Monthly Archives: October 2013

Aga Khan Academy at Hyderabad formally launched

Education, World Opinion

The Aga Khan Academy, one of the educational centres of excellence planned around the world by Aga Kgan Development Network, was formally inaugurated here Friday.

The not-for profit academy which has come up on 100 acres of land donated by Andhra Pradesh government near the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, was formally launched by Aga Khan, founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in the presence of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and union Human Resource Development Minister M.M. Pallam Raju.

The academy, which is running since 2011, is part of the global chain of such institutions planned by the AKDN and the second one to come up after Mombasa in Kenya. AKDN plans to set up 18 academies in 14 countries of Africa, Middle East, Central and South Asia.

The academy which follows International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum gives admit students on merit basis and has a strong scholarship programme.

The Aga Khan noted the foundation stone for the academy was laid in 2005. “The aim of the academy is to educate talented young mind for global future,” he said.

The academy follows residential secondary school system and creates multinational environment, he pointed out.

He said the AKDN had taken up restoration of heritage monuments like Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi and Qutub Shahi Tombs in Hyderabad .

Pallam Raju said the country had made great strides in education after Right To Education (RTE) Act came into force. He said 230 million children were sent to schools during last three years and hoped that more would be enrolled in next two years.

“The aim of the Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, is to develop home-grown leaders with a strong sense of ethics and civic responsibility, who will contribute to India’s future. By intentionally bringing a diverse group of students to study and live together, the Academy aims to help build understanding and respect across diverse sectors of society,” said a statement by AKDN.

The academy incorporates a professional development centre for teacher training and curricular innovation. The centre through its outreach programme, also extends modern teaching and learning methods to government and other not-for-profit schools.

The agencies of the AKDN work to improve the welfare of people in the developing world, particularly in Asia and Africa.

The AKDN works in 30 countries around the world and employs approximately 80,000 people and its annual budget for non-profit development activities is approximately $600 million.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-IANS> Education / by IANS / Hyderabad – September 20th, 2013

Trained freelance guides all set to woo Vizag tourists

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

Visakhapatnam :

Did you know that the dargah in the Old Town area was built by Islamic traders in 1287 and that the Queen Mary School was the only school for widows in 1932? The Kurupam market was constructed in honour of Edward VII and the current Visakha Museum was once a Dutch bungalow, used for storing indigo?

The answer from most Vizagites would be a big ‘No’, as the members of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) learnt much to their dismay when these questions were posed to a group of 75 students and 15 teachers from the city.

With awareness about the geological, historical and archaeological importance of natural as well as man-made heritage sites being pretty limited even among citizens along with a total lack of trained guides at Visakhapatnam, which is a major tourist hub attracting over 50 lakh foreign and domestic tourists annually, Intach had joined hands with the district tourism department to bring together, for the first time, a motley bunch of Navymen, tribals, MBAs, tour enthusiasts, scholars and school students and train them as freelance tourist guides.

As part of this unique initiative, 21 freelance tourist guides from different walks of life and culture have been trained by historians, archaeologists and Intach members with funds from district rural development agency (DRDA) and support from Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). They are now set to take tourists on an interesting historical journey and help them explore tourist spots in and around the city. The trained and educated guides will be formally unveiled on World Tourism Day on September 27.

“These freelance guides volunteered to be trained in a 10-day programme supported by APTDC and Rs 3.16 lakh funding by DRDA. While Intach members trained the guides with maps, archaeology certified notes etc, we provided the contact numbers of the guides to hotels and tour operators and put up their details on website for travel enthusiasts to contact them,” said district tourism officer S D Anita.

Elaborating on the concept, Intach member and trainer Jayshree Hatangadi said, “This bunch of 21 travel and tourism enthusiasts belong to different professions but came forward to volunteer as freelance guides. They were given classes by historians, Vedic lecturers, archaeologists, heritage and environment experts as well as professionals from the hospitality industry, who taught them about tourist psychology and expectations. These guides are not only proficient in English, Hindi and Telugu but are also tech-savvy.”

The freelance guides include student Olivia Joshi, retired Naval officer John Daryl, lawyer G Rajkumar, insurance agent Y Parthasarathy, software professional G Arun Kumar, accountant Syed Majid, medical transcriptionist Sai Ram; MBA, finance and marketing persons such as Md Ishaq, A Ram, Rajesh B, P Muralikanth; those in the transport and tourism industry such as P Venugopal, Pawan Kumar, SS Srinu, Aparna, N Vamsi Krishna, tribal volunteer from Araku S Anand and four villagers Ch Laxman, B Ramesh, U Pawan and I Rambabu for village tourism and tribal tours.

“It’s the love for Vizag and passion for travelling that brought us together to get ourselves trained as guides,” quipped Neville-ul-Islam, a post graduate from the city who hails from a Naval background.

Describing the itinerary, P Venugopal said, “It includes a tour of the beaches, Visakha Museum, Simhachalam, Kailasagiri, Rushikonda, Bheemunipatnam, prominent Buddhist sites, Araku, Ananthgiri, Borra caves, waterfalls, Tyda rail station, coffee plantations and villages on the way to Araku.”

“Those interested can also visit the dingy Old Town area of Vizag and get a glimpse of the places steeped in history even though they are in an extremely dilapidated state. Provisions have also been made to enable tourists to savour local cuisines and shop for traditional crafts and artifacts from government stores,” Venugopal added.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / by  Sulogna Mehta, TNN / September 18th, 2013

BSNL to ring in job training for youth

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology

Visakhapatnam : 

Bharat Sanchar Nigham Limited (BSNL) Visakhapatnam Telcom district will kick off its Employability Enhancement Training Programme-2013 in a week’s time to select engineering students of various colleges in the district.

Inaugurating the programme, BSNL senior general manager RMM Krishna said it is aimed at training engineering students from the electronics and communication branch to enhance their employability through silver, gold and platinum certificate programmes. The telecom company will be locally conducting the programme as per an MoU with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

“BSNL has selected 6,793 students from 693 colleges across the country for training at 23 BSNL training centres, including Visakhapatnam. Nearly 300 students from 26 colleges were selected for the programme in BSNL’s Visakhapatnam limits,” Krishna added.

VSRK Prasad, principal, Anil Neerukonda Institute of Technology and Sciences (ANITS), which sent 10 engineering students for the BSNL training programme, said that the students will be given practical knowledge on electronics and communication four hours in a week.

“Though BSNL did not give any job assurance to the participants, the employability programme plays a vital role in moulding their careers. The programme will surely help them encounter challenges in their career,” Prasad said.

Students of the fifth semester will get a BSNL Silver Certificate on completion of the Transmission Switching System and Telecom Support Infrastructure programme, while the BSNL Gold certificate will be issued to sixth semester engineering candidates completing the certificate programme on Broadband Technology, Digital Switching System and Optical Fibre. The BSNL Platinum certificate will be issued to seventh semester candidates completing the Mobilie Communication and IP Networking and Security Certificate programme as part of the BSNL training programme.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / TNN / September 18th, 2013

Curator of a tradition

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence
Cherial paintings depicting scenes from the epics and local legends. / Photo: Azera Parveen Rahman / The Hindu
Cherial paintings depicting scenes from the epics and local legends. / Photo: Azera Parveen Rahman / The Hindu

An 18-year-old is using his skills to revive the fading cherial heritage of Warangal

At the first glance, 18-year-old Vinay Kumar looks like any other teenager, with lofty dreams in his eyes. But once he starts speaking while rolling out scrolls of painting or cherial, a strange passion takes over. Coming from the youngest generation of the only family in the Cherial village of Andhra Pradesh to continue doing this art, Vinay’s passion is heartening, for, in his hands now lies the fate of the more than 500-year-old art form.

Vinay Kumar./ Photo: Azera Parveen Rahman / The Hindu
Vinay Kumar./ Photo: Azera Parveen Rahman / The Hindu

Cherial is located in Warangal district. Here, these paintings, which depict scenes from the epics and local legends, form an integral part of the story-telling tradition. Since the paintings are mostly three-feet-wide and 60-feet-long, unrolling the scroll bit by bit, while narrating the story, may sometime take weeks or even a month. Music adds further drama to the whole spectacle.

“Ever since I can remember, storytellers used to come to our house and place order for a scroll, and depending on what they want, my father or uncle used to paint. A cherial painting lasts for 150 years, so we won’t get the same customer again. Before 1995, my father used to get two-three orders from storytellers every year; now we hardly get any in a year,” Vinay, who is also involved in the family art, said.

A craft that has been passed down generations, he said that although cherial has been a family tradition since the 16 Century, his grandfather was not very keen on his sons learning it because it did not pay much. “But one day, he was struck by paralysis, and because there were pending orders, my father and his elder brother had to fill in his shoes and do the painting.”

Apart from the expert handiwork, the beauty of a cherial painting is in its all-natural elements. The canvas is khadi cloth, on which a mixture of tamarind seed powder, white clay, and rice starch is applied thrice to make it stiff. After that, inglikum, which is also an Ayurvedic medicine according to Vinay, is applied for the red background colour. Then the sketch of the bodies are made and filled with natural colours, ornaments come next, and finally a black outline is drawn to make the figures stand out.

“We get the white colour from burning sea shells, the black from lamp soot, the blue from indigo leaves, yellow from stone, and others by mixing the colours,” the young, award-winning artist elaborated.

Although cherial has a Geographical Indications (GI) tag, and Vinay’s father, D. Vaikuntam, is a national award-winning artist whose work is appreciated in exhibitions held in and outside the State, there continues to be a looming threat to its sustainability. “In 1970, the State department of handicrafts approached our family to do cherial for the general public, and not just storytellers, for it to sustain, and since then we have been doing smaller scrolls, 6×12 inches, for decorative purposes,” Vaikuntam said.

Depicting one scene in the small scrolls cost about Rs. 500, but the price increases with greater intricacy. For storytellers, the price is quoted per metre of work.

“Over the years we have further innovated, and have painted on ornament boxes, envelopes, letter heads, even on a sari, which people have appreciated. We also do different colour schemes and take up themes like the village life, other than the epics.”

But Vinay has bigger dreams. Supported by the Crafts Council of Andhra Pradesh, he is now studying fine arts in a design school. “No other job for me, this is what I want to do. I want to take cherial across the borders of our country, and maybe open a gallery one day. Our first preference will always be the storytellers, but with changing times our market has changed and I would like to innovate in order forcherial to thrive,” he smiles.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review> Art / by Azera Parveen Rahman / September 18th, 2013

Adam Malik passed away

Leaders
Hyderabad :

Mr.Adam Malik, Advocate President of MBT died of heart attack. He felt uneasiness after offering Friday prayer yesterday. He was immediately rushed to hospital were he was declared dead.

On receiving this information, Convener of MBT Dr. Qayam Khan, Spokesman of MBT, Mr. Majeedullah Khan Farhath, Mr. Amjadullah Khan Khalid, Corporator of Azampura Municipal Division and other workers visited his residence. His dead body is kept in Grammar School Balapur. His funeral prayer will be offered after Zohar at Makka Masjid today. He will be buried at Muslim Graveyard adjacent to Masjid Hassa, opposite Omer Restaurant, Hafiz Baba Nagar.

He is survived by wife and three sons. His two sons Mohd Afhan Malik and Mohd Isram Malik are in Londan. The third son Mr. Akhan Malik is a student of Law College in Hyderabad.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> English> Siasat News / Friday – July 12th, 2013