Category Archives: Education

Dr Sripada Pinakapani dies at age 100

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

SripadaHF12mar2013

Sripada Pinakapani.

Kurnool:

Dr Sreepada Pinakapani, noted Carnatic classical exponent, guru to well-known musicians, and professor of medicine, died at a hospital in Kurnool on Monday evening. He had been ailing for some time.

Dr Pinakapani, 100, is survived by three sons and three daughters. A medical doctor, Dr Pinakapani was also an administrator and professor in medicine, and a Carnatic musician of note.

Dr Pinakapani performed at major festivals and concerts, and also wrote several books on Carnatic music. His Gaanakalasarvasvamu ran into multiple volumes and contains minute details of the krithis.
Dr Pinkapani was born at Priya Agraharam in Srikakulam district on August 3, 1913. His mother Jogamma and father Kameswara Rao, a Carnatic musician, encouraged their son to learn classical music. He spent three months in the school run by violin maestro Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu.

He did his MBBS from the Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, and graduated in April 1938. He completed his MD in general medicine in December 1945, from the same college. He also honed his skills in music simultaneously and attended concerts of leading musicians of the time.

He taught medicine at the Madras Medical College and at his alma mater, Andhra Medical College. He shifted to the Kurnool Medical College in 1957, from where he retired as professor.
Dr Pinakapani received many awards and honours for his services to Carnatic music. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1984 by then President Giani Zail Singh. He was awarded the Gana Vidya Vardhi by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams on August 3, 2012, on the occasion of his 99th birthday.

He also received the title of Sangeetha Kalanidhi. He was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1977. Andhra University honoured him with the title of Kala Prapoorna in 1978.
Following news of his death, Ram Prasad, principal of the Kurnool Medical College, local political leaders and many others paid floral tributes to the doctor-musician at his residence in Kurnool. He has a stage named after him.

Anantapur Tyagaraya Gana Sabha paid homage to the vocalist for his service to society. Sabha secretary K. Gnaneswara Rao recalled that Dr Pinakapani presided over concerts by musical giants such as Ustad Bismillah Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar, in Anantapur. The concert stage at the Sabha is named after Dr Pinakapani after he performed there in 1975.

He trained Dr Nukala Satyanarayana, IAS officer Jayanthi Natarajan, Oleti Venkatesam, Srirangam Gopalaratnam, Nedunuri, Vasudhara Devi and the Malladi brothers, all of whom have made a mark in the world of Carnatic music.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / March 12th, 2013

APCOST to organise contests for teachers and students

Education, Science & Technology

The Andhra Pradesh Council of Science and Technology (APCOST), Government of Andhra Pradesh, will organise competitions for students and teachers on February 26 and 27, in connection with the National Science Day. Students of classes 8, 9, and 10 are eligible to participate in the contest.

In the first category, one student can display the project along with a teacher on February 26, and in second category, one teacher can exhibit his/her project the next day.

There is no fee. Interested students and teachers can register their names by February 20, by calling 0866-2414161 during working hours, or by sending e-mail toapcost_vijayawada@yahoo.comorapcost_regionalsciencecentre_vja@ yahoo.com, said APCOST in-charge officer J. Dilleswara Rao.

Only three projects will be allowed from one institution. Three prizes would be awarded for each category (for students and teachers separately).

Prizes would be distributed at a function on February 27, Mr. Rao said.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Vijayawada, February 16th, 2013

Golden oldies take trip down memory lane

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders, Records, All

Students of the 1953 batch of Keshava Memorial High School with their family members on Sunday. / Photo: G. Ramakrishna / The Hindu

Reunion meet of 1953 batch students held at Keshav Memorial High School

It was a Sunday, but the atmosphere at Keshav Memorial High School in Narayanguda was lively. Looking at a decades-old photograph hung in a hall, a group of elderly people tried to identify themselves, their best friends and teachers.

Childhood memories

Cracking jokes at each other, they recollected their childhood memories and enquired about their well being. This was the scene at “Sneha Sashtipoorti”, a reunion meet of 1953 students’ batch of Keshav Memorial High School. “It’s been 60 years since we were in school and that’s the reason, we named it as Sneha Sashtipoorti,” said Veturi Yoganandam, convenor of the programme. Veteran actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao was chief guest for the event. “Age is just a number. Even today, I still want to act in movies and dance. These programmes remind me of my childhood and its memories. Meeting old friends rejuvenates us,” was the veteran actor’s message.

Though most of them in the batch were aged between 67 and 70 years, their zeal to organise the programme was quite spirited. It took days of planning, gathering information and addresses, communication etc but ultimately it paid off as 40 out of 70 students turned up for the event, claimed Mr. Yoganandam. “We have lot of memories associated with this school. Like most students, we too used to bunk classes and watched English movies in Deepak Mahal talkies. Of course, later we were punished,” laughs S. Prahalada Kumar, a retired JNTU professor.

As a mark of recognition and love for their teachers, they felicitated mathematics teacher Bhujanga Rao and social teacher Venkateshwar Rao. “Our teachers used to punish us, but it was out of love and affection. They always strived for overall development of students. Besides academics, they stressed on moral and physical education,” says Chandramohan, a businessman. “We used to play lot of football, volleyball and other games in the school and feel sorry for the present generation students as they lack sufficient playgrounds and quality education,” he adds.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / February 18th, 2013

Guntur student bags Institute of Chartered Accountants of India prize

Education, Records, All

Guntur :

A student of Guntur, M Vaishnavi, has been selected for the prestigious national award – Sultan Chand Memorial Prize, instituted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Vaishnavi got the award for emerging topper in professional competence course (PCC) at national level. Vaishnavi is also proficient in nine Indian languages.

In a letter to Mattupalli Mohan, director of a local training institute, ICAI deputy secretary Mahendra Kumar said that Vaishnavi had been selected for the top prize as she was the 1st ranker at the All India level in the PCC-2012. The award will be presented to Vaishnavi at a function in Delhi in the third week of February.tnn Expressing happiness over a Guntur student hitting the headlines for yet another time by grabbing a prestigious award in the commerce stream, Mattupalli Mohan complimented the girl’s father Jagadeesh for braving all odds to see his daughter at the top.

Vaishnavi is eldest of Jagadeesh’s three daughters. “He came all the way from Behrampur in Odisha to Guntur to get her daughter admitted to the best training institute to realize her dream of becoming a chartered accountant

She has brought laurels to her parents and the institute by winning the prestigious prize even before clearing the final,” said a jubilant Mohan here on Saturday.

Jagadeesh of Behrampur in Odisa, is a vendor of computer peripherals and encouraged all the three daughters to pursue the courses of their interest. While Vaishnavi is doing CA in Guntur, his second daughter Vaishali joined medicine stream and the youngest daughter Vaisakhi is in her class IX. Meanwhile, the students of the training institute took out a bike rally in the city to celebrate Vaishnavi’s success in getting the award.

source: http://www.m.timesofindia.com  / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / February 10th, 2013

Nizamabad girl student bags two gold medals

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

Miss Ateeba Shazi who completed her M.Sc in Physics from the Giriraj Government College bagged two gold medals at the 79th convocation of the Osmania University in Hyderabad .

A distinction student from the beginning, she stood first securing more than 85 percentage in SSC, Intermediate and B.Sc. In M.Sc, she scored 87 per cent and bagged the Prof.N. Rajeswar Rao Memorial Gold Medal and also B. Hayagreena and Revathi Gold Medal.

Daughter of Abid Ali, a lecturer in Commerce at the GGC, she was given the Abid Ali Khan merit award by Siasat Urdu daily.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Nizamabad, February 09th, 2013

Prof S. M. Rahmatullah appointed Registrar Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU)

Education, Leaders

Hyderabad, February 4 (INN):

Prof S. M. Rahmatullah, Dean School of Arts and Social Sciences and Head Department of Politcal Science and Public Administration, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, has been appointed as the Registrar of MANUU.

Prof. Mohammad Miyan, Vice Chancellor, appointed him for a period of three years. Prof. Rahmatullah, who was working as Incharge, took over as full time Registrar on Feb 2 subsequent to his selection by a Selection Committee. He has worked earlier also as officiating Registrar in 2010. Prof. Rahmatullah is an expert in Public Administration & have worked at MANUU in different capacities. The teaching and non-teaching fraternity has congratulated him for assuming the charge.

source: http://www.newswala.com / News Wala / Home> Hyderabad News / February 04th, 2013

TEDx GITAM University on Feb. 23

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

TEDx is a series of talks by eminent personalities from all over the country and abroad

GITAM University has recently acquired the license to organise an independent TED event. TEDx GITAMUniversity, the first ever Visakhapatnam based TEDx event, is scheduled to be held on February 23 with the motto “Imagine. Ideate. Inspire” .

A globally renowned event on the lines of the famous TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Talks , TEDx is a series of talks by eminent personalities from all over the country and abroad on diverse topics covering vital fields like media, technology, science, arts, Entrepreneurship, medical etc.

The speakers include Joseph Radhik (famous wedding photographer) , a speaker from Dialogue in the Dark- India (social franchising company), Harrish Iyer (victim of child sexual abuse, survivor, animal rights activist and an environmentalist), Ojas Suniti Vinay (young theatre artist who spreads awareness about plight of North-East India), Vijay Bhaskar Reddy (Agricultural entrepreneur) , Prasanna Kumar (famous Vizag luminary; Director, Centre for Policy Studies; former Rector and retired Professor of Politics, Andhra University), Anupama Hoskere (Puppetry theatre innovator) , Mitchell B. London (President and CEO at Headroom Learning, a leading educational software company) and Vivek Francis (Owner of MobME, one of the most successful telecom start-ups in India).

Only limited numbers of entry passes are available, and will be issued after the applicant finishes the application process at www.register.tedxgitam

university.com and is intimated of his or her selection by the organizers, following which payment of entry fee has to be done.

Selection will be done on the basis of information/essay provided in the application form and the resume of applicant.

Contact Jai Kanth at 9032547193 for more details.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Features> Education Plus / February 04th, 2013

Beats blindness to become CA

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration /Positive News and Features

Hyderabad :

In a rare show of courage and zeal, a 23-year-old Hyderabad youth, who lost his vision completely at the age of 11, has cleared this year’s chartered accountant exams to become the first-ever visually challenged  person to achieve this feat in the country.

J Rajasekhar cleared the CA examy , the results of which were announced on Monday in just his second attempt, a herculean task even for any normal and healthy person of his age.

Blessed with a sharp brain and aided by the latest software for the visually challenged, Rajashekhar made relentless efforts for five years to reach his goal.

“There were many, including my mother, who thought that it was impossible for a person like me to clear the examination but I never felt discouraged,” said Rajsekhar, who learnt to do mental math at an early age.

“I used to study for hours at a stretch for the exams not just to clear it but also to prove that a visually challenged can accomplish whatever he wants,” he added.

He is now being flooded with congratulatory messages from not just his family or friends but also from his peers who see in him their role model.

After taking the CA entrance examination, Rajasekhar pursued a degree in Bachelor of Commerce through long distance mode while working at a CA firm.

“During these three years, I used to try and understand accounts and auditing and record them in my digital voice recorder to keep on listening to them,” he said.

“I would do the same with my soft copy of notes given to me by my coaching centre and try and calculate as much as possible in my brain” he added.

Rajashekhar was provided with a volunteer to write the final examination, which included six theory and two practical subjects.

He comes from an agriculture family from Guntur and was diagnosed with brain tumor when he was in school which eventually affected his optic nerve leaving him completely blind.

“I want to start my own CA firm and also travel,” says Rajashekhar. “For those like me who want to become chartered accountants , I will some day start a training institute. If I can even help and inspire a few, I would be very happty.”

The management of Devnar School for the Blind which funded his education and accommodation, appealed to people not to discriminate but encourage the visually challenged to achieve their goal.

“Now there are good opportunities for the blind in private as well as government sector. One should not treat them as a burden but provide them with equal rights so that they can contribute to society and the country in their own way,” said Saibaba Gowd, founder of Devnar School for the Blind.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / January 23rd, 2013

They succeed against all odds

Education, Inspiration /Positive News and Features

‘The job came as a New Year gift and I want to make the best of it’

E. Srimannarayan was only 10 when he ran away from home at Kanigiri in Prakasam district. Angry for being beaten up by his father, he stepped out and hit the road. Pangs of hunger forced him to work as a cleaner in a hotel.

After a few months, he shifted to Karimnagar and worked as a daily-wage coolie at a construction site. But soon the young boy found himself inadequate to do the hard work and did the next best thing that came to his mind – he boarded a train to Vijayawada and landed at the local railway station. Living on the platforms of Vijayawada railway for the next one year, he kept himself afloat by begging and rag-picking.

One fine day, he found himself isolated after a tiff with his ‘friends’. He headed to the night shelter operated by a local NGO Navajeevan Bala Bhavan near the railway station because the volunteers there were familiar. He had seen them in the railway station, almost daily, motivating street kids like him to join the shelter.

“They promised me that they will send me to school and I agreed because I wanted to fulfil my dream of becoming an engineer,” says Srimannarayana.

BRIDGE SCHOOL

To make up for the lost time, he joined a bridge school before going to a mainstream institution. Now, 24, Srimannarayana has completed engineering and has bagged the post of an electrical engineer in L&T, Visakhapatnam.

“The job came as a New Year gift and I want to make the best of it. The way I was motivated worked wonders for my life and I want the same for others on street,” he says.

The tale of 22-year-old A. Vinod Kumar is more or less the same. The youngster can’t remember when or how he landed on streets. “I was just four and found myself working as a domestic help in some area of Tirupati. Too much work and no food made life miserable. I did menial works at many places before landing at Chennai railway station where I was picked by Don Bosco volunteers,” he recalls.

The boy could speak only Telugu and so he was referred to Navajeevan Bala Bhavan in Vijayawada. But, he did not like the strict regimen at Bala Bhavan and ran away many times only to be brought back every time by volunteers. He joined school and in 7 standard, and he emerged topper. That’s when he realised that better things were possible in life.

After a three-year diploma in polytechnic, he sat for ECET and directly joined the second year engineering course in a local college. Vinod Kumar has bagged a job of a loco-pilot in South Central Railway.

Both the boys have vowed to adopt two school-going street children each and sponsor their education.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by P. Sujatha Varma / January 10th, 2013

Vijayawada book festival ends on a high note

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

APSRTC  Managing Director A.K. Khan and Vijayawada MP L. Rajagopal listening to a girl reciting a Telugu poem for which she won a prize at the valedictory of the book festival on Friday.  / Photo: V. Raju / The Hindu

Over one lakh people are estimated to have visited it this year

Over a lakh of people are estimated to have visited the 24 Vijayawada Book Festival which came to a close on Friday. Book Festival Society president D. Ashok Kumar said that last year the weather played truant affecting the number of visitors and proportionately the sale.

Fortunately for the book lovers, the weather was good this year. Not only there was no rain, the evenings were also cool, he said.

The festival began on a high note with Odiya writer Pratibha Ray, who was chosen to inaugurate the festival being selected for the prestigious Jnanpith Award.

The Vijayawada Book Festival inauguration was the first big programme Prof. Ray attended after the Jnanpith Trust announced her name for the award thus giving the book lover here the rare opportunity of being the first to felicitate a Jnanpith Award winner.

Interaction

The interaction between Telugu and Odiya writers facilitated by the Vijayawada Book Festival Society (VBFS) and the National Book Trust (NBT) turned out more successful than similar interactions conducted between writers from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala owing to the close relationship to the people of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

Unique workshop

The two-day workshop on Creative Writing and Illustration Art conducted by NBT’s National Centre for Children’s Literature (NCCL) was also a unique event in this book festival.

The book festival society announced that it would, in association with the NBT, conduct such creative writing and illustration art workshops in several towns of Coastal Andhra in its silver jubilee year.

At the request of the city and district administrators, the book festival society has decided to patronise folk art forms of Andhra Pradesh on a regular basis.

The society has decided to invite various folk art troupes and artistes to give performances on the dais of the book festival to promote the art forms that were gradually disappearing.

Star performers

The Burrakatha troupe from Ramachandrapuram, Telugu Gazals by Mohammad Miya, Kurnool, folk magic by Miryala Prasanth Kumar and the staging of plays Kailasamlo Cortu and Saraswati Vaibhavam were very well received by the public that visited the book festival.

Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal and APSRTC vice-chairman and managing director A.K. Khan participated in the valedictory function.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Cities> Vijayawada / by Special Correspondent / January 12th, 2013