Kammas World

Hyderabad-based Ella Foundation (Krishna Ella : Founder)  , which has taken up indigenous research for finding a potential vaccine for the deadly Ebola virus, has claimed success in preliminary vaccine trials on the virus that affected thousands in Central Africa, causing heavy fatalities. Ella Foundation, which is founded by the promoters of Bharat Biotech, said it has completed preliminary animal (using mice) experiments of the virus `glycoprotein', with the targeted adenovirus, and the "immune response results have been good." The foundation said it would follow this up with toxicology tests before going for clinical trials involving human beings. The foundation said it used adenovirus (which causes common respiratory problems in humans) because the use of the samples from Ebola virus itself could create problems. Krishna Ella, who started the foundation with his wife Suchitra Ella, has said that the foundation has completed preliminary studies on an Ebola va...

Shobha Dasari knows how to spell success. After taking the title of co-champion in the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee, the 14-year-old whiz-with-words from The Woodlands is preparing to head to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. It will be her third year to go and her last chance to compete. The event is only open to students who have not yet graduated eighth grade and Dasari heads to high school next year. "The anxiety doesn't kick in until a week before the bee," she said. "Nationals are really fun. The excitement hasn't worn off. I also know what to expect, and that makes things easier for me." She has a month to practice. Her mother Usha is her primary coach and her brother Shourav, who is also a competitive speller, enjoys helping out as well. "He likes to find crazy words in the dictionary that I don't know how to spell," Dasari said. She was inspired to compete after reading a book her mother bought...

A mansion on South Florida’s Manalapan peninsula that was blessed by Buddhist monks from Thailand has just come onto the market with a price tag of $25 million i.e Rs.158 crores. The 16,087-square-foot ‘Nirvana’ lies on an acre-and-a-half of oceanfront property in Palm Beach County, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Lake Worth Inlet to the west. The home features a Zen garden, as well as a Buddhist prayer room, and is being marketed as a spiritual space for a sophisticated buyer. “The family gave it the name, it’s not a marketing ploy,” says Senada Adzem, director of luxury sales at Douglas Elliman, who has the listing. “They had monks flown in to bless the home after they completed it. The marking of the blessing is on every door in the house. It’s very, very spiritual.” But the home is not for minimalists looking to flee from luxury. It boasts six bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, a full spa with a steam room and a sauna. There is a home theater, a dance club...

Arizona State University men's basketball junior forward Sai Tummala was one of two Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award recipients Friday. The award is dedicated after tennis legend Arthur Ashe, the first African-American tennis player to win in singles tournaments at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and Australian open. It highlights outstanding performances by student athletes of diverse backgrounds, both in the classroom and in competition. A member of Barrett, The Honors College, Tummala studies biological sciences (with an emphasis in animal physiology and behavior) and recently passed the MCAT examination. Tummala, a Brophy High School product, averaged 4.2 minutes per game in 14 games played in 2014.

N.R. THIAGARAJAN (RAVILLA)  (1913 - 1969)  NRT was a freedom fighter, architect of development of Madurai, Parliamentarian, builder of the Congress Party and Man Friday of Sri. Kamaraj.   He was born on 16th April 1913, as the fourth child of Rathnasamy Naidu and Venkatammal in Karisalpatti Village.  He had his education in his native village and he was drawn to national movement at a very young age.  He was the key organizer of civil disobedience movement and quit India movement in the Madurai district. He was imprisoned many times and spent about 51/4 years in Vellore, Alipuram and Tirunelveli prisons. He launched movements for boycott of foreign goods and promotion of swadeshi goods. At the young age of fourteen N.R. Thiagarajan joined in National movement and Congress Party. He started his political carrier as the president of the village Congress Committee of his native village Lakshmipuram Pudupatty.  Latter he became Taluk Congress ...

New Delhi: India's Yadlapalli Pranjala clinched the Asian Junior Tennis championship title after a come-from-behind victory over top seed Chinese Zheng Wushuang here today. The second seeded Indian won with a 5-7 6-2 7-5 scoreline in the final against her formidable rival, who happened to be her doubles partner in the event. It was double delight for the 16-year-old Pranjala as she had won the doubles trophy yesterday. Coached by former Davis Cup player Ilyas Ghouse, Pranjala trains at GVK Tennis Academy in Hyderabad. "This competition is next to junior Grand Slams. The competition was intense. My opponent in the final is higher-ranked player and I had lost to her in the second round of ITF Grade I event in January. I am glad I could beat her this time," the Class XII student said. Pranjala, who has started playing on the ITF Pro circuit, said she will train for the next two three weeks and then she has a ITF grade I junior event lined up, followed by the ...

Arikapudi Ramana Rao is a rarity in Indian volleyball.   Not only did he excel for his native state (Andhra Pradesh), Rao also shone in Tamil Nadu, his `second home'.Rao carved a niche for himself as a coach too, becoming in 1986 an FIVB (Federation Internationale de Volleyball) instructor, the first Indian to do so.  It is no surprise then that Rao, the national team's head coach during the Asian volleyball championships in Perth, Australia, in 1991, is among the chosen few to have won both the Arjuna award (in 1977-78) and the prestigious Dronacharya award (in 1990-91).  Born in Chamallapudi village near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, volleyball caught Rao's attention relatively late, at college."While studying at Hindu College in Guntur, I used to play both basketball and volleyball regularly since both courts were side-by-side," recalls Rao.He did well for the college in both disciplines. "There came a point when I had to choose between the two, and...

2 Kammas among Eighteen Indian American youths from around the USA were recently named winners of the 2015 National Geographic State Bees. Each year thousands of schools in the United States participate in the National Geographic Bee using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society. The contest is designed to inspire students to be curious about the world.  As state winners, each youth will receive $100 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their respective states in the national finals of the Bee at the National Geographic Society headquarters from May 12 to 14.  The winners, by state, are: MICHIGAN Shriya Yarlagadda , 6th Grade, Grand Blanc East Middle School, Grand Blanc. LOUISIANA Ajaya Tummala, 8th Grade, Caddo Middle Magnet School, Shreveport.

NEW YORK: With a pay package of $84.3 million (Rs 525 crore) a year, technology giant Microsoft's Indian-origin chief Satya Nadella has emerged as the top-paid CEO in the US, as per a new list. The Equilar 100 CEO Pay Study, an analysis of CEO salaries at the 100 largest public US companies as measured by revenue, was last year topped by Oracle's Larry Ellison, who has been now pushed by Nadella to the second position. Another Indian-origin CEO, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, is ranked 19th with $19.08 million. Legendary investor Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway is ranked last at 100th position with a total compensation of $464,011 million. Ellison ($67.3 million) is followed by Steven Mollenkopf of Qualcomm at the third place on the list with $60.7 million. Others in the top-ten include Robert Iger (Walt Disney), Larry Merlo (CVS Health), K Rupert Murdoch (Twenty-First Century Fox), W James McNerney, Jr (Boeing). James Gorman (Morgan Stanley), David Cote (Honeywell I...

DETROIT -- General Motors has named Dhivya Suryadevara GM vice president, Finance and Treasurer, effective July 1 , replacing Niharika Taskar Ramdev. Suryadevara will retain her current responsibilities as CEO and chief investment officer of GM Asset Management. "Dhivya's experience in leading our asset management team will serve her well in this important role for the company," said Chuck Stevens, GM executive vice president and chief financial officer. "I'm confident that she will build on the great work the team has accomplished under Niharika's leadership. Niharika has done an excellent job over the past year as we improved our investment grade ratings and introduced a comprehensive capital allocation framework." Suryadevara will direct GM's global treasury operations, including capital planning, capital market activities, worldwide banking and participate in business development, risk management and investor relations. Taskar Ramdev wil...

15-year-old Nidhi Surapaneni, who had a trail-blazing AITA debut in Gwalior on Saturday with her stellar performances in the Road to Wimbledon event in New Delhi It has been a wonderful outing for Nidhi, who raised the level of her game by several notches once she made it to the knockout stage of the Amity University (AU) sponsored Rs 2.5 lakh women's tournament, which she won, according to reports received. Nidhi scalped third seeded Moulika Ram with 7-6(7-4), 5-7, 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals.  To prove that it was no case of isolated brilliance, she stunned the top seeded Akshara Iska while coming back from a second set loss for a 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 semifinal conquest. She was also tested in the final by the other surprise player, Asha Nandkumar before clinching the title with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 verdict.

Smart-glass startup View Inc. is raising up to $100 million in fresh capital. The company is raising the round at a $750 million valuation , according to a report from VentureWire on Thursday. The company raised $100 million in early 2014 led by Madrone Capital, a private equity firm associated with the heirs to the Walmart fortune. Prior to this latest funding, the company raised $339 million over several rounds from investors such as Khosla Ventures,  NanoDimension, Corning, GE Capital, the Westly Group, DBL Investors, Sigma Partners and Navitas Capital. Founded in 2006, CEO Rao Mulpuri now heads up the Milpitas-based company formerly known as Soladigm. Prior to joining View, Mulpuri was president of Novellus Systems Japan and served as vice president and general manager of the Integrated Metals business unit. The tint on glass made by View is controlled by electrical charges, which can be applied automatically when lighting changes or can be controlled on dem...

Aniket Nuthalapati , an eighth-grader at Aptakisic Junior High School, was the winner of the Lake County Final Spelling Bee competition March 19. Aniket will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, May 24-30. All expenses for the seven-day trip will be paid cooperatively by the Lake County Regional Office of Education and the Jelly Belly Candy Company. 

Bhuvaneswari Burugupalli Nearly 50 Indian American and other South Asian physicians from around the United States, Canada and other countries were among the 301 new Fellows of the American College of Physicians recently approved for election by the credentials committee.  5 Kammas in the list were Arkansas: Latha M. Achanta , Indiana: Bhuvaneswari Burugapalli, Maryland: Raghuram Chava , Ontario: Padmaja R. Naidu , Pennsylvania: Srikanth Nagalla . 

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 v...

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. H...

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.

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.