M.S. Narayana, king of laughs, is no more

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

NarayanaTELANGANA24jan2015

Actor and comedian M.S. Narayana, a veteran with over 750 films to his credit, passed away at a corporate hospital here on Friday morning. He was 63. He is survived by daughter Sasikiran and son Vikram.

Doctors cited multi-organ failure as the cause of death. He was initially diagnosed with malaria at a hospital in Bhimavaram and brought to a corporate hospital here about four days ago. He then complained of chest pain and was put on ventilator for the last two days. When his kidneys did not function properly he was given dialysis too. He was declared dead at 9.40 a.m. on Friday.

Born in Nidamarru near Bhimavaram in West Godavari District on April 16, 1951, Mylavarapu Surya Narayana dabbled in theatre while working as a lecturer and entered the film industry as a writer before being introduced as an actor.

Among his latest films is ‘Manam’ (2014) in which three generations of the Akkineni family acted and the last in which thespian, late Akkineni Nageswara Rao acted. Other prominent films include ‘Badshah’ with NTR in 2013, ‘Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu’ with Pawan Kalyan and ‘Julayi’ with Allu Arjun in 2012 and Mahesh Babu’s runaway success ‘Dookudu’ in 2011, in which he appeared as Bokka Venkateswara Rao.

He won Nandi awards of the AP Government as the best male comedian for the films ‘Maa Nanna ki Pelli,’ ‘Ramsakkanodu,’ ‘Sardukupodam Randi,’ ‘Sivamani’ and ‘Dookudu.’ He made his debut as a director in the film Koduku starring his son Vikram and directed another film ‘Bhajantrilu’.

Condolences pour in

Chief Ministers K. Chandrasekhar Rao (Telangana) and N. Chandrababu Naidu (AP) condoled the death of Narayana, saying the film industry has lost a good actor, as did YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan, apart from actor-MP K. Chiranjeevi, actor Pawan Kalyan and several others.

There was a steady stream of visitors to the AP Film Chamber of Commerce where the body was kept to enable people to pay their last respects. Comedians, including Vennela Kishore, Srinivas Reddy and others, could not hold back their tears. The late comedian virtually lived the role of an alcoholic in several films that he was asked several times if he really came ‘drunk’ to shootings.

Comedians Ali and Babu Mohan shared their memories with Narayana on Youtube, while ‘Gabbar Singh’’ director Harish Shankar regretted that he never got to direct a great writer and comedian.” Popular comedian Brahmanandam visited Narayana while he was in hospital on Thursday itself.

“Narayana was one of the few who could carry off an entire film single-handedly, with the comedy track and be a pillar for its success,” said Mamidi Harikrishna, Director of Culture (Telangana), also an avid film buff and critic.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Suresh Krishnamoorthy / Hyderabad – January 24th, 2015

Memorial for Kaka in City: CM

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao along with Congress leaders S Jaipal Reddy, K Jana Reddy and Union labour minister B Dattatreya at a condolence meeting of G Venkataswamy at Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad on Wednesday. | express photo
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao along with Congress leaders S Jaipal Reddy, K Jana Reddy and Union labour minister B Dattatreya at a condolence meeting of G Venkataswamy at Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad on Wednesday. | express photo

Hyderabad :

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has promised to construct a memorial in the name of Congress senior leader G Venkataswamy, popularly known as Kaka, in a prime location in the city.

Similarly, a Venkataswamy Square will also come up in the city, he said at the meeting organised to condole the death of the departed leader held in the city on Wednesday. Rao said the sons of Venkataswamy have also identified a couple of locations for construction of the memorial in the city.

“A decision will be taken soon and foundation will also be laid for the memorial,” Rao said. He hailed the services of Kaka for the downtrodden and also lauded the departed leader’s efforts in achieving separate Telangana.

“I did not like speaking to Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee (now President) in Delhi during the talks for alliance between the TRS and Congress in 2004 elections. It was Kaka who called me for lunch and made the alliance work,’’ Rao recalled.

Union Minister for labour Bandaru Dattatreya said Kaka, who worked as union labour minister, was responsible for initiating several welfare measures for the workers.

Leaders of various parties including Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, S Jaipal Reddy, Mothkupalli Narsimhulu and others spoke on the occasion.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / January 22nd, 2015

Waiting in the wings

Records, All, Sports
A long way to go: Snehit is taking careful steps. Photo: special arrangement / The Hindu
A long way to go: Snehit is taking careful steps. Photo: special arrangement / The Hindu

Having won laurels for Telangana at national and international events, paddler Snehit looks for support.

The young, talented paddler S. Fidel R. Snehit has entered a decisive phase in pursuit of excellence and he needs support from all fronts – more so on the financial side if he is to take part in more tournaments in future and keep moving up the ladder.

This 14-year-old who critics believe to be one of the best talents to emerge from Hyderabad has already brought laurels to the newly-formed Telangana State in four international events and more importantly winning gold in team event in the sub-juniors category besides silver in the just-concluded Cadet and the Sub-junior Nationals.

“I didn’t expect to get a chance to represent the country but I got an opportunity because of national ranking (India No.3). It is a wonderful experience that I’ll cherish for long,” feels Snehit, a Std. IX student of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Public School (BVBPS) and a trainee of the Global Table Tennis Academy (GTTA).

For the record, this young champion represented India in the South Asian Cadet & Junior Championship held in Islamabad last August and was a member of the gold-medal winning team and even settled for silver in the individual category losing to his teammate Manav Thakkar. One of the high-points of Snehit’s performance was winning two bronze in the India Open in Goa last year in team and doubles events.

Not surprisingly, his coach and former State player Somnath Ghosh at the GTTA is pleased with his ward’s progress.

“I watched Snehit playing his first international tournament and found that he can make his mark on the international arena. He proved me right in the South Asian Championships with two medals,” he points out.

It was double delight for Somnath as another of his trainees Akula Sreeja also did well on the international circuit.

“Snehit played a vital role for Telangana, getting the team silver in the sub-junior Nationals in Rajahmundry. He narrowly missed a medal in the doubles and faltered in individuals,” recalls the TSTTA selection committee chairman A. Narasimha Rao.

Snehit achieved a rare first of being the Telangana No. 1 in sub-juniors, juniors and youth categories.

His commitment even when he plays in the School Games nationals is perhaps a reminder of his intense urge to keep winning. He led Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Public School to CBSE National gold (under-14) which was incidentally a first from any school from the then unified Andhra Pradesh.

“It is still a long way to go for Snehit. He needs some international training and exposure trips. We will seek support from the Telangana government to brush up Snehit’s skills under the supervision of international coaches,” feel Snehit’s parents–S. Ramu and Hema. “We will be more than happy if the State Government comes forwards to help Snehit,” sign off the optimistic parents.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / January 21st, 2015

Hyderabad Literary Festival from January 23

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

The Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF) – 2015 to be held from January 23 to 26, will have cross-cultural workshops, which will bring together poets from Europe and India. The ‘poetry connections’ is a series of projects where poets from different countries will explore each other’s work through translations and create a multilingual poetry show.

The participants, include Miguel Manso from Portugal, Heike Fledler from Switzerland, Mamta Sagar from India besides, others. One can find more details on the website: www.hydlitfest.org.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – January 13th, 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