A girl bringing water to fill earthen pots kept for birds at Indigo Street of Balayya Sastry Layout.— Photo: C. V. Subrahmanyam
Taking forward the initiative of the residents of Indigo Street in Balayya Sastry Layout, students of architecture have taken up beautification.
The transformers and electric poles had been beautified with art work which students took up with their hands.
The beautification had been taken up as a part of “Urban design learning process” by students of Varaha College of Architecture and Planning.
To improve greenery in the street after the devastation caused by cyclone Hudhud, residents launched a plantation drive in December last.
To give it a character, they had planted saplings that give indigo flowers. The beautification was a continuation of that.
The students also conveyed a message to residents by painting a slogan thanking Hud Hud for reminding them of the value of nature’s motherhood.
With summer setting in, in a timely gesture, they have also put earthen bowls to provide water and grains to birds. The exercise is aimed at inculcating a sense of ownership among residents of the street, says architect Y. Narasimha Rao who lives there.
The entire exercise was carried out on Saturday and Sunday and residents were quite supportive by providing snacks, tea and butter milk and encouraged them.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Special Correspondent / Visakhapatnam – March 17th, 2015
(Left) MVGR College of Engineering principal KVL Raju and Virtusa Consulting Services vice-president Madhavan Seshadri (centre) releasing a brochure in Vizianagaram on Monday. MVGRCE correspondent A Raghava Rao is at right | Express Photo
Visakhapatnam :
A Head Start Programme for engineering students in Business Process Management was inaugurated at MVGR College of Engineering (MVGRCE) in Vizianagaram by Madhavan Seshadri, vice-president of Virtusa Consulting Services (Business Consulting and BPM). Aimed at improving the readiness of students in BPM technology, Virtusa Corporation, under the aegis of Pegasystems, launched the programme through Virtusa’s Centre of Excellence sanctioned to MVGRCE. Virtusa has five such centres in the world.
Speaking on the occasion, Madhavan Seshadri said that around 6,000 Pega experts are available in the world, and students of MVGRCE would be joining this elite group. It is one of the best starts for any career in IT industry as the demand for Pega experts is going to increase throughout the next decade.
“Pega experts may also get onsite job opportunities much earlier than other students,” he added. The Centre of Excellence will be instrumental in student level certification, live projects, direct employment opportunities, faculty certifications, and technology conferences.
Pega certified faculty R Ravikanth and Chaitanya from the CSE department at MVGRCE were instrumental in developing the course contents for the upcoming training modules. Principal KVL Raju and correspondent A Raghava Rao were present during the signing of the MoU between Virtusa and MVGRCE for setting up the Centre of Excellence Monday.
In an interactive session with parents and students who got placed in Virtusa, the company’s Graduate Talent Programme manager R Subramanyam Saraswathi Sarma explained the uniqueness of this initiative.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / March 10th, 2015
Savouring Telugu flavours:Stefan Binder from Germany. —Photo: V. Raju
As part of my Masters, I started learning Telugu and Sanskrit and in the last semester, I opted for Telugu. By the end of it, I was able to translate Telugu in German
There is a Chinese proverb which says learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
Stefan Binder of South Germany is an insatiable learner basking in the glory of Telugu language in Vijayawada city.
A student of cultural anthropology back home in Berlin where he lives, his first visit to India was a couple of years ago.
“As part of my Masters, I started learning Telugu and Sanskrit and in the last semester, I opted for Telugu. By the end of it, I was able to translate Telugu in German,” he says.
Starting with locals
And then, he started learning the language on his own. In the beginning, he had problem in speaking Telugu with locals but later got used to it.
By sheer coincidence, he landed in Andhra Pradesh for his research project. “The Telugu taught in the university was very technical unlike the colloquial one. Now I am confident of striking a conversation in Telugu, even if it is about my research project,” says the 29-year-old scholar with an emphatic nod.
Ask him about the most difficult part of Telugu and he points to its “syntactic structure which is different from European languages.
“Theoretically I can understand it,” he hastens to add. The best part, he says, is that the Telugu grammar is not too complex compared to Sanskrit or “my own mother tongue German.” Give him a lot of time and a dictionary and he can translate Sanskrit too. “Actually, my Hindi is better but my vocabulary is shrinking because of late, I have been focusing only on Telugu,” he says.
Films his passion
He enjoys watching Bollywood films. “ P.K and Haider were the latest ones and I also plan to see Dum laga ke haisha ,” he adds.
As far as food is concerned, the German youth is having a delicious time tucking into his favourite dosasin breakfast and delicacies like pulusu (gravy) made with sweet potato and ladies finger.
“I love the combination of mudda pappu (dal) and allam pachchadi (ginger pickle) with ghee,” his smile returns.
Mr. Binder calls his visit a learning experience. “My first visit was to an undivided Andhra Pradesh. I returned after a gap to find two different States with boundaries redrawn. I have friends on both sides. But regardless of physical barriers, I find the emotional chord intact,” he says.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by P. Sujatha Varma / Vijayawada – March 03rd, 2015
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), in collaboration with NGOs and the Andhra Pradesh government, has kick-started a four-year pilot project ‘Convergent Action for Adolescents’, to educate and empower adolescents of Vizag district.
Apart from Unicef, 22 government departments of AP (at the district level), guided by AIKYA, a Kerala-based NGO, will team up for the project. The team met Vizag district collector N Yuvaraj on Wednesday to discuss the project.
The project is aimed at educating pre-pubescent and adolescent children on physiological changes they undergo after attaining puberty and prevent negative behavioural traits from creeping in during their interaction with adults during this stage.
The project also aims to protect these children and adolescents from being sexually exploited and eradicate the system of child marriage.
Speaking on the project, social worker and child rights protection specialist Sony Kutty George said that many children in this phase (10-19 years) of life find it difficult to cope up with the changes leading to depression, loss of confidence and even juvenile delinquent tendencies. “The project aims to boost mental, physical and emotional health in these adolescents,” George said.
On why Visakhapatnam district was selected for the project, George said the district has a unique urban-rural-tribal divide. “The district is not only home to the largest city of AP, but also has vast rural and tribal areas that are extremely backward. Also, the 2011 census revealed that the district has a high number of child labourers,” he said.
Ruth L Leano, chief of field office (Karnataka and AP), Unicef, who was present at the meet, said the pilot project will help generate awareness and develop a healthy future for these youngsters. She said that across the vast rural and tribal stretch many youngsters miss out on opportunities that other privileged children of the same age group have access to. District collector N Yuvaraj said the authorities will work hard to ensure that the project is a success.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / TNN / March 05th, 2015
Shiva Sri from Appughar in the city bagged the first prize in the concept film contest-2014 conducted by Eastern Power Distribution Company of AP Limited (EPDCL) to promote awareness on electrical safety and energy conservation. The second prize went to D Balaiah from Kurnool and Ravi Arji from Khairatabad in Hyderabad received the third prize, according to chairman and managing director EPDCL R Mutyala Raju.
Announcing the prizes here on Friday, the CMD said the first prize winner would be presented Rs 50,000 cash, the second prize winner Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 for the third spot. He said Rs 10,000 each would be given to the six consolation prize winners — B Hari Venkata Ramana from Akkayyapalem, Srikanth Sathivada of Dabagardens, Jeelakarpa Yaswan from New Gajuwaka, Satyada Narsinga Rao of Ambedkar Colony and M Satyanarayana of Kothapalem in Vizag and V Bhargavi from Yusufguda in Hyderabad.
Ninety-three people from AP and Telangana participated in the contest, which was judged by film director MV Raghu, EPDCL retired chief engineer M Krishna Murthy and A Babji, assistant director, AP information department.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / TNN / February 14th, 2015
Large numbers of people visiting the CREDAI expo that concluded in Visakhapatnam on Sunday | Express Photo
Visakhapatnam :
The three-day Vizag Property Expo-2015 concluded on a grand note here Sunday with the Visakhapatnam unit of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI) announcing ‘BR Raju Memorial Award’ to three meritorious students from the architecture department of the Andhra University College of Engineering for the eighth consecutive year.
HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao gave away the award to the meritorious students during the valedictory held at Swarna Bharati Indoor Stadium. Sneha Patel of first year, Sheik Aasmeena of second year and K Sai Harshitha of third year from the AU architecture department bagged the award for scoring the highest grade in studies for 2014. They were each presented an award along with `1 lakh cash prize. The award was instituted in 2007 in memory of BR Raju, who served the CREDAI in various capacities.
Crowds swelled at the venue on the last day of the property expo, which had more than 60 builders and another 20 material suppliers offering over 200 projects in and around the city. The organisers said that the expo witnessed more than one lakh footfalls in the past three days. The CREDAI Visakhapatnam chapter authorities said that there were numerous inquiries over the prices of plots and flats, while there was a good response for villas and commercial spaces as well.
Pendurthi MLA Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy, Yelamanchili MLA Panchakarla Ramesh Babu, State Bank of India deputy general manager KN Nayak, CREDAI Andhra Pradesh chairman K Subba Raju, president Are Siva Reddy, CREDAI-Visakhapatnam chapter chairman B Raja Srinivas, president K Rama Krishna Rao and secretary P Koteswara Rao were present.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / March 02nd, 2015
Participants at a workshop on startup ventures in Visakhapatnam.
In their quest for building a thriving startup community, young innovators from across the country are able to make a beginning in spreading awareness in Visakhapatnam.
UP Global, which was founded by Andrew Hyde in 2007 and converted into a non-profit organisation two years later to popularise ‘startup weekend’ concept in Boulder, Colorado, has now become a thriving startup community with presence in 660 cities across 120 countries with thousands of aspiring and successful innovators. The initiative is supported by Google for Entrepreneurs, Bill Gates and Mellinda Foundation, Amazon, and other organisations.
The first startup weekend conducted in the city at Prism Degree College recently becamea big hit with participation by several youngsters, majority of them students.
Anyone with an idea, as an individual or team, can attend the startup weekend and launch an enterprise within 54 hours.
The programme was organised by 12 engineering students from Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram.
“We ask them to spell out their ideas and get support from those already in the field with success stories and experience to motivate them further, improve their ideas, and groom them as entrepreneurs,” says UP Global community leader Sayan Ganguly.
One of the organisers of the city’s two startup weekend programmes, Sayan is co-founder of E2P Group, which deals with R&D and other consultancy services. He is a B.Tech final year student at GITAM University.
Now, Vizag has Ganguly and Sushant Mohapatra, who also studies B.Tech at GITAM, as community leaders, along with 16 volunteers to spread the idea of startup communities using social media.
“Though it is a Herculean task, the initial response is quite encouraging,” says Sushant.
With successful entrepreneurs volunteering to be mentors and new-found confidence after attending 54-hour boot camp, most of those attending the startup weekend are now raring to go.
“With a strong will power, anyone can start an enterprise and own a billion dollar company one day,” says Sayan.
Young innovators join hands to organise ‘startup weekend’, where participants are encouraged to spell out their ideas and get groomed by successful entrepreneurs
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Santosh Patnaik / Visakhapatnam – March 01st, 2015
NCC cadets of Andhra Loyola College, who participated in the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, shares a light moment before being felicitated by Krishna district collector Babu A on the college premises in Vijayawada on Tuesday | Express Photo
Vijayawada :
Pride of achievement was writ large on their faces and their demeanour spoke of confidence. They were eight NCC cadets engaged in a banter while waiting outside the auditorium in Andhra Loyola College (ALC) on Tuesday to be felicitated by the district collector for representing the state in Republic Day parade.
ALC had achieved a rare distinction of being the first college to have eight NCC cadets selected to participate in Republic Day parade. Sharing their experiences and future plans with Express, the cadets expressed their joy and pride of being able to participate in Republic Day parade.
‘Awesome’, ‘Most cherished moment of life’ were their immediate response, when asked how they felt being part of such a momentous occasion. Many of those cadets want to join civil services and become IPS officers while some want to pursue their career in defence services.
Senior Under Officer D Venkata Krishna, pursuing BSC (MPC) second year, was the contingent commandant from the state. It was a proud moment when he got selected for the RD and had seven members of his own group also getting selected for the event.
Venkata Krishna, the only cadet from Andhra and Telangana to get selected for the All India Guard of Honour – 2015 at RD camp, said it was one of the best moments of his life. “I had been able to perform cultural programme in Teen Murti Bhavan in the presence of the Prime Minister,” he said. He along with another cadet R Divya Sai got selected for Youth Exchange Programme (YEP) for 2015. They will be visiting a foreign country, yet to be finalised, in March.
Cadet Captain R Divya Sai was part of the Prime Minister’s rally and bagged All India second best cadet award (silver medal). She also won the Governor’s gold medal for excellence in RD camp 2015 along with Chief Minister’s gold medal at state level. “It was one of the most cherished moments of my life ,” she said. Sergeant M Vikram, who too was part of the PM Rally, said he is proud of his achievement.
Cadets S Naga Balaji and Tijo Thomas said they were excited to march along the Rajpath on Republic Day.
Cadet Shaik Riyaz, who got 3rd place in static model presentation ‘Eurofighter’ explained how he workedhard to prepare for RD camp and the stages he had to cross to get qualified.
Corporal P Gayatri got selected for RD contingent and secured All India fourth place on Gold Star and she was the only girl who could complete the novice show jumping arena with two different horses.
Junior Under Officer Meer Akbar Basha was part of Swachh Bharat Ballet presented by the AP contingent in PM’s house.
“I am proud that I got an opportunity to show culture of both AP and Telangana through my cultural programme,” he said.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by S. Guru Srikanth / February 25th, 2015
Senior Professor of Botony P. R. Mohana Rao shares excerpts from his book “Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh,” in Guntur. Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar
A former professor of Botany from Acharya Nagarjuna University has brought out an exhaustive treatise on the wealth of flora in Guntur City. The book, “Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh,’’ a brain child of P.R. Mohana Rao, Professor Emeritus and former HoD, Department of Botony, Acharya Nagarjuna University, is considered the only available and authentic work throwing light on the numerous species of plants and trees in the city.
Dr. Rao was assisted by Assistant Professor of Botony, ANU, S.K. Khasim and former research student Bibi Aasiya, who are the co-authors of the book published by Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh from Dehra Dun.
Dr. Rao had a rich global experience working in University of Cambridge, Delhi University, Himachal Pradesh University before settling at the ANU. He founded the Bio Technology Centre and started M.Sc (Biotechnology) course.
His association with the renowned systematic Botanist Professor late Olov Hedberg at Uppasala University, Sweden, during 1982-83 inspired him to take up the seminal work.
“The book has up-to-date information on flora which will help students, naturalists, tourists and town planners in identifying plants,’’ Professor Rammohana Rao told The Hindu on Tuesday.
The book listed 431 flowering plants, shrubs and trees belonging to 76 families of angiosperms. The families were arranged systematically following Bentham and Hooker System of Classification. The authors besides giving current nomenclature to families, genera and species, also gave original citation and a brief description of species, local names, flowering and dispersal mechanisms. A city map is also incorporated in the book.
It was late Rev.Dr.Uhl, former principal of Lutheran Mission College, Guntur who attempted a book on Flora of Guntur in 1930 but it could not be considered a complete work as Dr.Uhl had not followed any system of classification.
Dr. Rao’s work is based on three years of intensive research during 1990-1993. Leading a team consisting of Dr. Khasim, Aasiya and other students, Dr. Rao began an arduous task of collection of plants from fields, road margins, railway tracks, parks, gardens etc. Field observations included studying habit, habitat, time of flowering and fruiting.
Dr. Rao had also penned a note on the selection of plants for road margins, public parks useful to town planners. Some of the recommended trees included, Adansonia digitata (Baobab tree), Albizia lebbeck and Delonix regia (Gold Mohur) for gardens and parks etc.
“Most of the roads in the city are devoid of tree cover. Unfortunately, the city is lacking in public parks and green spaces. With the town gaining importance due to proximity to capital region, town planners could take a cue from the book on tree planting,’’ Dr. Rao added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by P. Samuel Jonathan / Guntur – February 24th, 2015
‘Telugu Varadhi’ being flagged off on the occasion of International Mother Language Day in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam
There is hardly any topic that is untouched by ‘Pedda Balasiksha’. The encyclopedia should adorn the shelves of every household.
With an aim to deliver this message across rural and urban areas in Andhra Pradesh and other states, the Bharatiya Telugu Samiti has embarked upon a linguistic journey to mark International Mother Language Day celebrations on Saturday.
In order to strengthen Telugu language and culture and build awareness among people, ‘Telugu Varadhi’, a chariot (specially-designed Maruti van), has been flagged off opposite Telugu Talli statue near district court. Loaded with volumes of Pedda Balasiksha along with bundles of Telugu story books, the chariot will head to different regions to spread the message. “The concept of ‘Telugu Vari Prati Inta Pedda Balasiksha’ was introduced three years ago where I used to reach out to people commuting on my two-wheeler. So far, around 5,000 copies of Pedda Balasiksha have been sold. The idea of launching Telugu Varadhi is to visit far-off places and highlight the importance of our sweet language among people. Soon we will visit Tamil Nadu to promote our culture,” says Mavuri Balasubrahmanyam, founder of Bharatiya Telugu Samiti.
With wife Padmavathi, 11 year-old-daughter Savinaya and eight-year-old son Sree Vinay, along with a group of volunteers extending support, Mr. Balasubrahmanyam is confident of accomplishing his mission that began on February 21.
Initially, Mr. Balasubrahmanyam had only 10 volunteers to support his campaign. Today, there are more than 50 volunteers from various districts teaming up for the drive.
“What remained unchanged for the last 20 years is the price of the 1,000-page book that costs just Rs.116. With a further investment of Rs.2 lakh for the new chariot, I am hopeful to connect with more Telugu people,” he adds.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Rani Devalla / Visakhapatnam – February 22nd, 2015
