Daily Archives: February 21, 2015

TS Gandhi Cremated with State Honours

Leaders

Warangal :

Funeral rites of veteran freedom fighter, Bhupati Krishnamurthy, popularly known as Telangana Gandhi, were performed with state honours here on Monday. Krishnamurthy, who was the president of Telangna Praja Samithi (TPS) died here on Sunday night. He was 89-years-old and is survived by a son and daughter.

Deputy chief minister Kadiyam Srihari, TJAC chairman M Kodandaram, PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah, district collector Vakati Karuna, superintendent of police Ambar Kishor Jha and several others, paid respects to the departed leader.

The funeral procession was taken from his residence in Girimajipet to Vysya cremation grounds at SRR Thota on the city outskirts. Krishnamurthy was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and accompanied Gandhi on his visit to Warangal town then.

He fought against the British and Nizam rulers and also participated in the struggle for a separate Telangana. He, however, refused to merge TPS with TRS party and remained a lone fighter till the end. His relatives said, Krishnamurthy does not even own a house and lost all his wealth fighting for freedom of the country and later for Telangana.

Sources in TRS party said they were planning to celebrate his 90th birthday on February 21 on a grand scale, and now his demise has come as shock for the entire party. Chief Minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed his condolences to the bereaved family.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / February 17th, 2015

Innovative knife sharpening

Amazing Feats, Science & Technology
Mylarapu Rajanna sharpening a pair of scissors on his knife sharpening contraption. Photo: S. Harpal Singh
Mylarapu Rajanna sharpening a pair of scissors on his knife sharpening contraption. Photo: S. Harpal Singh

Innovation and ingenuity were always the hallmark of rural technologists in the country and Mylarapu Rajanna only carries the tradition forward in tune with the times. He has not only simplified the mechanism to sharpen knives and scissors but has the pedal-driven ‘machine’ mounted on the rear of his moped which makes his task of moving around much easier.

Rajanna is a ‘retired’ lorry driver from Mendapally in Indervelli mandal whose comparatively larger area of operation covers the mandals of Gudihatnoor, Indervelli, Utnoor, Narnoor and Jainoor. He visits one mandal every week and ferrets out enough work to earn him a decent income of over Rs. 200 per day, after expenses.

“I park my moped on its stand and sit in the reverse direction on the pillion to operate the pedals,” says the 60-year-old toiler as he introduces his innovation to The Hindu. I have made this machine by using parts of a cycle and of course, the grinding stone,” he adds.

The machine consists of a discarded cycle rim, a cycle gear apparatus with chain and pedals and a rouded grinding stone. The speed of the grinding stone is controlled in the same manner as that in a bicycle.

“It takes about 5 minutes to sharpen a kitchen knife or the scissors used by the pan wallah. Heavier knives and cleavers of the butchers require more speed for the grinding stone and consume more time,” Rajanna reveals.

The former lorry driver’s love of film and bhakti music even has him improvise a music system and add to his moped mounted paraphernalia. “The music not only keeps me engrossed but attracts customers when the loudspeaker gets blaring at the village square,” he points out the old-fashioned round speaker within the gap in the handlebar just under the grinding stone.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Telangana / by S. Harpal Singh / Adilabad – February 17th, 2015

‘Movie Moghul’ laid to rest

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
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 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

Scot’s search for his roots

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