Monthly Archives: March 2013

Chenchus open the door to development

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

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Tribal people perform a traditional dance to express their joy after receiving new clothes at Garapentachenupalem near Pullacheruvu in Prakasam district. /  Photo: Kommuri Srinivas / The Hindu

IRCS offers them an opportunity to rear hybrid Ongole cattle

The Chenchus once used to rush to climb a tree on seeing strangers in their locality.

But now, they are socialising with people from the other areas as well, thanks to sustained efforts of the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) and the Integrated Tribal Development Agency to empower them. “It has taken us a lot of time to gain their confidence,” explains IRCS district secretary Ch. Chalamaiah while talking to The Hindu.

The septuagenarian ophthalmologist distributed dhoties and saris to the community people in the remote Garapentachennupalem tribal hamlet as a confidence-building measure before introducing them to the Indian Red Cross Society’s latest livelihood support programme — to rear hybrid Ongole cattle — to improve their income.

The girijans jumped in joy and performed a traditional dance before a joint team of the IRCS and ITDA personnel.

“’We will henceforth wear dhoties for social occasions,” said an elder of the community Mandala Nagamma while accepting the gift with gratitude.

Traditionally, they had been guides to kings in moving through the dense forests down the ages. They acted as guides for the British too during which time that got used to wearing half pants, ITDA Special Officer K.V. Ramakrishna Prasad added.

With the Centre recognising the rights of forest dwellers, they had taken to cultivation of rain-fed crops such as redgram and millets, Mr. Ramakrishna Prasad said.

“We have already tasted the fruits of development and want to increase our levels of income to lead a better life,” added another tribal woman Bumani Ankamma.

Dr. Chalamaiah explained to them that by rearing the Ongole breed of cattle, the most sought-after breed the world over, they could easily earn up to Rs. 1 lakh a year.

They immediately grabbed the opportunity and agreed to the proposal. “Initially, we are going to distribute 100 milch cattle to the tribal people in association with the Go Samrakshana Sangham,” Dr. Chalamaiah added.

Dr. Chalamaiah medically examined every member of the over 50 families living there and gave them medicines to improve their general health. He also advised them on general hygiene for women.

Change in attitude

“I can see a change in their attitude. They have an urge to come up in life,” he said, with a sense of satisfaction.

The inhabitants of the remote area, the northern most tip of Prakasam district, were open to the piece of advice given by Dr. Chalamaiah to educate their children for a better future for themselves. He also asked them to shun consumption of liquor and spend the amount thus saved on buying nutritious food.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Staff Reporter / Pullelacheruvu (Prakasam Dist) / August 06th, 2012

Dr Sripada Pinakapani dies at age 100

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

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Sripada Pinakapani.

Kurnool:

Dr Sreepada Pinakapani, noted Carnatic classical exponent, guru to well-known musicians, and professor of medicine, died at a hospital in Kurnool on Monday evening. He had been ailing for some time.

Dr Pinakapani, 100, is survived by three sons and three daughters. A medical doctor, Dr Pinakapani was also an administrator and professor in medicine, and a Carnatic musician of note.

Dr Pinakapani performed at major festivals and concerts, and also wrote several books on Carnatic music. His Gaanakalasarvasvamu ran into multiple volumes and contains minute details of the krithis.
Dr Pinkapani was born at Priya Agraharam in Srikakulam district on August 3, 1913. His mother Jogamma and father Kameswara Rao, a Carnatic musician, encouraged their son to learn classical music. He spent three months in the school run by violin maestro Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu.

He did his MBBS from the Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, and graduated in April 1938. He completed his MD in general medicine in December 1945, from the same college. He also honed his skills in music simultaneously and attended concerts of leading musicians of the time.

He taught medicine at the Madras Medical College and at his alma mater, Andhra Medical College. He shifted to the Kurnool Medical College in 1957, from where he retired as professor.
Dr Pinakapani received many awards and honours for his services to Carnatic music. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1984 by then President Giani Zail Singh. He was awarded the Gana Vidya Vardhi by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams on August 3, 2012, on the occasion of his 99th birthday.

He also received the title of Sangeetha Kalanidhi. He was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1977. Andhra University honoured him with the title of Kala Prapoorna in 1978.
Following news of his death, Ram Prasad, principal of the Kurnool Medical College, local political leaders and many others paid floral tributes to the doctor-musician at his residence in Kurnool. He has a stage named after him.

Anantapur Tyagaraya Gana Sabha paid homage to the vocalist for his service to society. Sabha secretary K. Gnaneswara Rao recalled that Dr Pinakapani presided over concerts by musical giants such as Ustad Bismillah Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar, in Anantapur. The concert stage at the Sabha is named after Dr Pinakapani after he performed there in 1975.

He trained Dr Nukala Satyanarayana, IAS officer Jayanthi Natarajan, Oleti Venkatesam, Srirangam Gopalaratnam, Nedunuri, Vasudhara Devi and the Malladi brothers, all of whom have made a mark in the world of Carnatic music.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / March 12th, 2013

Success down the generations

Business & Economy

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This is a story of a man whose dislike for his father’s trade and his inability to lie transformed him into one of the early entrepreneurs of Hyderabad. Sixty years down the line G. Mangilal Surana presides over one of the oldest business houses in Hyderabad, the Surana Group, a major player in copper, automotive and solar panels.

“My father, Gulab Chand Surana, was a wholesale food grain trader at Monda Market in Secunderabad, in the early 1940s. He was a supplier to the British Army. As I was not interested in it, I set up dal mills at Lucknow and Kanpur. This started my business career,” recalls the 83-year-old Surana, who played an active political role, first as a Youth Congress member in Hyderabad and later as a confidant of several national Congress leaders.

How did the miller become an industrialist? “I had a great working relationship with Lal Bahadur Shastri and also Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Shastri Ji, the then Union industries minister, told me to open a small scale industry in Hyderabad. Upon his advice, I founded a nail factory in 1959,” said the patriarch of the Surana Group, who has seen Hyderabad grow from the capital of a princely state to India’s major technology hub.

He studied law at Osmania University Law College, in the Urdu Medium, but did not take up the practice as he could not argue a case if he knew that his client was wrong.

His sons Narender and Devender entered the business in 1982 and 1988 respectively. The group now claims an annual turnover of `500 crore with a fixed asset base of `400 crore. Also the group’s 100-acre land bank in and around Hyderabad at current market prices would roughly be worth over `1,000 crore.

Narender, 52, heads the group’s solar, cables and real estate businesses while his younger brother Devendra takes care of the group’s flagship firm Bhagyanagar India, which manufactures copper-based industrial products.

Surana Ventures has the capacity to install 140 megawatt solar panels. Half of this came from its acquisition of a production line from German solar maker Schiff Solar. “While other solar companies are making losses, we can compete with anybody, including Chinese companies,” says a confident Narender.

Meanwhile 47-year-old Devendra Surana, a mechanical engineer and an IIM-Bangalore alumnus, heads the group’s flagship company Bhagyanagar India Ltd, which makes copper-based industrial products such as copper rods, copper sheets, copper foils. “Almost every vehicle on the road will have our copper foils, which we supply to all automobile companies,” says Devendra, who is also the president of Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Fapcci).

“We expect a steady growth of 10 to 15 per cent in tune with the industry’s trajectory,” says the soft-spoken Devendra, who loves to play badminton at Secunderabad Club.

Narender, meanwhile, loves tennis and watching comedy and action movies. “Once a week, I watch a movie with my family. But I am not the type of person, who can sit through the serious movies. I mostly prefer comedy or action movies,” he reveals.

This Marwari-Jain family is still a closely-knit unit with G.M. Surana at the head. Though living separately, the decisions about the group companies are made collectively.

“All male members of the family meet every day for half an hour from 8 am to 8.30 am to review what happened the day before and discuss the future course of action. So it’s a kind of board meeting every day,” says G.M. Surana, who feels that the days of joint family are over.

“My father used to head a family of 50 members including his family and his four brothers. His word was always final. But times have changed; we can’t expect such behaviour now. In all traditional business families, the second generation may be ready to work around the differences but the problems begin with the third generation, when cousins don’t get along,” says G.M. Surana.

Narender’s son, Manish, joined the group in 2008. A management graduate from Icfai and an alumnus of Harvard Business School, the 26-year-old Surana scion looks after the production of solar panels and EPC business. He is also into brand building and promotion of the group’s solar vertical.

Vinita, Narender’s elder daughter, is studying business management at Wharton Business School in the United States while younger daughter Shresha is studying at St. Francis College, and is the college’s chess captain.

Among Devendra’s children, elder daughter Nivriti is married and the other three, Rahul, 20, Mitali, 17, and Advait, 17, are completing their education.

Meanwhile, the women of the Surana family, Chand Kanwar, G.M. Surana’s wife, Sunita, Narender’s wife, and Namrata, Devendra’s wife, are all homemakers.

Chand Kanwar has been active in the Jain women’s wing while sisters Sunita and Namrata spend their time in household activities, reading, and meditation among others.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Lifestyle> Offbeat / DC / by S. Umamaheshwar / March 10th, 2013

Promoting heroism

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

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 Director Gopichand on the sets

Director Gopichand’s movies are rooted in an image of a larger than life hero

It’s been a fortnight since director Gopichand got married, and after a brief holiday he’s back on the sets to resume the shoot of Balupu. The shy and soft spoken director hails from Ongole and has directed Don Seenu and Bodyguard.Gopichand left his studies while he was in college and pursued a career in movies. He remembers spending long hours discussing films with his friends. “I would narrate the story, analyse the pros and cons and unconsciously the interest turned into a passion. Now watching my scripts unfold on screen gives me a real kick, says the director who had worked with Sreenu Vytla, EVV Satyanarayana and Murugadoss. He admits to having traces of their influence on him.

Any particular reason for the fascination with Ravi Teja? He says he Don Seenu likes Ravi Teja for his comic timing and unmistakeable energy. He adds, “I always write stories that have characters brimming with energy. The second film with Ravi Teja is not a coincidence, I always weave stories with him in mind and they tend to suit every star. These days all actors are choosing roles that have energy.Balupu has plenty of fun, it is about the arrogance in the character. The story is fresh, it has an emotional point and a love angle as well.”

Though his favourite directors are EVV and Vytla, the director says he attempts to create a brand of his own. He always aims to show the hero in a sublime position. He says, “For me the hero is ultimate. If he has a ‘star image’ it works very well, because there will be a sense of believability and span. Nenu ye script chesina hero ni ala oohinchikune chestaWhen I was young I enjoyed watching the hero knock down dozens of baddies, say mesmerising dialogues, dance etc. He would look the ultimate. Even now it is the same, heroism always remains the same in movies, it’s just the stories and the backdrop that change.”

Balupu with Ravi Teja, Sruthi Hassan and Anjali is scheduled to release this summer.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Features> Cinema Plus / by Y Sunita Chowdhary / March 09th, 2013

Agri-business mela in Hyderabad on March 11

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment

An agri-business mela will be held at the ICRISAT complex at Patancheru, Hyderabad on March 11.

Sources said here on Friday that the mela will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will enable entrepreneurs to explore opportunities in agri-business and innovators to present their work and business ideas for incubation support.

Select entrepreneurs and innovators would be provided incubation support under ABI-ICRISAT. For participation, contact the Agri-Business Incubator at ICRISAT, or call 040-30713452/30713417 or 09951353051, ormail s.vemu@cgiar.org.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Gulbarga, Monday 09th, 2013

Saina Nehwal credits parents for her success

Sports

Saina Nehwal has been a role model to young women over the last few years. Her popularity quotient went several notches higher after her Olympic feat in London last year, when she became India’s first shuttler to win a medal at the quadrennial event.

Saina’s parents have made huge sacrifices to give her the best. Saina said, “Thanks to my parents who simply followed the actions directed by the almighty, I’ve got all the fame in badminton. Why they moved from Hisar to Hyderabad, only God knows. I did not know what hardship meant as I worked on the instructions of my coaches with full discipline.”

She spoke about her early days in the sport. So what obstacles she encountered on the way? It was her family, Saina said, that faced a lot of difficulties. They let her concentrate on her game. “I was excellent in studies but my parents thought I could try a bit of sports. So, it was badminton and I landed up at the (SM) Arif sir’s academy and subsequently had stints with Goverdhan Reddy sir and finally joined Gopi sir.”

She said that she did not face discrimination in her early days.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Sport> Report /by G.Krishnan / Place:Mumbai, Agency:DNA / Friday, March 08th, 2013

Incredible stats from India vs Australia at Hyderabad

Records, All, Sports
Australia were crushed by a huge margin of an innings and 135 runs by India at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium — a win that is India’s sixth biggest overall and their second biggest ever against Australia.

The win also made Mahendra Singh Dhoni India’s most successful Test captain. It was his 22nd win, taking him past Sourav Ganguly’s tally of 21 wins. And Dhoni needed four fewer Tests to surpass Ganguly’s tally.

Dhoni’s record in home Tests is just remarkable. Out of a total of 26 Tests at home, Dhoni has lost only three (two of those defeats came in the last series against England, while the only other came against South Africa in 2010). Dhoni’s 17 wins at home are easily the most by any Indian captain, with Mohammad Azharuddin the distant second with 13 wins.

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Ashwin in action against the Aussies at Hyderabad. PTI

Dhoni has captained against Australia in six Tests at home and has won all six! His win-tally against Australia is the highest for an Indian captain, well ahead of Sunil Gavaskar and Sourav Ganguly, who both won three Tests each.

It was the seventh time that India won a Test by innings margin under Dhoni’s leadership. Mohammad Azharuddin holds the Indian record with eight such wins.

 

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On the first day of the Test Michael Clarke made an unexpected declaration with team score at 237 for nine. This provided only the third instance in Test history of a side declaring its innings on the very first day of a Test. The other two had come at Lord’s.

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar had gone wicketless in Chennai Test, but it was he who started Australia’s collapse at Hyderabad by taking first three wickets of Australian innings. David Warner’s wicket was his first in Test cricket and with this, he got a unique record to his name.

Kumar’s first wickets in all three formats of international cricket were all bowled (he had dismissed Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez as his first wickets in Twenty20 internationals and One-day Internationals respectively). There have been a few players who have taken first wicket as bowled in two formats, but none had done this in all three before Kumar.

Incidentally there are seven other players who have taken their first wicket in each of the three formats without any assistance from a teammate. The complete list:

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The second day of Hyderabad Test will go down as one of India’s most dominating days against Australia (in terms of batting) as Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara went on scoring spree.

306 runs were added to India’s total with the loss of only one wicket (Sehwag). There have been only two occasions when India scored more runs against Australia in a day losing fewer or same number of wickets.

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Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara put on 370 runs, which is India’s best partnership for the second wicket in Test cricket. The pair obliterated the previous record stand of 344 (unbroken) between Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar against West Indies at Kolkata in 1978-79. These two just failed to beat India’s highest ever partnership for any wicket against Australia.

VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid had added 376 runs for the fifth wicket at Kolkata in 2000-01. The Vijay- Pujara partnership is now India’s fourth highest partnership for any wicket in Test cricket. It is also the third highest partnership for any wicket by any side against Australia.

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After the 370-run partnership for the second wicket between Vijay and Pujara, Indian innings lost its way somewhat and folded for 503. India’s total is in fact the second lowest all-out total in Test cricket to include a partnership of 350 or more. Graham Gooch and David Gower had added 351 runs for the second wicket for England against Australia at The Oval in 1985, but the team got dismissed for 464.

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Cheteshwar Pujara (204) scored his second double hundred in Test cricket, after his unbeaten 206 against England at Ahmedabad in November 2012. During his innings, Pujara completed his 1000 runs in Test cricket. He equalled Sunil Gavaskar’s Indian record of doing so in least number of Tests (11).

In terms of innings Pujara is the second quickest with 18 innings after Vinod Kambli , who reached the mark in just 14 innings. In Test cricket Don Bradman is the quickest to accomplish this feat, taking only 7 Tests. In terms of innings England’s Herbert Sutcliffe and West Indies’ Everton Weekes share the record with 12 innings to do so.

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Murali Vijay (167) scored his highest score in Test cricket, beating his 139 also against Australia at Bangalore in 2010-11. Interestingly Vijay’s both Test hundreds have come against Australia and on both the occasions he was involved in a 300-run partnership! At Bangalore in 2010-11 he had added 308 runs for the third wicket with Sachin Tendulkar.

India crossed 500 for the second time in two consecutive Tests (they had made 572 in the first Test at Chennai). This provided only the second such instance for India against Australia. In 2000-01 series India had made 657 for 7 declared at Kolkata and followed it up with 501 at Chennai.

In their second innings, Australia crumbled from 108 for three to be all out for 131 – losing last seven wickets for 23 runs – their worst collapse against India. At Wankhede in 1979-80 Australia had lost their last seven wickets for 42 runs.

Australia’s defeat provided the 11th instance of a team losing after declaring the first innings of a match. It was, however, the first time ever that a team lost by innings margin after declaring the first innings of a match.

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# After second, third and fourth day’s play was completely washed off, South Africa declared first innings. England declared their first innings. South Africa then forfeited their second innings, setting England a target of 249, which they achieved with 2 wickets and five balls to spare.

India won the Test without taking all 20 opposition wickets (Michael Clarke had declared Australia’s first innings with nine wickets down). This was the eighth such instance for India. Interestingly four of them have come against Australia! The fewest wickets taken by India to win a Test are 16 against West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1975-76.

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Note: Had India won the Chennai Test vs Australia in 1986-87 (that eventually ended in a thrilling tie), they would have done so by taking only 12 opposition wickets!

Australia could aggregate only 368 runs in the match (237 in the first and 131 in the second). This is one of their worst batting performances in a Test against India.
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Interestingly Australia’s match aggregate of 368 was still two runs less than Vijay –Pujara partnership! It was the 14th instance in Test annals when an entire team was outscored by a single partnership.

The win is India’s fifth in consecutive Tests at home against Australia. In fact India have not lost to Australia in last 9 home Tests.

source:http://www.firstpost.com / Home> FirstPost.Sports> Sports / by Rajneesh Gupta / March 07th, 2013

Glaucoma Awareness Week in Hyderabad from March 10

Science & Technology

With the focus this year on early detection of glaucoma and prevention, city-based LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) has decided to organise series of activities during the Glaucoma Awareness Week beginning from March 10.

“To bring public focus on the eye disease that affects both adults and children, we would like to stress the importance of screening the family members of patients with glaucoma, as this disease can affect siblings and children of patients with glaucoma in upto 10-20 per cent,” LVPEI (Glaucoma Care) Head Dr Sirisha Senthil said on Thursday.

Glaucoma is seen as the leading cause of irreversible blindness in India. It is a disorder associated with pressure in the eye, and is characterised by damage to the optic nerve leading to irreversible blindness.

Currently, 1.12 crore Indians suffer from glaucoma, with 11 lakh people bilaterally blind.

Though the exact cause of glaucoma in the majority of cases is not precisely known, it can occur in a minority due to a variety of causes ranging from the use of steroid eye drops, secondary to eye injury, or even complications after an eye surgery.

Glaucoma more commonly affects people beyond the age of 40 years.

High myopes, diabetics and those with a positive family history have higher risk of developing glaucoma, a release from LVPEI said.

What is worrying is that 90 per cent of Glaucoma in the community is undetected, mostly because of lack of awareness.

Most patients are unaware that, early diagnosis can reduce progression of the disease and prevent blindness and all it takes to prevent such a situation is regular eye check-up or screening.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA India / Home> India> Report / Place:Hyderabad, Agency:PTI / Thursday, March 07th, 2013

Get the best of handlooms and handicrafts

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Nirmala Hastakalakar Vikas Samithi, a Hyderabad-based NGO is holding an All India Handlooms and Handicrafts Mela 2013 at the HUDA Community Hall, near Ganesh Temple, Vanastalipuram till March 9.

About 40 craftsmen are participating in this event from all over India. On display at the mela are handlooms, jewellery, handicrafts like cotton and silk saris from Pochampally, Gadwal, Siddipet, Chirala, Venkatagiri, Madhavaram, Bengle, Jaipur, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Lucknow, Chikkan saris and exclusive dress materials, Khadi Material and more. Also available are Hyderabad pearls, silver jewellery, stone jewellery, artificial jewellery, Banjara hand emproidery, Crochet Lace from Narsapur, toys and dolls from Kondapally and Etikoppaka and leather utility goods and Jute handicrafts.

The Exhibition is open to public from 11 am to 9 pm on all days and public holidays.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / Home> / Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / March 06th, 2013

FAPCCI organising loan mela for small units

Business & Economy

Hyderabad , MARCH 6:

The Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry is organising a two-day conclave and loan mela for the micro, small and medium enterprises in the State from March 9.

Leading lenders in the State, including State Bank of Hyderabad, Andhra bank, SIDBI and Central Bank of India, will be participating in the event.

Apart from bringing the lenders and entrepreneurs on a single platform, the event would also see disbursement of loans to some entrepreneurs. “The event will also help the banks understand the gaps in the loan delivery system and enable them to sharpen their services,’’ Devendra Surana, President of the trade body, said.

He said the event would be organised periodically for better interaction between the industry and the banks.

Andhra Bank, the leading lender in the State, is sharpening its focus on lending to this sector in the ensuing fiscal.

“We will be disbursing about Rs 14,500 crore for the MSME sector across India this fiscal, out of which the MSE segment accounts for Rs 9,400 crore. Lending to this sector has been growing at 30 per cent. But next fiscal we are aiming at a growth of 40 per cent,’’ K.V. Kannan, General Manager of the bank, said.

About 65 per cent of the lending of Andhra Bank is in the State.

State Bank of Hyderabad also intends to come out with new delivery schemes to service the MSME sector better. “Our disbursement to this sector this fiscal has been Rs 12,500 crore, out of which the share of MSE segment is about Rs 10,500 crore,’’ SBH Chief General Manager, said.

amitmitra@thehindu.co.in

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Home> News> States / by Amit Mitra / Hyderabad, March 06th, 2013