Monthly Archives: May 2016

Healthcare startup raises $150,000

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Hyderabad :

Life Circle Health Services, a T-Hub incubatee, announced here on Wednesday that it had raised an investment of USD 150,000 from a European company.

The funds will help Life Circle to deepen its services in the state capital as well as expand to the national capital region.

The startup will soon launch its services in New Delhi and aims to reach 20 cities in India by 2020. Apart from investment, GROUPE SOS, Europe’s leading healthcare service provider, will also be sharing technical knowledge and international best practices with Life Circle.

Jean-Marc Borello, founder-president of GROUPE SOS, said, “We are very excited to join hands with an Indian enterprise to develop home nursing services in India. GROUPE SOS has more than 30 years of experience in France where health services are among the best.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / May 12th, 2016

Nalgonda youth scores 189th rank in UPSC

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

A Tehsildar-rank officer’s son scored 189th rank in the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) examination, the results of which was announced on Tuesday. Ravirala Mahesh Kumar, son of Narasaiah, administrative officer at Mahabubnagar district Collectorate, is all set to get into the India Administrative Service, the most coveted post of All India Civil Services.

Dr. Mahesh Kumar (28), who completed his medicine from Siddhardha Medical College, Vijaywada in 2012, cleared the Civil Services Examination in his fourth attempt choosing medical sciences as an optional. Speaking to The Hindu over phone from New Delhi, Dr. Mahesh said he had started his preparation immediately after his medicine in 2011, but could not clear even the prelims in his first attempt. However, he said he took a break for a year and attended coaching in New Delhi before making another attempt in 2013. With well-planned preparation, he cleared the preliminary and mains examination in 2013 and 2014 as well.

He was born and brought up in Nalgonda town. His father Narasiah and mother wife Pushpalatha were elated upon hearing the news of their son’s success. Mr. Narasaiah said grit and determination paid off for his son.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by T. Karnakar Reddy / Nalgonda – May 11th, 2016

Veteran leader Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao passes away

Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All
Rajeswara Rao served the Communist Party of India for four decades since his student days / The Hindu
Rajeswara Rao served the Communist Party of India for four decades since his student days / The Hindu

Veteran Communist leader and five-time-MLA Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao died on Monday at a hospital in Hyderabad, following illness. He was 93 and is survived by three daughters and a son Ch. Ramesh, who is the TRS MLA from Vemulawada constituency in Karimnagar district. Rajeswara Rao’s brother Ch. Vidyasagar Rao is the Governor of Maharashtra.

Mr. Rao served the Communist Party of India for four decades since his student days and was elected as its MLA four times from Sircilla, now renamed as Vemulawada. He participated in the Telangana armed struggle against the tyranny of Nizam’s rule and went underground for sometime.

He was the president of the Telangana Freedom Fighters Association and the president of the farmers’ wing of CPI. He quit the CPI as the chairman of its legislature party in 1999 and joined the Telugu Desam, the party which he described as the closest to his heart. He, however, lost the Assembly election on a TDP ticket in 1999 and went on to represent the party in the Assembly in the next term. He distanced himself from active politics after 2009 when his son Ramesh, a professor in agricultural economics at a German university, was elected.

The funeral will take place on Tuesday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by N. Rahul – Hyderabad – May 09th, 2016

A heritage structure waiting to be recognised

Green Initiatives / Environment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All
Nostalgic:Kanaka Rajubai (right) recalling her association with anthropologist Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf during the 1940s at Marlavai village in Adilabad district.— Photo: S. Harpal Singh
Nostalgic:Kanaka Rajubai (right) recalling her association with anthropologist Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf during the 1940s at Marlavai village in Adilabad district.— Photo: S. Harpal Singh

An open well at Marlavai village is connected to legendary anthropologist Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf, who conducted anthropological studies here

“You don’t stumble upon your heritage. It’s there, just waiting to be explored and shared,” opined famous Canadian singer Jamie Royal Robertson aka Robbie Robertson, apparently while talking about the importance of heritage.

In the currently parched tribal heartland of Adilabad district, at Marlavai village in Jainoor mandal to be precise, an abandoned open well is waiting to be rediscovered, repaired and recognised as a heritage structure. The open well is connected to legendary anthropologist Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf, who conducted anthropological studies here and designed the Land Transfer Regulation to protect Adivasis from exploitation, during his stay in the village between 1941 and 1949.

Deputed by the Nizam of Hyderabad to look into the problems of Adivasis of Adilabad, especially Raj Gonds, Haimendorf, in his capacity as Advisor to the Nizam on Backward Classes and Tribal Affairs, chose Marlavai to establish his permanent camp on the invitation of Lachu Patel, an articulate Gond from the village, according to Hyderabad-based social anthropologist Urmila Pingle. “It was Lachu Patel who had assured Haimendorf that Marlavai had a good well with sufficient water,” she wrote in her paper titled ‘C.von.Furer-Haimendorf: Half a century of his imprint on tribal welfare in Andhra Pradesh’.

“The Adilabad highlands had water scarcity even in those days, and the open well of which Lachu Patel talked about belonged to late Kanaka Hannu, one of two Gonds who emerged as teachers from the Teacher Training School which the anthropologist established at Marlavai,” said Kanaka Ambaji Rao, the president of Haimendorf Youth Organisation at Marlavai. “All the families in the village supplied water to the Haimendorfs twice daily by turn,” he added. “The couple were given three or four pots of water in the morning and evening, but they had their bath once in three or four days only. They washed their own clothes and linen,” recalled nonagenarian Rajubai, the wife of Hannu master, about the life of the anthropologist couple at her village. “The well was in use until 1986,” recalled Soyam Raju, a farmer from the same village. “It was nevertheless used sparingly as the government had dug an open well in 1962,” he added.

“Though dilapidated, the well located about 200 metre from the village needs to be repaired. It can even be put to use as the level of water in it is about 10 feet deep at this time,” the farmer suggested.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by S. Harpal Singh / Marlavai(Adilabad Dist.) – May 09th, 2016

When entire village laid pipelines in 24 hours

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

April 5 was a red letter day for Malkapur residents when the local youth and women accomplished a challenging task of providing water connection to every household in flat 24 hours.

As part of intra-grid works of Mission Bhagiratha, 300 youth and villagers got together to lay pipelines in the lines excavated earlier. If the local contractor took four hours to lay a 330-metre pipeline, the same was completed in 15 minutes by the locals.

Determined lot

“We all got ready by 9 pm and began carrying the heavy load of pipes to the excavated lines. Carrying 330 metres pipe is no mean task. But, we could do it with our determination. In 4 hours and 18 minutes pipelines measuring 3.5 km were laid. All the households in the village were provided drinking water connections,” pointed out Pitla Karunakar.

Womenfolk in the village are elated at the development. “It was festive mood all around as enthusiastic youth and others vied with each other to complete the laying of pipelines.

Our work has inspired other neighbouring villages to replicate our efforts. After Gangadevunipalli and Ibrahimpur, we have also joined the list of model villages,” said Bethi Shakuntala, self help group leader.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Malkapur – May 09th, 2016

Hyderabad to host conference on India’s COP21 commitments

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Hyderabad :

The Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) has been selected by the United States Department of State to organise a conference focused on implementing India’s COP21 commitments to be held here on June 24-25.

The conference, ‘Future Is Now: India from COP21 to Reality’, would include international experts and practitioners, environmental NGOs, in-country development organisations, finance experts, Indian companies and philanthropic organisations as well as India’s top national and state decision-makers, a media statement from the U S Consulate General Hyderabad said.

“The participants will explore India’s key climate change issues and opportunities in light of India’s Paris commitments,” it said.

ISC is partnering with the Center for Environment and Development to present the conference, which will feature Indian and US experts on topics such as clean energy, energy efficiency, climate finance, resilience, climate mitigation, air pollution and waste reduction, the statement said.

The Department of State’s Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Nisha Desai Biswal, was quoted as saying, “India is a vital player in addressing climate change and we look forward to increasing our partnership to expand clean energy deployment and access.”

Steve Nicholas, Vice President of Urban Programs at ISC, said, “The Paris Agreement is an incredibly important opportunity to reduce emissions and implement green development projects in India. Connecting US and Indian leaders to each other is critical because those professional relationships will continue to pay dividends.”

“We’re honoured to be working with our colleagues in India to understand their challenges, share what we’ve learned, and talk about what’s possible,” he said.

Conference participants, who may include leaders from local government, industry, NGOs, academics, and national government officials, would have the opportunity to connect with their peers and share challenges, solutions and resources, the statement added.

RS NRB SRY
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Hyderabad / PTI / May 09th, 2016

At Malkanoor, farmers reap the benefits of dairy farming

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment

Even as acute drought conditions in the State are forcing migration of farm labour in search of employment, this village in Bheemadevarapalli mandal has set an example by overcoming drought by taking to dairy sector as an alternate source of income.

An upland village sans irrigation sources, Mulkanoor has become a role model in the cooperative movement since 1956 with the launch of the Mulkanoor Cooperative Rural Bank and Marketing Society and has farmers who have overcome drought, thanks to the dairy units.

A majority of the population here, comprising about 10,000 people, took to dairy in the past two years to mitigate drought and are reaping the benefits. They supply over 1,500 litres of milk a day to the cooperative dairy and Karimnagar dairy. Besides, some hundreds of litres of milk per day are consumed locally, for a healthy life.

“I was unable to raise any crop on my three acres of land as the well got dried up due to drought since the last two years. I bought two milch animals by taking loan from the cooperative bank and am earning Rs. 200 per day by selling milk after covering input costs of fodder and cattle feed. My animals have stopped my migration from village and I am leading a comfortable life, says Chitkuri Yadagiri, happily.

“The dairy units are a ray of hope for farmers throughout the year. It protects the farmer during the drought and otherwise also by providing nutritious milk and manure,” says Bollampalli Swaroopa, who is rearing a milch animal, that fetches her daily income of Rs. 100 to Rs. 150. Recollecting the olden days where the dairy units were part of agriculture, she called upon farmers to take up dairy units for regular source of income even if there is no drought.

Village sarpanch Vanga Ravi proudly said there was no migration of labour ever since the dairy units have come up. He said farmers had taken to fodder cultivation with available water sources and reaping the benefits. Mulkanoor Cooperative Rural Bank chairman and former legislator A. Praveen Reddy said: We encourage farmers to take up dairy units by providing financial assistance as additional income generating source. Incidentally, they are a hit with farmers repaying the loans too.”

There has been no migration of labour ever since the dairy units have come up / Vanga Ravi, Village sarpanch.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindi / Home> National> Telangana / by K.M. Dayashankar / Mulkanoor (Karimnagar Dist) – May 06th, 2016

UoH Student Bags Baillie Gifford Prize Fellowship

Education, Records, All, World Opinion
Garima Goel
Garima Goel

Hyderabad :

A final year student of MA Political Science at the University of Hyderabad (UoH), Garima Goel has been selected as the Baillie Gifford prize fellow for the year 2016-17.

The fellowship is given to only one person in the world and she would be studying MRes in Contemporary India at King’s College, London.

“With the whole digitisation, there is a lot of data that is available as open source and it is kind of exciting. All I want to do is research on Indian politics and be close to the policies. I just don’t want to keep on writing and be of no use. Publishing papers is not my main aim, creating an impact with my work is what I am looking forward to and I intend to explore understudied topics within mainstream political science in India through a career in research and teaching,” Goel said.

When asked what made her took up research work, she said, “Last year, I was among the three students selected from UoH to do a study on transcultural studies at Heidelberg University, Germany. It is there, my interest for research started and now all I want to do is to carry out research work.”

Goel enjoys uncovering and answering questions related to Indian politics using open data and maps, which are increasingly available to researchers today. During her time at King’s, she will work on ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) voting patterns in India’s elections under the supervision of Dr Louise Tillin.

“Politicians do not care much about NOTA as it has no impact on results. However, through my earlier research, I found out that there has been a significant rise in the use of NOTA and as many assume there is a specific pattern and not just ignorance the reason for usage of NOTA. Also, there is no co-relation between NOTA and turnout,” Goel, who has earlier studied NOTA during the Bihar elections, said.

The fellowship, worth up to 30,000 pounds, provides full financial support to one student at King’s India Institute for research-track Masters programme that imparts advanced training to develop a thesis under expert supervision.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / May 06th, 2016

Telangana students in Indian contingent at ISEF

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Three school scientists from Telangana will be part of Team India at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) where more than 1,700 school students from over 75 countries will showcase their selected projects. The fair will be held at Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. from May 8 to 14.

The children – P. Meghana, D. Nikitha and D. Vamshi from Paramita School in Karimnagar – representing the Indian team met Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who asked them to meet him again and share their experiences once they come back from U.S.

The two students developed the project ‘Reflected Altitude Triangle’ under the guidance of Lalit Mohan Sahu.

The project went through various science fairs, starting from district level to national level. It also made a mark entering into the 102nd India Science Congress 2015 held at University of Mumbai last January.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – May 05th, 2016

Martyr’s memorial to come up on Hussainsagar bank

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel

The environs of Hussainsagar lake in the heart of Hyderabad are set to undergo one more change in near future with the Telangana Government deciding to locate a massive martyrs’ memorial on a 12-acre land to be reclaimed by shifting out Buddha Purnima project, tourism and electricity department offices.

The decision was taken by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at a review meeting held here on Tuesday on conducting the State Formation Day celebrations falling on June 2 and laying foundation stone for the new martyrs’ memorial. Accordingly, he would participate in the ground-breaking ceremony for the memorial on June 2 on the bank of Hussainsagar.

He directed the officials to design and construct the memorial in such a way that the spirit of the movement for statehood to Telangana and the sacrifices made by activists were remembered by future generations. Stating that the memorial would be the tallest one, the Chief Minister asked Engineer-in-Chief I. Ganapathi Reddy to take the responsibility to construct the memorial and develop a memorial park.

Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao suggested that the memorial centre also have un-published literature on Telangana history, culture and the movement so that it could be a major literary centre. Giving an example, he said the literature should comprise the biography of Telangana ideologue Prof. K. Jayashankar who spent all his life in the movement for statehood. “If one visits the memorial, one should long for spending more time there. The ambience should reflect the self-respect of Telangana. The Buddha statue would be in front and the Ambedkar statue would be in the back with Secretariat building on the other side. The memorial should be very tall,” the Chief Minister said. He told Mr. Ganapathi Reddy to start supervising the work immediately so that ground work could be taken up at the earliest.

The Chief Minister directed the officials to organise the State Formation Day celebrations in districts, the State capital and the national capital with innovative programmes.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Nwes> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – May 04th, 2016