Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, September 22: Amidst religious slogans like “Ganapati Bappa Moriay” people in Andhra Pradesh today bid adieu to Lord Ganesh as thousands of idols of the elephant-headed God were immersed across the state.

Lakhs of devotees chanting `mantras’ and `bhajans’ participated in the main procession in the state capital, where hundreds of trucks carrying different sizes of Ganesh idols passed through the thoroughfares before joining the centralised immersion procession which proceeded towards Hussain Sagar lake.

Hyderabad, September 21: Stating that the State government’s written assurance/agreement to consider the demands of the Telangana advocates as ‘against’ the Constitution and Presidential Orders, the United Andhra Congress MLAs and MLCs Forum convener and government whip S Sailajanath today urged chief minister K Rosaiah to take steps to protect the Constitution and implement the Presidential Orders in respect of appointments of law officers in the High Court and tribunals.

Hyderabad, September 21: In a surprise development, Kadapa Mayor P Ravindranath Reddy named Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as one of the three leaders in the state who were making life difficult for him, the other two being chief minister K Rosaiah and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu. This they were doing because they were propelled by the desire to become the chief minister of the state, he said.

Ravindranath Reddy is the brother-in-law of the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

Hyderabad, September 21: Alleging that TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao has had ‘match fixing’ with the Seemandhra leaders like Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal, senior Telangana Congress leader and CWC member G Venkata Swamy today urged the people of the region not to trust the TRS leader and separate state would not be possible under his (KCR) leadership.

Hyderabad, September 21: CPI today demanded the state government government to arrest Kadapa Mayor P Ravindranath Reddy, brother-in-law of late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, for the alleged irregularities in the fertiliser mixer plants owned by him.

A large number of CPI activists today besieged Harita fertiliser plant owned by Ravindranath Reddy at Akireddypally in Keesara in Rangareddy district. Mild tension prevailed at the plant premises. The police arrested party state secretary K Narayana and several other activists whom they released later.

Vijayawada, September 21: Telugu Desam leaders of Krishna district today came down heavily on minister for animal husbandry Kolusu Parthasarathi for his reported personal remark against district TDP president and Mylavaram MLA Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao.

Speaking at a press conference here, Nandigama MLA Tangirala Prabhakar Rao lashed out at Parthasarathi for using abusive language against Uma and demanded an apology from him. “Parthasarathi who failed to solve people’s problems, proved that he was not capable of holding the minister post.

Rajhmundary, September 21: Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) president K Chiranjeevi has demanded a CID probe into the illegal mining of laterite at Vantada in Prattipadu mandal of East Godavari district.

Accompanied by PRP leaders, Chiranjeevi visited Vantada, a tribal hill-top village today to study the illegal mining activity.

Anantapur, September 21: In a punishment that can shock the civilised world, a physical education teacher mercilessly thrashed a couple of Class X students of the Zilla Parishad High School at Siddapuram village in BK Samudram mandal in Anantapur district which resulted in the two boys having their arms fractured.

Hyderabad, September 21: People of the state can expect some relief from the back-breaking rides on the pot-holed roads soon as the government has decided to repair and reconstruct them. Roads to an extent of 8,705 km will be reconditioned.

Guntur, September 21: The Nagarampalem police today registered a case against V Basavaiah, an escort constable of Guntur urban SP, for behaving indecently with a neighbouring woman.

It was alleged that the constable was peeping into the bathroom of his neighbours from his building while a woman was taking a bath.

The woman’s husband Yedukondalu lodged a complaint with the police against Basavaiah.

Sub-inspector B Koteswara Rao is investigating.

–Agencies

Kadapa, September 21: A 27-year-old Home Guard, Ravishankar, who was posted at the Road Transport Authority’s office here, attempted suicide in the small hours of Monday.

According to the police, Ravishankar, who hails from Khajipeta, has been in love with a girl from Proddatur, who also happens to be a relative of him, for three years.

When his proposal was not accepted by the girl, he resorted to the extreme step.

Ravishankar, who has been on duty at the RTA office for the past one month, performed his duty till the midnight and, thereafter, consumed 55 sleeping pills.

Hyderabad, September 21: Several Telangana ministers reportedly took strong exception to the remarks made by some Congress MPs from the region on issues related to Telangana advocates and Group-I preliminary examination.

At today’s cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister K Rosaiah, Danam Nagender raised objection to Telangana Congress MPs making statements which were against the state government and the party’s interests.

Vijayawada, September 21: Fourteen persons met with a watery grave in Krishna, Guntur and Khammam districts and four others were found missing while participating in the Ganesh immersion procession today.

Six persons were feared drowned in a village tank while immersing the Lord in Gollanapalli village in Gannavaram mandal of Krishna district,

Four others were missing and their bodies are yet to be traced.

The deceased were identified as Nageswara Rao, Jamalaiah, Daniel, Ch Prasad, Ganesh and Ashok. The villagers fished out the bodies of six

persons from the tank.

Chittor, September 21: Tension prevailed at Pakala today following a face-off between two Congress groups over installation of YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s statue at the bus stand circle.

A group led by Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy arrived at Pakala for getting the MRO’s permission for the installation of YSR statue at the bus stand circle. When the official refused permission, they tried to take up hunger strike to make the district administration concede their demand.

Hyderabad, September 21: Elections to civic bodies have been put off. As the term of the present councils will expire by the end of this month, special officers would take over the administration.

The cabinet which met under the chiarmanship of chief minister K Rosaiah took a decision to this effect. The reasons given for deferring election is delay in determination of reservations for women and backward classes.

Hyderabad, September 21: Investigation into the brutal murder of engineering student Divya has revealed that “ragging” brought her closer to her eventual killer Sekhar a few years ago when she joined the Vignan Engineering College.

The acquaintance, over a period of time, blossed into “love” and subsequently, crystalised into a triangular love story, which unfortunately for her, ended in a tragedy.

Hyderabad, September 21: Days after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recommended dismissal of senior IPS officer Sreeram Tiwari from service, Tiwari today left for New Delhi to challenge the recommendation before the Delhi Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

Hyderabad, September 21: In order to improve the quality of food served on trains and platforms, the Indian Railways has taken over catering services from the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), said Derek O’Brien, chairman of the Passenger Services Committee.

The ministry’s Catering Policy 2010, which has come into force recently, strips the IRCTC of the responsibility of serving food on long-distance trains following complaints on its quality.

Hyderabad, September 21: The division bench of the AP High Court hearing the writ petition related to the right of lawyers to enter the High Court premises and steps to be taken to prevent untoward incidents there, on Monday directed the matter to be placed before the Chief Justice for further hearing.

Hyderabad, September 20: People have always been apprehensive of the quality of education dished out by corporate colleges. Now, a group of public representatives, part of a Subordinate Legislature Committee, discovered the reality ‘officially’ during a visit to a corporate college and a government college in the City.

Hyderabad, September 20: Congress MP Madhu Yashki today said it was the responsibility of home minister Sabita Indra Reddy and former home minister K Jana Reddy to ensure that cases registered against students and youths who participated in Telangana agitation were lifted. Speaking to newspersons here, the Congress MP said any delay in lifting of cases, particularly at a time when the chief minister himself directed them to do so, would lead to a suspicion over their commitment to the cause of Telangana.

Hyderabad, September 20: Brushing aside the argument that the late YSR’s brother-in-law and Kadapa mayor P Ravindranath Reddy is being targeted as part of ‘witch-hunting’ against YSR’s family, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao today warned that the Congress central leadership would not tolerate those who indulge in corrupt practices.

Hyderabad, September 20: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao’s remarks that all those born in Telangana should be considered Telangana biddalu and his surprising bonhomie with Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal have raised the hackles of Telangana advocates who have been demanding 42 per cent quota in judicial posts for those from the region.

Hyderabad, September 20: The FCI warehouse at Jangalapalle in Anantapur is an old one, having been built in 1984. It has a storage capacity of 75,000 MT. A railway track runs alongside, making transportation easier to and from the warehouse. Rice and wheat from different parts of the country are stored here and released to the PDS.

Hyderabad, September 20: Close on the heels of the Telangana advocates agitation demanding 42 per cent reservation in the legal officer posts, the Telangana Doctors’ Forum created a flutter by demanding a split in the Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors Association (APGDA) on regional lines.

Tension prevailed at the office of the APGDA at Koti today when at least 30 members of the Telangana Government Doctors’ Association (TGDA) staged a dharna in front of the office demanding bifurcation of the APGDA and conduct of elections separately for the divided units.