Category Archives: Records, All

Lo and behold the magnificient murrahs of Telangana

Business & Economy, Records, All, World Opinion

Eemaata, eemaata, yuvarajula sye aata… (What a delight it is, this dance of the princes…) Thus goes the popular song that best encapsulates the essence of Sadar festival aka Telangana’s very own ‘Dunnapothula Panduga’. Its English translation, ‘Buffalo Carnival of Telangana’ doesn’t quite have the same ring somehow. That’s besides the point though. For this festival is a celebration of the buffaloes — the ‘dancing princes’ that the aforementioned lines of the Sadar song extol. And the star attraction of this year’s festivities were the magnificent Murrah quartet — Raja, Dara, Maharaja and Shahenshah — each weighing well over 1,200 kilos!

As their proud handlers rave about the USP of these hulking bulls, your jaw drops in amazement. “The 4-year-old Raja weighs close to 1300 kg and is a 12-time National Livestock Champion. Maharaja, 6, from Chevella is a 6ft 2 inch-tall 1400-kg alpha male who makes for a breathtaking sight. Then there is Dara, son of the 24-time National Livestock Champion, Yuvraj, who’s fathered over 2,00,000 calves. Like his massive father, Dara tips the scales over 1,300 kgs. And the most expensive of them all is four-and-a-half year old Shahenshah who towers at a staggering 7 ft and weighs a whopping 1500 kilos,” say brothers Mahesh Yadav and Madhukar Yadav, organisers of the Sadar festivities which were held in Srinagar Colony on Friday night.

Bred and raised in Hyderabad, Shahenshah is hailed as the pride of Telangana by E Haribabu Yadav, state general secretary, All India Yadav Mahasabha. “Recently a buyer offered `25 crore to buy Shahenshah but his owner Ahmed Alam Khan refused to sell,” says Haribabu, adding, “Shahenshah was bred and groomed with the intention of beating the celebrated super bull Yuvraj of Hissar (Haryana),” says Haribabu who organised the Sadar festivities in Musheerabad on Saturday night.

And it seems like he’s already living up to expectations. Shahenshah recently entered the record books as the ‘World’s Most Expensive Bull’. “Shahenshah is one of the finest specimens of the murrah breed of buffalos that is ethnic to India. Standing 7 ft tall and 15 ft long, this bull is the pride of India,” says Suman Palle, CEO, High Range Book of World Records.

“The price of a bull is determined by the value of it’s semen which is much in demand. Each ejaculation fetches anywhere between `1,00,000 to `1,50,000. Hundreds of doses are prepared from the semen discharged during every ejaculation which is frozen in liquid nitrogen and sold to dairy farmers,” explains Ahmed Aalam Khah.

These bulls lead a charmed life indeed. “We spend about `4,000- `5,000 every day. They are given oil baths three times a day and it has a couple of attendants looking after it all day. Shahenshah drinks 30-40 litres of milk mixed with raw eggs every day. It’s diet consists of 100-150 apples, laddus made of kaju, pista, badam and dates, concentrates, green grass and hay.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Hyderabad News / by Karthik Pasupalate / TNN / October 23rd, 2017

IIT Hyderabad uses activated jamun to remove fluoride from water

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology
n business: Activated jamun powder was able to reduce the fluoride content of Nalgonda groundwater from 3.2 ml per litre to 1.5 ml per litre. | Photo Credit: K_Ananthan

The activated jamun powder can be reused up to five times by heating it to 50 degree C

Now, while removing excess fluoride from drinking water, the usual problems such as high operational costs and getting rid of toxic sludge will be a thing of the past. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad have used activated jamun seed powder to bring the fluoride content in drinking water to less than the WHO limit of 1.5 mg per litre. The results were published in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering.

The team led by Dr. Chandra S. Sharma from the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Hyderabad mixed the jamun seed powder thoroughly with potassium hydroxide and heated it to 900 degree C for an hour to produce activated jamun powder. The activation increases the pore volume several times and the surface area by more than 50 times. As a result, the fluoride adsorption efficiency increased several times compared to samples that were not treated with KOH but heated to 900 degree C.

The fluoride ion removal increases with a decrease in pH, with maximum adsorption found at pH 3. The activated jamun seed acquires a positive charge at low pH and the positive charge attracts the fluoride ions while the negative charge in an alkaline medium repulses the fluoride ions.

With fluoride adsorption capacity of 3.65 milligram per gram, activated jamun seed was close to tea ash (3.75 milligram per gram) but much higher than other substances such as banana peel, coffee husk, and coconut shell.

“Besides testing the activated jamun seed powder in the lab we also tested it using groundwater taken from Nalgonda village, which is one of the worst fluoride-affected villages in India. After two hours of contact time, we were able to reduce the fluoride content from 3.2 milligram per litre to less than 1.5 milligram per litre, which is the WHO limit,” says Dr. Sharma.

On heating the activated jamun powder to 50 degree C, the fluoride gets desorbed and the jamun powder can be reused up to five times. “About 96% of the fluoride can be desorbed. So there is a loss of only 4% efficiency after each desorption,” he says.

Disposal of sludge

Disposal of the fluoride sludge is another area that the team is working on. “The fluoride ions desorbed from the activated carbon will be present in very small quantity of water. We can add sodium hydroxide to this water to produce sodium fluoride,” he says. The major objective of the current study was to evaluate the fluoride removal efficiency using a novel, low-cost activated carbon.

“We will next be testing the efficiency of the activated jamun powder in water containing multiple ions such as fluoride, arsenic and heavy metals,” says Ramya Araga the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Hyderabad and the first author of the paper.

“We have so far carried out all tests in batches. We need to now undertake column studies,” says Araga. The continuous flow parameters have to be optimised to achieve best results; during the batch studies, two hours of contact time was needed for the fluoride to be removed.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Science / by R Prasad / October 21st, 2017

Hyderabad’s ‘Bruce Lee’ bags 13th individual Guinness World record

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Hyderabad :

In a rare achievement, a 54-year-old Taekwondo Grandmaster clinched his 13th individual Guinness World Record for the most number of kicks with one leg while wearing 5 kg weight on each leg.

Taekwondo master M Jayanth Reddy executed 1155 kicks in one hour non-stop beating his previous record of 1000 kicks. Reddy started his tryst with the martial arts back in 2010 and has been unstoppable ever since. With 13 Individual records and 1 group record along with 8th Dan (degree) black belt, Jayanth is touted as Hyderabad’s very own Bruce Lee.

The Taekwondo ace broke this record on August 15 in JVR Park, which was validated by independent judges. The record was confirmed on Monday , post validation and submission of a corroborating video.

Reddy said,”This is just the beginning of a long journey towards putting India on the world map as Taekwondo and martial arts leaders.”When asked about his training regime he added, “I train for minimum four hours every day through the week. There is no room for complacency when it comes to fitness and martial arts.

“Reddy is eying to break two more individual world records by the end of the year along with training his students for doing the same.

Two of his students R Gajendra Kumar and Abdul Khalil are having six records each under their belts.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News / TNN / September 21st, 2017

Hyderabad’s ‘fast and the furious’ wins big at national championship

Records, All, Sports

Since bursting onto the national racing scene in 2014, Hyderabadi racer Anindith Reddy has been winning titles and making everyone sit up and take notice.

His latest feat — clinching the F1600 class title at the recently concluded Indian National Racing Championship 2017 held at the Madras Motor Race track in Chennai — only cements his position further. such was his dominance on the points table, that Anindith won the coveted championship a day before the finale without even completing the race.

“There was only one race on Saturday and I was leading it when the driver behind me made a misjudgment and bumped into my rear wing. My wing was completely destroyed following which I couldn’t finish the race. I had another collision in the second race on Sunday with the same driver. I don’t exactly know what went wrong with his car. Of course the race didn’t go well for me, but I had the points to make it to the top of the podium,” says Anindith, crediting his consistent performance over the months for his edge over competitors.

“The championship started sometime in January at the BIC ground in Noida, Delhi. Before last weekend’s three races, I had consistently done well in the other 13 races and had maintained a good points record,” he adds.

The mechanical engineering graduate has some very interesting methods to keep himself race ready: “Racing is one sport for which we cannot practise on a tarmac every day. Also, there are limited number of tracks for racing in the country.

So, I spend some time at the gym every day. I try to stimulate the situations of circuit trainings in my head and create the conditions I experience behind the wheel during the races through physical activity such as cardio exercises,” Anindith informs.

Son of Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy and grandson of healthcare honcho Prathap C Reddy, Anindith’s love for fast cars and racing developed from a very young age.

“My father, who’s also an adventure enthusiast, gifted me a go-kart on my seventh birthday. I’ve been hooked to cars ever since,” he says.

However, while racing is an expensive sport, his lineage accounts for nothing on the race track, avers Anindith. “in comparison to a lot of other countries, racing in India is actually cheaper. on the race track, it doesn’t really matter whether you are rich or not. Wealth is not a criteria to be a racer,” he says, signing off.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Hyderabad News / by Debarun Borthakur / TNN / September 21st, 2017

PV Sindhu beats Nozomi Okuhara to win Korea Open Super Series

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Highlights

Sindhu won her third Super Series title beating Nozomi Okuhara 22-20, 11-21, 21-18

This win helped Sindhu level the head-to-head stats against the Japanese 4-4

She claimed the title in a one hour and 24 minutes battle and become the first Indian shuttler to win in Korea
_____________________________________________________________________

New Delhi :

India’s PV Sindhu won her third Super Series title beating Nozomi Okuhara 22-20, 11-21, 21-18 in the women’s singles final of the Korea Open in a thrilling encounter in Seoul on Sunday. Sindhu, who had lost to Okuhara in an epic World Badminton Championships final three weeks back, got the better of the eighth seed in an encounter that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

After Okuhara dominated the proceedings early on, Sindhu managed to save two game points and won the first game before being trounced by a ten-point margin in the second. Sindhu, seeded fifth in the tournament, got her act together in the third and the final game to take the title, her second Super Series win this year after India Open.
Speaking to TOI Sports soon after his ward PV Sindhu won the finals, India’s chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand said: What a super match! Both players showed great spirit and determination. It was almost a repeat of the World championship final, though the result reversed, in our favour. Both players are great champions.”
This win helped Sindhu level the head-to-head stats against the Japanese 4-4 and in the process also broke Okuhara’s 14-match winning streak.

In a close game one, both shuttlers shared the lead often with Sindhu looking more aggressive than Okuhara. Sindhu got on top of the long rallies but Okuhara put up a strong resistance picking up the Sindhu’s smashes with ease. What was interesting to note was Sindhu experimented with the cross court backhand whip and while couple of her attempts went wide, Okuhara found it tough to track the movement.

Sindhu earned four points with that shot. Okuhara, looked strong in the rallies, but Sindhu’s reach made it tough for the Japanese to place her shots beyond the Indian. Even though Okuhara enjoyed two game points, four consecutive points from Sindhu meant the Indian took the first game 22-20.

After losing the first game, Okuhara stepped on the gas and looked in her elements in the long rallies. Okuhara got her touch back with the smashes that earned her five points, two of which came late in the game that assured Sindhu was left with too much to do. Her net play looked strong while Sindhu failed to connect with the cross court backhand whip well. Okuhara claimed the second game with thumping 10-point margin to take the final to the third and the deciding game.

Okuhara got things running in the final game, before Sindhu took over. While the Indian looked a bit tired in the second game, she was rejuvenated in the third and seemed to take the initiative with the attacks and that paid dividend. Sindhu managed to maintain a healthy lead for most part of the game. Okuhara, who looked sublime in the Game 2, started to lose the plot and three straight long shots meant Sindhu took a six-point advantage in the deciding game.

Okuhara though made a final dash but with her unforced errors count going up, the Japanese was left to play catch up. Sindhu only had to maintain her composure. Okuhara though was not going down without a fight but Sindhu managed to stave off the spirited Japanese by winning the longest- 56-shot – rally of the match that took Sindhu to 19-16. Sindhu had three match point opportunities and converted the second one to claim the title and become the first Indian shuttler to win in Korea.

The two 22-year-olds, who were involved in the second longest match of women’s singles at the Worlds final, entertained the crowd once again at another major final.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> Sports News> Badminton News / TimesofIndia.com / September 17th, 2017

Welfare college girls on top of Europe’s highest mountain

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Malavath Poorna was the youngest girl to climb Mt. Everest in 2014

Malavath Poorna has done it again! The daring student of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS), currently studying in the newly established residential degree college at Ibrahimpatan, has now climbed the highest mountain in Europe Mt. Elbrus (Russia).

Along with 16-year-old Sri Vidya of social welfare residential school at Alair, she successfully scaled the mountain on Thursday. The duo began trekking on July 24 and reached the peak (5642 metres) at 7.30 a.m Moscow time on Thursday. “I have so far conquered three highest mountain peaks in the three continents of the world — Mt. Everest in Asia, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa, and Mt. Elbrus in Europe. My aim is to conquer the top peaks in all seven continents,” said Ms. Poorna.

She became the youngest girl to climb the world’s tallest peak of Mt.Everest in 2014 and recently actor Rahul Bose made a critically acclaimed feature film on her exploits. Both her parents are agricultural labourers and although Ms. Poorna hails from a tribal hamlet in Nizamabad district, she is currently pursuing undergraduate course at the newly launched residential degree college.

Her partner Vidya hails from Nalgonda district and her parents too work as daily wage labourers to eke out a living. “It is difficult to describe how tough the climb was, but I resolved to achieve the impossible against odds,” she said. The duo’s biggest thrill upon reaching the top was to hoist the portrait of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao!

“The Chief Minister sanctioned 53 welfare residential degree colleges which no other State has done before. He has been supporting us in exploring new horizons. If not for these colleges, most of my mates would have been married off by now,” the girls pointed out. In fact, Ms. Poorna had hoisted the Telangana flag on Mt. Everest when she reached the peak then.

The joy of their mentor and TSWREIS secretary R.S. Praveen Kumar on the achievement of the young mountaineers was even more. “Our children may be poor, but they are never poor in energy, enthusiasm and determination,” he gushed and thanked the CM and Minister for SC Development G. Jagadish Reddy for supporting the welfare residential educational institutions which the other States too were trying to emulate.

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

ICC Women’s World Cup 2017: Mithali Raj Shatters Record, Becomes Highest Run-Getter In Women’s ODIs

Amazing Feats, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

She became the leading run scorer in women’s ODI cricket
. / © AFP[/

Mithali Raj achieved the feat against Australia in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 match at Bristol.

India captain Mithali Raj created history on Wednesday when she became the leading run-scorer in women’s One Day International (ODI) cricket. She achieved the feat against Australia in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 match at Bristol. The India skipper’s remarkable performance has caught the attention of the entire nation and on Wednesday she added this feather to her cap. Before the start of the match against the Aussie women, Mithali was 33 runs short of England cricketer Charlotte Edwards’ 5992 runs in 191 matches.

Not only did Mithali go past the Englishwoman’s world record but she also became the first ever woman cricketer to touch the 6,000 ODI runs mark.

Earlier, she achieved the feat of scoring seven consecutive fifties in ODIs after she played a terrific knock against England in the World Cup last Saturday. Apart from this, Mithali has also notched the maximum number of ODI half-centuries (49) by any woman cricketer.

The 34-year-old, who made her debut at the age of 16, has often been called the Sachin Tendulkar of Indian women’s cricket. However, being compared to male cricketers is not something the Indian skipper is overly fond of.

Mithali had shut down a reporter for asking her a question during a press conference ahead of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017. The Indian skipper was asked to name her favourite male cricketer. “Do you ask the same question to a male cricketer?,” she had replied.

She also grabbed headlines when fans spotted her indulging in a rather interesting activity before she came out to bat against England. Mithali was seen reading a book before going out in the middle. Fans couldn’t stop talking about it on social media.

source: http://www.sports.ndtv.com / NDTV Sports / Home> ICC Women’s World Cup> News> Cricket / by Abhishek Mahajan / July 12th, 2017

SCR safety awards presented

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Travel

Night Patrol Man of the Secunderabad Division K. Prabhakar and Vijayawada Division technician P. Ashok Kumar were awarded the ‘Men of the Month’ for showing alertness in the duty and timely action to prevent unsafe conditions, by South Central Railway General Manager Vinod Kumar Yadav on Monday.

Earlier, he had a video review meeting with top officials of all the six divisional heads where he urged them to take proper advance measures to ensure the safety and prevent unsafe incidences.

Loco drivers should be issued proper instructions related to visibility keeping the monsoon season in view, as part of ensuring safety at the manned and unmanned level crossings.

Focus should be on loco and signal failures as they effect punctuality and also speed restrictions should be removed wherever possible, a press release said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – July 04th, 2017

Kairavi waltzes her way to World Roller Games

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All, Sports
Roller skater Kairavi Falguni Thakkar in action. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangements

First girl in Telangana to compete at the global level

Kairavi Falguni Thakkar has made it to the World Roller Games to be held at Nanjing in China from August 25 to September 10. The first year BA student of St. Francis College, Begumpet, would be the first girl from Telangana to compete at such a global level and in the junior (under 19 years) solo dance event.

Currently in the Indian camp at the National College indoor stadium at Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu, she braved ups and downs before choosing to climb rather than sink in despair. “My lecturer-mother Falguni Thakkar is my backbone from whom I’ve inherited the ultimate attitude — never give up,” she told The Hindu.

The 18-year-old is quick to point out the other pillars of support — siblings Anup Kumar Yama (an Arjuna awardee) and Amar Nag Yama. “I idolise my coaches, who have inspired me to scale new heights,” says Kairavi.

Stepping into a rink for the first time when just eight years old, she has evolved into an artistic roller skater. Ask her why not tennis or badminton and Kairavi turns eloquent spokesperson for her passion.

“A skater should ideally have the strength of a tennis player, the balance of a tight rope walker, the endurance of a marathon runner, the precision of a badminton player, the agility of a gymnast, the cool nerve of a golfer, the grace and poise of a dancer,” she reckons.

“It involves dance, jumps and spins as in ice skating, but on roller skates,” she stresses. Yet in the not too distant past, the gritty lass was skating on thin ice. With a dash of daring, she jetted off to Portugal in March for training with Filipe Sereno, just before her 12th board exams!

Kairavi’s cupboard is crammed with medals from district, State and national-level competitions in freestyle, figure and solo dance skating. Going by her confidence level, her first international medal could well come from China.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by A. Jospeh Anthony / Hyderabad – June 18th, 2017

Hyderabad team grows miniature eyes using stem cells

Records, All, Science & Technology
Meticulous work Small portions of the corneal tissue were separated from the miniature eyes and used for growing corneal epithelial cell sheets in the lab.

Lab-grown corneal epithelial cells can potentially be used for restoring vision

Researchers at the Hyderabad-based LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) have successfully grown miniature eye-like organs that closely resemble the developing eyes of an early-stage embryo. The miniature eyes were produced using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The iPS cells are produced by genetically manipulating human skin cells to produce embryonic-like stem cells that are capable of forming any cell types of the body.

Small portions of the corneal tissue were separated from the miniature eyes and used for growing corneal epithelial cell sheets in the lab. Such tissue-engineered cell sheets can potentially be used for restoring vision in patients whose limbus region of the cornea is damaged in both the eyes. The limbus region of the cornea contains stem cells, and chemical or thermal damage to this region affects corneal regeneration and results in vision loss.

Stem cells present in the limbus region of a healthy eye have been used for restoring vision when only one eye is damaged. But when the damage is present in both eyes, the only way to restore vision is by using the healthy limbus taken from a related or unrelated donor. Patients have to be on immunosuppressants lifelong when limbus is transplanted from donors. However, immunosuppressants are not required when corneal cells grown using the patient’s own skin cells are used for restoring vision.

Growing eye-like organs

A team led by Dr. Indumathi Mariappan was able to grow complex eye-like organs in the lab by allowing the cells to organise themselves in three dimensions. The miniature eye closely resembles the developing eyes of an early-stage embryo. The eye-like structure consists of miniature forms of retina, cornea and eyelid. The results were published in the journal Development.

“It took about four–six weeks for the eye-like structure to form from iPS cells. We then removed the cornea-like structure for further study,” says Dr. Mariappan from the Centre for Ocular Regeneration at the LV Prasad Eye Institute and the corresponding author of the paper.

The cornea has three layers — epithelium (outer layer), stroma (middle layer) and endothelium (inner layer). “All the three layers of the cornea were observed, indicating that the mini-cornea had developed correctly,” she says. “The cornea initially forms as a simple bubble-like structure which is very delicate to handle. It later matures to form a thick cornea-like structure over a period of 10-15 weeks.”

The corneal epithelial sheets that would be used for treating the damaged eyes were then grown in the lab using small pieces of the mini-cornea containing the epithelium and a portion of the stroma. The stem cells present in the tissue pieces proliferated and gave rise to a uniform sheet of epithelium of about 2.5 cm by 2.5 cm size.

Animal trials

The team is currently focusing on testing the usefulness of the corneal cells grown from iPS cells in restoring vision in animal models (rats). “We will soon be starting the animal experiments,” she says. Trials on human subjects will be considered if the animal experiments turn out to be safe and effective in restoring vision.

In treatment

In parallel, the researchers are also working on producing mini-retinal tissue and actively exploring iPS cell-derived retinal tissues for treating several retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinitis pigmentosa and certain forms of congenital blindness seen in children and young adults.

Already, retinal cells grown using human embryonic stem cells and iPS cells are being tested in clincal trials in a few countries to treat retinal diseases.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / Home> Sci-Tech> Health / by R. Prasad / June 17th, 2017