What are some interesting facts about Visakhapatnam?

• There are several versions as to how Visakhapatnam (nicknamed Vizag) got its name:

1. The city was ruled by Andhra Kings of Vengi and Pallavas. The city is named after Sri Vishaka Varma.
2. Local residents believe that an Andhra king,built a temple to pay homage to his family deity Viśakha. This is now inundated under sea water near R K Beach.
3. Another theory is that it is named after a women disciple of Buddha named Viśakha

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• The Colonial British built another settlement away from the port. It housed their residence and the Andhra University. That settlement is calledWaltair. Waltair is a small part of Vizag now.

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• On April 6, 1942, Vizag was bombed by the Japanese forces in the course of World War II. The Japanese fleet present in the India ocean and the Bay of Bengalstalked the ships enroute to Chittagong. To evade the eemy, the vessels took shelter in Vizag's inner harbour. But the moment they tried to enter the port area, the American ships stationed there opened up their Bofors anti-aircraft guns in staccato. the retaliatory fire, combined with the natural protection of the hills on the three sides, did not allow the planes to have a peep in at the inner harbour and had to abort their mission.  In the course, the bomber planes strafed and dropped three bombs near the port area which exploded, causing 5 casualties.  The fourth and last bomb was dropped on a ship Marine Maller, which fortunately did not explode. If it had exploded, then that would have set up a chain reaction as the ship was laden with 2000 tonnes of explosives and Vizag would have been remembered as Pearl Harbour v2

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• A Submarine Museum -  INS Kursura, built in the USSR and commissioned in the Indian Navy as its fourth submarine on December 18, 1969, played a crucial role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. It was decommissioned in February 2001. It is the only one of its kind in Asia. Only the USA, the UK and Russia have such museums.

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• Dolphin's Nose is a huge (357 mt high) promontory jutting out into the sea. It shelters the harbour, from where manganese and iron ore are shipped out. The nation's most powerful lighthouse stands on it and directs ships 65 kms away.

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• Bheemunipatnam (or Bhimli), one of the finest sea resorts in India, is located at a distance of 24 kilometers NE of Vizag. In 1624 the Dutch arrived here, and in the fight that ensued between the locals and Dutch, 101 Dutch soliders and 200 locals died (as recorded in the Visakhapatnam Gazetteer). Later the Dutch made their peace with the locals and started business. In 1661 they constructed a fort measuring 235 x 405 feet with four minarets, a clock tower and a mint (in the present clock tower area). The fort was completely ruined. It is the oldest municipality after Surat in India. A bustling port once upon a time, it lost out to some sleepy little hamlet as a city of destiny when the port was re-located to Vizag. It was host to the Dutch East Indies Company and is a home to a Dutch Cemetery and a synagogue.

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• The Eastern Naval Command is a full-fledged operational command with it's HQ in Vizag, where the fleet provides naval defence in the Bay of Bengal. Equipped with a submarine base (INS Virbahu), asubmarine school (INS Satavahana), it plays host to the Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM) which are responsible for all submarine matters of Indian Navy. No wonder INS Kursura was immortalised here.

Confusion reigns as boards display old highway numbers

VISAKHAPATNAM: Befuddling tourists and visitors to the state travelling by road, several signboards on the national highway (NH) passing through the three north coastal Andhra districts still display the old number (NH-5) instead of the revised one (NH-16). The Centre, through a gazette notification, had re-numbered all the national highways three years ago, but the changes are yet to be carried out on most signboards. 

Taking the cyber route to sort out the number confusion is of no help either, what with the website of National Highway Authority of India (www.nhai.org) itself showing the Kolkata-Chennai national highway to be still NH-5 instead of NH-16. 

"The NH-5 was renumbered as NH-16, but when I travel along the road I come across several signboards with the old number. This confuses me," said K Srinivas, a B Tech student at a college in Tagarapuvalasa. The NH-16 runs along the country's East Coast from Kolkata to Chennai and passes through the states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, also going through Visakhapatnam city.

Signboards at many places along the 350 km stretch of the NH-16 from Icchapuram in Srikakulam district to Payakaraopeta in Visakhapatnam district still announce it as NH-5. The highway connects areas such as Sompeta, Tekkali, Narasannapeta, Srikakulam and Ranasthalam in Srikakulam district, Poosapatirega and Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district, and Tagarapuvalasa, Visakhapatnam City, Anakapalle, Yelamanchili and Payakaraopeta in Visakhapatnam district. 

NHAI project director V K Vijaya Sri admitted that some signboards still showed the old number. "We will replace them soon," Vijaya Sri told TOI. "Even officials and politicians do seem to know the new status of the national highway," said a research scholar of Andhra University. "One can easily spot many signboards with the wrong number along the 26 km stretch of the highway in the middle of the city from Hanumanthawaka Junction to Kurmannapalem Junction," he said. Even some websites, including Wikipedia, give the wrong information, he said. TOI found that Wikipedia on Monday showed NH-5 as the national highway between Kolkata and Chennai.

Source:-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/visakhapatnam/Confusion-reigns-as-boards-display-old-highway-numbers/articleshow/20887140.cms

  

Officials association meeting held at AKSHAYA HOTEL

http://visakanews.com/photogallery.aspx?Category=Nov%2030

Andhra Pradesh municipal town planning (GVMC) technical officials association meeting held at AKSHAYA HOTEL and decided to conduct election on February 14 and 15 in the general body meeting as announced by the president K Jayaram

VIZAG TAKES A GIANT LEAP

Visakhapatnam
Aug. 3: The city of destiny has now become one of the fastest growing metros of Asia.
Recently, the city drew the attention of entire world after the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and his wife, Ms Gursharan Kaur, launched the country’s first nuclear powered submarine INS Arihant on July 26.
Just a day before this event, the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) opened its laboratory, a prelude to opening its major facility at Atchyutapuram on a 2,800 acre site, which will be second only to Trombay. The first phase of the facility would be commissioned in three years.
The new BARC campus would also be home for Homi Bhabha National Institute, a deemed university offering graduate programmes in nuclear science.
Giving a further academic boost to the city, the “Innovative University” proposed in the Union Budget two years ago is also coming up on the outskirts of the city. The location is being finalised this week.
The courses of this university, with special focus on industries, would be designed as per the recommendations of the Prof. Yashpal committee.
There are major developments on the industrial front too. An extent of 5,449 acres in Achyutapuram has been allocated for development of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
About 12 companies have registered and five have started their units here. The government is expecting an investment of Rs 27,804 crore in the zone.
“We believe that the Vizag SEZ would become the Pudong of the Indian east coast,” said the APIIC commissioner, Mr B.P. Acharya.
The Pharma City being developed by Ramky group, Apparel Park by Brandix of Sri Lanka and IT SEZs coming up on the hillocks of the Beach Road would also be accelerating the development process of the city.
The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant is also on an expansion mode with an investment of Rs 12,000 crore. Authorities believe that better air connectivity to important destinations, night landing facility and more international services would bring in more investment.

VIZAG TIMELINE
* 260 BCE: Ashoka conquers the Kalinga empire (of which Vizag was a part).

* 208: Chandra Sri Satakarni becomes the king of this region.

* 11th century: Simhachalam Temple is built by Kulottunga I.

* 13th century: Simhachalam Temple is renovated.

* 1515: Krishna Deva Raya’s rule begins.

* 1735: Dutch Colony is established.

* 1765: The territory of the Northern Circars, of which Vizag was a part, ceded to the British East India Company by the Nizam of Hyderabad. Following this, a British colony was established.

* 1902: Andhra Medical College is launched.

* 1904: Railway from Madras to Calcutta, passing through city.

* 1926: Andhra University is established.

* 1933: Vizag Port is established.

* 1942: Japanese war planes attack Vizag, killing 12 persons in the port area.

* 1947: Eastern Naval Command establishes its base. Before 1947 the Royal Navy had a base in HMIS Circars.

* 1949: Scindia Shipyard, later nationalised and called Hindustan Shipyard Limited, commissioned.

* 1953: The Boat Repair Shop expanded into a Base Repair Organisation.

* 1957: Opening of petroleum refinery, Caltex, currently owned by HPCL.

* 1965: Two survey ships, “Jumna” and “Investigator”, permanently deployed.

* 1971: INS Rajput destroys Pakistani submarine Ghazi off the Vizag coast

* 1977: Indira Gandhi Zoological Park established near Madhuravada.

* 1981: Visakhapatnam Steel Plant commences operations.

* 2008: Night landing operations at Vizag Airport begin.

* 2009: The Gangavaram Port, the second port in city and deepest in India, opens.

* 2009: Nuclear powered submarine is launched.

* 2009: Bhaba Atomic Research Centre opens laboratories.

                                                                                                                                               www.hotelakshaya.in

TRAVEL TIPS

TRAVEL TIPS

The Savvy Traveller


High Fliers

• To beat jetlag, book an overnight flight or one that arrives in the evening when travelling east so you can either catch your sleep on the flight or as soon as you get in to your destination.

• To prevent the swelling of feet as is wont to happen on long flights, walk in the aisle at intervals and try not to take off your shoes.

• Refrain from OD-ing on the free booze when on a flight, as too much alcohol causes dehydration. Tank up instead on aqua-pura.

• When making flight reservation, remember to request for special meals if you have any food restrictions.

• After September 11, airlines follow very strict security procedures. So make sure you reach the airport for check in well before departure time. Its best to check with the airline regarding how much in advance you should be at the airport.

• If your baggage does not arrive on the same flight as you, fill out a Property Irregularity Report (PIR), with a description of the baggage, a list of contents and address to which it should be forwarded. If your baggage does not arrive at all, place a claim with the airline within 21 days.

• Overbooking is a fact of life in the airline industry. If you are not in a particular hurry to get to your destination then volunteer to give your seat up and take the next flight. The airline will provide you a hotel room and other frills, so you can end up having an extended vacation at the airlines expense!

• Do not accept any package from a stranger.

• For a smooth ride on a plane, choose the seats located near the wings as if the plane hits an air pocket, this is where you will get the least amount of bumps.

• If you are planning to watch the in flight movie, choose the fourth or fifth row from the screen to avoid getting a neck cramp.
  

• If you are prone to motion sickness, take an anti sickness pill before the flight. The pill won't help much, if you have it after you have started feeling sick!

• Abide by the list of items prohibited on board and carry most items like skis/cues/walking canes/sticks/Swiss knives in checked in baggage - this smoothens the check-in process plus avoids the risk of confiscation and unnecessary delays.

• Last and this is equally important - report any unattended items in the airport or aircraft to the nearest airport or airline personnel.

Weather Vane

• Keep track of the weather at your destination and be prepared, especially if you are going to a hurricane prone area.

Heartbreak Hotel

• Make your hotel reservations in advance, especially if you are visiting a place in peak season. You don’t want to be caught without a roof over your head!

• Negotiating room tariffs over the phone? Call the hotel twice to confirm the rates. Note down the name of the person you have talked to and request a written/faxed confirmation. This way you can be sure that you will not be wrongly billed by the hotel.

• Don't depend solely on the hotel's alarm service. Carry your own little alarm clock to catch an early morning flight or that pre-dawn sightseeing trip.

• When you check into your hotel, ask the reception to give you a card with the hotel's name address and telephone number. This will come in handy if you get lost or forget the name of your hotel.

• Check whether your hotel has a hair-dryer, iron, coffee percolator, etc, to avoid carrying these gadgets and also making it easy to skip the 110/220 conversion problem when travelling to foreign countries.

• Most hotels frown on guests doing their own laundry in the bathrooms, but if you do need to wash some smalls, carry a length of nylon twine to improvise a clothesline.