Downloaded from ://smartprep.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Andhra-Pradesh-AP... · 10 Telugu Films...

Downloaded from http://SmartPrep.in

smartprep.in

The State IT and Panchayati Raj Minister Nara Lokesh has been takingforward the vision of Chief Minister in reinvigourating villages. Heinitiated several measures to improve the quality of landscapes througheco-friendly practices in select villages. Under the initiative, a ‘best out ofwaste’ unit was set up in Nimmada village in Kotabommali mandal of Srikaku-lam district. The project yielded good results and the village park in Nimmadatotally transformed. The ‘best out of waste’ unit with segregated dry and wetwaste has emerged as a model for the neighboring villages to adapt and learnfrom. The vermicompost produced from the unit is used as manure in theparks to enhance their growth. The natural manure is also supplied to farmersin the district to swap chemical-laden pesticides. A new unit was also set upin Prakasam district at Vaddipadu village of Donakonda mandal. A solid wastemanagement unit was set-up from where vermicompost is sourced. Afterobtaining great results, the eco-friendly practice is being implemented acrossother districts.

Village parksbeautification

withvermicompost

Village parks at Nimmada, Srikakulam district with the plants grown using vermicompost

Best out of waste unit set up at Donakonda mandal, Prakasam district


smartprep.in

C O N T E N T SNatural Farming can createwonders: CM

AP to serve as model inenergy efficiency

Ramco Cements toset up a green fieldcement plant

18

14

15

PV Sindhu breaks jinx 16

TCL, world's largestTV panel maker, comesto Tirupati

5

As part of efforts to createawareness onnatural farming amongfarmers, a nine-day train-ing programme on theprogressive practice wasorganised by the StateGovernment in Guntur.

Happening Andhra

23

632

Tech & Timely actionmitigated Phethai

cyclone loss10

10 TeluguFilmsTo WatchOut ForIn 2019

28

12 AP signs MoU withKIA Motors India

34

Various developments across thestate of Andhra Pradesh.

AmaravatiKnowledge City24

AP Shortchangedin Bifurcation

Lulu global conventioncentre in Vizag in threeyears

CM unveils firstcrest gate of

Polavaram projectFive Pvt Varsities tocome up in State

21

209

Medical Devices Manufac-turing Park launched

CM inauguratesVijayawada’s first

Five-star hotel


smartprep.in

JANUARY 20194

In an important move, the Andhra Pradesh Government has decided torelease White Papers on the progress and development in the Stateduring the last four and half years in the face of almost insurmountablechallenges and uncertainties.

A White Paper is an authoritative and concise statement issued by thegovernment on a specific matter to let people understand the facts behindan issue . Thus the AP Government has begun releasing reports on Statebifurcation, State financial status and growth rate, welfare of farmers, socialempowerment, human resources development, industries and employmentand good governance with a view for providing a holistic perspective onthese issues.

This is an opportunity for the people as well as political parties to evaluatethe performance of the Government after 2014 and appreciate the legacyissues that it had to contend with in order to make meaningful progress.

For example, the White Paper on the implementation of Bifurcation Act onceagain highlighted the glaring anomalies in the bifurcation process. That APreceived only 46 per cent of the estimated revenues of the combined Statewhile accounting for 58 per cent of its population remains a blatant act ofinjustice committed against the residual State. The list of promises made bythe Central Government which were yet to be fulfilled, as enumerated bythe White Paper, should be troubling to all impartial observers.

Despite such arduous beginnings, the Chandrababu Naidu Government hasbeen able to make a difference to the fledgling State through many radicalinitiatives. For example, the White Paper on Agriculture disclosed thatcompared to 3.55 per cent growth rate in agriculture and allied sectorsduring 2014-15, Andhra Pradesh achieved 17.76 percent growth rate in 2017-18. Another White Paper on “Good Governance’’ throws light on thevarious technology-enabled initiatives adopted by the Government tofacilitate easy interface for the citizens to avail a range of services.

The White Papers are intended to spark a debate on both the challengesfaced and the achievements recorded by the Government. The OppositionParties have an opportunity to make a critical assessment of the perform-ance of the Government. However, it is important that all the stakeholdersstand united in putting pressure on the Centre for the full implementationof the promises made in the Reorganisation Act.

Lack of unanimity on this score has already caused immense loss to ourState. The more apathetic we are to this crucial issue, the more wouldAndhra Pradesh suffer in its economic growth.

Ramesh KandulaEditor

EDITORIAL

CommissionerS Venkateswar IISEditorRamesh Babu KandulaExecutive EditorNaresh NunnaAssistant EditorCh Sowmya SruthiCover PageZero Budget Natural Farming

Second Cover Village Parks

Third CoverMonth in Pictures

Fourth Cover‘Mukhya Mantri - Yuva Nestham’

Published by:Information & Public Relations DepartmentGovernment of Andhra PradeshHyderabad - 500 028Ph: 040-23300258Views expressed by various authors in this issue reflect theirpersonal opinions.

DesignKarthik Beesu

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

ANDHRA PRADESHPublished Monthly In English & Telugu

January 2019Volume:14 Issue:8Salivahana Era 1940

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

Let's have a healthy debate


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 5

The efforts of Andhra Pradesh Government tocreate a silicon valley in the Rayalaseema re-gion are bearing fruit. China -based globalconsumer electronics brand TCL, one of theworld's largest TV panel makers, performed theground-breaking ceremony for its upcoming manufac-turing plant at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, on Decem-ber 20. The State Government has provided 158 acresfor the proposed factory. TCL Industries Holdings (Hong Kong) Limitedchairman Li Dongsheng and Chief MinisterChandrababu Naidu along with IT Minister NaraLokesh among others were present for the ground-breaking ceremony. TCL proposes to invest Rs 22billion (Rs 2,200 Crore) on Tirupati plant, over aperiod of time.TCL had signed a MoU with AP's IT department ontheir proposed investment in the state. The companyhas assured employment to 8000 people in a phasedmanner. The manufacturing plant will be set up in arecord eight months time and will have a capacity tomanufacture six million TV sets annually when fullyoperational, according to the company officials.Addressing the gathering on the occasion, CM saidthat Tirupati, the temple town will be attracting morethan 300 billion investments in electronics hardwareindustry in the near future. “It will be a major land-mark in the country. We welcome outstandingChinese companies such as TCL to participate in thedevelopment of Andhra Pradesh and we will work tocreate a favorable business environment here forthem. We look forward to our people enjoying the

brand’s industry-leading products.” The State Government has named Tirupati and adjoin-ing region as silicon corridor in its efforts to make itthe hub of manufacturing of every important compo-nent of electronics and mobile phone equipment.The primary facility of the industrial park is the panelmodule factory, which is the first overseas productionunit of TCL's panel subsidiary Shenzhen China StarOptoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd (CSOT). TCL saidthe industrial park is scheduled to commence manu-facturing in the fourth quarter of 2019.The CSOT panel module factory will produce screensfor TVs and mobile phones, with a designed produc-tion capacity of eight million 22-inch to 55-inch, large-sized TV screens and 30 million 3.5-inch to 8-inch,small-sized mobile screens per year.Chairman and CEO of TCL Corporation, Tomson Lisaid, “India is a strategic market for TCL. The projectwill strengthen our supply chain integration capabili-ties in India and in turn will benefit our local con-sumers, providing them with superior qualityproducts at greater value," he added.Among the upcoming investments, Reliance Grouphad recently announced to establish an electronicshardware park in 150 acres at Tirupati for makingmobile phones, TV sets among other devices at acumulative investment of Rs 150 billion. The Chinesemobile phone brand Xiaomi's manufacturing partnerHolitech is also setting up a manufacturing facility toproduce mobile phone camera modules and TV panelsat Tirupati.

TCL, world's largest TV panel maker, comes to Tirupati

v

s Plant will be set up in arecord eight months time

s Capacity to manufacture sixmillion TV sets annually

s The manufacturing facilityaims to provide close to8000 jobs

s The plant will be set up in asprawling 158 acre land


smartprep.in

6 JANUARY 2019

The Andhra Pradesh Government has released aseries of white papers to highlight the achieve-ments during the last four years despite enor-mous amount of challenges faced by the State.The first of these white papers was the cloak-and-daggermanner in which the AP Reorganisation Act was draftedand its non-implementation in several respects.The bifurcation of the undivided state was "unscientific"and it resulted in AP losing the economic powerhouse andcapital - Hyderabad, thus losing a large-scale industrialbase, the white paper read."Lack of adequate and serious consultations with keystakeholders, absence of consensus amongst key politicalparties, lack of transparency, despite series of agitationsfrom people, scant regard was shown to their feelings/as-pirations. Lack of transparency surrounding the reorgani-sation process and the frenetic pace with which theprocess was carried out by the then UPA-led central gov-ernment had caused serious disenchantment amongstpeople of Andhra Pradesh," it read.It said that in the bifurcation, the State received only 46per cent of the estimated revenues of the combined statewhile accounting for 58 per cent of its population. Assetswere allocated on location basis whereas debt liabilitieswere distributed on population basis, it said. "Refund oftaxes is to be shared between Andhra Pradesh and Telan-gana on population basis (58.32 : 41.68) whereas deferredtax collections have been allocated on location basis. Thishas caused a loss of about Rs 3,800 Crore. It also has nocapital city for the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh," itread.The white paper listed the promises made by the centralgovernment which were yet to be fulfilled. These includethe establishment of greyhounds training centre, increaseof seats in the AP Legislative Assembly, development grantfor seven backward districts covering Rayalaseema andnorth coastal region, Polavaram irrigation project, tax in-centives, central support for creation of new capital city,creation of educational institutions etc. The paper saidthat the state government would continue to put pressureon the Centre till all provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act, 2014 and the assurances of the PrimeMinister are achieved. Details of the White Paper:Unscientific Division of Andhra Pradesh StateLack of adequate and serious consultations with the key

stakeholders, absence of consensus amongst key politicalparties, lack of transparency and cloak and dagger modeof drafting the Bill characterised the process of enactment.Despite series of agitations from the people, scant regardwas shown to their feelings / aspirations. Lack of trans-parency surrounding the reorganisation process and thefrenetic pace with which the process was carried out bythe then UPA led central government had caused seriousdisenchantment amongst people of Andhra Pradesh.The bifurcation of State resulted in Andhra Pradesh losingthe economic powerhouse and capital Hyderabad devel-oped by successive Governments for nearly seven decades,lack of large scale industrial base, absence of central insti-tutions and left a deep sense of hurt and anguish in the 5crore population of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act2014 – Injustices done to Andhra PradeshThe inconsistencies in the Re-organisation Act and the ac-tions of the Government of India causing injustice to thestate of Andhra Pradesh are:w The State received only 46% of the estimated revenuesof the combined State while accounting for the 58% ofits population which was also confirmed by the 14thFinance Commission.w Assets were allocated on location basis whereas debtliabilities were distributed on population basis.w In power sector, power consumption has been adoptedas the basis of distribution which is detrimental to APstate. w Refund of taxes is to be shared between Andhra Pradeshand Telangana on population basis (58.32 : 41.68)whereas deferred tax collections have been allocated onlocation basis. This has caused a loss of about Rs.3,800Crores.w No capital city for the residuary State of Andhra Pradeshw Undivided loan liability of more than Rs.33,478 Crorehas been put in the books of accounts of AndhraPradesh, burdening the State with discharge of liabilityalong with interest, pending division. This has adverselyimpacted FRBM limits of Andhra Pradesh as well.w Despite Singareni Collieries being a Schedule IXCompany, Telangana State has been allocated 51% eq-uity of the company on location basis.

White paper on implementation of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014 and the connected assurances.

AP SHORTCHANGED through Bifurcation


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 7

Status of Implementation of Provisions of theAndhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014Main Sections of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014There are 14 assurances in the main sections of theAndhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.w Fully implemented – 0w Partly implemented –5 (Special Development Packagefor 7 districts; Polavaram; Educational Institutions andInfrastructure Projects; Tax incentives, Support for Capi-tal)w Not implemented –9 (Greyhounds; APLA seats; Divisionof properties of A.P. Bhavan; Apportionment of Tax ar-rears, loans and refunds; Government of India referenceunder Sec. 66; Apportionment of Schedule IX Govern-ment Companies and Corporations; Bifurcation ofSchedule X Institutions; Bifurcation of Schedule X Insti-tutions; River Management Boards)Establishment of Greyhounds TrainingCentre [Section 9]Detailed proposal costing Rs. 858.37 Crore sent toMinistry of Home Affairs, Government of India for replica-tion of existing Greyhound infrastructure and training fa-cilities in Andhra Pradesh. Ministry of Environment,Forest and Climate Change (M/o E,F&CC), Government ofIndia granted In-Principle approval of the Stage –I Clear-ance for diversion of 2087.09 hectares of land for estab-lishment of Greyhounds Training Centre etc. StateGovernment has sent compliance report for the diversionland to M/o E,F&CC, Government of India. The M/oE,F&CC, Government of India was requested to accordearly approval for Stage-II, since it is said that Governmentof India will release the approved amount of Rs. Rs.219.16Crore after handing over possession of the land. Increase of Seats in A.P. State LegislativeAssembly [Section 26]Section-26 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,

2014 provides for increase of existing seats from 175 to225 in the A.P. Legislative Assembly. Proposals were fur-nished on 29.09.2016. This issue is pending for a longtime with Government of India.Changing its stand thatconstitutional amendment is in process the Governmentof India has now informed that till the year 2026 this in-crease cannot be done.Development Grant for 7 backward districtsof the State covering Rayalaseema and NorthCoastal Region [Section 46(2) & (3) and 94(2)]The then Hon’ble Prime Minister assured on the floor ofRajya Sabha on 20.02.2014 for providing backward areasof Andhra Pradesh, a special development package on thelines of K-B-K and Bundelkhand model. A proposal forRs.24,350 Crores was submitted to Govt. of India in Octo-ber 2014, after consultations with the then Planning Com-mission, implementable for 5 years. However, the Govt. ofIndia has agreed to give Rs.350 Crores every year @ Rs.50Crore per each of the 7 districts. The Government of Indiahas so far released Rs.1050 Crores for the years 2014-15,2015-16 and 2016-17. Govt. of India had released Rs.350crores on 09.02.2018 but took back the same unilaterallyon 15.02.2018 without consulting State Government. Fur-ther, no funds under Special Development Package havebeen released to Andhra Pradesh in 2017-18 and 2018-19so far, in spite of specific request made by Govt. of AndhraPradesh for release of Rs.700 Crore for the years 2017-18and 2018-19 and recommendation from NITI Aayog toUnion Finance Ministry (vide OM No.O14015/18/2015-SP-S, dt.08.11.2018) to release the same, to keep up thepace of works already grounded.The Government of India has recently released Rs.450Crores to Telangana Government under Special Develop-ment Package. Government of India was requested to im-mediately release the Rs.700 Crores for the years 2017-18and 2018-19 to keep up the pace of works alreadygrounded, as 25,007 works costing Rs.1641.50 crores aretaken up, of which 14,512 are completed, 5,364 works arein progress and Utilisation Certificates for an amount of


smartprep.in

8 JANUARY 2019

Rs.1049.34 Crores are submitted to Government of India.Polavaram Project [Section 90]Polavaram is the life line of AP People and as of now, 62.53percent of the work has been completed and strenuous ef-forts are being made to complete the project by 2019.Total expenditure incurred on Polavaram project underNational Project upto 15th December 2018 is Rs.10,069.66Crores. Out of this, an amount of Rs.6727.26 Cr has beenreleased to Govt. of Andhra Pradesh by Government ofIndia. The balance amount of Rs.3,342.40 Cr is still to bereimbursed by the Government of India. No funds are re-leased for the last four months by Government of India to-wards reimbursement of funds already spent by the StateGovernment resulting in strained State finances. As per theorders issued by the Ministry of Finance, Government ofIndia Vide F.No.1(2)/PF-1/2014(pt), Dt.30.09.2016, re-vised cost of the Project at the price level as on 01.04.2014has been submitted to Central Water Commission (CWC)on 16.08.2017. Government of India in reply to RajyaSabha Question No.788 has answered on 17.12.2018 that“As informed by the Central Water Commission, State Gov-ernment had submitted the second revised Estimate ofPolavaram Irrigation Project (PIP) amounting toRs.57940.86 crore at 2013-14 PL. Land Acquisition, Reha-bilitation and Resettlement (LA, R&R) are part of irriga-tion component of the Project. Provision for LA, R&R inrevised estimate of the project is based on Right to FairCompensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Re-habilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. Actual rise in coston account of LA and R&R over previously approved costdepends upon finalisation of revised cost estimates of theproject.” Government of India has been requested to ap-prove revised cost estimates for Rs.57,940.86 Crores expe-ditiously and ensure seamless reimbursement of moneyspent by the State Government to avoid interest burden.Tax incentives [Section 94 (1) and (2)]A proposal seeking special package of incentives , topromote industrialisation and economic growth wassubmitted to Govt. of India under Section 94(1) of APReorganisation, Act 2014 on 26.06.2014 and till date noaction is taken on this.Government of India vide CBDT Notification issued inSeptember 2016, notified seven districts for availing taxincentives - 15% of higher additional depreciation and15% of investment allowance on the cost of plant andmachinery acquired under section 32 (1)(iia) and section32AD of the Income-tax Act, in respect of any manufactur-ing undertaking set up during the period from 01.04.2015to 31.03.2020. However, these incentives come underSection 94 (2) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014. These benefits given under Income tax Act havebeen extended for development of backward areas across

various States like Telangana (9 Districts) West Bengal (11Districts) and Bihar (17 Districts), that too before givingthe benefit to 7 backward districts of Andhra Pradesh.Moreover, it is common knowledge that these incentivesdo not attract industrial investments and the orders issuedby Government of India are mere eyewash. State Government requested Government of India to giveTax incentives proposed in letters of Hon’ble Chief Minis-ter addressed to Union Finance Minister and Union Com-merce Minister separately on 26.06.2014, to ensurespeedy industrial growth and give fillip to economy. Theseincentives include 1. GST-Reimbursement up to the extentof Central Govt. share of CGST and IGST for 5 Years; 2. Re-imbursement of Centre's share of income tax for first 5years; 3. 30% of the investment in Plant & Machinery withan upper limit of Rs.5 Crore; 4. 3% on working capitalcredit advanced; 5. Reimbursement of 100% insurancepremium on insurance for 5 years; and 6. Transport andEmployment subsidy etc. These incentives are being pro-vided to all the 11 Special category States. There is no pos-itive response so far from Government of India.Central Support for creation of new CapitalCity [Section 6 and 94(3) & (4)]Under a unique ‘Land Pooling Scheme’ devised by Govern-ment of Andhra Pradesh, farmers handed over 33,000Acres of land valued at more than Rs.50,000 Cr for theconstruction of greenfield capital Amaravati. Provisionalestimates indicate that it would require about Rs.1,09,023Cr to construct Greenfield Amaravati City including the RajBhavan, Secretariat, High Court, Legislative Assembly andCouncil along with trunk infrastructure and land develop-ment. Detailed Project Report for the Amaravati Govern-ment Complex and Infrastructure including the LegislativeAssembly, High Court, Raj Bhavan, residential quarters forMinisters, Secretariat, Government housing for employeesand other infrastructure for a total of Rs.39,937 Cr wassubmitted to Government of India, for release of fundsunder Section 94(3) of Andhra Pradesh ReorganisationAct, 2014. Currently, 56 projects costing Rs.48,115 Croresare taken up in the Capital City region and 32 projectscosting Rs.26,600 Crore are under execution, 6 projectscosting Rs.10,167 Crore are at tendering stage and 18projects costing Rs.11,352 Crore are at pre-tender stage.Government of India has released Rs.1,500 Cr. during theyears 2014-17 and no funds were released in 2017-18.Even the assured amount of Rs.1000 Crore more is not re-leased so far. State Govt. submitted utilisation certificatesfor Rs.1632.48 Crore. Government of India was requestedto provide adequate funds for the development of Capitalcity of Amaravati as there is a statutory duty cast on itunder section 94(3) of the Andhra Pradesh ReorganisationAct, 2014.

v


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 9

The Andhra Pradesh State Cabinetapproved AP Wind, Solar Hybrid PowerPolicy 2018. The policy is aimed atencouraging hybrid renewal energy proj-ects in the State and thus generate 18,000 MWrenewable energy by 2021-22. The Governmenthas set a target that Andhra Pradesh should beable to generate 10% of the total renewable energygenerated in the country.The Cabinet also decided to bring out a new policyto replace the existing AP Wind Policy-2015, APSolar Policy 2015 with a focus on clean energy. Theproposed policy aims at achieving 5,000 MW ofsolar power in the next five years. The Cabinetapproved Industrial Development Policy 2015-20to promote mega projects by providing incentives.Disclosing the details of the meeting, Informationand Public Relations (I&PR) Minister Kaluva Srini-vasulu said that the Cabinet decided to increase thesubsidy under Adarana II from the existing 70% to90%. Over eight lakh families would stand to bene-fit. It would impose a burden of Rs 195 crore onthe government. The Cabinet also approvedamendments to beneficiaries’ eligibility, he said.The Cabinet cleared the proposal for establishingfive private universities in the State. With this, thetotal number of private universities would touch16 in the State. Apollo University at Murakambattu

in Chittoor district, Global University at Tirupati bythe Centre for Developmental Education, TechnoIndia University by Techno India Group at Kapulu-paada in Visakhapatnam, Anisha Rubica UnitedWorld University in Intelligent Global Hub for Digi-tal Pedagogies by Anisha United Education Societyat Visakhapatnam, Om Sri Gayatri ViswakarmaUniversity by VED Society at Ongole were ap-proved.In Addition, AP Fisheries and Oceanography Uni-versity would come up at Bhimavaram under pub-lic-private partnership, he said.Maritime Infra CorporationThe Minister said that AP Maritime InfrastructureDevelopment Corporation would be established todevelop ports and shipyards. The governmentwould send a proposal to the Central governmentfor encouraging zero budget natural farming at acost of Rs 2,046 crore in the State, he said.Upgrading the post of 610 grade II language pun-dits as school assistants, promotions to 2,585 po-lice constables (civil) as head constables, 2,019head constables and 566 ASIs and creation of threecategories of posts numbering 35 for the imple-mentation of Andhra Pradesh Irrigation and liveli-hood improvement project Phase II were some ofthe other decisions, he added.

The proposed policyaims at achieving5,000 MW of solarpower in the next fiveyears. The Cabinetapproved IndustrialDevelopment Policy2015-20 to promotemega projects byproviding incentives.

Five Pvt Varsities to come up in State Cabinet approves hybrid energy policy

v


smartprep.in

JANUARY 201910

Phethai cyclone losses were mitigated in AndhraPradesh because of effective use of technology,Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said. Bet-ter preparedness with accurate and timely in-formation has helped in preventing loss of lifeand minimising damage to property, he pointed out. He ap-preciated Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) for its ac-curate forecast and coordination and officials in districtsfor effectively handling the situation.The CM conducted an aerial survey of cyclone Phethai-hitEast Godavari, West Godavari, and Visakhapatnam districts.After the visit, the CM said losses to a maximum extentwere avoided with advance preparation and preventivemeasures in place.Paddy crop in 2,189 hectare and horticulture in 30 hectarewere affected. As regard to total crop loss, he said it isbeing assessed and a clear picture will emerge soon. “Com-pensation will be paid as per norm and that too in real-time, without delay. I have asked the officials to do theneedful,” he assured. He said there was 16 cm average rainfall between Decem-ber 17 and 18 and more than 6 cm rainfall was recorded at172 places with highest being in Araku Valley (25.9 cm) fol-lowed by Tallarevu (17 cm). The Chief Minister said 17mandals were affected in the district and normalcy was re-stored in these mandals in a very short time. Damaged celltowers and roads were also restored within a short dura-tion, he added. He pointed out that heavy rains under the influence ofPhethai has, in fact, helped Visakhapatnam, which is facinga drinking water problem. He said Yeleru reservoir was fullto the brim like never before — water from the Godavaririver in cyclone affected area and the rain helped in makingthe miracle possible. “There is no compromise with regard to extending help tothe affected people. We are going to hand over assistance tothe tune of Rs 2,000 each to fishermen who are unable toventure into the sea and build pre-fabricated houses forthose who have lost their shelter,” he said while interactingwith fishermen from Bhairavapalem in Polavaram mandal.

The CM recalled that he was the first to respond when amajor cyclone hit the district way back in 1996. “Even now,I have conducted teleconferences with the officials and is-sued instant orders to minimise the losses. We are the onlygovernment that reaches out to the victims on time duringcalamities,” he said.Observing that the RTGS provided accurate informationabout the cyclone as compared to the India MeteorologicalDepartment, the CM said that the government was able tomake optimum use of the technology. Construction ofabout 200 pre-fabricated houses and distribution of the fi-nancial help would begin very soon, the CM said. The ChiefMinister distributed relief kits to fishermen from UppadaKothapalli at a programme held at Suryaraopeta commu-nity hall.Krishna suffers extensive crop lossStanding crop on about 9,400 hectares, including paddy on5,267 hectares, has been badly affected across Krishna dis-trict due to cyclone Phethai that hit the Kakinada coast.TheHindu quoted District Agriculture Department Joint Direc-tor T. Mohana Rao that ground-level staff had been de-ployed for enumeration of crop loss.Maize crop on 2,000 hectares, tobacco on 276 hectares andcotton on 270 hectares and groundnut on 135 hectareshave been damaged, according to information received tilldate. Horticulture Department Assistant Director B.Dayakar Babu, quoting preliminary reports, said horticul-ture crops, including banana, have been damaged on morethan 1, 500 hectares.Heavy rains batter SrikakulamHeavy rains caused by Cyclone Phethai battered most ofSrikakulam district, causing much distress in a region thatis yet to fully recover from the destruction caused byCyclone Titli in mid-October. Power supply was cut to partsof Srikakulam town, Tekkali, Itchapuram andAmadalavalasa among others. Officials were relieved asthere was no loss of life or extensive damage to property.The district received 249.2 mm of rainfall. Among the 13divisions of Palakonda, Vangara received 44.8 mm of rain-

TECH & TIMELY ACTIONmitigated Phethai cyclone lossBetter preparedness with the help of Real Time Governance tools and accurate andtimely information has helped in preventing loss of life and minimising damage toproperty, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said.


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 11

fall. Regidi Amadalavalasa received 14.8 mm rainfall. Out of13 mandals in Srikakulam division, Ranasthalam received11.2 mm rainfall. In Tekkali division, Kotabommali received5.8 mm and Jalumuru received 5.2 mm of rainfall. Theother 10 mandals received rainfall ranging between 2 and4 mm. The district headquarters received 6.6 mm of rainfallbetween 8.30 am and 4 pm.Heavy rain in GunturHeavy rain caused by Cyclone Phethai pounded most partsof the district, bringing life to a standstill. District CollectorKona Sasidhar said the district received 18.9 cm of rainfall.Tsundur mandal received the highest rainfall of 9.3 cm fol-lowed by Pittalavanipalem (8.6 cm) and Vemuru (8.7 cm).Sixteen mandals received rainfall in excess of 5 cm. Paddyfarmers near Tenali were distraught after their crop whichwas nearing harvest was inundated by the rains.Coastal mandals of Bapatla, Repalle, and Nizampatnambore the brunt of the cyclone. Over 20 families living in a

colony at Mangalagiri were evacuated following inunda-tion. About 80 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were rescued bylocal marine police at Repalle and were lodged at a cycloneshelter in Lankavanidibba village.Prakasam benefitsCyclone Phethai has spared the Prakasam coast of devasta-tion, but the weather system has brought the much-neededrains to the coastal mandals bringing cheer to farmers inthe district, which has been reeling under drought for thefifth year in succession. The prospects for a good wintercrop have brightened, thanks to rains induced by Gaja andPhethai and a low pressure in between,” officials said. Thecoastal mandals on an average received 20 cm rainfall giv-ing impetus to cultivation of, among other winter crops,bengal gram, tobacco and black gram, he said after takingstock of the post-Phethai situation.

v

Better use of technology enabled the State Governmetn to minimise losses in the wake of Phethai cyclone that hit coastal Andhra in December.


smartprep.in

12 JANUARY 2019

Visakhapatnam is set to emerge as amajor hub for manufacture of medicaldevices in the country. The AndrhaPradesh MedTech Zone Ltd (AMTZ), anultra modern medical equipment manufacturing& testing facility, open to manufacturers &innovators was formally launched in Decemberby Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.The MedTech Zone will meet the requirements ofthe domestic market as well as the export market,according to the Chief Minister. Speaking at theinaugural session of the fourth WHO GlobalForum on Medical Devices after dedicating the APMedtech Zone to the nation, he said 80-90 percent of the medical devices in the country wereimported and most of them could bemanufactured at the AP Medtech Zone and evenexports could be taken up at a later stage. The park will give a tremendous boost to themedical devices segment in the healthcareindustry, he added. He complimented CEOJitendar Sharma for his hard work in completingthe first phase of the park in a year's time.AMTZ envisions to put India on the global map ofhigh end medical equipment production and

make health care products affordable andaccessible not only for India but for also world atlarge.The CM said it was the first time the WHO GlobalForum on Medical devices was being held in thecountry and he thanked the WHO representativeHenk Bekedam for choosing Visakhapatnam andAP Medtech Zone for the purpose. He offered tohost it the next time as well. The zone will provide for capital intensivescientific facilities required by most medicaldevice manufacturers and more than 200 modernstate of the art independent manufacturing units.The AMTZ, in 270 acres in two phases, will be ahub for manufacturing medical devices in thecountry. The first phase has been completed at acost of Rs 450 Crore and the second phase will becompleted at a cost of Rs 110 Crore. From thermometer to CT scan machines, allmedical tools will be manufactured and tested atthe AMTZ. The facilities include the largest 3Dprinting centre, bio-material testing, X-ray tubetesting, pro- typing, rapid tooling, CT Scan tube,largest gamma sterilisation plant for medicaldevices, R&D specialists and skill specialists. The

India’s first government fundedmedical devices manufacturing park launched

Around 240 companieswill manufacture med-ical equipment at theAndhra PradeshMedtech Zone (AMTZ),generating 25,000jobs, after its comple-tion. The first phase ofthe AMTZ was inaugu-rated by Chief MinisterN Chandrababu Naiduat Pedagantyada inVisakhapatnam inDecember 2018.


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 13

AMTZ also has two world-class incubation facilities forinnovators and start-ups in the field. Also 18 laboratorieswill be set up. With good scope for manufacturing of medical equipment,by 2030 India will have chances of getting $40 billionmarketing opportunities. Addressing representatives from90 countries, Naidu urged them to invest in the AMTZ. Asper the National Medical Devices Manufacturing Policy2015, he said investors in the AMTZ would getpermissions through single window process. Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini KumarChowbey congratulated the AP government for setting upthe Medtech Zone and said the Centre had also played itspart in setting up two incubation centres in the zone. Hesaid the NDA government was giving a lot of importanceto healthcare and it had taken up the Ayushman Bharat

insurance scheme for the poorer sections.Poonam Malakondaiah, Principal Secretary, Health, AP,said all facilities had been set up in the park formanufacturing, testing, and certification of medicaldevices in the park and from a simple thermometer to CTscans could be manufactured there. She said the productrollout from the park would begin next month. Jitendar Sharma, CEO and MD of AP Medtech, said that in alittle over a year’s time the first phase of the park hadbeen completed, as the Chief Minister had given allcooperation and cleared all the hurdles in the constructionof the park. He said India is importing medical devicesworth Rs 30,000 Crore a year and the park would play abig role in import substitution. Later, exports could also betaken up. The greatest emphasis would be on quality control, with18 high-end industrial labs in the park.Eighty units, including 17 start-ups, havealready started functioning, he added.AMTZ organised a mega businessconference meeting ‘MedAsia BusinessForum’ attended by over 200 medicaldevice manufacturers, OEM facilitators,MSMEs, innovators, start-ups, designsolutions, venture fund managers andgovernment entities. The brandambassador for AMTZ, Indian CricketerVirender Sehwag roped by the APGovernment, was present in the conferenceand offered his support to the initiatives ofAndhra Pradesh. AMTZ signed two MoUsone with BioRx Ventures for promotinginnovations, prototypes and all intellectualproperty in MedTech and Inkoolu PrivateLimited, a design solutions entity formedical technologies at AMTZ. India’s first government funded medicaldevices manufacturing park inked formalagreements with two companies for whichlayout has been approved and constructionhas started. The park which also housesfour medical device testing centres with 18different types of testing facilities underone roof booked 28 companies out of total45 companies in the first phase.v

The AMTZ, in 270 acres in two phases, will be a hub for manufacturing medical devicesin the country. The first phase has been completed at a cost of Rs 450 Crore and thesecond phase will be completed at a cost of Rs 110 Crore.


smartprep.in

14 JANUARY 2019

AP toserve asmodel inenergyefficiencyAndhra Pradesh is leading the country in innova-tive energy efficiency management. Recognisingthe State’s initiatives in this regard, the Bureau ofEnergy Efficiency (BEE) is now taking the helpof Andhra Pradesh to implement its five-pronged strategyto make India an energy efficient country. The BEE has invited AP to showcase its best practices infirst-ever energy efficiency training week for India in col-laboration with (IEA) in Delhi. The programme is aimed atbuilding capacity among Indian policy makers at all levelsof governance.Abhay Bhakre, director-general of BEE, has praised AP forits “excellent performance on energy efficiency front at na-tional level. The primary energy demand in India is ex-pected to increase from 770 million toe (tonne of oilequivalent) in 2012 to 1500 million toe by 2030.According to an official release, Abhay Bhakre invitedAndhra Pradesh to participate and showcase its best prac-tices on the energy efficiency front. In a teleconferencewith principal secretary for Energy Ajay Jain and otherofficials, Bhakre said that as a front runner state in energyefficiency index, Andhra Pradesh was exhibiting excellentperformance at national level.“AP is working with a passion towards implementing en-ergy efficiency measures and has become a role model forother states by implementing programmes. We are invit-ing AP to participate in the first-ever energy efficiencytraining week for India and asking to share its best prac-tices with others,” Bhakre said.Stressing the need of implementing energy efficiencymeasures on a priority basis in all states, Bhakre said theprimary energy demand in India has grown from about450 million tons of oil equivalent (toe) in 2000 to about770 million toe in 2012. It is expected to increase to some-where between 1250 (estimated by IEA) and 1500 milliontoe by 2030, he said. The average annual energy supply in

India in 2011 was only 0.6 toe per capita, whereas theglobal average was 1.88 toe per capita. In this connection,he said, the BEE had drawn a 3-year action plan in the pastto present a set of concrete activities which would en-hance the energy savings to 10% by 2018.LED street lighting in all villages of State Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed the officialsconcerned to take steps to complete the 100 per centretrofit of street lights with LEDs in all villages in the Stateby Sankranti. In a teleconference with Energy and Panchayat Raj depart-ments during the recent District Collectors’ conference,the Chief Minister said that the government was workingto create a world record in LED street lighting by complet-ing installation of around 27 lakh lights.Stating that the State started the new LED revolution inthe country by starting an LED programme in Visakhapat-nam after cyclone Hud-Hud, the CM said, “We are champi-ons at the national level by completing the project in morethan 50 per cent of the villages in the State. We have cre-ated a record of sorts by completing the LED street light-ing programme in six districts — East Godavari, WestGodavari, Vizianagaram, Chittoor, Kadapa, and Anantapur,”he said, appreciating Panchayat Raj, Municipal Administra-tion and Energy departments for scaling up the LED pro-gramme.Panchayat Raj minister Nara Lokesh said the State stood asthe front-runner with 33 per cent of streetlights in thenational LED map (both urban and rural) followed by Ra-jasthan, Gujarat, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi.AP alone has retrofitted 18.81 lakh LED streetlights invillages till date. He also said the State would achieve anannual energy saving of 300 million units with a monetarybenefit of Rs 180 crore per annum by completing all the 27lakh LED street lighting in village panchayats.

v

The beach road in Visakhapatnam with LED lights.


smartprep.in

v

JANUARY 2019 15

The Ramco Cements Ltd, a prominent cementproducer in the country, would set up a 3.15MTPA green field cement plant in AndhraPradesh. The company would invest around Rs1500 crore in the new plant. The company is alsomaking another Rs 2.5 billion in its grinding capacity inthe state. Total capex, including these projects, would be,around Rs 3430 Crore by end of 2020, said companyofficials.With investments, the capacity in Andhra Pradeshwould be close to 10 MTPA, making the company thelargest Cement Manufacturer in Andhra Pradesh.Foundation stone for the new plant was laid by ChiefMinister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu inDecember, 2018. The plant will come at Kalavatala,Kolimigundla Mandal, Kurnool District at an investmentof around Rs 1500 Crore.The company proposes to expand its clinker capacityfrom 3.10 MTPA to 4.60 MTPA along with Waste HeatRecovery System (WHRS) of 27 MW at its Jayanthipuramplant in Krishna District at a cost of Rs 740 crore. Thisproject is expected to be commissioned in March 2020.The company is also expanding its grinding capacity atVizag by another 1 MTPA with the investment of Rs 250

crore for increasing the capacity from 0.9 MTPA to 2MTPA. It is expected to be commissioned in March 2020.The company said that environment clearance has beenobtained for the proposed plant. The required mininglease for the proposed plant is in place. This project isexpected to generate direct employment of 300 peopleand indirect employment of around 1000 people.The company is also embarking upon its expansion of itsgrinding capacities in Eastern States viz., Odisha andWest Bengal. In Odisha, the company is establishing agreen field grinding plant with a capacity of 0.9 MTPA ata cost of Rs 515 Crore with Railway siding facility.This is expected to be commissioned by September2019. The company is also expanding its grindingcapacity in Kolaghat, East Midnapore district, WestBengal from 0.9 MTPA to 2 MTPA at a cost of Rs 425crore with Railway siding facility. This unit is expectedto be commissioned in April 2019.With the above capital expenditure plan of Rs 34.30billion, the Ramco Cements Limited is set to reach thecement capacity of 20 MTPA by end of year 2020. Theproposed capex is expected to be funded largely throughinternal accruals and balance through borrowings.

RAMCo CEMENTS to set up agreen field cement plant

Alongside thefacility, theproject will seethe constructionof a waste heatrecovery system,thermal powerplant and a 25 kmrailway line fromSanjamala station.


smartprep.in

16 JANUARY 2019


smartprep.in

Olympic silver medallist and Telugu sports icon PV Sindhu made history bybecoming the first Indian to win the season-ending BWF World TourFinals. The Indian superstar beat a familiar foe in Nozomi Okuhara ofJapan 21-19, 21-17 in the final to claim her first title of the year. Sindhuhad a tough time until the end of 2018, unable to win even a single tournament butthe Indian shuttler was in top form and ended the tournament unbeaten.An emotional P.V. Sindhu finally got her hands on gold at badminton's season-endingWorld Tour Finals on Dec 16. The 23-year-old Indian Sindhu has suffered a series ofnear-misses in recent years, winning silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and again atthe Asian Games and Commonwealth Games this year.The world number six, renowned for her never-say-die attitude, has also twice lostin the final of the World Championships and was runner-up in last year's seasonfinale.But she put all that heartbreak behind her in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, beatingthe fifth-ranked Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-19, 21-17 in the women's final in justover an hour.Sindhu, who was always in control of the match, sealed the championship with aforehand smash, before collapsing to the court floor on her hands and knees,physically and emotionally exhausted."I'm really proud, the year has ended on a beautiful note," said Sindhu."People have been asking me the same question, I think the question won't comeagain - asking why I always lose in the final”, she remarked.For her exploits in Guangzhou, China that have made the country proud, BadmintonAssociation of India (BAI) have decided to give her a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh."It's a great year-ending for Indian badminton. Sindhu winning the Tours Final anddefeating the best players to achieve the historic feat indicates the leap Indianbadminton has taken. I congratulate both Sindhu and Sameer on behalf of entireBadminton Association of India," BAI president Himanta Biswa Sarma said.Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Leader of Opposition Y SJaganmohan Reddy congratulated P V Sindhu on winning the BWF Tour title.In a statement, the CM expressed happiness over Sindhu's historic victory andwished her many such successes in future. The opposition leader, in a separatemessage, conveyed congratulations to Sindhu on winning her maiden BWF title bydefeating Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in straight sets in the finals. The Leader ofOpposition said the brilliance of P V Sindhu made the year 2018 memorable.This win is special: Coach GopichandCoach Gopichand lauded his ward for not just winning the final but beating quality players. “Beating them all in oneweek is special. She finishes the year on a high, she’s had medals at the big events which was the target this year: Worlds,Asiad, CWG and Tour finals,” he said.The coach hadn’t been unduly bothered by her string of final losses, saying it was important only for her own confidence,and not to prove to the world. “There’s been a lot of talk about her not winning the finals. So it was important, not foranybody else, but for Sindhu’s mind – that she locked in the final with confidence,” he said. Speaking on the future, headded, “2020 will be the big one and 2022 Asian Games and CWG are important for us. Having said that, the All Englandwill be our target the next year,” he declared.Film fraternity members led by megastar Amitabh Bachchan extended hearty congratulations to P.V. Sindhu on herhistoric win at the season finale at the BWF World Tour Finals 2018.

JANUARY 2019 17

v

PV Sindhubreaks jinxWins BWFWorld Tour Finals


smartprep.in

JANUARY 201918

Andhra Pradesh government has targeted toachieve cent per cent Zero Budget NaturalFarming (ZBNF) in AP in the coming six years.Towards this end, the government organised a9-day training programme near Acharya NagarjunaUniversity in Guntur district from December 8 to 16 toencourage farmers to take up ZBNF for getting goodreturns at lesser investment.Inaugurating the programme, Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu said that wonders could be createdby bringing together technology and nature. He said thatAP would lead the world in adopting ZBNF for a healthylifestyle. Disclosing that presently 5.38 lakh farmersadopted natural farming in 5 lakh acres in the state, hesaid that the State Government is targeting that 60 lakhfarmers follow the natural farming practices in 2 Croreacres by 2024.The training programme, conducted by Subhash Palekar,known as the father of ZBNF, was attended by over 9,000farmers from 3,100 villages in the State. In addition,about 500 people including agriculture department staff,farmers from other States and representatives fromabroad participated.At a time when the farming sector was in crisis and thefarmer was burdened with low yields and rise in

investments, the Andhra Pradeshgovernment has begunpromoting natural farming.Natural farming proponentSubhash Palekar led the trainingprogrammes holding classes onsoils, mulching practices and useof natural nutrients to enrich thesoils. T. Vijaya Kumar, advisor,Agriculture and CooperationDepartment and co-vice chairman, Rythu SadhikaraSamstha’s Zero Budget Natural Farming division, saidthat ZBNF could revolutionise farming in a big way.Palekar spoke on the cultivation of paddy and ragi in wetlands and dry lands. Stating that paddy belongs to thegrass family which can grow throughout our country, hesaid that paddy is from C4 (Carbon 4) family whichutilises the energy created through photosynthesis fordevelopment of plant and pod creation. He explained thatthe paddy has a potential of giving yield up to 120quintals per acre. “But to get the yield, there should be2.5% of carbon in the soil which is only 0.2% at present,the nitrogen and oxygen ratio should be 10:1 and thesunlight should be 10,000-12,000 foot candles (FC),’’ hesaid. He said that due to application of chemicalfertilizers and insecticides, soil carbon levels have beencoming down.“Paddy can be grown in dry lands if cultivated underZBNF methods by taking intercrops with pulses in paddy.As paddy belongs to grass family monopod plant, it canwithstand both drought and heavy rain conditions,’’ hesaid.Software engineers who returned from the US,agricultural graduates and engineers have started nature

Natural Farming can create wonders:CM

As part of effortsto create awareness onnatural farming amongfarmers, a nine-daytraining programmeon the progressivepractice was organisedby the State Govern-ment in Guntur.

A nine-day training programme held in Guntur on ZBNF


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 19

farming. An IT engineer who returned to India to take upnature farming and others from various other fieldsspoke at the event. ITC came forward to spend Rs 150 crore on NatureFarming in the state under the Corporate SocialResponsibility.” The Chief Minister directed the adviser tothe government on nature farming P Vijaya Kumar toappoint a Chief Executive to provide marketing facilitiesfor farmers and a technical expert to provide technologyto the farmers. Subhash Palekar said that Zero Budget Nature Farmingwas good for maintaining ecological balance and to checkthe use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. He felt thatthere was a need to shift more farmers to the naturefarming. In Karnataka about 25,000 farmers attendedtraining classes on nature farming while in AP about 9000farmers participated in the meeting. He urged thegovernment and farmers to create awareness on nature

farming to more farmers to shift to the nature farming. Minister for Agriculture Somireddy Chandramohan Reddysaid the government was giving top priority for naturefarming and implementing recommendations of VijayaKumar. He urged the farmers who attended the meetingmotivate another one hundred farmers to start naturefarming. Minister for Civil Supplies Prattipati Pulla Rao,Minister for Social Welfare Nakka Anand Babu, SpecialChief Secretary (Agriculture) B Rajasekahar, were among

those who participated.ZBNF, a holistic alternativeGovernment of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP), Department ofAgriculture (DoA) is implementing Zero-Budget NaturalFarming (ZBNF) Programme, through the RythuSadhikara Samstha (RySS), a not-for-profit organizationestablished by GoAP. The programme has been initiatedin 2015 -16 with multiple objectives of enhancingfarmers’ welfare, consumer welfare and for conservationof environment.ZBNF is a holistic alternative to the present paradigm ofhigh cost chemical inputs-based agriculture and toaddress the negative and uncertain impacts of climatechange. ZBNF principles are in sync with the principles ofAgro ecology, a world wide movement. Its greateststrength is that it is based on the latest scientificdiscoveries in Agriculture, and, at the same time it isrooted in Indiantradition. TheF.A.O has asrecently as April,2018 urged allcountries to movetowards theadoption of Agroecology to meetthe twin goals ofglobal foodsecurity andconservation ofthe environment. The programmeinvests heavily inbuilding thecapacities offarmers and theircontinuoushandholding. Thecrucial innovationand the strength of the programme is the farmer-to-farmer knowledge dissemination strategy. The trainersare the best practicing ZBNF farmers, called CommunityResource Persons (CRPs). They are highly motivated andstrongly committed to ZBNF as their own lives have beentransformed by their practicing ZBNF in their own fields.It is their dedicated work that has resulted in newfarmers in the programme villages switching over toZBNF. They are the true heroes of this unique movement.

v

A woman farmer with a child in her lap making notes on natural farming.


smartprep.in

JANUARY 201920

CM unveilsfirst crestgate ofPolavaramprojectChief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is confidentthat the Polavaram project would be completedexpeditiously. Addressing the farmers afterlaunching the erection of first gate of project atPolavaram in December, he said the project works wouldbe completed by May 2019 and water would be releasedthrough gravity through right and left main canals byDecember 2019.All the crest gates, each weighting 300 tons, would beerected by May 2019. The coffer dam works would becompleted on war-footing, he stated. Describing the takingup of Polavaram project as a divine opportunity for him,the Chief Miniser said the project set several globalrecords. The concrete works to be taken up on January 6would enter Guinness book of world records bycompleting 30000 cubic metres. The China and USA heldthe records by completing 21,500 cubic metres concreteworks.He had personally inspected the project works 29 times byDecember and conducted virtual review for 83 times.Despite of opposition party’s false campaign, the Stategovernment was able to complete 63 per cent of projectworks so far, he said.The Chief Minister said that he had insisted on merger ofseven villages of Telangana in Andhra Pradesh for speedycompletion of project works. By completing thePattiseema lift irrigation scheme, the Krishna delta ayacutwas stabilised, he said.Andhra Pradesh had achieved 11 per cent growth rate, henoted, adding that priority would be given for horticultureand aqua sectors.

Centre retracts statement before SC The Centre retracted its previous statement to theSupreme Court that it was ready to appoint anindependent agency for public hearings in Chhattisgarhand Odisha on the Indira Sagar Polavaram Project on theGodavari river in Andhra Pradesh. In an affidavit filed before a bench of Justices Madan BLokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, the governmenthas said that statement given on November 29 before thecourt was "inadvertently communicated" to the counselappearing on its behalf. "The inadvertent communication, made without obtaininginstructions from senior officers, to the counsel maykindly be considered and condoned," the Centre said in itsaffidavit. SC rejects odisha’s plea for stay The Supreme Court rejected the State government’s pleato stop the ongoing work on the controversial Polavaramdam in Andhra Pradesh.A three-member bench of the apex court, while hearingthe plea, refused to order a stay on the Indira SagarPolavaram Project on the Godavari river in AP.This apart, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to askOdisha and Chhattisgarh to submit complete details aboutthe exact amount of areas which would be submerged dueto the Polavaram project. In addition, the top court saidthe public hearing can be conducted in these two statesonly after it received information about the total numberof people to be affected by the proposed project along withcompensation and rehabilitation of the affected people.

v

CM at the launch of erection of first gate at Polavaram.


smartprep.in

21JANUARY 2019

The Patanjali Food and Herbal Park Private Limitedis going to set up a food park in Andhra Pradesh atChinnaraopalli village, Vizianagaram. In thisconnection, Indian Yoga guru known for his work inAyurveda, Baba Ramdev, met Chief Minister ChandrababuNaidu at Secretariat on December 6. They discussed the proposed Patanjali mega food park to bebuilt in the Vizianagaram district at a budget of Rs 634Crore. The establishment of the project would be operatedand promoted solely by Patanjali Ayurved Limited. The Patanjali Food and Herbal Park Pvt Ltd is going to comeup in 172.84 acres and is aimed at providing employmentopportunity to about 33,400 people. The mega food parkwill process the agriculture produce and manufacturerespective products for consumption. As part of the unit,Core processing facilities including IQF freezer for fruits andvegetables, aseptic filling and pulping line, pre-cooling andripening chambers, cold storage with blast freezer, drying,grinding, grading, packing facility for spices and grains and adry warehouse will be set up.The products would be sold under Patanjali brand acrossthe country. It is setting up processing units strategicallyclose to the places of agriculture crops it would like toprocure as part of its food business. Crops including Barley,Rice, Sesame, Maize, Jowar, Pomegranate, Mango, Chilli,Onion, Ginger, Peas, Potato, Turmeric, Pulses, Red Gram andPapaya will be processed in the proposed unit. The anchorunit will be the juice extraction unit with a capacity of 1,500MT per day, proposed with a total investment of Rs. 45.20Crore. Processing unit of juice, biscuits, noodles, frozen veg-etables and spices will be set up to benefit the farmers of theregion and provide employment to the locals.The company plans to develop the facility with an initialcapacity of 200,000 tonnes per annum, which would befurther expandable to 300,000 tonnes, at an investment ofRs 500 Crore.

Patanjali Ayurved Limited’smanufacturing unit in Vizianagaram

v

Ramdev Babu with CM Chandrababu Naidu.

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said that theproposed Lulu International shopping mallcoming up in Visakhapatnam should be built withthe best global designs.He emphasized upon the need to make sure that thecomplex provides an amazing sea view with a uniqueunderpass or overpass extending from the complex to thebeach. The LuLu international shopping mall and megainternational convention center is coming up in 13.83acres of land in Visakhapatnam, at a cost of Rs. 1,500Crore. The project's components include a 6 Lakh sft megacommercial complex, convention center cum exhibitionhall with a seating capacity of 5,000, five star hotel with220 rooms, along with other facilities.He said that the Lulu international convention center andshopping mall should be built with modern and uniquedesign. Suggesting a few changes to the designssubmitted, he said that the building should be an iconicstructure with an incredible view of the beach from allsides.The UAE-based LuLu Group design team met ChiefMinister Chandrababu Naidu for discussing designs of themega construction. The design team, led by DesignInternational CEO Davide Padoa met the CM at Secretariaton December 7. The CM asked the team to plan for 800rooms with 5 to 7-star facilities. Priority should be given tosea view from every point of the mega shopping mall. Heasked them to improve the designs to meet theexpectations of people. The construction of the mall is expected to be completedwithin 30 months and would provide direct employmentto 5000 people and to another 5000 indirectly. Theconvention centre will have a seating capacity of 7000 paxat a time and the mall will be built in a sprawling 20 lakhsquare feet, under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

Lulu global conventioncentre in Vizag

Lulu group representatives with CM.

v


smartprep.in

JANUARY 201922

v

When it comes to the top 10 cities for economicgrowth, India is set to dominate over the nexttwo decades, according to Oxford Economics.But more interestingly, a city that has just begun its jour-ney on the path of development, Vijayawada figures in thislist.Andhra Pradesh does not have a big metropolis followingthe bifurcation of the state. However, after the residual APwas formed, Vijayawada economy has been growingthanks to the multi-pronged activities undertaken by theState Government. Businesses, real estate, trading, hospitality industries aregrowing at a fast pace. The Government’s efforts at beauti-fying the city and improving civic facilities has made a dif-ference. The recent F1H20 event has further improved theprofile of the city.Surat, a diamond processing and trading center in thewestern state of Gujarat, will see the fastest expansion

through 2035, averaging more than 9 percent, RichardHolt, Oxford’s head of global cities research, wrote in a re-port. All of the 10 fastest over that period will be in India.While economic output in many of those Indian cities willremain rather small in comparison to the world’s biggestmetropolises, aggregated gross domestic product of allAsian cities will exceed that of all North American and Eu-ropean urban centers combined in 2027. By 2035, it willbe 17 percent higher, with the largest contribution comingfrom Chinese cities.Little will change at the top of the list of the world’sbiggest cities between now and 2035.New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles and London will defendtheir spots as Shanghai and Beijing - each boasting morethan 20 million people - surpass Paris and Chicago.Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Southern China will alsomake the top 10, crowding out Hong Kong.

our Vijayawadain Top Ten in

List of World'sFastest-Growing

Cities

Rank City Nation Average annual growth (%)1 Surat India 9.172 Agra India 8.583 Bengaluru India 8.54 Hyderabad India 8.475 Nagpur India 8.416 Tiruppur India 8.367 Rajkot India 8.338 Tiruchirappalli India 8.299 Chennai India 8.1710 Vijayawada India 8.16

As part of city beautification, street art is being encouraged in Vijayawada.


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 23

v

Vijayawada’s first ever five star categoryhotel, Novotel Varun, was inauguratedby Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidunear Bharathi Nagar on December 10.Partnered with Accor Hotels, Varun Group hascome up with the facility, which reflects the im-portance of the region for business and leisuretravelers.Speaking on the inaugural event, CM said, “Bring-ing luxurious hotels to Vijayawada will help boostthe hospitality sector in the capital region alongwith attracting big investments”. “We want to see1 Lac hotel rooms in Andhra Pradesh. Amaravati,Tirupati, Vizag and Vijayawada are major growthcenters,” he maintained.The property is deemed to be the first interna-tionally branded hotel to open in AndhraPradesh’s commercial center. Vijayawada's prox-imity to the upcoming smart city Amaravatimakes Vijayawada an important destination forcorporate travelers. The property is deemed to bethe first internationally branded hotel to open inAndhra Pradesh’s commercial center. Designed with the theme of four seasons in a year,Novotel Vijayawada Varun’s well-equipped roomsare spacious. All living areas include ergonomicworkspaces and signature in-room amenities of-fering a convenient, comfortable and seamless en-vironment ideally designed for business, leisuretravelers and families. There’s a roof-top swim-ming pool, signature spa, fitness center and a 202meters jogging track. Guests traveling for busi-ness and meetings can choose from seven well-appointed meeting rooms and a 10,000 squarefeet banquet hall. On the F&B front, the hotelcaters to their guests with four dining optionswith an eclectic choice of cuisines and food andbeverage options.

CM inauguratesVijayawada’s firstFive-star hotelAndhra Pradesh High Court will shift to Vijayawadafrom January 1, 2019. CM Chandrababu Naidu di-rected CRDA officials to complete construction of CityCourt Building at Amaravati by January 20. Beforethat, eight court halls will be provided at CM camp office in Vi-jayawada. The High Court has holidays from January 5 to 20. Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar has been appointed as theChief Justice of Andhra Pradesh with effect from January 1. Theappointment was made by President Ram Nath Kovind. He hasbeen selected from a pool of 16 judges who were shifted to thenewly formed Andhra Pradesh High court. Justice ChagariPraveen Kumar is the senior-most Judge of the High Court ofAndhra Pradesh. He is the son of late Chagari PadmanabhaReddy, a prominent criminal advocate in erstwhile AndhraPradesh.The notification that came through the Union Law Ministryread, “Consequent upon the constitution of separate HighCourt for the State of Andhra Pradesh by the President videnotification dated 26.12.2018, and in exercise of the powersconferred by Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the Presi-dent is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar,senior-most Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, to per-form the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that HighCourt with effect 01.01.2019.”The Union Law Ministry issued an order signed by PresidentRam Nath Kovind, which said that Andhra Pradesh will have itsown High Court from January 1 next year at its capital Amara-vati and the High Court at Hyderabad shall become the HighCourt for Telangana. The order also allocated judges to the twohigh courts.However, lawyers affiliated to the Andhra Pradesh High courthave been seeking an extension of stay at the present premisesuntil March next year. The lawyers staged a dharna before theHyderabad High Court demanding an extension. The lawyersargue that three days were not enough to shift to Amaravati,when the construction of the temporary Andhra Pradesh HighCourt was yet to be completed.Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has said that the court couldfunction out of his camp office in the capital region until Janu-ary 4. As there would be a holiday period of 20 days startingfrom January 5, the CM assured that the judicial complex atAmaravati would be completed by then.

AP High Court to shift toVijayawada from January

v


smartprep.in

24 JANUARY 2019

AmaravatiKnowledge CityChief Minister Chandrababu Nadiu envisionedAmarvati to be one of the Happiest cities en-compassing the highest standards of livability,infrastructure with a thriving economic envi-ronment.Amaravati is being developed as a complete city. It iswell-connected to key markets and suppliers by road,rail, port, waterways and air and bounded by two Na-tional Highways. With an extent of 217 Sq Km and roadnetwork of 1,604 km, the city is expected to have 1.5million workforce by 2050 and 3.5 million population by2050 in its 9 theme cities.Amaravati is defining "happiness" through various path-breaking initiatives which include human-centric urbanplanning and design, Green-blue network, responsive-ness and sustainability ensure. Amaravati is based ontrust and partnership. World's largest successful volun-tary land pooling, with 27,956 farmers offering 33,920acres was the beginning of the city. The Land PoolingScheme is now widely acknowledged as a global bestpractice. A city-wide green-blue network was planned underwhich 30% blue-green space is earmarked in city with80 km inland canals, 100 plus parks at each neighbor-hood and 21 km riverfront public space. Amaravati is thefirst city to be rated “Platinum” under IGBC Green CitiesRating. Nine sub-cities will act as economic pillars, creat-ing 1.5 million jobs and $35 billion GDP. The city haspartnered with the global best across domains to helprealize the vision. The Government of Andhra Pradeshhas put in focused efforts on building the city. Not sur-prisingly, Amaravati has developed faster than other In-dian and global greenfield cities. Over 90% of the totalworks (Rs. 48,115 Cr) have been tendered out. City wideinfrastructure and major road network to be completedby Jan-2019. Housing for 4,000 officials will be com-pleted by Feb-2019. Tier II - neighbourhood infrastruc-ture will be completed by Jun-2019. Start-up areadevelopment project already grounded to kick-start theeconomy. Aslo, world’s best social infrastructure has al-ready been created to make Amaravati destination forglobal talent. Here is a presentation by AP CRDA Com-missioner Dr Cherukuri Sridhar on the vision for devel-oping Amaravati Knowledge City.


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 25


smartprep.in

The State government signed a memorandumof understanding with China-based SunnyOpotech Technology (SOT) Company Limited(Sunny Opotech), a leading manufacturer ofintegrated optical devices and optical imaging systemsolutions, for setting up a unit in Tirupati. The unit isestimated to be an investment of Rs 500 Crore and isexpected to generate around 4,000 jobs.The MoU was exchanged between IT SecretaryVijayanand, Andhra Pradesh Information TechnologyAcademy CEO Bhaskar Reddy with the China-basedcompany delegation Executive Vice President WangWenjie, Ningbo (Sunny Opotech) CEO David Wang inthe presence of IT Minister Nara Lokesh at Secretariat.Minister Lokesh took the opportunity to explain thevarious measures that were taken by the State govern-ment to develop electronics manufacturing sector inAP. “We are probably the only State in India, which in-troduced unique policies to attract large, medium andsmall scale manufacturers. Andhra Pradesh has re-cently been ranked Number 1 in ‘Ease of Doing Busi-ness’. Special incentives given by us are a hit withinvestors. They have shifted their perception of seeingIndia from a destination of assembling electronicsparts to working towards establishing the State as astate-of-the-art hub for manufacturing industry,”Lokesh said. He further elaborated on the efforts thatare afoot to manufacture Plastics, PCB, Chip Design,Batteries, Camera Modules, and others with threeelectronic clusters in AP.

Companies such as Foxconn, Celkon, Karbonn andDixon have already set shop in the State. “Holitech,Flex and Reliance Jio will soon be joining this fast-growing industry. The State’s long-term vision to-wards which the government is working is to createan electronics manufacturing industry valued at $250billion by 2024, approximately half of the total $ 500billion market of India,’’ he said. Sunny Opotech hasproducts ranging from industrial, cell phones, teach-ing support, life science, non-contact measuring, opti-cal imaging products automotive opticals amongothersCEO of SOT, David Wang, said by August 2019 thecompany would start manufacturing a huge numberof camera modules, lenses, vehicle camera modules,augmented reality and virtual reality products. AP hadthe ecosystem required for companies to sustainwhich was the reason behind the company’s move toinvest in India for the first time.Minister Lokesh said that 30 out of every 100 mobilephones being manufactured in India were comingfrom AP which was growing as a hub of electronicsmanufacturing units. He thanked the management ofSOT for choosing AP and assured all support for theirestablishment in Tirupati, SriCity or any other place.More such companies were in the pipeline to set upunits in the State, which targeted at bringing in com-panies that could altogether make 200 types of elec-tronic components.JANUARY 201926

v

AP signs aMoU withChina-basedSunny opotechTechnology

wSunny Opotech to set up a unit in Tirupati with an estimated budget of Rs 500 Crore.wThe unit, for which MoU exchanged by CEO of Sunny Opotech, David Wang, assures to

generate about 4000 jobs.


smartprep.in

Andhra Pradesh has been the leader in exports ofmarine products in the country and it can continueto be supreme in the position by taking up valueaddition. The marine products' exports from AndhraPradesh has touched a new high, surpassing all targets andthis is made possible, thanks to the strict adherence of qualitynorms set by European Union which had imposed sanctionswith respect to quality of products. Andhra Pradesh continues to be the highest exporter ofmarine products in the country and while India's exportsduring 2017-18 last year increased to Rs.45,107 crore, APaccounted for a whopping Rs.20,600 crore In fact, the growthhas been steady, with the exception of the year 2015-16. Thegrowth will be phenomenal if value addition is taken by bythe exporters in the State. However, value addition to marineproducts is critical if India is to compete in the internationalmarket, as at present mostly only raw material is beingexported, according to experts who were in Visakhapatnamlate December for a one-day workshop on the subjectorganised by the Marine Products Exports DevelopmentAuthority (MPEDA). Value addition should be taken up onlarge scale and bigger exporters should take the lead utilisingthe Govenrment schemes, national president of SeafoodExporters' Association of India (SEAI) V. Padmanabham says. There is need to accord agriculture status to fisheries which isa long-pending demand, and other pending issues should alsobe addressed. Director (Marketing), MPEDA T. Dola Sankarpoints out that in India only 6 per cent value addition is beingdone, in comparison with 65 per cent in Thailand, A lot ofground is left to be covered and India has made not much ofheadway in the past decade. " "Andhra Pradesh leads in marine exports and AP exportersand processors should take the initiative in the matter," heopined, adding that there were a lot of schemes launched bythe MPEDA and the Government of India for the purpose tohelp exporters and processors. The NDA Government hadallocated Rs 3,000 crore under the umbrella blue revolutionscheme to assist the marine sector and it should be used byexporters and processors of marine food, notes theDevelopment Commissioner (Fisheries) in the Union Ministryof Agriculture P. Paul Pandian. The Government has also set

up Fisheries Infrastructure Development Fund with Rs 7,500crore to assist them and the guidelines are being formulatedto release funds to various units. CEO of AP Food ProcessingSociety, a State Government organisation, YS Prasad, notes theAP Government had released Rs 160 crore subsidy to 30 newprocessing units in the sector during the past four years,adding capacity of 1.5 lakh tonnes. At present. there are 67 marine processing units in the State.Two mega aqua parks are also coming up in the State. Thereis also the need for introducing ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat seafoods into the Indian market as well as the exportmarket. Accorting to officiala figures, India's exports ofmarine products during 2010-11 was Rs.12,901 crore out ofwhich Andhra Pradesh's contribution alone was Rs.2400crore. During the next year 2011-12, the country exportswere worth Rs.16,597 crore and AP's share was Rs.2,727crore. In 2012-13, India's exports were Rs.18,856 crore ofwhich AP accounted for Rs.3,125 crore. The next year 2013-14 saw tremendous increase in AP'scontribution at Rs.12,000 crore, out of India's total exports ofRs.30,213 crore which was a new record. The trend continuedin 2014-15 with AP se food exports was to the tune ofRs.15,000 crore out of national figure of Rs.33,441 crore,which was nearly 50 per cent of the country's production.This dropped marginally during 2015-16 and AP's shareremained the same with Rs.13,500 crore to India's Rs.30,421crore. However, the State bounced back in 2016-17 withexports to the tune of Rs.17,000 crore against the country'sRs.37,821 crore. For the current year 2018-19, the nationalproduction so far is Rs.19,079 crore of which Andhra Pradeshhas accounted for Rs.7,875 crore. With still seven months left,there is a lot of scope for large-scale increase in marineproducts and march for creating new records. What mattersis that Andhra Pradesh continues to be the biggestcontributor in marine products from India, a pride of placewhich others may find difficult to achieve. And AndhraPradesh can draw ahead by a distance once value addition tomarine products is taken up on a large scale, which mayincrease its earnings by nearly 200 to 300 per cent, expertssay.- b Prabhakara Sarma

JANUARY 2019 27

v

Value additionto marineproducts willmake APsupreme

Photo Courtesy: The Hindu


smartprep.in

JANUARY 201928

NTR’s BiopicNTR’s biopic and the hype surrounding it needsno introduction. For the past few months, thefilm has been making waves for its star cast, ledby Nandamuri Balakrishna, who’ll be playingthe role of his father, the iconic actor and formerCM, NT Rama Rao. Directed by Krish Jagarla-mudi, the film explores the life of NT Rama Rao,and his journey from being a movie star to thatof being the founder of Telugu Desam Party(TDP), which went on to change the course ofpolitics in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. Apartfrom Balakrishna, the film has a galaxy of starsincluding Kalyanram, Vidya Balan, Rana Daggu-bati, Sumanth, Rakul Preet, Nithya Menen, Han-sika to name a few. Incidentally, during thecourse of its making, the team decided to nar-rate the story of NTR in two parts. While NTR’sKathanayakudu will focus on his journey as anactor, the second part, titled as NTR’s Ma-hanayakudu, will predominantly narrate thestory of what led to his foray into politics andbecoming the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.Needless to say, everyone’s waiting with batedbreath to see how well Balakrishna has por-trayed the role of his father, whose aura and in-fluence continues to shape Telugu identityacross the world. NTR’s Kathanyakudu is slatedfor release on January 9, 2019.Vinaya Vidheya RamaPost the blockbuster success of Rangasthalam, Ram Charan’spopularity is at an all-time high. His upcoming film, VinayaVidheya Rama, marks his first collaboration with popularfilmmaker Boyapati Sreenu. Known for his action dramas,Boyapati Sreenu’s latest film is expected to be a high octaneaction film which builds upon Ram Charan’s mass appeal andaction hero image. The film narrates the story of five brothersand how they take on their rivals. Buzz is that the film willdraw parallels between the fight between Pandavas and Kau-ravas; however, it remains to be seen how Boyapati Sreenuhas moulded the story to deliver what Ram Charan’s fans ex-pect from him. Kiara Advani, who made her Telugu film debutwith Bharat Ane Nenu, has played Ram Charan’s romantic in-terest, and it also stars Prashanth and Aryan Rajesh in key

roles. The film is expected to release on January 11.Mr MajnuAkhil Akkineni’s last two films, including Akhil and Hello, metwith moderate success; however, that hasn’t dampened theyoungster’s spirits. He collaborated with director VenkyAtluri, who shot to fame with Varun Tej starrer Tholiprema,for his third feature film, Mr Majnu, and contrary to what thetitle suggests, Akhil will be seen as a casanova, who is thecynosure of all eyes. The romantic drama is being seen asAkhil’s best bet to cement the actor’s image as a romantichero, and with almost five actresses, including Nidhhi Agre-wal, in the cast, it might be the romantic film that Akhil andhis fans have been waiting for a while now. Mr Majnu will re-lease in theatres on January 25.

With big budget films like NTR’s biopic, Maharshi, and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy gearing up forrelease in 2019, Telugu cinema has plenty to offer to the audiences. And only time will tell

which among them will emerge the winner at the box-office. Here’s a list of some of the mostawaited films of the year.

10 Telugu Films To Watch Out For In 2019


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 29

YatraClose to the heels of NTR’s biopic is another biopic of Congress leader and formerCM, YS Rajasekhar Reddy. Titled as ‘Yatra’, the film explores YSR’s padayatra, whichturned the tide in his favour in the 2004 Andhra Pradesh Assembly election. Thepadayatra, where YSR travelled to every nook and corner of Andhra Pradesh, iswidely credited to be the turning point in the former politician’s life and it led tohis victory in the elections, and also changed him as a person. Directed by Mahi VRaghav, the film has popular Malayalam actor, Mammootty playing the role of YSR.The film is expected to release on February 8.

MaharshiEver since Mahesh Babu scored ahuge hit with Bharat Ane Nenu,there has been a lot of speculationabout what the theme of his nextfilm is going to be. After a shortbreak from work, the actor beganworking on his next film, Maharshi,in which he’ll reportedly be playingan US-based businessman, who re-turns to India. Although rumourshave been rife that the film tacklesthe subject of organic farming, di-rector Vamshi Paidipally has kepteveryone guessing about what sortof film he’s making with MaheshBabu. The film also has AllariNaresh and Pooja Hegde in leadroles, and it has been shot in Hy-derabad, USA, and Dehradun. Ma-harshi is going to be the first of thebig-budget Telugu films to hit thescreens in the summer of 2019.

SaahoWith Saaho, Prabhas is all set to dazzle the screens after a gap of more than twoyears since Baahubali : The Conclusion’s release. Directed by Sujeeth, Saaho is saidto be an adrenaline-pumping action drama with several big technicians attachedto the project, including, Kenny Bates, acclaimed action choreographer from Hol-lywood. Apart from Prabhas, the film also has Shraddha Kapoor and Neil NitinMukesh in lead roles, and it’s going to release in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi. The bigquestion on everyone’s mind is whether the film will repeat the success ofBaahubali beyond the border of the two Telugu speaking states; however, withPrabhas’ star power and popularity across the country, it could spring a big sur-prise. The film will arrive in screens on August 15.

v

MajiliFor the first time since their wedding in 2017, Naga Chaitanyaand Samantha will be seen together in an upcoming dramatitled, Majili. Directed by Shiva Nirvana, who had previouslymade Ninnu Kori, the film is said to be a realistic take on differ-ent stages of marriage, and it stars the duo in two differentavatars, including one which is set in the ‘80s. The film is beingshot in Vizag and Hyderabad, and it’ll be interesting to see thechemistry which the couple share onscreen once again. Jersey2019 will also see Nani in a brand new avatar, thanks to his lat-est film, Jersey. The film, directed by Gautham Tinnanuri, delvesinto the life of a cricket player who realises his potential waypast his youth. Nani plays the role of a middle-aged cricketer,and the film is expected to be an inspiring tale about followingone’s dream. Shraddha Srinath is the lead actress in this dramawhich will hit the screens in April. Incidentally, Nani will alsobe teaming up with filmmaker Vikram Kumar for the first timeand their untitled film will hit the floors in February. Sye Raa Narasimha ReddyMegastar Chiranjeevi’s much-awaited period drama, Sye Raa

Narasimha Reddy has been in the making for a long time now.Directed by Surender Reddy, the film explores the life of free-dom fighter Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy, who led a rebellionagainst the Britishers in the mid 19th century. Produced byRam Charan, the film has a mammoth cast including the likesof Amitabh Bachchan, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Taman -naah, Jagapathi Babu, and Sudeep. And it promises to be an epicfilm in every sense. Most part of the film has been shot in Hy-derabad, and the team also shot a significant portion in Georgia.Amit Trivedi is scoring the music and Ratnavelu is the cine-matographer of the film, which could hit the screens in latesummer of 2019.Dear ComradeIf Arjun Reddy made Vijay Deverakonda an actor to reckonwith, he turned into a star post the blockbuster success ofGeetha Govindam in 2018. It’s little wonder that there’s a lot ofanticipation about his next film, Dear Comrade. Directed bynewcomer Bharat Kamma, the film stars the Geetha Govindamduo Vijay and Rashmika in lead roles, and it’s said to be an ac-tion-packed love story which unfolds in Kakinada. Vijay will beseen as a college student, whereas Rashmika will be seen as acricket player. Given Vijay Deverakonda’s charisma and his abil-ity to stir up intense emotions on screen, Dear Comrade couldbe the dark horse of 2019.


smartprep.in

30 JANUARY 2019

KADAPA STEEL PLANT, A REALITy

Thanks to the determination of Andhra PradeshChief Minister N Chandrababau Naidu, the long-delayed Kadapa Steel Plant has become a reality.Following the negative response from the Centre,the State Government took upon itself to build the plant.CM has laid the foundation stone at MaremmaKambaladinne village in Mylavaram mandal in YSRKadapa district, for the construction of the steel plant.The laying of the plant’s foundation assumes importancenot only because it is being taken up by the StateGovernment instead of the Centre, but also due to thefriction between both governments over the unkeptassurance regarding ‘special status’ for the State.The construction of the the steel plant was part of theassurances made post the bifurcation of the state in 2014.The CM said that this move and the commencement ofwork at Amaravati for the State Secretariat buildingswere two important landmarks during his tenure. Whileseeking cooperation from local leaders for landacquisition, he said work at the plant will commencewithin three months.Earlier, the State Cabinet had approved the setting up ofthe steel plant named Rayalaseema Steels, as the Centredid not respond to the State’s request. The Centre’s lukewarm response was reportedly due to the lack offeasibility for such a project in the current global scenarioand the slack in demand for steel. Telugu Desam Party(TDP) MP CM Ramesh went on a ‘fast unto death’demanding the Centre to set up the steel plant as assuredduring the bifurcation.To be part of the Andhra Pradesh Mineral development

Corporation, Rayalaseema Steels would have to be builton a 3,500 acre government site and require an outlay ofabout Rs 18,000-20,000 Crore for a unit that has acapacity of three million tonnes per annum.The Government of Andhra Pradesh earlier issued anorder constituting Rayalaseema Steel CorporationLimited as a private limited company and with P.Madhusudan (former CMD of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant)as chairman and managing director, and Director of Minesand Geology and Special Secretary (Finance) and A.P.Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) Vice-Chairman and Managing Director (VC&MD) as directors.The RSCL will have an authorized paid-up capital of Rs 2Crore divided into 2000000 shares of Rs 10 each held bythe Governor represented by the Assistant Secretary(mines) to the GoAP, Director of Mines of GoAP and RSCLCMD in 1999998:1:1 ratio. Metro RailThe cabinet also decided to go ahead with the Metro Railin Visakhapatnam, another long-pending proposal, underthe public-private partnership (PPP) mode, besidesallotting close to 2,400 acres of land to the AndhraPradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) todevelop a mega industrial park in Prakasam district. The three-corridor Vizag Metro would be built over astretch of 42.55 km at a cost of Rs 8,300 Crore. “If theCentre is willing, the State will extend its full cooperation.Otherwise, the state will take up construction withprivate partnership,” Andhra Information and PublicRelations Minister Kalva Srinivasulu.

v

CM Chandrababu Naidu addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone for Kadapa Steel Plant.


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 31

v

Work on the heart of Amaravati Governmentdistrict have begun. Nearly five years afterthe State’s bifurcation, Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu in December laid thefoundation stone for Andhra Pradesh’s new governmentoffice complex in Amaravati. The complex will house thestate Secretariat, Assembly and High Court, besides ahost of government departments.The Amaravati capital region is being built across parts ofthe metropolitan areas of Guntur and Vijayawada. Thegovernment office complex will be constructed at theRayapudi village of Guntur district.There were several delays along the way due to severalchanges in the design of the main buildings, including theHigh Court and state Assembly.“The secretariat complex will be constructed on 41 acresto accommodate 145 departments and enable betterefficiency in work flow and interaction between differentdepartments. The built-in area is around 56 lakh sq. feet,with a 1.3 lakh sq. feet parking facility, which canaccommodate 4,000 cars,” said the CM.British architecture firm Foster and Partners wasappointed as the master architect for Amaravati. APCapital Region Development Authority (CRDA) has beentasked with building the government township.In 2017, the state government had said that the AP highcourt will resemble a Buddhist stupa while the legislative

assembly will be built after theKohinoor diamond. Accordingly, theBritish firm had submitted the designsof the two buildings, but the idea waslater junked.“The new capital will have five maintowers, housing important buildingssuch as the secretariat and high court,”said an AP CRDA executive. The finaldesigns for the five towers werefinalized by the CM. “The designs werechanged to include the local PedanaKalamkari design, which representsthe local craft of the Krishna district.The internal designs will have theartwork,” he added.The AP government had announcedplans to build a new capital after thestate’s bifurcation from Telangana, andbegan shifting to Amaravati from mid-2015, but with little infrastructure. As of now, thesecretariat, assembly and the state departments arefunctioning from a temporary complex comprising fivebuildings at Velagapudi village.Amaravati’s core city area is being built over 217 sq.km,while the entire capital region will spread across of 8,603sq. km. Of the 58,000 acres land required to build thetwonship, about 36,000 acres are private-heldagricultural land. Around 33,000 acres have already beenacquired, while the rest is government land.Thanking the farmers for their “generous attitude” inoffering land for the capital’s development, the CM saidthat the secretariat and the government head ofdepartments (HOD) complex will comprise the five tallesttowers that will be built. “Four of them will have 40storeys and the fifth one will have 50 storeys, and will bethe tallest one at 225 meters.”According to the website of Foster and Partners,Amaravati’s designs have been “inspired by Lutyens’ NewDelhi and New York’s Central Park, a clearly definedgreen spine runs through its length, providing thefoundation of the master plan’s environmental strategy,where at least 60% of the area is occupied by greenery orwater”. The designs have also been made to align closelywith Vaastu principles.

CM lays foundation stone forAMARAVATI’S FIRST GOVT COMPLEX

CM laying foundation for Secretariat buildings.


smartprep.in

32 JANUARY 2019

APPSC to recruit 1,000 Panchayat SecretariesThe Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC)has issued a notification seeking applications for morethan 1000 Grade IV Panchayat Secretary post from eligi-ble candidates on its official website, psc.ap.gov.in.Those who are interested can apply for the posts onlineon the link made available on the official website. Can-didates should know that they have to first registerthem on APPSC to proceed further to complete the for-malities. According to the APPSC notification, the lastdate to pay application fee is January 18. Interested can-didates should first register on the official websitethrough One Time Profile Registration (OTPR) and get anOTPR ID.

Vijayawada Indoor stadium gets a face liftThe government gave administrative sanction for a sumof Rs 13.73 Crore to the Vijayawada Municipal Corpora-tion (VMC) for renovation of Chennupati RamakotaiahMunicipal Indoor Stadium, revival of a bio-methanisa-tion plant at Ajit Singh Nagar and preparation of a de-tailed project report for cleaning up Ryves, Eluru andBandar canals. The VMC is keen on city beautificationand cleaning up of canals was on top of their list. The in-door stadium will have new amenities as part of thesanction.

Hill festivals at Kotappakonda and KondaveeduSpecial focus has been laid on developing hill shrines inthe State, in a bid to promote temple tourism and at-tract tourists. Accordingly, the Tourism department ofthe State has now planned to organize a three days longhill festival on Kotappakonda, the abode of SriTrikoteswara Swamy and at Kondaveedu Fort. The festi-val at Kotappakonda will begin from January 19. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the eventtouted as one of a kind in the country. While taking partin the festivities of the temple, one can go around thehill shrine which comprises of a mini zoo, kids area anda cafeteria. The theme of the event is based on temple

tourism and protection of environment and health. Aropeway is under construction and is expected to func-tion from March, 2019. Later, the Kondaveedu Fort festi-val would be held for two days from February 2.Trekking, planting drives and cultural programmeswould be organised at the fort.

TTD to open Kanyakumari temple on January 27

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) will formally de-clare open the Sri Venkateswara temple at Kanyakumari(Tamil Nadu) on ‘Maha Kumbhabhishekam’ on January27. TTD Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal has di-rected officials to speed up the preparation- silk ‘vas-trams’ required for the ceremonial opening. Gardens,electrical illumination, construction of restrooms anddoor-frame metal detectors among other things werebeing put up at the temple.

Dr. Dangs Lab in Amaravati soon Director and founder of New Delhi-based Dr Dangs Lab,Dr Navin Dang and the lab’s associate director ArjunDang met APCRDA Commissioner Ch Sreedhar and ex-pressed interest in setting up a high-end pathology lab-oratory in Amaravati at an estimated cost of Rs 30Crore. Dr Navin told the CRDA chief that he was alsokeen on establishing Research & Development wing be-sides skill development centres.

AIIMS will be fully functional by Sept 2020

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) atMangalagiri will be fully functional by September 2020,according to a written reply given by Minister of Healthand Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda in the RajyaSabha to a question on the status of the buildings andthe infrastructure. The Minister said the Union Cabinethad approved the Institute at an estimated Rs 1,618crore on October 10, 2015. The time-frame for comple-tion was September 2020. The institute would be devel-

HAPPENING AP

IT and Panchayati Raj minister Nara Lokesh has been selected for the SR Nathanfellowship award by Singapore government. Interestingly, Lokesh is the youngestof all public figures so far, to have been bestowed with the honour. Singapore for-eign affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan sent an official invite stating the same tothe minister who responded in positive. Singapore government instituted the fel-lowship in memory of SR Nathan, its past and longest served president for en-couraging public leaders to take up study of various issues and their tackling.Lokesh, who left for Singapore on Christmas Day to receive the fellowship hastweeted a picture of him and expressed glad for traveling in the first internationalflight from Vijayawada to Singapore. During his three-day visit, Lokesh has alsomade plans to meet up with several entrepreneurs, industrialists and business-men besides ministers of the island nation. Meanwhile, Lokesh also attended ameet and greet with Telugus in Singapore, arranged by APNRT.

Minister Lokesh receives SR Nathan Fellowship


smartprep.in

JANUARY 2019 33

oped in two phases. Work in the first phase on the OPDBlock and the Residential Complex began on September2017 to be completed in 18 months and 45.05% of ithad already been completed. The second phase in-volved work on the hospital and the academic campus.It began in March and 14.45% had been completed. TheCentre had released Rs 231.02 crore to the executingagency of which Rs 156.43 crore had been utilised tilldate.

Electric buses in Kakinada soonThe Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC) is all set tooperate city service buses offering an economic modeof transport to the denizens to travel within the city.Electric buses are being roped in for the purpose andwill be operated in four different routes initially. Around20 vehicles will be used for the purpose and the civicbody is preparing Detailed Project Report to introducethe city bus service. “The new service will come underthe Smart City initiative. It is aimed at providing pollu-tion-free commute to people at affordable fares. Oncethe project gets the clearance, the Central governmentwill release the funds for procuring the electric buses,”said K Ramesh, Commissioner of the KMC.

Agriculture income has doubled in last 4 yearsThere was a tremendous potential for growth in agricul-ture and allied sectors, Chief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu told the Collector and heads of line departmentsat a weekly teleconference held recently. The income offarmers had doubled in the last four years. The growthin agriculture and allied sectors had been tremendousin the first two quarters of this financial year. There wasa 22.36% growth in aquaculture against the target of26.6%. Similarly, growth of 15.93% was registered inhorticulture and 15.34% in animal husbandry. All thiswas achieved even though the State recorded deficitrainfall. The State registered a growth rate of 22.14% inagriculture and allied sectors, the Chief Minister said.He added that Andhra Pradesh was able to reduce itsloan burden by 10% of the GSDP last year.

900 Happy Nest flats sold in 2 hoursThe prestigious project of APCRDA’s ‘Happy Nest’, first

government’s neighborhood flats were sold out like hotcakes in a record time. The APCRDA has opened secondphase bookings for as many as 900 flats at the housingproject at Nelapadu in Guntur district. Owing to the im-pressive public response, entire flats were sold off intwo hours and ten minutes time. The online bookingbegan at 9 a.m. and the process of allotment on first-come-first-served basis was over by 11.10 a.m. Accord-ing to an official release, 600 flats were booked in thefirst 15 minutes and it went up to 724 in half an hour.Commissioner Cherukuri Sreedhar said that the CRDA iscontemplating coming up with Happy Nest series 2 and3. Tenders for construction of the towers would becalled soon and the project will be completed in 24months.

Flight training centre to be set up at DonakondaChief minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked AP DroneCorporation officials to initiate steps to develop a flighttraining organisation (FTO) at Donakonda airstrip. Hesaid facilities for testing of drones and flight trainingshould be provided at the centre. AP Drones Corprationsigned an MoU with University of Texas for S3M Solu-tions for developing drones during CM's visit to the USArecently. AP Drone Corporation chief executive Officer KRavindra Reddy said a drone research centre was set upat KL University. Five different models of drones weredeveloped, he said.

NTPC’s New 25 MW Floating Solar Project The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) issueda tender to develop a 25 MW floating solar project atNTPC Simhadri, located in Andhra Pradesh. The tenderallows for the project’s solar cells and modules to besourced from anywhere in the world. The brief scope ofwork includes the supply of floaters, installation, an-choring, fixing of floaters, pathways corresponding to 35MW (minimum) along with the engineering, procure-ment, and construction (EPC) of the project based onopen category PV modules and cells. The last date forbid submission is January 22, 2018. The techno-com-mercial bid will open on January 23, 2018.

v

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that he would stand by theChristian community till the SC Christians are accorded the status ofScheduled Castes. Speaking at the Christmas celebrations held atLutheran English Medium School, the CM said that Dalit Christians havelost many opportunities as they do not have reservations. He praised theservices rendered by the Christian missionary schools and hospitals.“Our children are able to speak fluent English due to the Christian mis-sionary schools. Missionaries started hospitals and schools paving theway for development of society,” the CM said. He promised that hewould allot Rs 6 crore for completing Christian Bhavan in the city.

CM assures SC Christians their due

CM Chandrababu and other leaders at Christmas celebrations.


smartprep.in

34 JANUARY 2019

Andhra Pradesh State government has enteredinto a MoU with KIA Motors India to collaborateon ‘Partnership for Future Eco Mobility’. The lat-est MoU states that Kia Motors has committed tosupport Andhra Pradesh for increasing the uptake of elec-tric vehicles and developing a local EV infrastructure.The manufacturing giant presented three hybrid electriccars- Niro Hybrid, Niro Plug-in Hybrid and Niro EV- to theAndhra Pradesh government. Chief Minister ChandrababuNaidu in this connection has launched an electric charg-ing station set up by Kia Motors for electric cars- at theSecretariat on December 6. The charging station will helpemployees to charge their new environment friendly fleetof vehicles. KIA Motors has set a high record with the pro-duction of vehicles in AP manufacturing unit and the firstcar is likely to be out by February 2019. As the State Government is developing 14 smart cities,Kia Motors is working with it to design a new generationof transportation systems that best serve the citizens ineach of these cities. This is part of a wider plan by Kia tooffer alternative mobility within the Indian market. KiaMotors plans to offer 16 electrified vehicles by 2025. TheKorean company continues to invest in the developmentand commercialisation of autonomous driving and eco-friendly vehicles.Speaking on the occasion, CM said that there is a need fornew approach in order to improve transport quality bypromoting electric vehicles. An environment-friendlytransport system should be introduced in the State. "Thecost of solar energy has come down to Rs 4 per unit.7,500 garbage collection electric tricycles will be intro-duced in Andhra Pradesh by January 2019. The introduc-

tion of electric vehicles will majorly help with curbing airpollution," he added. He also called upon KIA MotorsIndia to act as an ambassador to Andhra Pradesh in orderto help AP attract more investments from South Korea. "With the prevailing industry-friendly atmosphere, an in-creasing number of international companies like Isuzu,Hero MotoCorp, Apollo Tyres, Ashok Leyland, Amar RajaBatteries are coming forward to set up units in AndhraPradesh. The State government is focusing on developingAndhra Pradesh as an automobile hub of India," said CMaddressing the gathering.KIA Motors MD Kookhyun Shim said that the cars wouldbe produced in 15 variants. "Future mobility will be de-fined by connected and sustainable technologies that playan important role in bringing customer lifestyles andwhat's good for the environment together." About 3 Lakhcars would be produced from the Anantapur manufactur-ing plant, providing employment to around 11,000 peo-ple. The KIA EV variant car would travel up to 455 Kmwith a single charge.The three Niro vehicles given to the Andhra PradeshGovernment include the new Niro EV – a fully electriccrossover capable of travelling 455 kilometres on a singlecharge by worldwide harmonised light vehicle test proce-dure (WLTP) combined test cycle.The Niro Hybrid and Niro Plug-in Hybrid are alreadyamong the best-selling hybrid vehicles globally, employ-ing parallel hybrid powertrains which switch betweenpetrol and electric power – or offer a combination of both,recharging their batteries whenever possible to maximiseelectric vehicle range.

AP signs MoU with KIA Motors India forFuture Mobility Partnership

w Kia Motors will support theAP government in growingthe uptake of electricvehicles (EV) and in thedevelopment of a localEV infrastructure

w The MoU was signed in thepresence of Andhra PradeshChief Minister and ManagingDirector and CEO of KiaMotors India, Kookhyun Shim

v


smartprep.in

IN PICS

Pic 1: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu addressing Jnana Bheri Programme conduced at Yogi Vemana University, YSRKadapa district.

Pic 2: The CM participated in Christmas Celebrations & High Tea at LEM High School Grounds, Guntur.

Pic 3: AP CM Chandrababu Naidu attended the swearing in ceremony of Ashok Gehlot as Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

Pic 4: Chief Minister attended the statue unveiling of late M. Karunanidhi at Anna Arivalayam, Chennai.

Pic 5: AP CM speaking at the India Today Conclave South 2018 at Visakhapatnam in an interaction with journalist RajdeepSardesai.

Pic 6: CM inaugurated the Padipeta Housing Colony consisting of 3,216 houses in Tirupati and distributed land documentsto beneficiaries of Cooperative Joint Farming Society (CJFS).

Subscription Details: Yearly Subscription rate is Rs 220 for Andhra Pradesh (Eng) Magazine. Readers may send MO or DD in the nameof Accounts Officer, I&PR Department, Vijayawada. Mention your full postal address in your letter and send to Accounts Officer, I&PRDepartment, II floor, NTR Administrative Block, Pandit Nehru Bus Station, Krishnalanka, Vijayawada - 520013 Ph: +91 91212 15246

V

4

6

1 2

5

3


smartprep.in

Regd. No. H-1082/2016-18 APENG/2007/20679Published on: 01/01/2019 Posting Dt: 6th


smartprep.in

Downloaded from ://smartprep.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Andhra-Pradesh-AP... · 10 Telugu Films...

Documents

Transcript of Downloaded from ://smartprep.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Andhra-Pradesh-AP... · 10 Telugu Films...