Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, May 18: With the completion of five state assembly elections, Andhra Pradesh is keenly waiting for Congress’ call on the vexatious state bifurcation issue.

For years the Congress has dodged the issue fearing a political backlash. But its indecisiveness on either creating a Telangana state or keeping Andhra Pradesh united has only been aggravating the unrest among people of the two regions.

To say that the entire state has been pushed into turmoil ? on all fronts ? particularly since December 2009 on account of the Congress’ dithering stand will only be an understatement.

Hyderabad, May 18: Three Indian Navy personnel were killed and another was injured Wednesday in an accident at the Navy dockyard at Visakhapatnam on the east coast, an official said.

The accident took place when the floodgate at the ship repair unit of the dockyard collapsed.

A commander, a lieutenant commander and a senior sailor were killed while another sailor has been admitted to INHS Kalyani hospital in the coastal city.

Visakhapatnam is the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command.

–IANS

Hyderabad, May 18: It was deja vu for incharge of State Congress affairs, Ghulam Nabi Azad, on Tuesday. The senior leader, who was in town on a two-day visit to assess the party’s position post-Kadapa bypolls, was made to witness a replay of the Andhra-Telangana divide in the State Congress.

The bifurcation issue popped up unexpectedly during the meetings he had with party leaders at the Gandhi Bhavan, much to the disappointment of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy’s opponents several of whom couldn’t even broach the subject.

Karimnagar, May 18: Badanakurthi village is one of those villages in AP which can boast of its Buddhist legacy.

Legend has it that the village, located at the tri-junction of Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nizamabad districts, was visited by Buddha during his travels through the southern regions.

On the occasion of the Buddha Jayanti on Tuesday, the village erupted in celebrations to mark the birth of Gautam Buddha. The event that was organised by the Telangana Joint Action committee (TJAC), saw a huge procession being taken out from Khanapur to Badanakurthi.

Guntur, May 18: Enthused by the large turnout of farmers and legislators at his 48-hour deeksha on farmers’ issues, Kadapa MP-elect YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday was more aggressive in attacking the Kiran Kumar Reddy government for neglect of farmers.

“Kiran Kumar Reddy spends most of his time protecting his chair. If he spends at least 10 per cent of his time on farmers’ issues, the agricultural sector would not be in a mess as it is today,” he said before ending his deeksha.

Hyderabad, May 18: Ridiculing YSR Congress leader Jagan Mohan Reddy’s 48-hour fast in Guntur on farmers’ problems, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao on Tuesday urged AICC general secretary and in-charge of AP Congress affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad to take action against Congress MPs M Rajamohan Reddy and Sabbam Hari for supporting Jagan and for challenging the Congress leadership.

Talking to newsmen after a meeting with Azad at Gandhi Bhavan here, Hanumantha Rao demanded an enquiry to bring out facts about the source of funds to launch ‘Sakshi’ media by YSR’s son.

Warangal, May 18: Even as the district police are groping in the dark not knowing the identity of the assailants who gunned down the deputy general manager of Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT) on Monday, the CPI (Maoist) party on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the killing.

A Maoist leader of the region claimed that the official, Ramakrishna, was killed for his anti-worker policies.

Hyderabad, May 18: Temperatures continued to soar across the state particularly Telangana and Rayalseema regions, even as the denizens of Hyderabad got a respite on Tuesday with a cloudy evening.

There were reports about unseasonal rains in districts like Karimnagar, Medak and Mahaboobnagar.

The highest temperature of 44 C was recorded in Adilabad closely followed by 43.9 C in Nizamabad and Khammam, 42 C in Tirupati, 41.6 C in Ramagundam, Kadapa and Rentachintala and 41 C in Kurnool, Nandyal, Anantapur and Hyderabad.

Hyderabad, May 18: AICC general secretary and in-charge of state Congress affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday asked Telangana Congress MPs and MLAs to prove their claims that ‘injustice’ had been meted out to the region under Andhra rulers.

Vijayawada, May 18: Nuzvid in Krishna district is well-known for mango crop.

Banginapalli, Thotapuri and Chinna Rasam varieties of mangoes are cultivated in the upland area of the district.

The total crop acreage is 60,000 hectares. The fruit yield is 8 tonnes per hectare.

Though Krishna district tops in mango production, it is lagging behind in the fruit exports. This is largely attributed to lack of initiative on the part of horticultural and marketing officials to boost mango exports from the district.

Hyderabad, May 18: Four officials of the district treasury and sub-treasury office in Guntur district were convicted by a court in a cheating case that took place in 2001. According to Crime Investigation Department (CID) additional director-general of police S V Ramana Murthy, three persons from Bihar colluded with the officials of the District Treasury and Sub-Treasury in Guntur.

They prepared fake pension payment orders on fictitious names of military pensioners and drew Rs 4.63 lakh from the sub-treasury office by forging their signatures.

Hyderabad, May 18: The Seemandhra MPs and MLAs who included ministers and senior party leaders on Tuesday informed AICC general secretary and incharge of AP affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad about the need for the state to remain ‘united’ in the interest of the people as well as the party.

Tadepalligudem, May 18: A rice miller Palakolanu Viswanadham (48) died under suspicious circumstances in a police station here on Monday.

Superintendent of police Ravi Varma said Viswanadham was brought to the police station on Saturday in connection with the death of his brother-in-law K Seshaiah (48) with whom he has a business dispute.

During interrogation, Viswanadham confessed to killing Seshaiah near Alamur in East Godavari district 10 days ago after kidnapping him with the help of his four aides.

Hyderabad, may 18: The temple town of Tirupati has now joined the environment-friendly bandwagon.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has decided to offer prasadam in biodegradable bags instead of plastic bags.

The TTD in a landmark decision recently banned the packaging of laddus in plastic bags. It then called for tenders from across the country for supply of biodegradable bags.

Greendiamz Biotech Ltd on Monday said it won the contract from the TTD to supply 25 lakh bio-degradable bags in a competitive bidding process.

Hyderabad, May 18: Ministers, MLAs and MLCs are understood to have raised a virtual rebellion against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, protesting his unilateral style of functioning.

They lodged strong complaints against the Chief Minister to All India Congress Committee General Secretary and in-charge of AP affairs, Ghulam Nabi Azad, during their interaction with the latter here in the last two days, party sources said.

Guntur, May 17: Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday symbolically ended his 48-hour ‘Rytu Deeksha’ by taking lime juice offered by a farmer Venkata Subbaiah of Sattenapalli.

The two-day long hunger fast, launched at the YSR Rytu Pranganam, was designed to highlight the farmers’ demand of Minimum Support Price for their produce. Mr Venkata Subbaiah had faced a loss of Rs 5 lakh loss in Kharif season.

Guntur, May 17: The Kadapa MP-elect, Mr Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, has called upon the Centre and the State to open their eyes to the problems of the farmers.

Hyderabad, May 17: The Congress legislators from Mr N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s native Chittoor district today met the AICC leader in charge of State affairs, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, and complained against the style of functioning of the Chief Minister.

The dissident MLAs, Mr Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy and Mr Shahajan Pasha have not only complained against the style of functioning of Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy, but also submitted a letter signed by four MLAs of the district against the style of functioning of the Chief Minister.

Qazipet, May 17: In different incidents occurred during the last 24 hours at various places of Warangal district several persons died due to grueling heat and sunstroke.

22 year old Mohan, a postgraduate student who was the resident of Palakurti, after wandering in sun came back home and slept. The next morning when he woke up he started vomiting and later died.

78 year old Vimlamma of Dornakal also died due to sunstroke.

27 year old Sujata of Nikhanda brought water from the lake in the scorching sun she fell ill and later died due to sunstroke.

Hyderabad, May 17: Suspected Maoists Monday shot dead the deputy general manager of a firm in Andhra Pradesh’s Warangal district, police said.

Two to three assailants barged into the premises of AP Rayons’ paper unit in Kamalapuram village at around 4 p.m. Monday and opened fire on Deputy General Manager Ramakrishna, who died while being rushed to a nearby hospital.

Another senior executive, Sadanand, was injured.

According to the police, the assailants, who posed as truck drivers and entered the factory, escaped after the attack.

Hyderabad, May 16: Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Sunday approved a proposal to enhance the remuneration of panchayat secretaries appointed on contract basis from Rs 4,900 to Rs 8,400 a month. The wage hike will benefit 3,421 panchayat secretaries.

Tirumala, May 16: Twenty-four pilgrims were injured when an RTC bus went down the slope on the Tirumala- Tirupati ghat road on Sunday evening.

While negotiating the 44th curve on the downward journey, the driver applied brakes to slow the vehicle down but it did not work. As a result, the bus veered off the road, hit the railing, jumped over the parapet walls and came to a halt after hitting a big tree. During its 18-metre slide down the hill it rammed several trees.

Vishakapatnam, May 16: The beautiful beaches of Vizag are a scene of plastic litter at day’s end. Polythene bags, styrofoam cups and PET bottles are washed up on the beaches everyday as the Greater Vizag Municipal Corporation (GVMC) struggles to pick them in its lumbering, groaning tippers.

For official purposes, use of polythene bags is banned on Vizag’s beaches. The ban has had almost no impact in the city as shopkeepers continued to hand out commodities to customers in plastic bags.

Few residents refuse to accept plastic carry bags as there is no alternative.

Vijayawada, May 16: Six months ago, the executive officer and staff of the Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada went around the surroundings of the temple and the Krishna bathing ghat to pick up the plastic trash.

It was meant to serve as a solemn encouragement to devotees to stop littering the sacred Indrakeeladri hill with plastic.

That’s where the temple’s war on plastic ended. Since then, all fervour for making Indrakeeladri a plastic-free precinct has fizzled out.

Devotees continue to go in and out of the temple clutching plastic bags filled with prayer material or prasadam.

Kurnool, May 16: In a bizarre incident, a bridegroom killed one person of a band troupe after the latter asked for a tip.

Soon the groom was put behind the bars. The groom, Lingappa, married Lakshmi Devi on Saturday at Vandavagili in Holagunda mandal.

The newly-married couple, accompanied by the band troupe, were taken in a procession in the village the same night.

Later, when the couple were about to enter the house during ‘gruha pravesam’, troupe leader Sivasankar (31) asked the groom to give them some ‘baksheesh’.