Vivekananda College
Encyclopedia
Ramakrisna Mission Vivekananda College, named after Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...

, was inaugurated on 21 June 1946 by professor, philosopher, and politician, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan , OM, FBA was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He was the first Vice President of India and subsequently the second President of India ....

. It is in Mylapore
Mylapore
Mylapore is a cultural hub and neighborhood in the southern part of the city of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, India. Earlier, Mylapore used to be called Vedapuri....

, the centre of Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 on 20 acres (81,000 m²). The principal of is Dr. S. Swaminathan.

Founding of the college

The college was founded with the help of a group of philanthropists and educationists, the prime mover being M. Subbaraya Aiyar, then a prominent income tax lawyer of Madras
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

 and the founding secretary from 1947 to 1960. Aiyar also co-founded two other educational institutions: Vidya Mandir
Vidya mandir
Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School is a school in India, situated in the southern city of Chennai. Founded in 1956 by M. Subbaraya Aiyar, Smt. Subbalakshmi Ammal and Mrs. Padmini Chari, the school recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. It follows the Central Board of Secondary Education...

 in Mylapore and the Madras Institute of Technology
Madras Institute of Technology
The Madras Institute of Technology is an engineering institute located in Chromepet, Chennai , India. It is one of the four autonomous constituent colleges of Anna University. It was started in 1949 by Mr. C. Rajam as the first self-financing engineering institute in the country, and later it...

 in Chromepet. Vivekananda College was subsequently handed over to the sole control of Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations which form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as Ramakrishna Movement or Vedanta Movement. The Ramakrishna Mission is a philanthropic, volunteer organization founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on...

 and renamed Vivekananda College, a unit of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Chennai. It offers instruction in English and admits only male students.

Affiliation and accreditation

The college has been accredited with B++ grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council
National Assessment and Accreditation Council
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council is an organization that assesses and accredits institutions of higher education in India. It is an autonomous body funded by University Grants Commission of Government of India headquartered in Bangalore.-History:NAAC was established in 1994 in...

 (NAAC) in 2003. The college has been granted autonomous status by the University Grants Commission
University Grants Commission (India)
The University Grants Commission of India is a statutory organisation set up by Union government in 1956, for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education. It provides recognition for universities in India, and provides funds for government-recognised...

, New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

 in 2004-05 to all the courses up to M.Phil degree. It is affiliated to the University of Madras
University of Madras
The University of Madras is a public research university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the three oldest universities in India...

 and provides arts, science and commerce courses at the Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral levels.

Infrastructure

The college has 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 the evening college, a sports complex and a prayer hall. The college also has a turf cricket ground, tennis court and gymnasium. Computer labs have Internet facilities. An evening college was opened in 1974.

Training to youth

The college authorities have introduced National Cadet Corps
National Cadet Corps (India)
The National Cadet Corps is the Indian military cadet corps with its Headquarters at New Delhi. It is open to school and college students on voluntary basis....

, National Service Scheme
National Service Scheme
National Service Scheme ' is an Indian government-sponsored program under the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Government of India. It was started in 1969.-History:...

, Youth Red Cross and Rotary
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

 Wings for students. Youth are trained in conducting night schools, laying the roads, educating slum dwellers, service to the handicapped, tree plantation, and health programmes.

Scientific research

The Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith has two research institutes: Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology (VINSTROM) and Vivekananda Institute of Algal Technology (VIAT).

Vivekananda Institute of Algal Technology (VIAT)

VIAT was inaugurated by Swami Satyapriyananda, secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, in April 2006. Dr. V. Sivasubramanian of the Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology is the director of the institute. Sivasubramanian has been involved in algal research in the college from 1988. He has produced three Ph.D. and 15 M.Phil scholars. At present he is guiding six Ph.D. candidates and two M.Phil students. He has published 24 research articles in scientific journals and organized symposia and workshops in the field of algology. He is the founder secretary of the Limnological Society of India. He has researched treating the effluents from industries including Orchid Pharmaceuticals, Chennai, SNAP Natural and Alginate Products, Ranipet, Ultramarine Pigments, Ranipet, STAHL India, and Ranipet, using phycoremediation.

Based on the success of this new technology, industries such as Wheels India are seeking solutions for effective effluent treatment through phycoremediation. Sivasubramanian has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chennai-based Indo-Japan joint venture company M/s Nichi-In Biosciences for a research project with emphasis on microbial biotechnology and environment safety to develop technology for environment-friendly plastic materials, to find ways to safely dispose the plastic materials using microbes and develop and validate polymers useful for water conservation in agriculture and horticulture. This project is supported by Japanese institutes like Waseda University
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...

, 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, and Dr. Yoshioka Hiroshi of Mebiol Inc., are participating in this collaboration to develop polymers for water conservation and microbial degradable plastic materials.

Mathematics

The department was nurtured in its infancy by Prof. Raghava Sastry, P.R. Vittal and many such great mathematicians hail from this college. Vittal who was a Vivekananda student later became a lecturer in the mathematics department, then head of the mathematics department, and then principal of the college. Areas of research in the department are Number Theory, Applied Statistics, Representation Theory, Algebra, Functional Analysis, Topology and Algebraic Geometry. The department conducts monthly seminars and colloquiums and hosts a yearly international conference in a particular area of Mathematics. It has funding and support from the UGC
UGC
UGC is the second largest cinema operator in Europe with, as of August 2005, 49 sites and 553 screens across four countries:* France: 37 cinemas, 357 screens* Spain: 5 cinemas, 88 screens* Belgium: 3 cinemas, 43 screens* Italy: 4 cinemas, 66 screens...

, National Board for Higher Mathematics
National Board for Higher Mathematics
The National Board for Higher Mathematics , founded in 1983 by the Indian Government, is a board in India intended to foster the development of higher mathematics, help in the establishment and development of mathematics centres, and give financial assistance to research projects and to doctoral...

, Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India and Govt. of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. About 30 international papers are submitted from the mathematics department of Vivekananda college.

Events

  • The college Silver Jubilee was celebrated in 1971, the Golden Jubilee in 1996, and the Diamond Jubilee from January 2006 to January 2007.
  • As a part of its Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the Vidyapith organized the two-day exhibition Enrich-2006 on 6 and 7 October. It 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 neighbouring schools visited the exhibition.

Courses

The college runs eleven graduate and seven postgraduate programmes in the day college and eight graduate and two 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)

Postgraduate

  • 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)

Notable alumni

  • Shastry V. Mallady, special correspondent, The Hindu
  • M.S.Sundara Rajan, former chairman and managing director, Indian Bank
  • P Ragunathan, senior vice-president, IndusInd Bank, Chennai
  • TV. Shankaranarayanan, Padmashree and Sangeetha Kalanidhi
    Sangeetha Kalanidhi
    Sangeetha Kalanidhi or Sangita Kalanidhi is the title awarded yearly to an expert Carnatic Musician by the Madras Music Academy. This honour is considered one of the highest awards in Carnatic music.-----Sangeetha Kalanidhis:-External links:*...

     awarded by Madras Music Academy
    Madras Music Academy
    Madras Music Academy, or simply Music Academy, is one of the premier and early Music Academies in the South Indian city of Madras, now Chennai. It plays an important role in encouraging and promoting primarily the Carnatic Music south Indian art form. It also played an important role in revival of...

  • Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan
    Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan
    Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan ; is a former Indian cricketer. He played for Derbyshire in English county cricket from 1973 to 1975. He played Test cricket for the Indian cricket team, and later became an umpire on the elite International Cricket Council Test panel...

    , former cricket
    Cricket
    Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

     player and umpire
  • Ramesh Krishnan
    Ramesh Krishnan
    Ramesh Krishnan is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from India. As a junior player in the late-1970s, he won the boy's singles titles at both Wimbledon and the French Open. He went on to reach three Grand Slam quarter-finals in the 1980s, and was part of the Indian team which...

     in tennis
    Tennis
    Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

     and Ravi Kumar in chess
    Chess
    Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

  • Dr. Y. V. Reddy, governor of Reserve Bank of India
    Reserve Bank of India
    The Reserve Bank of India is the central banking institution of India and controls the monetary policy of the rupee as well as US$300.21 billion of currency reserves. The institution was established on 1 April 1935 during the British Raj in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of...

  • Cho Ramaswamy, MP and journalist
  • Jaishankar
    Jaishankar
    Jaishankar is a yester-year actor of the Tamil Film Industry. He is fondly referred to as Thennagathu James Bond . His penchant for dashing roles earned him the sobriquet of James Bond of South India, thanks to his roles in films like Vallavan Oruvan, CID Shankar and so on...

    , Tamil actor
  • Dr. M. S. Ananth, director, Indian Institute of Technology Chennai
  • CA Gokul Varadharajan, public speaker and tax specialist
  • Thiagarajan Ramani, Carnatic flautist and violinist
  • Suresh Thiagarajan, Carnatic flautist
  • Dr. S. P. Tyagarajan, vice-chancellor, University of Madras
  • P. Unni Krishnan
    P. Unni Krishnan
    P. Unnikrishnan is a Carnatic vocalist and a national award winning playback singer.-Early life and background:Unnikrishnan was born to K.Radhakrishnan and Dr.Harini Radhakrishnan, in Palakkad, Kerala....

    , Carnati vocalist and a national award winning playback singer
  • Harish Raghavendra
    Harish Raghavendra
    Harish Raghavendra is an Indian vocalist and actor from Chennai, India. His real name is Harish Ram Srinivas & son to a photographer P.V Raghavendran...

    , singer in Tamil and Telugu films
  • Unni Krishnan, singer of Tamil film
  • S P Ramh, Carnatic vocalist and teacher
  • Sikkil Gurucharan
    Sikkil Gurucharan
    Sikkil C. Gurucharan is among the foremost young performing musicians of Carnatic music in India today. He is the grandson of Sikkil Kunjumani, elder of the internationally acclaimed flautists the Sikkil Sisters. Gurucharan has been under the tutelage Vaigal Shri S. Gnanaskandan and is currently...

    , Carnatic vocalist
  • Anil Srinivasan
    Anil Srinivasan
    Anil Srinivasan, born June 3, 1977 is a classical pianist born in Madras, India and educated at the University of Southern California and at Columbia University, New York...

    , pianist
  • Mani Ratnam
    Mani Ratnam
    Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...

    , film director
  • Prithvi Kumar, drummer and percussionist
  • Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy, industrialist
  • S. Gurumurthy
    S. Gurumurthy
    Swaminathan Gurumurthy is the co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, a journalist and a chartered accountant in India, and an RSS idealogue...

    , Indian Express columnist
  • R. Nataraj IPS
    IPS
    - Medicine and biology :* Induced pluripotent stem cell* Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique* Intraparietal sulcus, a region of the brain* Ips , a genus of bark beetle- Media and entertainment :...

    , former commissioner of police, Chennai City
  • K.V.S. Gopalakrishnan (IPS), former special director Intelligence Bureau, New Delhi
  • S. Ramanan, mathematician, TIFR
  • Maadhu Balaji
    Maadhu Balaji
    Maadhu Balaji, born as Balaji, is a famous theatre artist in Tamil theatre.Balaji has acted in a number of stage plays and films. He is the brother of the ace humorist and playwright Crazy Mohan....

    , noted theatre personality
  • Ramanathan Annamalai, mathematician, TIFR; 1991, Bhatnagar Award in Mathematics
  • M.S. Raghunathan, FRS, mathematician, TIFR
  • Dr. P.R. Vittal, former principal and HOD, visiting faculty of ICAI and MSMS
  • Sankaranarayanan Ramasundaram, business analyst, Bangalore.
  • Alladi Krishnaswami, mathematician and chairman of Department of Mathematics, University of Florida
    University of Florida
    The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

    , Gainesville
  • R. Sridharan, mathematician, TIFR
  • Crazy Mohan
    Crazy Mohan
    "Crazy" Mohan is a popular Tamil comedy actor, script writer and playwright.He was a student at the College of Engineering, Guindy, where he graduated as a Mechanical Engineer in 1973. He wrote his first drama at College of Engineering, Guindy, when he was in the 4th year in 1972. His guide was...

    , dramatist and scriptwriter
  • T.S. Narayanaswamy, chairman and managing director, Bank of India
    Bank of India
    Bank of India is a state-owned commercial bank with headquarters in Mumbai. Government-owned since nationalization in 1969, It is India's 4th largest bank, after State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda. It has 3415 branches, including 29 branches outside India...

  • N. Vijay Siva, Carnatic vocalist
  • R.K. Sriramkumar, Carnatic violinist
  • T.M. Krishna, Carnatic singer
  • Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Carnatic musician
  • K. B. Chandrasekhar, CEO and chairman Jamcracker, co-founder and chairman of e4e Services.
  • S. Jayaraman, chairman and managing director, Neyveli Lignite Corporation
  • Venkataswami, Supreme Court judge (retired)
  • E.S.L. Narasimman, former Director Intelligence Bureau
    Director of Intelligence Bureau (India)
    The director of Intelligence Bureau simply known as DIB is the senior most post in Intelligence Bureau and the only four-star Indian Police Service rank in the country. The current director of Intelligence Bureau is Mr...

    , Governor of Chattisgarh
  • Krishnamachari Srikkanth
    Krishnamachari Srikkanth
    Krishnamachari Srikkanth is a former captain of the Indian cricket team and the current chairman of the selection committee...

    , former cricket player
  • Laxman Sivaramakrishnan
    Laxman Sivaramakrishnan
    Laxman Sivaramakrishnan , popularly known as Siva and LS, is a former Indian cricketer. He was a right arm leg-spinner. He is now a commentator.-Early days:...

    , former cricket player
  • Lakshmipathy Balaji
    Lakshmipathy Balaji
    Lakshmipathy Balaji is an Indian cricketer. He is a right arm fast medium bowler.-International Cricket:...

    , cricket player
  • K. Ganapathy, former Ranji trophy player
  • Hemang Badani
    Hemang Badani
    Hemang Kamal Badani is a former Indian cricketer. He is a left-handed middle order batsman and left arm slow bowler. He has a batting average of the near 30s and strike rate in the 70s in One Day Internationals...

    , India and Tamil Nadu cricket player
  • RC Vasanth Kumar, Tamil Nadu cricket player
  • Thiru Kumaran, India and Tamil Nadu cricket player
  • Dr. T. R. Balakrishnan, former principal, Presidency College, Chennai
    Presidency College, Chennai
    Presidency College is an arts, law and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. Established as the Madras Preparatory School on October 15, 1840 and later, upgraded to a high school and then, graduate college, the Presidency College is one of the oldest government arts colleges...

    ; former member of the Syndicate, University of Madras
    University of Madras
    The University of Madras is a public research university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the three oldest universities in India...

    ; former research officer, Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education
  • N. Chandrasekaran, retired chairman, Chennai Port Trust, Chennai
  • V.V. Ramanan, journalist and quizzer
  • M.V.L. Manikantan, journalist and quizzer
  • G.D. Prasad, musician and filmmaker
  • Murali Vijay, Indian cricket team
  • Yo Mahesh, Delhi Daredevils player
  • M.V. Mohan, head Samskrita Bharathi
  • Ghatam Dr. S Karthick, Ghatam vidwan
  • L. Ganesh, chairman, Rane Group, Chennai
  • Rithvik Raja
    Rithvik Raja
    Rithvik Raja is a Carnatic Musician from India. He has performed in many concerts in India and overseas and has won many awards for his excellence. He is currently one of the rising stars of Carnatic Music...

    , Carnatic vocalist
  • D. Ramakrishna Raju, director of sports 1973-2005
  • B. Kirubakaran, Music Director (Kollywood)
  • Sathish Sharma, director manager, Infosys
  • Dr. R V Srinivasan, former head, Department of Economics

External links

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