Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, November 23: In a tragic incident, a businessman who went to immerse the ashes of his deceased father in a pond, drowned on the outskirts of the city today. A close relative of the businessman also met with a watery grave in the incident.

Avdesh Gupta (40), hails from Aghapura in the Old City. According to police, Avdesh Gupta’s father, Narendra Kumar Gupta, died four days back. Avdesh, along with his brother’s son, Ujwal Gupta (25), went to a pond near the Veerabhadra Swamy temple in Manchirevula village under the Narsingi police limits to immerse the ashes.

Hyderabad, November 23: Winning a gold medal in rowing does not exactly trigger media hype in India, but it has its perks. India’s gold medal winning rower in the Asian Games, Bajrang Lal Takhar, is over the moon because he has received an invitation to see the second one day match between India and New Zealand on December 1 at Jaipur.

He hoped to see his idol Sachin Tendulkar but alas, the batsman is not playing the game.

Hyderabad, November 23: Investigatio n into the spate of suicides reported last month allegedly due to loan recovery harassment has established that of the 107 cases registered 23 were due to coerceive and unethical tactics employed by MFI agents to recover loans. The police have already arrested agents involved in three such cases.

“We are actively investigating all the reported cases. Of the 107 cases registered, 23 deaths were due to harassment by MFI agents,” R Subrahmanyam, principal secretary, Department of Rural Development, told Express.

Hyderabad, November 23: The AP High Court on Monday set aside the election of TDP MLA Suman Rathod from Khanapur (ST), Adilabad, ruling that she was not eligible to contest from the constituency reserved for Scheduled Tribes. In doing so, it upheld a petition filed by Ajmera Hari Naik, the Congress candidate who lost to her.

The petition had contended that since Suman was born in a Banjara family in Maharashtra, where the community is classified as backward class, she could not contest an ST seat in AP.

Vijayawada, November 23: Tension prevailed on the court premises here for sometime today when the police arrested seven lawyers, including D Butchibabu and Ramesh, while they were staging a protest demanding a High Court bench for coastal districts. The arrests were made as per the directive of Central ACP VNV Satyanarayana.

On receiving SMSes from the arrested, a large number of lawyers thronged the court and staged a dharna. A rasta roko was also organised denouncing the arrest of lawyers. Later, the police released the lawyers.

Khammam, November 23:A bandh was observed in Bhadrachalam by non-tribals today denouncing the move to take action against them for constructing houses in the agency area in violation of 1/70 tribal Act.

The non-tribals claim that they have every right to construct houses in the agency area despite the enactment of 1/70 tribal Act as they settled down in Bhadrachalam decades ago. The Congress, CPI, CPM, TDP, TRS and Poura Samithi extended support to the cause of non-tribals.

Hyderabad, November 23: Praja Rajyam Party president Chiranjeevi will be leading a delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow to seek early clearance for the proposal to accord national project status to both Polavaram and Chevella Pranahita projects and ensure enactment of a central legislation to make the operations of micro finance institutions transparent, among others.

Hyderabad, November 23: From a splendid grandiose fort and lofty gopura, to a Buddhist pilgrim centre and majestic sculptures, the photo exhibition which showcased conservation of Mahastupa in Karimnagar district and, excavations and new discoveries at Buddhist monastic complex in Nalgonda district gave a glimpse of the State’s rich cultural heritage.

“The exhibition is interesting.

They have showed different stages of renovation at important archeological sites,” said visitor Sarath Chandra, a lecturer.

Hyderabad, November 23: Activists of the OU Students Joint Action Committee (OUJA C) today obstructed a few aspirants from non-Telangana regions who came to appear for interviews for the posts of assistant librarians in the university.

According to sources, the OU authorities have called applications to fill posts of assistant librarians recently. Nearly 60 applied for the posts.

“We came to know that more than half of the applications (32) were from people belonging to Seemandhra,” OUJA C general secretary G Srinivas Yadav said.

New Delhi, November 23: Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member V Hanumanth Rao today defended Congress activists’ dharna in front of Sakshi offices in the state in protest against the telecast of a story critical of Sonia Gandhi and advised the Sakshi management to remove the YSR image from the TV screen before telecasting or from the newspaper before publishing stories aimed against the Congress.

Nellore, November 23: The old anicut on the Penna in the city was washed away in the flood waters around midnight on Saturday night. Almost half of the 125- year-old structure was damaged.

It was the main source of drinking water to Nellore city. An ayacut of about one lakh acres is being irrigated under it in Surveypally, Kovuru, Nellore and Nellore Rural constituencies.

Irrigation superintending engineer Lakshmipathy said the anicut, built in 1885, couldn’t withstand the force of flood water – the Penna river received 1.35 lakh cusecs of flood water last night.

Hyderabad, November 23: A day after Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Sakshi TV aired a story critical of Sonia Gandhi, Congress workers across the state worked up a rash of protests and the APCC sent a 15-page report on it to the high command along with CDs of the programme and English transcripts of comments made in Telugu.

According to highly placed sources, the AICC took a serious view of the programme and wanted the state unit to send a report since it had criticised Sonia Gandhi directly.

Hyderabad, November 23: Even as revenue minister Dharmana Prasada Rao appealed to non-gazetted officers to call off their Chalo Hyderabad programme on November 23, the NGOs on Sunday refused to withdraw their proposed stir.

The Joint Action Committee of employees gave the call for Chalo Hyderabad demanding regularisation of contract workers and abolition of outsourcing system.

It also demanded filling up of around 3.5 lakh vacant posts in various government departments.

Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, Prasada Rao said the state government was sympathetic towards NGOs.

New Delhi, November 23: The Congress Monday termed as a “very serious issue” a TV programme criticising party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh aired on a channel owned by Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy.

Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily, who is Congress incharge of Andhra Pradesh, said the party had received the report from its Andhra Pradesh unit on the telecast of the programme on Sakshi TV channel.

Moily told reporters here that he had received reports from the state unit and Chief Minister K. Rosaiah.

Vishakapatnam, November 23: Police arrested Ganti Prasad, a close aide to Maoist top gun Ramakrishna, while he was travelling to Visakhapatnam from Vijayawada by Janmabhoomi Express yesterday, the Viplava Rachayitala Sangham has alleged.

But police are yet to make an announcement that Prasad is in their custody.

Speaking to Express, Virasam president Chalasani Prasad said here today that Ganti Prasad, who hails from Bobbili in Vizianagaram district, had been active in the people’s movement for several few decades buty the police detained the “Bobbili hero’’.

Guntur, November 23: The situation in Acharya Nagarjuna University has remained tense following postponement of SI written test.

Heavy police force has been deployed on the varsity campus to prevent any trouble.

M Krishna and B Chandrasekhar have been on an indefinite hunger strike since Saturday night at the university denouncing the postponement of the SI written test.

Hyderabad, November 23: Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary BV Raghavulu and Telugu Desam leader E Peddi Reddy have accused the state government of not bothering about the problems of the medical staff of ‘104’ services, beedi workers and Singareni Collieries workers who have been agitating for the past 40 days for redressing their grievances.

Ananatapur, November 23: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take part in the 29th convocation of the Sri Sathya Sai University (a deemed university) on November 22.

The prime minister will reach Puttaparthi airport in a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force at 10.50 am.

He will reach Sai Kulwanth hall at the Prasanthi Nilayam by road at 11.05 am and deliver his convocation address.

After spending time at the convocation till 12:00 noon, he will remain in the reserve for half an hour and would leave for Delhi from Puttaparthi airport.

Hyderabad, November 23: It would be an important news in the political circle and an interesting news for the public in the current scenario to know that Prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Karnataka Yeddyurappa travelled in the same flight. Though the two leaders belong to different parties yet both of them took off for New Delhi from Puttaparthi of Anantapur on the same flight.

Hyderabad, November 22: The Andhra Pradesh High Court Monday set aside the election of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator Suman Rathod on the ground that she falsely claimed to be a tribal.

The court ruled that she did not belong to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) and was ineligible to represent Khanapur constituency in Adilabad district. The constituency is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST).

The court, however, stayed the operation of the judgment for six weeks to enable Suman to challenge it in the apex court.

Hyderabad, November 22: The Andhra Pradesh High Court Monday set aside the election of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator Suman Rathod on the ground that she falsely claimed to be a tribal.

The court ruled that she did not belong to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) and was ineligible to represent Khanapur constituency in Adilabad district. The constituency is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST).

The court, however, stayed the operation of the judgment for six weeks to enable Suman to challenge it in the apex court.

Vijayawada, November 22: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah here asked the druggists and chemists to keep an eye on the spurious drug manufactures, which brings bad name to the pharmaceutical industry.

Unveiling plaque
for the construction of a whole sale market complex for drug dealers yesterday, the Chief Minister appealed the pharmacists to maintain the quality.

Saying that the state was contributing a huge share in exporting drugs, he said the US government had approved the Reddy Laboratories to sell their drugs in America.

Shimla, November 21: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today said his government was spending Rs 140 crore annually on supplying essential commodities through the PDS at subsidised rates to Above Poverty Line families.

The state government did not discontinue the scheme even when prices of essential commodities rose sharply in the open market, he told a public meeting in Kangra district.

On empowerment of women, Dhumal said reservation for them in Panchayati Raj Institutions had been increased from 33 to 50 per cent.

Vishakapatnam, November 21: Two Maoists were killed and a few others injured in an exchange of fire with police near Ullivalasa village of Koyyuru mandal in Visakhapatnam district late on Friday night.

The bodies are yet to be identified. However, according to reports, the exchange of fire resumed this morning.

An SLR, 303 riffle, pistol, camera flash and a CD were recovered from the place of encounter. Police suspect that one of the dead could be the secretary of the area committee of Galikonda group as weapons like SLRs are usually given to area committee secretaries.

Hyderabad, November 21: The snide remarks against the Congress president Sonia Gandhi by Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy’s television channel Sakshi have left many Congress leaders in the state seething with anger.