Monthly Archives: June 2014

Hyderabad to host global meet of IIT alumni

Nearly 3,000 IIT alumni from across the globe are expected for the event, which will be held in December

All roads will lead to Hyderabad in December when the cream of India’s intellectual exports will converge in the city for the 12th edition of the IIT Global Conference, an annual meet of alumni from the prestigious engineering institution.

Nearly 3,000 IIT alumni from across the globe are expected for the event, which is being organised with the agenda to contribute to the country’s development.

It will be held from December 19 to 21, and is being hosted by the PanIIT Hyderabad Alumni Association and IIT Hyderabad.

A curtain raiser of the event was held on Sunday at the Indian School of Business (ISB), in which some prominent IIT alumni participated.

Chief executive officer (CEO) of tablet-maker Datawind, Suneet Singh Tuli gave a detailed presentation on the low-cost Aakash, as part of his keynote address.

Unlike companies like Apple and Samsung that target the well-heeled 5 per cent, Mr. Tuli said he was interested in going after the remaining 95 per cent, which constituted a vast untapped market of people ignorant about internet and tablets.

Tech-induced change

He spoke of how technology could result in a decrease in illiteracy, and of its advantages in improving education and commerce.

ISB Dean Ajit Rangnekar called upon the IIT alumni to try and contribute more to the country’s development.

www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – June 30th, 2014

7th Nizam’s eldest daughter-in-law dead

Princess Faizunnisa Begum, the eldest daughter-in-law of the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, died here on Friday. She was 92. She is survived by five sons and a daughter.

The princess was married to Nawab Hasham Jah Bahadur. The Nizam, who nicknamed her ‘Faizu’, presented two gold bangles to her at the time of her marriage in 1935. After the wedding, the Nizam dropped the couple personally at their residence, according to Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, grandson of the Nizam.

The princess was laid to rest at Masjide Judi in King Kothi where the last Nizam also rests. A large number of Nizam family members were present on the occasion.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – June 28th, 2014

Saina clinches Australian Open

Saina Nehwal / PTI / The Hindu
Saina Nehwal / PTI / The Hindu

The sixth-seeded Indian, who had won the India Open Super Series earlier this year, prevailed 21-18 21-11 in a 43-minute contest against Spain’s Carolina Marin.

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal produced a dominating performance to lift her second title of the season, winning the $750,000 Star Australian Super Series after beating Spain’s Carolina Marin in the summit clash in Sydney on Sunday.

The sixth-seeded Indian, who had won the India Open Super Series earlier this year, prevailed 21-18 21-11 in a 43-minute contest which made her richer by $56,000.

The 24-year-old Saina, who enjoyed a 1-0 head-to-head record against Marin going into Sunday’s match, logged the first point and displayed some deft net play against her rival, stroking in some delectably timed volleys to take a 5-2 lead in the opening game.

But the 21-year-old Marin was not the one to give up easily and showed just why she is considered one of the most feisty players on the circuit. She narrowed the gap to 6-8 but seemed distinctly out of her comfort zone every time Saina dragged her towards the net.

Also, Marin didn’t help her cause by committing a service error to gift an easy point to Saina, who went into the interval leading 11-7 after an intriguing rally which ended with the Spaniard smashing the shuttle wide.

Marin raised her game and the decibel levels after the break but Saina was quick to counter-attack and returned her rival’s attempted smashes with quiet intensity.

In between, Marin played some fine strokes but they never came consistently enough as Saina made it 17-12. Marin’s dogged determination was there to be seen in every point she played for but that alone was never going to be enough to upstage a composed Saina.

The Indian, who didn’t seem affected at all by Marin’s aggressive outpouring of emotions after every claimed point, sealed the opening game 21-18 after her world number 11 rival smashed one into the net 23 minutes into the match.

In the second game, Marin’s determination helped her take a 3-1 lead to start with but it was not too long before Saina came back into the fray, this time on the back of some well-placed strokes from the baseline.

Perhaps taking a cue from Marin, Saina too let some emotion show as she clenched her fist and shouted ‘come on’ after every clinched point. But one of her screams came about in the middle of a rally, prompting Marin to complain to the chair umpire, who merely asked her to continue.

The distraction didn’t do any good to Marin as Saina raced to a 11-4 lead against the Spaniard, who looked to be in disarray.

After the interval, Saina kept up the pressure, regularly inducing errors from Marin, who struggled to maintain the intensity she displayed in the opening game.

Dominating the proceedings, Saina produced some of her trademark smashes to further demoralise her rival, whose shoulders had dropped by that stage.

But there was to be some moments of drama before the win came about.

Leading 19-9, Saina challenged a line call that went against her but replays showed that the shuttle had in fact landed wide. The Indian made another mistake while playing the very next point as she buried an attempted smash into the net.

But Saina made amends quite quickly and clinched the title after Marin lobbed a shuttle wide.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / PTI / Sydney – June 29th, 2014

City students win laurels in the pool

Swimmers from different age groups from Hyderabad who won medals in the recently-held National life-saving pool championship in Pune. PHOTO: By Arrangement / The Hindu
Swimmers from different age groups from Hyderabad who won medals in the recently-held National life-saving pool championship in Pune. PHOTO: By Arrangement / The Hindu

Swimmers from Hyderabad put up a creditable performance winning four gold, 11 silver and seven bronze at the National Life-saving Pool Championship-cum-training in Pune. The camp’s focus was on life-saving techniques, a media release said.

The young talent, in the age group of 12-17 years, were initially given training in the different forms of saving lives in water. The swimmers were also taught how to respond to crisis calls, with focus on the recent Beas tragedy in which some college students from the city were washed away due to the sudden release of water from a dam.

For the 14 swimmers from the city, who had trained at the SAAP swimming pool here, it was an experience to remember.

“It is a creditable performance given that this was the first-ever exposure for the children, who had initially joined the pool at the Police Control Room solely for recreation. We hope to keep improving in the days to come, given the abundance of talent,” says coach Hajira Abbasi.

“It is a unique event wherein the skills of young talent are not only put to test, but in the process, they are made aware of their social obligation: that of helping the needy in the waters,” says the coach.

The medallists include: Under-12: Nadia Ishan Omer – 1 gold, 3 silver. Asma Anwar – 2 bronze, 2 silver. Devan – 1 gold, two bronze. Under-10: Akash Vardhan – 1 gold, 1 silver. Under-14: Manasa Mohte – 1 gold, two silver. Akshith Reddy – 2 silver. Teja Singh – 2 silver. Under-17: Snehit Reddy – 3 bronze.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / June 28th, 2014

UP govt honours CSIR-IICT scientist with young scientist award

Hyderabad :

Dr Surya Prakash Singh, a scientist at the Inorganic and Physical Chemistry Division of the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, has been given the prestigiouYoung Scientist Award by the government of Uttar-Pradesh. The Council of Science and Technology UP Government selects bright and young scientists below 35 years age for this award every year for the recognition of their significant contributions in their respective area of research. The award has been bestowed to Dr. SP Singh on his contributions in the area of chemical sciences particularly on solar energy research.

Dr. Singh is working as a Scientist at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad. He studied chemistry at the University of Allahabad, India, and obtained his Ph. D in 2005. After working at Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan, as a postdoctoral fellow (2006-2008), he joined, as an Assistant Professor at Osaka University, in 2008. He worked as a researcher at Photovoltaic Materials Unit, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Japan (2010-2011).

He has been involved on novel C-C bond forming reactions and synthesis of New and Highly Efficient Sensitizers for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, Organic-Thin Film Solar Cells and published over 85 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 5 patents, editor of two books and author of two book chapters. He is guest editor in chief for several international journals like Advances in Optoelectronics, Journal of Nano Energy, Current Organic Chemistry, and Power Research etc.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / by Ch. Sushil Rao, TNN / June 28th, 2014

A peephole to history

What gives late 19th century photographer Raja Deen Dayal’s work the acclaim it has received? An exhibition showcasing arguably India’s first professional photographer’s works tries to dissect

LISTENING TO THE PHONOGRAPH: DEEN DAYAL, GHALIB JUNG AND FRIENDS AT HYDERABAD 22ND MAY 1891The palpable excitement of Nawab Ghalib Jung and his friends whilelistening to the first phonograph in Hyderabad is visible. Such naturalexuberance is seldom seen in 19th century photography
LISTENING TO THE PHONOGRAPH: DEEN DAYAL, GHALIB JUNG AND FRIENDS AT HYDERABAD 22ND MAY 1891The palpable excitement of Nawab Ghalib Jung and his friends whilelistening to the first phonograph in Hyderabad is visible. Such naturalexuberance is seldom seen in 19th century photography

Lala Deen Dayal was to Indian photography what his peer Raja Ravi Varma was to painting. As a 20-something civil engineer, Deen Dayal was working at the draughtsman office at the Indore Public Works Department when he heard an ominous rumour — all draughtsmen were to be replaced by photographers. It was 1866. Dayal decided to brush up his photography skills; a subject that he had learnt during his final year in college. A decision that paved the way for Deen Dayal to eke out a successful career in professional photography.

Vikram Sampath, Executive Director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), says: “The heavy Bellow cameras of the 19th century would have been cumbersome. But his photographs are so extensive that they can be the starting point for fleshing out the socio-cultural aspect of that period.” IGNCA is presenting the exhibition Raja Deen Dayal Photographs, a collection of 150 rare period photographs which will be shown in the city for the first time.

Sampath says he can imagine how hard it must have been for Deen Dayal to get people to be photographed, considering the superstitions around the act. “People believed that if photographed, their life span would be reduced.” It was not uncommon for him to break the glass-plate negative in front of the subject after giving them their photographs, probably to assure them that it wouldn’t be used again. But he would have stealthily kept another copy in the archive.
Grand old man

Here was an Indian photographer appreciated by Indian maharajas (the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, in fact, wrote a verse in praise of him) and British Viceroys. His photographs were exhibited to great reviews in international exhibitions. He was appointed the court photographer for Hyderabad (1885); Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, the Nizam of Hyderabad, conferred on him the title Musawwir Jung Bahadur (the Bold Warrior Photographer) and referred to him as Raja Deen Dayal. In 1897, Queen Victoria granted him the Royal Warrant, which meant he could cover the Delhi Dubar (1903). He had flourishing studios in Secunderabad, Indore and Bombay that were operated by his firm Deen Dayal & Sons. And even after his death (1905), his fifth generation has photo studios in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Not bad for a man who was born (1844) in a small town near Meerut.

Luck and talent

In 1870, when Deen Dayal was hired by the Archeological Survey of India, his brief was to capture 78 monuments of Central India. The technique used was refreshingly different. The monuments stood out against the sky as he captured them from a low angle, making them imposing and grand. Some, like the Gwalior Fort, had an extraordinary view of the sharp precipice below the steep path leading up to the main entrance. The portraits of the monuments form an extensive collection of places across India.

Deen Dayal quit his government job to pursue photography when he realised that the albums prepared by him on Indian monuments were a hit with the British officers returning to Britain. Sir Henry Daly appointed him the official photographer for the Prince of Wales’s tour of India in 1875. He started accompanying the Viceroys, Lord Dufferin and Lord Elgin, on their tours. His interactions with Indian royalty gave him unmatched access to their world. By being the court photographer of the Nizam, Deen Dayal secured a generous patron and an easy access to British officers in the cantonment. He was probably the first Indian photographer to have a Zanana (ladies only) studio at Hyderabad which was run by a specially-appointed employee, Kenny Levick.

From glass plates to digital

Deen Dayal’s family had preserved the glass-plate negatives with history recorded on them. Those negatives required long exposures and hours of work. Each comes with documentation of the place and year, apart from the name of the royals or nobles. The commoners were categorised broadly with captions such as ‘Maratha’ and ‘Brahmin’. IGNCA has reproduced the originals after the entire collection of about 3,000 negatives were handed to them by the family in 1989. These were then digitised and the first exhibition took place in New Delhi in 2010. For all aficionados of photography, this show remains the best place to know how it all began for one photographer, arguably the first Indian professional photographer.

Raja Deen Dayal Photographs, 10 am to 5 pm till July 20, NGMA

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Entertainment> Lounge / by Jayanthi Madhukar, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / June 23rd, 2014

Bonalu, Bathukamma declared state festivals

Hyderabad :

The vibrant and unique folk festivals, Bonalu and Bathukamma, that reflect the Telangana culture were on Monday declared as the state festivals by the TRS government.

“The government has decided to declare Bonalu and Bathukamma as state festivals as they signify the unique culture of Telangana,” said excise minister T Padma Rao Goud. By declaring them state festivals, the government will fund the official celebrations in the temple and make other necessary arrangements. The decision was taken in a meeting of officials convened by CM K Chandrasekhar Rao where he reviewed arrangements for the Ramzan month starting June 28 which coincides with the celebration of Bonalu in the twin cities this year.

Along with Goud, deputy chief minister Md Mahmood Ali, MIM leader and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, Mayor Majjid Hussain, deputy mayor G Rajkumar, Hyderabad city police commissioner and others were presented in the meeting. Goud said mobile transformers would be used during Bonalu celebrations at various temples in the twin cities to ensure uninterrupted power supply. Bonalu is celebrated during the month of Ashada on the Hindu calendar which normally falls in July or August. This time, the Ashada month is starting on June 28. Devotees offer cooked rice and jaggery to Mahankali, a female deity, as a mark of thanksgiving. On the first Sunday of Aashadam, celebrations are held at the temple at Golconda Fort. On the second Sunday, the festivities move to Ujjaini Mahakali temple in Secunderabad and Balkampet Yellamma temple in Balkampet, and on the third, at the Matheswari temple of Lal Darwaza in the Old City.

Bathukamma falls in September-October and is celebrated for nine days during Navaratri. It starts on the day of Mahalaya Amavasya and the 9-day festivities culminate on “Saddula Bathukamma” or “Pedda Bathukamma” festival on Ashwayuja Ashtami, popularly known as Durgashtami which is two days before Dasara.The CM also sanctioned Rs 5 crore for Ramzan.

“Special arrangements would be made to supply water and power to the mosques during the month of Ramzan. And the government and private establishment have been informed to relieve Muslim employees by 4.30 pm during the holy month,” said Mahmood Ali.

Meanwhile, the state government decided to continue the existing fee reimbursement scheme of the students from the weaker sections. In a decision taken at an all-party meeting convened by the CM, the government said it would reimburse even the fee for the students from Seemandhra, while the AP government would reimburse the fee for the students from Telangana studying in that state.

“It was decide to continue the scheme without any alteration. The Telangana government will reimburse the fee for the students studying in Telangana and the AP government will reimburse fee for the students studying in Seemandhra,” said education minister G Jagadish Reddy.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / June 17th, 2014

Nose typing: First Indian with 2 Guinness Records

Khursheed Hussain with his Guinness World Records certificate (Photo: DC/File)
Khursheed Hussain with his Guinness World Records certificate (Photo: DC/File)

Hyderabad:

Khursheed Hussain, a Guinness World Record holder in typing, has now set the world record in typing using his nose. The record for ‘nose-typing’ was earlier held by a girl from Dubai.

He is the first one from India to hold two Guinness World Records. “I had to struggle a lot to get this for the country. I had to undergo regular mental and fitness training. And I practised for about eight hours a day for six months,” said Mr Hussain.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC Correspondent / June 25th, 2014

PV Birth Anniv to be State Function

Hyderabad :

The Telangana government will celebrate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao as ‘state function’.

The government issued orders to this effect on Tuesday. ‘’All the Heads of Departments and all district collectors are requested to celebrate the birth anniversary of PV Narasimha Rao, former Prime Minister on June 28 in a befitting manner,’’ the orders said.

Telangana Bidda PV was the first Telugu Prime Minister.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / June 25th, 2014

Story of growth: Business woman emerges out of sick firm

Padmasree Gunnala (Photo: DC)
Padmasree Gunnala (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad:

For the success of a business, a good management is as important as the product itself. Several people have made fortune just by reviving companies that have fallen sick due to inefficient management. Padmasree Gunn-ala belongs to this creed.

Padmasree, a young home maker who was a lawyer by education, found reviving a sick company more interesting and challenging. “In 2005, I was planning to start a business as I was always interested in entrepreneurship. My friend suggested me to start a unit in ancillary sector. He had an experience in that sector. So we partnered to buy a sick company and revived it to be known as Mudra Flexible Printers and Laminators,” she told this newspaper.

Mudra operates in the roto-packaging industry, which manufactures food-grade packaging products. Its specialty lies in catering to all kinds of flexible packaging material in multi-colour printing and laminations.

The partners, however, later found that acquiring a sick company will have its own share of hiccups. And Padmasree was very quick to realise that getting a bank loan for a sick company was very difficult.

“So we pooled in about `6 lakh for working capital as no bank was forthcoming to help us. The same was the case with customers. It took pretty long time for us to convince customers to give us orders as they were unsure about our business continuity,” she recalled.

A well-trained karata, Padmasree had to endure testing time when her factory was gutted in a fire accident. “I don’t whether I can call it a turning point or not; but the fire accident that gutted my factory has strengthen my resolve to succeed and it showed my customers’ faith in me.”

Mudra, which started off with 18 clients, claims a fairly strong customer base of 700 companies, comprising varied spectrum starting from MSMEs to MNCs. The customers spread across sectors like food and FMCG, pharmaceuticals, agro industries, bio-technology, cement, automobiles, distilleries and many more – both in India and abroad.

Though successful in business, Padmasree rues about the fact that her work-life balance was skewed towards business and as a result, she could not focus on the upbringing of her son, who is now pursuing engineering course. “I feel woman entrepreneurs must focus on this aspect also.”

Padmasree was among the chosen few to be a part of the Golman Sachs 10,000 Women’s program-me along with Indian School of Business (ISB).

Ask her about her success mantra and she is quick to respond saying, “hard work.” She explains that there is no other alternative for hard work, quality and customer satisfaction. Mudra saw the growth from being a small scale enterprise to a medium scale enterprise and now, Padmasree, only dreams of Mudra to flourish with a better annual turnover every year.

(In association with jobsdialog.com of TMI e2E Academy)

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Business> Latest / DC–jobsdialog.com / June 24th, 2014