Kammas World

Pratima Yarlagadda Date of Birth 6 October 1981, Manhattan, Kansas, USA Growing up in a small Amish town in the heart of the Midwest, Pratima Anae´ got her start in the entertainment industry when she was crowned Miss Indiana USA. Pratima went on to make Miss Universe history when she placed in the top six at Miss USA, making her the first woman of East Indian descent to place in the top ten. Her accomplishments were featured in such publications as India Today recognizing her as a forthcoming East Indian presence in the entertainment industry. After moving to New York City Pratima signed with internationally renowned Ford Models. Her work has been featured in such publications as Vogue Italia, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and Town and Country among others. Pratima currently resides in Los Angeles. Where she is represented by Ford Models, Innovative Artists, and JKA. Her Film and TV credits include appearances in “How To Seduce DifficultWomen”, “MyBrother”, “Beautiful”, “All My Children”, an...

HYDERABAD 29 March: Endorsing the criticism that the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), the nodal agency for creation of infrastructure in the state, has been unduly benefiting certain units by allotting land at less than normal prices, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has charged the corporation with unduly favouring certain allottees and causing a loss of Rs 304.52 crore to the state exchequer. According to the CAG report which was tabled in the Assembly on Friday, most of the beneficiaries were from the IT sector. The 11 cases that were pointed out by the report include industry majors like Microsoft, Amazon and Kanbay apart from IT infrastructure developers including Indu Tech Zone, Brahmani Infra Tech, Stargage Properties and Divyasree Holdings. The list also includes Ananth Technologies, Hyderabad Gems SEZ, Visual Soft and Tourism Department of Andhra Pradesh. Apart from these 11 companies, the report has also found deviations in allotment to V...

Hyderabad-based Solar Semiconductor Private Limited (SSPL), (Hari Surapaneni, President & CEO) a rapidly growing producer of photovoltaic (PV) modules, has entered into a partnership with IBC Solar AG of Germany for supply of its products worth $575 million (Rs 2,300 crore) over a period of next three years. IBC is a distributor and systems integrator of solar PV products in Europe. Following this partnership, SSPL is expecting to post a turnover of $300 million (Rs 1,200 crore) in the financial year ending December 2008. SSPL had started commercial operations in September 2007 and did a business of $10 million (Rs 40 crore) during the four-month operations last year. At present, the company’s order book position is full for the next three years, SSPL chief executive officer and president, Hari R Surapaneni, said. IBC has been growing rapidly in the recent years and needs a stable supplier of high-quality modules. “In Solar Semiconductor, we have found a strong partner willin...

MIC Electronics,(Dr.M.V.Rama Rao, MD&CEO) a player in Light Emitting Diode (LED) display systems has received an order and license from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for installation and maintenance of 25 full colour day and night LED Video display boards at 8 metro stations of line-3. The installation is worth Rs 45 crore and will be implemented over the next six months. These LED displays will be networked and controlled from a single location and are first of its kind for Indian Railways. The company also announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Maave Electronics has received orders from different zonal divisions of Indian Railways along with the coach factories for the supply of approximately 20,000 coach emergency LED lamps worth over Rs 8 crore. Also, MIC Electronics, US based wholly-owned subsidiary and LEDSTAR of Canada have entered into a strategic partnership to deploy Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and LED single / full colour Variable Message Signs (VMS). Th...

Hyderabad, March 24: Suven Life Sciences Ltd has been granted two product patents in Eurasia for its New Chemical Entities (NCEs) for the treatment of disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases. The patents (nos. 009193 and 009367) are valid till 2023 in all contracting countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. “We are very pleased by the grant of these patents to Suven for our drug candidates that are being developed for CNS disorders, which target an $18 billion potential market opportunity globally,” Mr Venkat Jasti, Chief Executive Officer of Hyderabad-based Suven Life Sciences, said in a release. Products out of these inventions, which were in pre-clinical development, may be out-licensed at the stage of clinical phase-I or phase-II stage. The granted claims of the patents include the class of selective 5-HT compounds discovered by Suven and are being developed as therapeutic agents. They would b...

An AP born Kamma heart specialist has been honoured by the Tampa Bay Business Journal in Florida. Dr Rao Musunuru, a Florida cardiologist, was honoured by the journal as a 'Healthcare Hero' and conferred with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his 26 years of service in cardiology, community education, charity and advocacy. His work has helped make the Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson, Florida, as one of the major heart hospitals in the United States. He played a major role in the campaign regarding passage of anti-tobacco legislation last year. Dr. Musunuru served as the board secretary for the Floridians for Youth Tobacco Education, a coalition of the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and American Lung Association, which waged the anti-tobacco drive. Following the legislation, Governor Charlie Crist of Florida allocated 50 million dollar to the campaign last year. The Governor then honoured Dr Musunuru with an 'Excellence in Caring and Shari...

Naturol Bio-Energy Ltd (Bhaskar Chalasani, Managing Director)is getting set for commercial production by April 2008. The company started trial runs a few months ago with 2,500 tonnes of imported crude palmolein. It is expecting another shipment of 3,000 tonnes of crude palmolein from Malaysia in two to three weeks. According to sources, the company has made all arrangements to export bio-diesel products to US and Europe-based multinational companies. The plant, built at a cost of Rs 140 crore, will have an annual capacity of over 100,000 tonne of bio-diesel products. The unit is expected to generate direct employment for 120 people. The jatropha plantation, being raised in the factory premises, may take another two or three years to be ready for production of bio-diesel. Meanwhile, crude oil will be used as raw material and agreements have been signed with Malaysian companies for import of palmolein, sources added. Naturol Bio has plans to promote jatropha cultivation on 200,000 acres....

'Andhra Soggadu' Sobhan Babu died at his home in Chennai after he suffered a fatal spinal injury when he fell from the staircase. Shobhan was 71 years old and is survived by four children — three daughters and one son Born as Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao to a middle-class family in a small village China Nandigama near Mylavaram Krishna District, Sobhan went on to become a romantic icon and was the top Tollywood hero for two decades. He made his film debut with Daivabalam directed by Vasanthkumar Reddy, but his first film to hit the screens was Bhakta Sabari. Shobhan's Manushulu Maarali ran for 25 weeks, a record-breaking achievement in those days. He received the Filmfare Award four times, the Nandi Award five times and the AP Cine Goers Award eight times. The real surprise is that the Telugu actor won the Madras Cine Fan's Association's best actor award 9 times in his 40 years long career. Although, Shobhan Babu was a widely acknowledged actor down south, he was ne...

Sentini Bioproducts Ltd, (Tipirneni Seshagiri Rao, chairman) a diversified group based in Andhra Pradesh, plans to set up a distillery West Bengal with an investment of Rs 40 crore by the end of this year. The project is part of the company's ambitious expansion plan to invest Rs 200 crore in setting up six distilleries across India by April 2008. The plant would start commercial production next month, said TVV Ashok Kumar, deputy general manager (marketing), Senitini. Apart from West Bengal, the company plans to set up bottling units in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Kerala. The company was also planning to start bottling units in the north eastern states, said Kumar. Initially Senitini will roll out two brands, namely Officers Special Premium Grain whiskey and Crazy Monk Triple X rum, followed by twelve other by April next. The minimum capacity of each of the distilleries would be 1 lakh cases per month, and would be spread between 2-3 acres of land, informed K...

Nandamuri Harikrishna filed his papers as TDP candidate. TDP can send only one member to Rajya Sabha, given its strength in the state assembly. TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu picked his brother-in-law and party founder N.T. Rama Rao's son Harikrishna for the post. Harikrishna will become the fourth member of the NTR family along with N. Chandrababu Naidu, Daggubati Venkateswara Rao (son-in-law) and D. Purandeswari (daughter) concurrently holding an elected position. Mr. Naidu ensured that three other aspirants for the TDP ticket, Ummareddy Venkateswarlu, K. Ram Mohan Rao and N. Rajakumari were present when his brother-in-law filed the nomination papers

Hyderabad-based Mahalaxmi Infra Ventures (India) Private Limited ( Yarlagadda Harish chandra Prasad, Chairman & MD ) is foraying into wine production by acquisition of Bhanodaya Wineries and its 70-acre vineyard in Tavaragiri village of Koppal district in Karnataka. Chigurupati Krishna Prasad, chairman of Granules India , a city-based pharmaceutical company, also has a 49 per cent stake in the joint venture. Mahalaxmi Infra proposes to invest Rs 10 crore in two phases for setting up a 600,000-litre per annum capacity winery and development of grape farms over an extent of 300 acres in Tavaragiri. The first phase of 300,000 litre capacity winery and 150 acre vineyard will be completed in two years, Mahalaxmi group chairman, Y Harish Chandra Prasad, told Business Standard. According to Prasad, Bhanodaya Wineries was set up by Anil Kumar, an engineering graduate who had taken up grape farming. Mahalaxmi has acquired the 100,000-litre per annum capacity winery even before it commence...

Hyderabad, March 15: Vivin Laboratories Private Ltd, a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) services provider, has entered into an agreement with US chemical and drug distribution companies — Cascade Columbia Distribution and Syndel Laboratories — to manufacture high-value drugs and chemical compounds identified by them. The contract will be in force for five years with a total value of $125 million (around Rs 500 crore), which subsequently can be extended by mutual consent. The deal envisages supply of 1,800 tonne of specialty chemicals and veterinary drugs a year, Batta Parvataiah, Managing Director ( A Kamma business man from Ananthapur district ) of Vivin Laboratories, told mediapersons here on Friday. Once this tie-up comes into effect in the next two months, the annual turnover of Vivin Labs is expected to touch Rs 70 crore in the next one year, from the current Rs 40 crore. This is excluding the revenues that Vivin will earn from...

HYDERABAD: As expected, Telugu Desam’s highest decision-making body the Polit Bureau, on Friday unanimously named Nandamuri Harikrishna the party’s candidate for the sole Rajya Sabha seat for which it is eligible. Briefing reporters following the meeting, senior TDP leader T. Devender Goud said the Polit Bureau had decided in favour of Mr. Harikarishna in view of his services rendered to the party after taking the views of partymen. Parrying all questions, he said it was a “unanimous decision and there was no second opinion”. He said the Polit Bureau expressed its gratitude to the four Rajya Sabha members of the party, whose term had ended, for their services.

Hyderabad, March 14: Power generation company Lanco Infratech Ltd is looking to increase the profitability of its business by selling a little less than 20% of the 8,000MW of power it will be generating by 2011 as merchant power. “Lanco currently has 500MW under operation, while 7,500MW of capacity is under various stages of implementation. Of the total 8,000MW, we are looking at earmarking 1,400MW for merchant power business,” said Lagadapati Madhusudhan Rao, chairman and managing director, Lanco. Merchant power is the term used by power companies to describe electricity sold in the open market. Power plants usually sign long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with state governments under which they agree to sell power to state-owned distribution utilities at a fixed rate for a specified period. The price at which power generating companies sell to the state will be lower than the price they can get in the open market. Lanco previously announced its desire to focus on merchant powe...

Talk about blowing in and out of town — Hurricane Hari, we should call this guy. In less than two years, Hari Kondabolu has gone from an unknown open miker to the hottest comic in the city. After an electrifying performance at Bumbershoot last year, he was invited to perform at the prestigious U.S. Comedy Arts Festival sponsored by HBO and in February 2007 made his TV debut on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." But this isn't just the story of a rising young comic — there are plenty of those. This is the story of a young man reaching for the hand-scalding torch of confrontational comics like Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. Comically skewering on stereotypers and discriminators, Hari (pronounced "Huhree") Kondabolu has shaken up the local comedy scene like nothing calm, detached Seattle has seen before. On Kimmel's ABC show, he made a joke that left the audience laughing and gasping: "My name is Hari. It's pronounced a few different ways in this country. Hurry, Ha...

New Delhi, March 8 Reliance Power , a Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company, on Saturday named Mr J.P. Chalasani as its new Chief Executive Office r. Mr Chalasani, a former whole-time Director (Business Development) of group company Reliance Energy Ltd, has taken over as the Chief Executive of the company which listed on the bourses recently, a company press release said here. Formerly with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), J P Chalasani joined the Reliance group in 1995 and has over 27 years of experience in the power sector. Commissioning of the 2100 MW Ramagundam Thermal Power Station, the largest-sized thermal power project at the time, was the key highlight of his over 15-year stint with NTPC. Chalasani has handled various assignments for Reliance ADA group, including the successful bidding for two ultra mega power projects. “Chalasani has tendered his resignation from the Board of Reliance Energy Ltd with effect from March 7,” it said. Reliance Power Ltd is currently deve...

Hyderabad, 7 March: Real estate major Hiranandani Group and Hyderabad-based Lahari Infrastructure Ltd (Gaddipati Haribabu, Chairman and MD) will invest Rs 750 crore in a multi-services Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to come up about 40 km from here as a 50:50 joint venture. “Our Group and Lahari will invest Rs 150 crore each as equity in the venture and the remaining money will be mobilised from banks and other financial institutions. We will be equal partners in investments and revenue-sharing,” Mr Surendra Hiranandani, Founder, Hiranandani Group, told newspersons after the ground-breaking ceremony for the project here on Thursday. The SEZ, christened as ‘Hiranandani Upscale’, will have world class infrastructure for all industries, including information technology, pharmaceuticals and banking. Already, two pharmaceutical companies, including Suven Life Sciences, have committed to take two lakh sq. ft facilities each in the SEZ. Albeit initial investment is pegged at Rs 750 crore, the S...

The First Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Ms Y.H. Prameela Reddy, on Friday rejected a complaint filed by the Crime Investigation Department against media baron Ch Ramoji Rao and Margadarsi Financiers which he owns. The inspector-general (CID), Mr T. Krishna Raju, who is the authorised officer of Margadarsi Financiers case, filed the complaint against Mr Ramoji Rao and his firm for alleged violation of Section 45-s (1), (i) and 45-s (2) of the Reserve Bank of India Act 1953. However, the additional chief metropolitan magistrate passed orders rejecting the complaints stating that a special leave petition was pending in Supreme Court with regard to the same matter.

Navyuga Engineering Company Limited (Chinta Visveswara Rao, chairman & MD) plans to invest Rs 1,900 crore in the first phase for setting up of an all-weather port at Astharanga in the mouth of Devi river in Puri district of Orissa. It has proposed to invest Rs 1,500 crore for the port and Rs 400 crore for railway connectivity. The proposed port at Astharanga will have a cargo handling capacity of 20 million tonne per annum in the first phase. The company will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government soon. The state law department had given its concurrence and the approval of the finance department was awaited, sources said. “The proposal is awaiting the nod of the state finance department and will be sent to the chief minister after the required approval from it. The MoU with Navyug will be signed after that,” Priyabrata Patnaik, principal secretary, commerce and transport department, told the media. The port will be utilised for exporting the finished ...

hi5 is a social networking website, which, throughout 2007, was launched in 2003 and is now one of the leading social networks in the world — ranked by Alexa® as a top 8 website globally , No-3 among social networking websites come after MySpace and Facebook and the #1 or #2 most-trafficked website in nearly a dozen countries, including many in Latin America, Europe and Asia. hi5 had over 98 million members. Founder Ramu Yalamanchi is an American entrepreneur. He founded the social networking web site hi5 and is its CEO. During college, Ramu was a partner at Sponsor Net New Media. Ramu received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Features In hi5, users create an online profile in order to show information such as interests, age and hometown and upload user pictures where users can post comments. hi5 also allows the user to create personal photo albums and set up a music player in the profile. Users can also send friend requests via e-mail to...