Indian Institute of Plantation Management (IIPM), is going to set its campus in Ibrahimpatnam at Vijaywada. Right now there are two IIPM's, one in Bangalore and one in Assam. This would be the third one. Krishna District Administration also have procured the land and very soon Collector is going to assign the land to IIPM. IIPM is planning to start the calsses from next academic year.

IIPM will also set up a research center, where it will study on Coffee and Tea Farms, Rubber Farms, Coconut Farms etc..It also helps the farmers in techincal terms and give suggestions and training

Mary Mata Festival is going to start from tomorrow and traffic diversions will be on till February 12. Vijayawada City Traffic Police have diverted the traffic at certain point. No vehicles will be allowed from Padavalarevu Centre towards Gundala Centre

Vehicles going from Ramavarappadu Ring towards Eluru Road and Chuttugunta will be diverted at ESI Hospital and allowed via post office, panchayat office, Gangireddula Dibba, Machavaram police station, Amma Kalyana Mandapam, Sunnapubattilu Centre, Siddhartha Junction, Nice Bar junction and Pushpa Hotel centre.

Vehicles from Chuttugunta and going towards Ramavarappadu Ring will have to go through Nice Bar Junction-Madhu Chowk-Siddhartha Junction-Amma Kalyana Mandapam-Ramesh Hospitals-Executive Club Junction and NH 5.

Vehicles starting from Food Junction on BRTS Road to Ramavarappadu, will be diverted at Madhuranagar Junction and must go through ASR Bridge-Chuttugunta-Nice Bar Junction-Madhu Chowk-Siddhartha Junction-Amma Kalyana Mandapam-Ramesh Hospitals-Executive Club Junction and NH-5.

The special city buses pressed into service to handle pilgrim rush will ply between Chuttugunta and a temporary RTC bus terminal set up at Padavalarevu.

Vijayawada city is decked up for the three-day annual festival of Mother Mary at the Gunadala Hill beginning from February 9th. The entire premises of the hill, the Bishop Grassi High School grounds are readied for the most prestigious event for which lakhs of devotees wait all through the year. The festival here is one of the biggest for the Roman Catholic Mission in the Southern States, after the one held at Velankanni in Tamil Nadu.

Devotees from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala visit the holy shrine of Mother Mary at the adobe of the Gunadala Hill during the three days. The festival, which was initially started in a small way in 1923 by an Italian Missionary, Fr Pezzoni, had developed into a large festival for the Christians over the years. The hill, with a small pathway initially had a small statue of Mother Mary from 1925 that was replaced with a life size statue brought from Italy in 1951.

The shrine was developed with additional facilities for the pilgrims over the years by successive Bishops starting from Bishop Domenico Grassi, Bishop Ambrose De Battista, Bishop Joseph Thumma, Bishop Marampudi Joji and Bishop Mallavarapu Prakash. The sixth Bishop of the Vijayawada Diocese, Bishop Thelagthoti Joseph Raja Rao, who assumed charge on February 2, this year, is closely monitoring the arrangements both on the hill and in the high school premises for the three day annual festival. Arrangements were made for the night stays. Arrangements are also made for queue lines at the grotto and atop the hill for pilgrims to worship the holy mother.

The spacious Bishop Grassi High School Grounds, which holds the major events at the three day festival, including the Holy Eu-charist is decked up for the event. The civic administration, on its part, too had made elaborate arrangements for the three day annual event. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation has positioned additional staff to monitor the sanitation works. Health Department has deputed temporary health teams. The city police too have posted additional security forces both on the hill, in the school campus and along the road in Gunadala to monitor the movement of the pilgrims during these three days

Here are the Top 25 Most Beautiful and Breathtaking Photos Of IFR, Vizag