Aasapu Srinidhi, who is studying 6 standard in Shirdi Sai School here, got the gold medal in national-level chess competition conducted by the International Student Olympic Association at Haridwar from July 22 to 25.
A total of 33 students participated from the Students Olympic Association East Godavari (SOAEG) in various events such as chess, yoga, kung-fu, wrestling and kyushu. Srinidhi of Rajamahendravaram got the gold medal in chess (under-12) in her first attempt and bronze medal in yoga.
K. Rajasekhar, SOAEG general secretary, told The Hindu that the students of SOAEG got medals every year and this year Srinidhi got two medals in different events. He thanked coaches Vittanala Kumar (chess) and Devarapalli Veeraraghavulu (yoga) of the Shiridi Sai school.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Rajamahendravaram – July 29th, 2016
VDRA has started the peep sight shooting coaching camp in the city to encourage the budding shooters.
Visakhapatnam:
City-based shooters clinched two gold and three bronze medals in the recently concluded AP State Shooting Championship-2016 in Guntur. General secretary of Visakhapatnam District Rifle Association (VDRA) Ch. Devadanam said that Naresh Kumar Javvadi won gold medal in both juniors and seniors category while P.V.N. Sai Jayanth has clin-ched bronze medals in juniors and seniors category and Master G. Rohith won bronze medal in the sub-junior category. All the three city shooters will represent Andhra Pradesh in South Zone and Pre-National shooting championship.
The VDRA said that with the success of Indian shooting aces Gagan Narang, Abhinav Bindra and a few others, shooting sport has been catching up in the city and VDRA has started the peep sight shooting coaching camp in the city to encourage the budding shooters. Mr Devadanam said though shooting is a costly sport as compressed air-rifles are very expensive, they are planning to start more camps to groom the budding shooters in the city with the support of a few passionate persons in the sport.
Sources said that the shooters in the city are eagerly waiting for the shooting competitions in the upcoming Rio Olympics and if Indian shooters clinch medals in the sport, many youngsters may take the sport seriously in the coming days.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Sports> In other news / July 28th, 2016
Heritage lovers want the two World War II bunkers to be placed in Visakha Museum or along Beach Road for tourists and public to learn about their history and importance associated with Vizag. Currently, one of the bunkers lies partially submerged in the sea sand near RK Beach, while the other is in the One Town Area near the port conveyer belt. There’s also a huge concrete bunker on the beach in Jalaripeta region near Kailasagiri, which is practically not feasible to be shifted given its size and mass.
During low tides or beach erosion, the bunkers at times get exposed though most people are unaware of its significance. As per historians, there might be more such historical bunkers between Old Town and Jalaripeta along the beach but not all of them are visible and might be under water. Changes in the coastal landscape may cause some of them to surface in future. The bunkers were constructed for attacking or firing at enemy ships that try to enter the shores.
S Ravi Kanth Reddy, founder-president of Meecons, said, “Recently, I wrote to GVMC commissioner Pravin Kumar requesting him to salvage those two bunkers and make them part of a local museum or at least put them for public display somewhere on Beach oad with some description about their historical significance.”
Elaborating on the bunkers and Vizag’s tryst with the World War II, Captain Dorai Babu of the Indian Navy, who has done research and contributed to certain publications related to the East Coast Naval History during the International Fleet Review (IFR), said, “Not many people are aware that during World War II, a Japanese submarine was sunk around 20 miles off Vizag by an Australian ship. A Japanese aircraft tried to bomb Vizag Port area. The British were anticipating an attack on Vizag and therefore bunkers were built along the coast in the late 1930s and ’40s as a protective and attacking measure.”
“The bunkers are usually 4-5 feet under the ground and 3-4 feet above the ground. They are fortified with stone and can prevent 20 mm bullet attacks to protect guns and crew housed in them,” added Captain Babu.
Historian Edward Paul averred, “These bunkers or pill boxes were used to attack enemy ships trying to enter Vizag shores. The crew would be hidden in the bunkers from where they would shoot. Holes were made on the bunkers for bullets to be fired from them. The bunkers were made of thick solid concrete, which could resist firing attacks. However, these are so heavy and huge that extracting them from the seashores and bringing them to museums or Beach Road would be practically a herculean task requiring modern technology. May be some boards about their utility and historical significance can be placed along the Beach Road. But with increased erosion and the sea encroaching the shores, slowly the bunkers are becoming invisible. In the 1960s, when the sea hadn’t advanced so much, the bunkers would be clearly visible.”
Curator of Visakha Heritage Museum MNA Patrudu said, “It would be definitely a wonderful idea to place the bunkers along with information boards for tourists. May be the museum too can find some space for it if it can be lifted from the seashore. These are very heavy and half of them are submerged in the waters. Lifting and placing them somewhere else would be an extremely difficult task.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Visakhapatnam / Sulogna Mehta / TNN / July 23rd, 2016
K Dhivijit was among the six children who represented India
Visakhapatnam :
Dhivijit Koppuravuri, a class VII student of Timpany Senior Secondary School brought glory to the city by representing India at the Asian-Pacific Children’s Convention(APCC) held at Fukuoka in Japan. To bring awareness of various cultures and traditions across the world among children, the 28th convention was held from July 10-23. Dhivijit was among the six junior ambassadors selected from India to attend the meet. Dhivijit, who returned recently to the city, was seen beaming with joy as he shared his experiences in Japan.
The programme sponsored by the Government of Japan, in association with the Bridge Club, APCC, invites four to six children of 12 years of age from 40 countries for two weeks to educate the young minds about the Japanese education and culture. Children are selected by Junior Chamber International(JCI) India and are trained for a few days in Nagpur and Mumbai. Applications along with a scrap book that includes the child’s academic performance and other achievements are presented to the JCI, based on which the children are selected.
“For the first four days, 240 of us from 40 countries were together in Marine House in Japan where we all had great time exchanging ideas. We Indian boys secured a bronze medal in a group searching game,” said Dhivijit. The rest of the days were spent at the home of the host families, the orientation of which were given on the last day at Marine house. “I was very excited when I met the family of Shintaro Torii. I was astonished to see the food conveyor belt at the Sushi restaurant where the food was ordered through a touch screen and arrived on our table in a toy train,” said the city boy.
Organised on July 18, the cultural event had 5,000 delegates at Fureai Park, Fukuoka hall, wherein children were given the opportunity to represent their national culture. The festivals of India were showcased through a dance performance which was highly appreciated and was telecast live on YouTube.
Dhivijit holds his own YouTube channel and shares his work for his viewers. “Always being punctual, to maintain cleanliness, being independent and exercising everyday are a few of the values that my son has learnt from Japan and I hope he inculcates the same in him,” said Praveen Kumar, Father of Dhivijit.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / July 28th, 2016
When she chose to wield the hockey stick more than a decade ago, her parents reposed confidence in E. Rajani. Now, they are eager to see her strike gold at Rio as the goalkeeper of the Indian women’s hockey team.
It’s life as usual for Ramanachari and Tulasi even as their daughter Rajani chases glory at Rio. —PHOTO: K.V. POORNACHANDRA KUMAR
Even after their daughter started making a career in hockey, it’s life as usual for carpenter E. Ramanachari and his wife Tulasi, who grazes cows, in Yanamalavaripalle village of Chittoor district. Ramanachari’s education ended in class five and Tulasi never went to school, but that did not deter them from envisaging a career in sport for their child.
Rajani herself hadn’t any sporting aspirations in primary school, but things changed when she joined class eight at Zilla Parishat High School in Nerabailu.
The tall girl was initially picked for volleyball, but physical education trainer D. Venkat Raju found her agility and endurance suitable for hockey.
He got barren paddy fields levelled. Rajani and her friends walked along the field-bunds for 3km to practice. In fact, this nondescript school has sent 14 students to many national sporting events. And now, Rajani has raised the bar, scaling international heights.
Identifying her potential, Andhra Hockey Association secretary A.P.K. Reddy brought her out of the village to the Hockey Academy sub-centre here and later to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) hostel in Hyderabad, exposing her to international events in New Zealand, Japan, China, Korea, Argentina, Australia, the Netherlands and Malaysia. She also bagged the ‘Best Goalkeeper Award’ at an event in Japan in 2013.
“She last visited us ten months ago and we hope to see her back soon with a gold medal,” says her mother, brimming with confidence.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport / by A.D. Rangarajan / Tirupati – July 27th, 2016
Government alienates 1,100 acres, Vuda submits ADP.
Land compensation for assignees, encroachers is to be released by the government. (Representational image)
Visakhapatnam:
An Education City is coming up in Vizag for which the state government had identified 1,100 acres at Sabbavaram. Of the 1,100 acres, the state government recently issued orders alienating 740 acres in first phase free of cost to the higher education department.
Though the revenue department had fixed Rs 12 lakh per acre for the alienation, the government upon the request of the higher education department had alienated the land free of cost. Land will be plotted and earmarked to be allotted to private schools, colleges, varsities of international repute.
Already representatives of India’s well known private university AMITY had visited the site and evinced interest in setting up their campus at Vizag’s Education City.
The district collector had sent proposals to alienate the land 740.83 acres that comes under survey numbers 109, 135, 240, 241, and 242 of Vangali Village, Sabbavaram Mandal in favour of the Higher Education Department for establishment of Educational City Knowledge Hub Project on payment of market value at Rs 12 lakh per acre.
The Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) has stated that the above proposal was placed before the APLMA in its meeting held on 16.10.2015 and the APLMA has recommended for alienation of the land.
The Secretary Higher Education has requested to allot the land free of cost and further stated that if the land is used for commercial purpose in future, the cost of the land may be decided by the government in consultation with revenue department.
Hence, a view may be taken on the request subject to certain conditions, said the GO No: 332 of the revenue department issued recently. The government after careful examination, alienated the said land in favour of the Higher Education Department for establishment of Educational City Knowledge Hub Project on free of cost, subject to some conditions.
“Private universities and organisations like BITS, Sarla Birla academy, etc are to be invited to see the lands. So far seen and earmarked 550 acres for various national-level premier educational institutions and remaining lands available for private institutes will be around 200 acres. As per the Chief Minister’s directions, VUDA has started laying road and other infrastructure of water and electricity have to be taken forward,” said a senior district official.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> In Other News / July 26th, 2016
He was a scholar honoured by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) by being carried on a caparisoned elephant around the famous Sri Govindaraja temple here.
Kozhiyalam Satagopacharya received the rare honour way back in 1961-62. Followed by scholars chanting hymns and to the traditional drum beats of percussionists, the procession led by the then Executive Officer C. Anna Rao also dropped him at his residence. His achievement?
He rendered the Ramayana discourse for a full year at the jam-packed Anjaneya shrine located in front of the temple.
While his centenary was observed by his disciples at Mylapore (Chennai) on Saturday, his home town Tirupati too went nostalgic.
It is a rare coincidence that the 100th year of this scholar, who shares the lineage of ‘Abhinava Ramanuja’ Kozhiyalam Swamy, runs concurrent with the millennial celebrations of Sri Ramanuja.
Born in July 1916 in Therani on the banks of River Kusasthali on the Tamil Nadu border, the Sanskrit scholar taught for more than 25 years in the TTD’s Sri Venkateswara Oriental College. The multilingual scholar used to give a Tamil lecture on ‘Tiruppavai’, participate in Sanskrit debate and immediately switch over to chaste Telugu for a discourse on the ‘Ramayana’. Tamil and Telugu commentaries on ‘Sri Venkateswara Ashtothara Sathanamavali’, Vedanta Desika’s ‘Dayasatakam’ and a Sanskrit commentary‘Vidhitraya Paritranam’ on Sri Venkatadhvari were some of his notable contributions.
He mastered spoken English too within a few months. Satagopacharya made news those days by preparing and rendering the welcome address for the then President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan at the Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha. The President was all praise for his erudition, his disciples recall even today. Describing him ‘an authority on Nyaya, Mimamsa and Vedanta’, the then Lok Sabha Speaker Madabhushi Anantasayanam Ayyangar used to refer scholarly material to him.
His abject poverty never had any impact on him. “He never let money or the absence of it cast a shadow on us,” recalls his son K. Srinivasan, Secretary of the Navajeevan charitable group that runs an eye hospital, home for the visually challenged and an old age home, feeding 1000 people a day.
Though he got an appointment as a reader in the Vidyapeetha, he breathed his last before joining duty.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by A.D. Rangarajan / Tirupati – July 25th, 2016
“The executive committee of the Academy held on July 24 has unanimously chosen her for its coveted award,” said N. Murali.
A. Kanyakumari, an outstanding and versatile violinist, will get the Sangita Kalanidhi award of the Music Academy this year.
“The executive committee of the Academy held on July 24 has unanimously chosen her for its coveted award,” said N. Murali, president of Academy.
He said Ms. Kanyakumari was the first woman violinist to get the award in the history of the Music Academy and she will preside over the 90th annual conference of the Academy to be held between December 15, 2016 and January 1, 2017. The award will be conferred on her at the Sadas on January 1, 2017.
“It is God’s grace that I have been selected for the award at an appropriate time. I am very happy because it is considered as the highest award in the field of carnatic music,” Ms. Kanyakumari, a student of late M.L. Vasanthakumari told The Hindu.
A native of Vijayanagaram in Andhra Pradesh, Ms. Kanyakumari had her initial training under Ivaturi Vijayeswara Rao. Later she learnt from noted violinist M. Chandrasekaran, another Sangita Kalanidhi awardee. In 1971 she became a student of MLV. “I was with her for 19 years learning and accompanying her,” said Ms. Kanyakumari.
She is yet another student of the G.N. Balasubramaniam (GNB) — MLV school of music to win the award. Others who had already received the award are vocalists Sudha Ragunathan and Tiruchur V. Ramachandran.
A composer, who constantly experimented with music, she created seven ragas under the title Saptadri , seven names of Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati. “I used Annamacharya’s compositions to give expression to the seven ragas,” said Ms. Kanyakumari.
Her other raga creations include Mahalakshmi, Tirumurti and Bharat, a raga created on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebrations of Independence.
“I have teamed up with nagaswaram and veena players and my Vadhyalahiri was popular in the late 1980s,” said Ms. Kanyakumari, who had accompanied saxophone player Kadri Gopalnath along with thavil player Haridwaramangalam A.K. Palanivel and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain.
She teaches a lot of students in India and abroad, but does not accept money from them.
Mr. Murali said the Sangita Kala Acharya awards will go to Rudrapatnam brothers — R.N. Thyagarajan and R.N. Tharanathan and K. Venkataramanan, vocalist and music teacher.
TTK awards will be conferred on vocalist Nirmala Sundararajan and Thevaram singer M. Kodilingam. Musicologist award will go to Rama Kausalya and Pappa Venkatramaiah award to violinist Sikkil Baskaran.
The Nataya Kala Acharaya award will be conferred on Malavika Sarukkai on January 3, 2017, at the inauguration of dance festival.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review> Music / B. Kolappan / Chennai – July 24th, 2016
