Coinciding with International Literacy Day, Delhi Public School, Vijayawada, will organise a panel discussion on ‘Media Literacy’ on the school campus on September 7 (Saturday).
The event will commence at 9.30 a.m. in the seminar hall of the school.
Senior journalists from the print and electronic media will discuss key components of media literacy such as media as a watchdog, watching the watchdog, media ethics, social media and career opportunities in media.
Freelance writer and ELT Consultant P. Ramanujam will moderate the discussion.
In a statement on Friday, Head of the English Department and coordinator of the event Shanthi Ramajujam said the discussion would be followed by an interaction with children from different schools.
“The objective is to disabuse the notion of medial literacy and educate children to be intelligent users of media,” she said.
Two students and one teacher from each school are invited to participate.
The students may be from classes IX–XII.
Interested schools may confirm their participation by forwarding names of the students and the teacher by email to the Faculty Coordinator (English), Email: shanthiramanujam1962@gmail.com
The last date for registration is September 3.
Further information can be sought by contacting Shanthi Ramanujam, Discussion Coordinator (mobile: 77029 29564).
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> news> Cities> Vijayawada / by Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – August 31st, 2013
The Oberoi Group has opened Trident, Hyderabad. Located in the information technology hub, Hitec City, the hotel has an elegant and contemporary design and offers business and leisure facilities.
P.R.S Oberoi, Executive Chairman of The Oberoi Group, in a statement said: “Over the years we have added hotels at various locations in India and overseas which have become industry benchmarks. Hyderabad has emerged as a significant business destination and Trident, Hyderabad has been created with the discerning business traveller in mind. This hotel is a testimony of our vision for the ‘Trident’ brand and its standards of excellence.”
Sharad Puri, General Manager, Trident, Hyderabad said, “With the opening of Trident, Hyderabad we want to offer discerning business and leisure travellers an oasis of tranquillity with service which is warm, caring and personalised.”
The hotel has 323 guest rooms and suites which are the largest in Hyderabad. It offers extensive conference and banquet facilities.
The dining options at Trident, Hyderabad include Amara, an all-day dining restaurant offering the best of world cuisine, Kanak, the Indian restaurant which serves the finest in Indian cuisine with a strong regional influence from Hyderabad, and Tuscany is the Italian restaurant with a relaxed ambience. This restaurant offers a display kitchen with a wood fired pizza oven and a wine tasting room offering a selection of fine wines.
Ninety Six serves a selection of spirits, wines and cocktails. Leisure facilities include the Trident Spa, a yoga room and a fully equipped fitness centre. The reflective swimming pool with an infinity edge is a unique feature of the hotel.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Companies / by V. Rishi Kumar rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in / Hyderabad – September 02nd, 2013
Kirthiga Reddy,head,Facebook India delivering a lecture on Future of the Digital: A Vision Statement at the two day ISB Digital Summit being held at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad on Friday | RVK Rao
No matter how low the price of mobile phones and other electronic devices are, the main issues are rising cost of data packages and lack of infrastructure, especially in rural areas, according to Kirthiga Reddy, head, Facebook India.
Kirthiga was speaking on the topic, Future of the Digital: A vision statement at the two-day ISB Digital Summit 2013 held at Indian School of Business which commenced on Friday.
In an elaborate speech on Facebook’s vision, she touched upon factors like users, targeted reach, equalisation, personalisation as the five important points leading to the future of the digital arena.
Stating that Facebook’s goal was to reach five billion users in the next five years, she added, that the goal could be achieved only by taking along all the stakeholders like governments, business establishments and telecom companies. She also explained how the devices used today would be 100 times faster in the future with the advancement in applications, networks, data access and other factors. She admitted that data transmission prices were the biggest barrier today.
According to her, local languages too are barriers in terms of compatibility of content. Responding to a query on how would social media including Facebook impact the society, Reddy said, “Every medium is a medium and it is up to us on how we use it.”
Speaking at the first panel discussion on mobile marketing and location based services(LBS), Sridhar Iyer, director, Digital Business, Citibank India pointed out that the growth in smart phones usage will lend itself to location-based services as mobile devices today are centre to all activities including social, shopping and banking among others.
Explaining factors that hinder location based services in the country, he said, geographic information system (GIS) needs to improve and termed the lack of wireless networks, bandwidth limitation, network congestion, high cost of 3G services, lack of awareness among age group above 45 and other causes as some of the major constraints. However, he was confident that LBS was bound to grow with significant amount of investment and subsequent increase in competition.
Anuj Kumar, co-founder and MD, Ripple, who spoke about mobile advertising, pointed out that battery problems in smart phones is the biggest challenge in the advancement of LBS. He hoped it would be solved in the near future.
Social media expert and CEO of Autumn Worldwide, Anusha Shetty, noted that, at a time when users relate to the virtual world more than the real one, it is the responsibility of brands to ensure that problems are addressed and solved in real-time.
Anushka further explained that 66 per cent of Facebook and 50 per cent of Twitter users in the country use mobile devices for internet access and that in the future people would look up to first-hand information on social media over newspapers and channels.
The ISB Digital summit is being organised by the Srini Raju Centre for IT and the Networked Economy at ISB in association with Jigserv Digital, a digital marketing company founded by four ISB alumni. The summit will discuss and debate on trends in the digital media, recent innovations, new business models.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / August 31st, 2013
A fisherman sells ‘koramenu’ fish at Kanuru on the outskirts of Vijayawada./ Photo: T. Appala Naidu / The Hindu
Bullseye snakehead fish, locally known as Koramenu, a non-vegetarian’s delight during the summer in many parts of Andhra Pradesh, is in a great demand even during the ongoing rainy season in the city.
The fresh water fish is fetching up to Rs.400 a kg in Krishna district and even small-sized fish are being sold for a minimum of Rs.250 a kg. at Pamarru and Vuyyuru junctions. The high demand led to the price rising abnormally on Sunday and Tuesday. The price was double that of chicken and varied from one selling point to another depending on demand.
Local communities such as fishermen and Yanadi tribe catch the muddy-coloured fish when the local ponds and canals of the Krishna dry up in summer across the Krishna delta region. “Huge quantity of Koramenu fish comes from West Godavari district largely from Eluru area, where farmers grow it in their ponds. Nevertheless, the big-sized fish has become a ‘hotcake’ in Vijayawada city,” says Sala Nagaraju, who sells the fish at Kanuru junction in the city.
Offering Koramenu curry is still considered the best way to honour guests in many parts of Andhra Pradesh. Inclusion of the item in the menu of the feast is seen as a matter of prestige.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by T. Appala Naidu / Vijayawada – September 07th, 2013
T.K. Chand, Director (Commercial) of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, assumed charge as the Chairman of the Computer Society of India, Visakhapatnam chapter, here on Friday. He said on the occasion, “The chapter at Visakhapatnam is one of the most active and happening chapters amongst all chapters of CSI and it is the responsibility of all of us to take it forward.
Computerisation is essential for achieving transparency and efficiency in productivity.” He also announced that the annual convention of the Computer Society of India would be held here December13-15. Chand expressed concern over the continuing devaluation and weakening of the rupee. He advised the industry to consider it as a window of opportunity as the imported goods would be costlier and there would be a sudden increase in demand for domestic goods.
Further, he advised the IT professionals and IT companies to take advantage of depreciation of the rupee by exporting more IT services and software. P.C. Mahapatra, Executive Director (Projects) of RINL, was appointed the Vice-Chairman of the chapter.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> National / by The Hindu Bureau / Visakhapatnam – August 30th, 2013
The decision taken by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to divide Andhra Pradesh has found an echo in the Information Technology sector. The political uncertainty over the future status of Hyderabad is causing concern to the IT sector, a major growth engine that put the city on the global IT map.
In the midst of the turmoil over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh with Hyderabad becoming the bone of contention, software employees in the city have come together and formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to strive towards bringing back the glory of Hyderabad as an IT hub.
“Brand Hyderabad” has clearly lost its sheen in recent times due to political uncertainties, agitations and counter-agitations. Following the deterioration in the image of the Capital, the Hyderabad IT Employees’ JAC has adopted a slogan “Save IT, save Hyderabad” and appealed to all the political parties not to tarnish the city’s image further. “Otherwise the city will disappear from the global IT map and future generations will suffer,” cautioned JAC Chairman M Brahmaiah.
Hyderabad is home to about 750 IT and ITES companies, including global giants like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Oracle, DELL, Motorola and Deloitte, employing over 250,000 people. The city is ranked fourth in the country in terms of software exports.
However, IT professionals say that the state had to pay a heavy price since 2009 due to political agitations. “The IT exports from the state, which was over Rs310 billion, in 2008-09, dipped to Rs270.6 billion in the next financial year. There was a slight increase in the subsequent years as the industry felt confident that normalcy would be restored,” said JAC convener N Raju. The latest exports figure stood at Rs300 billion.
The neighbouring states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, meanwhile, have benefitted from Hyderabad’s woes. Tamil Nadu’s IT exports grew from Rs380.3 billion in 2008-09 to over Rs490 billion in 2011-12, Karnataka’s from Rs700.3 billion to Rs820.1 billion and Maharashtra’s from Rs420.3 billion to Rs460.2 billion.
The JAC has also decided to launch ITism — IT in social media – to bring awareness among IT professionals and also the common public about the need to protect the interests of the industry in the city.
The rate of new recruitment has also sunk to 10,000 a year from the earlier 30,000-40,000. The JAC will hold a round-table conference inviting top brass of the city-based IT firms and prepare a report containing their views on improving the situation. It will also meet the State Governor E S L Narasimhan, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, IT Minister P Lakshmaiah and Leader of the Opposition and TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu in this regard.
The JAC leaders wanted the centre to take immediate steps to remove the sense of insecurity prevailing among the IT professionals in the city.
source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> International / by P S Jayaram, news@khaleejtimes.com / August 28th, 2013
Even before the metro rail tracks are put in place, project developer Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has started moves to commercially exploit parcels of land allotted to it along the three metro corridors.
The project developer has proposed to construct malls with multiplexes at Punjagutta, Erramanzil and Madhapur. The L&T has applied for provisional no objection certificate (NOC) from the state disaster response and fire services department recently. Once the NOCs are obtained , the construction giant might seek building permission from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
Official sources said a mall, including a multiplex and office space, is being planned on 70,127 square metres land, where government quarters were demolished near Srinagar junction on the arterial Punjagutta-Ameerpet road. The land was handed over to the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) last year.
At Punjagutta, the mall and multiplex would come up in one block, which would have three basements, ground and five upper floors.
L&T plans to build hotels, malls
Eight screens will come up on fourth and fifth floors. An office block is being planned in an area of 5,621 sq metres with three basements, ground and six upper floors. Another multiplex has been proposed at Erramanzil, near NIMS, where government quarters were razed for the metro rail project. L&T proposes to put up a mall, including a six-screen multiplex, and another multiplex and commercial building would come up opposite My Home Hub at Madhapur.
“We have inspected the sites on the request of L&T metro rail and recommended provisional NOCs for malls,” regional fire officer P Venkata Ramana told TOI.
As per the concessionaire agreement, the metro project developer could exploit space up to 18.5 million square feet (sft). Nearly, 12.5 million sft would be required for metro rail depots and terminal locations , while six million sft would be available for metro rail stations. HMR has agreed to transfer 269 acres land to the metro rail developer for executing the project. Of the total land, nearly 70% of the space was allocated to the three depots and 57 acres of land at 66 metro stations (air space) would be utilized for commercial exploitation.
L&T, which is eyeing transit oriented development along the metro corridors, is likely to come up similar proposals for office spaces, malls and multiplexes apart from hotels, service apartments, healthcare facilities like hospitals, poly clinics, convention centres, theme parks, entertainment zones and convenience retail at suitable places.
Meanwhile, both the fire services department and L&T have not yet finalized fire safety plan at metro stations. The fire department has offered to depute its senior officials for overseeing fire safety measures at stations, but L&T wants to have its own trained personnel. “In Delhi Metro, fire officials were deputed to train staff and ensure safety at all metro stations, but L&T wants to have its own set up,” a senior official of the fire services department said.
Times view
The Khairatabad to Ameerpet Road is already chock-a-block with multiplexes and shopping malls and adding more new ones will only add to the chaotic scenes prevailing in the streets. Plans to construct malls and multiplexes in the areas mentioned are also illogical, as there are several screens within a few kilometres, especially in Punjagutta. Instead of spending crores of rupees on multiplexes, authorities should invest more on traffic management by building flyovers and sidewalks for pedestrians.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Hyderabad> Delhi Metro / by Koride Mahesh, TNN / August 28th, 2013
Rice, one of the oldest harvested crops, still relies on very old farming traditions. But soon, rice farmers are set to get Internet savvy as they can download a few Apps on their mobile phones that can help them diagnose pest attacks and get the right prescription of fertilisers.
Rice Knowledge Management Portal (RKMP), run by the Directorate of Rice Research (DRR), is running a pilot on a diagnostic App that works on Android phones. The second App is on fertiliser recommendation and the third one is a slew of knowledge capsules. It provides vast data on eight categories of information on selection of varieties, land prescription, nutrition, water and pests.
“We expect the first App to be ready on January 1, 2014,” Shaik N. Meera, a senior DRR scientist who heads the portal, told Business Line.
RKMP runs a portal on rice, the single largest portal for any crop in the country, with a huge repository of knowledge on rice. Launched two years ago, the initiative under the National Agricultural Innovation Project built the portal with information gathered from 106 rice research centres across the country.
The content is available in Bengali, English, Marathi, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. The portal contains 6,000 minutes of audio content in all these languages. “Farmers can get information on what varieties should be grown on their lands. Policy makers can look for historic data on productivity and yield. Researchers can find past data on multi-location trials,” he said. The portal contains images of the crop at different stages. The images include the disease-hit plants.
“Farmers can simply take an image on their phones and compare it with a relevant image on the portal. A suitable prescription too is provided accordingly,” he said.
Based on the frequently asked questions at the Kisan Call Centre (1551), the portal narrowed down the common problems that bother the paddy farmers to 489 and provided detailed answers.
“We have analysed some 11,000 questions that they received at the call centre,” he said.
Keeping in view the bandwidth issues and other constraints, RKMP also developed all the content in CDs in order to make it available offline that are being distributed for free to non-governmental organisations and the other agencies in need.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Industry> Agri-Biz / by K. V.Kurmanath kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in / Hyderabad – August 27th, 2013
A Kalamkari artist immersed in designing a piece of cloth. / File Photo / The Hindu
Now, the production of Machilipatnam Kalamkari will be geographically limited to Pedana town and its neighbouring villages
Kalamkari, renowned for natural dye art or designs on fabrics, has been registered in the Geographical Indications Registry (GIR) of the Government of India under the Geographical Identification of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
Members of Vegetable Dye Hand Block Kalamkari Printers’ Welfare Association, Pedana received the registration certificate from the GIR, Chennai. In the GI Registration, this art form has, however, been recognised as ‘Machilipatnam Kalamkari’. Pedana is 15 k.m. from Machilipatnam.
“The registration will enable us to initiate legal action against those who copy the art or design in any form. It also restricts the production of fabrics with Kalamkari art in the areas falling out of the registered geographical area,” said the Welfare Association executive member Bandaru Anand Prasad.
According to GIR’s authorised user no – AU/396/GI/19/12, production of Machilipatnam Kalamkari is geographically only limited to Pedana town and its neighbouring villages of Machilipatnam, Polavaram and Kappaladoddi in Guduru mandal of Krishna district.
The ingredients used in the preparation of colours, stages of applying the dye and designs on fabrics were also submitted to the GIR authorities for the conservation of the art as well as easy identification of violators anywhere. Nevertheless, the geographical identification was limited for a few areas of production – such as textiles and textile goods, bed and table covers, clothing, carpets, rugs, linoleum and other materials for covering existing floors and embroidery.
“Since the new status deals with promising the registered standards of the Kalamkari, even local artisans and production houses have no exemption from the guidelines, framed for conservation of the art, if they fail to maintain the respective standard,” added Mr. Anand Prasad.
“Now we have every right to seek legal action against the violators – who copy the art form on the registered products,” he added. On the other hand, the scientists of National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad were engaged in producing new colours meant for Machilipatnam Kalamkari and a special training programme on applying new colours was also completed this week.
As a witness of the existence of the art form, a wall hanger dating back to 15th Century AD, is still being displayed in Victoria Museum, London.
The article has been edited to correct an editing error.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by T Appala Naidu / Pedana (Krishna District) – August 18th, 2013
TripAdvisor Awards Its Prestigious Certificate of Excellence to the Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre
Hyderabad , India — (Marketwired)
When it comes to positive feedback, some sources are more important than others. In school, teachers assign the grades. In work, managers call the shots. And in the hospitality industry, the final word rests with travellers. That’s why TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence is such an achievement for any business that receives it. The award is based entirely on travellers’ reviews, and when it comes to the Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre, those reviews are nothing short of stellar.
“We are absolutely delighted that Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre has been awarded the Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor,” says General Manager Sharad Datta. “This achievement shows that continuous commitment to providing superior service reaps rewards, and it motivates us to strive for an even better performance.”
The coveted Certificate of Excellence is awarded only to the top 10 percent of businesses that maintain an overall rating of four or higher (out of a possible five) and are listed on TripAdvisor’s website for at least 12 months. Businesses can be located anywhere in the world and can operate in any part of the hospitality industry. The number of reviews a business receives is also taken into account.
Considering the Hyderabad Marriott Hotel’s extensive amenities, it’s not surprising that guests have been impressed. Travellers would be hard-pressed to find the same five-star hotel rooms, fine-dining options and comprehensive meeting services (including a language-interpretation system) under any other roof in Hyderabad. In fact, with almost 56,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space — including a 10,656-square-foot conference hall — the hotel serves as the area’s premier convention center.
But the advantages of this Hyderabad hotel aren’t exclusive to what’s on property. The hotel’s prime location across from the picturesque Hussain Sagar Lake puts it within close proximity to a number of attractions, including HITECH City, the Hyderabad Golf Club, mosques and the stunning marble Birla Mandir Hindu temple. And that, in conjunction with its top-notch service and luxurious offerings, means visitors will continue to appreciate their experiences at the Hyderabad Marriott Hotel & Convention Centre for many years to come.
