26 b
26 a
25
Skater Rana’s marathon reaches Vizag
‘Indian Golden Quadrilateral’ aims at raising money for girl child education
Noted skater Rana Uppalapati, who has taken up the task of covering the 6,000-km Golden Quadrilateral to create awareness and raise money for girl child education, reached Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
The ‘Indian Golden Quadrilateral’ programme, being funded by the Titan Company Limited in collaboration with the Tata Group, was flagged off at Hosur in Karnataka on September 5 and he had so far covered Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha.
The 37-year-old skater, who covered about 4,500 km and reached his home town after 70 days, was given a warm welcome by the denizens, skaters and friends, at the VUDA Children’s Arena in Siripuram.
Money mobilised so far
He is accompanied by a six-member logistic team, who travel in a car ahead.
“In the last 70 days, we have interacted with at least 5 lakh people across various parts of the country and raised ₹3.60 crore, which would be enough for educating close to 10,000 girls. But our target is to provide education for 25,000 girls and I am sure in the next 30 days, we would achieve it,” Mr. Rana Uppalapati said.
Earlier he undertook two such skating trips to create awareness on health issues.
The longest trip he had taken up was from Vizag to Chennai, around 800 km.
Covering 6,000 km now was definitely a tough task, “but it will be a milestone if I can achieve it,” he said.
“In the first 30 days, due to bad roads, high temperature and a few other hassles, we would cover around 12 km per day, starting at 4 am. But later we started to cover close to 50 to 60 km, on a daily basis. Today, I skated from Tagarapuvalasa to Lankapalem, covering almost 67 km in just two and half hours. When we show people the amount of difficulty involved in our journey, the message reaches in a strong way,” said Mr. Uppalapati.
He said his journey would end by meeting kids, communities and other people in schools, colleges, meeting halls etc every day.
“Apart from educating underprivileged girl children, we are also creating awareness among children on safety, especially on good touch and bad touch.”
The mission is expected to end on December 18 at Hosur. A grand event is being planned in Bengaluru.
Managing Director of the Titan Company Bhaskar Bhat, AVP & Head, Corporate Sustainability Titan NE Sridhar, family members, city-based skaters, athletes and others were present.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Harish Gilai / Visakhapatnam – November 22nd, 2018
23
22
21
Ongole’s cricket stadium has scary past!
The city of Ongole, in Prakasam district, is known for a particular breed of oxen. It’s also known for the CSR Sarma College, where Tollywood star Chiranjeevi studied from 1970-72
Ongole :
The city of Ongole, in Prakasam district, is known for a particular breed of oxen. It’s also known for the CSR Sarma College, where Tollywood star Chiranjeevi studied from 1970-72. Few know that the cricket ground at CSR Sarma College has a unique history.
It’s perhaps the only cricket ground in India which is built on a burial ground. It was home to venomous snakes and other wild creatures. It was in 2008 when the Prakasam District Cricket Association (PDCA) and the college decided to sign a memorandum of understanding to build a quality stadium, which the city lacked.
“A decade ago, this place was in a totally different state,” says PDCA secretary Pratap Kumar. “It used to be a burial ground and was even named as crime zone. Since 2008, we have been developing it gradually. The ground, with a hillock in the backdrop, had a pond, 15 feet in depth. We dumped almost 16,000 truck loads of soil and renovated a lot to make it look like this.”
Looking like any other cricket venue now, this ground has hosted four Ranji Trophy matches. The fifth, between Andhra and Tamil Nadu, starts on Tuesday. “The eastern side is where we put up chairs. During the last match, crowds turned up in huge numbers to watch Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw in action. We can expect a sizeable turnout for the Tamil Nadu tie, although it would be more exciting if Dinesh Karthik and R Ashwin were in the team,” said Pratap.
The main objective of the ACA to set up a cricket ground amidst unusual surroundings was to develop cricket at the grassroots. “We saw the potential to have a stadium here. With BCCI’s permission we allowed PDCA to host matches. Our aim is to conduct matches in every district. Wherever there are facilities, we grant them permission to organise first-class matches,” ACA general secretary Arun Kumar said.
With the aim to improving infrastructure, PDCA has arranged a 12-foot sight screen. The ground is equipped with underground cables (both electrical and optical), six cameras for recording the match, two air-conditioned rooms for video analysts, BCCI match referees and scorers.
Conducting matches during rainy season does not pose any hurdle despite the ground lacking an advanced drainage system. “Water drains out automatically. With a low hillock, even if it rains heavily, we can resume the match an hour after rain stops,” explained Pratap.
It was in January 2015 that the ground got the nod to host its maiden Ranji match. The first four-day match saw Andhra taking on Tripura. In four Ranji matches it has hosted till date, the Andhra-Mumbai encounter which took place last November witnessed nearly 7,000 spectators.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Srinidhi PR / Express News Service / November 20t, 2018
Formula 1 on Krishna river kicks off today
Powerboats to zoom at 200 km per hour at Grand Prix of India.
Vijayawada :
The stage is set for the inauguration of the first international Formula 1 boat races on the waters of the Krishna river at Amaravati.
The 2018 UIM F1H2O World Championship’s six-round powerboat race will start on November 16. The powerboats with a speed of 220 km per hour would compete to win the championship.
Teams from 14 countries are going to participate in the first of its kind international powerboat racing on the Krishna river. The FIH20 is very famous and popular in other countries as 273 grand championships have been held in 32 countries.
Earlier, the FIH20 world championship was conducted in Mumbai in March 2004. This is the second time that the championship would be held in India, at Amaravati and it would be called the Grand Prix of India.
The AP tourism department in association with F1H2O Promoter Manage-ment and India Xtreme Adventure Activities said that the powerboat races would be telecast live in many countries. The tourism department has entered the Amaravati team for the competition from Andhra Pradesh.
Stable waters without waves are required to conduct powerboat races to avoid capsizing of boats and FIH2O found the Krishna water from Prakasam Barrage to Pavitra Sangamam suitable for powerboat racing.
India Xtreme Adventure, CEO, Sandeep Mandava said that F1H2O will be live telecast in almost 60 foreign countries and Amaravati would get good coverage due to the event.
He said that F1H2O was very popular globally and this is the first time that this international event would be conducted in India and for the first time in south India as well. He said that F1H2O would further promote water sports and would inspire the youth and students in Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation managing director Himanshu Shukla said that arrangements had been made for the seating of one lakh people to watch powerboat racing.
He said that 20 LED screens had been erected to show the powerboat races live to the people of the state. He said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will launch the FIH2O championship on November 16 and the competition would be held on November 16, 17 and 18.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by Deccan Chronicle / November 16th, 2018