ACT Fibernet Sky Fest 2015, Hyderabad

Sparsh Hospice, a charitable initiative of Rotary Club of Banjara Hills is all set to give people of Hyderabad an unforgettable experience through the Sky.

It will be a unique experience to explore sky in a Hot Air Balloon Ride. The fun what we experienced until now in foreign locales, will now be witnessed in our own city.

"ACT Fibernet Sky Fest 2015", the largest ever 5 days festivity and the biggest ever charity event will be held here in city at Gachibowli Stadium from December 23rd to 27th. So, get ready to experience the best and most amazing ride of your life.

It will remain as 'the festival' for the years to come. The curtain raiser press conference was held today in city in the presence of Mr. K. T. Rama Rao, Minister of IT and Panchayat Raj, Govt of Telangana and Mr. Jayesh Ranjan IAS, Secretary, IT and C, Govt, of Telangana Mr. Jagadish Ramadugu, Organising Secretary; Dr. M. Subrahmanyam, Trustee and Mr. Ram Mohan Rao. President, Rotary Club of Banjara Hills also were present at the press conference. Sky-Waltz, India's first and the largest commercial hot air ballooning company is roped in for the festival. SkyWaltz Balloon is India's first fully licensed and Government approved commercial Hot Air Balloon operation.

Sky Waltz Balloon Safari are operated in cities like Jaipur, Ranthambore, Pushkar, Neemrana, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Lonavala informed Jagadish Ramadugu, Organising Secretary of ACT Fibernet Sky Fest 2015 The Sky Waltz Hot Air Ballooning experience and service is world class. It's team consists of highly experienced commercial pilots from UK, Europe, India and USA, along with professionally trained operational staff and technical crew. It follows the globally recognised standards of safety and international operating systems and procedures. The team has already surveyed the venue. And got necessary clearances. The number of rides, cost etc are being worked out and are not yet finalised added Jagadish. ACT Fibernet is the title sponsor of the event. ACT Fibernet is happy to sponsor the SKY FEST 2015, Hyderabad. "We believe in helping create vibrant communities leading to better living", said Mr. Bala Malladi, CEO, ACT Group. "With this in mind, we support SKY FEST 2015 and its underlying theme of "adding life to living" as it resonates with ACT's philosophy of giving back to the society and our long-term involvement with CSR initiatives" he further enumerated. ACT Fibernet spearheads many community initiatives like free broadband to all government schools and WiFi hotspots in many public areas.

' Besides Hot Air Balloon Rides, the other attractions of the fest include 4 Concerts, 5 Mid Night Open Air Movies, Acrobatic Shows, 5 Days of Carnival, Shopping, Food and many more fun and frolic activities to bond people added Dr. M. Subrahmanyam, Trustee of Sparsh Hospice sparsh hospice adding life to living. The list of the movies screened will be: Dilwale, Baji Rao Mastani, Bahubali(Hindi), Sreemanthudu and Maya Bazar Colour. The confirmed singers include Shanker Mahadevan, Sonu Nigam, Devi Sri Prasad and others.

300 stalls for shopping clothes, jewellery and other bargain deals and food stalls will engage visitors to the fest. About one lakh footfalls are expected in all five days of the festival. It is to be organised in association with Government of Telangana, ACT Fibernet and many organisations.

The concept is the brain child of Rotary Club of Banjara Hills and Rachnoutsav, city's one of the biggest event management companies. The event has taken its own good time to conceptualise and to give final shape. And it will be an annual event which people in twin cities will look forward to every year.

The objective of ACT Fibernet Sky Fest 2015 is to raise awareness of free palliative care(of a medicine or medical care relieving pain without dealing with the cause of the condition) and counselling, Sparsh Hospice has been providing services since 2011 to terminally ill patients particularly cancer patients.

It is not just the patients alone, their attendants are also provided with free food and accommodation Sparsh Hospice is a 15 bedded hospital located in a rented building in Banjara Hills. This biggest ever fund raising festival is organised to generate funds to expand its scope by adding new facility. The Trustee, who on average spends Rs 4.00 lakh per month running it.

Now there is a huge demand to accommodate more patients.

Every year nearly 20,000 people are dying of cancer in twin cities. The demand for such care is exploding.

There is no care extended by government in this area. The event of this magnitude is planned to raise Rs 5.5 crore capital fund required to build its own premises and expand the capacity from current 15 to 50 beds. The trust has already approached government for a lease of land to construct the building, which is pending with the state government.

The trust also enjoys exemption of donations under 80G(50 %) and 35 AC(100% to the extent of Rs 5.5crore). It also has FCRAfForeign Contribution Regulation Act) permission from the Central Government to raise donations from foreign sources. Global organisations with local presence can donate for the cause and still can get tax exemption in their respective countries.