Revamp of Secunderabad and Vijayawada railway stations on the cards

Secunderabad and Vijayawada railway stations have been chosen for upgrade under the under the first phase of the Station Redevelopment Project. It will be launched on February 8 from New Delhi by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will launch it officially from New Delhi.
This ambitious project of the Indian Railways will be applicable to a total of over 400 stations out of about 8,000 stations in the country and will start with Secunderabad and Vijayawada.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 6 February 2017.

The upgrade will be in the form of facilities such as malls, multiplexes and restaurants apart from upgrading the level of passenger amenities by new constructions/ renovations and include redevelopment of station buildings, platform surfaces and circulating area to better serve the needs of passengers.
Commercial establishments like hotels, multiplexes and shopping malls could come up in the land earmarked for railways for the use of the developers. A total of 23 railways stations across the country have been selected for the first phase of the project.


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Worms and insects feast on 'laddu prasadam' in Kanaka Durga temple - 50000 laddus destroyed

It came as a shock to pilgrims visiting the Kanaka Durga temple atop the Indrakeeladri in Vijayawada when they received 'laddu prasadam' from the temple staff - the laddus were full of worms and insects. Food safety officials have sealed the room where the laddus were stored and have sent samples to the state food laboratory for toxin analysis.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 3 October 2016.

The Dasara festival has started at the Kanaka Durga temple and, this year the temple will celebrate the festival for 11 days instead of the usual 10 days due to variation in the almanac. Vijayawada, incidentally, hosts the biggest Dasara celebrations down the Vindhyas and nearly one lakh pilgrims visit the temple daily during the festivities.
Temple authorities have ordered officials to destroy the 50,000 and odd laddus, which developed fungus and mold. This is the largest laddu stock in a temple in AP to have turned stale. On a number of earlier occasions, hundreds of laddus were destroyed by TTD authorities in Tirupati following development of fungus.
The kitchen officials have explained away the matter by saying that flies and cockroaches had entered the storeroom due to overnight heavy rain.


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N Chandrababu Naidu wants a roof-top helipad in his secretariat

In order to do away with delays due to road travel as a result of traffic jams, AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu plans to get a roof-top helipad at the proposed interim secretariat complex at Velagapudi village in the upcoming capital city of Amaravati.
Once it materializes, he would be the first time that a chief minister in India will have a helipad right above his office chambers and be one of the few VIPs in the country to have a roof-top helipad at the workplace or residence.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 19 February 2016.

The chief minister's office located at the temporary secretariat is being planned in such a way that he can simply get out of the helicopter and walk into his chambers via a lift. Such an arrangement of a roof-top helipad will help the CM heli-hop from his office to the airport at Gannavaram, about 50 km away, without any disruption to the heavy traffic in Vijayawada city.
The new Secretariat would have six buildings in all to accommodate nearly 6500 employees. One of these blocks will be used exclusively for the chief minister's office and, on top of this building would be the helipad spread over 2000 sq ft with provisions of expanding, if required.
The helipad is estimated to cost about Rs 1 crore.


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