Monday, September 9, 2019
Saturday, September 7, 2019
UK-born Indian teens bring out Ramayana audiobook
English narrative translated into Hindi, Telugu
At a time when teenagers are busy aping the western culture and almost ignoring the Indian epics, two British-born Indian descent teenagers stand out for not just trying to propagate the values espoused by the Ramayana but also their work now licensed by the British Airways.
The London-based brothers, Shreyas Pulle and Ayur Pulle, have created a one-hour audiobook “Ramayana: An Ancient Indian Epic” that introduces the compelling epic to non-Indians and also gives the Indian listeners a refreshing perspective.
It all started when Ayur’s Jewish dominated school in London asked him to perform in an Indian play in which he played the character of Hanuman. Ramayana’s characters struck him and coming from a traditional Indian family the growing interest was natural, reveals Ayur’s mother Neelima Penumarthy.
Flawless narration
His elder brother Shreyas then teamed up to create a simplified version of the complex classic and decided to go the audio way to reach out to people. The simple language added with flawless narration and smooth adoption of the characters makes it further interesting, even for those newly introduced to Ramayana.
The audiobook gained popularity in British circles and was judged one of the best in its segment. To their delight, the British Airways has licensed it to place it on its in-flight entertainment until 2028.
The English narrative is now translated into Hindi with the help of Hindi teacher and students at the Kendriya Vidyalaya, Uppal and also to Telugu by the maternal grandmother of the brothers.
Ms. Neelima explains that the Hindi version of the audiobook has been recorded with six students from 10th and 12th class of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Uppal No 1 where she studied.
A socially conscious Neelima is now making an effort to rope in visually challenged students to bring out the Telugu audiobook involving three students from the Devnar School for the Blind, Begumpet. “Braile version of the book is given to them and the visually challenged students have done a wonderful work. It should be out in a few days,” she says.
The narration of the epic by the blind students is challenging as they have to visualise something they have not seen. “Some of them have such mellifluous voice and their narration has made a difference,” she said.
Neelima, who runs a company, ‘Puranas’, that connects culture through stories has also produced a 15-minute puppet show based on the audiobook. It was performed in several schools in London and last year it was performed at the Diwali celebrations sponsored by Mayor of London at Trafalgar Square. “We will be doing the same this year as well,” she adds.
Friday, September 6, 2019
Damaged by floods in Sangli, library’s mission to save 75,000 books: Staff, students, 6 hair dryers
The biggest concern remains the manuscripts — nearly 300 had been digitised recently, but the computer that stored the records was washed away.
Written by Ajay Jadhav |Sangli |Updated: September 6, 2019 8:30:22 am
At the Sangli District Nagar Vachnalaya, one of the oldest public libraries. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)
GROUPS OF students in shifts, staff, well-wishers — and three heaters plus six hair dryers.
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For nearly a fortnight now, this combination has been hard at work at the Sangli Nagar Vachanalaya to save whatever is possible from the thousands of books and rare manuscripts damaged in the recent floods in southwestern Maharashtra.
The 150-year-old three-storey facility, with 2,500 members, is one of the oldest public libraries in the country. It houses over 1.8 lakh books and documents, including over 600 rare manuscripts from 400 years ago. Of these, officials estimate that nearly 75,000 books and at least 100 manuscripts were damaged in the floods that submerged parts of Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur in August.
“Most of the books were on the ground floor to enable easy access. We tried to save them as the water started entering, but had to finally leave to save our own lives,” says librarian Surekha Naik.
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Today, many of the damaged books are beyond repair. Some have also started showing signs of fungal growth. The others have been spread on the floor across the building, from the staircase to the passage and the cultural hall. Naik is among the six fulltime staff busy arranging the books to dry under the ceiling fans. Then, there are the hair dryers. “We gave priority to the manuscripts and began to dry them with a hair dryer as there was no other way. We had one dryer at the beginning. Our appeal to members resulted in five more being used. They are effective,” says Naik. The library is also using three heaters, two of them donated by members. “We were also fortunate to get additional hands from Pune and Sangli colleges. Three teams of ten students each came down and stayed with us for two days in rotation to help us prepare a list of damaged books,” she says.
The biggest concern remains the manuscripts — nearly 300 had been digitised recently, but the computer that stored the records was washed away. “Fortunately, the person who had carried out the digitisation had saved another copy,” says Naik.
“I have gone through about 10,000 manuscripts in libraries across the state but those in Sangli Vachanalaya were in the best condition,” says Priyanka Mujumdar, who digitised the manuscripts in Sangli under the National Mission for Manuscripts of the Centre.
”The manuscripts relate to ancient texts, including the Vedas, Puranas, Dharmashastra, Ayurveda, Jyotishshastra, etc. It would require a miracle to save them now, considering that the paper and ink were so old,” says Mujumdar, who is a post-graduate in Sanskrit and diploma-holder in Manuscripts.
At the library, staff say financial assistance is required to replace damaged furniture and computers. Once operations resume, possibly within the next six months, the library also plans to prepare a list of books lost and issue an appeal for copies to be donated.
”We are also reaching out to experts for preservation of the books. We will take the help of social organisations to fund our efforts,” says Atul Gijre, secretary of the governing body of Sangli Vachanalaya.
According to Ujjwala Londhe, district library officer, 17 public libraries in Sangli were affected by the floods, with three small libraries getting completely damaged. The district library office has estimated a loss of Rs 63.7 lakh, including Rs 39.95 lakh in Sangli Vachanalaya alone.
Written by Ajay Jadhav |Sangli |Updated: September 6, 2019 8:30:22 am
At the Sangli District Nagar Vachnalaya, one of the oldest public libraries. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)GROUPS OF students in shifts, staff, well-wishers — and three heaters plus six hair dryers.
Advertising
For nearly a fortnight now, this combination has been hard at work at the Sangli Nagar Vachanalaya to save whatever is possible from the thousands of books and rare manuscripts damaged in the recent floods in southwestern Maharashtra.
The 150-year-old three-storey facility, with 2,500 members, is one of the oldest public libraries in the country. It houses over 1.8 lakh books and documents, including over 600 rare manuscripts from 400 years ago. Of these, officials estimate that nearly 75,000 books and at least 100 manuscripts were damaged in the floods that submerged parts of Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur in August.
“Most of the books were on the ground floor to enable easy access. We tried to save them as the water started entering, but had to finally leave to save our own lives,” says librarian Surekha Naik.
Advertising
Today, many of the damaged books are beyond repair. Some have also started showing signs of fungal growth. The others have been spread on the floor across the building, from the staircase to the passage and the cultural hall. Naik is among the six fulltime staff busy arranging the books to dry under the ceiling fans. Then, there are the hair dryers. “We gave priority to the manuscripts and began to dry them with a hair dryer as there was no other way. We had one dryer at the beginning. Our appeal to members resulted in five more being used. They are effective,” says Naik. The library is also using three heaters, two of them donated by members. “We were also fortunate to get additional hands from Pune and Sangli colleges. Three teams of ten students each came down and stayed with us for two days in rotation to help us prepare a list of damaged books,” she says.
The biggest concern remains the manuscripts — nearly 300 had been digitised recently, but the computer that stored the records was washed away. “Fortunately, the person who had carried out the digitisation had saved another copy,” says Naik.
“I have gone through about 10,000 manuscripts in libraries across the state but those in Sangli Vachanalaya were in the best condition,” says Priyanka Mujumdar, who digitised the manuscripts in Sangli under the National Mission for Manuscripts of the Centre.
”The manuscripts relate to ancient texts, including the Vedas, Puranas, Dharmashastra, Ayurveda, Jyotishshastra, etc. It would require a miracle to save them now, considering that the paper and ink were so old,” says Mujumdar, who is a post-graduate in Sanskrit and diploma-holder in Manuscripts.
At the library, staff say financial assistance is required to replace damaged furniture and computers. Once operations resume, possibly within the next six months, the library also plans to prepare a list of books lost and issue an appeal for copies to be donated.
”We are also reaching out to experts for preservation of the books. We will take the help of social organisations to fund our efforts,” says Atul Gijre, secretary of the governing body of Sangli Vachanalaya.
According to Ujjwala Londhe, district library officer, 17 public libraries in Sangli were affected by the floods, with three small libraries getting completely damaged. The district library office has estimated a loss of Rs 63.7 lakh, including Rs 39.95 lakh in Sangli Vachanalaya alone.
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Active Users of the LIRC - August 1-31, 2019
| Sr. No. | Member | No. of Transactions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SAHU MADHUSHREE DAMBARUDHAR SONALI | 37 |
| 2 | PHILIP FRANCIS FERNANDES | 25 |
| 3 | DSOUZA NELSON NORBERT PAUL DSOUZA ALICE DSOUZA | 25 |
| 4 | BHATT PARTH CHYAVAN VAISHALI | 25 |
| 5 | ANDHALE SHREYA VILAS URMILA | 25 |
| 6 | OJHA ANOOP PARASNATH SHANTIDEVI | 24 |
| 7 | LOBO ANDREA KARLTON ALICE | 23 |
| 8 | AHUJA RISHIKA SANDEEP DIPALI | 23 |
| 9 | MELVIN YOHANNAN MARIAMMA YOHANNAN | 23 |
| 10 | CHAUHAN DEEPAK DINANATH SHEELA | 22 |
All the above "Active Users" are eligible for one extra book from the Library for the following month i.e. September 2019.
LIRC @ A GLANCE: AUGUST 2019
| ALL | ||||
| Total Members | Visited Members | % | Unique Members | % |
| 1976 | 3240 | 163.97 | 967 | 48.94 |
| STAFF | ||||
| Total Members | Visited Members | % | Unique Members | % |
| 164 | 55 | 33.54 | 37 | 22.56 |
| STUDENTS | ||||
| Total Members | Visited Members | % | Unique Members | % |
| 1812 | 3185 | 175.77 | 930 | 51.32 |
| INFT | ||||
| Total Members | Visited Members | % | Unique Members | % |
| 546 | 941 | 172.34 | 272 | 49.82 |
| CMPN | ||||
| Total Members | Visited Members | % | Unique Members | % |
| 553 | 961 | 173.78 | 294 | 53.16 |
| EXTC | ||||
| Total Members | Visited Members | % | Unique Members | % |
| 518 | 883 | 170.46 | 275 | 53.09 |
| ELEC | ||||
| Total Members | Visited Members | % | Unique Members | % |
| 83 | 253 | 304.82 | 44 | 53.01 |
| MECH | ||||
| Total Members | Visited Members | % | Unique Members | % |
| 112 | 134 | 119.64 | 40 | 35.71 |
Friday, August 30, 2019
UGC urges colleges, varsities to join PM’s Fit India Movement, create fitness plan
In an attempt to bring focus to fitness among the youth, the University Grants Commission (UGC) recently shared a circular on its website, urging affiliated colleges and universities to participate in the ‘Fit India Movement’, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched yesterday.
As part of the movement, universities and colleges have been asked to make efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of students as well as teaching and non-teaching staff, in order to achieve physical fitness, mental strength and emotional equanimity.
“The Fit India Movement helps take the nation forward on the path of fitness and wellness and it provides a unique and exciting opportunity to work towards a healthier India,” said the circular released by UGC.
“Every person should pledge and attempt to walk 10,000 steps… and follow it up in his/her daily routine,” states the circular. It further requests institutes to implement an institutional fitness plan to incorporate exercise into the daily routine of staff and students.
As part of the movement, universities and colleges have been asked to make efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of students as well as teaching and non-teaching staff, in order to achieve physical fitness, mental strength and emotional equanimity.
“The Fit India Movement helps take the nation forward on the path of fitness and wellness and it provides a unique and exciting opportunity to work towards a healthier India,” said the circular released by UGC.
“Every person should pledge and attempt to walk 10,000 steps… and follow it up in his/her daily routine,” states the circular. It further requests institutes to implement an institutional fitness plan to incorporate exercise into the daily routine of staff and students.
HRD directs UGC to set up committee to probe 'sale of fake degrees
HRD directs UGC to set up committee to probe 'sale of fake degrees
Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/70899412.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/70899412.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
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