Monthly Archives: August 2014

Tent capital built in Kurnool in just 40 days

August 21, 2014Amazing Feats, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, Alladmin

Tents those were used at official quarters in Kurnool in 1953. - Photo: By Arrangement — Tents those were used at official quarters in Kurnool in 1953. – Photo: By Arrangement

The capital of Andhra State after its separation from Composite Madras State in 1953 was built in 40 days. The land required for the purpose was acquired in a single day and tents were put up in a week.

The planning and dedication of officers and staff helped the administration secure all records intact and shift them to Kurnool. Kurnool was a sleepy town when the Madras Assembly voted it to be the next capital of Andhra State. Despite the caution by C. Rajagopalachari to Tamil MLAs not to join the voting, five MLAs had voted in support of Kurnool. The most difficult task was accomplished by a team of dedicated officials headed by then Special Collector C. Narasimham, Collector P.V. Madhava Rao, SP B. Kalyan Rao, Chief Engineer Frederic and Superintending Engineer Coil Pillai, while Chief Secretary O. Pulla Reddy monitored the shifting operations from Madras. After deliberations, the officials decided to vacate all district offices suitable for State offices in three to five days and shift them to Nandyal and Banaganapalli. The Collector’s office and District Board (Zilla Parishad) were found suitable for secretariat, District Court for Assembly, SP Office for the office of Inspector General of Police, Secondary Grade School hostel for Legislators residence and executive engineer’s office for Raj Bhavan. For staff quarters, the team decided to acquire land on the city outskirts, which was named as ABC camps later. Within a day, the Special Collector’s team conducted a meeting with the land owners and decided a compensation of Rs 150 per acre for the crop loss. The team put up 600 military tents in the layout after constructing dust-free roads, water lines and toilets. The government placed an order for the tents with the Military stores and sourced them from Pune. A team of 200 Malabar workers were deployed to erect tents. The government also made available Rs 50 lakh from the treasury for meeting the emergency expenditure and carrying out repairs to the Old Buildings.

The government took over Tungabhadra Industries Rest House and one retiring room at the railway station to accommodate the VIPS. A special train was run from Chennai for shifting the furniture, records and another to bring people for the inaugural function on October 2.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by D. Sreenivasulu / Kurnool – August 16th, 2014

Vijayawadians Welcome Temporary Capital, to Offer Office Space to Govt

August 19, 2014About Seemandhra / Andhra Pradeshadmin

Vijayawada :

With the state government deciding to shift its base to Vijayawada, making it a temporary capital of Andhra Pradesh, an upbeat mood prevailed in the city Tuesday. Though Vijayawada is regarded as the frontrunner in the capital race, in the absence of any official communication from politicians, businessmen have adopted a ‘wait and watch’ policy.

Now that an official announcement has been made by the AP cabinet Tuesday, people from all walks of life were visibly elated. “Vijayawada being announced as the temporary capital will be seen as a giant stride in the process of becoming permanent capital. This will surely give the city a lot of elevation,” expressed RV Subba Rao, a city-based entrepreneur.

With the government offices likely to be shifted to the city soon, all eyes are now on the office space available. Medha IT Park near Gannavaram, Government Polytechnic College, DRDA and DWMA campus at Gollapudi and the newly constructed irrigation office complex, among others may be used to accommodate the offices, to be shifted from Hyderabad. For instance, there is about two lakh square feet of office space available at Medha IT Park, but 20,000 sq ft has already been occupied.

Despite irrigation minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao is conducting all the activities from the newly constructed irrigation office in Vijayawada and the chief engineers having shifted their offices here, the new office can house the other departments as well. “Vijayawada has been denied its rightful share for the past six decades. But the announcement of the city as temporary capital will give it at an opportunity to emerge as golden Vijayawada. Even our builders have decided to help the government in shifting the base and are ready to allocate the available office space here to the government offices,” informed Greater Vijayawada Builders Association president Gadde Rajling.

Though it is just a temporary capital, there is a notion prevalent among everyone that this is just a step further in the process of making Vijayawada a permanent capital. With this, even the realty sector is poised to grow. As a result, land, office and residential spaces, which were quite far from common man’s reach in almost all places, will be corrected.

Not just realty and businesses, but all the other sectors are expecting a bright future ahead because of the move. Vijayawada will witness an altogether different growth following the announcement of it becoming the temporary capital, which will go down as an important land mark in the history of city.

“Vijayawada is located centrally and has all facilities like sufficient space, infrastructure, connectivity and water. Selecting the city as a temporary capital will help the denizens from all the 13 districts in finding some sort of work. Though Hyderabad is the common capital for 10 years, there is no way that we stay there for long now that even the IAS officers are being humiliated. In this milieu, shifting the government offices to Vijayawada, by announcing it as temporary capital, will not just send positive signals to the AP public, but also helps the administration machinery to settle in the state and development will take off soon,” Vijayawada Central MLA Bonda Umamaheshwara Rao exuded confidence.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / August 13th, 2014

Book on Telugu Food History Released

August 17, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainmentadmin

Vijayawada :

Justice Chalameswar of the Supreme Court released a book entitled ‘Aahara Vedam’ at Hotel IV Palace here Saturday. The book was authored by ayurvedic physician and writer GV Purnachand.

‘Aahara Vedam’ traces the history of Telugu people’s food habits from 1,500 BC to the present day. The book gives many useful tips which can be practised in daily life for cooking healthy food.

“By keeping our mouth in control, diseases can be avoided and life span can be increased. ‘Aahara Vedam’ book will act as a guide to the people who are completely neglecting good food habits. Besides being a guide on tasty and healthy food, ‘Aahara Vedam’ also records the rich history of Telugu people’s food,” said Justice Chalameswar after releasing the book.

Purnachand is also involved in research on Telugu people’s heritage and history and had earlier written books on Telugu heritage and food habits which included detailed chapters about vegetables, staple foods, cereals, spices, ancient Telugu dishes, food to cure diseases and discussed the merits and demerits of the present-day food habits. “Food history of Telugu people was ignored for ages but ‘Aahara Vedam’ will fill that void,” Assembly deputy speaker Mandali Buddha Prasad, who was present on the occasion, said.

Kendriya Hindi Sansthan vice-chairman Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad, MLC Ilapuram Venkaiah and Krishna District Writers’ Association president Guttikonda Subba Rao were also present.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / August 17th, 2014

Former Minister Kolla Appala Naidu passes away

August 17, 2014Leaders, Records, Alladmin

Minister in the N.T. Rama Rao’s Çabinet and seven-time MLA Kolla Appala Naidu died at a corporate hospital here on Saturday midnight. He was 84 and is survived by his wife, a son and five daughters.

The former Minister’s health took a setback after death of his younger son some time ago. He was first treated in a private hospital and then shifted to a corporate hospital a few days ago.

Appala Naidu was born at Kasapeta in Vizianagaram district. He was elected to the Assembly from Revidi in 1962 and from S. Kota in 1967 as an independent candidate. He joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) when it was formed by N.T. Rama Rao and won the polls for five times from 1983 to 1999 from Uttarapalli Assembly constituency in Vizianagaram district, which was a part of Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency The segment ceased to exist after 2004 elections due to delimitation of constituencies. He also discharged his responsibility as the Minister for Endowments for some time in 1985.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / Special Correspondent / Visakhapatnam -August 11th, 2014

CM’s Proposal on Integrated Botanical Garden Hailed

August 16, 2014Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technologyadmin

Visakhapatnam :

Chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s new proposal to set up an integrated botanical garden (IBG) in Araku Valley in the district has drawn good response. Experts on Ayurveda medicine and pharmaceutical sectors lauded the state government’s initiative and expressed confidence that the IBG would generate good revenue and employment opportunities.

Chandrababu Naidu, during his two-day visit recently, directed Visakhapatnam collector N Yuvaraj to study and plan to set up the IBG at Araku in association with the Ayurvedic Board. There are a large number of medicinal plants, shrubs, barks, roots and creepers in and around North Andhra region, especially in the agency and forest pockets.

Some of the Ayurveda medicine manufacturing companies pay the tribals and deploy their staff to collect some rare medicinal plants and leaves from the agency areas. The Andhra University pharmaceutical department, on its own, had conducted a study on the medicinal plants and their history in North Andhra region, and found that a large number of tribals still use Ayurvedic medicines, prepared by themselves, for curing several diseases.

“There are a huge number of medicinal plants in the region. There are plants which have commercial value. For example there is ‘Bixa Orrellana’ from which a powder ‘Bixin’ compound is prepared. The compound is used in the textile industry for colour combinations. The chief minister’s proposal is a very good idea,” said S Ganapathy, former professor of Andhra University and current principal of GITAM Institute of Pharmacy.

Meanwhile, during the past one decade, the usage of Ayurvedic medicines has increased. Ayurvedic medical shops have also registered good sales.

“Ayurveda is seeing a rise not only in health-related medicines, but also in beauty parlour products, dental care and hair fall etc., Special medicines for alcoholic addiction are also manufactured from several medicinal plants and herbs. The Araku and Paderu dense forest areas are the best places to set up an integrated botanical garden. The IBG should be set up with an aim to promote academic research and commercial sales of the products,” K Yamuna, an Ayurvedic doctor and owner of an Ayurvedic medicine shop, opined.

An integrated medicinal plant is a welcome move by the government and there is good scope for developing the existing botanical garden at Araku as the nearby areas are suitable for cultivation of medicinal plants, Prof Ganapathy said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indina Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by VKL Gayatri / August 12th, 2014

Rock shelters at Chintakunta get national stature

August 16, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Nature, Records, Alladmin

Ancient art on a wall of the Chintakuta rock shelter in Kadapa.

Hyderabad:

The Union government has declared megalithic painted Rock shelters at Chintakunta Village in Kadapa in AP as the monument of national importance.

Chintakunta site belongs to the period of 8,000 BC-1,500 BC. It has 200 rock art paintings including figures of wild animals, geometric designs and human figures.

Rock shelters at Chintakunta are among the 19 sites in the country being taken up by the Archaeological Survey of India for conservation, preservation and maintenance on priority basis.

The site was explored and analysed by Dr Erwin Neumayer of Austria, Dr N. Chandramouli of Pondicherry Central University and P.C. Venkatasubbaiah, Dravidian University, Kuppam.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC Correspondent / August 12th, 2014

Book Exhibition on Freedom Fighters

August 15, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, Alladmin

Visakhapatnam :

Commemorating the services of Indian freedom fighters, a special book exhibition was organised by GITAM Knowledge Resource Center (KRC) at GITAM University here Thursday.

Valuable literature available at the GITAM KRC will be kept at display to create awareness about the freedom struggle among the students. The exhibition will be open for two more days.

“Remembering our leaders and their struggle means remembering our history. The books put for display at the expo, which pass on rich historical background, will hopefully inspire the youth,” university vice-chancellor G Subrahmanyam said while inaugurating the event.

Around 500 rare publications, particularly ones like ‘Struggle for Freedom’ by RC Majumdar, ‘Story of the Indian National Army’, ‘Jail Diary’ by C Rajagopalachari, ‘Pakistan or the Partition of India’ by Dr BR Ambedkar, ‘Punjab Freedom Fighter Baba Prithvi Singh Azad’, ‘Nehru-Thoughts’, and books on Mahatma Gandhi were main attractions at the exhibition.

GITAM Institute of Technology principal K Lakshmiprasad and university librarian Nagaratnamani also participated.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / August 15th, 2014

Selected for Indian Police Medal

August 15, 2014Leaders, Records, Alladmin

SHO of Harbour police station Duppala Rajeswara Rao has been selected by the Central Government for the prestigious Indian Police Medal for meritorious service.

The award will be given away by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at the Independence Day function at Kurnool on Friday.

A native of Tallavalasa of Jalumuru mandal in Srikakulam district, Mr. Rajeswara Rao joined the police service as Sub-Inspector in 1991, after completing his M.Com and BL courses.

He worked in various capacities in a number of police stations such as Gopalapatnam, Pendurthi, Fourth Town, Gajuwaka. He also served in the Vigilance Department of Civil Supplies and A.P. Transco. In his 23 years of service, Mr. Rajeswara Rao received 35 cash rewards, earned 197 Good Service Entries, received four letters of commendation, and 13 letters of appreciation from senior officers.

According to sources, he will be the first person of the rank of inspector to receive the Indian Police Medal from the three coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cities> Visakhapatnam / Special Correspondent / Visakhapatnam – August 15th, 2014

Lifetime achievement award for Guntur doctor

August 15, 2014Leaders, Science & Technology, World Opinionadmin

A Guntur-based phonosurgeon V. Phaniendra Kumar has been presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for his services to the speciality in medicine.

At the 9th National Conference of the Association of Phonosurgeons of India ‘PHONOCON – 2013’ organised at Pinnamaneni Siddhardha Medical College, Vijayawada, he was given away the award, Dr. Phanineindra said in a release on Monday.

Phonosurgery is voice restorative surgery for victims of voice disorder.

The origin of the speciality in India is from Guntur. The national conference was organised on March 8, 9 and 10. Registrar of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences S. Babulal, chief guest of the inaugural function, gave away the award.

About 100 ENT surgeons from different parts of the country attended as delegates.

International faculty members from the USA and New Zealand, national experts from the State, Kerala, Mumbai and New Delhi conducted technical sessions.

Dr. Phaniendra is the founder of the APSI and developed it over the years.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – March 12th, 2014

Conferred EPI-Star award

August 15, 2014Records, All, Science & Technologyadmin

Consultant emergency physician Radhika Rani Chandra with the EPI Star award given in recognition of her work on spreading awareness about emergency medicine in India. T. Vijaya Kumar / The Hindu

Consultant emergency physician from Sri Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Radhika Rani Chandra, has been awarded the Emergency Physician India (EPI)- Star award by the Federation of Emergency Physicians, India for her contribution to development of emergency medicine in India. The award was presented at the third annual national conference of the association of Emergency Physicians, India, held recently in Chennai.

Dr. Radhika said on Thursday that her presentation, “Spreading wings beyond emergency room,” has won a coveted award. An emergency physician has a crucial role to play in critical care of patients, many of them who get admitted into intensive care units with fatal injuries.

As a member of America Heart Association and a faculty member of Emergency Medicine in NTR University of Health Sciences, Dr. Radhika has been holding sessions on Emergency Life Support and Basic Life Support to police and paramedical workers.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / Staff Reporter / Guntur – August 15th, 2014

Andhra Pradesh First

a Celebration. Positive News, Facts & Achievements about Seemandhra, Coastal Andhra, Telugu People and all the People of Andhra Pradesh – here at Home and Overseas