Category Archives: Leaders

IAS topper to take charge as Kannur Assistant Collector

Education, Leaders
Harita along with her family members. (Photo: DC)
Harita along with her family members. (Photo: DC)

Thiruvananthapuram: 

Ms Haritha V. Kumar, topper of the 2012 civil services examinations, is all set to take up her first assignment as Kannur assistant collector  on June 26.

She has successfully completed her one-year training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, and will return to her home here on Saturday.

Her businessman father R. Vijayakumar, his wife C. S. Chitra and their twin  sons, Sadheerth and Sadharsh, who are engineers, are eagerly awaiting her arrival, though they had visited her in Mussoorie last week.

Mr. Vijayakumar said, “Haritha’s training will end on Thursday and she will spend 10 days at home.  She has to join as Kannur assistant collector on probation before June 30,” he said.

He recalled with joy that when he and his family members reached the LBSNAA after a two-hour road trip from  Dehradun, Haritha was waiting for them at the gate.

“Security is high there and we also had to produce our identity cards.

Haritha stayed  in a building named ‘Ganga’ on the third floor while we were provided with two rooms on the ground floor,” he said.

They spent two days sightseeing in  Mussoorie along with Haritha and  visited the Tibetan Buddhist Temple also.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / by Cynthia Chandran / June 12th, 2014

Malayali mayor for Croydon

Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, World Opinion
Manju Shahul Hameed (Photo: DC)
Manju Shahul Hameed (Photo: DC)

Thiruvananthapuram:

In a rare instance, a Malayali woman has become a Mayor in England. She is Pothencode native, Manju Shahul Hameed, who took the oath as Labour party’s Mayor of Croydon. She has been a councillor since 2006 and contested from the Broad Green ward in Croydon, which was hit by riots in 2011.  She wrested the borough from the Conservatives after a period of eight years.

It was marriage to Rafi Shahul Hameed who works with the London Transport that took Manju to London in 1996. After graduating  from Chempazhanthy S. N. College, she pursued masters in scientific and engineering software in Greenwich University in London. She was  also active in student politics at the university. Manju’s father, M. Jalaludin, had retired as a CID official with the Special Branch, while her mother, Raihanath, is no more. Manju’s priority as Croydon Mayor is to bring the diverse communities there under one banner promoting their rich culture.

“Today’s function is known as the mayoral making and a detailed investiture ceremony is also on the anvil. My priority is to raise the profile of Croydon which has a huge population of Malayalis,” Manju told DC over phone from London. Another Malayali who  reached the top echelons of Labour party is Omana Gangadharan, who was the civic ambassador in the Newham borough of London.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / Cynthia Chandran / June 05th, 2014

90 and golfing strong

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Sports

 

George Varghese celebrated his 90th birthday with the 15th edition of the Kaipattoor tournament. / Photo:S.Gopakumar / The Hindu
George Varghese celebrated his 90th birthday with the 15th edition of the Kaipattoor tournament. / Photo:S.Gopakumar / The Hindu

Golf is still a passion for George Varghese, the oldest member of Kowdiar Golf Club

The nine-hole course at the Golf Club in Kowdiar comes up short in containing George Varghese’s exuberance as he strides across the turf waving his slightly worn-out golf club in the air. After the game, as the 90-year-old man gave a little sprint for the camera, some of his much younger teammates smiled at each other, with a glint of envy in their eyes.

Mr. Varghese, the oldest member of the club here, celebrated his birthday in style on Saturday with the 15th edition of the Kaipattoor tournament, which he started in 2000 as a tribute to the ‘unknown village’ where he was born, Kaipattoor in Pathanamthitta district, in 1924.

All the 50 of them who gathered at the club were wearing the yellow t-shirts designed for the tournament. Mr. Varghese’s was a special one though, with the number 90 stitched at the back. Members, among them retired civil servants and defence personnel, vied with each other to get themselves photographed with the grand old man, whom they affectionately address as ‘uncle.’

“I have been a member of this club since 1986. Four of us have made a team and we play in the afternoons at least four times a week. I have got some great friends from this club,” says Mr. Varghese.

Golf has been a life-long passion for him, even during his stint as the manager of a private firm in Singapore for 40 years.

Since 1952“I became fascinated with golf way back in 1952, as the famed Island Country Club was near my apartment. There were at least 12 international golf clubs in that small city and I became a life-long fan there,” he says.

When he came back to the country in 1986 after retirement, his only consideration was to stay in a place where he could regularly play golf. And so, he settled in Thiruvananthapuram. The golf course here is peculiar in that there are no carts to ferry you to the spot for the next shot. Mr. Varghese walks all the distance, as fast as the younger ones.

“One of my memories of ‘uncle’ is of the day when we were playing at Ootty recently. The golf course is reached by a steep climb and we had ridden up on our cars. Only he was missing from the crowd. After some time we heard loud cheers from the crowd and saw him walking up after parking the car downhill,” says John Thomas, Captain of the club here.

A member of the Golf Addicts Society of Southern India, Mr. Varghese speaks softly but hits the ball with all the force he could muster.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by S. R. Praveen / Thiruvananthapuram – June 08th, 2014

Zamorin Manavikraman Raja dies

About Kerala, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All

Zamorin Manavikraman Raja was under treatment following old age-related ailments. He breathed his last around 2.55pm.

Manavikraman Raja was annointed the Zamorin after the death of the then Zamorin P K S Raja in March 2013.

Born in Thiruvannur Puthiya Kovilakom as the son of Kuttimbatti Thamburatti and Paderi Shakran Namboodirippad on May 10, 1920, Manavikraman Raja had his education at the Zamorin’s School and took his BSc degree from Annamalai University. He started his career as a schoolteacher at Zamorin’s High School and later joined the Union ministry of commerce in 1947. He then moved to the ministry of foreign affairs and retired from service in 1980 as third secretary from the Indian Embassy in erstwhile Czechoslovakia. He had also served in Canada, Lebanon, Phillipines and many other countries.

As Zamorin, he was the trustee of a number of temples in Kozhikode, Malappuram and Palakkad and active in the social and cultural realms.

People from various walks of life paid tributes at the Thiruvannur Puthan Kovilakom where the body was kept. The last rites would be performed at Thiruvannur Kovilakam around 8am on Wednesday.

K C Unnianujan Raja of Kottakkal Kizhakke Kovilakom will succeed Manavikraman Raja as the next Zamorin.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kozhikode / TNN / April 30th, 2014

‘Capt Krishnan Nair Model to Younger Generation’

Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Travel

Thiruvananthapuram :

Capt Krishnan Nair, the founder chairman of the Leela Group of Hotels who passed away last Saturday, was remembered here on Friday as an enterprising businessman, a successful Malayali and a multi-faceted individual whose interests ranged from subjects as surprisingly diverse as gardening to international diplomacy.

‘’I see him as a amazing man who created a success story with his own labour. He is a model to the younger generation,’’ Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who inaugurated a commemoration organised by Global Kerala Initiative-Keraleeyam, said.

“He had a vision on Kerala’s development. And he was angry when it did not materliase. Age-wise he was older than many of us. But he interacted with everyone as a friend,’’ Chandy recalled.

Former Ambassador T P Sreenivasan’s first meet with the industrialist was in Fiji during his tenure there. He remembered Krishnan Nair’s avid interest in international matters. ‘’He was there for a week. He apparently had heard about the Regent Resort there and wanted his upcoming hotel in Goa to look like it. I don’t know how he had heard about the Regent,’’ Sreenivasan, who is vice-chairman of the State Higher Education Council and chairs the advisory committee of Keraleeyam, said.

‘’And his knowledge about that small nation was so extraordinary that a Fijian official asked whether he was ‘from your CIA?’’’

‘’In his book he has written how international diplomacy should be conducted. He had a global vision,’’ Sreenivasan said.  Chief Secretary E K Bharat Bhushan recalled Krishnan Nair’s tussle with the State Government over the Halcyon Castle, the industrialist’s interest in gardening and his early days promoting ‘Bleeding Madras,’ the handloom brand. ‘’He was also a keen admirer of V P Menon,’’ Bharat Bhushan said.

Journalist K P Mohanan related how Krishnan Nair, as a young school boy, surprised the then Chirackal ruler with a short verse who then promised to support his education.

E M Najeeb, chairman, Indian Association of Tour Operators, Kerala chapter, also spoke.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / May 24th, 2014