Bathukamma Celebrated with Joy and Jubilation!

Telangana Community celebrated 'Bathukamma' on Saturday, Oct 1 at South Forsyth Middle School, Cumming. Attended by as many as 800 people, 'Bathukamma' has grown into a 'colorful and jubilant' community event for all Telugu families living in Atlanta area. 

Very first Bathukamma event was organized on on the same day as this year - October 1 at Sharon Springs Park, under leadership of Late Shri G.S. Reddy by just 10 families. On the day of event, several families joined spontaneously and participation and gathering has grown to about 120 people. Ever since participation has been growing.

Highlights of the event:

• Co-hosted by Telugu Association of Metro Atlanta (TAMA), Greater Atlanta Telugu Association (GATA) and American Telugu Association (ATA).

• TAMA is associated with Bathukamma Event - third year in a row

• A 90-minute cultural event was organized with folk songs, dances

• Celebrations started off with 'Bathukamma' competition. A panel of judges have carefully looked at each 'Bathukamma' that met criteria. Prize Winners are:

  First prize:

  • Madhuri Madarapu, Madhavi Vuppalu and Latha Thatipati

  Second Prize:

  • Anita Vangala, Lakshmi Naram Reddy

  Third Prize:

  • Anupama Subbagari, Shailaja Vedire, Anuradha Neelagiri

Bathukamma Photos can be viewed athttp://www.vakiti.com/Other/Batukamma2011/19309171_LP677Q#1508312986_Jmxm9jV

Click here to view Bathukamma 09 Photos      Click here to view Musical Nite - (July 18, 09) Photos

TCI Activities

• Three Engineering Students were adopted - full fee support for Sai Medpally and Akhil Boyapally and financial aid for K. Mounika Reddy. Financial aid will continue till completion of engineering course

• Financial contribution to Niveditha Sewa Ashram in Jagtial , Karimnagar

• Raised and donated $1000/- to support SEWA - USA's effort to help Bhutanese accident victims

• R/O Water projects implemented : three in first year and nine in the second year in partnership with Rotary Club/s with Ravi Chander's initiative.

• Current year 25 projects are undertaken in partnership with Rotary. $10,000 contribution by TCI multiplied by matching grants from Rotary Clubs to make a grand total of $63K.

• Appeal for membership: please donate for worthy causes like these and other similar activities

• Most companies have a direct deduction from Pay check at www.easygive.com. You may designate TCI as beneficiary while setting up pay deduction.

Matching Grant of $63,000 Approved for Water Projects

Rotary Foundation has approved a Matching Grant of $63,685 (Rs.28, 65,825) for funding to help provide 25 Reverse Osmosis Plants in 25 Villages in Nalgonda, Warangal and other districts of Telangana Area. Click here to read the entire Letter.

During 2010 Nine projects successfully commissioned. Click here to see photographs of all these NINE projects.

Videos

1. Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) Project that clearly shows the way Andhra colonial Rule had become a curse to the people of Nalgonda. elangana Irrigation: SLBC Part1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWjk4SsAs3Y  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  

2. These are the videos of HMTV Dasa Disa Discussion on Irrigation Projects in Andhra Pradesh. In these videos we could clearly understand what went wrong and what future holds for Telanganites in united Andhra Pradesh. Kudos to irrigation experts of Telangana for cornering the policy makers of Andhra counterparts.

Discussion on Irrigation Projects of Telangana: 
Part 1 Part 2 Part3 Part4 Part5 Part6 Part7 Part8 Part9 Part10 Part11 Part12 Part13 Part14 Part15 Part16 Part17 Part18 Part19 Part20

Relief to Indian-American community as passport rules are changed

New York: Taking into consideration the protests from Indian community in the US, the Indian government has changed the new citizenship rules, much to the relief of many.

As per the changes, persons who became citizens of the US till May 31, 2010, are not required to pay $175 to renounce their Indian citizenship and to get a surrender certificate.

But they will have to return the passports and get a surrender certificate. Only a miscellaneous fee of $ 20 will be charged from them. No penalty will be charged for the delay in renouncing the citizenship. There is no time frame stipulated for this, though it is better to do it as soon as possible, Prabhu Dayal, India's consul General in New York said announcing the new rules. Those who currently hold an Overseas Citizen of India card or a Person of Indian Origin card are not required to undertake these procedures.

But those who take up US citizenship from June 1, 2010, are required to renounce the Indian citizenship and get a surrender certificate within three months paying $175. This is bad news is that those who already took their surrender certificate paying $175 as these fees will not get a refund.

Some of the Indian passports were cancelled when people took up the US citizenship, but it is not enough and a surrender certificate is necessary, Dayal said. People should bring those passports and the consulate will affix a suitable stamp as evidence of renunciation of the Indian citizenship.

Dayal said the Indian immigration authorities will not ask for surrender certificates and those who have valid visa or OCI/PIO Cards can freely travel to India and will not be turned back.

Those who lost the old passports are required to give an affidavit and also other evidences such as a copy of the US Naturalization Certificate. US law prohibits copying of it illegally. But it is possible to get a copy of it legally from the US authorities, he noted. "We do not want to flout the local laws," he said.

The US passport is not enough in this case as it does not mention the date when one became a US citizen. The new rules were enacted in 2009 and the accusation that it was imposed suddenly was not correct, Dayal said.

He said the Entry Visa was introduced after the new rule that those who are holding tourist visas cannot return to India within two months of the last visit. Many Indians with foreign citizenship found it very inconvenient. The government introduced the entry visa to overcome this and the holders of it can visit India freely.

Matching Grants by Rotary Club for Telangana Water Projects

We are pleased to share with you the good news, that The Rotary Foundation (International) and Rotary Foundation (India) have approved a matching grant for our Reverse Osmosis Plants, please see excerpt from the letter:

We take this opportunity to express our appreciation of Mr. Siva Kumar of Rotary Club of Secunderbad West, and Ms Paddy Sharma, President, Rotary Club of Emory-Druid Hills for their wholehearted support, guidance and help in processing the application and last but not least our own Mr. Ravi Chander, for his perseverance and coordination at all levels, without whose efforts this would not have been possible.

This is a great way for our "Telangana Community" to begin this our new year ! We will keep you informed as we make progress.

If you have not become a paid member, please do so at www.telanganacommunity.org, If you are already a paid member ask your friends to become a paid member. Collectively we CAN make a difference.

Water Purification Projects in Telangana Area...

Telangana Community is still in its infancy and with very limited resources at its disposal, we still believe that we can make a difference if we, all our members and sympathizers, come together. That’s why Telangana Community is very keen to take up clean water, water conservation and sanitation projects in Telangana to help solve water scarcity and to help communities to gain access to uncontaminated and safe drinking water. Telangana Community has initiated preliminary investigation regarding the water purification projects with the help of Mr. S .P.Reddy and Mr. Shiva Kumar of Rotary Club, Hyderabad.

As a first step towards this mammoth goal, Telangana community has undertaken clean water projects in collaboration with Rotary Club, Secunderabad, installing water treatment plants. So far, we have successfully completed three water treatment projects and have identified a few more projects to undertake this summer. We request your support and involvement in this mission. We sincerely appeal to all our members and Telangana sympathizers to come forward to donate or sponsor towards a project of your choice and help make a difference. Read more about the Clean Water Initiative in Telangana Region.  Projects Accomplished so far...

Donate now and be a proud partner of partner of this Initiative. Your support makes a huge difference.