Turbo Megha Airways may start regional airline TruJet in this month

HYDERABAD: Turbo Megha Airways, the third regional airliner from south India, hopes to receive first two ATR flights and final approval from regulator DGCA in a month to commence operations by April.

Vankayalapati Umesh, Founder and Managing Director of Turbo Megha, said the airliner has finalised the brand as 'TruJet' and final touches were now being given to the two ATRs to be delivered over the next few weeks to help begin operations of the first phase.

The Hyderabad-headquartered regional airline was among the six to receive nod from the civil aviation ministry in November 2014.Air Costa was the other regional player to come out of Vijayawada, now in residual Andhra Pradesh, commencing operations in October 2013.

Andhra Pradesh has already announced slashing value-added tax (VAT) on ATF and Telangana had also announced its intensions in this direction. "This should help bring down operational costs significantly," he said.

Umesh's first venture Turbo Aviation is currently providing ground handling services to the domestic carriers like SpiceJet, apart from operating private nonschedule charter services for the corporate houses, film stars and politicians using Cessna aircraft.

Turbo Jet Engines, a subsidiary of Turbo Aviation, is now in the process of setting up an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility for aircraft components at the GMR Aero Park near the Hyderabad International Airport.

Turbo Megha Airways proposes to fly to Vijayawada, Tirupathi, Rajahmundry, Bangalore and Aurangabad in the first phase.

Success story of an Entrepreneur: Keshav Kantamneni

How Keshav Kantamneni ended up buying Uniply Industries

Matchmaker, investment banker, entrepreneur. That, in a nutshell, is Keshav Kantamneni, who has just bought a ₹170-crore wood panel manufacturer.

When Uniply Industries gave Globality Partners, a financial advisory firm headed by Kantamneni, the job of finding a buyer, the entrepreneur in him woke up. Realising the potential of the BSE-listed company, Kantamneni decided to make a bid for the firm in his individual capacity.

The 32-year-old, a product of the Kellogg School of Management, requested the Globality team to exclude him from the transaction, and “started doing the math to buy it myself”.

From then on, everything happened in quick succession in the ₹126-crore deal, including appointing D & A Financial Services as his merchant banker, announcing his plans to the stock exchange last week, and coming out with an open offer to buy up to 45 lakh shares, representing 26 per cent of equity capital of Uniply.

He made an offer of ₹13.50 for a share of ₹10 face value in February. Kantamneni acquired the promoters’ holding of 36 per cent, held by BL Bengani and others, for ₹2.5 crore. (Share price as on 1-April-2015,  ₹ 37.95 means tripled in 45 days)

In addition the company owed banks ₹55 crore, and other creditors ₹50 crore, which he will have to bear.

Uniply has three factories in Chennai. The company closed 2013-14 with a turnover of Rs 172 crore. Kantamneni, who is using his own funds for the transaction, has big plans for this maker of ply, wooden panels and doors. He plans to add value to Uniply’s existing business and strengthening supply chain linkages.

He targets more acquisitions. “So, you can expect another announcement from me,” he says with a wink.

Shriya Yarlagadda wins Michigan Geographic Bee

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Shriya Yarlagadda, a sixth-grader at Grand Blanc East Middle School, took first place at the 2015 Michigan Geographic Bee held Friday, March 27, at Western Michigan University.

The competition featured 101 geography  students in the fourth through eighth grades from across the state.

Shriya will move on to the national competition May 11-13 at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Shriya  also was awarded a $100 prize plus an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington to represent Michigan at the finals; the second- and third-place winners were awarded $75 and $50, respectively.

This was the eighth time WMU played host to Michigan's Geographic Bee. Similar competitions took place on the same day in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and Department of Defense schools around the globe.

Southwest Ohio has a new reigning spelling champion Abhilash Yarlagadda

CINCINNATI -- Southwest Ohio has a new C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N speller, eighth-grader Abhilash Yarlagadda, from Sycamore Junior High School.

Ken Chen, of Wyoming Middle School, placed second, and William Culbertson, of Walnut Hills High School, placed third.

Yarlagadda will represent the Tri-State at the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., later this spring.

Ottawa eighth-grader Ram Koganti is Grand Final Bee champion

After 31 rounds of intense competition, eighth-grader Ram Koganti was crowned the winner or the Peoria Journal Star Grand Final Bee, punching a ticket for the Scripps National competition.

When the winner addressed the crowd of parents and competitors at WEEK-TV, Channel 25 studios, he first asked for a glass of water.

Ram, a student at Wallace Elementary School in Ottawa, got thirsty during the back-and-forth spelling competition with runner-up John Offutt of Mossville Elementary School.

"You know you're going up against the best of the best, so it's anyone's game," Ram said. "(The competition) was really, really good, especially him."

The top two competitors were locked in from Round 13 to Round 30 alternating words: maelstrom, ocelot, echt and Bolshevik.

After the last word, Ram received a thumbs up from his mother, Ushasri Koganti.

While her son acted calm on the stage, with hands resting neatly at his sides and a cool smile after a correct spelling, Koganti was nervous from her seat among a silent group of onlooking parents.
"I'm relieved," she said after the competition.

Both contestants outlasted the competitive field of 14 spellers from across central Illinois.
Ram won the 53rd LaSalle County Spelling Bee, while John took the top spot in the Journal Star Peoria County Spelling Bee.

Kuben Naidoo Named Deputy Governor of South African Reserve Bank

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has appointed Kuben Naidoo as a central bank deputy governor.

Naidoo will be under the leadership of the South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago together with fellow deputy Daniel Mminele. 

The position became vacant when Kganyago was appointed as governor in November last year.

“He served as the acting head of the secretariat for the National Planning Commission in the fourth administration. Before that, Naidoo worked as deputy director-general responsible for the Budget Office at the National Treasury,” Zuma said.

He also spent two years at the Treasury of the United Kingdom (UK) where he worked on capital budgets and biannual spending reviews. 

“We wish the new deputy governor-designate all the best in the execution of this critical responsibility in our country’s socio-economic dispensation,” said Zuma.

World Chess: 2 Kamma girls Harika in Semi Final, Humpy Forced Into Tiebreaker

Harika moves a step closer to the championship

Donavalli Harika locked horns with Georgia’s Meri Arabidze in the quarter finals. The first game saw some to and fro action but Harika remained composed throughout the game. After a lengthy battle, both players decided to end the game in a draw and share a point.

The second game started off from where the first ended. It was a balanced affair throughout and it was almost destined to be another draw. However, Harika managed to steal one from the clutches of a draw in the 95th move. This is Harika’s second straight semi – final in the tournament and she will face the winner of Koneru Humpy vs. Mariya Muzychuk match next.

Koneru Humpy pushed to tiebreaker

Top seed Koneru Humpy was forced into a tiebreaker in the quarter finals by Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine. Mariya broke the unbeaten run of Humpy in the first game of the quarter finals when she snatched a victory.

Humpy was under some immense pressure in the second game but lived up to expectations by wining it comfortably. It took her 62 moves to finish the game, which has now been pushed into a tiebreaker. Both players will now play two rapid games with 25 minutes each and will be forced to play an Armageddon game if the match is still in a dead lock after the rapid games.

Three-Year-Old Miracle Kid Dolly Cherukuri Sets National Record In Archery

Dolly Shivani Cherukuri, an archer from Andhra Pradesh set a national record as she became the youngest Indian to score 200 points over five and seven-metre distances and made an entry into the India Book of Records on Tuesday, March 24.

Dolly is only 35 months old.

While toddlers her age are mostly occupied with potty training, Dolly is busy mastering the art of archery. She was conceived through surrogacy after the death of her siblings. Three years ago, on April 2, she was born in a world of bows and arrows.

"It's a record which will be difficult to break," said Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury of the India Book of Records, according to a Hindustan Times report.

Her intense expression just before shooting an arrow is enough to bring a smile on anyone's face.

The talent however seems to be in the genes. Dolly's brother Cherukuri Lenin who died in a road accident soon after the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, was an Indian coach and an international archer. Dolly's father, Cherukuri Satyanarayana runs the Volgra Archery Academy in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

Dolly's eldest sister's untimely death in 2004 and her brother's demise made Satyanarayana and his wife to think about a surrogate baby. The child was destined to be an archer before she was born.

"When we came to know that the baby was on her way we decided to mould her as an archer," says Satyanarayana.


Dolly, the professional
Young Dolly behaves in a manner which is no less than a mature archer. She  sports her uniform, slingers, finger tap, arm and chest guards even while practicing at home. The extremely committed toddler understands her responsibilities and manages her  accessories without any one else's help.

Dolly's father,  who has trained several Indian compound archers like Vennam Jyothi Surekha (Asian Games medallist), Chittibomma Jignas, Ritul Chatterjee (CWG medallist) and Mangal Singh Champia (Olympian), has bigger for her.

“Every two months, we want to increase the distance by two metres. In 2020, Shivani will be nine years old and I wish her to be in the Indian team,” the proud father said.

Vennam Jyothi Surekha wins two Gold Medals at the Asia Cup Archery

Bangkok: Vijayawada archer Jyothi Surekha, an Asian Games bronze medalist, who won the individual women's compound gold, bagging her second gold of the tournament. at the Asia Cup Stage II archery tournament in Bangkok. She edged past A. Cojuangco of Philippines 142-140 to win the title.

Koneru Lakshmaiah University student Jyothi Surekha is one of the sports persons who is benefited by the ACA’s scheme of helping talented sports persons in sports and games other than cricket.

Rajshree Pathy to head CII southern region

CHENNAI, MARCH 18:  Rajshree Pathy, Chairman & Managing Director, Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals Ltd, Coimbatore, has been elected as the Chairperson of CII Southern Region, and Ramesh Datla, Chairman and Managing Director, ELICO Ltd, Hyderabad, has been elected as Deputy Chairman of CII Southern Region for the year 2015-16.

The nominations were made at the first meeting of the reconstituted Southern Regional Council held in Chennai on Wednesday.

Pathy has been closely associated with CII and was the Deputy Chairperson of CII Southern Region during 2014-15. She was the past Chairperson of Agriculture Sub-Committee of CII Southern Region during 2010-11. She was also the past Chairperson CII Tamil Nadu State Council during 1998-99, according to a statement from CII. A commerce graduate, she completed an Executive Education Programme (OPM) from Harvard Business School and certified in Strategic Alliances and Corporate Ethics at INSEAD.

Pranjala wins ITF Juniors Grade I Tennis Tournament

Second seed Pranjala Yadlapalli beat fourth seed Deria Nur Haliza of Indonesia 6-4, 6-1 in the girls’ final of the ITF juniors grade-I tennis tournament at Nonthaburi, Thailand, on Saturday.

It was the fourth international junior singles title for the 15-year-old Pranjala, and the second this season. Her earlier titles came in grade-3 and 4 events.