Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, May 19: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu is firm on his stand that the party flag should fly high during the movements for separate Telangana in the region as all other parties were also participating along with their party flags.

However, Naidu was not ready to take any disciplinary action against rebel MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy and his follower K Harishwar Reddy, who are participating in the T-movement without TDP flags. “Party will think about them,” Naidu told reporters here on Wednesday.

Hyderabad, May 19: BJP senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu has lashed out at the Central and state governments for not addressing farmers’ problems.

He also said if they do not find a solution, they should be ready to face the wrath of the farming community.

Speaking at the Maha Dharna organised by the BJP Kisan Morcha at the Indira park on Wednesday, the BJP leader described chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s Rythu Chaitanya Yatra as a “big joke”.

He added that even after the reverses in Kadapa by-elections, the Congress was not looking to address farmers’ problems.

Hyderabad, May 19: In a major blow to the Maoist party, a member of the party’s Orissa State Organising Committee (ORSOC) surrendered before the police here on Wednesday. The surrendered Maoist carries a reward of Rs 10 lakh and was involved in several attacks on police stations and killing of policemen in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The surrendered Maoist’s wife was also arrested by the Orissa police recently. The 41-year Maoist leader, Dunna Kesava Rao, surrendered before the director general of police K Aravinda Rao.

Hyderabad, May 19: Angry over the scathing remarks made by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy against him, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu has said that it was the TDP government which helped the farmers in a big way and YS Rajasekhara Reddy government had ditched the farmers.

Jagan in his recent rytu deeksha had alleged that Naidu’s government meted out a raw deal to farmers and even recalled Naidu’s statement that ‘agriculture was useless.’ Reacting sharply to this, Naidu told reporters on Wednesday that: “guddocchi pillanu vekkirichinatlu”.

Hyderabad, May 19: With an aim to provide irrigation facility to about 10 lakh acres belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, the state government will launch a new scheme ‘Indira Jala Prabha’soon.

The scheme will be funded through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

It would be the first new scheme launched by chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy after coming to power apart from reviving the ‘Rachabanda’ programme envisaged by former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

Vijayawada, May 19: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is planning to take up several development projects in the city on Design-Build-Operate-Transfer (DBOT) basis.

Under the public private partnership mode, the VMC has decided to develop an eco-tourism park on Gunadala hill in 10 acres of land at a cost of Rs15 crore.

It has also been proposed to expand Rajiv Gandhi Park at a cost of Rs 3 crore.

A theme park will be developed in 8 acres of land at Payakapuram at a cost of Rs 20 crore.

Hyderabad, May 19: Four officials of the AP State AIDS Control Society (APSACS) were caught receiving a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from the CEO of an NGO here Wednesday.

Two other officials were similarly caught by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) personnel across the state.

According to an ACB press release, the APSACS officials, all employees of the blood safety department, had demanded a bribe of Rs 4 lakh from L Laxmi Reddy, CEO of an NGO, to supply Elisa HIV testing kits.

Srikakulam, May 19: A fisherman died when a country-made boat capsized in sea off the coast of Battigalluru village in Sompeta mandal of the district on Wednesday due to strong gale and high-tide According to villagers, 40-year-old P Jogarao, accompanied by Madhava Rao and D Dharmaraju of Battigallu village on Wednesday went to sea for fishing in the countrymade boat.

While trying to sail through the high-tide area to go deep into the sea, they lost control over the boat due to strong wind and the boat turned upside down.

Hyderabad, May 19: Notices were issued to the state government and central government by a vacation bench of the AP High Court to explain their decision to set up 25 thermal power plants in Nellore district.

The bench comprising Justices B Prakasa Rao and V Eswaraiah admitted a writ petition which requested for a CBI probe in the issue, since permission was accorded in violation of environmental norms.

The petitioner Bezawada Govinda Reddy, who is a Congress leader alleged that 30,000 acres of public land would be forcefully taken for establishing these plants.

Rajhmundary, May 19: The Municipal Corporation of Rajahmundry (MCR) and Blue Cross Society (BCS) have indulged in a blame game over the increase in stray dog menace and rabies deaths.

The MCR has not taken any major initiative to control the population of dogs since 2005. Consequently, the dog population in the city has increased to 10,000.

In 2002, the BCS filed a case in the High Court against killing of stray dogs by the MCR terming it a violation of animal rights.

In response to the BCS petition, the court stayed killing of stray dogs.

Chittor, May 19: Local MLA CK Babu organised annadanam on Wednesday, the second day of the ‘Nadiveedhi Gangamma Jathara’.

As per tradition, Babu carried new silk vasthrams in a procession from Ponniamman temple to the Bazar street, where the Nadiveedhi Gangamma was installed and presented the vasthrams to the deity.

Crackers were bursted and traditional music and bhajans were played all along the procession.

Special feats by Om Shakti devotees drew people’s attention.

–Agencies

Karimnagar, May 19: The Peddapalli police on Wednesday cracked a fake certificate racket and arrested 20 members involved in it.

According to District Superintendent of Police N Shivashankar Reddy, the police arrested Bayyapu Ram Reddy, the kingpin of the racket and 15 others based on a complaint filed by the local Tahsildar on April 29.

Ram Reddy (33) belongs to Kamanpur mandal and owns Sunny Internet Centre and Colour Xerox in Peddapalli.

Chittor, May 19: Eight persons died died due to near heatwave conditions in the district since April.

The temperature which has been hovering around 43 degree Celsius in the last one week has left 120 sheep, 132 goats, eight buffaloes and 10 cows dead.

Compared to last year, the average temperature in the district in the last 30 days was 5 degree Celsius more.

However, with overcast cloud in some parts, including Tirupati and Chittoor since Tuesday, the temperature has come down slightly.

Hyderabad, May 19: The war of words between ruling Congress and Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy continued on Wednesday with the former demanding that the latter come clean on allegations of misuse of power and corruption against him.

“He should reply to the allegations of misuse of powerand amassing wealth,” state Congress spokesmen Paladugu Venkat Rao and N Tulasi Reddy told reporters here.

Jagan had won the Kadapa byelection with money and muscle power, they said.

Jagan’s deekshas were intended to threaten the Congress government, but not to benefit people.

Hyderabad, May 19: Textiles minister P Shankar Rao on Wednesday offered to quit politics if he fails to prove that the Congress would sweep the ensuing local body elections.

“I am prepared for anything if the Congress do not get a majority in local body elections even in Kadapa and Pulivendula segments. In the byelections, Kadapa people voted for Jagan out of sympathy,” he said.

Rao, known for his cheeky remarks, alleged that the Congress candidate lost in Kadapa as some of the MLAs and ministers, who were deputed for poll campaign, had earlier wanted Jagan as chief minister.

Hyderabad, May 19: Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has asked the finance department to examine the feasibility of enhancing the unit cost of houses under Indiramma housing scheme from Rs 31,200 to Rs 45,000 in rural areas and from Rs 43,000 to Rs 55,000 in urban areas.

The proposals will be placed before the Cabinet in its next meeting. The decision was taken in view of numerous requests from beneficiaries of Indiramma Housing scheme and also public representatives.

Hyderabad, May 19: Following a court directive, cases have been registered against the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) chief K Chiranjeevi and 11 other party leaders for allegedly cheating the people of Telangana by backtracking on the issue of separate statehood.

A local court, on May 12, directed the Jubilee Hills police to investigate a complaint filed by an advocate A Srinivas.

In the complaint, Srinivas had alleged that the PRP president and his party leaders had extended their support to separate Telangana during the 2009 Assembly elections.

Rajhmundary, May 19: A 57-year-old man, bitten by a rabid dog three months ago, did the unthinkable hours before he died of rabies. He bit his own wife, either out of fear or frustration or sheer madness.

The bizarre incident occurred at the Kakinada Government General hospital on Wednesday.

Kavuri Subba Rao, a farm worker from Undrajavaram in West Godavari district, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday in a critical condition.

Tirumala, May 19: A 13-year old student from Hyderabad was allegedly sexually harassed by three of his seniors at Sri Venkateswara Veda Patashala in Dharmagiri on the Tirumala Hills.

Parents of the boy lodged a complaint with the Two Town Police Station here on Wednesday.

They had taken the matter to the notice of Veda Patashala principal Ramamurthy and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Executive Officer IYR Krishna Rao. “But no action has been initiated against the culprits,” they said.

Hyderabad, May 19: Senior ministers are goading chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to step up the aggro against Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

At a meeting on Wednesday morning with the chief minister at the Secretariat on reservations in civic elections, one senior minister is understood to have told Kiran Kumar Reddy there was no point in dancing to the tunes of Jagan: “You have to take him head on. There is no way out.”

This outspokenness by ministers comes after the visit of Congress high command emissary Ghulam Nabi Azad to hold state party leaders’ hands and take their pulses.

Vishakapatnam, May 19: Four Navy personnel — a Commander, Lieutenant Commander, Chief Shipwright and Master Shipwright — died in an accident at the ship repair unit in the Naval dockyard here on Wednesday.

The accident occurred at around 10 am during a routine operation by a group of 12 Navy personnel.

According to sources, the accident occurred when a docking gate, meant to control the flow of sea water, collapsed.

Three Navy personnel died on the spot while Master Shipwright E Rajesh succumbed while under going treatment at the INHS Kalyani hospital in Malakapuram.

Hyderabad, May 18: Large scale encroachments were found during the inspection of many lakes in the city by the Lake Protection Committee on Tuesday and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) metropolitan commissioner Rajeshwar Tiwari expressed anguish over the slow pace of works relating to the removal of these encroachments.

The committee instructed the officials to speed up the work in coordination with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Irrigation department, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Boar d (HMWS&SB) and the Police department.

Hyderabad, May 18: The Telangana Journalists Forum (TJF), in a bid to create awareness on the secret agenda of chapter 8 of Srikrishna Committee report that allegedly suppresses the Telangana movement, will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Wednesday in association with several political parties and organisations.

More than 1,000 journalists and activists participating in the Telangana movement left for New Delhi on Tuesday evening on a special train. TJF representatives said that more participants are expected to arrive.

–Agencies

Hyderabad, May 18: Three businessmen were on Tuesday arrested by the Central Crime Station (CCS) sleuths for copyright and trademark violation. The accused allegedly reproduced the products owned by Disney Enterprises INC, USA, without obtaining permission from the firm. The CCS sleuths registered a case against the trio on a complaint by M Venkata Ratnam, the advocate of the Disney Enterprises, on March 21.

The accused are Sanathan Shengde, Bachharaj Sham Sukha and Manoj Khatri, all hailing from Feelkhana.

Vishakapatnam, May 18: In a fitting judgment, a local court has issued orders for the attachment of a police station’s movable properties, including air-conditioners and computers, following the failure of the cops to pay compensation to a man hit by one of their Rakshak vehicles.

Devara Ramu (26), the petitioner, met with an accident on December 31, 2006 when a Rakshak vehicle of the Gajuwaka police station hit him at the convent junction in the City. A severely injured Ramu had to foot Rs 1.2 lakh towards medical expenses.