Monthly Archives: January 2015

Sangareddy Prison Museum to be Opened in February

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel
A view of the Sangareddy jail | express photo
A view of the Sangareddy jail | express photo

Hyderabad :

The life and history of Telangana prisons will come alive next month with opening of a 219-year-old jail building for public viewing on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Deemed to be country’s first ever prison museum, the Old Sangareddy jail will welcome people for the first time to explain evolution of prisons in the region.

Built in 1796 by the then Nizam’s government, the jail building spread over 3 acres, was in use till as recent as 2012 when a new jail was constructed in Kandi and inmates were shifted. Considering the heritage value and the intact nature of the building, the prisons department of the new state has decided to preserve it for future and to promote local culture, history, art and language.

The old jail was at helm of activity during the earlier Nizam’s dominion/British era and then during the Telangana struggle of 1969 where a number of freedom fighters from the region were lodged here. The jail was under direct control of the Judiciary and in 1982, it was handed over to the prisons department of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

Explaining more, Director General of Telangana Prisons and Correctional Services Vinoy Kumar Singh said that the building will also accommodate the art and cultural forms of the state. A sum of Rs.20 lakh was spent on transforming the heritage prison into a museum. ‘’We want to develop the prison into one of the important tourist spots in the district. In the first phase, we will display old handcuffs, weaving machines, telephones, photographs and other available artifacts. An entry fee of `5 will be collected from general public and entry would be free for schoolchildren,’’ he said.

The department will also open an outlet to sell products being made by jail inmates so as to generate revenue for maintenance. ‘’In other old prisons like Mahbubnagar, Karimnagar, Chanchalguda etc the old character is lost. Here, we have a heritage building that is still intact without any changes. This will be the first of its kind museum in the country,” he added. Various punishment methods too will be explained to the public using photographs and literature.

Spread across 3 acres and 10 guntas, the historic building was built in stone, sand, wood and lime mortar. It has 9 barracks including a separate female barrack, punishment cell, a staff quarters, kitchen, toilets and a watch tower. The initial capacity of the prison was said to be 90 male inmates and 5 female inmates. ‘’In 1947, the prison was under the direct control of district collector and in 1969, it was under the Judiciary and one Ramnath, who was civil surgeon was the superintendent,” said Santhosh Kumar Roy, district sub jail officer, Old District Jail Sangareddy.

Some of the names of freedom fighters who were lodged here during the independence struggle, Telangana armed struggle and separate state movement, according to data available are Chola Lingaiah, Datti Kistaiah, Godila Lingaiah Goud, Etla Guruva Reddy etc. Records here say that ex-Sangareddy MLA and former speaker of erstwhile AP Assembly P Ramachandra Reddy too was lodged here during the separate state movement in 1969.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Rahul V. Pisharody / January 14th, 2015

Filmmaker VB Rajendra Prasad Dies

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Hyderabad :

Producer and director of several blockbuster films, VB Rajendra Prasad, died here on Monday. He was 82. Leading actor Jagapathi Babu is his son.

Born on November 4, 1932 at Gudivada in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, Prasad had wanted to become an actor but donned the hat of producer with the movie Annapurna in 1960. He produced several blockbusters under the banner, Jagapathi Art Pictures. Apart from producing films, he directed more than ten films and scripted some.

His films like ‘Aradhana’, ‘Dasara Bullodu’, ‘Atma Balam’ were huge hits and he won National Award for his film ‘Antastulu’. He was also the recipient of other prestigious awards like Raghupathi Venkaiah award of the undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Prasad had dedicated the twilight years of his life to spiritualism and spent a lot of time in the temple complex at Film Nagar here.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / January 13th, 2015

Catholics Contributed a Lot to Country, Says Sangma

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All
Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya greets former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma during the celebration of 300 years of Catholic Faith in AP and Telangana at a function held in Hyderabad on Sunday | NEERAJ MURALI
Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya greets former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma during the celebration of 300 years of Catholic Faith in AP and Telangana at a function held in Hyderabad on Sunday | NEERAJ MURALI

Hyderabad :

Although the Catholic community in the country is in a minority, it has contributed enormously to the development of the nation on all fronts, former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma has said.

To commemorate the 300 years of Catholic faith in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, a grand ceremony was organised by Catholic Reddy Association (CRA) at Loyola Academy here on Sunday. It was in 1715 that the Telugu Catholic faith had begun when Thumma Hanumantha Reddy of Anantapur was baptised by French Jesuit Fr Le Gac. Addressing a large gathering of Catholics, Sangma said the educational institutions run by the community had produced some of the greatest minds in the country in all fields. “Be it politics, industry or bureaucracy, the people who matter the most to this country are proud products of Catholic educational institutions,” he remarked referring to some top names including BJP leader LK Advani.

He requested the central and state governments to accord minority status to all Catholics and Christians in the country. To take up the issues of community in Parliament, he said, the Christian MPs Forum in Delhi would be revived.

Union minister of state for labour and employment Bandaru Dattareya he would strive to protect minority communities as per the constitutional rights provided to them. “Only when there is harmony between peoples of different faiths can the country surge ahead with development. Each community representing a faith should respect and protect other faiths,” he said.

CRA president Gopu Bala Reddy said the Catholic community believed in service and not in conversion. He sought both AP and Telangana governments to extend SC status to Dalit Christians and Muslims besides providing space for burial grounds and extending old-age pension scheme to Catholic fathers and nuns.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / January 12th, 2015

Five new women Collectors in Telangana

Leaders
Karimnagar District Collector Neetu Kumari Prasad. - Photo: S. Rambabu / The Hindu
Karimnagar District Collector Neetu Kumari Prasad. – Photo: S. Rambabu / The Hindu

In its maiden appointments after allotment of all India service officers between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the latter on Monday confirmed postings of 24 IAS officers as Collectors.

Karimnagar Collector M. Veerabrahmaiah has been transferred and posted as Special Commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Warangal Collector G. Kishan as Additional Commissioner of GHMC, and Mahbubnagar Collector G.D. Priyadarshini as Collector of Adilabad.

Neetu Kumari Prasad was made Karimnagar Collector, V. Karuna posted as Warangal Collector, T.K. Sreedevi as Mahbubnagar Collector and P. Satyanarayana Reddy as Nalgonda District Collector. All of them were awaiting postings.

K. Nirmala, who was also awaiting posting, is the new Hyderabad Collector, a post that was vacant after the incumbent Mukesh Kumar Meena was allotted to Andhra Pradesh. The adjacent Ranga Reddy District also gets a new Collector in M. Raghunandan Rao.

The other officers, who were awaiting postings after reporting for duties in Telangana government, included senior bureaucrats M.G. Gopal who is made Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development and Ranjeev R. Acharya is Principal Secretary of Education. Navin Mittal and Gaurav Uppal have been appointed as Special Commissioner and Additional Commissioner respectively of GHMC. Pausumi Basu is also another Additional Commissioner of the Corporation.

Rajat Kumar Saini, K. Surendra Mohan and Patil Prashant Jeevan will be the Joint Collectors of Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad and Warangal districts respectively. Hari Chandana Dasari is the second Joint Collector of Ranga Reddy. The Joint Collector of Karimnagar Sarfraz Ahmed is the new Municipal Commissioner of Warangal, Bharati Hollikeri is Chief Rationing Officer of Hyderabad.

Four Sub-Collectors have also been appointed, including D. Krishna Bhaskar (Jagtial in Karimnagar), Alagu Varsini (Vikarabad in Ranga Reddy), Rajeevgandhi Hanumanthu (Asifabad in Adilabad) and Khartade Kalicharan Sudamrao (Paloncha) in Khammam district.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by N. Rahul / Hyderabad – January 12th, 2014

A Cultural Milieu

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

KalakritiTELANGANA11jan2015

Hyderabad :

The cultural extravaganza that is Krishnakriti festival got off to a colourful start at the Kalakriti art gallery. The inaugural ceremony of the 11th edition witnessed insightful lectures on art, culture and education and a movie that threw light on the social practice of a tribal community from the Northeast of the country.

The inaugural session also saw the conferment of the 2014 Kalaakriti Award for Achievements and Excellence to Uzramma who heads the decade old The Decentralised Cotton Yarn Trust(DSYT) for its efforts to resolve crucial issues facing the handloom industry by including spinners, dyers,weavers,farmers and ginners in a collective working environment and also for the regeneration of the cotton ‘Malkha’. Veteran actor Shankar Melkote gave away the award to Uzramma while author and political scientist Jyotirmay Sharma presented a memento to her.

“In the year 2005, the DCYT mission was to replace the capital-intensive mass production mode of cotton yard production with small-scale localised yarn-making, compatible with the small scale of cotton farming and hand weaving.” states Uzramma. DSYT hopes to see the indigenous cotton textile as a low carbon and clean industry for which India can earn international credit towards emission reduction. The inauguration was followed by two talks- ‘Negotiating the World with Rabindranath Tagore’ by historian R Siva Kumar and ‘Understanding origin of art by ontologist Navjyoti Singh.

The film ‘Every time you tell a story’ was also screened which narrated the change over the centuries profiling Tsungkotepsu, the traditional head- hunter’s shawl, which used to be an honour for the Ao Nagas tribesmen which is a standardised product available in the market at Annapurna Studios.

The five-day festival features dance, music, cinema and painting alongside talks, seminars and workshops. These programmes are free for the public with the proceeds going to the charity. “Every year, the proceeds we receive will go to the charity to deserving students in field of education, we support 125 young students all over the country,” states Prashant Lahoti, founder of Lahoti foundation which conducts the Krishnakriti Art Festival.

Visitors will also get the opportunity to see the works of artistes from different parts of the country such as Akhilesh Varma, Avijit Dutta, Chintan Upadhyay, DLN Reddy, Laxman Aelay, Manish pushkale, Sheetal Gattani and several others at Kalakriti Art Gallery.

The five-day film festival will go on till January 11 at six venues in the city.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Revati-Danget / January 09th, 2015

City boy sails the sea of success

Sports
Leela Sagar won gold during the Monsoon Regatta last year and also bagged a bronze medal at Coastal Nationals.– Photo: BY ARRANGEMENT
Leela Sagar won gold during the Monsoon Regatta last year and also bagged a bronze medal at Coastal Nationals.– Photo: BY ARRANGEMENT

City boy P. Leela Sagar highlighted his potential as a sailor with a victory in the Optimist National Sailing Championships held in Bhopal recently. He is a product of the Yacht Club of Hyderabad (YCH), which was instituted six years ago.

Leela Sagar handled his boat with great skill to win six races out of 12 and displayed commendable maturity and confidence while doing so. He had bagged gold during the Monsoon Regatta in July 2014, and also had won a bro nze at the Coastal Nationals at Bombay in October 2014. After the triumph at Bhopal, he is now among the top ranked national sailors in his category. “The boy is a natural, is determined and learns by instinct. He has realised that there is no substitute for hard work and resilience. He will surely go places,” said Suheim Sheikh, his coach and mentor for the last three years.

Sagar well and truly proved himself by beating several sailors who had taken part in competitions all over the world. His rise to the top has come after three years of hard work, dedication and participation in several hard-fought championships. He first joined the sport at the YCH through Naandi Foundation about three years ago.

Despite being a quick learner, his light body proved to be a handicap and he finished at the bottom of the fleet on debut. But later, he made up for the lost ground, developed the skill and craft, and made rapid progress. Two more youngsters Musti Saibaba and P. Raju, who joined the YCH through the LSN Foundation, showed promise and finished 14th and 15th.

Wins six races out of 12 in the Optimist National Sailing Championships held in Bhopal recently

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Abhijit Sen Gupta / Hyderabad – January 11th, 2014