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This small village sets an example in patriotism
More than 250 youths from Pedda Muraharipuram, a small village 1.5 km from the Pundi railway station in Vajrapukotturu mandal, have been working in the Army.
Srikakulam :
More than 250 youths from Pedda Muraharipuram, a small village 1.5 km from the Pundi railway station in Vajrapukotturu mandal, have been working in the Army. Inspired by the patriotic spirit, one from each family has been working as a soldier in the Army, Navy and Air Force. Once a year, they gather in the village to offer prayer to Subhas Chandra Bose, who started Indian National Army and also to other freedom fighters.
An association called Sainika Seva Samiti was constituted in the village by involving the present and former army personnel with a view to pass on the tradition for future generations. There were no more than five army personnel in the village in 1985 and their number has increased to 250 now. Taking inspiration from the soldiers in the village, the youths have been striving to be solders in the defence forces.
Because of parents’ support, the number of Army personnel in the village has been increasing, said Sainika Seva Samiti president G Viswanatham and former president T Murali.They also said that the retired army personnel started giving coaching to the youths of the village right from class 10.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / January 14th, 2019
Flying start to Aero Sports Festival
Various events at ‘Sahasam Seyara Dimbaka’ thrill tourists from A.P., Odisha
Hundreds of visitors from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha enjoyed themselves at the first Aero Sports Festival ‘Sahasam Seyara Dimbaka’ which was organised at Seethampeta of Srikakulam district on Sunday.
The entire premises adjacent to Seethampeta Adventure Park wore a festive look with various events, including hot air balloon, para motoring, power hang-gliding, parasailing and others. Weather was clear for all the sports events, which were normally conducted in Chennai, Bengaluru, Visakhaptnam and other major cities. The well trained pilots guided the tourists in moving in hot air balloons, parasailing and others.
Good response
District Collector K. Dhananjaya Reddy and Seethampeta Integrated Tribal Development Agency Project Director L. Siva Sankar expressed happiness over the overwhelming response from the tourists for the festival. “Seethampeta is going to be a major tourism destination. It will certainly provide employment to many tribal youngsters and improve economic activity,” Mr. Dhananjaya Reddy said.
Mr. Siva Sankar said that the entire department had taken it as a challenge to conduct the event as the infrastructure was little when festival was proposed. “We are going to construct resorts, museum, and eco-park very soon. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams will construct Lord Venkateswara Swamy’s temple at a cost of ₹3 crore. This step will improve temple tourism also,” he added.
Many public representatives, including Narasannapeta MLA Baggu Ramanamurthy and Patapatnam Legislator Kalamata Venkata Ramana and others, came along with their family members to watch the colourful festival. They hoped that the event would ensure huge number of tourists visit the district which had many other important tourist places like Telineelapauram, Kalingapatnam beach and others.
A few families expressed happiness over the arrangements, including the best food court in adventure park. “Well maintained Adventure Park is really a big gift for the district. We decided to come to this place whenever we come to our native Srikakulam district,” said K. Samyukta, a techie from Hyderabad.
The festival will continue on Monday and Tuesday. It is expected to draw more number of visitors with the festival holidays.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Srikakulam – January 14th, 2019
Brazil offers technology to preserve Ongole breed of cattle
EMBRAPA delegation visits some of the farms in Ongole
Brazilian Agriculture Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) has offered to provide technical support to preserve the Ongole breed of cattle fast becoming extinct in its original breeding land between Gundalakamma and Musi rivers in Prakasam district.
While the number of pure breed of Ongole cattle was declining at an alarming rate, the Bos Indicus thrived in the South American country.
An EMBRAPA delegation visited some of the farms in Ongole on Sunday on the eve of Sankranti festival following an invitation from former Ongole MP Y.V. Subba Reddy. The delegation comprising Jose Ribamar F. Marques, Tarcisio Da Cruz Mesquita and Guilherme Minssen told reporters that Ongole breed of cows in Brazil yielded about 30 litres of milk on an average.
On the other hand, productivity had declined to less than five litres per Ongole cow in Prakasam.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Ongole – January 14th, 2019
ASI faces flak as encroachments creep up around ancient Dutch Armoury
Excavation, construction activities in full swing on Nizam Hospital premises
Uninterrupted excavations being conducted by locals in the prohibited areas around the ancient Dutch Armoury here are posing a grave risk to the safety of the protected monument, with the Archaeological Survey of India reportedly remaining a mute spectator.
Earlier, locals bulldozed a brick wall of the old building (known locally as Nizam Hospital, according to ASI) located within the prohibited area of 100 metres from the armoury.
Illegal structures
Since last December, a cattle shed was built in the prohibited area by taking up excavation work and erecting iron poles. Plans were afoot to bulldoze another wall of the roof-less building by erecting wooden poles to build another structure.
Attempt by locals to demolish a wall in the protected area was stopped after the police intervened in 2016.
Speaking to The Hindu, ASI (Amaravati circle) Conservation Assistant Venkata Satyanarayana Murthy said, “The activities of excavation and construction of the shed have been taken up by a private party within a distance of 50 metres from the existing Dutch armoury which is under our conservation. The family that engaged in disturbing the area and the old building (Nizam hospital) did not seek permission from ASI to take up any such activity in the protected area.”
“No person, other than an archaeological officer, shall carry out any construction in any prohibited area (100 metres from the border of the protected monument,” says The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010.
Communication gap
Mr. Satyanarayana Murthy said that the Machilipatnam civic body has been instructed to stop the work in the protected area.
However, when contacted by The Hindu, Machilipatnam Municipal Commissioner P.J. Sampath Kumar confirmed that he did not receive any such communication from the ASI regarding the issue till Saturday (January 12).
A three-acre site on the campus of the old building (Nizam Hospital) has been cleared by the locals for construction activity within the prohibited area in the absence of the conservation measures by the ASI.
The Monument Assistants deployed at the Dutch armoury have reportedly been threatened by the private party, restricting them from entering the premises of the protected area when they tried to stop the excavation work, they said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Appala Naidu Tippana / Bandarkota(Krishna) – January 13th, 2019
Nellore police bag crime detection award
The police registered a case under 302 r/w IPC and Sections 25 & 27 Arms Act 1959 and nabbed the accused Rajapurohit Vikram Singh (27) on November 25.
Nellore :
Nellore Sub-Division police bagged the Award for Best Crime Detection (ABCD) for solving a sensational case registered after a trader was shot dead by unidentified persons here on November 3, 2018. It may be recalled that trader Mahendra Singh (40) from Rajasthan was running a machine tools business in the Fathekhanpeta area.
Chinna Bazar CI M.A. Abdul Subhan and City DSP NBM Murali Krishna investigated the case and collected technical data, including call data of Mahendra Singh. “We have cracked the case with the support of Cyber Analysis Wing. We collected all technical data to investigate the case and even deputed staff to Rajasthan, native state of the deceased, to collect case details. Finally, we cracked the case,” said NBM Murali Krishna, Nellore City DSP.
The police registered a case under 302 r/w IPC and Sections 25 & 27 Arms Act 1959 and nabbed the accused Rajapurohit Vikram Singh (27) on November 25. According to the police, Mahendra employed Vikram, son of his elder brother, in Komal Power Tools shop. Further, Mahendra also extended business by opening another power tools shop in Santhapeta after Vikram got married. Mahendra then deputed Vikram as in-charge of the shop. But, Vikram who earned profits, showed losses to Mahendra and the latter moved him to Tirupati.
Mahendra had promised to construct a house for the father of the accused in Rajasthan, but failed to do so. An angry Vikram bore grudge against Mahendra and plotted to kill him. Vikram struck a deal with contract killers to murder Mahendra. On November 3 at around 10.30 p.m., miscreants fired four rounds from a pistol on Mahendra from a close range, hitting him on his chest and escaped on bikes towards Magunta layout. Mahendra died while undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / January 11th, 2019
Kadapa schoolgirl bags national silver medal in Silambam competition
Earlier, she won a gold medal at the state-level competition held in Visakhapatnam on December 21 and 22 and made the cut to participate in the national-level games.
Kadapa :
A girl student Konduru Akhila of Raju High School in Rayachoti won a national-level silver medal in Silambam competition which is also known as Karrasamu in the local parlance Akhila is studying sixth standard at Raju High School and participated in the 64th national school games held in Delhi from January 3 to 9 in which players from across the country participated.
She partook in the Silambam competition and stood third. Earlier, she won a gold medal at the state-level competition held in Visakhapatnam on December 21 and 22 and made the cut to participate in the national-level games for school students. She is the daughter of Konduru Venkata Rama Raju and Sunantha and has been practising Karrasamu since childhood.
Regional Joint Director B Prathap Reddy, District Educational officer P Sailaja, Coach N Narasaraju and Deputy DEO Varalakshmi lauded her. The school management felicitated coach N Narasara Raju.
Girl felicitated
Regional Joint Director B Prathap Reddy, District Educational officer P Sailaja, Coach N Narasaraju and Deputy DEO Varalakshmi lauded her. The school management felicitated coach N Narasara Raju.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / January 11th, 2019
Discover Araku from a hot air balloon in the second edition of the festival
Floating over the skies of Araku Valley, thrill seekers will soon get a unique bird’s-eye view of familiar sights. The picturesque Araku Valley will play host to the second edition of the International Hot Air Balloon Festival. Twenty hot air balloons from 15 countries across the world will dot the pristine skies of Araku, a hill station near Visakhapatnam, from January 18 to 20 as part of the festival, organised by AP Tourism in association with E-Factor. The balloons will sail over the verdant valley with its tribal hamlets and agricultural fields.
The highlight of the festival will be the specially-shaped balloons like Baby Car and Flying Honey Bee from Brazil, Bruno Clown from Slovakia and Happy Chicken Egg from the Netherlands. The three-day festival will also see international champions and paramotorists from Europe providing some thrilling displays and stunts.
The tickets for hot air ballooning are not available for sale. However, there are lucky draws and contests available on the website visakhautsav.in and people can try their luck and win seats for the morning flights and tethers.
While the balloons will soar in the skies in the early mornings, don’t miss the Night Glow Show at NTR Grounds on all three days of the festival, when the balloons inflate and light up to the beat of music at the centre of the valley. One of the highlights of this festival is the luxury camping facility set up near the venue with around 40 well-designed tents for travellers.
Tourism on the rise
The world over, governments and promoters are recognising the importance of using hot air balloons as a tool for tourism and employment generation. Places like Cambodia’s historic Angkor Wat, Turkey’s UNESCO World Heritage site of Cappadocia and Myanmar’s ancient temples of Bagan have seen a surge in tourist inflows after hot air ballooning activities were started. According to industry figures, the Hot Air Ballooning industry has been growing in India for the last three to five years at around 20 % year-on-year growth.
“The response for the first edition was phenomenal and has helped establish the brand name Araku from a much larger national perspective.
The tourism impact of this has also been extremely positive since all the hotel inventories were sold out during the festival time. The same situation is envisaged this year as well,” says Samit Garg, CEO and co-founder of E-Factor.
Joseph Llado, a veteran ballooning pilot from Barcelona with 38 years of experience, was floored by the undiscovered charm of Araku when he came for the first edition of the festival. “This is a gem of a place for hot air ballooning. Araku’s beautiful, hilly terrain makes it a fascinating place to explore,” he remarked.
According to Rick Astral, a ballooning pilot from Chile, his visit to Araku last year opened up a new vista of adventures. “Every moment we got to experience a new splendour,” said Rick Astral, a balloon pilot from Chile. Sukhbir S. Sekhon, a Malaysian pilot, who went up to one of the highest levels on the first day of the balloon festival last year, was overwhelmed by the “spectacular” green stretches of fields and hills. “It was a sight to behold! We went across a small hill and it was quite a discovery,” he said.
Landing her compact hot air balloon on the lush fields in a village of Araku, Atiqah Khairudin from Malaysia added, “This place is a beautiful piece of jewel and a great a discovery for balloon pilots. It can be a wonderful way to showcase its beauty to people who want to experience the grand panoramic view from the hot air balloon.”
The concept of hot air ballooning was almost unheard of about a decade ago. Today, hot air balloons soar over Indian skies like colourful confetti and is fast picking up as a great adventure sport in cities like Agra,Pushkar, Lucknow, Jaipur and even Tamil Nadu.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Travel / by Nivedita Ganguly / January 09th, 2019