Vijayawada - Projects and Development

[Gudavalli]

AIDWA national executive starts in Vijayawada

Vijayawada, Jun 30 (PTI) A three-day national executive meeting of All India Democratic Women's Association, a pro-CPM women's organisation, started here this evening. Sudha Sundararaman, National General Secretary, inaugurated the opening session. Delegates from 23 states were attending the executive, the association sources said. In today's session, the committee expressed concern about rising number of cases of honour killing and female foeticide. The meeting also decided to take up a mass campaign at the national level to create awareness on the issues.

[Gudavalli]

Priyanka is Asian under-10 champion

Priyanka, a student of Mustabada Chess Educational Academy, hauled seven points out of nine to emerge winner.
City’s Nutakki Priyanka, a 10-year-old chess player, made the Indian chess fraternity proud by winning the Asian under-10 girls’ title, her first major title, in the Asian Youth Chess Championship that concluded at Hikkaduwa in Sri Lanka on Sunday. Priyanka, a student of Mustabada Chess Educational Academy, hauled seven points out of nine to emerge winner and later she helped India win the team gold by garnering 19.5 points along with C. Lakshmi and Kaur Palkin. “Priyanka prepared well for the tournament and she won the title with the help of her pet openings like English and Sicilian Defence. She did well in both middle and end games to befuddle her opponents. She was down against Serikbay Assel of Kazakhstan in the third game, but showed good temperament to bounce back to win comfortably,” her coach V.R. Bobba, told The Hindu from Sri Lanka. She lost to a little known player in the eighth round (Abduali Sama of Kazakhstan) and drew with fellow Indian C. Lakshmi and Zahedifar Anahita (Iran).

Hot favourite

Mr. Bobba said Priyanka, with her triumph at Sri Lanka, would be the hot favourite to win the world title when she travels to Slovenia to play the world under-10 championship in November. “She will be undergoing a different kind of coaching for the all-important tournament. We are planning to rope in former National ‘B’ player S. Vijayasaradhy and coach of Grand Master M.R. Lalith Babu, G. Murali Krishna,” he said. Incidentally, Priyanka also won the Asian rapid title, which was introduced by the Asian Chess Federation, before start of the main event. Earlier, Grand Master Koneru Humpy and Y. Sandeep won the Asian under-10 titles from Vijayawada. Abhilash Reddy of the Global Chess Academy finished fourth in the Asian under-18 championship and helped India win the team gold. Lasya took fifth place in the Asian under-16 segment. AP Chess Association president A. Narasimha Reddy, secretary K. Kanna Reddy, KDCA president Nageswara Rao, secretary D. Srihari, and Mustabada Chess Association president B. Ratna Rao congratulated Priyanka and others.

[Gudavalli]

State-level chartered accountants’ meet

The ICAI, New Delhi, vice-president Subodh Kumar Agrawal will inaugurate the two-day conference at Hotel Fortune Murali Park on Saturday.

The Vijayawada branch of Southern India Regional Council (SIRC) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will host the A.P. State level Conference of Chartered Accountants on July 7 and 8.

The ICAI, New Delhi, vice-president Subodh Kumar Agrawal will inaugurate the two-day conference at Hotel Fortune Murali Park on Saturday.

Disclosing this to the newsmen here on Thursday, ICAI Vijayawada branch chairman Kunda Rama Narayana said that SIRC chairman (from Chennai) K. Viswanath will be the guest of honour for the conference.

About 500 Chartered Accountants (CAs) from all over the State will participate in the conference. A special session on ethics in the profession would be conducted during the programme, he said.

Secretary A. Akkaiah Naidu said that experts in the profession will explain on ‘Special issues in taxation of immovable properties’, ‘SMPs in CA profession – The way forward’, ‘Accounting standards for non corporates, ‘Assessment, reassessment and rectification under IT Act, ‘Provisions of the Companies Bill, 2011 and other topics.

Registrations

Participants can make registrations by July 6, by paying Rs.1,500 and spot registrations can be done by paying Rs.1,650, said Mr. Naidu.

[Gudavalli]

An irresistible offer for shoppers to make Vijayawada green

The store came up with an innovative idea to kick-start a green revolution in the city by not only providing good discounts at the shop but also gifting a sapling to make Vijayawada more green.

The M&M store gave a new excuse for ‘shopaholics’ of Vijayawada to shop to their heart’s content with its new ‘eco-friendly’ discount offer starting Friday.

The store came up with an innovative idea to kick-start a green revolution in the city by not only providing good discounts at the shop but also gifting a sapling to make Vijayawada more green.

Marketing Head of the store Surya Kiran said at the launch of the 6th such offer that M&M was always involved in various awareness programmes about environment in the city.

“We have also started a new method of sending out e-brochures instead of using paper to save as many trees as possible,” he said. “This is the 6th time that we are offering this type of discount and we have received a good response from people, and some have even gifted us fruits of the trees they have grown from these gifted sapling,” Mr. Surya Kiran said.

Every shopper of the store will be gifted a sapling to be planted by them to create awareness about the importance of trees in our daily life. About Rs.50 lakh worth of sapling of various fruits have been bought by the management of the store for this purpose.

Efficient way

Management consultant M.C. Das said planting trees was the most efficient way to save our planet Earth. He said the initiative to protect the environment was the store’s way of repaying the customers for their continuing loyalty.

He said, like in many other countries, cutting trees should be made punishable offence in India as well. AP Pollution Control Board Chief Engineer Venkateswarulu, who was the chief guest on the occasion, appreciated the store’s innovative programmes. He said people should make it a habit to plant saplings, and urged the other stores in the city to follow the footsteps of M&M.

The special eco-friendly discount sale will be on at the store from Saturday.

[Gudavalli]

Stone laid for waterfront project at Bhavanipuram

A multi-storeyed recreation centre with an aquarium to be developed

The foundation stone for “Vijayasiri”, the waterfront development project of the Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (UDA) in Bhavanipuram was laid by MLC Ilapuram Venkaiah here on Saturday.

The UDA has prepared a plan to develop and beautify 6.5 acres of land near the Pushkar Ghat area at an estimated cost of Rs. 40 crore.

Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal, Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu and Vijayawada East MLA Vellampalli Srinivas participated in the programme.

Minister for Municipal Administration M. Mahidar Reddy, who was supposed to lay the stone, was conspicuous by his absence.

The Minister reportedly gave dates to UDA officials for the programme and postponed his visit half a dozen times.

The UDA officials however went ahead with the programme under pressure from those who donated land for the development of the project. About 25 people donated 40 per cent of the land required for development of the project.

The Minister for Secondary Education K.Parthasarathi also failed to turn up.

Addressing the media after the function the Vijayawada MP said that UDA was also approaching the Centre for funds. A multi-storeyed recreation centre with an aquarium would be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 12 crore on a private public partnership basis.

ROPE WAY

A rope way and suspended bridge to Bhavani Island have also been proposed.

WATER SPORTS

On completion of the project water sports like parasailing, water scooters and jet skis would also be introduced, Mr Rajagopal said.

About various clearances required for the project Mr Rajagopal said UDA was not going to wait for them as further delay might result in the donors taking back their lands.

The MP was however confident that the UDA waterfront project was “viable” and that the Centre would grant funds for it.

UDA vice-chairman G.S.R.K.R.Vijay Kumar and other UDA officials were present.

[Gudavalli]

Spreading awareness on road safety

The 5 kilometre long car race kicked off with a briefing to all the 56 participants about basic traffic rules and driving necessities.

To lay stress on the importance of learning how to drive and responsible driving, a fun car race was conducted by the Rotary Club of Vijayawada Visionary couples and Top Gear event management in the City on Sunday.

The 5 kilometre long car race kicked off with a briefing to all the 56 participants about basic traffic rules and driving necessities. A questionnaire was given to the participants on driving trivia. Once all the formalities were done, participants were given a list of ten clues to places in and around the BRTS road. Participants had to figure out the clues, go to the places to collect clues and then return back to the starting point of temple.

Besides the car race, various other social service activities were also planned for this event. An amount of Rs.7000 was given as a financial support to people suffering from kidney diseases and a wheelchair was gifted to an individual suffering from paralysis. A special dance performance by the visually challenged students from the St. Theresa School in Gunadala was a highlight at this event. Singer Mallik from the Padutha Theeyaga program also rendered a few devotional songs on this occasion.

D. Ramachandra Reddy and Vikas Reddy pair stood in first place at this race, with K. Praveen and Saket in the second place and Sitaram and Seshu in the third place. First prize winners were gifted an air cooler and Rs. 7000 gift voucher, second prize winners were given an American Tourister suitcase and Rs.6000 gift voucher and third place winners a microwave oven and Rs.5000 gift voucher.

[Gudavalli]

City gets multi-purpose fire tender

District Fire Officer V. Srinivasa Rao said the new vehicle is having capacity to contain 4,500 litres of water, 600 litres foam and 250 kg of dry chemical powder.

The Fire Department has got the first multi-purpose fire tender for the city. MP Lagadapati Rajagopal and MLC Ilapuram Venkaiah inaugurated the new vehicle at Swaraj Maidan here on Sunday.

MP sprays water

Mr. Rajagopal drove the fire tender and sprayed water by operating the hose pipes in the ground.

Speaking on the occasion, the MP said the multi-purpose vehicle is very much essential in the city as many multi-storeyed buildings have come up in Vijayawada.

NOC

The owners of the apartments, offices, shopping malls and educational institutions should follow fire safety norms and obtain ‘No Objection Certificates’ from the fire personnel, he said adding that the government is planning to strengthen Fire Department by sanctioning more funds.

Capacity

District Fire Officer V. Srinivasa Rao said the new vehicle is having capacity to contain 4,500 litres of water, 600 litres foam and 250 kg of dry chemical powder.

Multi purpose fire tender can put off oil, electrical and normal flames, and is also equipped with hydraulic cutter and expanders, the DFO said.

Assistant District Fire Officer B. Narasimha Rao, Station Fire Officers B. Srinivasa Rao, C.H. Suryaprakash, Mahender Rao and other staff participated.

Later, the fire personnel presented a demo on operation of the new vehicle.

[Prodigist]

Here is a render of a Mixed-Use Project to be built in Vijayawada.
Taken from here

• Mixed Development consisting of Retail, Commercial, Multiplex, Convention Centre, Residential and Hospitality.
• Currently a Hyper Market by Raheja group is under progress in an extent of Ac.5.00.
• The entire project is being designed by M/s.HOK, London.

Site Plan


Can someone please locate this on the map if they know where this is coming up..

[Gudavalli]

Vijaya Bank to open 75 new branches

The bank with an 8 million client base has only 10 per cent customers on the Internet and mobile platform utilising its services.

The Vijaya Bank with a business turnover of Rs.1.46 lakh crore at the quarter ending June 2012, proposes to open 75 more branches in the next 24 months and of them five will be opened in Vijayawada region, the bank chairman H.S. Upendra Kamath has said.

The bank chairman told reporters here on Monday that the first quarterly results of the bank will be announced on July 25 after the Board of Directors’ meeting, but the profit of the bank had grown by 11 per cent in the last fiscal compared to the previous year rising from Rs.524 crore to Rs.581 crore.

The bank with an 8 million client base has only 10 per cent customers on the Internet and mobile platform utilising its services, but ATMs were the most sought after and all the villages covered by it under financial inclusion would get an ATM eventually, he added.

Currently the bank has 1,300 branches in India and only 700 ATMs, which would be slowly increased to 1:1 ratio.

In Vijayawada region there will be five new branches and 20 new ATMs coming up in the next one year.

As part of reaching out to the people in remote villages, it was opening ultra small branches and had opened 200 so far and proposes to open 200 more this fiscal.

The gross non-performing assets had risen from Rs.1,259 crore to Rs.1,718 crore, but the increase was lower than the all banks average of 41 per cent, he observed.

[Gudavalli]

Plastic surgery camps to be held

A two-day camp would be organised at Salaja Cosmetic Surgery Centre, Sri Venakteswara Apartment Thakur Mansion Lane at Somajiguda in Hyderabad on Saturday and Sunday.

Salaja Hospitals will conduct plastic surgery camps in the city and also at Hyderabad to cater to the needs of the poor. Dr. Lakshmi Saleem, plastic surgeon at the hospital, said that a camp would be organised at the Salaja Hospital at Prajasakthi Nagar here on Friday. A two-day camp would be organised at Salaja Cosmetic Surgery Centre, Sri Venakteswara Apartment Thakur Mansion Lane at Somajiguda in Hyderabad on Saturday and Sunday. The camps were being organised to celebrate national plastic surgery day. For further details regarding Vijayawada camp people can contact 98492 56736; 99125 15124 or 98660 11785 for Hyderabad camp details, she said.

[Gudavalli]

MSC golden jubilee festivities

"July 16 will be the grand finale of the celebrations for which State Union Minister D. Purandeswari will be the chief guest", said the principal.

Extravagant plans have been made for the golden jubilee celebrations of the Maris Stella College with programmes spanning over three days, announced the college principal Sister Japmalai on Wednesday.

At a press conference she said that the celebrations will begin on July 14 and continue till July 16.

On the first day the college day will be celebrated, she said. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly N. Manohar will be the chief guest on that day along with guests of honour Reverend M. Prakash and B.S. Ponmudi Raj, she informed. The second day will be called “Alumni Day” and the contributions of old students will be publicly acknowledged on this day.

The KCP Limited Joint Managing Director V.L. Indira Dutt also an old student will be the chief guest for this event.

Around 12 old students of the college will be felicitated on this day announced the principal.

“July 16 will be the grand finale of the celebrations for which State Union Minister D. Purandeswari will be the chief guest”, said the principal. Krishna University Vice-Chancellor Professor V. Venkaih and Member of Parliament Lagadapati Rajagopal will be the guest of honour she added. A number of cultural programmes had been planned for all three days and students are meticulously practicing daily in the college she said.

Minister for Secondary Education K. Parthasaradhi, Vijayawada MLA (East) Yalamanchali Ravi, Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu, Vijayawada West MLA Vellampalli Srinivas and MLC’s, Collector and Commissioners had also been invited as special guests for this event.

College lecturers Ramakrishna, Regena, V.Swapna, Kalima and Suneetha were also present on this occasion.

[Gudavalli]

Medical admissions begin July 20

VIJAYAWADA: Counselling for medical admissions under the convener's quota will begin on July 20. The NTR University of Health Sciences issued a notification to this effect on Thursday. Aspirants could attend counselling at any of the four online centres - Andhra University (Visakhapatnam), SV University (Tirupati), NTR University (Vijayawada) and at JNTU's Hyderabad campus.

The first phase of counselling would go on for four days till July 23 with the second phase, for reserved category candidates such as BCs, SCs and STs, to run between July 24-27. With Medical Council of India (MCI) granting three new medical colleges in the private sector and increasing seats at three government colleges by 50 each, the total intake has increased by at least 650 seats in the state in the current year.

However, the state did lose about 100 seats following derecognition of Fatima College in Kadapa. Three new colleges in the private sector - Mallareddy Institute of Medical Sciences (150) and Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences (100), both in Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam's NRI institute of Medical Sciences (150) have got the nod from MCI. The increase in seats was granted for Andhra Medical College, Kurnool Medical College and Siddartha Medical College.

The university fee has been prescribed at Rs 6,000, Rs 9,000 and Rs 14,500 under government colleges and category A and category B private colleges, respectively. All candidates, including those eligible for fee-reimbursement, would have to pay the university fees. Except for those eligible for fee-reimbursement, all others would also have to pay their tuition fees.

In all, there are 14 government medical colleges functioning alongside the 22 private ones in the state. While all seats in government colleges fall under the convener's quota, the first 50% of seats in private colleges will be categorized under A and another 10% will be filled up under category B.

Seats under both A and B categories would also be filled up through online counselling by the university. Managements of private colleges will be allowed to fill up the remaining 40% seats. At the time of the notification, 2,050 seats at government colleges and another 2,070 seats in private colleges were available for candidates from all three regions in the state.

[Gudavalli]

Maris Stella College celebrates golden jubilee in style

A special one-hour dance ballet named "Laxman Rekha" performed by a group from the NGO ASMITA from Hyderabad was the highlight of the day.

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar, addressing a huge gathering of students at Maris Stella College advised them to concentrate more on rural development in the country than go abroad for their own gain.

As chief guest of the day at the golden jubilee celebrations of Maris Stella College here on Saturday, the Speaker said that the MSC was the best college in the city for women and appreciated the contribution of the college towards woman empowerment.

The first day of the three-day celebrations was dedicated to celebrate the College Day which was opened exactly 50 years ago on July 14. The programme began at 2 p.m. with a prayer song rendered by the college students. A welcome dance followed this after which all the guests were invited onto the stage to be seated.

College Correspondent Sr. Alberthamma gave the welcome address for the programme and thanked all the benefactors and sponsors from Vijayawada for their constant support for the past 50 years.

Report

She said that the college would not have been at this stage without their help. A report was then given by the College Prinicipal P. Japmalai in which she mentioned briefly about the programmes of college. She said that all the experience gained over these years will be used to bring even more glory to the institution in the future.

The report was followed by the management felicitating the speaker and distribution of prizes to college students who have won various competitions.

A special one-hour dance ballet named “Laxman Rekha” performed by a group from the NGO ASMITA from Hyderabad was the highlight of the day with both the students and guests thoroughly enjoying it.

The first day of the three-day extravaganza ended with a vote of thanks.

Vijayawada East MLA Yalamanchilli Ravi, Former Mayor Jandhyala Shankar, Industrialist G.S.Raju (SIRIS Raju), Mumbai Province Provincial Sr. Leena Quadras and NAAC Advisor Ponmudi Raj were also present at this programme.

[Gudavalli]

Heavy rain lashes city

Sowing operations began in right earnest in majority of the mandals of Krishna district with the average rainfall in the district recorded at 23.1 mm on Sunday.

Heavy rain lashed the city and all towns in central coastal Andhra districts, including Krishna, putting traffic out of gear at many places, while bringing cheer among the farming community.

Sowing operations began in right earnest in majority of the mandals of Krishna district with the average rainfall in the district recorded at 23.1 mm on Sunday. Mandals in Vijayawada and Gudivada Revenue divisions received 23.5 mm and 26.6 mm with Vijayawada Urban and Rural mandals including the city proper receiving the maximum in the district at 95.8 mm and Nandigama getting the minimum of 1.4 mm.

A bottleneck

The Low Bridge on the National Highway, as usual, turned a bottleneck for the traffic between Vijayawada and Hyderabad and vehicles were diverted via the flyover to reach the foothill of Indrakeeladri and serpentine queue of four-wheelers and buses was visible.

Wynchpeta in the city also got large copious rainfall leading to the main road getting inundated. The day also witnessed hectic activity with the birth anniversary of former eminent engineer Dr.K.L. Rao and young engineers dated the rain to reach the venues.

The roads otherwise looked deserted in many of the residential areas till evening with some respite from evening.

All the three irrigation canals in the city were full with water.

The vendors had a difficult day with many of those selling vegetable waiting for buyers till late in the evening covering their ware with plastic sheets.

VMC caught unawares

The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation was caught unawares with majority of the main roads in the city turning into canals as rainwater overflowed for over two to three hours in many areas as the side drains were clogged. Locals removed the blockages to let the rainwater flow to drain out water.

[Gudavalli]

Lifetime achievement award for paediatrician

The awards usually given away on the occasion of the Doctor’s Day were given way to winners by Vijayawada East MLA Yalamanchilli Ravi and Vijayawada Income Tax Commissioner K.Ajay Kumar.

Noted paediatrician R.Venkateswara Rao was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Roots Health Foundation here on Sunday.

The awards usually given away on the occasion of the Doctor’s Day were given way to winners by Vijayawada East MLA Yalamanchilli Ravi and Vijayawada Income Tax Commissioner K.Ajay Kumar.

The meeting was inaugurated by Andhra Chamber of Commerce and Industry M.Murali Krishna. The Roots Foundation Service Award was given to eye specialists K.Sivaramakrishna, the award to best orthopedician was given to P.J. Brahmanand, award for best ayurvedic physician was given to Government Ayurvedic former prinicipal M.L.Naidu. Sentineni Hospital MD Moova Padma, business man Mohanchand Jaju, Time Hospital chairman Puvvada Ramakrishna, VIMS Chairman T.Arjuna Rao, IMA president L.Subba Rao, industrialist Anne Sivanageswara Rao, Krishna district anti-liquor awareness Committee chairman Kolluri Venkateswara Rao, N.M.A. state president C.N. Murthy and Roots Health Foundation chairman P.V.S.Vijayabhaskar, participated in the programme.

[Gudavalli]

Abdul Azeem to streamline civic body functioning

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Azeem said that he required a week’s time to understand the finances of, and working conditions in, the Corporation.
Municipal Commissioner Md. Abdul Azeem assumed charge in Vijayawada on Monday evening.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Azeem said that he required a week’s time to understand the finances of, and working conditions in, the Corporation. The root cause of the problems, if any, would be identified. Necessary planning would be made to keep momentum of the developmental works, he said.

The balance sheet, expenditure and revenues of the Corporation needed to be studied before any comments could be made on the finances and debts. Necessary measures would be taken to ensure that the people would not be burdened to tide over the crisis.

“Earlier, I worked in organisations that were in doldrums. Their functioning was streamlined. I am hopeful that I can repeat the feat here also,” he said.

When asked about political pressures, he said that pressures and cooperation would be there at any place of work. Later, he interacted with the Heads of the departments.

The State Government has appointed Mr. Azeem as Municipal Commissioner, who was working as Chief Executive Officer of Khadi & Village Industries, two days ago. He, however, assumed office on Monday as there were two holidays, including a second Saturday. Immediate past Municipal Commissioner G. Ravi Babu is undergoing training at Mussoorie.

Meanwhile, B.R. Satyanarayana, who is working as Joint Director in the office of Commissioner & Director Municipal Administration, also assumed charge as Additional Commissioner (General). P. Venkata Ramana, who was working as Additional Commissioner (General), has been repatriated to his parent department.

[Gudavalli]

New motorbike launched

Bajaj Auto has introduced a 125 cc motorcycle in Varun Bajaj in Vijayawada. Deputy Transport Commissioner (DTC) A. Mohan released the Bajaj Discover 125 Sports Tourer (ST) vehicle on Monday.

Bajaj Auto has introduced a 125 cc motorcycle in Varun Bajaj in Vijayawada. Deputy Transport Commissioner (DTC) A. Mohan released the Bajaj Discover 125 Sports Tourer (ST) vehicle on Monday.

Mr. Mohan along with Varun Motors executive director P.V. Satyanarayana and director Prabhu Kishore presented the keys to the first five customers at the showroom.

Speaking on the occasion, the DTC said the new motorcycle which gives a sporty look is a fuel efficiency two-wheeler, as the maximum speed is 105 km. The specially designed ‘anti-vibration’ frame ensures enjoyable ride on all terrains.

Both self and kick starter facility was given for the motorcycle with 10 litre fuel tank capacity, he said.

[Gudavalli]

Workshop on Android apps from tomorrow

The objective of the workshop is to create awareness on developing Android Apps and encourage students to develop their own applications which can be deployed on their Android mobiles.

The CSI (Computer Society of India) student chapter of SRK Institute of Technology, Vijayawada, plans to organise a three-day national-level workshop on “Android Apps Development” from Thursday (July 19). The objective of the workshop is to create awareness on developing Android Apps and encourage students to develop their own applications which can be deployed on their Android mobiles.

Chairman of CSI chapter, Vijayawada, A. Koteswara Roa, will inaugurate the event. The chapter’s coordinator D. Saritha said that the CSI had a huge network of about 90,000 members functioning under 71 different chapters and 418 student chapters across the country.

Director P. Venkata Narsaiah said that the objective of the CSI chapter was to help the student community keep abreast with the latest developments in technology based on the constantly altering needs of the society.

He said that such workshops would prepare students, especially those pursuing engineering courses, to face the tough competition in the job market in a confident way. Further details of the event can be had from the website: www.srkit.in/androidws. html

[Gudavalli]

Malabar Gold showroom in Vijayawada

VIJAYAWADA, JULY 23:
Malabar Gold and Diamonds opened its showroom here on Sunday on the Mahatma Gandhi road and it was the sixty-ninth of the company, inaugurated by actor Hemamalini.

According to a press release, Mr M.P. Ahamed, Chairman of the group, said that the number of showrooms would touch 200 by 2015, as Malabar wanted to extend its operations across the country.

“At present, we have our presence in the four southern states, New Delhi and the Gulf. In the coming years, we want to expand to the northern states as well as Europe and the US. In Andhra Pradesh, we have three showrooms in Hyderabad and one each in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Kurnool and Tirupati. We are shortly opening showrooms in Kakinada, Rajahmundry, Kadapa, Nellore and other AP towns,” he said.

[Gudavalli]

Aim at achieving zero accidents, Vijayawada RTC drivers told

A certificate of commendation given to driver who saved 20 passengers

It was his presence of mind that saved the lives of several passengers of a Metro Bus that caught fire at Vellaturu village in Krishna district on July 17. Vidyadharapuram depot driver K.Srinivasa Rao acted quickly to rescue about 20 passengers including children when his CNG bus caught fire.

“I got the smell of burning wire. I immediately pressed the battery cut-off switch and got down to check, but smoke started and a fire broke out. I got into the bus from the back door and pushed all the passengers out and took them away from the bus. The bus runs on CNG, there are about 11 cylinders,” Mr. Srinivasa Rao said.

Even as he was taking the passengers to safety and went to get water to extinguish the flames the fibreglass body of the bus caught fire and got burnt. But within 20 minutes both the fire and the Depot Manager were at the spot.

The villagers who saw Mr. Srinivasa Rao in action told the RTC authorities about his presence of mind. A certificate of commendation was given to Mr. Srinivasa Rao at the inauguration of the Accident Free Week function here on Monday. The goal of all APSRTC employees and drivers should be achieving ‘zero accidents’ said Executive Director M. Surya Prakash Rao. Lauding the drivers of Vidyadharapuram depot for reducing the accident rates, the executive director said that they should aim at achieving zero accidents.

The RTC Regional Manager Gopinath Reddy said training classes were being conducted for drivers to reduce accidents. The drivers were also being subjected to periodic medical examination to establish their fitness for the job. Breath Analysers were also being used to double check, Mr. Reddy said.

Vidyadharapuram RTC Depot Manager K. Nagendra Babu said that there has been a marked reduction in the accident rate of the depot buses. The number of death in accidents had come down to three when compared to five of the previous year. But the goal should be no deaths at all, he said. Both passengers and the families of the employees would feel secure if the accident rate was reduced, he said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (traffic) Murali Krishna said that use of cellular phones while driving and two wheeler drivers not wearing helmets were the cause of the accidents, grievous and fatal accidents.