Kanti Velugu scheme, the mega health initiative, aimed at providing all services related to eye care, has touched a unique milestone by screening a whopping one crore persons in the State.
The scheme was launched on August 15 and by December 3, has managed to screen 1,00,02,544 persons for various eye related ailments. In fact, the scheme has also achieved a unique milestone by distributing close to 17 lakh reading glasses to persons who underwent screening.
According to the latest statistics, the Health Department had distributed nearly two lakh prescription glasses to persons, who were diagnosed with eye-defects, during the course of screening.
Senior doctors have pointed out that the distribution of such large number of reading and prescription glasses is quite unprecedented because it was never before attempted in the country.
The mega eye screening camps created a large number of referrals for tertiary and secondary care. Thanks to Kanti Velugu, now there are 4.50 lakh persons who will undergo cataract surgeries at various secondary eye-care institutions, which have been identified across the State.
The scheme has also identified close to 2.5 lakh persons, who need to undergo complicated eye related procedures, at tertiary eye care institutions including SD Eye Hospital in city, Regional Eye Hospital in Warangal, Pushpagiri Eye Institute, Secunderabad and LV Prasad Eye Institute.
source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> Telangana / by Telangana Today / December 05th, 2018
Bhavan’s Sri Aurobindo Junior College, Sainikpuri, boys and girls teams that won the inter-college handball titles.
Hyderabad:
Bhavan’s Sri Aurobindo Junior College, Sainikpuri bagged a double in the 64th HDSGF inter-college handball championship.
Bhavan’s outplayed Railway Junior College 11-6 in the final to clinch the boys title.
However, in the girls final, Bhavan’s faced stiff resistance from Kasturba Gandhi Junior College before the match ended in a five-all draw. Both the teams were Sudhakar, District Youth Sports Officer, Hyderabad District, and P.Ramu, Bhavans junior college ,Physical Director, were guests on the day.
source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> Sport> Other Sports / by Telangana Today, Sports Bureau
Shanti Prakash Shukla’s forefathers in 1930s were specially recruited from UP’s Unnao district to collect taxes from the Velama (zamindar or landlord) community to which the incumbent CM KCR belongs.
K T Rama Rao (File photo | EPS)
Sircilla :
There is a strong Uttar Pradesh connection in Sircilla, the assembly constituency of Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s heir apparent K T Rama Rao — there are families of people from the northern state who were recruited during the Nizam rule for collecting tax from landlords.
One such family that had migrated to northern part of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, now Telangana, was Shanti Prakash Shukla’s forefathers in 1930s who were specially recruited from Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district to collect taxes from the Velama (zamindar or landlord) community to which the incumbent chief minister KCR belongs.
Velama is an upper caste that makes up only about 4 per cent of the population in Telangana at present.
“The Velama community was prominent here and they did not pay taxes to Nizams. Our forefathers came here to work as tax collectors in the ‘Razakar’ unit,” advocate Shukla, 65, told PTI in an exclusive interview.
‘Razakar’ was a military unit that was established under the Nizam’s rule solely for collecting taxes from the farming community.
It was Maharaja Peshkar Sir Kishen Pershad, a courtier in the Nizam’s regime, who had initiated the recruitment of people from Uttar Pradesh, as also of Sikhs from Punjab who had migrated here, Shukla said.
As feudal oppression and the Nizam’s autocratic rule became unbearable, Shukla said, it became difficult for his forefathers to collect taxes from poor farmers who had lost their crop and there were also atrocities against women and as a result of all this, they resorted to a revolt.
Shukla’s father Amritlal Shukla was born in Karimnagar district and gave up his teaching job to join the Communist Party in 1940s to take part in the freedom struggle against Nizams.
His mother Shantabhai Shukla was from Madhya Pradesh.
The advocate, who has four siblings, further said that the Nizams started deputing ‘Razakars’ to harass those resisting integration of Hyderabad state in the Dominion of India.
“My father was in jail for 2-3 years. He escaped from the Nizam’s custody. He joined the Communist Party and was even elected as an MLA in 1957 from the Combined Community Party,” he said.
Many of the migrants from Uttar Pradesh are now working in various departments including in the state police.
“That is the reason you find more Hindi and Punjabi speaking population in Hyderabad,” said Shukla, who is married to a local and their two children are settled abroad.
Besides talking about the history, Shukla said the election campaign is in full swing in Telangana where the ruling TRS government is seeking a re-election, but what bothers him the most was the kind of money being spent on the elections.
“I remember, my father had spent only Rs 350 on election but now each MLA is spending Rs 15 crore,” he said amid high-pitch loudspeaker announcement outside asking people to vote for ‘car’, the symbol of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Chief minister KCR’s son, who is popularly known as KTR, is contesting for the third time from Sircilla constituency, which is about 140 kms from the state capital Hyderabad, in the December 7 assembly polls.
He had won with a margin of over 53,000 votes against his Congress rival in the 2014 assembly elections.
Noting that the Communist had a stronghold in Sircilla till 1967, Shukla said, “Time has changed. Now goondas and rowdies are entering politics and there is no ideology.”
His wife Jhansi Lakshmi, a retired lecturer, said her father M Narayana from Khamman district had also fought against the Nizam rule during the freedom movement.
She is now currently working in an NGO creating awareness among women voters about elections and to exercise their voting rights independently and without any influence from their husbands.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Elections> Telangana / by PTI / December 02nd, 2018
The World Free Zones Organisation, the global apex body of free zones or special SEZs, has chosen Hyderabad for establishing its Asian Regional Office.
Free zones are a class of special economic zones with liberalised tax laws, allowed by governments to encourage economic activities. A total of 3,500 free zones are spread across the globe, a press communiqué informed on Friday.
The new regional director of the organisation will be Srikanth Badiga, city-based realtor and chairperson of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Srikanth said WFZO chose Hyderabad among many other trade centres in Asia because of a proactive government.
Principal Secretary, Industries, Jayesh Ranjan, attributed the choice to the investment-friendly environment, industrial-friendly ecosystem, proactive government policies, and good governance.
The Asian Regional headquarters will be declared open formally in the third week of December Srikanth Badiga added.
Registered and established in Geneva, Switzerland, WFZO has its global headquarters at Dubai.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – November 30th, 2018
Five thousand business delegates from across 100 countries to participate
The fourth edition of the Indywood Film Carnival will begin on Saturday at Hitex Convention Centre in Hyderabad, with its repertoire of national and international films.
The main attraction of the carnival will be the All Lights India International Film Festival which will feature films from various parts of the country in different languages. The festival sections include international competition and national competition.
The flagship event All Lights India International Film Festival will screen over 100 movies from nearly 50 countries, a press release said.
The carnival, a flagship venture of 10 billion USD project Indywood, will be one-stop platform for showcasing the latest technology and future possibilities in the entire spectrum of film making, skill development, pre-production, production, technical support, post-production, distribution, and marketing, it said.
Five thousand business delegates from across 100 countries are expected to be present in the carnival.
Indywood Billionaires Meet, Indywood Academy Awards, Indywood Telly Awards, Indywood Fashion Premier and All Lights India International Film Festival are the major attractions of IFC 2018.
Competitions will be held in 28 categories including advertisement/ promotional video, animation movie making, children’s short film, CSR movie making, DJ war, documentary film, drama, dubsmash, educational video, film quiz, group dance, model hunt, and others.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – November 30th, 2018
Raja Bahadur Venkata Rama Reddy Women’s College, Narayanguda, kicked off its Diamond Jubilee celebrations on a high note at the college campus on Wednesday.
Hyderabad :
Raja Bahadur Venkata Rama Reddy Women’s College, Narayanguda, kicked off its Diamond Jubilee celebrations on a high note at the college campus on Wednesday. The college stepped into its 60th year in 2014 but celebrations are underway now. The event began by paying homage to its founder, Sri Raja Bahadur Venkata Rama Reddy. Prof. K Muthyam Reddy read out the report.
Principal, Dr K Sarada spoke on the laurels achieved by the college. Chair of the program, Former Judge, High Court of AP, President of Hyderabad Mahila Vidya Sangham (HMVS) Justice, A. Gopal Reddy spoke about the marvelous journey of the college after the state bifurcation. Chief guest of the day Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharastra, encouraged the students and staff to pursue their professional goals and not be deterred by difficult social, cultural or economic circumstances.
He delivered his message in Telugu, much to the delight of the audience. In his message he was proud to mention that as the Chancellor/Vice Chancellor of various universities in Maharashtra and Tamilnadu he was delighted to see the girl students outnumbered the boys in receiving the gold medals. Former principals of the college, senior most staff members both from teaching and non-teaching groups were felicitated.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / November 29th, 2018
Remembering Prabhakar Kusuma, the Hyderabad photographer who was among 2018’s Fellow of The Royal Photographic Society (FRPS), UK
On Thursday, the Hyderabad photography community lost one of its unsung heroes — Prabhakar Kusuma. The 66-year-old reportedly passed away following a cardiac arrest. The soft-spoken photographer was a mentor for several budding photographers and a trusted friend to members of Telangana Photographic Society.
Prabhakar was selected as Fellow of The Royal Photographic Society (FRPS), UK, and one among the four people worldwide to be chosen in 2018. He was the only recipient from India this year. And, the last time a photographer from the Telugu-speaking states was bestowed with this honour was 31 years ago.
When we interviewed Prabhakar at his residence in Begumpet (published in The Hindu MetroPlus dated June 18, 2018), he reminisced anecdotes from his four decade long career in photography.
A photograph from Prabhakar Kusuma’s series on a home for destitutes in Warangal
He recalled going through a rough phase and buying eight 35mm films that were three years beyond expiry date since he couldn’t afford new ones. While the new films were priced at ₹200 each, the old ones came at ₹5 each. This was in 1993 when he wanted to shoot the inmates of a destitute home in Warangal. Twenty images that he selected from this series shot over eight months, fetched him the FRPS recognition 25 years later. Each of these images had a story to narrate and Prabhakar recalled vividly how he gained the confidence of inmates to be able to shoot them in their personal space.
A lambada woman
Prabhakar moved to Hyderabad in 1995 and to tide over financial needs, worked in the advertising industry. He simultaneously took up other photography assignments. Advertising was his bread and butter but photographing people and lifestyles was what he loved the most.
His interest in photography began in the 1970s, when as a school student he was introduced to dark room techniques. “I saw how images came into view and I knew this is what I wanted to do for a lifetime,” he told us.
‘The Destitute’ series was also showcased as part of Indian Photography Festival 2018 held in Hyderabad. Prabhakar was also a contributor to The Hindu and Business Line in the 90s.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Sangeetha Devi Dundoo / November 24th, 2018
This is the first time the Rolls Royce team is personally coming down to hand over the keys at this intimate gathering.
Hyderabad :
Sudha Reddy wears many hats. The director of Megha Group of Industries and on the board as director of TruJet airlines, identified ‘Áction Against Hunger’ (a 38-year-old Paris-based organisation that leads the global fight against hunger) and ‘Breast Cancer Research Foundation as recipients, she is also known for her charity work.
Sudha is now all set to put together a unique fashion show in Hyderabad this Saturday, November 24 at Hitex which will feature international fashion designers from Los Angeles, Dubai and Europe to showcase their collections. She chats with us and gives us insight into her perspective of the fashion world that she is so acquainted with. Sudha is roping in three international designers including Italian designer Giambattista Valli for the event and host of top models to showcase it. The day also happens to be Sudha’s 40th birthday and she is hosting a sit-down formal dinner for 300 select guests. Indian celebrity chef Ritu Dalmia will oversee the dinner. Sudha is going to wear Harry Winston jewellery.
Juggling so many balls and excelling in all the fields you step in? It isn’t easy balancing so many roles of a businesswomen, a mother and a fashion icon. What is your secret?
Well, it’s not easy. For one thing, you do not possess a natural gift for a certain job, because specific natural gifts don’t exist in my opinion. You are not a born CEO or a chef or chess grandmaster. You cultivate your interests through an enormous amount of hard work over many years and that dedication and wholehearted passion is what keeps me going.
How has the response been for the fashion event so far?
Fashion is something which connects the entire world. The showcasing of different couture and culture makes every fashion show unique and interesting and the response is also so over whelming wherever these shows are held. I believe fashion has the ability to create change in the world through it’s strong appeal that crosses boundaries and brings people together.
Fashion with humanitarian work?
Yes, it’s my passion for both of them which makes it easy for me. My personality, keen attention to detail and dedication to my chosen causes, helps me connect with like-minded people who are willing to use their position, power and talent to make a difference. The biggest influence on me are women of high character, like, Princess Diana. With a generous and empathetic heart for philanthropy, I have been able to successfully carve a strong niche in being a voice for the underprivileged through my charitable contributions over the years, and I hope to continue doing the same.
A specially-commissioned Black and Gold Rolls Royce will appear in the show, how have you managed to bring in such a unique twist to a fashion event?
My loving and generous husband, Krishna Reddy, has gifted me one of the worlds most luxurious cars. The bespoke design team from Goodwood took our brief and has done a fabulous job translating it to reality. Couture and luxury automobiles are all under the large gamut of luxury and the art of appreciation. I think they blend very well together so it was honestly easy to get the Rolls Royce and fashion designers teams to share my vision for this event and come on board. This Rolls Royce Ghost is a limited edition- iconic, custom- crafted, masterpiece, by the Bespoke Team of Rolls – Royce Motor Cars.
This is the first time the Rolls Royce team is personally coming down to hand over the keys at this intimate gathering.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Srividya Palaparthy / Express News Service / November 19th, 2018
P. Raghu Ram, director of KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Diseases here, has been elected the president of Association of Surgeons of India (ASI), considered the largest surgeons’ organisation in the Asia Pacific region that represents the fraternity across India.
According to a press release, the election saw highest ever polling in the history of ASI elections. Dr. Raghu Ram, a Padma Shri and B.C. Roy national awardee, has become one of the youngest surgeons in the country to be elected to the post of president of the association.
Arvind Kumar, who acted as the chief election officer, declared the results on Friday after the counting process was completed at ASI headquarters in Chennai. Dr. Raghu Ram has polled 4,450 votes compared to 2,621 votes polled by the other contestant, Tamonas Chaudhuri, from Kolkata.
Established in 1938, the ASI is widely considered to be the “voice for surgery” in India. Started with 112 members, the association has grown into the largest surgical association in the Asia Pacific region and the second largest in the world after the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Raghu Ram, the immediate past president of the Association of Breast Surgeons of India, has excelled all along in his surgical career spanning over 23 years. He is instrumental in implementing the South Asia’s largest population-based breast cancer screening programme in partnership with the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh across 4,000 villages since 2012 and reaching out to over two lakh underprivileged women.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – November 16th, 2018
R.D. Dinesh Babu and his mother Bharani with the trophy at his residence in the city on Saturday.
Defeats 14-times U.S. champion R. Saravanan Babu in the final
Forty-three-year-old R.D. Dinesh Babu could not have presented a better gift to his ageing mother, Bharani, than the U.S. Open Grand Slam Carrom Championship trophy.
Dinesh, who won the 2016 edition held in the U.S., was not in the best frame of mind as his mother has been unwell.
But the Hyderabadi gave his best. He said his first phone call on winning the U.S. Open title to his mother was like an energy booster. And, understandably, her joy knew no bounds!
He defeated 14-times U.S. champion R. Saravanan Babu (25-10, 25-10) in the final.
“After the disappointment of losing in the semifinal from a winning position against Radhakrishnan in last year’s edition, I am glad I could pull it off this time around,” says Dinesh in a chat with The Hindu on his return.
“It was not easy to win the final as the opponent had the support of the local crowd and it was like India playing in Sharjah. I had to stay calm and focussed to get the better of him. He played much better than what the scoreline suggests,” says Dinesh.
“I never give up. Self-discipline and self-belief coupled with hard work are my strong points,” says the senior accountant in AG’s Office.
“And I owe a lot to my coach Madanraj sir and to all the fellow players and other officials,” he adds.
Dinesh, who lost to the then world champion Yogesh Pardesi in the 2008 Senior Nationals, is now offered to play in the North American Premier League that features six or eight teams with one foreign player permitted to play for them.
World championship
“My ultimate goal is to win the world championship next year. I know it will not be easy, but I will put in efforts needed to realise this goal,” signs off Dinesh, who dedicates this win to his family.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – November 10th, 2018
