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
