jalakam_Sept 22

A healthy lifestyle is one of the best defenses against various health-related problems as it promotes both physical and mental discipline, besides offering effective resistance to many ailments, said K. Narayana Kurup, eminent jurist and former Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court.

Justice Kurup was inaugurating the Mental Health Promotion and Lifestyle Diseases Prevention Programme at Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences in Thiruvalla on Tuesday.

According to him, health is not mere absence of disease, but, it symbolises a state of physical, social and mental well-being and nation can seldom co-exist with out healthy citizens.

“What is the purpose of engaging in a rat race to amass wealth at any cost and to become victims of anxiety, depression and a host of various other diseases ? We are not punished for our sins, but, we are punished by our sins. Many diseases like heart attack, cancer, diabetes, etc, that have become common in modern times are largely influenced by lifestyles such as poor diet, junk food, coupled with environmental pollution, use of tobacco, alcohol and so on,’’ said Justice Kurup.

He said tobacco has been identified as the main risk factor for stroke, heart attack and different kinds of cancer and the risk was considerably reduced, once you were out of the quicksand of tobacco by changing your lifestyle.

Sedentary lifestyle is also a contributing factor for diseases like diabetes and cardiac ailments. Diabetes, if left unattended, affects the whole body from head to toe. It is also a major risk factor for myocardial infarction.

Justice Kurup said alcohol was another villain that has emerged as a major health and social problem. “Alcohol injures people internally, externally and eternally and more people have been drowned in alcohol than in the oceans,’’ he added.

Lifestyle change

He said the first step one must take to enjoy good health was to change the way of living, beginning with food. We must eat what benefits the body, instead of eating only that benefits the palate.

We have to get ourselves relieved from the clutches of tobacco, alcohol and other addictive substances that play havoc with our health.

Exercise matters

Justice Kurup has also stressed the need for a positive change in modern man’s attitude towards exercise. For over several years now, walking has been regarded as the best exercise people of all ages could do unfailingly do on all days, he said.

He said it was a folly to think that exercise is associated with just muscle-building, forgetting the enormous benefits it produces for the mind. Exercise has the power to elevate the spirit creating a sense of well-being in the individual. Exercise improves mental fitness and now, there is scientific evidence that regular exercise can be more powerful than drugs to combat stress and tone-up muscles, he said.

Meditation

He said meditation has also got a positive impact on health. With the aid of meditation, even the most tenacious addiction would loose its hold over the victim. What happens in meditation is that the person gradually looses his obsessive identification with the pleasure of the body and the senses.

Justice Kurup said an optimistic mindset would go a long way in promoting mental health which was a sine-qua-non for a healthy living.

Prof Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, head of the Department of Psychiatry, presided over the function. Fr Abraham Mulamoottil, PIMS Chairman; Dr John Abraham, Pushpagiri Medical College principal, Dr Beena Bhasan, Pushpagiri Nursing College principal; Dr Fazal Mohammed, and Dr Elizabeth Kurien, also spoke.

Dr Kallivayalil said the mental health promotion programme would be held at PIMS on all Thursdays.

State’s first solar-powered campus, perhaps the first one of its kind in the whole country, is coming up in Thiruvalla.

Mar Athanasios College For Advanced Studies Thiruvalla (Macfast), the first private self-financing college in the State that had carved a special niche for becoming first on many fronts over the past one decade, is soon to add yet another feather on its cap of achievements by becoming the State’s first solar-powered campus.

Thanks to its visionary founder principal, Fr Abraham Mulamoottil and his successor, Fr Pradeep Vazhatharamalayil, for this praiseworthy achievement.

Innovation has always been hallmark of Macfast that had launched the State’s first campus-based community radio service, ‘Radio Macfast-90.4’ two years ago and the popular ‘Green and Clean City’ project a year ago.

Macfast has installed a 30 kw rooftop solar power plant envisaging an yearly production of 45,000 units (kilowatt hours) of electricity which could meet half of the annual power demand of the institution.

The design and installation of the solar power plant has been done the Hyderabad-based Radiant Solar Private Limited with approval and support from the Union Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and ANERT attached to Department of Power, Kerala.

According to Fr Vazhatharamalayil, Macfast has invested Rs 72 lakhs in the solar power project, that include Rs 22 lakhs towards capital subsidy from MNRE and Rs 37 lakhs in the form of low interest loan from State Bank of Travancore refinanced by NABARD.

“The project is significant not only in terms of its size and technical attributes, but also in terms of its demonstration to the community the ease with which solar generated power can be installed by small and medium enterprises for their financial and operational benefit, besides the wider ecological benefits to the society. This achievement by a post-graduate college producing the next generation of technocrats, community and business leaders stands as a model to the rest of the country,’’ says Fr Mulamoottil.

The system has got 27,600 Watts panels (Wp), 30 KW state of the art bi-directional charger capable of functioning as an interactive inverter with grid-tie capability, four-member charge controllers, a 19-inch rack and a central monitoring device package. The innovative campus-based solar power plant is Macfast’s answer to the demand for Green Energy.

Renewable energy that has little impact on the carbon footprint is the only viable solution to address the increasing energy needs of the country in an ecologically sustainable manner, said Fr Vazhatharamalayil.

The 25 kw plant in Thiruvananthapuram was the largest solar power plant in the State till the installation of the all new 30 kw solar power plant at Macfast.

Green Energy

The threats of global warming and climate change are being countered by a mushrooming of giant solar power plants all over the world.

Spain and Germany are in the forefront with installed capacities of 2232 mw and 1235 mw respectively. The 3 mw solar power plant in Kolar in Karnataka is the largest one of its kind in India.

The largest single photo voltaic plant with a capacity of 80 mw is in Sarina, Canada. The plant covers an area of 380 ha with 1.3 million thin film panels in an extent of 96.6 ha, says Mr Viswanath Nambiar, president of Radiant Solar Limited.

Government of India has recently launched the ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission aimed at promoting development and use of solar energy for power generation and other uses across the country. The Solar Mission will be implemented in three stages leading to power production to an installed capacity of 20,000 mw by the end of the 13th Five Year Plan in 2022, he adds.

Electricity Minister, Aryadan Mohammed, will inaugurate the solar power plant at Macfast as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the college on Saturday.

Documentary on Clean and Green City project released

Creating awareness among people of the importance of keeping the environment and surroundings clean and hygienic was vital in the effective implementation of any cleanliness drive, said Abraham Mulamoottil, chairman of the Pushpagiri Group of Institutions in Thiruvalla.

Fr. Mulamoottil was delivering the keynote address at a function held in connection with the release of a documentary on the Clean and Green City project, jointly sponsored by the Thiruvalla municipality and the Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies Thiruvalla (Macfast), at the college auditorium at Thukalasserry on Saturday.

He said man’s mad rush for worldly pleasures had already done irreparable damage to the nature and environment. “Excessive exploitation of natural resources and a neglectful attitude towards waste management had taken its toll on life on earth and it was high time that man realised his follies and took earnest efforts to conserve nature,” Fr. Mulamoottil said.

He said the Clean and Green City project was aimed at transforming the Central Travancore town of Thiruvalla into a clean and hygienic place, making it a role model to the rest of the State.

There should be a change in the mindset of the people to ensure effective implementation of the project. People should take management of the waste generated in their locality as a collective responsibility, he added. Disposal of the waste at its source itself was the most suitable one for a thickly populated place like Thiruvalla.

Documentary released

Fr. Pradeep Vazhatharamalayil, Macfast Principal, released a documentary on the Clean and Green City project by handing over a CD to municipal chairperson Lynda Thomas Vanchippalam on the occasion.

He called upon the people to stop littering of public places.

The idea behind the proposed ‘Clean City Green City Project’ was to ensure active cooperation and participation of the people in the waste management scheme, he said.

Addressing the meeting, K. Sudheer, municipal secretary, said ward-level screening of the documentary would be held soon as part of an intensive awareness environment campaign in the municipal limits.

Sheela Varghese, municipal standing committee (Health) chairperson; Mr Paul V.Mathew, project officer and Mr Vijith, programme convener, also spoke.

Excessive exploitation of natural resources has disturbed the rhythm of nature, leading to natural disasters and it is high time society make an effort for the conservation of nature, said Anto Antony, MP.

He was inaugurating a school-level awareness programme as part of the Green and Clean City project, jointly sponsored by Thiruvalla municipality and the Mar Athanaseos College For Advanced Studies, Thiruvalla, (Macfast) at Mar Thoma Residential School at Kutappuzha, near Thiruvalla, on Monday.

Indiscriminate dumping of waste at public places had been posing serious health risk even in rural Kerala and it was better to keep diseases away by maintaining a healthy environment, he added.

He said children should play a key role in making people aware of the importance of conservation.

Delivering the keynote address, Fr. Abraham Mulamoottil, chairman of the Pushpagiri Medical Society, said the very mission of the project was to make Thiruvalla a model, waste-free, green, clean, and healthy city by effectively implementing a viable, cost-effective and financially sustainable waste management system with active people’s participation.

“What is needed is a paradigm shift in the attitude of the community from the ‘not in my backyard’ (Nimby) syndrome to an ‘in my backyard (Imby) habit by enabling the local community to segregate and dispose of the waste at source itself,” he said

Mathew Chacko, municipal vice-chairman, presided over the function. He said the Clean and Green City project was targeted at management of waste at source itself.

M.M. Mathew, school Principal, Fr Pradeep Vazhatharamalayil, Macfast Principal, Paul V.Mathew, project co-ordinator, and George Mathew, Radio Macfast director, spoke.

Christian professional college managements federation stays away from talks

A seat-fee pact with managements of private self-financing colleges for admissions to the MBBS course this year remained tantalisingly out of reach for the State government on Tuesday as the Kerala Christian Professional College Managements Federation stayed away from talks convened here by the Cabinet subcommittee on self-financing colleges.

George Paul, spokesman of the federation, said the government did not specify the venue for the meeting even on Tuesday morning.

The Kerala Private Medical College Management Association and the Muslim Educational Society (MES) told the panel that they would sign a pact only if the government would make the federation and the Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences do so.

“There should be only one kind of social justice in Kerala,” MES president Fasal Gafoor told presspersons after the talks held at Mascot Hotel here. There should be one mode of admissions and one fee for all medical colleges. If the federation and the Amritha institute did not enter into an agreement with the government, the MES and the association would have to strike it out on their own.

Finance Minister K.M. Mani described Tuesday’s meeting as a “continued conversation” between the government and the managements. What could not be solved during the past five years could not be solved through two rounds of talks at a hotel.

“We do not have an Aladdin’s lamp with us to find a solution to this issue,” he replied to persistent questions from presspersons on the possibility of an agreement with different managements. The next round of talks would be held in a week’s time.

Sajan Prasad, secretary of the association, told presspersons that member managements had submitted two fee proposals to the government. The first proposal suggested an equal fee of Rs.3.5 lakh for all seats. Fifty percent of the seats would be for the government quota.

The second proposal drew inspiration from the Karnataka model which split the seats in minority institutions to 3:1 in favour of the managements. For non-minority institutions, the split would be 3:2 in favour of the managements.

‘Real issue’

Talking to The Hindu at Thiruvalla, Abraham Mulamoottil, chairman of the Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, said the controversy over admissions to the medical stream in self-financing colleges stemmed from a lack of understanding of the real issue. “We are ready to share with the government 50 per cent of the seats allotted for MBBS, postgraduate medical courses as well as various other professional courses, provided the State bears the additional financial burden towards the fee of students admitted in the government quota,” said Fr. Mulamoottil.

The controversy over admissions to undergraduate and postgraduate courses in self-financing medical colleges stems from a lack of understanding about the real issue, said Abraham Mulamoottil, chairman of the Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvalla.

“We are ready to share with the government 50 per cent of the seats allotted for MBBS, postgraduate medical courses as well as various other professional courses, provided the State bears the additional financial burden towards fees of students admitted in the government quota,” said Fr Mulamoottil.

According to him, the issue was purely a financial one that deserved prime consideration as it involved heavy investment. But, the government as well as the people seemed to have taken it as a political issue, disregarding the circumstances that prompted the State to permit self-financing professional colleges on a wider scale way back in 2001, he said.

Talking to The Hindu, Fr Mulamoottil said running a medical college by strictly adhering to the norms and guidelines prescribed by the Medical Council of India required heavy financial investment. The Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church set up the medical college not to make money, but as part of its social commitment to the Church members as well as society, he added.

Though the actual cost of education for the MBBS course at our college, as submitted through an affidavit before the Fee Regulatory Committee, is Rs. 4.32 lakh for every student, the college has accepted the Kerala High Court directive to fix the annual fee for MBBS course at Rs.3.5 lakh.

Fr Mulamootil said there were 17 self-financing medical colleges in the State and sharing 50 per cent MBBS seats at these colleges with the government would mean an addition of 850 seats to the government quota. The government is getting 850 more MBBS seats solely on account of issuing a no-objection certificate and that too with out making any investment at all, he adds.

He said the self-financing medical colleges would not object to allotting 50 per cent of medical seats to the government, provided the government remitted Rs. 29.75 crore every year towards the annual tuition fee. The government would have to pay Rs.148.75 crore towards tuition fee of 850 students for five years. The State should make the payment through a voucher system, he added.

It is also a fact that the government would have to make similar remittances for various other courses too in the self-financing mode, making it a heavy financial burden on the State in the course of time, Fr Mulamoottil said.

According to him, the government can explore the possibility of helping out the students through scholarship schemes, interest-free loans or mobilising a welfare fund for higher education. What was needed is a pragmatic and realistic approach to resolve the imbroglio prevailing in the State’s self-financing medical education sector, he said.

Mar Aththanasios College For Advanced Studies in Thiruvalla (Macfast), in association with the Confederation for Ayurvedic Renaissance Kerala Limited, will be hosting a three-day international symposium and congress on `Advances in herbal science and technology’, Biospectrum-2011, at the college auditorium in Thiruvalla from November 25 to 27.

Dr C. Balagopalan, Resident Dean of Macfast Bio-campus and Dr C. Maya Subramoni, head of Phytomedical Science and Technology, said the proposed symposium is aimed at bringing together scientists, technologists, medical practitioners, non-government organisations, educationalists, traditional healers, tribals, Ayurvedic physicians and drug manufacturers to a common platform.

They said the proposed herbal science congress would provide them a common forum for presenting their work, to access the present scenario on Phytomedical Science and Technology and to check out direction for its future use.

Fr Abraham Mulamoottil, Macfast principal, said the organisers are planning to arrange free herbal treatment for patients and a Phytomedical Science Expo to be held as part of the proposed herbal science congress.

According to Fr Mulamoottil, inspite of all its long tradition in Ayurvedic and herbal medicine, India has not been successful as an effective player in the international market for want of rigorous testing and certification procedures.

Dr Balagopal said the three-day event would showcase the rich heritage, wisdom and potentials of the herbal drugs of India. India is one among the 17 mega biodiversity nations in the world holding approximately eight per cent of the global biodiversity with about 45,000 species of plants, he said.

Valiathan to open the meet

Dr M.S.Valiathan, renowned cardiac surgeon and founder director of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, will inaugurate the proposed herbal science congress.

The symposium will begin with lectures on `Biodiversity, systematics and conservation of medicinal plants of India’ and `Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology’ on November 25 forenoon.

Those who wish to participate may contact the organising secretary, Bio-spectrum-2011, Macfast, Thiruvalla, Kerala-689101 (Phone: 0469-3058010, 09846011235, email: balagopal@macfast.org or mayasubramoni@macfast.org).

A three-day national symposium on ‘recent trends in algal biotechnology’ organised by the Mar Athanasios College For Advanced Studies Thiruvalla (Macfast) came to a close on Thursday. Fr. Abraham Mulamoottil, Principal, presided the valedictory function.


Maya Subramoni, scientist and head of the Centre for Algal Biotechnology at Macfast, said the symposium stressed the need for more research in the new branches of traditional medicine such as Ethanopharmacology, Reverse pharmacology, System biology and Metabolomics to evaluate and fully utilise the therapeutic efficacy of traditional drugs.


Medicinal properties of seaweeds like as anti-HIV effects, anti-tumour activity, potential contraceptive effects were reported at the symposium, stressing the importance of evaluating different varieties of seaweeds to identify the active components and synergetics in traditional medicine to make the formulation simple and cost effective, Dr. Subramoni said.

She said Chlorococcum, a fresh water alga, is a good source of the antioxidant â-carotene, which is found to inhibit tumour growth induced by Benzopyrene. More work was needed to identify the components responsible for anti-tumour effects. The various neutraceutical components in different algal sources should be identified and documented. In India, no agency had come forward with algal standard materials and hence this area of study should be initiated and strengthened, she added.

Dr. Subramoni said that algae play an important role in the dispersal, transformation and bio-accumulation of heavy metals and many organic xenobiotics such as Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins in marine environment. This area requires more attention to reduce the toxic effects of some of these pollutants.


She said improved technologies for farming of useful algal species like Arthrospira and Spirulina should be developed and propagated. It should be noted that some of the algae were potential sources of bio-fuel, she added.


Another outcome of the symposium was the standardisation of a methodology for continuous production of algal oil to be used as bio-fuel. A technology was developed to increase the growth rate of freshwater green algae Neochloris oleoabundans, utilised for bio-diesel production by mixotrophic growth, she said.


An Algae Museum was also opened at Macfast Bio-campus as part of the symposium on Thursday.

The Mar Athanasios College For Advanced Studies Thiruvalla (Macfast) will host a three-day national symposium on algal biotechnology from Tuesday.


In a statement here on Monday, Maya Subramoni, scientist and head of the Centre for Algal Biotechnology at Macfast, said the symposium would discuss the recent trends in algal biotechnology. It would bring together academics, scientists, scholars and researchers and provide them an opportunity to check out directions for future work in the field, Dr. Subramoni said.


The symposium would discuss algal biofuel, algal nanotechnology, algae as source of food, feed and nutraceutical, value-added products from algae, algae in ethnopharmacology, bio-prospecting of marine algae, algae as source of pigments, seaweed farming, recent trends in algal taxonomy, algae in industry and agriculture and see weed tissue culture.


Dr. P. Pushpangadan, director of the Krishnamurthy Institute of Algology, Chennai, will inaugurate the symposium on Tuesday forenoon. Cherian Ramanalil Corepiscopa of Malankara Orthodox Church will preside over the inaugural function


Fr. Abraham Mulamoottil, Macfast Principal, and C. Balagopalan, Resident Dean of Macfast Bio-Science Campus, will also address the meeting.


Prof. V. Krishnamurthy from Chennai, Dr. C.S.P. Iyer, IITMK, Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram; Dr. S. Shanmughasundaram of Madurai Kamaraj University, Prof. R. Rangasamy, director of the Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany in Chennai, Dr. N. Jeeji Bai, scientist from Chennai; Dr. G. Abraham from New Delhi and Dr. N. Anand, Vice-Chancellor of Vels University, would be among the invited speakers at the symposium.

Waste, if properly managed, is wealth, says Fr Abraham Mulamoottil, principal of Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies, Thiruvalla (MACFAST).


Fr Mulamoottil was addressing a seminar on environmental awareness and waste disposal, organised jointly by MACFAST and Thiruvalla municipality, at the municipal stadium in Thiruvalla on Tuesday.


He said proper management of the waste at its source itself was the best way to tackle the pollution problem in modern times.


Presiding over the seminar, Mr Cherian Polachirackal, municipal chairman, stressed the need for making the people aware of their social responsibility to desist from polluting their surroundings by dumping wastes.

He said the municipality would soon launch a public awareness campaign in association with MACFAST and various social organisations in the region in an effort to resolve the waste disposal problem in and around Thiruvalla.


Mr. Jose Philipose attached to Bodhana Social Service Society, Mr. Sasidharan Nair, environmentalist, Prof Varkey Mathew from Kottayam and Pampa Parirakshana Samiti general secretary, N.K. Sukumaran Nair, also spoke.


Mr. Anto Antony, MP, inaugurated the seminar, earlier, in the forenoon. Mr. Mathew T. Thomas, MLA and Dr. C. Balagopalan, resident dean of MACFAST Bio-campus, also addressed the inaugural function.


The two-day environmental awareness exhibition also came to a close at the municipal grounds, later, in the afternoon.

In an effort to make itself a role model in the field of higher education, Mar Athanasios College For Advanced Studies Thiruvalla (MACFAST), State’s first private self-financing college, is planning to make education free for all its students from the next academic year.

“Our idea is to elevate the college from the self-financing mode to a self-sustaining one, making the otherwise expensive advance studies absolutely free for all students here,’’ says the visionary college principal, Fr Abraham Mulamoottil.

Fr Mulamoottil told The Hindu that MACFAST has chalked out certain innovative programmes that include the proposed `Academy-Industry Interface’, `Corporate Badging’, `Corporate Scholar’, etc, as part of the project.

He said the idea is to implement the projects in a phased manner. As a pilot project, students who are willing to work at various campus enterprises at MACFAST will be selected for the Master of Computer Applications course from next academic year, he added. The programme would be extended to various other post-graduate courses, including MBA, Food Science and Technology, Bio-technology, Bio-Informatics, etc, in the subsequent years, he added.

“Introducing the positive aspects of the Western idea of `earn while you learn’ in a different style in the typical Indian context is the very objective of the MACFAST programme,’’ says Fr Mulamoottil.

He said MACFAST was working for an innovative academy-industry interface aimed at filling the gaps in the academic curriculum with various industry requirements, focusing on the employability of the students.

The mode of studies would also be redesigned in such a manner in terms of the professional aptitude and calibre of the students and in consultation with various corporate bodies that have shown keen interest in the proposed programme.

MACFAST with accreditation from AICTE and affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University offers MCA and MBA courses as well as PG programmes in Biosciences.

Inorder to impart training for students and to take academy to industry, MACFAST is planning to launch a series of educational joint ventures in association with certain companies at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, Geojit BNP Paribas, Geojit Technologies and Geneseek Inc in the United States, he said.

`Corporate badging’

Fr Mulamoottil said MACFAST will also introduce a `corporate badging’ scheme which could identify talented students with the right kind of aptitude, interest and passion that suit well to the requirements of the industry.

Kerala’s first campus-based community radio service at Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies in Thiruvalla (MACFAST) will be on the air on Sunday.

‘Radio Macfast-90.4’ will be the first community radio service (CRS) in Central Travancore, the second in the State and the 46th in the country.

MACFAST has successfully conducted test broadcasts from its 50 watt power transmitter that almost covers an aerial distance of 20 kilometres, says Fr Abraham Mulamoottil, the college principal, who promoted the novel project. “Radio Macfast with its wide range of diverse and interesting programmes is going to be a trendsetter in the CRS segment,” said Fr Mulamoottil.

According to him, community radio focuses on low cost and low return pattern of operation, aimed at educating and entertaining the community using its own idiom and language, in contrast to the private FM Radio, which is primarily driven by entertainment and business considerations. “Ultimately it will strengthen democratic institutions and practices, giving common people access to information”.

The mainstream media is unable to cater to the information needs of the community as it is primarily market-driven and run with a profit motive, he says. The question of CRS as an alternative media becomes relevant here. It must have space in terms of localisation of content, participation and involvement of the community, narrowing the differences between the broadcaster and the audience.

The students at the college will also get a chance to fine tune their talents through Radio Macfast, says Ms Anju Jacob, MBA student who has been selected as a radio jockey.

MBA students manage the marketing aspects of the CRS and almost the entire show will be run by MACFAST students under the guidance of experts.

Tagline

True to its tagline “Naattukarku koottayi”, Radio Macfast-90.4 will be a partner and friend of the local populace in all their endeavours, says Fr Mulamoottil.

Fr Mulamootil said the main focus of Radio Macfast would be on issues relating to regional news updates of socially relevant issues, women empowerment, agriculture, education, health, environment and rural development, imparting value education among children and youth, besides entertainment programmes.

He said MACFAST would also set up a chain of rural radio clubs in Central Travancore region so as to ensure maximum public participation and involvement in the radio programmes.

Launching ceremony

Moran Mor Baselius Cleemis Catholicos, Major Archbishop of Thiruvananthapuram will launch Radio Macfast at a function to be held at the college auditorium at 3 pm on Sunday. The Metropolitan Archbishop of Thiruvalla, Thomas Mar Coorilos, will preside over the launching ceremony.