The Directorate of Agriculture and Home Science College of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University (PJTSAU) is organising a Millet Fest-2015 from February 27 to March 1 at People’s Plaza here.
“To popularise the cultivation of millets, production of millet-based products and to popularise consumption of foods prepared with millets among public, the Millet Fest is being held,” commissioner and director of agriculture GD Priyadarsini told reporters here on Tuesday. Millets are not only easy to cultivate when compared to other crops but are also very nutritious. As people are becoming more health conscious, millet-based foods will be a perfect option for them. The fest would create awareness among visitors about various millet-based foods available now, she said.
This is the fourth edition of the Millet Fest. Various millet based foods like multigrain atta, ragi malt, jowar flour, jowar noodles, jowar pasta, ragi vermicelli, cookies, extruded snacks among others will be made available in about 50 stalls. All these products are designed by the scientists at incubation centre of PJTSAU and manufactured and marketed by entrepreneurs.
About 50 entrepreneurs dealing in millet- based food products from all over the state would participate in the fest. PJTSAU will conduct awareness sessions for farmers on millets cultivation and value added products during the fest.
A food court also will be set up at the fest dishing out delicious recipes made from millets like jowar rotis, ragi sankati, jowar upma, jowar noodles, among others. V Praveen Rao, special officer of PJTSAU, D Raji Reddy, director of research PJTSAU, Anurag Chaturvedi, Dean of Home Sciences College, were present at the press conference.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / February 25th, 2015
A lesson on the life of Eshwari Bai, former politician, will be introduced in the school syllabus in Telangana, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said here on Tuesday.
Speaking at the award presenting ceremony of Eshwari Bai Memorial Award – 2015, Rao said the new syllabus will feature biographies of several other leaders of Telangana like G Venkataswamy as well.
The state government will also officially celebrate the birth and death anniversaries of Eshwari Bai, the CM promised. When Eshwari Bai Trust approached the chief minister for attending the award ceremony, he not only gave a nod immediately but also promised to make it a state government function.
Every year the government will coordinate with the trust to organise grand celebrations on both birth and death anniversaries of Eshwari Bai. The CM further said, Eshwari Bai was a great leader and she will remain an inspiration to the younger generation. “Her speeches have been widely quoted in the Telangana movement and are still relevant,” he added.
The Eshwari Bai Memorial Award – 2015 was given to retired bureaucrat and former secretary to Union government Dr PS Krishnan. Though he belongs to Kerala, Krishnan had worked in the united Andhra Pradesh for a long time and he is very familiar with the developments in Telugu States way back from the inception of Telangana movement.
Congress leader Geeta Reddy, daughter of Eshwari Bai, praised the state government for honouring Eshwari Bai by officially celebrating her death anniversary. Jana Reddy said, “This is a good move that the state government has recognised the great personalities of Telangana irrespective of the political differences. I hope this will be followed in future.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / February 25th, 2015
Book lovers sift through the collection at Our Sacred Space. Photo: G.Ramakrishna
Book swap sessions have caught the fancy of many book lovers in Hyderabad
Coming across cherished, old books is rather common for most book lovers. But the fact is that most book lovers are faced with a mounting collection of books that just get pushed deeper and deeper into that book shelf. Of late, book lovers in the city are finding a new way to recycle and update their existing collections – through book swaps.
First organised as part of the Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF) last year, the book swap programme received lukewarm response. However, as the idea picked up HLF decided to conduct another book swap drive last Sunday at Lamakaan. Apart from this annual feature, Our Sacred Space too conducts weekly book exchange sessions.
How it began
Nivedita N., a poet and media professional, who spearheaded the weekly book exchange movement, says, “It really started off as a way to pass on books that I’ve read and enjoyed. I started it off as a book give away on my blog and had people from across the country sending me requests for books that I have and I would then send it to them. Nayantara Nandakumar of Our Sacred Space happened to see this and we then collaborated to do a weekly book exchange at the venue.”
It all began when Nivedita was sent a coveted collection of books by a lady she had met at Auroville. “Also my grandfather left behind a huge collection of books and these exchanges are a way for us to share our collection while ensuring that the treasured books go into the right hands,” explains Nivedita, an avid reader herself.
How they work
A book swap session typically requires participants to bring their collection of read books in a good condition to the exchange. They can deposit their box of books at the venue and take their pick from the variety brought in by others. “A book swap is a great idea. Not everyone can buy all the books that they want to read. This way a barter system works very well,” says Jatin Kuberkar, a writer and a regular at the book swap sessions.
Chances are a couple of hours spent at a book exchange might throw up some pleasant surprises as well. “I have come across some rare books that I’d been looking for, for quite some time. Like Joanne Harris’ Lollipop Shoes. I’d checked at quite a few book stores in the city and most only had her Chocolat. So coming across this at a book swap was a wonderful surprise,” says Preeti K., an IT professional.
Jatin agrees, saying, “I’d been looking in vain for Dadabhai Naoroji’s Poverty and Unbritish Rule in India for a long time as part of the research for my next book. Even online, I could only come across half a chapter. So imagine my delight when I found this book at a book swap session in the city. Similarly my mother had been looking for Anand Math, a Hindi book, but I stumbled upon it at the book exchange session.” Another advantage of book swap sessions is that they often introduce readers to new authors. “I’ve myself come across several books that I wouldn’t have otherwise stumbled upon. Book swaps can often throw up some rare gems and can enrich one’s reading repertoire,” explains Nivedita, adding, “People can bring in all kinds of books regardless of genres. We just don’t encourage them to bring outdated academic books.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Ranjani Rajendra / January 19th, 2015
The last rites of the legendary film-maker Daggubati Ramanaidu being performed on Ramanaidu film studio premises in Hyderabad on Thursday.— Photo: Nagara Gopal
The mortal remains of ‘Movie Moghul’ Daggubati Rama Naidu were consigned to flames inside the D. Rama Naidu Studios here with full police honours on Thursday afternoon.
The who’s who of the Telugu film industry was present, as was Telangana’s Minister for Cinematography, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, on behalf of the State government. A while earlier, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao paid floral tributes, as did his Cabinet colleague Naini Narsimha Reddy, MLA Teegala Krishna Reddy and former MLA Payyavula Keshav, apart from balladeer Gaddar.
Among those who paid their last respects on Thursday at the first level of the Studios where the body was kept for about four and a half hours were actors Anil Kapoor and Sridevi, with her husband Boney Kapoor and director Satish Kaushik from Bollywood and actor Karthi (actor Suriya’s brother) from Kollywood, the Tamil film industry, actor-turned-MP K. Chiranjeevi, actor Krishna, his director-wife Vijaya Nirmala and Jaya Prada, to name a few.
Several directors from the Telugu industry, including Boyapati Srinu, V.V. Vinayak, Y.V.S. Chowdhary and S.V. Krishna Reddy, Rajasekhar and his actor-director wife Jeevitha and other stars including Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Sharwanand, Harshavardhan Rane, Madhushalini, Kavitha and Ranganath of yesteryears. Producers present included Atchi Reddy, Bandla Ganesh, Boorugupalli Sivaramakrishna, ‘Dil’ Raju, K.C. Sekhar Babu, K.L. Narayana, Shyamprasad Reddy and Sunitha of Guru Films.
Earlier in the day, the body was brought from Naidu’s residence in Jubilee Hills to the Studios. Naidu’s son Venkatesh, grandsons Rana, Abhinav, Nagachaitanya and their best friend Ramcharan Tej were present near the air-conditioned container throughout.
Around 1.30 p.m., the body was shifted to an enclosure nearby for preparations before the last rites. Photographers were politely asked not to take pictures during this process and once it was over, at about 3 p.m., the body was carried by Rama Naidu’s son Venkatesh, grandsons and a few other close relatives and associates lifted it and placed it on a decorated vehicle.
It took about an hour for the body to be taken up to the third level of the Studios to the place opposite the Film School that was the designated spot for the last rites.
The Padma Bhushan awardee’s son and producer D. Suresh Babu lit the pyre and as the flames leapt into the air, the waiting policemen fired their gun salute, signalling the end of the last journey.
It was an incredible, three-decade-long journey ‘Naidu garu’
Producer Boney Kapoor
I went to have a ‘darshan’ of the ‘Movie Moghul’ and he gave me a role in ‘Bobbili Raja’. He was the one who created the Babu Mohan-Kota Srinivasa Rao combination in the movies.
Babu Mohan
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Suresh Krishnamoorthy / Hyderabad – February 20th, 2015
Nicholas Graves looking at one of the photos inside the carriage used by the Nizam State Guaranteed Railways at Lallaguda on Tuesday.– Photo: By Arrangement
With just pension saving details dating to the era of last Nizam, Scottish national Nicholas Graves embarked on a search for his maternal ancestors at Lallaguda Railway Carriage Workshop.
On Tuesday, Mr. Graves looked for anything that could reveal information about his great grandfather from his maternal side, James Theodre, who worked for the Nizam State Guaranteed Railways (NSGR) as a loco fitter in 1932 at Lallaguda.
Mr. Graves has his ancestor’s pension saving details, couple of photographs of his maternal grandmother and grandfather who were married at a church in Lucknow, along with their marriage certificate.
“It started eight years ago when I developed interest in my ancestry. Researching my paternal ancestry, I have been able to track it back to four centuries. But I know very little about my maternal side,” Mr. Graves said during his tour of the workshop.
His ancestor James Theodre was born in India in 1897. The pension book with Mr. Graves shows that James earned Rs. 52 in 1932. His daughter and Mr. Graves’s maternal grandmother, Phyllis Margret Champion, was also born in India and later married an army man from England in Lucknow.
“After they got married in 1938, there is no record of my maternal grandparents visiting India or any clues about their parents, including James Theodre,” he said, pointing to an incomplete family tree he has put together.
Mr. Graves’s grandparents died when he was a child and there isn’t much he knows of them.
His mother and his aunt could only offer him the artefacts he has with him. But he knows it’s not much to go on.
His resolve to uncover his ancestry was motivated by Londoner Duncan Hart, who posted a video detailing his visit to Hyderabad to learn about his grandfather’s past more than two years ago. Though he did not meet Mr. Hart’s success at the workshop on Tuesday, Mr. Graves is optimistic.
Should he decide to persist with his search, Mr. Graves’s next stop would be St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Lucknow, where he hopes to get details about his grandfather and grandmother, which would later help build a bigger picture of his maternal ancestry.
Nicholas Graves, a Scottish national, is in the city in search of his maternal ancestor who worked for the Nizam State Guaranteed Railways in 1932 at Lallaguda
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Rohit P S / Hyderabad – February 18th, 2015
Students showcase the All Terrain Vehicle, made using a 305cc Briggs and Stratton engine, at the Muffakkam Jah College of Engineering and Technology on Monday. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar
The All Terrain Vehicle, engineered by 25 students of Muffakkam Jah College of Engineering and Technology, will now compete on an international platform
In all of three months, 25 students of a city engineering college toiled to come up with a fine product. Their All Terrain Vehicle, named El-Fateh, will now compete on an international platform and vie for top honours.
Crafted by students of mechanical and production engineering students at Muffakkam Jah College of Engineering and Technology (MJCET), the ATV has been selected for Mahindra BAJA SAIENDIA, which will be held in Indore later this month.
Weighing about 270 kg, the ATV can cover 100 feet in 4.03 seconds and has a top speed of 52 km/hr. It uses a 305cc Briggs and Stratton engine, producing a torque of 19.5Nm, which is mated to an Alfa Mahindra transmission. Students involved in the project say the vehicle also has a first-of-its-kind mechanical paddle shifting mechanism, which is aimed at smoother shifts and ease of driving.
“This is a great practical experience for the students and they did a good job. We are confident of doing well in the event,” said Mohd. Viquar Mohiuddin, faculty advisor to the project.
“We spent 14 to 16 hours in the college every day for the last few months. There were times when we even slept in the college premises to complete the deadline of building the vehicle,” said Abdullah Zakria, a final-year mechanical engineering student.
Outlining the vehicle’s strong points, the team’s captain Mohd. Abdul Haq said, “One of the eligibility requirements was that the vehicle has to climb an inclination of 27 degrees but we managed to drive it over step sand boulders with about 40 degrees inclination.”
Cost Rs.4 lakh
The vehicle costs, which amounted to around Rs.4 lakh, and other expenses were borne by the college and private sponsors.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – February 17th, 2015
Online marketplace for Pochampalli saris, Bidri ware, Nirmal handicrafts
From the famous Pochampalli saris to the intricate Bidri ware, products and handicrafts for which Telangana is popular are likely to get a space on e-commerce giant Amazon’s platform.
It is learnt that “Amazon has responded positively” to a request IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao made on Wednesday to a visiting delegation of the company for an online marketplace to promote the State’s handicrafts. The items he wanted to be showcased included the famous Nirmal range of handicrafts as well.
The delegation, led by Amazon global director and head of real estate and facilities John Schoettler, said an action plan would be evolved for promoting Telangana’s handicrafts. The company also decided to set up a warehouse in Hyderabad as part of its expansion plans.
A release from the Minister’s office said prior to the construction of the facility, Amazon intends to start operations from a leased premises in about two months.
Online marketplace for Pochampalli saris, Bidri ware, Nirmal handicrafts
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 05th, 2015
A photo of Bangalore Nagarathnamma from the frontispiece of the 1910 edition of the Radhika Santwanamu. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
In light of the Perumal Murugan incident, here is a look at the case of Radhika Santwanamu, which was banned on grounds of obscenity 102 years ago.
The script that has played out in the Perumal Murugan case is all too familiar. A creative person offers his/her work to the public. It survives peacefully for sometime before certain vested and intolerant interests wake up to it. Protests and demands for the work’s proscription follow. The administration proves only too eager to scuttle the creation in the interests of ‘peace’. A long debate follows, which then plays on till the media keeps reporting it. What is left is a lot of heartburn for the creator. The intolerant elements tighten their grip on society and the administration pats itself on the back for preventing any untoward incident over the matter.
To students of history, these incidents have played themselves over and over again always to the same script. Remember M.F. Husain? We had similar depictions of goddesses in our temples, in art and even in hymns, for centuries. Nobody bothered about those but when Husain painted goddesses in a particular style, well… At the recently concluded Lit for Life, we had A.R. Venkatachalapathy telling us that the State enacted the Madras Dramatic Performance Act in 1954 only to gag M.R. Radha.
Interestingly, the very first case under the Indian Penal Code for the proscription of a work on grounds of obscenity happened 102 years ago and the book was Radhika Santwanamu. If Perumal Murugan’s Madorubagan sold for a year before it came to the notice of its detractors, the Santwanamu had been in existence for over two centuries! The creation of Muddu Palani, the concubine of the 17th century Maratha ruler Pratapasimha (r1739-1763), it holds the distinction of being one of the very few erotic classics written by a woman.
Saved from oblivion by the Telugu scholar C.P. Brown, it was published for the first time in 1887, and once again in 1907 by Venkatanarasu, an associate of Brown’s. The first edition was included in his 1887 compilation of Telugu works by the scholar and social reformer Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu. In it, while he praised the ideal admixture of Telugu and Sanskrit in the work, Veeresalingam claimed to be shocked by its contents. He also added that this was not surprising as the work was that of an ‘adulteress.’
All would have still been well had not the powerful singer, courtesan and woman of letters, Bangalore Nagarathnamma brought out a new edition of the book in 1910. This was chiefly out of a desire to weed out errors that had crept into the published versions and also partly to expose Veeresalingam’s hypocrisy. Pointing out in the preface of the book that while denouncing Muddu Palani’s work, Veeresalingam had edited similar books by men with far more graphic descriptions of sex, Nagarathnamma questioned if an erotic work became shameless only if written by a woman. She also lampooned Veeresalingam for recommending similar works written by men be included in the syllabus of the Madras University.
The Veeresalingam faction could not bear to see their idol treated thus. The Telugu magazine Sasirekha carried a scathing review of the Nagarathnamma edition denouncing it as a grossly obscene work written by one prostitute and edited by another with descriptions that would corrupt the young by “by suggesting to their minds thoughts of the most impure and libidinous character”. Everyone overlooked the fact that the book had been around for years and jumped into the act immediately.
In order to make it appear that this book alone was not being targeted, the police in their raids on the publisher Vavilla Ramaswami Sastrulu & Sons, seized several titles, including some of Veeresalingam himself. These were later removed from the list and a final set of eight books was submitted to a committee to study their merits and see if any needed to be proscribed.
Radhika Santwanamu by Muddu Palani / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
It was in vain that Nagarathnamma, several scholars and Telugu aristocrats protested. Some even called on the Governor, Sir Arthur Lawley in Ootacamund to lobby against the ban. G. Venkataranga Rao, Secretary to the Landowners Association, asked if the Government would in the same light consider banning age-old English works such as Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis and The Rape Of Lucrece. But all of this was to no avail. The inspecting committee gave its verdict by end 1911. All other seven titles could be released from proscription. Radhika Santwanamu alone was to be banned, its chief crime being that it was an erotic work written by a woman. The Government moved quickly thereafter, and on July 4, 1912, passed an order to that effect.
It remained banned till Independence. During the brief period in 1947-48 when T. Prakasam was Chief Minister of Madras, he rescinded the order, stating that he was restoring a pearl to the necklace that was Telugu. Should we live in the same hope that Perumal Murugan will one day return to writing?
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books> Literary Review / by Sriram V / January 31st, 2015
BM Birla Science Centre throws open its library for the general public on Friday.
Built on the historic Naubat Pahad next to the BM Birla Science Centre, the library has books borrowed from the personal collection of Nirmala Birla, wife of GP Birla. The library, titled GP Birla Library, boasts of as many as 10,000 books ranging from art, archaeology, architecture to lesser known concepts such as iconography, numismatics, museology etc.
“The uniqueness of the library is that it caters to the interests of readers of all age groups from students to research scholars and retired scholars,’’ BG Sidharth, director, BM Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad, said. ‘’Some of the books present here are so rare that they will be beneficial to civil aspirants. These books are no longer available in the market,’’ Sidharth added.
Owing to the rarity of certain books, the management has decided to make it in an in house library, where the reading is restricted only on the premises of the library and the members are not allowed to borrow the books home.
‘’We cannot afford to lend the books to people because they are no longer available and once we lose them, they are gone forever,’’ he expressed.
The library is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is open six days a week. The membership is `500 on monthly basis, `2,000 on half- yearly basis and `3,000 on annual basis.
Physics and Astronomy Meet: A physics and astronomy Meet is being organised by BM Birla Science Centre on February 4. Papers on various topics such as astronomy, gravitation and cosmology, high energy physics etc will be presented at the symposium.
The keynote address will be delivered by Prof Larisa Laperashvili, leading researcher of theoretical department of the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics and National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Moscow. For further details contact these numbers 23235081/ 9391516839 or write to birlasc@gmail.com
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / January 31st, 2015
The city police recovered a 17th century antique cannon at an under construction site at Nayapool on Wednesday. The contractor, Lateef, found the cannon while digging for laying pillars.
“The State Archaeological department officials told us that the cannon might have been used during the siege of Golconda Fort by the forces of Aurangzeb. They surmise that it is one of the most advanced cannons of that period,” Inspector Task Force (East) team, Ch Sridhar said.
The cannon is 6.5 ft long with a diameter of 4 inches and weighs 800 kg.
Animal oil
extraction unit
The Commissioner’s Task Force (East) team on Thursday raided a godown at Chaderghat where oil was being extracted from animal fat illegally.
The police seized 24 barrels of oil, 50 kg of body parts of animals and a DCM vehicle.
Additional Deputy Commissioner, Task Force, N. Koti Reddy, said that the owner of the unit, Salar Qureshi, 62, procured organs of cattle and converted it into fat in big cauldrons. He claimed that the produce was supplied to soap manufacturing units in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Two persons held
Two persons who allegedly bought 1.5 kg of gold from a gang of chain snatchers were arrested by the West Zone police on Thursday.
The accused persons, Mohd Irfan of Bandlaguda and Shyam Sunder Sugand of Gulzar Houz, procured gold chains from a gang of chain snatchers, who were arrested by the police in December.
The gang members, including Lamba Hussain, Mirza Azmath Ali and Mohd Akheeluddin, were involved in 230 chain snatching cases reported in the city.
VRO arrested
Anti-Corruption Bureau officials on Thursday arrested Yakapur Shivakumar, Village Revenue Officer of Rompally in Bantwaram mandal of Ranga Reddy district on charge of accepting Rs. 3,000 bribe from a person. The VRO received the sum from a villager to change names in revenue records, according to a press release.
He will be presented before a local court.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – January 30th, 2015
