Three more national awards to Andhra Pradesh power sector

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology

He received the award at SIECC (Surat International Exhibition and Convention centre) held in Surat.

Vijayawada :

The sustained efforts of AP  power sector in providing 24X7 quality and reliable power supply to  consumers have earned three more national awards, adding up to more than 105 national awards won till date.

The State has been conferred the top investment-friendly and infra excellent State in sustainable energy and power, while APGENCO has been awarded as the best performing utility in power generation by Enertia Foundation during the Enertia Award-2018  held in Gujarat on Sunday.

Principal Secretary (IT), CMD APTRANSCO and MD APGENCO K Vijayanand has been awarded prestigious Lifetime Yeomen Contribution to Power, Energy, and Renewable sector in Andhra Pradesh and public sector at large.

He received the award at SIECC (Surat International Exhibition and Convention centre) held in Surat.
The jury for Enertia Awards- 2018 has praised APGENCO for its relentless efforts in sustaining as the best power generation company with an installed capacity of 6813 MW, hydel-1797 MW and solar power with a capacity of 5.426 MW.

They also appreciated AP’s initiatives in adopting global technologies in power generation at par with advanced countries.Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and  Energy Minister K Kala Venkata Rao congratulated Vijayanand for the lifetime achievement award.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / December 03rd, 2018

A drill in shaping future innovators

Education, Inspiration /Positive News and Features
Students receiving INSPIRE Awards at IITH on Friday.
Students receiving INSPIRE Awards at IITH on Friday.

IIT-Hyderabad aims to mentor govt. school students in critical thinking

The Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) is mentoring school students of Andhra Pradesh to be future innovators and critical thinkers.

It is hosting a three-day workshop from November 30 as part of INSPIRE Awards – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge) initiative, executed by Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, and National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF).

The initiative aims to motivate students in the age group of 10-15 years to think critically. A total 37 students from Andhra Pradesh, mostly from government schools, were selected for their ideas based on novelty, social applicability, how environment-friendly and user-friendly they are.

The workshop is being coordinated by Dr. Mudrika Khandelwal, Assistant Professor and Dr. Ranjith Ramadurai, Associate Professor, at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad.

Speaking about the importance of this initiative, Dr. Mudrika Khandelwal and Dr. Ranjith Ramadurai said, “It is important to tap the creativity at early stages of life when they are open and fearless. We are sure this will be a great platform to bring out talent.”

The scheme’s objective is to select, support and reward one million original ideas/innovations rooted in science and its real-life applications, to be able to foster a culture of creativity and innovative thinking among schoolchildren.

Prof. Deepak John Mathew and Dr. Neelkantan from the Dept. of Design, spoke about the importance of design. Dr. P. Rajalakshmi from Wireless Networks (WiNeT) Laboratory, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, gave a demonstration on drones.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Sangareddy – November 30th, 2018

An IT company with ‘special’ agenda

Business & Economy, Science & Technology
A process executive of Virtual Guard Services training the physically challenged in Visakhapatnam.
A process executive of Virtual Guard Services training the physically challenged in Visakhapatnam.

25 physically challenged graduates land jobs with VGS

His joy knew no bounds when Kondapu Appala Reddy has been told by his friends that an IT-enabled services (ITES) company wants to recruit physically challenged graduates as its employees.

“I had my own doubts but I was jubilant when I got selected for the job under a pilot project launched in March, 2018 with just two employees,” Mr. Reddy, a deaf and dumb youth in early 20s who did M. Com.

He says the warmth with which he was greeted by other employees of the Visakhapatnam-headquartered firm — Virtual Guard Services (VGS) — was really very touchy.

Same is the feeling of Sagi Pavan Kumar Varma, who did MCA. “I almost lost hope of getting a decent job. However, on knowing about VGS’ commitment to provide livelihood to physically challenged unemployed youth, I applied for it and subsequently got the offer letter,” he says.

“Being a challenged person became hindrance for my getting a job. However, VGS management gave me an opportunity to prove myself that I am an able person just like others. Now my confidence level has gone up and my family is very happy that I have become financially independent,” he points out.

A dream come true

The company has so far provided jobs to 25 persons, including 14 speech and hearing challenged. All of them never dreamt that they could find jobs in an ITES company located at Tech Hub on the compound of Tech Mahindra.

VGS is the Indian arm of Pro-Vigil, an American company offering video monitoring and surveillance on real-time basis for clients in the United States and the United Kingdom. It also offers services like auto dealer and parking lot security to detect theft of tyres, tailgates and even vehicles, monitoring revenue audit, quality audit, IT and software maintenance support to its clients.

‘No easy task’

For training the special employees is no easy task. Process trainer Taninki Sreevani says she is very happy with the response from their new employees and all of them are performing well after undergoing special classes on how to rise to the occasion on their job requirements.

VGS has its R&D unit in Hyderabad. It has about 400 employees in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam units.

VGS Centre Head Kishore Dasari has told The Hindu that the organisation conceived idea to act differently by extending its support in the form of permanent jobs to physically challenged youth under CSR to prove the fact that they are as abled as others provided they are given the right support and training.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States / by Santosh Patnaik / Visakhapatnam – November 28th, 2018