Happy 100th Birthday to the First Ever ‘One Rupee Note’.

Government of India, 1 Rupee Note – 1917:

The first ever ‘One Rupee Note’ completes 100 years of its inception today! 30th November 2017. Issued for the first time as a promissory note in 1917, the journey of the lowest paper denomination note has been fascinating.

Its genesis lies in the World War I where the inability to mint coins forced the then colonial authorities to shift to printing Re 1 notes in 1917.

Introduced with the photo of King George V, the note has gone through lot of travails although retaining many of its unique distinctions, including being called a 'coin' in legal speak.

Here are some crazy and interesting facts about the One Rupee note:

The ‘Top three’ one rupee notes, which have been the highest selling in the world till date and currently very much in demand are :

The centenary is expected to be a huge draw at INPEX 2017, The National Philatelic Exhibition starting in Mumbai from today, 30th November to 4th December 2017, and Mintage World - an online museum for stamps, coins and currency notes.

Photos displaying 100, arranged with 1 Rupee Notes is my creation! 
And other photos: Courtesy, ‘The Quint’

The Hyderabad Metro Rail has finally arrived!

Hyderabad Metro Rail has finally arrived!  Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Metro Rail Service at Miyapur Station today afternoon at 2.15 pm. He traveled on the train for about ten minutes from Miyapur to Kukatpally and back. This was a long delayed and much awaited project and now most of it is completed. Today is a great day for Hyderabad, it will be remembered forever. With this additional and very fast transport system; thousands of people would be benefited and the traffic congestion on roads would be overcome to a great extent.

Commercial operations of the Metro Rail service will commence from 6 am tomorrow, 29th November 2017. The Metro Services will be available from 6 am to 10 pm from Nagole to Miyapur, a distance of 30 kms with a Metro Rail Interchange at Ameerpet. This totally completed and in operation route has a section of the Red Corridor from Miyapur to Ameerpet and a section of the Blue Corridor from Ameerpet to Nagole. I have highlighted this route in the above map in light blue. The stations in the Red Corridor are Miyapur, JNTU College, KPHB, Kukatpallly, Balanagar, Moosapet, Bharat Nagar, Erragadda, ESI hospital, SR Nagar and Ameerpet. At Ameerpet one will have to get into the Blue Corridor train to go to stations along Nagole route. The stations in the Blue Corridor are Ameerpet, Begumpet, Prakash Nagar, Rasoolpura, Paradise, Parade Ground, Secunderabad East, Mettuguda, NGRI, Cricket Stadium, Uppal and Nagole.

Each train will initially have three coaches. Each coach will carry 330 passengers. The number of coaches would be increased depending upon the traffic. Similarly the timings of operation, from 6 am to 10 pm would be rescheduled to 5.30 am to 11 pm. The initial train timings would be announced tomorrow. The ticket fares would be as indicated in the chart below.

I wish the balance 42 kms of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project for which works are in progress would also be completed soon.  People traveling in Metro and on the roads would be greatly benefited! 
     

Welcome to Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 at Hyderabad, the entrepreneurship capital of India.

Welcome to Hyderabad, entrepreneurship capital of India.  Welcome to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017.

The United States of America and India are proud to conduct the eighth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Hyderabad, a great place for entrepreneurship facilities, from tomorrow, 28th to 30th November, 2017.  This year’s Summit will highlight the theme ‘Women First, Prosperity for All’, and will focus on supporting women entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth globally.  Adviser to the President of USA, Ivanka Trump will headline the United States delegation to the Summit and our Prime Minister Sri. Narendra Modi would also be attending and addressing the gathering. And I am happy and proud as a niece of mine is invited to this summit.

GES is the pre-eminent annual entrepreneurship gathering that convenes emerging entrepreneurs, investors and supporters from around the world. GES 2017 will create an environment that empowers innovators, particularly women, to take their ideas to the next level. Through two and a half days of networking, mentoring, and workshops, GES empowers entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas, build partnerships, secure funding, innovate, and find their target customers - creating new goods and services that will transform societies. 

Hyderabad is a global second home to giants like Google, Amazon, Apple and Uber amongst many others. Hyderabad in the recent years has been the bustling breeding ground for most innovation and entrepreneurship activity in the country. The city has created a holistic environment with dedicated entrepreneurship facilities and has also set up a robust infrastructure, both physical and technological.

The city’s Tech Parks Multiplexes and numerous Corporate Head Quarters also contribute immensely to making Hyderabad one of the biggest and most efficient IT- hubs not only in India but also the world. The IT city, alongside the global corporate clusters in west Hyderabad, has gone on to earn a name for itself – Cyberabad. A microcosm of city’s entrepreneurial endeavors, Cyberabad has been a key driver in boosting the startup ecosystem in around the city.

As the host city to Global  Entrepreneurship Summit 2017, Hyderabad hopes to only bring the global best practices home to India but also to become an integral part of the global entrepreneurial ecosystem and bring together the innovation and energy of entrepreneurs across the board for an enterprising tomorrow. 

A grand wedding season of five days from tomorrow! – May all the newlyweds live together happily forever!

Arundhati and Vashishta Stars as seen from our house ‘Srilekha’ today – 22nd November 2017 at 19:46:09 IST.

Starting from tomorrow, next five days are very auspicious for weddings. After these five days there are no more Muhurthams (auspicious days) for weddings until February 2018. So the two Telugu States and specially our Twin Cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad are going to witness hundreds of weddings in the next five days.

We have received five wedding invitations. While I am my wife; with my son, daughter-in-law and grandson would be attending three weddings and wedding related events and receptions, my son with his family would be attending additionally two other weddings. The next five days will be hectic not only for us but for countless people in Hyderabad and Secunderabad.  These are very happy times for all but with so many wedding ceremonies the city traffic is unfortunately bound to cause some problems.

With so many weddings and happiness around us it feels very good. I wish all the families celebrating weddings all the best and for the newlyweds: may heaven’s choicest blessings be showered on them.

Talking of heavens, there is a tradition in most Telugu families of the newlyweds looking heavenwards and sighting Arundhati Nakshatram (Star) and seeking blessings. This event takes place soon after the wedding. With guidance from the Purohit, the groom is asked to point towards Arundhati Star and show it to the bride, and the bride prays to the Star.  The significance of this is explained to some and for the others it is just a ritual but I have seen all couples enjoying this event then and later in life when they see photographs of this…they are reminded of those happy moments.

Arundhati and Vashishta is a two star constellation. These stars are named after Arundhati and Sage Vashishta (who was the guru of Lord Rama). They were an ideal couple and symbolize marriage. Usually a two star constellation is such that one star is in the middle and the other revolves around the center star. However there is something special about Arundhati-Vashishta constellation, they revolve around each other. This signifies how a married couple must be close to one another at all times, lead a happy life and perform their duties and achieve their goals together. Arundhati was a great woman, an ideal wife and a role model for all women and hence she has earned a place by the side of sage Vashishta in the Saptarishi formation in space that is in Big Dipper formation that you can see in the attached pictures. Her blessings are considered to be very valuable. And this tradition is being followed since very ancient times, since the days of Arundhati and Vashishta!

For those interested in astronomy the scientific names for Arundhati and Vashishta Stars are Alcor and Mizar. These are situated in the Big Dipper formation of stars of the Ursa Major constellation.

The topmost picture is of Arundhati and Vashishta Stars as viewed from our house few minutes ago from Secunderabad, to be precise at 19:46:09 IST, 22nd November 2017.

Celebration of Karthika Masam Vanabhojanam and November Birthdays – 2017.

The Telugu lunar month of Karthika Masam is considered very auspicious; it starts a day after the major festival of Deepavali. A popular ritual practiced in this month is ‘Vanabhojanalu’ literally meaning having food in gardens. Most families in Telugu speaking States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh; as a group of relatives or as members of a large association go on picnics in this month and spend the whole day in a garden or in the wilderness, under trees. They have a good time chitchatting, playing games, loitering around and enjoying foods most liked by them.

While my father was working in Singareni Collieries at Kothagudem, persons of our community used to organize ‘Karthika Vana Samaradhana’ on a large scale in our 5-acre mango garden. There used to be a puja to the Amla tree, lots of entertainment and rich foods for close to 150 people. This tradition continued for over 15 years until my father retired from service and sold the garden before shifting back to Secunderabad. This experience and the pleasure we derived from such daylong picnics has kept the tradition of Vanabhojanalu going on in our family. Mango gardens and farmhouses owned by friends or resorts around the city of Hyderabad help us in this celebration.

This year’s Karthika Masam commenced on 20th October 2017and will be ending day after tomorrow on 18th November. So on a recent Sunday we went out for Vanabhojanalu with the families of my siblings and my wife’s siblings, as usual. The venue was a huge Mango Garden owned by my friend and located 60 km away from our house in a very serene and lovely place.  Of course there were other trees like Amla and huge Tamarind and Neem trees. It was a potluck party with all families participating in it and with additional contribution from my friend, the owner of the Mango garden. Everyone enjoyed the picnic in that calm and lovely environment with lots of games in the open and under the trees, with good food and a group-birthdays celebration.

When Karthika Masam coincides with major part of November month; we also celebrate birthdays of nine family members (including mine) born in November, during this daylong Vanabhojanala function.

The attached pictures are of this year’s Vanabhojanam and Birthday celebrations.

May GOD’s blessings and your good wishes be with our families forever.