
Closed since 2021, British era school in Nellore to reopen on July 6
Tirupati: IT and HRD minister Nara Lokesh will re-open the famous British era VR school in Nellore on July 6. The 150-year-old school was shut down in 2021 during the erstwhile YSRCP regime.
Municipal administration minister Ponguru Narayana, who studied at the school and also started his teaching career from the same institution, vowed to revive it if NDA formed the govt in Andhra Pradesh.
The minister kept his promise and put all efforts to revive the school after NDA won and formed the govt. With Nagarjuna Construction Company extending a financial assistance of Rs 15 crore under its CSR activities, the school campus has undergone a complete revamp in the last few months.
With international standard classroom infrastructure and amenities in place, VR school opened for admissions recently and close to 1,000 students from economically underprivileged sections of the society were provided admissions for this academic year. Narayana said Lokesh will formally re-open the school on July 6.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Hans India
12 minutes ago
- Hans India
Rath Yatra stampede: Two senior police officials suspended over negligence, Odisha govt announces Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia
Bhubaneswar: In the aftermath of Puri stampede that claimed three lives, Odisha Government on Sunday shunted out Puri District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain and Superintendent of Police Vinit Agrawal while two other senior police officials have been placed under suspension. Collector of Khordha, Chanchal Rana and DIGP of the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police, Pinak Mishra have been appointed as Puri Collector and SP respectively, as per a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office following a high-level meeting. DCP Vishnu Pati and Commandant Ajay Padhee have been placed under suspension for dereliction of duty. Meanwhile, Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi has announced ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakhs for the family members of three devotees, who lost their lives in the stampede. The Odisha Government has also ordered an administrative inquiry into the tragic mishap under the supervision of the Development Commissioner of Odisha, Anu Garg. 'The Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath is the pride and honour of the Odia people. Negligence in this matter, even if minor, will not be tolerated. Exemplary action will be taken against all the persons responsible for this,' said CM Majhi. In another important decision, the government has assigned Arvind Agrawal, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Higher Education Department, the charge for overall supervision of the Car Festival in Puri. Following the stampede in Odisha's Puri that claimed the lives of three pilgrims, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi extended an apology to the devotees of Lord Jagannath, while ordering an immediate investigation into the security lapses. 'Personally, I and my government seek forgiveness from all Jagannath devotees," wrote CM Majhi on his official X handle. Majhi further expressed condolences to the families of those devotees who lost their lives in the stampede at Saradhabali near Gundicha Temple. He prayed to Lord Jagannath to grant the bereaved family members of the deceased devotees the strength to withstand this profound sorrow. The stampede occurred early in the morning between 4 a.m.- 4.30 a.m. The deceased have been identified as Pravati Das, Premkant Mohanty and Basanti Sahoo.

The Wire
12 minutes ago
- The Wire
The Life of MI6's Forgotten Master Spy
Tim Willasey-Wilsey's The Spy and The Devi l is an incredible story of a British 'master spy' who gained direct access to Adolf Hitler in 1931 through Alfred Rosenberg, a Baltic-German theorist, who headed the Nazi party's foreign office (NSDAP) from 1933-1945. It recreates the post-World War I Europe, dominated by intrigues, treachery and predatory redrawing of borders through land grabbing. The story has shades of John Le Carre's enthralling drama, chronological clarity through assiduous research and a message on how governments should utilise intelligence services. Willasey-Wilsey, CMG, a former British diplomat, is currently Visiting Professor of War Studies at King's College, London and Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). He spent three years researching for this book. The author admits that some books had already acknowledged the spy's contributions, like professor Keith Jeffery's authorised MI6 history, The History of the Secret Intelligence Service, 1909–1949. Yet, not everything was revealed about how this 'important and courageous secret agent' operated at a time when the British government was divided over a coherent policy towards Nazi Germany. Also, in 1934, the agency 'saw Germany as a potential ally in the more important battle against Bolshevik Russia'. It was this spy who helped 'MI6's evolution from being a service providing low-level tactical information to the strategic organisation' for the British government. That was in 1938, when MI-6 chief Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair consulted the spy when Sir Alexander Cadogan, Permanent Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, requested the agency to draft a strategic paper 'What should we do?' to deal with Hitler. The spy was Baron Wilhelm Sylvester von der Ropp, or Bill de Ropp, code number 12821, a Baltic-German from Lithuania, who 'lived in the heart of Berlin under the noses of the three main German security services – the Gestapo, the Abwehr and the SD'. Yet, as Jeffery said, at least 70% of the political intelligence on Hitler's Germany was provided by him. Ropp studied in Birmingham University, became a British citizen in 1914. He joined the British army's Air Intelligence team (propaganda & interrogations) under press baron Lord Northcliffe due to his linguistic flair. Ropp came in touch with MI6 as part of his work with Northcliffe and moved to 'Occupied Germany' in 1919, where he worked in the weekly reporting section. After that job ended, MI-6 employed him for covering the Baltic States under cover as a Daily Mail journalist, courtesy Lord Northcliffe. Meanwhile, he got married to Marie Winifred Woodman, known as Jimmy, who helped him in his 'real' work. MI-6 reappointed him to Berlin where he started writing for Outlook magazine edited by John Balderston, an American. At the end of November 1926, Ropp published an article on 'Airships' in Outlook. 'Little did he realise that he would be discussing these very issues with Adolf Hitler himself only four years later." Very soon, he became their Berlin correspondent. The author said that his first piece on 'Germany inside the League' following Berlin's entry to the League of Nations in Geneva demonstrated his ability as a 'political analyst as well as his excellent written English.' In 1926, Ropp became a representative in Germany for the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used by MI-6's 'Air Section' led by F.W. Winterbotham, the 'Ultra' intelligence specialist. This facilitated achieving a three-fold object: 'selling Bristol engines for civil aircraft, watching out for the potential military use of civil aviation, and tracking the expansion of Russo-German relations since the Rapallo Treaty of 1922'. Ropp's reputation in Berlin as an expert on Anglo-German relations stabilised in this capacity. However, MI-6 was still not convinced that Germany was their prime concern even in 1930. Here the master spy became a catalyst to convince his bosses in London. The author quotes Ropp's post-retirement article in Daily Mail in October 1957, out of a series of five, permitted by MI-6: 'I should make friends with Hitler while he was no more than the leader of a minority, if boisterous, party and stay with him as his friend if he rose to power'. For this he adopted, as the author described in Chapter 11, a 'crab-like' approach to Hitler in five stages: First, he tapped Baron Walter von Medem, whom he had met in 1919 while recapturing Riga from the Bolshevik forces. Medem was a member of the Right Wing Stahlhelm (The Steel Helmet) of German war veterans. Medem introduced him to Major Hans Berthold, also of Stahlhelm, who in turn introduced him to Arno Schickedanz, a fellow Balt from Riga, who was the Berlin correspondent of the Nazis' influential newspaper Völkischer Beobachter (VB). Schickedanz suggested that Ropp should meet his boss, Alfred Rosenberg, who was the editor of VB. They got along well: 'In Bill de Ropp he found someone who was prepared to listen. He may never have realised that Bill only took an interest because he was being paid by MI6 to obtain intelligence'. Also, for long, Rosenberg had believed that Great Britain was a natural ally of Nazi Germany. Bill de Ropp allowed him to believe in that and 'kept it alive in Rosenberg's consciousness for many years to come'. The author describes how Ropp met Hitler in VB's office at Schellingstrasse, Munich in 1931: 'He [Hitler] was dressed in an old trench-coat and an ill-fitting 'reach me down suit'. Hitler did not waste time with any formalities but plunged into his first question: 'What do the English think about my movement?'' Ropp worked on that to continue conversations with Hitler and Rosenberg. Hitler told him in his second meeting: 'If you could keep me informed of what, in your opinion, the English really think, you will not only render me a service, but it would be to the advantage of your country.' Both Hitler and Rosenberg thought that Ropp was spying on England for them. Ropp felt that Hitler was not very insightful. In his last meeting, he told Ropp, quoting Ribbentrop, that 'the British won't fight' as they would not get 'the backing of Australia, Canada or South Africa and their youth is too decadent and pacifist'. The author did not know how often Hitler and Bill de Ropp met over the next eight years 'although there is evidence of at least a dozen meetings'. Ropp and Jimmy finally left Berlin on August 29, 1939, just three days before the Nazi tanks entered Poland. From Rosenberg's diaries, the author felt that his correspondence with Ropp came to an end on 3 March 1940. At the end of the War, MI-6 terminated Ropp's services and paid a paltry final gratuity of £500. The 'Master Spy' passed away at the age of 87 on October 3, 1973 at Kingswood Hall, a care home at Kington near Peterchurch. 'There was no funeral and there were no letters from the MI6 officers who had known him so well. There are strict rules preventing contact between retired officers and their agents'. In the final chapter, the author assesses the importance of Ropp. 'Without him 'What Should We Do?' could not have been written and MI6 might have remained a source of low-level tactical information rather than the global geopolitical service that it is today'.
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
22 minutes ago
- Business Standard
India has set $1 billion turmeric export target by 2030: Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Centre has set a target of achieving $one billion in turmeric exports by 2030. Addressing a gathering after the inauguration of the National Headquarters of Turmeric Board in Nizamabad, he said the board would focus on packing, branding, marketing and export of the commodity. The turmeric board would work towards ensuring remunerative prices for farmers, export of their produce, besides research and development, he said. You will be surprised to know that the Indian government has set the goal of exporting $1 billion worth of turmeric by 2030. And, we have also made full preparations to achieve the goal of exporting $one billion to international markets. The (Turmeric) board that will be formed will work to ensure that the highest price of turmeric reaches the farmers, he said. Shah further said, during the 2023 assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to establish a Turmeric board in Telangana, and orders in this regard were issued later. Earlier, Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy and other leaders received Amit Shah when he arrived at Hyderabad's Begumpet airport. Taking to X, BJP's Telangana unit earlier on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had earlier announced the establishment of the turmeric board has now fulfilled the dream of farmers as per the word given to them. PM Modi has allocated Rs 200 crores to improve the quality of turmeric crop, carry out research and to improve farmers' income, it said. The establishment of the Turmeric Board has been a major demand of the turmeric farmers in Nizamabad and it was also a key election issue. BJP Lok Sabha member from Nizamabad D Arvind, who had promised to set up the turmeric board, had defeated BRS MLC and then Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He was re-elected in 2024.