Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, October 24: The ongoing agitation by lawyers of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema demanding High Court benches in the two regions took a new turn with the court taking a serious view of the strike and asking district judges to take steps for the smooth functioning of courts.

A two-page circular was sent out by the High Court registrar to district judges to this effect. But the striking lawyers said there was no question of calling off the strike unless their demand was met.

Hyderabad, October 24: Telangana political joint action committee (T-JAC) called upon all the elected representatives of the Telangana region not to take part in Andhra Pradesh state formation day celebrations on November 1 and also wanted the people of the region to observe ‘Vidrohadinam’ on that day.

Vijayawada, October 24: Indian compound archery team coach Cherukuri Lenin died while his former ward and Commonwealth Games silver medallist Ritul Chatterjee escaped unhurt in a road accident at Jupdi village near here in the wee hours today.

Lenin was returning to Vijayawada along with Ritul after being felicitated by Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan and Chief Minister K Rosaiah in Hyderabad last night.

Lenin, a former international archer, was 27.

Hyderabad, October 24: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah today directed the District Collectors to act tough against microfinance institutions (MFIs) that were fleecing poor borrowers, particularly in rural areas.

Addressing the Collectors through a video-conference from the Secretariat here, he said the government has brought in an ordinance that makes it mandatory for MFIs to register their activities with the specified authority (District Rural Development Agency) in each district.

Hyderabad, October 24: Government doctors unwilling to work in rural areas might face the axe. The health and family welfare department today said that the government doctors have no other option but to go villages as there is dire need of doctors in rural areas and they have to cooperate with the government for strengthening healthcare in the state.

Hyderabad, October 24: Expressing dissatisfaction over Rosaiah government’s failure to order a CBI probe into the Emaar Properties scam allegedly involving over Rs 10,000 crore, senior Congress leaders V Hanumanth Rao and DL Ravindra Reddy today reiterated their demand for a CBI inquiry to punish those responsible for the fraud.

They have decided to bring pressure on the Congress central leadership on the issue. “The party’s prestige will be affected if the government fails to order a CBI probe,” they remarked.

Hyderabad, October 24: Aspirants of DSC-2008 kept police on tenterhooks all through the day on Saturday. A large number of them tried to barge into Secretariat in the morning and in the process caused commotion in the area and a traffic snarl. In the afternoon, the agitators, who outnumbered the security personnel, succeeded in gatecrashing into the Assembly. Police had to chase them and use force to push them out of the Assembly.

Hyderabad, October 24: Armed with the ordinance, the State government today directed the district collectors to act tough against the microfinance institutions (MFIs) that are fleecing poor borrowers, particularly in rural areas. The collectors were asked to be vigilant and take all measures to keep a tab on MFI activities. They were also directed to work in tandem with the banks and increase institutional lending to the poor.

Hyderabad, October 23: Andhra Pradesh Information Commission would conduct five regional level review meetings to ensure proper and effective implementation of the provision of the RTI Act in the State.

The first regional review meeting would be held on October 25 at Warangal district Collectorate which will cover Adilabad, Khammam and Karimnagar districts in which district Collectors, Superintendents of Police, Joint Collectors and Revenue Divisional Officers (RDOs) would attend the meeting, an official release said here today.

Hyderabad, October 23: Masala dosa, onion dosa, rava dosa, idli, vada, upma… Who hasn’t been subjected to this rattatat reading of the menu in an Udupi hotel?

One might walk into the hotel already having decided what to order, yet you ask the waiter “What’s there?” Waiters at the Taj Mahal Hotel show no trace of impatience while reeling off the dishes available even if after the whole rigmarole, the customers ask for idli. That’s the Taj Mahal Hotel, every man’s first eating out experience.

Gajwel(Medak dist), October 23: As expected, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) activists created trouble for Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu while he was on his way to Gajwel on Friday to commiserate with the victims of microfinance institutions’ harassment.

Naidu’s earlier tour of Mahaboobnagar district last month was also marred by similar protests by the TRS which led to stone pelting at his convoy.

Hyderabad, October 22: Soon after the scam surfaced in August 2001, the Mahankali police had registered cases against 16 accused, bank chairman Venkateswara Rao and the directors. The case had been transferred to the CID. The accused were charged under various sections of the IPC and the AP Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act.

Hyderabad, October 22: Fear is looming large in the industry sector over the repercussions after Srikrishna Committee sumbits its report on the Telangana issue.

Hyderabad, October 22: Chief Minister K Rosaiah highlighted the possibility of a scheme for organ transplantation to save end stage organ failure patients in India.

Speaking at the 21st annual conference of the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation (ISOT), he said, “Even as over 6,000 transplantations are being done annually in India,it fulfills merely 2 percent of the requirement. The main problem is the non-availability of organs as not many living individuals are willing to come forward to donate.”

Hyderabad, October 22: Arunodaya Samakhya leader Vimala has come out from Gadar’s Telangana Praja Front (TPF) and launches her own front, comprising over 30 organisations.

She differed with Gadar on the perception of building the movement for securing Telangana state and when the atmosphere became suffocating, she finally bid goodbye to the TPF.

Gadar wanted the movement to put pressure on the people’s representatives into introducing a bill in the Parliament for separate statehood and declared that participation in elections is verboten.

Hyderabad, October 22: Stating that Naxalism was a socio-economic problem rather than a law and order problem, Chief Minister K Rosaiah said on Thursday that the government was trying to prevail upon the Centre to extend its schemes meant for the benefit of Naxalism affected areas to all the districts which fall on the borders with the neighbouring states.

Currently, the Centre’s Special Development Fund scheme is confined to Khammam district.

Hyderabad, October 22: The Andhra Pradesh Police today said it has arrested three people working with SKS Microfinance and Spandana on a complaint of harassment by a borrower, and might book the companies’ respective promoters Vikram Akula and Padmaja Reddy under a new Ordinance to check coercive methods of loan recovery.

Hyderabad, October 22: More than two years after the Naxals executed the most sensational ambush at Balimela on the Andhra-Orissa border killing 36 Greyhounds commandos, the retired judge of AP High Court, P Ramakrishnam Raju, who is heading the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Balimela ambush, is likely to submit his report to the state government soon.

After combing the forests in AOB for Naxals, the 36 Greyhounds commandos were returning to the state in a boat when the rebels, positioned at vantage points, ambushed them leading to 36 deaths.

Vijayawada, October 22: Senior lawyers Tallapragada Subba Rao and Sunkara Krishna Murthy who have been on hunger strike for the past four days demanding an HC bench for coastal districts, today thwarted the attempt of the police to break their fast and shift them to hospital.

When the police went to the Bezawada Bar Association in the wee hours to shift the fasting advocates to hospital, the duo locked themselves in the Bar Association Hall. The police only succeeded in shifting a couple of lawyers who were on relay hunger strike, to Machavaram police station.

Khammam, October 22: Just like his classmates, P Kishore too was excited when his teachers at the Velurpad Zilla Parishad High School told him that policemen would be displaying weapons, including AK47s, .303 rifles and carbines, that he had seen only in movies.

When the moment he had been eagerly looking forward to actually arrived, he stood in the fourth row and was trying to get a closer look at the weapons. Suddenly, there was a bang and something hit him in the leg.

Hyderabad, October 22: Three persons suspected to be involved in the killing of a TDP leader in Anantapur town recently, were on Thursday taken into ‘custody’ by the city police from the State Human Rights Commission office where they came to seek protection from the police.

They feared threat from Anantapur police who were investigating the murder case.

TD leader Raghunath Reddy was killed by his rivals in Anantapur town. Police suspected the involvement of three of his rivals, R Madhav Reddy, Nagavardhan Reddy and Niranjan Reddy, and launched a search no nab them.

Guntur, October 22: A high drama continued at the Guntur Bar Association for several hours on Thursday when the police tried to break the indefinite fast launched by advocates Munnangi Sambireddy, Neelam Sankara Rao and T Ravindrababu demanding a High Court bench for coastal districts.

Over 100 policemen reached the fast camp and tried to remove it. But the agitating advocates resisted their attempt.

Meanwhile, the fasting advocates went into the Bar Association hall and locked themselves from inside.

Anantapur, October 22: Workers of the TDP have on Friday stalled the screening of Ramgopal Varma’s latest film ‘Rakta Charitra’ in this city, protesting that it had shown the party’s founder and late actor N T Rama Rao as a villain.

A large number of workers gathered at the Krishna theatre where the film was scheduled to be screened on the day of its opening and raised slogans against Varma. They entered into argument with the theatre employees. They have even torn away the flexi display boards of the film.

Khammam, October 21: Two students were killed when a rifle went off accidentally during an exhibition and demonstration programme of police weapons and communication equipment in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh Wednesday afternoon.

As part of the police commemoration week, the district police have organised an open house and public display of police weapons at various places since October 15.

Tirupati, October 21: Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi on Thursday urged the state government to impose moratorium for one year on the loans taken by Self Help Group women and rural folk from the Micro Finance Institutions.

Talking to media persons here, the PRP chief stated the government should impose the moratorium until the Reserve Bank of India appointed sub-committee submits its report to the government.