City chess player K.V.K. Karthik receiving FIDE Master title from IPCA president Pilimon Zbigniew at Serbia. Also seen is Karthik’s coach Shaik Khasim. Photo: By Arrangement / The Hindu
The Andhra Pradesh Chess Association will felicitate Karthik during the State Open tournament which will be held at Chennupati Ramakotaiah Stadium on September 27
A gold medal at Commonwealth chess championship at Glasgow (Scotland) and a bronze at the World championship at Apatin – Banja Junakovic, Serbia. Twenty-seven-year-old K. Venkata Krishna Karthik is on cloud nine as 2014 is proving to be lucky to him.
The youngster, who is down with a peculiar orthopaedic disorder and poor vision, these two titles in the international tournaments in the physically challenged category has made him realise that his dream of becoming a Grandmaster is not far away.
“We need to thank all those people who stood by Karthik by offering their support both financially and emotionally. Associations like Andhra Cricket Association, Sri Chaitanya Educational Institutes, ARKS Group based at United Kingdom and parents of several players pitched in to give a new dimension to Karthik’s life,” said coach Sk. Khasim of Global Chess Academy.
Karthik not only won FIDE Master title but also earned his first International Master (IM) norm. The chess fraternity went into raptures as Karthik set a fine example to the able-bodied players that what was required to success was hard work and dedication.
“Had Karthik won the eighth round he would have won the title,” felt D. Srihari, secretary of Krishna District Chess Association. Dronacharya Koneru Ashok, Grandmaster Lalith Babu, senior coach and administrator V. R. Bobba and others congratulated the tenacity of Karthik despite his failing health.
Karthik won the hearts of many in the 14 International Physically Challenged World Chess Championship for he played against six talented and higher-rated Russians. A total of 36 players, including International Masters and FIDE Masters from 15 countries, participated in this tournament in which Karthik is seeded the 19th player.
The Andhra Pradesh Chess Association will felicitate Karthik during the State Open tournament which will be held at Chennupati Ramakotaiah Stadium on September 27.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by J.R.Sridharan / Vijayawada – September 25th, 2014
Uppalapu Srinivas Born: 28 Feb 1969 Palakole in Andhra Pradesh Popularly known as ‘Mandolin’ Srinivas
Anantapur:
The sudden demise of musician Mandolin U. Srinivas was a rude shock for many music lovers of Anantapur and Puttaparthi. Being an ardent devotee of Sri Satya Saibaba, Mr Srinivas has been a regular visitor and performed mandolin concerts several times. Anantapur Thyagaraja Sangeetha Sabha had a great attachment with the mandolin maestro since 1986.
Mr Srinivas had performed first Carnatic concert during the silver jubilee celebrations of Sangeetha Sabha at Anantapur in 1986. The music maestro had performed at least five concerts in Anantapur-1986, 1988, 1990, 1992 and last in 2004 organised by Tyagaraja Sangeetha Sabha. The Sangeetha Sabha had also felicitated Mr Srinivas with ‘Suvarna kankanam’ on January 8, 2004.
Recalling that Srinivas adopted a difficult electric western instrument to the Carnatic concert, Sabha founder C.N. Gnaneswar Rao appla-uded it as an impressive concert. “He assured to do concert during inauguration of Srirama temple at the Sabha, three months ago,” Mr Gnaneswar Rao said. Meanwhile YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was in Anantapur as part of his two-day visit, expressed his deep condolence over the sudden demise of Srinivas. In a condolence message, Jagan said the state had lost a great personality in Carnatic music.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC Correspondent / September 20th, 2014
Wal-Mart India, the fully owned subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s leading retailer, is extending its B2B platform to its customers in Guntur and Vijayawada towns of Andhra Pradesh.
Members of Best Price wholesale stores in the two towns can shop and book orders online from Oct 1, the firm announced Saturday.
As a virtual store, the e-commerce platform will provide a similar assortment of products as the brick and mortar Best Price Modern Wholesale stores including a select variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.
This will take the tally of e-commerce platforms to four stores in India. The This was launched from July this year for members of Lucknow and Hyderabad Best Price stores.
Members can navigate the virtual store and place orders on 24/7 interactive site www.bestprice.in. In addition to the delivery at their doorsteps, convenient payment solutions will help them make faster business decisions.
“Given the tremendous support from our members for this initiative, we will continue to extend this in a phased manner to our other stores as well. Members have particularly appreciated our transparency and consistency of prices, availability of products and assortment besides the convenient payment options and efficient delivery solutions,” said Wal-Mart India president and CEO Krish Iyer.
Wal-Mart India owns and operates 20 Best Price Modern Wholesale stores in nine states across India. The company plans to open 50 more stores by 2020.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Business> News / by IANS / September 20th, 2014
Kongara Ramesh at his mango orchard at Tarluwada village in Visakhapatnam district | Express Photo
Visakhapatnam :
Amrutham Ice Fruit Mango, a new variety of the king of fruits, developed by a scientist Kongara Ramesh, is entering the international markets including the United Arab Emirates, the US and several other countries. This is the first mango created by a farmer using cross-pollination technique and can be frozen and eaten in all seasons. The uniqueness of the new mango variety is that it can be eaten like an ice fruit by peeling off its skin.
The new variety was developed three years ago after a 12-year experimentation by Ramesh. In the last three years, he planted the saplings extensively to estimate its yields. Now, Ramesh is taking care of 50,000 saplings at his own nursery at Tarluwada village in Anandapuram, just 28 km away from Visakhapatnam city.
Ramesh developed the variety by cross pollination between Amrapali and Chinnarasalu mango varieties, which are very sweet and can be frozen at sub-zero temperatures.
The Amrutham Ice Fruit Mango has been selected for the world horticulture show to be held at Germany in February, 2015. “It will be the first step to market Amrutham globally. I’m sure this will bring huge foreign currency to the country,” a proud Ramesh says.
Mass Cultivation
After the great success of Amrutham, Ramesh is wasting no time for mass cultivation of the fruit. Making use of all the 100 trees he raised initially, he had developed a nursery of about 50,000 saplings aged between six months and two-and-half years. As many as 600 trees can be raised in an acre and they will bear fruit in about three to four years. The yield of the fruit is 15 tonnes per acre. Except for using organic manure in the first year, the trees need no special care.
Assured Yield
Amrutham starts flowering from November. If the flowers are damaged in November, the cyclone season, it starts flowering in December and January with an assured yield of 90 per cent. Ramesh has also developed another variety called ‘Swagatham’. The speciality of the fruit is its aroma. One fruit of Swagatham’s aroma pervades the entire house. The variety was developed by cross-pollination between Imam Pasand and Chinna Rasalu.
Export Potential
Ramesh has plans to export the Amrutham Ice Fruit Mango to several countries. A large number of Telugu NRIs and foreigners are making enquiries about the fruit. However, surprisingly, neither the state government nor the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry visited the place to take further steps for bulk cultivation.
The Man Behind the Magic Fruits
A Guntur-based farmer and homoeo doctor settled in Visakhapatnam about 15 years ago, Ramesh started his own research at a 40-acre land owned by a private company. Having great interest in the mango crop and its varieties, Ramesh developed his ideas by cross-pollinating Andhra’s most popular mango Nuziveedu Chinnarasalu with North India’s famous variety Amrapali. He displayed it at the All India Horticulture Exhibition held in New Delhi last year, where a large number of foreigners tasted it and lauded it. Ramesh also sold the fruit in Vizag market. Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority witnessed the variety and congratulated Ramesh, who is set to market the fruit on a large-scale from the next season.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by VKL Gayatri / September 24th, 2014
Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) Tobacco has emerged a top grosser for India as the exports fetched more than $1billion during the 2013-2014 fiscal year, Tobacco Board Chairman K. Gopal said here on Monday.
Tobacco exports touched a record 2.66 lakh Metric Tonnes, earning a foreign exchange of Rs. 6,092.86 crore surpassing all previous records, Dr. Gopal said on Tuesday.
India is the second largest producer of FCV tobacco (316 million kg), second largest exporter of tobacco (236 million kg), with 91 countries as trading partners.
“The Board has set a target of achieving Rs.10,000 crore in the next five years. It is possible if farmers adopt best farm practices. We have managed to achieve a consistency in FCV tobacco production and with a four per cent growth in export volumes,’’ Dr. Gopal said.
Regulation of crop production has been a formidable challenge for the Board as the farmers went on an overdrive in 2013-2014 producing 316 million kg, much higher than the authorised crop size of 274 million kg. The Board has ensured that the entire Tobacco was sold on auction floors ensuring that farmers and traders have a win-win situation.
“The key issues remain are CPA residues, non-tobacco related manufacturers, tariff barriers for traders and lengthy auction procedures, price variations and vagaries of weather for farmers. The Board is looking into these issues and has begun addressing them,’’ the Tobacco Board Chairman said, adding that as part of the brand image building exercise, the Tobacco Board participated in the International Trade fairs giving a boost to trade.
As a prelude to the cropping season in Andhra Pradesh, the Tobacco Board released a “Special Bulletin on Karnataka FCV tobacco” containing good agriculture practices that have been adopted to produce best quality neutral filler tobacco from Karnataka Light Soils and also to inform the global importers about the Board’s intent in bringing grower and trade oriented reforms.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by P. Samuel Jonathan / Guntur – September 24th, 2014
In this Nov. 15, 2007, file photo, Mandolin Shrinivas performs along with Hariharan at The Hindu Friday Review November Fest at the Music Academy in Chennai. Photo: R. Shivaji Rao
Grief overtook Mandolin Shrinivas’s admirers, childhood friends and artistes in this cultural capital of West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh as news of his untimely death spread.
A pall of gloom descended on Palacol, the cultural capital of West Godavari district, with the demise of its child prodigy Uppalapu Shrinivas, a globally acclaimed Carnatic music exponent.
Shrinivas is its second son of the soil who did the tiny non-descript coastal town proud by securing Padmasri award in an early age after Allu Ramalingaiah, a noted film actor. He had the prefix `Uppalapu’ to his name replaced by `Mandolin’ for his blending the Western instrument with Carnatic music in a unique manner.
Grief overtook his admirers, childhood friends and artistes in the prosperous town. Although he was born in a marriage band music family in the town, he lost connections with his birthplace after he left for Chennai as a boy to explore the depths of music.
According to Vinnakota Venkateswara Rao, a local septuagenarian scribe, Srinvas gave his concert last in his hometown was during the Tyagaraya Aradhanotsavams a decade ago. Manapuram Satyanarayana, president of the Palacol Kalaparishad, a childhood friend of Srinivas, recounted his association with the exponent. “I too used to associated myself with marriage band music parties with him (Srinivas), playing electric mandolin. Srinivas used to display innovation by playing mandolin for film songs when we were in elementary school itself”, he recollected.
Mr. Sudarsanam, a blind who retired as a lecturer in a local government degree college, was said to have attended his first concert in Palacol and could not resist his temptation to take part in another one in Eluru. He did it with the help of an assistant in the mid 80s. “This was how he cast a spell over his audiences,” said a retired teacher Krishna Prasad. He would not have been known to the world as an acclaimed classical musician, but for Rudraraju Subbaraju from Poduru near Placol, who taught Srinivas’ father Satyanrayana mandolin playing. Identifying the latent talent in the child prodigy, Mr. Subbaraju was said to have taken Srinivas and his father to Madras to hone up his skills under the tutelage of great exponents.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by G. Nagaraja / Eluru – September 19th, 2014
Italian traveller Marco Polo’s accounts stand testimony to their weaving expertise which had floored the Europeans during the medieval period.
Weavers in Chirala in Prakasam district had carved a niche for themselves worldwide from time immemorial with their weaving skills.
Italian traveller Marco Polo’s accounts stand testimony to their weaving expertise which had floored the Europeans during the medieval period. Chirala, which gets its name from Chira (saree), had weavers who could produce a transparent saree which could be folded and kept in a match box.
However, in the wake of power looms gaining ground, weavers from, among other places, Kanigiri, Ethamukala, Vetapalem, Janarpeta in the district faced hardship due to lack of orders for their deft hands in the era of globalisation.
“The Rs. 70 crore Mega Handloom Cluster, which is all set to commence operations from the second week of October will be game changer,” explained Handlooms and Textiles Assistant Director M. Ramamurthy Naidu after holding awareness programmes for the weavers.
“Eight interventions are planned to strengthen the hands of 12,000 identified weavers to come out with innovative designs, reduce drudgery and help them find new markets within and outside the country through e-marketing,” he added while talking to The Hindu.
He said the interventions included a Rs. 7-crore yarn bank, modern compressed looms, motorised jacquards, emergency solar lamps, a modern design studio, work sheds for the identified weavers to improve productivity and income for them.
“Our aim is to empower the 12,000 weavers from the district to work wonders on the loom like their forefathers a tapestry of designs and textures”, he added.
K. Venkateswara Rao, a weaver from Epurupalem, said that the government should provide solar lamps of higher capacity to energise at least two tube lights and a fan instead of an emergency lamp which would not serve any purpose.
Weaver A. Veerabrahmam felt that the government should do away with the 20 per cent beneficiary contribution and double the subsidy component for new work sheds from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000. Subsidised yarn and chemical dyes as also export sub-centres should be set up, added another weaver Katuri Narasimha Rao.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by S. Murali / Ongole – September 23rd, 2014
U. Shrinivas, who cast a spell on audiences with his Western instrument, the mandolin, died here on Friday. He was only 45 and is survived by his father, mother, two sisters and brother Rajesh, who is also a mandolin player.
Mandolin Shrinivas, as he came to be known, had been ailing for a while. He reportedly was being treated for liver failure at the Apollo Hospital. He had lately received a liver transplant and had recovered, but a lung infection proved fatal. In a statement, Apollo Hospital said “the transplant procedure was uneventful, and his liver function showed signs of recovering. After initial improvement of five days, he developed a secondary lung infection leading to shock and multi organ failure.” Shrinivas was a man of clean habits, and had been ignoring an infection for a long while, friends told The Hindu.
Born in Palakol in Andhra Pradesh in 1969, Shrinivas was the son of clarinet player Sathyanarayana. Young Shrinivas, however, was attracted by mandolin used by his father’s friend in recording studios. He quickly mastered it and his skills were further honed by Rudraraju Subbaraju, a student of late Chembai Vaidhyanatha Bhagavathar.
His first concert was held at Kudivada in 1980 and later mridhangam player organised a concert for him in Kumbakonam in 1981. As Chennai is the capital of Carnatic Music, his family settled here and he was promoted by Updendran and his uncle, late thavil maestro Valangaiman Shanmugasundaram, who accompanied him in thavil.
As a child prodigy, a permanent smile on his face and with joy apparent while playing his instrument, he created waves in the Carnatic music world.
He instantly caught the attention of late Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran, who declared him the musician of the Tamil Nadu Government when he was just 11 yeas old. He was awarded Padmashree in 1998.
“After listening to him play in a temple, I recorded him for the Doordarshan. The audition test was attended by great musicians such as Emani Sankara Shastry. When we telecast the programme, we received a call from the then Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran, requesting a copy of the recording and his address,” said Sampath Kumar, who worked for both the All India Radio and Doordharsan.
Humility personified
Shrinivas, humility personified, always gratefully acknowledged the contribution made by others towards his career.
Mridangam maestro Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, who accompanied Shrinivas since he was 10, said his greatest quality had always been to absorb the best from the stalwarts and infuse nuances into his magical instrument.
Even though western instruments such as violin, clarinet and saxophone were metamorphosed into a complete carnatic classical instrument by the handlers, Shrinivas secured an unparalleled status for the mandolin. He performed along with the English guitarist John McLaughlin and top Indian musicians Zakir Hussain, V. Selvaganesh, Shankar Mahadevan, Shivkumar Sharma, and Hariprasad Chaurasia.
In India, the instrument was mostly used in light music and Hindustani musicians, it was Shrinivas brought it to the mainstream Carnatic music world. I am still not able to understand how he was able to produce ghamakas in a Western instrument,” said Mr. Sampath kumar, who also produced a documentary on Shrinivas.
Recalling his association with MGR, Shrinivas once told The Hindu that since he did not have a telephone, the Chief Minister’s secretaries visited his house.“The Chief Minister’s secretaries visited my house and wanted to know whether I could perform at a function. Since I had a concert on the same day, they gave me another date and the occasion — a felicitation function for actor Kamal Hassan for his role in the film ‘ Ek duje ke liye’ . Mr. MGR and our present Chief Minister Jayalalithaa listened to the entire concert,” Shrinivas once reminisced.
At one concert, T.N. Seshagopalan, moved by his music, presented a gold ring to Shrinivas.
Shrinivas joins late N.C. Vasanthakokilam, Karukurichi Arunachalam and Needamangalam Shanmugavadivel, other Carnatic music greats who left the world when they were at the peak of their career.
Carnatic music world mourns its loss
The Carnatic music world is in a state of shock over the untimely death of Mandolin U. Shrinivas here on Friday.
He was reportedly being treated for liver failure at the Apollo Hospital here. He had lately received a liver transplant and had recovered, but a lung infection proved fatal.
The greatness of his place in this world is probably best explained by a small story that the late violinist Lalgudi G. Jayaraman’s family recounts.
It happened when Jayaraman, along with his son Krishnan and daughter Vijayalakshmi stepped into the elevator of a restaurant. While everyone wondered how he was able use a western instrument so successfully to render gamaka-laden Carnatic music, Shrinivas explained the modifications he made to achieve the result, says Ms. Vijayalakshmi.
“We happened to listen to the sweet strains of Shrinivas playing our guru’s [Jayaraman] Yamunakalyani tillana. With a smile our guru stood there listening to it, not minding that the elevator doors had closed and we were moving on to the next floor,” recounts Mr. Krishnan.
“Doing away with the eight-string model, I transformed the instrument into a four-stringed one early in my career. Later, I added a fifth string on the advice of my father,” Shrinivas used to say. His achievement is explained by music historian V. Sriram: “It is not often that someone gets to introduce a new instrument in Carnatic Music and yet be welcomed with open arms.”
For mridangam player Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, his death is a great personal loss. He provided accompaniment to Shrinivas in hundreds of concerts. “We were to play two concerts this December. Alas! it is a great loss,” he says.
Describing Shrinivas as a great scholar and inventor both in melody and rhythm, Mr. Sivaraman said that his name became synonymous with the instrument and made him an icon. He was humble and respectful.
Another senior musician who accompanied Shrinivas in a number of concerts is Ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram. Unable to overcome his grief he said, “Only his body is dead. His music will continue to live on.” Music director Ilayaraja, one of the great fans of Shrinivas, paid homage to him at home. Music composer A.R. Rahman (@arrahman) has tweeted his message: “Emotionally shaken to hear of Carnatic shining star Mandolin Shrinivasji’s demise… May God bless him with happiness in the next world.”
Noted playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam on his Facebook page, said Shrinivas had elevated Indian classical music to “universal level.” He recalled his first meeting with him at Gemini Studios in 1980 where he was doing the background score for Hum Paanch directed by Telugu director Bapu who passed away recently.
Playback singer Shankar Mahadevan who performed with Shrinivas for ‘Remember Shakti,’ is poignant in his message. “A very important part of my music is over…. praying for your soul U.Shrinivas, my friend my brother …in extreme sorrow.”
Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain tweeted: “Today mother India cries, today a part of Indian music died and we are orphaned, RIP my dear brother Mandolin Shrinivas.”
“I got to know today that Shrinivas is no more. I am very sad to hear that. When he was 14-year-old, I saw his performance on TV. He used to play Indian classical music brilliantly. It was quite tough to play classical music on mandolin… May his soul rest in peace,” noted playback singer Lata Mangeshkartweeted.
Sonu Nigam tweeted: “The great mandolin exponent U. Shrinivas is no more unfortunately. Was going through a liver transplant.”
(With additional inputs from PTI)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by B. Kolappan / Chennai – September 19th, 2014
Amateur naturalist and student of B.Sc Botany Pavani holds a Calico flower, a native flower of Brazil, that bloomed at the Biodiversity Park at the RCD Hospital compound in Visakhapatnam. Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu
Amateur naturalist and student of B.Sc Botany Pavani holds a Calico flower, a native flower of Brazil, that bloomed at the Biodiversity Park at the RCD Hospital compound in Visakhapatnam. Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / September 15th, 2014
Visakhapatnam Port Trust Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu, organiising committee chairman of third ODI bewtween India and West Indies giving details of arrangments. Photo: By Aarrangement / The Hindu
Third ODI between West Indies, India to be played on Oct. 14. Several committees were constituted during a meeting with the GVMC and district officials on security, traffic control, food, water, sanitation, etc.
The Caribbeans are coming to the city again. The third ODI between West Indies and India will be played at the ACA-VDCA stadium on October 14. West Indies played India in November last, and an ODI during its India tour was allotted to the city again in view of the diamond jubilee of the Andhra Cricket Association.
This will be the fourth ODI in the city between India and West Indies. India won two matches, at the MCV stadium and the ACA-VDCA stadium. The city has hosted 10 ODIs so far.
Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust M.T. Krishna Babu, who is chairman of the ODI organising committee, at a press conference here on Thursday, explained the arrangements being made for the match.
Several committees were constituted during a meeting with the GVMC and district officials on security, traffic control, food, water, sanitation, etc.
District Collector N. Yuvaraj, president of Andhra Cricket Association D.V. Subba Rao, and general secretary Gokaraju Gangaraju were present.
Tickets priced at Rs. 250 (1,800) meant only for clubs and their players; Rs. 400 (3,500), Rs. 1,000 (9,298), Rs. 1,500 (6,028); Rs. 2,000 (4,310), and Rs. 5,000 (1,620) will be issued. Higher denomination tickets will be sold online and other tickets through eSeva centres.
Another meeting will be convened on October 4 to finalise the arrangements and to check the floodlights and other facilities at the stadium.
Regarding Test status to the stadium, Mr. Gangaraju said some minor changes suggested to the venue by the ICC would be completed by this month end. A BCCI team was expected to visit the stadium again. He was confident that the BCCI, during its next AGM, would accord Test status to the stadium.
The BCCI and other centres in the country appreciated the ACA for conducting all the ODIs without any hitch, he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Special Correspondent / Visakhapatnam – September 11th, 2014
