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The classical dance of Andhra Pradesh ‘Kuchipudi’ founda place in the Guinness World Records when a record6,117 dancers came together to present a show at the IGMCStadium in Vijayawada on December 25th evening. Guin-ness adjudicator Rishinath declared that “Jayamu Jayamu”item presented in unison by the participants created a newrecord and handed over a certificate to Andhra PradeshChief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.The “Maha Brunda Natyam” (grand group dance) was

organised as part of the ‘5th International Kuchipudi DanceConvention’ organised by the state Department of Languageand Culture. “Jayamu Jayamu” is one of the glorious items of‘Kuchipudi’ dance choreographed by the legend VempatiChina Satyam.“We aim to take Kuchipudi to a global level. It will highlightTelugu culture & encourage new talent,” said Chief MinisterChandrababu Naidu was who received the honour from theGuinness representative.

Dancing into guinness WorlD recorDs


C O N T E N T SStriving for DigitalEconomy

SpeakingHis Mind

Nadikudi-Srikalahastifoundation stone laid

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GCC, goinggreat guns

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Paytm Office inVisakhapatnam

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Andhra Pradesh ispushing hard toherald a cashlessdigital economy in theaftermath ofdemonetisation moveof the Centre.

Symbol ofSecularism

Happening Andhra

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From the CM’sdesk

34An EpicYearAhead!

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12Sona Springs

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Various developments across thestate of Andhra Pradesh.

AP’s role in evolvingNational Flag25

A.P. Cabinet clears pro-posals for five smart cities

Chief Minister’sSocial Network

Mori becomes firstdigitally literate vil-

lage in countryCentre releases Rs 1981cr for Polavaram

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Polavaram IrrigationProject


JANUARY 20174 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

Hope smiles in the New Year

The New Year augurs well for the fledgling state of AndhraPradesh as it rings out the one gone by. Even as the rest of thecountry is grappling with the implications of the demonetisa-

tion move, the happening state has been able to make tangibleprogress in ushering a digital economy.

While the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has covered the wholegamut in heralding cashless transactions in the state, the cap in thefeather is certainly the transformation of a tiny village in EastGodavari district into a cent percent digital village.

Mori will be an inspiration for all those who believe technology is aninstrument of change for the better. Many Silicon Valley entitiespartook in turning the village into a smart place to live in.

AP Government’s Fibre-net initiative has also been rolled out in thevillage, which will come in handy in enabling cashless transactions.The piped gas project, to be piloted in Mori soon, will reduceconsiderably the domestic drudgery to the rural women folk, whenit covers the entire state.

There is no better news to the state than the possibility of expeditiouscompletion of the Polavaram Project. The release of first tranche offunds by the Centre will be fully utilised by the Chief Minister whohas been single-mindedly pushing for its speedy execution.

In a major initiative, spillway works on the multi-purpose Polavaramhydel project also got under way in December. Diaphragm wall worksare set to be launched in the first week of January.

Many more things which have been in the pipeline are likely to takeshape in the year to come, even as the Chief Minister turns everychallenge into an opportunity.

In the words of German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, the year ahead is,“Full of things that have never been” for the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Ramesh Babu KandulaEditor

EDITORIAL

CommissionerS Venkateswar IISEditorRamesh Babu KandulaExecutive EditorNaresh NunnaCover PageUnveiling Digital Economy

Second Cover Kuchipudi Guinness Record

Third CoverCM in various proigrammes

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.

DesignKarthik Beesu

Photos:T.Srinivasa Reddy, VijayawadaPrinted atCaxton Offset Pvt. Ltd.HyderabadEach Issue : Rs 20/-Annual Subscription : Rs 220/-www.andhrapradeshmagazine.orgEmail: [email protected]

ANDHRA PRADESHPublished Monthly In English & Telugu

January 2017Volume:11 Issue:7Salivahana Era 1938

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.


JANUARY 2017 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG 5

v

Paytm has instituted a newcorporate office in the coastalcity of Visakhapatnam.Andhra Pradesh CM Chan-drababu Naidu was present at the in-augural event to officially welcome thecompany’s operations in the city.Within the last few weeks, Paytm hasregistered a strong surge in paymentstransactions across all major cities inAndhra Pradesh and Telangana in-cluding Vijayawada, Visakhapatnamand Hyderabad. To support the grow-ing demand for cashless solutions inthe region, Paytm has also announcedit will add over 1,000 offline agents toits Andhra and Telangana team. Speaking at the launch, Vijay ShekharSharma, Founder-CEO, Paytm said, “Aneasy and affordable digital paymentsolution can help democratize thepayments sector in India. OurVishakhapatnam campus is a show-case of our commitment to the re-

gion’s development and reflects its im-portance as an important market forus.”“Our mission is to make cashless pay-ments a way of life across India’s citiesand towns. We will ensure there aremore merchants across AndhraPradesh accepting Paytm than everbefore”, he added.Merchants across India can start ac-cepting Paytm at zero extra cost. Theyhave to simply log on toPaytm.com/business and fill an onlineform to start accepting paymentsusing Paytm’s PCI-DSS certified tech-nology. The company has even waivedoff its 1% transaction fee for transfer-ring money to the Bank to facilitatethe ongoing shift in customer andmerchant behavior towards goingcashless.Today over 1.5 Mn offline merchantsacross India accept Paytm as their

preferred payment mode. Paytm is ac-cepted everywhere such as taxi, autos,petrol pumps, grocery shops, restau-rants, coffee shops, multiplexes, park-ing, pharmacies, hospitals, kiranashops, newspaper vendors and manymore. With its strong focus on mobilepayments, Paytm is inching closer toits aim of making cashless transac-tions a way of life across India.To support the growing demand forcashless solutions in the region, Paytmhas also announced that it will addover 1,000 offline agents to its AndhraPradesh and Telangana team. “Our Vishakhapatnam campus is ashowcase of our commitment to theregion’s development and reflects itsimportance as an important marketfor us. We will ensure there are moremerchants across Andhra Pradesh ac-cepting Paytm than ever before,”Sharma added.

Paytm Office in VISAKHAPATNAM

Paytm has registered a strong surge in payments transactions across all major cities inAndhra Pradesh and Telangana including Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad.


6 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG JANUARY 2017

Since the day higher denomi-nation notes were banned bythe Centre, Chief MinisterChandrababu Naidu hasbeen on a mission to ensure that thetransition to the new economy isleast disruptive to the common manin the state. He had been continu-ously monitoring the situation, hold-ing meetings with district collectors,senior officials, bankers and the RBIto find ways and means to amelio-rate the problems faced by the peo-ple in transacting day to daybusiness.

In a relatively brief period, the CMcame up with various measures,both administrative and technologi-cal to switch over to the new systemwith least amount of disruption.AP PurseOne of the major initiative of theChief Minister was the launch of ‘APPurse’, a mobile app, as a first step toenable digital payments in the state.Unveiling the app, the CM explainedthat 13 mobile banking and 10 mo-bile wallets were available in thepurse and could be used to pay bills.

Cashless transactions were the needof the hour to tide over the currencycrunch. “The government is intro-ducing Marpu Nestam, an agent, toeducate the people on digital finan-cial literacy. The government willpay incentives to the agents whotrain the people in digital financialliteracy.”Engineering students would be en-couraged to train people. It wouldhelp them to earn while learning.The government would recognisethe services of the colleges and the

STRIVING FOR DIGITAL ECONOMYAndhra Pradesh is pushing hard to herald a cashless digital economy in the aftermath of

demonetisation move of the Centre. Being the Chairman of the Committee ondemonetisation, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been devising effective ways to

execute a seamless payment system that can be adopted by the common man.



students for their service to societyat the time of crisis, he said.The Chief Minister, who is closelyfollowing the cash crunch since theday one of demonetisation, an-nounced the smart phone applica-tion to promote digital walletsleaving everyone including the tech-savvy people stunned.The app’s beta version was releasedwithin less than a week of demon-etisation and is available on GooglePlay for android devices under thedeveloper account ‘Andhra PradeshState FiberNet Limited’.The application is an e-wallet aggre-gator that lists 15 applications pop-ular and being used by smart phoneusers. Paytm, Airtel Money,Freecharge, Mobikwik, Jio Money,SBI Buddy, PayU Money, Ola Money,Oxigen, Citrus, Vodafone m-pesa,Rupee, Icash, ItzCash and IdeaMoney are the apps listed.One can open any of the above appsor download them by clicking on theicon featured in the Purse. Usersneed to register with name, phonenumber and OTP before using thePurse. Description of the app saysone of the benefits of using it is tohave exposure to the top paymentwallets available in the market.Incentives to promote cash-less transactionsActing swiftly on its commitment topromoting cashless transactions inthe wake of demonetisation, theState government announced ascheme of incentives to trainers andvillages showing the path to others.The Information Technology, Elec-tronics and Communications(ITE&C) Department issued guide-lines in this regard, paving the wayfor rewarding individuals (trainers)and villages. The department wasvested with the responsibility of im-

plementing the scheme.Under the scheme, unemployedyouths, students, SHG members, andothers would be given an incentiveof Rs.15 for first time introduction ofan individual / vendor to digitaltransactions and Rs.20 for a mini-mum of five transactions carried outby the individual / vendor withinone month from the date of intro-duction.As far as villages were concerned, itwas decided to reward those vil-lages, or groups of villages, whereineach household and business estab-lishment had at least one bank ac-count and at least one persondigitally literate for carrying out dig-ital cashless transactions.The reward would be given in thefollowing four categories, based onPopulation Census of 2011:Rs.10,000 for villages with a popula-tion less than 2,000; Rs.20,000 forvillages with a population between2,001 and 5,000; Rs.50,000 for vil-lages having a population between5,001 and 10,000; and Rs.1,00,000for villages with a population ex-ceeding 10,000.Digital transactions done by individ-uals on their own without the helpof trainers and claims made by thempersonally would also be consideredat par with other individuals onwhose behalf the trainers claim.The ITE&C Department was man-dated to create and maintain a por-tal for registration under the schemeand establish transparent proce-dures with the involvement of banksand other stakeholders.Aadhar PayChief Minister Chandrababu Naiduappreciated the Krishna District Col-lector Babu Ahamed for havingcome up with a solution to ease thecurrency crunch being faced by peo-

ple following demonetisation.AadharPay, a cashless payment sys-tem which needs only a smartphoneand a biometric reader, can be usedfor transferring money with athumb impression.The trader (or recipient of money)needs a smartphone fitted with bio-metric reader as an accessory. "Istruggled for 40 days. I had sleeplessnights. We searched the world andbroke our heads to find a solution.But now, Babu has come up with asimple solution that will transformthe nation," the Chief Minister saidat the conference of District Collec-tors.He felicitated the Collector at theconference. "Aadhar-enabled pay-ments are the best way (to over-come the currency crisis). We willdiscuss this in our committee meet-ing," Naidu said."One can transfer money using Aad-harPay from any bank under oneplatform...It's a simple solution butwill transform the nation," he added.Banks lagging behind However, the chief Minister criti-cised banks and said that while hisgovernment was taking steps to nor-malise the situation, banks were lag-ging behind in adopting technology.Addressing a state-level bankers'committee meeting in Vijayawada,Naidu sought the cooperation ofbankers to encourage mobile bank-ing transactions. The chief ministerappealed to the bankers to extendcooperation for mobile bankingtransactions and said that AndhraPradesh was ready to extend 50 percent subsidy for purchase of biomet-ric devices to carry out mobile bank-ing transactions in the state.Chandrababu Naidu asked thebankers to make available small cur-rency in ATMs to spare people the

The Chief Minister has been stressing on on a simple solution - AadharPay. It is a cashlesspayment system which needs only a smartphone and a biometric reader, can be used fortransferring money with a thumb impression.



inconvenience being faced in with-drawing cash. A complicated issue"It still remains a sensitive and com-plicated problem," Chandrababu --who heads the 13-member centralcommittee to look into demonetisa-tion issues observed. Unless therewere remedial measures, people'swoes would continue in the long-term, Chandrababu warned.Refuting reports that he had madeany critical remarks against demon-etisation, the Chief Minister, in astatement, said he had expressed hisconcern over the suffering of peopleeven after more than one month dueto non-availability of currency. "It isvery painful to see reports of oldpeople collapsing while waiting atATM counters," he said.Stating that cashless and digital

banking transaction is the only alter-native to end the crisis, Naidu, who isspending more than three-four hoursa day monitoring the cash distribu-tion system, asked the officials tothink innovatively to address the cri-sis and to encourage urban people toswitch over to mobile-banking trans-actions and distribute the availablesmall currency to farmers in ruralareas to carry out agricultural opera-tions for the current Rabi season.He said that cashless transactionswere successfully implemented in all29,000 fair price shops in the stateand the dealers of FP shops were ap-pointed as banking correspondentsto solve currency problem in ruralareas.Positive SignsSpeaking in Delhi after a meeting ofthe Chief Ministers' Committee on

demonetisation, the Chief Ministersaid that digital economy was show-ing positive signs of growth post de-monetisation."On digital economy, things are mov-ing very positively. The NITI Aayoghas presented best practices of dif-ferent countries," said Naidu afterthe meeting of the Chief Ministers'Committee.Stating that digital transaction wasthe only way to overcome the cashcrunch, Naidu emphasised that thepublic needs to switch over to Aad-har Pay, mobile phones, swipe ma-chines and online banking system.The Andhra CM mentioned that thepanel was planning to reform theAadhaar Enabled Payment System(AEPS) by introducing biometricmachines."For AEPS or Aadhar Pay, only mer-chant must have smartphone and weneed to just add biometric system.That way the consumer doesn't needto have a smartphone for makingpayments," Naidu added."As of today only 4 banks had mecha-nism of Aadhar card based payment.We will request all the banks to startAadhar card based payments," hesaid. There will also be a new versionof the Unstructured SupplementaryService Data (USSD), which allowspeople to conduct transactions uptoRs 5,000 even on feature phones.The Chief Ministers' Committee wasset up by the Niti Aayog on Novem-ber 26. While the AP Chief Minister isconvenor, the chief ministers of Ma-harashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkimand Puducherry were made mem-bers of the committee. v

Stating that digital transac-tions was the only way toovercome the cash crunch,Naidu emphasised that thepublic needs to switch overto Aadhar Pay, mobilephones, swipe machines andonline banking system.

CM showing the app AP Purse to the media.


The Andhra PradeshCabinet cleared theproposal to establishSpecial Purpose Vehi-cles (SPV) for implementingState-sponsored Smart CitiesScheme in Anantapur, Eluru,Kurnool, Ongole and Srikaku-lam as per the guidelines ofthe Central government’sSmart Cities Mission.The Cabinet also resolved toset up an SPV called‘Guntur/Vijayawada Urban In-frastructure DevelopmentCorporation Limited’ for thetwo cities.The Cabinet met at the In-terim Government Complex atVelagapudi in Guntur district.Other important decisionswere development of a multi-purpose recreation and com-mercial centre as part of theVijayawada City Square proj-ect in the public-private part-nership mode at SwarajMaidan and its surroundingsspanning 27.5 acres. The de-tailed project report would beprepared under the aegis of aCabinet subcommittee.Construction of an interna-tional convention centre inVisakhapatnam under the su-pervision of the Industriesand Infrastructure Depart-ments.A 35 per cent hike in thewages of the workers of the

Society for Elimination ofRural Poverty and an extra 10per cent performance-linkedincentive benefiting 5,038 Vel-ugu workers.Another decision was to movea Bill in the Assembly for theestablishment of a Tourismand Culture Board instead offorming it through an ordi-nance.Land allotments cleared were62.18 acres at Mylavaram inKadapa district to the Hand-looms and Textiles Depart-ment for the setting up of atextile park, 21 acres atSerikolam village in ParigiMandal of Anantapur districtfor the establishment of an in-dustrial park and a multi-product SEZ at the rate of Rs.3lakh per acre and 44.78 acresfor a Mega Food Park at Setti-gunta village in Railway Ko-duru Mandal of Kadapadistrict at Rs.9.50 lakh peracre.In addition, 75 acres had beenallotted for expanding theVisakhapatnam Special Eco-nomic Zone at Pudimadaka(Rs.10 lakh per acre) and Dup-pituru villages in Atchutapu-ram Mandal (Rs.12 lakh peracre) and 61.56 acres inR.Anantapuram village inMadakasira Mandal of Ananta-pur district (Rs. 90,000 peracre) for establishing anMSME Park.vv


A.P. CABINet CleArSProPoSAlS for fIveSMArt CItIeS

Impressed by the successful implementationof the “PrajaSadhikara Survey” in AndhraPradesh, Haryana has proposed to emulateit.Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister ChandrababuNaidu and his Haryana counterpart ManoharlalKhattar exchanged Memorandum of Under-standings (MoUs) on the subject in Delhi. Senior officials of the Andhra Government gavea presentation of the socio-economic data col-lection in all sectors at the Andhra Bhawanhere. Speaking on the occasion, Naidu saidtechnology played a key role in the collection ofthe data of the people and households.He said the E-Pragati chapter of the project wasvery ambitious. It is an inter-face between citi-zen and citizen and citizen and the government.Giving details about the project,. Naidu said realtime data could be collected with effective useof technology in programmes like electrifica-tion, cleanliness and controlling pollution.Naidu said Andhra Pradesh was saving 12 percent in the distribution of PDS and 22 per centin social welfare programmes.He said the system had brought transparencybesides wiping out corruption because respon-sibilities had been fixed for the officials. Naidusaid he was sure Haryana could also succeed inthis endeavour.Khattar had praised Naidu saying he was thepioneer of the technological system. He said hisState was facing several challenges because ofcorruption and lack of transparency. Both ChiefMinisters sought cooperation from each other.

Haryana to emulateAP on ‘PrajaSadhikara Survey’



Chief Minister N Chan-drababu Naidu efforts toexpedite the works on theprestigious Polavaram Proj-ect have received a boost with thethe Central Government releasingRs.1,981 crore, in the much-awaitedfirst instalment through Nabard.Union Minister for Finance ArunJaitley handed over the cheque toChief Minister in the presence ofUnion Ministers for Water Re-sources Uma Bharti, Informationand Broadcasting MVenkaiah Naidu,

Ministers of State Vijay Goel andSanjeev Kumar Balyan, Nabardchairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwalaand AP Water Resources MinisterDevineni Umamaheswara Rao at aprogramme in New Delhi.The Nabard chairman said fundswere being released from the Long-term Irrigation Fund for 99 projectsin the country. The Polavaram proj-ect was getting Rs.1,981 crore as the“first disbursement”.Uma Bharti said Nabard was releas-ing funds for major irrigation proj-

ects for the first time. Irrigationwould be given a great deal of prior-ity in future. A cheque for Rs 2,480crore made out to the NationalWater Development agency that in-cludes the Rs 1981 crore for thePolavaram and the remainingamount for other States was handedover to the Chief Minister.Jaitley said the handing over of acheque for Polavaram had morethan just symbolic value. It wouldrestore in the people of AndhraPradesh the confidence and trust

centre releases rs 1981 cr for

P O L A V A R A M



they lost in the Centre after the bifur-cation in which the State was sub-jected to “economic discrimination”.The Union Minister said the release offunds for Polavaram would not onlyfulfil the long-pending dream ofAndhra people, but would also restoretheir faith in the Centre. The Centrepreferred to invest in irrigation overindustry because the returns werefaster. While it took just one season toget returns in agriculture, it took muchlonger in industries, he explained.Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidusaid the Centre created an ‘excellentarrangement’ for the funding of thePolavaram project. All Central govern-ments talked about developing agricul-ture and irrigation, but he had notseen till now a Centre releasing fundsfor 99 irrigation projects.Naidu said not only would Polavarambe the biggest irrigation project in thecountry, it would also be the last of thebig projects. It would not be possibleto build such big projects in future, hesaid.Naidu said the Polavaram projectwould be completed in the first quar-ter of 2019. He said all records notonly in the country but outside alsowould be broken. Andhra Pradeshwould become a drought-free Stateonce the project was completed.Venkaiah Naidu recalled how Jaitleystood by him when he fought for a bet-ter deal for Andhra Pradesh in Parlia-ment. He said for the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP), industry and agriculturewere like two eyes. One would not besacrificed to promote the other, headded.Consent of other statesobtainedUnion Water Resources minister Uma

Bharati clarified on this occasion thatthe construction on the multi-purposeirrigation project was allowed afterOdisha along with two other statesgave consent for this. The minister wasresponding to media queries after theCentre through Nabard released Rs.1,982 crore to Andhra Pradesh to-wards the irrigation project. “For theproject (Polavaram) Odisha, Chhattis-garh and Andhra Pradesh have givenconsent. After that only the projectwas given a go ahead”, she said.NGt nod not needed Meanwhile, the Chief Minister rub-bished the allegations of Telanganagovernment that NGT’s nod has notbeen taken for Polavaram and said theclearance is not related to this project.Speaking at an event in Delhi after re-ceiving first tranche of funds forPolavaram multi-purpose project, theChief Minister said, "NGT clearance isnot related to this project"."To stop the implementation ofPolavaram project there were severalpeople working against it. They hadapproached the Supreme Court, Na-tional Green Tribunal, and even triedto create farmers agitation. However,we overcame all those issues," headded.On Telanganas demand to reduce theheight of the dam to avoid submer-gence of Ram temple in Badhrachalamand other nearby mandals, Naidu saidthe height of the dam was never in-creased. "The original height proposedin the old project has been retained,"he added.Naidu recalled the opposition he hadto face for the implementation of sev-eral other projects in the state. "Pattiseema was opposed, but we fin-ished it. Political parties, instead of

working for national interest are bat-ting for petty issues and hinderingevery step," Naidu said.17 colonies for the displaced of Polavaram As many as 17 housing colonies withall modern facilities will be con-structed at a cost of Rs 230.42 crore inButtayagudem, Jeelugumilli andPolavaram mandals for the displacedfamilies of Polavaram project as part ofa relief and rehabilitation package.East Godavari . District Collector KBhaskar held a meeting with Sub-Col-lectors, RDOs and Housing Board offi-cials on construction of colonies forthe Polavaram Project oustees. He said 10 colonies would come up inJeelugumilli, five in Buttayagudem andtwo in Polavaram mandals for theproject outstees. As many as 2,271 dis-placed families would get puccahouses. A sum of Rs160 crore wouldbe spent on housing for the projectoustees, he said.Spillway works get underwayThe spillway works on the multi-pur-pose Polavaram hydel project gotunder way on December 30 in thepresence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Min-ister Chandrababu Naidu.As per plans of the long pending irriga-tion project, after the concrete worksbegin, it is proposed to take up di-aphragm wall works early next month. The Chief Minister participated in aspecial yagna and a puja was per-formed for the Telebelt, and then theCM started the conveyor belt to put theconcrete in Block Number 3 of thespillway. The Polavaram dam spillwaywill have the capacity to carry a floodof 50 lakh cusecs (spillway with thehighest capacity in the world).

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said the Centre created an ‘excellent arrangement’ for thefunding of the Polavaram project. The Union Minister said the release of funds for Polavaramwould not only fulfil the long-pending dream of Andhra people, but would also restore their faithin the Centre.

v



Introduction National River-Linking Project, which works under the aegisof the Indian Ministry of Water Resources, was desgned toovercome the deficit in water in the country In this project's case the Godavari over basin is considered asa surplus one, while the Krishna River basin is considered tobe a deficit one. Every year thousands of TMC of Godavariwater flowed into the Bay of Bengal. The Study recommended that sizeable surplus water was tobe transferred from the Godavari River basin to the KrishnaRiver basin. Polavaram Irrigation Project, widely known as the PolavaramProject, is planned on the river Godavari, near RamayyapetaVillage, Polavaram Mandal of West Godavari District.• The Project is located 42 Kms upstream of Sir Arthur Cot-ton Barrage at Dowlaiswaram.• The Project is a Multi-purpose Terminal reservoir on theriver Godavari• The unique feature of Polavaram Project involves construc-tion of 1.5 m thick concrete diaphragm wall up to a depth of100 m below the river bed under the earth cum rockfilldam which is first of its kind in India. • Spillway of 1054.40 m with 48 vents to enable discharge of50 Lakh cusecs of water which is first of its kind in world. History • The Polavararn Project was first proposed during the year1941 and preliminary investigations were conducted dur-ing 1942 — 44. • At that time, the project was contemplated with FRL up to+208 feet with storage of 836.35 TMC. • The Board of consulting Engineers, (BOCE) under theChairman-ship of Dr. J L Salvage (retired Chief Designs Engi-neer of USER, Denver), was formed to study the difficultiesin dam construction. • The other members of Board of consulting Engineers wereDr. Karl Terzagi, Professor of Soil Mechanics & EngineeringGeology (Harvard University. USA) and father of soil me-chanics, Mr. S. O. Harper, retired Chief Engineer of USBR,USA and Sir. Murdoch Macdonald & Partners consulting En-gineers, London for the Polavaram Project.• The Project was earlier named as -Rama Pada Sager Proj-ect".• After reorganization of States, the Godavari Water DisputesTribunal passed final orders directing that Polavaram Proj-

ect shall be cleared by CWC as expeditiously as possible forFRL/ MWL + 150 ft • In 2004-05, execution of the Polavararn Irrigation Project(main dam and canal works) was started. • The Government of India, recognizing the importance ofthis Project, declared it as a National Project under AP Re-organisation Act, 2014. • As per special package announced to new State of AndhraPradesh by Govt of India, the balance cost of Irrigation com-ponent of the Project as on 1st April 2014 will be borne100% by Govt. of India taking financial assistance fromNABARD.Hydraulic Particulars Full Reservoir Level : +45.72 metres(+150.00 feet)Minimum Draw Down Level : +41.15 metres(+135.00 feet)Crest Level of Spillway : +25.72 metres(+84.39 feet)ECRF Dam Top Bund Level : +54.00 metres(+177.16 feet)Gross storage of Reservoir : 194.60 TMC :75.20 TMC Live storage : 75.20 TMC Probable maximum Flood Discharge : 50 Lakh Cusecs Catchment Area : 3,06,643 Sq.KmsBenefits • Irrigation to 6.14 Lakh Ha. (15.2 Lakh Acres)• Production of Hydro power with installed capacity of 960MW • Diversion of 80 TMC of Godavari water from river Godavarito Krishna river (which will provide Irrigation to 8.0 LakhAcres)• Supply of 23.44 TMC of water to Vishakhapatnam city• Drinking water facility to 540 villages (population of 28.5lakhs)• Development and export of pisci-culture & boating facilities• 5 TMC & 1.5 TMC of water to Odisha & Chhattisgarh, re-spectively • Stabilization of existing command area of KDS & GDS of23.50 Lakh Acres

facts & figures

Considered to be a lifeline for the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh, the project when completedwill play a major role in drought proofing the State and boosting the prospects of agriculture in

the agrarian economy, while also providing drinking water.

PolAvArAM IrrIGAtIoN ProjeCt



Clearances obtained • Environmental clearance from MoEF. • R&R Clearance from Ministry of Tribal Affairs .• Forest Clearance from MoEF — Stage I & Stage II . • TAC clearance for revised cost of Rs 16,010.45 Crores (2010— 11 price levels) from CWC / MoWR. TAC clearance fororiginal cost of Rs. 10,151.04 Crores at Price level of 2005-06. • Investment clearance for original cost from planning com-mission. • All the statutory clearances required for the Project havebeen obtained.Main componentsHead Works Spillway: A concrete spillway is proposed on right flank for alength of 1054.4 metres with 48 nos. radial gates, each of size16 metres x 20 metres with Hydraulic hoist arrangement Earth cum Rockfill Dam: It is proposed across the main rivercourse for a length of 2454 metres with a top width of 15 me-tres ( Gap - I: 564 M, Gap-II: 1750 M and Gap-III: 140 M) and aDiaphragm Wall under the ECRF Dam throughout the damportion, with a thickness of 1.5 metres and depth varying

from 40 metres to 100 metres Hydro Electric Power House: A Hydro Electric Power Houseof 960 MW with 12 nos of vertical Kaplan turbines, each of 80MW capacity is proposed on the left flank of the river Right & Left Connectivities: Connectivities with regulators,twin tunnels and saddle dams are proposed for divertingwater to the right and left canals from the reservoir Main Canals Right Main Canal: The 174 Kms length of right main canalwill provide irrigation facility to 3.2 lakh acres of new com-mand area in West Godavari & Krishna districts, besides di-verting 80 TMC of water from river Godavari to Krishna river,which will provide irrigation to a new ayacut of 8.0 Lakhsacres Left Main Canal: The 181.5 Kms length of the left main canalwill provide irrigation facility to 4.0 lakh acres of new com-mand area in East Godavari & Vishakapatnam districts be-sides supplying of 23.44 TMC of water to Vishakapatnam city.Status of Works (As on Dec 31 2016)Head WorksSpillwayEarthwork excavation of 151 Lakh CuM has been completedagainst a total of 161 50 Lakh CuM (93% Completed)Concrete work of 17 Lakh CuM is proposed to be commencedfrom the new year. Proposed to start fabrication of RadialGates of 22,000 MT from 14th January, 2017. Approach Channel, Spill Charnel, Pilot Channel & Left FlankEarthwork excavation of 512 Lakh CuM has been completedagainst a total of 1055 Lakh CuM (49% Completed) earth cum rock fill DamEarthwork embankment of 131.00 Lakh CuM (Including Gap I.ECRF Dam, Gap Ill and Coffer Dams) is to be taken up. Diaphragm Wall of 1.20 Lakh Cukil of plastic concrete is pro-posed to be commenced from January, 2017Main CanalsRight Main Canal : 90% of the work has been completedLeft Main Canal: 61% of the work has been completedexpenditureExpenditure incurred before National Project 5548.69 Cr.Expenditure incurred under National Project :3133.75 Cr.Total expenditure incurred under Polavaram Irrigation Proj-ect : 8682.44 Cr. Important events The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandra Babu Naiduvisited the project site 11 times so far. Every Monday the CMis conducting virtual review of the project from Vijayawada.So far 12 No's of virtual inspections and reviews have beenconducted.

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Invited as one of the 21 leaders,who are shaping and instrumentalin shaping tomorrow's world indifferent spheres including politics,economics, art, culture and spirituality,Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister NaraChandrababu Naidu shared his views atthe penultimate session of 14th Hindus-tan Times Leadership Summit-2016. Hespoke on the on-going progress ofNavyandhra- the Sunrise State ofAndhra Pradesh- after the bifurcation.The Hindustan Times Leadership Sum-mit - a two-day session held in NewDelhi, was a platform where the vision-aries including David Cameron, BritishPremier, Arun Jaitley, union minister offinance and corporate affairs, PiyushGoyal, union minister of state (indepen-dent charge) of power, coal, new & re-newable energy and mines, Dr. PaulKrugman, renowned scholar of econom-ics, besides Naidu, had spoken abouttheir outline for the future of their land. Naidu revealed his vision during his

conversation with the editor-in chief of'Hindustan Times', Bobby Ghosh, whocalled Naidu ‘the Globetrotting, power-point presenting, visionary politician’.On behalf of the audience, who are alsoinvitees as heads of the States, businesstycoons, artists, sports personalitiesand Nobel laureates, asked the CM aplethora of questions the latter’s takeon a variety of issues.Here are a few excerpts from the an-swers of the Chief Minister, made duringthe session:on demonetisation• We need to think of ways to reducethe suffering caused by demonetisa-tion. We need to think forward. One ofthe ways is the use of digital currency. • Digital literacy is a must to controlcorruption and development. The fu-ture should be digital transparency.• For standby, there should be somephysical currency too. You need cur-rency if you visit small shops. This de-

cision will help improve transparencyand reduce corruption and blackmoney.on AP's progress• I don't think of other states as com-petitors but prefer to adopt their bestpractices to improve my state becausewe are starting from scratch.• I want to take fibre to the last mile.Will provide 15mbs internet speed toall homes. With tele-con, people don’thave to meet me.• I’m using technology to provide real-time government in my state. I’m notcompeting with Indian states but withthe best in the world • The issue (with Telangana) is over,both states need to move forward forbetter prospects. Some issues be-tween both the States have to be set-tled amicably.• By 2022, AP will be among the top 3in the country. By 2029, it will be the

SPEAKINGHIS MIND

CM At leADerSHIP SuMMIt


ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG 15JANUARY 2017

best state in India and by 2050, the best destinationin the world.on Amaravati• If you are very strong and provide everything, peoplewill come to you. I am confident that multinationalcompanies will invest in Amaravati.• Amaravati will be a ‘blue and green’ city. It will beamong the top 10 cities in the world. Linking of rivershas happened for the first time in Andhra Pradesh.• Best institutions in health, education, hospitality arecoming to Amravati. • One of more joys is that I built two cities -- Cybercityin Hyderabad and the new Andhra capital Amaravati. • I’m watching other cities’ best practices and borrow-ing it to build the new Andhra capital, Amaravati.on agriculture and farm income• Ensuring rainwater harvesting and linking of riversto improve the agriculture industry in AndhraPradesh• Nowhere in the world is there as much water in a oneplace as in Andhra Pradesh.• I am focusing on agriculture and irrigation.We havetaken the lead in linking rivers which will help solvewater woes in the state. I want to make AP one of thebest agriculture clusters in the world.• This year’s rainfall deficit was 29%. I’m looking atmaking the sector draught-proof.on education• In primary education, I’m going to introduce digitalclassrooms. I Will generate competition among gov-ernment schools as private schools compete.• Our education is sector is very strong. Everywhereyou go there's a Telugu engineer or doctor. I want toincrease higher education rating from 30% to 50%.• In a few years, Andhra Pradesh will be the best in pri-mary and higher education in the country.on how to ensure continuity in governance• Keep working for the people and do the right devel-opments, considering all sections of the society.That's how people will trust you and give you theirmandate.• Some of my actions caused problems (regarding los-ing an election). This time I’m planning everything.• Health, minimum standards, education, eradicatingpoverty are some of the measures we’re looking at.• Happiness is a development marker I want to focuson. Stress is a major problem for people.

Foundation stone was laid for the much awaited Nadikudi-Srikalahasti new railway line by Railway Minister SureshPrabhu.The Railway Minister who is a member of Rajya Sabha from thestate, took part in the programme through a video link fromNew Delhi while Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, UnionCivil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju and othersattended the function at the Railway Institute.The Minister also launched free high-speed WiFi facility inGuntur railway station, and flagged off a new double-deckertrain between Tirupati and Visakhapatnam.The renovated route-relay interlocking system at Vijayawadarailway junction was also dedicated to the nation while a newhostel building of the Electric Traction Training Centre atSatyanarayanapuram was inaugurated.The Chief Minister said Rs 300 crore was initially allotted foracquiring land for the Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway line. The309-km line would propel economic growth in Chittoor, SPSNellore, Prakasam and Guntur districts, he said. In all, 2400acres of land would have to be acquired for the project taken upat an overall cost of Rs 2999 crore.Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas, South Central RailwayGeneral Manager Vasisht Joshi and other officials attended theevent.jv for rail ProjectsAndhra Pradesh government signed memorandum of under-standing with the Indian Railways for setting up a joint venturecompany for taking up major rail projects in the state.While many new railway lines will be built by the JV, the mainobjective is to develop at least 21 railway stations in the stateakin to airports. Speaking from New Delhi, Suresh Prabhu saidthey were trying to tie up with banks and other financial insti-tutions to fund the JV.

NADIkuDI-SrIkAlAHAStIfoundation stone laid

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The village of Mori in East Go-davari district of AndhraPradesh has become the first100 per cent digitally literate vil-lage in the country on December 29. It hasalso achieved the status of complete cash-less transaction village, besides beingopen defecation free (ODF) village.Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidumade the announcement during thelaunch of the AP Fibre Grid services whichoffers cable television, telephone and in-ternet services at just Rs 149 per month. "Today is the most memorable day for meand the villagers of Mori as well as the en-tire state. I am extremely happy to see theprogress Mori has made in creating a digi-tal revolution in the country. With thisgreat inspiring achievement of Mori citi-zens, the Government would put its ef-

forts to change all villages into Smart vil-lages in a phased manner," Naidu an-nounced.All the 1,900 houses in the village aretuned in to new Fibernet-hosted televi-sion, internet and telephone network inMori, which had already bagged the na-tional-level Swachh village award fromthe Centre,Marking the launch of the Fibre Grid serv-ices, the chief minister switched on theTTD-SVBC channel and also interactedwith the AP Fibre Grid authoritiesthrough video conference.The Chief Minister visited the residence ofprofessor Soleman Darwin and interactedwith the representatives of Silicon Valleycompanies from US who played crucialrole in turning the village into a Smart vil-lage.

Mori becomes first digitallyliterate village in country

Giving fillip to theefforts of theGovernment, the tinycashew-exportingvillage located nearthe Bay of Bengal inthe East Godavaridistrict has gone fullydigital with all thehouseholds enjoyingWiFI, Internetconnectivity and cableTV while making alltransactions cashless.



He spoke to Secretary of Department ofTelecommunication, Delhi, and askedhim to provide the villagers phone con-nections at Rs. 149. He inaugurated adigital classroom and declared the vil-lage open defecation free.Addressing a public meeting, the ChiefMinister said 22 multinational compa-nies had come to Mori to make it asmart village and start cashless trans-actions, provide fibre optical cable con-nections, aquaponics and smart watergrid management. He said digital trans-actions had already begun and cashlesstransactions would start shortly withthe support of various cards. The ChiefMinister inaugurated LED lights fromthe dais.He said villagers should adopt threethings as the village was connectedwith the OFC: Adhar based transac-tions, smart purchases and swiping ofcards. He specially thanked Prof.Salmon Darwin, Berkeley University,who was born in the village and settledin U.S., for contributing his mite for thedevelopment of the village.Prof. Darwin introduced representa-tives of 22 multinational companies tothe village.Piped Cooking Gas to MoriThe Andhra Pradesh government isplanning to enter into a Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) with theAndhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Cor-poration (APGDC) Limited for supply-ing piped LPG to Mori village in EastGodavari district.More than 1,100 households will getcooking gas supply through pipeline.The project would be completed soon,said East Godavari District Collector HArun Kumar.“We will fix metres to all the houses andthe government will charge as per themetre reading. The survey, projectworks such as laying pipeline [and]fixing metres will begin shortly,” theCollector said.ericsson introduces Iot solutions to MoriSwedish communication technologyfirm Ericsson on December 29 demon-strated at Mori village of AndhraPradesh its Internet of Things (IoT) so-lutions for creating smart and sustain-able villages in the state.Both projects — Connected Aquaponicsand Smart Water Grid Management —were demonstrated in the presence ofAndhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chan-drababu Naidu, after a three-monthpilot.Ericsson earlier this year signed amemorandum of understanding (MoU)

with the Andhra Pradeshgovernment and the Uni-versity of California –Berkley to help improvelives of farmers in andaround Mori.“The ‘Connected Aquaponics’ and‘Smart Water Grid Management’ IoT so-lutions being demonstrated here willhelp improve harvest and optimisewater distribution. It has the potentialto provide an improved life for millionsof farmers in the country,” said AnandVaradarajan, head of Ericsson Research,Chennai, at Ericsson India, in a state-ment.The Connected Aquaponics integratesaquaculture and hydroponics for reuseof the ammonia-rich waste water fromaquaculture for organic farming and re-cycle the water back to the aqua farm.“Using wireless sensor network and Er-icsson’s AppIOT platform, we enablethe monitoring of the aqua farm 24×7,thereby enabling the farmers with real-time information,” the company said.This enables the farmers to increase theyield as well as bring down the produc-tion cost with optimum use of the rawmaterials and repeated use of water.The ‘Smart Water Grid Management’solution has been designed to enableefficient use of natural water resourcesin the Godavari basin through use ofsensors and actuators.The sensors measure the quality ofwater, flow of water and level in thewater storage tanks across the village.v

This smartvillage now isfiber-netconnected, andsoon will havepiped cookinggas. Digitaltransactionsare already inplace.



Girijan Cooperative Corpo-ration was in the news re-cently for something whichit did not venture to dosince its inception almost sixdecades ago.GCC released kumkum or saffronpowder. It was like a God sent op-portunity as the idea came fromnone-the-less than the SrisailamDevasthanam. The GCC Vice-Chair-man and Managing Director ASPSRaviprakash, always ready for inno-vation, promptly obliged them andthe result is the kumkum powder.Srisailam Devasthanam placed thefirst order for Rs.10 lakh for supplyof 50 kg, of kumkum to it everymonth. It was only a beginning. SriKanakamahalakshmi Devasthanamin Visakhapatnam city where theGCC headquarters is located, took

the cue to place order for as much as150 kg of kumkum every month.Now all major temples in the statehave requested the GCC to supply itsquality kumkum powder for theirdaily rituals. According toRaviprakash, at present there is noreliable kumkum powder availablein Andhra Pradesh and Telanganamarkets. The quality of kumkum inthe market was found to be substan-dard. "Other major temples in theState are also placing indents withGCC and the total requirement ofvarious devastanams works out toabout 30 metric tons a year," he dis-closed. Also, superior qualityturmeric is abundantly grown bythe tribal farmers in Paderu ofVisakhapatnam agency region. TheGCC is already selling turmeric inpowder form in the market. The

sales turnover is around 50 metrictons worth Rs.55 lakh.The kumkum powder is being man-ufactured in the industrial unit of V.Madugula where turmeric process-ing is taken up. Kumkum is pro-duced using superior gradeturmeric rhizomes and fine mesh.The sale rate is Rs.35 per 100 gramspacks and Rs.20 for 50 gm. packs.GCC's kumkum is pure and is alsocheaper compared to other brandsin the market and will greatly bene-fit the general public and pilgrims."We are expecting a Rs.One croresales turnover through sale of 30metric tons of kumkum next year,"he said. The other product releasedsimultaneously last month alongwith kumkum was Vaisakhi Coffee.The GCC’s Araku Coffee brandgained world-wide acclaim. TheVaisakhi Coffee is a blend of 70 percent coffee and 30 per cent chicory,and the coffee part contains a mix of85 per cent berry coffee of Chinta-palli mandal and 15 per cent parch-ment of Paderu mandal. The blendis prepared by Chief Analyst of Cof-fee Lab of Bengaluru, Sunali Menon.About 20 tonnes of coffee is beingprepared. The name was given tothe coffee brand to represent thedistrict and also because Vaisakhimeans spring and the coffee cultiva-

GCC, GOING GREAT GUNS



tion brought spring into the life ofthe Girijan farmer.GCC’s sales could be a hundredcrore on coffee alone but for somesetbacks. The tribal farmers aregiven a free hand by the State Gov-ernment but they are exploited byoutsiders, nay middlemen, mostlyfrom Karnataka. They collect coffeeseeds on a large scale keeping inmind only exports. For this, theylend money to the gullible tribalfarmer and descend on the agencyarea at the time of harvest. Theytake away the entire produce for asong leaving the farmer in the lurch.AP Minister for Tribal Welfare Rav-ela Kishore Babu has assured thetribals that in two to -three years, allthe middlemen would be totallyeliminated from coffee plantations

in the Agency area.And to help the Girijans farmerscome out of the clutches of the mid-dlemen and private money-lendersand traders, the GCC is advancing aloan of Rs. 10,000 to each of the5,000 farmers. This would help thefarmers sell coffee directly to theGCC for a remunerative price. Oncethis is done, the GCC’s coffers will beboosted by the turnover throughcoffee alone which would eventouch the three-figure mark. For, in-dividuals who are non-resident Indi-ans are making a few crores bymarketing Araku coffee in the US.The State Government has also an-nounced a debt waiver of Rs. 1.88crore to 2,771 Girijan farmers.Apart from coffee, GCC honey is verymuch in demand in the two Telugu

speaking States of Andhra Pradeshand Telangana. As much as 500 tonsof honey is sold here against the de-mand of 1000 tons. GCC honey ismost sought-after since it is pureunlike other brands some of whichare said to have added foreign stufffor making them more viscous.Other new products of GCC in thepipeline are natural herbal drinks tobe introduced next summer. Encour-aged by the sales of nannari andmaaredu juice bottles at its outlets,the GCC has plans to come out with`ready to drink’ variety of the mix, insafe packs each costing Rs.10. Simi-larly, it is working on an organicshampoo from soapnut.Thanks to the advantage it enjoys insales of quality coffee and honey,the GCC now wants to launch otherproducts like karakkaya, usiri oramla, kumkudu or soapnut,maaredu, cleaning nuts, and gumkaraya.Incidentally, the two outlets of thecorporation –at the MillenniumPetrol Pump in Siripuram and atUshodaya Junction have proved tobe thumping success, netting aprofit of Rs.3 lakh and Rs.One lakhrespectively. Another outlet wasalso started at the Kakinada Collec-torate recently with instant success.It is expected to reap a profit ofaround Rs.5 lakh a month. Onemore outlet will be opened at Vi-jayawada soon.This has made the GCC to now takea decision to appoint educatedyouth as francisees to run its exclu-sive outlets.The GCC also draws strength fromthe 14 petrol pumps run by it in theState.- b Prabhakara Sarma



Kanaka Durga, the Goddess of power, richesand benevolence is the presiding deity of Vi-jayawada. Ancient temple of Kanaka Durga,atop Indrakeeladri on the banks of the sacred riverKrishna abounds with legends of mythological andalso historical interest. No pilgrim passes throughthe city without a holy dip in the river and dhar-

shan of the Goddess. The hoary antiquityof SwayamBhu (the self-existent deity)dates back to millenniums. According tomythological belief, Indrakeeladriis alsoknown for ages as Arjunikonda (The Hill ofArjuna). Arjuna is said to have done histapascharya in order to obtain Pasupatafrom Lord Shiva. This hill Indrakila is saidto be the scene of the Kiratarjuniya whereLord Shiva in the form of an aboriginal/tribal hunter (Kirataka) had a fight withArjuna. The rush of pilgrims of eclectic mix atDurga temple is a regular sight. But, afterthe 10-day Dasara festivities of goddessKanakadurga, an exclusive group of lakhsof pilgrims throng the temple and paint theriver Krishna- red! The large turnout ofdevotees in their traditional red robes arecalled ‘Bhavanis’, who take Durga BhavaniDeeksha for one mandalam (40 days), orarthamandalam (21 days). After Dasara,Bhavani’s relinquish the deeksha in riverKrishna, before having a darshan of God-dess. The three-day annual Shakambari festival, beingheld in every Ashada month on Indrakeeladri, isanother important event. More than one lakh pil-grims throng every year to worship Durgamata inthe incarnation of Shakambari Devi for bountifulrain and a good harvest.

SYMBOL OF SECULARISMWe are living in religious exclusion; nevertheless, there are a few places wheretolerance bridges between the people of different beliefs. Vijayawada is suchplace of inclusion that glows in terms of secularism. The city houses threeimportant places of worship from each of the major three religions- Hindu,Christian and Islam. The significant places of worship are-Kanakadurga templeatop Indrakeeladri, Mary Matha holy shrine atop Gunadala hill and Hazratbalshrine in one town, which contains the Holy relic of Prophet Muhammed. Withthis rare religious order, Vijayawada quietly adds a chapter to the nation’s abidingsaga of secularism.

KANAKA DURGA: reigning Goddess

Vijayawada



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Gunadala Mary Matha festival, an annual event, isconsidered to be one of the largest congregationsofworship in Andhra Pradesh. At an average, about10 lakh believers come to offer prayers and fulfill theirvows during the fete. The celebrations of GunadalaMatha festival began way back in 1924. It was the inces-

sant affords of a Catholic priest HugesPez-zoni, Mary Matha Shrine was built in 1924.Under the aegis of Pezzoni, FrArlati aliasAlladiSwamy installed a statue of Our Ladyof Lourdes (Mother Mary) in a naturalgrotto on the Gunadala Hill slope. The Gunadala hill is the tallest hillock inthe clump of hillocks that interrupt therather plain terrain of the city. As Gu-nadala Mary Matha is synonymous forhealing power, the hill is believed to havethe powers of breaking the curse of infer-tility. Thus, childless couples spend an en-tire night in prayer and hang miniaturecradles on the branches of trees on the hillslopes.People ailing from chronic physicalafflictions offer prayers for relief. Theshrine attracts a large number of people from all faithsand pilgrims from all corners of the State and neighbour-ing States like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka throng to offerprayers at statue of Mother Mary during the three-daycarnival.

GUNADALA CATHOLIC SHRINE: lady of lourdes

Juma Masjid,the mosque in one town is the most famous and ma-jestic of worship place in Vijayawada. That honour probably goesto Hazaratbal, holy relic of Prophet Mohammed (SAS), who is regarded by Muslims as the last messenger and prophet of God. Itis a solid, sober masjid which carries an aura about it. Located in onetown of Vijayawada near Kaleswararao Market, the mosque is annu-ally in news due to its huge congregation, when Mosque authoritiesallow the devotees to view the relic only once a year. The display at-tracts the people irrespective of caste, creed and religion who jointhe celebration with an open heart and complete devotion. Devoteesweep as the relic is displayed after the prayers.Juma masjid, the oldest masjid in Vijayawada, was built in 1733 byHazarat Syed Shah Musafir Bukhari, who hails from Samarkand,Uzbekistan in central Asia. According to the local account on ShahMusafir Bukhari, he was impressed with the environs of Vijayawadaparticularly on the banks of Krishna River and spent his rest of thelife in Vijayawada in the 18thcentury and built the masjid. Later, itbecame famous for having the holy relic of prophet Mohammed(SAS). ** ** **The sound of azaan from the mosque, the rendering of hymns fromancient temple and the chimes of bells from the church…. what doesall this point to? Simple! The harmonious tradition of Vijayawada, in-deed our nation, goes back many centuries. Time then to take choiceto talk of inclusion; exclusion excerpts too heavy a price!

JUMMA MASJID:Hazaratbal



Sound and light are thetwo vital factors in creat-ing an illusion called cin-ema. Apart from strongcontent, it is these twodepartments that define the qualityof a movie and thus contribute forits success. Perhaps it is for thisreason that not only debut direc-tors but also experienced filmmak-ers depend on expertcinematographers and sound de-signers. Veteran director K. RaghavendraRao’s ‘Sri Ramadasu’ was a fine ex-ample of how sound designingmade all the difference to a movie.A rush print of ‘Sri Ramadasu’ wasshown to the film’s hero AkkineniNagarjuna without backgroundscore. Nagarjuna did not like it. Hefeared its fate at the box office.However the film’s music directorM.M. Keeravani told him to watchthe movie after the re-recordingwork was done. Nagarjuna wasbowled over by the result. The con-tributing factors were besidesKeeravani’s genius in composingthe background score it was alsothe sound engineer E. Radhakr-ishna’s expertise in sound mixing. Considered a guru in the field ofSound designing was A. Krishnan,the South’s first generation soundengineer. His work at Vauhini stu-dios for Telugu and other language

films was legendary. The master ofsound was such a rage then thateven though they have shot theirfilms elsewhere producers wouldthrong to Vauhini Studios to havetheir sound mixing done by A. Kr-ishnan who was the studio’s sounddepartment chief. early daysBorn in Thrissur in Kerala in 1905,Krishnan studied at Maharaja Col-lege, Ernakulam and at St. JosephCollege, Tiruchirapalli from wherehe obtained a degree in Physics. In

1927 the Madras University starteda course in Electrical and Mechani-cal Engineering and Krishnanjoined as a lecturer in the depart-ment at his alma mater, St. JosephCollege. As the subject was new tohim and since not much text bookswere available on the subjects then,Krishnan had a tough time learningand teaching his students. Krishnannot only mastered the subjects butalso earned a name as the best inthe field. During his teaching stint,Krishnan also learnt the nuances ofsound engineering which helped

MASTEROF

SOUNDa.KrisHnan

“Sound unbound by naturebecomes bounded by art.”

-Dejan Stojanovic

[In this brand new series we bringto you non-Telugu technicianswho have worked for the growthof Telugu cinema.]



him reach great heights later in life. He worked as a lecturer for a decadetill 1937 when opportunities fromtinsel town knocked at his door. Debut in film industryIt was in 1937 that ace lens man anddirector K. Ramnoth foundedKarthikeya Studios in Madras andtalent hunt brought him to Tiruchi.He invited Krishnan to join the stu-dio’s sound department. Alwayslooking for new challenges, Krish-nan accepted the offer and came toMadras to work along with the leg-endary sound designer and art di-rector A.K. Sekhar. The first film toroll from Karthikeya Studio was inTamil, ‘Sundaramurthy Nayanar’ di-rected by Murugadasa. Ramnothcranked the camera while Sekharand Krishnan designed the sound.The movie won all round apprecia-tion for its technical excellence. It was the second movie that wasshot at the studio which later pavedthe way for Krishnan’s long associa-tion with Telugu cinema. It was Ro-hini Pictures, ‘Grihalakshmi’ thatintroduced a set of actors and tech-nicians to Telugu film industry.Sekhar and Krishnan worked as itssound engineers. During the makingof this movie, Krishnan came intocontact with B.N. Reddi and VauhiniPictures.In 1939 when Karthikeya Studiosseized functioning, Krishnan alongwith Ramnoth and Sekhar joinedNewtone Studios. Vauhini picturesshot its classics – ‘Vandemataram,’‘Sumangali,’ ‘Devata,’ ‘Pothana,’‘Swargaseema’ and ‘Yogi Vemana’ atthis studio and Krishnan workedalong with Sekhar in the films sounddesigning. Besides he also worked

on Nagaiah’s ‘Bhagyalakshmi’ and‘Thyagaiah.’ It was then he caughtthe attention of veteran filmmakerB.N. Reddi.However, a new turn took place inhis career, albeit briefly. The thenMadras (Tamil Nadu) Governmentfounded in 1945 a polytechnic insti-tute (also known as Adyar Film In-stitute and now functioning as MGRGovernment Film and TelevisionTraining Institute) to teach filmcraft. Krishnan was appointed toteach the subject of sound recordingto the students. For six months heheld the post but the recording the-atres in the studios were beckoninghim to return as they needed hisservices more. tryst with vauhini StudiosIt was the time when MoolaNarayana Swamy and B.N. Reddibuilt Vauhini Studios and B.N. whowas helming the studio affairs wason the lookout for a capable man tohead its Sound department. Hebrought Krishnan back from thepolytechnic institute to the record-ing theatre. Vallabhajosyula Sivaramwas chosen to assist him. P.V.Koteswara Rao later known as ‘Gem-ini’ and ‘Bharani’ Koteswara Rao wasanother assistant of Krishnan atVauhini Studios. The construction of Vauhini Studioswas started in 1945 and completedin mid 1948. Two films, Vauhini Pic-tures, ‘Gunasundari Katha’ and East-ern Art Productions Tamil film,‘Lavanya’ were launched almost si-multaneously at the studios. How-ever, the first film to have itsrecording done at Vauhini under thebaton of Krishnan was, ‘Lavanya’which had its recording launch onJuly 1, 1948 as against ‘Gunasundari

Katha’s recording launch on August13. Krishnan recorded two songsrendered by P. Leela for ‘Gunasun-dari Katha’ on that day. Krishnan’sassistant recordist, V. Sivaramplayed the lead in it opposite Jr. Sri-ranjani. After B.N’s brother B. Nagi Redditook over the studio management,the facilities were improved on parwith the best in the country. Inter-estingly, later day’s iconic director K.Viswanath too joined the Sound de-partment of Vauhini Studios duringthe making of ‘Gunasundari Katha.’ Krishnan’s masterly job was evidentin the sound mixing of Vauhini Pic-tures ‘Malleswari,’ Arudra in his re-view in the magazine TeluguSwatantra commended the excellentsound designing by A. Krishnan andP.V. Koteswara Rao. “Heavy rain withwinds lashed outside and Malli’smother converses with her husbandNagappa. Their conversation isclearly audible along with the soundof the rain and the wind. Even theflutter of the towel on Nagappa’sshoulder is heard clearly.” Such wasthe technical standard at a timewhen the word ‘digital sound’ wasnot even heard.Besides Vauhini’s ‘Peddamanushulu,’and Vijaya Productions, ‘Shavukaru,’‘Pathalabhairavi,’ ‘Pelli ChesiChoodu,’ and ‘Chandraharam’ Krish-nan’s repertoire include films pro-duced at Vauhini Studios by otherpopular banners such as Prathiba,NAT, Annapurna, Jagapathi etc., andfilms in various other languages. It was Krishnan who recorded LataMangeshkar’s first and only Telugusong, the famous lullaby, ‘niduraporathammuda’ for ‘Santhanam’ underthe baton of music director Susarla

Born in Thrissur in Kerala, Krishnan started his long association with Telugu films with‘Grihalakshmi’. Vauhini pictures shot its classics – ‘Vandemataram,’ ‘Sumangali,’ ‘Devata,’‘Pothana,’ ‘Swargaseema’ and ‘Yogi Vemana’ at this studio and Krishnan worked along withSekhar in the films sound designing. Krishnan’s masterly job was evident in the sound mixingof Vauhini Pictures ‘Malleswari’.



Dakshina Murthy. Interestingly Krishnanalso recorded her rendition for a Sri Lankafilm, ‘Sadasulang’ composed by Susarla atVauhini recording theatre on November 9,1954. From 1948 to 1962 he was the director ofAudiography at Vauhini Studios. When thestudio was closed for a few months due to astrike, producer Dukkipati MadhusudanaRao who was filming all his productions atVauhini studios revived Saradhi Studios atHyderabad and invited A. Krishnan to headits Sound department. Krishnan moved toHyderabad and joined Saradhi Studios towork for Annapurna Pictures, Chadu-vukunna Ammayilu’ and continued his stintthere for a few more years enriching thequality of Telugu films produced at the Stu-dio. Accolades & AwardsPopularly known as Krishna Iyer, Krishnanwas mild mannered and patience personi-fied. His smiling face endeared everyone andwon him many friends in the industry. In1963 he was a consulting engineer for Cin-ema Ltd., Colombo. He was the President ofCine Technicians’ Association of South India(CTA) and was the author of Cinema Opera-tors Manual, published by the GovernmentBoard of Examiners for cinema operators.He received the K. Ramnoth award in 1981from CTA in recognition of his service to thefilm industry. A. Krishnan was one of theveteran technicians to whom the South In-dian film industry in general and the Telugufilm industry in particular owes a lot.

- M l Narasimham

The Obulavaripalle-Krishnapuram Port broad gauge railway lineconnectivity work in Kadapa district would be completed by De-cember next, said Union Minister for Urban Development MVenkaiah Naidu.The work on the 262-metre-long first tunnel had been completed and 56per cent of the work was completed on the 3,063 metre-long second tun-nel which was progressing briskly, said Naidu after inspecting the railwayline and tunnel work near Cherlopalle in Chitvel mandal in Kadapa dis-trict, along with Union Minister for Human Resources Prakash Javadekar.Completion of the rail and road connectivity between Obulavaripalle andKrishnapatnam port was his long cherished goal, Naidu said. Recallingthat the project was sanctioned in 2006 by then Union Railway MinisterNitish Kumar, Venkaiah Naidu said it progressed at a snail’s pace for wantof funds. Work picked up pace in 2014 he said and lauded the Rail VikasNigam Limited engineers and officials for it.An outlay of Rs 1,168 crore was spent so far on the railway project, under-taken with an estimate of Rs, 1,646 crore, he said. With an estimate of Rs47 crore per km., it was a low-cost project. While 1,900 acres was ac-quired, clearance was accorded for 325 acres of forest land, he said. Earthwork would be completed by February 2017 and tunnel work by July2017 and the cement lining work would be taken up from March to Octo-ber, he said.The area would develop with the rail connectivity and development of in-ternal roads. Development would be easy where facilities such as roads,railways, flight and power were available, he said.Venkaiah Naidu said a special task force had been constituted to examinethe viability of establishing an integrated steel plant in Kadapa and theGovernment would take an appropriate decision on getting the task forcereport. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Municipal Admin-istration P. Narayana, RVNL Managing Director Satish Agnihotri, KadapaJoint Collector Swetha Teotia were present.v

Port rAIl lINkby Dec 2017



AP’S role IN evolvING

NATIONAL FLAGEvery Indian respects thenational flag. But notmany Indians can claim toknow how the tricolorevolved over decades. The presentflag underwent at least six radicalchanges from colours to symbols ofauthority on it between 1906 and1947 when it was finally adoptedby the onstituent Assembly as theNational Flag. Jawaharlal Nehru in-troduced the resolution to that ef-fect. The first flag in India isbelieved to have been hoisted onAugust 7, 1906, in the ParseeBagan Square (Green Park) inKolkata. The flag had horizontalstripes of red, yellow and green.The second flag to have beenhoisted was by Madame Cama andher band of exiled revolutionariesin Paris in 1907. Some say that itwas in 1905, though. This was verysimilar to the first flag and it wasexhibited at a socialist conferencein Berlin. Dr Annie Besant and Lok-manya Tilak hoisted the third flagin 1917 during the Home Rulemovement. The Union Jack symbol-ized the ideal of Dominion Status.At a meeting of the All-India Con-gress Committee at Bezwada, nowVijayawada, in Andhra Pradesh in1921, Pingali Venkayya, a youngman from Machilipatnam in Kr-ishna Mandal, prepared a flag andtook it to Gandhiji. It was red andgreen, representing the two majorcommunities in India. Gandhijisuggested that a white strip to rep-resent the remaining communitiesin the country and a ‘charkha’ beadded. Thus was the tricolor bornand it was hoisted.A committee of seven persons wasappointed in 1931 to elicit opinion

on the choice of a flag. It proposeda plain saffron flag with a ‘charkha’in reddish brown. The All-IndiaCongress Committee rejected theproposal. The same year a resolu-tion was passed at the Karachi ses-sion of the All-India CongressCommittee adopting a tricolor asthe national emblem. It had threecolors: saffron, white and green. Noreligious significance was, how-ever, attached to the colors. Theyrepresented saffron for courageand sacrifice, white for truth andpeace, and green for faith andchivalry. On July 22, 1947, Jawahar-lal Nehru presented the nationalflag to the Constituent Assembly.This was the tricolour, but the“charkha” was substituted with the“Dharma Chakra” of Asoka, thewheel of the Law of Dharma. DrRadhakrishnan said on the occa-sion: “Truth or satya, dharma orvirtue, ought to be the controlling

principles of all those who workunder this flag. Again, the wheeldenotes motion. There is death instagnation. There is life in move-ment. India should no more resistchange; it must move and go for-ward. The wheel represents the dy-namism of a peaceful change…”On the same occasion, JawaharlalNehru moved the following resolu-tion in the Constituent Assembly:‘Resolved that the National Flag ofIndia shall be horizontal tricolourof deep saffron (kesri), white anddark green in equal proportions. Inthe centre of the white band, thereshall be a wheel in navy blue torepresent the “charkha.” The de-sign of the wheel shall be that ofthe wheel (charkha) which appearson the abacus of the Sarnath LionCapital of Asoka.’- Y V Ramakotaiahsenior Journalist



2016 was a mixed bag for Tolly-wood. Despite the resoundingsuccess of films like Sarrain-odu and Janatha Garage, Tolly-wood also saw several high profilefilms fail at the box-office. New heroesemerged and at the same time, it wasclear the audience too is willing towatch films which boast of differentcontent. The success of films like Pelli-choopulu, Dhruva, Kshanam, 24 andEkkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada is proofenough that Tollywood is goingthrough a sea change. Having saidthat, given the list of films that aregoing to release in 2017, it clearlylooks like an epic year for tinsel townwith some of the biggest names vyingfor attention at the box-office. Startingwith Balakrishna's Gautamiputra Sa-takarni to Baahubali 2, here are 10films that could make a big mark:

Gautamiputra SatakarniNandamuri Balakrishna's 100th filmGautamiputra Satakarni has beenmaking a lot of buzz over the past fewmonths and it's not without a reason.Directed by Krish, the film narratesthe story of Gautamiputra Satakarni,one of the greatest rulers from Satava-hana dynasty, who lived during 1stCentury A.D. The film's spectacular vi-suals and an emotional storyline havealready become a topic of discussionand Krish states that the movie will re-iterate the greatness of Telugu cultureand identity. One of the dialogues in the film whichgoes like 'Desham meesam thippud-ham' has struck a chord with the audi-ences and the songs, composed byChirantan Bhatt, have mesmerised themusic aficionados. The fact that Gau-tamiputra Satakarni is Balakrishna's100th film too has added an element

of prestige to the project and the suc-cess of the film could trigger anotherwave of period dramas in Telugu cin-ema. The film is slated for release inearly January, 2017 and it could addanother feather in the cap for Balakr-ishna and Krish respectively.khaidi No 150Megastar Chiranjeevi's comeback filmKhaidi No 150 is turning out to beboth a litmus tests as well as the proofof his larger-than-life image and popu-larity. Although the actor-turned-politician-turned-actor took a longtime to decide the script for his 150thfilm, he finally decided to go aheadwith the Telugu remake of Vijay-Muru-gadoss' Kaththi. Directed by VVVinayak, the socio-drama stars Chiran-jeevi and Kajal in lead roles. While theoriginal version had Vijay played dualroles and fighting against a cola com-

2017 Is Going To Be An Epic Year For Tollywood. Here's Why…

AN EPIC YEAR AHEAD!



pany which had been destroyingwater resources in a village, it re-mains to be seen what changes havebeen made in the Telugu version. Nomatter what the content of the film isgoing to be, Khaidi No 150's USP isgoing to be Megastar Chiranjeevi him-self who looks more dashing thanever before. Incidentally, Ram Charanhimself has produced the film andDevi Sri Prasad has scored the music.om Namo venkatesayaAfter the success of Annamayya, SriRamadasu and Shirdi Sai, Nagarjunaand K Raghavendra Rao have teamedup for the fourth time to make a devo-tional time. This time, their latest film,Om Namo Venkatesaya narrates thestory of Hathiram Baba, an ardentdevotee of Lord Venkateshwara wholived in the 16th century. Not much isknown about Hathiram Baba; how-ever, K Raghavendra Rao and his teamare said to have done an incredibleamount of research to bring Om NamoVenkatesaya to life. The film also starsAnushka and Jagapathi Babu in im-portant roles, whereas Saurabh RajJain has played the role of LordVenkateshwara.GuruA remake of Irudhi Suttru, Guru hasVenkatesh playing the role of a boxingcoach. Venkatesh will be seen in abeefed look in this movie directed bySudha Kongara, whereas Ritika Singhwill be reprising her role which cata-pulted her to fame in Tamil and Hindicinema. Shot in Vizag and Hyderabad,Guru has all the makings of an inspir-ing sports drama and it's been a whilesince someone has dabbled with thisgenre. The fact that Venkatesh hastaken up an author-backed rolespeaks volumes about the confidencehe has on the content in the film andit could turn out to be the surprise hitof 2017.GhaziFor the first time ever, a war dramaset underwater is going to surface onIndian screens in February. Directedby Sankalp, this Telugu-Hindi bilin-

gual film narrates the story of themysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi offthe coast of Vishakapatnam duringthe 1971 Indo-Pak war. Rana,Taapsee, Kay Kay Menon have playedthe lead roles in this war drama whichhas been shot in Hyderabad, where aspecial submarine set was erected.Going by the buzz in the industry,Ghazi promises to be a thrilling expe-rience.Allu Arjun's DjAllu Arjun is on a high post the suc-cess of Sarrainodu, which became oneof the highest grossing films ever inTelugu cinema. Not only was it a testi-mony to Allu Arjun's ever-growingpopularity, but also the idea of a 'sum-mer blockbuster' was reinforced withits success in mid 2016. Now, all eyesare on his upcoming film DJ - DuvvadaJagannadham, which is being directedby Harish Shankar. Pooja Hegde is thelead actress in DJ. Given Allu Arjun'sdream run at the box-office in the pastfew years, it wouldn't be surprising ifDJ too turns out to be one of thebiggest hits of 2017.Mahesh Babu-Ar Muruga-doss' filmMahesh Babu's forthcoming film inAR Murugadoss' direction is one ofthe most awaited films of 2017 for nu-merous reasons. Not only is this com-bination of Mahesh and Murugadoss adream come true for many, but alsothe film will mark Mahesh Babu'sdebut in Tamil. Interestingly, MaheshBabu will be playing the role of an in-telligence officer and it'll also, report-edly, touch upon themes like siblingrivalry among other things. Industryinsiders reveal that the film has thepotential to become the second high-est grossing film of all time in Telugu,behind Baahubali and pre-releasehype is certainly pointing the expecta-tions in the right direction.katamarayuduAfter the debacle of Sardar GabbarSingh, Pawan Kalyan is back as Kata-marayudu, which is expected to kickoff the summer season in Tollywood

in 2017. A remake of 'Veeram', thefilm has Pawan Kalyan reprising therole of Ajith, whereas Shruti Haasanwill play his romantic interest. Di-rected by Kishore Pardasani, the filmhas Pawan Kalyan playing a middle-aged man who'll do anything to pro-tect his brothers. It's a perfect recipefor an action entertainer, and PawanKalyan's new look and style are ex-pected to weave their magic on silverscreen.Baahubali 2Trust SS Rajamouli to captivate thenation once again in summer, 2017.Baahubali - The Conclusion, the con-tinuation of Baahubali - The Begin-ning, is going to be a box-officejuggernaut when it arrives in style inTelugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindion April 27, 2017. The first part intro-duced us to the world of Mahishmathiand its rich & vibrant characters in-cluding Shivudu, AmarendraBaahubali, Bhallaladeva, Kattappa,Shivagami, Devasena and Avantika.And if the confessions of the cast andcrew of the movie are anything to goby, Baahubali 2 will make the firstpart look like child's play. The secondpart is going to delve deep into the ri-valry between Baahubali and Bhal-laladeva, the crucial roles whichDevasena, played by Anushka, andShivagami (Ramyakrishna) haveplayed in the lives of the two siblings.And finally, we'll get to know the an-swer to the question - Why did Kat-tappa kill Baahubali? Jai Mahishmathi.Shankar's 2.0In a year which promises to be epic inevery sense, Shankar's 2.0, starringRajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and AmyJackson, is expected to shake thingsup in a major way. Not only is it one ofthe most expensive films ever made,but also Shankar has shot the film in3D. With Akshay Kumar playing therole of an evil scientist, all our eyeswill be on Chitti - The Robot, playedby Rajinikanth, to save the world. Itjust doesn't get bigger than this!

- Hemanth kumar Cr


28 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.COM JANUARY 2017

v

Women in India want to work but cannotor do not due to family responsibilities,lack of skills and social norms. India isranked 139 among 145 countries onthe economic participation and opportunity subindex, in the World Economic Forum’s Global GenderGap Report 2015.In the rankings by indicator, India stood 136th in fe-male labour force participation rate.Women’s workforce participation in India is the low-est among the BRICS nations. A range of countries,such as Bahrain, Malaysia and even Somalia (37%),do much better, IndiaSpend reported in March 2015.Female workforce participation rate- defined as thepercentage of the population that is either employed

or unemployed (that is, either working or activelyseeking work)- in India rose from 25.8% in 2012-13to 27.4% in 2015-16, according to data from the min-istry of labour.While Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had some of the low-est female workforce participation rates-with 15.5%and 18.1% – states such as Rajasthan and Jharkhanddid much better than national average of 31.1%. Allthe southern states have scored better than the na-tional average, with Andhra Pradesh being the high-est (51.3%).UP, Rajasthan, and Bihar had low rates of workforceparticipation among urban women, with the lowestbeing in Bihar (9.3%), while Andhra Pradesh was thehighest at 35.1%.

AP Has Highest Number OfWORKING WOMEN in india

In female workforce participation, the state is leading the countrywith 51.3 percent of women employed.


JANUARY 2017 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.COM 29

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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



AMAZING ANDHRA PRADESH

sona springsA visual feast to Nature lovers



how to reach:Being one of the major cities of Andhra Pradesh and also beingone of the affluent districts of coastal Andhra, Nellore has many asource of connectivity through road and rail. It is very near to pil-grim city Tirupati and also Chennai. Nellore Railway station fallsin the important railway route, connecting Chennai. Thus, it iswell connected to most major cities of the country like Mumbai,Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar. All thevillages in and around Chillakuru mandal are around 45 KM awayfrom Nellore and obviously very accessible. accommodation

Haritha Hotel, NelloreBeautiful with tranquil locality of Dargamitta, Haritha Hotel ofAPTDC is to provide comfortable accommodation to tourists. APTourism has opened this modern hotel, with excellent spaciousdeluxe rooms and attached restaurant. It is located near AC SubbaReddy Stadium, Trunk Road. Rooms could be booked online, or through phone booking: +91861-2347707/08/09- Dr Lenin Dhanisetti

Ihappened to be in ChintavaramKothapalem village of Chilakurumandal in Nellore district ofAndhra Pradesh a few monthsago. It was high noon and I was hun-gry but was so surprised to see astream flowing amidst the sanddunes. The water was sweet andquenched my thirst and hunger aswell. When I asked the locals wherefrom this stream comes from, theysaid it does not come from anywherebut it is a spring. It was told thatthousands of acres in Chillakurumandal use such springs for irriga-tion purpose. Locals call thesesprings as ‘Sona rivulets’. The mean-ing of Sona in a dictionary says thewhite in the egg. The water springsfrom the sand eternally. folklore on Sona SpringsThey had an interesting folklore totell in which they had belief. Long,long ago once the sea was angry anda huge tide fell and damaged all thevillages on its way back to the sea.Since then sand dunes were formedand God has been creating the springbetween them. There are big citiesburied underneath and the Sonawater is the tears of the people livingthere.’ That was what the locals said. We cannot brush aside their beliefjust like that. The reference of Sonasprings appears in the 51st volume ofEast and West Journal. It says thatthere used to be a port city near thisKothapalem . Between 300 BC and200 AD Greek and Romans were en-gaged in trading from this port to for-eign lands. The research article waswritten by Archeologist KP Rao withample proof to substantiate his writ-

ings. Then I realized that the localsare there to carry forward the talesof the past from one generation tothe other.Edward Hutchins, who worked asthe Madras Deputy Conservator ofForests in 1883 has written in his58-page report on The Measure-ment of Rates of Growth of Kasu-rina in Nellore district that theregion has everlasting springswhich keeps the area fertile andkeeps the drought away. He hascategorically stated and recordedabout the springs and also men-

tioned that he had shown thesesprings to the Duke of Edinburgh. The farmers of 30 villages dependon Sona Springs for irrigationneeds, as the resourceful Sonasprings which holds 1, 00,506 mil-lion of US gallons water. The fact isthat the pH level in the SonaSprings is better than that ofbranded packaged water of multi-national companies. Sona spring isa visual treat to the true naturelovers, who always seek for the ca-resses of the nature to make theworld their kin.



Biodiversity park at AmaravatiSakhamuru village in Thullur mandal of Andhra Pradeshwill host the single largest lung space in the State’s capi-tal region in the form of a 200-acre botanical garden.The AP-Capital Region Development Authority (AP-CRDA) which is developing it, has identified a 100-acreparcel of land for the garden and got it incorporated inthe master plan. When complete, the garden will serveas as a tourist spot and a place of interest for school andcollege students.

No More Cockfights in APThe High Court at Hyderabad upheld the ban on cock-fighting and directed the Andhra Pradesh and Telanganagovernments to ensure no cockfights take place duringthe Sankranti festival. The court extended the ban oncockfights wholly and not just during the Sankranti festi-val in January. The common High Court for both the Tel-ugu states passed the orders on petitions filed by theAnimal Welfare Board of India, Humane Society Interna-tional/India, People for Animals and other organisa-tions.

Singapore model of policingAndhra Pradesh will take a leaf out of Singapore inpolicing by involving the community at large, Director-General of Police N. Sambasiva Rao said. The DGP told amedia conference that community policing imple-mented in Chittoor district on a pilot basis would bereplicated in other districts as well in the new year. Suc-cessful policing demanded community participation andworking from behind, he said even while underscoringthe need for a change in police personnel outlook whiledealing with public. Expressing concern over a high24,000 accidents in the State this year with over 8,000people succumbing to injuries, he said all the liquorshops close to National Highways would be removed asper the Supreme Court’s guidelines.

Boeing-shaped It tower in vizag Work is set to be launched on the IT tower, a Boeing-shaped super-structure with glass frames, in the heartof Visakhapatnam. The Software Technology Parks ofIndia (STPI) has entrusted the job of construction to theVisakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA).The stone for the prestigious project was laid by UnionIT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad early 2016. The ground-plus-eight-floor tower is expected to give a big boost tothe growth of the IT sector in the city – the largest witha turnover of Rs.2,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh. Thetower will come up at Siripuram, where VUDA office islocated. While the Centre will spend nearly Rs.40 crore

on the project, VUDA’s equity will be the land admea-suring 1.2 acres. The construction time will be 12-18months.

Inauguration of CGHS wellness centre Central Government Health Scheme’s wellness centreon the premises of the Hospital for Mental Health willbe inaugurated on January 9. Union Health Minister J.P.Nadda will inaugurate the centre. He will also address ameeting on the occasion. Central government officialshave informed the inauguration details to Lok Sabhamember K Haribabu. The wellness centre will benefit30,000 Central government employees in the city,20,000 retired staff and together with their family mem-bers covers about 1.6 lakh persons.

Sri lankan President invites CMSri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has invited theChief Minister of India's Andhra Pradesh Nara Chan-drababu Naidu to attend the second anniversary cele-brations marking the completion of two years in officeas President. According a special honor the Sri LankanPresident has also invited the Chief Minister Chan-drababu to address the nation on development. In hisletter to Chandrababu, the Sri Lankan President laudedChief Minister's policies in reducing poverty in the stateand commended his developmental schemes to bettervillage administration and his schemes like pension andfood processing. The Sri Lankan President has expressedhis wish to maintain close ties with Andhra Pradesh.

Neet paper to be in telugu tooMedical aspirants from Andhra Pradesh and Telanganacan write the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test(NEET) test in Telugu language from next year. The NEETis mandatory for entry into medical colleges from theensuing academic year. In fact, the exam can be taken ineight languages — Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi,Bengali, Assamese, Tamil and Telugu. The decision wastaken by the Central government after consultationswith the State governments on the exam pattern andrelated aspects.

Akademies to be re-launched In a bid to revive the glory of Telugu language and cul-ture, the State government is going to re-launch threeakademies, besides conducting theatre workshops on alarge scale, according to Mandali Buddha Prasad,Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. “An an-nouncement will be made soon by Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu with regard to the re-launching of

HAPPENING APDownloaded from http://smartprep.in


the Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi, Sangeeta NatakaAkademi, and Lalita Kala Akademi, which are the needof the hour to revive our past glory and continue thelegacy of our forefathers,” he said addressing the cente-nary celebrations of the city-based theatre troupe,Young Men’s Happy Club, at Dantu Kala Kshetram .

Sr journo Hanumantha rao no moreSenior journalist V Hanumantha Rao, aged 91, popularlyknown as DNF Hanumantha Rao, passed away on Dec12th at his residence in Srinagar colony. Rao was associ-ated with media for about 65 years. He worked in sev-eral media organizations, including Krishna Patrika,Eenadu and Economic Times. Rao had been running themedia agency Data New Featurs (DNF) for over threedecades. Over the years he had trained scores of jour-nalists and was considered as one of the most re-spected figures in the field of journalism.

Special cell to tackle red Sanders SmugglingState Government of Andhra Pradesh is to constitute aspecial ‘Organised Crime Cell’ to gather information per-taining to red sanders smuggling in the Seshachalam re-gion. Announcing it in a recently held press conferencein Tirupati, the Director-General of Police N. SambasivaRao said that the unit would not only gather intelligencebut also study various aspects related to red sanderssmuggling. According to him, the unit, which is predom-inantly an intelligence wing, would be made operationalby February 1. It would be set up at the Red SandersAnti Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) headquarters inTirupati.

APIIC’s borrowing limit raised to rs. 5,000 croreThe Andhra Pradesh Government has issued orders au-thorising the Board of Directors of the Andhra PradeshIndustrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (APIIC) toborrow up to Rs. 5,000 crores from time to time for landacquisition (LA) and for standing as guarantor for a Rs.2,000-crore loan proposed to be taken by it (APIIC) fromthe Housing and Urban Development Corporation(HUDCO). The G.O paved the way for the APIIC to pro-ceed with acquisition of land for industries in theVisakhapatnam–Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC),Chennai and Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC) andthe Peninsular Region Industrial Development Corridor(PRIDE Corridor) with financial assistance from theAsian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan Interna-tional Cooperation Agency (JICA).

jICA to work for AP capital regionJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) hassigned up with the Centre and the Andhra Pradesh Gov-

ernment for implementing a technical cooperation proj-ect titled 'Comprehensive Traffic and Transport Studyfor Andhra Pradesh Capital Region'. The study aims tocontribute to the sound development of the AndhraPradesh Capital Region (APCR) and will be implementedin coordination with the Andhra Pradesh Capital RegionDevelopment Authority. The record was signed in thepresence of Sreedhar Cherukuri, Commissioner, AndhraPradesh Capital Region Development Authority, AjayJain, Principal Secretary, Government of AndhraPradesh, and Takayoshi Tange, Senior Representative,JICA India office.

Inauguration of CGHS wellness centre Fulfilling a long-pending demand, Central GovernmentHealth Scheme’s wellness centre on the premises of theHospital for Mental Health will be inaugurated on Janu-ary 9. Union Health Minister J P Nadda will inauguratethe centre. He will also address a meeting on the occa-sion. Central government officials have informed the in-auguration details to Lok Sabha member K Haribabu.The wellness centre will benefit 30,000 Central govern-ment employees in the city, 20,000 retired staff and to-gether with their family members covers about 1.6 lakhpersons. BJP city president M. Nagendra said the func-tioning of the centre fulfilled the BJP election promisemade in 2014. Earlier, Central government employeeshad to go to Hyderabad to get treatment at the healthcentre there.

Carrom players create Guinness recordHusna Sameera 16 year-old and 22-year-old AlladaPavan created a Guinness record for the ‘longestmarathon carrom playing’ by registering 34 hours, 45minutes and 56 seconds at the DRRMC Indoor Stadiumin Vijayawada on December 26. They successfullyerased the earlier timing of 32 hours and 45 seconds setby Narayan Paranjpe, Atul Kharecha, Prakash Kagal andPramod Sen in Texas, U.S., in 2005. Husna and Pavanstarted playing from 8 am on Dec 25th and played non-stop (with seven official breaks) until 6.45 pm. and 56seconds on Dec 26th to register the new timing.

floating stage in river Godavari Municipal Commissioner V Vijayarama Raju announcedthat a floating stage would be set up in river Godavari toorganise cultural programmes, which would attractmore tourists and locals too. It would be set up at theChintalamma ghat near the Kotilingala Revu and the citi-zens of Rajamahendravaram could witness programmesby sitting in the ghat. People and organisations couldmake use of this facility.

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34 ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.COM JANUARY 2017

FROM THE CM’S DESK

Transitioning AP into aCASHleSS eCoNoMY

The demonetisation drive by theCentre is gradually but silentlydriving the cashless economy inour country. As the Chief Minis-ter of a state, I'm witnessing theproblems that people are facing, followingthe withdrawal of high-value currency.Given that our country's ratio of cash togross domestic product is one of the highestin the world —12.42% in 2014, comparedwith 9.47% in China or 4% in Brazil, we willface these issues for a while. However, weneed to look at solutions instead of harpingon the problems.In this direction, I have had meetings withmy officials to understand the readiness ofAndhra Pradesh into transitioning into acashless economy. We are studying the chal-lenges and trying to address them.For instance, I'm witnessing this readinessin a few gram panchayats in the state. Nalla-jerla Panchayat in West Godavari district has

been creating massive awareness drives onswitching to digital transactions.While pushing for digital transactions, I'malso aware that we need a huge infrastruc-ture in place before we ask people to em-brace digital modes of transactions. For this,students can be prepped up to train olderpeople on using technology.There are challenges in implementing thisdespite the recent expansion in digital wal-let usage as well as the introduction of spe-cialized payments banks.A robust payments mechanism to settle digi-tal transactions is also needed. NEFT andRTGS have been a good start, however. I alsosee a bright future for FinTech start-ups inthis space as this move opens a gamut of op-portunities for entrepreneurs.At this juncture, I'm glad to have receivedthe invitation by the Centre to head theCommittee of Chief Ministers (comprising of5 CMs) to look into the issues arising out ofdemonetisation.This crisis has hit us hard. However, any cri-sis gives us opportunities to do better andemerge stronger. We will ensure that wecarefully take into account the issues of theunbanked population who need to betrained and try to come up with solutionsfor a better and brighter India.

While pushing fordigital transactions,I'm also aware thatwe need a huge infra-structure in placebefore we ask peopleto embrace digitalmodes of transactions.

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CM IN PICTURES

Pic 1: CM Chandrababu Naidu discussing implementation of Smart Village programme with representatives ofUniversity of California, Berkeley, who contributed to making Mori in East Godavari into a digital village.

Pic 2 CM presenting a boquet to President of India Pranab Mukherjee at a dinner hosted in honour of the vis-itng dignitary at Raj Bhavan. Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao is also present.

Pic 3: Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu at the inauguration of the 68th Indian Pharmaceutical Congress inVisakhapatnam.

Pic 4: Chief Minister addressing the press after a meeting of the Committee on Demonetisation. Niti Ayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya and CEO Amitabh Kant are also present.

Pic 5: CM and Union Minister Y S Chowdary in a meeting with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Delhi.

Pic 6: Chief Minster addressing a gathering on World Disabilities Day in Vijayawada.

Subscription Details: Yearly Subscription rate is Rs 220 for Andhra Pradesh (Eng) Magazine. Readers may send MO or DD in thename of Accounts Officer, I&PR Department, Vijayawada. Mention your full postal address in your letter and send to Accounts Of-ficer, I&PR Department, State Guest House Compound, Gopalareddy Road, Suryarao Peta, Vijayawada - 520002 Ph: 9949351534

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