Venkatraman receives Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Venkatraman "Venki" Ramakrishnan (Tamil: வெங்கட்ராமன் ராமகிருஷ்ணன்; born 1952 in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India) is a structural biologist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England.[1] He received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome
Early life
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was born in Chidambaram in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India.

At the age of nine he moved to Baroda (Vadodara) in Gujarat state, where his father was an academician at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, after first spending a year, 1960–61, in Adelaide, Australia. Following his Pre-Science back at Chidambaram he then returned to Baroda for his undergraduate studies at the university on a National Science Talent Scholarship, graduating with a B.Sc. in Physics in 1971. Immediately after graduation he moved to the U.S.A., where he obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from Ohio University in 1976. He then spent two years studying biology as a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego while making a transition from theoretical physics to biology.

Career
Ramakrishnan first began work on ribosomes as a postdoctoral fellow with Peter Moore at Yale University. He continued to work on ribosomes as a staff scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory. In 1995 he moved to the University of Utah as a Professor of Biochemistry, and in 1999, he moved to his current position at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England.

In 1999, Ramakrishnan's laboratory published a 5.5 Angstrom resolution structure of the 30S subunit. The following year, his laboratory determined the complete atomic structure of the 30S subunit of the ribosome and its complexes with several antibiotics. This was followed by studies that provided structural insights into the mechanism that ensures the fidelity of protein biosynthesis. More recently, his laboratory has determined the atomic structure of the whole ribosome in complex with its tRNA and mRNA ligands. Ramakrishnan is also known for his past work on histone and chromatin structure

Honours

Ramakrishnan is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a member of EMBO and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was awarded the 2007 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine, the 2008 Heatley Medal of the British Biochemical Society and the 2009 Rolf-Sammet Professorship at the Goethe University Frankfurt. In 2009, Ramakrishnan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath

Personal life
Ramakrishnan is married to Vera Rosenberry, an author and illustrator of children's books. He has a stepdaughter, Tanya Kapka, who is a doctor in Oregon, and a son, Raman Ramakrishnan, who is a cellist based in New York who plays with the Daedalus Quartet

Publications
link:http://www.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/ribo/homepage/ramak/ramak_publications.html

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Velankanni Church

Velankanni(Tamil:வேளாங்கன்னி,Meaning:Virgin of Velai,the town), also known as Vailankanni or "Velanganni", is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a small town located on the shores of the Bay of Bengal 350 km south of Chennai (Madras) and 12 km south of Nagapattinam on the Coromandel Coast, in Tamil Nadu, India.

Once a port that traded with Rome and Greece, the tiny commercial center gradually lost its importance to the larger Nagapattinam. The canal built to link that city with Vedaranyam still lies to the west of Vailankanni. The Vellayar, a minor branch of the Cauvery River, runs on the south of the village and flows into the sea.

The site of an important Roman Catholic shrine dedicated to Our lady of Good Health, Vailankanni was one of the worst hit areas in the tsunami that followed the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health
Main article: Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health
Velankanni can be traced to the mid-16th century and is attributed to three miracles: the apparition of Mary and the Christ Child to a slumbering shepherd boy, the curing of a lame buttermilk vendor, and the rescue of Portuguese sailors from a violent sea storm.

Although all three apparitions resulted in the erection of a shrine to our Lady, it was the promise of the Portuguese sailors that caused a permanent edifice to be built at Velankanni. The chapel was dedicated on the feast of the Nativity of Mary (8 September), the day of their safe landing. More than 500 years later, the nine-day festival and celebration is still observed and draws nearly 2 million pilgrims each year. The Shrine of Our Lady of Vailankanni, also known as the "Lourdes of the East," is one of the most frequented religious sites in India. Vailankanni church (Our Lady of Good Health) was built in the late 16th century CE with modifications by Portuguese and further expansions later on due to influx of pilgrimages.

The Gothic style of architecture is a unique feature of the church. The church itself is an imposing building with inspiring architecture. While the buildings have been painted white, roof of the church is made by the tiles with striking red in contrast to the colour of the walls. The environment around the shrine is spick and span radiating rays of hope and piety.

As a token of gratitude to Mother Mary, Portuguese sailors who escaped from a severe cyclone, built the chapel 24 feet to 12 feet with a dome overhead. In their possible subsequent visits, perhaps they brought porcelain plates, which could be seen even now illustrating bible scenes and other cultural arts of the time, to beautify the Church they had built earlier. The main statue that they had brought to the altar of the Shrine was Our Lady holding the Baby Jesus, standing majestically on the globe.

In the year 1771, Vailankanni acquired the status of a Parish with Fr. Antonio de Rozario as the First Parish Priest.

Vailankanni church was raised to the status of basilica in 1962 by His Holiness Pope John XXIII.

Festivals are celebrated here with all pomp and gaiety. Every year on August 29th the feast of our lady commences with the hoisting of the flag and on the 10th day it ends after the dismounting of the flag. A conservative estimate of the crowd is around 1.5 million on these days (Fifteen hundred thousands). Hotels and houses will be overcrowded during these days and people used to sleep in the open air. Holy masses are conducted in at least eight languages, Tamil, English, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Konkani, Hindi and Marathi.

The Government, for security duty of the feast sends a contingent of 500 police officers, 10 DSPs, 25 Inspectors, 40 SISs and 60 women police. Over and above the Shrine spends enormous amount of money in deploying additional watchmen, sweepers and other work force. A sizable sum is also spent in supplying potable water, and keeping the place clean.

The shrine built a big hall of Museum to display the offerings. Periodically this is changed and the new ones are kept in the showcases.

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Dhanushkodi

Dhanushkodi or Dhanushkoti (Tamil : தனுஷ்கோடி) is a town/village at the southern tip of the Rameswaram island, at the eastern coast of the Tamil Nadu state of India.

Dhanushkodi is situated in the South-East of Pamban. Danushkodi is about 18 miles West of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The Dhanushkodi railway line was destroyed in the 1964 cyclone from Pamban Station and a trainload of passengers was washed into the sea.

Hindu Mythology

Hindu myth says that at the request of Vibeeshana, brother of Ravana and ally of Rama, Rama broke the Sethu with one end of his bow and hence the name Dhanushkodi, Dhanu meaning Bow and Kodi meaning end. It is also said that Rama marked this spot for Setu with one end of his famous bow. Bath in holy Sethu at the junction of the two seas normally precedes the pilgrimage to Rameswaram. A series of rocks and islets found in a line are shown as remnants of the ancient Setu also called as Rama's Bridge.

It is said that Pilgrimage to Kashi will be completed only after the worship at Rameswaram besides a holy bath in Dhanushkodi at the Confluence of Mahodadhi (Bay of Bengal) and Ratnakara (Indian Ocean). Setu is Sanskrit word to denote bridge or causeway. It has now acquired a special significance to mean the bridge across the ocean constructed by Rama to reach Lanka.

1964 Storm
Before 1964 storm there was a train service up to Danushkodi called Boat Mail from Chennai Egmore, the train linked to a steamer to Ceylon. During the 1964 storm a huge wave of about 20 ft came crashing on the town from Palk Bay/Strait east of the town and destroyed the whole town, a train, the Pamban Rail Bridge etc all happened at the dead of the night. Danushkodi has the only land border between India and Ceylon which is one of the smallest in the world just 50 yards in length on a sand dune in Palk Strait.

The Government of Madras declared the town as Ghost town and unfit for living after the storm, now a small group of fisher folk resides there. For reaching the village one has to go in a four wheel drive or in a fish cart.


Memorial for Dhanushkodi Victims
A memorial erected near the dhanushkodi bus stand reads as follows: "A cyclone storm with high velocity winds and high tidal waves hit Dhanushkodi town from 22nd December 1964 midnight to 25th December 1964 evening causing heavy damages.

On December 22nd at 23.55 hours while entering Dhanushkodi railway station the train no.653 Pamban Dhanushkodi Passenger which left Pamban with 110 passengers and 5 railway staff was hit by the cyclonic storm and high tidal waves and the whole train got submerged under water killing all 115 on the spot.


In addition over 200 people in dhanushkodi died in the cyclonic storm.

All dwelling houses in Dhanushkodi were blown to pieces in the storm and marooned.

Pamban bridge was washed away by the high tidal waves in this disas

Travel
Even though the railway line was laid between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi, it was in course of time covered by six sand dunes and it was abandoned. One has to reach Dhanushkodi on foot along sea shore or in jeeps on sand dunes.

There are several temples associated with Lord Rama here. It is advisable to go during day to the village and return to Rameshwaram before Sun set as the entire 15 km stretch is very lonely and the place is notorious for drug peddling, trafficking, rape, waylaying and robbery after dark and most of the refugee boats from Sri Lanka arrive and land here during night also militant boats from Ceylon dock here for human and material trafficking.[citation needed] However, there are no reports to confirm these activities, apart from experiences shared by the locals. Tourism is budding in this area and a significant police presence to protect the visitors is there.

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