Selected for week-long tour after essay writing competition
Twenty-five students from the Paramita Heritage School have been selected for the international conference at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA, for seven days ithis May.
Go for Guru, NASA, Florida Institute of Technology and Astronaut Memorial Foundation had recently conducted essay writing competitions at the school after which 25 students were selected for an educational tour to NASA.
Of a total 5,000 students from across the country who took part in the competition, 470 were selected. Among them, 124 belong to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, including 25 from just one school, informed Paramita Educational Institutions chairman E. Prasada Rao here today.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Karimnagar – February 19th, 2019
Safran to make parts for LEAP turbofan engine with €36 million investment
French aerospace major Safran on Tuesday said it will set up a plant in Hyderabad to make parts for CFM International’s LEAP turbofan engine with an investment of €36 million.
Construction on the facility will begin in June. The target is to produce the first batch of parts by early 2020. By end of this year, operations at the plant will be launched with about 50 employees while over time, the headcount will be 300.
Near airport
The 13,000-square metre plant, to be built at the Special Economic Zone of GMR near the airport, will include 8,000 square metres of workshops. When the plant hits cruise speed in 2023, it will be able to deliver 15,000 parts per year. CFM International is set to deliver 1,800 engines this year, a number expected to increase to 2,000 next year.
With more than 17,000 orders and commitments till date, LEAP is the fastest selling engine. The new-generation LEAP entered service in 2016 and has passed the mark of three million flight-hours. It powers over 700 Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX commercial airliners, including 54 operated by Indian airlines, said an official release.
Expressing happiness at Safran selecting Hyderabad to establish the plant, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said the company joins the league of other global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) which are already manufacturing and exporting from Telangana.
Aerospace, he added, is a focus industrial sector for Telangana and the State government is providing maximum support to encourage the industry.
In the release, Safran CEO Philippe Petitcolin, who is on a visit to India for the Aero India Show, said, “Aerospace continues to be a significant driver of India’s growth and we want to fully support this dynamic by bolstering our investments and training programmes in the country.”
Safran, which has been in India for around 65 years, has, at present, over 600 employees at seven companies that provide design, production and support services for aerospace and defense, plus a maintenance training centre in Hyderabad for CFM engines. The centre, which was established in 2010, can train more than 500 technicians a year.
‘Very excited’
Former Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao tweeted: “Very excited to welcome Safran’s new investment in Telangana.”
The French multinational had, in 2018, announced the setting up of a Safran Electrical and Power factory to produce LEAP engines harnesses and Rafale fighter electrical wiring interconnections systems in Hyderabad. The 4,000-square metre facility, also at the SEZ, will be ready by mid-2019 and employ 250 people. The operations have begun in a temporary building with 33 employees.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 20th, 2019
Malavath Poorna after conquering the 6,962-metre Mt. Aconcagua, the highest peak of South America, on Friday
Poorna becomes youngest tribal girl to scale world’s four highest peaks
Malavath Poorna has added another feather to her snow-capped hat. She has become the world’s youngest tribal woman to scale four highest mountain peaks across four continents.
The 18-year-old successfully climbed Mt. Aconcagua, the highest peak in Southern and Western Hemisphere on February 15. “I cannot even describe how difficult the climb was; it was much tougher than Mount Everest but I was determined to go ahead with the mission,” Poorna said, speaking from Mt. Aconcagua.
Before this, she had scaled Mt. Everest (Asia), Mt. Kilimanjaro (Africa) and Mt. Elbrus (Europe).
‘Sky’s the limit’
The sky should be the limit for girls hailing from marginalised communities, she asserted. “We can achieve great goals in life,” she said. Poorna was a student of Telangana’s Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate studies at Telangana Social Welfare Residential Degree College for Women in Kamareddy.
“My goal is to make Telangana and India proud by becoming the youngest tribal woman in the world to scale the seven highest peaks across all seven continents. Now, I have set my sights on scaling Mt. Denali in North America, Vinson Massif in Antarctica) and Mt. Kosciuszko in Australia,” she declared.
Sekhar Babu, director of Transcend Adventures, had sponsored Poorna’s Aconcagua expedition.
Reacting to Poorna’s latest achievement, TSWREIS secretary R.S. Praveen Kumar said, “What makes her feat unique is that she hails from a poor tribal community and her parents, Laxmi and Devidas, work as agricultural labourers in Pakala village of Nizamabad district. Poorna has become a role model and source of inspiration for millions of girls from marginalised communities throughout the world.”
Poorna also participated in the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, 2015, to speak on equal rights for girls. In 2017, Bollywood actor-filmmaker Rahul Bose released a film on the young mountaineer that he titled ‘Poorna: Courage Has No Limit’.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 16th, 2019
TRS MP K. Kavitha will be the main speaker at Global Compact Network India (GCNI)’s ‘Gender Equality Summit 2019’ in New Delhi on March 1. The GCNI is the local arm of United Nation’s Global Compact.
Ms. Kavitha will speak on ‘Preparing women for the future of work’. She was chosen for her passion to accelerate efforts to achieve sustainable development goals, especially gender equality in India, a press release informed.
The highlights of the summit include a thought leadership piece that will be brought out in collaboration with GCNI’s knowledge partner, Deloitte, on preparing women for the fourth industrial revolution and presenting the second best practices awards on gender equality in India.
Preparing blueprint
Chief executive officers, chief human resource officers, chief sustainability officers, policy makers, CSR practitioners, and members of civil society organisations and NGOs will attend the event to prepare a blueprint for the road ahead.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 16th, 2019
GHMC Commissioner M. Dana Kishore on Friday received ‘Swachhata Excellence Award’ at a special function held in New Delhi as the civic body stood first under cities with over one million in engaging community-based organisations and information on waste pickers in sanitation and solid waste management.
The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) Swachhata Excellence Awards have been instituted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to recognise the Area Level Federations (ALFs), City Level Federations (CLFs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) working towards achieving sanitation outcomes with their communities and promoting dignified livelihoods in the sanitation sector.
Main objectives
The main objectives of Swachhata Excellence Awards are to bring cleanliness, sanitation and livelihoods to the forefront of social discourse.
It is also to encourage ULBs, ALFs and CLFs for their initiatives related to elimination of open defecation, eradication of manual scavenging, behavioural change towards healthy sanitation practices, creating awareness about its impact on public health and modern and scientific solid waste management.
Through this initiative, the urban local bodies (ULBs) are supposed to mainstream informal sanitation workers, improve their income-earning capacity and engage community organisations to achieve sanitation and cleanliness outcomes, a press release said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 16th, 2019
A formerly rare variety of cucumber which was grown at Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s farmhouse at Erravalli in Gajwel district has taken Karimnagar by storm.
KCR keera dosa sells at `40 per kg in Karimnagar| Express
Karimnagar :
A formerly rare variety of cucumber which was grown at Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s farmhouse at Erravalli in Gajwel district has taken Karimnagar by storm. The rather unremarkable vegetable christened KCR keera dosa by the local populace has now become a staple in every household here, with people preferring the chief minister’s namesake to the local variety which is at least 25 per cent cheaper
The local variety costs Rs 30 a kilo, while KCR keera dosa has a going rate of Rs 40 per kg. Sriramula Srinivas, a vegetable vendor, said he sells over 1 quintal of KCR keera dosa everyday. “KCR keera dosa is very tasty and does not have seeds, so people prefer this to the local fare,” he explained. What’s more, locals just don’t seem to be getting enough of the cucumber, with the vegetable being brought in from other districts as well.
“It is certainly good. We like it. I think it will become popular across the State soon,” T Laxmi, a homemaker, told Express while purchasing the cucumber from a market here.Its popularity is such that farmers are now importing seeds from the Netherlands where the vegetable grows in large numbers. Orders can be placed online — a pack of 1,000 seeds costs Rs 8,500.
And it’s healthy too!
KCR keera dosa has higher water content than the local variety and is much softer. It’s free of seeds, more or less uniform in size and doesn’t taste bitter like the local fare at times does. However, the variety can be grown only in poly houses, not farms.
Locals ditch homegrown variety for KCR keera
The vegetable christened KCR keera dosa by the local populace has now become a staple in every household in Karimnagar, with people preferring KCR keera to the local variety which is at least 25 per cent cheaper
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Naveen Kumar Tallam / Express News Service / February 15th, 2019
Veteran film director Vijaya Bapineedu, 82, died on Monday at his residence, in Banjara Hills.
Veteran film director Vijaya Bapineedu, 82, died on Monday at his residence, in Banjara Hills. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and was receiving treatment from Apollo Hospital for the past four years. Born on September 22, 1936, in Chataparru, Eluru as Gutta Bapineedu Chowdary, the director had a great share in aiding Megastar Chiranjeevi to reach stardom.
The duo has collaborated for about seven films and their combination made a major impact at the box office. Some of their notable works include Patnam Vachina Pativrathalu (1982), Maga Maharaju (1983), Khaidi No 786 (1988) and Gang Leader (1991).
Bapineedu’s films with late actor Sobhan Babu – like Bharyamani (1984), Maharaju (1985) and comedy hero Rajendra Prasad – like Naku Pellam Kavali (1987), Donga Kollu (1998), Zoo Laka Taka (1989) and Valu Jada Tolu Beltu (1992) were lapped up by the urban audience.
Having started his career as an editor of Bommarillu and Vijaya magazines, Bapineedu made his directorial debut with Dabbu Dabbu Dabbu (1981) and he went on to direct 23 films between 1981 and 1998. His production ventures include films like Yavvanam Katesindi (1976), Rambha Urvasi Menaka (1977) and Bommarillu (1978) among others.
He is also credited for introducing young talents like directors Durga Nageswara Rao, G Rama Mohan Rao, Mouli, Vallabhaneni Janardhan and cameramen – MV Raghu, Maheedhar, Sreenivasa Reddy, lyric writer Bhuvanachandra and dialogue writer Kaasi Viswanath, to the industry. Recently, he was in the news for expressing his wish to direct Chiranjeevi again in a film. Known as a man with no airs, he was admired by all sections of the film industry.
Condolences pour in Megastar Chiranjeevi expressed deep shock and grief at the demise of Vijaya Bapineedu. “I still cannot believe that (Vijaya) Bapineedu garu is no more. He encouraged me as a father, brother and mentor. Besides our professional relationship, our families are close to each other and he is like a member of my family. We worked in over half-a-dozen films together, since Patnam Vachina Pativrathalu (1982),” said Chiranjeevi.
Terming Bapineedu’s death a personal loss, Chiru added, “I would persuade him to work with other heroes, but he would insist that his comfort-level and bonding with me is way more than any of them. After I moved to Hyderabad (from Chennai), Bapineedu garu offered me accommodation in his guest house and allocated two floors to our family. He is going to be missed, badly,” added Chiru. Recalling his association with Bapineedu, actor Mohan Babu said, “He (Bapineedu) was a man of great character. Our friendship goes back about a quarter of a century.
He is not only a successful director but also a good screenwriter who has created a niche for himself with wonderful creativity.”The Chief Ministers of the Telugu States – Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Kalvakuntla Chadrashekhar Rao have conveyed their condolences at the demise of the renowned filmmaker. They said Bapineedu has a left a legacy with his films and his death created a vacuum in the Telugu film industry.
Funeral on February 14 Vijaya Bapineedu’s last rites will be performed at Mahaprasthanam, Hyderabad on February 14 since his elder daughter is yet to arrive from the US.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Murali Krishna CH / Express News Service / February 13th, 2019
People from Maharashtra have always had a strong bond with Hyderabad city.
Hyderabad :
People from Maharashtra have always had a strong bond with Hyderabad city. A significant portion of the state was part of the erstwhile Hyderabad state, and over centuries many people from these areas had migrated to Hyderabad in search of livelihood. The Kacheguda and Sultan Bazar area of the city still has a large number of Marathis, many of whom are third generation residents of the city.
However, it is surprising that there are very few places serving Maharashtrian food in twin cities. There was a Marathi mess at Kachiguda offering meals but it had closed down a few years ago. To fill in this void, Marathi Katta, a 20-seater restaurant offering traditional Marathi food has opened at Bade Chowdi, Ramkote just about a year back. The restaurant is a brainchild of Vishal Phadke and Ambarish Lahankar, whose families had migrated to Hyderabad years ago from Ratnagiri and Marathwada respectively.
They realized that basic Marathi dishes like misal pav, sabudana vada and sabudana khichdi are not available anywhere in the city, and decided to set up a place offering basic Marathi food. The restaurant is located inside a lane at Bade Chowdi, one of the trading centres of the city. While Ambarish’s wife takes care of the kitchen, Vishal looks after the service, and Ambarish concentrates of publicity and marketing. Over time, the menu was expanded to include a large number of Maharashtrian delicacies are available here like Poha, Vada Pav, and Kanda Bhaji.
The typical masalas are brought from different places in Maharashtra. To give an example the Misal Pav masala is brought from Kolhapur. Ambarish mentioned that the recipe of Misal Pav differs from place to place, for example in Pune it is slightly sweet while in Kolhapur it is very spicy. Thalipeeth, the signature delicacy prepared from jowar, wheat flour and besan is another popular dish here which can be savoured with curd or chutney. Pitla Bhakri, the combination of jowar roti and besan ki sabji is a good choice for lunch. On weekends delicacies like Varlela Wangi (stuffed eggplants), Nagpur style Dal Chawal with a typical garlic flavour, and Katachi Amti, a rasam like sweetish dish from Western Marathwada are available. If you wish to taste the Maharashtra style Khichdi you need to drop in on Wednesday.
The desserts include Shrikhand and Puran Poli as well as Aamrakhand during the mango season. In the initial days, the restaurant used to attract mostly Marathis, but Ambarish proudly states that now a significant portion of their customers are from other states. They do put up stalls in various government fairs in the city, and the publicity from these have resulted in people coming from distant areas in the weekend to try out their Marathi food. Ingredients are sometimes a concern, Vishal rues the fact that the quality of pavs available in Hyderabad is not as good as Mumbai. The plans for the future include the introduction of many more dishes as the Maharashtrian cuisine is really vast with variations in every region of the state. Also, since many first-generation migrants for Maharashtra are based in the IT corridor, a branch of the restaurant is planned in Cyberabad in not too distant future.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Sabyasachi Roy Chaudhuri / Express News Service / February 16th, 2019
Sadhana Ramchander and Lakshmi Prabhala with their book ‘Orugallu to Warangal: Journeys across Time’ | Photo Credit: Sanjay Borra
‘Orugallu to Warangal’ is a keen and enthusiastic documentation by Lakshmi Prabhala and Sadhana Ramchander
It was in 2006 when Lakshmi Prabhala, then an IT employee commented on a blog posted by Sadhana Ramchander that led to an unexpected friendship. Lakshmi recalls, “It was a post on Bathukamma, about which not much was known then. I asked her if I could tag along with her on her future visits and that’s how we became acquainted with each other.” The association became professional with the release of their book on Hyderabad (Hyd and Seek) in 2015. The duo have recently finished their second book, Orugallu to Warangal: Journeys across Time, which pays an ode to the city and captures succinctly, its rich history, architecture, customs and festivals.
While Sadhana was born and educated in Warangal,, Lakshmi took only one prior trip to the city. Sadhana says, “I’ve lived there for 18 years but at that age you want to see the world. You don’t want to see the world around you. On our school excursions, we went to Ramappa Temple or the Pakhal lake. This book is a discovery even for someone who grew up there.”
The twosome made around 12 trips over the past three years to document the city and the labour of their love is a rich layered book, with spell binding photographs and a thorough documentation of the city and its rich heritage. The idea to document Warangal, Sadhana says came from tourist booklets found in cities abroad. “When you travel, even small cities have dedicated books which present them so beautifully. In India, we are bursting at the seams with history and information but lack the skill to package it well.” she smiles. Lakshmi adds, “Telangana is still a new state and there is a lot of curiosity about it. This is our contribution to India’s youngest state. The fact that there is no book on Warangal added to the interest.”
The duo worked intermittently on the project, juggling it with their professions (Lakshmi is a popular photographer/writer in the city while Sadhana has been running her own publishing support service for 25 years now) writing and shooting pictures for the book. Both the writers are full of stories of Warangal and their travels. Lakshmi says, “The thrill of discovery was exhilarating. The Devuni Gutta temple near Warangal was a miniature Angkor Wat Temple with carvings from the 6th century. I was astounded when I saw it. There were some similarities with Hyderabadtoo — the landscapes, the rocks and lakes.” Sadhana says that these places were off the track which made their journeys exciting, “Pandavula Guttalu, was a great discovery. In fact, it came to light only in 2006-07 and is full of rocks, caves and pre-historic paintings. The Lakhnavaram forests were full of Naxals, so a lot of these places didn’t see any visitors for decades. Even my relatives and friends who grew up in Warangal were stunned at our finds.”
The book details many visual and performing arts which are still a part of day to day life in the villages surrounding Warangal. From Perini Tandavam (a Kakatiyan era temple dance form), Mandhechu Kathalu (storytelling) to Oggudolu (an energetic folk worship form), the book captures the images and the stories of these art forms succinctly. Lakshmi exclaims, “I got to see so many different facets of the city. For example, I never knew Chindu Yakshagaanam was prevalent in Telangana as I had only read about it being performed in Karnataka. It’s a unique system in which one community depends on the other. Artistes who are patronised by a particular community perform for the entire night for a week for them. It was a surreal experience – away from the technological marvels of the 21st century.”
Climbing hills with strangers, travelling endlessly and taking innumerable notes/images were a part and parcel of their journey. For Sadhana whose mother, Jaya Rao wrote a chapter (Warangal: Then and Now), it was a homecoming of sorts. She adds, “My 83-year old mother was excited about her journeys. She is Warangal’s first woman lawyer and went to the city as a young bride. So, she would add her recollections of the places and was overjoyed when we found new things.” Like in any collaboration, the duo had their share of disagreements. They went through 15 covers and finally decided on a collage as they felt no one picture could capture the essence of the book . Dexterous weaving in the different facets of a city, this book easily juggles Warangal’s past with its present, its arts with its architecture and its festivals with its folklore making it a compendium of sorts, of one of Telangana’s oldest cities.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books> Authors / by Mallik Thatipalli / February 12th, 2019
This is not the first such restaurant in the country to have a robot on its staff. The first eatery namely ‘Robot’ was opened in Chennai during November 2017 and started with a team of four ‘AI waiter
‘ROBO KITCHEN’ – The Robot Themed Restaurant first time in Hyderabad, Which Robots serves food to the costumers table from Kitchen what they ordered has been opened at jubliee hills in Hyderabad. (Express|S Senbagapandiyan)
Hyderabad :
The newly-launched Robo Kitchen in Hyderabad is the first-of-its-kind restaurant where customers are greeted by robots.
“The main attraction of our newly-opened restaurant is that robots will serve food to customers,” Robo Kitchen’s owner Manikanth told ANI.
“We have named the robots as Beauty Serving Robots. So far, we have been receiving great response from the customers, especially from old aged people as they are enjoying a whole new experience as robots are serving food to them.”Robo Kitchen provides a tab on every table for the customer’s comfort. “Guests can easily place an order from their table, which will be received by the chefs working in the kitchen. The food ordering process will complete in the span of two to five minutes,” said Manikanth. The aim is to provide a holistic and pleasing experience to the customers, especially families. The robots need three hours charging to work throughout the day.
“At present, we have four robots. We are in the process of updating their programming so that they can interact with the customers,” stated Manikanth.
This is not the first such restaurant in the country to have a robot on its staff. The first eatery namely ‘Robot’ was opened in Chennai during November 2017 and started with a team of four ‘AI waiters.’
A few days ago, Chennai’s Porur also got a smart restaurant where robots not only serve as waiters but also interact with customers in English and Tamil.The eatery located at Mugilivakkam Porur has a team of seven robots designed in blue and white. They welcome customers and serve meals with exotic drinks on tables.A female robot at the reception gives a response to customers’ queries and guides them about their table numbers. The restaurant serves Indo-Asian cuisines. Each robot in the eatery costs about Rs 5 lakh. The hotel staff has been trained and is in touch with manufacturers to tackle any emergency.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by ANI / February 09th, 2019
