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w partnerships for development Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu met various business delegations and representatives of governments to forge partnerships in .

1. The CM with Jennifer Daubeny, Consul General of Canada, with whom he discussed possible part - nerships & investments in AP. 2. With Jerry Rao, founder of MPhasiS. The meet explored opportunities to work together in various sectors. 3. In an engaging conversation with Ajay Banga of MasterCard, and his team, the CM discussed on FinTech initiatives in the state. 4. With Jan Widerstrom of SAAB India. The CM discussed on possibilities of making AP a hub for defence manufacturing. 5. The CM discussed possible synergies with Mohamed Faiszer Musthapha, Minister of Provincial Coun - cils & Local Govt, Sri Lanka 6. With Erik Solheim, ED of UNEP and team. They told the CM they were keen to be knowledge partner with AP on climate resilient programs. Downloaded from http://smartprep.in C O N T E N T S

Pushing for all-round development Amaravati designs to imbue 22 6 Telugu culture

The budget came up with several new initiatives as the government focussed on job creation, housing, and revival of sick industries. AP turning into 15 5 mobile hub Online with 20 the Lord

State favours Happening Andhra simultaneous polls Various developments across the 32 state of Andhra Pradesh. Amaravati gets Growth strategies yielding 16 access roads fruitful results 10

AP Special Package 26 12 Making Agriculture gets Centre's 18 Profitable Approval Baahubali: The Conclusion Snapshot: 34 Road projects On Steady Path of 19 worth Rs 4,500 Growth crore in AP

The Bridge on 14 River Krishna 28 Creating the Fintech eco-system

Musical Genius C.R.Subburaman 24 Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

ANDHRA PRADESH EDITORIAL Published Monthly In English & Telugu Volume:11 April 2017 Issue:10 reclaiming the Glory Salivahana Era 1939 The glory of Amaravati has been rekindled once again. Andhra Pradesh Commissioner Finance Minister Y Ramakrishundu has indeed brought back legislative S Venkateswar IIS power to the historical city after nearly 2,000 years by presenting the budget for 2017-18 in the newly got up Assembly. Editor From allocations to Ambedkar Smritivanam to creation of unemploy - Ramesh Babu Kandula ment dole, the Government has not left out any of its promises unful - filled in the budget. With an increase of 15.77% in outlay compared to Executive Editor the previous year, the budget ensured that no section was sidestepped NCoavreers Pha gNe unna AP Budget out of the development process.

Second Cover Focussing on welfare and growth, the budget helped to create, in the CM with biz leaders words of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, ‘its own strain of Third Cover development that integrates rapid economic growth’. Month in pics Meanwhile, the Centre’s move to clear the Special Package to Andhra Fourth Cover Pradesh through Union Cabinet approval has not come a day late. The APIIC Advt on Sunrise State State Government has been pushing for some time to secure legal status to the Special Package announced last September by the Centre in lieu of Special Category Status. Published by: A pragmatic leadership in the State chose to garner as much benefit to Information & Public Relations the state as possible in the backdrop of Centre’s stand on SCS. The Department demand from certain quarters to go after two birds in the bush - even Government of Andhra Pradesh while the one in the hand may get lost - appears more political than - 500 028 practical. Ph: 040-23300258 Time is of essence at this juncture for the state. A lot of energy needs to be spent on things that matter – like the capital building and the Views expressed by various Polavaram project. The blueprints are getting ready for the first phase authors in this issue reflect their of Amaravati, and the construction of permanent structures is set to personal opinions. start in a few months from now. Polavaram is receiving unprecedented attention from the CM, who is leaving no stone unturned to complete Design the project. Karthik Beesu May we get our act together and may this Hevalambi Ugadi usher in all- round development in the state! Photos: T.Srinivasa Reddy, Vijayawada Printed at Caxton Offset Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad Each Issue : Rs 20/- Annual Subscription : Rs 220/- Ramesh Babu Kandula www.andhrapradeshmagazine.org Editor Email: [email protected] www.ipr.ap.nic.in

Ramesh Babu Kandula M/s Caxton Offset Pvt. Ltd

Printed and Published by on behalf of Director/Commissioner, Information and Public Relations Dept.; Printed at ., 11.5.416/3, Red Hills, Hyderabad - 500 004; Published at Office of Director/Commissioner , 4 I&PR Dept, Govt of Andhra Pradesh, SamachAaNr DBhHaRvaA nP, ARCA GDuEarSdH s,M HAydGerAabZaINd E- 5.O00R0G 28. Editor: Ramesh Babu Kandula. APRIL 2017 Ph: 040-23300258. Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

My government is in full agreement with the view that elections to both the assemblies and the be held simultaneously so that the governments at the Centre and in the states could pay undivided attention to issues of policy and governance State favours during their tenures. simultaneous

- Governor polls ESL Narasimhan

he Andhra Pradesh normal 5 year tenure of the Lok to a stage that we conduct elec - government expressed Sabha, the country witnesses, on tions in significantly large parts of itself in favour of simul - an average, elections to about 5-7 the country almost every year, if tanous elections to Lok State Assemblies every year,” said not throughout the year. Political Sabha and State Assemblies. The a discussion paper by Bibek De - parties, and therefore govern - state not only backed the idea to broy and Kishore Desai, both of ments, have to continually keep an hold simultaneous elections to Niti Aayog. eye on electoral calculations. This Lok Sabha and State Assemblies "My government is in full agree - is bound to take its toll on gover - but even suggested that polls to ment with the view that elections nance, policy-making and admin - urban and rural local bodies too to both state assemblies and Lok istration.", Narasimhan pointed be held within one year thereon. Sabha be held simultaneously so out. Governor E S L Narasimhan artic - that Centre and state govern - Simultaneous polls would give ulated the state’s stand while ments could pay their undivided governments a "full four years of addressing the joint session of the attention to issues of policy and undistracted" time to address AP Legislative Council and the governance. We will go a step fur - issues of governance, the Gover - Assembly on the opening day of ther and suggest that elections nor said, adding "it is desirable" to the Budget session in the new to urban and rural local bodies have a national debate involving Legislature building in Amaravati. too should be held within one all sections of people. A debate is on in the country over year of the elections to the State The Niti Aayog paper felt that the polity being in continuous and Central legislative Houses," simultaneous polls would be a election mode due to elections the Governor said. stepping stone towards improved happening in one state or another. "Historically, elections to state as - governance and a larger initiation “It won’t be unreasonable to state semblies and Lok Sabha began to - of “electoral reforms” – a desper v- that the Indian polity is perenni - gether but over the years, for ately needed measure to re-boot ally in an election mode. Barring a varied reasons, they were de-cou - the Indian polity. Tfew exceptional years within a pled. Now the situation has come APRIL 2017 ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG 5 Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

2017-18

PUSHING FOR ALL-ROUND DEVELOPMENT

he Andhra Pradesh Government has pushed Centre’s move. for welfare, education and rural development The allocation for industrial sector has been increased in its annual budget of Rs 1.56 lakh crore for by a substantial 113% over last year. the year 2017-18. Presenting the budget in the The Minister proposed an expenditure of Rs. 1,56,999 Assembly, Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu crore, with revenue expenditure estimated at said the outlay marked an increase of 15.77% compared The budget came Rs.1,25,912 crore and capital expenditure estimated at to the previous year. up with several new around Rs.31,087 crore (which includes Rs.8,009 crores initiatives as the The TDP’s poll promi₹se of towards principal repayment of Public Debt). providing unemployment The 2017-18 Budget Estimates entail an overall government allowance found place in increase of around 15.70 percent over the 2016-17 focussed on job the budget with the Gov - budget estimates. While the revenue expenditure is ernment earmarking 500 creation, housing, estimated to increase by around 10.28 per cent, the cap - crore. and revival of sick ital expenditure is estimated to grow by around 44.54 industries. It has also proposed to per cent over the 2016-17 financial year. The estimated spend Rs 695 crore, for Revenue Deficit is around Rs. 416 crore and the Fiscal the first time, to support Deficit is estimated at around Rs. 23,054 crore. The the Economically Back - fiscal deficit will be around 3 per cent of the GSDP, ward Classes. Owhne reDase tmheo Rneveetnuies Daefticiito wn ould be around 0.05 per The Finance Minister said cent of the GSDP. comprehensive action would be taken during the fiscal Excerpts from the Finance Minister’s Budget Speech: and beyond to improve the lives of women. The Govern - ment came up with a new concept, outcome budget, to ensure clarity on goals, strategies as well as physical That the Government successfully responded to the cri - and financial targets. sis is evident from the fact that cashless Aadhar Enabled DToing away with plan and non-plan expenditure classi - Payment System is functional in nearly all Fair Price 6 fication, the Government switched to AthNeD sHysRtAemPR oAf DexE-SH MAshGoApsZ IiNn Eth.Oe RSGtate. Fair Price shop dealers have beenA PapR-IL 2017 penditure as revenue and capital, in line with the pointed as Banking Correspondents to enable financial Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

Horticulture transactions in rural areas through micro ATMs and the Rayalaseemsa districts of Chittoor, Kurnool and ePOS terminals. SHG women were trained through Ananthapuram Sthorceei Naildh iW Sechlemfea arned thPery aorte esecrvtiengd as Banking Correspondents in more than 178 locations covering more than 700 villages. Andhra Pradesh stands at the top of our country as the second largest producer of fruits. The contribution of HIoT rticulture sector to the GSDP is Rs.41,478 crore (cur - I wish to clear another point. Despite the reclassifica - rent prices) during the year 2015-16 and the target for tion of overall expenditure, the expenditure on social the year 2016-17 was Rs. 49,845 crore. welfare schemes and public assistance going to the poorest remains protected. The allocation for SC com - ponent and ST component is based as a percentage of IT investment proposals worth Rs. 3,649 crore are at total schemes allocations in the earlier plan provisions vCaurioluts ustrage es of implementation in the State to gener - with a substantial increase. An allocation of Rs. 9,847 ate direct employment to 4,755 people. An estimated Rcrourer haals b eEenc oprnopoomsey d towards SC component (ear - IT export of Rs. 570 crore during the year is envisaged. lier sub-plan) and Rs. 3,528 crore towards ST compo - nent (earlier sub-plan) for the financial year 2017-18. Kondapalli Fort has been identified to be developed as an iconic heritage monument. Museums are the mirror We have allocated Rs.9,091 crore constituting 5.79% of of unique culture and heritage. The government pro - total budgetary allocation to Agriculture and Allied Sec - poses to develop Bapu Museum, Amaravati Heritage tors, Rs. 19,565 crore to Rural Development which is Centre and Andhra Sahitya Parishad at Kakinada. Dur - 12.46% of total budgetary allocation, and Rs. 12,770 ing 2017-18, we plan to introduce some initiatives such cDroerbe tto RIrreigdaetiomnp Stecitorn c oSmcprhiseinmg e 8.13% of total as assistance to eminent scholars and artistes, estab - budgetary allocation. These allocations will revitalise Tlisehmleungt ouf GLhaanntagsaulaa Mgueseum at Vijayawada, inter - the rural economy. state and international Cultural Exchange Programmes, and giving of awards including Ugadi Puraskars.

Despite the State inheriting a huge revenue deficit, the Government stood by its commitment, disbursed Rs. The ‘Telugu Bhasha Pradhikara Samstha’ is set to re - 11,000 crore to 55 lakh farmer accounts till date. This place the ‘Adhikara Bhasha Sangham’. The new body will is a defining moment as no Government in the country hSaovec mioarle s cWopeel anfda aruteho rsitcy htoo guoildes and implement have ever embarked on loan redemption of such mag - measures to promote our language, culture, literature, nitude regardless of the economics of this socially rele - arts and historical research. vant measure under difficult and harsh circumstances. FWei asrhe perropioesisng Rs. 3,600 crore in the current budget of 2017-18 for the next instalment of debt redemption The Government is supporting boarding, shelter & for farmers. education of 95,800 students, in the 958 Social Welfare Hostels. Besides, the A.P. Social Welfare Residential Ed - ucational Institutions Society is providing education to The Sunrise State of Andhra Pradesh is considered the 1,05,000 children in 180 institutions, with consistently Aqua Hub of India, contributing nearly 70% of total cul - good results, which are much higher than the State av - tured prawn production besides having a lion’s share of eAramgbe. eInd vkieaw rof tMhee gmoood rreisualtl s shown by Residential 45% in total seafood exports of the country. It stood Schools, we are committed to convert all the Hostels first in the country for the last three years both in pro - into Residential Schools in a phased manner. duction and value. It recorded a growth of 22.06% on Mproedguact ioFn ofroondtp anadr 3k0.s 09% on GVA during the year 2016-17. The State recorded a production of 27.58 lakh The Government have also sanctioned Rs. 97.69 crore tonnes with GVA of Rs. 43,538 crore during 2016-17. for the creation of “Ambedkar Smruthi Vanam” having K12a5 pfeeut sst a&tu e Bofr Dra. Bh.Rm. Aimnbsedkar, Convention centre, Meditation hall, Library, etc. at Amaravati and entrusted With a view to transform the development topography the execution of the work to APIIC. of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh and re - gions, eight mega food processing parks are being planned by private firms in the State. While five of the An allocation of Rs. 75 crore is proposed for Brahmin food parks are expected to come up in the four Coastal Welfare Corporation and Rs. 1,000 crore for Kapu APRIL 2017 ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG 7 Districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam Corporation. and East Godavari, three of them are being planned in Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

Minorities

For supporting the poor Minorities families in perform - ing the marriage of women, an amount of Rs. 60 crore is proposed in 2017-18 under the Dulhan scheme. In 2016-17, 10,954 were benefitted under this scheme. The honorarium given for the welfare of Pesh Imams and Mouzans of 5,000 no-income mosques, is Rs.5000/- Tanhde R Gs.3o0v0e0r/n- pmere mnotn its h. It is the highest in the coun - try. Rs. 24 crore is proposed in the financial year 2017- firmly committed 18 for incentives to to 4% reservation Imams and Mouzans. An for Muslims and is amount of Rs. 15 crore is defending the case proposed for Urdu Ghar- Shadi Khanas. The strongly in the Records of Waqf Board Supreme Court. are being digitised & Waqf Board Portal has been launched. Rs. 50 LHPoGu cosninenctg ions are planned to be given to the left over crore has been proposed families by June 2017 for which a provision of Rs. 350 to Survey Commission of crore is proposed in the financial year 2017-18. Waqf. The Government is firmly committed to 4% reserva - tions for Muslims and is defending the case strongly in WUnadtere Arf foRrdeasbloe uHroucseins g Projects, Government of the Supreme Court by engaging senior lawyers. Coach - Andhra Pradesh proposes to undertake 1,10,000 ing for Civil Services is being initiated. The eligible sub - houses for the year 2017-18. sidy under the scheme of Pilgrimage to Holy Land of Jerusalem and other Biblical places is enhanced from Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 per pilgrim. The maximum permis - The allocation to Water Resources Department reflects sible amount for construction of new Churches is also the importance that the Government lays to the sector. Genehanndceed rfro mE qRsu.1a,0l0,i00t0y to Rs.3,00,000. Rs. 35 crore Investment under irrigation, therefore, continues to be has been proposed for AP State Christian Finance Cor - Scrkuciiall aln dD itse pvroeplosoepd malleocnatt ion has gone up from Rs. poration. 7,978 crore to Rs. 12,770 crore in 2017-18, a phenom - enal increase of 60%.

Towards promoting Gender Equality and in continuing with the efforts of institutionalisation of gender respon - Almlocaatrioan vofa Rtsi 398 crore is proposed to be provided sive planning and budgeting, our Government will un - to Skill development, Entrepreneurship and Innovation dertake a comprehensive set of actions during the department in 2017-18. current financial year and beyond with a view to im - prove the lives of women across all Human Develop - Amennnt Iand iCcaatonrst eanedn tos save women and girls from I am proposing Rs. 1,061 crore in the 2017-18 budget discrimination and neglect in matters of development, estimates for capital development operations. This, progress, security and human rights. however, would only be a small amount while CRDA has already entered into agreement with HUDCO for Rs.7,000 crore and World Bank has in-principle agreed The Government will be implementing the Anna NTR Ctoi ptroyv idDe efuvnedsl. o Fpumndesn, ttherefore, would not be a LCaPntGee nf sochre mAe ltol provide subsidised meals to the constraint in giving shape to our dream capital Amara - poor people in the State with a proposed allocation of vati. Rs.200 crore in the financial year 2017-18.

For the development of Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and 8 With a view to cover all the householdsA inN tDhHe RSAtaPteR AwDitEh SH MTAiGruApZaItNi Eu.OndReG r National Smart City Missions Rs A4P5R0 IL 2017 LPG and to make the State 100% LPG enabled, 24 lakh crore is proposed in BE 2017-18. State Government is Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

CM Chandrababu Naidu remarked the ALLOCATIONS Budget accurately reflected the aspira - Rs in Crores tions and vision of the state government . Home Department 5,221 Horticultre Department 1,015 Agriculture Development 7,342 Livestock Sector 1,112 Airports from wind by 2018-19. Efforts are being made to com - Fisheries Department 282 mission 6 Waste-to-Energy plants during 2017-18. Agriculture & Allied 9,091 Forest Department 383 Industries Department 2,086 The State has handed over the required land to Airports Authority of India for expansion of airports at Vi - IT & EC Department 364 jayawada, Rajahmundry and . The work of run - Tourism 285 way expansion at Rajahmundry is in progress. Orvakal Culture Department 72 and Dagadarthi airports have received all the clearances Social Welfare 3,685 required and will be awarded shortly. Land acquisition to an extent of 86% has been completed for Bhogapu - SC Welfare 9,847 ram airport and bid process is underway. CONCOR has Tribal Welfare 1,814 taken up work of Logistics Parks at Visakhapatnam, Kr - ST Overall Development 3,528 Nishenwap aJtnoamb s and Kakinada. Land acquisition process BC Overall Development 10,000 for new ports at Bhavanapadu and Machilipatnam has been initiated. Minority Welfare 840 Women & Children Welfare 1,773 MGNREGS 6,562 Government has also accorded permission for direct re - Rural Water Supply 1,575 cruitment of 10,000 posts for which recruitment process is under way. This is in addition to the permis - Pensions 4,376 sion already given for filling up of 12,552 posts in the Panchayat Raj & Rural Development 21,140 pFaostl twloo awndi hnaglf yearsr. Teh e tmotaalj fionran ciaal ilmlpoliccata io-n Secondary Education 17,197 otni tohnesse mfeoasrur esso wcoiuladl b ew toe tlhef taunree o: f Rs 2,702 Higher Education 3,513 crore. w NTR Vaidya Seva Scheme 1,000 w Health & Family Welfare 7,021 w Urban Development 5,207 For PDS Rs. 2,800 crore Energy & Infra 4,311 w Towards Aadhar linked Pensions, Rs. 4,376 crore To provide clean drinking water under NTR Sujala w Sravanthi, Rs. 100 crore For subsidising electricity supply to the poor, Rs. w 3,300 crore w Towards housing for the rural and urban poor, Rs developing 13 more Smart Cities viz., Vizianagaram, w 1,456 crore Eluru, Vijayawada, Guntur, Ongole, Kurnool, Anantha - pSuer,w Keadrapaag, Nee lsloyres, Mtaecm hilipatnam, Chittoor, Rajah - w Under Dr.NTR Vaidya Seva, Rs.1,000 crore mundry, Srikakulam. I proposed Rs.150 crore for this w For Skill Development, Rs. 398 crore purpose in BE 2017-18. w For rural roads, Rs. 262 crore w Debt relief Rs. 3,600 crore The sewerage system is to be developed in 11 cities in Capital infusion to DWACRA groups Rs. 1,600 crore the State having sewage treatment capacity of about w Mahila Sadhikarana Samstha Rs. 400 crore E53n9 eMrLDg. y A provision of Rs. 184 crore is proposed in w LPG Connection forwomen in rural areas, Rs. 350 the financial year 2017-18 towards solid waste manage - crore ment. Anna Canteen Rs. 200 crore Assistance to unemployed youth Rs. 500 crore World’s largest solar park will be commissioned in This budget is also historic, as it was the first such evx - Kurnool district during 2017. Four more Solar Parks ercise in Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. APRIL 2w01it7h a capacity of 1,000 MW each will bAeN cDomHRpAlePteRdA bDy ESH MAGAZINE.ORG 9 2018-19. The State will achieve a capacity of 5,000 MW Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

Governor’s Address @ the Joint Session of the AP Legislature GROWTH STRATEGIES YIELDING FRUITFUL RESULTS

“ am delighted to address these goals, my government has this fourth joint session evolved a holistic monitoring of both the Houses of strategy encompassing five Andhra Pradesh Legisla - themes: Gross Value Added ture on the occasion of (GVA), Sustainable Develop - the Budget Session of 2017-18. ment Goals(SDG), Samaja This is truly a historic moment Vikasam, Kutumba Vikasam and as we are meeting for the first Key Performance Indicators time in the new assembly prem - (KPI). The broad development ises built in a record time. strategy under the 7 Missions, 5 Undaunted by the numerous Grids and 5 Campaign modes challenges post bifurcation, my taken up by my government Government converted every will be the basis for this overall crisis into an opportunity, Vision framework for a total thanks to an astute leadership. transformation of our society The numerous post bifurcation towards ‘Total Prosperity with challenges including budgetary Happiness all over’. constraints, infrastructural defi - A review of our performance ciencies and unresolved issues during the last two and half arising from the Reorganisation years is a clear display of posi - Act have not deterred my Gov - tive achievements. The comple - ernment. The Visionary leader - tion of the prestigious ship basing its resolve on Pattiseema in a record time of a turning every adversity into a year, moving ahead on challenging opportunity has Polavaram project to give water helped the State to gallop to - by gravity before 2018 and at - Turning every adver - wards its avowed objective of tain fruition by 2019, prioritiza - all around development over tion of other irrigation projects, sity into a challenging the last two and a half years. transforming the state from a opportunity has At a juncture when both the power deficit status to one of helped the State to Central and State governments surplus power, rapid adoption gallop towards its share a common development of energy efficient LED bulbs, objective of all around drought proofing measures, real vision and a deep concern for development, the the wellbeing of our people, I time governance, conduct of Kr - I ishna Pushkarams, construction Governor’s address to am very happy to tell you that our State is progressing with of new interim Secretariat and the joint session of great clarity in respect of its Legislature buildings in a Andhra Pradesh goals, to be one among the top record time, effective and good Legislature said. three performing states in the encouraging results at the part - country by 2022, the best state nership summits are among the in the country by 2029 and many more. eventually becoming the most In sync with Union Govern - APRIL 2017 10 preferred global investment menAt’sN dDeHciRsAioPnR tAoD dEisSpH eMnsAe GAZINE.ORG destination by 2050. To achieve with Plan and Non-Plan catego - Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

hCl to open it and traininG Centre rization and to classify the expenditure under Capital and Revenue heads from 2017- 18 onwards, my government is streamlining the budgeting process. We are optimising allocation of funds to de - partments by assessing the performance under key parameters for achieving clear outcomes. It is pertinent to recall my statement in the last year’s address in the budget session, that sustaining double digit growth for next 14 years is imperative for Andhra Pradesh to stand tall among its peers and attain global benchmarks. Despite the fact that the state reorganisation had put tremendous stress on the financial and other resources, my government’s un - flinching commitment to withstand the challenges and pursue specific growth strategies has started yielding fruitful re - sults. Our aspiration of double digit inclu - sive growth is today a reality. My State has recorded an impressive eco - nomic growth performance of 10.99% in the fiscal year 2015-16, the only State in n a major boost to the fledgling IT industry in AP, HCL signed an the Country to record double digit growth. agreement with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to open an in - We find encouraging trends in the current formation technology development and training centre at Vi - year also. Due to untiring efforts and inno - jayawada. vative policies, my government could post HCL aims to hire, employ and train 5,000 local residents in the region a healthy growth rate of 12.23% during with a plan to leverage a gender equal workforce, it said in a state - the first half of the financial year 2016-17 ment. and expects to maintain double digit The selected candidates will undergo a training programme by indus - growth for the full year. try experts on skills required for working for global customers of HCL. As a result of strategic planning and inno - The centre will also work on developing innovative high-end tech - vative practices for productivity improve - nologies for global clients. ment and value addition, Agriculture and The centre is a part of the Andhra Pradesh government’s plan to pro - Allied sectors have shown phenomenal mote holistic growth and boost IT investment within the state. growth of 24.44% during the first half “The Andhra Pradesh Government is committed to economic develop - (April-September 2016) of the current fi - ment and providing more opportunities to the young workforce of the nancial year. This was achieved despite State. The HCLIT and Training Centre will offer a great platform to 28% deficit rainfall in the State. Agricul - lIocal talent in cities like Vijayawada by providing them growth oppor - ture with 3.69%, Fisheries with 42.57%, tunities and ultimately helpingcontribute to our vision of becoming Livestock with 14.91% and Horticulture the bets state in the country by 2029," said Nara Chandrababu Naidu, with 18.33% growth rates have provided Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. support to the agriculture sector. Indus - tries and Service sectors, with sectoral “HCL has always been at the forefront of bringing new opportunities growth rates of 9.98% and 9.57% respec - to the Indian populace. This is an innovative initiative to reach out to tively during the first half year of 2016-17 the local talent, refine their skills and make them future ready for IT have also displayed promising results. careers. By leveraging the skilled talent pool available in the city Service Sector being a major growth driver through the HCL Global Centre we can help put Vijayawada on the and employment generator, my govern -v global IT map," Shiv Nadar, Founder & Chairman - HCL said in a statev- ment is planning to give a big push to all ment. The creation of global centre at Vijayawada is in line with HCL’s APRIL 2th0e1 7key sub-sectors. ANDHRA PRstAraDtEeSgHicM vAisGioAn ZtoIN eEx.OpaRnG d and create opportunities in non-metro 11 cities, it said. Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

Excerpts from Governor’s Address to the Joint Session of the Legislature MAKING AGRICULTURE PROFITABLE

y government is targeting water security by creating smart water grid for drinking water, Agriculture sector is irrigation and industrial purposes. Interlink - receiving a thrust ing of rivers Godavari and Krishna through Pattiseema Lift Scheme has helped in stabilizing Krishna thanks to the Delta resulting in significant gains to the farmers. The multi-pronged scheme has a potential to benefit more than 14 lakh approach of the state acres. We may recall that one of the first decisions of the government, the Union Government to transfer the seven mandals in Governor’s address Telangana to our State made Polavaram becoming a real - ity. Assistance from the Union Government through to the joint session NABARD to the Polavaram Project Authority helped in of the Andhra hastening the pace of work with a targeted completion by Pradesh Legislature 2019. Project works like Diaphragm wall, coffer dam, pointed out. earth-cum-rockfill dam, crest gates, spillway and spill channels are in progress. We have been monitoring the progress of the project by virtual inspection with the help of drones on a real time basis to complete the project on time. My government is committed to complete all prioritized projects in a focused manner within a definite timeframe. Thotapalli, Polavaram Right canal and Gandikota projects have been completed. Polavaram left canal, Telugu Ganga, lematic villages will be addressed under targeted pro - Veligonda, Handri Neeva and Galeru-Nagari projects are grammes which will not only have normal budgetary sup - being executed in on a fasttrack mode and some of them port but EAP assistance as well. Mare in advanced stage of completion. Purshothapatnam My Government is committed to make Agriculture more and interlinking of Nagavali-Vamsadhara rivers are being profitable, attractive and cost effective through adoption accorded priority. Setting up of ‘smart water grid’ of innovative practices leading to substantial improve - through interlinking of rivers is our commitment. ments in production and productivity. Programmes like My government is keen to conserve every drop of water ‘Micronutrient deficiency correction’, providing Soil and is working towards sustainable ground and surface Health Cards to all the farmers to reduce fertilizer con - water management through programmes like Neeru sumption, extensive use of vermi compost, farm mecha - Chettu, Neeru–Pragathi, Panta Sanjeevini (farm ponds), nization on subsidy basis, relieving small & marginal Panta Raksha (Rainguns) and borewells under the NTR farmers from high cost machinery by putting custom hir - Jala Siri Programme. For optimum utilisation of water ing centres in place, increasing cropping intensity, en - resources, my government plans to extensively deploy couraging Intercropping and putting in place large scale micro irrigation facilities. We aim to drought-proof the extension services are some of the important interven - state and provide irrigation facilities for all the regions. tions that are helping the farmers to earn additional farm Hon’ble Members may recall that we had assured to pro - incomes. Demonstration of ‘Best Management Practices’ vide clean drinking water to all households under NTR in cluster mode through Chandranna Rythu Kshetralu has Sujala. We are committed to fulfill this promise in totality. resulted in improved productivity levels of Paddy, Maize, ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG APRIL 2017 12 We are also committed to supply clean drinking water to Redgram and Cotton. My Government is promoting ‘zero the fluoride affected and saline affected areas. All prob - budget natural farming’ in a big way formulating clusters Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

fisheries sector has witnessed a phenomenal growth in the recent past. andhra pradesh state is accounting for 70% of the total culture prawn in the country and holds a share of 45% in total seafood ex - ports in the country.

Government have kept Andhra Pradesh atop in the production of Oil palm, Papaya, Citrus and Chill - ies and 2nd in the production of Mango & Tomato in the Country. Micro irrigation through drip and sprinkler mechanisms has proved effective both in terms of cost and output. We are implementing strategies to make Rayalaseema as a Horticulture hub. My govern - ment targets to cover one million farmers in the next three years in each mandal of the districts. Subhash Palekar's zero under Farmer Producer Organisations for Agriculture & budget natural farming practices are being adopted. A Allied sectors in order to establish forward and backward MoU has been signed with Azim Premzi Philanthropy ini - linkages and to promote the products of Andhra Pradesh tiative in this regard. to global standards. Despite the huge revenue deficit, the implementation of Livestock sector has emerged as an alternative and de - the debt redemption scheme in a transparent manner pendable source of income generation even during the through Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (Farmers’ Empower - times of severe drought. My government is providing fod - ment Organization), is truly commendable. It is pertinent der to livestock at the doorsteps of the farmers below to observe that under the scheme, more than Rs.11,000 poverty line (BPL) at 50% subsidy ensuring fodder secu - crores has been paid into 55 lakh farmers’ accounts till rity under Kutumba Vikasam. My government endeavours date towards one time settlement (for farmers having to insulate the farmers from the vagaries of agriculture by debt less than Rs.50,000) and two installments (for farm - focus on livestock sector to ensure that every household ers who are having debt of Rs.50,000 and above upto has a minimum monthly income of Rs.10,000. Rs.1,50,000). The outstanding installments to the farmers Fisheries sector has witnessed a phenomenal growth in carry 10% interest payment also. Debt waiver to a tune of the recent past. Andhra Pradesh state is accounting for Rs. 385 crore has been extended to the horticulture farm - 70% of the total culture prawn in the country and holds a ers also. share of 45% in total seafood exports in the country. Fish - In spite of my Government’s resolve to effectively imple - eries are providing employment to 14.5 lakh persons and ment various farmer-friendly programmes adversarial at - contributing significantly to the State’s economy. My gov - tempts in the garb of fake and spurious seed ernment has initiated plans to make Andhra Pradesh the manufacturers and dealers have been intent in harming ‘Aqua Hub’ of the World. the interests of the farming community. To arrest and curb My government has initiated a people’s movement under this menace, my government is committed to bring in ‘Vanam Manam’ program. Under the Mission ‘Special Seed Act’, which would attract severe punishment Harithandhra Pradesh campaign, we target to increase the to offenders. Making quality seed available to farmers is present green cover from 26% to 50% in the State by the our commitment. year 2029. The entire process will be monitored with geo - The agrarian state of Andhra Pradesh is heading towards a tagging. Sustained efforts are being made to ensure that v value addition platform from the conventional production most of the Nagara Vanams are operational by the end of APRIL 2a0p1p7 roach. 'Horticulture’ sector is an essAeNntDiaHl RcAomPRpAoDneEnStH MAMGaArZcIhN 2E0.O1R7G and my government has evolved ‘Palle 13 for food and nutritional security in the State. Efforts of my Vanam’ theme to improve forestry in rural areas. Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

CM wants this bridge across River Krishna to be THE BRIDGE an iconic construction, and a shining example ON RIVER of the new resurgent state. KRISHNA

lans to construct an iconic cultural bridge from Vijayawada to Amaravati are in the final stage. The proposed bridge – 3.8 km long out of which 1.2 km will be cable-sup - ported – will begin from Moolapadu near Pavit - rasangamam and end at Velagapudi in Amaravati. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu wants the ultra- modern bridge to reflect the rich culture of the re - gion. He also wants this bridge across River Krishna to be an iconic construction, and a shining example of the new resurgent state. Among the different models presented for the iconic bridge, the Chief Minister preferred the one taking inspiration from the traditional art form of the region – Kuchipudi. Leading construction firm L&T pre - sented six different models for the bridge, taking off on Indian greeting Namaskar, Kuchipudi pose, a dou - ble-decker, Amaravati stupa, a flower and inspiration from Kondapalli toys. Of these, the CM showed interest on the Kuchipudi model, but wanted the bridge to be double-decker, where the lower one will serve for transport, while the upper layer can be used for people activities. He also wanted the planners to ensure that the upper Pademcka irs auvseadt if oBrr eindtgeret aCinomnecnetp. Ftes edback on the de - signs is now being sought, after which the Govern - ment will take a final decision.

1. Namaskār, also known as namastē, is a form of greeting practiced most in the Indian Subcontinent. It is used both while greeting and departing. 2. Kuchipudi is the classical dance form from the South-East Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is known for its graceful movements and its strong nar - rative / dramatic character. Transformation of one of the expressive gestures of mudra in Kuchipudi dance to the pylon tower of iconic bridge across river Kr - ishna. 3. People's Bridge - Double bridge with separate Vve - hicular & Pedestrian movement at two levels. Top of b1r4 idge will be used for different people activiAtiNesD. HRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG APRIL 2017 Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

AP TURNING INTO MOBILE HUB Xiaomi to set up second unit at Sri City

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hinese handset vendor Xiaomi has partnered square-foot facility in May 2015 at Sri City industrial Foxconn to set up its second manufacturing park in Andhra Pradesh. Three months later Chinese unit in India at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh.

Xiaomi had entered India in July 2014 and started local manufacturing just over a year later. The Chinese smartphone maker started assembling phones the fa - cility in Sri City in August 2015. The new facility will be exclusive to Xiaomi, while the older one may see Foxconn making handsets for other vendors too. While the company declined to comment on the in - vestment details, it said Xiaomi will be able to make “one phone per second in India”. “While I cannot disclose the exact capacity, I can tell you that we will be able to manufacture one phone per second whenever the lines are running. The two fac - tories combined will provide employment to about smart phone company Xiaomi had rolled out its first 5,000 people, 90 per cent of which are women,” Xiaomi 'Made in India' smart phone Redmi Prime from Sri City India Head Manu Jain said. facility on August 11, 2015. The move will help Xiaomi meet about 95 per cent of We believe this partnership will provide new oppor - its demand in India from these two facilities. tunities to youth of the state and develop an electron - However, it will continue to import accessories, ics manufacturing ecosystem of global standards in ecosystem products and its premium product, Mi5 Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Cfrom China. said at the time. According to research firm IDC, Xiaomi had a 10.7 per Foxconn had started its smart phone assembly plant cent share of the Indian market, putting the company in a 40,000 square-foot facility in May 2015 at Sri City just behind Samsung (over 25 per cent share) at the industrial park in Andhra Pradesh. end of December quarter. Xiaomi decided to go ahead with assembling phones “The smartphone market in India will grow from 110 at Foxconn’s Andhra Pradesh facility because of the million units per annum to 200 million plus units, in presence of skilled technical manpower, and the speed 3-5 years, Jain added. with which the state government moved. The company has also launched a new device – Redmi AP government had set a manufacturing target of 20 4A – that will also be manufactured at the Indian facil - million mobile hand sets in the state in view of its em - ities. ployment potential. The government had offered land and other facilities to 4-5 domestic companies vto The Sri City unit will be Xiaomi’s second production develop a mobile handset manufacturing cluster near hub outside its home base of China. Foxconn had Tirupati in addition to Sri City's Foxconn operations. APRIL 20st1a7 rted its smart phone assembly plaAnNt DinH aR A 4P0R,0A0D0 ESH MAGAZINE.ORG 15 Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

CM launches works Amaravati gets access roads

maravati is all set to get international stan - dard road connectivity with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu laying the founda - tion stone at Errabalem on Ugadi for seven seed access roads at a cost of Rs. 1,020 crore. On the occasion, the CM said Amaravati is poised to showcase an outer ring road (ORR) with a distance of 180 km, bigger than that of the one in Hyderabad (160 km). He said it will change the very face of the capital once completed. It is expected to be completed by next Ugadi. The roads would be laid in 68.85 km distance radius with an estimated cost of Rs 1,051 crore. The roads would be laid with international standards by develop - ing both sides with greenery at cost of Rs 4.46 crore. The roads with a width of 40-60 metres would ensure a haasmslea-rfraeve aritdie w toi Vllelagapudi. The seed access roads arbe ebe cinogn lanide acst setrd aight as possible and are being built with the rest of with high-end technology re - sembling express highways. The highways will ensure road connectivity with all the country by The roads would have green - major cities in the country, he said. six national ery and a dedicated bicycle The super express highway lane also would be con - highways, the track. nected to Amaravati from Bengaluru through Ananta - pur. The road would reduce the journey time to four Chief minister Of the seven roads, four would be laid from west to east cov - shoeuerds frooma Rdas yalaseema districts to capital city. Water said, after laying taxis would be introduced as part of internal trans - ering Ananthavaram, * Krishnayapalem to Nekkallu (14.95 km) the foundation portation in the capital, he explained. Pitchukulavaripalem, Boru - * Uddandarayunipalem to Nidamarru (13.6 km) stone for seven palem and Nekkalu. The roads * Venkatapalem to Navuluru (7.17 km) seed access being laid from North to South * Borupalem to Sakhamuru (8.27 km) roads would cover Mangalagiri, Nidamarru, Bethapudi, * Penumaka to Inavolu (7.81 km), Sakhamuru and would lead to * Mangalagiri to Neerukonda (7.36 km) A Krishna river. Each road would Abbarajupalem to Nekkalu (8.77 km) cover a distance of 8-15 km. * The final master plan has pro - posals to lay 16 roads towards East and 18 roads towards North at a cost of Rs. 1,800 crore. He criticised the opposition indirectly for creating hur - Amaravati will be connected with the rest of the country dles to capital construction. The government was mak - by six national highways, the Chief Minister said, after ing plans to construct world class capital even though 16 laying the foundation stone for seAveNnD sHeeRdA aPcRcAeDssE rSoH aMdsA . GAZINE.ORG APRIL 2017 Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

Amaravati is all set to get international ap bags CnBC standard road connectivity with the State was passing through financial crisis, he said. . The city is being planned state of the CM N Chandrababu in such a way that it can host the Interna - Naidu laying the tional Olympics in future. The capital city Year award foundation stone at construction and Polavaram projects are two important tasks, very dear to him, the Errabalem on Ugadi CM said, and added that his one and ony for seven seed passion was the development of the state access roads. on all fronts. Meanwhile, the alignment and design of the access-controlled Amaravati-Anan - ndhra Pradesh bagged the thapuramu highway which has been de - ‘State of the Year’ award an - clared as a National Expressway by the nounced by CNBC TV 18 under Centre were finalised. The proposed 394 the ‘business leader’ category. kms long expressway would also be the longest in the country. A jury, comprising eminent persons Andhra Pradesh Road and Buildings Department officials said that from the fields of banking and industry, the Expressway would be four-lane in 185.400 kms and six-lane in has selected Andhra Pradesh unani - 208.194 kms. Two feeder highways connecting Kurnool and mously for the prestigious award and Kadapa towns would also be part of the expressway making it invited Chief Minister N Chandrababu nearly 600 kms long. Naidu to participate in a programme to The expressway would start at the outer ring road of Amaravati be organised on March 23 to receive the City and go through Guntur, Prakasham, Kurnool, YSR Kadapa, and award. HDFC CMD Aditya Puri, State Bank of India CMD Arundhati Bhattacharya, KKR CEO Sanjay Nayar, E and Y chair - man Rajiv Memani and corporate advo - cate Cyril Shroff are the members of the jury which selected Andhra Pradesh for the award. State Minister Ayyanna Patrudu re - ceived the award on behalf of AP gov - ernment at a special function in . Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said while the hard wAork of the government is receiving ac - claim from all across, the opposition in the state was creating hurldles in the path. Thanking the centre for the help being extended to the state, Naidu requested Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, terminate at the Ananthapuramu-Bengaluru Bypass road on the who was also present at the event, to outskirts of Ananthapuramu. Separate highways radiating towards continue offering a helping hand to the Chennai to the south and Hyderabad to the north, and feeder roads southern state. connecting Kadapa and Kurnool towns to expressway would be This laurel is indeed an encouragement laid. The expressway would bring down the distance between for the AP government to perform even Anantapur and Amaravati from 472 kms to 371 kms; Kadapa and better and keep striving for excellence Amaravati from 370 kms to 290 kms; and Kurnool to Amaravati in all sectors, the Chief Minister said. from 320 kms to 280 kms. Officials said that 26,793 acres of land v “I dedicate this award to the people of v has been acquired for the project. Of this, 9,324 hectares was forest my state who believe in me and my con - land that has been de-notified. APRIL 2017 ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG stant efforts in making AP shine”, he 17 added. Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

ap special package gets Centre's approval

he Special Package announced for Andhra Pradesh by the Centre received statutory sta - tus with the Union Cabinet approval. Andhra Pradesh government has been insisting on providing statutory guarantees to the Special Package announced in lieu of Special Category Status. The Centre approved financial assistance for bifurcated Andhra Pradesh by way of special dispensation in fund - ing of externally aided projects (EAPs) and also the ir - rigation component of Polavaram project. All Tbhee nspeeficitasl atshsiest asntcaet ae pproved by the Cabinet will be provided to the state towards repayment of loan and would have got under interest for EAPs signed the special category and disbursed during growth," it said. 2015-16 to 2019-20, an status, would now The Centre while fulfilling its commitments under official release said. accrue under the spe - Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014, has already cial economic package. After a determined Chief provided 'Special Assistance' of Rs 1,976.50 crore to the Minister Chandrababu state during 2016-17. I said this long ago. Naidu stuck to his re - Besides, the Ministry of Water Resources has also pro - Politicising the issue is solve of securing a ‘spe - vided Rs 2,081.54 crore for the Polavaram Irrigation cial status’ for the State, not correct. Develop - Project during the current financial year. ment of the state Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an announce - "Thus the Central government, after the enactment of comes before every - ment in September 2016 the Reorganisation Act, has provided central assistance thing. which, in practical terms, of Rs 10,461.04 crore to the state of Andhra Pradesh T which includes Rs 4,403 crore released during 2014- amounts to the treat - - Chief minister ment of residual Andhra 15, Rs 2,000 crore released during 2015-16 and Rs Pradesh as a Special Cat - 4,058.04 crore in 2016-17. egory state. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chan - After hours of gruelling drababu Naidu welcomed the Union Cabinet's negotiations in the gov - approval for the special economic package to the state. ernment and consulta - "What all benefits the state would have got under the tions with the Chief Minister, Union Finance Minister special category status, would now accrue under the Arun Jaitley, flanked by his colleague Venkaiah Naidu, special economic package. I said this long ago. Politicis - had announced the details of the package which is valid ing the issue is not correct. Development of the state is for five years — 2015 to 2020. important for us," he told reporters. The Centre will also fund 100 per cent of the irrigation The opposition parties should ponder over this, he component of the Polavaram project starting from April added. Chandrababu reiterated that he never compro - 1, 2014, it said further. mised on the issue of development of the state. "Con - "This support for capital expenditure by way of repay - frontation achieves nothing. We can get things done ment of EAP loans would help and assist the newly only through amicable means," he said. 18 formed state of Andhra PradeAshN DtoH pRuA tP tRhAe DSEtaStH eM's Afi G- AZINThE.eO CReG ntre agreed to establish a new railwAaPyR zILo n2e0 1a7 t nances on a firmer footing and promote economic Visakhapatnam and also enhance the number of As - Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

The special package road projects worth revolves around various sections in rs 4,500 crore in ap the Andhra Pradesh. sembly constituencies, Reorganisation Act, he claimed. "That will hasten the the 14th Finance development process, Commission report he added. recommendations, The package revolves he Centre has sanctioned for Andhra Pradesh 14 oral commitment around various sec - road projects costing Rs 4,500 crore in the current made by the then tions in the A.P. Reor - fiscal. “During the current financial year, the Min - ganisation Act, the istry of Road Transport and Highways has sanc - Prime Minister in 14th Finance Commis - tioned 14 major projects costing Rs 4,500 crore on National February 2014 and sion report recom - Highways under corridor approach and NHDP 4 scheme for the recommenda - mendations, oral com Andhra Pradesh,” said Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State tions made by the mitment made by the for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping. then Prime Minister in Niti Ayog in 2015. The long pending demand for Vizianagaram bypass has been February 2014 and the fulfilled. The work of four-laning of the bypass with concrete recommendations road for Rs 430 crore has been sanctioned, he said. made by the Niti Ayog in 2015. “Visakhapatnam area grid separator at convent junction on Visakhapatnam old road is being developed at a cost of Rs 60 "People of the state crore. Out of this, Rs 30 crore will be funded under the Sagar - have been waiting for mala programme, Rs 15 crore by NHAI and another Rs 15 this for many days now...Had they granted crore by Vishakhapatnam Port Trust,” he added. special status, I would have been happier. In case they have some technical problems, they Another project, the minister said, is six-laning of Anakapalli- should do whatever is possible as per law," he Anandapuram access controlled highways as part of NH16, told a press conference later. providing connectivity of 12 km to Visakhapatnam port with service road on both sides. This will be a dedicated corridor With respect to the construction of capital to port Visakhapatnam- Ranasthalam and 47 km of NH 16 is city Amaravati, he said Rs 2500 crore already also to be six-laned at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. been sanctioned and another Rs 1000 crore promised would not be in any way sufficient. Bids for the project are already done and the construction will start in the next four to five months, he informed. For the Replying to the discussion on Motion of outer ring road of 186 km around Amaravati, Rs 20,000 crore Thanks to the Governor’s Address in the Leg - T has been sanctioned. Land acquisition is to be done by state islative Council, Naidu thanked Prime Minis - government. ter Narendra Modi for approving the special assistance to the state and 100 per cent fund - Nandigama and Kanchikacharla bypasses which were pend - ing for the Polavaram. ing since 2007 have been sanctioned by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Mandaviya said. While thanking Union ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and Uma Bharti, he said, The Amaravathi-Ananthapuram Expressway with connectiv - “I had visited Delhi 26 times to pursue the ity to Kadapa and Kurnool in a length of nearly 690 km at a issue and I am very happy today as the Union cost of nearly Rs 28,000 crore would be taken up by NHAI. v Cabinet has approved both Special Assistance Land acquisition is to be done by the state government. and total funding for Polavaram Project. Avenue plantations along the National Highways are to be The Andhra Pradesh Assembly passed a res - etalkenc utpr wicit ht threa pnarstnpeorshritp oinf lo tcahl iend nusetrwiali sctsa, fparmitears l olution thanking the Central Government for and NGOs. approving a special economic package for the state. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley an - nounced the package in September last and Electric buses with no emissions will run in Amaravati, the since then the state government had been de - new capital of Andhra Pradesh. The suggestion by the master manding the Centre to accord "legal sanctity" architect of Amaravati — UK-based architects Foster and to it. Partners — to use only eco-friendly, non-polluting public transport, especially buses, was approved by the government. "This will be the harbinger of development of v Unmanned electric buses will run on roads of Amaravati ad v- our new state that suffered heavily due to the ministrative city with dedicated stops, said CM N Chan - APRIL 2017 irrational bifurcation," Chandrababu said. ANDHRA PRADESH MdrAabGaAbZuI NNEa.iOduR Gafter a meeting with Foster and Partners at 19 Vijayawada. Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

ONLINE WITH THE LORD Tech enables more devotees to have darshan

Dr Dondapati Sambasiva Rao Andhra Pradesh abling more number of devotees to have the darshan of the Lord without as little hardship as possible. Technology is being widely useds pinok Tei rtuo mala adminis - tration. Caabno uyto tuh e xtepclahinno hloogwic aitl iisn hiteialptiivnegs? of the Tiru - mala administration.

Basically people come here for darshan – they range around 70,000 to 100,000 a day. The other day, there were 89,000. And this is supposed to be lean season. Dr Dondapati Sambasiva Rao There are different types of darshan – Sarva Darshan, Darshan for Walkers and Seeghra Darshan (faster dar - shan). Those who opt for Seeghra Darshan earlier would go up the hill, and then buy tickets, a process which would take 3-4 hours. These would be in the range of 25,000 tickets. Now, we have placed these ord Venkateswara Temple at is one of tickets online, wherein we release around 2500 tickets the best managed spiritual and religious insti - once every hour during the day. They can be purchased tutions in the country. Described as the richest 120 days in advance. They can buy laddus also in ad - temple in India, the Tirumala temple, located vance. This will enable the pilgrims to have darshan in on seven hills of Tirupati, is administered by Tirumala 2 to 2.5 hours and leave the place. All this, without any TiruTmiruaplat ih Daesv aestmhaenragme (dTTD). The temple’s manage - sHtorews sm oann tyh ep irlegsroimursc aerse o mf tahkei nTgem thpelier. Harerraen, gtheem teencth s - as the model spiritual ment of pilgrims, aver - nonoloingey? is as good as the one used by Railways for ticket centre in terms of its aging between 60,000 to booking. a 100,000 a day, while maintenance, order, ensuring the upkeep of devotee-friendly initia - the entire place in pris - tives and development tine and sacred splen - Out of 2.60 crore who visited Tirumala last year. 71 activities. A large part dour, has received wide lakh devotees came through booking online. That acclaim. wDo rykosu o huat vroe uag shelpy atroa 2te5 -w3i0n pge frocre tnetc. hBneocalougsye ionf TthTeD u? se of the credit for this Tirumala has emerged of technology, there is less strain on the administra - achievement goes to as the model spiritual tion. the successive centre in terms of its maintenance, order, Executive Officers, No. Tata Computer Services (TCS) is helping us as part who headed the devotee-friendly initia - tives and development oWf htheerier eCloser piso rteacteh nSocloiagly R beesipnogn usisbeidli? ty (CSR) activity. administrative body activities. A large part of Around 120 computer engineers are working on TTD over the years the credit for this projects. Their services are freely provided to the TTD. achievement goes to the successive Executive Of - ficers, who headed the Advance booking of accommodation is also now made L administrative body available online. We have about 6500-7000 rooms, out over the years. Dr D of which 2000 rooms can be booked in advance of 120 Sambasiva Rao, a senior IAS officer, who is the present days online. Here, technology helps us ensure that 20 ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG APRIL 2017 Executive Officer, has brought about major changes in there is no blocking of rooms; so there is optimum util - the day-to-day administration of the temple affairs, en - isation of the available space. Also, the rooms are made Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

Tata Computer Services (TCS) is helping us as part of their Corporate Social available from any shares online. counter, helping us All the TTD publications are also now available online, Responsibility (CSR) prevent any freezing Wwhhicaht hcavne b bee aecnc ethssee lda tfersete tlrye wnditsh? out any payment. They activity. They maintain of rooms. include everything that TTD produces - from Anna - the website and its We have also tied up macharya kirtana cassettes to yearly calendars. operations. Around 120 with AP Online, computer engineers where these online How many people can you accommodate for darshan in services can be aC odmayp?a red to last year, we are witnessing 10,000 more pil - are working on TTD availed through Mee grims every day now. projects. Their services Seva counters. are freely provided Devotees who walk to the TTD. up the hills are pro - vided special dar - We are trying to improve systems so that we can have op - shan. Here also, they timal use of time to provide darshan to the visitors. We get their comput - are ensuring there is a continuous flow of pilgrims, which erised tokens at the will ensure that devotees are not crowded at one place. start of their journey. Even when there are a 100,000 people visiting the Tem - Likewise, tickets for ple, you will not find crowds at Tirumala, as visitors are different sevas – always on the move. If 4,500 people come out of the Tem - about 50,000 of them - are also available online. They are ple (after darshan) every hour, we can ensure that there is released first Friday of every month. Technology has no crowding. made it possible for people from anywhere in the world to How is the revenue for the Temple? Thus, we have now been able to ensure there are no big book their tickets and plan their visit to the Temple in ad - crowds gathered in one place. vance. All these are interlinked in the system, providing for smooth running of the administration and comfortable darshan of the Lord for the devotees. The website Are you accepting donations online? The revenue is going up by 8-10 percent, though there www.tirumala.org , developed by TCS as part of their CSR was slight dip recently due to demonetisation. Most of the activity, is one stop source for all the online bookings. revenue comes through Seeghra Darshan. Donations for various schemes come from devotees all the time. For Anna Prasadam, the corpus fund has gone up by Rs 800 We have also introduced a Donor Management System. crores – this financial year, Rs 100 crore was received as Earlier, it was a hassle to make donation to the 9 different What are the major expenses for TTD? donation. We have 9 Trusts – together they get around Rs Trusts of TTD that serve the people in various ways. Now 150 crore as donations every year. after the introduction of online system, donors can make their contributions from anywhere and, unlike in the past, they get acknowledgment instatntly. They also get their IT It is salaries and pensions. There are around 20,000 exemption certificate and their digital passbook immedi - TTD calendars seems to be in great demand? employees, out of which 10,000 are permanent ately. The donors also can download their privileges in employees. terms of darshan and accommodation from the net. For the cottage donation scheme also, we are implement - ing the same online procedure. There is also e-hundi, Our calendars and diaries are much sought after. For wherein devotees can put their money in 3-4 steps from 2017, we have had 32 lakh calendars and 10 lakh diaries the comfort of their system. There is no need to physically printed and sold. This is probably one of such largest v go to the hundi at the Temple, and offer their money. Like - exercises anywhere. APRIL 2w01is7 e, for those who want to donate shaAreNsD, wHRe A haPvRe ADESH MAGAZINE.ORG 21 opened a demat account, and people can donate their Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

AMARAVATI DESIGNS TO IMBUE TELUGU CULTURE

experts met with dr parakala prabhakar to discuss ways to incorporate culture and history of ap in amaravati design.

he building of people’s ing capital city. This is what he con - Partners, submitted four concept capital Amaravati is veyed to Foster + Partners, en - designs of the government build - one of the two projects trusted with the designs for the ings to be constructed in the core that Chief Minister capital. capital Amaravati, to the Chief Min - Chandrababu Naidu is The capital city Amaravati is all set ister in early March. very obsessive about. In accor - to enter the execution phase soon During last week of March, a com - dance with his grandiose plans to with the architectural plans being prehensive architecture plan was create a city that will outsmart any nearly finalized. London-based presented on the basis of feedback oftohsert einr I+n dpiaa, rNtanideur sh acsa bmeeen up Foster + Partners (F+P) presented obtained from local and interna - spending weniotrhm tohues aimopurnot vofed the revised master plan of the core tional experts. Based on the sug - architecture plan for government buildings in Amaravati gestions that were received in the amaravati, following the titled ‘Amaravati-People’s Capital- earlier meeting, Foster + Partners Building Sustainable Vision’ to and Architect Hafeez Contractor feed back from the earlier Chief Minister N Chandrababu made a presentation titled ‘ Amara - meeting with the Naidu as well as to the MLAs and vati- The People’s Capital – Build - Chief minister. MLCs of the state in a specially or - ing a Sustainable Vision. ganized event. The presentation highlighted the The Chief Minister had announced need for integrating green and blue that the committee headed by spaces. It said that the city would Government Advisor (Communica - consist of 51 percent green, 10 per - tions) Parakala Prabhakar would cent water, 14 percent road and 25 recommend ways to incorporate percent building footprint i.e of time on every minute detail with Telugu history and culture in the 1,000,000 sqm. regard to the capital construction. designs conceived by Foster and To promote Andhra Pradesh’s cul - Naidu wants the city to reflect the his team. ture, heritage and arts the repre - history and cultural fabric of the 29 Norman Foster, the founder-chair - sentatives said that the villages that constitute the emerg - man of London-based Foster + architectural heritage should be 22 ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG APRIL 2017 T Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

The Parakala Prabhakar committee, consisting of eminent personalities from the disciplines of history, archaeology, heritage and culture, would suggest ways to blend various cultures of different ages, carved out by eminent rulers of historical importance, in the designs for Amaravati.

represented in the arrangement Meanwhile, the experts committee Knox, the famous keeper of the de - and format of buildings and spaces. entrusted with the task of incorpo - partment of original antiquities of In addition to this, integration of rating Telugu culture and history in British Museum, was also roped in local arts, culture of all the 13 dis - the buildings has decided to expe - to provide expert advice. tricts was considered. dite its exercise. Tirupati’s Sri Venkateswara mu - Vehicle free zone was another sug - Two teams of the committee, seum director V Ranganayakulu gestion that the Foster + Partners which had visited New Delhi, said that the government offices suggested. They stressed the need Tirupati, North Coastal Andhra and should reflect the ancient `man - to encourage alternative sustain - Amaravati areas, gave their presen - duva logili’ structures for free flow able methods of transport, provi - tations during a meeting recently. of air and sunlight. The buildings sion for electric vehicles, dedicated The committee discussed traffic should be named with historical bicycle and pedestrians routes and islands, entry points, government names. use of canals for water taxis. buildings, lawns, water fountains Sri Venkateswara University re - Chris Bubb, Rob Harrison, Rob Sey - and parks to be come up in Amara - tired professor Kirankant mour and Harsh Thapar from Fos - vati. Chowdary said that the structures ter + Partners said that they had Prabhakar said that 'Foster + Part - in the capital should reflect ancient studied a number of cities in the ners' had submitted the state gov - kingdoms including Satavahanas, world to understand the arrange - ernment some conceptual plans Ikshvakas, Salankayanas and Bud - ment of buildings and that they after incorporating some symbols dhists. Writer Sai Papineni said had included all those studies, relating to Telugu culture and her - that the designers should adopt the ideas in the plan that they have itage in the primary designs. technology in Los Angeles struc - presented on this occasion. As the final designs of Amaravati tures to bring down the tempera - Hafeez Contractor, Nishant Gupta are likely to be submitted by Foster ture. A retired archaeological from Architect Hafeez Contractor, + Partners by April end, Prabhakar official KV Rao said that the build - Achyut Watve from JW Consultants suggested the members of the ings should reflect the Buddhism were also presented at the meet - committee to finalise the issues traces in Amaravati region. Direc - ing. relating to culture, history and her - tor of cultural affairs Vijay Bhaskar said that the structures should re - The Chief Minister told them that itage for incorporating in the flect the history of Kalinga king - only electric buses and vehicles designs as per the aspirations of dom. Archeologist E Siva would have to be permitted to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Nagireddy said that the structures move around the city to avoid Naidu. in Amaravati should reflect the cul - pollution. Cine Art Director Anand Sai said ture of all regions of the state. that he is drawing some designs He also instructed the Capital Amaravati heritage city advisor based on some of the heritage sym - Region Development Authority Galla Amareswar said that the sug - bols in Sri Venkateswara Museum (APCRDA) Commissioner gestions of experts should be de - in Tirupati and National Museum Cherukuri Sreedhar to launch a veloped as designs in 3D and in New Delhi. portal for obtaining the opinions of should be presented to Foster anvd Telugu people on the capital city Noted archaeologist K. Paddayya, Partner. Designer Vasuki Balasub - project and to extensively use the Professor Emeritus and former di - ramanian, historian P Hanumanta social media platforms for the rector of Deccan College, Pune, is APRIL 2017 Rao were also present. stated purpose. alAsoN DleHndRiA nPgR hAisD eExSpH eMrtAisGe. ARZoIbNeEr.tORG 23 Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

[In this brand new series we bring to you non-Telugu technicians who have worked for the growth of .] MUSICAL GENIUS C.R.SUBBURAMAN

k k k Oho Naa Premadhaaraa Jeevanataraa (Ratnamala-1947) Preme Neramouna and Payanamaye Priyathama (Laila Majnu- 1949) Palleku Podam Paaruni Choodaam, Cheliyaledu Chelimiledu, Kalayidani Nijamidani, Antha Bhranthiyenaa (Devadasu -1953).

C R Subburaman (left) with Director Vedantam Raghavaiah.

tryst with Cinema ven after seven decades, these haunting man soon rose to the level of assistant music director at melodies and many more composed by C.R. HMV. Subburaman are popular across generations of film music lovers. A child prodigy, Subbu - raman became a music director when he For his Telugu production, Chenchulakshmi (1943) pro - was barely 19 and in the next ten years he made a last - ducer Soundararajan of Tamil Nadu Talkies commis - ienagr ilmyp Yaecta orns Telugu and Tamil film industry with his sioned the HMV orchestra to compose the songs. Young melodious score before fate snatched him away at a Subburaman played harmonium as part of the orches - very young age. tra. After setting tunes for two songs, Chinnaiah sud - denly died. S. Rajeswara Rao stepped in and, after composing four songs, he left due to personal reasons. Chintamani Rama Subburaman was born in Chintamani All along Soundararajan was observing the young har - village in Tirunelveli district in the then composite monist during the recordings. He said, ‘you are my Madras Presidency in 1923. His ancestors hailed from music director.’ Subburaman was at first apprehensive the Andhra region. At the tender age of five, Subbura - because he did not know a word of Telugu and was man developed interest towards music and his father wavering to accept the offer. However, the film’s lyric Ramasamy Iyer encouraged him to take music lessons writer Samudrala Raghavacharya, popularly known as from a nadhaswaram player in Kumbakonam. Later he Samudrala Sr. encouraged him to take up the job. Samu - took him to Madras (now Chennai) to learn piano and drala explained to him the meaning of the lyrics and was master harmonium. Recommended by editor M.S. with him during the composing and recording sessions. Money and Sundara Bhagavathar, brother of veteran iItn wnaosv tahteinv eth gate Snuibubs uraman completed the task suc - music composer G. Ramanathan, Subburaman joined cessfully and earned kudos for his work. No wonder, he the HMV orchestra as a harmonist at the age of 16. . The always said that Samudrala Sr. was his guru. orchestra was headed by R. S. Chinnaiah. Interestingly, v Saluri Rajeswara Rao was also with the HMV orchestra 24 at that time. With his talent and haArdN DwHoRrkA , PSRuAbDbuErSa H -MAGTAhaZtIN wEa.Os hRoG w Subburaman made his tinsel townA PenRtILr y 2017 E Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

Chintamani Rama Subburaman, whose ancestors hailed from Andhra region, made his tinsel town entry with a Telugu film and even made history when he used playback singing in Chenchulakshmi. k k k

with a Telugu film and even made history when he used has said in an interview that it was Subburaman who playback singing in Chenchulakshmi. Kamala Kotnis composed music for the two super hit songs, O Balaraja played the title role and the alluring song, Thinne Meeda Preme Yerugava and O Balaraja Jaali Ledaa Balaraja. Chinnoda, which was filmed on her was rendered by Pratibha’s next production the A N R- Anjali Devi starrer, Rao Balasaraswati. For the title music and for a dance Swapnasundari owes its success to Subburaman’s number without a song, Subburaman introduced Latin music. American instruments to Telugu cinema.Chenchulak - When M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar returned to films shmi’s success brought him instant recognition as a after his release, he signed Subburaman to compose music composer and offers came his way from Tamil music for Rajamukthi and soon Subburaman became a film producers too. busy music director in Tamil too with such hits as Rath - The most sought after Tamil actor and singer of the time nakumar, Mangayar Karasi and Marmayogi. It was Sub - M.K. Thyagaraya Bhagavathar signed him for ‘Ud - buraman who introduced Ghantasala in Tamil films hayanan’ but, just on the day of the recording, MKT was awist ha P pyrthoidyaukcaerar n (1947) and M.L. Vasanthakumari in arrested for his involvement in journalist Lakshmikan - Rajamukthi. Another talented singer P. Leela learnt clas - fthrauni’ts fmuul radsesr.o Tchiea tirionn y was that though Subburaman sical music from Subburaman. had nothing to do with it he was considered unlucky by the producers of the film and was replaced. Subburaman was associated with director Vedantam Raghavaiah, writer Samudrala Sr. and production chief However, the disappointment for Subburaman was D.L. Narayana since his Bharani Pictures days. When the short lived. Again it was the Telugu film industry that trio formed Vinoda Pictures with D.L. as the producer, came to his rescue in the form of Bhanumathi Ramakr - Subburaman joined them as partner and music director. ishna and her Bharani Pictures. Bhanumathi signed him The first film to roll out from the banner was the ANR- for Rathnamala along with Ghantasala, Balantrapu Ra - Anjali Devi starrer, Stree Sahasam followed by Shanti. janikantharao and Saluri Rajeswara Rao. Subburaman’s But it was their third film, a bilingual in Telugu and compositions for the film, Oho Naa Premadhaaraa, Tamil, Devadasu that became not only a money spinner Neeve Piluva Thaguve and Madana Swagathamoyi but also a cult classic. Every song from the movie star - turned out to be so popular that he became a perma - ring ANR and Savitri was a hit. nent music director for Bharani Pictures. Musical hits Unfortunately, Subburaman was not destined to see his like Laila Majnu and Prema followed. For Laila Majnu, music’s mega success. He was afflicted with epilepsy to bring realistic touch to his compositions, Subbura - since childhood. By then he had composed tunes for all man blended Arabian and Western tunes. Virithaavula but two songs for Devadasu (the two songs Intha Leela, Preme Neramouna andPayanamaye Priyathama Telisiyundi, Jagame Maaya were tuned by his assistants are some of the songs from the film that are popular to M.S. Viswanathan and T.K. Ramamurthy). A sudden and this day. Besides other films, Subburaman also com - severe bout of fits took its toll on him and he died at a posed music for Bhanumathi’s trilingual movie, Chandi - very young age of 29 leaving behind a treasure trove of rani in Telugu, Tamil and . music for nearly 50 films in Telugu and Tamil, and his His association with another popular banner of the talented assistants Ghantasala, -S uMs aLr Nlaa rDaasikmshhianma - time, Pratibha Pictures came when he worked as an as - murthy, M.S. Viswanathan and T.K. Ramamurthy to con - sistant music director for Gali Penchala Narasimha Rao tinue with his legacy. besides composing the background score for the super APRIL 2017hit, Balaraju. The film’s production chAieNfD ‘PHrRatA ibPhRaA’ SDaEsStrH i MAGAZINE.ORG 25 Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

BaThae Chonculubsioan li

Turns The Spotlight On Telugu Cinema

tagged to filmmakers like Rajkumar Hirani or to name a few. It all began in 2012 when SS Rajamouli's Eega flew to markets beyond the horizons of Telugu cinema. It established Rajamouli's name in Tamil Nadu as a filmmaker to reckon with and earned rave reviews from national media, although the Hindi version of the film didn't quite do well at the box-office. The success of Baahubali - The Begin - ning in 2015 came as a major shot in the arm, not just for SS Rajamouli but also to the whole of Telugu film industry. For the first time, after sev - eral years, Telugu films began making news for all the interesting work, in various fields, being done here, not just for the masala-driven content, which is often at the centre of several remakes in Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Bengali cinema. Within a span of two years, as Hindi and Tamil filmmakers, began to keep a tab on films being made in Telugu film industry, new players have emerged who are taking their work beyond borders. Last year, films like Kshanam and Pelli - choopulu got a lot of attention from Bollywood and both the films are going to be remade in Hindi ny filmmaker worth his salt would do and Tamil soon. While there has been no dearth of anything to be in a position where SS commercial films in recent past, the focus on mak - Rajamouli is right now. It's not ing period dramas, which push the heroism to a everyday that a Telugu filmmaker whole new level, has only increased. After earns the respect from millions of Baahubali, there were films like Rudhramadevi movie-goers north of the Vindhyas or even the vil - and Gautamiputra Satakarni which walked down lages and towns spread across Tamil Nadu and the same route as Baahubali and it wouldn't be Kerala, but Rajamouli has done the impossible. He surprising if this interest in period dramas, fantasy has now joined the ranks of an elite league of and mythology is sustained for a longer period of filmmakers in the country whose name alone is a time in Telugu cinema. stamp of integrity, grandeur and larger-than-life This brings us back to the impact that the second experience that cinema boasts of. Shankar and part of the Baahubali film series, Baahubali : The Mani Ratnam are two such filmmakers from the Conclusion is going to have on filmmaking as such South who have managed to make inroads in the in the South. The two films were made with a North Indian market to some degree of success; budget of close to Rs 450 crores, an unimaginable ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG APRIL 2017 26 however, Rajamouli, with Baahubali, has turned number for a regional film; however, the interest - into a national treasure, a feat which is often ing part is that the makers of Baahubali have

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tirumala doCu on nGC CaptivatinG

documentary titled ‘In - already sold the theatrical and satellite rights of the film for close to Rs 500 side Tirumala Tirupati’ crores. The film's trailer, which was launched on March 16, shattered all records directed by New Delhi- andF rito ims c uBrorelnlytlwy othoe dm too st watched trailer of all time in Indian cinema. This is based award-winning significantT faomr ai l c ninumembear ,of reasons, but the most important of them all is that documentary film maker Rajen - 'Baahubali : The Conclusion' has been baptised everyone is in awe of dra Srivathsa Kondapalli, pre - as a national film, made in Hyderabad and few miered on National Geographic SS Rajamouli and his other parts of India and Europe. India channel was widely Baahubali team for Traditionally, the success of one film draws watched for its spectaculur cap - what they seem to attention to that director and actor's previous ture of the world-renowned tem - have achieved in the work. In some rare instances, it turns out to be a ple. filmmaker's latest epic window to explore other films made in the same The 45-minute documentary al - saga Baahubali - The language or film industry. Of late, thanks to the lows viewers to experience the Conclusion. Here's a dubbed content, Telugu films and celebrities temple and its surroundings like have become quite popular in the Hindi belt. an insider would, including get - look at how the film 's 1-Nenokkadine is a big hit with ting a front-row seat to witness has cut across all the internet users, whereas Ravi Teja, the spectacular annual celebra - barriers to become a command a huge fan following in rural India. tion of Brahmostavam – an event truly Indian film. People there might not know what the film's title that attracts such massive was in Telugu, but they recognise the actor and crowds that it makes the Tiru - that's a big deal. With Baahubali : The Conclu - mala temple one of the most vis - sion turning into a storm at the box-office, it'll ited Hindu pilgrimages in the once again encourage people to dive deep into world. The film presents the Telugu cinema of the recent past. Who knows magnificent sanctum and its set - what other gems will people, who aren't ting through time-lapse and well-versed with Telugu cinema, discover in near future. hAyper-lapse photography. The Currently, the focus is clearly on Rajamouli and the spectacular world of viewers would get a feeling of Mahishmathi that he has created for Baahubali : The Conclusion. The action looks walking alongside devotees who much bigger than what it was in part one and the drama is expected to be an scale the Seshachalam or Seven immersive experience in itself. With a lot of buzz surrounding 'Why Kattappa Hills on foot to reach the hilltop Killed Baahubali?', the film is going to grab a lot more eyeballs than what its temple for a coveted Darshan of predecessor did. Now that the foot is in the door, Baahubali has also given other Lord Venkateshwara. filmmakers a chance to go beyond the borders of the two Telugu speaking states. It took more than a year to de - Multi-linguals are expected to flourish in near future and already, films starring velop and produce the film, in - Mahesh Babu and Ram Charan are moving in that direction. cluding in-depth research with All said and done, SS Rajamouli's Baahubali : The Conclusion has done what a lot the cooperation of Tirumala of people had been dreaming about - to unfurl Telug-u h cienmemaan'st hfla Kg uacmroasrs Cthr e Tirupati Devasthanam and Chief country. It's no more a dream now. Let's hope that the flag flies high and there Priests. Inside Tirumala Tirupati v will be others too in near future to keep the momentum going. promo views on National Geo - graphic Facebook page have APRIL 2017 ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG touched more than 12 million 27 and ticking. Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

CREATING THE FINTECH ECO-SYSTEM

etting the stage for Government of Andhra Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Nara Chandrababu Pradesh’s ambitious initiative, #SpringConfer - Naidu interacted with delegates for an hour over ence 2017 was inaugurated at Novotel, video conference and took inputs from fintech com - Visakhapatnam recently. Fintech Valley Vizag is Gov - munity present at the Spring Conference. He chaired ernment of Andhra Pradesh’s flagship initiative that The Fintech Valley Forum setup to focus on various brings together industry, academia and investors to aspects of the ecosystem creation. While addressing innovate, co-create and build the fintech ecosystem. the august gathering he said, “The Fintech Valley The Fintech Spring Conference 2017 marks the be - Spring Conference is our step in joining the Fourth gtinhnein gf oinf theisc jho usrnperyi. nTghe primary objective of the Industrial Revolution which is a spectacular combi - Confereenvecnet i2s0 to1 7ex mploarrek trse ntdhse and opportunities in fin - nation of technology and Internet of Things (IoT). In tech. This is a plat - recent times, technology has started influencing our beginning of this journey. form where the finest lives in a comprehensive manner. The demand for the primary objective of the minds of financial Fintech is growing each day. To meet this demand, event is to explore trends and startup commu - we would need the support from Fintech and Cyber nity get to share security companies. We also need the academic in - and opportunities in fintech. mind-space with stitutions to adapt curriculum that trains individuals this is a platform where the thought leaders, busi - to contribute to fintech sector. I extend my best S ness leaders, artists, wishes for the success of the initiative and hope it finest minds of financial and actors, musicians, fu - provides multiple opportunities to meet the futuris - startup community get to turists and entrepre - tic requirements of our country and the global econ - share mind-space with neurs. omy at large.” thought leaders, business Offering full support In his keynote address, Special Chief Secretary and to organisations, in - IT Advisor to the AP Chief Minister, J. A. Chowdary leaders, artists, actors, cubators, facilitators stated, “Indian IT 1.0 is facing difficulties. The next musicians, futurists and and start-ups, invit - flight towards IT 2.0 will be backed by fintech. The entrepreneurs. ing anyone with dis - tectonic shifts this will cause and entail is captured ruptive ideas to be a by the expression ‘fintectonics’. It is a fintech culture part of Fintech Valley, we are creating here – a culture of doing something 28 ANDHoRnA tPhReA eDdEgSeH oMf iAnGno A-ZINE.fCorO tM he betterment of the common man, a AcuPlRtuILr e2 0o1f 7 vation, Hon’ble Chief creating an ecosystem by getting the right industry Downloaded from http://smartprep.in

in his keynote address, special Chief secretary and it advisor to the ap Chief minister, J. a. Chowdary stated, “indian it 1.0 is facing difficulties. the next flight towards it 2.0 will be backed by fintech. the tectonic shifts this will cause and entail is linkages and finding ence, wherein the competitors took questions from the right formula for the judging panelists. Following this, another Bank - captured by the the critical man - ing Panel Discussion on ‘Consumers and Market - expression ‘fintectonics’. power.” Present on places changing in an increasingly cashless world’ the dais were Mr. Roy was moderated by Ms. Neha Punater, Partner and Teo, Director, Fintech Head Fintech, KPMG. Key panelists Akhil Handa, Ad - & Innovation Group, visor to MD&CEO, Bank of Baroda; Shashi Bhushan, Monetary Authority Managing Director, Investment Management Tech - of Singapore (MAS); nology, Goldman Sachs India; Ramesh Loganathan, Utkarsh Palnitkar, Professor, IIIT Hyderabad and Sudin Baraokar, Head Partner KPMG; George Inasu – COO, Fidelity Finan - of Innovation SBI discussed challenges faced by cial Services; Puneet Pushkarna, Chairman, TIE – start-ups in being unable to identify and direct re - Singapore and Joe Seunghyun Cho – Co-founder and sources towards the accurate fintech problem area. Chairman, Marvelstone Group . They also proposed the need to create a consoli - To accelerate the evolution of Fintech Valley, the dated industry-wide ‘use case’ library to facilitate in - Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) has also ini - novation. tiated a fintech networking event every month, in Furthering collaboration towards developing this addition to the annual fintech international flagship ecosystem, the Government also signed a partner - event. This year, on October 9-10, the government ship agreement with Lattice80, Pearson, Anthill Ven - will host the Blockchain Technology International tures, HackerEarth, F6S, Forum Synergies, Event. The flagship Global Fintech Summit will take Hyderabad Angels, Zone Startups, ParadigmIT and place on Feb 19th & 20th, 2018. This event provides Trade Land Finance Tech Consortium (TLF). the opportunity to participate in the $1 million The first Fintech Valley Vizag Spring Conference global fintech award challenge and the INR 1 crore brought together fintech companies, start-ups, re - Indian fintech award challenge. searchers and key government officials working in An invigorating Investment Panel Discussion on the fintech sector and provided opportunities for ‘Funding Fintech – wearing an investor’s hat’ was disruptive business solutions. The peaceful atmos - moderated by P. S. Sreekanth, Investment Director, phere offered by Visakhapatnam compared to other Hyderabad Angels; Sampath Iyengar, Partner, bustling tech-hubs in India, created a serene envi - Forum Synergies; Abhinav Chaturvedi, Principal, ronment for igniting fintech innovation and disrup - Accel Partners; Prasad Vanga, Founder and CEO, tion ideas at the Fintech Valley Spring Conference. Anthill Ventures; Utkarsh Sinha, Enterprise Technol - Fintech Valley Vizag is rapidly becoming the epicen - ogy Investor, Bitkemy Ventures; Puneet Pushkarna, tre of fintech disruption. Since the launch of Fintech Chairman, TiE – Singapore and Utkarsh Palnitkar, Tower, the Andhra Pradesh government has signed Partner and National Head IGS Advisory Manage - numerous partnership agreements with renowned ment, KPMG. Beginning the discussion with the post educational institutions, corporations and govern - demonetization scenario, the panelists sustained ments that share the state’s vision of becoming pio - their dynamic dialogue in identifying fintech invest - neers for building strong standards for fintech and ment portfolios with high RoIs. mutually sharing the desire in working towards co v- Additionally, the finalists’ demos and presentations operative advancement through information and re - source sharing. APRIL 2017 for the ICICI Bank Start-UpA CNhDaHllRenA gPeR &A DthEeS H MDFAC GAZINE.COM 29 Life Start-Up Challenge were showcased to the audi - Courtesy : The DQ Week Downloaded from http://smartprep.in AMAZING ANDHRA PRADESH

Come, Let’s VIZAG!

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ill stations have been Thus, apart from the conventional city an epithet cultural capital of the summer destinies to advertising campaigns, Let's Vizag Andhra. Owing to the cultural plu - Kumar Buradikatti of - campaign is concentrating more rality of the area, Let's Vizag web - Bengaluru for a few in the digital domains. Its state-of- site provided a category- ‘Let’s years. But, this year, he the-art website, with improve - Explore a New Culture’- to make is trying something different while ments in terms of all latest the visitor understand the diver - making Vizag, a.k.a Visakhapatnam, features, is reaching out the visi - sity. the port city of Andhra Pradesh, a tors of new-generation. The web - The campaign covers most of the new holiday spot. He booked his slot site presents the visitor a social media networks, viz, Face - for May 5th to spend his weekend. panoramic view of virtual vicinity book, Instagram, Twitter and Why did he choose Vizag- the City of of Vizag. In the first category, ‘Let’s YouTube, besides smart phones. Destiny- as his new destiny in sum - Walk Across The Sands’, the According to the officials, the main mer? It is because of the most aggres - uniqueness and beauty of Vizag target is to attract young and re - sive campaign, being launched by beaches, including Ramakrishna cently married couples as well as Andhra Pradesh Tourism department beach, Gangavaram beach, Bhimli, the well-off sections of society. AP to promote tourism and to attract Yarada and Rishikonda beaches, Tourist department came to an un - more sojourners. are portrayed. In the section- ‘Let’s derstanding with all the hotels, 17 The campaign was named ‘Let’s Discover Nature’- picturesque tour operators in the city to offer Vizag’, aimed to promote Vizag as the beauty of Ananthagiri Hills, Lam - the best deals to the tourists. Thus, ideal summer holiday destination basingi, Araku and Burra Caves, is Let's Vizag is said to be a collective and accordingly, a website explained. effort of the Tourism department, https://letsvizag.com/ was also kick- Vizag has become more cosmopoli - hotels and the tour operators. A started. Kumar Buradikatti was one tan, nevertheless, culturally aware. free tour would also be offered for of the aspirant- visitors that regis - It is clearly culturally attuned in 200 winners of the contests on the tered with the site. Thanks to the most ways, which truly earned the social media and other platforms. massive campaign, on which tourist packages department is spending Rs. 2.5 crore, there is a surge of inquiries and regis - trations from the other metropolitan • the packages are as low as rs. 3,350 per person for cities, including Bhubaneswar, two nights and three days that cover vizag and araku Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and with stay in budget hotels. New Delhi, besides Bengaluru. • the highest package for the same duration and loca - “It’s all about assortment and dealing tions in quality accommodation in five-star hotels costs Hwith swelling markets of tourism,” rs. 7, 975. Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Himan - • stay in tree houses, surfing and scuba diving will be shu Shukla said. The aim, according the special attractions. to him, is to turn Vizag into state's • the packages can be booked till may 31 and tours will one of top three tourist destinations. be available from may 1 to June 30. Vizag is surely a pointer to evolving trends in its culture, it has always been relatively inclusive place. It is nestled in the lap of hillocks on the v shores of Bay of Bengal. Aglow with swanky urban features like clubs, cot - For more details visit: https://letsvizag.com/ APRIL 2017 ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG 31 tages, boutiques etc, it is now hosting Rs. 2.5 crore ‘Let's Vizag’ campaign. Downloaded from http://smartprep.in HAPPENING AP

Widening of nG 5 in ap would be the company’s 10th facility in the country that would help strengthen its market share in the powder Highways developer Ashoka Buildcon said its arm has drink segment, Rasna Pvt Ltd. Chairman and Managing won a Rs 1,187 crore project from NHAI for widening of Director, Piruz Khambatta told reporters. “This factory a stretch of NH 5 in Andhra Pradesh. "The companys will be an integral part of Rasna to strengthen the subsidiary viz Ashoka Concessions Ltd (ACL) has re - market share in the powder drink segment”, he said. ceived letter of award from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) ... for six laning of Ranastalam to Anan - dapuram (Visakhapatnam) section of NH 5 (new NH 16) Cm launches distribution of four-wheelers in Andhra Pradesh," Ashoka Buildcon said in a regula - tory filing to the BSE. The project will be undertaken on Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu formally launched hybrid annuity mode under the National Highways the distribution of 125 Toyota Innova and an equal num - Development Project phase V, it said. "The accepted bid ber of TATA Ace vehicles to the beneficiaries of the project cost is Rs 1,187.10 crore," it said. Scheduled Castes’ (SCs) Action Plan 2016-17 at the In - terim Government Complex at Velagapudi. The actual distribution of vehicles will take place on April 14 to mcnally Bharat secures solar project mark the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The ve - McNally Bharat Engineering said it has bagged Rs415 hicles are being given to unemployed youth belonging crore solar power project order in Andhra Pradesh. “The to the SCs at 35 % subsidy, 5 % beneficiary contribution company has received an order for design, engineering, and the balance in the form of a loan component from manufacturing, supply, commissioning and operation the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Develop - and maintenance of 500 MW grid connected solar PV ment Corporation. Social Welfare Minister Ravela power project, including civil works in Andhra Pradesh, Kishore Babu said the beneficiaries were selected on EPC basis for Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Cor - through a lottery, and representatives of the respective poration Ltd for a value of Rs415.29 crore,” McNally automobile companies (Toyota and TATA) gave a presen - Bharat Engineering said in a BSE filing. tation on their technical specifications and operation.

mla Bhuma nagi reddy passes away haritha park to be made a 5-star resort Bhuma Nagi Reddy, legislator from Nandyal in Kurnool The state tourism officials plan to convert the Haritha district in Andhra Pradesh, died of heart attack. He was Resort located at the Berm Park on the banks of the 53. Reddy is survived by his daughter Bhuma Akhila river Krishna in Vijayawada into a grand five-star river - Priya, who is also a Legislator from con - front resort with 100 rooms. The project will be imple - stituency. His wife Sobha Nagi Reddy died in a road acci - mented in PPP mode at an estimated cost of Rs 100 dent two years ago, while campaigning for her election crore. “Request for Proposal for the project has been is - from Allagadda constituency. Chief Minister Chan - sued and a developer will be selected soon. Work re - drababu Naidu expressed his condolences to the be - lated to landscaping and clearing of areas to develop reaved family. natural trails are already in progress. New pathways, selfie points and many other attractions will be devel - Great lakes institute sets up university oped as part of the project,” said Himanshu Shukla, Di - rector, Andhra Pradesh Tourism. Chennai and Gurgaon-based Great Lakes Institute of Management has launched the Great Lakes Interna - rly stations in state with cashless facility tional University (GLIU) in Andhra Pradesh, making it one of the first few private universities being set up in Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu declared Vi - the state. The university will commence its first aca - jayawada, Tirupati, Kakinada Town and Guntur railway demic session in August with two courses — a BBA and stations as 100% Digital Payment Enabled (DigiPAY) sta - a B.Tech in computer science. “The university aims to tions. He launched the services online from the Hi-Tech nurture future leaders who are armed with intellectual City railway station in Hyderabad. Railway authorities curiosity, critical thinking and confidence derived from said the Tirupati railway station handled the largest flow strong values and a global perspective,” Mohan of pilgrim traffic anywhere in the . As Lakhamraju, founder of the university, said. many as 78,000 passenger footfalls were recorded in the station every day generating Rs 73.43 lakh. The Vi - jayawada station, the gateway to AP capital Amaravati, rasna to set up factory in ap was one of the busiest railway stations and hub for rail - Fruit based concentrate manufacturing major Rasna way services. About 97,166 passengers travel from Vi - said it plans to set up a new production facility in jayawada a day and the station was earning Rs 68.11 Andhra Pradesh as part of its proposal to increase mar - lakh per day. Located in the Konaseema area, the Kaki - ket share in the powder drink segment. The new factory nada Town station was serving the population of coastal

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area and meeting the industrial and economic needs. deterred by demonetisation. In April 2012, on the auspi - The station was getting Rs 8.42 lakh revenue per day by cious ‘Sri Rama Navami’ day, the handi had received the handling 7,118 passengers. The Guntur station would be biggest single day cash offerings of Rs 5.73 crore. a vital link to the sub-urban commuter corridor of Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali. The station was contributing Rs 7.78 lakh revenue per day to the railways by handling state govt plans to set up anna canteens 44,000 passengers a day. The government is planning to set up 65 Anna canteens airbus a320 neo lands in vijayawada in various municipal corporations and municipalities in the state in first phase and increase them depending on Air India’s latest aircraft made its first landing in the requirement. Civil supplies minister Paritala Sunitha Vijayawada airport near Gannavaram in March. Airbus made this announcement in Legislative Council while A320 Neo was recently added to the fleet of Air India answering a question by M V V S Murthi during Ques - aircraft and had just started serving on the New Delhi- tion Hour. She further said that aA Cabinet sub-commit - Vijayawada route via Hyderabad. The aircraft was wel - tee will discuss the matter and take a decision. The aim comed with the water cannon salute marking its maiden of the government is to supply good quality food at service. The airport officials greeted the pilots and nominal prices to the poor. The government is ready to congratulated them on the inaugural service. The new provide necessary budget support to the scheme. There aircraft has a capacity of 162 seats and is the most fuel are also proposals to set up Anna canteens near RTC bus efficient aircraft in the group. The aircraft would stands and railway stations to supply food at nominal continue to be in service on the route. rate to the poor, she added.

nid’s amaravati campus construction to start all constituencies to get stadia Construction of the National Institute of Design (NID)’s Labour and employment minister K. Atchannaidu said in permanent campus at Amaravati is likely to commence Legislative Council that the government was construct - next year with an initial investment of Rs 65 crore. It ing the stadiums in all the Assembly constituencies in has already been allotted 50 acres near the Interim Gov - the state to encourage sports. He further said that he ernment Complex (IGC) at Velagapudi in Guntur district, had asked all the MLAs take initiative to allot five acres said NID-Vijayawada Officiating Director Pradyumna each in their respective constituencies for the purpose Vyas. He said NID-Ahmedabad is the mentoring institu - and 75 MLAs allotted land so far. Replying to a question tion for NID-Vijayawada which is in the process of by MLC M V V S Murthi, during the Question Hour, admissions for the third batch of undergraduate courses Atchannaidu said that the state government had taken in industrial, communication and textiles and apparel the initiative to conduct National Games in 2018 in AP. designing commencing in July 2017 at its transit campus He further said that the government would bring out a in Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU). new sports policy, which would come into force as soon as the state Cabinet approves it. 10,647 cr. released towards farm loan waiver Agriculture Minister Prathipati Pulla Rao said the renaming of tirupati and vijayawada airports government had till date released about Rs 10,647 crore to 35,65,150 farmers under the Agriculture Debt Re - The Andhra Pradesh legislature today passed resolu - demption Scheme–2014. The pending applications were tions urging the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to rename being looked into. However, it is committed to fulfilling Tirupati and Vijayawada airports, after Lord its promise in entirety in the due course, he said, reply - Venkateswara and legendary Telugu actor N T Rama ing to a question by TDP members A. Radha Krishna and Rao, respectively. The resolutions to rename both the Nimmala Rama Naidu in the Assembly as to how many existing airports were moved, on behalf of Chief Minis - farmers have got their loans waived and to what extent ter N Chandrababu Naidu, first in the Legislative Assem - since June 2014. bly and later in the Legislative Council, and were approved unanimously. In a resolution, the Andhra tirupati offerings net rs 4.75 Cr in a day Pradesh government requested the Aviation Ministry to change the names of the as Sri The offering box at the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara Venkateswara Airport, Tirupati, after the famous deity. in Tirupati on March 27 netted cash offerings to the In another resolution, it wanted Vijayawada airport at tune of Rs 4.75 crore in new notes, the highest single Gannavaram renamed as Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao day collection post demonetisation. Since the Airport, Amaravati, after the legendary Telugu film star announcement of demonetisation scheme, everyday and former Chief Minister. Since the Vijayawada airport the handi (offering box) had collected between Rs 2.5 is located in NTR's home district Krishna, the govern - and Rs 3 crore, besides offerings in gold and silver, from ment wanted it named after him. thousands of devotees across the country, who are un - v

APRIL 2017 ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.ORG 33 Downloaded from http://smartprep.in snapshot On Steady Path of Growth %

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z The state government had set a target of achieving 15% growth rate in the coming fiscal. For the current year (2016-17), the state has achieved 11.61 % growth rate against 7.11 % in z the country. z The growth rate was 14.03% in agriculture and allied sectors against the national average of 4.37%. AP achieved 10.05 % in the industrial sector and 10.16 % in the service sector. The national average in the industrial sector was 5.77 % , while it was 7.87 % in the service Per Capita income 2016-17 AP : Rs 1,22,376 India : Rs 1,03,818 sector.

34 ANDHRA PRADESH MAGAZINE.COM APRIL 2017 Downloaded from http://smartprep.in CM IN PICS

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pic 1: Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was a special guest at the swearing in ceremony of Yogi Adityanath as the newly elected Chief Minister of Uttar P4radesh. 5 pic 2 The Chief Minister and his wife Bhuvaneswari inaugurated Aakruti Vastra exhibition of AP Crafts Council and interacted with artisans. pic 3 : The CM was the chief guest at the Instiitute of Management Technology (IMT) Convocation in Hyder - abad, and spoke on the need for students to work for the country. pic 4 : In review on Amaravati, Chris Bubb of Fosters + Partners explaining the salient features of the plan to CM and Ministers. pic 5 : CM paying respects to MLA Bhuma Nagireddy, who passed away at a young age. Bhuma’s daughters, including MLA Akhila Priya is also seen.

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Regd. No. H-HD-1082/2016-18 APENG/2007/20679 Published on: 01/04/2017 Posting Dt: 6th