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K Maruthachalam |
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 Besides
being one of the best when it comes to nature photography or industrial
photography in Coimbatore,
K Maruthachalam is also a pioneer in digital photography.
He took to farming after his schooling and it was then that his interest
in photography became a passion. He had his first camera when he
was still in school; an Alfa Klik 3. But in those days neither
literature on photography nor photographic equipment were readily
available.
A self-taught photographer, he was into nature photography early on
in his career and he started shooting birds and insects in the very
farm that he lived on. From the 70's onwards he hit the international
scene and many of his photographs were accepted for international
exhibitions. In the course of time he was awarded a 5 star rating
having more than 500 acceptances in international exhibitions. Currently,
he holds a Diamond star rating.
Today he is the proprietor of Photo Centre in Coimbatore -
certainly the best when it comes to digital photography. He is also
much sought after for the kind of quality that he provides at all
his labs. People from as far as Chennai prefer to have their films
processed and printed at Photo Centre. He started this venture when
he did not receive the kind of quality that he wanted in printing.
His greatest recognition has been his acceptance in the Photographic
Society of America in which very few Indian photographers find
a place. |
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| S K Maeilanandhan
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 Born
into a family which made its living out of agriculture, S K Maeilanandhan
(SKM) started out as a general stores merchant in 1965. Today
more than three decades later, he is the Chairman and Managing Director
of the SKM group.
Realising the untapped potential in the fertiliser business, SKM started
an agency for the distribution of fertiliser. What made him switch
over from the family occupation of agriculture to the distribution
of fertiliser was his drive and determination to make it big in life.
He then diversified into poultry farming and took up an agency for
animal feeds. A few years later, in 1981, he promoted his own agro-based
small scale industrial unit SKM Energy Animal Feeds Private Ltd.
The company produced 36,000 tonnes of animal feed in its very first
year of operation. Within a decade the company achieved a growth
of 600%.
He founded the Tamil Nadu Poultry Farmers Welfare Association
in 1983, to champion the cause of the poultry farmers. The association
played a key role in the removal of sales tax on poultry feed in Tamil
Nadu in 1989 and in the introduction of eggs in the state government's
noon meal programme.
SKM is also the editor of a Tamil monthly magazine on Poultry titled
Kozhi Nanban (Chicken's friend), which is a guide for
poultry farmers on modern management and marketing. He is presently
the National Vice President of the National Egg Coordination Committee
(NEEC), that fixes egg rates every week.
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