Sangareddy :
A talking robot stood as a main attraction at a robotics science exhibition ‘N-Vision’ organised by IIT Hyderabad on Sunday.
Students from various engineering colleges took part in the event.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / November 03rd, 2014
The first Nift Fashion Olympiad saw students arrive at quirky ensembles and pieces of art
Pieces of paper, a splash of colours, fabric, unbleached yarn, a handful of buttons, dried leaves, empty tender coconut shells… name it and everything somehow became a part of the design. Students pursuing fashion design, art and management who had come together at the National Institute of Fashion Technology campus for the first Fashion Olympiad last week put everything they laid their hands on to good use.
At different venues of the sprawling campus, one could find students gathered in small groups, sometimes arguing if an orange-yellow colour palette should override a green-blue palette to represent a tropical holiday. These were students taking part in a visual merchandising contest, choosing from the two topics — tropical holiday and retro revival.
Kavya and Kavya Jha are busy putting together a resort wear ensemble against a beach setting, represented by food, drinks and clothing. A few feet away, Shivani and her friend are decorating a bicycle with colourful props. Tender coconuts and other props in pink, orange and red are being worked upon.
A stark departure from the play of colours is Kumar Shashwat’s retro revival set up. In between placing a paper microphone on a make-believe stage of a concert, he says, “I am using images of gramophone and an old-fashioned telephone to take people back to the era of Charlie Chaplin.”
The Nift Fashion Olympiad saw students involved in a fashion marathon over two days, testing them for creative and time management skills.
A quiz contest, photography contest click-o-mania where students captured fashion trends in the city through their cameras and a large fashion wall that had pieces of art put together by students with the use of different textile techniques were all part of the event.
In the atrium, we spotted Ruchika designing an innovative ensemble that made use of buttons designed from cola caps. The outfit didn’t require the use of stitches.
Manisha, working with the concept of Midnight Garden, used a mixture of textile yarns and draping techniques to design an outfit without stitches. Elsewhere, Pranaya designed a canvas of an ethnic woman, using layers of different textiles.
Even junk was put to good use to arrive at wearable art pieces or metallic installations in the campus.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Fashion / by Sangeetha Devi Dundoo / Hyderabad – November 02nd, 2014
The 13-year-old shooter is the youngest to qualify for the Nationals
At 13, Ayush Rudraraju can well afford a smile and dream big. He has managed to set yet another ‘first’ – he is the youngest shooter to qualify for the Nationals by notching up a Zonal record score of 117\125 in the junior men’s skeet category of the sixth South Zone shotgun championship, held at the Central University Sports Authority of Telangana shooting ranges here on Friday.
For the record, Ayush is also the youngest Olympic skeet shooter in India and is coached and mentored by his father, Rajeev Kumar.
An eighth standard student of Oakridge International School, Ayush is widely tipped to be one of the best young talents in shooting, which was amply demonstrated even when he took part in the ISSF Junior World Cup last year.
“Now, I am thinking of the different level after the Zonal performance,” says the articulate Ayush, who is clearly chasing bigger goals on the shooting front.
What is most impressive about this young talent is that he won the gold in the junior men’s skeet category (individual), team event and a silver in the senior men’s skeet category too.
With shooters from six southern States taking part, the fact that Ayush held his own to make another impact on the sport, has made many critics at the range take note of his prodigious talent.
“More importantly, I have qualified for the 58 Nationals to be held in Patiala from November 14 and 27. This gives me a real feel of what it means to be in the big league,” says a delighted Ayush after today’s achievement.
Not surprisingly, this young shooter is already aiming for a slot in the Indian team. He is looking forward to the qualification events for the Junior World Cup, the Asian meets which start next January.
“Yes, I am aware of the huge task ahead. But at the same time, I am pretty pleased with the way things are going. I love this sport and want to make it big,” he says.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V.Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – November 02nd, 2014
Kanpur :
The Uttar Pradesh senior One Day squad that will take part in the Vijay Hazare Trophy today saw former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin’s son Mohammed Asaduddin being included just after appearing for trials at the state team’s nets a week back.
Asaduddin or better known as Abbas is a left-hander, who was a part of the Hyderabad U-22 squad, back in 2010, but could not break into the senior squad in these years.
Asaduddin also gave trials in various IPL franchises including Kolkata Knight Riders back in 2009 without much success.
Today UPCA general manager Rohit Talwar today named the 15-member squad today and a lot of eyebrows were raised after finding Asaduddin’s name in the squad led by India discard Piyush Chawla.
It must be mentioned in this regard that Asaduddin appeared for state team’s trials a week earlier and now has been drafted into a senior state team within a week.
Squad: Piyush Chawla (captain), Akshdeep Nath, Prashant Gupta, Praveen Kumar, R P Singh, Ali Murtaza, Mukul Dagar, Ekalavya Dwivedi (wk), Amit Mishra Jr, Parvinder Singh, Ankit Rajpoot, Tanmay Srivastava, Kuldeep Yadav, Umang Sharma, Mohammed Asaduddin, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Dipendra Pandit, Israr Azim Khan.
source: http://www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / Home> Sports / PTI / October 31st, 2014
A courageous ‘go-ahead’ by a young woman for doctors to perform an extremely risky procedure on her baby to rectify serious heart defects has revolutionised the medical field in India – because the procedure was carried out successfully when the baby was still in her womb.
The baby – a foetus of 27 weeks – was diagnosed in the pre-natal stage with a 99 per cent block of the aortic valve which allows purified blood into the largest artery in the heart, called aorta.
Because of the block, a resulting leak in the mitral valve (which allows one-way flow of impure blood into the left ventricle) allowed the pure blood to mix with the impure blood in the left atrium of the heart. That led to shrinking of the left side of the heart.
If the defect was not corrected, the baby may not have survived in the womb, or would have been born with the defect to lead an uncertain, short life full of complications.
A team of eight cardiac specialists led by Dr. K Nageswara Rao, chief paediatric cardiologist at Care Hospital, Banjara Hills in Hyderabad – where the rare surgery took place on October 23 – successfully completed the surgery that took 150 minutes. The specialists were aided by 22 assistants, considering the complexity of procedures which involved cardiology, obstetrics, and gynaecology and paediatric fields of medicine.
And the highly complicated procedure became possible to be completed successfully because the mother, M Sirisha, a science teacher, easily understood the science and the problem, according to the doctors.
She gave her nod. When the first attempt failed in the 25th week, the parents were upset. But, we convinced them that the position of the foetus in the womb was the hurdle to the procedure.
In the 27th week, the team got experts to change the position of the baby inside the womb so as to allow the cardiac specialists to conduct the procedure.
They used a special-sized balloon with a special 18 gauge needle (imported from the US) to its baby’s thigh. The needle was inserted through the wall of the mother (Sirisha’s) womb, the doctors explained.
Dr Nageswara Rao said the procedure was successfully completed, but still only 60 per cent of the work has been done, with the rest 40 per cent to be completed after the baby is born in December third week.
Dr Rao is excited. “I have been waiting for ten long years to perform this surgery. Though we tried one three years ago (a different case), the surgery failed and the baby died. Now, this baby will be born healthy and will be normal once the remaining part of the correction is carried out,” he said. Such surgeries are performed in the UK and the USA but this is the first time such an operation has been conducted in India.
Noted cardiologist and chairman of Care Hospital, Dr. Soma Raju, said, “Hitherto, parents preferred termination of pregnancy in almost all such cases. In cases which were not diagnosed, the babies are born dead or die soon after birth. Now, we can say we have overcome one more health challenge.
Sirisha, already a young mother of 25 with a 20-month-old son, said, “The problem was diagnosed during a regular pre-natal test at some other centre. They directed me to Dr. Nageswara Rao who gave me the confidence that the procedure can be carried out successfully. We are now very happy, waiting for the delivery.”
The significance of the success of the surgery is in the fact that parents who seek similar procedures abroad would be able to get it done in India at much lower costs. However, Care Hospital has kept the cost aspect confidential even while indicating that the procedure would cost anywhere above Rs 3 lakh.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by P Pavan, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / October 31st, 2014
Weightlifter Ragala Venkata Rahul is set to make his maiden foray into the big league at the World Senior championship in Almaty
For Ragala Venkata Rahul, the journey to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics begins when this gifted weightlifter from the Telangana Sports School competes in his maiden World Senior championship to be held in Almaty (Kazakhstan) from November 4 in the first week of November. The only other weightlifter from this part of India to make it to the meet is Matsa Santoshi in the women’s section.
This is will be his maiden foray into what his coaches S. A. Singh and Pachipala Manikyalu confess should be the most challenging assignment. The 17-year-old weightlifter continues to be the star performer from the Sports School on international platforms.
Some of Rahul’s major accomplishments in the last one year have been gold medals in the Youth Asian, Junior Asian and Junior Commonwealth championships. Yet for someone who picked India’s only medal in the recent Youth Olympics in Nanjing (China) when he clinched the silver in the 77 kg category with an effort of 316 kg (141+175), the Almaty meet should be a huge learning curve. “Yes, it is going to be very, very difficult. But at the same time, it is the kind of challenge I am glad to be facing well ahead of the Rio Olympics,” says Rahul.
With the World Championship also being one of the many qualification events for the Rio Olympics, Rahul feels there will be some pressure. “Yes, the training has bee really intense in the national camp and the coaches are doing a wonderful job in helping us all (the 14 weightlifters selected for the Worlds). But again, it all depends on how well we adapt to the conditions, atmosphere and face the pressure factor too,” the champion weightlifter explains.
Inspired by Karnam Malleswari, India’s first-ever woman medallist in Olympics (weightlifting bronze in 2000 Sydney Games), Rahul has definitely bigger dreams to chase. “Representing India in the Olympics is my ultimate goal. Given the way things have been moving so far in the circuit, I am confident, if not over-confident, of making it big,” says Rahul.
Rahul is aware that whatever he had won so far including the three gold medals in the Asian Youth Championship and two medals in the IWF Youth Boys World Championship in Tashkent a year ago are a thing of the past. “What happened in the past is irrelevant. This is a totally new challenge and I am ready to face it,” reminds the young champion.
AP Weightlifting Association Secretary Badeti Venkatramaiah, who has been a guiding force for Rahul by way of sending him to major events given his potential, too is optimistic of a better future. “The best part he is just 17. He can go places as he never complains of getting tired during training schedule and more importantly always keen to learn and keep improving,” he points out.
As he tries his luck in the 77kg category, the World Championship should give Rahul an experience of what it means to be in the big league, where the best in the world compete.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by V V Subrahmanyam / October 29th, 2014
AWARD FOR TELANGANA
STATE OF STATES
INDIA TODAY
KTR RECEIVES AWARD
Minister for Panchayat Raj K.T. Rama Rao on Friday received the ‘India Today State of States’ award given to Telangana. Union Minister for IT and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad presented the award at the India Today conclave in New Delhi.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Telangana / New Delhi – November 01st, 2014
Hyderabad :
Hyderabad is set to have the first digital (paperless) post office in the country soon, member, Postal Services Board (PSB), India Post, G John Samuel said on Wednesday.
The official was in the city to launch ‘Same day parcel delivery service’ at a programme in Chikkadpally.
Speaking on the occasion, Samuel said AP circle tops in launching innovative and unique schemes for customers. Elaborating on the new parcel delivery scheme, Samuel said the service would first be available at General Post Office (Abids), Humayunnagar, Himayatnagar, Malakpet, Himmatnagar, Saroornagar and Malkajgiri. “If a customer books a parcel to be delivered to an address in the city before 3 pm at select post offices, it will be delivered the same day without additional charges,” he explained.
Chief postmaster general, A P Circle, B V Sudhakar said: “One-day delay could be avoided with the new service. For parcels weighing up to 500 grams, Rs 36 (Rs 19 postal charge and Rs 17 registration charges) would be charged. Based on the response, the service will be extended to other post offices in the city.”
Citizens can now track their SpeedPost by dialing a toll free number at 18004253925.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / October 30th, 2014
Hyderabad :
To curb eve teasing against girls, city police on Friday pressed in 100 SHE Teams, who will keep surveillance in all important public places to nab the stalkers.
During a press conference, Hyderabad police commissioner Mahendar Reddy said that the SHE Teams will be working directly under additional commissioner of police (crimes) Swathi Lakra. City police had already identified places and timings where the eve teasing is a menace.
“Stalkers are identified and brought to the CCS police station. Counseling is given to stalker and his familyin the police station. His activity sheet is prepared and kept in the central data baseHis activities are monitored on a daily basis,” commissioner said. Repeat offenders will be charge under Nirbhaya Act. The victims, whose details will be kept confidential, can dial 100 to lodge complaints.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / October 25th, 2014
Hyderabad :
Theatre plays were once a rarity in Hyderabad, but not anymore. The number of plays being staged are increasing and theatre is also finding a lot of takers. However, being a theatre artiste is not considered a full-time profession.
Neeraj Kashikar, a theatre artiste, says he likes theatre because he gets to play a lot of roles and project various emotions through it. He has been into theatre since his school days, but could take it up professionally only in the last four years. And making money out of this was quite a tough job for him in the beginning. “The pay depends on the seniority basis. To increase its popularity, plays should not only be performed in certain pockets of the city, but should be made common for the general public,” says Neeraj, who works in a corporate sector.
“The popularity of a show depends on how well it is publicised and that’s how enough profit can be generated to share it among the participants,” he shares.
While Neeraj thinks that the wages of an artiste largely depends on his seniority, Pallavi Verma, another theatre artiste begs to differ. “Dedication towards the art plays an important role in making a successful career. One should become successful enough to be able to fetch you a respectable income. One has to be smart, focussed and dedicated,” she says. She supports herself through her family business. “I have a passion for theatre but not dedication, which is why I haven’t made it my full-time profession yet,” she adds.
Agreeing that theatre is not a lucrative profession, Samahaara Theatre Group director, Rathna Shekar Reddy, opines, “It’s important for the people to support themselves with other jobs.” Still, he says, that number of youngsters getting into this profession has been increasing. “At workplace, the environment is stressful. They get to relieve their stress while practising. However, one downside is sometimes they are so stressed, that they may not be able to perform well. So we understand them and work accordingly.”
So how does one make a living while staying true to their passion, Rathna Shekar says, “Many schools and universities recruit theatre artistes to teach drama to their students. One can go for that. They can also work in television. They can try their hand at films too. But the requirement at all these places is limited.”
While many say that making money in this industry is tough, Suzanne Patel and Faiz Al Haq, founders of Mint Tea Creatives, make sure that every artiste, who participates in their drama, gets paid. “It’s all about smart work. If we pick up plays that requires a small cast and perform the same play at around three to four places, we can surely make enough money as every ticket costs around `100 and every place witnesses around 80-100 people.” They also perform plays at corporate companies to add to their revenues.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Pratima Shantaveeresh / October 31st, 2014