Great expectations: 10 things to look out for this year

I expect a lot of things both from my government as well as the people of Telangana. The government is committed to provide more public and private employment through recruitments as well as from the IT sector. We are committed to continuing all the existing programmes and some of the schemes like Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya will take concrete shape this year. While remaining committed to not increasing the power tariff, we are going to increase the free power supply to agriculture from the existing seven hours a day to nine hours. I will pray to God for rains on time, political and economy stability besides peace across the nation.

I expect the people of Telangana to realise their responsibility of involving themselves in all government related economic activities, and paying taxes on time so that government will able to implement all its promises. People should be vigilant and cooperate with the government in curbing crimes and bringing down corruption.

My government will be completing two years in office this year. Our endeavour, Vibrant Telangana, Bangaru Telangana, will be achieved with people taking a major part in it. I expect a great win for the TRS in the GHMC polls with support from all sections this year. I also expect change in the NDA-led central government's attitude and hope for more funds for our projects, which are going to create substantial assets.

Iexpect the 2015 momentum to continue at least until 2017. In my view, Social Media, Mobility, Analytics, and Cloud (SMAC) will drive the next wave of growth for the Indian IT Industry, aided further by startups. The disruption that is currently being witnessed by the industry is only going to evolve faster in the coming years, catalyzed by the continued migration to a digital world. Economies and Industries which are best suited to adapt to the fast pace of change will thrive in 2016.

The growth forecast looks positive, with the government drafting a new policy for startups, and initiatives like Digital India gaining momentum. The future, in my opinion, will have three types of companies—1: those which make/create/build technology; 2: those which enable technology; and 3: those which consume technology.

Hence, technology, which has now become all pervasive, will penetrate deeper within sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and others.

Newer catalysts like the Internet of Things (IoT) will further provide more opportunities not only for innovations, but also for addressing industry-wide challenges such as that of analytics and cyber security.

The future of art in Hyderabad is bright. We will be experiencing the heights of the art scene, particularly the success of young talents, who are doing pretty well.

Other artists should also think in terms of global trends working with experimental visual language.

Art in Hyderabad is gradually catching up with global trends as a bunch of young artists and a few important galleries have been keen on undertaking experimental art. The future is certainly not central to the ethnicity, which has intrigued many in the past. We would also be seeing street art and public art in the coming year.

I am happy with the growing consciousness for global art in Hyderabad as few curators are choosing Hyderabad as their hub and institutions are also producing young talent with immense critical appraisal for postmodern art.

Like I’ve said before, sportspersons are always greedy for on-field laurels. It will not be easy to better the kind of phenomenal year I have had in 2015 but I will try to match this performance in 2016. I would like to stay No.1 in the world for as long as possible. Maybe, even complete one full year at the top! I would also like to add to my five Grand Slam titles. This being an Olympic year, I reckon expectations would be high. However, I cannot remember ever playing without the pressure of expectations even from the time when I was a Junior. But I believe that pressure is a privilege that one earns through past performances and must be embraced. I think I am fortunate to have reached a stage after all these years where my career cannot be judged by any one single performance, but I will definitely try my best in Rio and I find it amazing that I have this opportunity to perform for India for the third consecutive Olympics. But before that I have three major Grand Slams to play in.

Definitely, 2015 has been a memorable year. It went by like a dream. I ran into a little trouble due to a few injuries but I’m so happy that I had such a tremendous run in 2015, including winning the India Open Superseries. It went as planned. Obviously, I want every year to be better than the last.

But you never know how it will actually pan out. I’m happy with my progress so far. I’m hopeful that with Vimal Sir in my corner I will do well. At this point, I am not thinking too far ahead. The Olympics are in the second half of the year, in August. I just want to continue training and be injury-free. That is what is more important to me. I’m also looking forwarding to the Premier Badminton League. It’s going to be huge for the badminton players involved. Then we have the regular calendar. I just want to take it one tournament at a time. I mostly want to stay fit as that way I’ll be able to produce good results.

1.L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail will be thrown open to the public with commercial operations expected to commence in the first quarter of 2016. Services will initially start with two stretches of Metro Rail, from Nagole to Mettuguda (8 km) of Corridor-III and Miyapur-Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar (12 km) of Corridor-I.

2. Work on Google’s new campus in Hyderabad will commence in the summer of 2016. The proposed facility will spread over 2 million sq. ft and is expected to be Google’s largest facility outside of US. The Internet giant is expected to pump in Rs 1,000 crore in this facility, which will lead to creation of over 6,500 jobs.

3. Commercial operations of Kakatiya Thermal Power Project (KTPP) phase-II (600MW) at Bhupapally in Warangal district will commence. Trial runs are currently going on. The 600 MW KTPP-II was synchronized in October 2015 itself. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will formally commission the project in January.

4. Krishna Pushkaralu will be held in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in August 2016. Both TS and AP are spending crores to make the event a grand success. It is the first Pushkar on Krishna River after the formation of Telangana. Ghats are being developed and temples renovated.

5. Singareni Collieries Thermal Power Plants, with an installed capacity of 1,200 MW (2x600 MW), will be commissioned by March/April. Officials want to commission the plants in tune with the promise of nine-hour uninterrupted power supply to agriculture sector. The plants are located at Jaipur in Adilabad district.

6. Works on the last stretch of 158-km long Outer Ring Road are going on at a brisk pace. The 12-km stretch between Keesara and Ghatkesar is ready and will be formally thrown open for the public in January. The Shamirpet-Keesara stretch (10.30 km) is likely to be completed by the end of 2016.

7. Greater Hyderabad will get a new mayor and an elected body in the municipal corporation in 2016. The 150 corporators electing the mayor and deputy mayor from among them. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, MLCs and MLAs who have opted for GHMC as their preference will also have voting rights in the capacity of ex-officio members.

8. The much-awaited Peddapalli-Karimnagar-Nizamabad rail line is due to be commissioned in March. It will cut distance between Nizamabad and Peddapalli in Karimnagar district (177 km) when compared to the earlier route of Nizamabad-Secunderabad-Kazipet (370 km). It directly links Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Warangal along with Jagityal, Armoor, Metpalli, Korutla, Sultanabad and Peddapalli towns.

9. The new Islamic Art Gallery will open at the Salar Jung Museum. It will have a collection of Islamic jades, rosaries, manuscripts, textiles, rare copies of the Quran and old Islamic manuscripts. Manuscripts in this part of the collection will also include the oldest folio of the Quran — on parchment in the Kufi script from the ninth century.

10. Construction of some of the important administrative buildings will start in AP’s new capital Amaravati in 2016. The proposed buildings are the Secretariat, Assembly, High Court, Raj Bhavan and others.