Aasapu Srinidhi, who is studying 6 standard in Shirdi Sai School here, got the gold medal in national-level chess competition conducted by the International Student Olympic Association at Haridwar from July 22 to 25.
A total of 33 students participated from the Students Olympic Association East Godavari (SOAEG) in various events such as chess, yoga, kung-fu, wrestling and kyushu. Srinidhi of Rajamahendravaram got the gold medal in chess (under-12) in her first attempt and bronze medal in yoga.
K. Rajasekhar, SOAEG general secretary, told The Hindu that the students of SOAEG got medals every year and this year Srinidhi got two medals in different events. He thanked coaches Vittanala Kumar (chess) and Devarapalli Veeraraghavulu (yoga) of the Shiridi Sai school.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Rajamahendravaram – July 29th, 2016
Heritage lovers want the two World War II bunkers to be placed in Visakha Museum or along Beach Road for tourists and public to learn about their history and importance associated with Vizag. Currently, one of the bunkers lies partially submerged in the sea sand near RK Beach, while the other is in the One Town Area near the port conveyer belt. There’s also a huge concrete bunker on the beach in Jalaripeta region near Kailasagiri, which is practically not feasible to be shifted given its size and mass.
During low tides or beach erosion, the bunkers at times get exposed though most people are unaware of its significance. As per historians, there might be more such historical bunkers between Old Town and Jalaripeta along the beach but not all of them are visible and might be under water. Changes in the coastal landscape may cause some of them to surface in future. The bunkers were constructed for attacking or firing at enemy ships that try to enter the shores.
S Ravi Kanth Reddy, founder-president of Meecons, said, “Recently, I wrote to GVMC commissioner Pravin Kumar requesting him to salvage those two bunkers and make them part of a local museum or at least put them for public display somewhere on Beach oad with some description about their historical significance.”
Elaborating on the bunkers and Vizag’s tryst with the World War II, Captain Dorai Babu of the Indian Navy, who has done research and contributed to certain publications related to the East Coast Naval History during the International Fleet Review (IFR), said, “Not many people are aware that during World War II, a Japanese submarine was sunk around 20 miles off Vizag by an Australian ship. A Japanese aircraft tried to bomb Vizag Port area. The British were anticipating an attack on Vizag and therefore bunkers were built along the coast in the late 1930s and ’40s as a protective and attacking measure.”
“The bunkers are usually 4-5 feet under the ground and 3-4 feet above the ground. They are fortified with stone and can prevent 20 mm bullet attacks to protect guns and crew housed in them,” added Captain Babu.
Historian Edward Paul averred, “These bunkers or pill boxes were used to attack enemy ships trying to enter Vizag shores. The crew would be hidden in the bunkers from where they would shoot. Holes were made on the bunkers for bullets to be fired from them. The bunkers were made of thick solid concrete, which could resist firing attacks. However, these are so heavy and huge that extracting them from the seashores and bringing them to museums or Beach Road would be practically a herculean task requiring modern technology. May be some boards about their utility and historical significance can be placed along the Beach Road. But with increased erosion and the sea encroaching the shores, slowly the bunkers are becoming invisible. In the 1960s, when the sea hadn’t advanced so much, the bunkers would be clearly visible.”
Curator of Visakha Heritage Museum MNA Patrudu said, “It would be definitely a wonderful idea to place the bunkers along with information boards for tourists. May be the museum too can find some space for it if it can be lifted from the seashore. These are very heavy and half of them are submerged in the waters. Lifting and placing them somewhere else would be an extremely difficult task.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Visakhapatnam / Sulogna Mehta / TNN / July 23rd, 2016
Government alienates 1,100 acres, Vuda submits ADP.
Land compensation for assignees, encroachers is to be released by the government. (Representational image)
Visakhapatnam:
An Education City is coming up in Vizag for which the state government had identified 1,100 acres at Sabbavaram. Of the 1,100 acres, the state government recently issued orders alienating 740 acres in first phase free of cost to the higher education department.
Though the revenue department had fixed Rs 12 lakh per acre for the alienation, the government upon the request of the higher education department had alienated the land free of cost. Land will be plotted and earmarked to be allotted to private schools, colleges, varsities of international repute.
Already representatives of India’s well known private university AMITY had visited the site and evinced interest in setting up their campus at Vizag’s Education City.
The district collector had sent proposals to alienate the land 740.83 acres that comes under survey numbers 109, 135, 240, 241, and 242 of Vangali Village, Sabbavaram Mandal in favour of the Higher Education Department for establishment of Educational City Knowledge Hub Project on payment of market value at Rs 12 lakh per acre.
The Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) has stated that the above proposal was placed before the APLMA in its meeting held on 16.10.2015 and the APLMA has recommended for alienation of the land.
The Secretary Higher Education has requested to allot the land free of cost and further stated that if the land is used for commercial purpose in future, the cost of the land may be decided by the government in consultation with revenue department.
Hence, a view may be taken on the request subject to certain conditions, said the GO No: 332 of the revenue department issued recently. The government after careful examination, alienated the said land in favour of the Higher Education Department for establishment of Educational City Knowledge Hub Project on free of cost, subject to some conditions.
“Private universities and organisations like BITS, Sarla Birla academy, etc are to be invited to see the lands. So far seen and earmarked 550 acres for various national-level premier educational institutions and remaining lands available for private institutes will be around 200 acres. As per the Chief Minister’s directions, VUDA has started laying road and other infrastructure of water and electricity have to be taken forward,” said a senior district official.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> In Other News / July 26th, 2016
He was a scholar honoured by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) by being carried on a caparisoned elephant around the famous Sri Govindaraja temple here.
Kozhiyalam Satagopacharya received the rare honour way back in 1961-62. Followed by scholars chanting hymns and to the traditional drum beats of percussionists, the procession led by the then Executive Officer C. Anna Rao also dropped him at his residence. His achievement?
He rendered the Ramayana discourse for a full year at the jam-packed Anjaneya shrine located in front of the temple.
While his centenary was observed by his disciples at Mylapore (Chennai) on Saturday, his home town Tirupati too went nostalgic.
It is a rare coincidence that the 100th year of this scholar, who shares the lineage of ‘Abhinava Ramanuja’ Kozhiyalam Swamy, runs concurrent with the millennial celebrations of Sri Ramanuja.
Born in July 1916 in Therani on the banks of River Kusasthali on the Tamil Nadu border, the Sanskrit scholar taught for more than 25 years in the TTD’s Sri Venkateswara Oriental College. The multilingual scholar used to give a Tamil lecture on ‘Tiruppavai’, participate in Sanskrit debate and immediately switch over to chaste Telugu for a discourse on the ‘Ramayana’. Tamil and Telugu commentaries on ‘Sri Venkateswara Ashtothara Sathanamavali’, Vedanta Desika’s ‘Dayasatakam’ and a Sanskrit commentary‘Vidhitraya Paritranam’ on Sri Venkatadhvari were some of his notable contributions.
He mastered spoken English too within a few months. Satagopacharya made news those days by preparing and rendering the welcome address for the then President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan at the Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha. The President was all praise for his erudition, his disciples recall even today. Describing him ‘an authority on Nyaya, Mimamsa and Vedanta’, the then Lok Sabha Speaker Madabhushi Anantasayanam Ayyangar used to refer scholarly material to him.
His abject poverty never had any impact on him. “He never let money or the absence of it cast a shadow on us,” recalls his son K. Srinivasan, Secretary of the Navajeevan charitable group that runs an eye hospital, home for the visually challenged and an old age home, feeding 1000 people a day.
Though he got an appointment as a reader in the Vidyapeetha, he breathed his last before joining duty.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by A.D. Rangarajan / Tirupati – July 25th, 2016
“The executive committee of the Academy held on July 24 has unanimously chosen her for its coveted award,” said N. Murali.
A. Kanyakumari, an outstanding and versatile violinist, will get the Sangita Kalanidhi award of the Music Academy this year.
“The executive committee of the Academy held on July 24 has unanimously chosen her for its coveted award,” said N. Murali, president of Academy.
He said Ms. Kanyakumari was the first woman violinist to get the award in the history of the Music Academy and she will preside over the 90th annual conference of the Academy to be held between December 15, 2016 and January 1, 2017. The award will be conferred on her at the Sadas on January 1, 2017.
“It is God’s grace that I have been selected for the award at an appropriate time. I am very happy because it is considered as the highest award in the field of carnatic music,” Ms. Kanyakumari, a student of late M.L. Vasanthakumari told The Hindu.
A native of Vijayanagaram in Andhra Pradesh, Ms. Kanyakumari had her initial training under Ivaturi Vijayeswara Rao. Later she learnt from noted violinist M. Chandrasekaran, another Sangita Kalanidhi awardee. In 1971 she became a student of MLV. “I was with her for 19 years learning and accompanying her,” said Ms. Kanyakumari.
She is yet another student of the G.N. Balasubramaniam (GNB) — MLV school of music to win the award. Others who had already received the award are vocalists Sudha Ragunathan and Tiruchur V. Ramachandran.
A composer, who constantly experimented with music, she created seven ragas under the title Saptadri , seven names of Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati. “I used Annamacharya’s compositions to give expression to the seven ragas,” said Ms. Kanyakumari.
Her other raga creations include Mahalakshmi, Tirumurti and Bharat, a raga created on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebrations of Independence.
“I have teamed up with nagaswaram and veena players and my Vadhyalahiri was popular in the late 1980s,” said Ms. Kanyakumari, who had accompanied saxophone player Kadri Gopalnath along with thavil player Haridwaramangalam A.K. Palanivel and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain.
She teaches a lot of students in India and abroad, but does not accept money from them.
Mr. Murali said the Sangita Kala Acharya awards will go to Rudrapatnam brothers — R.N. Thyagarajan and R.N. Tharanathan and K. Venkataramanan, vocalist and music teacher.
TTK awards will be conferred on vocalist Nirmala Sundararajan and Thevaram singer M. Kodilingam. Musicologist award will go to Rama Kausalya and Pappa Venkatramaiah award to violinist Sikkil Baskaran.
The Nataya Kala Acharaya award will be conferred on Malavika Sarukkai on January 3, 2017, at the inauguration of dance festival.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review> Music / B. Kolappan / Chennai – July 24th, 2016
In yet another feather in the cap of the Port City, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Tuesday commissioned INSA Karna, the only base of the marine commandos in the country. Until now, Vizag had a marine commando unit as do naval establishments across the country. Now, with the establishment of the base, all marine commandos will have to come to INS Karna for training.
The marine commando unit in Vizag got upgraded to a base after the Centre recently sanctioned 25 officers, 320 sailors and 12 civilians, thus enabling the unit to be converted into a base. With a foresight to conduct special missions in maritime domain, the Indian Navy founded the Indian Marine special Force (IMSF) which was rechristened as the Marine Commando Force (MCF), popularly known as Marcos.
Marine commandos carry out conventional maritime operations, hostages rescue, piracy mission, counter terrorism and disaster management operations. The members of this force are capable of undertaking missions in support of conventional operations and also provide the answer to expanding asymmetric threats now. The main role of the unit is to conduct maritime military operations that originate from sea or coastline.
While commissioning INS Karna, Lanba said Marcos have established themselves as special operations force of international repute in a short span and have won well-deserved gallantry awards for their acts of courage and valour.
INS Karna is located on the premises of INS Kalinga near Bhimili. “The commissioning of INS Karna has added a new base to the special forces of the Indian Navy as they are deployed to safeguard our nation’s vast maritime interests,” said Admiral Lanba.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Visakhapatnam / TNN / July 13th, 2016
Woman biker Vaishali More, who will embark on a solo ride covering three states of AP, Telangana and Maharashtra for a social cause, in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.— Photo: K.R. Deepak
Biking for me is a symbol of empowerment and liberty, says Vaishali More
With the wind slicing through her hair, riding across the three states of AP, Telangana, and Maharashtra and a passion to conquer the roads, 48-year-old Vaishali More is all set to embark on her first solo motorcycle ride from Visakhapatnam to Shirdi on Wednesday morning.
Purpose
Terming it as a “dream ride where the journey is the destination”, the woman biker from the Port City spoke to The Hindu about the purpose behind the ride and what biking means to her ahead of her journey.
“Biking for me is a symbol of empowerment and liberty and this journey marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I have always wanted to ride solo and this will be the first experience for me,” said the passionate biker, who started her biking adventures when she was in college.
Her ride is being supported by city based organisation Rohit Memorial Trust. Vaishali will cover the distance of around 1,700 km in five days, making pit stops at Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Solapur and Pune before ending her journey in Shirdi.
Armed with safety gears, a helmet clasped over her hair, sporting a riding jacket that will guard her back, shoulder and elbow and skid proof boots, she will make her first stop at Vijayawada on Wednesday night.
During her journey, she will be meeting organisations such as Rotary Clubs and biking groups to share her experiences and discuss various social issues concerning women.
Prelude
“This journey is a prelude to the cross country solo bike ride that I am planning next year in association with Rohit Memorial Trust as part of a project on women empowerment under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The aim is to cover eight to 10 smart cities and reach out to women to spread awareness on a series of issues like domestic violence and menstrual hygiene,” said Vaishali.
In Hyderabad, the biker will be meeting members of Wanderers, a biking community and woman biker Sana Iqbal.
At Pune, three women bikers from the local chapter of the Bikerni group will accompany her till Shirdi in their quest to overturn widely held stereotypes such as riding being a gendered hobby.
“Biking for me is meditative. My bike is like an extension of my personality. I know every pulse of it,” says Vaishali while describing her association with her 220 CC Bajaj Avenger Cruise bike that she fondly calls as ‘Ellie’ – a short form of the French word Esprit Libre meaning free spirit.
She will make pit stops at Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Solapur and Pune before ending her journey in Shirdi.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Nivedita Ganguly / Visakhapatnam – July 13th, 2016
Our focus will be on curbing diabetes, says Lions Club Director
For the first time in the history of Lions Clubs, a city-based person has been elected as the international director to head its global vision and projects. V. Vijay Kumar Raju has catapulted Visakhapatnam to the international map after he was elected to serve a two-year term as a director of Lions Clubs International at the association’s 99 th International Convention held in Fukuoka, Japan, recently.
An active member of the Visakhapatnam Samarasya Lions Club of District 316 A since 1996, he has held many offices within the association. Mr. Raju is the first from coastal AP and second from the State to be a part of the Board of Lions Clubs International. He has also served the Indian Air Force and is presently running nine educational institutions and three private firms. Mr. Raju, who will be in-charge of the LCI’s operations, finance and audit committee, will oversee the organisation’s activities and projects in 64 countries.
During his visit to the city, he explained to The Hindu about the organisation’s mission and future projects during the centennial celebrations of service of Lions Club International.
Our mission
“From a global perspective, our focus will be on curbing diabetes. India will be one of the major areas of work for LCI in this aspect. Our mission is to also address areas like cancer, environment, vision and relieving hunger through sustained activities, projects and expansion works,” said Mr. Raju, also a recipient of the Gallantry Award from the President of India. Talking about the organisation’s projects in the region, Mr. Raju said a dialysis centre was coming up on the outskirts of Vijayawada at a cost of Rs. 7 crore. This apart, the organisation is also looking for a land in Visakhapatnam to set up a dialysis centre for which it has approached VUDA. Similar centres will come up in Srikakulam and West Godavari districts, he said. “We are also upgrading the Lions Cancer Hospital at Seethammadhara with an additional outlay of Rs. 20 crore to include state-of-art equipment and amenities,” Mr. Raju added.
Among its other major projects, a comprehensive eye care hospital is coming up at Salur, which will cater to the neighbouring States of Chhattisgarh and Odisha as well. “The project is being developed at the cost of Rs 1.5 crore and the Outpatient Department will be operational in a month’s time. We intend to make it a state-of-the-art facility along the lines of Shankar Netralaya in Chennai,” he added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Nivedita Ganguly / Visakhapatnam – July 07th, 2016
Crores of rupees have been earmarked by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation for revamp and conservation of the Port City’s heritage structure
Visakhapatnam:
Time and again, there had been elaborate talks on giving the heritage buildings of Old Town a makeover.
Sources had earlier said crores of rupees have been earmarked by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) for revamp and conservation of the Port City’s heritage structures that are badly in need of renovation, conservation, and maintenance. But except some ray of light for the Town Hall, the condition of other derelict structures have worsened.
Sometimes, funds from JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) or from the World Bank was expected to come to the rescue of the heritage structures and include them in the tourism map but nothing materialised. The only positive development so far has been cleaning up of the Town Hall and putting up a notice by GVMC banning all functions at the venue.
There are almost a dozen heritage and colonial era buildings and sites in Old Town such as the Town Hall, European cemetery, Queen Victoria’s pavilion, Queen Mary’s Schools, St John Church and School, St Aloysius School, Lighthouse, Ishaq Medina Dargah, Abu Sarang Street, Lavender Canal and some other heritage buildings. Some of these like the hilltop dargah and mosque dates back to the mid 13th century while most others belong to the 19th and early 20th century.
The 16th century European cemetery, which is covered with garbage and weeds, was cleaned about a couple of years ago by GVMC at the initiative of Intach (Indian National Trust for Culture and Heritage) but is now back to its former state. M Janaki, the then additional commissioner of GVMC, had taken a lot of initiative in clearing the cemetery and had even allocated Rs 12 lakh for its renovation. The three century old burial ground has around 50 graves.
Intach member Jayshree Hatangadi said, “When I visited the cemetery this week, I found the wall broken towards its left and has been encroached upon by surrounding houses. Garbage has been thrown inside and the weeds and bushes have regrown to such an extent that stepping inside is almost impossible. Only the Town Hall has been cleaned and ‘No functions to be held here’ notice pasted on the door, which is a good move by the GVMC in protecting the building from all the damage and litter, which happens every time some function is held there.”
GVMC’s chief city planner Venkata Rathnam said, “Both the European cemetery in Old Town and the Dutch cemetery at Jagadamba Junction are in a bad shape, with broken compound walls and our municipal commissioner has personally inspected the sites. Hopefully, some renovation and cleaning works would be taken up for the cemeteries.”
Not only the cemetery, but the Victoria Pavilion and the Queen Victoria statue, which got a makeover around two months ago, is in a mess. “The statue is again covered with coal dust, which can’t be helped because of the pollution is the area. But worse, the workers have left the cleaning job incomplete. They have left brushes, brooms and clothes, but removed the signage. Even if there’s some renovation, the maintenance aspect is totally ignored,” added Hatangadi.
The century-old Queen Mary’s Girls High School (QMGHS) is also in a rickety state, especially the tiled roofs and wooden staircases are all creaking and crumbling and in urgent need for renovation. But it seems the government is waiting for it to crumble further and then pull it down altogether so that it meets the same fate as the Kurupam Market structure, which was surreptitiously demolished in November 2013 by GVMC officials. According to government sources, Rs 32 lakh was sanctioned by the state education department for construction of a new school building in the existing premises but the money was diverted to other “needy” schools. The building, which now houses the school, was earlier a medical school and even before that the old collectorate, dating back to the early 19th century.
When asked about the plans and funds for renovation of Old Town heritage structures, GVMC Commissioner Pravin Kumar replied, “Except Town Hall, all other structures belong to different management and trusts. GVMC will work together with the respective management to give a facelift to them as has been done for the Queen Victoria Pavilion.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Visakhapatnam / by Sulogna Mehta / TNN / July 08th, 2016
The 119th birth anniversary of Alluri Sitarama Raju, the martyred nationalist and freedom fighter who had waged a guerrilla war against the British in Visakha Agency, was celebrated in a grand manner here on Monday. A number of district administration officials and state ministers as well as Union civil aviation minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju took part in the celebrations across the district. The main celebrations were held at Pandrangi village near Visakhapatnam, where the freedom fighter was born.
During a public meet in Pandrangi, the Union minister observed that Sitarama Raju had fought the British till his last breath. Later, local school children performed a ballet portraying the life and struggle of the freedom fighter. The state ministers and district officials also visited the house where Sitarama Raju was born.
Meanwhile, state information and public relations minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy along with Vizag MP K Hari Babu, zilla parishad chairperson Lalam Bhavani and all the district officials paid tributes to the great revolutionary and observed that it was one of the most glorious struggles for India’s freedom.
However, members of the Alluri Walkers Association led by M Suresh Babu and Ommi Appa Rao accused the state government of denying livelihood to tribal people and other weaker sections of society and said it was not appropriate for them to celebrate the birth anniversary of a freedom fighter, who had laid down his life fighting for the rights of the weaker sections of society.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Visakhapatnam / TNN / July 05th, 2015
