Andhra Pradesh English Magazine [Dec 2015] by Ramesh Kandula

he heavy rains and floods in Andhra Pradesh caused extensive damage to crops and infrastructure including irrigation tanks, roads both R&B and Parichayat Raj and the Electricity. The worst affected District is BPS Nellore followed by Chittoor and Kadapa. Also there are extensive crop damages in East and West Godavari districts and minor damages in other districts namely Anantapur, Prakasam and Krishna. As per tentative estimates the total loss in various categories comes to about Rs.3,000 Crores. Chief Minister Nâ&#x20AC;&#x2C6;Chandrababu Naidu, who left no stone unturned in rescue & relief operations, wrote to the PM requesting for release of an amount of Rs.1,000 Crores as an advance for immediate relief and restoration activities.

CONTENTS AP tops in employability – report

AP announces Port Policy

The efforts of the State Government in upgrading skill development among the students has borne fruit.

WEF: AP has potential to be No.1

15 30

Urdu University To Come Up On 125 Acres In Kurnool Mining Only after Discussion and Debate - Chief Minister

World Bank to provide $75 million credit to AP

Snapshot

Foundation Laid For ANGRAU

Chief Minister’s Social Network

Market Linkages to SHG Products: Initiatives of AP Govt

Happening Andhra

Various developments across the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Social Security Pensions

Amazing AP: Borra Caves

The Sinking of the Ghazi India’s First Medical Device Park To Come Up In AP

26 Telugu nationalism not strong enough?

24 District Profile: Chittoor

20 De-centralized development is key

ANDHRA PRADESH

Published Monthly In English & Telugu December 2015 Volume: 9 Issue: 6 Salivahana Era 1937

Publisher & Commissioner Dr P Krishna Mohan Chief Editor Ramesh Kandula Editor Naresh Nunna Assistant Editor Shruti Mathur Cover Page AP # 1 in Employability Second Cover Havoc by Heavy Rains

Third Cover CM in various programs

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/-

EDITORIAL

CHANGE, OR PERISH!

ontinuous review and revision is the hallmark of progress. in formulating policies, setting goals and in taking actionable steps, few leaders can match the vision and tenacity of Chief Minister n Chandrababu naidu. in a short span of 16 months, the andhra Pradesh government under his stewardship released the status reports on every sector in the state and designed fresh policies that are in tune with the development goals of the fledgling state.

The latest debate and discussion on bauxite mining in Chintapalli in Visakhapatnam district should be viewed in this backdrop. While the issue is riddled with controversy, thanks to the dubious agreements reached in the past, the Chief Minister has decided to release a White Paper so that facts are presented to the public.

While it is of overriding concern that the interests of the state in general and the tribal people in particular should be protected at all costs, we should also remember that the natural resources should be exploited for the benefit of the state reeling under financial crunch. hence, the CMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s call for a debate and discussion on the issue without prejudice should be welcomed.

Likewise, the decision to review the sand policy should also be seen in this light. While the idea behind entrusting the task of sand mining to self help groups originated from good intentions, the ground reality has left the government worried. hence, the decision to review the current policy.

Consistent follow-up as in the above has certainly made andhra Pradesh a state with a difference. Whether it is skill development, housing, sanitation, infrastructure, the Chief Ministerâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s regular monitoring has been yielding desirable results.

andhra Pradesh emerging as the top state in employability is perhaps the latest testimony to the efficacy of its policies and the unswerving dedication of its leadership.

RAMESH KANDULA Chief Editor

www.andhrapradeshmagazine.org Email: apchiefeditor@gmail.com www.ipr.ap.nic.in

Printed and Published by ! 9 ! " 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

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

DECEMBER 2015

AP Tops in EMPLOYABILITY - Report The eďŹ&#x20AC;orts of the State Government in upgrading skill development among the students has borne fruit. AP has topped the list of states with the highest employability level with 65.2 per cent of employable workforce in the 22-25 years age group, a considerable increase from 31 per cent posted in 2015 report.

ndhra Pradesh ranks first among all States with largest employability level, according to India Skills Report. The report is a joint initiative of online talent assessment firm, Wheebox, in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Linkedin, PeopleStrong and Association of Indian Universities (AIU). Andhra Pradesh has the highest employability level with 65.2 per cent of employable workforce in the 22-25 years age group, a considerable increase from 31 per

DECEMBER 2015

cent posted in 2015 report. The two cities of Vishakapatnam (85.53 per cent) and Guntur (81.07 per cent) in Andhra Pradesh had scored highest in employability index. The results are part of Wheebox Employability Skill Test (WEST) that assessed about five lakh candidates spread out to 5,000 educational campuses across 29 States and seven union territories (UTs)in the country on various employability parameters including numerical and logical ability, communication skills, and domain knowledge, etc. Another highlight of Andhra ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

Pradesh in Wheebox study has been gender-wise employability where Andhra Pradesh with 70.26 per cent leading in female employable force and 50.33 per cent male employable force. Within the psychometric tests, Andhra Pradesh is leading in English language & computers skills but ranks low in numerical & logical reasoning aptitude. The study forecasts an overall increase of 14.5 per cent in the hiring outlook for 2016. The maximum hiring activity can be seen in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar

most employable candidates aged 22-25 1

2 3

4 5

andhra pradesh

tamil nadu

delhi

uttar pradesh

orissa

pondicherry

bihar

gujarat

kerala

10 maharashtra 3,00,000 students were then dissected, based on the demographic and geographic data captured along with the scores. Some really interesting trends came up through this analysis.

Pradesh and Haryana, respectively, according to a release. About 3,00,000 students from across states took this test to know their “Employability Status”. The states with maximum participation are: Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, West Bengal, Haryana and Delhi. The scores of these

These insights would, on one hand provide the students and colleges a glimpse into their current skill levels; on the other hand it would provide relevant information to the employers for making effective Talent Acquisition strategies. Out of about 3,00,000 candidates who appeared for the Wheebox Employability Skill Test across domains, 37.22% were found employable. It shows an increase of 3.27 % in comparison to last year when the employability percentage was just 33.95%. This improvement, though minimal, is good news and does show that the initiatives taken up by government towards skill development are moving in the right direction. However, these initiativeshave a long way to go, if the ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

gap between the supply & the demand side is to be diminished. So the speed and frequency of these efforts should be intensified. Similar to last year, the spread of this “employable” population is across the length and breadth of India. When the scores of 3 lakh assessed students were analysed geographically, few states appeared to have more density of employable candidates than others. Delhi retains its position amongst the top 10 states along with Orissa, U.P, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry & Tamil Nadu where major part of the “employable pool” comes from. This kind of consistency is vital if we want to increase “employability” of the skill pool. Compared to last year’s list of Top 10 states, there were few new entrants as well- Kerala, Bihar & Maharashtra and few states which lost their presence in the top 10 states- Punjab, Haryana & Karnataka.

DECEMBER 2015

urdu uniVersity

To Come Up On 125 Acres In Kurnool

Giving a boost to the second official language of the state, Urdu, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister laid the foundation for setting up an institution that caters to safeguarding the language and promoting education among minorities in the state.

he Andhra Pradesh Government has accorded high status for Urdu language and has taken a major step for the development of the language by deciding to set up an institution for the same. Foundation was laid for an Urdu University in Kurnool district by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, which will be built at a cost of Rs 20 crore at Orvakallu on 125 acres of land. The classes will begin from next year and staff recruitment will begin soon. On the occasion, CM Naidu said, “Urdu is not only the second official language in the state, but the government has also taken a major step for the development of the language by deciding to set up the university. The university would help in educational development of students from minority community and create employDECEMBER 2015

ment opportunities.” Stating that the government was committed to the welfare of the Muslim minorities in the state, he added that a special DSC would be held next year to recruit Urdu teachers for the Urdu medium schools. The government would also set up Urdu Study Circles akin to the BC Study Circles in all the district headquarters. It would also construct a Haj House in Kadapa district and immediately sanction honorariums of Rs. 5,000 to imams and Rs 3,000 to the masums who served at mosques and dargahs from this month, he announced. CM Naidu further said he is making all efforts to revive Kurnool's old glory. "Local leadership is responsible for the backwardness of Rayalaseema. If needed, I will stay here in Kurnool, until it is developed," he ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

said. “An education hub would be established over 900 acres in Kurnool. Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and Kurnool would be developed as three educational hubs in the state.” Recalling the role played by him in setting up of the Moulana Azad National Urdu University in Hyderabad, the Chief Minister said his government would ensure development of minorities at par with other communities. Chandrababu Naidu said the government was giving top priority to development of Urdu and welfare of minorities. Under the 'Dulhan' scheme, a financial assistance of Rs 50,000 is being given for marriage of poor Muslim girls. He averred that the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme would help solve the water crisis of the Rayalaseema region, and added that the government would provide drinking and irrigation water to the people of Rayalaseema by linking Godavari, Krishna and Penna rivers. He also assured that he will turn the Rayalaseema region into solar, education, power and industrial hub soon. "I belong to Rayalaseema and I will work for the development of the region till last drop of my blood. Some people are unnecessarily making false allegations and have become an obstacle in the development process," he said. He further said that Kurnool would also be developed as a Smart City with the establishment of various hubs. “Work would shortly commence on the proposed 6-lane highway between Kurnool and Guntur. An airport would also be built at Orvakkal, textile parks at Yammiganur and a deer park at Alur.”

MINING Only after Discussion and Debate - Chief Minister “Decision on whether to continue with bauxite mining in tribal areas of Visakhapatnam or not would be taken only after a comprehensive discussion,” Chandrababu Naidu said.

hief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu called for a debate and discussion on the bauxite mining in Chintapalle, Visakhapatnam. Releasing a White Paper on the issue, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said a decision on whether to continue with bauxite mining in the tribal-dominated areas in Visakhapatnam would be taken up only after consultation. ”Decision on whether to continue with bauxite mining in tribal areas of Visakhapatnam or not would be taken only after a comprehensive discussion,” Naidu said. “The government would honour public sentiments. Bauxite mining activities in the state have already been suspended,” he said. The Chief Minister alleged the previous governments in the state failed to safeguard the interests of people and particularly those of tribals in issuing lease rights to UAE-based Ras-AlKhaimah for bauxite mining.”Followers of corrupt leaders, who were involved in allocating mining leases, are now demanding that government should stop mining activities,” he alleged.

national scenario of bauxite industry

Bauxite is an essential ore of Aluminium which is one of the most important nonferrous metals used in the modern industry. It is also an essential ore for Refractory and Chemical industries. India produced 15.36 million tonnes of bauxite in 2012-13. The major bauxite producing states with their production is as follows – # # Odisha

$' # " $! " 1810

Andhra Pradesh 615

$ $ #

5.46 NIL

Gujarat

237

3.02

Maharashtra

175

1.97

Chhattisgarh

171

1.82

Jharkhand

146

2.00

Total

2983

14.25

The above States contribute to 92.7% of the total bauxite production of the country in 2012-13. It can also be observed from the above table that AndhraPradesh is the second richest “The erstwhile government allowed Ras- State in bauxite mineral following Al-Khaimah to establish aluminium inOdisha. However, Andhra Pradesh has dustry in Visakhapatnam agency (area), not started Bauxite production till date. for which it was decided that the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corpora- history of development of tion would supply the bauxite by taking bauxite mining in ap up mining,” Naidu said. At that time, the Andhra Pradesh is having vast reserves Union Government had also given of Bauxite, about 600 Million Tonnes environmental clearances for the metallurgical grade (above 48% Al2 O3) establishment of mining company. in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari Excerpts from the White Paper Released Districts, accounting for 21.65% of total by the State Government: Bauxite reserves in India. Government of

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) through G.O.Ms.No.999, Industries & Commerce Department, dtd. 25.10.1975 have reserved the entire Bauxite bearing areas for exclusive exploitation by Public Sector Undertakings. All these areas fall under Reserved Forest as well as notified tribal areas. Transfer of these areas to non tribals is prohibited as per A.P. Land Transfers Regulations 1959. Based on the investigation of Geological Survey of India (GSI), APMDC filed 25 Mining Lease applications for Bauxite covering 4775 Hect. in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari Districts. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, in case of Samatha Vs State of AP (reported in 1997 8 SCC 191) held that all major minerals deposits in the state located in areas covered under the V schedule of the Constitution are owned by the state governments. States are entitled to undertake mining operations through PSUs. In consonance with Supreme Court ruling, GoAP decided that the Bauxite should be mined by APMDC and to be supplied to those who come forward to establish Alumina / Aluminium Industries.

mou between goap and govt. of uae

A high level meeting chaired by the then Hon’ble Chief Minister, group of Ministers and senior officers of concerned departments was held on 09.02.2007 to discuss about the bauxite deposits and related several project proposals in Andhra Pradesh. Following points were discussed in the meeting – w The proposal from Ras-Al-Khaimah

informing that they can establish an DECEMBER 2015

Overruling the Chief Secretary’s suggestions, the then Chief Minister directed that the supply of Bauxite from Jerrela of group of deposits may be assured to the Government of Ras-Al- Khaimah. international environmental friendly Aluminium plant at Visakhapatnam. They further assured that the Government of Ras-Al-Khaimah associates will bring in the best energy efficient and best Aluminium technology available in the world and complete this unit within 36 months of all the clearance from their side.

w Chief Secretary, supported by

Principal Secretary (Revenue), suggested that instead of allocating a specified area to one company, it may be desirable to excavate the deposits at one place and supply to all the companies.

w The then Hon’ble Chief Minister, while

overruling the Chief Secretary’s suggestions, directed that the supply of Bauxite from Jerrela of group of deposits may be assured to the Government of Ras-Al- Khaimah.

w Thus, the then Hon’ble Chief Minister

directed that a MoU be entered into with Government of Ras - Al – Khaimah. Subsequently, GoAP entered into a MoU with Govt. of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates for establishment of Value added Alumina and Aluminium Industry dated 14.02.2007 in the State with a Capital outlay of USD 2 Billion.

Thus, consequent to MoU, GoRAK (Govt of Ras-al-Khaimah) formed an Indian Company along with Penna Group of Companies known as ANRAK Aluminum Limited which was incorporated with its registered office at plot no. 108, Road no. 1, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad on 23.02.2007. Accordingly, GoAP, vide G.O Ms. No. 222, dated. 13.08.2008, have approved the DECEMBER 2015

recommendations of the high powered Government of India for according prior committee and directed M/s. APMDC Ltd approvals for issue of Mining leases in to enter into Bauxite Supply Agreement. between the dates 02.03.200730.06.2007. Accordingly, the bauxite supply agreement was signed on 30.10.2008.The main points are as follows-

apmdc shall supply bauxite from the following mine area Chintapalli RF Area

Jerrela Block-I Jerrela Block –II Jerrela Block-III Jerrela Block-VIII

85.00 Hectares 367.00 Hectares 460.00 Hectares 250.00 Hectares ----------------------1,162.00 Hectares

Accordnig to the agreement, APMDC/GoAP shall not sell or export bauxite Jerrela deposit to any other party during the period of the operation of the said aluminium company

grant of mine leases in jerrela to apmdc

GoAP, after examination, referred the mining lease applications of APMDC to ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

Government of India conveyed in - principle approval for 4 Mining Leases (Jerrela Group of deposits – block I, II, III & VIII) on 05.11.2007.

APMDC had prepared Mining plans for Jerrela deposits and the same had been approved by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) for blocks – I, II, III & VIII. GoAP granted four mining leases on 28.12.2007, of Chintapalli reserve forest, Visakhapatnam dist. to APMDC for 30 years, subject to submission of Environmental Clearance and Forest Clearance from MoEF.

environment and Forest clearance

w APMDC submitted proposals for diver-

sion of 1212 Ha of forest area duly identifying equivalent compensatory afforestation land in Proddutur forest division, Kadapa dt.

Indian Council for Forestry, Research & Education (ICFRE), Dehradun prepared the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) & Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the protection of environmental degradation which might be caused by the mining activity in Jerrela bauxite areas. Andhra University carried out Hydro-geological studies to assess the impact of mining on streams, drainage pattern & ground water potential and mitigation measures to protect the water bodies. In regard to proposals for diversion of forest, APMDC has paid an amount of Rs.31.67 Crores towards cost for raising the Compensatory Afforestation including maintenance for 5 years and Net Present Value of Rs. 93.933 Crores. Jerrela gram panchayat has passed resolution in favour of APMDC for undertaking bauxite mining project in Jerrela blocks (I, II, III, & VIII) on 02.10.2008. Further, public hearing on seeking Environmental clearance was made on 03.10.2008. MoEF, GoI, accorded Environmental clearance for block – I, II, III & VIII on 12.12.2008.

stage-i Forest clearance

Forest Dept., GoAP, submitted proposals on 8.10.2007 for diversion of 1212 Ha of reserve forest land in Jerrela & Chintapalle RF for bauxite mining purpose. Accordingly, MoEF, GoI issued stage-I clearance for diversion of 1212 hectares of forest in Chintapalli RF area for mining lease for bauxite of APMDC on 12 August 2008. Former Hon’ble Minister of Tribal Affairs Sri Kishore Chandra Deo. had made reference to the then Hon’ble Prime Minister on 01.04.2010 requesting to issue instructions to all concerned not to allow mining of Bauxite in Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh. The matter was examined by Ministry of Mines, GoI, in consultation with Department of Legal Affairs (DLA). The DLA opined that, the bauxite mine lease is issued to APMDC which is a state

owned PSU (an instrumentality of the state) and APMDC as part of their economic activity entered into an agreement for supply of Bauxite with a private company, doesn’t amount to violation of prevailing rules in vogue.

stage ii Forest clearance

MoEF had set up a four member High Level Committee headed by Sri. J.C.Kala Retired IFS & Former DG of MoEF on 03.10.2011. The Committee visited in two phases on 10-11th October 2011 & 22-23rd December 2011 to examine several issues of Bauxite Mining in Visakhapatnam District. On 21st December 2011, committee had an aerial survey of all the bits in Jerrela through helicopter. The committee has submitted its report to MoEF, Government of India and recommended Stage – II Forest Clearance, inter alia held that there is no human or wild life habitat within the proposed Jerrela mining areas. The Committee further held that there is no environmental impact due to mining and suggested APMDC to comply with Stage–I conditions and undertake mining. GoAP, under the Chairmanship of District Collector, Visakhapatnam and other officials and non-officials constituted Social Management and Rehabilitation Committee to implement the Social Management and Rehabilitation Plan prepared by APITCO in and around Jerrela Bauxite areas in Visakhapatnam district, vide GO Ms No. 40, Ind & Comm dept., Dtd 03.05.2011. M/s Anrak completed construction of Aluminum refinery plant, including power plant of 150 MW (with provision to expand to 225 MW) in 2013 at Makavaripalem (V&M) of Visakhapatnam dist. Total investment made is approximately Rs. 5,300 Crores for alumina refinery, including Rs. 1000 Crores for the power plant. Anrak has entered into Power purchase agreements with AP Transco and TS Tranco for supply of 85 MW and 45 MW ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

respectively for generating revenues. Currently, Anrak Aluminium ltd. is sourcing coal mostly from Indonesia for operating power plant. M/s Anrak is yet to initiate work on Aluminium smelter facility. The GoAP furnished its views and comments on Sri. J.C Kala committee’s report to MoEF, Govt of India on 04.12.2013. The MoEF, GoI on 23.09.2014, accepted the recommendations of the Kala Committee and directed GoAP to complete the process for settlement of rights under Forest Rights Act 2006 on the forest land proposed to be diverted in favour of APMDC and submit a report for documentary evidence. APMDC assigned work to prepare Wildlife Protection and Management Plan for the Jerrela mining area to Administrative Staff college of India, Hyderabad. The MoEF, GoI through their Ltr dtd.17.08.2015, have granted 2nd Stage Forest Clearance under Section 2 of FC Act 1980 for diversion of 1212 Hects of Forest Land in Chintapalli and Jerrela RF of Narsipatnam Division Visakhapatnam District for Mining Lease for Bauxite in favour of APMDC. As a consequence to the already approved Forest Clearance (Stage – II), the GoAP through G.O.MsNo.97, EFS&T (S.II) Dept dtd.05.11.2015, accorded permission to PCCF for diversion of 1212 Hects of Forest Land in Chintapalli and Jerrela RF of Narsipatnam Division Visakhapatnam District for Mining Lease for Bauxite in favour of APMDC, subject to conditions. [Interested persons may access the documents mentioned in the white paper, on AP Mineral Development Corporation website http://www.apmdc.ap.gov.in. In case of any queries, please email to apmdcpc@gmail.com; dygm-geo-tn@apmdc.ap.gov.in and replies will be uploaded to the above website.]

v DECEMBER 2015

WORLD BANK

to provide $75 Million Credit to AP â&#x20AC;&#x153;Over the years women-led community institutions in Andhra Pradesh have made significant impacts in helping communities gain higher access to credit, education and assets, and in greater empowerment of women. However, despite these achievements, inclusion remains a challenge,â&#x20AC;? said Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director in India.

he Government of India, the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the World Bank signed a pact for $75 million credit for the Andhra Pradesh Rural Inclusive Growth Project to enhance agricultural incomes of small and marginal farmers and ensure increased access to services related to health, nutrition, sanitation and social entitlements. The project will focus on increasing economic opportunities for small and marginal farmers, especially from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) households in the 150 most backward mandals (cluster of villages across gram panchayats). It will invest in developing a network of social enterprises for food, nutrition, sanitation and other social enterprises which operate at community and district level. It will also support the Government of Andhra Pradesh in its efforts at creating an enabling policy framework, with real time analytics across sectors through the various missions established by them. To boost human development, investments will be made in improving access to services in the areas of health, nutrition, and water and sanitation and increasing coverage and effectiveness of India's DECEMBER 2015

social safety net programs. The credit agreement for the project was signed by Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India; Sunitha Kolaventy, Finance Secretary, on behalf of the Government of Andhra Pradesh; and Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director in India, on behalf of the World Bank. Solomon Arokiaraj, the Chief Executive Officer of Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty, the implementing agency was also present. The Andhra Pradesh Rural Inclusive Growth Project will help link small and marginal farmers to urban markets and make them competitive across the value chain so that they are able to take advantage of the potential benefits from allied sectors like horticulture, livestock, and fisheries. Investments will be made in increasing the nutritional content of products such as milk, vegetables and poultry. The project will specifically support to increase the incomes of 250,000 small and marginal farmers by at least 50 percent by enhancing productivity and improving their access to markets. This component will work with those ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

small and marginal producers who have built up productive assets, have previously participated in productivity improvement, and have the potential to exploit growth opportunities for high value commodities such as red gram, milk, poultry, small ruminants, fisheries, turmeric, cashew, and coffee. It will also work towards improving the coverage and service delivery of social protection entitlements for 500,000 poorest households. The other key aspects would be to invigorate and create local markets by connecting rural producers and enterprises with the rural consumers and enhancing the quality of consumption by the poor households by making nutrient rich snacks available through nutri-shops and creating awareness on the benefits of these products. On the human development side, the project will use community led approaches to improve access to water and sanitation services in about 1,000 targeted villages adopting saturation approach to cover all households and rural institutions like schools, anganwadi centers, and health centers and helping them achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. v

MARKET LINKAGES TO SHG PRODUCTS Initiatives of AP Government Self-Help Group (SHG) is a registered or unregistered group of micro entrepreneurs having homogenous social and economic back ground, voluntarily coming together to save regular small sums of money, mutually agreeing to contribute to a common fund and to meet their emergency needs on the basis of mutual help. SHGs are formed and supported by Government agencies., linked not only to banks but also to wider development programs, SHGs are seen to confer many benefits, both economic and social. In the early 1980s Self-help groups are started by non-profit organizations (NGOs) that generally have broad antipoverty agendas. Self-help groups are seen as instruments for a variety of goals including empowering women, developing leadership abilities among poor people, increasing school enrolments, and improving nutrition and the use of birth control. Financial intermediation is generally seen more as an entry point to these other goals, rather than as a primary objective. This can hinder their development

as sources of village capital, as well as their efforts to aggregate locally controlled pools of capital through federation, as was historically accomplished by credit unions. To achieve their goal of financial self contentment the groups are now engaged in manufacturing and marketing activities. SHGs are formed by NGOs, Government agencies or Banks the three types of Self Help Promoting Institutions (SHPIs). In India / Andhra Pradesh, Self Help Groups represent a unique approach to financial intermediation. The approach combines access to low-cost financial services with a process of self management and development for the women who are SHG members.

Financial support to shgs

In Andhra Pradesh, SHGs received matching grant in the form of revolving capital equal to the extent of savings made by a group in 1-2 years and matching grants ranging ₹10-15,000/- per group. The groups receive loans 4 times to the savings amount from commercial banks under SHG bank linkage

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

scheme. Average age of SHGs in the state is 11-12 years and most of the groups have now become eligible for loans under Cash Credit Limits (CCL). State Government provides interest subsidies on the loans availed by SHGs besides providing ₹10,000/- per member under capital infusion scheme (popularly known as “Chandranna Cheyutha” in Telugu). In the early 1980 - 2015, SHGs received training and subsidies linked to bank credit for creation of assets for income generating activities under centrally sponsored schemes like IRDP / SGSY / NRLM. Under the schemes the credit plays a predominant role and subsidy is an enabling component. Financial assistance is given to either individuals or Groups.

enterprise development to shg members

In the first two years of group formation, members are engaged in small scale income earning activities by investing the savings, revolving funds and bank credit. Per capita loan to a member ranges DECEMBER 2015

The state is already having distinction in having highest number of SHGs and ranks No.1 in the Country for providing credit linkages. State Government also initiated several unique strategies to promote SHGs socially & economically and recognised SHG as a tool for women empowerment. from ₹5-10,000/-. In 3-5 years, SHGs established credibility with banks besides pooling substantial savings funds to be offered as cash security to the bank credit. Recent survey of SHGs revealed that SHG members availed ₹50,000/- per capita loan. More than 10% of the groups have also availed ₹ 1, 00,000/- per member for income generating activities. A quick survey of enterprises taken up by SHGs in 13 mandals @1 per district also revealed that 14% members are engaged in dairy, 13% in tailoring and readymade garments stitching activity, 10% have grocery shops, 5% in small hotels & restaurants, 3% are vegetable vendors, 3% make pickles, masala powders and other food products, 5% are having sheep units, 2% make bamboo baskets, 2% members have chicken sales, and 2% have pan shops. Another survey of 14 lakh enterprises conducted in February, 2015, mapping of livelihood activities is shown below:

shg products - marketing strategies

Initially, the marketing activities of the SHGs are far below the new standards set by globalisation. Most of the SHGs were engaged in direct marketing and most of the products were sold in local markets. Packing & Advertising of products was far below standards. Government of Andhra Pradesh under the dynamic leadership of the Chief Minister Sri Nara Chandra Babu Naidu introduced a unique concept of marketing SHG products with a concept “Producer to Consumer Sales” popularly known as DWCRA Bazars in late 1990s. SHG members were encouraged to put stalls in local shandys, mandal and district level DWCRA Bazars besides state level DWCRA DECEMBER 2015

Bazars conducted in the 2nd & 3rd week of December every year. These exhibitions attracted public attention and even popularised the SHG concept amongst general public. To encourage rural women producers, DWCRA Bazars were inaugurated and visited by Leaders / VIPs with a message that these exhibitions sell quality products at competitive prices. Inspired by the success of DWCRA Bazars, State Government introduced the following marketing strategies for sale of SHG products.

w Products Categorisation: SHGs pro-

duce more than 500 verities of products which can be broadly categorised into Agriculture and allied activity products, value added / Semi-processed and Processed food products, Vegetables, Flowers, Dairy & Meat products, Eggs & Chicken, Fish & Prawn, Snacks & Sweets, Pickles & Powders, Masalas & Verities of Papads etc., Handicrafts (Wood, Fibre, Cloth, Fur, Leather, Paper & Pulp, Metal & Minerals) Cotton, Silk & Jute Handlooms – Fabrics & Apparel etc. Depending on the saleability of the products, marketing is planned in local shandys and shops, door to door sales at the village and mandal level. Some products like office stationery items are sold at district and state level markets. Non Timber Forest Products / Herbal & Natural Products / Fortified food products, Handlooms & Handicrafts unique to the state are sold at State / National and International Exhibitions and Trade Fairs.

w Participation in International Trade

Fairs: With the support and encouragement of the Chief Minister Sri Chandra Babu Naidu, some members of Self Help Groups were is-

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sued Passports and sponsored to participate in the International Trade Fairs at Colombo in Srilanka, Koulalampur in Malaysia, Dubai and USA.

w Role of Banks: NABARD and Banks

extend financial support to SHG members participating in Trade Fairs outside the State and Country by meeting the travel costs. These institutions also join hands with the state government in organising DWCRA Bazars and Exhibitions besides giving an opportunity for the SHGs to participate in the exhibitions sponsored by NABARD.

w Role of GoI Organisations: SHG

Members are registered with CAPART (Apex organisation for NGOs at the national level), LEPAKSHI, APCO, Industrial Exhibitions, NHDC and other organisations.

w SARAS: Taking a clue from the con-

cept of DWCRA Bazars, Ministry of Rural Development, GoI introduced a similar marketing strategy and introduced SARAS exhibitions held in all state capitals every year – A platform in which SHG products from all the state are exhibited and sold. Annual calendar of SARAS exhibitions is communicated to SHGs in the beginning of the year to enable participants to plan travel, credit arrangements for manufacturing products and sale of products. These exhibitions provide opportunity to SHG members to understand urban markets and interact with similar players besides exposure to wholesale markets in cities and gain knowledge on customer’s preferences / choices for their products. Some members learn skills from other members of other groups. Some members secure bulk orders for their products besides securing

continuous contacts with bulk buyers.

w Godavari and Krishna Pushkarams:

Chief Minister provided an opportunity to SHGs for sale of Pooja / Ritual Kits to the pilgrims in Pushkarams. SHGs were also offered free stalls in the DWCRA Bazar at Rajahmundry conducted on the eve of Godavari Pushkarams. SHG members sold kits & products valued more than ₹3.0 crores.

w Shilparamams / Urban haats: stalls

are allotted to SHG members in urban haats to showcase and sell products.

w Tie-up with Departmental supplies:

SHG members were given an opportunity to provide food to the students under Mid-day meal Scheme and supply food to 50,000 schools in the state. SHGs supply vegetables, spices, milk and other foods to the welfare hostels run by government. SHGs supply stitched uniforms to the students in primary and secondary schools under various government schemes. SHGs supply milk and other items to the Anganwadi centers in Chittoor District. Endowment Department procure certain items like Coconuts, Turmeric, Flowers etc., from the SHGs besides having sale counters near the temples for photo frames and other items.

w i-Shakthi Model for Marketing: Con-

sumer durable companies and FMCG companies woke-up to the huge potential in rural markets and understood the brand consciousness of rural folk. FMCG companies offered rural retailing of their products to SHGs for additional role of marketing the consumer goods with a win-win approach.

w Bulk Milk Cooling Units(BMCUs):

SHGs in Chittoor District handle 712.28 lakh ltrs. Of milk in 2014-15 fetched ₹175.0 crores through sale of milk besides earning ₹8.0 crores

towards cooling charges from 94 BMCUs

w Public private Partnership MOUs :

During the Pre-Launch work shop of AP Rural inclusive growth project, SERP signed MOUs with the following Companies for promotion Income Generating Activities

w Walmart Play a change agent role by

exposing 10,000 SHG members to Rural and farm technologies. They will also setup a cell for women economic empowerment in Guntur and Anatapur shortly.

w Olam Agro India Ltd will invest in

Supply chain Management of various agri commodities like corn,coffee,cottom,chillies,cashew, rice and pulses.

w ITC will setup Training cells in col-

laboration with Agriculture University at Guntur and help women in Procurement and Value addition to various agri products.

w Mahindra and Mahindra will help

women to set up Custom hiring Centres for Farm Mechanisation

w NDDB Dairy Services will help

women groups to get Better milk yields through training and producer companies.

w RMLL Information Pvt Ltd will help

women in Market analysis to take informed decisions in Agri business

w Star Agri Warehousing and Collat-

eral Management will help farmers to establish ware houses and silos.

w Intel and Airtel will train SHGs in

Digital Literacy in Telugu

w Chief Minister advised Companies to

adopt win –win approach in doing 2 way business with SHGs treating them as buyers for rural products by Companies and SHGs will help in turn in retailing company products

A SWOT (Strengths , Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) of SHG products reveal that SHGs can become effective players in the markets if 5Ps i.e. Product, Price, Place, Promotion ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

and Personal need to be given very serious thought in the light of severe resource constraint and small scales operations. SHGs need to invest properly in the business without diverting loan funds for consumption and other needs. Financial institutions need to consider SHGs seriously and cover all eligible SHGs under Cash Credit Limit. Mahila Sadhikaratha Samstha – working with convergence approach linking rural and urban SHGs is an advantage where rural SHGs produce and urban groups can market. City livelihood centres established under MEPMA can play a greater role in providing information on markets, skill development training, and knitting with urban markets besides providing publicity to the products. SHG groups are encouraged to estimate requirements of their own households and procure products in bulk in the season and retail in the lean season to earn profits. SHGs were educated to look at themselves not only as consumers but also as producers of various products required in their day-to-day life (MART Model) and the strategy worked well in some SHG federations for procurement of Rice, Red gram dal, Tamarind, Clothes and other items. State Government has planned to work with professionals in the areas of market analysis, mapping of products, skills, machinery required for product generation, technical expertise to acquire the required tools. Producer’s organisations are promoted to provide backward and forward linkages and work on the value chains. The state is already having distinction in having highest number of SHGs and ranks No.1 in the Country for providing credit linkages. State Government also initiated several unique strategies to promote SHGs socially & economically and recognised SHG as a tool for women empowerment under the leadership of the visionary Chief Minister. + * *

) - # *. Advisor(SERP), Govt. of AP DECEMBER 2015

WEF: AP has potential to be

he policy advisory group of the World Economic Forum (WEF) said that Andhra Pradesh has the potential to become the No. 1 State in the country in the next three years. The Group pointed out that 12-13 out of the 30 big aerospace and defence industries such as American multinational conglomerate corporation General Electric (GE), Boeing and Airbus are keen to invest in AP considering the resources and skill available in the State. Members of the WEF, who made a presentation to Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on ‘making AP the hub for Aerospace and Defence Industries’ in New Delhi, said AP is ranked No. 2 in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking in the country and has the potential to become No. 1 in two to three years. Earlier, a Memorandum of Understanding for Competitiveness for the State of AP was signed between Philipp Roesler, Head of the Centre for Regional Strategies, Member of the Managing Board, World Economic Forum and Sanjay Gupta, special secretary (planning), in the presence of Naidu. DECEMBER 2015

No.1

WEF’s role in the collaboration will be in sharing tools, providing technical support and training selected staff of the State government. The WEF would run a technical collaboration and knowledge-sharing programme on competitiveness for the AP government and its partners. It has over 40 years of experience in benchmarking competitiveness and has so far had such collaboration only with ‘countries’. This is the first time WEF is collaborating with a ‘State’, they said. The programme would enable the government to conduct systematic assessment of strengths and weaknesses of AP’s economy using the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) methodology. The assessment will further enable evidencebased, data-driven policy-making in AP and provide important data for the design of policies and reforms. It will also allow comparison with other economies of similar size or at a similar stage of development. The assessment would be based on the performance in 12 categories such as institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health & primary education, higher education & training, ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

A Memorandum of Understanding for Competitiveness for the State of AP was signed to assess competitiveness for the AP government and its partners.

goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial sector development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation. The Chief Minister, who participated in the session on ‘Growing Cities, Building Resilience, Challenges in Urbanization,’ spoke about urban transformation in AP and about building the Greenfield capital city Amaravati. According to State government’s advisor (communications) Parakala Prabhakar, the delegates expressed keen interest on the concepts of ‘Walk to Work,’ ‘Cycle to Work’ and ‘Water taxis to Work’ which are being planned for Amaravati.

japan for sister state pact

A delegation from Toyama prefecture, Japan, has expressed interest in signing ‘Sister State agreement’ with AP which would establish collaboration in the fields of tourism, pharmaceuticals, special purpose machinery and agriculture. The delegation called on Naidu and discussed the proposals. . The sister state agreement may be signed during the visit of the Prime Minister of Japan to India later this year.

India’s First

MEDICAL DEVICE PARK to come up in ap

The 200 acre exclusive park in Visakhapatnam will spur domestic production of medical devices; help reduce import dependency in this sector, while creating employment and growth in the state.

he Andhra Pradesh Government will develop an exclusive industrial park for the manufacturing of medical devices. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has taken in-principle decision to develop a dedicated 200acre industrial park for the manufacture of medical devices in the state. And this was announced by the Chief Minister himself after a meeting with the representatives of Indian medical device industry led by Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator of Association of Indian Medical Device Manufacturers and Joint Managing Director of Hindustan Syringes & Medical Devices, and a team of central government officials. The Association was able to impress upon CM Naidu and the Central government representatives as to why it made tremendous sense to have such a facility. In particular, Rajiv Nath was able to bring out its

criticality for the country as well as its contribution for industrial development and employment generation in the state and huge growth potential.

delivery cost by signing the first MoU between AIMED and TiMed promoted by Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology to launch 'UdaiMed.'

“I am extremely thankful to Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for recognizing the opportunity and taking a quick and firm decision to set up India's first medical device park in his state," said Rajiv Nath. "This will be a wonderful opportunity for the state to increase its industrial footprint, create employment while giving a big boost to import substitution for the country. We are truly excited with the decision.”

CM Naidu has assured AIMED representatives that he will personally address any issue over implementation of the decision and looked forward to early commencement of work and for the needful policy support required. The Park will be having a Common Manufacturing Facility Centre to act as a Hub for SME Sector to enable it to flourish as a Cluster. Focus will be on creating an Eco System for High End Medical Device Manufacturing and Import Substitution with an eye for Export Market.

They have also initiated a milestone which will foster world class relevant research in academic institutions, build up funds for research, catalyze Make-in-India mission, reduce humungous import dependency in medical devices and help bring down overall healthcare

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The Chief Minister Naidu said the state has the advantage of a long coastline and deep water ports, establishing a manufacturing hub near Vizag will be advantageous as the proximity of ports will make it DECEMBER 2015

easier to transport equipment. In order to strengthen the sector, the Chief Minister said the government plans to introduce a policy on medical equipment manufacturing. He also invited the delegation along with Government of India representatives to visit Andhra Pradesh and zero in on suitable locations. Central government officials apprised the meeting that the government was working at the highest level to address the issue of inverted duty structure which is stunting growth of this industry and provide preferential market access to boost domestic manufacturing. It was also informed that a new Draft Policy on Medical Device sector was also being worked upon and shortly a National Policy on Medical Device will be released. It may be noted that Indian medical device industry is worth over Rs 60,000 crore. And country's humungous import bill for this segment amounts to over Rs 23,000 crore, while export amounts to only over Rs 7,000 crore. India's import dependency on high-end medical devices is over 80 per cent and 6070% for other devices. And this is where the dedicated medical device park would be of great value - reducing humongous import dependency, increasing export while generating wealth and employment within. Sudesh Pant, Jt Secy Dept of Pharmaceutical and Ravi Capoor, Jt Secy Dept of Commerce, Government of India along with Dr Poonam Malakondaiah, Health Secretary AP Govt , Kamineni Srinivas, Health Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Dr Jitendar Sharma, Advisor to AP Govt. on Health & Medical Technology (also the head of Technology Division of NHSRC, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GOI ) were part of the meeting. Apart from Rajiv Nath, the industry was represented A Manikam, Director of Trivitron, Rakesh Shah of Siora Surgicals representing the orthopedic implants and Krishna Prasad President of Prognosys Medical Systems represented the Electronic Sector and Suresh Sugavanam V.P. of UL India, the Testing & Certification Fraternity.

DECEMBER 2015

FOOD PROCESSING UNITS to get MAJOR BOOST

n a major step to give a fillip to the food processing sector in the state, the Government of Andhra Pradesh issued guidelines for implementation of the schemes under AP Food Processing Policy 2015-2020, offering various incentives/ benefits to food processing enterprises being set up in the State.

here's what the the policy aims to do

r The scheme aims to facilitate setting

up of integrated food parks, mega food parks, ultra mega food parks, cold chains for agri/ horti/ dairy, meat production, modernisation of abattoirs and units to process waste produced in food processing units in identified clusters.

r The Andhra Pradesh Food Process-

ing Society will be the nodal agency to implement the policy.

r Under the Integrated Food Parks

(IFP) scheme, each project may have around 10 food processing units with a collective investment of around Rs.100 crore, that would eventually lead to an annual turnover of about Rs.200 crore, besides creating direct and indirect employment to about 5,000 people.

r Capital grant at the rate of 50 per

cent of the eligible project cost, subject to a maximum of Rs.20 crore per project would be provided under IFP.

Companies Act.

r The scheme of Mega Food Parks

(MFP) facilitates establishment of a strong food processing industry backed by an efficient supply chain, which would include collection centres, primary processing centres, and cold chain infrastructure.

r The food processing units, under the

scheme, would be located at a Central Processing Centre with needbased common infrastructure required for processing, packaging, environmental protection systems and quality control labs, among others.

r Under MFP scheme, each project

may have around 20 food processing units with a collective investment of around Rs.250 crore that would eventually lead to an annual turnover of about Rs.500 crore and create direct and indirect employment for about 30,000 people.

r The fiscal incentives to be provided

for new food processing units, include 100 per cent reimbursement of Non-Agriculture Land Assessment (NALA) tax, stamp duty and transfer duty paid by the industry. In case of micro-enterprises, 100 per cent VAT/ CST or State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) will be reimbursed for five years.

r For small enterprises, 75 per cent

ownership and management of the IFP would vest with a Special Purpose Vehicle registered under the

VAT/CST or SGST will be reimbursed for seven years and in case of Medium Enterprises and Large Industries, 50 per cent VAT/ CST or SGST will be reimbursed for seven years. v

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r The responsibility of execution,

Foundation Laid For

The Regional Agriculture Research Station at Lam Farm on the outskirts of Guntur city is going to house the Acharya NG Ranga Agriculture University for which the foundation-stone was laid by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh in the presence of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. 18

AN GR A U

ighest priority is being accorded to the agricultural sector in Andhra Pradesh and all efforts will be made to make farming remunerative. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh laid the foundation stone for an agriculture university at Lam Farm in Andhra Pradesh. The university, which is coming up on 500 acres at a cost of Rs 1,505 crore, is one of the institutes of higher learning and research promised by the Centre to the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

at the time of bifurcation. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu urged the Union Agriculture Minister to accord it the status of a central university and make available the requisite funds and facilities. The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to name it Acharya N. Ranga Agricultural University. The Agriculture University of the Undivided State in Hyderabad was known by the same name. Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony, Radha Mohan Singh said DECEMBER 2015

as Andhra Pradesh was a major agricultural state, it would get due importance. He said agricultural universities would have to play a greater role in undertaking research and extension to the fields as technology would play a great role.

Bank. This was announced by the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister. The three institutes will boost the prospects of aquaculture along the coastal region of the State, enabling it to generate an annual income of Rs. 24,000 crore.

The Minister also stressed that there was need to set up a premier agri-education and research institutions in Andhra Pradesh as the residuary state is deprived of several academic and research institutions after bifurcation.

Recalling that the Centre had sought to set up agriculture and related institutions in four states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana and Rajasthan, Singh appreciated that AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had responded with utmost speed, while the proposals in other three states have not made substantial progress.

"We expect that with establishment of this university at Lam, Guntur, the agricultural growth in the region will receive the much needed impetus and will usher in a new era of robust agriculture and a knowledge empowered prosperous farming community," he added. While noting that there were still large productivity gaps in the potential and the realised farm output, he called for developing new technologies to bridge the gap. He said that since agriculture was the primary source of living for 70 percent of the population, technological progress in agriculture was crucial for the overall economic development of the country. He said research institutions and agricultural universities enabled the country to achieve self-reliance in food security. The minister also said the country has 73 agricultural universities and 101 ICAR research institutions were currently serving the farming community. Giving a boost to aquaculture sector in the State, the Centre has sanctioned a Brooder Multiplication Centre for L. Vannanair shrimp for Andhra Pradesh, a Central Institute for Brackish-water Aquaculture (CIBA) regional office in Vijayawada and a Fishery Brood DECEMBER 2015

On the occasion, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the government is setting up different central institutions like IIT, IIIT, IISER in different districts of AP with a view to decentralising development. Noting that the Centre released funds for the backward districts of the state, the minister said it is unfortunate that opposition parties accuse the NDA government of not doing much for Andhra Pradesh. Appreciating the Centre's help to new Andhra Pradesh on various counts after it faced a crisis following state bifurcation, the CM urged that the agriculture varsity near Guntur be given the status of central university. CM Naidu said since 65 percent of the state's population was dependent on agriculture, his government was giving top priority to the sector. He said the State Government had released Rs 23,000 crore under a loan waiver scheme in the State and it had come as a great relief to the farmers. Union ministers Ashok Gajapati Raju, Y.S. Chowdary, several state ministers and public representatives were also present.

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central assistance sought for police infrastructure

he Andhra Pradesh Government has urged the Union Government to extend financial assistance for creating infrastructure and setting up Grey Hounds, OCTOPUS, Police Academy and other police training institutions. Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y. Satyanarayana alias Sujana Chowdary, accompanied by Director General of Police J.V. Ramudu called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delh. They discussed the implementation of Section 8 of the Reorganisation Act as also the division of Schedule IX, X and XI institutions between the two States. The delegation has explained the Union Home Minister about the vacuum in the police training institutions in the new State as all the institutions are located in and around Hyderabad in Telangana. Chowdary is learnt to have asked the Home Ministry to declare the institutions located in Hyderabad as common facilities in the event of the Centre not extending financial assistance to AP. The Union Minister is learnt to have explained Rajnath Singh about certain contradictions in the Reorganisation Act that needed to be rectified. Chowdary has also insisted that the Union Government extend its liberal assistance to Andhra Pradesh where three districts were severely affected by floods. The request comes in the light of the letter addressed by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu seeking release of Rs. 1,000 crore as advance for taking up relief works. The delegation also requested the Union Home Minister to prevail upon the Niti Ayog to expedite its work on according the special status to AP.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A

s I've always said, I believe decentralized development is the way forward for any state or a country that wants to be the next promising global destination. Decentralisation has a range of benefits. This means it not only diminishes the role of the state but fragments it into more intergovernmental model, eventually making it a participative one to include citizens in it. This way of development model will not only make government more responsive but also efficient. Combining decentralised development with technology will not only make public services easily available but also increase the government's ability to many more handle tasks. In order to model Andhra Pradesh's development in a decentralised fashion, our government has outlined district-wise developments,

giving priority to each district, weighing out the strengths and weaknesses of every district. From IT hubs, agro-processing industries to renewable energy or industrial zones, our development plans include all the districts. The coastal districts such as Visakhapatnam have emerged as a major industrial centre which have public and private sector establishments producing large scale industrial goods ranging from steel, metals, petroleum, polymers, fertilizers, heavy engineering equipment and also facilitates ship building, ports and fishing. The Godavari districts, on the other hand, are home to energy resources such as fertilizer refineries and produces large scale of natural gas from the offshore of KG basin. They are also export hubs for aqua and seafood. They are also home to agricultural products like rice and

DE-CENTRALIZED development is key

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

corn, edible oils, oilmeals, processed food products, chemicals, biofuel etc. The Krishna and Guntur districts are well-known for processing of agricultural products, automobile body building, hardware, textile, consumer goods and small scale industries. They will emerge as the agro-processing zones. With the Centre's allotment of National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) to Prakasam, the district will get a major fillip apart from the series of infrastructure planned by the government. Meanwhile, Rayalseema too is roaring on the investments scene in the state. Starting with Ultra Mega Food Park and Oravakal Industrial Hub, it is also home to Sri City SEZ which has global electronics makers like Foxconn, Lava, Micromax, Karbonn, Celkon apart from automobile makers and global FMCG giant like PepsiCo and Britannia. The region is also emerging as the next big renewable energy hub with large solar investments coming into the region from Soft Bank and other players. Anantapur on the other hand will be developed as a horticulture hub. These are just some of our government's massive development plans. We are planning bigger and better investments that will make Andhra Pradesh the best destination globally by 2050, with a focus on decentralised model I also believe that this model will not only lead to reaching out to the poor effectively, especially in remote backward areas but help us targeting success in poverty alleviation programs. This means that social groups like the Self-help groups will become engines of growth and help the government making development inclusive. I'm sure that, with this model, we will set an example for other state and countries to follow us.

â&#x20AC;?

! $ $ Chief Minister, AP DECEMBER 2015

AP ANNOUNCES PORT POLICY

The Andhra Pradesh Government adopted the A.P. Port Policy 2015 that is aimed at harnessing the advantages of the 974km long coastline.

ndhra Pradesh will soon have a dedicated Maritime Board governing the integrated planning, development and monitoring of all ports including concessions to stakeholders. The State Government announced and adopted the A.P. Port Policy 2015 that is aimed at harnessing the advantages of the 974-km long coastline, the third longest in the country which is strategically located to transform the Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision of making Andhra Pradesh a gateway and logistics hub. The State targetted to achieve 15 per cent share in cargo handling by 2019 and 25 per cent by 2025. The State has one major port at Visakhapatnam besides 14 nonmajor port locations: Bhavanapadu, Meghavaram, Kalingapatnam, Bheemunipatnam, Gangavaram, Nakkapalli, Kakinada SEZ, Kakinada Deep Water, Surasena Yanam/Rawa, Narsapur, Machilipatnam, Nizamapatnam, Vodarevu and Krishnapatnam. In addition, the department of ports is taking up limited operations at the Kakinada anchorage port. The new policy seeks to address issues and challenges like diversification of cargo, diversity of locations, increasing strategic depth DECEMBER 2015

of hinterland, enabling marketoriented development and enabling institutional mechanism. The policy has been proposed with objectives of catalysing large-scale manufacturingled economic development making the State the gateway by integrating the country into global manufacturing supply chain. The Government has proposed to make the non-major ports as preferred ports for container cargo from Central and North India besides encouraging greater transparency in port development through private sector. It seeks to ensure efficient and optimal use of scarce and sensitive coastline and other resources keeping in view the future requirements and national security considerations. The policy envisages planning for efficient utilisation of existing port infrastructure, both common use and captive, thereby enhancing the capital efficiency of the investments. The policy seeks to ensure that State support including land allotment and other forms of Government investments are minimised and well targeted to yield maximum value for money. Ports would be considered part of logistics supply chain and accordingly, a supply chain perspecANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

tive would be incorporated in the planning for current ports and future development. The policy lays emphasis on private sector participation in port infrastructure development besides focus on enabling integrated development of ports along with industries and inland infrastructure connectivity. The policy contemplates creation of multi-modal line and evacuation capacities that precede port development besides connecting the ports to the key markets in their primary, secondary and tertiary hinterland. Procurement would be undertaken with the help of RFP/RFQs of Union Shipping Ministry or any other model procurement documents that had competitive models with optimal risk sharing mechanism including the model concession agreements. Under the new policy, ports would operate on commercial and non-discriminatory principles with open access to commercial cargo. Captive ports would be allotted only in exceptional cases and such requests should be supported by appropriate business cases suitably justifying their inability to use existing/upcoming commercial port infrastructure. The policy would be operational from the date of its notification and its provisions would be reviewed and revised at the end of every five years based on the experience of port development functions in the preceding five years. v

The Sinking of the GHAZI Victory at Vizag

t was a fateful night on December 3/4 for the City of Destiny nearly four and half decades ago, a day after the war broke out with Pakisthan in 1971. It was the worst of the nights that shook the city to its marrow. It was the best of the nights that Visakhaptnam survived unscathed. It was the night, when Pakistan’s flagship submarine Ghazi, which was on prowl to strike, met its doom off the city coast with a big bang. The explosion in the sea was so strong that rocked the shore installations, buildings on beach road quivered and even windowpanes of several houses along the beach broke to pieces. Panicked residents on the beach road, jerked in deep slumber in an unearthly hour, ran out of the homes fearing something terrible happening. Ghazi, first ever attack submarine of

Pakisthan, originally Diablo a longrange Tench-class submarine leased from US in 1963. It saw action in 1965 war but did not score any hit. With military scenario what it was in the then east Pakistan in 1971, Pak military chose to deploy it in Eastern seaboard. In his book, “Pakistan’s Crisis in Leadership”, penned in 1972 shortly after the war, Maj General Fazal Muqeem Khan says “The submarine Ghazi was dispatched to the Visakhapatnam Naval Base in the Bay of Bengal. The Ghazi’s task was to carry out offensive mine laying against Visakhapatnam”. Its target was Vikarant, our prized aircraft carrier. Not finding Vikrant, it was to sink any heavy ship at the entrance channel of the harbour, which could bottle up Eastern Fleet units inside the harbour. However Ghazi met its doom with a ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

dreadful bang on the night of December 3/4 –1971. Ghazi sailed form Karachi on 14th November 1971, well before the commencement of hostilities and the outbreak of the war on 3rd December71, under the command of Cdr Zafar Mohammed Khan. Ghazi with 92 officers and sailors traversed the ocean in search of elusive Vikrant. Unbeknown to them Vikrant was in operation in another area, which was kept a guarded secret. Ghazi was to break radio silence and make a coded check report on nearing Srilanka, which it did on 27th November that gave away its presence in Eastern water front. It apparently scoured the Bay of Bengal for Vikrant. Shorn of effective intelligence, it turned towards Visakhapatnam believing that Vikrant was DECEMBER 2015

set on the depth charges and two depth charges were dropped at the reported position. The ship got a heavy jolt after the deafening blasts. Then the ship turned and the area was searched for any sign of a contact. Satisfied that there was no sign of any contact or anything on the surface, the ship resumed course”.

operating off the city coast. It was rather led to believe so thanks to the strategic measures taken under the command of N Krishnan then Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command. Armed with intelligence on its deployment, our naval forces deftly planned their moves. In his book ‘No Way But Surrender – An Account of the Indo Pakistan War in the Bay of Bengal 1971′, Vice Admiral N Krishnan says, “By the time I arrived at the Maritime Operations Room, orders for commencement of hostilities had been received, the shore defences of Visakhapatnam were immediately put on alert and the Coast Battery was brought to First Degree of Readiness”. “I sent for Lt Cdr Inder Singh, the Commanding Officer of the RAJPUT for detailed briefing; as soon as she completed fuelling she must leave harbour. I had already ordered all navigational aids to be switched off, so greatest care in navigation was necessary. Once clear of the harbour, he must assume that an enemy submarine was in the vicinity. If our deception plan had worked, the enemy would be prowling about looking for VIKRANT. Before clearing the outer harbour, he could drop a few charges at random.. “The RAJPUT sailed before midnight of 3/4 December and, on clearing harbour, proceeded along the narrow channel. Having got clear, the Commanding Officer saw what he thought was a severe disturbance in the water, about half a mile ahead. He rightly assumed that this might be a submarine diving. He closed the spot at speed and dropped at the position two charges. It has been subseDECEMBER 2015

quently established that the position where the charges were dropped was so close to the position of the wreck of the GHAZI that some damage to the latter is a very high probability. The RAJPUT, on completion of her mission, proceeded on her course in order to carry out her main mission.” “.. A little later, a very loud explosion was heard by the Coast Battery who reported the same to the Maritime Operations Room. The time of this explosion was 0015 hours. The clock recovered from the GHAZI showed that it had stopped functioning at the same time. Several thousand people waiting to hear the Prime Minister’s broadcast to the nation also heard the explosion and many came out thinking that it was an earthquake” According to Indian Defence Review Lt Cdr Inder Singh recalls “When the ship was half way in the channel, it suddenly occurred to me that “what if the Pakistan submarine which I was looking for the last two days was waiting outside harbour and it torpedoes RAJPUT while disembarking pilot at the Outer Channel Buoy.” I immediately ordered to stop engines, and disembarked the pilot. I slowly increased speed and was doing the maximum speed I could manage by the time I reached Outer Channel Buoy” “Shortly after clearing Outer Channel Buoy at about midnight of 3/4 December, when the Prime Minister was addressing the nation, the starboard lookout reported disturbance of water, fine on the starboard bow. As the ship was already doing maximum speed and nearing the disturbed water patch and since the ship was already closed up at action stations, appropriate depth was ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

“There were a few reasons which prompted me to carry out an immediate attack. First, as stated earlier, I had an intuition while leaving harbour when the ship was in mid channel. Secondly knowledge of a Pakistan submarine in the area, for which RAJPUT had been operating for the last two days to mislead her. Thirdly plain speaking by the FOCINC to me when he had called me to his office on 1st December and told me that RAJPUT mistaken as VIKRANT would be torpedoed by the Pakistani submarine on outbreak of hostilities. And lastly the disturbed water patch made me to think that the submarine had just dived”. Some hold a view that Ghazi was probably laying mines at the entrance of the harbour at depths of 30 meters. Since some of our naval ships were also patrolling the harbour approaches, Ghazi must have had to take evasive measures.In this process, unaware of the strong post-monsoon tides typical of this coast and in its state of pressure and anxiety to finish her task quickly, it came close to its previous track. It was not precisely known, whether Ghazi had hit the mines, earlier laid by it, or was hit by any of the depth charges dropped by our ships in the harbour approaches. At the break of the dawn, local fishermen found the debris and life jackets with markings of PNS Ghazi, being washed ashore. Subsequently, our divers carried out extensive diving and located the wreck of the Ghazi. The front section of it was fully destroyed and no crew survived. However the charts and documents recovered clearly showed the course of its sail from Karachi on its mission. Now, a few remnants of Ghazi in our naval submarine museum at naval base bear a mute testimony to the failed ambition of Pakistan. +

$ !

(

DISTrICT PrOfIle

CHI T T OOR

chittoor district brief proﬁle ►

►

► ►

Chittoor district is a part of Rayalaseema and lies in the extreme south of Andhra Pradesh

The District is bound on the North by Anantapur and Kadapa district, on the East by Nellore district and Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu on the south by north Arcot district of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka States. It is one of the major mango growing districts in the state Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple one of the most famous Vedic temples in located in the hill town of Tirumala,

near Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. It is the richest temple in the world in terms of donations received and wealth, and the mostvisited place of worship in the world.

major rivers

The important rivers in the district are Ponnai and Swarnamukhi rivers which originate in Eastern Ghats.

minerals

Low-grade steatite, quartz, soap stone, Grate road metal ,building stones, and Granite ( in different colors of Black, Pink and Grey) are found in the district. ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

►

Chittoor District’s literacy rate of its urban population is 82.26 per cent which is much above the national average. The district’s literacy rate has grown from 66.77 per cent to 71.53 per cent over the years 2001 – 2011. The district’s population constitutes over 4.94 per cent of the state’s population. The district has a sex ratio of 997 Source: Census 2011, http://www.census2011.co.in/census/district/140-chittoor.html

DECEMBER 2015

chittoor district: key demographics item

units

Figure

Area

In ‘000 Sq. Km

15.1

Population

In Persons

4,174,064

Population Growth (decadal)

11.43

Population Density

(Person/Sq.Km)

275

Urbanization

29.50

Literacy

71.53

educational inFrastructure and human capital perticulars

11348

Private Aided Degree Colleges

7296

industrial base particulars

inVestment (inr crore)

employment (nos.)

Large & Mega Industrial Projects established

3917

36198

Micro Small and Medium Enterprises established

950.95

88139

item

number

Population (Crores)

459,985

Average Daily Pilgrims Population

68,500 people per day

Average Literacy (%)

85.22

Sex ratio

987

The district is divided into 3 revenue divisions Chittoor, Tirupathi and Madanapalli division The district comprises of 66 mandals Connectivity

►

rail network ►

road network ►

Total National Highway network of 609 Km and PWD Road Network of 4366 Km and Panchayat raj road network of 7782 Km

DECEMBER 2015

NH 18,42, 69 are the major national highways that pass through the district Chittoor railway station and Tirupati railway station are major rail stations of the district and are well connected to important nodes, both within and outside the state

airport ►

Ennore port, Chennai at 160 Km via NH205 and NH 716

educational institutes in the district ►

►

administrative structure

►

312 (Number of Institutes)

tirupati city: key demographics

►

port

no. oF institues total students 2014 - 2015 2014 - 2015

Govt. Degree Colleges

Junior Colleges in the State 2013-14

from the district headquarters - Chittoor

►

Tirupati is home to multiple institutions of higher learning. Sri Venkateswara University, AP's first women's university Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam, Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha are located in Tirupati. Additionally Tirupati urban area is home to several colleges and educational institutions. Kuppam houses the Dravidian University. Chittoor district is home to the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) of the Department of Space. The lab is involved in carrying out fundamental and applied research in Atmospheric and Space Sciences.

the temple city ►

► ►

►

One of the largest urban agglomeration in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh One of the major pilgrimage and cultural city in the nation

With its breath-taking scenic attractions and spiritual splendour, Tirupati, the land of Lord Venkateswara, offers an exceptional spiritual retreat Tirupati is a major educational hub in the state with presence of some of the top engineering colleges in the nation With millions of tourists visiting Tirupati every year, the region is a major consumer market in the state The average literacy rate of Tirupati Metropolitan area stands at 85.22% (male 90.76%; female 79.65%) with 356,558 literates. The literacy rate is significantly higher than the national average of 73.00%

Average high °C (°F) 34.48 (94.06) Average low °C (°F) 23.69 (74.66)

Tirupati airport situated at 83 Km

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

TELUGU NATIONALISM NOT STRONG ENOUGH?

There are as many Telugus living outside Andhra Pradesh & Telangana as there are within these two Telugu-speaking states, but unfortunately their Telugu identity has all these years been neither acknowledged nor encouraged, leading to a gradual erasure of their Teluguness, says Marturi Vasanth Naidu, a Telugu from Kongunadu in Tamilnadu. It is time the Telugu media followed the footsteps of their Tamil brethern in highlighting the culture & life of non-resident Telugus, he advocates.

he Tamil media has done a laudable job in covering any kind of achievements of Tamils at national and international level, be it a Tamilian becoming an MLA in Mumbai city, or a Tamil from Andhra Pradesh becoming a minister in Delhi or even the nth generation Tamil origin person becoming a Mayor in a faraway island. The Tamil Media has achieved even more laudable things like getting another sovereign nation to release Tamils from hangman’s noose, even if they were sentenced by the court for alleged unlawful activities. Even if one Tamilain is discriminated in an authoritarian regime, the Tamil media has the heart to voice for their people. Some extreme elements numbering just thousands dictate terms for the 120 crore people in deciding its foreign affairs. This is the power of Tamil and its media. “Pudukottai’s Tamil Selvan is now BJP MLA at Mumbai’s Sion Koliwada”. “Sri Lanka releases five Indian fishermen on death row after Rajapaksa pardon”. The Telugu Media is the exact antithesis of this. The Telugu Media has confined itself in addressing only the lives and deeds of Telugus domiciling in between Adilabad and Pulicat. The apathy shown towards the Telugus living outside this perimeter by the Telugu media has not been documented. If umbilical cord of Tamils can run far and away, why not our Tel-

ugu Media come out of its cocoon and spread its wings for the rights of Telugus around the world. Is it not a mother’s duty to fight for her progeny? My sincere effort here is to discuss and start the debate on why the Telugu media lives in a cocoon and how to metamorphose our protagonist into a saviour of Telugus around the world. To get to the bottom of this problem, let us dig deeper by asking some basic questions. Who do we call as Telugus? Is it a geographical notation? Is it ethnic? Is it a race? Or is it a group of folks speaking one tongue?

the new rulebook

The answer is simple and we have to just copy and paste the rulebook of Tamils here. The clause-1 of the rulebook says if his Tongue speaks Tamil, then he is a Tamilain, even if he lives in Moon and in distress, Tamils have to send a “Nilapayani” (Chandrayaan) to save him.

clause – 1

As per our recommended rulebook, if his tongue speaks Telugu, then he is a Teluguvadu and then our perimeter expands including all the people with Telugu tongue from all over the world. With 16 crore tongues to speak Telugu, we are the largest linguistic community in India. The list of Telugus from all over the world is included in the table. Then comes, the second question, if ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

all these people are Telugus as per rulebook clause - 1, why they are not interconnected like Tamils? The answer is simple - History. But it needs elaborate explanation. The history of Telugus is so complicated that, we find unclaimed imprints of them all over the civilized world. The language is as old as any classical language but from pre-historic time till now, our Telugu is always a “Janabhasha”. Not even once had it become King’s language or religious language. Prakrit, Pali, Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil, Persian, Urdu and English were the Kings’ or Court language, getting all patronage, while the common man spoke his Tongue. When literacy spread in the 20th century, the Telugu populace, was living under various regimes in a very wide spread area and had no means to form a common platform and the large population itself became the weaker point for consolidation. When smaller linguistic groups like Tamils consolidated and had a glorious language movement, the Telugus in these 100 years have split into 10 different states. The biggest losers in the linguistic based state re-organisation were Telugus. The Andra-Telagana population is only 50% of the Telugu people and the balance 50% lives outside its boundary. Basically Telugus have only half of what they deserve.

clause – 2

So our rulebook clause - 2 should be DECEMBER 2015

When literacy spread in the 20th century, the Telugu populace, was living under various regimes in a very wide spread area and had no means to form a common platform and the large population itself became the weaker point for consolidation. When smaller linguistic groups like Tamils consolidated and carried a glorious language movement, the Telugus in these 100 years have split into 10 different states. “Whereever he may live, if he speaks Telugu, then borders do not matter” Then comes the third question, Why Telugu media does not reach out to these other 8 crore Telugus? Is it not a golden opportunity to double their business? Who does not want doubling? The answer is not as simple; thanks to a thing called “script” 8 crore Telugus living outside the perimeter have not been taught the Telugu script. So history played a fetid role again, by splitting and losing the huge populace, Almost 50 percent were denied the Telugu language education and had to learn the the ruler’s language as usual, Telugu is only spoken by the common man living under various King’s courts where they have been taught in Tamil, Kannada, Marati, Odisha and such respective state languages. But here too we have a rulebook, under clause - 3 “Digraphia” ( the use of more than one writing system for the same language). Hindi- Urdu, though both are almost same, Hindi is written in Dev-nagari and Urdu in PersoArabic script. Even better example is Punjabi; Indian side uses Gurumukhi and Pakistan side use Shahmukhi. In south India, the Konkani is written in Devnagari, Kannada and even in Roman scripts. Today text messaging via cell phone or twittering in Internet is done in their own mother tongue. Even colloquial expressions are expressed almost correctly using the Roman alphabets.

clause – 3

So why not our Telugu media start with Di-graphia. For example Telugu can be written using Tamil script and let start communicating and bring them into the stream, slowly, teach the Telugu script and within a generation, you will have one of the largest linguistic literate groups in the world.

clause – 4

The rule says “Localise” For the other media, if local conDECEMBER 2015

tent is casted, it can easily reach the Telugus of that particular area and they will love it. If a channel speaks like them and if it speaks their issues, it is then a Saviour indeed. The Telugu Cinema Industry, even though have very close connections with Tamil, has not even tried one Telugu movie for the Telugus of Tamilnadu, A movie speaking in “Telungu” scripted with local content will definitely reach Telugus of Tamilnadu. As a first step, they can even dub the blockbuster film like “Veerapandiya Kattabomman” a Telugu freedom fighter story in “Telungu”. Imagine Sivaji Ganesan speaking local Kovilpatti Telungu and demanding Jackson Durai ”Vaana Kuruse, Pantta pandi Neekaantikura eeyala – Kisthi”. It will be a blockbuster hit and will create a new market for Telugu cinema industry.

w A Telugu Newspaper can double its readership w A Telugu Channel can double its viewership

w Telugu cinema can have its box office doubled with one

stroke

The last question one should ask is “Do these “Telugus” really want Telugu?

clause – 5

Our rulebook clause -5 says “Telugus always love Telugu”. The answer is straight forward yes. Why should it be otherwise. The thirst for anything Telugu or associated with Andra creates lustful heartbeat among the Telugus of Tamilnadu The fan following for NTR even now is beyond any comprehension. Before the state re-organisation, Telugu films were released directly in most centres along with Tamil copy screening in the present day Tamilnadu,

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

The consolidation starts with communication. The Telugu media has a historic role to play here. Throughout the history, Telugus have not only just survived but multiplied where ever they went, thanks to their constructive way of living and coexistence. and they ran as good as in Krishna Delta. Before independence the spread of literacy was very minimal and only few got educated. The Telugus of Tamilnadu unsurprisingly got learned through their mother tongue Telugu, mostly in Veedhibadi or affluent through private Battraju teachers. After state partition, the education system was completely tamilized, where the two-language policy of the Tamilnadu Govts, left no choice but to pursue education in Tamil or English. Only Hosuru region with an inspiring fight retained the Telugu schools in each village and towns. The thousands of Telugu medium schools were forcibly converted into Tamil schools, even if the majority of the students were Telugus. Within two generations, Tamilnadu has created the largest illiterate graduate mass in the world. Only very few grandmas and grandpas proudly telling they are “Suddha Teluguvadu”. The picture is not bleak as we think; just a day’s class in Telugu Atcharas has created more than 1000 “Sudha Teluguvadus” in 80 villages in Vellore district, and 10 villages in Tirupur district (program in progress). This program of teaching Telugu via Tamil in a day for Telugu speakers by Telugu Vani Trust with very little funds and volunteerism has given us the hope and kindled our minds to aspire even bigger goals. These classes have even created some short story writers and one of them is ready to create pure Telugu words for any technical, scientific and Sanskritised Telugu words. If anybody is ready to fund this Telugu enthusiast he is ready to prepare a Pure Telugu lexicon. If a small trust with volunteers can create a creditable change, why can-

not a mighty media, take up this task, to assist our brethren to learn and thereby create yourself a potential customer, it is a classic win-win situation. So this article tries to start a debate "# # ! "" #

$ # & !

$ $" In Lakhs

state

population

Andhrapradesh

500

Telagana

350

Tamilnadu

300

Karnataka

150

Odisha

Maharashtra

Chhattisgarh

Kerala

Pondicherry

Other States

Srilanka

Mynmar

Singpore

USA/Canada

Europe

Middle East

Australia

South Africa

Caribbean

Malaysia

Others

Total

1600

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.COM

on how to reach the Telugu Diaspora and consolidate the Telugus into one large confederation, where even the Prime Minister of this nation gets decided. With 16 Crore population and 100 Members of Parliament, Telugus can bargain and succeed if such a consolidation is done. Even the GDP of the state will get boosted, due to more contacts, more trade and more business. This is a win-win for both the media and the Diaspora. The Telugus of Tamilnadu sorely need an outlet in media to raise their voice and fights for their rights. The consolidation starts with communication. The Telugu media has a very historic role to play here. Throughout the history, Telugus have not only just survived but multiplied where ever they went, thanks to their constructive way of living and co-existence. Their policy of live and let live have made them the most resilient culture sustaining all kinds of frontal attacks from Aryanisation / Sanskritisation to Muslim invasions. The Telugus have the capacity to assimilate. As the intellectual class, the media has a role to support the right cause. Let the voices of Rangamma of Pappanaickenpalayam, Coimbatore, Thambu Chetti of Vilathikulam, Tirunelveli and Damodhar Reddy of Buccadurai, Chengalpet be heard loud and clear in the homes of Telugus. Let their basic rights to talk, read and write in their Talli Bhasha be proclaimed. Let Telugu Media open its wings. Let Telugus consolidate and let the flag of Telugu pride fly high. +

!#$!

DECEMBER 2015

chief ministerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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.

w w

DECEMBER 2015

Compiled by Shruti

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.COM

AMAZING ANDHRA PRADESH

BORRA CAVES 30

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

DECEMBER 2015

Borra Caves is a gift of nature that is 150 million years young and is a marvellous collection of stalactites, stalagmites and, around it, man's imagination. One of Andhra Pradesh’s most scenic destinations, Araku is known for its picturesque valleys, lush hills, coffee plantations and pleasant weather. But a hidden gem in Araku is the pre-historic Borra Caves, which is located at the height of 1,450 feet above the sea level. They are spread in the Ananthagiri hill ranges of Eastern Ghats. Borra caves are natural caves that are said to have originated from the Gosthani River, which flows through these caves. The caves were created due to the flow of the river over the limestone area. Pressure was exerted by the humic acid in the water on the mineral deposits and the limestone dissolved in the water. The dissolved limestone trickled down drop by drop forming different shapes in the cave. They are said to be more than 150 years old. These wonder caves were discovered by British geologist William King Gorge in the year 1807. However, the local tribals inhabitating in this area have a different story to tell. They say once a cowherd lost his cow while grazing. He soon realized that his cow had fallen down. He got worried, on looking down he found 60 feet deep hole, where he saw his cow was alive and feeding on the grass deep below. This was the time when the tribal had discovered the cave. These million years old caves holds the great religious importance among the Hindus. Deep in the caves there is a ‘Shiva lingam’ above which an idol of a cow (Kamadhenu) is and the river Gosthani springs from the udder of this cow. The entry fee for the adults visiting the cave is Rs 25 and for the children is Rs 15. If you are interested in photography you may take the cameras along with yourself that may cost you Rs 10 and for the video cameras they will charge you Rs 100. The cave remains open to the tourists from 10 am to 5:30 pm. DECEMBER 2015

attractions: a You can take a leisure walk around the Borra caves in the landscape of

rugged and mountainous area. The area holds the rich flora and fauna.

a The limestone area where the cave is found is surrounded by the sev-

eral mica mines.

a The opening of the cave measures upto 100 meters horizontally and 75

meters vertically. The cave is filled with stalagmite and stalactite formations. Different names have been given to the different shapes of these stalagmite and stalactite formations such as Shiv-Parvathi, Motherchild, Human brain, crocodile, Rushi’s Beard, etc.

a Some more interesting structures inside the cave include mushroom

formation, temple, church and many more. You will also see crystal white calcium stones in various forms. Borra caves glitters and illuminates by sixty three lamps of mercury, sodium vapour and halogen.

a Trip to the Borra caves also gives an opportunity to interact with the

tribal people inhabitating the area.

a The valley area of Araku lies at the distance of 15 kms from the cave.

You will also be able to see the Ananthagiri Coffee Plantations, Padmapuram Gardens and Damuku Viewpoint.

how to reach An impressive way to reach the cave is by train. The train is from Vishakhapatnam, which traverses the Eastern Ghats through 30 tunnels and thick vegetation. Journey by car is also as much fascinating; via the Ghat road it takes three hours to reach. And, the nearest airport at Vishakhapatnam.

accommodation The best possible accommodation in all aspects – view, cleanliness, hygiene, security and affordability – is the Valley Resort, owned by the Andhra Pradesh Government. Located amidst lush greenery of Araku Valley, this resort is a yatri nivas that offers air-conditioned suites, non-airconditioned suites and non-air-conditioned deluxe rooms. It is tranquil and peaceful and has well-landscaped gardens to relax, rest and rejuvenate. Shruti Mathur ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

HAPPENING AP

he Central Government has allocated Rs. 1,030 crore to Andhra Pradesh to rescue flood affected people in various districts of the state. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had written a letter to the Central Government seeking help for the rain-hit farmers and he requested to release funds of Rs 1000 crore. The Centre also assured that it would release more funds to help the victims based on the assessment by a team of Central Government officials.

ndhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has asked bankers to extend co-operation in strengthening horticulture and livestock. In a meeting with Suresh N. Patel, Chairman & Managing Director of Andhra Bank and other members, the Chief Minister said that banks continue to ignore horticulture and livestock, even though the allied sectors contribute greater GDP than agriculture. He emphasised on the need to focus on these sectors and said such moves would aid in controlling farmer suicides in the State. Meanwhile, Suresh informed the Chief Minister that Andhra Bank is the ﬁrst bank in India to introduce overdraft via SMS and ATM for Prime Minister’s pet project “Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana”.

ollowing his meeting with Mr. Zhang Zhao CEO of Guizhou International Investment Corporation (GIIC), a delegation called on the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. The delegation headed by Mr. Guan Xiaoqing, Planning Department, Head of Guizhou, has visited Amaravati and capital region. They evinced their interest in extending their fullest co-operation for the development of Amaravati as a world-class capital. GIIC is known for giving Guizhou province an urban facelift with a short span of time. They informed the Chief Minister that they will submit a detailed infrastructure plan in a short span of time along with providing assistance in bringing in big investments to the state.

Hungarian trade delegation met Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. A team from Budapest Water Works, Hungary arrived in Vijayawada to conduct a feasibility study on the water supply system in the city. They have come forward to modernize the state’s water distribution system and ensure every household receives 24X7 water supply. In this regard, the delegation invited oﬃcials from the government to visit Budapest and study their mechanism.

high-level multi-disciplinary committee will be constituted to review enforcement of existing laws for the protection of women and children in Andhra Pradesh. The committee comprising oﬃcials from police, women and child development, transport, IT, education, med-

C E T

ical and health and labour departments will be headed by the Chief Secretary and it will meet every month to review mechanisms in place and their implementation. A set of guidelines have been prepared and approved by the Chief Minister to ensure an atmosphere of safety and security for women and children in addition to monitoring the enforcement of existing laws. NCC and NSS schemes will be made mandatory in all schools to give self-conﬁdence to girls.

hief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said it has been targeted to raise 50 crore plants in the State in the next ﬁve years as part of the government’s resolve to increase the forest cover from the present 23 per cent to 33 per cent. A sum of Rs. 350 crore was sanctioned for development of nurseries and more funds would be released as and when the situation demands, he asserted. The CM said growing of nurseries would be entrusted to self-help groups. Planting of saplings would be taken up from July 1 and wound up at the end of ‘Karthika Masam’ every year to do it in a mission mode.

xcise and B.C. Welfare Minister K. Ravindra said that a Bill to set up Machilipatnam Development Authority (MDA) would be introduced in the winter session of Assembly which will begin from December 17. The Minister said the MDA on the lines of Capital Region Development Authority would be given the task of gathering the 14,500 acres of private for Machilipatnam port and port based industries through land pooling system. He said that from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) would be sanctioned to meet the ﬁnancial constraints to gather the private land.

he Andhra Pradesh government is aiming to complete about eight small or medium irrigation projects at an estimated expenditure of Rs. 15,000 crore over the next two years. The completion of the pending small or medium projects by mobilising the Rs. 15,000 crore would help in a big way in making the state droughtproof.

he Andhra Pradesh government has set a target of constructing 52 lakh toilets in the state in the next four years, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said. While reviewing the 'Swachh Bharat' campaign and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme, he asked the oﬃcials to utilise funds from these two programmes for the construction of 52 lakh individual household toilets in the state in the next four years, according to a release issued by the state's Information and Public Relations Department. He said that out of the eight lakh toilets to be constructed this year, four lakh were already completed and the remaining

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

DECEMBER 2015

were in various stages of progress.

JP announced a financial assistance of Rs 1 crore for the people affected by floods in Andhra Pradesh. Party general secretary Arun Singh made the announcement to this effect.

fter the success of river linking project Pattiseema, which oﬀers 80-100 TMC water from Godavari to Krishna, CM Chandrababu Naidu said that they would also link a third river Penna via Somasila project, which he opined will answer major water-related problems in the state. He futher appealed to the farmers and people to treat water as a precious resource by using only 3-8 metres of ground water, to prevent environmental issues. Besides this, Naidu also said that they would create a 'Smart Water Grid', which would host water-related details, online! The data would include amount of rains, ground water levels, status of reservoirs and other water projects, chances to dig borewells and much more.

n the next six months, all the spring channels will be repaired and focus will be on diverting and conserving the excess water into other feeders for its conservation.Andhra Pradesh has reached a major milestone in energy eﬃciency activities when the number of LED bulbs distributed under Demand Side Management–based Eﬃcient Lighting Programme (DELP) crossed one crore on November 27. It is a world record for distribution of the highest number of LED bulbs in a year, according to press release by State Energy Conservation Mission (SECM) CEO A. Chandrasekhar Reddy.

he governmnets plan to excavate and create a lakh farm ponds in Anantapur district can be termed nothing short of a herculean eﬀort, especially so because the government wants to complete the task in less than four months. The Anantapur district collector Kona Sasidhar, explaining the strategy of the government said that the plan was to ensure that a farm pond of either a size of 10 x 10 x 10 or 5 x 5 x 5 metres was dug at an interval of nor more than 200 metres, covering not less than 25 lakh acres of land.

he Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has submitted plans to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) with regard to the proposed developmental works to be taken up at the ancient Sri Kodandarama Swamy temple at Ontimitta in Kadapa which has been recently brought under its fold.Despite a lapse of three months since the transfer of governance, the TTD could not initiate any kind of developmental activity at the antediluvian temple for it being governed by the ASI.

DECEMBER 2015

he proposed works of the TTD include taking up of immediate repair works to the temple kitchen which is in a highly neglected state (because preparation of ‘naivedhyam’ to the deity and other ‘prasadams’ constitute an integral part of any temple) on a priority basis besides carrying out facelift works to the partially damaged Mukha Mandapam situated in front of the Anjaneya Swamy temple and construction of podium for performing the Kalyanotsavams. In addition to these, the TTD also intends to take up works relating to the construction of restrooms, creating drinking water facilities and setting-up of parking lots which are elementary in nature for attracting the tourists.

ndo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC), National President Dr. Lalit Koanodia with other delegation met Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao over possible bilateral business proposals like connect U.S.A. etc. The delegation informed that the IACC is a non-government, Industry led and Industry-managed organization, playing a proactive role in India’s development process and serves as a much needed link between the business communities of India and the United States of America. They also informed that it is only bilateral Chamber of Commerce in India, which is committed to development Indo-US business and trade relations with Government of Andhra Pradesh.

he Andhra Pradesh government has appointed P. Uday Bhaskar as Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission. Dr. Uday Bhaskar, professor of Civil Engineering and Director of Foreign Universities and Alumni Relations of the JNTU Kakinada, is also director of evaluation at the JNTU-K.

N T

ational Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has decided to give top priority to the backward Srikakulam district to prevent migration of labourers and farmers who have lost hopes with the drought like situation in the last few months. NABARD decided to allocate Rs 5143.23 crore for the year 2016-17, increasing the outlay up to 14 per cent compared to the current ﬁnancial year.

he Guntur Urban Police will soon start issuing e-challans to traffic violators, Superintendent of Police Sarva Srestha Tripathi said. Orders have been placed for 35 cameras, 18 e-challan machines which are to be procured at a cost of Rs. 9.5 lakh, he added. The new system will ensure that some common traffic violations like driving without helmet and jumping the red signal are covered. The Urban Police have started training traffic policemen in batches in the new system.

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

SOCIAL SECURITY PENSIONS

district and category wise physical & Financial releases for the Financial year 2014-15

he Chandrababu Naidu Governement increased the social security pension to an unprecedented five times. While the earlier Government of United AP was spending around Rs 100 crore a month, the present Government of residuary AP has been disbursing around Rs 500 crore a month towards social security pensions, making the it one of the largest such welfare schemes in the country.

category of pension

no of pensions (no. in lakhs)

amount (rs. in crores)

OAP Widow Disabled Weavers Toddy Tappers #

2420987 1338019 538658 75926 10128 3272607

684.67 321.12 323.19 18.23 2.43 0238*53

district

old age

Widow

disabled

Weavers

toddy tappers

total pensioners

Srikakulam

172287

89847

33034

4514

498

300180

Vizianagaram

158482

86310

37230

2623

826

285471

Visakhapatnam

166327

115450

38139

2405

927

323248

East Godavari

250795

149391

64598

8692

2433

475909

West Godavari

197182

87022

43815

3135

1611

332765

Krishna

149004

117241

45275

5048

1970

318538

Guntur

200097

109835

42097

6733

671

359433

Prakasam

192584

84458

33937

7027

128

318134

Nellore

137518

90724

31094

4894

677

264907

Chittoor

230401

120212

45665

5916

112

402306

Kadapa

145505

66570

31019

8999

252113

Anantapur

246068

106293

54403

11802

131

418697

Kurnool

174737

114666

38352

4138

124

332017

131/876

0227/08 427547

64815

0/017

3272607

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.COM

DECEMBER 2015

BUZZ IN BEZWADA

eading by exmaple, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been styaing put in Vijayawada for better monitoring of administration. Vijayawada is now attracting lot of buzz with celebrities ﬂying down to the city to meet the Chief Minister.

pic 1: pic 2: pic 3:

Chief Minister distributing prizes to students during Pritabha Awards function held on November 14. Jana Sena Party chief, ﬁlm actor Pawan Kalyan meets CM at the Camp Oﬃce. Actor Kamal Hassan makes a courtesy call on the Chief Minister.

Regd. No. H-HD-1082/2013-15 Published on: 01/12/2015

APENG/2007/20679

Posting Dt: 6th