For Students, by Students

Business & Economy, Education, Uncategorized

Hyderabad :

Age is not a barrier and you’re never to old or young to make a difference. A group of Hyderabadi students have started Oakmont Education, a startup company which aims to improve people’s interpersonal skills, general knowledge and extampore. Formed in April 2014, Oakmont Education was started by two school students, Pravishta Nadella (17) and Jaswant Tummela (13), with a vision to bridge the gap between schooling and education.

“Through this we aim to develop the inter-personal skills, general knowledge and public speaking skills of students. I had noticed that a lot of people, even in higher classes, do not have the right kind of exposure to help develop these skills and through Oakmont Education, we attempt to sharpen these valuable skills for students, which they will need to move ahead in life,” says Pravishta Nadella, founder and CEO of Oakmont International.

The 17-year-old explains that they also help young students to help deal with other situations in life. “Situational awareness is also one of the things we shall be highlighting to various students. We focus on developing the aforementioned skills of students since we have established that they can get you out of any situation and will help make an immediate impact on large audiences,” he explains.

When asked about how they wish to achieve this goal, the youngster says, “We are collaborating with international organisations such as the Model United Nations, to bring forward a similar conference to the people of Hyderabad at a much cheaper price,” shares Pravishta, who’s currently studying in the International School of Hyderabad.

To promote the Model United Nations format in India, they will be organising The Asian Conference, which will provide aspiring students a feel of an international conference.

“The United Nations Information Centre will give us the material and will send across dignitaries to address the students at the conference. The students will get a complete feel of an international conference, at a much cheaper price,” he informs, adding that at Rs 3000, applicants will be receive accommodation for three days, while attending the conference.

Pravistha’s partner Jaswant is just 13 years of age and is currently studying in Oakridge International School. It is hard to imagine such young students organising such a huge event. Pravishta, however, brushes it aside.

“My mother has been my greatest inspiration really. I have been taught that age is not a barrier and It never really mattered for me,” he says.

Apart from The Asian Conference, Oakmont International is also organising sports-related events.

They are one of the key sponsors for the inaugural college quiz festival, which is set to take place on Saturday.

“We are looking to organise sports-related events to help improve young athletes to perform at an international platform,” he adds.

The Asian Conference will most likely to be held in the city in December.

The dates and venue have not yet been confirmed.

If you are interested in being a part of the conference, contact Pravistha Nadella at pravishta.n97@gmail.com.

source:m http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express Features / July 23rd, 2014

Delicate surgery performed

Science & Technology

Neurosurgeons at Star Hospitals successfully performed a surgical procedure on a 40-year-old patient Vishnuvardhan Varma who had lumbar disc disease, a condition where the disc of the spinal region causes low back pain, and during the entire procedure the patient was awake and aware.

Post surgery, the patient was able to walk without any pain, surgeons said. The patient was admitted to the hospital with lower back pain and pain radiating down the left leg, up to his ankle.

Investigations later revealed that Mr. Varma had a disc problem at the lumbar region (lower spine area) that was putting a lot of pressure on one of the nerves, hospital authorities said.

“We did a minimally invasive surgery. There was no scar, damage to muscles or bones.

The risk of general anaesthesia was avoided because the patient was awake.

Unlike in the convention surgical procedure, in which patients take six weeks to recover, the recovery by this procedure is fast and patients can get back to their routine quickly,” said Dr. Sai Sudarsan and Dr. Sukumar Sura, the minimally-invasive endoscopic neurosurgeons at Star Hospitals.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – July 22nd, 2014

Tennis star Sania Mirza appointed brand ambassador of Telangana

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Sports, World Opinion
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao with tennis star Sania Mirza at a meeting in Hyderabad. Photo: PTI
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao with tennis star Sania Mirza at a meeting in Hyderabad. Photo: PTI

Hyderabad:

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza was on Tuesday appointed ‘Brand Ambassador’ of Telangana.

She will promote the new “state’s interests” in India and abroad, according to Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Managing Director Jayesh Rajan.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao handed over a letter of appointment and also a cheque of Rs one crore to 27-year-old Sania at an interaction session with industrialists here.

“Telangana is proud of Sania who is a true Hyderabadi. She’s now ranked number five in international tennis and we wish she becomes the number one,” the Chief Minister said on the occasion.

Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, Special Chief Secretary (Industries) K Pradeep Chandra and other officials were present.

SaniaTELANGANA22jul2014

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Currrent Affairs / PTI / July 22nd, 2014

UoH faculty get patents from Europe and USA

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Two faculty members of the University of Hyderabad – K.A. Padmanabhan and M. Ghanashyam Krishna, have received United States and European patents for ‘Non-Stoichiometric Titanium Nitride films’ along with M.S.R.N. Kiran, former Ph.D student of the School of Physics, UoH.

The faculty members are from the School of Engineering Sciences and Technology and Department of Physics. The application for the patents was submitted in 2008, a WIPO number awarded in 2009, European Patent in October 2013 and the US Patent in July 2014. The patent application and process was funded and facilitated by TIFAC, a division of the Department of Science and Technology, a press release said.

The patent deals with the manufacture of transparent, large band gap, high refractive index and high temperature stable non-stoichiometric titanium nitride thin films. These films exhibit different colours such as blue, magenta, brown and golden yellow, which makes them very attractive for decorative applications including artificial jewellery and watches.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – July 21st, 2014

Trainee boxers strike gold

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust M.T. Krishna Babu with trainees of Sports Authority of India's STC at Port stadium, Visakhapatnam Shashikala (on his right) and Nikhat Zareen who won gold medals in the Golden Gloves international youth men and women boxing meet in Serbia on Monday. / The Hindu
Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust M.T. Krishna Babu with trainees of Sports Authority of India’s STC at Port stadium, Visakhapatnam Shashikala (on his right) and Nikhat Zareen who won gold medals in the Golden Gloves international youth men and women boxing meet in Serbia on Monday. / The Hindu

Two girls, who are trainees of the Sports Authority of India’s Sports Training Centre at the Port stadium here, won a gold medal each and helped India finish as runner-up in the Golden Gloves international youth women boxing meet held in Serbia from July 9 to 14. Twenty five teams participated in the meet.

Nikhat Zareen and Shashi Kala have participated in the international events in the past and the former has a few medals to her credit. Nikhat, hailing from Nizamabad district claimed the 54 kg category gold medal and Shashi Kala, a native of Himachal Pradesh won the 69 kg gold medal in the Serbia meet. Their coach, I. Venkateswara Rao, a Dronacharya awardee, is also from the port city.

The medal winners and their coach were congratulated by Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust M.T. Krishna Babu on Wednesday. Deputy Chairman G.V.L. Satya Kumar, Sports Officer and former Olympian M.V. Manikyalu, Administrative Officer of SAI STC T. Kishor Kumar and general secretary of AP Boxing Federation G.V. Raviraju were also present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Special Correspondent / Visakhapatnam – July 17th, 2014

Andhra Pradesh heroes out from Telangana university names

Uncategorized
Picture for representational purpose (Photo: DC archives)
Picture for representational purpose (Photo: DC archives)

Hyderabad:

Institutions in Telangana bearing names of luminaries from the Andhra region may no longer exist as bifurcation of major universities will be completed within the year.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had announced after a Cabinet meet on Wednesday after the Cabinet meet that N.G. Ranga Agricultural University and Venkateswara Veterinary University will be split and renamed after TRS ideologue Prof. K. Jayashankar and former PM P.V. Narsimha Rao.

Officials said the Telugu University and NTR University of Health Sciences will also be split by the end of the year.

Almost all the major universities and institutions located in Hyderabad are named after personalities hailing from the Andhra region. Acharya N.G. Ranga was a freedom fighter hailing from Guntur district. Potti Sriramulu hailed from Prakasam district and fought for the cause of Andhra while N.T. Rama Rao hailed from Krishna district.

“The Cabinet has taken a decision on the Agricultural University and Veterinary University and within the next six months the remaining two universities will also be divided. The Council for Higher Education will be divided in the next two months,” an official said.

However, it is not certain what will be the changed names of the two universities. “The government can also create a new university and name it after someone of its choice and whenever the original university is bifurcated, the Telangana part can be merged into this,” the official explained.

However, not just universities, there are host of other institutions and structures in Hyderabad that are named after Andhra personalities. During the Telangana agitations, the G.M.C. Balayogi athletic stadium was unofficially named the Bhagya Reddy Varma stadium. Other such structures, bearing names of Andhra figures, could also see a name change.

telangana instituesTELANGANA20jul2014

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / by Amar Tejaswi / July 20th, 2014

K T Rama Rao scores with CEOs

Leaders, Science & Technology, Sports
IT minister K.T. Rama Rao with CEOs at the ‘Hyderabad CEO Cycle Ride’
IT minister K.T. Rama Rao with CEOs at the ‘Hyderabad CEO Cycle Ride’

K.T. Rama Rao is making every effort to be seen as a “friendly and accessible” IT minister. On Saturday, he turned up right on time — at 7 am — to flag off the “Hyderabad CEO Cycle Ride” at Madhapur.

Yes, KTR’s punctuality totally scored a point with the 150-plus participants at the event and he topped it off with plenty of jokes. After the event —aimed at promoting the concept of wellness and cycling — the IT minister spoke on the “Future of Hyderabad and the IT industry”, apart from posing for a round of selfies and chit-chatting with the corporate honchos. He kept everyone in splits with his wit, as he picked on the late comers, including the IT secretary.

KTR also shared the Telangana government’s plans to build a cycling track alongside the Outer Ring Road to hold international cycling events and bring in more cultural and lifestyle events to the city. The CEOs also had a grand time catching up with each other.

Murali Bukkapatnam, president of TiE, Hyderabad chapter, said, “It’s a good way of networking and catching up with heads of several companies. And KTR kept the atmosphere even lighter. It was impressive to see a minister come on time and stay till the end.”

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC Correspondent / July 20th, 2014

Hyderabad may be Wi-Fi enabled by December

Records, All, Science & Technology

Hyderabad :

If everything goes according to plan, Hyderabad is all set to be a 4G Wi-Fi enabled city by the year end.

Reliance Group officials including CEO K S Venugopal and company coordinator PVC Madhava Rao called on chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao following which information technology minister Taraka Rama Rao held a review meeting with them. Reliance officials explained the road map for enabling the entire Hyderabad with 4G Wi-Fi towards the end of the year.

According to a press release, Reliance officials assured the government that the 4G service would be commissioned in September in the western part of the city where IT companies are clustered and would be gradually expanded to the rest of the city by December.

“The 4G Wi-Fi service will be launched in a phased manner.

In the first phase, along with Hyderabad, six corporations and 37 municipalities would be covered. In the second phase, 220 mandals will get the service. And in the third and final phase, the entire Telangana will come under 4G cover,” said the release.

For the first six months the service would be free. Following Hyderabad, Warangal would be a Wi-Fi enabled city in the second phase. Hoping to complete the ongoing works within the specified time frame,

Reliance is investing Rs 4,100 crore on the venture which calls for 1,700 km of optical fibre cable network. So far, 500 km of cabling has been completed.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / July 18th, 2014

This ‘FAST’ one may stump students

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

State working out modalities to ensure ‘Financial Assistance to Students of Telangana’ scheme benefits ‘genuine’ students

FASTtelengana19jul2014

Students can’t take the Financial Assistance to Students of Telangana (FAST) scheme for granted and they may have to continuously perform well in the annual examinations to gain eligibility for the next academic year apart from fulfilling the university-prescribed attendance norm.

Authorities are working out on the modalities to put several such riders to ensure that only ‘genuine’ students get the benefit while weeding out those joining the courses just because the Government pays the fee. Academic performance will be the main criterion apart from fulfilling other criterion like the parents’ annual income. Even the best students may not get the total fee reimbursed unless needy, senior officials, pleading anonymity said.

“Fee reimbursement scheme will see changes and a committee of IAS officers will decide on the new modalities. It is not free for all and more so, for the ineligible,” an official involved in the FAST scheme said.

“Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, wants engineers, who can meet the demands of the IT industry that will take a huge leap with the Information Technology Investments Region (ITIR) projects. Hence, he is serious about Telangana students benefitting from it,” the official said. He reminds that the employability of local engineers is just eight per cent compared to 47 per cent of Tamil Nadu. FAST will focus to create such serious professionals, he said.

The present scheme is grossly misused and funds are unevenly distributed, officials said. In the combined State, out of the Rs. 4,500 crore spent on reimbursement, 75 per cent was grabbed by students of engineering, MBA, MCA and Pharmacy, who are just 20 per cent of the student community. It means nearly 80 per cent of funds are going to just 20 per cent of students, officials claim.

Last year 28 lakh students benefitted from fee reimbursement of which 14.88 lakh were from Telangana. The number is likely to come down to just around 8 lakh this year due to the nativity factor being introduced. The Government said students whose parents were residents of Telangana region before November 1, 1956 will be eligible for the scheme virtually ruling out any scope for students from Andhra region to benefit.

Nativity issue

Officials say the reason behind designing the new ‘nativity’ norm is the large number of Seemandhra region students in Telangana. Nearly 39,000 students from Seemandhra districts are pursuing education in Telangana gaining admission through the 15 per cent non-local (open merit) quota.

Of this nearly 24,000 are in professional colleges, 6,000-odd each in Intermediate and Degree colleges. On the other side about 18,000 Telangana students are in Andhra Pradesh and majority of them have gone there to pursue education while their parents are still residents of Telangana.

However, number of students with Seemandhra ancestry will be much higher as thousands of students born in Telangana to parents from Seemandhra region are now technically considered as Telangana students only. The new norm plans to identify and make them ineligible for FAST scheme.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by R. Ravikanth Reddy / Hyderabad – July 19th, 2014

Young sailors bring glory to the city

Sports
The Yatch Club of Hyderabad members Rishab Prabhakar, Shivaram, Nikhil, Rajnikant, Yacht Club of Hyderabad president Suheim Sheik with Laser Yatch in Hyderabad. Photo: By Arrangement. / The Hindu
The Yatch Club of Hyderabad members Rishab Prabhakar, Shivaram, Nikhil, Rajnikant, Yacht Club of Hyderabad president Suheim Sheik with Laser Yatch in Hyderabad. Photo: By Arrangement. / The Hindu

The fact that some boys are from the economically underprivileged section shows that the sport is gradually losing its elite tag. Suheim Sheik, president of the Yacht Club of Hyderabad, has been coaching schoolchildren, some of who come from poor families and these boys seem have taken to the sport like a duck to water.

Although Hyderabad is located far away from the coastline, thanks to the presence of the Hussainsagar lake, the city has produced several talented sailors who have fetched medals for India in international competitions.

The most noteworthy among them are Arjuna awardees – C.S Pradipak and Rajesh Choudhary (originally from Bihar but learnt sailing on the Hussainsagar waters), and A.A. Basith, who represented India at the Munich Olympics.

Fortunately the flow of talent still continues and now there are a bunch of youngsters who are looking to follow in the footsteps of these achievers. The fact that some of the boys are from the economically underprivileged section of society shows that the sport is gradually losing its elite tag.

Suheim Sheik, president of the Yacht Club of Hyderabad, has been coaching schoolchildren, some of who come from poor families and these boys seem have taken to the sport like a duck to water.

Nikhil Kumar, whose mother is in the fish selling business, showed so much promise that he was sent for an advanced level coaching course conducted by Polish coach Marek Nostitz Kackowski in Hong Kong.

Ragi Rajnikanth is another young lad with tremendous potential. He has bagged the bronze in Topper class national championships twice. “Hussainsagar lake is a very good sailing venue in many ways,” says Lt. Col. M.P. Jaggi (retd), a former sailor.

“The lake has the requisite length and breadth to lay a full sized course. Two internationals were conducted here – the Four Square International in 1990 and the Asia Pacific Laser Regatta in 1991. Moreover, it is located in the middle of the city, which means less hassle in the transportation of boats, sailors and maintenance crew. Also, it allows more people to view the events. All these factors give Hyderabad an advantage and we are hopeful that this city will produce more top level sailors,” he says.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Abijit Sen Gupta / Hyderabad – July 18th, 2014