Best Spice Exporter Award for GRK & Co., Kochi

Dr. V. Ramalingam receiving award from K. Jayakumar IAS

GRK & Co. Kochi, has won the award for Excellence in Export of Spice products in the year 2010-2011. The award is instituted by the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kochi. Dr. V. Ramalingam of GRK & Co., Kochi received the award from K. Jayakumar IAS, Additional Secretary, Government of Kerala on Tuesday, 27th of September 2011 in the function held at Hotel Casino, Willington Island, Kochi. P. I. Sheikh Pareeth IAS, District Collector of Ernakulam was the Guest of Honour. Dr. V. Ramalingam who is also the State President of Kerala Brahmana Sabha, said that he is proud and happy to receive the award consecutively for the 4th year.

NABL Certification for GRK & Co. Labs
The chemical and micro-biological lab of GRK & Co. has been granted NABL certification from the Natioanal Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration laboratories, New Delhi. By obtaining the NABL certification, the lab has been upgraded and the test certificates issued by our lab is now equivalent to a third-party laboratory certificate - Dr. V. Ramalingam explained.

National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) is an autonomous body under the aegis of Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, and is registered under the Societies Act. NABL has been established with the objective to provide Government, Industry Associations and Industry in general with a scheme for third-party assessment of the quality and technical competence of testing and calibration laboratories. Government of India has authorised NABL as the sole accreditation body for Testing and Calibration laboratories.

Tentative schedule of AGB released

The organising committee is working hard to make the 41st AGB of Kerala Brahmana Sabha a grand success. A tentative schedule has been released by the organising committee in this regard as follows. The AGB is to be held at Panchajanyam Kalyana Mandapam, Fort, Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday and Sunday, the 15th and 16th of October 2011.

DAY 1 - Saturday, 15th October 2011

Inauguration of Cultural Competitions - 08.00 a. m.

Registration/Validation of Participants - 08.30 a. m.

Commencement of Events - 09.00 a. m.

Closure of Competitions - 05.00 p. m.

Procession starts from North Nada - 05.30 p. m.

Inaugural Function - 06.00 p. m.

Musical Night/Dinner - 07.00 p. m. - 09.30 p. m.

DAY 2 - Sunday, 16th October 2011

Breakfast/Registration - 07.30 a. m. - 09.30 a. m.

Flag Hoisting - 08.30 a. m.

Business Session - 09.00 a. m.

Lunch - 11.00 a.m. - 02.00 p. m.

Vanitha Vibhagam Meeting (Main Hall) - 01.30 p. m.

Yuvajana Vibhagam Meeting (1st floor Hall) - 01.30 p. m.

Validictory function - 04.00 p. m.

Santhi Manthram/Closing ceremony - 06.00 p. m.

41st State AGB on October 15th and 16th at Thiruvananthapuram

The 41^st State Annual General Body of Kerala Brahmana Sabha will be held on Saturday and Sunday, the 15^th and 16^th of October 2011 at Panchajanyam Kalyana Mandapam, Fort, Thiruvananthapuram. The Cultural Competitions will be held on 15^th and the business meeting is scheduled on 16^th, informed P. Ananthasubramaniam, State General Secretary. Earlier the AGB was scheduled to be held at same venue  on September 24th and 25th. A circular has also been sent to all district office bearers in this regard.

Ganapathy Homam at State Committee Building, Thripunithura

The Kerala Brahmana Sabha, State Committee has decided to conduct a Ganapathy Homam at the recently purchased State Committee Office at Thripunithura on Saturday, 6th August 2011. P. Ananthasubramaniam, State General Secretary requested members to attend the function.

Dharmasreshta Malliyoor Sankaran Namboothiri passes away

Bhagavatham exponent and Sanskrit scholar Malliyoor Sankaran Namboothiri (91) passed away at his residence at Kuruppanthara on Tuesday, 2nd of August 2011 in the morning.  He was chosen for the Dharmasreshta Award instituted by Kerala Brahmana Sabha in the year 2006. The State Committee of Kerala Brahmana Sabha expressed condolence in the demise of the sage-like, scholarly Malliyoor Sankaran Nampoothiri.

He was born to Parameswaran Namboothiri and Arya Antharjanam on 2nd February 1921. He did not receive any formal education, but followed the spiritual path of his father.  The turning point came when Sankaran Namboothiri, on a visit to Guruvayoor, met Padappa Namboothiri  the eminent Sanskrit  scholar and  was admitted as his ‘sishya’. On the advice of his Guru, he took up the rendering of Bhagavatham in total surrender to Lord Guruvayoorappan. Things started turning for the better and Sankaran Namboothiri never left the path shown to him by his Guru.

His Bhagavathm rendition, known for its lucidity and erudition, attracted devotees in thousands, all over the country. He was awarded the title ‘Bhagavathahamsom’ after his  successful completion of 2500 ‘Bhagavatha Sapthaham’. He was bestowed with Poonthanam  Puraskaram by Akhila Bharatheeya Guruvayoorappan  Bhaktha  Samithy.  He had focussed his activities during the  last few years at the  Malliyoor Mahaganapathy Temple, the name of which  had become synonymous with the saintly Bhagavatham exponent.

Online Survey for Unmarried Boys and Girls

With a view to collect the database of unmarried boys and girls in our community, Kerala Brahmana Sabha, State Committee has decided to conduct an online survey in this regard. Those who come under this category are requested to fill the Online Survey data sheet accurately. Fake details provided will be removed from the database without prior notice and is subject to cyber law proceedings. Kerala Brahmana Babha assure the secrecy of the data to the purpose of the survey is meant. Please visit the following link for registration.https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG9Pc2pqQWNIR3N1YjBBdHlocHVvU0E6MQ

The Dharmasreshta Award for the year 2011 was presented to Brahmasree P. Krishna Iyer at Thrissur on Sunday, 1st of May 2011. It is for the outstanding contributions to the Spiritual Movement and in propagation of Sanskrit language. The award is instituted by Kerala Brahmana Sabha which carries a cash prize of Rs.10001, a citation and a statuette.

The award was presented by Justice T. L. Viswanatha Iyer on Sunday, the 1st of May 2011 at Janakee Nath Hall of Pushpagiri Brahmana Samooham, Thrissur. Dr. V. Ramalingam, State President of Kerala Brahmana Sabha presided over the meeting at 5.30 p.m.S. Moorthy (District Secretary, KBS, Thrissur) welcomed the gathering and P. Ananthasubramaniam (State General Secretary) delivered the vote of thanks. Prof. T. K. Devanarayanan President of KBS, Town Unit introduced the receipient of the award to the audience. The citation was presented by Prof. V. R. Ramakrishnan (Retired Principal, Kerala Varma College). Dr. P. S. Raman (State Vice President) and N. R. Parameswaran (State Joint Secretary) delivered felicitations.

Malliyoor Sankaran Namboothiri in 2006, M. H. Sasthrikal in 2007, K. V. Seshadrinatha Sasthrikal in 2008, Prof. V. Vaidyalinga Sarma in 2009 and Dr. M. Sambasivan in 2010 were the personalities to receive the honour in previous years.

P. Krishna Iyer is a Sanskrit scholar, residing at Thrissur since 1987. Born on 12th June 1928, Krishna Iyer had his schooling from Peringottukara high School and Pazhanji High School; later completed his graduation from St. Thomas College, Thrissur. He taught Mathematics in Peringottukara High School for a couple of years, then joined Postal Department in 1951 and retired in the year 1986 as Assistant Director. He started learning Sanskrit from his father and he successfully completed 'Samskritha Siromani' (Cultural Department, Government of Kerala) exam.

With his unparalelled style of rendering devotional and spiritual discourses, he has become a familiar personalty in the Bhagavatha Sapthaaha Sathrams conducted in various places. Since 1987, AIR (Thrissur) continues to telecast his discourses in the programme named 'Subhashitham' and a is the author of feature 'Mahabharatha Kathakal' appears in Sruthivani for last 196 issues. His contributions in the field of Namasankeerthana is also commendable.

P. Krishna Iyer is born to Parvathy Ammal and Perinkulam G. Padmanabha Sasthrikal who came to Thrissur from Palakkad to teach Sankrit in Brahmaswam Madhom Veda Padasala. Wife: Meenakshi (daughter of Somasundaram and Lakshmi Ammal, Nurani, Palakkad). Children: K. Geetha (bank of Baroda), Balaji (Malayala Manorama) and Sivakumar (Wipro). in-laws: Krishnamutrhy (Canara Bank), the honour in previous years.