Andhra Pradesh

Khammam, April 03: Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy Devasthanam is making elaborate arrangements for Sri Rama Navami and Pushkara Pattabhishekam to be celebrated in Bhadrachalam on April 12 and 13.

In an interview to Express yesterday, temple executive officer Chandrasekhar Azad said the Devasthanam allocated Rs 75 lakh for arrangements for the two-day festival.

How many pilgrims are expected to visit the temple this year? Over 2 lakh pilgrims are expected to watch the divine wedding and the coronation of Lord Rama which is celebrated once in 12 years.

Kadapa, April 02: YSR Congress president Mr. YS Jaganmohan Reddy has reached Kadapa and started discussions about the party’s arrangements for the ensuing by elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly seats. According to information, he would remain in the district till the elections were over.

Karimnagar, April 02: Karimnagar continued to remain tense on Friday as an angry mob went on the rampage at Rajiv Chowk even as additional forces were deployed and Section 144 was promulgated in the town.

Trouble brewed during the celebrations after India’s victory in the World Cup semifinal over Pakistan on Wednesday night and led to clashes between two groups.

Many persons, including policemen, suffered head injuries in stoning and shops and vehicles were attacked.

Yesterday the national flag was pulled down from the Clock Tower and a religious flag was hoisted in its place.

Kareemnagar, April 2: Violent incidents occurred following a rally organized on the event of India’s victory over Pakistan in world cup tournament in the areas surrounding Aslama chowk mosque in Kareem Nagar in which heavy damages were caused to Muslims and several Muslims were injured.

The routes leading to Aslama chowk mosque were blockaded by the police since the morning in view of Friday prayers and section 144 was implemented. After the Friday prayers youth got provoked and raised Nara-e-Takbeer on which police started canning them and arrested 11 youth.

Tirupati, April 02: Interesting developments marked the visit of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to his native Chittoor district in the backdrop of the severe drubbing the ruling party received in the just concluded MLC- Local Area Authority elections.

Kadapa, April 02: Clothes and books in shelves got mysteriously burnt in some houses in Uppparthivaripalle in Badvel mandal on Friday while four persons who slept in the foreyard of their houses were hurt when stones were pelted at them on Thursday night, making the villagers panicky. The villagers are planning to desert the village.

Hyderabad, April 02: MMTC Ltd Super star trading house, an undertaking of Govt. India, under the Ministry of Commerce is selling gold and silver medallions and ‘Sanchi’ silverware in its office. All these gold coins are of 999 purity and are assayed and hallmarked. On the occasion of Ugadi, MMTC is selling these coins at a very competitive rate and has also declared 10% discount on “Sanchi” silverware items and Silver coins.

Karnool, April 02: TDP district president Somisetty Venkateswarlu asked the party cadres in Atmakur constituency to sever links with former constituency in-charge Buddha Rajasekhar Reddy as he quit the TDP and intended to join YSR Congress party.

Talking to reporters here on Friday, Mr. Venkateswarlu said Mr. Reddy was forcing the party cadres and mandal leaders to toe his line. He said no party member would tread the line of Mr. Reddy as they were confident of the TDP returning to power in the next election.

Stubborn stance

Vijaywada, April 02: Vijayawada hoteliers will attempt at making the longest dosa ever to break the Guinness record and thus put the city on the international map. The Vijayawada Hotel Owners’ Association proposes to organise this feat as part of its golden jubilee celebrations to be held on April 9 and 10.

Hyderabad, April 02: Even as Srikakulam is reeling under an energy crisis, Greenpeace India along with Bapuji Rural Enlightenment Development Society launched the first social audit of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyudeekarn Yojan in the district.

The aim of the audit is to bring out the implementation reality of the scheme and examine whether the mandate of the scheme has been fulfilled or not.

Hyderabad, April 02: The BJP district unit leaders criticised the district administration for terming the processions after India’s victory over Pakistan cricket team in the World Cup semi-final match as ‘communal’ and targeting their party alone by arresting the cadres.

Chittor, April 02: The three-day centenary celebrations of Chittoor district came to an end at the Masonic grounds here on Friday. Unlike on the first day when the crowd was wafer-thin, local people took part in the closing ceremony in large numbers.

Hyderabad, April 02: Congress leaders from Telangana are gearing up to hold a broad-based meeting on Sunday to chalk out the further course of action on the statehood issue.

Congress Action Committee for Telanagana (CAFT) has sent invitations to party MPs, Ministers, MLAs, MLCs and party seniors to attend the crucial meeting to discuss the contents of chapter 8 of the Justice Srikrishna Committee and deliberate on the outcome of the meeting, which the leaders had with the AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad in March.

Serious view

Vizianagaram, April 02: TDP Polit Bureau member and MLA P. Ashok Gajapthi Raju has decided to reorganise Vizianagaram mandal-level committee in a couple of days, and strengthen it. The decision was taken on Friday at the mandal-level party meeting in which sarpanches, MPTC members and others participated. The reorganisation is necessitated following resignations of Yedla Ramana Murty, Suvvada Satyanarayana and Kandi Sai Jagga Rao, senior party leaders from the party, recently.

Hyderabad, April 02: Five MLAs and several other leaders of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) staged a dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue within the Assembly complex for nearly five hours on Friday protesting against the delay in acceptance of the resignation of Telugu Desam Party MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy.

Mr. Reddy who resigned from TDP and the Assembly and joined the TRS a week ago was also present. He claimed that he was pressing for the acceptance of his resignation by Deputy Speaker N. Manohar every day but the latter was dodging the issue.

HYderabad, April 02: The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has announced that it has achieved financial closure to pave the way for its 1,200 MW thermal power plant at Jaipur in Adilabad district at an estimated Rs. 6,000 crore.

Hyderabad, April 02: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged separate protests against the increase in power tariff here on Friday. The increase would burden the people by about Rs. 1,500 crore directly and indirectly, the parties alleged.

Hyderabad, April 02:Principal Chief Conservator of Forest C. Madhukar Raju letting the baby Olive Ridley turtles into the sea at Kandikuppa in East Godavari district on Friday.

Kandikuppa (East Godavari district): Principal Chief Conservator of Forest C. Madhukar Raju, Chief Wildlife Warden Hitesh Malhotra, and Additional Principal Chief Conservator A.V. Joseph on Friday let 845 baby Olive Ridley turtles near this island go into the Bay of Bengal.

Hyderabad, April 02: The State government which has complied with its commitment given to the Supreme Court for releasing Rs.1,000 crore first instalment towards fee-reimbursement scheme dues for 2010-11, is now focussing on making the online system foolproof and transparent.

Adilabad, April 02: Cotton trade in Adilabad is set to cross a record turnover of Rs. 10,000 crore this season which qualifies it as the largest processing centre in the world, according to insiders. This marks a giant leap for the local cotton processing industry which has its roots in the country’s freedom struggle.

Trupati, April 02: Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday announced a Rs.6,000- crore package for improving the basic infrastructure in his home district Chittoor which is celebrating its centenary year.

The package includes Rs.4,500 crore for drinking water, Rs.1,000 crore for modernisation of irrigation tanks and Rs.500 crore for strengthening the road network.

Package break-up

The Rs.4,500 crore package includes the prestigious Rs.1,400 crore scheme envisaged by Late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy for supplying Telugu Ganga water from Tirupati to Chittoor.

Tirupati, April 2 : Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Saturday left for Mumbai to watch the World Cup final, but not before praying at Tirumala temple here for his team’s success in the match against India.

Accompanied by his wife, the visiting dignitary, who had a ‘darshan’ of Lord Venkateswara and offered special puja Friday evening, participated in the special rituals Saturday morning.

Kadapa, April 02: Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy today said he is likely to contest the by-election to Pulivendula assembly constituency scheduled to be held in May.

Vivekananda Reddy, brother of late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, said at Vempalle village that he is ready for contesting in Pulivendula.

He, however, said he will abide by the high command’s decision in the matter.

The by-polls to Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula assembly seats are necessitated as Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and his mother Vijayalakshmi quit as MP and MLA from the two seats respectively.

Adilabad, April 01: Red chilli is commanding a good retail price in Adilabad markets this season, thanks to the delayed harvesting. Being sold at Rs. 120 a kg, the retail price of the chilli is said to be more than that in the markets ion cities such as Nagpur in Maharashtra.

The chilli has been cultivated in about 1,850 hectares, mostly in Bhainsa and Bela mandals.

The produce is generally exported to markets in Nagpur, but as it is getting a good price, it is now being locally sold.

Trimula, April 01: The 508th ‘Vardhanti’ celebrations of the saint poet Tallapaka Annamacharya was on Thursday observed in Tirumala with great pomp and gaiety. The processional deities of Lord Malayappa along with his two divine consorts were taken out in a grand procession to the venue – Narayanagiri Gardens.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief pontiff of Ahobila Mutt Srivan Satagopa Narayana Yateendra Mahadesikan lauded the services of the saint poet in the spread of the Bhakti dhara by way of ‘Pada Sankeertana’ comprising over 32,000 songs on Lord Venkateswara.