Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the plaque for the foundation of Amaravati on October 22 (Vijaya Dasami), in the presence of Andhra Pradesh CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu, on the banks of River Krishna.
Amaravati is envisaged to be developed as smart, green and sustainable city. In line with being developed as the People’s Capital of Andhra Pradesh, our aspiration is to create a vibrant, diverse, inclusive and modern city, which will be a symbol of pride for the people of Andhra Pradesh and India. - Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu
CONTENTS Birth Of A City That Lives Forever
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District Profile: Anantapur
the newly formed state of Andhra Pradesh heralded the beginnings of its newest capital city, Amaravati
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AP Gets 2 New State-Of-The-Art Airport Terminals
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e-Pragati Government Services To Go Electronic By 2017 Centre will help shape Amaravati – Modi
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hand-holding 10 Centre’s is essential – CM
Snapshot
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German Boost For Green Corridor Of AP
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Road link between Amaravati & Rayalaseema
Chief Minister’s Social Network
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Happening Andhra
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Various developments across the state of Andhra Pradesh.
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12 Putting Rural Women In The Center Stage Of Development
Amazing AP: The Grand Canyon of India
Gionee Launches First AP-Made Smartphone NABARD To Create Rs 342 Cr Warehousing Capacity
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22 Gurazada Apparao - A Reformer, Writer, Thinker Par Excellence
26 Kanche: Krish’s Artefact
18 AP IT Policy 2014-2020
ANDHRA PRADESH
EDITORIAL
Published Monthly In English & Telugu November 2015 Volume: 9 Issue: 5 Salivahana Era 1937
Publisher & Commissioner Dr P Krishna Mohan Chief Editor Ramesh Kandula Editor Naresh Nunna Assistant Editor Shruti Mathur Cover Page PM, CM, Union Minister offering Puja for Foundation Ceremony
Second Cover PM, CM after unveiling the plaque Third Cover Pics from Amaravati ceremony Fourth Cover APIIC Advt on Sunrise State
Published by: Information & Public Relations Department Government of Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad - 500 028 Ph: 040-23300258 Views expressed by various authors in this issue reflect their personal opinions. Design Karthik Beesu Printed at Caxton Offset Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad Each Issue : Rs 5/Annual Subscription : Rs 50/-
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AmArAvAti, the Future!
his Vijayadasami will be long remembered in the modern annals of Andhra Pradesh. The foundation stone ceremony for the capital city Amaravati is a momentous occasion for the people of the state. Amaravati is not just a capital city. It is the fulfilment of the long cherished wish of the people to have a capital that they can call truly their own. The emotional attachment with which the denizens of the state viewed the birth of Amaravati can only be understood in terms of the angst for a Telugu and an Andhra cultural resurgence. Amaravati, however, is not just a harking back to the glorious past of this part of the country. The visionary Chief Minster Chandrababu Naidu has conceived a people’s capital that is throbbing with social, cultural and as importantly, the economic life of its people. It is truly a modern city that incorporates the best of the great cities of the world, but without losing its identity as a historical place. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Ministers from Japan and Singapore, besides a host of guests from various states and countries blessed the occasion with great warmth. The Chief Minister’s resoluteness as well as his utmost sincerity in envisioning and executing Amaravati against all odds have indeed impressed the august gathering. Amaravati is no stranger to history. But we are fortunate to be witnessing the making of contemporary history with participation of an entire people!
RAMESH KANDULA Chief Editor
www.andhrapradeshmagazine.org Email: apchiefeditor@gmail.com www.ipr.ap.nic.in
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Printed and Published by 4 on behalf of Commissioner, Information and Public Relations Dept., (on behalf of Govt. of AP); Published at Samachar Bhavan, AC Guards, Hyderabad - 500028 Ph: 040-23300258 Printed at * $ "( ., 11.5.416/3, Red Hills, Hyderabad - 500 004 Chief Editor: Ramesh Kandula
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NOVEMBER 2015
e-Pragati
Government Services to Go electronic By 2017
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he state of Andhra Pradesh, under the leadership of tech-savvy Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, will become the first state in the country to introduce state-wide enterprise architecture in governance. the government launched Andhra Pradesh State Enterprise Architecture (APSEA), also called e-Pragati, which is a single integrated platform encompassing all government services and linking all government departments, at a cost of Rs 2,398 crores. Launching the e-Pragati project in Visakhapatnam, Chief Minister Naidu said that adoption of e-Pragati will be a milestone for the government as it will firmly establish AP as the leading state of India, while transforming it into a knowledge society. “e-Pragati will also help the government provide minimum government and maximum governance.” the citizen centric e-governance project based on a ‘Whole-of-Government’ concept would enable a more transparent administration giving more value for taxpayers’ money. the project includes a number of existing e-governance projects such as the digitisation of land NOVEMBER 2015
e-Pragati platform will help establish Andhra Pradesh as a leader in enterprise architecture at the government level and also help the state earn revenue as e-Pragati is a commercial product that can be used by other states as well. the second wave. the third wave will focus on industry, rural development and urban development followed by the final wave on It infrastructure, productivity, establishment and safety.
records under the ‘Mee Bhoomi Mee Intiki,’ farm services information programme and health records, among others. Under e-Pragati, the State government is deploying an enterprisewide architecture for the first time. “Land records and title transfers have been at the mercy of the officers and field staff. Digitisation of land records will put corruption and inefficiency to an end,” CM Naidu said. On the disaster management front, the Chief Minister said, “the government had installed rain gauges in 200 places across the State and piezometers (a device used to assess groundwater level at a specific point) will be installed in 840 hydrological basins, and the data will be received online and analysed. this data monitoring mechanism will help in drought mitigation endeavours.” the project will involve 33 secretariat departments, 315 government agencies and 745 services and will be rolled out in four waves of 14 packages and 72 projects, the first of which will go live in November this year. the first wave will focus on primary sector, education and core technology, followed by health, performance and citizen engagement in ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
“All the services are anchored around key stakeholders like citizens, farmers, students, landowners, senior citizens and beneficiaries. Service delivery is supported by deep collaboration between departments in terms of information flow, application interaction and common applications and infrastructure," the CM added. the Chief Minister complimented Wipro and other It companies associated with the project and sought their co-operation. technology giants such as HP and Cisco along with apex It industry body Nasscom have made commitments of developing innovation hubs in the state.
Features of e-Pragati
w It aims for a transformational change in the way government services are conceived, designed, delivered and consumed.
w the public private partnership (PPP)
has been designed as a tool to provide integrated services to its citizens by adopting a Whole-of Government approach.
w It seeks to enhance the Quality of Life by deploying the cutting edge technologies, including SMAC, in various sectors like Agriculture, Education, Healthcare, Construction, Skill Development, Urban and Rural Development.
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PM Narendra Modi handing over soil from the precincts of Parliament to CM Chandrababu Naidu.
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Birth Of A City
Amaravati Lives Forever
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he first brick of the ‘People’s Capital’ of Andhra Pradesh was symbolically put in place by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Vijayadasami (October 22) when he laid the foundation for Amaravati on the banks of the Krishna between Vijayawada and Guntur. On that afternoon, the newly formed state of Andhra Pradesh heralded the beginnings of its newest capital city, Amaravati. the foundation stone for the building of the new capital was laid by the Prime Minister at 12.45 pm, as he unveiled plaque in the presence of several national as well as foreign dignitaries. the rituals leading up to the foundation ceremony were elaborate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed
Yantra Pratishta, after the Poorna Aahuti at the venue. All religion prayer was held on main dais before Amaravati Foundation Ceremony started. Among the dignitaries in attendance were Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan, tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah, Assam and Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Acharya, telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Central ministers, P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Nirmala Sitaraman, YS Chowdary and Bandaru Dattatreya. Ministers and delegations from Singapore and Japan also attended the event. After “Maa telugu talliki” was rendered by singer Sunitha, the guests addressed the huge gathering. While 15 most important guests were seated on the main dais (other VIPs were accom-
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modated on two other daises), only the Prime Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, Venkaiah Naidu, telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and Japanese and Singapore Ministers had the opportunity to give their message to the gathering of lakhs of people at the venue in Uddandarayunipalem village. In his speech, translated by Central Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to his gift of soil and water from the precincts of Parliament and River Yamuna in Delhi, said this endowment signified that the entire Indian nation stood with the people of Andhra Pradesh in building Amaravati and, in accordance, Delhi would stand shoulder to shoulder with Andhra Pradesh NOVEMBER 2015
The spectacular event was attended by lakhs of enthusiastic people from across the state and beyond. Scores of Telugu people settled in United States, Dubai, United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries too flew in specially to be part of the historic occasion. in its endeavour. the Prime Minister’s speech was preceded by an impassioned plea by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for support from the Centre in building a world class capital for the people of Andhra Pradesh. Referring to the farmers who gave 33,000 acres of land for the capital, he said their gesture would be remembered by history. the spectacular event was attended by lakhs of enthusiastic people from across the state and beyond. Scores of telugu people settled in United States, Dubai, United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries too flew in specially to be part of the historic occasion. Despite the presence of VVIPS and vast crowds, the mega event went off smoothly due to the elaborate arrangements that were put in place by the administration with minute guidance by Chandrababu Naidu. the event was streamed live and popular hashtags appeared on platforms like twitter in support of the new capital city. the government had also started a social media campaign for the initiative with the hashtag #Mana Amaravati-ManaRajadhani. the historic event started with cultural programs including a Kuchipudi ballet. Well-known drummer Sivamani performed on stage, with Kerala’s talented keyboard player Stephen Devassy joining in. On the eve of the ceremony, a huge security blanket was thrown over the venue, with all access to the main stage sealed. However, a festive atmosphere pervaded Uddandarayunipalem and the surrounding villages, with families from all over the broader capital area turning up to see the decorations and local farmers sitting around in groups to discuss what is to become of them and their villages. More than 15,000 policemen from
NOVEMBER 2015
Andhra Pradesh, telangana and Karnataka and paramilitary forces were deployed at the venue and at the vantage points along seven routes leading to the site, and to escort VVIPs. twenty-five closed-circuit tV cameras were installed at the venue. Banners and festoons hailing the construction of the capital were seen at many places leading to the venue. A day eariler, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu flew over the core area of the capital in a helicopter and sprinkled holy water and soil brought from 16,000 villages across the State. Naidu had flown in soil from the holy sites of Jerusalem and Mecca, sprinkled the site with holy water from the Ganga and Godavari, and gone to great lengths to seek blessings from people across Andhra Pradesh and the rest of the country. “Holy water and soil — that is puttamatti — from 16,000 villages and 3,000 wards, besides sacred water and soil from all holy rivers of the world and India has been collected for the foundation ceremony,” Naidu said. Water and soil was collected from the Sikh holy site Golden temple in Amritsar, the Vaishnodevi shrine of the Hindus, as well as the Islamic shrine Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan, among other places. Naidu said that soil was also collected from birth places of Indian leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose, B R Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru. the Prime Minister, along with dignitaries were taken round the specially erected exhibition of Buddhist relics preserved at the Archaeological Museum in Amaravati. A collection of exclusive artefacts from the museum, including bone relics of Buddha were on display. Anchors Sai Kumar and Sunitha compered the show at the Amaravati ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
Foundation Stone laying venue in Uddandarayunipalem village of Guntur district. Singapore minister Eswran and Japan State Minister of Economy, trade and Industry (MEtI) , Yosuke takagi, besides industrialists such as Pratap C Reddy of Apollo Hospitals, GM Rao of GMR Group and diplomats from several countries were present. the gesture of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to personally invite his telangana counterpart was appreciated by one and all. Visiting Andhra Pradesh for the first time since the acrimonious division of the State, telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao was the cynosure of all eyes. Rao was extended all courtesies and lustily cheered when he promised all help from his government to build Amaravati. Modi referred to Rao’s presence at the ceremony, and said “My heart overflowed with joy when I heard that Mr. Chandrababu Naidu went to the house of Chandrasekhar Rao to invite him to the ceremony.” Lauding Naidu for the speed with which he was proceeding to build the capital, the PM pointed out that many of the cities built in the country since Independence did not accord with modern notions of livability. Urbanisation was the need of the hour and urban development was not a problem, but an opportunity. the capital region has been designed to cater for an 11.5-million population, with a provision for 3.3 million jobs by 2035, while the core capital area, spread over 16.9 sq.km, will meet the requirements of four million people, creating close to 1.8 million jobs by 2050. Amaravati will be the fifth planned capital city in India. the city, the first phase of which is expected to be completed by 2018, will boast of both modern technology and heritage.
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Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh, is set to be an amalgamation of ‘navratnas’- knowledge city, financial city, health city, tourism city, government city, sports city, electronics city, justice city and education city. In Hindu mythology, Amaravati is said to the capital of Indra, the king of Gods. In history, Amaravati, situated in Guntur district, was once the seat of power of Satavahana rulers. CM Naidu, too, plans a capital as grand. He said wants it to be a “people’s capital” and a haven of opportunities. Naidu promised that Amaravati will rise again as the capital city, a vibrant economic centre and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Observers have noted the drive and passion behind Amaravati. In both conceptualisation and ambition, Amaravati is perhaps unmatched in independent India. According to times of India, this brand new city, Driven by the zeal of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, aims to be 25% larger than present day Chennai and to accommodate 11 million people — in 20 years.
‘Donate an e-brick as your contribution’
A novel initiative called Amaravati Brick (e-brick) was launched by the state government in a bid to make the people of the state partners in the construction of the new capital. to ensure the participation of every single person in the State in this once-in-alife opportunity, a payment gateway, through which at least one brick can be donated, was launched by the Chief Minister. “My Brick-My Amaravati” is the tagline for this initiative. the facility enables every person to purchase an e-brick at a cost of Rs 10 for one unit as a donation to the building of the capital. the total number of donors who bought the 34.40 lakh bricks as of 26th October stood at 52,764, raising Rs 3.40 crore so far. Efforts are also on to approach the Guinness Books of World Records to enter this initiative as the first crowd-funding programme using the concept of digital bricks.
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Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu unveiled his vision of a grand capital that would, he said, match the world’s great cities in aesthetics, infrastructure, liveability, connectivity, and as the seat of e-governance and administration.
timeline: the road to Amaravati a
,/& -+,/' the date of June 2 is set for the formal bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh states.
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! 3' Chandrababu Naidu takes office as chief minister of residuary Andhra Pradesh.
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! % --' the State Government says new capital will be between Vijayawada and Guntur.
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( .+' State Government says the new capital will built upon 30,000 acres of land across 17 villages -- 14 in tullur mandal and three in Managalgiri mandal. Land will be acquired through land pooling and landowners would be persuaded.
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( 3' Chief Minister unveils the land pooling policy and compensation package for land owners.
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( .,' Government notifies an area covering 7068 sq. km as the broader AP Capital Region and 122 sq. km as the Capital City region. the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014 comes approves Amaravati as the name of the new capital.
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% -1& -+,0' Singapore’s Second Minister for trade and Industry S Iswaran hands over master plan for Amaravati. He calls it the People’s Capital and says it will be a “very liveable city”. He says the plan envisages use of green spaces and natural assets with emphasis on public transport.
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! 2' Chandrababu Naidu performs the bhoomi puja for Amaravati. Announces his resolve to develop it into an economic hub to beat even Singapore.
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! % -,' the government of Singapore presents a master plan for the seed capital area (SCA) of Amaravati. the plan defines the exact locations of the legislative and administrative buildings and the downtown area. the seed capital is spread over an area of 16.9 sq. km. the seed capital is planned for three lakh residents.
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( --' Amaravati foundation ceremony at Uddandarayunipallem held on a grand scale with the participation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Fact file a
In Indian mythology, Amaravati is the capital of the celestial beings. Historically, it was the capital of Satavahanas, the first great Andhra kings who ruled from the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE after the downfall of the Maurya Empire.
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" ' Amaravati is among 12 cities selected for implementation of the Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana in the first phase.
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! ' With Amaravati being a key constituent in the Buddhist circuit, a 250-km religious tourism circuit has been incorporated into the core capital region.
ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
NOVEMBER 2015
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Centre will help shape Amaravati Prime Minister Modi
elhi will be working with Andhra Pradesh at every step to make sure the growth of Capital and State takes place properly, declared Prime Minster Narendra Modi, after laying the foundation stone for Amaravati. “the Centre will ensure that every paradigm in the State Reorganisation Act will be followed in letter and spirit. My government will ensure that Andhra gets everything that it deserves,” he reiterated. Modi, who began his speech by greeting the people of Andhra Pradesh in telugu on the occasion of Vijaya Dasami, said hat he had handed over soil and water from Parliament and Yamuna, to Chandrababu Naidu, who, he said, was moved by the emotoinal gesture. Quoting from Sri Sri’s wellknown poem, he recited ‘’nenu saitham (my contribution too..)”, he said the symbolism has the message that Delhi’s cooperation is available to the state. the pace at which Chandrababu Naidu took up this task of building the capital by bringing together the best minds and Best Practices in the world, NOVEMBER 2015
need to be congratulated, he added. Very few new capitals or towns have been built after Independence, but that inhibition must end. We must look towards urbanisation with sustainability, without looking it as problem, but as an opportunity, the Prime Minister noted. We have to move towards building new modern cities and that is why we have started the programme of 100 Smart Cities. Modi said that the cities should be centres of economic growth and revenue generation. Smart cities should have latest technology, no wastage, the latest mass transportation facility. Amaravati will be a benchmark for the development of new cities and implementation of new technologies for creation of jobs and revenue. the advantage of Startup movement launched by the Centre was taken up by telangana and Andhra Pradesh youth and they have the capacity to shine.
nomic revolution. this will be youthled economic revolution in the days to come. A country which has 80 crore of youth can reach top of the world. Andhra Pradesh and telangana should be complementary to each and benefit from that, said Modi. During Atal Behari Vajpayee's reign, he had overseen creation of three new states and there was not a problem in their progress. those who had divided the State are trying to sow seeds of dissent, he warned. Andhra and telangana may be two states, but the spirit is telugu. Let these two states outperform each other in a bid for development and raise India’s image, he advised. Assuring that whatever is mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act, the Centre will implement it to the last letter, he said, “Whatever has been discussed on development of Andhra Pradesh between Chandrababu Naidu and me will be implemented in total,” the Prime Minister announced.
People of Andhra Pradesh working all “Modi-Babu jodi will do everything over the world can come back to Andhra Pradesh and participate in the needed for the State,” he said, ending start-up movement. In the days to his speech with Bharat Mata Ki Jai. come Andhra Pradesh will lead an ecov
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Centre’s hand-holding is essential CM Chandrababu Naidu
ndhra Pradesh CM made an impassioned plea for support from the Centre in building a world class capital for the people of Andhra Pradesh. Pains of bifurcation are too many as the state does not have revenue generating capital like Chennai, Bengaluru or Hyderabad, so ‘Handholding' by Centre should continue, Naidu appealed to the Prime Minister.
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Addressing the huge gathering after the formal stone laying ceremony, Naidu said tht telugu people will never forget the assurances given by Narendra Modi during difficult times. People of Andhra Pradesh are ready to toil hard and have entrepreneurial skills, we can develop into the best State in the days to come, he said. AP is in second spot in the country in ‘Ease of doing' business, and the state
has plans to develop the State into the best in the country by 2050. thanking the Centre for merging seven mandals of telangana in A.P. that will get submerged in the Polavaram Project Reservoir area, Chandrababu Naidu asked telangana CM Chandrashekhar Rao to extend cooperation for joint operations and development in both the states and for resolving problems that may crop up in future. Division of the State is unfortunate, but the new state will go forward in solving people's problems taking the help of telangana Chief Minister KCR, he said. Explaining the development plan for the new city, Naidu said that nine cities will be formed in Amaravati. the CM thanked Singapore and Japan governments for extending help to
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build a massive and modern capital by giving designs in record time. Soils from Bodha Gaya and several shrines, waters from all rivers were brought to the capital to empower the new city, the CM said. Chandrababu Naidu did not forget to thank farmers for giving land voluntarily. Saluting all the 25,000 farmers, who voluntarily gave 33,000 acres of land for construction of Amaravati as part of Land Pooling Scheme implemented for the first time in the country, he assured their sacrifice would not go waste. the Cheif Minister revealed that both Singapore and Japan had come forward to help build a world class city in Amaravati that would act as a catalyst for the development of Andhra Pradesh in days to come.
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“Here is where the seeds of the Japanese nation’s culture and values emerged from'.
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‘AP Poised to be Asia-Pacific Gateway’
alling Amaravati the seed of Japanese culture, lifestyle and belief, Japanese Minister Yosuke takagi extended a helping hand to build Amaravati into a vibrant city by sharing technology. He made reference of the historical connection between the largest and the oldest democracies of Asia, “We have learnt in our young days that this great land of Amaravati was a great centre of learning of Buddhism right from 3rd century BC. And here is where the seed of the Japanese nation’s culture and values have emerged. In our textbooks we read that Acharya Nagarjuna visited Amaravati. Standing here at this great place is a matter of pride and honour for me.” He said Andhra Pradesh was poised to be the gateway for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean region. “Asiapacific region has the potential to become growth engines of
- Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Yosuke Takagi
the entire global economy. AP is poised to be a gateway for the Indian Ocean region. And I believe it has the potential to be the centre of what can be called the Asia-Pacific-Indian Ocean Region. “We remember from the World War II how we created a new nation from ashes. this time in history, Japan is here to give a lending hand. Our experience and technology is here to contribute. this in Buddhism we call ‘en’ and in Hinduism we call ‘Sanjog.’ this is Sanjog,” he said. In the backdrop of the historical and cultural ties between the two nations, Mr. takagi said Japan and India are poised to show great leadership together under a legal framework to create a trade network based on greater prosperity.
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Singapore is honoured to play a pivotal role in building the great city of Amaravati and congratulations to Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for his efforts for engraving this event in world history.
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- Singapore Ministe for Trade and Industry S Iswaran
‘Singapore shares vision of Naidu’
ingapore’s Minister for trade and Industry, S Iswaran, started his speech by greeting the people of Andhra Pradesh in telugu, on the festive occasion of Dasara. He said Singapore was honoured to play a pivotal role in building the great city of Amaravati and congratulated the efforts of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for engraving this event in world history. He recalled the visit of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to Singapore, who shared the vision of Andhra Pradesh for a world class capital city which offers jobs, is highly liveable and represents rich culture and heritage of the state. Mr Iswaran called the Chief Minister “an old friend of Singapore” and said, “Much work lays ahead to be NOVEMBER 2015
done. this could be accomplished under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chandrababu Naidu in building historic capital Amaravati.” “Experts from Singapore government and companies have been working closely with CM Naidu and his team. the Singapore team is also training experts in urban planning and management.” He also appreciated the Central government’s efforts in developing 100 smart cities and other cities under the Amrut Mission and the ambitious Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan, and said these would have a profound impact on the lives of people as the cities would be transformed into liveable cities. v
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Putting
RURAL WOMEN
In The Center Stage Of Development nections to the rural women attracted the attention of development planners worldwide. Connecting Information technology Development with the rural women SHGs for improving literacy, business development, IEC activities is a-first-of-its-kind initiative introduced by Chandrababu Naidu.
Women empowerment has been a comprehensive and highly debated issue. While it is a fact that the female race has evolved extensively over the years, it will be wrong to turn a blind eye to the plight of the same race in rural and backward areas of our society. However, gradually, there has been a shift in emphasis of women’s empowerment from purely welfare oriented approach to a more pragmatic and development oriented one, which recognizes women as productive workers and contributors to the economy. Every year, October 15th is celebrates as International Day of Rural Women. The day honours the role of rural women and recognizes their importance in enhancing agricultural and rural development worldwide. On that note, let’s take a look at what the Andhra Pradesh government has been doing for the welfare of these women...
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ndhra Pradesh Government designed various schemes placing the women in the center stage of development. total literacy campaigns galvanized into Self Help & Savings movement by the rural women in the state created history. Chandrababu Naidu, during his first tenure as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh initiated several schemes favouring rural poor women and promoted Self Help Groups (SHGs) popularly called DWCRA groups in every habitation and in every family. Convergence approach was adopted for the social and economic empowerment of rural poor women in the areas of education, health, and sanitation and income generation for poverty alleviation. He introduced matching grants scheme to provide equivalent amount from government to the savings amount by a group. the popular scheme called ‘DEEPAM’ for provision of LPG conANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
the Chief Minister, during his second tenure in the bifurcated Andhra Pradesh state has introduced several schemes for the social and economic empowerment of rural women, especially to improve female literacy, digital skills and capacity building programs for establishing self sustaining Institutions of SHGs at the village, mandal and district level. State Government promoted and supported 6,80,765 women of SHGs in rural areas, with 69,46,180 women in 644 Mandal Level Federations and 16,139 Village Level Organisations and 13 District Level Federations. Savings linked credit is mobilised from financial institutions at Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 crores per annum for takingup income generation activities. these loans are made available without any interest burden for the SHGs and government will reimburse interest to banks after repayment of loans. 15 lakh SHG members are engaged in various income generation activities. 28.6% of total activities are agriculture based and 27.8% are dairy based activities helping the families cross the poverty line. 10-15% activities are also related to preparation of food, NOVEMBER 2015
bakery products, traditional sweets & snacks, milk products, etc. 3-5% activities are in the weaving & readymade garments sector. 2.8% of total loans are also utilised to improve children’s education in SHG families.
generic medical shops in the state under the brand ‘Anna Sanjeevani Generic Medical Stores’ and these outlets sell generic medicines at a price 30-40% less than the similar medicine available in the open market.
the Chief Minister fulfilled his election promises and provided capital infusion to all the SHG members (6, 80,765 women) at Rs 10,000 each. the first installment of Rs 1,954 crore was released at Rs 3,000 per each member, besides Rs 1,136 crore towards interest subsidy on the loans availed in the year 2014-15. Besides the amount provided under capital infusion, Rs 1,897 crore was provided as credit from financial institutions from April 2015 to August 2015. the state government is implementing various schemes to provide livelihood and income generation opportunities to the SHG members treating family as a unit for credit requirement Rs 30,000 per group is provided under capital infusion scheme, an amount equivalent 100 months of their savings amount. Identification of SHG members under capital infusion scheme is totally linked to Aadhar to ensure delivering benefits in an open and transparent way through online transfers. the amount sanctioned under capital infusion is linked to institutional finance to provide income generating opportunities to the rural women in SHGs.
• In the drought prone and backward districts of Andhra and Rayalaseema region, ram lamb and calf rearing is taken-up by women SHG members to improve family incomes.
State government supported the following activities to increase the family incomes of SHG members. • Procurement of food grains like paddy & maize is taken-up by SHG members and they are paid Rs 20 per quintal towards procurement of paddy & 1% of sale cost of maize. SHG federations earned Rs 68 crore as commission for procurement of food grains in 2014-15. • Sand mining and supply activity has been taken-up by SHG members under the new sand policy in which more than 5,000 members working 320 sand reaches earn Rs 300 to Rs 350 as daily wage, besides Rs 5 per cubic metre as incentive. From October 2014 to September 2015, a quantity of 1.75 crore cubic metres of sand has been excavated in the reaches by SHG members. • SHG members established 250 NOVEMBER 2015
• Under Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture (CMSA) scheme SHG members not only adopt integrated pest management / integrated nutrition management practices besides taking-up agri – enterprises, like custom hiring centres, sales outlets for herbal based fertilizers and pesticides. • Bulk Milk Cooling Units (BMCUs) were established in 150 locations in Chittoor District, an activity in which rural women SHG members get Rs 0.85 per litre of milk procured and processed before supplying to dairy. In the district, women SHGs earned a surplus income of more than Rs 8 crore in 3-4 years from this activity alone. the district is also unique in having the first all women milk producers organisation called ‘SRIJA’ in which 45,000 rural women are members. • Nutri Marts - a store that sells a variety of nutrition products like cereals, millet based products, milk & milk based products, a rich variety of herbal beverages, health drinks, and vegetable & fruit salads have been established in government offices to supply healthy food to the employees in East Godavari District. • SHG members produce a rich variety of handlooms, handicrafts and food products to provide an opportunity for sale of these products in the local markets, DWCRA Bazars are established in 82 locations in the state. • to enhance the skills of rural women in garment making and fashion designing, 87 garment stitching centres have been opened, a place in which 20-25 women are trained. the State government is planning to open at least one garment centre in each assembly constituency. After completion of training, skilled women get an opportunity to stitch school uniforms under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) and ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
Chandrababu Naidu, during his first tenure as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh initiated several schemes favouring rural poor women and promoted Self Help Groups (SHGs) popularly called DWCRA groups in every habitation and in every family. other government schemes besides availing opportunities in open market. • Social Security / Old Age Security, popularly known as ‘NtR Bharosa’ caters nearly 28, 78,110 people. Rural women who are either destitute, deserted, (or) widows. Rs 1,000 is paid to each pensioner and the pension amount is delivered at the doorstep. Identification of pensioners is based on Aadhar and IRIS verification has also been introduced to deliver pensions in an open & transparent manner. For rural women SHGs, a scheme of co-contributory pension has been introduced in which each member contributes Rs 365 in a year and equal amount is provided by State Government for creation of Insurance cum Pension Fund. 2.9 lakh rural women SHGs currently are a part of the pension scheme. Rural women in the age group of 60-65 years are entitled for a pension amount of Rs 500 per month under the co-contributory pension scheme. • On the eve of International Rural Women’s Day, an Expo was organised from 15th -24th October, 2015 at the Andhra University Engineering College Grounds in Visakhapatnam showcasing the products of more than 500 SHGs from Andhra Pradesh, telangana, Madhya Pradesh, tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir. In the Expo, handlooms, handicrafts, food products will be sold directly from producers to consumers. ) IFS(Rtd.), Advisor (SERP), GoAP
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AP T
Gets 2 New State-Of-TheArt Airport Terminals
he Vijayawada airport is all set to get a facelift in the form of a new terminal building. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for the new terminal building, which is being built with an outlay of Rs 135 crore. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Union Science & technology Minister YS Chowdary were present on the occasion.
tal of the state. the traffic at Gannavaram Airport will increase by leaps and bounds in day to come, as investors are visiting in large numbers to establish industries in the Sunrise State.” He said, while Rajahmundry Airport Runway expansion has already been taken up, Gannavaram Airport will have more facilities and amenities in the near future, and will have international connectivity soon. the new terminal will be ready at any cost by Krishna Pushkaram in August next.
Ashok Gajapathi Raju said that Andhra Pradesh has become an aviationfriendly state after it reduced the tax on turbine fuel to only one per cent in a bid to encourage the air traffic in the region. "With the new terminal coming up, more traffic will be expected for the airport. the airport needs 700 acres for expansion, which will have a modern runway to facilitate all kinds of aircraft," Raju said. He also appealed to the farmers to relinquish their land for the airport expansion programme.
Venkaiah Naidu said that airports, railway lines and national highways are the indices to measure the development in a country. Stating that without land acquisition, no development can be achieved, the Union Minister praised the Chief Minister for his visionary approach to land pooling.
Chief Minister Naidu, on the other hand, said that, “Air traffic had increased by 103 per cent between April and September this year, after Vijayawada started functioning as a temporary capi-
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the Vijayawada airport will also have a facility for cargo service, the Union Minister said, adding that previously Vijayawada operated only 60 services a week, which has now increased to 170. It will have a capacity to handle about 700 passengers in an hour, 250 departing and 250 arriving. the airport terminal building will be spread over 9,520 sq.m. and located on a 540-acre site. ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
Andhra Pradesh is making its presence felt in the aviation sector. The latest are two terminals being added to Vijayawada and Tirupati Airports. It will be a steel-and-glass structure with state-of-the-art modern passenger-friendly facilities such as baggage handling system, inclined arrival baggage claim carousels, central air-conditioning, public address system, fire alarm system, flight information display system, CCtV for surveillance, check-incounters with common use terminal equipment, car parking, etc. Inspired around the rural-urban blend of Vijayawada’s culture, the interiors of the airport will be designed to portray a unique and smart gateway to the region. the local environment and culture references as well as the historical art and architecture of the region will be interpreted in a modern way to add grandeur to the space. the Airport has plans for extending its runway from the present 10,500 feet to 14,500 feet to cater to the Code-F aircraft with associated facilities. the new apron is suitable for parking five planes and the new plans are for expanding the same to accommodate 10 more A320 type of aircraft at once. Airports Authority of India (AAI) had earlier said the current capacity is about 35,000 passengers per month (about 4 lakh per annum) and the new interim terminal building will have the capacity to handle one million passengers. the construction work is expected to complete in 15 months on warfooting basis as the state government has planned to shift its base from Hyderabad to Vijayawada. NOVEMBER 2015
The new terminal building, in the shape of Garuda, developed at the temple town of Tirupati by the Airports Authority of India.
the airport in the truncated state of Andhra Pradesh, which used to have just 10 flights a day, now witnesses 27 flights with a runway of 7,500 feet largely due to the increased activity in Vijayawada and Guntur following the Government's decision to shift activities from Hyderabad to the coastal cities. With the new capital city of Amaravati being developed in Guntur district, it is expected to rapidly add to the traffic flow. the State Government is seeking to upgrade the connectivity from Vijayawada and the new upcoming town of Amaravati to the airport. Meanwhile, the much awaited new terminal building developed at the temple town of tirupati by the Airports Authority of India, with an outlay of Rs 191 crore, was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to the state on Vijayadasami for Amaravati’s foundation ceremony. this is expected to enhance the connectivity to the famous temple town in the state. While inaugurating the newly-developed terminal building, the Prime Minister said work was being done simultaneously on various aspects to boost tourism, citing steps like e-visas, WiFi facility at places of tourism and development of hotel accommodation in public-private partnership. Noting that many people come to tirupati for Lord Balaji darshan, he said that if the frequency and traffic at the airport goes up, it will give boost to tourism. NOVEMBER 2015
"tourism is the fastest growing sector today. Its power is such that it gives employment to even poorest of poor. You can work with least investment," he said. He went around the terminal and lauded its design resembling Garuda, the celestial carrier of Lord Venkateswara. the new terminal has been developed in an area of 16,500 square meters at a cost of Rs 191 crore. It can handle 700 passengers. the new terminal can handle code ‘D’ and code ‘C’ types of aircraft with link taxi, apron and associated infrastructure. the terminal building has been designed, driving inspiration from the shape of Garuda (Eagle) in-flight with its wings flapping/spread in air, which is considered to be the carrier of Lord Balaji. this symbolic design is sure to connect passengers visiting this temple city for religious pilgrimage. the Integrated terminal Building capable to handle 500 Domestic and 200 International Passengers at a time is a steel and glass structure having stateof-art modern passenger friendly facilities and services such as baggage handling system compatible with Inline ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
X-ray machine integrated with Departure Conveyor System, incline arrival baggage, claim carousels, passenger boarding brides with Visual Docking Guidance System, central airconditioning, public address system, fire alarm system, Flight Information Display System (FIDS), CCtV for surveillance, check-in-counters with Common Use terminal Equipment (CUtE) and car parking. Energy efficient and eco friendly material like Fly Ash Bricks, Low heat gain glass, LED lighting and energy efficient chillers have been used in the building, which has garnered a 4-star rating of Green Buildings Rating System India (GRIHA). PM Modi said tourism can help even fruit, flower, biscuit, chocolate and tea sellers to make income, and the sector could develop to its full potential if global-level infrastructure was created. He emphasised on the need for building world-class infrastructures to attract tourists as well as make the tourism sector sustainable. He urged other states to follow and make their services passenger-friendly, as tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the country. the Prime Minister hoped that the presence of the new terminal would increase the frequency and result in the development of the temple city. terming the inauguration ceremony of the ‘Garuda terminal’ as a memorable event, PM Modi wished the denizens of prosperity and happiness.
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NABArD
to Create rs 342 Cr Warehousing Capacity NABARD's chief general manager for Andhra Pradesh Harish Java met the Chief Minister at the latter’s Camp Office in Vijayawada. gas, fibre grids, drinking water supply, construction of individual toilets and generating greenery, he added.
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he state government received yet another tranche, a Rs 342 crore grant from NABARD for food warehousing and Rs 48 crore for infrastructure improvement at ARAU. Additionally, NABARD will fund for the development of ‘Smart Village’ programme and assist in providing basic amenities like power, gas, drinking water supply and construction of toilets. the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) will invest Rs 342 crore in Andhra Pradesh to create warehousing capacity to store 6 lakh metric tonnes of food items. NABARD's chief general manager for Andhra Pradesh Harish Java, who met the Chief Minister at his Camp Office in Vijayawada, said the capacity will be
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created in all the 13 districts of the state to improve the food storage capabilities.
the Chief Minister said that a Green Climate Fund would be set up and greenery would be developed in the State on the lines of Haryana by establishing a special corporation for the purpose. Mangroves would be developed along the coast and nurseries set up in every village to encourage people to grow plants. the state had set itself a target to increase the present forest area from 23 per cent to 40 per cent, he added.
Mr. Java also briefed the Chief Minister on the various projects under progress with funding by them. NABARD has given a grant of Rs 48 crore for infrastructure improvement at the Acharya Ranga Agricultural University and also allocated Rs 350 crore to the state for green initiatives under 'National Adaptation Fund for climate change.'
the NABARD Chief General Manager said that his organisation would provide adequate funds for every programme aimed at improving greenery. He also said that NABARD would work with the State Government once the detailed project report of the KrishnaPenna-Cauvery river linking projects was prepared.
Chief Minister Naidu urged NABARD to release funds liberally for laying rural roads in the state. Mr. Java said that funds from the Rural Innovation Fund (RIF) would be released to select eligible villages once the Smart Village programme policy paper was finalised by the State Government. Financial assistance would also be provided for power,
the Chief Minister said steps were being initiated to provide water through tankers and rain guns in the five drought-hit districts of the State. He also detailed the efforts to improve the groundwater table through the ‘NeeruChettu’ programme and said all help would be provided to strengthen the rural economy. v
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NOVEMBER 2015
GERMAN BOOST For Green Corridor Of AP
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n a major boost to the power sector of the state, Germany’s development bank, KFW, has signed an agreement with the state government to extend an interest-free loan of Rs 476 crores for the development of a green energy corridor. the state of Andhra Pradesh received major encouragement in the power sector as Germany has approved the state government’s proposal to offer 68 million Euros (Rs 476 crores) interest-free loan for development of a green energy corridor in the state. the power transmission department of Andhra Pradesh, AP transco has been identified as the developer for the first of its kind project in the country. the green corridor will evacuate power generated by solar and wind power projects which are under construction in Rayalaseema districts. the funds granted by Germany would be used for green power corridor in Anantapur, Kurnool, Kadapa and Chittoor districts, as most of the solar and wind power projects are going to be established in these regions. What brings in prominence for this green corridor power project is that, it is going to be the first green corridor in the country with dedicated transmission and distribution network. the green corridor would be connected to 1000 MW NtPC Solar Power Project in Anantapur. Also, 689 MW solar power generated by independent power projects being developed in Kadapa, Kurnool and Chittoor districts will also be linked to the corridor. While the NtPC will NOVEMBER 2015
complete 250 MW first unit in March 2016, AP Genco's 500 mw solar projects will be connected to the green corridor later next year. "Based on the highest plant load factor achieved by the state, AP has been selected to implement the green corridor project. Solar and wind projects with a capacity of 6000 mw, which are in different stages of construction, will be linked to the main transmission line through the proposed corridor," said K Vijayanand, CMD, AP transco. the state, which was selected to implement 24x7 power supply project, has received the second major project in the form of the green corridor. Government of Germany has agreed for the second big investment of it in Andhra Pradesh green corridor after participating in the funding of Krishnapatnam thermal power project. Financial assistance comes without any interest except covering the foreign exchange fluctuations. After signing the agreement with the German government in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in New Delhi, AP transco, Director of Finance, P Satyamurthy said, “this will work out at about one per cent and the state was given three years to complete the project.” the green energy corridor will also be used as a major transmission line to transmit the power generated in wind power projects in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, tamil Nadu, and Karnataka states.
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ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
Gmr to CollABorAte With jAPAN For FooD ProCeSSiNG
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akinada SEZ Pvt Ltd, a subsidy of GMR, has signed an agreement with Japan's JGC Corporation for co-developing an export oriented food processing park at its Kakinada Special Economic Zone. According to the agreement, JGC and GMR will jointly undertake a detailed study for developing and operating the export oriented food processing park catering to various food and agro processing sectors like sea food, fruits and vegetables, pulses and grains, dairy and spices and nuts. GMR Group has 10,500 acres of industrial region at Kakinada which is strategically situated on the eastern coast rich in oil and natural gas deposits, and the food processing park is envisaged to be spread over an area of 300 acres, having both value added and ready-to-eat products. Japanese organisations like JBIC, JEtRO, MEtI, Ministry of Land Infrastructure & transport (MLIt) and Ministry of Agriculture Forestry & Fisheries (MAFF), Government of Japan as well as other Japanese financial institutions have expressed their support for this park. the significant traction built by the governments of India and Japan and the recent discussions between Chandrababu Naidu and the Ministry of Economy, trade & Industry (MEtI), government of Japan have persuaded Japanese industry to increase investments in India.
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U
nder the leadership of N Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh is geared up to create the right ecosystem for the development of ICt Industry in the State. the blueprint, prepared by the State Government, envisages a large number of conducive policies and simple but effective frameworks being put in place. the objectives and targets laid out for the next five years are w to be th FIRSt in India in Quality & Quantity of e-Services w to be known as the Silicon Corridor of India w to attract Investments of US $ 2 bn in It and US $ 5 bn in Electronics manufacturing w to get a 5% share in national exports of Software w to create an additional direct em-
ployment of 0.5 mil w to take Gigabite to all Villages w to make at least one person e-literate in every household.
vizag as a mega it hub
the State Government is making all efforts to establish state-of-the-art infrastructure of international standards suiting to the requirements of the It/ItES Industry. Visakhapatnam will be developed as a Mega It Hub, through an initial effort of developing an It township with a built-up space of 5 million square feet. A signature tower of 1 million square feet shall form the nucleus of the Mega It Hub.
it hubs
It Hubs will also be developed at Vijayawada, Kakinada, tirupati and Anantapur. the facilities, in the
AP IT Policy 2014-2020
form of It towers, It Parks and It Zones, will be developed adopting a transparent PPP policy. Government proposes ItIRs to be developed in Visakhapatnam and tirupati initially. the tirupati-Anantapur corridor will be proposed at a later phase.
Capital Subsidy
10% subsidy on new capital equipment for technology upgradation limited to Rs 25 lakhs (2.5 Million) as one time availment by the eligible company.
registration & Stamp Duty
It industry shall be eligible for 100% reimbursement of the Stamp Duty, transfer Duty and Registration Fee paid on sale / lease deeds on the first transaction and 50% thereof on the second transaction.
Power Subsidy
It Units classified as MSME shall be eligible for 25% subsidy on power bills for a period of 3 years from the date of commencement of commercial operations or 30 lakh, whichever is earlier. It Units established by SC / St & Women Entrepreneurs shall be eligible for 50% subsidy on power bills for a period of 5 years from the date of commencement of commercial operations or 50 lakhs, whichever is earlier. Exemption of Electricity Duty and applicability of Industrial tariff: New It / ItES units, after coming into commercial operations will be entitled for 100% exemption on Electricity duty for a period of 5 years.
Patent Filing Cost
the cost of filing patents will be reimbursed to the companies having their headquarters in Andhra Pradesh, subject to a limit of 5 lakh (0.5 mil) per domestic patent awarded and 10 lakh (1 Mil) per international patent awarded.
Quality CertiďŹ cation subsidy
It Units shall be eligible for reimbursement of 20% of expenditure
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ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
NOVEMBER 2015
incurred for obtaining quality certifications for CMM Level 2 upwards, subject to a limit of 5 lakh (0.5 mil). Similar reimbursement will be made to BS 7799 for security and also for ItES Companies for achieving COPC and eSCM certification. the It / ItES units Companies can claim this incentive only once. In addition, this incentive may be extended to other certifications based on the recommendations of the CCItI.
Support for technology & market Support
Government will support It Exporters Associations, ItsAP, NASSCOM, ELIAP, StPI, IEG, or any such organisation (as decided by CCItI) for conducting surveys and / or research on trends in technology, market intelligence or on other work useful to the It Industry.
rebate on cost of land allotted
A rebate on the cost of the land will be provided @ 60,000 per employee to the Mega It Projects (defined below) and 40,000 per employee for other It projects, subject to a maximum of 80% of the land cost as determined by the allotment agency. Prescribed guarantees would be taken from the sponsors of the project for the rebate. Units, for which land is allotted on a rebated cost, shall ensure that the facility to be created shall be adequate to provide space for 500 It professionals on every acre of land. Only the It units with It employee strength of a 100 will be eligible to be considered for allotment of land. CCItI is empowered to consider the eligibility of the applicant based on the track record, business proposal in terms of employment to be created, office space to be built, investment to be made and viability of the project proposal. the conditions of allotment, extent of land to be allotted, employment to be created, office space to be built, investments to be made and timelines shall be incorporated in the MOU / Agreement to be signed with NOVEMBER 2015
the applicant-company. Sub-leasing: Sub-leasing of the space created for It employment, under a scheme of incentives
it industry-Non Fiscal incentives
An empowered Consultative Committee for the It Industry’ would be formed with the representatives of industry and the other stakeholders. the CCItI would administer the incentives in a speedy, time-bound and transparent manner.
land Allotment
Allotment of Government land or land held by APIIC for industrial development, to the It units shall be governed by the following principles. the land allocation for It Industry will be as per GO Ms. No:571, Revenue (Assgn.I) Department, dated:14/09/2012. the land allotment would be based on the business proposal and the investment capacity of the company / investor. the land allocation for It Industry will be as per GO Ms. No:571, Revenue (Assgn.I) Department, dated:14/09/2012. the land allotment would be based on the business proposal and the investment capacity of the company / investor.
Additional incentives available to mega it Projects
Mega Projects: they are projects or investment intents that can create employment of 5,000 or more in a span of 5 years. the following additional incentives would be provided to the Mega Projects. In case where the premises is taken on lease / rent, a rental subsidy @ 10 per sft. per month shall be provided for a period of 3 years in a prescribed scale of space per employee. An investment subsidy of 10% of the value of the Capital Expenditure, other than land, shall be provided to Mega Projects that enter into an MoU with the State within 2 years of
ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
notificationof the Policy.
Additional incentives available to mSme it units
MSME It units are those units that have an annual turnover of 25 cr. (250 mil). the following additional incentives are available to such unitsA 50% subsidy on lease rentals up to a maximum of 5 lakh (0.5 mil) per annum for a period of 3 years for any plug and play built up office space taken by start-ups / MSMEs / first-generation technocrat entrepreneurs, SC, St & women entrepreneurs StPI, either in It / Multi-purpose SEZs / It Parks or in any notified private area / location. Market Development: 50% (100% for SC / St & Women Entrepreneurs) reimbursement of the exhibition stall rental cost for participating in the notified national / international exhibitions limited to 9 sq.m. of space. Recruitment / training Assistance: Assistance @ 20000 per It professional employed within a period of two years of establishing the unit. All turnkey projects with an outlay up to 5 cr. (INR 50 Mil) to be undertaken by Government Departments would be reserved for MSMEs registered and operating in the State. Performance-linked Grant: MSMEs that record a year-on-year growth rate of 15%, as per audited accounts, shall be eligible to get a grant of 5% on turnover. the Government has published on its portal (###( ( "( ) a Blueprint for development of It, Electronics and e-Governance sectors in the State. Suo moto proposals, based on AP blueprint for applications relevant to governmental needs would be accepted from AP-based MSME It units and the proposals adjudged to be the best among those found to be relevant for achieving the objectives set out in the blueprint will be accepted and projects to the tune of 50 cr. (INR 500 Mil) p.a. would be awarded to the It units so selected. Subsidy on Bandwidth for Connectivity: A 20% subsidy on Bandwidth
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for connectivity paid to Internet Service Provider (ISP) shall be available for a period of two years from the date to starting commercial production / operation. Additional incentives available to It Units established by SC / St Entrepreneurs the following additional incentives shall be available to It Units established by SC / St entrepreneurs.
reservation of Built-up space Reservation of 15% built up space
investment Subsidy
25% on the Fixed Capital & Additional 5% to the SC/St Women Entrepreneurs, with a maximum limit per unit of Rs 25 lakh.
interest Subsidy
8.5% Interest Subsidy on Prime Lending Rate (PLR) on the term loan and Working Capital subject to a maximum of Rs 50 lakh per year for a period of 5 years for the unit which commence commercial operations Additional Incentives available to It Units established by Women Entrepreneurs the following additional incentives will be available to It Units established by women entrepreneurs:
reservation of Built-up space Reservation of 15% built up space
investment Subsidy
20% on the Fixed Capital with a maximum limit per unit of 20 Lakh
interest Subsidy
5% (8.5% for SC / St women entrepreneurs) Interest Subsidy on Prime Lending Rate (PLR) on the term loan and Working Capital subject to a maximum of 50 Lakh per year for a period of 5 years for the units which commence commercial operations Additional Incentives available to Rural It Units: In addition to the incentives available for MSMEs, It Units established in Rural areas shall be eligible for the following incentives: a. All district-based turnkey projects with an outlay of up to 50 Lakhs would be reserved for Rural It companies. b.Subsidized loans towards the infrastructure / operations cost through SFC / rural banks would be arranged for such enterprises. the incentives listed would be available to the new companies and to the expansions of existing companies, unless the same has been claimed earlier.
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CII To Help Make
SmArt Nellore Nellore is all set to be developed as a Smart City in a private initiative taken up by the Confederation of Indian Industry, under the Union Government’s ambitious Smart Cities programme.
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ellore, which is among the important cities in Andhra Pradesh, was identified to be developed as smart city by the Union Ministry of Urban Development as part of the 100 smart cities by 2022 in India. Now, in efforts to set the ball rolling in shaping them, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh government to firm up action. the Municipal Administration and Urban Development departments will take steps in translating the understanding into tangible action over time. As per the MoU signed between the apex industry body and the state government, CII will mentor smart cities in Maharashtra, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. Nellore will be that city in AP. As per the Smart City Challenge conducted by the Union Urban Development Ministry, Vizag, Kakinada and tirupati have been selected for the competition among 98 cities from across the country. Of this, 20 cities will be short-listed as smart cities and given funding of Rs 100 crore per year. And, although Nellore has missed being in that bracket, the CII initiative will enable it to raise funding from private agencies for its civic projects. CII will serve as the knowledge partner and facilitate investment from the private sector. the main thrust of the CII
ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
initiative would be to aid the Nellore municipality in working towards shoring up services for the city’s five lakh population. As a prelude to this initiative, a Delhi-based consultancy surveyed the basic amenities available in Nellore and the population trends. Its report listed several priority areas: better roads, 24-hour power supply, augmented water supply and underground drainage, connectivity. In the process of implementing the CII smart city project, the local municipality will have to submit reports on works in progress at regular intervals. Based on this, future funds will be released. the CII has launched a National Mission on Smart Cities to work closely with the Government to foster thinking on critical issues, undertake advocacy with the Government and policy makers and to help establish best practices in the implementation of pilot projects in the programme. the CII Mission includes a City could be deemed to be ‘Smart’ if it fulfilled three basic objectives of (i) Creation of adequate employment opportunities, (ii) Enhancement of human productivity through efficient delivery of goods and services, and (iii) Improving the quality of life by enhancing the use of open / public spaces, which would in turn give a boost to citizens recreation, culture, tourism, and ecological sustainability. v
NOVEMBER 2015
Gionee Launches First AP-Made Smartphone OnePlus Partners With AP
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martphone maker Gionee has kick-started domestic production of their handsets in India, at Andhra Pradesh and their first ‘Make in India’ phone Gionee F103 was launched by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. that apart, Chinese start-up OnePlus has evinced interest in manufacturing and assembling their smartphone at Foxconn’s Rising Star factory in Sri City.
In a major boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign and Chief Minister’s dream of making Andhra Pradesh an Electronics Hub, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Gionee and Chinese startup OnePlus have announced its plans to start assembling smartphones in Andhra Pradesh by the end of 2015. "Indian economy is moving very fast, but we are confident it will grow in double digit in near future. the Prime Minister has launched a programme 'Make in India', we have to follow it," said Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, as he launched the first AP-made Gionee smartphone. “I am really happy to welcome Gionee in Andhra Pradesh. We will ensure that the company faces no hurdles in its ‘Make in India’ initiative and will provide all the support.” this move will lead to cheaper devices for Indian consumers and create more jobs locally. All Gionee mobile phones for NOVEMBER 2015
sale exclusively in the domestic market will be assembled in India by March 2016, said Arvind Vohra, country CEO and MD of Gionee India. Production will shift to a standalone plant with Foxconn in the Sri City area - from a shared one currently - and will be operational in mid-November with a capacity of half a million devices a month.
the company plans to invest over Rs 300 crore for local manufacturing over three years, including a just-signed partnership with Noida-based Dixon technologies. In the long term, Gionee is aiming at making India a manufacturing hub outside China to cater to demand in African and SAARC countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Vohra said he is in talks to bring Gionee's key vendors to the country to support local production. “this will be a stepping stone towards componentlevel manufacturing or full-fledged manufacturing,” Vohra said. the Shenzen-headquartered OnePlus will partner with Foxconn to make handsets in India. OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau said the phones will be produced at Foxconn's Rising Stars factory at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh. Gionee kicked off production of F103, one of its sub-Rs 10,000 budget phones, from the same plant, which also houses assembly lines for Xiaomi, Asus and InANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
Focus.
the first batch of OnePlus smartphones produced in India will be commercially available by the end of this year. the company said it would produce all models, including the latest OnePlus 2. the local production is likely to bring down the prices and generate direct employment of over 1,000 full time workers. “Producing smartphones in India is one of the most important decisions that we have made so far at OnePlus. India is one of our biggest markets worldwide and we are committed to a long-term sustainable growth path,” Lau said. the company, which started its sales with the limited invite-only model, is gradually moving to an open sales model now. “Initially, we followed the invite-only model because we were a new company with limited resources.” “By 2020, electronics and hardware demand will be worth $400 billion in the country. Mobile phones will account for 38 per cent of this hardware demand. With so many companies starting their manufacturing journey in Sri City within a year, going forward I can assure Andhra Pradesh will become the hardware manufacturing hub. We are aiming to create the best ecosystem for local manufacturing with special emphasis on the necessary skill development,” said CM Naidu. v
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GURAZADA APPARAO A Reformer, Writer, Thinker Par Excellence
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gressive hue at a time when people were not past their medieval beliefs, orthodox practices and traditions and social system in decadence. He mastered Sanskrit, telugu and English languages and its literatures. though initially he was in love with classical mode of literary expression, true to a reformist nature, soon he found the efficacy of spoken dialect in poetic expression in its native idiomatic flavour and its ability to carry its fragrance to common folk in an endearing way and harnessed it to the hilt. His magnum opus Kanyasulkam is an evergreen meadow on otherwise arid landscape of telugu social drama.
n every language and literature, once in a blue moon there comes a poet/ playwright/ writer that, through his life and works, shapes the thinking of his contemporaries and influence the later generations leaving his foot prints on the sands of time. For telugus and their modern literature one such great literary persona is Gurazada Apparao. He emerged on the scene in the last decades of 19th century when the times were on the cusp of a new era.
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A social reformer, champion of spoken dialect and a poet of superlative artistic acumen and ingenuity Gurazada stands tall on several counts and is rightly hailed as the father of modern Telugu literature.
A social reformer, champion of spoken dialect and a poet of superlative artistic acumen and ingenuity Gurazada stands tall on several counts and is rightly hailed as father of modern telugu literature. His life and works piloted telugu language and literature towards fresh woods and pastures new. Both in content and expression he ushered in the new ways. It indeed speaks volumes for the courage of conviction of Gurazada that he penned his works of pro-
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the play bears a stamp of realistic depiction of stark social scenario of his times. His strong characterization pepped with idiomatic flavour in spoken dialect ensured its endearment to one and all. It was local in its setting but universal in its appeal for Gurazada’s canvas is the man and his mind where the engaging plot and its riveting treatment remains just a backdrop. the characters are of flesh and blood rather than imaginative ones. Endowed with an eye for detail, Gurazada, it is said, had a penchant to observe the people very keenly and on returning home even used to make notes of the details of his observations of the NOVEMBER 2015
people that he had met. It, in a way, helped him create those immortal characters in his play. A master of prosody and poetics in Sanskrit, telugu and English, he chanced to come across a folksong in simple metre. terming it ‘muthyala saram’ – string of pearls for its lucidity with lilt, he penned immortal works in that metre which immensely enriched modern mode of expression in telugu. Even his short stories are a class apart the sublimity of thought and charms of poetic expression in his `Desa Bhakthi’ geyam (song of patriotism) are unparalleled in patriotic commitment.
4G Services in 5 Cities Of AP
In this everlasting piece, he appealed to people thus “ Look not backward, there’s little that’s good yonder there; Drag not your feet; but move forward, Fall behind once, forever you shall” “Work hard and get the land Flooded with milk and honey It’s food that goes to make the brawn He that has brawn is a man” “Skinny thinny men Don’t make a nation prosperous Master the arts and crafts And flood the land with goods home-made It is the sweat of toiling masses that makes the wealth of a nation” “Forego a bit of your own to help your neighbour Country never does mean clay, But people and people alone All nations and religions shall live in fraternal bliss”. In adherence to the way shown by him, later day poets in telugu penned a corpus of good works in their attempts to deepening the depth and range of modern writing in telugu but no one came anywhere near what he had penned more than a century ago.
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Taking a step further in the State Government’s vision is to transform the State into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, Bharti Airtel launched 4G services in 5 cities of Andhra Pradesh.
elecom giant Bharti Airtel has unveiled its high speed 4G services in five cities of Andhra Pradesh Vijayawada, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, tirupati and Nellore. Now, the company’s 4G services will be available across these five cities and customers can access high speed wireless broadband and get on to the digital superhighway for uninterrupted HD video streaming, superfast uploading and downloading of movies, music and images. the telco is offering LtE 4G services on smart devices including mobile phones, dongles, 4G hotspots and Wi-Fi dongles. It is offering 4G services at 3G data prices. "Now, customers across these five cities can access high speed wireless broadband and get on to the digital superhighway for uninterrupted HD video streaming, superANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
fast uploading and downloading of movies, music and images," said Venkatesh Vijaya Raghavan, CEOAP & telangana of Bharti Airtel. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu called upon the Airtel officials to provide digital literacy for 8 lakh DWCRA associations in the state. He wanted the DWCRA leaders to be trained first in digital usage, followed by training to 80 lakh DWCRA women members. the goal of digital literacy is to teach and assess basic computer concepts and skills. the Airtel officials said that they have ready-made teaching module for digital literacy, and training for 2 hours a day over a period of 6 months would be required for imparting digital literacy. Venkatesh Vijay Raghavan said that the company could give away certificates after the training.
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DISTRICT PROfIlE
ANANTAPUR
w the district is situated in the Ray-
alaseema region of Andhra Pradesh
w Anantapur City is the district head-
quarters of the district
w Largest district in terms of area in
Andhra Pradesh and 7th largest district in India respectively
w Anantapur District was formed in the
year 1882 having been separated from Bellary district.
w the district is bounded on the north
by the Kurnool District, on the southeast by Chittor District, on the east by YSR District, and on the west and southwest by Karnataka state.
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MAJOR RIVERS
w the district is not endowed with
perennial rivers. Pennar, Jayamangala, Chitravathi and Vedavati are the important rivers in the district.
MINERAlS
w the district has rich deposits of good
mineral resources like iron ore, lime stone, cement grade gold deposits, diamonds deposits, white shale, dolomite and barites deposits will also be available
lITERACY
w Anantapur District’s literacy rate of
its urban population is 74.69 per cent
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which is much above the national average
w the district’s literacy rate has grown
from 56.13 per cent to 63.57 per cent over the years 2001 – 2011
w the district’s population constitutes
4.83 per cent of the state’s population the district has a sex ratio of 977
w the district has been dived into 3 rev-
enue divisions namely - Ananthapur division, Dharmavaram division and Penukonda division
w Ananthapur division has 20 mandals,
Dharmavaram 17 and Penukonda has 27 mandals
w In total the district has 64 mandals
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KEY DEMOGRAPHICS item
uNitS
FiGure
Area
In ‘000 Sq. Km
19.1
Population
In Persons
4,081,148
Population Growth (decadal)
%
12.1
Population Density
(Person/Sq.Km)
213
Urbanization
%
28.07
Literacy
%
63.57
EDUCATIONAl INfRASTRUCTURE PertiCulArS
No. oF iNStitueS totAl StuDeNtS 2014 - 2015 2014 - 2015
Govt. Degree Colleges
13
19465
Private Aided Degree Colleges
4
4989
Junior Colleges in the State 2013-14
220 (Number of Institutes)
INDUSTRIAl BASE
Chennai (406 Km), NH 7 connects to Bengaluru (215 km)
w NH5 connects Anantapur to
Visakhapatnam (967 Km) while also connecting Chennai & Kolkata, Anantapur-tirupati Hwy connects it to tirupati (292 Km)
RAIl
w Ananthapur also has direct train
connection to Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Dharmavaram,Hindupuram Adoni, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Vishakapatnam, etc.
INfRASTRUCTURE
w Approved Electronics Manufacturing
Cluster
PArtiCulArS
iNveStmeNt (iNr Crore)
emPloymeNt (NoS.)
Large & Mega Industrial Projects established
5212
25354
Micro Small and Medium Enterprises established
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PROMOTER
w ELCINA – Ragamayuri
w Name of the Cluster – ELCINA – Raaga
Mayuri Electronics Park r
w total Area 48.25 acre
ROAD NETWORK
w the district has 353 Km of National
Highways, 3489 Km of PWD Roads, and 7157 Km of Panchayat roads
w National Highway (NH) 7 and NH 42
are the major national highways that pass through the district
AIR
w tirupati airport at 280 Km via Anan-
tapur-tirupati Hwy – Connected to Delhi, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Goa, Coimbatore
w Bengaluru International Airport at
220 Km via NH 7
RAIl NETWORK
w Anantapur Railway Station is the
main station that serves the district. It belongs to the South Central Railway zone.
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ROAD
w NH 205 connects Anantapur to
58816
w 66 km from Bangalore International
Airport abutting National Highway
w Location of the cluster – Village
PORT
w Krishnapatnam Port well connected
to the district via State Highway (SH) 58, SH 34 and Anantapur-tirupati Hwy
INDUSTRIAl BASE
w the city enjoys excellent road connec-
Chilamathur, Anatapur Dist, Andhra Pradesh
w Status of Land acquisition and SPV
w Preliminary DPR has been prepared
and submitted to DeitY along with Prelim application for infrastructure Grant
w 65 kms from Bangalore Airport
ADVANTAGES Of THE ClUSTER SITE
tivity and is situated along National Highway number 7
w Located on Bengaluru- Hyderabad
centre with educational, schools, colleges and universities namely Sri Krishnadevaraya University, JNtU Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai University, Government Medical College etc. PVKK Institute of technology, Intell engineering college, Srinivasa Ramanujan Institute of technology
w M-SIPS Benefits – Capital subsidy
w Anantapur is an important education
w Anantapur Road & Rail Network
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Highway within 60 minutes of Bangalore Airport
upto 25% or capital expenditure of the project. In addition, tax benefits on Excise and CSt
w AP State Govt Industrial Policy
Benefits
w AP State Govt It policy Benefits
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Kanche Krish’s Artefact Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. 26
- Calvin Coolidge
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anche is a rare telugu film. Not simply because of its very unusual setting of a World War II battlefield in Italy with a battalion of telugu soldiers in the Royal Indian Army. But, because of its audacity: a telugu film made both for the mind as well as the heart, without compromising on the quality. Because, it shows a healthy respect for the intelligence of the telugu filmgoer. Krish, who already has three very unusual and very interesting telANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
ugu films to his credit, does it again. He takes an oft-repeated love story (a young man of low status in love with the 'princess') and gives it an absolutely novel twist by placing the hero again in a lower status to the antagonist in that most rigidly hierarchical institution - the army, and plunges them both in the middle of a chaotic war. As the narration shifts back and forth between love and war, the film keeps raising questions about a whole lot of issues - particularly about the fences we erect in various ways. NOVEMBER 2015
the film's strength, like that of all good films, is its writing and that has been the distinguishing feature of Krish's films. the characters are etched well, their backgrounds and the situations they enter are thought well through, and an underlying theme connects everything to make the film a unified whole. the script gets enhanced with more excellent writing: dialogues by Saimadhav Burra and lyrics of Sirivennela Seetaramasastri. At many points, there are allusions to the theme of the film - how the artificial fences between people (caste, class, religion and nationality) get erected and the hate that such separations create and the destruction they cause. Both the songs and the dialogue are explicit in talking about this theme, without getting preachy. Krish, a discerning reader with good familiarity with telugu literature, endears himself to booklovers everywhere by dedicating this film in part to:puDamikee, pustakaanikee. I was surprised a few times by the unexpected turns in the story, some of the surprises, however, were due to the sleight of hand by the writer. Despite the spaced flashbacks style, the film keeps a good pace, except for the placement of the song, nijamEnani which suddenly slows down the film and could have been avoided. that it is a well written, composed and shot song is a different matter. the writing is aided by the director's attention to detail and excellent technical support. Chirantan Bhatt's music elevates the scenes. Gnanasekhar's Photography and Sahi Suresh's Art Direction recreate the period atmosphere. the action scenes, both in the village and in the war theater are quite authentic.the war and the firefight sequences were realistic and impressive and it is clear that expenses weren't spared in trying to get them right. I might not be too far off in saying that this is the first telugu film to have the modern war depicted right. However, I must say, that there was quite a bit of fog NOVEMBER 2015
of war in a couple of the firefights. the village carnage scenes are done well.
and chalam in such familiar fashion be so lacking in general knowledge and be that superficial.
the lead pair are a treat to watch.the '40s look' suits them well giving them a unique mystique (their names, dhoopaati haribaabu and seetaadEvi, were interesting too). the very handsome hero Varun tej, only in his second outing, is quite confident and acquits himself very well. Definitely a star in the making (he needs to improve his diction though). Debutante Pragya Jaiswal as the princess Seetaadevi looks the part; she got the bemused look down pat. the relationship between the hero and the heroine is handled very nicely. As always, Krish's heroine is well etched, strong, and with a good core. Some good writing went into her scenes.
One of the things that perplexed me is that many scenes were in English without being translated into telugu. While it kept the film authentic, it worried me that it could keep the scenes away from a good chunk of the audience and hurt their appreciation of the film.
Niketan Dheer as the antagonist was quite impressive, though I would have liked his character to have a different name). Sri Avasarala gets all the laughs as the reluctant sepoy and acquits himself well. Many familiar actors - like Gollapudi, Janaki - impress in small, but important roles. It was a nice touch when the Sri Avasarala character refers to Srisri as Sreenivasa Rao; However, I thought there was some inconsistency in somebody who could quote Srisri ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
the film reminded me of several things, perhaps quite unintentionally, among them the movie Great Escape (the massacre of the POWs, and the film's tagline, 'they escaped from a barbed wire camp into a barbed wire country'); the movie 1942, a love story; a short story by sirivennela about a village devastated by a faction war; the classic movie peLLi cEsi chooDu in which the SVR character is named dhoopaati viyyanna paMtulu; the barber grandfather in Khadeer Baabu's story, krimda nEla vuMdi; and the short story golla raamavva by PV Narasimha Rao. I thank Krish for making a film for an audience that includes me and fervently hope that the film succeeds commercially so that there are more films for such audience. )
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CHINA’S SANY TO INVEST 3 BILLION IN RENEWABLE ENERGY World’s leading construction machine manufacturer, Sany group of China, has evinced interest in Andhra Pradesh’s renewable energy sector.
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ollowing Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s successful visit in April last, Chinese companies have been showing keen interest in investing in the Sunrise State of Andhra Pradesh. the latest is the Sany Group, which came forward to explore opportunities in the state. A 20-member delegation of Sany Group, led by the company chairman Liang Wengen, met the Chief Minister in Vijayawada and discussed the investment opportunities in the new state. Sany Group, the world’s leading construction machine manufacturer, deals in vast product range of concrete machinery, road construction machinery, excavators, pile driver machinery, hoisting machinery, wind turbines, port machinery, oil machinery and precision machine tools. Sany Group has plans to make investments worth 3 billion US dollars in India in the sustainable energy sector. Out of the whooping amount, 600 million dollars (Rs 4,000 crore) will be invested in Andhra Pradesh
to set up wind power projects. An MoU was signed in this regard between the two sides which envisages establishment of the proposed projects between 2016 and 2020. these projects will generate 1,100 units of renewable energy annually. “We also look forward to explore opportunities to manufacture some wind turbines components in the state. this is a strategic investment for us and we look forward to work with the state government on this,” Liang Wengen said. the Chief Minister welcomed Sany to bring in their world-class expertise to the state. “the Government will extend all possible help to the investors in establishing their ventures in the state. We are happy to see our Prime Minister’s ‘Make In India’ drive gaining fast adoption by global players like Sany. We have many other opportunities in the area on power, ports, industrial housing, urban infrastructure, railways and industrialisation.”
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Secretary, Department of Energy, Ajay Jain, explained to the delegation the State Government, having already established three mega solar projects, was focussing on renewable energy. After the presentation by the officials, the delegation members clarified with the Chief Minister on various issues. Expressing satisfaction at the interaction with the Chief Minister, the company officials showed readiness for doing business with the state. the Chief Minister told the delegation members that the company would be welcome to work either with the Government or with the private sector. He wanted them to come up with specific proposals for investments, and added that the Government would be ready to extend all help required. AP was an ideal destination for industrial establishment, given its wealth of natural resources, long coast line, well-established ports and stable and experienced leadership. He explained that already several Chinese companies, such as Xiaomi and Gionee, set up shop in the state. the Chinese are also present in hardware and cement sectors in the state. the Chief Minister also told them how the state registered 9.17 GSDP in the very first quarter of this year. the Single Desk system introduced recently will ensure that all approvals could be obtained in just 21 days. He told them about the exclusive Desk established in the State Government for Chinese investors. Sany will establish efficient technologies for offshore wind power generation. It will bring in relevant expertise, operational excellence and global best practices for development of renewable energy in India.
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chief minister’s
social network
CM Chandrababu Naidu is an active social media user. Many of you have been actively following his activities with admiration. Here are a few snapshots from his Twitter account.
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Compiled by Shruti ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.COM
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Amazing Andhra Pradesh
THE GRAND CANYON OF INDIA 30
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NOVEMBER 2015
Do you have a penchant for places with serene lakes, high cliffs, birds flying above water and endless grassland all around? Andhra Pradesh offers a place just like that… And the place also turns out to be one of the best kept secrets of nature!
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n unconquerable fort built in red granite stone, guarded by a 20 feet high entry gate, enclosed in a fort wall running around the 5 mile perimeter; 101 bastions, each about 40 feet high, are cut into the fort wall; beautiful palaces with exquisite carvings; perennial springs constantly irrigating the fruit and flower gardens; old temples providing a look into a past with their walls, pillars, ceilings and floors sporting bas reliefs, coexisting with a mosque… the fort is protected by a deep gorge on one side with enormous boulders adding to its natural defense cut by a river flowing below. Welcome to Gandikota – the Grand Canyon of India. Situated in the Erramalai hills on the bank of the river Pennar in Kadapa district, Gandikota gets its name from the word ‘Gandi’ which means gorge in telugu. the fort is believed to have been constructed during the 12th century by a subordinate of a Chalukyan king and has also served many a crucial role during the reign of the Vijayanagara, Qutub Shahi and Kakatiya dynasties. the walls of the gorge are extremely impressive. Different layers of rock by colours – red, brown and grey – are a magnificent treat to the eyes. Snaking below is the Pennar River which fills to the brim during monsoons, adding more luster to this amazing place. Get ready to be lost in a world of magical shapes that rose from the ground, which gave a surreal touch to the landscape! NOVEMBER 2015
attractions: a Surrounded by a deep valley and impassable hills, with massive boul-
ders of red granite and the river Pennar that flows about 300 ft. below on the west and northern sides, its location affords strong natural defence to the occupants of the Fort.
a the most beautiful part about a visit to Gandikota Fort is the Gorge
view (Canyon view). Adventure trekking is fast becoming popular here.
a Within the fort are two ancient temples, dedicated to Madhava and
Raghunatha. the Madhavaraya temple has an astonishingly beautiful and high-risen gopuram.
a the fort houses Jamia Masjid, which has two adjacent minarets. A her-
itage festival is held every year in fort area.
a the other structures within the fort include a large granary, a graceful
pigeon tower with fretted windows and an extensive palace built by bricks with some plastered decorations and some wells.
a there is an old cannon still lying in the fort. there is also the
'Rayalacheruvu' with its perennial springs irrigating some lime and plantain gardens. It is said that this 'Cheruvu' was connected to a fountain in Jamia Masjid by pipes, traces of which can still be seen.
a Gandikota Fort does not have timings and is open for you to explore as
long as you stay safe.
how to reach Gandikota is about and 350 kms from Hyderabad. Jammalamadugu is the nearest town and it is just 15 kms away from Gandikota. Nearest Railway station is 26 km away at Muddanuru in Kadapa district. there are number of trains from Gooty Junction. there are buses available from Jammalamadugu Old Bus Stand (Gandhi Statue Junction) to Gandikota. Inside the fort there is no means of transportation except to walk by foot. there is a good downhill trek through the canyon that leads to the riverbed. there is a dam upstream (Gandikota Dam) and a dam downstream (Mylavaram Dam).
accommodation Gandikota has a Haritha Resort that is located less than a kilometer from the fort, and is considered as one of the best resorts in the state. It’s far off from civilization and promises a very pleasant stay. the resort, which has been designed like the fort, has rooms that have been designed in accordance with medieval architecture. Some rooms also have terrace to provide a wonderful view of the surroundings. Gandikota fort stretching all along and the gopuram of the Madhavaraya temple provide a fantastic view from the resort. the resort houses a restaurant, play area for kids, and a lot of open space for campfire. Shruti Mathur ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG
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HAPPENING AP
n line with the government's Make in India initiative, domestic handset vendor Lava will invest Rs 500 crore to set up a manufacturing plant in Tirupati. The manufacturing plant, which will be operational in 2017, will target production capacity of five million phones a month once fully functional. The facility will be set up over 20 acres of land allotted by the government. It also aims to generate employment for 12,000 people. In July, Lava had said it will invest Rs 2,615 crore over the next 7 years to set up two manufacturing units in India. Once operational, the units will have a combined capacity of 18 million handsets per month.
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n order to promote manufacturing sector and attract domestic and global investments into the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing sector in the State, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced special package of incentives for Celkon, Karbonn, Micromax and Lava. All four companies combined are likely to invest Rs 1,070 crore and generate employment for 12,525 people. As per the special incentive package, these companies would be given the mega status. They would be provided subsidy up to Rs 20 crore for investment of Rs 100 crore to Rs 300 crore, up to Rs 30 crore for investment of more than Rs 300 crore to Rs 500 crore and up to Rs 40 crore for investments more than Rs 500 crore. Besides, they would be provided interest subsidy of 5 per cent up to Rs 1.5 crore per year for a period of seven years.
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ndhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced setting up an energy university in the capital city Amaravati with financial support from power companies. He attended a function for the signing of MoUs between Andrha Pradesh and two international power producers from Japan and Spain in Vijayawada. Naidu said SUZLON Energy Company has already announced Rs 35 crore contribution for the setting up of Energy university and AP's Genco, Transco and Discoms have agreed to provide another Rs 50 crore. The Chief Minister said that there is a need for more researches in solar and wind power the new energy university will take up such researches.
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ndhra Pradesh government outlined plans to encourage the setting up 4,800 MW of wind power capacity in the State over the next five years, with a potential investment of Rs 30,000 crore. At a workshop held in Vijayawada on the opportunities for growth in wind energy, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA), senior government officials and industry experts underlined the huge growth opportunities for
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developers, manufacturers and financial institutions in the sector.
hief Minister Chandrababu Naidu proposed to set up 100 health care ATMs in the state on a pilot basis to supply medicines to people at reasonable rates. Naidu said this during a review of the health department on various issues of health sector. Based on the response to the ATMs under the pilot project, more such units would be set up across the state. The Chief Minister also proposed to utilise the health care equipment in government hospitals by private medical practitioners by paying some fees and the revenue from such services can be utilised to add medical devices in those hospitals.
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handrababu Naidu announced Rs 15 crore for the welfare of families of policemen in the state. This is in addition to the Rs 10 crore announced last year by him for the welfare of kin of the security personnel. "The state government always stands for the welfare of policemen and their families. The cops lose their sleep to ensure that people have a sound sleep," CM Naidu said on the Police Commemoration Day in Vijayawada. The state police has successfully curbed the activities of extremists, political factionists and anti-social elements, the CM said while asking the security personnel to maintain the same trend in future also.
he University of California, Berkeley, has expressed its interest in setting up two research centres in agriculture and basic sciences. Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao has received a letter to this effect from the university. The University said the initiative will be an opportunity for it to share its knowledge in research and that it was ready to have further discussions with the Government of Andhra Pradesh on evolving an organisational structure and guidelines.
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he second phase of the state government's Meeintiki Meebhoomi will begin on November 1 for which collectors are readying for its implementation. Under this program, the Village Revenue Officer will visit each and every household and hand over a printout of the land holdings of the farmer and at the same time take from him any complaint for amendments with documentary proof and affect them. The VRO would again issue a fresh printout after effecting the changes. This initiative will curb corruption and enable land owners to view the details of their land-holdings in real-time on the Web.
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ultural Centre of Vijayawada, started 10 months ago with the objective of reviving the glory of Vijayawada as a
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NOVEMBER 2015
centre of arts, culture and literature by encouraging artists and artisans, has taken another step to strengthen the revival process. The centre’s patron and Malaxmi Group of Companies chairman Y Harischandra Prasad signed an MoU with a Korean artist SEO JUNG JA, who runs an art studio and cultural centre in Seoul, South Korea. The Korean Artist evinced keen interest in having a tie-up with the Cultural Centre for establishing cultural contacts between Korea and Amaravati, as many Korean companies are likely to participate in its construction.
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uoyed by the stabilisation of the first phase of 'Smart Wards' programme, Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT), in the second phase, will focus on providing 100 per cent drinking water and underground drainage system (UDS) connections to denizens. MCT officials, in the first phase, focused on sanitation i.e., door-to-door collection of segregated waste and had also distributed coloured bins to denizens, for separating dry and wet waste. Aim is to saturate water supply in Tirupati. Existing connections, whether regular or illegal would be verified and set up based on the availability of the distribution network.
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ndhra University will extend more support to sports and good show by its sportspersons will improve its rankings given by international institutions, Vice-Chancellor GSN Raju has said. The UGC granted Rs 1.70 crore to the University for construction of a hostel, indoor facility and improve existing infrastructure and the university sought an additional Rs 25 crore for all-round development of sports.
isakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT), one of the fastest growing major ports in the country, would be the most energy- efficient port in the country. The VPT management is planning to complete LED lighting of the port area before the proposed visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Visakhapatnam Port in the month of February. Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust MT Krishna Babu asked energy secretary Ajay Jain to prepare a Detailed Project Report in coordination with Energy Efficiency Services Limited for installing around 3,000 number of 120 Watt LED streetlights in place of existing 250 Watt High Pressure Sodium Vapour (HPSV) lamps apart from installing 9 Watt LED bulbs in the administrative offices and other places in the port area.
eeping in view the ensuing International Fleet Review (IFR-2016), the parks on the RK Beach will be renovated. The renowned Gokul Park, Children’s Park and the area from RK Beach to the Naval Coastal Battery will be
NOVEMBER 2015
decked up. GVMC commissioner J Pravin Kumar asked the officials to renovate the parks by November end. The development of parks includes converting service road into BT Road and decorating walls with paintings. Pravin asked the officials to complete the renovation works by November-end at any cost.
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he Andhra Pradesh Film TV Theatre Development Corporation (APFTTDC) started functioning from the offices of the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce at Gandhi Nagar. Vijayawada used to be the film distribution hub of the unified State till the film industry shifted to Hyderabad in the 1980s. With the relocation of APFTTDC to Vijayawada, the film industry has the opportunity of gaining a toehold in residuary Andhra Pradesh.
SKCON Guntur performed ground-breaking ceremony for its Rs 200 crore Golden Temple project, near Kondaveedu, in the district. The ISKCON authorities conducted Narasimha Yagnam, Harinama Sankeerthana and other rituals at the project site.
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nline verification of fingerprints of suspects on a realtime basis is all set to revolutionise crime investigation with the State police taking up a pilot project in Prakasam district.For the first time in the state, Police Communication and Tracking System(P CATS) has been put in place in Ongole to unleash the power of digital technology to crack crimes swiftly on the one hand and at the same time put an end to unnecessary harassment of innocent citizens, according to Superintendent of Police Ch Srikanth.
delegation of Dutch industrialists and businessmen headed by Netherlands Ambassador to India Alfonsus Stoelinga called on Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and evinced interest in investing in AP. The delegation decided to set up a joint working group to devise a road map. Naidu briefed the delegation on various initiatives his government has taken in 10 sectors to attract investments. The 10 sectors are: Agro-food processing, life sciences, textiles-apparel, electronics, mineral industry, aerospace, energy, leather, petroleum, chemicals, petrochemicals and automobiles. The chief minister told the delegation that in AP apart from natural and human resources, there was enough land, power supply and connectivity.
M
ohammed Maulana Mohiuddin Sarcar on Thursday took over as Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Anantapur (JNTUA) and promised to better equip the students for the industry. v
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ROAD LINK BETWEEN AMARAVATI & RAYALASEEMA
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hief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu wants the new and upcoming capital Amaravati to have easy connectivity with the Rayalaseema region. Besides, road development in other areas to pave way for industrial growth also got his nod.
highlights
a A four-and six-lane road from
Rayalaseema districts to AP capital Amaravati.
a Development of Itchapuram-
Tada beach road on the lines of the coastal drive between San Francisco and Los Angeles in the US.
a Development of road from
Krishnapatnam, Kadapa, Gooty linking the Hyderabad-Bangalore Highway.
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Features
a The Rayalaseema-Amaravati Road - Three four-lane roads - one each from Anantapur, Kurnool and Kadapa - will be laid.
a If this road is laid, the travel
time between Anantapur and Amaravati would be only ďŹ ve hours.
a The two roads that would
emerge from Kadapa and Kurnool should join the Anantapur-Amaravati road. The total distance of all the roads put together would be 800 km.
a All the three would merge
into a six-lane road in Nallamala forest area and would then be laid as single road to the state capital.
a At present, the road be-
a The Centre has agreed to
a The total distance the road
a The chief minister also
tween Anantapur and Amaravati is about 472 km and if the curves are removed and the road relaid, the distance becomes shorter by 86 km. would travel through the forest area would be only 25 km and two to three tunnels would have to be constructed.
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provide Rs 1,000 cr to convert roads connecting Anantapur with the new capital city of Amaravati via Kurnool on the National Highway 65. cleared laying of four lane road from Krishnapatnam to join Hyderabad-Bangalore Highway via Rapuru, Kadapa, chitvelu, Tadipatri, Gooty.
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NOVEMBER 2015
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UNFOLDING HISTORY he foundation stone laying ceremony of Amaravati was a grand aair with at least 5 lakh people attending the function, and crores of Telugus from home and abroad watching live proceedings of the event. The following are a few pictures from the historic ceremony.
Pic 1: Pic 2: Pic 3:
A view of the section of the audience present at the venue at Uddandarayunipalem. foreign delegates, especially from Japan, came in droves. Well-known drummer Sivamani performance enthralled the audience.
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Regd. No. H-HD-1082/2013-15 Published on: 01/11/2015
APENG/2007/20679 Posting Dt: 6th