Monthly Archives: July 2014

Government Names Award in Honour of Telangana Literary Giant Dasarathi

Hyderabad :

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao wants to completely change the cultural image of Telangana. Stating that the culture was Telangana was always kept low under the rule of Seemandhra leaders, KCR said he now wants to establish a new cultural era for Telangana and show the world that Telangana culture is in no way inferior when compared to other cultures.

Post bifurcation, the KCR-led new government is leaving no stone unturned in extending its vision to rebuild the cultural image of the state. Keeping in view the vision, the chief minister announced a `1lakh award in the name of Telangana literary icon Dasarathi Karishnamachary on his 89th birth anniversary at Ravindra Bharathi on Tuesday. The award will encourage yound writers in the state, he said.

The award is the first one to be constituted by the new government in honour of a personality from the state. The award will annually recognise outstanding contributions in the field of Telugu literature. As a tribute to Dasarathi, who is known for his rebellious writings against the Nizams, the government will install his statue at Tankbund, KCR announced. “People create controversies when I speak about statutes but the reality is our children do not even know whose statutes exist at Tankbund,” the chief minister said.

After learning about the financial struggle of the icon’s family, the chief minister promised a government job for his son Dasarathi Laxman. “Dasarathi deserved greater honours and so does his family. From today, his family will not have to suffer. An appointment order will be ready in the next two-three days,” KCR said. Recalling his experience with Dasarathi’s writings, the chief minister said he was inspired by them as a students. “In fact, his writings inspired me during the Telangana movement,” he added.

“Today, to honour our legendary poet and writer is the victory of all the people of the state,” he said and added that the state government will organise the birth anniversary celebrations of eminent Telangana icons who have helped in the development of the state. “It is very disappointing that very few government institutions have been named after leaers from Telangana. Very soon a prestigious institution or university will be named after Dasarathi,” the chief minister said.

Listening to the discussion by guests like vice-chancellor of Telugu university Elluri Shiva Reddy and poet Rallabandi Kavita Prasad, KCR, who is a poet himself, rued the fact that he was not able to attend poetry meets due to his bust schedule. “Right now, I do not want to leave this place but I do not have a choice,” he said in a typically Telangana accent.

The chief minister felt that the state need more auditoriums like Ravindra Bharathi and promised to revamp the auditorium which has been hosting many cultural programmes for a long time.

Noticing the poor facilities at the auditorium, KCR promised to increase its annual grant from `30 lakh to `1 crore and assured that the state government would transform the auditorium into a world-class one. Taking a dig at previous regimes for the poor facilities in the auditorium, he said “Previous governments kept boasting that their Telugu was superior to our Telugu but left a place like Ravindra Bharathi in shambles,” and added the cultural revamp of the state included improving facilities at the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University.

KCR was the chief guest at a function to celebrate the 89th birth anniversary of Dasarathi Krishnamachary organised by the department of language and culture.

An Ode to Telangana

Dasarathi Krishnamacharya was a writer and poet from Telangana in the Nizam era. He is popularly known as Dasarathi. He was born on July 22, 1927, in Chinnaguduru village of Warangal district. Dasarathi is considered as one of the first to fight for Telangana. He became the icon of Telangana movement by his popular line ‘Na Telangana Koti Ratanala Veena’ in which he described Telangana with ‘veena’ decked with innumerable diamonds. He wrote these lines in the jail at Nizamabad when he was arrested for raising his voice against the Nizam rulers. These lines became very popular during the Telangana movement. He received Sahitya Akademi award for his literary work ‘Thimiramto Samaram’ (Fight against the Darkness) in 1974. He also wrote songs for Telugu movies like ‘Vandanam’ and ‘Iddaru Mitrulu’. He passed away in 1987.

Cultural Touch

Award to be given every year for best constribution in Telugu literature

Dasarathi’s statue to be installed at Tankbund

Birth anniv to be celebrated every year

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / July 23rd, 2014

Book plumbs new facets of Andhra Pradesh’s history

Hyderabad :

The objective of writing history of Andhra Pradesh, covering coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana, without seeking government help is “to keep it scientific, secular and free from any bias,” said veteran historian V Ramakrishna on Friday.

He was speaking at a function organized to release the fifth volume of the comprehensive history of Andhra Pradesh. The volume was released by governor E L S Narasimhan who said that the Andhra Pradesh History Congress, which was formed in 1976 and whose members have compiled the voluminous data, should take some help to facilitate its work. “Do not oblige anybody, but do take help because it is a gigantic task and the need of the hour,” he said.

Ramakrishna, who is popularly known as VRK, said that it was in 1998 that the APHC decided to compile and publish the comprehensive History and Culture of Andhra Pradesh in eight volumes which, with time, have been expanded into nine volumes.

The need for the series was felt because no connected, authenticated, chronologically arranged narrative from an inter-disciplinary perspective, incorporating the latest data, is available today. “Writing micro history is difficult. The content of each chapter is verified at various levels for its authenticity. I want to pay tribute to the contributing historians because they have written, not for money, but their dedication towards the cause of history,” he informed the audience.

The members of the editorial board of the history series include K S Kameswara Rao, A Satyanarayan and G Venkata Ramayya while the general editor is V Ramakrishna. The fifth volume has been edited by R Soma Reddy.

According to speakers at the function, the present volume is on Late Medieval Andhra Pradesh covering the period between 1324 and 1724, a period that witnessed the rise of larger regional state powers such as the kingdom of Vijayanagara and the Bahmanis.

Consequent upon the constant flux of people of different languages, faiths, cultures and professions and the establishment of foreign settlements, a liberal spirit of tolerance developed, which was furthered by the prevalence of Sufi and Bhakti cults. One of the most significant features of the times was the evolution of composite Dakhni Deccani culture, along with the rise of the Deccani Urdu language.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / July 19th, 2014

Once cricketer, Aarti is now her team’s video-analyst

Former Hyderabad cricketer Aarti Nalge / The Hindu
Former Hyderabad cricketer Aarti Nalge / The Hindu

At 31, former Hyderabad cricketer Aarti Nalge is achieving what she could not as a player – be a part of the Mithali Raj-led Indian team for the next month’s England tour. This time, she’s in the team as its video analyst.

“Having played cricket at some level, I am aware of the expectations and especially what the coaches look for at the end of the day’s play. My job is to be ready to give them the video clips backed by complete statistics about a player’s performance any time,” explains this former national cricketer.

Illustrious lineage
Her father is the well-known curator for the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) Datta Nalge. He was earlier at the Gymkhana Grounds and is now taking care of the pitch inside the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Uppal.

“My father is a huge source of inspiration and his support always matters to me,” says Aarti, who owes the role switch to BCCI president in-charge N. Shivlal Yadav and General Manager (Operations) M.V. Sridhar.

Sheer passion for the game made her quit well-paying jobs at Genpact and Bank of America. “I love cricket and can’t be away from it,” Aarti says. “I am also grateful to captain Mithali, the support staff and the BCCI for their faith in me,” she adds.

The team will play a Test match and three One-dayers. Aarti’s previous engagements include the recent Sri Lanka One-Day series in Visakhapatnam and the T-20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Telangana / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – July 23rd, 2014

For Students, by Students

Hyderabad :

Age is not a barrier and you’re never to old or young to make a difference. A group of Hyderabadi students have started Oakmont Education, a startup company which aims to improve people’s interpersonal skills, general knowledge and extampore. Formed in April 2014, Oakmont Education was started by two school students, Pravishta Nadella (17) and Jaswant Tummela (13), with a vision to bridge the gap between schooling and education.

“Through this we aim to develop the inter-personal skills, general knowledge and public speaking skills of students. I had noticed that a lot of people, even in higher classes, do not have the right kind of exposure to help develop these skills and through Oakmont Education, we attempt to sharpen these valuable skills for students, which they will need to move ahead in life,” says Pravishta Nadella, founder and CEO of Oakmont International.

The 17-year-old explains that they also help young students to help deal with other situations in life. “Situational awareness is also one of the things we shall be highlighting to various students. We focus on developing the aforementioned skills of students since we have established that they can get you out of any situation and will help make an immediate impact on large audiences,” he explains.

When asked about how they wish to achieve this goal, the youngster says, “We are collaborating with international organisations such as the Model United Nations, to bring forward a similar conference to the people of Hyderabad at a much cheaper price,” shares Pravishta, who’s currently studying in the International School of Hyderabad.

To promote the Model United Nations format in India, they will be organising The Asian Conference, which will provide aspiring students a feel of an international conference.

“The United Nations Information Centre will give us the material and will send across dignitaries to address the students at the conference. The students will get a complete feel of an international conference, at a much cheaper price,” he informs, adding that at Rs 3000, applicants will be receive accommodation for three days, while attending the conference.

Pravistha’s partner Jaswant is just 13 years of age and is currently studying in Oakridge International School. It is hard to imagine such young students organising such a huge event. Pravishta, however, brushes it aside.

“My mother has been my greatest inspiration really. I have been taught that age is not a barrier and It never really mattered for me,” he says.

Apart from The Asian Conference, Oakmont International is also organising sports-related events.

They are one of the key sponsors for the inaugural college quiz festival, which is set to take place on Saturday.

“We are looking to organise sports-related events to help improve young athletes to perform at an international platform,” he adds.

The Asian Conference will most likely to be held in the city in December.

The dates and venue have not yet been confirmed.

If you are interested in being a part of the conference, contact Pravistha Nadella at pravishta.n97@gmail.com.

source:m http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express Features / July 23rd, 2014

Delicate surgery performed

Neurosurgeons at Star Hospitals successfully performed a surgical procedure on a 40-year-old patient Vishnuvardhan Varma who had lumbar disc disease, a condition where the disc of the spinal region causes low back pain, and during the entire procedure the patient was awake and aware.

Post surgery, the patient was able to walk without any pain, surgeons said. The patient was admitted to the hospital with lower back pain and pain radiating down the left leg, up to his ankle.

Investigations later revealed that Mr. Varma had a disc problem at the lumbar region (lower spine area) that was putting a lot of pressure on one of the nerves, hospital authorities said.

“We did a minimally invasive surgery. There was no scar, damage to muscles or bones.

The risk of general anaesthesia was avoided because the patient was awake.

Unlike in the convention surgical procedure, in which patients take six weeks to recover, the recovery by this procedure is fast and patients can get back to their routine quickly,” said Dr. Sai Sudarsan and Dr. Sukumar Sura, the minimally-invasive endoscopic neurosurgeons at Star Hospitals.

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

Tennis star Sania Mirza appointed brand ambassador of Telangana

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao with tennis star Sania Mirza at a meeting in Hyderabad. Photo: PTI
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao with tennis star Sania Mirza at a meeting in Hyderabad. Photo: PTI

Hyderabad:

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza was on Tuesday appointed ‘Brand Ambassador’ of Telangana.

She will promote the new “state’s interests” in India and abroad, according to Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Managing Director Jayesh Rajan.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao handed over a letter of appointment and also a cheque of Rs one crore to 27-year-old Sania at an interaction session with industrialists here.

“Telangana is proud of Sania who is a true Hyderabadi. She’s now ranked number five in international tennis and we wish she becomes the number one,” the Chief Minister said on the occasion.

Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, Special Chief Secretary (Industries) K Pradeep Chandra and other officials were present.

SaniaTELANGANA22jul2014

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Currrent Affairs / PTI / July 22nd, 2014

UoH faculty get patents from Europe and USA

Two faculty members of the University of Hyderabad – K.A. Padmanabhan and M. Ghanashyam Krishna, have received United States and European patents for ‘Non-Stoichiometric Titanium Nitride films’ along with M.S.R.N. Kiran, former Ph.D student of the School of Physics, UoH.

The faculty members are from the School of Engineering Sciences and Technology and Department of Physics. The application for the patents was submitted in 2008, a WIPO number awarded in 2009, European Patent in October 2013 and the US Patent in July 2014. The patent application and process was funded and facilitated by TIFAC, a division of the Department of Science and Technology, a press release said.

The patent deals with the manufacture of transparent, large band gap, high refractive index and high temperature stable non-stoichiometric titanium nitride thin films. These films exhibit different colours such as blue, magenta, brown and golden yellow, which makes them very attractive for decorative applications including artificial jewellery and watches.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – July 21st, 2014

Trainee boxers strike gold

Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust M.T. Krishna Babu with trainees of Sports Authority of India's STC at Port stadium, Visakhapatnam Shashikala (on his right) and Nikhat Zareen who won gold medals in the Golden Gloves international youth men and women boxing meet in Serbia on Monday. / The Hindu
Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust M.T. Krishna Babu with trainees of Sports Authority of India’s STC at Port stadium, Visakhapatnam Shashikala (on his right) and Nikhat Zareen who won gold medals in the Golden Gloves international youth men and women boxing meet in Serbia on Monday. / The Hindu

Two girls, who are trainees of the Sports Authority of India’s Sports Training Centre at the Port stadium here, won a gold medal each and helped India finish as runner-up in the Golden Gloves international youth women boxing meet held in Serbia from July 9 to 14. Twenty five teams participated in the meet.

Nikhat Zareen and Shashi Kala have participated in the international events in the past and the former has a few medals to her credit. Nikhat, hailing from Nizamabad district claimed the 54 kg category gold medal and Shashi Kala, a native of Himachal Pradesh won the 69 kg gold medal in the Serbia meet. Their coach, I. Venkateswara Rao, a Dronacharya awardee, is also from the port city.

The medal winners and their coach were congratulated by Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust M.T. Krishna Babu on Wednesday. Deputy Chairman G.V.L. Satya Kumar, Sports Officer and former Olympian M.V. Manikyalu, Administrative Officer of SAI STC T. Kishor Kumar and general secretary of AP Boxing Federation G.V. Raviraju were also present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Special Correspondent / Visakhapatnam – July 17th, 2014

Andhra Pradesh heroes out from Telangana university names

Picture for representational purpose (Photo: DC archives)
Picture for representational purpose (Photo: DC archives)

Hyderabad:

Institutions in Telangana bearing names of luminaries from the Andhra region may no longer exist as bifurcation of major universities will be completed within the year.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had announced after a Cabinet meet on Wednesday after the Cabinet meet that N.G. Ranga Agricultural University and Venkateswara Veterinary University will be split and renamed after TRS ideologue Prof. K. Jayashankar and former PM P.V. Narsimha Rao.

Officials said the Telugu University and NTR University of Health Sciences will also be split by the end of the year.

Almost all the major universities and institutions located in Hyderabad are named after personalities hailing from the Andhra region. Acharya N.G. Ranga was a freedom fighter hailing from Guntur district. Potti Sriramulu hailed from Prakasam district and fought for the cause of Andhra while N.T. Rama Rao hailed from Krishna district.

“The Cabinet has taken a decision on the Agricultural University and Veterinary University and within the next six months the remaining two universities will also be divided. The Council for Higher Education will be divided in the next two months,” an official said.

However, it is not certain what will be the changed names of the two universities. “The government can also create a new university and name it after someone of its choice and whenever the original university is bifurcated, the Telangana part can be merged into this,” the official explained.

However, not just universities, there are host of other institutions and structures in Hyderabad that are named after Andhra personalities. During the Telangana agitations, the G.M.C. Balayogi athletic stadium was unofficially named the Bhagya Reddy Varma stadium. Other such structures, bearing names of Andhra figures, could also see a name change.

telangana instituesTELANGANA20jul2014

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / by Amar Tejaswi / July 20th, 2014

K T Rama Rao scores with CEOs

IT minister K.T. Rama Rao with CEOs at the ‘Hyderabad CEO Cycle Ride’
IT minister K.T. Rama Rao with CEOs at the ‘Hyderabad CEO Cycle Ride’

K.T. Rama Rao is making every effort to be seen as a “friendly and accessible” IT minister. On Saturday, he turned up right on time — at 7 am — to flag off the “Hyderabad CEO Cycle Ride” at Madhapur.

Yes, KTR’s punctuality totally scored a point with the 150-plus participants at the event and he topped it off with plenty of jokes. After the event —aimed at promoting the concept of wellness and cycling — the IT minister spoke on the “Future of Hyderabad and the IT industry”, apart from posing for a round of selfies and chit-chatting with the corporate honchos. He kept everyone in splits with his wit, as he picked on the late comers, including the IT secretary.

KTR also shared the Telangana government’s plans to build a cycling track alongside the Outer Ring Road to hold international cycling events and bring in more cultural and lifestyle events to the city. The CEOs also had a grand time catching up with each other.

Murali Bukkapatnam, president of TiE, Hyderabad chapter, said, “It’s a good way of networking and catching up with heads of several companies. And KTR kept the atmosphere even lighter. It was impressive to see a minister come on time and stay till the end.”

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC Correspondent / July 20th, 2014