RAMAKRISHNA MISSION VIVEKANANDA COLLEGE (DAY)

The College started functioning in 1946 with 320 students and 30 staff members. The College had 1492 undergraduate, 155 postgraduate, 19 M.Phil. and 34 Ph.D. students on its rolls with faculty strength of 75 aided staff and 27 management staff as on 31.3.2006. There were 35 aided non-teaching staff and 5 management non-teaching staff. A sum of Rs. 34,36,458.50 was spent towards management staff.

 

THE COURSES OFFERED AT PRESENT:

The Day College, autonomous and affiliated to the University of Madras, offers courses of study in various disciplines leading to B.A. / B.Sc. / B.Com. / M.A. / M.Sc. / M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees. It offers five under-graduate courses in Humanities and Languages, five in Physical and Natural Sciences and one in Commerce with two sections. P.G. courses are offered in three Humanities and four Science disciplines. The University of Madras recognizes some of the Science, Humanities and Language departments as Research Departments. These departments are: Botany, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Economics, Philosophy and Sanskrit.

Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College is one of the very few colleges that still caters to higher and advanced studies in subjects like Philosophy and Sanskrit. The College has a reputation for maintaining exemplary discipline in the campus and for achieving consistently high standards of academic performance.

 

RELIGION CLASSES

Religion classes, which are the special feature of our college, were inaugurated by Srimat Swami Gautamanandaji Maharaj, President, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, on 8th August 2005 coinciding with the celebration of Swami Ramakrishnananda Jayanti. The panel of speakers at the prayer hall for the I and II year UG students consisted of Dr. A. Rangadurai, Dr. S. N. Sukumar, Dr. R. Ramachandran, Dr. K. M. Bapuji, Dr. M. A. Manickavelu and Prof. P. Poongundran. These speakers delivered lectures on the lives and teachings of the Holy Trinity. Dr. R. Ramachandran of the Department of Sanskrit handled the religion classes for the I and II year PG students.  Classes for the III year UG students were conducted in their respective classrooms.

 

Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi Jayanthi celebrations were held in the prayer hall on 28th December 2005.  Swami Satyapriyananda, the Secretary of the College, delivered the Jayanthi Address.

 

Swami Vivekananda Jayanthi celebrations were inaugurated by Swami Satyapriyananda, the Secretary of the college, in the prayer hall on 13th January 2006.

 

Sri Ramakrishna Jayanthi celebrations were held in the prayer hall on 3rd March, 2006.  Swami Satyapriyananda, the Secretary of the college, delivered the Jayanthi address.

 

Religion Examination was conducted on 13th March 2006 and there was overwhelming response from the students.  

 

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA JAYANTHI CELEBRATIONS, 2006

 

Swami Vivekananda Jayanthi Celebrations co-ordinated by Dr. A. Rangadurai and Dr. Kallay Prasanth,  commenced this year on 12th January with a flag hoisting ceremony at 9.00 A.M. As part of these celebrations, under the auspices of the NSS unit, NCC unit, Rotaract Club and Youth Red Cross of our college, blood donation camps were organized on 12th and 13th January and 2nd February 2006. 861 units of blood were donated by students and staff of the college, both day and evening, to render help to patients needing blood in Government Hospitals.

 

On the same day Rangoli Competition and Photography Contest were held. The Jayanthi Celebrations were formally inaugurated by Srimat Swami Satyapriyananda, Secretary of the College, at 9 A.M., on 13th January. Rangoli and Photographic Exhibition were declared open by the Secretary. The members of the Photographic Club, under the guidance of Dr. S. Swaminathan, Head, Department of Zoology, took active part in the Photographic Exhibition. It was an interesting display of places, personalities and events connected with the lives of the Holy Trinity. On the 30th and 31st January 2006, an Eye Camp was organized by NSS and the Share Vision Trust.

 

A Kavi Arangam was conducted on 17th January 2006. On the same day, a Devotional Songs Competition on the Holy Trinity was held. On 19th January, Oratorical Competitions were held in English, Tamil, Sanskrit, Hindi and Telugu. Swami Nishkamananda Memorial Prize Examination was held on 20th January 2006. The examination was based on the chapters, “Sages of India”, “The Future of India” and “The Common Bases of Hinduism” from the book Lectures from Colombo to Almora.

 

Life and Teachings of Swami Vivekananda was the theme for the Inter-Collegiate Quiz conducted on 20th January 2006. Dr T. K. Naganathan, Head of the Department of Historical Studies, was the Quiz Master. An Audio-Visual Presentation Competition on the theme “Nation Building and Youth” was held on 23rd January 2006.

 

Three new events were introduced this year. A talk-a-minute competition on the topic “Ideals of Swami Vivekananda” was held on 18th January. A Skit competition on the teachings and parables of Sri Ramakrishna was held on 25th January. A Debate on the theme “The Easier Path to Attain Divinity – Devotion or Service” was held on 24th January as an Intra-Collegiate event. Dr. V. V. Subramanian, Principal of the College, was the Judge.

 

In all, 54 college teams with 191 participants took part in this year’s competitions. Rolling Shield to the best team, books to Prize Winners and certificates to all the participants were given in the Valedictory Function held on 3rd February 2006.

 

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA STUDY CIRCLE 2005-06

 

The activities of the Swami Vivekananda Study Circle, co-ordinated by Dr. A. Rangadurai, Department of Chemistry, and Dr. Kallay Prasanth, Department of Sanskrit, were inaugurated by the Secretary, Swami Satyapriyananda on 4th July 2005. Principal, Dr. V. V. Subramanian delivered the keynote address which was thought provoking and inspiring.

 

Passages were read out from the books Lectures from Colombo to Almora and Swami Vivekananda – A biography by Swami Nikhilananda, and the students were asked to react to and discuss the matters relating to Swamiji’s life and teachings. Students took part in the discussions with zeal and fervour. Alumni of this college who are volunteering in various camps, both educational and health, also delivered speeches and inspired the members of the Study Circle during the classes which were conducted between 12:20 P.M. and 12:55 P.M. every III day order.

 

J.J.Goodwin Scholarship Examination was conducted on the topic “Do you regard Swami Vivekananda as the ideal for Modern Youth?” A record number of 156 students, day and evening, wrote the examination. Prizes and books were distributed by the Secretary, during the Valedictory Function of the Study Circle held on 16th March 2006.

 

Members of the Study Circle officiated as volunteers during the 143rd Jayanthi Celebrations of Swami Vivekananda held in January-February 2006.

 

            Ten members of the Study Circle paid a visit to Vivekanandar Illam on the Marina on the 4th of March along with the co-ordinators and received the blessing of Swami Sahajananda in the Illam.

 

STAFF

Dr. K. Rajasekaran retired as HoD of Tamil in the beginning of this academic year. Dr. N. S. Venkatasubramanian, HoD, Physics, Prof. K. Natarajan, of Physics and Dr. Appan Ramanujam, HoD of Philosophy are retiring  this academic year after serving the Institution for more than 3 decades with distinction and merit.

 

Dr. K. M. Bapuji took charge as HoD of Tamil and Prof. B. Suresh as HoD of English Department.

 

Prof. B. Suresh, HoD of English and Dr. Kanaga Sabesan Nagarajan, Reader, of Economics and Prof. V. Sridharan, Lecturer SG of Commerce Dept have been nominated to the Academic Council of the autonomous setup.

 

An autonomous Grant of Rs. 5 lacs was received as advance from the UGC for this year.

 

Dr. C. S. Radhakrishnan received a travel grant of Rs.16,963 from the UGC to visit Hong Kong.

 

Prof. B. S. Balakumar of the Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology has availed leave on Faculty Development Programme from 1st March 2005 to 28th February 2006.

 

CONVOCATION

The Convocation was held on 28 February 2006 with Srimat Swami Gautamananda, President of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, as the Chief Guest. He gave the convocation address and distributed the certificates. Swami Satyapriyananda conferred the degrees.

A total of 665 students, which includes UG, PG, and M.Phil., appeared for the final University of Madras Examination 2005, of which 434 students passed amounting to 65.3%. Of these, 254 students secured First Class (60.8%). 373 students attended the convocation in person and 58 received their degrees in absentia.

 

UNIVERSITY RANKS

The following graduates secured first ranks in the University Examination 2005.

 

M.A. Philosophy          M. Vijayasarathy

M.A. Sanskrit               V. V. Magesh

B.A. Economics          Azad Bali

B.A. Sanskrit               Arun Srivatsan

B.Com.                        M. R. Mahesh Raj

B.Sc. Chemistry         S. Bharathwaj

B.Sc PB and PB         Karthik Subramanian

 

ACHIEVEMENTS BY OUR STUDENTS

Ramakrishna Mission, Belur, gave the consolation prize for Human Excellence Award to Sri C. Karthik  Subramanian. This scholarship was received through the Headquarters.

Four other students, Sri Tamilarasu, II M.A. Economics, Sri K. Suresh Balaji, III B.Sc. Chemistry, Sri K. Arun, III B.Sc. Physics, and Sri V. Balamurugan, III B.Sc. Mathematics, received a sum of Rs. 1200/- each from the Headquarters at Belur.

A gold medal for the student getting the highest marks among all undergraduate students of the college was awarded to Thiru M.R. Mahesh Raj, B.Com. (2002-2005).

 

DIAMOND JUBILEE SPECIAL ESSAY COMPETITION:

On the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of the College, a special essay competition on the following themes was held for the students of the Day College:

 

1)      Swami Vivekananda and Nation Building,

2)      Swami Vivekananda on the Efficacy of Prayer,

3)      Swami Vivekananda on Practical Vedanta,

4)      Swami Vivekananda on the Harmony of Yogas, and,

5)      Swami Vivekananda as the Inspirer of Indian Freedom Movement.

 

Sri Akhilash, III B.Sc. Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology, received the first prize of Rs. 2000/- in addition to the complete works of Swami Vivekananda.

 

A similar essay competition was held for the staff of the Day College on the following topics:

 

1)      What impresses me in Swami Vivekananda,

2)      Relevance of Swami Vivekananda for Modern India,

3)      Swamiji on meditation and its methods,

4)      Swamiji’s Philosophy — An inspiration for the modern youth, and,

5)      Swami Vivekananda, the visionary.

 

Prof. K.N. Ranganathan, Head of the Department of Mathematics, wrote the best essay