All in family for Dharmana

By SNV Sudhir

 Visakhapatnam, April 26, 2012: As the Election Commiss-ion announced byelections for 17 Assembly seats and one parliamentary segme-nt across the state, battle lines were drawn in Nars-annapeta coming under Srikakulam and Payakara-opeta in Vizag districts. It has become a prestigious affair for all three political parties. While a tight fight is expected bet-ween candidates of the Congress and YSRC in Narasannapeta, it will be a three pronged fight betwe-en the TD, YSRC and Cong-ress in Payakaraopeta. Minster Mr Dharmana Prasad Rao’s brother Dharmana Krishna Das is the YSRC candidate in Narasannapeta, while Vizag district’s Payakaraopeta has always been a strong bastion for the TD. Though it is an all-in-the-family fight in Nar-asannapeta, the Congress candidate’s fate decides the future of Prasad Rao in the party. At both places, the Congress is yet to decide its candidates. Speculation is rife that Mr Prasad Rao’s elder bro-ther Mr Ram Das is likely to contest against his brother Mr Krishna Das, on the Congress ticket. Meanwhile, delay in finalising the candidate is likely to dent the winning chances of the ruling Con-gress in Payakaraopeta Assembly constituency in the district. While the TD and YSRC are well ahead and have finalised their candidates, the Congress is yet to find a winning horse. The TD has already announced its candidate to be former MLA Mr Chengala Venkat Rao and its chief Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu completed his first leg of campaign in the constituency. YSRC chief and Kadapa MP Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy also toured the constituency extensively tw-ice. PCC chief Mr Botsa Satyanarayana and Chief Minister Mr N. Kiran Ku-mar Reddy too visited the constituency on two different occasions recently.

Pawan Kalyan causes stampede at Simhachalam

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 16, 2012: Two persons suffered injuries on Sunday in a stampede that took place at the famed hill-shrine, the Simhachalam temple, when noted Telugu film actor Pawan Kalyan visited the temple.

The actor’s visit also caused much inconvenience to devotees, who were more in number with Sunday being a holiday. Some of the actor’s supporters entered the temple without removing their footwear.

Pawan Kalyan was accompanied by the unit of the yet-to-be-released Telugu movie Gabbar Singh to have darshan of the presiding deity Lord Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, ahead of the launch of the movie’s video on Sun-day evening. The movie is a remake of Salman Khan’s blockbuster Dabangg.

As news spread among devotees that the hero of the movie was present, his fans thronged the temple in large numbers to get a glimpse of him. There was insufficient security — temple authorities said this was because the film party arrived two hours earlier than scheduled — and the actor’s personal staff had to control the enthusiastic crowds.

In the stampede, Pawan Kumar is said to have suffered minor bruises on his face and hands. Two devotees who were injured had to be given first-aid by the temple administration.

The actor told reporters that he was at the temple to seek blessings of the Lord and refused to comment on his actor-turned-politician brother Chiranjeevi, or about politics. He merely said he wished that the music of the new film would be a big hit. The director of the film Harish Shanker, producer Ganesh and music director Devi Sri Prasad, was also present.

Ayahs top passport-seekers list

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 16, 2012: Not new age techies, ayahs and construction workers top the list of those who obtained passports from the five coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizia-nagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari at the Regional Passport Office (RPO) here.

While ayahs are hired to take care of children of affluent families in Kuwait and other Gulf countries, unskilled labour, mostly construction workers, go to the United Arab Emirates and Middle East countries on work permits.

The two form 60 per cent of the 80,000 passports issued by the RPO last year. Apart from this, 10 per cent are software and Information Technology employees going to countries like the US, Singapore and Malaysia, 10 per cent were tourists to visit countries like Bangkok on leisure trips, 10 per cent students to go to countries like the US, UK and Australia for higher studies, and the remaining 10 per cent aged parents of NRIs who visited their kin in other countries, Vizag passport officer V.D.S.L. Surendra told this correspondent.

The RPO here serves the needs of those living in the five coastal districts in the state.

Mr Surendra said that about 60 per cent of the applicants are from both the Godavari districts and Rajahmundry urban and of the remaining 40 per cent, 15 per cent are from Vizag city and rural areas and 25 per cent from Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts. The passport office issued one lakh passports during 2008, 70,000 during 2009, and 77,000 during 2010. A Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), a Union government’s e-governance initiative, was also opened last year at the Regional Passport Office.

INS Chakra guarantees security

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, April 5, 2012: The INS Chakra, formally commissioned into service in the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam on Friday, is a nuclear-powered attack submarine, has a displacement of over 12,000 tonnes, a maximum submerged speed of 30 knots (55kmp) and operating depth of 500 metres.

Interestingly, the nuclear reactor of the INS Chakra has the capacity to generate more than half of Visakhapatnam city’s power consumption. While the city’s daily power requirement is 350 MW, the nuclear reactor that powers INS Chakra generates 190 MW The Russian-built submarine is manned by a crew of 80. It is equipped with an array of tactical missiles, cutting-edge fire control systems, sonars, contemporary optronic periscopes, and communication and surveillance systems that give the submarine a phenomenal operational flexibility and lethal potency. It carries more than 20 missiles and torpedoes.

“I am very happy to be part of INS Chakra, which is technically the most advanced and also the most challenging craft for submariners. We were all very comfortable on the voyage from Russia. This nuclear submarine can overrun any opposition,” says the commander of the submarine, Captain P. Ashokan.


In 2008, the submarine had hit international headlines when it was still owned by the Russians. During an underwater test in the Pacific Ocean, 20 personnel died of asphyxiation from a gas that was accidentally triggered, and at least 21 were injured. It was the worst Russian submarine disaster.