VHR, Kavuri may gain in Union Cabinet rejig

Hyderabad, January 18: With the Union Cabinet reshuffle almost certain now, MPs from the State are hoping to make the cut this time.

As of now, there is one Cabinet minister from Telangana in S Jaipal Reddy (Chevella) and four ministers of state from Seemandhra, D Puranedeswari, MM Pallam Raju, Panabaka Lakhsmi and Sai Pratap.

The MPs are hopeful of at least one Cabinet and a couple of ministers of State positions.

With the Jagan and Telangana issues rocking the Congress boat, there might not be any omissions as such, but only inclusions.

Road traffic blocked across Telangana

Hyderabad, January 18: Telangana activists blocked traffic on national highways and roads connecting Telangana with other parts of the state today in response to the call given by the Telangana Joint Action Committee demanding introduction of a bill on Telangana statehood in Parliament.

Barring stray incidents of stone-throwing in Nalgonda district, the protest passed off peacefully.

Social Security Week at Labour department

Hyderabad, January 18: The twin cities zone of the labour department will observe ‘Social Security Week’ to create awareness among shop employees in the city and ensure that letters of appointments are issued to shop employees across the twin cities. Special teams will be formed to make shop-to-shop visits for identification of employees who are not covered under ESI and PF Acts.

Minister for labour employment training and factories D Nagender will inaugurate the event near water works office at Khairatabad on January 18.

Khaleja producer booked for threatening woman

Hyderabad, January 18: The Central Crime Station (CCS) has registered cases against Bhanu Kiran, prime suspect in the killing of faction leader G Suryanarayana Reddy alias Maddelacheruvu Suri, and film producer Singanamala Ramesh and others for allegedly threatening a woman from whom they had taken money for producing a film. Though the incident took place in October last, the victim gathered courage to register a case only after the recent killing of Suri and police registering cases against Bhanu Kiran.

Employees of wine dealer robbed of cash

Hyderabad, January 18: Unidentified persons attacked employees of a financier-cum-wine shop dealer and robbed them of Rs 33 lakh near Kothaguda in Madhapur late on Sunday night.

The incident took place hours after a driver was robbed of his car at gunpoint and police suspect the stolen vehicle might had been used in the robbery.

Police said Raju Yadav of Madhapur runs finance business and also has a syndicate of 19 wine shops at various places in the city.

Feminine charms at art gallery

Hyderabad, January 18: It is more than often that one comes across scriptural excerpts and prose where nature is considered and presented as a female entity.

The selfless devotion and submission of nature towards mankind is frequently related to the affection a mother showers on her child.

The ongoing show of paintings at Alankritha art gallery celebrates such magnificence of nature. The works have been done by artist Bhavana Choudhary and the series has been titled, A Woman’s Heart.

With sensitive rendering the artist explores the many gifts and facets of nature in her works.

AP govt transfers 10 IPS officers

Hyderabad, January 18: Andhra Pradesh government today transferred 10 Indian Police Service officers, including six of the 1997 batch who have been promoted to the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police.

Amit Garg of 1993 batch has been posted as Commissioner of Police, Vijayawada city, in the existing vacancy.

Swathi Lakra of 1995 batch has been posted as Joint Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, in the existing vacancy. Her batchmate Atul Singh has been posted to the Railways as DIG.

Cong MPs from non Telanagana regions of AP meet

Hyderabad, January 18: The Congress high command has convened a meeting of party MPs from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions in Andhra Pradesh on January 20 to discuss the Telangana issue.

State Congress President D Srinivas and other party leaders today communicated the message from the high command to the MPs that they should be available in Delhi on Thursday afternoon, APCC general secretary R Ananda Bhaskar said.

The Congress Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema are likely to meet senior leaders like Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi.

Girl killed as car rams into house

Vijayawada, January 18: A seven-year-old girl died when a car lost control and rammed into a house in Tarimasa under Nandivada mandal of Krishna district on Monday morning. Four others were also injured in the incident.

According to police, the condition a boy injured in the accident was serious.

NSS

MLA sentenced for death of factory labourers

Kurnool, January 18: The Kurnool district court on Monday sentenced sitting MLA from Guntakal, Madhusudhan Gupta to three months imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 in connection with death of three labourers who were working in his steel factory.

According to Court sources, three persons were killed after inhaling poisonous gases in the Kalluru Steel Factory owned by the MLA.

Lovers commit suicide

Pargi (R.R.Dist), January 18: A couple in love ended their lives as their elders did not approve their marriage. The couple identified as Venkatesh and Tahera have consumed pesticide and committed suicide.

According to police, while Venkatesh belonged to Mittagoduru, Tahera was from Pargi.
Police have registered a case and sent the bodies for post mortem.

NSS

Racha Banda to be launched in Vizianagaram on Jan 24

Vizianagaram, January 18: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will launch `Rachabanda’, the mass contact programme, to address all grievances being faced by the people, from Vizianagaram district, stated Minister for Road Transport Botsa Satyanarayana.

Talking to media persons after holding a meeting with his department officials in the district, he said the `Rachabanda’ programme would be launched on January 24 from the district.

TRS making false promises on Telangana: TDP

Hyderabad, January 17: Senior TDP leader Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary said that Telangana leaders of the party insisted for creation of separate party unit for Telangana region as per the aspirations of the people of their region. However, he recalled that there were no separate party units for Congress, BJP or the Left parties in the state.

Journey from KBR Park to Antarctica

Hyderabad, January 17: A decade ago, Hyderabadi couple Uma and Krishna decided to take a more active interest in their health and fitness.

What started with brisk walking and running slowly graduated into half and then full marathons. “Initially it was about fitness and enjoying the nature. For years we simply stuck to brisk walking at KBR park,” says Uma, who is the managing director of Krisma Estates.

After running various marathons across the globe, the couple decided to take up the challenge of seven continents in a calendar year.

Drunken man murdered by elder brother

Hyderabad, January 17: A 35-year-old person stabbed his inebriated younger brother to death at Chandanagar unable to bear the latter’s harassment.

Though the killing took place two days back, it came to light on Sunday, after the accused told about the incident to a contractor who alerted police.

The killing took place in Papi Reddy Colony in Chandanagar.

The brothers, M Vinod Kumar (35) and Pramod Kumar (30) are natives of Sholapur and had migrated to the city few years back. They are residing in a rented place.

They used to prepare flexi-boards and hoardings on order.

VHR asks for better facilities in Sabarimala

Hyderabad, January 17: Expressing deep sorrow and pain at the death of 102 pilgrims in Sabarimala, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao on Sunday requested Kerala chief minister Achyutanandan to bestow his attention in improving the infrastructure facilities during the heavy rush of devotees particularly during Sankranti days.

Three-year-old falls to his death

Hyderabad, January 17: A three-year-old boy had a fatal fall from a building while trying to catch a kite at Ramanathapur on Sunday.

The deceased, Sai Siddharth Reddy was a resident of Venkat Reddy Nagar in Ramanathapur.

His father, Sidda Reddy is an employee in a private city hospital. The family are natives of Kadapa district.

On Sunday afternoon, Siddharth Reddy was watching other kids flying kites from the balcony of his third floor house.

A kite, which had snapped, came flying towards the building.

Miscreants drive away car at ‘gunpoint’

Hyderabad, January 17: A driver was robbed of his car allegedly at gunpoint by three unidentified miscreants near Shilparamam in Madhapur on Sunday.

According to police, Satya Goud runs Manjira Travels business at Tarnaka.

This morning, he sent his driver, L Mallesh of Ramanthapur, to Shilparamam along with his relatives, who wanted to visit the crafts village, in a Tata Indica (AP 11 AE 9684).

A lucky survivor recalls sudden terror

Hyderabad, January 17: Bhatti Thuapanna of Narayanpet in Mahaboobnagar district thought for a minute that he would die when he found himself being suffocated under the weight of several scrambling people at Pulimedu near Vandiperiyar, Kerala.

But though he saw death at a close range, he was lucky to survive.

Thuapanna was seen on Sunday at the RGIA Cargo waiting anxiously for the mortal remains of his 21-year-old nephew Srinivas, who was not so lucky as him and died in the stampede. Thuapanna had gone to Sabarimala along with eight other devotees, including Srinivas.

Poor man’s staple diet is rich man’s fare now

Hyderabad, January 17: Millets, which has been poor man’s staple diet fore centuries, has now become a preferred fare of the richie rich living in Banjara Hills for the grain’s nutritional value.

This observation was made by S Malla Reddy, secretary of AP Rythu Sangham who attended the inaugural of the 12th Mobile Biodiversity Festival of Deccan Development Society held at Basantpur village in Medak district on Sunday.

CM keen on people-friendly administration

Hyderabad, January 17: Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has evolved a multi-pronged strategy to take the state administration to the doorsteps of the people, particularly to those living in rural areas.

“What I want is a first-hand feed back from the people to help me implement these programmes effectively,’’ the chief minister said.

Victims’ bodies united with grieving families

Hyderabad, January 17: Almost two days since the stampede at Pulimedu near Vandiperiyar in Kerala on Friday, the the bodies of the victims hailing from the state arrived at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) on Sunday. There were 22 victims from AP.

The family members of the victims were seen arriving at the RGIA Cargo after news broke that the Kerala government officials had sent the bodies after conducting autopsy.

The restless wait of the family members continued till 2.30 p.m when the first batch of 11 bodies arrived at the cargo centre.

Pall of gloom in Chirala as kin await 5 bodies

Ongole, January 17: A pall of gloom descended on Hariprasad Nagar in Ward No.2 of Chirala as the families of Ayyappa devotees who lost their lives in the Vandiperiyar stampede waited for the bodies.

As the five members died and two other seriously injured from this colony alone, relatives and friends arriving in large numbers to condole the bereaved family members.

According to information, dozens of poor people had migrated from Srikakulam district to Chirala in the district for livelihood and were engaged in various vocations.

Telangana Congress MPs await Cabinet berths

Hyderabad, January 17: At a time when Telangana Joint Action Committee leaders are increasing the pressure on Congress leaders to resign from their positions as they believe that it is the only way to force the Centre to deliver Telangana, there are a few MPs who find nothing wrong in accepting a berth in the central cabinet, if offered, leave alone quitting the present position.

Fall in cotton production hits ginning industry

Guntur, January 17: There has been a considerable fall in cotton production in the country due to the recent rains, sending the ginning industry into a tizzy with the lack of raw material.

The ginning industry is mainly concentrated in Guntur in Andhra Pradesh.

With the decrease in cotton production and the increasing demand in countries like China, Pakistan and Egypt where the cotton farmers suffered heavy losses due to incessant rains, the price of quality cotton soared this year when compared to last year.