Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Eight acclaimed literary works set to see light

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, World Opinion
The cover page of the commentary on Sri Krishna Devaraya’s work ‘Amuktamalyada’, brought out by SVU Oriental Research Institute, which is ready for release./ The Hindu
The cover page of the commentary on Sri Krishna Devaraya’s work ‘Amuktamalyada’, brought out by SVU Oriental Research Institute, which is ready for release./ The Hindu

SVU Vice-Chancellor and others to release the books today

Exactly 15 months after the government gave nod to its publication at the 4th World Telugu Conference in Tirupati, the eight acclaimed literary works are set to see light.

It was with great pomp that the mammoth literary carnival was held in the temple city, where ambitious measures were announced by the government to promote Telugu not only in the literary realms, but also in official communication.

As part of this, the Department of Culture gave the Herculean task of publishing eight works to Sri Venkateswara University’s Oriental Research Institute (ORI).

“It was a prestigious offer and we did our best to make them attractive,” ORI director V. Venkataramana Reddy says with a grin.

‘Amuktamalyada’ authored by Sri Krishnadevaraya, emperor of Vijayanagara dynasty, is a mesmerising literary masterpiece on which there are two commentaries viz., ‘Thatparya Bodhini Vyakhya’ by Gudipati Venkata Kavi and ‘Mahateeka’ by Gattupalli Srinivasa Kavi.

The other publications ready for release are ‘Nrusimha Puranam’ by Kotikalapudi Kodandarama Kavi, ‘Pattabhirama Vilasam’ by Panditharadhya Nagalinga Kavi, ‘Narapingala Sakuna Sastram’ by Appana Siddhanti, ‘Kalyanaraja Charitramu’ by Krishtipati Venkatasubba Kavi, ‘Goulisastra Vishayamu’ by N.S. Sundareswara Rao and ‘Bhanu Kalyanamu’ by Chandrasekhara Kavi.

Though the books were very much ready for publishing some six months ago, the delay in release has been attributed to the Samaikyandhra agitation.

SVU vice-chancellor W. Rajendra, rector M.A.K. Sukumar and registrar K. Satyavelu Reddy will release the books after Ugadi celebrations to be held on the campus on Monday.

What can be a better occasion than the Telugu New Year’s day to release the literary gems!

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Tirupati – March 31st, 2014

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Tirupati – March 31st, 2014

National symposium held at MITS

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technology

A day-long national-level technical symposium Mechonance’14 was organised by Madanapalle Institute of Technology and Science (MITS) here on Saturday.

Interacting with students, JNTU Anantapur Vice-Chancellor K. Lal Kishore advised the participants to hone their technical skills along with interpersonal and interpretative skills. “Students are the future and they should work towards the development of the country. They should also be in touch with the latest technologies to keep a track of advancements in the field,” he added.

Prof. Kishore later visited the Project Expo organised by MITS mechanical department and appreciated their efforts. Principal K. Sreenivasa Reddy, Head C. Yuvaraj, programme convener G. Harinath Gowd, Deans M. Raja Reddy (Academics), B. Venkata Raman (R&D) and others took part.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Tirupati – March 29th, 2014

Tungabhadra ferry ride saves cost, time

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment
Self-driven boats ferrying people across Tungabhadra river near Kurnool. / The Hindu
Self-driven boats ferrying people across Tungabhadra river near Kurnool. / The Hindu

The driverless boat service across Tungabhadra River near Kurnool ferries around 2,000 people daily for a charge of Rs. 5 per head.

The residents of E. Tandrapadu, Pulatota, Gondiparla, Basavapuram, Bairapuram and Doddipadu arrive in the city every morning to attend to jobs or eke out a living as hawkers and vendors. Five families of traditional fishermen arranged the boat service. The boats are fastened to a rope so that basket boats do not drift away because of the current.

Majority of the commuters prefer a boat ride to save cost and travel time. By ferrying across the river, the public reach the city in 15 minutes while road journey for a distance of 15 km takes more than half an hour.

The commuters travel to the city for less than half the cost. A cash collection counter is established on the bank where a clerk allows riders into the boat after collecting Rs. 5 and after getting into the boat, one of the passengers rows it by pulling the rope.

The two-way boats transport nearly 40 passengers at a time. Most of the passengers said they were well-versed with driving the boat. However, the boat service is suspended during floods.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Kurnool – March 29th, 2014

For Indian bishop, Saint Joseph is a “glorious” example for priests and fathers

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Saint Paul’s Cathedral in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) celebrated its 40th anniversary on the liturgical memorial day of the “foster father of the Son of God.” Missionaries from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) designed and built the church in 1973.

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Vijayawada :

“Priests and fathers must view Saint Joseph as a glorious model and guide because of his actions as a righteous man,” said Mgr M D Prakasam, bishop of Nellore, as he spoke to hundreds of religious and lay Catholics who attended the Mass marking the 40th anniversary of St Paul’s Cathedral in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).

The anniversary fell on 19 March, the liturgical Memorial Day of Saint Joseph, whom the bishop repeatedly mentioned in his homily.

Many of the priests who attended the service were themselves ordained on 19 March, and so experienced the celebrations with particular intensity.

“God,” said the Bishop of Nellore, “entrusted two sublime two missions to Saint Joseph, the greatest of all the saints: that of husband to the Queen of Angels and Saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary; and that of foster father to the Son of God, Jesus. Such a task is even more ineffable and inexpressible than human words can express.”

At the end of the Mass, the congregation paid tribute to Brother Gianni Davide of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), who together with Fr Pozzoli designed and built the cathedral in 1973.

Once a small centre serving a few Catholics, the local parish is now the spiritual home to a “thriving, lively and self-sufficient community thanks to the efforts of PIME missionaries,” said Fr Stephen, its current priest.

source: http://www.asianews.it / AsiaNews.it / Home> India / by Benigna Menezes* / March 22nd, 2014

*Missionary Sister of the Immaculate Conception, the female order associated with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME)

Hare Krishna Starts Free Food Service at SD Eye Hospital

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration /Positive News and Features

Hare Krishna Movement launched ‘Bhojanamrita’, a free lunch service, at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital at Mehdipatnam here on Saturday by serving free and nutritious lunch to around 100 attendants of in-patients.

The meal, to be served daily, consists of hot rice, curry, pickle, sambar and buttermilk. The service was launched by Bhojanamrita programme chief executive officer Lakshmi Kantha Dasa and others.

Dasa said that with the generous help of Sri Gulabrai Kantilal Agarwal they started the noble service of providing daily free lunch to in-patients’ attendants at Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital. The service would be extended to other hospitals gradually very soon with generous help from donors and well-wishers, he said.

Hare Krishna Movement, Hyderabad is feeding currently around 90,000 school children and Anganwadis everyday as part of mid-day meal scheme of the government and, in partnership with GHMC, it launched Rs 5 per meal in the city.

The free food service, Bhojanamrita, is currently available at Indo- American Cancer Hospital (250), Niloufer Hospital for Women & Children (500), Mahavir Hospital & Research Centre (100),

District Govt Hospital, Mahbubnagar (400), District Govt Hospital, Nizamabad and Bodhan (500), Maternity Hospital, Sultan Bazar (250), King Koti Govt Hospital (100) and Osmania General Hospital, Afzalgunj (1,000).

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / March 23rd, 2014

Osmania Medical College team wins Hyderabad round

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

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Hyderabad :

A team from the Osmania Medical College pipped five other short-listed teams at the regional round of Cerebrations, The Hindu Business Line Corporate Quiz 2014, held here on Tuesday.

The winning duo, brothers Syed Murtuza Hashmi and Syed Mustafa Hashmi, first and fourth-year students at the medical college, took early lead and managed to retain it, with the team from Reckitt Benckiser coming a close second and Sai Constructions at the third place.

Of the 20 teams that took part in the quiz, six were short-listed after they fielded a general elimination round of 25 questions.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News  / The Hindu Bureau / Hyderabad – March 18th, 2014

Music Through the Wind

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

DrJayaPradhaHF29mar2014

Noted flautist Dr Jayaprada Ramamurthy gave a mesmerizing performance at the DST Auditorium at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) recently.  The concert titled ‘Melody of the Flute’ was able to captivate music lovers for over two hours.

Starting the kacheri with Ganesh Stuti, the flautist went on to play Raaga Hamsadhwani and Bhimpalas to absolute perfection, which got a thunderous applause from one and all.

This was followed by Raagas Vanaspati, Mishra Khamas, Ananda Bhairavi, Sindhubhairavi, Mishrayaman and Kuntalavarali with Sri Thyagaraya, Ramadas, Kanakadasa and Annamacharya kirtanas.

Those in the audience were treated to an euphonious evening of classical melodies. Other pieces included Raaga Ahirbhairav, Raaga Brindavansarang, Revathi and Madhyamavathi that saw the audience tapping their feet. Dr Jayaprada was accompanied by Dhanunjay on the violin, Mallikarjuna on the mridangam and Bhargavram on the ghatam.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express Features – Hyderabad / March 18th, 2014

Hyderabad at LFW-SR-2014

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy
Ileana D’Cruz showcasing Anushree Reddy's work at Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2014. / Photo: PTI / The Hindu
Ileana D’Cruz showcasing Anushree Reddy’s work at Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2014. / Photo: PTI / The Hindu

An ode to the flower

Asmita Marwa took a departure from having actresses as showstoppers and instead roped in the spunky hairstylist Adhuna Akhtar who walked down the ramp in salmon pink net palazzo with pin detailing and satin silk cropped shirt. Asmita’s collection, titled Sensaina Tsuyo. The designer used Chanderi, Banaras and khadi for garments that were both structured like kimonos yet flowy. The colours ranged from pastels to earthy tones, were designed for resort wear, and included Chanderi shimmer palazzo and brown batik kimono wrap top, off-white khadi kimono cropped top with back slit, ecru long kurta shirt, white balloon skirt with shimmer sun and baby pink net jumbled sequins dress. The collection had something for men as well in the form of jersey samurai pants worn with Chanderi dip-dyed shirts and voile short sleeved kurtas teamed with black denims.

Ileana walks for Anushree Reddy

Anushree Reddy continued to explore the pastel palette this season as well, with her new collection at Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2014. The show began with singer Shibani Kashyap wearing a pink-white salwar with gold and silver appliqués designed by Anushree and ended with showstopper Ileana D’Cruz in a cream lehenga and peach-toned blouse with sequins and embroidery. The collection, titled The Tale of a Bow, used fabrics such as malkha, chanderi, kota, tulle, mulmul and satin and the garments included cropped blouses, lehengas, anarkalis, dresses, gowns, pants and cover-ups.

Mysterious bride

Who would have thought Kirron Kher could pull off a coy bride act with élan? The veteran actress did just that, while walking the ramp for Hyderabad designer Gaurang Shah’s collection ‘Chandbali’ at Lakmé Fashion Week. Gaurang’s show had music by Ashok Gurjale and the collection combined patterns of antique odhnas from Akbarnama with khadi, and presented a new take on bridal wear. Motifs like gow-mata, chand-suraj, Buddha-pada were combined with Chandbali-like embroidery. The designer used deep, vibrant hues and the silhouettes represented the jama, achkans, angarkha, sadri, shaluka, floor-length kalidaar and lehenga with assi kalis.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Fashion / PTI /  Hyderabad – March 17th, 2014

Turkish delights

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, World Opinion
A cold mezze platter./ Photo: K. Ramesh Babu / The Hindu
A cold mezze platter./ Photo: K. Ramesh Babu / The Hindu

The Turkish food festival at Park Hyatt offers a lot more than the staple doner kebab

The connection between Hyderabad and Turkey goes back a few centuries; Alauddin Khilji of the Khilji dynasty which ruled the state in the 14th century was of Turkic origin, Sultan Quli Qutb Shah who founded the Qutb Shahi dynasty too was of the same ethnicity, Princess Durre Shehvar, wife of Azam Jah, the eldest son of the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad is the daughter of the last Caliph of Turkey and more recently, Princess Esra, wife of Prince Mukarram Jah too hails from the country.

Surprisingly, while Hyderabad still retains much of the Mughlai and Iranian influence when it comes to culinary matters, Turkish food still remains quite different in flavour, ingredients and in technique. Moreover, while Mediterranean food is quite popular in the city, the fare is restricted to Lebanese, Greek and Italian, with the latter being present in almost every restaurant. So we head, all excited, to the Turkish food festival at The Dining Room in Park Hyatt with Turkish chef Turgut Tonbol from the Grand Hyatt in Istanbul. We sit down with the chef, who hails from Bolu, a province which he informs us is a region known for its contribution to Turkish culinary heritage.

“Turkish food mainly consists of the cold mezze and grilled or boiled meat,” he informs us, “but we also have a lot of broad beans, chickpeas and lots of soups in the diet.” Hyderabadis are no strangers to the cold mezze platter which has become a staple in many multi-cuisine and continental restaurants but the platter offered by Chef Tonbol has more than the usual Hummus and Tzatziki. The most interesting of these is the vine leaves, stuffed with rice, nuts and spices doused in olive oil. The platter also contains a simple preparation with broad beans and a mild chilli sauce. The freshly baked pita bread goes well with all or any of these accompaniments.

The cold mezze includes mainly vegetarian dishes. “In Turkey, we don’t have meat for mezze. It is only vegetables,” points out Chef Tonbol who says that the festival includes at least one dish from all the different culinary traditions in Turkey.

Chef Turgut Tonbol./ Photo: K. Ramesh Babu / The Hindu
Chef Turgut Tonbol./ Photo: K. Ramesh Babu / The Hindu

Ask Chef Tonbol what his favourite dish of the afternoon is and he doesn’t think too much before naming the Shrimp Guvec, a mild stew spiced with chilli and herbs. He also suggests the Chicken Sheesh, a grilled meat dish very similar to our own kebabs, except it is marinated with a special Turkish red chilli, a milder version of the Indian chilli. “It is more similar to Kashmiri chilli which is bright in colour but less spicy in taste,” he informs adding jokingly that to eat Indian food, you “must be a strong man” to be able to take the level of spice. “The Yayla soup, a yoghurt based soup with mint, rice and egg is also a uniquely Turkish dish and a must try.”

Desserts include the favourite Baklava, a Turkish rice pudding and Turkish pumpkin, a simple but fresh and tasty dessert of sweetened pumpkin and cream cheese. But whatever you may pick for the main course, Chef Tonbol advises that you don’t leave without savouring the Turkish coffee accompanied by Turkish delights. The strong black coffee is a must after a meal, “for the gossip sessions”.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Food / by Zeenab Aneez / Hyderabad – March 13th, 2014

Will to fight poverty: Hyderabad girl makes it to ‘Forbes 30 under 30 list’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

ShvethaHF25mar2014

Hyderabad:

Twenty-six-year-old Svetha Janumpalli didn’t go to “Stanford or any of the big schools”. Neither was she born with a silver spoon. Her father from Jadcherla, a small town in Mahbubnagar district, went to the US on a scholarship while her mother, who’s from Gadwal, studied only till Class VI.

“My father moved to the US in the ’70s, but the department he was studying in closed down; so he set up a repair business to earn a living. My mother used to work for an insurance company, and when my father’s profits were negative, my mother supported the family. We are three sisters and I was pretty young at that time. But we used to joke that we would get new jeans only during holidays,” says Svetha, who was born in the US.

Mentioned in the annual lists of ‘Forbes 30 under 30’ social entrepreneurs, PartyCorps, Changemakers and the Clinton Global Initiative (2012), here is Svetha, years later, heading an organisation that the international press states is the “the world’s favourite anti-poverty device”.

And that device, where one “can save a child for the cost of a pair of shoe” is called New Incentives. Founded by Svetha at 23, it is a non-profit organisation dedicated to Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) — poor women are given money to visit HIV clinics or children are given money to go to schools.
As an experiment, Svetha moved to Nigeria two weeks back to prove that this model can work in a country that needs it the most. More than three million people living in Nigeria are affected with AIDS and one out of three mothers transmits this virus to their child. “So I am here for a year. And if the model works successfully, it will be easier to replicate it in other countries, including India.”
Svetha had set up the organisation in San Francisco after graduating from the University of Minnesota in 2008. Till date, her organisation has been able to help around 400 mothers and their families and she hopes to take the number to 1000. “There are   free clinics in Nigeria, but when the time spent by a woman at a clinic results in her losing money, why would she come to the clinic? And that’s where the CCT model helps.”
Svetha travelled to India with her mother frequently till 2009, and it was during one of these visits that she came across drastic poverty levels. “The idea to start New Incentives came after the realisation that there are many in India who have resources and if divided well, they can be used to help the poor.” She had tested the pilot projects in a few villages in Andhra Pradesh.
Svetha is not sure where she will be heading to after Nigeria. “My fiancé is from Nepal and he might want to stay there after marriage. I love India and San Francisco, so I am not sure where I’ll be staying next”.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / by Anusha Dhiman / March 22nd, 2014