Monthly Archives: March 2014

Tikkana association wins hearts with its munificence

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence
District Collector S. Suresh Kumar unveils thebronze statue of Tikkana Somayaji on the premisesof Pulipaka High School in Guntur on Friday. MLCK.S Lakshmana Rao, MLA Sk. Mastan Vali andsecretary, Tikkanna Literary Association MachirajuSeethapathi Rao are seen./ PHOTO: VIJAYA KUMAR / The Hindu
District Collector S. Suresh Kumar unveils thebronze statue of Tikkana Somayaji on the premisesof Pulipaka High School in Guntur on Friday. MLCK.S Lakshmana Rao, MLA Sk. Mastan Vali andsecretary, Tikkanna Literary Association MachirajuSeethapathi Rao are seen./ PHOTO: VIJAYA KUMAR / The Hindu

Bronze statue unveiled on school premises in Guntur.

A government school, facing an uncertain future over its existence, has got a new lease of life thanks to an act of munificence by the Tikkana Literary Association.

The school with over 350 inmates has been caught in a legal wrangle till recently with the association claiming ownership rights. Recently, the Supreme Court had given a judgment in favour of the association.

On Friday, the association showed its magnanimity by handing over the valuable site to the Department of Education for a benevolent cause. In a symbolic gesture, secretary of Tikkana Literary Association Machiraju Seethapathi Rao handed over a silver tray to the Collector marking the handing over of the property.

Member of Legislative Council K.S Lakshmana Rao, who had convinced the association to part with the property for the sake of the school, said that they had fulfilled the first desire of the association — to have a bronze statue of great poet Tikka Somayaji on the school premises. District Collector S. Suresh Kumar unveiled the statue on Friday.

One of ‘Kavitrayam’

The association had also wanted the school to be named after great Telugu poet who was born in Old Guntur and lived during 13th century. He was one of the three great verse poets (Kavitrayam) who translated Mahabharatha into Telugu. Mr. Rao has pledged Rs.5 lakh out of his MLC constituency funds to develop ‘Tikkana Vidyanilayam,’ a treasure trove of classical books in old Guntur.

The library remains the only monument preserving the legacy of Tikkana in the town.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Staff Reporter / Guntur – February 22nd, 2014

Gondi script gets new lease of life

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

Hyderabad :

On international mother tongue day, the script of a tribal language, Gunjala Gondi, was released by the University of Hyderabad in collaboration with the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA). It is the first such adivasi script discovered and printed in the state.

For three years, four linguists from UoH’s Centre for Dalit and Adivasi Studies and Translation worked with the Gondi tribe of Adilabad to dig out their ancient script. The researchers have not only resurrected the dying script, but also released a web font for those who want to use it on the internet of the computer.

The centre has also released a textbook to be taught in 15 schools under ITDA. Interestingly, the new development will not only benefit the people of the tribe in Andhra Pradesh, but also in five other states, including Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, where the Gondi tribe is thriving.

Tirumala Rao, senior researcher at the centre, said that it was in 2006 that he first found manuscripts of the Gondi language. But the language was written out in Telugu and Marathi scripts. “It was only when I visited Gunjala in Adilabad that I realized that the language had its own script, which only a handful of the elderly pundits in the village knew. I collaborated with other researchers and decided to document the script,” Rao said. Currently, there are only six people from the tribe who know the script of the tribal language. One among them, 76-year-old Kotnak Jangu, said he was worried that the script would get extinct after the elders died as the youngsters had not learnt it. “I have manuscripts which could date back to 150 years. But I thought that these will be of no use as no one would be able to read them,” said Jangu. He expressed happiness that the manuscripts would now be preserved as also the script. The centre is planning to digitally scan and preserve high resolution copies of the manuscripts.

Another researcher, G Manoja from Palamuru University, who is coordinating the Gunjala Gondi Research Centre in Gunjala, said the script is unique as it does not follow the consonant order of other regional languages. “The first consonant in the script is ‘ya’ instead of ‘ka’ as in other languages in the south and north. It should be noted that the tribe not only has a script, but also a rich literature. One of the books, which will soon be translated into Telugu, has a story similar to Milton’s Paradise Lost,” Manoja said.

Vice chancellor Ramakrishna Ramaswamy, who released the book and CD containing the Gondi font, said that big languages often swallow small languages. “But this is a great effort to preserve the small languages,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / February 22nd, 2014

Andhra florist’s son tops Karnataka PG medical entrance

Education, Records, All

Bangalore :

Takasi Anush Babu smelt sweet success on Friday. As sweet as the scented flowers that his florist father sells in his tiny shop in the coastal Kakinada city of Andhra Pradesh. For Anush had grabbed the first rank in the Comed-Karnataka PGET, results of which were announced on Friday.

It has been a story of sheer hard work and perseverance for Anush who completed his MBBS from KS Hegde Medical Academy, Mangalore. While he was open to take any course with Biology in it after his Class 12, it was his mom’s dream to see him as a doctor that pushed Anush to write the medical entrance – he had to repeat the entrance exams for two years before he bagged a seat.

“Their dream is to see me set up a hospital or a clinic in my hometown. That is my long-term goal now,” Anush told TOI from AP. “I would either take up radiology or general medicine. I would like to take up radiology as it is does not need further specialization. But my parents would love to see me as a general physician,” he said.

The Andhra hegemony continued with students from the neighbouring state filling the top three medical ranks. The topper in the dental stream too is from Andhra Pradesh. Kothapalli Manasa was speechless when TOI informed her about the results. “I am shocked. I was not expecting first rank. I have been preparing for the entrance exam conducted by AP for PG dental courses too,” she said, adding that she aimed to teach rather than practice dentistry.

Manasa, daughter of Ramakrishna Kothapalli, a businessman, says everyday she had devoted around 12 hours to crack the ComedK test. “If I don’t get a seat to pursue PG in oral and maxillofacial surgery at a government college in AP, than I will pursue the same course in Karnataka,” she added.

None of the top ten ranks were bagged by Karnataka students in both dental and medical streams. For medical PG courses 16,856 candidates had applied for the entrance test. Of these, 83% appeared and 7,587 (55%) became eligible for seat selection process. The percentage of candidates becoming eligible for seat selection process is high for PG dental courses. As many as 4,723 candidates had applied for PG dental courses of which 93% wrote the test and 3,711 (85%) were declared eligible for the seats.

Candidates from Andhra Pradesh outperformed in the medical stream by grabbing six ranks of the top ten ranks. Kerala and Maharashtra secured one rank each while Tamil Nadu bagged two. Girls outclassed boys in the dental stream bagging nine of the top 10 ranks while in medical, the boys secured seven ranks.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore> Namma Metro / TNN / February 22nd, 2014

New Govt, industry to trigger IT biz in residual AP

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

IT products and services will be in great demand once the new govt takes shape

Hyderabad :

The information technology industry in the residual Andhra Pradesh, which has been contributing only a fraction of the State’s revenues, can expect a windfall. The creation of a new capital, a variety of government departments and agencies would require a huge IT backbone.

Likely rollout of government-to-citizen and government-to-business services in the next few months too would create a demand for IT products and services. Of the IT revenues of ₹64,354 crore the State recorded in 2012-13, the Seemandhra cities contributed just ₹1,628 crore. While the IT companies in Visakhapatnam generated ₹1,445 crore, Vijayawada followed with ₹115 crore, Kakinada ₹61 crore and Tirupati ₹7 crore.

Promising future

But the industry leaders see a traction and they believe that the formation of a new government would definitely trigger growth in the region. They, however, caution that one cannot expect a Hyderabad-like growth for the industry overnight. “Perhaps, it will take the same time as Hyderabad did. But it definitely will,” BVR Mohan Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director of Infotech Enterprises, toldBusiness Line.

His company has significant operations in Kakinada and Visakhapatnam, both launched a few years ago. “We have just achieved a milestone in Kakinada where the number of employees has crossed the 1,000-mark. In Visakhapatnam too, we see promise in hiring,” he said.

Strong foundations

He, however, said that availability of infrastructure would play a major role in making it an IT hub in the future. “Customers would like to personally come and visit facilities (before placing the orders). You need good infrastructure,” he said.

Ramesh Loganathan, Vice-President of IT industry Association of Andhra Pradesh, said that though the Government’s IT needs would mostly be served by the top league IT firms, there would be trickle down effect. “But primary growth will only come when the industry drives it. Almost all the top notch multi-national companies have presence in all major IT hubs. There’s little scope for their expansion elsewhere. You will see growth only when it is driven by local entrepreneurs,” he felt.

Fresh start

The State Government has readied proposals to get IT Investment Region status to Visakhpatnam and Tirupati. The ITIRs, a Central Government initiative, is aimed at improving IT and physical infrastructure in a limited geography. Hyderabad has become the first City to get such an ITIR, encompassing the old and new IT areas around the city.

“Visakhapatnam ITIR will cover about 11,000 acres (or 45 sq km) and will house IT hardware and services companies. We estimated an investment of ₹25,000 crore to develop infrastructure internal and external infrastructure,” IT and Communication Minister of the undivided State Ponnala Lakshmaiah said.

The 25-year-old project is expected to create 4.28 lakh jobs and generate revenues of ₹37,350 crore when it is fully operational by 2038.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> National / by K V Kurmanath / Hyderabad – February 20th, 2014

L and T Metro Rail MD Gadgil Receives PRCI Award

Business & Economy, Records, All
Aditya Birla group director Rajeshree Birla presenting PRCI’s Corporate Strategist of the Year award to L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited managing director and chief executive VB Gadgil in Mumbai recently.
Aditya Birla group director Rajeshree Birla presenting PRCI’s Corporate Strategist of the Year award to L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited managing director and chief executive VB Gadgil in Mumbai recently.

VB Gadgil, chief executive and managing director of L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited, has been  honoured with Corporate Strategist of the Year Award by the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI).

The award was presented by Rajeshree Birla, director of the Aditya Birla group of industries, and Vithal Kamath, chairman and managing director of Orchid group of hotels, in Mumbai recently.

PRCI gives away this award to those who excel in their own field  and contributed to social justice and made a difference to the nation in the last four years.

The award is also known as Chanakya Award.

On receiving the award, Gadgil said: “It is an honour to receive this award and I appreciate the PRCI for instituting Chanakya Awards to recognise the outstanding contributions made by corporates and individuals and their efforts to promote public relations at various levels.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / February 21st, 2014

KNR Constructions secures EPC order worth Rs 290 crore in AP

Business & Economy

Will upgrade a section of NH-565.

KNR02mar2014

Hyderabad-based infrastructure developer KNR Constructions Limited has bagged an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) order worth Rs 290.25 crore from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The order is for rehabilitation and upgradation of existing NH-565 from Km 425/400 to Km 509/400 (Penchalakona to Yerpedu section) to two-lane with paved shoulder in Andhra Pradesh, under the NHDP-4.

The project works would be completed in 24 months from the date of appointment, the company said in a release to BSE today.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / by M Madhav / Hyderabad – February 24th, 2014

Who coined ‘Jai Hind’ ?

About Seemandhra / Andhra Pradesh, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

Many believe that Subhash Chandra Bose coined the slogan ‘Jai Hind’ but a book on legends and anecdotes of Hyderabad  says it was first used by a man from that city who gave up his engineering studies in Germany to become Netaji’s secretary and interpreter.

In his book “Lengendotes of Hyderabad”, former civil servant Narendra  Luther presents a number of interesting articles, based on documentary evidence, interviews and personal experiences, on the city that is much celebrated for its romantic origin and composite culture.

One interesting titbit is on the origin of the slogan ‘Jai Hind’. According to the author, it was coined by Zain-ul Abideen Hasan, son of a collector from Hyderabad, who went to Germany to study engineering.

During World War II, Netaji had escaped to Germany to canvass support for an armed struggle to liberate India , Luther says.

“He addressed meetings of Indian prisoners of war and other Indians exhorting them to join him in his struggle. Hasan met him and inspired by his patriotism and spirit of sacrifice, he told him that he would join him after finishing his studies.

“Netaji taunted him that if he was worried about small things like these, he could not take up big causes. Stung by that rebuke, Hasan gave up his studies and became Netaji’s secretary and interpreter,” the book, published by Niyogi, says.

Hasan became a major in the INA and participated in the march from Burma (now Myanmar) across the Indian frontier. The army reached Imphal. It was severely handicapped in supplies and armaments and so had to retreat, the author says.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> National> News / Press Trust of India / New Delhi – February 24th, 2014

Hussain proves yet again he has a nose for the keyboard

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion
Mohammed Khurshid Hussain currently holds the world record for typing A to Z on a keyboard in 3.43 seconds. - Photo: G. Ramakrishna / The Hindu
Mohammed Khurshid Hussain currently holds the world record for typing A to Z on a keyboard in 3.43 seconds. – Photo: G. Ramakrishna / The Hindu

The youngster types a sentence using his nose in 47.44 seconds, more than half-a-minute faster than the current world record

Mohammed Khurshid Hussain, who holds the Guinness World Records for typing the English language alphabet in 3.43 seconds on a keyboard, attempted to break the record for typing a 103-word sentence in the shortest time, with his nose, here on Thursday.

It was Mr. Hussain’s second attempt to break the world record for typing the sentence ‘Guinness World Records have challenged me to type this sentence using my nose in the fastest time’ with his nose.

According to the Guinness website, the current record holder is an Indian named Neeta, who achieved the feat in one minute and 33 seconds at Guinness World Records Pavilion in Global Village, Dubai, UAE, on November 16, 2008.

Mr. Hussain’s clock stopped at 47.44 seconds when he finished typing the sentence with his nose, more than half-a-minute faster than the current world record.

“This is my second attempt to break the record. A few months ago, I typed the sentence with my nose in 54 seconds, for which I am yet to receive the certificate,” he said.

Mr. Hussain currently holds the world record for typing A to Z on a keyboard in 3.43 seconds.

The feat was achieved on February 2, 2012, according to the Guinness website. He performed the feat in the presence of S. M. Arif, Padmashree and Dronacharya awardee; Mohteshyam Ali, silver medallist at the Mr. World body building championship; Naina Jaiswal, an international table tennis player; and Iftekhar Shareef, who acted as witnesses for the record-breaking attempt.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – February 27th, 2014

70 per cent of Hyderabadis are non-vegetarians

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

MeatConsumptionHF01mar2014

Seventy per cent of the city’s population are non-vegetarians and there are nearly 3,000 retail meat shops to cater to their needs – these include 960 mutton shops, 681 beef shops, 1,077 dressed chicken outlets and 241other outlets which sell eggs, pork and fish.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner Somesh Kumar revealed this during the seventh Mayors conference on Friday.

He said that simultaneous modernisation of all the five slaughter houses were taken up at a cost of Rs.69.24 crore, including a rendering plant for solid waste treatment.

Work on the fifth abattoir at Jiaguda was postponed due to delay in getting clearance from the Pollution Control Board. Mayor Majid Hussain requested Joint Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (FPI), Government of India, Siraj Hussain, to release funds for the Jiaguda project.

Mr. Siraj Hussain regretted that no State Government had come forward to seek grants available under the central government scheme to modernise private meat shops and urged the Mayor to encourage private slaughter houses to make use of the grants for modernisation.

“I will take up the issue with private meat shop owners,” the Mayor said and added that the new abattoirs will not cause any hike in prices and also ensure livelihoods are not affected.

A report on ‘Greening of meat and poultry processing Sector in India’ was released and MoUs were signed by the National Meat & Poultry Processing Board with the Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati, and the National Research Centre on Meat, Hyderabad, during the meeting.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – March 01st, 2014