Port city to host many events in New Year

Visakhapatnam: The Telugu New Year Day ‘Ugadi’ celebrated on a grand note at VUDA Children Theatre in the city on Sunday. The celebrations were held under the aegis of district administration and AP Telugu Language and Cultural Department. Chief priest of Srikanakamahalakshmi Ammavari temple Desikacharyulu read out ‘Panchangam’ and he predicted various issues in the new Telugu year in the district.

While participating in the celebrations, HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao said that in the new Telugu New Year, there would be a lot of programmes designed to conduct in the port city. As part of promotion of tourism activities, this year also, the government would conduct handful of events both national and international level, he added.

Talking about the INS Virat, a mega tourism project, the minister announced that the state government is making sincere efforts to take up the project. The INS Virat project would be a landmark one in the entire country, he added.

On the occasion, the minister felicitated the chief priest of SKML temple Desikacharyulu, clarinet player K Saraswathi Vidyadhi, noted Kuchipudi dance artist K V Lakshmi and AU Prof M Jayadev. As part of the celebrations, local folk and traditional dances have been performed. Large number students from various government and private schools performed cultural programmes which enthralled the audience.

Zilla Parishad Chairperson L Bhavni, Anakapalle MP M Srinivasa Rao, Joint Collector G Srijana, VUDA Vice Chairman Basanth Kumar, GVMC Commissioner M Hari Narayanan, Joint Collector-2 Dr A Siri and several other VIPs and senior citizens in the city were present.