V. S. Achuthanandan
Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan (Malayalam : വേലിക്കകത്ത് ശങ്കരന് അച്യുതാനന്ദന്) (born 20 October 1923) is an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Kerala from 2006 to 2011. He has been Leader of the Opposition in Kerala since 2011. Achuthanandan was a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) beginning in 1985, and until July 2009, when he was reverted to the Central Committee of the party owing to his ideological dispositions. He is a mass leader respected for integrity.
Achuthanandan was one of the founding leaders (and also the last surviving) of the CPI (M) in India, and has played a major role in building the party cadre in the state of Kerala.
Achuthanandan initiated various actions as the Chief Minister including: the demolition drive in Munnar which claimed back acres of illegally occupied land, the demolition drive in Kochi M. G. Road which claimed back the long lost shoulder of the road, anti-piracy drive against film-piracy, his struggle against the Lottery mafia in the state. He was instrumental in convicting former minister R. Balakrishna Pillai on charges of corruption. Achuthanandan also took the lead in promoting free software in the state, and especially in adopting free software in the public education system of the state.
VS
VS, V.S., Vs, vs, vs., or VS may refer to:
Organizations
Science, technology, and medicine
Computers
Vietnamese martial arts
Traditional Vietnamese martial arts (Võ thuật Cổ Truyền Việt Nam) can be loosely divided into those of the Sino-Vietnamese descended from the Han, and the Chams or indigenous Vietnamese.
Modern schools
Modern styles, or môn (schools), include:
Associations in Vietnam include vi:Liên đoàn võ thuật cổ truyền Việt Nam and vi:Tổng hội Võ học Việt Nam.
Overseas
Terminology
V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder V engine with the cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two sets of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other, but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft.
In its simplest form, it is basically two inline-four engines sharing a common crankshaft. However, this simple configuration, with a flat- or single-plane crankshaft, has the same secondary dynamic imbalance problems as two straight-4s, resulting in vibrations in large engine displacements. Since the 1920s most V8s have used the somewhat more complex crossplane crankshaft with heavy counterweights to eliminate the vibrations. This results in an engine that is smoother than a V6, while being considerably less expensive than a V12 engine. Most racing V8s continue to use the single plane crankshaft because it allows faster acceleration and more efficient exhaust system designs.
Applications
The V8 with a crossplane crankshaft (see below) is a common configuration for large automobile engines. V8 engines are rarely less than 3.0 L (183 cu in) in displacement and in automobile use have exceeded 8.2 L (500 cu in) in production vehicles, such as the American Cadillac Eldorado for instance. In some applications, e.g. industrial and marine V8 engines, displacement can be even larger.
Vasa övningsskola
Vasa övningsskola (VÖS) is a Swedish-speaking normal school in Vaasa, Finland. VÖS is a part of Åbo Akademi, and the pedagogical faculty of ÅA is located in Vaasa. It is the only Swedish normal school in Finland. VÖS provides preschool, primary and lower and upper secondary education, and in addition is one of the 17 schools in Finland with an International Baccalaureate upper secondary school programme.
The predecessor of VÖS was Wasa Trivialskola, which was officially founded in 1684, although teaching began already in 1611. The name Trivialskola refers to the trivium, and in that time, the subjects were religion, Latin and Greek. In 1844, the school changed its name to Vasa Gymnasium. In the town fire of Vaasa in 1852, the school building was destroyed, and upon rebuilding, the school was located to its present location in the center of the city, next to the church of Vaasa on Kirkkopuistikko (Swedish: Kyrkoesplanaden).
In rankings based on scores of the Finnish matriculation examination, the upper secondary school of VÖS (Vasa övningsskola gymnasium) has been ranked as #8 of the 35 Swedish-speaking schools of Finland. The average score was 25.1, slightly higher than the national average of 24.0, which score nevertheless places it #1 in the city of Vaasa. 104 students completed the matriculation examination in 2009, and 49% gained admission to tertiary education immediately upon graduation.
