Andhra University Journalism Alumni

The documentary was filmed by the AU Journo alumni, now working with various media organisations in Hyderabad. It was screened in the first alumni meet held last year which saw a turnout of several journalists and those diversified into the realm of  public relations, advertising agencies and other communication related fields apart from the faculty.

Mouli Mareedu

Education officials to crack down on talent tests

Even with the government passing an order banning such tests, some private schools have allegedly continued to conduct them

Are you against "talent hunt" by private schools for admission? If yes, you can walk into the commissioner of school education's office and lodge a complaint. With a few children's rights' organisations complaining to the commissioner and director of school education, officials are ready to crack the whip on corporate schools conducting such tests.

J Satyanarayana, commissioner and director of school education told Express they would take strict action against private and corporate schools organising talent tests for children. "We will not hesitate to cancel the school's recognition if they are found guilty. We have also asked the district educational officer (DEO) to implement the orders,'' he said.

The Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) had issued a directive to the secondary school education department to ban all screening tests for admissions. D Sambasiva Rao, principal secretary, secondary education also instructed the commissioner to ban private schools from holding screening tests.

Two years ago, the National Child Rights Commission (NCRC) and the High Court banned screening tests under the name talent hunts, being conducted by corporate schools to attract students. Some schools, however, have allegedly continued to conduct screening tests under the garb of merit tests.

Recently, the CSE received a complaint that Keshava Reddy Educational Institutes had advertised about a scholarship test on March 6, announcing prizes like DVD players, cameras and motor bikes for successful children. Achyut Rao, president, AP Balasangham, who lodged the complaint said they were against such money-making initiatives.

Rao said schools like Narayana Group of Schools, Sri Chaitanya Techno Schools, Ravindra Bharathi Group of Schools, Gowthami and Krishnaveni institutions were organising talent tests by charging `50 from each child. "The schools collect crores of rupees from parents in the name of talent tests. With the government passing a new order banning all talent tests, schools should cancel such tests,'' he added.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

Old City residents get coloured water

''Pandra din se ganda paani aa raha hai. Bahut pareshan hain. Peene ka paani hi nahin hai,” (“We are getting contaminated water since 15 days. We are facing problems as there is no water to drink”) complained 34 year-old M Santhosi, a resident of Sivajinagar near Chatrinaka in the Old City. Drinking water contamination has spread to other localities in the Old City like Azampura, Vinayvadi, Bahadurpura, Misrigunj, Ziaguda, Sivajinagar, Nagulbanda and Ravindranaik Nagar. While the problem has led a few to be hospitalised with fever and vomiting, many have been forced to shell out Rs.50 per day to get canned drinking water. Showing the contaminated yellow-coloured water filled in a water tub, another house-wife, A Maheswari fumed they were getting polluted water every summer. A number of residents staying in various localities, vented their anger on the callous attitude of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) officials who have failed to provide better drinking water during the summer. “The locality has been getting polluted water with a light yellow tinge since the past 20 days. We brought the problem to the notice of Water Board officials but no action was taken. We are getting dirty water for the first 30 to 60 minutes of supply and just when clean water starts coming, the supply stops,” complained  K Shanthi, a resident of Sivajinagar. S Kamalamma, resident of Banjara Colony in Ravindranaik Nagar, gathered a number of women and they lodged a complaint at Goshamahal, Circle-I general manager, Water Board. “With the onset of summer it is common that polluted water comes in supply to many localities in the Old City. Even as we complained, officials concerned tried to wash their hands off the issue by visiting a few houses and taking samples of polluted water. They never inform us about the sample test reports,’’ Kamalamma alleged. “We have completely stopped using the water supplied in my area since the last 10 days as the drinking water coming from taps had small insects and a light yellow colour. Water Board officials had constructed a new pipeline in the locality as the problem occurred every summer season,” said Sony, a housewife residing at Ravindranaik Nagar. Meanwhile, the Majlis Bachau Tehreek (MBT) corporator from Azampura, Amjedullah Khan alleged most localities situated in Azampura were getting light yellow coloured water due to chemical reflection, as HMWS&SB officials had mixed chemicals for water purification at the Miralam water tank. “A number of residents in the locality were hospitalised after they suffered from fever and vomiting. If Water Board officials fail to supply pure water, MBT activists will lay siege to the HMWS&SB office in Khairatabad,’’ Amjedullah Khan warned. Meanwhile, Water Board officials said the yellow-coloured water coming in supply in Old City localities is not harmful. A chemical analysis report carried out by HMWS&SB and other agencies reportedly found the water did not have any harmful substances. Officials said consumers can drink the water, as it is not harmful for health. They added that the water can be boiled before drinking, if required. 

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

‘I am happy that Vinnu is freed’

Yarlagadda Sailaja, Aunt of Malkangiri Collector Vineel Krishna and family members made celebrations at her residence in Hyderabad after Vinnu freed from Maoist's captive

After eight days in captivity in deep jungles of Naxal infested area, R Vineel Krishna is now looking forward for his trip to Hyderabad, in about 10 days from now. Once in Hyderabad, Vinnu, as he is fondly known, is likely to be ''grilled'' thoroughly by his family members who are waiting for the limelight over his abduction to fade away, so they can sit with him and share his experience while in custody of Maoists.

“We will be bringing Vinnu to Hyderabad in the next 10 days, once he is declared fit and healthy by doctors there.He is down with severe fever and suffering from diarrhoea,” said an excited Yarlagadda Sailaja, Vineel Krishna's aunt, who along with other relatives will start for Malkangiri tomorrow morning.

Though Vineel Krishna was released today, celebrations in Sailaja's home at Gokhale Nagar in Ramanthapur began yesterday itself with relatives distributing sweets to any visitor to their house, the moment they got indication about his release.

Known to be a bookworm, Krishna is eager to meet his sister-in-law Deepika, who has come from the USA. Incidentally, she landed in Hyderabad and proceeded to Vijayawada one day before Vineel was abducted. 

“It was Deepika who had first informed me about Vinnu's abduction as she first saw the newsbreak on television.Since she could not have directly informed Vinnu's parents, she informed me,” recalled Sailaja. 

Recalling old days, V Madhavi, another relative said that Vineel spends more money on books.''When Vinnu was rewarded `10,000 by his college management for topping his college, he spent all the money in purchasing books" said Madhavi indicating that Vineel will immerse himself in books once he is here besides spending quality time with family members.Going by his nature, he may not stick around for more time and would be eager to join work. His interest lies in meeting and solving problems of tribals in his district which he has been doing ever since he was posted as Collector there 16 months ago,'' said Sailaja.

Answering innumerable telephone calls from friends and relatives, Sailaja, who was under trauma over the last eight days, finally smiled as the news of his release broke on the TV channels."Yesterday, I got the news from my sister who is in Malkangiri.She told me Vinnu is being shifted to a nearby hospital.The Orissa government is also making sure to provide better medical facilities,'' Sailaja says, her face glowing while other relatives V Madhavi and Y Saradyuthi were busy attending calls.

"Vinnu and his staff used to travel into dense forests to meet and solve problems of tribals. He brought electricity to to 25 villages, bringing happiness in lives of villagers," says Sailaja, who is the assistant station director of Doordarshan. She adds his meritorious service and prayers and blessings of all led to Vineel Krishna's release.

Vineel Krishna, native of Kuchipudi near Tenali in Guntur district and born  in Hyderabad he was AP topper in Civils and 2005 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh were freed from the custody of Maoist today. The hostages had been kept in two different locations in dense forests of Orissa.Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Majhi were abducted from Chitrakonda area of Malkangiri on February 16. 

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com 

Passengers left stranded

Balakrishna, a research scholar of SV University, who got stranded at MGBS, was busy filling in a form to get reservations for Tirupati. Chandana, balakrishna's daughter is also seen-PIC- By A Radhakrishna, IE.

Sitting at platform number 18, Balakrishna, research scholar, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, was busy filling the train reservation form online on his laptop, at the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS). Surfing the IRCTC portal for more than one and half an hour to get two reservations for himself and his daughter, they ended up being disappointed. Balakrishna had come to the city for passport renewal. But he got stranded at the MGBS due to the 48-hour bandh which affected all public transport. “We came to the city on Tuesday morning to meet an agent for my passport renewal. After finishing my work in Secunderabad, we were suggested to come here and catch a bus to Tirupati. We hired an auto on double-charge around 10.30 a.m to reach the MGBS. However, we learnt that the APSRTC had cancelled all bus services since morning. So we have been trying for train reservations since then,” said Balakrishna.Chandana, his daughter, a B.Pharm student, tried opening her account on Facebook and Twitter to get in touch with her friends in the city to take their suggestions. “I searched for my friends on Facebook and Twitter but couldn’t find anyone online,” said Chandana. While train services were running on schedule, RTC bus services were affected badly as all buses from the MGBS were cancelled. BV Prasad, assistant traffic manager, MGBS told Express they had cancelled all 3,500 bus services. Both the MGBS and Jubilee bus stations wore a deserted look. Hundreds of buses were seen standing in the MGBS.A number of passengers who had arrived unplanned were thus left stranded. For N Hareesh and his wife Bina, the plan to attend a relative’s marriage had gone topsy-turvy. They reached the Jubilee Bus Station on Tuesday morning to catch a bus for Nirmal but were left stranded. Hareesh, a plastic material trader said, “It is already 12.30 p.m. We have ben waiting here since 9.30 a.m to catch a bus. RTC officials cancelled all bus services due to the bandh. How can we reach Nirmal by evening to attend a wedding?’’ Similarly, K Masthan, who came from Ongole for his court work, was bargaining with a auto driver at the MGBS. He said his lawyer had called him to come on Tuesday. “It will be difficult for me to make the return journey. When I inquired at the RTC counter, they replied they are not sure whether bus services would resume in the evening,” Masthan said.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

Passengers left stranded

Sitting at platform number 18, Balakrishna, research scholar, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, was busy filling the train reservation form online on his laptop, at the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS). Surfing the IRCTC portal for more than one and half an hour to get two reservations for himself and his daughter, they ended up being disappointed. Balakrishna had come to the city for passport renewal. But he got stranded at the MGBS due to the 48-hour bandh which affected all public transport. “We came to the city on Tuesday morning to meet an agent for my passport renewal. After finishing my work in Secunderabad, we were suggested to come here and catch a bus to Tirupati. We hired an auto on double-charge around 10.30 a.m to reach the MGBS. However, we learnt that the APSRTC had cancelled all bus services since morning. So we have been trying for train reservations since then,” said Balakrishna.Chandana, his daughter, a B.Pharm student, tried opening her account on Facebook and Twitter to get in touch with her friends in the city to take their suggestions. “I searched for my friends on Facebook and Twitter but couldn’t find anyone online,” said Chandana. While train services were running on schedule, RTC bus services were affected badly as all buses from the MGBS were cancelled. BV Prasad, assistant traffic manager, MGBS told Express they had cancelled all 3,500 bus services. Both the MGBS and Jubilee bus stations wore a deserted look. Hundreds of buses were seen standing in the MGBS.A number of passengers who had arrived unplanned were thus left stranded. For N Hareesh and his wife Bina, the plan to attend a relative’s marriage had gone topsy-turvy. They reached the Jubilee Bus Station on Tuesday morning to catch a bus for Nirmal but were left stranded. Hareesh, a plastic material trader said, “It is already 12.30 p.m. We have ben waiting here since 9.30 a.m to catch a bus. RTC officials cancelled all bus services due to the bandh. How can we reach Nirmal by evening to attend a wedding?’’ Similarly, K Masthan, who came from Ongole for his court work, was bargaining with a auto driver at the MGBS. He said his lawyer had called him to come on Tuesday. “It will be difficult for me to make the return journey. When I inquired at the RTC counter, they replied they are not sure whether bus services would resume in the evening,” Masthan said.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

T protests: Hell with traffic Jams

With the siren on, one of the staff members of the private hospital's ambulance in which a nine month old pregnant woman was being rushed to a hospital, clogged in the traffic in front of Lumbini Park. The person in the ambulance made repeated announcements requesting the motorists to make way for them to move ahead. But due to the heavy traffic jam, not a single vehicle could move and the ambulance got stranded there for full 45 minutes.

Similar scenes were witnessed across the city which witnessed heavy traffic jams at almost all junctions in the twin cities due to the pro-Telangana protests as angry motorists were seen picking up arguments with the police -- all under the hot sun.

As a heavy security blanket was thrown across the AP State Legislative Assembly in view of the 'Chalo Assembly' programme by students, all roads leaving to the Assembly were barricaded and concertina wires laid down at several points. Due to the restriction on movement of vehicles, the entire city was caught in chaos.

Vehicle movement came to standstill at all points surrounding the AP Legislative Assembly.  The stretches from Khairatabad Junction to Prasad Imax , NTR Ghat to Secretariat, Lakdikapul to Secretariat, Basheerbag to GHMC office and there was massive congestion prevailed at the major junctions such as Ambedkar Junction at Basheerbagh, Himayatnagar Cross roads, Tank Band, Telugutalli  and Basheerbag fly overs.

Para-Medical staff of the private ambulance C Shanker told Expresso that they started from Mehdipatnam after picking up a pregnant woman who had to be rushed to their private hospital in Secunderabad.

``We took a diversion from the stretch of Lakdikapul- Khairatabad as the road was clogged with vehicles and they were stuck at the Tele-phone Bhavan as a number of vehicles lined up one after the other right from Secretariat including the Telugu Talli fly-over. Even as we requested the police, they refused to allow us,'' he replied. After spending a few minutes in the traffic jam, the ambulance drove towards Mint Compound to Secunderabad.

For the motorists, it was a tough time. They were caught in jams for hours together and most switched off their engines and tried to wait patiently. But soon patience ran out and they began picking up heated arguments with the policemen.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com