Vijayawada Culture Centre Signs MoU With Korean Artist

Vijayawada :

Cultural Centre of Vijayawada, started 10 months ago with the objective of reviving the glory of Vijayawada as a centre of arts, culture and literature by encouraging artists and artisans, has taken another step to strengthen the revival process.

The centre’s patron and Malaxmi Group of Companies chairman Y Harischandra Prasad signed an MoU with a Korean artist SEO JUNG JA, who runs an art studio and cultural centre in Seoul, South Korea.  The Korean Artist evinced keen interest in having a tie-up with the Cultural Centre for establishing cultural contacts between Korea and Amaravati, as many Korean companies are likely to participate in its construction.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / October 09th, 2015

Couture exhibition at Gateway from today

Kranthi Maganti addressing a press conference in Vijayawada on Tuesday. —Photo: V. Raju
Kranthi Maganti addressing a press conference in Vijayawada on Tuesday. —Photo: V. Raju

Kranthi Maganti of Vijayawada has collaborated with Hyderabad-based Angasutra, an exclusive outlet of couture designer wear, to put together a two-day exhibition-cum-sale of high-end designer wear at Gateway Hotel from Wednesday.

The ‘Angasutra Trunk Show’ will bring under one roof leading designers from across the show, said Ms. Maganti at a press conference here on Tuesday. The designer store in Hyderabad has done exclusive in-house promotions with designers such as Manish Malhotra, Varun Bahl, Anushree Reddy and Neeta Lulla and an exclusive collection of these designers would be part of the two-day expo in city, she said.

Couture and diffusion line of the above mentioned designers and 20 other designers will include trousseau men’s wear from Ashish Soni and Zubair Kirmani.

Informing that Angasutra’s speciality is to create bespoke bridal collections for Hyderabad’s top industrial and business families, she said the visits of designers like Manish Malhotra, Varun Bahl, Raw Mango, Neeta Lulla, Pallavi Jaikisan and Nikhil Thampi have given a boost to the image of the showroom.

Ms. Maganti claimed that actresses like Sridevi and Vidya Balan have visited Angasutra for their personal shopping. “Now we want to bring a similar experience to people of Vijayawada,” she said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Vijayawada / Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – October 07th, 2015

Producer Edida Nageswara Rao Passes Away

Hyderabad :

Veteran film producer Edida Nageshwara Rao (81) passed away at a private hospital in the city on Sunday. Nageshwara Rao, who was suffering from ill health for the past few days, breathed his last while undergoing treatment at Star Hospitals in the city.

Known for his commitment to aesthetic and cultural values, Nageswara Rao produces classics like Sagara Sangamam, Shankarabharanam, Swati Mutyam, Sitara, Apathbhandavudu, among others. He produced movies under the banner of Poornodaya Pictures and most of these movies were directed by director K Vishwanath.

Nageswara Rao was born in Kothapet of West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. Besides producing many movies he held important positions in film industry bodies like Producers Council, Nandi Awards Committee, among others. The mortal remains of Rao will be kept at his residence in Film Nagar till Monday afternoon and final rites will be performed in the evening.

Chief minister KCR and AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief over Edida’s death.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / October 05th, 2015

Adilabad police officer is first Indian woman to scale Kun

Adilabad Additional Superintendent of Police G.R. Radhika at a tent on her way to the summit of the Kun mountain in Jammu and Kashmir. - Photo: By Arrangement
Adilabad Additional Superintendent of Police G.R. Radhika at a tent on her way to the summit of the Kun mountain in Jammu and Kashmir. – Photo: By Arrangement

Adilabad Additional Superintendent of Police G.R. Radhika performed the feat on September 7 after a gruelling climb for over 10 days.

As any mountaineer would do, G.R. Radhika, the frail-looking police officer in Adilabad District of Telangana also swears by Sir Edmund Hillary’s belief, “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” And her concurrence with the legendary mountaineer does matter as she has become the first Indian woman to conquer the 7,077-metre Kun mountain, the twin of Nun, located in the inhospitable Zanskar range of Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir.

Adilabad Additional Superintendent of Police performed the feat on September 7 after a gruelling climb for over 10 days. The Indian Mountaineering Foundation subsequently declared her to be holding the record for an Indian woman.

“I am a bit of a risk taker,” reveals Ms.Radhika about her personality which evidently craves for challenges that go beyond the ordinary ones faced by women. “I was brought up more like a boy than a girl,” says the younger one of the two children of a teacher couple as she tries to reason out her craving for adventure.

She likes to accept challenges which is why she quit her earlier job as an English language lecturer and took up policing. Despite her inclination, there was nothing to write home about in her 8 years as a cop until the opportunity to climb the rugged mountain came her way.

It was in 2012 that this mother of two children belonging to Anantapur District in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, her birth place and Kadapa, where she grew up, got to know about mountaineering as a sport. One of her friends suggested she get trained in mountain climbing after she successfully completed the difficult pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar in the Himalayas, Radhika recalls.

This set in motion her as yet short yet illustrious association with the sport. She finished her basic and advanced mountaineering courses which was, among other things, a confidence-building exercise.

“As part of the course I climbed the 5,980 mtr high Golep Kangri peak, also in the harsh Zanskar range in 2013,” Radhika states. “The following year, I scaled the 6,443 mtr high mount Menthosa in Himachal Pradesh which was all technical climbing,” she adds.

The policewoman enrolled herself for the Kun expedition with a recognised mountaineering outfit and set off towards it in the latter half of August. The team consisted of 7 muntaineers, some of them much experienced.

“Five of them dropped out on our way to the peak,” Radhika remembers trying to drive home the point about the difficulty quotient which even had her lose 4 kg of her weight. “Kun is considered more difficult because of its numerous crevasses and the ‘walls’ which meant a vertical climb of even 300 mtr at some place with a load of 6 kg,” she shrugs off a shudder as recent memories came flooding back.

Having seen her team mates back out did not diminish the gutsy woman’s enthusiasm in any way though she swears that it was only will power that kept her driving towards the peak. “The peak was visible but seemed ever so far thanks to he fatigue,” she recalls of her final effort.

“It took a few seconds for the feeling of victory to register,” she observes of the moment when she made it to the top. “I felt happy when it was confirmed that I was the first Indian woman to achieve the feat,” she adds, a wide grin breaking on her face.

Radhika is seriously contemplating making an attempt at scaling Mount Everest. “I have not decided as yet but I am definitely inclined to do so,” she asserts.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Telangana / by S. Harpal Singh / Adilabad – October 04th, 2015