Right from the beaches to the buses, I like the whole city. I did my schooling here and completed by Masters in Social Work from Loyola College. I liked my college ambience and people there were very friendly. I can’t forget my professor Udhaya Mahadevan, who helped me a lot in my studies. Just because I was disabled, I didn’t let myself down. Like other students I did my fieldwork and enjoyed the college life before moving to the US for higher studies. Buses in Chennai are easily accessible compared to other district buses and people here give seats to the disabled. If I fall down people are there to help me but it’s not the same in other countries. I like the city’s youth who always extend their hands to help disabled people. I love the Marina Beach and I long for the waters to touch my feet but it’s not possible. Pavements here are disabled-friendly. Except few shopping complexes and theatres, the rest of the city is very easy to get into. Another thing about Chennai is the US Consulate, which again is disabled friendly. It conducts spoken English classes for physically challenged.
-source EXPRESSBUZZ
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Mini buses on city roads in three months
Transport Minister K N Nehru on Tuesday informed the Assembly that mini-bus service would be introduced in the city within three months.Replying to queries of members, the Minister said the mini-bus service, which would be operated near very narrow lanes and streets, would be launched by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.On the measures being initiated to ease traffic congestion in the city, he said that the government had formed the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority headed by him to suggest measures in this connection. Conveying that a Bill would be introduced in the current budget session to give statutory powers to the authority, he said the authority would formulate various plans to regulate the city traffic at an expenditure of Rs 88,200 crore in the next 16 years.Nehru said 19 fly-overs have been built at strategic junctions and road extension works were under way in 25 places.The MRTS scheme would be implemented for a distance of 45 km and encroachments along the roads, which hindered free flow of vehicles, would be removed. Besides, multi-level car parking slots would be built at T Nagar.Once the work on the Express Highway between Tambaram-Chennai port were over, the traffic congestion in the city would be reduced to a considerable extent. Officials of the CMDA and the Transport Department and Corporation officials have been holding monthly meetings to discuss ways to ease the congestion, the Minister told the House.
-sources EXPRESSBUZZ
The colour of cool !!!
Downing large glasses of lassi and iced tea at regular intervals isn’t enough to keep you cool during summer. Keeping the heat at bay is a full-time job — and Chennaiites are doing everything from planting terrace gardens to putting up thatched roofs to cool their homes. And for most of them, that means going green. “Nothing can beat the good old tree for cooling and shade,” says architect Meena Chandrasekharan. “I do suggest false ceilings and roofs with gaps for air to my clients but trees are the best and most natural way to keep the temperature down.” S Natesan would definitely agree with her. The 68-year-old’s house in suburban Karanodai is cooled by 30,000 trees planted on his farm. “My house in T Nagar needed four air-conditioners to keep it cool. Now I don’t have a single one,” he says. “This year, my son has also moved in with me and we’ve rented out that hot house in T Nagar,” says Natesan, who has been nicknamed ‘Tree’ Natesan because of his passion for growing trees. Since his retirement, Indrakumar S has been on a mission to create a carbon neutral home. Of course, it’s also helped to keep the heat out of his Pammal home. “I’ve ‘wrapped’ myself in green,” says Indrakumar, whose house is now an example of a ‘green home’ that students from across the world come to see. From the moment you enter his gate, all you see is green — green in pots, green on the roof, green on the walls, green even on top of 10-foot high pillars. “Now, when the electricity goes off, all I need to do is open the windows and the house is cool,” he says, smiling proudly. Indrakumar, who is now also part of Exnora, had an open courtyard which he has had to convert into a large skylight for security reasons. “It’s just a four foot by four foot opening so the house is secure but the heat goes out,” he explains. “But what really cuts down the heat is the green.” Natesan says that there are several “tried and tested” methods to cool the house. “The most efficient is a roof garden but that requires a waterproofed roof. You can also use shading nets, which cost around Rs 3 a square foot. A net with 75% shading cuts out a lot of heat,” he says. Natesan also suggests building a sunshade about three feet in width on the western side of the house as that’s the part that gets the hottest. “Otherwise, you can build a wooden frame and grow creepers on it,” he adds. In Vellore, around two hours from the city, the power goes out twice a day and for hours. So Gita M decided to try a simple solution someone suggested — inverting terracotta pots on the terrace. “I bought around 100 and put them on the roof. It’s a whole lot cooler now. One of my friends said painting the pots white would make them reflect the heat, so that’s my next step,” she says. Meena explains that the terracotta pots create an air pocket that cools the building. “It’s similar to what a false ceiling does,” says Meena, who once suggested that a client build a thatched shed on the terrace. “It costs around Rs 10,000 and serves the same purpose.” But the simplest solution? Watering the garden. “Every evening, we just water the area around the house and this cools it down,” says Unnamalai who lives in Teynampet.
-source TIMESOFINDIA
-source TIMESOFINDIA
Dont miss the tree for the road !!!
‘Killer tree road’, ‘Scrape turn’, ‘Chilra corner’ — Third Avenue in Besant Nagar seems to have many monikers. And all of them given by people who have had near-death experiences on it. Third Avenue, which runs alongside Theosophical Society, is a beautiful tree-lined stretch — but two trees are right on the road at a sharp curve. Many motorists swerving to avoid the massive trees have had serious accidents. On May 2, around 7 pm, a group of friends crashed head-on into the tree. Pavit Singh, the 21-year-old driver, died on the spot. R Ganesh Krish, a 23-year-old motorcycle enthusiast and a friend of Pavit’s, says he has had two bike accidents on the stretch, one in 2004 and another in 2007. “I was badly injured the second time,” says Ganesh, adding that the avenue is called ‘chilra corner’ by the locals because there are so many accidents, “it’s almost like loose change”. “I call it the killer tree,” says 35-year-old Arjun Shankar, who crashed into it late at night on February 23 this year when he swerved to avoid another vehicle. “The trunk of the tree grows at an angle on the road and it’s difficult to avoid,” says Arjun, who is still recovering from a skull fracture, cerebral edema, sub dural haematoma and facial fractures that resulted from the accident. The traffic police have placed speed limit signs, reflectors, speed breakers, and warning signs at the curve, but Sunday’s accident has them on the aggressive. They have started a drive to create awareness on the importance of wearing seat belts and another drive to get the tree cut down. “Around two months ago, we recommended to the Corporation that the tree be cut. But residents of the area filed a public interest litigation against it, so nothing has been done,” says M Ravi, Additional Commissioner of Police, Chennai Traffic. “After Sunday’s incident, I have written another letter to the Corporation to have the tree cut.” While traffic police insist that Sunday’s was the first reported accident on this stretch in the last six months, residents of the area have a different story. Businessman K Subramanian, who has been living on Third Avenue for five years, says he sees at least one accident on the curve every weekend. “Kids race along this stretch at night. Every weekend I can hear them screeching past, and every weekend, there’s a fall,” he says. His son Krishnan admits to watching the races from his terrace on Saturday nights between 10 pm and 11 pm. “We also see the police stopping and fining some of them, but it seems to make no difference,” says Subramanian. Abizer Lehry, 30, an IT professional, says he is a much wiser and safer rider now but in his younger days, he had his own spills there. “It’s a favourite scraping turn for thrill-seeking bikers. They love to take the turn at high speeds with their knees scraping the ground. There’s something about that turn that makes you want to open up the throttle. Of course, I’m older and wiser now,” says Abizer.
-sources TIMESOFINDIA
WHISTLE PODU WITH PRIDE IS BACK !!!
Chennai Super Kings played the smarter cricket and deservingly won the IPL Cup by defeating fancied Mumbai Indians by 22 runs at the packed DY Patil Stadium, here today.
Batting first after winning the toss, the Super Kings shrugged off a slow start as “Player of the Match” Suresh Raina (57 not out), dropped twice, led from the front to pile up 168 for five and then turned in some brilliant performance in the field to restrict Mumbai Indians to 146 for nine.
The much-heralded Mumbai batting line-up caved in under pressure despite a brave 48 by skipper Sachin Tendulkar and big-hitting by Kieron Pollard (27 off 10) even as the Super Kings took some brilliant catches with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni yet again spot-on with his field placements and bowling changes.
Apart from Raina, there were quite a few other heroes for the Super Kings. Spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (17 runs in four overs), Shadab Jakati (2 for 26 from three) and Ravichandran Ashwin (24 in four) and later, seamers Albie Morkel and Doug Bollinger, all chipped in at the right moment to author a historic victory for the Super Kings who had finished runners-up in 2008.
The other factor that tilted the scales in the Super Kings, who also won the Fair Play trophy, favour was the team composition, besides of course their superior fielding. The Chennai outfit kept their faith in their three specialist spinners and held their catches.
The Mumbai Indians went in with just one in Harbhajan Singh while opting for an overly pace attack that was not as effective on a pitch that grew progressively slower.
The home team, faced with a big target, never got into their stride despite a promising second wicket partnership between Tendulkar and Abhishek Nayar who put on 66 runs. But Nayar committed a blunder attempting a non-existing single and was run out. The rot well and truly set in at that point.
Later, despite Tendulkar farming the bowling, wickets fell at the other end. The spinners came into their own with Ashwin up front followed by Muralitharan and Jakati, who dismissed Tendulkar and the dangerous Saurabh Tiwary in one over, doing the bulk of damage.
The Mumbai Indians kept back the powerful Pollard and when he came into bat, the asking rate had climbed to over 15. He blasted some massive hits, but it was all too little too late and he eventually fell to a brilliant catch by Matthew Hayden who thus atoned for a dropped chance earlier in the evening.
The turning point of course was Jakati’s third and the 15th over of the innings when he removed Tendulkar and Tiwary. Thereafter, the rest of the batsmen, barring Pollard, were simply not up to the task and although Pollard took 22 off Bollinger in the 18th over, his exit signaled the end of the Mumbai Indians’ challenge.
Super Kings did well not to look the gift horse in the mouth when they batted. The going in the initial overs was rather painful and scratchy despite a few big hits by the two openers, Murali Vijay and Hayden who looked distinctly out of depth.
In fact, Hayden was lucky to survive a plumb leg-before decision early in his innings, but even otherwise, was unconvincing. At the other end, Vijay batted quite beautifully until he tried to break the shackles and departed in the eighth over.
Hayden followed his partner back into the dugout, miscuing a big hit. Subramaniam Badrinath did not stay long and with the runs all but dried up, he too fell trying to force the pace and the Super Kings were reduced to 67 for three in the 12th over.
In walked skipper Dhoni and almost immediately set about repairing the damage. Raina, meanwhile, lived a charmed life, being dropped when on 13 and 28 and the Mumbai Indians were to pay a heavy price for these lapses.
The pair went on at a good clip to add 72 runs for the fourth wicket before Dhoni fell in the 18th over trying to maintain the brisk pace.
At this stage, the Super Kings still did not have enough runs on the board, but Raina and Albie Morkel came up with some big hits to push the score along. However, just when the partnership appeared to be flourishing, Morkel was run out attempting a bye in the final over.
Lasith Malinga sent down two dot balls to Raina and off the third, the southpaw batsman attempted a suicidal bye that caught Morkel well short of the crease. Another dot ball followed to new man Anirudha Srikkanth and then five wides. Anirudha hit the fifth legal ball to the boundary and finished the innings with a two.
Thus, a total of 168 gave the Super Kings lots to play with after looking hopelessly out of the contest in the first 10 overs when they scored a mere 59 runs.
SCORE-BOARD
Chennai Super Kings:
Murali Vijay c Tiwary b Fernando 26 (19b, 2 x 6, 1 x 4)Matthew Hayden c Rayudu b Pollard 17 (31b, 1 x 6, 1 x 4)Suresh Raina (not out) 57 (35b, 3 x 6, 3 x 4)Subramaniam Badrinath c Malinga b Fernando 14 (11b, 2 x 4)Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Fernando b Zaheer 22 (15b, 1 x 6, 2 x 4)Albie Morkel (run out – Rayudu) 15 (6b, 1 x 6, 1 x 4)Anirudha Srikkanth (not out) 6 (3b, 1 x 4)Extras (lb-3, w-8): 11Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs): 168.Fall of wickets: 1-44 (Vijay, 7.2); 2-47 (Hayden, 8.4); 3-67 (Badrinath, 11.2); 4-139 (Dhoni, 17.1); 5-157 (Morkel, 19.3).Bowling: Harbhajan Singh 4-0-30-0; Lasith Malinga 4-0-33-0 (1w); Zaheer Khan 4-0-34-1 (1w); Dilhara Fernando 4-0-23-2 (2w); Kieron Pollard 4-0-45-1.
Mumbai Indians:
Shikhar Dhawan c Dhoni b Bollinger 00 (8b)Sachin Tendulkar c Vijay b Jakati 48 (45b, 7 x 4)Abhishek Nayar (run out – Dhoni) 27 (26b, 2 x 6, 1 x 4)Harbhajan Singh lbw Raina 01 (2b)Ambatti Rayudu (run out – Dhoni/Morkel) 21 (14b, 1 x 6, 1 x 4)Saurabh Tiwary c Raina b Jakati 00 (2b)Jean-Paul Duminy c Jakati b Muralitharan 06 (7b)Kieron Pollard c Hayden b Morkel 27 (10b, 2 x 6, 3 x 4)Zaheer Khan (run out – Ashwin/Dhoni) 01 (3b)Lasith Malinga (not out) 01 (1b)Dilhara Fernando (not out) 02 (2b)Extras (b-1, lb-6, w-5): 12Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs): 146.Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Dhawan, 1.2); 2-67 (Nayar, 11.2); 3-73 (Harbhajan, 11.6); 4-99 (Tendulkar, 14.2); 5-100 (Tiwary, 14.5); 6-114 (Duminy, 16.6); 7-142 (Rayudu, 18.5); 8-142 (Pollard, 18.6); 9-143 (Zaheer, 19.3).Bowling: Ravichandran Ashwin 4-1-24-0 (2w); Doug Bollinger 4-0-31-1; Albie Morkel 3-0-20-1 (1w); Muttiah Muralitharan 4-0-17-1; Shadab Jakati 3-0-26-2; Suresh Raina 2-0-21-1 (2w).
Batting first after winning the toss, the Super Kings shrugged off a slow start as “Player of the Match” Suresh Raina (57 not out), dropped twice, led from the front to pile up 168 for five and then turned in some brilliant performance in the field to restrict Mumbai Indians to 146 for nine.
The much-heralded Mumbai batting line-up caved in under pressure despite a brave 48 by skipper Sachin Tendulkar and big-hitting by Kieron Pollard (27 off 10) even as the Super Kings took some brilliant catches with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni yet again spot-on with his field placements and bowling changes.
Apart from Raina, there were quite a few other heroes for the Super Kings. Spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (17 runs in four overs), Shadab Jakati (2 for 26 from three) and Ravichandran Ashwin (24 in four) and later, seamers Albie Morkel and Doug Bollinger, all chipped in at the right moment to author a historic victory for the Super Kings who had finished runners-up in 2008.
The other factor that tilted the scales in the Super Kings, who also won the Fair Play trophy, favour was the team composition, besides of course their superior fielding. The Chennai outfit kept their faith in their three specialist spinners and held their catches.
The Mumbai Indians went in with just one in Harbhajan Singh while opting for an overly pace attack that was not as effective on a pitch that grew progressively slower.
The home team, faced with a big target, never got into their stride despite a promising second wicket partnership between Tendulkar and Abhishek Nayar who put on 66 runs. But Nayar committed a blunder attempting a non-existing single and was run out. The rot well and truly set in at that point.
Later, despite Tendulkar farming the bowling, wickets fell at the other end. The spinners came into their own with Ashwin up front followed by Muralitharan and Jakati, who dismissed Tendulkar and the dangerous Saurabh Tiwary in one over, doing the bulk of damage.
The Mumbai Indians kept back the powerful Pollard and when he came into bat, the asking rate had climbed to over 15. He blasted some massive hits, but it was all too little too late and he eventually fell to a brilliant catch by Matthew Hayden who thus atoned for a dropped chance earlier in the evening.
The turning point of course was Jakati’s third and the 15th over of the innings when he removed Tendulkar and Tiwary. Thereafter, the rest of the batsmen, barring Pollard, were simply not up to the task and although Pollard took 22 off Bollinger in the 18th over, his exit signaled the end of the Mumbai Indians’ challenge.
Super Kings did well not to look the gift horse in the mouth when they batted. The going in the initial overs was rather painful and scratchy despite a few big hits by the two openers, Murali Vijay and Hayden who looked distinctly out of depth.
In fact, Hayden was lucky to survive a plumb leg-before decision early in his innings, but even otherwise, was unconvincing. At the other end, Vijay batted quite beautifully until he tried to break the shackles and departed in the eighth over.
Hayden followed his partner back into the dugout, miscuing a big hit. Subramaniam Badrinath did not stay long and with the runs all but dried up, he too fell trying to force the pace and the Super Kings were reduced to 67 for three in the 12th over.
In walked skipper Dhoni and almost immediately set about repairing the damage. Raina, meanwhile, lived a charmed life, being dropped when on 13 and 28 and the Mumbai Indians were to pay a heavy price for these lapses.
The pair went on at a good clip to add 72 runs for the fourth wicket before Dhoni fell in the 18th over trying to maintain the brisk pace.
At this stage, the Super Kings still did not have enough runs on the board, but Raina and Albie Morkel came up with some big hits to push the score along. However, just when the partnership appeared to be flourishing, Morkel was run out attempting a bye in the final over.
Lasith Malinga sent down two dot balls to Raina and off the third, the southpaw batsman attempted a suicidal bye that caught Morkel well short of the crease. Another dot ball followed to new man Anirudha Srikkanth and then five wides. Anirudha hit the fifth legal ball to the boundary and finished the innings with a two.
Thus, a total of 168 gave the Super Kings lots to play with after looking hopelessly out of the contest in the first 10 overs when they scored a mere 59 runs.
SCORE-BOARD
Chennai Super Kings:
Murali Vijay c Tiwary b Fernando 26 (19b, 2 x 6, 1 x 4)Matthew Hayden c Rayudu b Pollard 17 (31b, 1 x 6, 1 x 4)Suresh Raina (not out) 57 (35b, 3 x 6, 3 x 4)Subramaniam Badrinath c Malinga b Fernando 14 (11b, 2 x 4)Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Fernando b Zaheer 22 (15b, 1 x 6, 2 x 4)Albie Morkel (run out – Rayudu) 15 (6b, 1 x 6, 1 x 4)Anirudha Srikkanth (not out) 6 (3b, 1 x 4)Extras (lb-3, w-8): 11Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs): 168.Fall of wickets: 1-44 (Vijay, 7.2); 2-47 (Hayden, 8.4); 3-67 (Badrinath, 11.2); 4-139 (Dhoni, 17.1); 5-157 (Morkel, 19.3).Bowling: Harbhajan Singh 4-0-30-0; Lasith Malinga 4-0-33-0 (1w); Zaheer Khan 4-0-34-1 (1w); Dilhara Fernando 4-0-23-2 (2w); Kieron Pollard 4-0-45-1.
Mumbai Indians:
Shikhar Dhawan c Dhoni b Bollinger 00 (8b)Sachin Tendulkar c Vijay b Jakati 48 (45b, 7 x 4)Abhishek Nayar (run out – Dhoni) 27 (26b, 2 x 6, 1 x 4)Harbhajan Singh lbw Raina 01 (2b)Ambatti Rayudu (run out – Dhoni/Morkel) 21 (14b, 1 x 6, 1 x 4)Saurabh Tiwary c Raina b Jakati 00 (2b)Jean-Paul Duminy c Jakati b Muralitharan 06 (7b)Kieron Pollard c Hayden b Morkel 27 (10b, 2 x 6, 3 x 4)Zaheer Khan (run out – Ashwin/Dhoni) 01 (3b)Lasith Malinga (not out) 01 (1b)Dilhara Fernando (not out) 02 (2b)Extras (b-1, lb-6, w-5): 12Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs): 146.Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Dhawan, 1.2); 2-67 (Nayar, 11.2); 3-73 (Harbhajan, 11.6); 4-99 (Tendulkar, 14.2); 5-100 (Tiwary, 14.5); 6-114 (Duminy, 16.6); 7-142 (Rayudu, 18.5); 8-142 (Pollard, 18.6); 9-143 (Zaheer, 19.3).Bowling: Ravichandran Ashwin 4-1-24-0 (2w); Doug Bollinger 4-0-31-1; Albie Morkel 3-0-20-1 (1w); Muttiah Muralitharan 4-0-17-1; Shadab Jakati 3-0-26-2; Suresh Raina 2-0-21-1 (2w).
-sources chennaisuperkings
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Chennai to host banana festival
In the deserted Island Grounds of Chennai, people will soon be tasting varieties of banana deserts during a two-day banana festival organised by Tamil Nadu Tourism Development (TTDC) on July 25 and 26.The festival to be conducted on weekend would have about 25 varieties of bananas on display in more than 40 stalls spread across in the sprawling 10, 000 sq ft premises. Though one may be familiar with Karpooram, Rasthali, Pachai and Poovan bananas, the urban population might have not heard about the mouth-watering Mondhan, Kumanan and Peyan, which you cannot afford to miss.Besides, the festival will have stalls, where students from catering colleges would be demonstrating delicious dishes prepared using bananas such as chips, salad, vada and so on.“The entry has been made free to visitors to witness and enjoy this visual treat,” he noted.
-source EXPRESSBUZZ.COM
-source EXPRESSBUZZ.COM
Wine culture in Chennai
Developing a taste for new cuisine is passé and the innumerable food festivals stand witness to the fact. But of late, Chennaiites have developed a love for wine; a love that has been cultivated for many years. Certain families in Chennai prepared home made wines for festivals or bought locally made wines from Goa. But this love for the drink is now reaching the next level where most people can enjoy the drink by doing one of the two - Join a club or take part in a wine dinner. A time when wine was thought to be only a woman’s drink while men enjoyed the rest of the hard drinks is all gone. The growing number of wine lovers- men and women only goes to prove that the wine culture is fast catching on, but is an expensive hobby. The clubs not just promote tasting of the finest wines but also give its members an acquaintance through tasting sessions, lectures by wine experts and makers on the cultural and historical aspects of wine, promoting health benefits of moderate wine drinking, screening of wine related films paired with sipping on their favourite wine and organising wine tours. “There is a growing appreciation for wine and much of it is because of the hype that has been created,” notes Captain Arjun Nair, one of the founding members of Terroir- The Madras Wine Club. Wine tasting is not limited to clubs but the fever has even caught among the star hotels in the city. While some promote wine with food pairing in their full course menus, the rest bring experts from abroad to spread the knowledge about wine.
-source EXPRESSBUZZ.COM
-source EXPRESSBUZZ.COM
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