Vivekananda College

Vivekananda College, named after Swami Vivekananda, was inaugurated on 1st July 1946 by Professor, Philosopher and President of India-to-be, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. It is located at Mylapore, in the centre of Chennai, India on 20 acres (81,000 m²).

Founding of the college

The College was founded with the help of a group of philanthropists and educationists [ [http://www.geocities.com/vivekadiamond2006/about.html Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai ] ] , the prime mover being M.Subbaraya Aiyar , at that time a prominent income tax lawyer of Madras who was the founding Secretary from 1947 to 1960. Mr. Subbaraya Aiyar also co-founded two other educational Institutions, Vidya Mandir in Mylapore and the Madras Institute of Technology in Chromepet. Vivekananda College was subsequently handed over to the sole control of Ramakrishna Mission and was eventually renamed Vivekananda College, a unit of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Chennai. It offers instruction in English medium and admits only men students.

Affiliation and accreditation

The College has been accredited with B++ grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in 2003. The College has been granted "Autonomous" status by University Grants Commission [ [http://www.ugc.ac.in/inside/auto_coll_c.html#madras ::: Inside H E - University Grants Commission ::: ] ] , New Delhi in the academic year 2004-05 to all the courses up to M.Phil Degree. It is affiliated to the University of Madras [ [http://www.unom.ac.in/news/mphilnoti.html University Of Madras ] ] and provides Arts, Science and Commerce courses at the Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral levels.

Infrastructure

The College has today a Main Block, a Math Block, a Life Sciences Block, a Sanskrit Block, the Obul Reddy Auditorium Block, an Open Air Theater, a Library Block with 87,000 books in the day college and 8,000 in evening college, a Sports Complex and a Prayer Hall. The College also has a lush green turf Cricket Ground, Tennis Court and well equipped Gymnasium. Computer labs have online internet facilities. An evening college offering various programmes under unaided pattern was opened in 1974. The current principal of the institution is G. Sreenivas Prabhu

Training to youth

The College authorities have introduced National Cadet Corps, National Social Service, Youth Red Cross and Rotary Wings for the students. Youth are trained in conducting night schools, laying the roads, educating slum dwellers, service to handicapped, tree plantation, health programmes etc.

National Cadet Corps

It turned out to be a memorable day for the National Cadet Corps NCC of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College as several former cadets and NCC officers shared their experience at the golden jubilee of the college’s NCC unit, ‘Viveka NCC’ recently.Principal in-charge G. Sreenivas Prabhu said it was a significant occasion for the college, as the golden jubilee of the NCC unit and the diamond jubilee of the founding of college were celebrated simultaneously. College secretary Atmaghananada participated. It was only looked at as a feeder to army forces. Now, character-building of the cadets formed an important part of the NCC training, he said. About 13 lakh students were part of the NCC across the nation, of which one lakh were from Tamil Nadu. Pointing out that there was tremendous potential in the students, it is properly channelised for the nation’s welfare.

Courses

The College runs 11 graduate and 7 postgraduate programmes in the day college and 8 graduate and 2 postgraduate programmes in the evening college.

Undergraduate

*B.Com
**General
**Corporate Secretaryship (Evening College only)
**Accounting & Finance (Evening College only)
**Bank Management (Evening College only)
*B.A
**Economics
**Historical studies
**Philosophy
**English
**Sanskrit
*B.Sc
**Mathematics
**Physics
**Chemistry
**Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology
**Advanced Zoology and Bio Technology
**Computer Science (Evening college only)
**Bio Chemistry (Evening college only)
*B.B.A (Evening College only)
*B.C.A (Evening College only)

Post Graduate

*M.A
**Economics
**Philosophy
**Sanskrit
*M.Sc
**Mathematics
**Physics
**Chemistry
**Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology
**Information Technology (Evening College only)
*M.Com (Evening College only)

Research Degrees

*M.Phil
*Ph. D

Research hub

The Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith conducts two research institutes – Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology and Vivekananda Institute of Algal Technology (VIAT). VIVEKANANDA INSTITUTE OF ALGAL TECHNOLOGY (VIAT)The Vivekananda Institute of Algal Technology (VIAT [http://www.geocities.com/viat06] was inaugurated by Swami Satyapriyananda, Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Mylapore, Chennai, in April 2006.Dr. V. Sivasubramanian [http://www.geocities.com/drvsiva] (Dr. VSS) of the Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology is the Director of the Institute and Dr. V. V. Subramanian (Dr. VVS), Head of the Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology and the Principal of the College, is the Joint Director of VIAT.Dr. VSS has been actively involved in algal research in the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College from 1988. He has produced three Ph.D.s and 15 M.Phil. scholars. At present he is guiding 6 Ph.D. candidates and 2 M.Phil. students. He has published 24 research articles in reputed scientific journals and organized many symposia and workshops in the field of algology in the college. Dr. VSS is the Founder Secretary of Limnological Society of India. He involved himself and his team in treating the effluents from various industries including Orchid Pharmaceuticals, Chennai, SNAP Natural and Alginate Products, Ranipet, Ultramarine Pigments Ltd., Ranipet, STAHL India Ltd., Ranipet, using phycoremediation. Based on the success of this new technology, many industries such as the Wheels India, for instance, are seeking solutions for effective effluent treatment through phycoremediation. Dr. VSS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chennai based Indo-Japan joint venture company M/s Nichi-In Biosciences (P) Ltd., for a multifaceted research project with emphasis on microbial biotechnology and environment safety to (i) develop technology for environment friendly plastic materials, (ii) find ways to safely dispose the plastic materials using microbes, and (iii) develop and validate polymers useful for water conservation in agriculture and horticulture. This project is being technically supported by and represented by Japanese institutes like Waseda University, Yamanashi Medical University and Mebiol Inc, whose Indian operation is headed by Dr. Samuel J. K. Abraham, a cardiac surgeon. Prof. Mori Yuichi of Waseda University, Japan, Dr. Yoshioka Hiroshi of Mebiol Inc., the scientists participating in this collaboration developed various polymers for water conservation and microbial degradable plastic materials would provide the technological support. On 7th March 2006, Dr. N. Thajuddin, Reader, National Facility for Cyanobacteria, Bharathidasan University, gave a talk on “DNA Finger Printing” and inaugurated the PCR machine donated to the institution. The Algal Technology unit organized a National Symposium on “Algae and Environment” in collaboration with Krishnamurthy Institute of Algology during September 2005. On the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, the institute in collaboration with the Krishnamurthy Institute of Algology will hold a National Symposium on “Algal Biodiversity and Its Role in Bioremediation” during 23-25th September 2006.Dr. VVS will be retiring on 31 May 2007. Even after retirement, Dr. VVS will continue to work for the Institute. Dr. VSS also has resolved to work as the Director of the Institute after retirement. Dr V Sivasubramanian has also signed an MOU with Algaenergy International to develop technology for producing biodiesel from micro algae. AN MOU has also been signed with SUNTEX Processing Mills PVT LTD, Chennai to treat their effluent using algal technology

Mathematics at Vivekananda College

The college is very famous for its Mathematics Department. It is widely regarded as the best Mathematics Department among all colleges in Tamil Nadu. The Department was nurtured in its infancy by Prof. Raghava Sastry and Dr. P.R.Vittal and to date has produced many stalwarts in the field of mathematics. Noted areas of research in the department are Number Theory, Applied Statistics, Representation Theory, Algebra, Functional Analysis, Topology & Algebraic Geometry. The Department conducts monthly seminars and colloquiums and hosts a yearly international conference in a particular area of Mathematics. Due to its excellence, it enjoys funding and support from the UGC, National Board of Higher Mathematics, Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India and Govt. of Tamil Nadu.

Notable Alumni

The College has an impressive alumni data base.
* P Ragunathan, Senior Vice-President, IndusInd Bank, Chennai
* TV.Shankaranarayanan, Padmashree and Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by Madras Music Academy
* S. Venkataraghavan ,Former Cricket player & Umpire.
* Ramesh Krishnan in Tennis and Ravi Kumar in Chess
* Dr. Y. V. Reddy, Governor of Reserve Bank of India
* Cho Ramaswamy, MP and popular Journalist
* Jai Shankar, Popular Tamil Actor
* Dr. M. S. Ananth, Director, Indian Institute of Technology Chennai
* Thiagarajan Ramani, Popular Carnatic Flautist and Violinist
* Suresh Thiagarajan, Noted Carnatic Flautist
* Dr. S. P. Tyagarajan, Vice-Chancellor, University of Madras
* Harish Ragavendra, Popular Singer of Tamil and Telugu Films.
* Unni Krishnan, Popular Singer of Tamil Film
* Sikkil Gurucharan, Popular Carnatic Vocalist
* Anil Srinivasan, Well-known international Pianist
* Prithvi Kumar, Noted Drummer and Percussionist
* Dr. M.A.M Ramasamy, Industrialist
* S.Gurumurthy,Indian Express Colourmnist
* R.Nataraj IPS, former Commissioner of Police,Chennai City
* S.Ramanan, Mathematician, TIFR
* M.S.Raghunathan FRS, Mathematician, TIFR
* Alladi Krishnaswami, Mathematician & Chairman of Dept. of Mathematics,Univ.of Florida,Gainesville
* R.Sridharan, Mathematician, TIFR
* Crazy Mohan, Dramatist & script writer
* Sankaranarayanan Ramasundaram, Business / Database Analyst, Bangalore
* T.S.Narayanaswamy, Chairman & Managing Director,Bank Of India
* N. Vijay Siva, Popular Carnatic Vocalist
* R.K. Sriramkumar, Popular Carnatic Violinist
* T.M.Krishna, Popular Carnatic Singer
* Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Popular Carnatic Musician
* K. B. CHANDRASEKHAR, CEO and Chairman Jamcracker and is also co-founder and Chairman of e4e Services Inc., a global business process outsourcing company.
* Anand Jayaraman PMP, Director - PMI Kerala, Delivery Head for a Dubai based IT MNC
* M.S.Sundarajan, chairman & Managing Director - Indian Bank
* S.Jayaraman, chairman & Managing Director - Neyveli Lignite Corporation
* Venkataswami, Supreme Court Judge (retd)
* E.S.L.Narasimman, Former Director Intelligence Bureau, Governor of Chattisgarh.
* Rajaram Krishnan, Assoc. Professor of Economics at Earlham College - A God-like EC Prof -
* K.Srikanth, Former Cricket Player
* L.Sivaramakrishnan, Former Cricket Player
* L.Balaji, Cricket Player.
* K.Ganapathy, Former Ranji Trophy player
* Hemang Badani, India and Tamil Nadu Cricket Player
* RC Vasanth Kumar, Tamil Nadu Cricket Player
* Thiru Kumaran, India and Tamil Nadu Cricket Player
* Mr. Sairam Sridharan, Software Engineer
* Balaji.A, BPO Technician
* Annapoorna Kini, Cardiologist, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City

Events

* The College celebrated Silver Jubilee in 1971 and Golden Jubilee in 1996. Diamond Jubilee started from 12th January 2006 and will be concluded in January 2007.
* As a part of its diamond jubilee celebrations, the Vidyapith organized a two-day exhibition, Enrich-2006 on 6 and 7 October. The exhibition highlighted the activities of the centres of Ramakrishna Sangha, the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda, and the recent developments in science, commerce and humanities. Nearly 1500 students from the neighbouring schools visited the exhibition.----

Vivekananda College, Madurai

Vivekananda College is the name of an autonomous college of Arts and Sciences in Thiruvedagam in Madurai district. [http://www.ugc.ac.in/inside/alphareco_college.php?resultpage=2&st=V ::: Colleges - University Grants Commission ::: ] ] It was founded in 1971 by Swami Chidbhavananda and is managed by Ramakrishna Tapovanam. It is by far the only registered Gurukula institute of Life training in modern India. [http://www.hindu.com/edu/2005/01/10/stories/2005011000730300.htm The Hindu : Education Plus Madurai : A `gurukula' for life training ] ] The National Assessment and Accreditation Council has given the `A' grade for the college.

Ramakrisha Tapovanam in Tiruvedagam West also manages Vivekananda Higher Secondary School and Narendra Nursery school in the same campus and Vivekananda Matriculation School in Sholavandan.

References

This college is Gurukula life training college. Special attractions in this college areDaily four times prayerCompulsory Physical activities like (Physical jerks, YOGA, Sports)Very unique optional attractions like Silambam and Gymanstics which are rarely found in any other college.

All the courses are for Gents only.

Vivekananda Higher secondary school is also running in the same campus and managed by same Management which are governed by Swamijis.

External links

* [http://www.viveka.org/ Vivekananda College Home Page]

Notes