c o n t e n t s kalikiri sainik school, bharat scouts and guides, ap social welfare residential...

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara ChandrababuNaidu unfurled the tricolour in the state-level Inde-

pendence Day celebrations at Tarakarama stadium inthe temple town of Tirupati. Speaking on the occasion,he vowed to complete construction of Amaravati, thecapital city, and develop the State as a Gateway to theEast with six airports within three years and eight portswithin a decade. The Chief Minister said concertedefforts were on to transform AP into a Happy State by2029.The stunning feats performed by Andhra Pradeshspecial police personnel on the occasion attracted thevisitors at the 71st Independence Day celebrations.

The ceremonial parade comprising 12 wings, includingthree battalions of APSP, Tamil Nadu State police con-tingent, Prohibition and Excise dept, NCC boys andgirls, Kalikiri Sainik School, Bharat Scouts and Guides,AP Social welfare residential educational institutions,AP Red Cross and AP Sainik Welfare department madethe event colourful. The Chief Minister, who inspectedthe Guard of Honour, also gave away awards to policepersonnel, besides felicitating freedom-fighters.After the bifurcation of the united Andhra PradeshState, the AP government has been choosing differentplaces every year to celebrate the Independence Day.

VOW FOR A HAPPY STATE

v

C O N T E N T SHonoured as Son of Soil

Housing plans forjudiciary and govt staff

Foundation laid forKing’s CollegeHospital

27

9

10

State-of-the-artPolice HQ

inaugurated21

First phase of Purushothapatnamcompleted

6

Vice-President of IndiaM Venkaiah Naidu receiveda rousing welcome from theAndhra Pradesh Governmentin Vijayawada during the civicreception in his home state.

When a prefacebecomes a piece of

literature

Happening Andhra

18

532

CM’s SocialNetwork

34BelumCaves:Nature’scanvas of art

30

8Guts & Glory

28

Various developments across theState of Andhra Pradesh.

AP will approachCentre to providequota to Kapus23

Araku getsmakeover

E-Pragati services to goonline from Oct

Reforms launched foran industry friendly AP

CM’s work on irrigationreceives praise

17

147

CM lays foundation forfirst FDI project

SEPTEMBER 20174 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

Pulling out all stops on Polavaram

The way Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been going aboutpushing the construction of Polavaram project has beenexemplary. Conceived in 1941 and foundation laid in 1980, theproject, aimed at transforming the economy of the state, got

stuck in bureaucratic tangles and political lethargy for a long time. Afterthe bifurcation, the incumbent Government took it upon itself to completethe project on a war footing. However, the task has been mammoth, andthe obstacles in the way too many. Legal wrangles, environmental bottle-necks, inter-state disputes, cost escalation and lack of finances are only afew of the challenges faced by the administration.

After the State Government decided to take over the construction fromthe Centre, the pace of works has shown admirable progress during thelast couple of years. The CM has been conducting a virtual inspection fromhis office using CCTVs and drone-mounted cameras every Monday. He hasbeen visiting the project site at least once every month. The CM’s weeklymonitoring of the project and his frequent visits to the site have helpedbetter coordination among various agencies involved in the giganticproject.

As the CM pointed out recently in one of his regular reviews of the works,meeting the targets in earthwork, rock excavation and other dam worksat this juncture was crucial for timely completion of the Polavaram project.Thanks to his rigorous pursuit, the excavation work is reportedly fastcoming to a close. Of the total 1,055 lakh cubic metres, excavation of 755lakh cubic metres of rock and earth had been completed and there wasonly 300 lakh cubic metres left to be removed. Union Water ResourcesMinister Uma Bharati and members of the Parliamentary StandingCommittee on Water Resources have expressed admiration at theprogress of works.

Even as the revised estimates of the project cost are said to have shotthrough the roof from Rs 16,000 cr to around Rs 58,000 cr, the muchneeded funds are being released by the Centre in a trickle. The State hasalready submitted the detailed project design, which is crucial for releaseof monies. With a little help from the Centre, which is bound to bear totalexpense of the project under the AP Reorganisation Act, the ChandrababuNaidu Government will pull out all stops to complete Polavaram in recordtime.

Ramesh Babu KandulaEditor

EDITORIAL

CommissionerS Venkateswar IISEditorRamesh Babu KandulaExecutive EditorNaresh NunnaCover PageVenkaiah Naidu Portrait (ByS Sankara Narayana)

Second Cover 71st Independence Day Celebrations

Third CoverMonth in pics

Fourth CoverAPIIC Advt on Sunrise State

Published by:Information & Public Relations DepartmentGovernment of Andhra PradeshHyderabad - 500 028Ph: 040-23300258

Views expressed by various authors in this issue reflect theirpersonal opinions.

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ANDHRA PRADESHPublished Monthly In English & Telugu

September 2017Volume:12 Issue:3Salivahana Era 1939

Printed and Published by Ramesh Babu Kandula on behalf of Director/Commissioner, Information and Public Relations Dept.;Printed at M/s Caxton Offset Pvt. Ltd., 11.5.416/3, Red Hills, Hyderabad - 500 004; Published at Office of Director/Commissioner ,I&PR Dept, Govt of Andhra Pradesh, Samachar Bhavan, AC Guards, Hyderabad - 500028. Editor: Ramesh Babu Kandula.Ph: 040-23300258.

SEPTEMBER 2017 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG 5

The tribal region of Araku is all set to get amakeover. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naiduannounced the sanction of a women’s degreecollege, an eco-tourism project at an estimatedcost of Rs 110 crore with private participation and a doubleroad with central lighting on the main road, among otherthings in the Agency area of Araku.Naidu participated in the International Day of the World’sIndigenous People (Adivasi Day) celebrations along withGovernor ESL Narasimhanat the NTR Grounds inVisakhapatnam.The Chief Minister saidthat tribal children fromAP had scaled Mt. Everest,some of them put up agood show in internationalarchery competitions andnow many of the tribalyouth were proving theirtalent in studies by joiningthe civil services. On theimprovement of livelihood of the tribal people, he saidcoffee plantations along with the inter-crops like pepperand silver oak could give high returns to the farmers. “Myobjective is to ensure that five lakh acres in the Visakhapat-nam Agency is brought under coffee cultivation. Already 1.5lakh acres is under coffee cultivation.”The CM said the tribal areas were blessed with rich naturalresources and clean environment and called upon the Adi-

vasis to utilise locally availableresources to multiply theirincome. Organic foods were ingreat demand and tribal farmerscould use manure to growvegetables, rice and other crops.The export potential of thepopular Araku coffee should betapped, he said.The Governor in his speechurged the government topromote tourism in the region.He advised the government to setup nature cure centre at Araku.Narasimhan also exhorted thetribals to educate their children.The CM said the Government willpromote Araku as a tourism spotunder eco-tourism circuit anddevelop it under public-private partnership. He also said hewould concentrate more on medical and educationfacilities in the area while developing it as a model tourismdestination by restoring its culture.Crafts bazaarThe Governor, during his address, suggested setting up of apermanent crafts bazaar at Araku to showcase the tradi-tions and culture like clothing and jewellery to tourists.Similar bazaars should be opened in all major cities andtowns of the country. Araku MLA K Sarveswara Raooutlined development works initiated in the constituencyand pending works which needed early action.Minister for Tribal Welfare N Anand Babu, Ministers GantaSrinivasa Rao and Ch Ayyanna Patrudu, District CollectorPravin Kumar and GCC MD ASPS Ravi Prakash were amongthose present.No bauxite miningAllaying fears of the tribals, the Chief Minister announcedthat the Government would not take up bauxite mining inthe area against the wishes of the local people.Adivasi Health ProgrammeMeanwhile, Social Welfare Minister Nakka Anand Babulaunched Adivasi Health Programme in the tribal welfaredepartment hostel at AT Agraharam in Guntur city onAugust 2. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said theGovernment is aiming to provide better healthcare toinmates of tribal welfare department hostels in the state.

ARAKU gets MAKEOVER

v

Allaying fears of thetribals, the Chief

Minister announcedthat the Government

would not take upbauxite mining in the

area against thewishes of the local

people.

CM and Governor participating in the Adivasi Day at Araku.


The first phase of thePurushothapatnam LiftIrrigation Scheme (PLIS)envisaged to take Godavaririver water to Yeleru reservoirthrough the Polavaram left canal hasbeen completed.Andhra Pradesh Chief MinisterChandrababu Naidu on August 15dedicated the Purushothapatnam liftirrigation scheme first phase to thenation by switching on two motorspumping Godavari waters intoPolavaram left canal and from thereto Yeleru reservoir. The foundationfor this Rs 1638 crores lift irrigationscheme was laid by ChandrababuNaidu himself on January 5. Thescheme was aimed at linkingGodavari river with Yeleru canal anddivert 3,000 cusecs to meet theirrigation and drinking waterrequirements of East Godavaridistrict and neighbouring Visakhap-atnam district. Addressing a public meeting at

Jaggampet , Chandrababu has saidthat the Purushothapatnam schemewould supply water to 2.15 lakhacres of ayacut in East Godavaridistrict besides meeting drinking

water requirements of Visakhapat-nam city and industrial needs ofVisakhapatnam Steel Plant. Reiterat-ing the Government's commitment

on supplying water for irrigation forevery acre of land in the state bycompleting the ongoing irrigationprojects, the CM said that a total of28 irrigation projects would be com-pleted within next three months at acost of Rs 13,000 crore. Already Rs44,000 crore was spent on theseprojects, he added. Claiming thatboth the Pattiseema andPurushothapatnam lift irrigationschemes would benefit 11 districtssupplying water for two crops,Naidu said the Government hadrecognised the need for water secu-rity, according utmost priority toPolavaram project. Despite facingheavy odds, he said, the Governmentwas determined to completePolavaram project by 2019 andsupply water to Polavaram canals forirrigation by gravitation. Twopumps, each with a capacity to lift350 cusecs of water, were ready andwould start lifting 700 cusecs fromthe Godavari.Stating that his Government wasdedicating one irrigation project tothe State on every IndependenceDay, Naidu said it would be the turnof Polavaram irrigation project nextyear. He said the governmentgranted Rs 550 crore for taking uprepairs to all irrigation projects.After 40 long years of wait, the peo-ple of East Godavari would get irri-gation facility to 2.15 lakh acresspread over Rajanagaram, Peddapu-ram, Prattipadu, Pithapuram, andJaggampeta through the Purushotha-patnam project.

FIRST PHASE OF PURUSHOTHAPATNAM COMPLETED

The Purushothapatnamscheme would supplywater to 2.15 lakh acresof ayacut in EastGodavari districtbesides meetingdrinking water require-ments of Visakha cityand industrial needs ofVisakhapatnam SteelPlant.

v

A total of 28 irrigationprojects would becompleted within nextthree months, the CMannounced.

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG 7SEPTEMBER 2017

The Parliamentary StandingCommittee (PSC) on WaterResources lauded theefforts of Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu for efficientwater management and constructionof irrigation projects.During a meeting with the ChiefMinister at his camp office, the PSCmembers felt that the vision ofNaidu in terms of conservation ofwater resources and efficient watermanagement was a role model to theentire nation. As part of studying theprogress of irrigation projects, thePSC came to the State for inspectionof Polavaram project, Pattiseemaand Purushothapatnam lift irrigationschemes and Thotapalli project.Naidu conducted a virtual inspectionof Polavaram project along with thecommittee members and said thatby making use of advanced technol-ogy, the Government had beencontinuously monitoring thegroundwater level, rainfall andexamining the weekly forecasts ofsoil moisture and rain at the projectsite.Stating that groundwater levelshould be a priority for the nation,Naidu said that his Government had

taken up works of one lakh farmponds (out of a target of 10 lakhponds) to boost groundwater leveland facilitate irrigation.Reiterating that top priority wasbeing accorded to the early comple-tion of the Polavaram project, whichwas declared a national project bythe Centre, the Chief Ministerexplained that every Monday, areview meeting is held to discuss the

progress on Polavaram and otherirrigation projects. Naidu said thatthe Government had set a target ofincreasing cultivation of horticulture

crops in one crore acres of land andprovide micro-irrigation to one croreacres by the end of the current fiscal.The meeting held between officialsof the Water Resources, CentralWater Commission and StateGovernment discussed mattersregarding Accelerated IrrigationBenefits Programme (AIBP), Partici-patory Irrigation Management(PIM), Command Area Developmentand Water Management (CAD&WM),rain water harvesting programme,packing drinking water industry andits effect in the State.PSC chairman Hukum Singh, mem-bers Siddhant Mohapatra, AparupaPoddar, V Sathyabhama, AnandaBhaskar Rapolu, Pradeep Tamta,Balwinder Singh Bhunder, A V Singhand Harshvardhan Singh Dungarpurattended the meeting. Minister forWater Resources ManagementDevineni Uma Maheswara Rao, MPsMaganti Venkateswara Rao and MMurali Mohan were also present.This meeting is a part of a study visitconducted by the Standing Commit-tee on Water Resources inVijayawada, Visakhapatnam,Chandigarh and Shimla, from 18 to23 August.Later, the members of the Parlia-mentary Standing Committee madea whirlwind tour of the PolavaramIrrigation Project and expressedsatisfaction over its progress.The chairman of the nine-membercommittee, Hukum Singh, stated thatAndhra Pradesh would become astate with surplus water reserves bythe year 2019, as the functioning ofthe Polavaram Project would becommenced as per schedule.v

CM’s work on irrigation receives praisePARLIAMENTARY panel visits ANDHRA

“The committee isextremely happy withthe pace of workshere. We haveinspected the spillwayconcrete works andradial gates making,”chairman of the nine-member committee,Hukum Singh, said.

8 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG SEPTEMBER 2017

Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister ChandrababuNaidu laid the foundationstone of the first ForeignDirect Investment (FDI) project inAndhra Pradesh. The B R Shettygroup of Abu Dhabi is setting upMedi City-an all in one destinationfor medical needs in Amaravati, thenew capital of Andhra Pradesh.Padma Shri award recipient andbusiness tycoon B Raghuram Shetty

is investing $2 billion in the project.Chief Minister Naidu said thefarmers cooperated with the officialswhile negotiating for the project.“Farmers of this area thought wiselyand responded to my call for cooper-ation after state bifurcation. Theyhave given 35,000 acres of land tothe Government immediately,” he

said. The CM explained that the newinitiative aims to make this Medi Citya state-of-the-art facility. He said,“They are going to invest 6500 crorein the project for which foundation islaid today. As many as 400 medicalseats will be created. Every year 500placements will be created. Further,a 1000 bed hospital will be set upthat will serve free of cost. The groupwill invest another 6000 crore atnext level.”

The Andhra Pradesh Economic De-velopment Board (APEDB) says thisis the beginning of FDIs into thestate. J Krishna Kishore, CEO ofAPEDB, said, “Many more FDIs willstart materialising in AndhraPradesh soon.” The BRS Group plansto complete the first phase of theconstruction by next year.v

CM lays foundation forFIRST FDI PROJECT

CM and B R Shetty at the foundation laying ceremony for Medi City at Amaravati. The Airports Authority ofIndia has pipped GMR inbagging the mandate fordeveloping the greenfield Bhoga-puram airport in Andhra Pradesh.“In the financial bids, AAI offereda revenue share of 30.2 per centas against GMR’s 21.6 per cent,thereby managing to outbid GMRfor development of the airport,”Ajay Jain, Principal SecretaryIndustries, Energy and Infrastruc-ture, Andhra Pradesh Govern-ment said.“The empowered group of secre-taries will present the details ofthe financial bids and respectiveoffers made by AAI and GMR. It isfor the State Government andCabinet to finalise the offer,” hesaid. Only AAI and GMR were leftin the fray where GVK Power &Infra and Essel Group were theother participants in the initialstages and in the pre-bid meet-ings. While AAI and GMR submit-ted their technical and financialbids, the GVK Group backed out.The Rs 2,260.73-crore Bhogapu-ram airport project will come upabout 40 km from Visakhapatnamin the Vizianagaram districtunder the public-private partner-ship initiative. The internationalairport project has secured envi-ronmental clearance and the landfor the airport has been allottedby Andhra Pradesh IndustrialInfrastructure Corporation. Asper plans, in Phase-I, an airstrip isproposed to be developed whichwill have capability to operate awide bodied aircraft like Airbus-A380 aircraft. The AP government had formed aspecial purpose vehicle Bhogapu-ram International AirportCompany Ltd to execute theproject under the PPP mode.

Airports Authorityoutbids GMR forBhogapuramInternational Airport

v


CRDA has come up with plansfor housing of the judiciary,MLAs, AIS, gazetted and non-gazetted officers and govern-ment staff in Amaravati. The planincludes 4,016 units in total, out ofwhich 3,820 units are multi-storeyedapartments. The total cost of thehousing will be Rs.1,991 crore.Out of the apartments, 300 units havebeen allotted to MLAs costing Rs.386crore and 130 for AIS officers costingRs.167 crore. The plans for the apart-ment layouts were pre-approved byofficials, and made vaastu compliant.The APCRDA will be taking up theplanning, design and execution of thestaff housing project on behalf of theGovernment.The Chief Minister also ordered theofficials to allocate housing for mediapersons in Media City, a part of thecapital’s masterplan. The CMreviewed all the plans, and approvedthem. He encouraged better speed inthe construction of the projects andreminded the officials that everybuilding must look unique. He said,“By the end of the year 2018, the cap-

ital city must be prepared to accom-modate 2 lakh people.”Officials of the CRDA also reportedother developments of the Amaravaticity plan to the Chief Minister. Thecontract with Fosters and Partnershas been issued to the British firm,and work has begun in the capital.There is an increase of 40% ofallowance on the labour charges inthe projects. The MoUs with the re-vised estimates will be submitted andsigned by the authority soon.The Chief Minister was also informedabout the progress in the SakamuruPark project. A workshop will be heldsoon, gathering stakeholders andidentified vendors. The final propos-als for the iconic bridges on OuterRing Road and Inner Ring Road willbe presented soon.MoU with British GeologicalSurveyThe Chief Minister met the represen-tatives from British Geological Survey,a part of the Natural Environment Re-search Council.They are keen to play a role in thedevelopment of Amaravati, byadvising the state on all aspects ofgeoscience and providing impartialgeological advice to industry,academia and the public.The MoU includes a100% grant,commissioned by the world-leadinggeological survey. The agency aims todedicate a proportion of the corefunding/research to the UN’s sustain-able development goals.The association with Amaravati is apart of the agency’s plan to set up anAsian Research and Innovation Hub.They have picked Amaravati among 3cities in Asia, to act as lighthouses;Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur being theother two.

HOUSING PLANS for judiciary and govt staff

v v

Japanese MNC toinvest Rs.1,000crore in Sri City

Total cost of development housing is Rs 1,991 cr The Chief Minister approvedof a manufacturing projectproposed by Toray Indus-tries Inc., a Japanese multi-national corporation. The companywill invest Rs.1,000 crore for themanufacture of technical textiles inSri City, as part of Toray’s India ex-pansion plan. Their preferred site for the plan isspread across 109.35 acres inChitoor district, which will be thelargest Japanese company footprintin Sri City. Important delegates who took partin the discussion include YukichiDeguchi (Senior Vice President andthe General Manager), KatsuyukiTakao (Director), Shigekazu Sue-naga (MD), Ajay Singh Sirohi (Head -Strategic Planning) and Jaasthi Kr-ishna Kishore (CEO of AP EconomicDevelopment Board). The project will provide direct em-ployment to more than 100 people,and indirect employment to around300 to 400 people. Toray also informed the officialsthat foundation stone for the projectwill be laid in the next year. Toray Industries is known to be theleading manufacturer in fibers andtextiles, performance chemicals,carbon fiber materials, life scienceand environment & engineering.They have expanded across 25countries with their net sales over-seas adding up to 9.5 billion dollars,as of March 2017.


Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foun-dation stone for King’s College Hospital, which iscoming up in Amaravati, by Indo-UK Foundationat an estimated cost of Rs 1,600 crore. “With theproject, Amaravati gets its largest investment in the healthsector,” said Naidu, adding that the first phase of the hos-pital would be inaugurated on the occasion of GandhiJayanti on October 2. Union Minister of State for Health and Family WelfareAnupriya Patel and Member of Parliament of UK Andrew

Mitchell were also present on the occasion. Naidu saidthat he aspires to make the State a Medical hub. The newcapital of Amaravati is going to be the Medical TourismHub in near future, he said. Chief Minister announced thatyet another 20 medical colleges are coming to the Statesoon. “Kings is one of the world’s most famous hospitalswhich has come to Amaravati the headquarter for all thefuture projects of that group in the country,” the ChiefMinister said. “India and United Kingdom had govern-ment-to-government agreement for developing 11 Indo-

Foundation laid for

King’s College HospitalArrival of UK's leading hospital a boost to health tourism

CM, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel and others at the foundation ceremony


UK Institutes of Health (IUIH) in India by Indo-UK Health-care Private Limited. It will create over 10,000 job oppor-tunities in the health industry. The first phase of King’sCollege hospital with nursing school, NHS oncology unitand liver transplant unit will be ready in the next twomonths and I want it to be inaugurated on October 2,”Naidu said. “The hospital will also have PG medical centre, IBM Asiadata analytics centre, implant manufacturing industry andmany more health essen-tials,” the Chief Ministeradded. Union Minister ofState for Health and FamilyWelfare Anupriya Patel said,“Andhra Pradesh is redefin-ing access to health by mak-ing advanced medicaltreatment available at afford-able price, boosting medicaltourism.” “We are hopeful ofa bright future as UK’s Na-tional Health Services is oneof the finest integratedhealthcare systems in the world. I am glad that AP havegot UK’s expertise in training, research, innovation andclinical delivery, the forefronts of any modern healthcaresystem,” she said. Asserting that it is a great privilege to be part of the proj-ect, Andrew Mitchell, Member of Parliament, United King-dom, said, “It is a wonderful project which is going to helptransform the lives of millions of people. It is in the finesttradition of the long standing relationship betweenBritain and India.”As a part of government-to-government agreement on de-veloping of 11 Indo-UK Institutes of Health (IUIH) in Indiaby Indo-UK Healthcare Private Limited, the IUIH, Amara-

vati, has proposed to set up the first KCH in Amaravati.Besides, it will house the headquarters and some commonfacilities for all the 11 institutes to be developed acrossIndia. King's College London is a public research univer-sity located in London and a constituent college of theFederal University of London.The proposed IUIH Medicity project in Amaravati isestimated to cost Rs 1,600 crore and expected to create10,000 jobs. AP Capital Region DevelopmentAuthority (APCRDA) said that Amaravati will benefit fromUK healthcare expertise with direct links to UK andNational Health Services (NHS, London) organisations. The APCRDA said that the State Government proposed toallot 150 acres at Navuluru in Amaravati. Fifty acre will beallotted in the first phase and another 100 acres in secondphase. The components for Phase-1 Project in 50 acreswhich would include 1,000-bed King’s College Hospital,nursing school of 200 seat strength, paramedic trainingschool of 200 students, NHS oncology unit with rehabilita-tion centre and IUIH supply chain centres.The Phase-2 project in 100 acres will have King's CollegeLondon Medical College, Zimmer Biomet PG MedicalCentre, IBM Asia data analytics centre, implant manufac-turing industry NHS stem cells-translational research andmedical centre, five-star and 3-star hotels and 1,000-bedKing’s College Hospital.The proposed 1,000-bed hospital is a tertiary caremulti-speciality hospital, which will be operated by King’sCollege Hospital, London.It includes departments like Gastro, Cardio, Ortho,Nephro, Trauma, General, Neuro, etc. The hospital willprovide world-class health facilities in Amaravati. Flo-rence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, an ac-ademic faculty within King's College London, will also beset up. The APCRDA said the faculty was the world's first

The King’s MedicalCollege enables the

CM’s goal of makingthe state a medical

hub in the near future.Plans are afoot for

setting up as many as20 medical colleges

across the state.


nursing school to be continuously con-nected to a fully serving hospital andmedical school. APCRDA said start of construction of hos-pital and nursing college and post-gradu-ate training academy and Indo-UK clinicwould be in 2018 and opening of Indo UKClinic and Diagnostic Centre will be in2019. Opening of post-graduate trainingacademy would be in 2019, opening of250-bed hospital in 2019 or 2020, open-ing of 500-bed hospital will be in 2022and medical college will be opened in2023.The Chief Minister thanked KCH Chair-man Lord Robert Kerslake, and IUIHManaging Director and CEO Ajay RajanGupta for agreeing to make the facilitycoming up in Amaravati, the headquartersfor 11 such hospitals being established inIndia at a cost of Rs 17,000 crore.R&D unitsApart from a medical university, the KCH-IUIH Medicity would have dedicatedoncology and cancer liver transplantationcentres and a host of R&D units.The Chief Minister said the All India Insti-tute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) being setup at Mangalagiri, a world-class hospitalproposed to be established by L.V. PrasadEye Institute and 13 medical collegeswhich are on the anvil in the capitalregion bear testimony to the fact thatAmaravati was the most happening placeas far as the healthcare sector wasconcerned.Lord Robert Kerslake said the Amaravatiproject was a significant step incollaboration of the Indian and Britishgovernments, for the development ofhealthcare in India. Union Minister of State for Health andFamily Welfare Anupriya Patel said theKCH-IUIH Medicity at Amaravati was thesecond one to have the foundation laid for,the first one being Nagpur, and promisedto extend all possible help for implemen-tation of the projects.First Secretary of International Trade ofthe British High Commission HadenSpicer, British Deputy High CommissionerBharat Joshi and A.P. Ministers KamineniSrinivas and P Narayana were present.

v

DESIGNS for HIGH COURTand ASSEMBLY ReadyBuddha Wheel to be installed at Varadhi Junction

The Chief Minister reviewed changes in the designs for the HighCourt and the Assembly buildings submitted by Foster &Partners. The APCRDA announced that 30th September is thetarget date for the commencement of the project. The Chief Minister insisted that the final outcome must result in iconicand unique buildings. “You can spend more time to thoroughly explorelimitations of design, and find solutions. I want the delivery of theproject to be perfect”, he said to the firm. In the last meeting with the architects, the proposed designs were aBuddhist stupa for the Assembly, and a diamond-like structure for theHigh Court. The Chief Minister had asked F&P to interchange the twoideas, as he liked the idea of the Assembly representing the Kohinoordiamond. Fosters & Partners presented a report titled ‘Governmentwork places of the future’ on the designs of proposed governmentbuildings in Amaravati to Chief Minister. Naidu suggested that the gov-ernment offices in the capital city and those of corporate entitiesshould be modelled on the lines of the iconic structures of Google andInfosys. He wanted facilities to be created for the recreation and relax-ation of those visiting Amaravati for different purposes. The designerstold the Chief Minister that quality, choice and flexibility were thesalient features of their plans.Varadhi JunctionOfficials proposed the designs for a structure of the “Buddha Wheel”at the Varadhi Junction. The Chief Minister approved of the 40 feethigh structure, entirely carved out of sandstone. The construction ofthis structure will take 4 months, and the estimated cost of the sand-stone is Rs 9 crore. By January 2018, the landscaping, finishing andtransporting of the structure is scheduled to be completed. Sakamuru ParkThe boundaries of the 250-acre park were proposed to be a com-pound wall and a grill, 50 feet away from each other. The Chief Minis-ter said that the park must remain without a compound wall or a grill.“Make the park free, and ideate for an elevation that surrounds thearea. The park should not be closed. It should resemble a township”,he said.v


v

Two major power distribu-tion companies of AndhraPradesh have startedacceptance of electricity billpayments digitally via BharatQR,becoming one of the first discomcompanies to adopt this mode of pay-ment. BharatQR launched by theReserve Bank of India, is a QR codebased interoperable payment methodand accepts payments via all fourmajor payment networks, Visa,Mastercard, RuPay and AmericanExpress. Both Eastern Power DistributionCompany of Andhra Pradesh and theSouthern Power Distribution Corpo-ration of Andhra Pradesh havestarted accepting QR code based pay-ments. This development assumessignificance in the context of the lesscash smart city initiatives of theGovernment of Andhra Pradesh incollaboration with Visa.

"Further, in keeping with the promo-tion of digital payments, we areexploring the possibility of abolishingsurcharge levied to consumers ondigital payments. Digitization oftransactions will ultimately lead to areduction of costs for all stakeholdersinvolved,” said Nara Lokesh, Ministerof IT and Rural Development,Government of Andhra Pradesh. “Visa is humbled to have had theopportunity to steer the launch ofBharatQR, the world’s first interoper-able QR code standard that can helpachieve India’s less-cash vision. Alow-cost acceptance solution,BharatQR has the potential to drivepayment digitization at scale, and bea convenient way to pay and get paidfor both consumers and merchantsalike. Further, digitization of suchcitizen to government payments atscale, would significantly help reduceIndia’s net cost of cash estimated to

be 1.7% of its GDP, while acceleratingthe country’s economic growth,” saidTR Ramachandran, Group CountryManager, Visa, India and South Asia. In a statement to the press, Visa saidthat along with the Government ofAndhra Pradesh through the less-cash initiative, Vizag Digital DhanSankalp, have identified electricitybill payments as an important usecase for payment digitisation. Giventheir wide reach, recurring nature oftransactions and low ticket sizes,such payments are expected to driveshift in consumer behaviour towardsdigital payments; in particular,among first-time users. Bharat QR is a secure, network-agnostic interface that enables cus-tomers to use their smartphones tomake payments without divulginginformation like card numbers andCVV. To use Bharat QR to pay theirelectricity bills, customers will simplyneed to log in to their bank’s app, andscan the QR code displayed on theirelectricity bill, enabling instant pay-ment. Alternately, customers mayenter their unique Customer IDs on-line and generate a QR code that canbe scanned using their bank app. BharatQR code, the world's first in-teroperable payment acceptancesolution, was launched in March lastas part of efforts to move towardsless-cash economy.

Digitization of transactions willultimately lead to a reduction ofcosts for all stakeholders involved,”said Nara Lokesh, Minister of IT andRural Development.

Naidu urges Nadda to release funds for AIIMSChief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu urged Union Health Minister J P Nadda to expe-dite release of financial assistance for early completion of the All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS) near Mangalagiri in Guntur district. Naidu, who invited Naddato his residence during the latter’s visit to the State, also said the Centre should releasefunds promised to Andhra Pradesh for implementation of other projects. Naidu felici-tated him with a shawl and offered him Tirupati prasadam and a packet of Araku coffeeprepared by the tribal community in the forest area in Visakhapatnam.

AP power companies adopt Bharat QR

v

14 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.COM SEPTEMBER 2017

In a bid to further the industry-friendly image of Andhra Pradesh,Chief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu has approved the launch ofimportant reforms to guarantee efficientpublic service. The Ease of Doing Busi-ness (EODB) Committee presented theBusiness Reform Action Plan (BRAP)2017 and analysed the preparedness ofall the departments.Public Service Delivery Guarantee ActThe BRAP 2017 proposed 40 new serv-ices that require a new Public ServiceDelivery Guarantee Act (PSDGA) or anequivalent legislation. This Act willdefine the competence of authorities,timelines for delivery of service (clear-ances, approvals, licenses, renewals) andcompensation to applicants in case ofdelay and mechanisms to appeal.Compensation to applicants will be apenal provision, when officers or depart-ments miss their deadlines."Such a provision is unheard of, and I

want the people to have nothing lessthan a 100 per cent efficient govern-ment", said the Chief Minister parsingthe move of his government.Industry friendly GovernmentThe EODB committee also proposed thatthe Single Window Act (2002) will beamended and named Industries ServicesDelivery Right and Guarantee Act. "OurGovernment has a long list of industriesassociated with us, and it will henceforthbe our responsibility to maintain goodrelations with them. All stakeholdersmust be sensitised to the new reforms,using comprehensive brochures," saidthe Chief Minister. He requested all thedepartments to share flowers, sweets orsavouries over a pleasant conversationwith the companies, and renew theirrelationship with the government.EoDB ReportThe Ease Of Doing Business reported thestatus of implementation of the reforms.

Reforms launched for anINDUSTRY FRIENDLY APA new Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act (PSDGA) proposed

The Government hasproposed a new actwhich will define thecompetence of author-ities, timelines fordelivery of services(clearances, approvals,licenses, renewals) andcompensation toapplicants in case ofdelay and mechanismsto appeal.

SEPTEMBER 2017 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.COM 15

Out of 373 reforms, 245 have been implemented, and 128are under implementation. There are 33 reforms that areyet to be expedited. Automated service restoration inindustrial areas will ease the process of obtainingelectricity connection; paper-less courts including e-summons, e-filing, e-cause lists and e-payment of courtfees and process fees; and commercial dispute resolutionenablers are among the many reforms that werediscussed.The Chief Minister said that alldepartments must work towardsimplementing the reforms as soonas possible. "All officers of alldepartments must be made awareof our new and strict deadlines. Byend of August, all reforms must beimplemented, and the EODB com-mittee must meet once in fifteendays to discuss the extent and qual-ity of implementation" added theChief Minister.New Industrial ParksMeanwhile, Department of Indus-trial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under Ministry of Com-merce and Industry has approved two projects under'Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme(MIIUS)' for development of industrial clusters atHindupur (Anantapur) and Bobbili (Vizianagaram).

s Upgradation of Hindupur Growth Centre & IP, Gollapu-ram, Anantapur District Project Cost Rs 54.20 Crs Upgradation of industrial Growth Centre, Bobbili,Vizianagaram District Project Cost Rs 30.61CrThese projects aim to provide road network, drainage,power and water supply networks and some other com-mon services like health centres, canteens, creches, dor-mitories, parking areas, etc. These projects are likely tobe functional by 31st March, 2018. The projects have em-ployment potential of about 5500 persons (direct) and8500 persons (indirect).Land allotted to APIIC in Visakha, KrishnaThe State Government has allotted land to the AndhraPradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) inKrishna and Visakhapatnam districts for development ofindustrial parks. The Government has allotted 200 acresfor the formation of an Industrial Park at Penta village inPadmanabham mandal of Visakhapatnam district. TheAPIIC will have to utilise the allotted land within threeyears of the orders of alienation. The APIIC will have tosubmit an annual report before March 31 on the progressof utilisation to the District Collector.

To a proposal submitted by the Krishna District Collector,the Government allotted 43.50 acres in G. Konduruvillage of the district, which is classified as ‘GUChinnakonda” to the APIIC for establishment of IndustrialPark. To another proposal, the government allotted 50acres at Gudimetla village in Chandralapadu mandal ofKrishna district free of cost to the APIIC for establish-ment of an Industrial Park. The Government also allotted10 acres land at Bhimavaram village in Vatsavai mandalof Krishna district to the APIIC Vijayawada for establish-ment of an Industrial Park.Creating An Ecosystem For Fintech StartupsThe AP Government is leaving no stone unturned to makeAP the digital state in India. With the fast-paced world offintech, technology is transforming the conventionalfinancial industry. While addressing a seminar in this regard in New Delhion August 9, J A Chowdary, Special Chief Secretary & ITAdvisor to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh,explained the initiatives of AP government and itsprograms that are driving fintech and blockchain space.Chowdary highlighted the Andhra Pradesh’s new startupinitiative, Fintech Valley Vizag, a flagship initiative whichintends to bring together industry, academia, and in-vestors to innovate, co-create, and build the fintechecosystem, with the intent of making Visakhapatnam thefintech epicentre of the world. “Andhra Pradesh Govt intends to catalyse fintech sector’sgrowth by hosting global business competitions andawarding innovation,” said Chowdary.Apart from this, the Global Blockchain Summit 2017marks the next leg of the journey, after the Fintech SpringConference 2017 in March 2017. This will be a two-dayconference and expo that aims to connect, the blockchaincommunity, government bodies and the industry stake-holders, working on blockchain technologies to createbusiness and investment opportunities. Not only this, theGovernment of Andhra Pradesh and other governmentsfrom countries such as Dubai, Estonia, USA, and Australiawill be showing their case studies on blockchain and itsimplementation within the government.Chowdary is hopeful that the AP Government will be ableto create as many successful fintech startups as they canthrough these initiatives. Chowdary said AP Electronicsand IT Agency (APEITA), an autonomous institute formedby the government, had tied up with GITAM Universityand Broadridge of the United States to introduce job-ready courses in blockchain technology. He said J C BoseInstitute of Cryptology would set up a centre inVisakhapatnam.

v

As many as 33reforms will be

introduced to auto-mate various

statutory processesfor ease of doingbusiness. Overall,

out of 373 reforms,245 have beenimplemented.


Boosting the image of Vizag as a commercial andtechnology centre, IT Minister Nara Lokeshlaunched Tech Hub at the 11-floor new buildingof Tech Mahindra, which was taken on lease bythe AP Electronics and IT Agency (APEITA).Later, he handed over allotment letters to BPOs – PatraIndia BPO Services and WNS. The two global BPO firmswill get two floors each with a built-up space of over30,000 sft. WNS, which currently employed 900, will add1,600 in the new facility, taking its total manpower in thecity to 2,500. Patra BPO has at present 1,600 employees,and the new facility, as part of its expansion, will create800 jobs.IT units inauguratedThe Minister, who earlier launched eight IT units —Amzur, Digipub Apex, ID Analytics, InsuranceBox, Inven-trax, VGS-Provigil, Virtual Offshore, and Vismaya Preme-dia — said in less than two months, the Tech Hub wouldhave two large BPO companies to add close to 2,500 jobsby March 2019. He said Tech Hub had further space fortwo more companies. Stating that they were keen ondeveloping the ecosystem in the city by providing 70,000

jobs by 2019, he said the Tech Hub itself would houseabout 4,000 employees by March 2019. Earlier, he inter-acted with the promoters of the new companies thatstarted their operations at the Tech Hub.Millennium TowerLokesh said the Millennium Tower, which is under con-struction to create a built-up space of two lakh sft at thesea-facing Rushikonda, would be ready for allotment ofspace by October. Wipro, which has a technology centreopposite Tech Mahindra, would provide jobs to 3,500people. Tech Mahindra would employ nearly 1,000 peoplein the next few months on its expansion.Reiterating the government’s commitment to create onelakh IT jobs in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Amaravati,and other places in the State by 2019, he said they werekeen on promoting next generation technologies in thecity.Special Chief Secretary and IT Adviser to Chief Minister JA Chowdary said that the new companies that were allot-ted space at the Tech Hub would specialise in blockchain,Internet of Things, analytics, and artificial intelligence. Hesaid the inauguration of Tech Hub was a red letter day intransforming Visakhapatnam into an IT hub. NRI affairsadviser Ravi Vemuru, APEITA CEO (Promotions) Tiru-malla Chamalla, GITAM University president and MLCM.V.V.S. Murthi, District Collector Pravin Kumar, and ITAssociation of AP president Ravi Eswarapu were present.Kapuluppada ProjectA world-class IT city on the lines of Cyberabad of Hyder-abad will be developed at Kapuluppada on the outskirtsof Visakhapatnam. The first phase of the layout taken upin 158 acres would be completed by March, 2018, the ITMinister said. Once the layout was developed theGovernment would allot individuals plots as well as cre-ate towers for plug and play facilities. Necessary infra-structure would be created by roping in BOT operatorsand realty firms, he said.Vizag, the Growth DriverSpeaking at the the launch of the refreshed edition of TheTimes of India, Vizag. the Minister declared that it is onlyVizag that can drive the growth of the economy of AndhraPradesh. "Vizag is going to be the important growthdriver for Andhra Pradesh. There are no second thoughtsabout it," Lokesh said while addressing a gathering ofeminent personalities of the city.

Tech Hub in Vizag

v

As part of our plans for IT industry,we'll have 90 lakh sft dedicated to thesector in the next 18 months & create1 lakh jobs in 2 years - Lokesh Nara

All the 32 departments of Andhra Pradesh Gov-ernment will start using the latest technologyfrom October for administration, e-governance,bringing in transparency, and make everythingvisible online. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidudeclared 2017-18 as e-Pragati year while inaugurating atraining programme for govern-ment officials at Vijayawada. Thesix-week training programmewas conducted by a team fromIndian School of Business,Hyderabad. “The e-Pragati train-ing programme is for AP govern-ment officials to familiarize andupdate new technologies and itsusage,’’ said Associate ProfessorDeepa Mani.Naidu said that AP aims toemerge as number one state inusing technology. He saide-Pragati should be implemented in all departments andall the certificates should be made available online. Theuse of new technology is expected to bring transparencyin administration, creation of wealth and employment.For instance, AP developed a mobile app to predict exactlocation of lightning strikes which helps the administra-tion to alert and prevent loss of life.

The Chief Minister said four officials from each depart-ment were selected from all the 32 departments for thesix-week training to be provided by ISB. He stressed theneed for using technology as per the present day demandfor effective administration. He said by using technologythe State Government is able to save 15 per cent in PublicDistribution System, 6 per cent in pensions and 25 percent in scholarships by curbing misuse of the schemes.Speaking on the occasion, Minister for IT and RuralDevelopment Nara Lokesh said that Government is com-mitted to bringing digital revolution in all departments.He said the Government has been using drones tomonitor the development works in villages. IT secretaryK Vijayanand said all the government transactions willbe made available online under e-Pragati.Now, get pattadar passbook in a jiffyFor the first time in the country, farmers in AndhraPradesh can get their pattadar passbooks in 15 minutesflat at the Mee Seva centres by paying a nominal fee ofRs. 25.They need not make rounds to the offices of the RevenueDepartment to get the passbooks that would be printedfrom the government’s ‘Meebhoomi’ portal.Launching the passbooks along with National Informat-ics Centre Director-General Neeta Verma and other offi-cials on Saturday, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidusaid Andhra Pradesh stood as the role model in digitisa-tion of its departments under the e-Pragati project, and astage had been reached where files could be clearedthrough the mobile phones.He suggested to the officials to adopt the e-Office-2 archi-tecture, which was yielding impressive results in publicgovernance around the world.Chief Commissioner of Land Administration AnilChandra Punetha said the passbooks would be printedon the basis of pattadar authentication, land records’validation through Webland, Mee Seva operators’ au-thentication, unique e-pattadar passbook numbers, QRcodes, MROs’ digital signatures, and IP addresses.‘Bhusodak’Punehta informed Naidu that an App, ‘Bhusodak’, wasdeveloped to verify the land records and the owners’identity. The Field Map Book (FMB) digitisation processwas in full swing, Punetha said, adding that so far 39 lakhrecords had been digitised and digital village plans werebeing prepared.

v


E-PRAGATI Govt services to go online from Oct

For the first time inthe country, farmers

in Andhra Pradeshcan get their

pattadar passbooksin 15 minutes flatat the Mee Seva

centres by payinga nominal fee.


Kanyasulkam 125 years

KANYASULKAMGurazada Vemkata Apparow Pamtulu, B.A.It was my original intention to reprint the play with slightalterations but at the suggestion of my friend Mr. S. Srini-vas Iyengar, for whose literary judgements I have greatrespect, I recast it. In the process, it has gained consider-ably in size. In its present shape it is almost a new work.The first edition was a marked success. The press gave ita cordial reception and hailed it as an event in the historyof Telugu Literature, and men, women, and children readit with interest. The only exception was Mahamahopad-hyaya K. Venkataratnam Pantulu Garu who cannot standtwo things in this otherwise perfect world -Social Reformand Spoken Telugu. The first edition was exhausted in afew weeks and there has since been a constant demandfor copies. I long postponed the worry of a second editionand undertake it now only at the importunity of friends.In the Telugu country an author has generally to be hisown publisher and bookseller. There is no book-sellingenterprise, and what book-reading enterprise there is, is

due entirely to the exertions of that venerable body, theBoard of Studies. The Christian Gospels do not speak ofan eleventh commandment "Thou shalt read!" but it isgiven to the Telugu Board of Studies to command "Thou

Apreface or a foreword toa piece of literary workmay sometimes itself ac-quire a cult status. Gu-razada’s preface to thesecond edition of Kanya-sulkam, regarded as an all-time classic in Teluguliterature, is one such gem ofa writing that stands the testof time like the play itself.Whether it is his commen-tary on the plight of Telugudrama production, his play-ful satire on the lack of bookselling enterprise in Telugu,or his passionate advocacyfor elevating the spokenword in literary writings, Gu-

razada makes a telling com-mentary on the contempo-rary Telugu social, culturaland literary inadequacies. Inthe Telugu country, he sayswith tongue firmly in cheek,an author has generally to behis own publisher. Thepovery of invention in regardto complex social conditionsof modern life that he com-plains of remains relevanteven to this day. But thisstatement on the importanceof spoken idiom in creativewriting brings out the geniusof Gurazada both as a writerand as a social reformer intosharp focus:

My own vernacular, for me,the Living Telugu, the Italianof the East in which none ofus is ashamed to express ourjoys and sorrows, but whichsome of us are ashamed towrite well. Literature in theVernacular will knock at thedoor of the peasant, and itwill knock at the door of theEnglishman in India. Its pos-sibilities are immense.On the occasion of 125 yearsof the composition of Kanya-sulkam, we reproduce thesecond preface to the playthat remains a classic to thisday.

PREFACE To THE SECoND EDITIoN

WHEN A PREFACE BECOMES A PIECE OF LITERATURE


shalt read!" and straight thousands of unfortunate youngmen read books that no mortal can read with profit orwith pleasure.When I wrote the play, I had no idea of publication. Iwrote it to advance the cause of Social Reform and tocombat a popular prejudice that the Telugu language wasunsuited to the stage. Itinerant Maharata troupes stagedHindi plays in the Telugu districts and made money.Local companies copied their example and audiences lis-tened with delight to what they did not understand. Thebliss of ignorance could not have been more forcibly il-lustrated. Kanyasulkam gave little scope to vulgar stageattractions such as flaring costumes, sensuous dances,bad music and sham fights; yet it drew crowded housesand vindicated the claims of the vernacular.I am glad to find that Hindi plays are on the decline. Butthe condition of the Telugu stage can, by no means, beconsidered to be satisfactory. There are no theatresworth the name, and no professional actors who practiseacting as an art. There are not many good plays either.Modern life which presents complex social conditions isneglected by playwrights except for purposes of thebroadest farce and poverty of invention is manifested bythe constant handling of threadbare romantic topics. Fewwriters display any knowledge of technique. Such a lowlevel of literary workmanship is a matter for wonderafter fifty years of University Education and dominationof Western Culture, and it can be attributed only to thedefective teaching of English Literature in our Colleges. Abetter state of things cannot, perhaps, be expected until astrong sense of duty impels English Professors and Edu-cational Officers to cultivate the vernaculars.The Telugu intellect is also seriously handicapped by thetyranny of authority -of a highly artificial literary dialect,a rigid system of alliterative versification, and literarytypes which have long played out. I shall say a word hereabout the literary dialect. Since I wrote the preface to thefirst edition, the Spoken Dialect has gained ground. Myfriend, Principal P.T. Srinivas Iyengar, recently started aTelugu Teaching Reform Society among the aims and ob-jects of which the cultivation of Vernacular Telugu holdsa prominent place, and Mr. Yates, whose name will al-ways be remembered in the Telugu districts for the intro-duction of rational methods of teaching into our schools,has lent weight to the movement by accepting the Presi-

dentship of the Society.I cannot understand how modern writers fail to see themerits of Spoken Telugu, its softness which elicited theadmiration of foreigners, and its range of expression. Atthis moment, the best prose in the language is in the Spo-ken Dialect. Strange as it may sound, Telugu prose owesits origin and development not to the patronage of kingsor to the influence of foreign literatures, but to the exer-tions of a curious Englishman who stimulated compila-tion of local histories in the vernacular during the earlyyears of the last century. The Mackenzie collections, nodoubt, comprise tracts of unequal merit but for therhythm, flow, and directness some of them beat the bestwork in the Literary Dialect, and what is rare in Teluguliterature, they reflect the mind of the people and bearimpress of the times. Unconsciously possibly, Rai Ba-hadur K. Viresalingam Pantulu garu rendered great serv-ice to Telugu by issuing as the first volume of thecollected works, adaptations of English acting plays andfarces of Indian life written in vernacular of various de-grees of purity, and the choice does credit to his shrewdcommon sense, because that first volume contains hisvery best work, in fact, his only work that took the publicby storm. The credit of deliberately introducing the ver-nacular into Telugu drama in keeping with Sanskrittradition belongs to my friend V. Venkataraya Sastri Garuwhose Prataparudriyam owes not a little of its charm todialogue in the dialects. I believe my play is the firstambitious work in the spoken dialect and certainly it hasnot failed, but success or failure of individual authors isno test of the capacity of a language.While the vernacular is thus gaining recognition, theLiterary Dialect itself is approximating to the SpokenDialect in the best modern prose which manifests greatfreedom of usage. Rai Bahadur K. Viresalingam PantuluGaru, the most Prominent figure in the Telugu World ofletters at the present day, has set the example of laxity inthe observance of the Law of interchange of soft andhard consonants after drita nasal. Hardly a modernwriter would escape censure if judged by rules of gram-mar and established usage, and in the schoolroom, Pan-dits have relaxed insistence on rigid observance of rulesof sandhi. The moral of this tendency to break throughtraditional restrictions is clear. The old Literary Dialect isfelt to be an inconvenient instrument, and there is an un-

The Christian Gospels do not speak of an eleventh commandment "Thou shalt read!" but it isgiven to the Telugu Board of Studies to command "Thou shalt read!" and straight thousandsof unfortunate young men read books that no mortal can read with profit or with pleasure.


conscious effort to form a new Literary Di-alect. My complaint is that the movementis illogically slow.I view the Telugu Literary Dialect as agreat disability imposed by tradition uponthe Telugus. Let those who love fettersvenerate it. My own vernacular, for me, theLiving Telugu, the Italian of the East inwhich none of us is ashamed to expressour joys and sorrows, but which some ofus are ashamed to write well. Literature inthe Vernacular will knock at the door ofthe peasant, and it will knock at the doorof the Englishman in India. Its possibilitiesare immense.No argument in favour of a Vernacular Lit-erature is needed with persons who areconversant with the history of English Di-alects and the Prakrits, and I know it is notarguments that will evolve a New LiteraryDialect for Telugu. A great writer mustwrite and make it. Let us prepare theground for him.The cause of Social Reform has receivedstrong support from a recent decision ofthe Madras High Court in which a fullbench consisting of Chief Justice Sir ArnoldWhite, and Justices Miller and Munroruled: "That a contract to make payment toa father in consideration of his giving hisdaughter in marriage is immoral and op-posed to public policy within the meaningof section 23 of the Indian Contract Act."I had to contend with one difficulty inprinting this book. There are many soundsin the Spoken Dialect which are not repre-sented in the Telugu Alphabet. In thepresent state of Telugu phonetics, I had tocontent myself with indicating suchsounds by a horizontal line placed over thenearest symbols; and I employed thearthanusvara after a nasal va. The cre-ation of new symbols and their adoptioninto type can be effected only after a morewidespread recognition of the SpokenDialect.My best thanks are due to Messers G. Ra-maswami Chetty Co., who carefully under-took to adopt my innovations, and didtheir part of the work to my entire satis-faction. ELK HILL HOUSEOOTACAMUND1st May 1909

CM To RELEASEAMARAVATI DECLARATIoN AP Legislative Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Raosaid that “Amaravati Declaration”, aimed at empower-ment of women, has been finalised and will be releasedby Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu soon.The Speaker said that the committee, under the leadership ofTransport, Roads and Buildings Department Principal Secre-tary Sumita Dawra, prepared the Declaration after taking intoconsideration the opinions voiced by several women duringthe National Women’s Parliament (NWP) held from February10 to 12 at Pavithra Sangamam near Vijayawada. Rao said thatthe advisory committee earlier prepared the draft copy ofAmaravati Declaration and after a crucial meeting in August,they prepared the final declaration after making some minorchanges to the draft declaration. v

Ruling Party securesNandyal seat

Once in a while, a by-election can become a test of theruling party’s image in the public. The Nandyal Assem-bly by-election was fought bitterly, as the oppositionYSR Congress Party made it a prestige issue. After an intensecampaign, marred by exchanges of harsh criticism, the pollwas held on August 23. The result was a resounding victory tothe policies of the Government. The Telugu Desam Party wonthe seat with a margin of more than 27,000 votes. The election was necessitated following the death of BhumaNagireddy. In a do-or-die battle, TDP candidate BrahmanandaReddy and YSR Congress Party candidate Silpa Mohan Reddycarried out vigorous campaign, with their respective partyleaders pitching strongly for their nominees. The election waskeenly watched by media as well as political observers, giventhe high political stakes involved. It was widely believed thatthe winning candidate would have a marginal victory, butcontrary to expectations, the ruling TDP candidate securedsizeable majority.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naiduinaugurated the AP Police Headquarters build-ing complex constructed on the NH-5 in the APSixth Battalion premises. The Director Generalof Police and Crime Investigation Department(CID) of-fices occupy the second, third and fourth floors in thebuilding. Maintaining a corporate look, the HQ boasts of double-glass doors and windows. All the cabins are air-condi-tioned. The DGP chambers are made of bullet-proofglass. Also, bio-metric system is installed at severalrooms to ensure attendance system. From now the DGPoffice will be shifted to Mangalagiri and it will workfrom here.AP Police headquarters on the Vijayawada-Guntur high-way in Mangalagiri has a host of modern security equip-ment. The AP State Police Housing Corporation Limited(APSPHCL) has completed the construction of the five-storey police headquarters in a record time of 10months at a cost of Rs 40 crore. The centrally air-condi-tioned building is having all the modern facilities in-cluding canteens, reception halls, work stations and restrooms in every floor where about 500 staff memberswill be working. The police headquarters constructed in 1.1 lakh sq ftplinth area with hills located behind and overlookingthe National Highway has been built with global stan-dards where the offices of the CID and DGP will be lo-cated. The DGP hopes to instil the right work ethic in thedepartment and also ensure the officers' happiness. Digital transformation is also underway where theyhope to digitise all the records in the near future. Latestcomputers with high-end configuration are nowavailable even for junior officials. DGP said that AP po-lice have been known to use technology to the optimum. Andhra Pradesh Police are among the top in the countryand can face any situation, Chief Minister ChandrababuNaidu complimented after inaugurating the newly con-structed five storied building Naidu said that ‘Octopus’ and ‘Greyhounds’ teams areadded strength to the police and they rank among thetop in the country with their operations. He added that52 out of 195 police awards were won by our statewhich shows their commitment. Mr Naidu appreciatedDGP N. Sambasivarao for constructing such a huge,

modern building. “This building was very nice and I feellike hijacking the building and setting up my officehere,” said Mr Naidu in a lighter vein.The CM said that the Government is focused on the wel-fare of police and every policeman should own a house.Maintaining one’s health is essential for cops, he added.“The Octopus drill was marvelous and I am proud ofthose who performed in Tirupati. Our guys are betterthan robots,” said Naidu. He asked the police to conduct monthly crime reviewsand think out of the box. “Policing should be visible andthe police should be invisible, Naidu added.

State-of-the-art POLICE HQ INAUGURATED

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One of the most learned scholars and statesmenDr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan became Presidentof India in 1962. He had asked his students andfriends, who were seeking permission to cele-brate his birthday, to consider celebrating it as Teachers’Day. "Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be myproud privilege if 5 September is observed as Teachers'Day," he said. Since then, his birthday is celebrated as'Teacher's Day' in India. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on September 5,1888, in a middle class family in the pilgrim town ofTiruttani. It was a Telugu-speaking region later mergedin Tamil Nadu. He went to school at Tirupati and thenVellore. Later, he joined the Christian College, Madras,and studied philosophy. In April 1909, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was appointedto the Department of Philosophy at the Madras Presi-dency College. Thereafter, in 1918, he was selected asProfessor of Philosophy by the University of Mysore. Bythat time he had written many articles for journals ofrepute like The Quest, Journal of Philosophy and the In-ternational Journal of Ethics. He also completed his firstbook, The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. In 1921 he was appointed as a professor in philosophy tooccupy the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Sci-ence at the University of Calcutta. He represented theUniversity of Calcutta at the Congress of the Universitiesof the British Empire in June 1926 and the InternationalCongress of Philosophy at Harvard University inSeptember 1926. He was the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University from1931 to 1936. In 1936 Radhakrishnan was named Spald-ing Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at theUniversity of Oxford, and was elected a Fellow of AllSouls College. That same year, and again in 1937, he wasnominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1939 Pt.Madan Mohan Malaviya invited him to succeed him asthe Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU).He served as its Vice-Chancellor till January 1948.When India became independent in 1947, Radhakrish-nan represented India at UNESCO (1946–52) and waslater Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union, from 1949to 1952. He was also elected to the Constituent Assemblyof India. Radhakrishnan was elected as the first Vice-

President of India in 1952, and elected as the secondPresident of India (1962–1967).Great Teacher'Teachers' Day' was a tribute to Dr Radhakrishnan's closeassociation with the cause of teachers. Whatever posi-tion he held whether as President or Vice President oreven as Ambassador, Dr Radhakrishnan essentiallyremained a teacher all his life. The teaching professionwas his first love and those who studied under him stillremember with gratitude his great qualities as a teacher.Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was one of his closestfriends throughout, said about Dr Radhakrishnan: "Hehas served his country in many capacities. But above all,he is a great Teacher from whom all of us have learntmuch and will continue to learn. It is India’s peculiarprivilege to have a great philosopher, a great educationistand a great humanist as her President. That in itselfshows the kind of men we honour and respect."Bharat Ratna, the highest award of the nation, wasconferred on him in 1954 in recognition of hismeritorious service to mankind.


DR SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNANThe Philosopher President

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Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan drawn by Bujjai and signedby Radhakrishnan in Telugu as "Radhakrishnayya".

Tribute


The State Government has spent Rs 200crore in the last three years for the wel-fare of the poor among the Brahmins,Endowments Minister P Manikyala Raosaid. The Government expended notless than Rs 58 crore in the financialyear 2016-17 to benefit 33,162Brahmin families. Manikyala Rao laidthe foundation stone the ‘Kailasam’guest house proposed to be built with120 rooms at Bharadwaja Theerthamby the Srikalahasti temple board.On the ‘Divya Darshanam’ schememeant to provide free transportationand stay of the Hindus at 13 places ofreligious significance in the State, Raosaid it had received encouragingresponse from the devout. “We aregoing to extend the scheme to 2.6 lakhpersons from next year,” he added.While reiterating his resolve torenovate the dilapidated temples, Raopointed out that the department wasexperiencing shortage of funds, as 95%of its revenue was being ploughed backto pay salary to staff members and helpsmall temples perform ‘dhoopa, deepa,naivedyam.’ He said the governmentwas considering forming a special fundwith Rs 250 crore under the joint con-trol of the Endowments Departmentand the TTD. The Government was contemplating in-troducing minimum wage to the priestshaving an annual income less than Rs 2lakh. “The priests need not get agi-tated,” he said. He also disclosed thatbhumi puja for the department’sregional office in Tirupati will be per-formed soon.Poster releasedUnder the aegis of the Ganesh Nimaj-jana Committee, the Minister released aposter on ‘clay Ganesha’, an activitymeant to create awareness on the needto avoid Plaster of Paris or syntheticcolours while making huge Ganeshidols. Endowments Assistant Commis-sioner D Bhramaramba was present.

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Minimum wageto temple priests under consideration

The Andhra Pradesh Govern-ment will recommend theCentre for providingreservation to Kapucommunity under the backwardclasses category as soon as a commis-sion on the issue submitted itsreport, Chief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu said."The commission report will be sub-mitted soon and the cabinet will ap-prove it. And then we will send it to

the Centre seeking reservation forKapus in education and jobs," he saidaddressing a meeting of the commu-nity here. He said due care would betaken to ensure the existing reserva-tion structure for backward classeswas not affected by the move. Thestate government had constitutedJustice Manjunatha Commission lastyear to look into the issue.

"I will take responsibility for ensur-ing social justice and extend reserva-tion to Kapus. We have alreadyinitiated a number of programmesfor their welfare through the KapuCorporation," Naidu maintained.Deputy Chief Minister N China Ra-jappa, Power Minister Kala VenkatRao, Telugu Desam ParliamentaryParty leader Thota Narasimham,party MPs and legislators attendedthe meeting. “No other political partyhas the commitment for uplift of theKapus except the Telugu DesamParty. Some forces are trying to divertthe attention of the Kapus by makingattempts to create ruckus out of non-issues. Beware of such forces and bewith the TDP,” the CM told the Kapusduring his road show in Kakinada forthe municipal elections.Meanwhile, Kollu Ravindra, Ministerfor Law & Justice, said that distribu-tion of stipend for unemployed youthwill take another two months as thegovernment has been working on thescheme guaranteed under the TDPmanifesto. The stipend would besomewhere between Rs 1,000 to Rs2,000, the Minister said and addedthat the Government would hold twomore meetings to finalise the modali-ties of the scheme.

AP will approach Centreto provide quota to Kapus

The Government isworking on Kapu reser-vation in such a waythat other BC communi-ties are not affected,the Chief Minister said.

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Soon, Vijayawada will have a cultural centre. TheChief Minister approved a proposal submittedby the Department of Culture, to set up a cul-tural centre or ‘Kala Bhavan’ in Satyanarayanapuram,Vijayawada. The plot of land has been identified, andthe project will cost Rs 10 crore. Officials also proposed the ‘Ananda Lahiri’ plan, aweekly event conducted in all 110 municipalities andcorporations of the state. For 4 hours every week,authorities will organise talent shows for profession-als, amateurs and students to exhibit and nurturedifferent talents. The Chief Minister readilyapproved, saying that this will be a successful com-munity building exercise and induce overall moraledevelopment of citizens. “Talent will not just be en-couraged as hobbies, but the events will help create aplatform for building soft power for Andhra Pradesh”,he said. These events will open dialogue to address socialevils like dowry, child marriage, gender inequality,drugs, alcohol and caste, as these are the themes as-signed for professional artiste performances. TheChief Minister also encouraged the officials to includemore activities like sports, artisans and handicraftstalls, classical arts and theatre. Food FestivalOfficials presented the idea of a Food Festival, andhave narrowed down to a list of 30 dishes to be pro-moted. The event will be launched at the Secretariat,inviting the Council of Ministers, Secretaries, Advi-sors and senior staff. They will also release a booklet,which has been prepared after thorough research offood varieties in the state. The Food Festival will beheld in the next month, and is being planned as alarge-scale tourist attraction. The Chief Minister said,“First, appoint a Director and conduct thorough re-search on how we can market the food varieties inour state.” “Make a yearly calendar, marking the im-portant tourism festivals, religious events, conven-tions and other tourism-related events.” He asked them to ideate further to include creativeactivities like adventure sports near the Bhavani Is-lands, shopping complexes, amusement parks, sportsactivities, streets for handicrafts, Rose Garden etc.

Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu unveiled the statueof Alapati Venkataramaiah on the occasion of thecentenary celebrations held in Tenali. He recalledAlapati Venkatramaiah’s vision and his activities duringthe freedom struggle and said his life was an inspirationfor future generations.He urged the youth to read the biography of AlapatiVenkataramaiah. Alapati was elected four times as MLAfrom Tenali. In his short life, Alapati had an illustriouspublic career. One notable and memorable event is hisvictory in the first Assembly Elections held on 27-3-1952, when many Congress stalwarts lost in the landslideof communists.He probably was one of the very few people who from1944 at the age of 27 years took his first position as a di-rector in the GDCC bank, held a position continuouslyuntil his death in 1965. He was also the only leader whoheld many positions including Municipal Chairman, DistCo operative bank Chairman and an MLA - all simultane-ously. He had an early and untimely death in 1965 at ayoung age of 48 as a minister in Brahmananda Reddy'sCabinet. His political legacy was carried on by hisDaughter Doddapaneni Indira who was elected to Tenaliassembly seat 3 consecutive times in 1967,1972 and1978. The programme was organised by former MLA DrGogineni Uma and the book was written by Dr Ch BabaVali Rao. The Vice-President released the book on thisoccasion. AP Assembly Speaker K Siva Prasad Rao, SocialWelfare Minister N Anand Babu, MP Galla Jayadev, MLAsAlapati Rajendra Prasad and D Narendra were present onthe occasion.

CULTURAL CENTREin VIJAYAWADA‘Ananda Lahiri’ from the firstweek of September

ALAPATI’S PUBLICSERVICE RECALLED

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In a bid to root out the widespread kidney diseasebeing faced by the villages in Uddanam area ofSrikakulam, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu an-nounced a series of measures for comprehensively tack-ling the problem. The Government accepted therecommendations submitted by a team of doctors fromHarvard Medical School. The team from Harvard studiedthe causes for high prevalence of chronic kidney diseaseor 'Uddanam Nephropathy', which has claimed manylives in the region during last 30 years. Health officials,in their presentation, said the screening of over one lakh

people in 176 villages shows the prevalence rate of thedisease is 13 percent, which is extremely high accordingto any standard. Principal Secretary, Health, Medical andFamily Welfare, Poonam Malakondaiah, said that 46 percent of the patients are female and 54 per cent male. Shesaid that each case is recorded and tracked electroni-cally, so that the government can provide the requiredmedical care and attention. Naidu also announced thatsafe drinking water will be provided to the Uddanamarea.

SNAPSHoT

SHOWING EMPATHY

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Elk Hill House,Ootacamund,7th May, 1909.My dear Munisubrahmanyam,I have lost sight of you again. Where are you now?If I do not write to you frequently, it is not becauseI lack the will, but because I lack the energy. 152pages of Kanyasulkam are printed. It will exceed200 pages of small type. Modesty apart, I think, Ihave made it a great book. The test of it is, I ammyself fascinated, with it. It more thoroughly rep-resents my mind than the first edition which cameup from the surface. I asked my printers to sendyou the forms already printed. Please read themcarefully, and to your friends and bring to my no-tice any inconsistencies or absurdities you maynotice at once. Also please underline all the wordswhich people in Nellore district do not under-stand. I shall add them in the glossary. Existingplays in Telugu are poor stuff though some of themdo not lack poetic merit and imagination like Mr.Venkataraya Sastri's Prataparudriyam. You willfind even in that play whole pages which neitheradvance the plot nor help to develop character.The one thing I like most about that book is the at-mosphere of literary and patriotic romanticismwhich the poet has successfully conjured up indramatizing one of the most stirring episodes inthe history of our country. But the historicalcolouring is false and improbabilities transcendliterary license. (Thinking that) you have readPrataparudriyam, I have written about it. If youhave read Viresalingam's or Chilakamarti’s, I shallfurnish you with short critiques so that you maygain some knowledge of technique.Wishing you every success. How is (your) fatherdoing? My Pranamas. Are there book-sellers inNellore and Ongole? Can you arrange for the saleof copies of my books there?I remain,Yours affectionately,

Elk Hill House,Ootacamund,17th May, 1909.My dear Munisubrah-manyam Pantulu,I was glad to receive yourletter. I am surprised atyour command of the ter-minology of criticism. I donot know if I have much toteach you. Do write a re-view of my play. I shall see that it is published insome Madras Daily when the book comes out. Ishall ask the book-sellers Messers V. RamaswamiSastrulu & Co., Esplande, (Proprietor V.Venkateswara Sastri, a literary enthusiast whoseacquaintance you should make) to send somecopies to you for presentation and for sale throughlocal book-sellers. Yesterday I sent you my 'Songsof the Blue Hills" and Preface to Kanyasulkam,along with it. I could not write the Telugu gram-mar (as I have) a great deal to do and my health isnot good. I wish you could collaborate with me onmy work. What can I say? In a country where thereare no openings to intelligent young men, I wouldrecommend literature. Let me see how my literaryventures fare and if they prosper as business. Ishould take you as my collaborator. I want to fol-low people who will stick to some place like myfriend Mr. G.V. Ramamurti, working in the HighSchool. If he takes it up with you with a placethere (...) yourself in your work, because theschool will be run as an experiment on modernmethods. If you come to Vizianagaram I do notknow what help I can do. The inspector of Schoolswill help us. I think we can help ourselves.Yours very affectionately,Letters Written by legendary Gurazada to ongole Munisub-rahmanyam (1886-1969)

k k k

Literary reminiscences Of

GURAZADA APPARAO PANTULU

- Ongole Munisubrahmanyam

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Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu receiveda rousing welcome from the Andhra Pradeshgovernment in Vijayawada during a civic recep-tion in his home state. The felicitation pro-gramme was organized by the state government inhonour of a leader who made the state proud by hisachievements at the national level. Governor ESL Narasimhan and Chief Minister N Chan-drababu Naidu welcomed Naidu at Gannavaram Airportfrom where he was taken to the city in an open jeep.Thousands of people including school children were stoodalong the road to get a glimpse of the Vice President whois a native of Nellore of the state. The state governmentinvited around 5,000 people including Opposition partiesand educationists and other eminent persons for the felic-itation function of VP arranged at Interim GovernmentComplex in Velagapudi of Amaravati.Speaking on the occasion, Venkaiah Naidu reminded hisfight and efforts he put up forthe benefit of Andhra Pradeshduring state bifurcation. Venka-iah Naidu said that chief minis-ters of Andhra Pradesh andTelangana should meet oftenand discuss issues with an openheart and resolve issues amica-bly. The Vice President recalledhis participation in Jai Andhramovement in 1972 which had itsgenesis in Vijayawada and feltthat both the Telugu stateswould have developed withgiant strides by now if the state was bifurcated during theJai Andhra movement itself. "I retired from politics, but not tired. I tried my best tohelp Andhra Pradesh during state bifurcation which wasdone unscientifically and injustice was done to the state. Ididn't care for the criticism in Delhi circles that I'm work-ing only for Andhra Pradesh ignoring other parts of thecountry being a Union minister. I will continue to help thestate in the best possible manner in my new role as VicePresident," he said.Venkaiah Naidu assured that he will uphold the dignity ofAugust role of Vice President and play the role RajyaSabha chairman effectively. He said he will bring pastglory to Rajya Sabha allowing meaningful debates.Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu who spoke on theoccasion lauded the efforts of Venkaiah Naidu whoworked for the cause of Andhra Pradesh in Rajya Sabha

during the state bifurcation. "It was only Venkaiah Naiduwho fought for the cause of Andhra Pradesh in RajyaSabha during state bifurcation,” he said. "Venkaiah becom-ing Vice President is a great opportunity to Telugu people,we are proud of him" the CM said.The Vice-President later laid the foundation stone forPrime Minister Awas Yojna Scheme of Group Housing withAndhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.Under the scheme, more than 2,25,000 houses are to bebuilt for people living below poverty line in AndhraPradesh. Venkaiah Naidu had sanctioned 2.25 lakh housesunder Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as Union Minister forUrban Development, and now as the Vice-President he in-augurated a pylon of housing scheme near the Secretariat.Naidu said that he will never forget the reception he re-ceived, and will live up to the standards of Vice President."I am a bit sad, as I cannot come and interact freely withyou people," he added.Next to former President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy and for-mer Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, Vice-PresidentVenkaiah Naidu also hails from the Telugu States ofAndhra Pradesh.

VENKAIAH NAIDU FELICITATEDVice-President Honoured as Son of the Soil

I will continue tohelp Andhra

Pradesh in thebest possiblemanner in my

new role as Vice President.

- M Venkaiah Naidu

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SEPTEMBER 2017

If there is glory in defeat, the final match that P VSindhu played against the Japanese Ninja NozomiOkuhara in the World Badminton Championship isits ultimate example. She lost the coveted Gold by awhisker, but her gritty play all through inspired abillion fans. Congratulating ‘the daughter of Andhra’for winning the silver medal, Chief Minister N Chan-drababu Naidu said, “You are truly an inspiration for the

youth of the nation”.The lanky shuttler gave it her all to the epic, gruellingfinal, that clocked 110 minutes, but still had to settle forsilver in the World Championships. In the one-hour 50minute slugfest, the longest match of the tournament sofar, Sindhu lost the title 19-21, 22-20, 20-22 to NozomiOkuhara.The 22-year-old shuttlers were involved in perhaps the28 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

In one of thegreatest matchesin the history ofthe WorldChampionships,P V Sindhu mayhave lost the goldmedal bya whisker, butwidely celebratedfor her grittyperformance thatshone brighterthan her silvermedal.

guts & glory World Badminton Championship 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017

best women's singles final with all thestrokes, dribbles or drives on display.Only six points across three sets sepa-rated Sindhu and Nozomi. Sindhusaved a championship point trailing19-20, but luck deserted her as theJapanese girl scored the next two.Nozomi became the first Japanesewomen's singles champion whileSindhu is the second Indian afterSaina to secure silver. After mowingdown Chen Yufei of China in straightsets in the semifinal, Sindhu was theclear favourite in the final. She evenplayed like one and led 11-5 at thebreak. But Nozomi came back strong,hitting the shuttle hard and returningeverything. The Japanese girl sur-prised the Indian with her guile andretrieving ability. From 10-14, Nozomicame up with an eight-point burst anddominated thereafter.Sindhu started on a strong note afterlosing the first game and both playersindulged in lengthy rallies. WithSindhu ahead 15-13, she won a rallywhich lasted 43 shots. That gave theIndian a lot of confidence as she pow-ered ahead to 20-17. But Nozomi wasso determined that she saved threegame points before both players de-lighted the crowd with the longest

rally of the match. Sindhu won that73-shot rally and clinched the game22-20.At the start of the third game bothplayers looked tired but their will towin the title kept the contest alive tillthe last point. The fact that the gameitself lasted a good 46 points (the timeusually taken to finish three games) isan indication of the intense battle.This is the third medal for Sindhuafter the two bronze medals at the2013 and 2014 championships.Almost a year on from claiming thehighest honour in the history of In-dian badminton (a silver at the RioOlympics), Indian badminton queenPV Sindhu claimed silver at the WorldBadminton Championships. The scarcely believable 73-shot rally,that gave Sindhu the second game,was heart-thumping, to say the least.Sindhu's silver made it two individualmedals for India at the World Champi-onships - a first - with Saina Nehwaltaking home bronze. On how the finalebbed and flowed“Each point was equally tough, but inthe third game when it was 20-20 itwas anybody's game, I felt. I have nowords. It's been really upsetting be-

cause anybody would aim for the gold,and that last moment just changedeverything. I'm happy with silver, butthat feeling is always there,” Sindhusaid after the match.The Badminton Association of India(BAI) announced cash award of Rs 10lakh for PV Sindhu and Rs five lakh forSaina Nehwal following their medalwinning performances in the WorldChampionships that concluded inGlasgow.The social media erupted in admira-tion at the standard of game displayedby Sindhu in the finals. Minutes afterthe riveting game ended with a crest-fallen Sindhu walked out of the court,twitterati paid her rich compliments.“Pusarla Venkata Sindhu - Rememberthe name. A role-model for a genera-tion, aged 22. India is proud of u@Pvsindhu1 Most breathtaking fi-nals,” said cricketer Virender Sehwag.“Nobody even bothered about thecricket scores today. @Pvsindhu1 youare a star! And may you keep shining!#Sindhu,” said journalist RajdeepSardesai.Meanwhile, there are reports thatactor Sonu Sood is planning to pro-duce a biopic on the life of the acebadminton player.ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG 29

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AMAZING ANDHRA PRADESH

BELUM CAVESNature’s canvas of art


other attractions• There is a sizeable Buddha statue on a hillock near the caves. Oneof the caverns at Belum is known as the "Meditation Hall", whichwas used by Buddhist monks.Inside the Caves• Saptasvarala Guha or Musical Chamber - Saptasvarala Guhameans chamber of seven notes. The stalactite formations in thischamber reproduce musical sounds when these are struck with awooden stick or knuckles. This section was opened to the publicin 2006.[7]• Dhyan Mandir or Meditation Hall - This section is near to the en-trance. An interesting formation at Meditation hall looks like a bedwith pillow to recline. The local legend has it that in ancient timesmany sages used to live here. This section was used by BuddhistMonks. Many relics of Buddhist period were found here which arenow housed in museum at Anantapuramu.• Thousand Hoods - This section has amazing stalactite formationsshaped like hood of Cobra. The stalactite formations on the ceilinglooks as if thousands of cobras have opened their hoods.• Banyan Tree Hall - This section has a huge pillar with stalactiteshanging from the ceiling. This gives a look of Banyan Tree with itsaerial roots when seen from below. The locals call it "Voodala-mari" since it looks like a Banyan Tree with its aerial roots hang-ing from the branchesaccessThe nearest railhead to reach Belum Caves is Tadipatri, 30 km(18.6 mi) away. There are daily trains from Delhi, Mumbai, Chen-nai, Hyderabad, Tirupati, Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram,Coimbatore and Goa which halt at Tadipatri railway station. FromTadipatri, one can take a bus to the Belum Caves.accommodationAndhra Pradesh Tourism Operates Punnami Hotel in the vicinityof Belum Caves. The accommodation offered is a 32-bed dormi-tory, which is comfortable and clean. There is also a restaurantand a small shop operated by Andhra Pradesh Tourism at the en-trance to Belum Caves. One can find accommodation at Tadipatri(30 km) and Banganpalli (20 km), the nearest towns to BelumCaves. Kurnool (106 km) and Anantapur (85 km) are other places,which have good hotels.

Belum Caves is the secondlargest cave in Indian sub-continent and the longestcaves in plains of IndianSubcontinent, known for its stalactiteand stalagmite formations. BelumCaves of Anantapuramu district havelong passages, spacious chambers,fresh water galleries and siphons. This natural underground cave sys-tem was formed over the course oftens of thousands of years by the con-stant flow of underground water.Even though the Belum Caves wereknown to local people, the firstrecords of site come from the expedi-tion report of British geologist andarchaeologist Robert Bruce Foote in1884. From 1982 to 1984, a team ofGerman speleologists headed by H.Daniel Gebauer conducted a detailedexploration of the caves. Thereafter in 1988, the state govern-ment declared the site protected, andAndhra Pradesh Tourism Develop-ment Corporation (APTDC) devel-oped the caves as a tourist attractionin February 2002. Today, 3.5 km (2.2mi) of the caves have been success-fully explored, though only 1.5 km(0.9 mi) is accessible to visitors. There are 16 different pathways, in-cluding the main entrance and thereare deposits of quartz in the caves.The caves consist of black limestone. The caves reach its deepest point(120 feet from entrance level) at thepoint known as Pataalaganga. BelumCaves derives its name from "Bilum"Sanskrit word for caves. In Telugu language, it is called BelumGuhalu. Belum Caves has a length of3229 metres, making it the secondlargest natural caves in Indian Sub-continent.


SAAP academies inauguratedR & B Minister Ch Ayyanna Patrudu inaugurated SportsAuthority of Andhra Pradesh’s academies for archeryand rifle-shooting at Sanskruti Global School atParawada, Visakhapatnam district. Ayyanna Patrudusaid the potential of Girijans in archery and fishermen inswimming should be put to good use for getting medals.Principal Secretary, Sports, L V Subrahmanyam said aspart of the sports policy physical literacy would be intro-duced in 60,000 schools. Six SAAP academies- threeeach for boys and girls- were being launched and thoseselected would get national and international-levelcoaching.

300 trees on highway to be trans-located Following instructions of Chief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu, the Andhra Pradesh Urban Greening and Beauti-fication Corporation Ltd. (APUG&BCL) has taken up thetask of trans-location in Vijayawada. To avoid axing oftrees from the Circle to the Ramesh Hospital junctionfor the construction of flyover at the Benz Circle, theState government has decided to rope in experts fortrans-location of trees to villages near Gannavaram. Ittakes up to three weeks to relocate a fully grown treeafter carefully trimming the roots and allowing regener-ation. The government has allotted two to three placesfor trans-location of about 300 trees. It would take amonth to complete the process.

SIT to Re-Investigate Ayesha Meera CaseThe Andhra Pradesh government ordered re-investiga-tion into the Ayesha Meera murder case. The home de-partment ordered the constitution of a specialinvestigation team, headed by Deputy Inspector Generalrank officer. The SIT will include a woman officer andwill be supervised by the commissioner of Vijayawada.Satyam Babu, the main accused in the murder and rape

case, was acquitted by the Andhra Pradesh High Courtearlier this year. Ayesha Meera, a 17-year-old student,was found raped and murdered on December 27, 2007in her hostel in Ibrahimpatnam, Vijayawada.

Lokesh urges Centre to release NREGS fundsMinister for IT and Panchayat Raj N Lokesh requestedUnion Minister for Rural Development Narendra SinghTomar to release Rs. 1,351.81 crore towards materialbudget under the MGNREGS that is due to the State andRs. 600 crore for the labour budget. In a meeting withTomar in New Delhi, Lokesh said the Centre should ex-tend assistance for laying 4,772 km of roads in 2,207habitations that had been wrongly shown by the previ-ous government as connected. A sum of Rs. 165 crorewas due to the Swachh Andhra Corporation towards thesecond instalment for construction of Individual Sani-tary Latrines (ISL), Lokesh stated.

Anna Canteens in all municipalities by SeptThe State Government is making all efforts to openAnna Canteens in all municipalities by September firstweek. The municipal commissioners who visited theAmma Canteens in Chennai and Annapurna Canteens atHyderabad have submitted their report to the govern-ment. The Chief Minister, who wants to open Anna Can-teens in all towns and mandal headquarters on October2, is about to take the final decision soon on the subsidyand number of Anna Canteens per one lakh population.

Rs 220 Cr Project to VizagCoromandel International, the country's second largestphosphatic fertiliser player, has received environmentalclearance for raising production capacity of its facility atVishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The company'sproposal is to raise phosphoric acid production capacityfrom 700 tonnes per day to 1,000 tonnes per day and

HAPPENING AP

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu asked the officials to createawareness among the people on the need to report to the authoritiesconcerned about any borewell that has been left uncovered. The CM’sdirection came during his interaction with the team that recently res-cued two-year-old Chandrasekhar from a borewell at Ummadivaram inVinukonda mandal of Guntur district. He asked the officials to docu-ment the strategy adopted in rescuing the child as it could be used ascase study for future reference. Naidu made a deposit of Rs 2 lakh inthe name of the child. The deposit, on maturity after 20 years, wouldhelp the child get Rs 20 lakh.

CM with the team that rescued the boy from tubewell

Rescue strategy for tubewell victims


other auxiliary facilities at Sriharipuram to achieve dailycomplex fertiliser production of 3,900 tonnes. The Coro-mandel International's proposal was first vetted by anexpert panel constituted under the Environment Min-istry. Based on its recommendation, the ministry hasgiven a final nod to the project, according to a letter is-sued by the environment ministry to the company. Theestimated project cost of the proposed upgradation andinstallations will be Rs 225 crore.

SDI gets coveted awardSkill Development Institute-Visakhapatnam has baggedan award for being the best institute in innovation ofskill development. The award was presented by Ministerfor Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv PratapRudy in Delhi. It was a great moment for the institute toreceive such a coveted award within 8 months of its op-erations at Arilova with the funding from HPCL andseven other public sector oil companies.

AP to lead pan-India campaignThe bureau of energy efficiency under union ministry ofpower designated Andhra Pradesh State Energy Conser-vation Mission as the chief coordinating agency for na-tional media committee to campaign for energyconservation and efficiency across the country.APSECM was reportedly chosen after thorough studyand deliberations at the national level from among 29states designated agencies as the chief coordinationagency, in recognition of its significant contribution tothe field of energy efficiency and conservation inAndhra Pradesh.

Petroleum institute in Andhra PradeshA bill providing for setting up of the Indian Institute ofPetroleum and Energy in Andhra Pradesh was intro-duced in the Lok Sabha. The institute would be estab-lished in Visakhapatnam district in pursuance of theCentral government’s commitment for setting up a pe-

troleum university under the Andhra Pradesh Reorgani-sation Act, 2014. The Indian Institute of Petroleum andEnergy Bill, 2017, was introduced by Minister of Statefor Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.The institute would provide high quality education andconduct advance research in all aspects relating to theconventional hydrocarbons.

Unemployment dole soonMinister for Youth and Skill Development Kollu Ravindrasaid his Ministry was busy preparing guidelines to offerfinancial assistance to the unemployed youth in thenext two months and that Rs. 500 crore was allocatedfor the purpose. He said another two meetings wouldbe convened to arrive at a clarity over the issue. “The fi-nancial assistance will be between Rs. 1,000 and Rs.2,000 per month. Another Rs. 500 crore will be mo-bilised from other departments,” he added.

VJA-Masula highway expansionThe expansion works of the National Highway-65 be-tween Machilipatnam and Vijayawada is progressingfast and they are likely to be completed by June 2018.The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) hasinitially fixed the target of completing the project —four-lane road on a stretch of 64.61 km — by November2018. Dilip Builcon Limited has been awarded the proj-ect worth Rs. 1,134 crore. The expansion works beganin November 2016, to ensure better road connectivitybetween Machilipatnam and Vijayawada in the wake ofthe proposed industrial corridor and deep sea port.

AP villages to get plastic roadsThe AP Panchayat Raj Department is getting ready toprovide plastic pellets to build 45 clusters by October 2.All 661 mandals in AP would be connected with theplastic mixed roads by January 26, said Panchayati Rajcommissioner B Ramanjaneyulu.

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TRANSCo, GENCo headquarters inaugurated

Governor E S L Narasimhan inaugurated the new building com-plex for electricity department’s headquarters in Vijayawada.Speaking on the occasion, the Governor praised the ultra mod-ern facilities provided in the complex. Chief Minister Chan-drababu Naidu said that the government is brining the secondphase of power sector reforms and focussing on renewableenergy such as solar power and wind power. He added that thenew building has adopted disruptive technologies such asSequential Data Control and Data Acquisition, through which theauthorities can monitor power management systems.

The new headquarters of TRANSCo, GENCo

34 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.COM SEPTEMBER 2017

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CM Chandrababu Naidu is an active social mediauser. Many of you have been actively followinghis activities with admiration. Here are a fewsnapshots from his Twitter account and thoseon him.

chief minister’ssocial network

IN PICS

Pic 1: CM Chandrababu Naidu Inaugurated MunicipalAdministration & Urban Development Com-mand Control Center for Real-Time monitoringof solid waste management.

Pic 2: The CM met with the Australian Consul General& Delegates from Chennai to discuss variousprospects for possible ties between AP & Aus-tralia.

Pic 3: Avilala housing colony with 360 houses thatwill provide homes to the poor families of Tiru-pati was inaugurated by the CM.

Pic 4: CM unveiling BhuSeva which will provide serv-ices related to Rural, Urban & Forest lands orproperties to the citizens, in a well- integrated& transparent way.

Pic 5: The CM garlanding the statue of Andhra KesariTanguturi Prakasam Pantulu on the occasion oflatter’s birth anniversary in Vijayawada.

Pic 6: The CM posing for selfie with Haj pilgrims, afterflagging off Haj Buses at Secretariat

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Regd. No. H-HD-1082/2016-18 APENG/2007/20679Published on: 01/09/2017 Posting Dt: 6th

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