Monthly Archives: May 2014

‘May’ the best Queen win

Taking home the crown: (Left) ‘Queen’ Babita Yadav with ‘Princess’ Seema Mirza (Photo: DC)
Taking home the crown: (Left) ‘Queen’ Babita Yadav with ‘Princess’ Seema Mirza (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad:

When asked, “Who would you save, your father or your boyfriend, if they are trapped in a room that has caught fire and why?” pat came the reply from contestant number 9, Seema Mirza, “My father, because he is in the audience right now.”

With the crowd in splits at her witty remark, the 19-year-old claimed the title of Princess Secunderabad Club at the Secunderabad Club May Queen Ball 2014 on Saturday. Babita Yadav, was the winner of Queen Secunderabad Club.

Seema Mirza, a 19-year-old student, and Babita Yadav, 37-year-old educator, are poles apart, but found themselves on common ground onstage the annual beauty pageant in which 10 young ladies (Princesses) and nine older ladies (Queens) participated.

Seema, studying B.Com at St Mary’s College is joining Manipal University this August. Seema entered this pageant to fight her fear of public speaking and walking in heels! “I am a sports person,” says Seema, who also won the sub-title of Ms Beautiful Hair.

“I participated to prove to myself that I can be both sporty and elegant. Walking in heels and wearing elaborate dresses was a huge challenge. Our choreographer told us that our answers should be smart, funny and get reactions from people,” says Seema, the only contestant to get the audience to laugh.

Educator and mother of two, Babita Yadav, winner of the Queen’s category, also won the two sub-titles — Style Icon and Talented. “I wanted to achieve something inspiring. Hence, I chose this pageant,” says Babita.

“As you grow older, you tend to forget yourself and get caught up in the whirlwind of daily tasks. But I believe learning is a never-ending process and that’s what my win stands for.”

“I hope to participate in beauty pageants in Patiala too. My family was very supportive and my kids are proud of their beauty-pageant-winning mom,” says Babita who is moving to Patiala soon.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Lifestyle> Fashion-Beauty / by Anisha Dhiman / May 19th, 2014

Techie on Mission to Groom Student Entrepreneurs

Vijayawada :

Global Business Incubator (GBI), an initiative by an engineer- turned-entrepreneurship campaigner, has embarked on inculcating the culture of entrepreneurship among the students of KL University (KLU), Guntur and Dhanekula Institute of Engineering and Technology (DIET), Vijayawada. GBI aims at fostering innovation and entrepreneurship among technology students.

Srinivas Gogineni, a biotech graduate from Vijayawada, who was trained in entrepreneurship in the US, set up the GBI in August, 2012 at DIET inspired by the invaluable experience he had acquired during his stay at the incubation centre in New York University (NYU).

“After completing B.Tech here, I went to the US for better prospects. But the NYU incubation centre has changed my mindset. Bruce Niswander, NYU professor inspired me to shift to entrepreneurship. As I had a liking for entrepreneurship, the switch was rewarding. Within a year of landing in the US, I was able to establish a technology company and made profit by selling it. That has prompted me to establish an incubation centre in Indian colleges which churn out so many talented students,” explains G Srinivas.

Srinivas was so excited about GBI that he flew back to his native place – Vijayawada – and started approaching colleges for support to establish incubation centre. After making rounds to various institutes, Srinivas was able to convince DIET management. Soon, KLU joined hands with GBI. While institutions provided infrastructure and financial support, GBI roped in with knowledge inputs.

“The first challenge we faced was getting technology students accustomed to the concept of entrepreneurship. As students started to know the importance of innovation, they came up with innovative projects using technology,” said Srinivas.

But for some teething problems, GBI was able to inspire students to come up with innovative technology. For instance, it runs a software services company Soft Landing which provides research and technology services to small foreign companies. About 15 students have been involved in this project.

“We used to spend a lot of time on the Facebook. For us, it was just a way of keeping in touch with friends and a favorite past time. But after attending entrepreneurship seminars conducted by GBI, we got to know the power of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and the power of online presence. Along with five of my friends, I started ‘Soft puppy’, a digital marketing services firm, which manages online presence of companies and personalities. Now it’s not just entertaining but also educating to stay online. We also take up various technology education-related projects for schoolchildren which is very satisfying,” says Hanook, a second year BTech student at KLU.

With 300 students involved in various GBI activities, GBI has taken the first step in setting up incubators at Indian colleges.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by J Deepthi Nandan Reddy / May 16th, 2014

Mercedes Benz unveils the golden convoy in Hyderabad

Mercedes-Benz, the most awarded luxury car brand in India, brought its golden car convoy to Hyderabad on May 17. The company has won as many as 16 awards last year which is higher than any other luxury car brand in India. This is truly a remarkable achievement and adding to the company’s objective of achieving “excellence” in 2014.

In order to have a grand celebration across India, the company has started a Golden Car Convoy of the award winning cars A-Class, B-Class, E-Class and GL-Class. This convoy will be covering 23 cities in a span of 45 days, marking a celebration event at every place.

MercedesHF30may2014

To commemorate the occasion, Mahavir Motors organised the event at its state-of -the-art showroom at Madhapur where the who’s who of the city were present. Yashwant Jhabak, Chairman Mahavir Group and Dinyar Marshal, Managing Director Mahavir Motors unveiled the golden convoy of cars in front of a large audience. The event also had Chandrasekar (Area Sales Manager – Mercedes Benz) and Amit Jain (Divisional Manager – Marketing, Mercedes Benz) in attendance.

During the event, Joe Koster from Hyderabad Western Music Foundation played some very entertaining Jazz numbers on the keyboard and saxophone.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / May 18th, 2014

Child Rights Body to Start Mother’s Milk Banks

Hyderabad :

Balala Hakkula Sangham, an organisation for the protection of child rights, has come with a first of its kind initiative to start a Mother’s Milk Bank, in association with Lotus Hospitals, to cater to the needs of orphaned infants. Infant mortality rate in Andhra Pradesh is 41 per 1,000 births in 2012 and most of the deaths are due to respiratory and diarrheal causes.

The main objectives of the initiative is to ensure that every baby born receives mother’s milk, to avoid bottled or animal formula milk and to provide ancillary support to breastfeeding. Donors of milk are tested for various diseases like Tuberculosis, HIV VDRL and Hepatitis before they make a contribution and will be screened by experts to rule out any virus or harmful bacteria. After a thorough screening procedure, the milk is donated to the needy children free of cost.

The average volume of milk taken is between 50-150 ml. “Experts say on an average, lactating women can produce 600 ml milk per day and 300 ml should be sufficient for their little ones. The minimum requirement for children without a feeding mother is 150 ml per day,” said Balala Hakkula Sangham general secretary P Anuradha Rao. For women who donate their milk, it helps them too as it would increase prolactin levels, preventings benign tumors in them.

The contributed milk is refrigerated and transferred to the bank in large containers. Later, it is pasteurised at 62.5 degree centigrade for 30 minutes, which preserves the milk from 80 percent of immunological factors, destroying pathogens, including HIV virus.

The pasteurised milk can be stored for six months, in the freezer for 48 hours, and six to eight hours at room temparature. The milk will be donated on first come first served basis.

Campaigning for donors will begin on the International Day for Protection of Children on June 1. Mother’s Milk Banks will come into operation from the first week of August, which is the International Breast Feed Week.

Breast milk contains various proteins and enzymes such as Immunoglobulins, Lysosomes and Lymphocytes that kill bacterial cells and increase immunity.

“Breast milk is every child’s right. Unfortunately there are instances where a child is deprived of this valuable right. In such a circumstance, the child can still be fed with breast milk through the breast milk banks,” Anuradha Rao said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Sameera Jonnalagadda / May 26th, 2014

205 Khammam villages to merge with Andhra Pradesh

File photo of Polavaram Dam. (Photo: DC)
File photo of Polavaram Dam. (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad:

A few days before the two states of Telangana and Seemandhra are to come into existence on June 2, President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday promulgated the controversial Ordinance that will bring 205 villages of seven mandals in Khammam district in Telangana under the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh with immediate effect.

These 205 villages will be submerged in the Polavaram Dam under construction across the River Godavari when it attains full reservoir level of +150 feet MSL.

The President had initially not sanctioned the Ordinance that had been approved by the outgoing Manmohan Singh government a few days ago. The draft Ordinance, which was returned by the President, was approved in the very first Cabinet meeting convened by new Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and sent to the President for his approval.

With the Ordinance, the entire course of the Godavari and its tributaries, Sabari and Sileru, which flow through Khammam in Telangana region, will come under Seemandhra region, thereby ensuring uninterrupted flow of waters to the Polavaram Dam.

The move to merge the 205 villages in Khammam district with Seemandhra was taken by the previous Congress government, thanks to the pressure brought upon by the Seemandhra Congress leaders as well as BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu who argued for it during the debate on the AP Reorganisation Bill in Rajya Sabha.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC /  Ch V M Krishna Rao / May 29th, 2014

Ordinance gives more mandals to Andhra Pradesh

Picture used for representational purpose. (Photo: DC/File)
Picture used for representational purpose. (Photo: DC/File)

Khammam:

President Pranab Mukherjee giving his consent to the Ordinance merging seven mandals of Khammam district with the successor state of Andhra Pradesh created a flutter in the district, especially the Bhadrachalam Agency, on Wednesday evening.

Though the President had earlier returned the Ordinance as it had been cleared by the outgoing Manmohan Singh Cabinet, he cleared it after the Narendra Modi Cabinet, which had met for the first time on Tuesday, approved it.

Though Union minister Ravishankar Prasad maintained that the Cabinet had not discussed the Ordinance, the news spread like a wildfire in the Agency where all political parties and several Adivasi forums were already in the thick of agitations, protesting the transfer of villages, besides planning to stage bandhs, rallies and black flag hoisting till the Appointed Day of June 2.

As per the original plan, the Polavaram project would totally affect four mandals: Kunavaram, V.R. Puram, Velairpadu and Kukunoor; and partially affect three mandals: Bhadrachalam, Chintoor and Burgampadu.

Now, with the ordinance coming into force ahead of June 2, all seven mandals, irrespective of their extent of submersion, will be transferred to Andhra to avoid land constraints in the relief and rehabilitation process for the displaced.

However, temple town Bhadrachalam and six villages under Burgampadu mandal located along the Paloncha-Bhadrachalam road have been exempted from the merger to ensure connectivity within Telangana territory that include the temple town, Dummugudem, Cherla, Wajedu and Venkatapuram mandals.

The villages that are likely to be continued in Telangana are Burgampadu mandal headquarters, Sarapaka, Nagineniprolu, Vakirepeta,  Pinapaka, Morampalli Banjara and Sompally.

It is learnt that there is a need for continuing with a couple of more villages, Krishnasagar and Tekulacheruvu in Burgampadu mandal, in Telangana so that the connectivity to Manuguru remains unhampered.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / Adepu Mahender / May 29th, 2014

A boon for fisherfolk in Krishna

Fishing boats moored in the mangroove forest in Nagayalanka mandal of Krishna district./  Photo: T. Appala Naidu / The Hindu
Fishing boats moored in the mangroove forest in Nagayalanka mandal of Krishna district./ Photo: T. Appala Naidu / The Hindu

 Since the estuary passes through the sanctuary, boatmen bank on it for fishing

Besides the conservation of mangrove forest, boating and fishing in the brackish waters in the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) in Krishna district has become an integral part of the local communities living on the sanctuary premises.

While elders of fisherfolk families are mostly seen busy in search of fish catch on country-made or small engine boats, children and women join their men, spending their day peacefully moving into the lush green mangrove forest and tranquil waters on the boat.

Since the estuary of Krishna passes through the sanctuary near the Sorlagondi and Nachugunta reserve forests, which are also part of the sanctuary in Nagayalanka mandal, scores of boatmen try their luck in fishing everyday. “The estuary is a natural way that directly takes our boat to the confluence point of river Krishna into Bay of Bengal. Half of the fishing is done before arrive the sea through the forest and estuary,” said a Yanadi tribal family.

Mullet, Grooper, Red Snapper, Sea Bream and Sillago Sihama, known as ‘Ladyfish’, whose seed is being developed by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, are a few fish species caught in the estuary. Near the proposed Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Missile Test Launch Facility, a treasure trove of mangrove plant species and serene water always appeal the passersby, thanks to its beauty. The locations which were explored suitable for fishing are including Gullalamoda, Sorlagondi, Eedurmondi, Nachugunta and Zinakapalem under the sanctuary boundary. Though locations within in the range of the KWS have no means of tourism facilities, the visitors always love to have a glimpse at the life of the local communities and fishing in the KWS, particularly in Summer.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Sorlagondi – May 19th, 2014

Body donated to GMC

Even after death, the husband and wife duo refuse to be parted! When Lingam Hanumanta Rao died last year, his wife Lingam Durga Devi donated his body to Gandhi Medical College (GMC) for research. On last Friday, when Durga Devi died of old age, her wish was fulfilled by her close relatives when they donated her body for research purpose to the GMC.

The noble gesture came in the backdrop of severe shortage of bodies that are required to study human anatomy for medical students in government teaching hospitals.

In fact, medical college students struggle to find a body for study . Both Osmania Medical College and the GMC suffer from shortage of bodies for research.Relatives of Durga Devi along with members of A.P. Body Donors’ Association (APBDA) visited the GMC on Thursday to finish all formalities and donate the body of the deceased.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – May 16th, 2014

Hyderabad to get a taste of British curry again

London :

Foodies in Hyderabad can loosen their belts to tuck into authentic British curry this summer when seven of the UK’s best chefs will present some 80 dishes, including favourites like British Chicken Tikka Masala.

The 10-day Taste of Britain Curry Festival returns to India from June 12-21 after a successful show last year.

Seven of the UK’s best chefs will produce 80 dishes, many high street favourites, including

Balti and Jalfrezi at the foodathon which takes curry back to its spiritual home.

Prime Minister David Cameron has also lent his weight to the festival, saying he is “delighted to see that more than 200 years after the first curry house opened in Britain, our unique brand of Asian cuisine is now being sought in the countries where it originally came from”.

Cameron said: “In recent years, curry has become part of the British identity – a firm favourite that is enjoyed by more than two million people every week. But it’s so much more than just good food.”

“It’s about talented restaurateurs and chefs; it’s about hard-working families; it’s about enterprising small businesses that provide tens of thousands of jobs and it’s about bringing in billions of pounds into our economy.”

Celebrity chef Dominic Chapman will produce some of his ‘Best of British’ signature dishes, including a selection of fish, meat and vegetarian dishes besides his famous desserts.

Dominic, who will be on his second trip to India, said: “I loved my last visit to India and jumped at the chance to come back. It was a great personal experience and also the chance to work alongside some experts of Indian cuisine.

“British curry chefs have their own unique take on Indian food and public reaction during the last festival was great.”

Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer, has also lent support to the festival, saying he is “a proud Hyderabadi myself so am looking forward to the reaction the chefs get”.

He said: “I have every confidence this year’s festival will be the greatest yet.” “Hyderabad is famous for its Biryani so it will be interesting to see what the people of Hyderabad think of it.”

India could prove a lucrative market for Britain’s chefs if public reaction to the dishes proves as popular as it did in Kolkata last year at the festival.

Festival founder and the editor of Curry Life, Syed Belal Ahmed, said: “Taste of Britain Curry Festival promotes the skill and creativity of British curry chefs and this is also a celebration of the amalgamation of two very diverse cultures.”

“The cooking process in the United Kingdom is different from that of India. For example, in India they cook with a big pot like a Nowabi or Mogul style dinner. Here in the UK we follow the completely different style of cooking, like the French. We cook each dish individually with premier quality ingredients.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / May 16th, 2014

TENNIS / INTERVIEW : ‘A great feeling to win a WTA title’

“It has been a good year so far, having entered a couple of finals including the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open. More importantly, I am ranked World No. 3 in doubles. I am trying to do as well as possible,” says Sania Mirza. By V. V. Subrahmanyam.

Photo: Nagara Gopal /  Sportstar
Photo: Nagara Gopal / Sportstar

Sania Mirza…“I still think I have a realistic chance of being World No. 1 in doubles. I am very close to that right now. Before I stop playing, I think I can achieve this.”

Sania Mirza is upbeat after winning the women’s doubles title at the WTA Portugal Open recently. The 27-year-old player from Hyderabad and her partner, the 10-time Grand Slam winner Cara Black of Zimbabwe, defeated Eva Hrdinova (Czech Republic) and Valeria Solovyeva (Russia) 6-4, 6-3 in the final.

“Well, it is always a great feeling to win a WTA title. And this is in a way special, for it is my 20th title overall in the circuit,” says a visibly elated Sania.

For the record, Sania and Cara were playing their third final of the season, having finished runner-up at Indian Wells and Stuttgart earlier. The duo has won three titles from five finals.

“It has been a good year so far, having entered a couple of finals including the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open. More importantly, I am ranked World No. 3 in doubles. I am trying to do as well as possible,” says Sania in a chat with Sportstar.

“Cara Black will be my partner. It was a bit unfortunate that in Sydney early this year, she had a niggling injury. But she is fit now and so am I. Wish to come up with real good performances.

“When I look back, it’s good that Cara Black and I lost early in the Australian Open. It gave time for her to recover,” she says.

“We will be playing in the French Open together,” Sania adds.

Talking of her future in doubles, she says: “Definitely, you have to keep changing your goals as the days pass by. I still think I have a realistic chance of being World No. 1 in doubles. I am very close to that right now. Before I stop playing, I think I can achieve this.” On the changes in the game ever since she won her first WTA singles title in 2005, the winner of two majors says: “It is really huge — the standard of the game in the last six to seven years. It is more of physical strength now. Longer rallies are the order of the day. Need to be able to sustain your fitness levels. I don’t think tennis has ever been so demanding physically as it has been of late.”

Answering a query on her fitness, Sania says: “I feel pretty good in terms of physical fitness. Some odd niggles will be there, but nothing major.”

She goes on: “I can’t say how my career will be after a few more years. I want to take it year by year. As you all know, there was a phase when I thought it was all over because of the wrist injuries in 2010 and the number of surgeries I had to undergo.

“But I came back well to enter a Grand Slam final and win a Grand Slam title too later on. Results which made me believe that it was not all over.”

Sania is perturbed over some media reports suggesting that all is not well with her marriage with Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik.

“Life is hectic and very demanding for both of us since we are professional sportspersons. This, we were pretty well aware of before we got married. Definitely, this is not the way you like it to be — being away from each other. But there are very few options when our focus is on our respective sporting careers,” explains Sania.

“Definitely, there are times when we do feel why we should go through these testing times. But we are aware of the goals ahead since we believe that there is a lot left in us to be in sport.

“Ours is a special relationship and let me tell you we never discuss the media reports on our marriage.

“Let me remind you, we did not get married for the sake of fans. Our relationship continues to be special. Definitely, it hurts when the media intrudes our privacy. But again, we can’t go around and keep answering every one around,” she adds.

source: http://www.sportstaronnet.com / Sportstar / Home> Tennis> Interview / by V. V. Subrahmanyam / Vol. 37, No.22 – May 31st, 2014