Category Archives: Records, All

INS Viraat to become museum

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Tourist attraction: Detailed Project Report for the INS Viraat project will be ready in a fortnight. | Photo Credit: Rafiq Maqbool
Tourist attraction: Detailed Project Report for the INS Viraat project will be ready in a fortnight. | Photo Credit: Rafiq Maqbool

Navy warhorse to be refurbished at Kakinada

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for refurbishing INS Viraat will be ready in a fortnight and it will be then submitted to the Union government.

The Andhra Pradesh government intends to convert the Navy’s warhorse aircraft carrier into a museum and a hotel in the sea, depending on the logistics.

The ship will be brought to Kakinada for refurbishment as soon as the DPR is approved by the Union government.

Representatives of Mumbai-based Master and Associates, which is preparing the DPR, are likely to meet Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in the next couple of days to discuss “some key aspects” of the report.

In fact, the meeting was put on hold because of Mr. Naidu’s foreign tour.

Based on the suggestions and inputs by the Chief Minister, preparation of the DPR would be finalised, according to sources in the Secretariat.

“It would cost between ₹15 crore and ₹20 crore to bring INS Viraat from Mumbai to Kakinada,” the sources said.

According to the Navy, the ship cannot be dragged onto the land and has to be kept afloat.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by G.V.K.Subba Rao / Vijayawada – October 29th, 2017

Kidambi Srikanth to become Andhra Pradesh deputy collector

Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports
International badminton player Kidambi Srikanth
International badminton player Kidambi Srikanth

Vijayawada :

The Andhra Pradesh state cabinet decided to give away a cash reward of ` 2 crore to international badminton player Kidambi Srikanth, who had won the French Open super series recently.

The state cabinet has also decided to allot about 1,000 square yards of land in Amaravati to Srikanth. Around Rs30 lakh reward for the two coaches of Srikanth, including Pullela Gopichand, has also been announced.

The shuttler will also get a deputy collector’s job in the state government. The cabinet complimented the achievement of Srikanth and felt that he would be an inspiration to future generations. Srikanth won four superseries titles this year.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Vijayawada News / TNN / November 02nd, 2017

Ongole writer gets award

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Samanya receives the award from Potti Sriramulu Telugu University Vice-Chancellor S.V.Satyanarayana in Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: by arrangement
Samanya receives the award from Potti Sriramulu Telugu University Vice-Chancellor S.V.Satyanarayana in Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: by arrangement

Samanya’s short stories win applause

Writer and poet Samanya was presented with an award in the short stories genre by Telugu University Vice-Chancellor S.V. Satyanarayana in Hyderabad on Monday.

The Ongole-based writer won a big round of applause as her short stories compilation titled Kothagudem Poragadiko Love Letter was introduced to the audience.

The story was set in the backdrop of the millennium march in Telangana before bifurcation discussing the pros and cons by a young couple through a letter, including the pulling down of the statues of literary giants by Telangana protagonists.

Not to rest on past laurels, she has taken up the task of translating Rabindranath Tagore’s songs into Telugu. “I have so far completed 20 songs and plan to come out with a book after translating 50 Tagore songs,” Ms. Samanya said after singing a few stanzas of the famous ‘Rim, Jhim Ghana Ghana Re’ song of Tagore on a rainy day.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Ongole – October 31st, 2017

Kidambi Srikanth wins French Open Super Series

Amazing Feats, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Dominant: K. Srikanth, who is on a winning spree, exults after taking the French Open with ease on Sunday.
Dominant: K. Srikanth, who is on a winning spree, exults after taking the French Open with ease on Sunday.

Having already completed a hat-trick of Super Series titles, Srikanth won his fourth title of the season.

India’s Kidambi Srikanth’s dream season continued as he brushed aside the challenge of Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in straight games to win the French Open Super Series men’s singles title, in Paris on Sunday.

Having already completed a hat-trick of Super Series titles, Srikanth won his fourth title of the season.

Srikanth, seeded eight in the tournament, took just 34 minutes to get the better of his Japanese opponent 21-14 21-13 in the summit clash.

The win ensured Srikanth, who played his fifth Super Series final this season, bag his second consecutive title in two weeks after winning the Denmark Open in Odense last week.

Srikanth, thus, became only fourth men’s singles player to win four or more Super Series titles in a calendar year.

Going by Srikanth’s current form, it was expected to be a one-sided summit clash and it turned out to be one, except for the first few points of the opening game which was a neck-and-neck fight between the two shuttlers.

It was Nishimoto, who started brightly to race to a 9-5 lead before Srikanth fought back to draw level at 9-9.

From there on it was no looking back as the Indian used his court coverage and superior technique to take a 14-10 lead.

Nishimoto did manage to take some points to reduce the margin to 15-14 before Srikanth used his experience at the highest level to pocket six straight points and win the first game.

Srikanth continued his good form in the second game and won five straight points to take a commanding 10-2 lead.

Nishimoto tried his best to force a comeback and managed to reduce the margin to 13-8 but the Indian showed his class and superiority in crunch situations to keep his lead intact and win the game 21-13 and claim his second consecutive title in as many weeks.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / PTI / Paris – October 29th, 2017

Intl. regatta at Krishnapatnam Port

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

The Krishnapatnam-India international regatta 2017 will be held as part of the Asian Sailing Federation (ASAF) Youth Sailing Cup 2017-18 series at Krishnapatnam Port, Nellore, from Dec. 27 to 31. The eight earlier editions were held in Chennai.

It will be organised jointly by the Navayuga Sailing Academy, the Yachting Association of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu Sailing Association and the Yachting Association of India (YAI), under the aegis of ASAF. While Krishnapatnam Port will be the venue, the racing area will be in the open sea in front of Krishnapatnam Beach.

The courses to be sailed will be windward/leeward, trapezoid, or any other configuration as may be described in the sailing instructions, which will be available approximately a week before the event at www.iiregatta.in.

The classes with age eligibility in brackets: Single hander: Optimist (Born in 2002 or later), Laser 4.7 (2000 or later), Laser Radial (1999 or later). RS: One; 420, 29er (1998 or later).

For details: Ashok Thakkar (98400 99099) and iiregatta@gmail.com

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sports / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – October 27th, 2017

4 cannons unearthed in Vizag school

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

CannonsANDHRA27oct2017

Visakhapatnam :

Four cast iron cannons, believed to hark back to the British Raj, were unearthed at the Queen Mary’s Girls High School here while excavating the ground to build foundation trenches for a new building on Thursday.

Recently , the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan had allocated a two-room building to the school at an estimated cost of `17.6 lakh, keeping in view the increasing number of girl students. An excavator operator, while digging the trenches at about 6.30am, found the cannons and alerted the officials.

According to Vijjeswarapu Edward Paul, an Intach member and heritage conservationist, the British entered Vizagapatam (present Vizag city) as early as 1682. “Vizagapatam was the Northern Division headquarters of the Madras Army of the English East India Company . A Major General-rank officer headed the Vizag unit. The premises of the school and the surroundings housed an arsenal during the British era. However, in about 1860, the arms were shifted to Madras and Singapore. Some of the arms, which were not worthy enough to be shifted, were left here,” said Edward Paul.

APSSA district project officer T Siva Rama Prasad said more studies will be taken up to explore what is hidden underground on the premises by leveraging advanced methods such as imaging technologies. “These cannons can also be placed along the RK Beach road to create awareness among students and general public about our history ,” said Rama Prasad.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Visakhapatnam News / Umamaheshwara Rao / TNN / October 27th, 2017

Guntur gets first badminton academy

Records, All, Sports

It has four matted wooden courts and a viewing gallery for officials

For those aspiring badminton players who long for quality badminton academy in Guntur and Vijayawada, the first badminton academy in the capital region on the premises of Guntur Club on Palakaluru Road, offers top class sporting facilities.

The Guntur Club Badminton Academy was inaugurated on Sunday by Minister for Panchayat Raj and Information Technology Nara Lokesh.

Built at a cost of ₹2 crore, the academy has four matted wooden courts and a viewing gallery for officials.

Club secretary Chukkapalli Ramesh said that more facilities for players would be added, including players change rooms and 24 new rooms were being constructed.

The city of Guntur has produced several top ranking badminton players like Kidambi Srikanth, Nanda Gopal etc, who trained at the B.R Stadium and NTR Municipal Stadiums under local coaches before heading to top quality academies like Pullella Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by  Staff Reporter / Guntur – October 03rd, 2017

Guntur scientists break new ground

Agriculture, Records, All, Science & Technology
Tadikonda MLA Tenali Sravan Kumar launching the programme at the Live stock Research Station.
Tadikonda MLA Tenali Sravan Kumar launching the programme at the Live stock Research Station.

Conduct successful trials on transfer of embryo from Ongole cows to other breed

The Ongole breed cow is known for high milk yielding capacities and adaptability in tough conditions.

An innovative cattle breeding technology replicating the In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) procedure developed by the veterinary scientists at the Livestock Research Station, Lam, here is now promising a revolution in cattle breeding.

After successful clinical trials in which the surrogate embryo of the higher genetic Ongole cow is transferred to lower genetic cows under the “Indigenous Bovine Embryo Transfer Mission” at Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Livestock Research Station, Lam, Guntur, scientists are now taking the technology to the doorstep of farmers.

Big advantage

The programme has been taken up under the National Mission on Bovine Productivity (NMBP) under the Department of Animal Husbandry Dairying Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, and Andhra Pradesh Livestock Development Agency. “The big advantage that a dairy farmer has is there is an increase of offspring by 5-6 times through the bovine embryo transfer technology. The quality of offspring is also better as the embryo transfer is in between higher genetic animals to lower genetic animals,’’ said officer-in-charge, Livestock Research Station, Dr. Mutha Rao.

Tadikonda MLA and board member of the university Tenali Sravan Kumar launched the programme at the Live stock Research Station, Lam, in the presence of senior officials of the department. Under the National Mission on Bovine Productivity, it was proposed to carry out 1,000 embryo transfers during October 2-10, 2017, across the country and the Embryo Biotechnology laboratory at Livestock Research Station, Lam, has been identified to carry out this activity in Ongole cattle.

“ It will help in protection of the indigenous cow breeds and also help the propagation of the milch breeds of India,” Dr. Mutha Rao said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by P. Samuel Jonathan / Guntur – October 03rd, 2017

Spreading wings for digital documentation of avian species

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All
Pheasant-tailed Jacana flying at Kondakarla Ava, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country, near Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district.K.R. DEEPAK
Pheasant-tailed Jacana flying at Kondakarla Ava, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country, near Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district.K.R. DEEPAK

Bird Count India conducts workshop in Vizag

In a first of its kind initiative to be conducted in the region, birdwatchers of the city are getting together to collect and document bird species spotted in Visakhapatnam and other parts of Andhra Pradesh through the digital platform of eBird India.

While Visakhapatnam and its neighbouring regions have several critical zones supporting resident and migratory bird population, so far not much has been done towards documentation of these avian species in a systematic manner. With an effort to bring the birders of the region together and initiate the digital documentation of bird species, a workshop was conducted by Bird Count India (BCI) in association with Vizag Birdwatcher’s Society at Visakha Public Library on Saturday.

eBird is a global, internet-based platform for gathering observations of birds, and for birders to maintain records of their sightings. Housed in Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology, the India chapter of eBird is managed by Bird Count India. The platform encourages birders to maintain complete bird lists and upload them on eBird, conducts periodic bird events and projects, offers support and resources to birding groups conducting their own projects and put together useful information on bird monitoring.

Speaking to The Hindu , Ramit Singal of Bird Count India, which manages eBird India, said: “So far, we have got seven million observations by around 9,000 birdwatchers from across India since 2014. However, there hasn’t been much information put up from Visakhapatnam. The idea is to provide a common platform to the birders of the region to upload bird data on the eBird.org.” The portal has an in-built filtering system and over 100 reviewers are based in cities across India who monitor the content uploaded. Vikram Penmetsa of Vizag Birdwatcher’s Society said that there were about 25 active birders in the region who have been documenting bird species, but eBird.org will help to bring together the data on bird distribution.

Apart from its major events like the Great Backyard Birdcount, which is held in February every year, Bird Count India has recently initiated a project for two big bird atlases, one in Mysore which was completed recently and another in Kerala which is a five-year initiative to be completed by 2020. “We recently completed a comprehensive bird survey for Kanha National Park and are in the process of getting a comprehensive checklist of birds from Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh regions,” Mr Singal said.

Unique event

One of BCI’s unique events is the Campus Bird Count which was started in 2015 with 50 college campuses in the India. Today, the event has more than 200 campuses participating every year. “There are over 400 bird species recorded from college campuses during this yearly event. We will be announcing the dates of the next Campus Bird Count in December and would be an ideal platform to document many bird species spotted in and around the educational campuses of Visakhapatnam,” Mr Singal added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Nivedita Ganguly / Visakhapatnam – October 22nd, 2017

Denmark Open: Kidambi Srikanth wins third Super Series title

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Srikanth beat a man 12 years his senior | Photo Credit: Reuters
Srikanth beat a man 12 years his senior | Photo Credit: Reuters

Beats Korean veteran Lee Hyun II 21-10 21-5 in a match that lasted just 25 minutes

Kidambi Srikanth clinched his third Super Series Premier title with a dominating straight-game victory over Korean veteran Lee Hyun II in a lopsided final of the USD 750,000 Denmark Open here on Sunday.

Playing an opponent 12 years his senior, Srikanth asserted his dominance with a 21-10 21-5 win over 37-year-old Lee in a match that lasted just 25 minutes here.

World No. 8 Srikanth didn’t give any chances to the more experienced Lee, who looked a pale shadow of the man, who had beaten World No. 2 Son Wan Ho in the semi-finals yesterday.

The duo were tied 4-4, before Srikanth changed gears and used his deception and powerful smashes to lead 9-5.

A return going to the net gave a point to Lee but Srikanth produced a brilliant cross court net dribble to bamboozle his opponent and moved into the break with a healthy 11-6 lead when the Korean went wide.

Lee had no answers to Srikanth’s razor-sharp smashes and cross court returns as the Indian led 14-8. Lee also made judgement errors at the baseline and also miscued his strokes as Srikanth extended his advantage to 17-8 with another smash.

The Korean hit two long shots and then sent one at the net to hand over a 20-8 lead to Srikanth.

The Indian made two unforced errors to allow Lee get into doubles figures. But Lee again erred with the length of his return as Srikanth pocketed the first game.

In the second game, Srikanth stepped on the gas and zoomed to a 11-1 lead even as Lee struggled with his strokes, hitting wide and long and often finding the net.

Post mid-game break, Lee produced a steep cross court return, much to the cheer of the sizable crowd who had turned out to watch the finals. The Korean lacked anticipation as Srikanth smashed his way to the title.

Ratchanok Inthanon takes title

Earlier, 2013 World Champion Ratchanok Inthanon produced another gritty display to stave off the challenge from World No. 5 and defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 14-21 21-15 21-19 to win her first title of the season.

“I didn’t think about winning or losing. I just wanted to give my best for our beloved King, who passed away last year. It has been difficult for us and I am happy I could find the mental strength and power to win today,” a teary-eyed Inthanon said.

Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest- reigning monarch, had passed away last year after 70 years as head of state.

Among other matches, Hong Kong’s eighth seeded mixed doubles pair of Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet, who had clinched the 2012 Japan Open Super Series, notched up their maiden major title.

They defeated top-seeded Chinese combo of Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen 24-22 19-21 23-21 in a thrilling contest that lasted a little less than an hour.

Korea’s women’s doubles pair of Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan, who had won the 2014 World championship bronze medal at Denmark, dished out another sensational performance to outwit Japanese sixth seeds Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto 21-13 21-16 to clinch the title.

Chinese pair of Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan, seeded fifth, defeated second seeded Indonesian combo of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 21-16 22-24 21-19 in the men’s doubles final clash.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sport / by PTI / Odense – October 22nd, 2017