Grandeur marks ‘Paruveta Utsavam’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

It was all fun and frolic that pervaded the milieu of the ancient Paruveta Mandapam on Saturday where the Lord was taken out on a hunting safari.

The hunting expedition, an annual feature, was observed at the Paruveta Mandapam situated on the banks of the Gogarbham dam about two kilometres from the temple. Thousands of devotees took part in the mock hunting jubilations organised in connection with the Kanuma festival.

The processional deity of Lord Malayappa dressed in the royal robes of a King hunter was taken out to the venue in a grand procession which passed through the thick woods. The deity was equipped with his celestial panchayudhas like Gada, Khadga, Sankhu, Chakra and Bana befitting the occasion.

After the completion of certain religious formalities at the mandapam, the priests enacted the mock hunting game sending the audience into peels of laughter. The vahanam bearers carrying the Lord mounted atop a golden tiruchi trialled behind the temple priest who ran ahead (holding a sliver spear) and symbolically hunted down a couple deer kept tied in the nearby bush.

Devotees turned rumbustious each time the field sport was performed. In all the mock drill was repeated thrice .

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Tirumala – January 17th, 2016

CA Final Topper Clears Exam in One Sitting, Makes Chennai Proud

Education, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Records, All

Chennai /  Vijayawada :

A 23-year-old BCom graduate from Chennai, James John Britto, has emerged the national topper in his maiden attempt in the final Chartered Accountant exam, the results of which were announced on Sunday. Trailing him was Mohan Kumar Nagolu from Thottamledu, a non-descript hamlet under Chodavaram village panchayat near Srikalahasti in Chittoor district in Andhra, who emerged second.

CAtopperCHENNAI20jan2016

A resident of Mogappair, Britto completed his graduation in Loyola College. The final exam of one of the most toughest and rigorous professional courses in the world was conducted in November. Britto’s overall score was 595 out of 800 (74.38 per cent) which secured him the first rank in the country. The CA exams are divided into three levels — Common Proficiency Test (CPT), Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) and the Final Examination.

“After clearing the foundation exams (CPT), I started preparing for the intermediate exams (IPCC). Since I did not wish to discontinue, I was preparing for the IPCC alongside my UG course,” said Britto.

On strategies he adopted to clear the exam, which people with even five to 10 years of professional CA experience find tough, he said, “I stuck to my basic plan of studying hard for 10-12 hours on an average everyday and this eventually peaked during the last few weeks of preparation.”

When asked about his future plans, one thing Britto was clear about was that he wanted to work in the city.

“As of now, I am looking at employment and have kept options open regarding the nature of the company. But one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t prefer working abroad as I love working here in the city,” said Britto, son of A Raja, a leading chartered accountant.

His father being in the field for nearly 30 years was one of the factors that Britto said contributed to his great success. “My father, who is in the same industry for close to 30 years, helped me a lot during the preparations and I would say his role was crucial throughout the CA exam journey.” Of the 42, 469 candidates who took up the exam last November, only 2,440 (5.75%) managed to clear the exam.

Nagolu Mohan Kumar from Tirupati and Avinash Sancheti from Kolkata secured the second and third rank in the final exam with scores 572 (71. 5 per cent) and 566 (70.75 per cent) respectively. When Mohan received a call from Manoj Fadnis, the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), informing him about his results, Mohan Kumar was literally on cloud nine.

“My happiness knew no bounds when Manoj Sir called me up and told me that I had secured the all-India second rank. The call was immediately followed by another one, this time from M Devaraj Reddy, vice-president of ICAI. I was thrilled and shared the news with my family,” Mohan Kumar told Express over the phone. Mohan, who pursued the CA course right from Intermediate, took coaching from Superwhiz in Vijayawada and did his articleship with Datla and Associates in Hyderabad. He attributed his success in the CA final to hard work. “Since November, four months prior to the commencement of exams, I had been studying 12 to 13 hours a day, including Sundays,” he said, opining that systematic preparation is the key for success in CA exams.

Mohan Kumar’s father N Nagaraju Reddy is a farmer, while his brother Bhanuprakash has completed his BTech. Kumar’s entire family celebrated his success with the villagers also joining them.

Going forward, Mohan Kumar said, he wanted to work with a good MNC for three-four years before going for own practice.

Meanwhile, Superwhizz principal S Venkateswara Rao said along with Mohan Kumar, the institute had bagged three more ranks within the first 50 ranks. J Harsha Sai bagged the 7th rank, M Swathi the 32nd and P Pradeep Rai secured the 50th rank at the national level. The ICAI also released results for the CPT exams conducted during the December 2015 on Sunday. The overall pass percentage for this exam was around 34.45 percent as only 34,129 out of the 99,077 candidates who appeared for it cleared the test.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / January 18th, 2016

After honey, it’s cashew’s turn to go organic

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
A ripe cashew nut from which organic cashew will be extracted by the tribal people of Rampachodavaram. —PHOTO: B.V.S. BHASKAR / The Hindu
A ripe cashew nut from which organic cashew will be extracted by the tribal people of Rampachodavaram. —PHOTO: B.V.S. BHASKAR / The Hindu

A.P. tribals to get loans and help to grow the crop in big way.

The Girijan Co-operative Corporation (GCC), leader in marketing organic honey, is now venturing into organic cashew with the support of the Integrated Tribal Development Corporation (ITDA), Rampachodavaram, in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.

K.V. Chakradhar Babu, who took charge as Project Officer of ITDA, gathered statistics on cashew farming in the agency area. Cashew farming is the major source of income in the region. He also met tribal farmers during Sunday shandies.

The ITDA is making efforts to set up Organic Agriculture Producers’ Societies at the village level and develop them like Dwacra groups at the mandal level.

Payments will be made in bio-metric system and technological partners will be set up.

Loans will be sanctioned by the GCC and ITDA will also extend support for to societies.

“Farmers can store their produce in godowns. Purchasing centres will be set up in villages apart from existing sales points. Tribal farmers can make use of organic certificates to avoid problems in transporting products from procurement centres to clusters,” said Mr. Babu.

MoU signed

The GCC has signed an MoU with the Kerala-based Olam Company, which will give organic certificates to tribals and it will pay a premium of Rs.2 per each kg of organic product for the farmers who are having the certificate.

Mr. Babu said cashew crop was cultivated by tribals in Rampachodavaram on about 40,000 acres and they were not getting profitable price owing to lack of proper marketing. In 4-5 mandals the cashew cultivation was high.

Initially, area would be earmarked for cultivating 10,000 tonnes of organic cashew.

Businessmen’s view

However, businessmen are differing with the idea of ‘organic cashew’.

“We support the idea of eliminating middlemen between tribals and industries. However, there is no such thing called organic or inorganic in cashew as cashew gardens will not need more pesticides. Organic tag is only to create brand image,” said Appareddy, a businessman at Rajanagaram in the Rajahmundry rural area.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by B.V.S. Bhaskar / Rampachodavaram (A.P.) / January 11th, 2016