‘Vande Gandhiyam’ peace rally evokes good response

November 4, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainmentadmin

The Vande Ganhiyam peace march held from Gandhibomma Centre in Nellore to Pallepadu Ashram. Photo: K. Ravikumar / The Hindu

Speakers appeal to the youth to follow in the footsteps of the great leaders

Civil society activists, people’s representatives and district officials took part enthusiastically in the ‘Vande Gandhiyam’ peace rally which was organised from Gandhi statue in Nellore city to Pallepadu Ashram near here on Sunday.

Singer Ghazal Srinivas, MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, Mayor Sk. Abdul Aziz, Nellore Town MLA P. Anilkumar Yadav and several other leaders and youth were present on the occasion. The event was organised to pay tributes to the values and ideals cherished by Mahatma Gandhi who stood out as a unique world leader by winning freedom through peace and non-violence.

District Collector N. Srikanth, who flagged off the rally in the city, said that the peace march would go a long way in drawing wide attention to the Gandhian principles that brought special recognition to the country. He said that the Pallepadu Gandhi Ashram was among the few important ashrams which were being preserved as a tribute to Gandhi.

Ghazal Srinivas led the march and underlined the significance of peace in bringing about harmony and unity among the countries of the world. He said that he had toured many parts of the world in the propagation of world peace. Calling upon the active participation of all sections of society, the speakers appealed to the youth to follow in the footsteps of the great leaders who fought for the independence of the country in those days. They said that it was everybody’s responsibility to protect and preserve the unity and integrity of the country.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by G. Ravikiran / Nellore – November 02nd, 2014

Now, they will walk the ramp for a cause

November 3, 2014Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration /Positive News and Featuresadmin

Aspirants of Miss Vizag-2014 pageant pose for a photograph at the audition conducted in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu

Aspirants of Miss Vizag pageant are happy to be part of something more meaningful. Besides Miss Vizag-2014 title and two runners-up titles, the participants have an opportunity to grab other titles such as Miss Beautiful Skin, Miss Beautiful Eyes, Miss Beautiful Smile.

The sixth edition of Miss Vizag will be remembered for two reasons. Firstly, the show was initially scheduled for October 12, the day when the city was battered by the cyclonic storm Hudhud. Secondly, to reach out to the cyclone victims, the organisers have decided to conduct the pageant for charity.

What has remained unchanged though is the spirit of the contestants, who are now keen on walking the ramp with energy and enthusiasm. The reason behind this, they say, is that their creativity is being utilised for something more meaningful.

At the first audition held here on Sunday, the participants shared their views on how they felt like being part of the relief team.

“Now, the impact of the show has become intense as we are able to come together to contribute to a social cause,” says G. Shobana, who is all excited about her maiden show.

Some felt happy that despite the odds, they were able to team up again.

“The natural calamity could not stop the much-awaited show in any manner. However, the delay has helped us bounce back with more vigour and drive to help the needy,” says Sirisha, another aspirant.

Sharing her views on the rescheduled beauty contest, Laxmi Bhardwaj, an airhostess and a contestant, says: “Charity is very personal and should come from within. This is a nice opportunity for us to walk the extra mile and bring the smiles back.”

A total of 50 aspirants turned up for the auditions and, out of them, 22 will be heading to the finale.

Besides Miss Vizag-2014 title and two runners-up titles, the participants have an opportunity to grab other titles such as Miss Beautiful Skin, Miss Beautiful Eyes, Miss Beautiful Smile.

Funds raised through the show, including contributions made by the participants and organisers, will be utilised for cyclone relief work, says Sharif, one of the organisers.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Rani Devalla / Visakhapatnam – November 02nd, 2014

Umar Alisha Rural Development Trust to plant 10 lakh trees

November 3, 2014Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Natureadmin

The Umar Alisha Rural Development Trust plans to plant 10 lakh trees in cyclone hit Visakhapatnam district to bring back the district’s greenery.

Addressing reporters after launching the project after planting a tree at their Viswa Vignana Spiritual Centre at Bheemjuniatnam in the district here today, Chairman of the Trust Umar Alisha said the trust would plant 10 lakh trees in the district within five years. He said 70 to 80 per cent of trees in Visakhapatnam have been destroyed due to cyclone.

‘Make Vizag Green’ is a project taken up by the Umar Alisha Rural Development Trust to replant lost greenery in Visakhapatnam.

He said it is everybody’s responsibility to protect the environment and plant trees which provide oxygen.

“Every tree will provide oxygen, which is very important for human beings,” he said.

Umar Alisha said that the trust would select trees which could withstand even wind speeds of 200 kilometres per hour during natural calamities like cyclones.

The project plans to use information technology, crowdsourcing, geocoding and social media to encourage people to participate.

He said the trust would plant 200 trees in various places in Bheemunipatnam today and also plant 1,100 trees in various places as well as both sides of the national highway.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> National> News / Press Trust of India / Visakhapatnam – November 02nd, 2014

New look for Kondapalli Fort

November 2, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, Alladmin

VIJAYAWADA:

The historic Kondapalli fort, 20 km from Vijayawada city, is getting a facelift so that more tourists are attracted towards it. The archaeology department took up the renovation of the 14th century fort, built by king Prolaya Vema Reddy. However, due to denial of permission from the forest department, the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation officials are said have failed to provide basic amenities at the fort.

Archaeology officials have completed a major part of the renovation work, including administering chemical treatment to Ranimahal, Nartanasala and jail khana. Some walls that had collapsed have been rebuilt, while other walls and arches repaired and given a fresh coat of water to prevent rainwater seepage. Deputy executive engineer, archaeology department, S. Koteswaran said that granite has been laid along the pathways for the convenience of tourists and the damaged arches repaired. The Central government has sanctioned funds from the 13th Finance Commission for renovation of the fort. Officials plan to complete the renovation work within the budget of Rs 3 crore.

Meanwhile, the APTDC is working on attracting more tourists to Kondapalli fort by providing basic amenities and developing a craft bazaar to market the world famous Kondapalli toys and other handicrafts of the district.However, the APTDC has been unable to implement its plans as the forest department has denied permission for construction activity near the fort, citing protection of reserve forest, said APTDC divisional manager T. Baboji. “Kondapalli has immense tourism potential.

Being Kartika masam, thousands of people are visiting the fort on weekends to participate in Vanamahotsavam,” he said. Most of the visitors complain of lack of basic amenities at the site and appeal to the authorities to provide minimum facilities.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by DC Correspondent / November 02nd, 2014

Waltair Kendriya Vidyalaya students bring laurels to school

November 2, 2014Education, Records, All, Sports, World Opinionadmin

Students of Kendriya Vidyalaya ,Waltair, have done the school proud by bagging medals in the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan National Sports meet and also being selected for the Japan cultural exchange programme.

B Tejasri, student of Class XII, has won three individual gold medals in athletics and eight girls formed the volleyball team that won the championships. Four boys were part of the runners’ up team at the Boys Volleyball National Championships. One girl won a silver in athletics, one boy bagged a bronze in athletics and another the bronze in boxing, school principal PK Purohit announced here on Saturday.

Doing the school proud were three students who were selected to be a part of 126-member KVS cultural exchange team visiting Japan under the Japan East Asia Network of Exchange of Students and Youth Programme (JENESYS 2.0).

The three – M Monica Bhavani, K. Tejaswini and M. Manikanta Sai – would be leaving for Delhi on Monday and from there they would be leaving for Japan on a 9-day all-expenses paid tour of Japan.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Special Correspondent / Visakhapatnam – November 01st, 2014

Sachin Tendulkar to visit adopted village in Nellore

November 1, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Leaders, Sportsadmin

Sachin would be spending about Rs.4.5 crore from his Rajya Sabha member grant for taking up various developmental programmes in PR Kandrika. (Getty Images)

Nellore :

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar is visiting a remote village, Puttamraju Kandrika in Nellore district on November, 16.

Sachin adopted the village for over-all development as part of his Saansad Adarsha Grama Yojana (SAGY), the programme proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sachin would be spending about Rs.4.5 crore from his Rajya Sabha member grant for taking up various developmental programmes in PR Kandrika.

Giving the details of Sachin’s tour, joint collector Gorle Rekha Rani, who was instrumental in prevailing upon Sachin to adopt the remote village on AP coast, said that Sachin would be reaching Chennai from Mumbai in a charted flight on the evening of November, 15.

He would then fly down at Krishnapatnam port in a chopper. Sachin would stay overnight in the guest of port and proceed to PR Kandrika village on the next day. He would inspect various works launched in the village and return to Chennai by afternoon.

Joint Collector said that all roads in the village would be converted into CC roads and an underground drainage would be taken up. In addition to providing protected drinking water to all residents in the village, they would see that each household have an individual toilet as part of the programme.

Rekharani, who got an opportunity to be the co-traveler of Sachin in a flight during a visit from US, made a request to adopt a village in her district to which the master cricketer had instantly agreed.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Sports / October 31st, 2014

‘Rottela Panduga’ from Nov. 4 in Nellore

November 1, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainmentadmin

Finishing touches being given to Bara Shahid Dargah for 'Rottela Panduga' in Nellore city./ PHOTO: K. RAVIKUMAR — Finishing touches being given to Bara Shahid Dargah for ‘Rottela Panduga’ in Nellore city./ PHOTO: K. RAVIKUMAR

The annual ‘Rottela Panduga’ (roti festival) being celebrated at the Barashahid Dargah on the banks of Swarnala Cheruvu here has proved to be a landmark event for Nellore city. The 4-day event will be held from November 4 to 7.

Forecasting arrival of a larger numbers of pilgrims this year, the dargah committee and the Nellore Municipal Corporation are making additional arrangements for the smooth conduct of the festivities.

Mayor Sk. Abdul Aziz said that nearly 20 lakh pilgrims from different parts of the country would be expected to take part in ‘Rottela Panduga’ festival this year. Accordingly, the drinking water, sanitation and toilet facilities were being made available to avoid any inconvenience to people.

The dargah committee was formed with nearly 110 members on it recently. The festival was special for the devotees as they exchange ‘rotis’ between them standing in the cool waters of Nellore tank here in fulfilment of their wishes made at the tombs of the warriors in the past.

Mr. Aziz said that those, whose wishes were fulfilled, would present ‘rotis’ to those who arrive to make their fresh wishes. Different devotees make different wishes, which mostly relate to health, wealth, family harmony, marriage alliances, educational progress and so on.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by G. Ravikiran / Nellore – November 01st, 2014

The good doctor!

October 31, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Leaders, Science & Technologyadmin

Endocrinologist Goutham Meher points out to a picture in which he is on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the world. He is the first resident of Vijayawada to scale Mount Kilimanjaro. Photo: V. Raju / The Hindu

He wants to raise funds for the Indian Navy and Visakhapatnam which were battered by the Hudhud cyclone. The port city and neighbouring district too took a massive beating. Moved by the damaged caused by the super cyclone Dr. Meher turned into a fundraiser.

City-based endocrinologist Goutham Meher has attained celebrity status by becoming the first resident to conquer Kilimanjaro. He will be back in the news for running in a marathon to raise funds for the Indian Navy and Visakhapatnam city which were battered by the Hudhud super cyclone.

Besides mountaineering Dr. Meher is very fond of running. He has participated in most of the marathons conducted in the different places in the country. By default, he registered himself to participate in the Vizag Navy Marathon a couple of months ago.

Hudhud caused the Indian Navy a loss of Rs. 2,000 crore.

The port city and neighbouring district too took a massive beating. Moved by the damaged caused by the super cyclone Dr. Meher turned into a fundraiser. Instead of taking the beaten path of collecting for the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) he registered on to an online fundraising website saying that he would run the marathon to cover the loss of Indian Navy and for the re-building of Visakhapatnam city and asked his friends to donate generously on Facebook.

Dr. Meher received an overwhelming response from his friends, several of them NRIs. With two days still left for the event the physician raised five times what he set as a ‘goal’ for himself.

“We can win many battles, but it is not easy when you are against the fury of nature. Cyclone Hudhud battered the strategic naval base at Visakhapatnam, damaging its airfield and other installations. Thirty to forty per cent of trees inside the naval station got uprooted,” Dr. Meher said.

He was glad that all the income from the First Vizag Navy Marathon would also go for the rebuilding of Visakhapatnam city, he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – October 31st, 2014

AP capital to come up in Guntur district

October 31, 2014Uncategorizedadmin

Verdant paddy fields dot the land scape on Tadikonda-Thullur stretch, a region chosen for construction of the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar / The Hindu

Decision emerges from marathon Cabinet meet; 30,000 acres identified across 17 villages. He said the 30,000 acres would be divided into six sectors and the farmers would be given 1,000 yards of fully developed land with infrastructure for every one acre they parted.

The new capital of Andhra Pradesh would come up in Guntur district with the government identifying 30,000 acres across 17 villages for building the required infrastructure for various public utilities, besides the Secretariat and the Assembly.

The issue was discussed at a marathon Cabinet meeting after which the Cabinet sub-committee on land pooling met and decided the modalities.

Briefing reporters later, Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister P. Pulla Rao said the farmers in 14 villages of Tullur and three villages of Managalgiri mandals would be convinced and a system of land pooling would be adopted for taking the land. He also announced that the Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri urban body would be abolished and a new Capital Region Development Authority would be constituted.

He said that from Friday the process of convincing farmers would start and pooling would be completed in nine months. The government would pay Rs. 25,000 per acre per year for 10 years to each farmer who parted with his land. There would be a five per cent increase every year and by the end a decade the amount would be Rs. 37,500. Nearly 20 per cent of the 30,000 acres might be government land, he added.

‘Farmers stand to gain’

He said the 30,000 acres would be divided into six sectors and the farmers would be given 1,000 yards of fully developed land with infrastructure for every one acre they parted. He said the farmers would be allotted that land through lottery system.

Replying to a question, he said the value of those lands would further increase in future and benefit the farmers. The Minister said the cooperation of farmers and people was needed to build the new capital. He said that after developing the core area, other new areas would come up on a total of 60,000 acres or one lakh acres in the new capital.

He said the Chief Minister was keen that not a single tmcft should go waste into the sea and suggested that an action plan be drawn up for creating new ayacut in that region for another three lakh acres.

Irrigation Minister Devineni Uma Maheswar Rao said the people of that region were indebted selecting the region around the Krishna for locating the capital and appealed to everyone to cooperate.

The 14 villages in Tullur mandal are: Tullur, Borupalem, Nelapadu, Nekkalu, Shakamooru, Vangadam, Malkapuram, Velagapudi, Modalingapalem, Uddandarayapalem, Lingayapalem, Rayathuri, Apparaju Palem and Dondapadu. The three villages of Managlagiri are Neerukonda, Nidamarru and Kooragallu

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – October 30th, 2014

Delta Faucet opens outlet in city

October 30, 2014Business & Economy, World Opinionadmin

Kiran Singh, marketing director, Delta Faucet Company India Private Limited, at its new outlet in Vijayawada on Wednesday. Photo: V. Raju

Offering an array of faucets and showering products for bathroom and kitchen space, Delta Faucet Company launched its first outlet, Celestile Home and Bath Boutique, at Bank Colony on Wednesday. The company has three outlets in Hyderabad.

The outlet will offer innovative products such as faucets that turn on and off at just a touch. The company offers its products in two brands – Delta and Brizo. While Delta caters to premium customer requirements, Brizo products are targeted at high-end market, said Kiran Singh, marketing director, Delta Faucet Company India Private Limited. The price the products ranges from Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 2.5 lakh.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – October 29th, 2014

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