Watch a Tyson in the making

Records, All, Sports
Nikhat Zareen, who won the silver medal in the recent World Youth women's boxing championship, shares a lighter moment with the young Abdur Rehman at Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad. / -Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu
Nikhat Zareen, who won the silver medal in the recent World Youth women’s boxing championship, shares a lighter moment with the young Abdur Rehman at Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad. / -Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu

12-year-old Abdul Rehman has won five gold, three silver and two silver in the School Games competitions

potential new star is rising from the boxing area in the city. Abdur Rehman (12) has caught the eye of the coaches and boxing connoisseurs with his natural movements while sparring with the punching bag.

The eighth standard student of St. Andrews School in Saidabad took to the sport watching the video tapes of Mohammad Ali and Mike Tyson has already made a mark at the national level having won five gold, three silver and two silver in the School Games competitions.

“I have rarely seen such a young boy with such lithe movements. Even some regular trainees in the seniors age group group can’t match him,” insists SAAP boxing coach Omkar Yadav.

He even impressed the likes of World Youth Boxing silver medallist Nikhat Zareen.

“He looks really good and appears to have so much of natural talent,” remarked Zareen after watching him in practise few days ago.

“I want to emulate Zareen,” says the shy Abdur Rehman, nicknamed Maaz. He will be soon competing in the Sub-junior nationals. Given the rich history of boxers from Hyderabad and with a dedicated coach in Omkar Yadav, this young boy could well bring laurels to the city.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – October 16th, 2013

Women shine in green business

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology

 

Picture for representational purpose only.
Picture for representational purpose only.

Hyderabad:

Planning to become a woman entrepreneur? Young women from the state are setting up new businesses and are doing pretty well for themselves.

Several women entrepreneurs came together at the three-day international conference on ‘Green Enterprises and Green Industrial Parks’ organised by ALEAP. The international conference brought women entrepreneurs, sponsors and government officials on a common platform.

Present at the conference was Anusha Barrela, 23. She is the founder and president of three different firms — Bio Conservation Foundation, Saatyaki Foundation and Siaa Enterprises. “The Bio Conservation Foundation aims at rehabilitating endangered flora and fauna. We are currently working on saving the Olive Ridley sea turtle.

In our hatcheries along the east coast of the Bay of Bengal, we store turtle eggs and nourish the hatchlings, which are then released into the sea with the help of the forest department,” she explained. Elephants and sparrows are on the list too.

She is also the founder of Apple Tree (Saatyaki Foundation), a pre-primary school that brings an international curriculum for pre-primary education to South India. Siaa Enterprises deals with publishing children’s books.

Aishwarya, 26, who had a stall at the show, started Tint and Tones, her textile business, about six months ago. The firm deals in organic, hand-woven textiles. A graduate of the Parsons’ School of Design, New York, Aishwarya says, “We work with weavers to develop different kinds of fabrics.”

Speaking about business parks for women entrepreneurs, Rajat Kumar, the commissioner of industries, said, “APIIC is identifying land for these parks. Currently, three such parks at Visakhapatnam, Kadapa and Nellore are being developed by ALEAP. Others will begin soon.”

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Current Affairs / DC / Kruthi Gonwar / July 19th, 2013

P V Sindhu wins Macau Open

Records, All, Sports

 

PV Sindhu
PV Sindhu

Hyderabad:

The rising star of Indian badminton, P.V . Sindhu of Hyderabad, continued her remarkable run on Sunday when she won the Macau Open Grand Prix.

In the final, World No.11 Sindhu, seeded first at the tournament, registered a brisk 21-15, 21-12 victory against seventh-seeded Canadian Michelle Li.

Sindhu was in dominant form right from the start of the match. In the first game, Sindhu reeled off several winners to take a 7-0 within just two minutes of the start of play before Li gathered her wits.

But the lanky shuttler -one of badminton’s most promising players -refused to relent against the World No.30.

Despite her opponent clawing her way back to 69, Sindhu took the first game 21-15 in only 16 minutes.

Compared to the first, the second game started on a slightly even note with both players going neck and neck for the first few minutes.

Li was more dominant closer to the net while Sindhu was the stronger player at the baseline.

With the scores level on 5-5, Sindhu broke the deadlock to go into the lead and was soon placed comfortably at 11-6. From there, the World No.11 did not ease up on the momentum as she piled on the points, showing better control to emerge champion in the lop-sided encounter.

According to chief national coach Pullela Gopichand, at whose academy in Gachibowli Sindhu trains, they worked on Sindhu’s game after she pulled out of the China Open. “At the Academy, we worked extensively on speed and aggression while preparing her for the tournament and she executed it well in Macau,“ Gopi said.

Sindhu enjoyed a phenomenal year in 2013.

After winning the Grand Prix Gold title in Malaysia in May, she went on to become the first woman’s singles medalwinner at the World Championships in August.

It was also India’s first singles medal at the Worlds after Prakash Padukone’s bronze in 1983.

She was then conferred the prestigious Arjuna Award after which, she enjoyed great success at the Indian Badminton League. Sindhu captained the Lucknow-based Awadhe Warriors into the final, where they eventually lost to the Saina Nehwal-led Hyderabad Hotshots.

With this victory, Sindhu cements her place as the next big thing in Indian badminton after the reigning queen, Saina.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Sports> Others Sports / DC / Vijay Anand / December 02nd, 2013

TinkerTank Technologies wins ISB’s iDiya Challenge

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology

The student-driven competition aims to stimulate, enable and develop high-impact, self-sustaining social businesses in India.

Tinker Tank Technologies, a ready-to-go-operational start-up venture, has emerged winner of the fifth edition of  iDiyaChallenge, a one-week-long social venture competition that concluded at Indian School of Business (ISB)’s Hyderabad campus on Saturday.
The student-driven competition aims to stimulate, enable and develop high-impact, self-sustaining social businesses in India. Sponsored by ISB, this year’s programme has received 40 applications from participants across the state.
TinkerTank , which has developed Doopica, a low-cost semi-automated incense-stick machine that eliminates hard labour while producing more with less effort, helping women produce four times more incense sticks and increasing their monthly income by Rs 5,000, received an investment support of Rs 2 lakh from ISB.
While Bodhi Health Education, another ready-to-go-operational start-up that aims to provide affordable medical education to health workers in rural and semi-urban areas of India, was the first runner-up, standing in the third place was Rematerials, which makes housing roofs out of waste material for people in villages and slums.
“It is not important to have great technology in order to innovate. It is important to make incremental changes and scale them up,” Jayaprakash Narayan, member of the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh and founder of Loksatta party, said in a release.
source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business> Companies> News / by K Rajani Kanth / Hyderabad – December 01st, 2013

Granules India looks at further expansion

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Granules expects to post a turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore this financial year as against Rs 764 crore in 2012-13

GranulesHF14dec2013

 

 Hyderabad-based drug maker Granules India Limited, which recently acquired Auctus Pharma for Rs 120 crore, is looking towards further expansion of its business through both organic and inorganic routes.“We strongly believe in growing our businesses and we are looking at organic growth. But if something comes up by the way that fits into our model, we may be looking at it (acquiring that company),” Granules managing director, C Krishna Prasad, told Business Standard.Granules is looking at further expansions even though its executive director, Harsha Chigurupati, feels that the company will be able to “easily” achieve a turnover of Rs 2,000-3,000 crore with its existing products.Granules expects to post a turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore this financial year as against  Rs 764 crore in 2012-13. In the first half of the current fiscal, its turnover stood at Rs 490 crore.According to Chigurupati, the company is not going to acquire to add more molecules. It will acquire to add more capacities. However, as the Granules business model is volume driven, there are very few companies in the market that can cater to its capacities. Hence, Granules is forced to go for greenfield investments.

“We are laying very strong foundations for the future and the results will be seen four years from today,” Prasad said. Meanwhile, the company would continue to maintain its annual growth rate of  20-25 per cent, he added.

He said the real benefit of Auctus acquisition would be realised 3-4 years down the line. During the same period, Granules Omnichem Pvt Ltd would be fully operational.

GOPL is a joint venture between Granules and Belgium-based fine chemicals maker Ajinomoto Omnichem. The new facility, being set up at a cost of Rs 185 crore in Visakhapatnam, will be operational next year. However, it had to secure USFDA approvals to realise its full potential. This is expected to take 3-4 years.

Granules will be entering the contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) space through the JV.  It intends to manufacture high value active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, CNS and oncology.  Additionally, the JV will work on second generation manufacturing processes to increase manufacturing efficiencies.

“The advantage with Ajinomoto Omnichem is that it is all about quality and there is no price pressure. The second advantage is that this gives us access to the type of management and companies that we do not have traditionally. That access opens up a lot of doors for us,” Chigurupati said.

With regard to Auctus, he said the main advantage was that it had FDA approved products. With these products, backed by Granules marketing strength, “the customers we get are significantly different. So, margins and revenues will improve.”

Prasad is not worried about global pharmaceutical majors setting shop in India and their likelihood of competing with domestic companies in future in exporting products to the regulatory markets.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / by Prashanth Chintala / Hyderabad – November 28th, 2013

Reliance cash & carry store in Hyderabad

Business & Economy

Company states store is equipped with modern storage facilities to ensure freshness of all food products.

RelianceRetailHF14dec2013

Reliance Retail , the retail arm of Reliance Industries Limited, has launched its  cash & carry store, ‘Reliance Market’ in Hyderabad, its first wholesale store in the city. With over 41,000 sft space, the company stated, the store is equipped with  modern storage facilities. There is a range of over 7,000 products, both food and non-food, with a large proportion of them sourced locally.

It ranges from fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries, stationery, footwear as well as electronics and IT products. As the store caters to traders and other businesses, one needs to have a business licence issued either by the government, municipality or panchayat to become a member. Membership is being initially offered free of cost, a release stated.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / by Prashanth Chintala / Hyderabad – November 28th, 2013

AP postal department goes hi-tech

Records, All, Science & Technology

The Andhra Pradesh circle of the postal department has drawn up plans to improve public services by adopting modern technology. For the first time in the country, it is set to implement a pilot scheme that facilitates the electronic monitoring of letter box clearance.

Developed by the software section of the postal department, the technology involves a handheld device which will transfer the data electronically to the Central Data Centre, providing details of the number of letter boxes opened and those cleared at any given time.

Each time the letter box is opened, the information is transmitted to the Data Centre, indicating the time and the number of times the letter box has been opened, the Chief Post Master General of the Andhra Pradesh circle, B V Sudhakar said.

The department had conducted a survey and found that there were several letter boxes which were almost empty while some others were overflowing with letters for want of clearance on time.

The hand-held devices will be given to postmen who, while clearing the letter box, will feed the data, the official explained. Earlier, the department had no way of knowing whether a letter box had been opened or not. There have been complaints from the public that letters did not reach on time.

The scheme, currently undergoing trials with satisfactory results, will be launched in the second week of December. The postmen will start using these handheld devices. Once it is successful, the technology will be replicated across India, Sudhakar said.
At a later stage, solar panels will be fitted to the letter boxes, which will record the movement of the door whenever it is opened. On opening, a signal will be transmitted to the central data centre.

Nearly 75 lakh mails are cleared all over the state every day, including 20 lakh in the city. Majority of them are business mails.

Across the country, 1.72 crore mails are cleared daily. The state circle is handling Speed Post, registered post, money orders, besides others. In addition, it is also handling Aadhaar cards and has delivered approximately 5.5 crores of Aadhaar cards statewide.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> National / DHNS – Hyderabad, November 28th, 2013

Ethnic setting in urban milieu gets artistic flavour

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
A sculptor working on scrap metal creation at the ongoing art and sculpture camp at Shilparamam-Jatara in Visakhapatnam on Friday / . Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu
A sculptor working on scrap metal creation at the ongoing art and sculpture camp at Shilparamam-Jatara in Visakhapatnam on Friday / . Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu

57 artists, including AU fine arts students, participating in the camp at Shilparamam

Shilparamam Jatara off the National Highway 16 at Madhurawada has drawn visitors and tourists alike for its rural ambience. In another month or so the same location would have some very contemporary icons thanks to the students of Andhra University Department of Fine Arts.

There would be some scrap steel sculptures, some cement sculptures, fibreglass models and a few paintings dotting the landscape adding to the attraction. There are 57 artists at work at the ongoing art and sculpture camp organised jointly by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department – Shilparamam – and the Department of Fine Arts of Andhra University.

Under the benign gaze of camp curator, Professor of Fine Arts Ravi Shankar Patnaik, the artists are enjoying themselves and as a result producing some extraordinary pieces of art. All of them are students of the AU Department of Fine Arts, while some are studying a few of them have graduated earlier.

Artists working on their paintings at the art and sculpture camp at Shilparamam-Jatara in Visakhapatnam on Friday./ Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu
Artists working on their paintings at the art and sculpture camp at Shilparamam-Jatara in Visakhapatnam on Friday./ Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu

At the beginning of the camp the artists were given a simple brief that they should let their creative juices flow and create something that reflects the values, ethos of the region. There has been no restriction on what they want to do, he said. The artists participating in the camp include 7 painters, 10 working on scrap metal, 10 are working on cement structures, 10 are creating fibreglass models and another 10 are carving stone.

The granite blocks have been brought from Kotappakonda in Guntur district and the sculptors along with assistants are chiselling away the blocks to create works that would stand the test of time.

The artists have selected the sites for display of cement sculptures and are working on the location.

The general visitors to Jatara were in for a treat to see the art camp in progress and watch the creative juices flow giving shape to icons that would remain in the landmark for generations of tourists to watch and wonder.

As part of the camp on Wednesday the artists made a presentation on their works to peers and other artists and art lovers and picked up a tip or few on how to address some finer nuances, Prof Patnaik said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Special Correspondent / Visakhapatnam – November 30th, 2013

JKCCS Honours Balagopal with Robert Thorp Award

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Records, All

BalagopalHF11dec2013

The J&K Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) has honoured Dr K Balagopal, a human rights activist and lawyer from Andhra Pradesh, with Robert Thorp Award-2013, posthumously, for his contribution in highlighting the human rights issues in Jammu and Kashmir.

The JKCCS every year confers Robert Thorp Award to persons who have shown exemplary courage and contributed to the achievement of civil society and political rights of the people of J&K. The award was received by his colleague, Prof Babaiah on Tuesday.

The award is given in memory of Robert Thorp, a young British Army officer, who arrived in Kashmir in 1865 and fought for the right of self-determination of Kashmir.

He was killed in 1868 by forces of Maharaja Gulab Singh, a feudal ruler of Kashmir, for highlighting the miseries of Kashmiris in international media.

Dr Kandala Balagopal, born on June 10,1952, was a trained Mathematician and taught at Kakatiya University in Andhra Pradesh. An uncompromising human rights activist, Balagopal broke away from the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), with which he was associated from 1980s, on the issue of violence perpetrated by the erstwhile CPI-ML Peoples War.

During his visits to Kashmir, Balagopal worked actively for human rights in Kashmir and wrote numerous articles on Kashmir issue, questioning Indian occupation in Kashmir.

Fifth child of a middle class Telugu Brahmin couple, his education happened in various towns across AP owing to his father’s occupation. After pre-university education at Kavali and BSc in Tirupati, he took an MSc and PhD in Mathematics from the Regional Engineering College in Warangal before proceeding to Delhi for a post-doctoral at the Indian Statistical Institute. He returned to Warangal in 1981, where he started teaching Maths at the Kakatiya University. This was also the time when he decided on social activism and joined the APCLC, which he left after two decades to form Human Rights Forum.

Balagopal, who played a commendable role in exposing the institutional impunity enjoyed by the Indian military force and his unflinching support for the right of self determination of people of Jammu and Kashmir, died of lung aspiration following bleeding of stomach ulcer in Hyderabad on  October 8, 2009.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / November 29th, 2013

Abdul Khayum Khan appointed head of Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau

Leaders, Records, All
Picture for representational purposes only.
Picture for representational purposes only.

Hyderabad:

Abdul Khayum Khan, an IPS officer of the 1981 batch, has been appointed as Director General of the Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Currently Vice-Chairman and Managing Director (VC&MD) of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), he had also held additional charge as ACB Director General (DG) for the past few days, after the appointment of B. Prasada Rao as Andhra Pradesh’s Director General of Police.

In a minor exercise on Thursday, the government appointed Khan as the regular DG of the ACB and posted 1988 batch IPS officer J. Purnachandra Rao as VC&MD of APSRTC. Chief Secretary P. K. Mohanty issued an order to this effect on Thursday evening.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by Sijihaya / November 28th, 2013