Monthly Archives: December 2012

New Guiness record set for non-stop joke narration

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Sports

BSNL employee Nanduri Prabhaakar being greeted on completing 48-hour non-stop joke narration marathon at the office of the GM BSNL in Visakhapatnam on Monday. /  Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu

Forsaking sleep for two consecutive nights to achieve the distinction of having surpassed a 20-year-old Guinness World Record for non-stop narration of jokes and in the process bring fame to his employer BSNL, Nanduri Prabhaakar talked away for 50 hours.

Starting on Saturday at 11:24 a.m. the BSNL employee and head of the Visakha Humour Club started narrating humorous anecdotes in Telugu from lives of famous personalities and those recorded in the works of famous writers. He made a very smooth transition from one anecdote to another without fumbling for words or thoughts.

Most of us cannot speak for five minutes. Imagine talking for 50 hours that too keeping track of what he is saying, and not being disturbed by the noise around him, BSNL General Manager (Consumer Fixed Access) Y V Sastry said putting the effort in perspective. He spoke during a break taken to mark the completion of 48 hours of narration.

Prabhaakar was felicitated by Government Whip Dronamraju Srinivas, General Manager (CFA), Deputy General Manager (Admin) R Harimohan, DGM (Finance) Y Srirama Murthy, writer Kasi Viswanath and patron of Omkar and Lions School for the Deaf Kasim Mehdi during the break taken after completion of 48 hours of Joke Marathon.

Prabhaakar finally concluded his marathon after 50 hours. The Guinness World Record for non-stop joke narration was set in 1992 in the US and has not been broken. He will submit the records of this performance, conducted according to the guidelines prescribed by the Guinness Book, in his bid to enter the record book.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Special Correspondent / December 11th, 2012

Alien tree species pose a threat to Eastern Ghats

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

Visakhapatnam :

Forest biodiversity in the Eastern Ghats  is undergoing a tremendouschange. Experts at the department of environmental sciences, Andhra University, believe that the hilly slopes in the district are changing for the worse.

The department of environmental sciences estimates that over 80,000 acres of forest land has been permanently destroyed in the last 32 years alone (from 1980-2012). In addition to this, biodiversity in the deciduous forests on the hilly slopes of the Eastern Ghats in the district has virtually gone for a toss.

Pointing out that diversity in flora has a new meaning today,  Professor  A Solomon Raju  said, “Intrusive non-native species are taking over the forest cover and artificial block plantations in many pockets of our reserve are threatening the existence of seasonal native plants in many ‘forested’ areas.”

Over a period of time, many block plantations of tree species like Eucalyptus and timber trees such as Cashew rina have been introduced in the reserve area, resulting in erosion of endemic species peculiar to the Eastern Ghats like Native Basil, Fida, Justicia, Borreria and Merremia that help in soil conservation, increase moisture level and produce organic matter which helps trap carbon.

Agreeing to this, N Govinda Rao, a biotechnologist from  Andhra University  said that the introduction of foreign species in a specific and sensitive ecosystem must be done carefully and care must be taken to ensure that they are friendly towards the ecosystem and not intrusive.

According to experts, the forests in Eastern Ghats are unique, in the sense that they are the most ancient forest cover in the subcontinent. More importantly, thanks to the solid bedrock, they house a vast number of tree species.

The three-tier structure of the forest is predominantly tree based and supported by shrub and herbaceous cover which is conducive to supporting life forms of great variance. The undulating and gentle sloping nature of the Ghats makes it ideal to support a three-tier forest, said sources at the environmental sciences department.

Elaborating on this, professor Solomon Raju said, “The very sloping nature of the Ghats makes a three-tier forest absolutely necessary. The seasonal herbaceous species such as Hyptis and Ocymm are extremely eco-friendly, in the sense that they not only help bind the soil and absorb rain water but also act as generators of organic matter that help the forest sustain.”

Moreover, the sub-tropical nature of the climate ensures that species found in different climatic zones can make a home in the Eastern Ghats. However, experts fear that the very existence of forests in the Eastern Ghats is being threatened due to various reasons today.

The introduction of non-friendly species such as Eucalyptus and Cashew rina is spelling doom for the ethnic nature of the forest, even as illegal mining, excessive urbanisation and shifting cultivation in addition to illegal logging could actually wipe out the forest cover for good, experts pointed out.

“Almost three species of butterflies have been wiped out and honey bees too are a threatened lot. If we do not act today and protect our forest cover, the implications would be serious as pollination itself could be affected. This means that food production would be drastically affected in the long run,” warned Dr Govind Rao .

However, forest department officials defended the decision to opt for quick growing plantations of Acacia, Cashew rina, Eucalyptus, Prosopis (Thumma) and Coffee because the focus was on regenerating tree and land cover in completely denuded areas. “We also need to take into consideration the fact that these trees have a commercial value. After all we cannot have the locals in conflict with the ecosystem. In the process, we try to find a balance. Environmentalists might say that we are compromising, but at least we are doing our bit to regenerate forest cover. At the end of the day, the block plantations can be slowly replaced by a natural forest cover.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com  / Home> Environment / TNN / December 11th, 2012

SIO exhibition to create awareness on environment

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Nature, Science & Technology

Documentary films will be screened at the venue for students in the next few days. Most of the models have been prepared by the children themselves.

The three day exhibition that SIO Hyderabad is organised with theme,”Think,Act,Save for all it’s worth, save the Earth” at nampally in Hyderabad on Saturday. /  Photo:G.Ramakrishna / The Hindu /

In an effort to create awareness about the environmental hazards, the Students Islamic Organisation of India is organising a three-day environmental exhibition titled ‘Think, Act, Save. – For all it’s worth save the Earth’ at the Exhibition Grounds in Nampally.

The event was inaugurated on Saturday by Dr. M.K.M. Zafar, Reader, Department of Translation, Maulana Azad National Urdu University. Students from over 15 educational institutions from across the city are participating in the event.

Students demonstrated the need for constructing Rain Water Harvesting pits in houses. Different models were used to educate people about the ill-effects of deforestation and various forms of pollution. This apart, a painting and photo exhibition is also on at the venue.

Documentary films will be screened at the venue for students in the next few days. Most of the models have been prepared by the children themselves.

“We are trying to involve and educate children about the environment and the need to protect it,” said Arifuddin Ilyas, City Secretary, SIO Hyderabad. Hameed Mohammed Khan, president, Movement for Peace and Justice and Syed Anas Rizvi, president, SIO Hyderabad participated in the inauguration function. The exhibition is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m till Monday.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / December 09th, 2012

Koneru Humpy felicitates Priyanka and her coach

Records, All, Sports

Former mayor T. Venkateswara Rao presenting a cheque for Rs. 25,000 donated by Grandmaster Koneru Humpy to world under-10 girls chess champion N. Priyanka in Vijayawada on Sunday./ Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar / The Hindu /

It was a poignant moment for chess lovers on Sunday as women’s World No. 2 Koneru Humpy felicitated the world Under-10 girls’ champion Nutakki Priyanka at her residence for her title triumph recently at the world championship in Slovenia.

The Grandmaster also presented a cheque of Rs.25,000 to the little girl as a token of appreciation.

“I became world Under-10 champion in 1997 and after a gap of 15 years another girl (Priyanka) won the coveted trophy from Vijayawada and it is a feat to be celebrated,” said Padma Shri and Arjuna awardee Humpy. City’s first mayor T. Venkateswara Rao, who was also present, honoured Priyanka’s coach Bobba with a shawl. The former chess administrator played a crucial role in shaping the fledging chess career of the ‘little champ’.

Koneru Ashok, coach-cum-father of Humpy, hailed the role of Bobba and felt that Priyanka possessed the wherewithal to garner more laurels in the game of sixty-four squares.

“It was Bobba who taught the rudiments of chess to Grand Master Pendyala Harikrishna,” he added.

Bobba said that Priyanka would take part in the Asian schools chess championship to be held at New Delhi from December 12 to 19. “The tournament will be held in age categories of 9, 11, 13, 16 and 17 and she will take part in the Under-11 category. She needs to deploy new openings and sharpen her middle and end games. Later she will take part in FIDE-norm tournament at Chennai,” he added.

Krishna District Olympic Association secretary K.P. Rao said that Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh has sent a proposal to Chef Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to grant a cash award of Rs.10 lakh to Priyanka. Priyanka’s parents N. Radhakrishna and Durga Devi also took part in the felicitation function.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Staff Reporter / December 10th, 2012

World allergy meet begins in city today

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Hyderabad:

The World Allergy Organisation’s International Scientific Conference will begin in the city on Thursday, with about 1,500 delegates from 80 countries participating.

Union minister for health and family welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad will declare the conference, on the theme Severe Allergies, Severe Asthma, and New Strategies for Treatment and Prevention, open at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre. This is the second WAO conference.

“In the conference, we will present data on marked global increase of allergic diseases that are becoming more complex, burdening children and adults. An international faculty of 90 key opinion leaders in the field of allergy will present the papers,” said WAO president Dr Ruby Pawankar.

She said allergy, though relating to asthma, is often trivialised and clinical services are often limited.

CM N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and ministers of health will also participate in the conference which will be on till Saturday.

World Allergy Patient and Public Forum-2012 will be held at the Apollo Hospital in Jubilee Hills. Represen-tatives from Global Energy and Asthma Patient platform, Chinese Patient Organisation, Japanese Patient Organisation and Polish Federation of Asthma & Allergy will take part. A painting competition on the theme What do allergies look like, will also be held at Apollo on December 9.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / December 06th, 2012

Ball set rolling for making Vijayawada a ‘solar city’

Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

Project aims at minimum 10 p.c. reduction in projected demand of conventional energy

Krishna district Collector Budha Prakash M. Jyothi has set the ball rolling for transformation of Vijayawada into a solar city by approving the proposals submitted by the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP).

In the wake of a rapid rise in demand for electricity, development of solar cities is seen as the most viable proposition. It is designed to encourage local governing bodies to prepare a road map to guide their cities in becoming ‘renewable energy cities’ or ‘solar cities’.

Vijayawada is the only city in Andhra Pradesh that figures out in the list of ‘solar cities’.To ensure optimum utilisation of solar energy to meet the objective of a solar city status, the local authorities plan to entrust the task of motivating individuals and various sectors to a group of departments.

“A group of sectors have been attached to different government wings that will take shoulder the responsibility of bringing these segments into the fold of solar energy users,” said NREDCAP Executive Engineer K. Srinivasa Rao.

As per the master plan, Municipal Health Officers, Regional Inspection Officers of the Board of Intermediate, RDO, Vijayawada and Town Planning Officers will coordinate to educate and motivate persons concerned with the city hotels and hostels.

Municipal Health Officers and District Coordinator, Arogyasri, Vijayawada, will coordinate with hospitals, Deputy Commissioners in the Departments of Labour and Commercial Taxes and town planning officers will wield their influence on local traders, shop-keepers and other commercial establishments.

Similarly, the Additional Joint Collector, Krishna district will encourage government officers while the District Education Officer, the Deputy District Education Officer in the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation and the Chief City Planner will shoulder the responsibility of schools and colleges, including private institutions.

The solar city project aims at minimum 10% reduction in projected demand of conventional energy at the end of five years, through a combination of enhancing supply from renewable energy sources in the city and energy efficiency measures. With the duty margins chalked out for each category, it is now time for constitution of a Solar City Cell and a Solar City Stake Holders’ Committee.

“The Municipal Commissioner will organise a meeting of all the stake-holders to involve them actively in meeting the objective of a solar city,” said Mr. Rao.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by P. Sujatha Varma / December 06th, 2012

Asian Eye Banks Awards L V Prasad Eye Institute’s Dr. Gullapalli Rao for Pioneering Contributions

Records, All, Science & Technology

Hyderabad , India, Dec 05, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) :

The Association of Eye Banks of Asia (AEBA), an umbrella organization for major Asian eye banks and eye banking organizations, presented its inaugural award for “pioneering contributions to eye banking in Asia” to Dr. Gullapalli N Rao, Founder-Chair of L V Prasad Eye Institute here. The award was presented at the 3rd Asia Cornea Society Biennial Scientific Meeting held in Manila, November 27 to 29.

Dr. Rao developed the first eye bank employing international standards in Asia at L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) in Hyderabad in 1989, and it has become a major global resource center and Center of Excellence in eye banking. LVPEI’s Ramayamma International Eye Bank is now one of the world’s biggest eye banks, and LVPEI performs the highest number of corneal transplants of any center in the world. The Ramayamma International Eye Bank is also a major international training center for eye banking personnel and research.

Dr. Rao, who served on the Medical Advisory Board of the Eye Bank Association of America, played a major role in the creation of the Eye Bank Association of India (EBAI), of which he is also the former president. Through its activities, EBAI stimulated the development of a world-class eye banking network in India and supported the development of many Asian eye banks.

Corneal transplantation, using healthy corneas donated by individuals at death, is the only way to rehabilitate the majority of those with corneal blindness. Because India has the world’s largest corneal blindness burden, a high-quality eye banking system is very important to restore vision to as many as possible so they can lead optimally productive lives.

About LVPEI’s Ramayamma International Eye Bank

LVPEI’s Ramayamma International Eye Bank (RIEB) is the largest provider of sight restoring corneas in India and a SightLife Center of Excellence in Eye Banking. Since its establishment in 1989, RIEB has greatly increased the collection of transplantable donor corneas and elevated eye banking performance standards in India, Asia and the developing world. As a leader in eye banking across Asia, RIEB has contributed significantly to the effective networking and proliferation of eye banks through promotion of community eye banking programs. REIB has harvested over 35,000 donor corneas, and transplanted over 17,000 of them to needy patients. RIEB also offers training to eye bank personnel.

About L V Prasad Eye Institute

The L V Prasad Eye Institute provides high-quality comprehensive eye care to all people; provides sight enhancement and rehabilitation services at the Institute and through its rural eye health network; offers professional ophthalmic training at all levels; and conducts cutting-edge eye care research. The Institute is a World Health Organization (WHO) Center for the Prevention of Blindness and a Global Resource Center for VISION 2020, a worldwide initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness led by WHO and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.

SOURCE: L V Prasad Eye Institute

source: http://www.marketwatch.com / Home> Press Release / December 05th, 2012

Foreign students in love with Vizag

Education, World Opinion

We get the pulse of foreign students, who are increasingly opting for the city as a  study  destination

The number of foreign students  opting for Visakhapatnam as a favoured  destination  for higher education  has increased remarkably from last year, going by the number of enrollments. In addition to that, the low cost of living in the city, the foreign exchange  programmes provided by Gitam University and the full scholarship programmes offered by Andhra University are a major draw for foreign students. Apart from scholarly pursuits, there are other aspects of the city that seem to appeal to these students. The scenic beauty of Vizag is one of them. Florian Mingas and Roux Lala of France, who are in their 2nd trimester at Gitam University, say, “In this city, we never felt away from home as the beaches  remind  us of South France. The hostel facilities are good and the fellow students and professors help us in every possible way to make us understand the curriculum. The only problem we have is remembering people’s names and the food is a lot spicier that what we are used to.”

Chloe Cherri of France, a foreign exchange student in Gitam, says that the demeanour of Vizagites has altered her perception of Indians. She says “When I was working in New Zealand as a hotel management employee, I came across a few Indians and they were very rude. I never wanted to come to India, but I had to come to Vizag. And after staying here, I have realised that all Indians are not the same.”.

While that’s the scenario in Gitam, Andhra University has a diverse foreign population from Afghanistan,  Iraq, Iran, Nepal  and Ethiopia. These students say that they have adapted to the city easily, but the only hurdle they face is the humidity during summers. Milkiyas Mehreteab from Ethiopia , who is studying his 1st year business management, says “The college management is good and they are very helpful. It’s like going back to school. My major issue is with the humidity, I have a T-shirt which says ‘bear the heat or sweat it out’ — other than that I’m really happy here,” he quips.

For students from Nepal, who come from cooler climes, the oppressive heat and humidity coupled with the frequent power cuts is a big challenge they face. Even learning the language is a major problem for them. Pooja Ranjitkar, a 2nd year finance  student of Nepal, says, “It is wonderful city, no doubt. Whenever we need help, our  friends  try and teach us Telugu words, but it’s a difficult language. Also, the climate here is very hot and humid and the frequent power shutdowns make it worse. We still need to acclimatise.”

Summing up the Vizag experience, Nasir Ahmed, a 2nd year Applied Geology student from Afghanistan   says, “We are happy that our embassy chose this place for our studies. It’s a great place to socialise and we get to know about many historical places . We have been able to adapt to the lifestyle and food habits  very quickly. But the funny thing is that, here winter is like summer in Afghanistan. But it’s quite a relief as we do not have zero degree temperatures here. The major hurdle we have is the communication barrier. Sometimes, our lecturers’ converse in the regional dialect and it becomes difficult for us to understand. We have to stay back after college hours and talk to the professors and clear our doubts. It’s time consuming. Apart from that, we love the City of Destiny as it is considered to be one among the multicultural cities.”

leena.sri@timesgroup.com

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Life & Style> People / by Leena Shri Pampana, TNN / December 06th, 2012

WhistleTalk Raises $400,000 From Hyderabad Angels

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Whistle Talk , a social recruiting platform, has raised  $400,000 from Hyderabad Angels  in a funding round led by Hyderabad Angels member, Raghu Bathina. The funds will be used to run the operations and market the product. At present, the team size of the startup is 10, however, the company plans to increase the count to 15 in next six months, according to a vcc circle  report.

Based in Bangalore, Whistletalk is a social hiring platform that allows users to share job openings in their team or help friends to find a job and earn a referral bonus. While sharing a job, users can also target other users with whom they want to share the job. The company claims that it has built a matching and virality engine which shares job postings with people who are most likely to benefit from the posting on the user’s social network. For recruiters, Whistletalk enables hiring through the social network of the current employees. In return, Whistletalk also allows recruiters to offer a referral bonus to employees.

Challenges: We believe that the site will work in favor of job seekers with a wide social network. Apart from that, while using the site we felt that discovery of job offers that are not coming from ones own social network was poor. It’s also not clear as to how the company plans to monetize its operations. At the time of writing this article, we found posting a job offer is free of cost.

Earlier this year, Hyderabad Angels invested  about  Rs 2 crore in E-learning startup  Edutor Technologies . It has also invested in Identis, which develops custom RFID chips for the manufacturing industry.

Other offerings in recruiting space

Recently, ThinkFruit.in , a strategy, operations and management consultant company, launched JobFit.in , a skill certification and job recruitment site. The portal provides skill assessment tests for job seekers that intends to highlight their top skills to the recruiters.

Apart from that, WhistleTalk competes with recruitment players including  Naukri , Shine.com , Monster, ClickJobs and TimesJobs, besides job boards, and popular professional network, LinkedIn. Last year, YourNextLeap.com , a web-based career recommendation engine, had pivoted  to a job site, allowing users to build profiles, take aptitude tests and search for jobs. The site also offered an assessment tool, suggesting jobs based on an assessment of the user’s activities, interests and strengths.

source: http://www.medianama.com / Home / by Apurva Chardhary / December 04th, 2012

Visakhapatnam Steel to set up plant in Sri Lanka

Business & Economy

Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, (RINL) an Indian market leader for bar and rod products in the steel market, is looking at entering the Sri Lankan steel market. RINL, which is backed by the Government of India, has a 35% market share in bar and rods amongst the main and major producers of long products in India.

T. K. Chand, Director(Commercial) RINL and H. L. Meena, Director, Ministry of Steel during the event./ Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

“We will be opening a regional office at the World Trade Centre soon and then would explore the possibility of having manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka with a local partner,” said T. K. Chand, Director (Commercial) RINL and Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Vizag Zone, India who is currently on a fact fining visit to Sri Lanka.

He said that they would look at a new manufacturing either in Hambantota or Trincomalee so that they can use the harbor network. “Our roll out plan for Sri Lanka also include re export to the region which include the Maldives and the Myanmar,” he disclosed.

He said that they are very strong in Tamil Nadu. “We also see a similar demand for our products in both Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.”

During the last financial year, the company has recorded around US$28 billion as against the previous year annual turnover. With expansion of its product value, its turnover is likely to go up to US$5.5 billion in a couple of years. The company is also known as a green steel producer with extensive green steel technology adopted in its operational processes.

He also said that they had obtained the green light from the government to launch operations to Sri Lanka. RINL is also considering participation in the intensive growth of Sri Lanka by introducing its intensive Rural Dealership Scheme (RDS) that provides business opportunities to rural entrepreneurs and beneficial employment while making quality steel available to common people in the countryside. RDS is a highly successful scheme in India and RINL has developed this intensive scheme through the Indian Steel Minister, Beni Prasad Verma’s inspirational call to steel producer’s to make steel available in rural India and participate in its growth and progress, he said.

Other team members of the delegation, H. L. Meena, Director, Ministry of Steel, Wilson David, General Manager (Mills), RINL and Desikachar, Deputy General Manager (Marketing)-Exports, RINL echoed the same views and told that they were impressed on the business facilities available in Sri Lanka.

source: http://www.DailyNews.lk / Home / by Sara Pathirana / Wednesday, December 05th, 2012