil, on the one hand, and the community of intellectuals and academics in Tamil Nadu, on the other. And there must be an integrity to this exchange. Women readers shake the dormant images in my poems into wakefulness through their sustained effort and joyfully share this experience with me. Even the act of denying women’s responses an active existence in society is nothing but a cunning ploy of patriarchal society to conquer and defeat the ability of women to think and act.

December, 2005, previously unpublished.

N. Kalyan Raman


Thanks:
Original article from http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/
Image Courtesy dhalavai sundaram (photograph by R.SHANMUGAM)


More about Kutti Revathi

Kutti reavthi's blog

Follow Kutti Revathi in Twitter

Captures from the workshop

News courtesy: The hindu

Plea to incorporate scientific practices in Siddha medicine

To facilitate global acceptance of the ancient system, says Union Minister

— Photo: K. Pichumani

S. Gandhiselvan, Minister of State for Health (second from left), with V.R. Venkataachalam, Chancellor, Sri Ramachandra University, at the inauguration of a national workshop in Chennai on Tuesday. S. Rangaswami, Vice-Chancellor, SRU (second from right) and B. Anand, Joint Secretary, department of Ayush are in the picture.

CHENNAI: Scientific practices have to be incorporated into Siddha to facilitate global acceptance of the ancient system of healing, Union Minister of State for Health S. Gandhiselvan said on Tuesday.

Inaugurating a national workshop on “Pre Clinical and Clinical Research” for Siddha professionals under the auspices of the Sri Ramachandra University (SRU), Mr. Gandhiselvan said while the value of traditional Siddha was recognised by Western societies, the lack of scientific validation of its efficacy stood in the way of a more widespread acceptance.

Siddha practitioners needed to be exposed to the technical know-how of modern pre-clinical and clinical research, he said. The workshop was co-hosted by the National Institute of Siddha and the Central Research Institute for Siddha under the Department of Ayush, Government of India. S.P. Thyagarajan, Chief Advisor-Research at SRU, called for addressing the serious quality control issues and lack of standardised practices that prevented India from garnering a larger slice of the $62 billion global market for herbal medicines. At present, India’s share was only $1 billion compared to China’s share of $19 billion and there was a great opportunity for herbal medicine, he said.

G.A. Raj Kumar, Director, Department of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, said though Indian systems of medicines had responses to common lifestyle diseases, the Western world continued to be sceptical in the absence of manufacturing standards and scientific validation of efficacy.

B. Anand, Joint Secretary, Department of Ayush, Government of India, stressed the need to buttress the anecdotal efficacy of Siddha medicine with scientific methods of evaluation. He cautioned researchers against applying the clinical practices and paradigms of allopathy to Siddha which was a holistic system of medicine examining the mind as well as the body.

S. Thanikachalam, chairman of the workshop, said the event reflected the SRU’s efforts to associate with other disciplines and collaborate on basic and clinical research.

K. Manickavasakam, Director-in-charge, National Institute of Siddha, V.R. Venkataachalam, SRU Chancellor, and S. Rangaswami, Vice-Chancellor, also participated.

Announcement

FIRST NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON PRE-CLINICAL & CLINICAL RESEARCH

Exclusively for Siddha Professionals

Date
November 3rd & 4th 2009

Venue
University auditorium,
Sri Ramachandra University,
Chennai

Registration fee
For academicians, Private practitioners - NO FEE
For industries - INR 2000

Call 04423860531 for registration.

MAN OF KNOWLEDGE

T.V.SAMBASIVAM PILLAI

The man who dedicated his whole life for making a dictionary of science which talks mainly about Indian medicine especially siddha medicine. The book is the great key to explore the treasures of siddha medicine. He spends his whole life and most of his salary for this great book contains around 5000 pages. Today is his 120th birthday!

siddhadreams is very proud to dedicate this blog to the legend! Let us conserve the old literatures and manuscripts to contribute as a tribute to him.

See the article about history, life and works of T.V.Sambasivampillai in Tamil

Thanks to Kalachuvadu.com for the original article.

NRHM Scheme annonced for Siddha, Ayurveda & Unani in TN

It has been proposed to fill up 200 posts of Assistant Medical Officers in Siddha System, to the newly created ISM wings throughout the state of Tamil Nadu under NRHM Scheme, on hiring basis with a hiring charges of Rs.1000/- per session ( 6 hours ) 3 session per week for 38 weeks only, from the candidates sponsored by the Professional and Executive Employment Exchange, as per the Employment Exchange seniority, age, qualification and communal rotation.
The Certificate verification / interview for the above posts is proposed to be conducted from 05-10-09 to 13-10-09

The person noted in the address entry is directed to appear before the Selection Committee on the dates noted below against their serial number at 11.00 A.M.in the Office of the Principal Secretary and Director of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy, Arignar Anna Government Hospital of Indian Medicine Campus, Arumbakkam, Chennai 600 106 without fail, for Certificate verification / Interview.

He / she should bring all the original certificates for age, Educational and other additional qualifications, Mark Sheets, Transfer Certificates, Employment Exchange Registration Card, Registration Certificate with the Board / Council concerned, Community Certificate, etc. in original while attending the interview. In addition to the original certificates, he / she must bring attested Xerox copy of each certificate for reference and record in this office.

No TA / DA will be paid to attend the interview.

1. Go to Download page for list of candidates from Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani
http://www.tnhealth.org/NRHMScheme.html

2. Direct download list of candidates from siddha (zip file)
http://www.tnhealth.org/notifictaion/SIDDHA%20NRHM%20LIST.zip

Swine flu Vs Vitamin C

The cure for swine flu

(article from: http://clouddragon.wordpress.com/)

The current ”pandemic” of swineflu is hugely exaggerated by the global media. Actually I have been scanning what else is going on right now that needs to be covered up with a ”Deadly-Pandemic”-scare. I’ll put it as simply as I can trying to keep it short. (I still recommend you make yourself a cuppa tea and sit down comfortably)

• N1H1 is the most common influenza
• ”Swine-flu” is a recent mutation but still just a flu.
• Virusses mutate all the time, all the time, nothing new.
• You don’t die of swine flu but of complications, and only if you are weak or your health is compromised to start with
• Influenza is to be taken serious, but swineflu is not more deadly than other flu’s
• Tamiflu does not cure flu, it slightly alleviates symptoms and may shorten the disease by one day, but only if taken within 24 hours of being infected
• Tamiflu can have very severe side-effects
• Fluvirusses are allready becoming resistant to Tamiflu
• replication of all virusses can be decreased or even completely blocked by ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
• the pharmaceutical companies are lobbying very hard to keep this information from the public knowlege. Vitamins cannot be patented, and therefore cannot be used as a cashcrop.
• Viral deseases are virtually unknown in the animal world, because most animals, except humans, produce high levels of vitamin C in their own bodies
• Al virusses spread in the body by using the same enzymes (collagenases) which can be partially or completely blocked by means of the natural amino acid lysine. (also not produced by the human body)
• The WHO, (World Health Organisation) does not prioritise human health, it doesn’t promote your health, it promotes the interests of the pharmaceutical investment interests

As virusses can be either slowed down consederably, or even blocked alltogether by ingesting large amounts of vitamin C, and other micronutrients, I wonder why I should bother with artificial expensive medicines, which do not stop the virus from spreading but merely alleviate some symptoms. And, according to many patients who have taken Tamiflu, the side-effects from Tamiflu have been far worse than the flu they suffered from before taking the Tamiflu.

Read how a virus uses the cells of the body to spread.
In this open letter dr Rath explains about natural (and cheap) protection from SARS. Hours later the WHO changed their own policy 180” and declared Sars under control.

All virusses use the same method to infiltrate the body. All Steps of Influenza Infection Can Be Blocked by Micronutrients:

1.Influenza virus gets inside the body cells with the help of the enzyme neuraminidase (N), which is located on the surface of the virus.

2.Within the infected cell,the virus reprogrammes the genetic software in the cell core to allow its own multiplication. The infected cell now continuously produces more viruses as well as the biological scissors (collagenases) for their spread.

3.Millions of viruses are released from infected cells.With the help of collagen-destroying enzymes, the viruses expand through the connective tissue and invade other cells. The influenza infection has turned into a disease.

So if Vitamin C, and other micro nutrients can stop this from happening, you are actually stopping the disease on it’s onset. You don’t get ill!
That seems to me a lot more effective than a slight alleviation of symptoms, with, as may people report spme very, very serious side effects which may even last long term.
Patients who take Tamiflu as a precaution only, so without having been infected, experience the same severe side-effects. In their cases the symptoms cannot be blamed on swine flu, as the manufacturer is trying to make out. One patient, who had taken Tamiflu only as a precaution, so without being sick, not only suffered from side effects, but the doctors have told him he might now be suffering from auto immune disease!

A list of the side effects as reported by patients who have taken Tamiflu, some of these side effects started within hours or even minutes of taking their first dose. Some report these side effects lasting for many weeks after stopping taking the Tamiflu and still continuing. Most patients experience several of these side effects simultaniously.

• nausea
• delusions
• nightmares
• extreme stomach cramps
• depression
• suicidal thoughts
• extreme fatigue
• chills
• swollen and painful joints
• difficulties to breath
• pressure on chest
• feeling of doom
• moodswings
• high bloodpressure
• high fever
• heart palpitations
• severe headache, with no alleviation from painkillers
• skinrash
• no appetite
• upset stomach
• disorientation
• severe vomiting
• crippling pain in legs
• hives
• anxiety, severe anxiety
• insomnia
• dry mouth
• tingling and numbness in hands and feet
• ”taste” of Tamiflu, recurring after many weeks
• dhiarrhoea

Now not everybody will experience these, only a percentage, estimated at 5% will be the losers, but many of those who did suffer these sideffects were very sorry to have taken the drug at all, and considered the side effects many times worse as the flu they experienced before they took the drug.
I find the recent reports of its use in Japan very disturbing, in Japan Tamiflu prescriptions are ten times higher than in the US, the reports describe bizarre psychiatric problems in children, even leading to death.
I know I’m not going to take the risk, especially as Tamiflu is not a cure anyway.

Read this:

• interesting article on how the SARS-epidemic was one large media stunt to devert attention from the war in Iraq and the use of weapons of mass destruction, by a fully media-controlled global scare for SARS. After dr Rath publicised his report on the efficacy of vitamin C and other nutrients on combatting the disease, the WHO made an immediate 180” turn around, and proclaimed the disease under control.

After having launched one of the largest media stunts in the history of planet earth, the pharmaceutical cartel and its allies within the WHO had to withdraw it within hours of Dr. Rath calling their bluff.

Dr. Rath comments: “I have been fighting the pharmaceutical cartel for more than a decade now, but this success overshadows everything. The pharmaceutical interest groups – ex-posed as conducting an organized fraud business that risks the life of millions of people and drains the economies of this planet – are apparently extremely nervous. There can be no other reason why they reacted so fast following my exposure that the pharmaceutical cartel is the organizer and benefactor of this man made hysteria. This fact should open the eyes of every intelligent person: How scared must they be if $30,000 in public health advertising is all it takes to stop an epidemic that has been dominating the news around the world.”

Thanks:

Original article from: http://clouddragon.wordpress.com/ by Aafke

See also:

Side effects from Tamiflu are worse than the flu

TAMIFLU in the Askapatient database

More evidences for Vitamin C against Virus:

http://www.orthomolecular.org/

http://www.seanet.com/

http://www.newsswineflu.com/

http://wiki.answers.com

Siddha Graduates Abroad community in Orkut & Facebook

siddhadreams has been created a community in Orkut/Facebook named Siddha Graduates Abroad to build a bridge between scholars of Siddha medicine who are living in INDIA and abroad. siddhadreams is sure that this will make wonders!

siddhadreams has been also created a community in Orkut named National Institute of Siddha as a platform for healthy discussions about Siddha System of Medicine.

links:

In Orkut

Siddha Graduates Abroad = http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community.aspx?cmm=92211073

National Institute of Siddha = http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community.aspx?cmm=87246326

In Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/siddha.abroad/

Important:

To access the above links an account in orkut/Gmail/Facebook is nessessary. After logged in to your orkut/Gmail/Facebook account copy and paste the addresses mentioned above and press "enter" button to access the communities.

Announcement

Siddha Global Meet
&
Health expo



October 2nd and 3rd, 2009


Organized by

Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha,
Dept. of AYUSH,
New Delhi, India



Secratariat

Central Research Institute for Siddha
Arumbakkam, Chennai-106, India


Chennai is the city Siddha Global Meet to be held.




Submission of papers

Abstracts of research papers from scholars may be submitted to the mail ID

siddhaglobal09@gmail.com



Important Dates


Last date for submission of papers 25.07.2009

Last date for submission of full text 20.08.2009

For more Details:

Download Brochure 1 (Right click this link and select "Save link as" or "Save target as")

Download Brochure 2 (Right click this link and select "Save link as" or "Save target as")

Download Application Forms (Right click this link and select "Save link as" or "Save target as")


NOTE: THE ABOVE PROGRAMME HAS BEEN POSTPONED. THE DATES WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER.

Siddhadreams launches DVD on Siddha Icthyology (Siddha Science of Fishes)

esiddha.org releases a DVD video on siddha icthyology this month in association with siddhadreams. This DVD contains details of more than 100 species of fishes mentioned in Siddha literatures with zoological classification, morphology, images, medical importance and so more.

This is the second product from esiddha exclusively for students and researchers.



For further details contact us

Announcement

 
Roja Muthiah Research Library Trust

Lecture Series
 
by

Pudukkottai Krishnamurthy

(Gnanalaya Research Library, Pudukkotai)

 

on

Roja Muthiah: Life and Service

 

Date: 3 July, 2009 
Time: 5.00 p.m. 
 

Venue: 
Roja Muthiah Research Library
3rd Cross Road, Central Polytechnic Campus
Taramani, Chennai 600 113
Telephone: 2254 2551 / 2254 2552

Announcement

"Nanobiotechnology & Molecular Techniques"

Department of nanobiotechnology, LSFi, Karnataka and Department of Biotechnology, NCCE, Haryana jointly organizing five days National training cum Workshop on "Nanobiotechnology & Molecular Techniques".

Date: June 24-28, 2009.

Venue: NC College of Engineering , Haryana

For details contact:

Krunal R Chopra (Director, LSF India , Karnataka) Or

Dr. Pankaj Tyagi (Dept of Biotechnology, NCCE, Israna, Haryana)


Tel: 09427932947

Email: nanobiotek@yahoo.com

Website : www.lifescience.org.in

Timeline: Swine flu

A chronology of the H1N1 outbreak

A new strain of swine flu - influenze A (H1N1) - is spreading around the globe. This timeline will be continually updated with key dates, drawing on authoritative information from the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other sources. For more on the situation see the Nature News swine flu special, and read updates on The Great Beyond blog.

18 May 2009: The day it confirmed that 8,829 H1N1 cases have been reported in 40 countries, the WHO has cautioned against complacency.
"This virus may have given us a grace period, but we do not know how long this grace period will last," said Margaret Chan, WHO director-general. "No one can say whether this is just the calm before the storm."
However the pandemic alert level is still at five today, one level below a full pandemic.
13 May 2009: As of this morning, 33 countries have reported 5,728 cases of H1N1 to the WHO.
12 May 2009: The CDC notes that it is seeing some severe complications in cases of H1N1 in pregnant women, including one death in the US.
11 May 2009: The WHO has confirmed swine flu deaths in Canada and Costa Rica, bringing the total number of countries where fatalities have occurred to four.
Mexico has reported 48 deaths and the United States three. Worldwide, 30 countries have officially reported 4694 cases.
A modeling study in Science suggests that the virus spreads at a rate comparable to that of previous influenza pandemics.
8 May 2009: Brazil reports four cases, bringing the number of affected countries to 25. Deaths now stand at 44 worldwide, with 2,500 confirmed cases. Most newly reported cases in new areas, the WHO says, come from travelers returning from affected areas. The CDC reports that hospitalization rates in the US are coming down, to 3.5%, as testing expands to include milder cases.
The Harvard School of Public Health releases a poll in which 83% of Americans polled say they are satisfied with the way public health officials have managed the outbreak. Still, 48% of parents with children in school think they or a family member will come down with H1N1 in the next year.
7 May 2009: Worldwide confirmed cases are now at 2,371.
6 May 2009: WHO confirms swine flu cases in Sweden and Guatemala.
5 May 2009: Mexico's H1N1 shutdown should begin to ease tomorrow, with restaurants and cafes set to reopen.
The latest WHO figures say the virus has now spread to 21 countries. Mexico has reported 590 cases and 25 deaths while the United States has reported 286 cases and one death.
However, the Texas Department of State Health Services has confirmed a second person has died in the United States. The DSHS says a woman with "chronic underlying health conditions" died earlier this week.
The following countries have reported cases but no deaths: Austria, Canada, China (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), Costa Rica, Colombia, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
4 May 2009: Colombia joins the club. There are now 985 cases in 20 countries. Mexico is up to 25 deaths, but officials there say the disease seems to be on the decline.
3 May 2009: Ireland and Italy each report one case. 898 cases are now reported.
2 May 2009: China (Hong Kong special administrative region), Costa Rica, Denmark, France, and the Republic of Korea join the list. Total cases reported to the WHO are now at 658 in 16 countries.
Canadian authorities announce that H1N1 has been detected in a swine herd in Alberta. The pigs likely caught the virus from a Canadian who had recently visited Mexico, making this the first known case of human-to-animal transmission.
1 May 2009: As of this morning, 331 cases of H1N1 have been reported in 11 countries. According to the WHO, the worst outbreaks are still in Mexico (156 cases and nine deaths) and the United States (109 cases and one death).
30 April 2009: Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands join the WHO list of countries with confirmed cases. The agency also announces it will refer to the virus not as swine flu but as influenza A(H1N1).
29 April 2009: The WHO raises pandemic level alert to phase 5, "a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent". First swine-flu death outside Mexico reported as a baby dies in Texas. Germany joins European countries with H1N1 and confirms three swine flu cases. The WHO confirms 7 more cases in Canada, bringing the total number there to 13.
28 April 2009: Seven countries are now reporting confirmed cases of H1N1 swine flu: the United States, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Israel and Spain.
27 April 2009: Canada reports six cases of swine flu and Spain reports one. In the United States 40 people have flu confirmed. In Mexico 26 cases are confirmed, with 7 deaths resulting. Estimates for the true number of deaths hover around 80.
The WHO raises pandemic alert level to 4 having confirmed human-to-human transmission able to cause 'community-level outbreaks'. "Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion," says the organisation.
25 April 2009: WHO director-general, Margaret Chan calls the flu problem "a public health emergency of international concern ".
23 April 2009: Officials issue orders to close schools in Mexico City, beginning a process of limiting public crowds. Three major soccer [futbol] games around Mexico City close stadium gates to all fans the weekend of April 25-26, with games broadcast on television. Stadium closures continue through May 2-3.
21 April 2009: CDC laboratories confirm two cases in California. Three additional cases confirmed the next day, with two more in Texas added the day after.
28 March 2009: Earliest onset date of swine flu reaching the United States, according to the CDC.
18 March 2009 : Federal District of Mexico begins to pick up cases of swine flu.

Courtesy:Naturenews

Tamil Literature On The Mobile

Sangam Literature is being converted into mobile format by MobileVeda, a startup being incubated at the Vellore Institute of Technology, reports UNI. 42 books, including Thirukurral, Patthupattu, Ettuthogai and Silapathikaram, are available for download at their site thinnai.info, though it does require registration. The company intends to launch a platform for converting any content into mobile books. The new name for the site is fublish.com!

Thanks:
contentsutra.com

Herpetology Workshop

It's a message from

Madras Crocodile Bank - Centre For Herpetology
P.O. Box 4, Mamallapuram - 603 104,
Tamil Nadu, India.
Phone [Mob.] +91 9940052964
Phone [Office] +91 44 27472447

Of Kings and Men!

Agumbe has long been the focus of much rumour, legend and superstition. Aside from the unexplored terrain, deep forests and remoteness, the area’s climate and denizens have made it one of the more austere places to live in south of the Vindhyas. Agumbe gets in excess of 8-9 metres of rain a year! It also has wave upon wave of leeches through the monsoon and other not so inviting species like nettles and ticks.

Still, for the Nature enthusiast, Agumbe is one of the pearls of the Western Ghats. It has, arguably, the highest density of king cobras in India (and possibly the world). The high rainfall makes it an amphibian paradise and the thick and diverse vegetation houses a myriad of birds.

Rom Whitaker’s relationship with Agumbe started in the early ‘70’s when he first visited the area and caught two king cobras. He has since been hooked and always wanted to return. Around thirty years later, he did come back and decided to set up a research and conservation base right in the heart of the Agumbe forest. The Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS) was started to study and protect the king cobra. It has since grown into a research station dedicated to any form of environmental research from climate change to amphibians.

On the 12^th to the 14^th of June, we will be running a herpetology workshop at ARRS. It is open to anyone from the age of 12 upwards and will focus on various aspects of herpetology from research to conservation issues. It will also be a very useful platform for people to work out the fundamentals of herpetological taxonomy, identification of species, understanding reptile and amphibian behaviour and getting exposed to various field techniques.

Gerry Martin will head the group. At the base, Gowri Shankar (Conservation Officer at ARRS) will be sharing much of his experience with us.

Activities:

• Working on existing research projects at the base
• Exploration and trekking in the area
• Presentations and discourses on various aspects of herpetology
• Stream walk- understanding and experiencing hill stream ecologies
• Accompany ARRS personnel on any king cobra rescue
• Field techniques in herpetology
• Learn radio tracking

Note: It is important to remember that this is not a snake handling workshop. In the past, we have had some individuals enrol in our programs expecting to learn snake handling. This will not happen. Also, there will be no collection of any wildlife or wildlife products. Anyone attempting to do so will be reported to the authorities.

Contact Gerry Martin: 9845779666.

ANNOUNCEMENT

ROJA MUTHIAH RESEARCH LIBRARY TRUST

in collaboration with

Madras Library Association

Lecture

-------------------

by

V. SRIRAM

(Writer, Music Critic and Enthusiast)

on

ROLE OF LIBRARIES IN

PRESERVING OUR CULTURAL ASSETS

Date: 29 April 2009

Time: 5.00 p.m.

Venue:

ROJA MUTHIAH RESEARCH LIBRARY

3rd Cross Road, Central Polytechnic Campus

Taramani, Chennai 600 113

Telephone: 2254 2551 / 2254 2552

(Tea would be served at 4.30 p.m.)

National Mission for Manuscripts

The National Mission for Manuscripts was established to survey and locate manuscripts wherever they may be found in India. The Mission was initiated in February 2003, by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture,Government of India. Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is the nodal agency for the execution of this project.

The manuscripts, among the oldest and most extensive in the world, were spread across the country. However, most of them were in a state of decay and damage.By the end of 2008, it hoped to cover all the States to scan manuscripts in the public and private domains, she said.

The University of Madras was collaborating with the NMM in digitisation of records. Releasing the `Catalogus Catalogorum,' CD, S.P. Thyagarajan, Vice-Chancellor, University of Madras, said his interest in manuscripts was connected with his research in jaundice. The occurrence of liver cancer and cirrhosis was related to Hepatitis B virus, which led him to manuscripts for references to the `keezhanalli' leaf, which is used as a medicine.

Indian manuscripts can soon be accessed worldwide in digital form. The National Mission for Manuscripts, Ministry of Culture, plans to release online database of one million manuscripts in its first web edition by October 2006.

Quoting Mission Director Sudha Gopalakrishnan, S. Raghavan, Senior Faculty in Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology - Tiruchi (NIT-T), said the digitised contents of the manuscripts could be browsed at `www.namami.org'.

`Manus Granthavali', the software used by the Mission for digitising palm manuscripts, is globally accepted. To preserve the original state of the document, a non-touch device is adopted for the screening purpose employing a Flat Bed scanner.

For arriving at the image quality, Bi-tonal scanning is used to represent black and white and colour scanning with multiple bits per pixel reflects the true colour.

Image enhancement processes are then adopted for images that cannot be perceived by human eye. Loss-less compression technique is followed with JPEG/JPEG 2000 international standards.

A participant of the National Seminar on `Exploring the Manuscript Traditions' conducted by Mission and co-ordinated by the Saraswathi Mahal Library (SML), Thanjavur, last week,

Dr. Raghavan, who had earlier served as overall coordinator of Libraries at NIT-T, said conserving and digitising the divergent aspects of manuscripts, ranging from conservation methodologies, medicine, cultural inheritance, Buddhist literature and various knowledge systems, will be of immense use to the heritage lovers and researchers.

The SML alone, he said, has world-renowned manuscripts numbering 60,000 and about 26,000 rare palm manuscripts preserved with herbal technique by P. Perumal, an expert.

The palm manuscripts, in Granth, Devanagri, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Nandinagari scripts, cover all branches of arts, science and Engineering.

Links:

Download the Guidelines for Digitization of Manuscripts

Download the Basic Minimum Standards for Conservation of Manuscripts

Go to the downloads page of namami.org

Pioneer of 'Scientific Tamil'

Dr. Samuel Fisk Green, who pioneered the translation of Western medical science into Tamil 

Article by S. MUTHAIAH

THE PARAGRAPH on November 29 about the American `Pachaiappan' of Worcester, Mass., brought me a response from a most unexpected quarter. R. Ambihaipahar (Ambi), a well-known Sri Lankan Tamil writer now settled in Australia, sent me from Sydney his biography of Dr. Samuel Fisk Green - and a most revealing document it is. Dr. Green, it appears, not only pioneered hospital medicare in Ceylon but more significantly, pioneered the translation of Western medical science into Tamil. And that appears to be quite a while before the Madras Presidency began looking at rendering Western scientific terms in Tamil.

The American Ceylon Mission, established in Jaffna before it was established in India, sent out to it Dr. John Scudder, grandfather of Ida Scudder of Vellore, if I am not mistaken, as its first medical missionary in 1820. He not only set up a clinic there but also a medical school to train a few Jaffna Tamils in the rudiments of medicine. In 1833, he moved to Madras to establish the ACM here. In 1846, it was John Scudder who interviewed the young Green in Boston and invited him to join the ACM medical facility in Jaffna.

Read More...

Tamil Studies in Germany

Tamil Studies in Germany
Prof.Thomas Malten

Institute of Indology and Tamil Studies,
Cologne University and Department of Lexicography,
Institute of Asian Studies, Chemmanchery, Chennai

Lecture at Max Mueller Bhavan, Chennai, 17 March 1998
[see also Proposed Closure of Tamil Studies in Germany, 14 November 2004]


In the preceding lectures we have heard about contributions made by German missionaries to Tamil studies particularly in the field of Tamil lexicography and grammar. The study of Tamil language and literature in Germany today - the topic of my lecture — is pursued mainly at two universities, the University of Heidelberg and the University of Cologne. [This is meant in the sense that people are specifically employed for this particular field of teaching and research in Indology - there are of course many more German universities where Tamil has been taught at some time or other in the recent past].

Academic Tamil studies in Germany are based on the efforts of the missionaries, their establishment at universities, however, is of quite recent origin - about 30 to 35 years back, in the 1960s, when the first two World Tamil Conferences were held at Paris and Chennai, which may have helped in creating an awareness and interest in the subject.

The reason for the establishment of Tamil Studies at the university level in Germany can be found in the recognition of the fact that Tamil is the only classical literary language of India besides Sanskrit and that Tamil language and literature have developed tremendously in many branches, particularly during the last 100-150 years.

The works of Arumuga Navalar, the rediscovery and publication of the ancient classics begun by U.V. Swaminatha Aiyar, the appearance of the poet Cupramaniya Parati, the development of a thriving modern narrative prose literature, beginning with the publication of the first Tamil novel, Vªtan¤yakam Pi¥¥ai's "Pirat¤pa mutaliy¤r carittiram " in 1879 followed by R¤jamaiyyar's "Kamal¤mp¤¥ carittiram" a few years later and a host of prose works in this century have all served to make the study of Tamil a very worthwhile and rewarding academic subject in many countries of the world today.

It is because of this that recently the Institute of Indology in Cologne has been officially renamed as "Institute of Indology and Tamil Studies".

The only explanation I can find for the rather late establishment of Tamil Studies in Germany, is that in the first part of this century the history of Germany was overshadowed by the catastrophies of the two world wars. Only in the past 40 years Germany has enjoyed continued peace and prosperity in this century. But these are the necessary preconditions for the opening and establishment of new academic pursuits in the field of the languages and literatures of Asia.

Read More...

Transmission of Scientific Knowledge from Tamil nadu to Europe

Transmission of Scientific Knowledge from Tamizhagam to Europe

Written by K.V. Ramakrishna Rao

About the transmission of mathematical and astronomical Science from South India, particularly from Kerala, studies have been already conducted and published by C. K. Raju, George Ghevergheese Joseph, Denis F. Almeida, and the Aryabhata Group of University of Exeter1. Though, Prof. D. S. V. Subba Reddy2 has pointed out the European interest and their books on Indian medicine, he stopped short with appreciating interest shown by them. However, about the transmission of scientific knowledge and/or manuscripts from Tamizhagam, it appears no study has been so far. The study of Jesuit writings reveal interesting details that such transmission had taken place during 1600 to 1850 period and even beyond. The study of events at Tranquebar, Pondicherry and Madurai provides wealth of such information.

View the Full Text Here

View the Original article and more at hindurenaissance.com

VERNACULAR (including Tamil) BIRD NAMES OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

Vernacular names of the birds of India has been updated with Tamil names in continuation of the release of the DVD video on siddha ornithology by esiddha in association with siddhadreams.

Click here for the complete list of birds.

Announcement

ROJA MUTHIAH RESEARCH LIBRARY TRUST

Lecture Series

by

THOMAS R. TRAUTMANN
(Professor of History, University of Michigan, USA)

on

F. W. ELLIS AND THE DRAVIDIAN PROOF

Date: 7 February 2009
Time: 5.00 p.m.

Venue:
Roja Muthiah Research Library
3rd Cross Road, Central Polytechnic Campus
Taramani, Chennai 600 113
Telephone: 2254 2551 / 2254 2552

Announcement

Indus Research Centre
(A unit of Roja Muthiah Research Library Trust)

invites you
for the inauguration of an exhibition

on

Indus Civilization

Date: 10 January, 2009
Time: 4:30 p.m.

Venue: Roja Muthiah Research Library
3rd Cross Road, Central Polytechnic Campus
Taramani, Chennai 600 113
Telephone: 2254 2551 / 2254 2552

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Programme
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome Address by
Thiru. G. Sundar, Director, Roja Muthiah Research Library - 4:30 p.m.

Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil's role in Indus Research by
Prof. K. Ramasamy, Head, Centre of Excellence for Classical Tamil - 4.35 p.m.

Dravidian Studies: Research in Indus Civilization by

Prof. V. Arasu, Head, Dept. of Tamil Literature, University of Madras - 4.45 p.m.

Dravidian Elements in the Indus Script by
Thiru. Iravatham Mahadevan, Honorary Consultant, Indus Research Centre - 4.55 p.m.

Inaugural Address by
Prof. K. Anbazhagan, Honourable Minister for Finance,

Govt. of Tamilnadu - 5.05 p.m.

Vote of Thanks - 5.45 p.m.
Inauguration of Exhibition by the Honourable Minister - 5.50 p.m.
Tea - 5.55 p.m.

Exhibition will be open to public immediately after the inauguration
upto 31st January '09