Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Chennai

PANCHAAMRITAM 244

Pancha is five in Samskritam, Amritam is nectar

Poornima/ Kali Yugaabda 5114 / Nandana Purattasi 14 (September 30, 2012)

ONE

Unnikrishnan, a class 10 schoolboy of Marottichal village, Trissur District, (Kerala, Bharat) has taught Chess to all in the village.  His coaching in the game began 40 years ago and it goes on till today.  The typical courtyard of his house is the classroom.  He is a dexterous Chess ‘master’, i.e, he is a good teacher of Chess.  Many trained by him have won many a tournament. Over 600 persons from grandpa and grandma down to the kindergarten toddler have been initiated into Chess by Unnikrishnan so far.  K P Venu, a renowned filmmaker, is shooting a film ‘August Club’ about the village populated by the Chess crazy. Frontline actors including Thilakan (who passed away recently) have done roles in this film. Screenplay is by Anantapadmanabhan, son of well known Director Padmarajan.

Based on a report in ‘THE HINDU’, August 22, 2012.

TWO

Odapalayam village on the Mettupalayam-Kothagiri Road in Coimbatore District (Tamilnadu, Bharat) is proud of its Panchayat President Shri Shanmugam.  He was elected as its President 15 years back, when he learnt that 40% of tax collected went to meet the electricity bill to keep the street lights burning.  The village economy was being rendered a pauper by meeting the power bill alone. He saw to it that all the street lights are powered by solar energy.  He did not stop with that. The Panchayat took a loan and established a medium size windmill in Mayilladi, a few kilometers away, with a capacity of producing 6.75 lakh kilowatts per year.  The actual consumption of the village was just 4.5 lakh kilowatts.  This meant that the Panchayat began selling excess electricity to the Electricity Board.  By this sale, the Panchayat could repay the loan.The beautiful situation today is, the Electricity Board is paying the village Panchayat for Electricity received and not the other way round !  A full 360 degree change — for better!

From an article in ‘PUDHIYA THALAIMURAI’, Tamil weekly, September 20, 2012.

THREE

Aanaikutti Anandan who runs a roadside Dhaba in Chennai (Tamilnadu, Bharat) receives SOS calls quite frequently.  Recently one such call was to the effect that a daughter and her father consumed acid kept in the house for cleaning the toilet following eruption of a domestic problem.  Anandan rushes to the spot, arranges shifting of the duo to the Government Hospital in Royapettah, gets them admitted, persuades the doctors into helping them and keeps enquiring about their health till they get discharged.  His Dhaba itself is part of his social service.  He was an auto-rickshaw Driver till 1977; auto-drivers are normally poor; they should be able to have food at low cost. This was the idea when Anandan began selling five idlis at Rs.5. To him, the satisfaction of the recipients is the fulfillment.

Based on a report in DINAMANI, September 16, 2012.

FOUR

An imposing statue of Hanuman measuring 85 feet in height.  It stands there majestically in the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad.  Shri Ashok Singhal, a senior leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the frontline organization for Hindus world over, did a parikrama of the statue during his recent visit to the country.  Later, he dwelt at length on the condition of Hindus in Pakistan, England, USA and Bharat in an interview to ‘Radio Jagruti’ (102.7 FM) known as ‘the Voice of Hindus’. Two Ministers of the country met Singhal.  To them he conveyed the victory of Hindus in protecting ‘Rama Setu’ that lies between India and Sri Lanka.  He also had a word of greeting to Trinidad that celebrates the 50^th year of Independence.

From ORGANISER, September 23, 2012.

FIVE

Last year, IT companies of India provided employment to 2,60,000 persons in the United States of America. These companies have invested there Rs.27,500 crore as part of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) scheme. This was the information provided by Smt. Nirupama Roy, Indian Ambassador to the United States of America, in a programme at Asia Society.

From RASHTRA DEV (Bareily), Hindi fortnightly, September 1-15, 2012.

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