Category Archives: World Opinion

With announcements of investments worth Rs 3 Cr, BioAsia begins on promising note

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Hyderabad :

Announcing an investment of `3,382 crore, and MoUs in government and private sectors with an aim to strengthen city’s positioning as a hub for biotech and life sciences, the 14th edition of the Telangana government’s yearly flagship event, BioAsia 2017, kick-started at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) on Monday. The event was inaugurated by Governor ESL Narasimhan, in the presence of IT minister KT Rama Rao and Health minister C Laxma Reddy.

“A number of new initiatives have been launched today with an investment of about `1,700 crore including the new SEZ facility of Biological E for their manufacturing and research facility, and the 3D model of the country’s largest animal resource facility developed in partnership with the state government was unveiled.

KT Rama Rao, IT Minister

With a cumulative investment of about `3,000 crore, these initiatives mark the beginning of the next wave of development, which I will term as Genome Valley 2.0. As one of the many steps forward, I am delighted to announce IALA for Genome Valley today which would be implemented in the cluster very soon,” said Rao.

Lauding the IT minister’s efforts towards a TB-free Telangana, the Governor said: “At this stage, when healthcare is about criticality, BioAsia becomes a very useful forum for exchange of thoughts and experiences. Not being able to afford proper healthcare, lack of funds in health sector, fighting infection are major challenges for us.

I thank KT Rama Rao for the initiative of aiming to make Telangana a TB-free state. It is high time we move pilot projects to battle diseases and I request corporate hospitals to support the initiative. There is a request to someone like Soumya Swaminathan to ensure that the labelling on medicine is readable. One last request is that drug controlling authorities take care of preventing side effects while examining medicines.”

At the programme, Genome Valley Excellence Award 2017 was awarded to Nobel Laureate Professor Kurt Wuthrichand and Worldwide Chairman Pharmaceuticals and CSO of Johnson & Johnson Dr Paul Stoffels.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / February 07th, 2017

Cemetery on Residency Building premises to be restored

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Safeguarding heritage value: The tomb of the first British resident to be buried in the cemetery behind Residency Building, lies neglected. | Photo Credit: K.V.S. GIRI

One of the major challenges will be to bring the ground to its original level, as more than one feet of debris has accumulated over the years, says an architect

On October 22, 1807, Francis Sydenham, the then British resident, was buried in the cemetery yards away from the Residency Building on Koti Women’s College premises. Years later, two more residents and another 39 Britishers living in Hyderabad were laid to rest at the same place, adding to the city’s history.

Largely forgotten, the cemetery is a case of neglect leading to some of the tombstones having been damaged over the years. For instance, the grave of Sydenham is built on a pavilion, which now has damaged columns. Similar is the fate of other graves, including that of the second British resident George Busby. The head of his grave’s tombstone lay broken there, while some others have collapsed.

However, there is a good news for the cemetery, as it will be restored along with the Residency Building, which is currently under restoration. N.R. Visalatchy, Director of State Department of Archaeology and Museums, said work there will also be taken up in the coming days. “There is a lot of damage there, and as of now, the cleaning has been completed,” she told The Hindu.

Work at the cemetery will jointly be taken up by the State Department of Archaeology and Museums, Osmania University, the World Monument Fund (WMF), Deccan Heritage Foundation and the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia, said Ms. Visalatchy. “We realised that the cemetery is also part of the Residency Building’s history, which will soon go into the second phase of restoration,” she added.

One of the officials working at the site said the graves are built of granite stones, which can be found in other cemeteries of Britishers who were buried in different cities in India. Among the graves is also that of Arthur Austin Roberts, the third and last British resident who lived in Hyderabad back then. He was buried on May 10, 1968, just two months after he came to Hyderabad, according to the inscription on his tombstone.

One of the major challenges in restoring the cemetery will be to first bring the ground to its original level, as more than one feet of debris has accumulated over the years, said an architect who is working on the restoration of the Residency Building.

He added that the overgrown vegetation has also impacted the structural stability of the place, which had a garden when it was first built.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Yunus L. Lasania / Hyderabad – January 04th, 2017

Facebook arm to invest $40,000 in Hyderabad start-up

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Home services aggregator FIXU to raise $2,50,000 for expansion
Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao launching Fix U services. To his left is Vamshi Krishna, the founder (file photo).

Hyderabad :

Social networking major Facebook has invested $40,000 in an Indian start-up that aggregates home services. Facebook has deployed its investments in FIXU through its arm FbStart, which helps developers grow their start-ups by giving them access to tools and services and global events.

The investments will be in the form of credits that are translated into various opportunities, which include interactions with Facebook and global exposure.

Promoted by Vamshi Krishna and Nikhil, FIXU has technology that on-boards home service vendors such as plumbers and electricians. “We have roped in 170 vendors so far and currently serve Hyderabad city. We can track the entire process using automated tools,” Vamshi Krishna told BusinessLine.

Expansion

Elated over Facebook’s recognition, FIXU is looking at expansion to Bengaluru and Mumbai towards the end of 2017. “We have raised no funds so far. We are looking at raising $2,50,000 in the angel round in the middle of 2017 to fund our expansion,” Vamshi Krishna says.

Facebook is going to give them free access to Dropbox services worth $5,000 and tool kits and other services worth about the same amount for a period of 6-12 months. Besides, the team will have interactions with experts at Facebook headquarters in the US.

A mass communications graduate, Vamshi Krishna met his co-founder Nikhil, who is a JNTU graduate, at a start-up event in the city and built the product. The six-month-old start-up is currently doing an average of 25 orders a day, with an average revenue of Rs. 500 per order.

There is already a crowd of start-ups out there offering similar services. “We are very fast and economical,” he claims, when asked how their service was different from others.

Besides the two founders, the start-up has two other employees as it has outsourced software development and marketing to third-party services.

Under the programme, FIXU would also receive mentoring from the Menlo Park-headquartered tech giant’s engineering teams.

The FbStart’s programme provides free access to more than 25 services including open source tools such as React Native, FB Login and Account Kit and App Analytics.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Info-Tech / by K.V.Kurmanath / Hyderabad – December 20th, 2016

Ambedkar Puraskar to NRI

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Nri's / PIO's, World Opinion

Hyderabad :

Patkuri Basant Reddy of the Gulf Telangana Welfare Association was honoured with the Dr. Ambedkar Vishista Seva Puraskar for his services to the NRI community.

He received the award from Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan at a function in New Delhi. The award is instituted by the Bharatiya Dalit Sahitya Academi and is given to people who serve the underprivileged.

Mr. Basant Reddy played a key role in Dubai in mitigating the sufferings of thousands of migrants from India, mostly the poorer sections, exploited by the middlemen and the companies in the Gulf. He is the only person from Telangana to have been selected for the award.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / December 17th, 2016

‘Stick Manohar’ teaches 1,500 kids magic tricks in 85 minutes

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Hyderabad :

A lathi and a crowd is something that goes hand in hand in a police officer’s life. However, for S Manohar Rao, who goes by the name ‘Stick Manohar’, a crowd of 1,500 schoolchildren and a magic wand in hand was the last step before making it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

The 55-year-old is an Assistant Commisioner of Police (ACP) attached to the Central Crime Station, Detective Department, of Hyderabad Police. Friday was a day where he successfully attempted a “Largest Magic Lesson” when he taught four different magic lessons to a crowd of 1500 schoolchildren in 85 minutes at Majestic Garden Function Hall here to create Guinness world record.

During his performance, Rao efficiently communicated his skills to the children whose eyes were glued to his hand movements. He showed them, first, how to flip a band on their fingers on one hand to make it automatically fall on exactly the same fingers on the other hand. The second trick taught them how to fold a paper with a tricoloured paper hidden inside it quickly and turn it into Indian flag of the exact size of the paper.

Next in the row, was a common trick performed with four ropes of equal size in which, with the skill of the hand, you can make trick the audience into believing that you have been changing the size of the ropes constantly.

The last one was a magic performed balancing playing cards. He performed the feat in front of Squadron leader Jayasimha, BNS Kumar, V Janardhanam, counselling psychologist and others.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / December 17th, 2016

PV Sindhu wins maiden China Open Super Series title

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

PV Sindhu. (Getty Images)
PV Sindhu. (Getty Images)

————————————————————————–
HIGHLIGHTS

Sindhu registered a hard-fought 21-11, 17-21, 21-11 victory

This is Sindhu’s first title post Olympics held in August this year

Sindhu reached her maiden Super Series final at the Denmark Open last year

—————————————————————————

Fuzhou:

Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu clinched her maiden Super Series Premier title after edging out Sun Yu of China in the final of the $700,000 China Open badminton tournament on Sunday.

Sindhu, who became the toast of the country after becoming the first Indian women to win a silver at Rio Games, continued her rampaging run as she lifted the prestigious title after beating Sun 21-11, 17-21, 21-11 in the summit clash that lasted an hour and nine minutes.

World No. 11 Sindhu had come into the match with a 2-3 head-to-head record but then statistics counted little when she took the court at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center.

Sindhu dished out a dominating game as she zoomed to a healthy 11-5 lead early on. The Indian looked sharp and athletic as she engaged in a fast-paced game to bamboozle her opponent.

Eventually it was a cross court return which earned Sindhu a massive 12 game points at 20-8. A couple of smashes on Sindhu’s forehand and backhand and a drop going to the net helped Sun save three points. But Sindhu sealed the opening encounter after dominating a parallel game and finishing it with a return that hit Sun’s face.

In the second game, Sindhu had a slender 6-3 lead which she extended to 11-7 and 14-10. But Sun soon broke the rhythm by mixing her strokes and coming up with steep and powerful body smashes to catch up with the Indian at 14-14.

A sharp smash and a superb return on Sindhu’s backhand helped Sun grab a 18-16 lead which became 19-16 after the Indian lost a video referral. At 20-16, Sun hit the nets but she roared back into contest when Sindhu’s stretched low return at the forecourt could not cross the net.

Back to her winning side of the court, Sindhu once again started with new exuberance as the duo locked themselves in a battle of supremacy. As a result service changed hands too quickly as they moved together till 6-6.

But Sindhu moved ahead with a couple of powerpacked returns which Sun failed to negotiate. The Chinese also faltered with a lift and also hit wide as Sindhu reached 10-6. A few errors helped Sun make it 8-10 before Sindhu entered the interval with a 11-8 advantage.

Sindhu continued to extend her lead even as Sun tried to vary the pace of the rallies but her errors continued to pile up as the Indian was soon 19-11 up. Sindhu then grabbed the match point when Sun let go of the shuttle as it kissed the back line and then the Indian pushed the shuttle at the back, leaving the Chinese stranded before letting out a joyous scream.

Saina Nehwal had clinched the China Open in 2014 before finishing runners-up last year.

Sindhu had reached her maiden Super Series final at the Denmark Open last year but the title eluded her then as she lost in straight games to 2012 Olympic champion China’s Li Xuerei.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> Sports> Badminton / PTI / November 20th, 2016

Another feather in the cap of SCF

Records, All, Sports, Uncategorized, World Opinion

It was yet another feather in the cap for city-based Sports Coaching Foundation when Peace and Sports committee of Monaco city named the non-profit organisation, being run in coordination with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, one of the top three sports organisation to be eligible for the 2016 top NGO award.

SCF general secretary and former Ranji trophy cricketer K. Sai Baba, who established the centre 25 years ago, was also the recipient of the prestigious Rashtriya Khel Prothasan award by the President of India last year.

Earlier recognition

This apart, the organisation was named the ‘Best NGO’ by the Rockfeller Foundation and the Jindal Foundation recently.

“It is a huge honour for me and the entire team of SCF, which has been working tirelessly to promote sports, especially among under-privileged children,” Mr. Sai Baba said.

“We are thankful to all the government departments and the entire sports fraternity for helping us in propagating our concept of ‘Build India Through Sports’ aimed at luring more youth into sports.”

The SCF official would be visiting Monte Carlo for the awards function to be held on November 24.

It is a huge honour for me and the entire team of SCF, which has been working tirelessly to promote sports, especially among under-privileged children.

K. Sai Baba,SCF general secretary

SCF named one of top three sports organisation to be eligible for the 2016 top NGO award

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – November 21st, 2016

World Carrom Championship: S Appoorwa wins two gold medals

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

S. Appoorwa and her partner Kajol Kumari earned the first gold medals for India.
S. Appoorwa
S. Appoorwa

Hyderabad:

Hyderabad player S. Appoorwa and her partner Kajol Kumari earned the first gold medals for India in the women’s doubles event of 7th World Carrom Championship being held at Birmingham in England.

The duo defeated their Indian counterparts Parimala Devi and Tuba Shehar in straight games 25-14, 25-16. Later, Appoorwa spearheaded the Indian women’s side to the team championship. The team comprising Appoorwa, Kajol Kumari, Parimala Devi and Tuba Sehar blanked Sri Lanka 3-0 in the final. Appoorwa also secured a notable sixth place, the highest for any women player, in the eight-round Swiss League that is open to all the participants.

However, the men’s team slipped in the final to lose 1-2 to Sri Lanka. India took the top two places in the men’s doubles though. Sandeep and Riyaz beat fellow countrymen Shankara and Prashant More in a closely fought final 13-25, 23-13, 25-12.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Sports> In Other News / Deccan Chronicle / November 11th, 2016

Doctor who plays, sings, clicks…

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

DOCTORA
DOCTORA

Hyderabad :

He was barely 15 when he had to choose between joining the Indian Cricket team and his dad’s unfulfilled dream of becoming a doctor. He opted for the latter, slogged 18 hours a day to land at Gandhi Medical College. Today, Dr Kannaiah Thalapally, a cosmo-dermatologist stands tall among the rest for being the youngest doctor in the world to perform more than 1,300 hair transplants in seven years.

What makes him a cut above the all is that he didn’t confine himself to needles and stitches. Interestingly, he plays for the Doctor’s Cricket League and has won more than 200 Man of the Match trophies all of which adorn his home and hospital. Not content with playing at the pitch, he went all the way to Phuket to become a certified scuba diver. Despite being swamped with work at the hospital, he went on to learn Carnatic music, western and hip-hop dance, photography and martial arts.

drkannaiahtelan11nov2016

In 2014, he and his friends opened Livyoung hair transplant and anti-aging clinic at Jubilee Hills. “It was through word-of-mouth that the hospital grew than through ads and promotions,” he says.

“Thanks to my friend Praneeth Kumar Jangili, he took up my educational burdens and also munificently helped me set up my hospital. “Like any other doctor, I am bad at handling fiances. So handling patient’s expenses and still being non-commercial is difficult,” he shares.

He attributes his success to Dr Bhavani Prasad, Dr Krishna Kiran Echchampati, Dr Sharat Putta and Dr Sunil Aspingi, his friends, siblings Manoj and sister Mamatha. His 17-member team is apparently the largest hair transplant team in the world. “It is the only surgical centre in the world that does absolute painless transplants,” he informs.
Last year, he received the Vaidya Ratna Award from the State Council.

“I often find people hitting the rock bottom after they lose their hair or skin. How much ever we debate that beauty is secondary, we have to primarily understand that looks have imperceptible yet resilient connection with our confidence,” the doc says. He says that dermal fillers, botox, peels are helping people gain confidence and make them feel beautiful.

Talking of beauty, his photography page speaks volumes about his love for cameras and vision to create memories. “I own three cameras and 10 lenses. I am perhaps the the only guy in town to own a 400 F 2.8 lens. It was sheer passion that made me learn the craft thoroughly,” he beams.

From Ladakh to Kargil, from Rameswaram to Coorg, he has been almost everywhere with his camera. “I work for more than 20 hours in a day for 20 days. The other ten , I am off to some place with my camera or play cricket,” he reveals his mantra to unwind.

Just as you wonder how he manages to squeeze it all into his schedule, he throws yet another Googly. “I was lucky to have Savitri garu as my music teacher. She would come to my house at 10 pm to teach me. She understood my time constraints as a doctor. She passed away a couple of years ago and after that I haven’t sung much,” he adds.
He, along with his seven friends contribute 15 per cent of his income towards charity. They are supporting 178 children and 46 senior citizens financially, emotionally and physically.

Along with his friend cum trainer Jackson master, Kannaiah doesn’t skip a day at the gym to get trained in kick boxing. Thanks to Jackson master, Kannaiah sports a six pack today. Jack of all trades you say? Doc of all trades is more like it.

source:http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Purnima Sriram / Express News Service / November 09th, 2016

‘I am Beautiful’ wins big in New York

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

The girls with Carole Sumner Krechman, chairman and president of Peacemaker Corps Association
The girls with Carole Sumner Krechman, chairman and president of Peacemaker Corps Association

The animation film ‘I am Beautiful’ made by six city youngsters wins top honours at Streets Global Film Festival, New York

Six girls from the city have made an animation film that has grabbed top honours at an international film festival in the US. Namrata Tipirneni, Disha Seth, Tushna Baria, Deeksha Aurangabad, Preethi Narapareddy and Meghna Chinta, who were all students of Meridian School, Hyderabad when they made the film, were pleasantly surprised to see their three-minute animation film ‘I am Beautiful’ win the first prize at the recent Streets Global Film Festival, New York. Hosted by The Peacemaker Corps Association at New York, these young filmmakers who won the ‘Peacemaker Corps 2016 Peace’ were invited to tour the UN as well.

The group had made the film in just five days, as part of a grading workshop organised by the Chinh Early Education group earlier this year. The latter sensed the content’s universal appeal and nominated it for the fest, to be among many global submissions, with the final list numbering close to 60. ‘I am Beautiful’ deals with how the external beauty of a woman is always governed by societal obligations. The film touches upon aspects including touched eye-brows, waxing and how society reacts to it regularly.

An excited Namrata, who’s now pursuing her Bachelors in Mass Communication at St. Francis College, says “External beauty as an idea really interested us and we all knew that feminism was a topic of discussion for many. We worked on the film during our class-hours. We had to make nearly 30 drawings for each frame. Scripting for an animation film was a true challenge.” The girls later underwent a tutorial where they learnt to manage the technicalities assisted by the Chinh group.

“It was a special moment to be in the UN. We shared the stage with people younger than us from all around the world, saw where we stood on a global level. The attention felt good,” add Disha, Tushna and Preethi who were part of the New York trip. The group was gifted a camera on the occasion. “The moment felt better because of the constraints with which we made it there. Our ideas got better when there were limited time and resources on hand,” they add.

Sharing the stage with their global counterparts had them nervous as well as excited. The parents of the teenagers only knew of the film as a school activity and were immensely supportive of their efforts. “Though I have ideas of making a career in the media, I may even consider films in the future,” Namrata hints. They all hope to collaborate for a similar effort in the future as well.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Metroplus / by Srivathsan Nadadhur / Hyderabad – November 10th, 2016