Category Archives: Records, All

Hyderabad firm gets big boost

Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

The startup is currently incubated at Hyderabad-based incubator T-Hub and it was previously part of the Zone Startups India accelerator.

Hyderabad :

Donatekart, the Hyderabad-based online charity platform, has raised Rs 2.55 crore in seed funding from a bunch of investors led by early-stage investment firm LetsVenture. The company, which moved from Mumbai to the city a few months ago and has set up shot at T-Hub said in a statement that it plans to use the proceeds to strengthen its technology functions, scale its team and launch new products. It also plans to expand to other geographies such as the US and UK and raise at least `100 crore in donations in the next three years, the statement added.

Incidentally, the firm was featured in EdEx 40 under 40 list last year at an event held in Hyderabad. Donatekart was founded in 2016 by National Institute of Technology-Nagpur graduates Anil Kumar Reddy and Sandeep Sharma. Donors can ‘buy’ products such as flood relief material on the platform which are then sent to social organisations for distribution. The platform gives donors updates about how the products they have purchased are being used.

“Most Indians are keen to do charity, but they are comfortable if they can do it in  a hassle-free manner and can keep track of their donation,” said Anil Kumar Reddy, co-founder and chief executive officer of Donatekart. Since the platform was launched, Donatekart claims to have assisted more than 450 non-governmental organisations all over India in procuring products worth `5 crore from more than 35,000 donors.

The startup is currently incubated at Hyderabad-based incubator T-Hub and it was previously part of the Zone Startups India accelerator.

LetsVenture founder Shanti Mohan has now joined the board of Donatekart. Established in 2013, LetsVenture is an online platform that connects Indian startups with seed and angel investors.Owned and operated by Bengaluru-based IndiePitch Solutions, LetsVenture claims to have enabled more than 180 funding rounds with a total of about $70 million being raised so far.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / March 07th, 2019

A book on Bonalu hits the stands

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel

Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, poet and folk singer Goreti Venkanna, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister S. Narsing Rao, filmmaker B. Narsing Rao and Press Academy Chairman Allam Narayana launching the book in Hyderabad on Saturday.  

‘It’s not just a book, but a cultural repository’

A coffee table book on Bonalu festival was launched in the city on Saturday by Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao. The book edited by well-known filmmaker and artist B. Narsing Rao has colourful photographs, and it traces the history and evolution of the worship of goddesses in villages.

“Earlier, the worship of village goddesses was looked down upon. It has changed since the formation of Telangana. I don’t want to see this as a book, but as a cultural repository. We scanned through 10,000 photographs to shortlist the ones that you find in the book. It took us nearly three years to come up with this as we collected archaeological evidence about the origins and beliefs,” said Mr. Narsing Rao at the launch.

“Bonalu and other local festivals remained unappreciated earlier. For nearly six decades, the culture was suppressed by a section of people. But it was the ‘cultural torch’ that lit the fire of Telangana movement. Bonalu and Bathukamma were weapons during the agitation,” said Allam Narayana of Telangana Press Academy.

Speaking on the occasion, the Maharashtra Governor stressed on the plurality of the society. “In 1995, the Supreme Court said India is not a theocratic state. Culture and traditions are part of our lives. Books like this highlight the fact that the SC said. But we still need to do a lot to promote Telugu language and culture,” said Mr. Vidyasagar Rao. The 280-page book is priced at ₹3,000.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – March 03rd, 2019

IICT scientist to head CSIR’s only north east lab

Agriculture, Green Initiatives / Environment, Leaders, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

G. Narahari Sastry 

‘The institute has made a big difference to the area through its research and by introducing about 100 tecnologies’

“It is the only lab of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in north east at Jorhat in Assam that is involved in multifarious scientific activities. I feel proud to be heading an institute that is soon to celebrate its diamond jubilee,” said G. Narahari Sastry, the newly appointed director of North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST).

Dr. Sastry, 53, who was with CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) since 2002 heading the Centre for molecular modelling, has just taken over and was here for a conference when he told The Hindu about his new ‘institute of eminence’ and the direction he intends to take it forward.

North East is blessed with abundance of natural resources like varied flora and fauna, minerals, natural gas, petroleum, aromatic and medicinal plants and hence, NEIST is targeted to undertake research in those areas. “The institute has been dealing with chemicals, agro-technology, geotechnical and other studies spread on a sprawling campus of 400 acres. It already has an excellent record and has made a big difference to the area through its research and by introducing about 100 technologies,” he said.

Dr. Sastry said emphasis will be on fundamental and translational research of applying basic biology and clinical trials to address critical societal health needs through drug discovery, environment care and sustainable development.

With a PG degree in chemistry from Osmania University and Ph.D from University of Hyderabad, he moved to ‘bio-informatics’ during his teaching stint with Puducherry university. His research is on employing artificial intelligence and machine learning to integrate with bioinformatics in developing disease-specific web portals and delineating disease biology in the area of healthcare.

“Seventy per cent of my research work deals with biology combining computational mathematics and AI. The government’s directive now is while excellence is good, science should be relevant to the people and improve their quality of living,” says Dr. Sastry.

A Shanthi Swarup Bhatnagar Award winner in chemical sciences in 2011, he has been a visiting professor for universities in Japan, Germany and United States.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. Geetanath / Hyderabad – March 04th, 2019

Four ULBs in Telangana to get Swachh Bharat awards

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All

Four Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) Siddipet, Sircilla, Boduppal and Peerzadiguda of Telangana have bagged Swachh Survekshan-2019 Awards in different categories.

Hyderabad : 

Four Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) – Siddipet, Sircilla, Boduppal and Peerzadiguda of Telangana have bagged Swachh Survekshan-2019 Awards in different categories. These awards will be presented by President Ram Nath Kovind in the presence of Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri at the Swachh Survekshan-2019 award ceremony scheduled on March 6 at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. The results, as well as the ranking of cities, will be formally declared soon.

Joint Secretary and Mission Director of Swachh Bharat Mission, VK Jindal sent a message to MAUD Principal Secretary, Arvind Kumar about the awards to two cities, namely Siddipet and Sircilla, and SS 2019 Citation awards to Boduppal and Peerzadiguda. Last time, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation was selected for the Best State Capital in “Solid Waste Management’ under the Swacch Survekshan category. 

The city ranking survey under Swachh Survekshan-2019 was taken up during the first week of January and concluded on January 31. It evoked a good response from the citizens of 4,237 ULBs. Feedback was received from 64 lakh citizens. A total of 70 awards will be presented. Of them, 42 awards will be given to cities with over one lakh population. States will be awarded in categories such as solid waste management and sanitation. 

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by S Bachan Jeet Singh / Express News Service / February 27th, 2019

HMRL MD bags Best CEO Award

Business & Economy, Leaders, Records, All

HMRL MD N.V.S. Reddy receiving the award from TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao in the city. 

The CEO Clubs of India presented ‘Professional CEO of the year-2019’ award to N.V.S. Reddy, managing director, HMRL, during their annual retreat in the city on Saturday.

Selected by a jury of top management experts and industrialists, he was presented the award by TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao. The award was given in recognition of Mr. Reddy’s extraordinary management skills and the passion, perseverance and courage of conviction with which he helmed the world’s largest metro project in PPP mode. Addressing a large gathering of industrialists and CEOs from different parts of the country, Mr. Rama Rao highlighted the competitive advantages of Telangana and the government’s proactive policies, and urged them to invest heavily in Telangana and Hyderabad.

The other awardees include chairman, Shanta Biotech, K. Varaprasad Reddy (Lifetime Achievement Award), Phoenix Group MD Suresh Chukkapalli (Social Impact Creator of the year award) and Greenco Founder and Joint MD, Mahesh Kolli (CEO of the year award).

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> States> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 25th, 2019

Sanjana Vij to go for beauty pageant finale in Mumbai

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Five young, talented girls from the five south states will be going in for the Grand Finale to grab the fbbColorsFemina Miss India 2019 title.

Hyderabad :

Five young, talented girls from the five south states will be going in for the Grand Finale to grab the fbbColorsFemina Miss India 2019 title. The finalists are Nikita Tanwani from Andhra Pradesh, a student of BITS Pilani, Rajasthan; AashnaBisht from Karnataka, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, Rubeiya S K from Tamil Nadu, student of Adhiyaman engineering college, Hosur; Jane Thomson from Kerala  from Swinburne college, Australia and Sanjana Vij from Telangana, from Amity University,UP.

Supported by Sephora and Rajnigandha Pearls, the south finale was wrapped up on Sunday  in Bengaluru. The winners of the five states of the South Zone (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana) who will get a direct entry to the finale to be held on June 15 at NSCI Dome, Mumbai. 

The girls had to go through rigorous rounds which included fbb’s Collection ‘Bohemian Chic- fbb presented “Bohemian Chic” which is a sizzling collection of western wear that featured modern styling and exquisite designs on a whole new look of bohemian range in terms of styling, textures, prints, embroideries with vibrant color being the highlight of the collection.

The collection was teamed with exquisite Cerizhand bags. Round 2 was PayalSinghal Floral Bridal collection – A celebration of nature as an inspiration in terms of birds, trees, lush forests along with earth elements. The evening was hosted by television anchor, radio host and film critic Siddharth Kannan with the super gorgeous actress Gaelyn Mendonca, an Indian film actress, model and MTV India VJ.  

Singer-Composer Raghu Dixit kept the audience engaged with his music while MJ 5 dance troupe took the audience on a trip down memory lane of Michael Jackson with their performance.Apart from the fame & glory the winners stand to chance to win prize in cash & kind to a crore and above. 

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / February 26th, 2019

Mahua savouries from tribal kitchens to hit markets

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All

D. Divya

Move to help indigenous people protect their culture

A revival of pristine Adivasi customs and traditions cannot be envisaged without including the irp marra or mahua tree (Madhuca indica) in the scheme of things.

Therefore, the new plan of the Adilabad district administration, perhaps the first of its kind in the country, to help indigenous people protect their culture hinges on plantation of mahua and introduction of the lesser known tasty savouries and eatables made out of the flowers of the sacred tree in the headquarter town, in near future.

“The food items coming out of the kitchens of aboriginal people have good shelf life and will be packaged and sold at the Prakruti store for organic vegetables in Collectorate Chowk,” Adilabad Collector D. Divya revealed.

There will also be an attempt towards getting the ethnic people to manufacture the famous heady brew from mahua flowers, the ippa sara or irp kal, aimed at weaning them away from the more dangerous Indian Made Foreign Liquor and marketing it sometime in the future, on the lines of the experiment in Bastar of Chhattisgarh.

“There certainly is more to mahua tree than the heady brew distilled from its flowers. It is the source of nutritious supplementary food and some potential economic activity for tribal people besides yielding fodder to the animals,” opined tribal teacher Kanaka Rao Ambaji from Marlavai in Jainoor mandal of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district.

Mahua trees come into bloom between latter half of March and April. Each tree sheds its flowers in the morning every day, over a period of 15 to 20 days and yields about 1.5 quintals to 2 quintals.

The customary puja is performed under the tree after the festival of holi, called duradi in Gondi, following which women and children collect the flowers. The collection is done at dawn and the flowers are subsequently put out to dry.

“The dried up flowers are roasted, made into balls or laddus called eruk gola, and used as a snack or stuffed into a roti. Other eatables are also made by roasting the dried up flowers with sesame and sunflower seed, besides the rarely found khade and churchal seeds,” Durva Nagubai, a Raj Gond elder, listed out some names of traditional supplementary food items.

“We will also sell the edible oil extracted from the kernel of mahua seed,’ the Collector disclosed. The practice of using mahua oil, called eruk niy, in preparation of food is almost lost,” she pointed out.

“Among other eatables which are made of the mahua flowers is the eruk jawa or gruel which is served when receiving the barat. Also, the gum of the tree, eruk chikada, is used to trap birds and small animals while the wood from a dead tree is used to make traditional musical instruments like a dhol,” Mr. Ambaji stated.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by S. Harpal Singh / Adilabad – February 26th, 2019

5 start-ups clinch top honours

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Social Innovation Award being presented to Adero Labs as part of Start-Up Stage event at BioAsia.

Five start-ups with innovative offerings for the healthcare sector, including a device that reminds patients to take a correct dose of medicine at the right time and another that monitors a patient’s health while he/she is asleep, walked away with top honours at the BioAsia-2019.

They made it to the top five, and received a cash prize of ₹25,000 each at the Start-Up Stage event, one the highlight segments of this year’s BioAsia. A total of 76 start-ups had showcased their wares at the three-day event, the curtain on which came down on Wednesday.

Making a brief pitch at the valedictory, Caredose co-founder and CEO Kinshuk Kocher said the start-up has devised a solution – a dispenser in which medicines are filled using a robot – for patients, especially senior citizens, to ensure that they are taken on time and in the correct dose. The entire process is completely automated, he said.

Interestingly, Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, during the inauguration of BioAsia on Monday evening, had highlighted the need to address the issues that senior citizens faceamong other aspects.

Another solution that caught the eye of the jury was the contactless health monitor developed by Dozee. COO of the start-up Pritish Gupta said the monitor, placed below the mattress, tracks the sleep patterns, heart, respiration and stress levels helping the user address the conditions.

Spectral Insights for its compact scanner; Ekistics Solutions that offers replacement and reconstruction of damaged and diseased valves avoiding artificial prostheses; and fluorescent dye company Azooka Life Sciences for its nucleic acid stains that facilitates DNA-based diagnostics were the other three prize winning start-ups.

A special Social Innovation Award was presented to Adero Labs that works in the field of citizen safety and women empowerment.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 27th, 2019

Award for Jagtial Collector

Education, Leaders, Records, All

It was executed in all government high schools in the district to improve pass percentage of students in SCC examinations.

Jagtial :

Jagtial Collector A Sharath has been selected for the ‘Indian Express Excellence in Good Governance’ award. It will be presented to him on February 28.  The collector has bagged the award for his initiative ‘UTTEJAM – Igniting the Minds of Students, Teachers and Parents’.

It was executed in all government high schools in the district to improve pass percentage of students in SCC examinations.  

Before UTTEJAM, the overall pass percentage was only 60-65; the ratio for girls was worse. Now, within just three years since the initiative was introduced, the figure has increased to 97.56 per cent.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / February 27th, 2019

Boy’s invention to be adopted by Civil Supplies Dept.

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology

Paddy filling machines, if successful, to be installed at all procurement centres

A class VIII boy’s ingenious invention is set to be adopted by the Civil Supplies Department at its Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs) on a pilot basis.

A prototype of a paddy filling machine, used to fill paddy into bags, would be adopted with minor tweaks and installed at select PPCs. If successful, they would be installed at all the centres across the State, Civil Supplies Commissioner Akun Sabharwal said in a statement here on Saturday.

Abhishek, studying in Zilla Parishad High School at Hanumajipet village in Vemulawada mandal of Rajanna-Sircilla district, has already received accolades and prizes for his invention at Inspire Science Exhibition at regional and national levels.

On Saturday, he met Mr. Sabharwal along with his parents Rajavva and Lakshmi Rajyam, and his school principal, and received a gift of ₹10,000 and a robot doll from the Commissioner.

Mr. Sabharwal said the machine, with a few changes, would be very useful for farmers. The machine’s capacity could be increased from 20 kilograms to 40-45 kg by increasing its width, he said. If successful, the machine would replace four workers.

Naming it Vari Abhishekam, Mr. Sabharwal directed the officials concerned to initiate the process of obtaining patent for the machine on behalf of the Telangana government. In another major initiative, the Civil Supplies Department would introduce e-weighing machines at warehouses with the capacity of five tonnes, starting from the coming rabi season. The department is aiming to implement the same State-wide starting from the next khariff.

The e-weighing machines would be installed at 170 warehouses across the State, to ensure that the commodities are supplied to fair price shop dealers with correct weight. Inspecting the performance of the machines at Met Weigh India Factory at Cherlapalli on Saturday, Mr. Sabharwal said the machines would be available at all the godowns by March 31.

The machines would be linked to the Command Control Centre at Civil Supplies Bhavan and also to the Mini Command Control Centres in the districts, where live weighing can be viewed.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 23rd, 2019