By J. V. Siva Prasanna Kumar
Chennai: The temple chariot-like construction of Valluvar Kottam, which is a familiar landmark in the city situated at the intersection of Kodambakkam High Road and Village Road will be refurbished to attract more visitors.
The State government has cleared the decks to renovate the monument built by the government in honour of the Tamil saint and savant Thiruvalluvar who penned the immortal Thirukkural ' a treatise.
This familiar landmark has been attracting tourists and locals in a big way and is among the more than 42 monuments raised by the government. It is a pet project of chief minister M. Karunanidhi who wanted to honour the Ayyan (Thiruvalluvar).
Announcing that the monument would "soon get a new touch" at a cost of Rs.60 lakhs, State Information minister Parithi Ilamvazhuthi said the amount was immediately sanctioned by Mr. Karunanidhi when it was pointed out to him that the monument urgently required improvement work.
The minister was speaking at the inaugural of the Tamil Computer Print - Exhibition and conference being held under the joint auspices of the Madras Printers and Lithographers Association (MPLA) and Kanithamizh Sangam at Valluvar Kottam here on Friday.
Mr. Parithi informed tender had been invited to execute the renovation work and the chore would begin shortly.
He said efforts were being taken to develop print and Tamil software and called for measures to support development of Tamil software in order to fulfill the needs of people. He released softwares - Pon Pen, Tutor software on the occasion.
Underscoring the importance of installing Tamil software in computers provided by State government to schools, former Vice Chancellor of Anna University M. Anandakrishnan said although on an average 5000 projects were carried out in engineering colleges annually not even five projects were done in Tamil.
Encouraging projects in Tamil through incentives and the use of open-source software would go a long way in developing Tamil software, he suggested.
R. Udhayakumar, vice president, MPLA, deplored the manpower shortage in printing and auxiliary industries. Despite a huge requirement of about 3500 per year, the institutes were able to provide a mere 140, he said adding printing was a green area which should be looked at as a source of obtaining employment. Those possessing a minimum educational qualification of tenth standard could benefit. Efforts were on for establishing a training centre to meet the requirement for trained persons.
Secretary of MPLA, V. Ravi and president of Kanithamizh Sangam M. Anto Peter spoke. Among the other things, the exhibition showcases new software, printing related material, pre-press and post-press materials. The expo, containing 53 stalls, would be open for the public till Feb. 4.
E.o.m. 02.01.07.
that is one place i will never forget… my school was right next to it..