Hyderabad, March 14: K.R. Venugopal, former Secretary to the Prime Minister and former Rapporteur to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has blamed the political set-up for diversion of funds allocated to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP).
Vijaywada, March 14: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has not been able to achieve its objective mainly due to corruption, ad hoc appointments and lack of accountability.
The Central government has laid the responsibility of implementing this scheme on the shoulders of field assistants and technical assistants appointed on ad hoc basis with meagre salaries of Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 5,000 a month respectively. Consequently, the field level staff have allegedly joined hands with local political leaders and exploiting the scheme to fill their pockets.
Ongole, March13: A dispute between a father-in-law and his son-in-law has resulted in the destruction of a newly-established office of YSR Congress Party at Chirala on Sunday.
According to police, the son-in-law of the local YSR Congress leader has damaged the office, due to property disputes he has with his father-in-law. (NSS)
Vijayawada, March 13: Eminent journalist Kuldip Nayar today said judiciary was virtually ruling the country these days.
“Judiciary is governing our country due to lack of transparency in the political system,” he said at a ‘meet the press’ programme at Vijayawada Press Club.
People’s expectations from the judiciary were increasing because of the failure of the political class, he said.
“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could have done more, but his hands are tied with the coalition ‘Dharma’, Nayar said.
Hyderabad, March 13: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams will set up outlets in its Information Centres and kalyana mantapams across the State and country to sell its devotional and spiritual publications.
Hyderabad, March 13: The Legislative Assembly will organise week-long programmes from Monday, coinciding with the Commonwealth Day.
To be organised under the theme Gender Discrimination – Women’s Rights, the event would involve awareness programmes on women related issues and felicitation of women from different fields. Deputy Speaker Nadendla Manohar constituted a committee headed by Minister Sunita Laxma Reddy and comprising four women MLAs and two MLCs from different parties to oversee the programmes.
Hyderabad, March 13: Former civil services offices, professors and functionaries of social organisations have requested Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to take up special crash programmes for complete utilisation of allocated funds meant for SC Special Component Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP).
Hyderabad, March 13: Police on Saturday arrested a person, Shaik Mohammed Ghouse Basha, 30, on charge of hacking his former company’s server and causing Rs. six lakh loss to it.
The Cyber Crime Station sleuths of the Crime Investigation Department seized the hard disc of his laptop and Rs. 50,000 from him, according to a press release.
Basha earlier worked with M/S IVOICE Network Limited, which provided outsourcing services to a Singapore-based firm offering phone call services through Internet.
Hyderabad, March 13: The CPI (ML) New Democracy has condemned the demolition of statues of historic personalities on the Tank Bund during the ‘Million March’ held on the call given by Telangana Joint Action Committee on March 10.
In statement here on Saturday, party leader D.V. Krishna, P. Suryam, K. Goverdhan and G. Jhansi termed the miscreants’ act of desecration of statues as demeaning ‘our own culture and heritage’. They denied the involvement of the party activists in the incident and termed it as a misinformation campaign by the police.
Nalgonda, March 13: The condition of Jyoti, a housewife of Anishetty Duppalapalli, under Tipparti police station limits, who is undergoing treatment at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad after consuming ‘prasadam’ given by a ‘cheat’ Keshav Rao and falling sick in the village on Friday, has improved. Her daughter, Anusha (16) who had also taken ill along with her father Joseph after vomiting, is recuperating, police said. However, the condition of Joseph continues to be serious.
Kadapa, March 13: Sri Vidya Manohara Theertha Swamy of Vyasaraja Peetham in Bangalore, who was produced before the Kadapa Judicial First Class Magistrate court by Kadapa police on a non-bailable warrant issued in connection with a case booked under a Negotiable Instruments Act case on Saturday and kept in a Matham in Rayachoti town under the supervision of the police, may continue there until Monday, according to Kadapa Superintendent of Police Tarun Joshi.
Hyderabad, March 13: Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has requested the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas S. Jaipal Reddy to direct the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and Reliance Industries to immediately sort out the issue of gas supply to power projects.
Official sources said Mr. Reddy telephoned the Petroleum Minister on Saturday and urged him to take measures to supply 2.5 mmscmd (million metric standard cubic meters per day) of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) to increase the power generation in Andhra Pradesh.
Hyderabad, March 13: Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal has urged Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to take steps to register cases against the BJP and the CPI leaders for their alleged involvement in the violent incidents during the Million March on Thursday.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, Mr. Rajagopal wanted him to ensure that the damaged statues of the renowned Telugu people were replaced on war footing. It was unfortunate that national parties like the BJP and the CPI participated in the rally.
Hyderabad, March 13: The Telangana Telugu Desam Party Forum has accused Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal of making attempts to fuel differences between the people of Telangana and Seemandhra regions with his provocative remarks.
This was evident from his reported statement that formation of separate Telangana State would result in frequent recurrence of the incidents like the one witnessed on Tank Bund on Thursday. “Whenever things appear to be settling down, Mr. Rajagopal makes provocative remarks,” TDP MLA A. Revanth Reddy said.
Optimal solutions
Sangareddy, March 13: Irate over the developments that took place on Friday and the comments made by the Superintendent of Police, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has warned that it would proceed against Superintendent of Police A. Sunder Kumar Das legally and lodge a complaint against him with the Director General of Police if he fails to withdraw the comments made against the party.
Hyderabad, March 13: All the arrangements have been made for elections to the Legislative Council for three seats each from graduates and teachers constituencies spread across 12 districts on Sunday.
Hyderabad, March 13: The Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) has given a call for protest demonstrations on Monday against arrest of Telangana supporters for alleged involvement in the violence on Tank Bund during the ‘Million March’ programme.
Kakinada, March 13: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Saturday demanded that the Central government withdraw currency notes of high denomination from circulation, particularly that of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000. He also demanded that an Act should be promulgated imposing either life imprisonment or death penalty to those who resort to print and circulate counterfeit currency.
Hyderabad, March 13: Being on the move is not just for seeing scenic spots, but to spread awareness about cancer, Ritu Biyani Joseph tells S. Sandeep Kumar
In 177 days, she travelled over 30,000 kilometres, reaching the four geographical tips of the country.
This adventure trip might be a task for many but not for Ritu Biyani Joseph, a cancer survivor.
She completed the trip along with her daughter in 2006.
Though it was adventurous, there was a cause — to create awareness about cancer and disseminating information about the dreadful disease — in undertaking the trip.
Hyderabad, March 13: Two days after the statues of Telugu luminaries on the Tank Bund were brought down, the question remains whether the felled sculptures can be recreated with the same perfection.
Visakhapatnam, March 12: The Magistrate of a local court here was killed in a road accident at Jonnada in Vizianagaram district today, police said.
The magistrate, V Venkati (40), was proceeding to his native place, Viziangaram, in a car after attending a marriage at Annavaram in East Godavari district when an iron ore laden lorry coming from the opposite direction rammed into his car, said officials.
The magistrate was alone in the car at the time of accident.
Hyderabad, March 12: Former Congress parliamentarian Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy Saturday formally launched YSR Congress Party and unveiled its flag at Idupulapaya in his home district of Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh.
Accompanied by his mother Vijayalakshmi, former legislator, and other family members, the young leader launched the party at the grave of his father and late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who was popularly known by his initials YSR.
YSR died in a helicopter crash Sep 2, 2009.
Hyderabad, March 10: Andhra Pradesh offers a distinctive advantage to the auto industry due to the availability of large technical pool and accessibility to both domestic and international market, according to J Geetha Reddy, major industries minister.
Speaking at the inauguration of the second edition of the international bus and special vehicles expo 2011, she urged investors to consider AP as the potential destination for setting up manufacturing facilities.
Hyderabad, March 10: If the reports of ‘secret understanding’ between TRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao and former Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy are true, then there is scope for cross-voting to benefit the TRS candidate in the forthcoming MLC elections under Assembly quota.
Hyderabad, March 10: There is a clear cut division in the Telangana TDP with only 18 MLAs attending the TDP Telangana Forum meeting convened by Nagam Janardhan Reddy, the forum convener today at the TDLP office, is any indication.