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8 | THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

CHENNAINATION

INDORE: The Madhya Pradesh author-ities have resumed the probe against40 local doctors for their alleged rolein unethical drug trials.

Dr. G.S. Patel, Director of MedicalEducation, has been appointed as theinvestigating officer.

Dr .Patel told reporters, “Lokayuktapolice have asked us to complete theinvestigation as soon as possible. To-day we expedited the probe againstfour doctors, namely, Salil Bhargav,Ashok Vajpayee, Anil Bharani and He-mant Jain. Probe against other doctorswill also be expedited.”

According to him, the investigationcould not be completed because some

of the doctors and witnesses did notappear before the investigation offi-cers.

Meanwhile, an RTI activist Rajen-dra Gupta said that he had filed a com-plaint with Lokayukta police againstthe 40 doctors and handed over hun-dreds of supporting documents in2010, but no concrete action was taken.

According to Dr. Gupta, these doc-tors facilitated unethical drug tests onpoor patients and accepted foreignjunkets funded by pharma companies.The State government, in turn, hadpromoted some of them, while someretired without any action againstthem. -- PTI

Madhya Pradesh probeagainst doctors resumes

AHMEDABAD: In a partial re-prieve to the Patel agitationleader Hardik Patel, the Guj-arat High Court on Tuesdaydropped the charge of trea-son or “waging war againstthe government” while al-lowing the sedition andconspiracy charges on himand his aides who areincarcerated.

The court held that theaccused persons, includingthe 22-year-old Hardik, whospearheaded a highly-charged agitation that turn-ed violent in which 10 per-sons, including a police con-stable, were killed inAugust, can be probed forconspiracy and seditioncharges as brought by thepolice in the FIR.

HC gives partialreprieve to HardikPatel, associatesSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NALGONDA: Born in the land wheremany people believe that givingbirth to girl child is a curse, this 40-year-old landless Chenchu man,Dasari Anjaiah, from Chenchugu-dem in Chandampet mandal, hasdared to sell the source of his fam-ily income, a milch-buffalo, to helphis elder daughter Anitha (19) pur-sue her dream of becoming a teach-er.

Incidentally, Anitha is the firstChenchu tribal girl to complete In-termediate education from Nal-gonda district. After completingher Intermediate in 2013-14, the girlfailed to clear the entrance test toget admission to Teacher TrainingCourse (TTC), completion ofwhich would make her eligible forSecond Grade Teacher (SGT) post.

Finding that his daughter waspassionate to pursue the TTC atany cost, Anjaiah approached a pri-vate college in Devarakonda and

admitted Anitha in the manage-ment quota by selling his onlymilch-buffalo for Rs. 20,000 andborrowing some more money fromhis relative to pay the first yearfees. However, the family is finding

it difficult now to pay the secondyear fees as it neither holds landnor any property except a two-room house constructed under thegovernment's housing scheme.Anjaiah and his wife work as agri-

culture labourers.Apart from Anitha, her two

younger sisters — Akhila and An-kitha — are studying 9th and 6th

standards, respectively, in ModelSchool at Neredugommu. Anjaiahis also forced to bear expenses fortransportation of his two daugh-ters since the school has no hostelfacility.

Against all such odds, Anjaiahand his wife Edamma are deter-mined to support their daughters’education till they become em-ployable. Their second daughterAkhila is a good hand in paintingbut wants to become a doctorwhile Ankitha aims to study engi-neering.

Since Chandampet is a remotemandal in Nalgonda district, noteacher likes working there. But,Anitha wants to teach in Chenchuhabitations as she knows the diffi-culties of school-going childrenthere better than others, particu-larly outsiders.

Chenchu girl Dasari Anitha (left) and her younger sisters atChenchugudem of Chandampet mandal in Nalgonda districton Tuesday. — PHOTO: SINGAM VENKATARAMANANA

Chenchu man fights odds for daughter’s dreamT. KARNAKAR REDDY

BENGALURU: In what can betermed a pioneering steptowards making a mridangamsans animal skin used fordrumheads, the innovation ofBengaluru-based vocalist andscientist K. Varadarangan’s‘synthetic fibreglass shellmridangam’ with polyester filmsand rubber material used fordrumheads stands unique andprogressive.

The newer version also seemsto be travel-friendly weighingjust 5 kg, half of the traditionalmridangam made of jackfruitwood. “It took me nearly six toseven years of research as far asmaterial and manufacturing isconcerned,” says Dr.Varadarangan, who holds adoctorate in ‘MicrowaveAntennas’ from IIT Madras.

His core academic interestlies in cracking the physicsbehind sound and naada. Morespecifically, in understandingthe scientific energy and forcebehind ‘matter in music’.

Fibreglass shell is a knownresonator and even in the past,some mridangam vidwans havetried it for the fulcrum. But Mr.

Varadarangan’s research forproducing exactitudes of theCarnatic tonal rhythm withoutwood and animal skin not onlyhas the core in syntheticfibreglass shell, but has broughtin two sides of the drum headswith three-membranes ofsynthetic polyester filmsimported from China — with aspecial rubbery bonding worksout the much-required basstone.

“More than seven decadesago, Sir C.V. Raman declared hisresearched findings on therhythmic instrument thatapproximately explains that themridangam-naada produces

harmonic overtones withinteger ratio to thefundamentals. To hear these‘harmonic tones’ as establishedby Sir CVR, but on a syntheticmridangam manufactured byme without wood and animalskin, had been an all-timepassion in me,” says Dr.Varadarangan.

This synthetic ‘SRIMridangam’, as named by Dr.Varadarangan and just launchedin Bengaluru, is a mathematicalmodel bringing in stabilisedsounds with aesthetically doneup synthetic material strips foralignment on the sides.“Although the acoustic principle

is the same, the change is in thematerial and process. There is asound chemical-bonding,” hesays. “The rubbery materialbonds to the polyester filmthrough a chemical processwithout the use of adhesives.This is my key area of research,”he adds.

This mridangam comes in twovariants — G-pitch and C-pitch,while the two sufficiently coversnine semitones, as far as varyingsrutis (pitch) are concerned.Costing Rs. 8,000, the product islab-tested by the scientist at hisKarunya Musicals in Bengaluru.

“The pitch stability anddurability tests that had 35-lakhthumps on it along with datapoints on temperature andhumidity influences have beencomplete along with informalperformances at home,”declares Mr. Varadarangan. “Idon’t anticipate a major hurdle,but practical usage may throwup vital suggestions by stalwartsof the instrument, which Iwould be happy to incorporate,”he says. His earlier book ‘NaadaVignana Sampada’ on thescience of music, and his lateston Shrutibheda are veritableguides to students of music.

A synthetic mridangam sans animal skinRANJANI GOVIND

PROGRESSIVE INNOVATION: The synthetic fibreglass shell mridangamdesigned by vocalist and scientist Dr. K. Varadarangan of KarunyaMusicals in Bengaluru. — PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT