IIT-JEE topper of 2011, who left a cushy job to chase IAS dream, secures 24th rank in UPSC exams
This young man from the family of a small-time jewellery shop owner is special among Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) achievers this year despite not securing the rank that usually grabs headlines.
Unlike most other serious aspirants, he is a Telugu film buff, who left a cushy job abroad to fulfil his childhood passion of cracking the Civil Services examination. On the way to achieving his goal, he grabbed the country’s attention in 2011 by topping IIT-JEE.
Meet Immidi Prudhvitej, the 24th rank holder of Civil Services exams this year.
Notwithstanding his entry into IIT-Bombay, his passion for IAS remained undiluted. “My interest is not in IIT or a career abroad, but cracking the Civil Services,” Prudhvitej had told The Hindu in 2011 after his IIT-JEE success. “That’s the best way to serve society,” he had said.
Prudhvitej hails from the temple town of Dwaraka Tirumala in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and is sure to get IAS, even if it’s not in his native State.
After completing electrical engineering from IIT-Bombay, he received a lucrative offer from Samsung to work in South Korea. While working there, his Civil Services dream kept haunting him.
The two years that he stayed away from India and serious studies were just minor hurdles that he overcame with hard work and guidance of roommates, who were also IAS aspirants. “I came back to India with the sole purpose of taking a shot at Civils and achieved it in the first attempt,” he said.
All along, his father stood by him like a pillar of suppport. In fact, it was he who drilled into Prudhvitej’s mind about the role Civil Servants can play in improving the lives of people and encouraged him to achieve his long-cherished goal.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by R. Ravikanth Reddy / Hyderabad – April 30th, 2018
When Kaushik Koganti and Teja Chekuri began the first branch of the now renowned chain of restaurants, Godavari, in the US, little did they imagine that just like the river Godavari, their growth would be a full flow, moving ahead making massive strides cutting across various places. What else could be said about such a humongous growth for a food chain started by two Indians with the only dream to give South Indian food a global identity?
Having started off in May 2015, when they setup their first restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts, little did the duo think they’d move to such a strength so soon and would establish 25 in total, in a period of fewer than three years. In a major development and milestone of sorts, they are celebrating the opening of their 25th story at Houston.
Kaushik, 31, recalls how it all began.
“When I had come to the US to pursue my masters degree in 2008, I obviously craved Indian food. However, I realized that there was a limitation in terms of flavours and that everyone compromised on spices in a bid to westernize the food. I always was keen on the dining business and I thought there was no better way than this,”
he shares. Interestingly, he also realized how the food of Andhra (and now Telangana too) was majorly limited to “Hyderabadi biryani”. “It sure is amazing food. But there’s a lot more to the flavours here and we wanted to bring that to the fore,” he tells us. In fact, the reason they chose the name Godavari was to Stay away from traditional names which are found at several places in the US.
In fact, even though the fathers of both Kaushik and Teja (35), who hail from Vijayawada, are friends, the duo didn’t quite know each other well at all till they landed in the US. “I liked his enterprising nature and discussed with him soon after the idea cropped up in my head. We had no second thoughts and had to jump in soon after,” shares Kaushik, adding, “I left my IT job overnight to pursue this dream, and today, I cannot be happier about that decision because the biggest pleasure comes every day when we hear of how over 10,000 people have dined at our restaurants almost on an everyday basis. There’s nothing more beautiful than giving the pleasure of good food to someone.” Today, Teja has moved back to India, while Kaushik handles the operations in the US. However, he tells us that Teja is at the helm and handles most financial matters. “He has been in the business for long (he owns the well-known brewery Prost that has branches in Bangalore and Hyderabad,North face real estate, Iron Hill brewery amongst other enterprises) and has massive experience which is a boon,” Kaushik says.
Though they are at a very important brink at the moment, when they started off, they didn’t expect such a massive growth. “Yes, we always wanted to go global. Godavari isn’t just for people in the US. In fact, our next branch is going to open in Muscat. We want to take authentic South Indian flavours global. We have realized that when there’s talk of food from the south of India, the menu is quite limited but we wanted to go far and beyond. But we didn’t think the growth would happen so quick,” he states.
But the journey here, though rosy at the outset, wasn’t quite easy. “The major challenge was finding skilled labour. It’s not easy to find people who can make this kind of food in the US. It has been quite a task that way. However, we were clear about one thing, we bring our customers the best of local food, something they’d get on the bandis on streets in India but with high quality. Flavours of the underdog and quality of the five-star hotels was our aim,” shares Kaushik.
However, when franchises come into the picture, it can get tough to maintain quality. “I agree. And that’s why when we decided to start off with franchises, the first thing we did was make things more structured. The chefs are trained in Boston beforehand and we want a uniformity in the way food tastes at every place. We take criticism seriously, and any feedback is discussed with the branch. Owners of our franchises have been very supportive in this journey,” he avers, elaborating that their aim was to always appeal to the westerner as much as the Indians.
“Indians would eat the food, no doubt. But we wanted others to taste our food in its authentic tastes. Indian food is spicy, and we do not want to subtle down flavours, just to suit them. Authenticity is our USP,” he says.
Meanwhile, the team of Godavari pride themselves on being “youngsters with a vision”. Kaushik elaborates, “We understand the importance of marketing and have gone all out in that area because that’s how we’d be able to reach out to people. Being savvy has helped us come up with innovative ways to tell people what we do. Jaswanth Reddy, Varun Madisetty, Sivam Shankar and Uday Gummakonda have all been major players in our growth and what we have managed to do today wouldn’t be possible today without their support.”
source: http://www.telugu360.c0m / Telugu360.com / Home> NRI Life> Diaspora / by Pranita Jonnalagedda / April 27th, 2018
G Satyanarayana, student of Andhra University fine arts department, bagged the first prize, consisting of a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, at the first-ever Print Biennale held in India, organised by National Academy of Art or Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi.
Andhra University
He received the award from Union culture minister Mahesh Sharma. A total of six students were selected for the event and each has bagged prizes under different categories, said varsity officials. The other prize winners include T Jagadeesh, Srinivas Pulagam, etc. The students met the varsity vice chancellor Prof G nageswara Rao, who congratulated them for bringing laurels to AU.
Artists from 17 countries such as the United States of America, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Italy, Mexico, China, Israel, Sweden, Lithuania, Poland, Argentina, Greece, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Mauritius participated in the Biennale. A total number of 988 entries were received from across India, of which 127 had been chosen for the event. The number of foreign entries was 137, of which 50 artists were selected. A total of 73 artwork of international artists were put on display.
The exhibition opened on March 25 at Rabindra Bhavan Galleries. Printmaking is often called the most democratic medium because of its accessibility, outreach, and potential to connect artists throughout the world.
As an artform, Printmaking consists of the production of images, usually on paper but occasionally on fabric, plastic, or other support, by various techniques of multiplication, under the direct supervision of or by the hand of the artist. Such fine prints, as they are known collectively, are considered original works of art, even though they can exist in multiples. There are various techniques that can be used for printmaking, including relief, intaglio, planography, stencil, woodcuts, collagraphs and others.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Visakhapatnam / TNN / April 24th, 2018
Robotic technology is making one’s life easy and is also developing at a fast pace day by day. A lot of industries and manufacturing centres are using robotic technology to accomplish their tasks precisely. The technology excels in completing tasks which are found to be difficult to be handled by humans. Such technology would really come in handy in the field of medicine to perform surgeries and treatments. Implementing the same, a surgical robot has been unveiled at Mahatma Gandhi Cancer Hospital in Visakhapatnam which will help fight cancer tissues.
First of its kind in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
The Da Vinci Surgical Robot is a first of its kind Robotic Surgical System in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh which helps in detecting Cancer at a very early stage by magnifying the view of cancer affected tissues that would help the doctors to study the malignant effect. The robot, which is comprised of four flexible hands, provides precise instruments that would help in clearing the tumour and damaged tissue.
Surgical system helps perform surgeries without complications
The software of the surgical robot is equivalent to the software which is present in several PCs. It helps the doctors to perform surgeries where minimally invasive procedures are needed which will manage blood loss, pain and fewer blood transfusions.
Human Resource Development Minister, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, inaugurated the system on Friday, April 27. Explaining what the system can do, Managing Director of the hospital, Dr Murali Krishna Vonna said,”We are always in the forefront to introduce new technologies and services in cancer treatments in the state so that the patients belonging to our state do not need to travel far looking for advanced health care services.”
Credits: Deccan Chronicle
source: http://www.yovizag.com / Yo Vizag / Home> News> City Updates / April 2018
Surgeons of Healing Little Hearts, UK, who are in the team that completed 300 free operations, in Vijayawada. | Photo Credit: ARRANGED
Initiative by Healing Little Hearts in association with Andhra Hospitals
Healing Little Hearts, UK, in association with the Andhra Hospitals, has completed free heart surgeries on 300 children with various complex heart ailments including transposition of great arteries, Tetralogy of Fallot, absent pulmonary valve, double outlet right ventricle, Tricuspid Atresia, Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection (TAPVC) and Atrioventricular Septal Defect (AVSD).
Andhra Hospitals Children’s Services chief P.V. Rama Rao told media that the number touched the 300 mark with the completion of 14 heart surgeries performed by a 10-member expert team from from different hospitals in the UK and Italy this week.
Dr. Rama Rao said that the success rate of the Healing Little Hearts teams that have been performing surgeries was “nearly” 100%. He said that teams from UK had come to perform surgeries at the Andhra Hospitals 14 times.
He said that cardiac surgeons, specialist nurses from the Great Ormond Street Hospital, (London), Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Leicester Royal Infirmary, of the UK, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital and Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli Ospendale Mondaldi of Italy performed the surgeries free of cost.
Andhra Hospital surgeons Dilip, Sreemannarayana and Ramesh performed the surgeries along with doctors from UK and Italy, Dr Rama Rao said.
Film star Mahesh Babu who was extending support to Andhra Hospitals visited the children who underwent surgery and at the earlier camps in the Heart and Brain Institute and interacted with them and their parents. Mr. Mahesh Babu was in the city to promote his new film on Friday.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – April 28th, 2018
Learning curve: A life-size statue of Olive Ridley turtle at the Turtle Interpretation Centre in Visakhapatnam. | Photo Credit: K_R_DEEPAK
Interpretation centres in Vizag, Vizianagaram highlight their ecological significance
After more than a decade of Olive Ridley turtle conservation programme in the State, the Forest Department has set up first-of-its-kind turtle interpretation centres in the State in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram to boost the conservation of the sea turtle species, listed as “threatened” by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The centre in Visakhapatnam is developed at the pagoda-type cottage structure located at the R.K. Beach. It was earlier an Environment Education Centre launched in 2000 but was closed in 2007 due to criticism over maintenance. In its new look and with special features, the centre is expected to be a major draw for visitors.
Lively ambience
Sharing details with The Hindu, Chief Conservator of Forest Rahul Pandey said: “A lot of thought and planning has gone into making it lively and provide an enhanced visitor experience. From big-sized images of the types of sea turtles seen along the coastal belt of Andhra Pradesh to a presentation of the fascinating life cycle of Olive Ridleys and giving information like the number of hatcheries, the centre will play an important role in spreading awareness about them.” The centre in Visakhapatnam is developed at the cost of ₹25 lakh while the one in Vizianagaram is coming up in collaboration with the Chennai-based organisation Tree Foundation at the cost of ₹10 lakh. The centres will be thrown open to the public from May 10.
The external walls of the centre don a refreshing look with art work on the theme of sea turtles by artist Ravi. As one enters, the first thing to catch the attention is a life-sized structure of an Olive Ridley, moving its head and opening its mouth. The huge images on the walls of the well-lit room effectively highlight the criticality of the need to save sea turtles and the ecological significance of the flippered visitors. “We will charge a nominal entry fee to meet the maintenance cost. A team of four people will be working towards managing the centre,” Mr Pandey said.
Eggs collection
Incidentally, Visakhapatnam recorded a significant increase in the number of eggs collected from the coast that rose from 1,82,124 in 2017 to 1,95,000 eggs this year. The Forest Department in association with the Visakha Society for Care and Protection of Animals has set up 31 hatcheries in the coastal belts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. While last year 18,000 hatchlings were released into the sea, the department expects the number to nearly double this year. “We released 12,000 hatchlings last month and are expecting another 15,000 in the coming few days,” Mr. Pandey added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Nivedita Ganguly / Visakhapatnam – April 28th, 2018
Innovators to get incubation support through licensing
In what could be a boost to startups, MSMEs and innovators, experts in intellectual property rights will set up Novel IPR Academy in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, marking the World IP Day.
With low awareness level on IP remaining an issue, the academy aims at spreading awareness as part of its education and a collaborative platform.
IP owners will be benefited by commercialising their inventions, says Novel Patent Services MD Atti Hima Bindu.
“We are happy to launch the academy as Visakhapatnam is transforming into a major knowledge hub in the country,” Novel Patent Services Managing Director Atti Hima Bindu told The Hindu.
Ms. Hima Bindu was honoured with ‘Exceptional Women of Excellence’ award by the Women Economic Forum at Hague, Netherlands in connection with International Women’s Day celebrations on March 8 this year.
IPR cells
She said the academy, as part of its education vertical, would benefit a wide range of diversified sectors such as students, career aspirants, startups, private and public sector enterprises.
“Educational institutes will be encouraged to open IPR cells to nurture intellectual capabilities of students and promote the creative thinking at all levels. The IP collaborative platform will offer a virtual unison of three verticals viz. research, industry and investments and also provide IP incubation support that will promote IP through licensing or commercialisation aspect and fuel IP-based startups,” she said. Further, the collaborative platform would help researchers understand the needs of industry and focus on industry-relevant studies.
Collaborative platform
“It will enable IP owners to gain benefit from inventions by either commercialising them or licensing inventions or by supporting them to establish their own firm based on the IP,” she said.
Founder and director of Novel Patent Services, a city-headquartered decade-old firm with clients in various countries, Pattabhi Muralikrishna said diligent and intelligent IP strategy was one of the key aspects for startups as well as for others in a highly competitive world.
“We have decided to inaugurate the academy on World IP Day as it is aimed at celebrating creativity and contributions made by creators and innovators to the development of knowledge societies all over the world,” he said and regretted that many, despite launching of products, were not aware of patenting and trade-marking.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Santosh Patnaik / Visakhapatnam – April 26th, 2018
Ch. Srinivasa Rao planting saplings along with his family in a road that connects Jegurupadu and Rajavolu. | Photo Credit: S_RAMBABU
‘Planting saplings is my passion’
Chilukuri Srinivasa Rao, a government primary school teacher at Kadiyam in East Godavari district, has been tirelessly promoting greenery by planting saplings for over two decades. Mr. Srinivasa Rao is also motivating others to take up the cause. He says he is very upset when people fell trees.
This teacher bought a Tata Nano car to which he had attached a small tray to accommodate some saplings, crowbar, spade and water can. Wherever he spots a stretch without trees, he stops by and plants one. He urges people nearby to water them.
“I use to get plants with the support of Palla Venkanna nursery and the Forest Department and planted them in several schools in the district under ‘Badi Thota’ programme. I use to spend 20% of my salary to purchase saplings and for its protection every year. This became a habit for me,” he added.
Many awards
Mr. Rao got many awards and rewards from various quarters. He says receiving ‘Paryavarana Mithra’ puraskaram during the International Bio-Diversity meet in Hyderabad in 2012 from former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was his memorable moment. He has also received an award from the State Biodiversity Council for his unrelenting efforts to improve green cover. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu honoured him with Ugadi puruskaram.
Family support
His wife and two sons also help him. On Sundays and vacation days, his family along with pet dog ‘Mythri’ moved around in the car to plant saplings.
“We trained Mythri to dig one foot to plant a sapling,” he said. Mr. Srinivasa Rao also distributes saplings at functions. His writings on environment were made part of syllabi for IV Class students of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Besides penning stories and poems stressing the need for planting more saplings, he took part in many conferences, rallies and workshops. He wrote about 40 articles in A.P. government’s official magazine `Andhra Pradesh’ on biodiversity.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by B.V.S Bhaskar / Kadiyam (East Godavari) / April 26th, 2018
A team of ten B.Tech students of Madanapalle Institute of Technology and Science (MITS), Madanapalle, secured the fourth position from among 545 teams in the ISAFE Championship 2018 held at IIT New Delhi campus recently and received a cash prize of ₹8,000 each.
T. Mohammed Babji, Y. Samyuktha, C. Srinivasulu, D. Lavanya, B. Mounika, K. Pratap Reddy, V. Mohan Krishna, L. Soujanya, A. Rajasekhar Reddy and Y. Madhan, presented their research topic and posters on ‘Road safety’ at the event organised by the Indian Road Safety Campaign and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Tirupati – April 21st, 2018
At nature’s mercy:A viewpoint at a Buddhist site atop Thotlakonda, near Visakhapatnam.File photo: K.R. DeepakK_R_DEEPAK
Officials cite fund and staff crunch for sorry state of affairs
The World Heritage Day was celebrated across the State with a theme — Heritage for Generations — on April 18. The celebrations offer an opportunity to create awareness about the diversity of heritage and the efforts required to protect and conserve the monuments. But, fact the remains that majority of the protected monuments in the State cry for attention.
As many as 278 monuments that were declared as protected by the government in the State. The protected monuments, include temples dating back to 10th century, early historic and buddhist sites, megalithic burials and forts. Barring a few, lack of security, basic facilities and access to public are some of the problems that are galore at these sites.
As many as 15 early historic and Buddhist sites are there in the State. Of them, Lanjakanuma Gutta in Kadapa district, Singarayakonda in Prakasam district, Thotlakonda, Bavikonda and Pavuralakonda in Visakhapatnam district are major Buddhist sites that under the State Archaeology Department supervision. Anantapur district has highest number of protected monuments-48.
Engineering marvels
With no security guard to take care of the monuments, beggars and locals use the premises for sleeping and other purposes. For instance, Campbell aqueduct-cum-road bridge constructed in 1930. The aqueduct, popularly known as Divi aqueduct or Puligadda aqueduct, is one of the engineering marvels, needs proper publicity and maintenance. In fact, there is no caretaker nor proper publicity to attract tourists, sources say.
Comprehensive heritage policy
The Archaeology and Museums Department too is aware of these issues. Pointing out that the encroachments remain a major issue, they stress on the need for a comprehensive heritage policy.
“We are not able to maintain the heritage sites effectively due to lack of funds. As far as security is concerned, proposals were prepared. The government will have to take a decision on deploying security personnel,” said an official, who did not want to be quoted.
Following the lack of interest and conservation efforts by the departments concerned, the monuments face threat of encroachments or are losing their existence. The officials claim that they were clueless on encroachments for various reasons, including shortage of staff. Unless there were regular visits to the sites it was not possible to keep a tab on encroachments, they say.
“The 13th Finance Commission has released Rs. 50 crore for protected monuments in the State. The 14th FC did not sanction any funds. The State government too hasn’t cleared Rs. 3 crore worth bills, which speak volumes of volumes of attention given to protected monuments,” said an official.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National>Andhra Pradesh / by G.V.R. Subba Rao / Vijayawada – April 24th, 2018
