Andhra Pradesh

Vijaywada, November 07: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee secretary, Kolanukoda Sivaji today criticised Union Forest and Environment minister Jairam Ramesh for issuing a notice to state government against Polavaram irrigation project.

“Jairam Ramesh should withdraw notice issued to state government in the time of when Polavaram project was due to get a final clearance as a national project from the Centre,” he said, adding that it was fortunate on the union minister’s part who was elected MP from Andhra Pradesh thrice.

Hyderabad, November 06: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) activists tried to obstruct Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu’s third day tour in Ranga Reddy district today. However, equally aggressive TDP workers severely beat up the TRS workers and handed them over them to the police at Medchel.

Hyderabad, November 06: Authorities in Andhra Pradesh were on high alert Saturday as a severe cyclone ‘Jal’ neared the state’s coastline from southwest Bay of Bengal.

In south coastal districts, authorities began evacuating people from areas close to the coast and low-lying villages to minimise loss of life in view of the warning from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) that the system may intensify into a very “severe cyclonic storm”.

Anantapur, November 06: A former Maoist Pothula Suresh, who allegedly masteminded the killing of a Congress MLA, has been arrested from Surat in Gujarat in connection with the murder of a Congress MLA, a senior police officer said today.

“We have taken Pothula Suresh into custody and he would be produced in a local court here probably tomorrow, Anantapur Superintendent of Police Manish Kumar Sinha told PTI.

Hyderabad, November 06: Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council Dadi Veerabhadra Rao today wanted rural development minister Vatti Vasanta Kumar to arrange for bank loans to MFI loanees to enable them to get benefited through debt-swapping.

Hyderabad, November 06: The state government has requested the Centre to extend a total financial assistance of Rs 5,222.44 crore for carrying out repairs to public infrastructure damaged in heavy rains and floods in the state between June and September this year.

An inter-ministerial team from the Centre met chief minister K Rosaiah here today.The chief minister sought ‘special treatment and assistance to Andhra Pradesh’ as it has been ‘facing the wrath of nature the last many months.’

Hyderabad, November 06: The results of Group-I Prelims are likely to be announced within 10 days and officials of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) are planning to conduct the Main examination on February 15. The APPSC will conduct the Group-II examinations only after the Group- I Main examination is held and appointments made.

Commission chairman Y Venkatarami Reddy told reporters here today that arrangements were being made for announcing the results of Group-I Preliminary examination held on September 5 this year.

Hyderabad, November 06: The Telangana People’s Tribunal (TPT), an unofficial committee, will conduct its first hearing on Nov 13 and 14 at Telugu University, Public Gardens, Hyderabad. It will accept representations relating to suicides committed by students for the cause of Telangana.

The jury will comprise Justice BG Kolshe Patil, who resigned as justice of Bombay High Court in 1991, Prof Katy Gandevia of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hindi writer Maitreyi Pushpa and former chief secretary TK Deewan.

Hyderabad, November 06: A farmer from Mahabubnagar, who duped several persons by posing as a close relative of home minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy, was nabbed by the Task Force sleuths. The accused, 45-year Gopinath Rathod alias Gopi, a farmer from Thimmareddypalli village, was caught along with his two associates, who posed as the personal assistants to the minister.

Hyderabad, November 06: The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday directed Collectors of four coastal districts to evacuate people in low-lying areas to safety ahead of severe cyclone ‘Jal’ crossing the Bay of Bengal coast close to Nellore.

Jal is expected to cross the coast late tomorrow evening and cause extensive damage in districts like Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur and Nellore. The cyclone may also affect Chittoor district in Rayalaseema region, according to state Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao.

Hyderabad, November 05: Diwali, the festival of lights, was celebrated across Andhra Pradesh with pomp and gaeity, though incessant rains in coastal districts of the state dampened the festive spirit.

People visited different temples and offered prayers while special pujas were held at the temples of Goddess Lakshmi. Devotees thronged ‘Ashtalakshmi’ temple at Dilsukhnagar area here right since early morning.

People illuminated their houses with colourful lanterns and decorated them with mango leaves and flowers.

Hyderabad, November 04: The South Central Railway (SCR) has taken up the construction of a large four-lane road under bridge (RUB) between Fatehnagar and Nature Cure Hospital stations in the city using the modern ‘Box Pushing Technique’, enabling the work to progress without stopping the trains.

Once completed, the RUB would provide a direct connectivity between Begumpet and Balanagar area for the convenience of road users.

The work for the railway portion of the bridge is expected to be completed by February 2011 at a cost of about Rs 13.50 crore.

Hyderabad, November 04: The toll due to heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh rose to 35 on Thursday with more deaths reported from the coastal districts of the state, even as standing crops particularly paddy in over 2.83 lakh hectares were damaged.

At least 14 persons lost their lives in East Godavari district in the rain-related incidents followed by Visakhapatnam (11), Prakasam (3), West Godavari, Nellore, Anantapur (2 each) and Chittoor (1), according to Disaster Management authorities.

Hyderabad, November 04: Three months ago, Parveen Begum took her 11 years old son Feroz to Niloufer Hospital in the city, seeking treatment for thalassaemia under Arogyasri insurance scheme.

The hospital ran some tests and told her to take him back since the hospital did not have facilities or necessary medicines.

Hyderabad, November 04: The state Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Bill to amend the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Act, 1955, for the purpose of treating the creamy-layer of the backward classes (BCs) as part of BCs and making explicit the legislative intent of providing reservations to all sections of BCs for electoral offices, irrespective of their sub-castes. The proposed amendment will enable reservation to all BCs in the elective posts in the GHMC without reference to their inter-se-classification (sub-caste).

Hyderabad, November 03: Torrential rains triggered by a depression in the Bay of Bengal and aided by the north-east monsoon wreaked havoc in seven coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh claiming at least 20 lives so far besides shattering the state government’s dreams of achieving a record food grains production of 22 million metric tonnes this agricultural season.

Hyderabad, November 03: Andhra Pradesh is facing the threat of a cyclonic storm while heavy rains in the coastal region have claimed 20 lives and damaged crops in over 100,000 hectares, officials said Tuesday.

Nearly 400,000 people were affected, dozens of villages and residential areas in several towns remained inundated as rains under the influence of a trough of low pressure over Bay of Bengal and vigorous northeast monsoon caused havoc in north and south coastal districts.

Hyderabad, November 02: Senior IAS officer Bhanwarlal today took over as the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Andhra Pradesh.

Bhanwarlal, a 1983-batch IAS officer, was recently appointed as the CEO following the transfer of I V Subba Rao as Establishment Officer in the Department of Personnel at the Centre.

Talking to reporters, the new CEO said his priority is to see that 100 per cent voters registration is done.

–Agencies

Hyderabad, November 02: Chief Minister K Rosaiah has come down heavily on the Telugu Desam Party for blaming Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi for the atrocities being committed by the agents of some Micro Finance Institutions.

Addressing a news conference here on Sunday, the chief minister took objection to the allegations against the top leaders of the party just because they posed for photographs with the proprietors of MFIs. “This is ridiculous.

Tirumala, November 02: The third Sanatana Dharma Prachara Sadassu will be held at Tirupati on November 29 and 30.

This was announced here today by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams executive officer IYR Krishna Rao and convention convener PVRK Prasad after a meeting held to discuss the preparations for the national event.

Hyderabad, November 02: Torrential rain lashed the twin Godavari districts on Monday so much so that Amalapuram recorded 31 cm of rainfall, the highest in Asia in the last 24 hours.

According to Assistant meteorologist S Venkateswara Rao, Amalapuram received the huge amount of rainfall within a day.

The same has been confirmed by The International Meteorological Organisation. Heavy rain also occurred in many places in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema under the influence of the north east monsoon.

There are chances of a low pressure developing over the West Central Bay of Bengal.

Hyderabad, November 02: It was a kind of retreat for many politicians. The Alai Balai programme organised by the AP Malala Ikya Vedika at Gandipet here on Sunday provided the platform for politicians to relax a while and abstain from slamming one another on one issue or the other.

But TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao took enough care not cross each other’s path. If Naidu attended the programme in the afternoon, Rao arrived after ensuring that Naidu had left the place.

Of course, both were not inclined to be seen in each other’s company.

Hyderabad, November 02: A munsif court in Wanaparthy, Mahabubnagar district, issued a non-bailable warrant against Telugu film actor and president of Yuva Rajyam, Pawan Kalyan, in a defamation case.

The defamation case was filed against the actor nearly two years back after he allegedly made some comments against Congress leaders.

The petition was filed by Kiran Kumar, an advocate and a Congress leader from Wanaparthy in 2008.

According to the advocate, Pawan Kalyan termed some Congress leaders as traitors in connection with a land dispute near Gandhi Bhavan.

Hyderabad, November 02: Andhra Pradesh formation day celebrations began Monday morning amid protests in Telangana, where groups fighting for a separate state are observing the anniversary as a “black day”.

Tension prevailed in parts of Telangana as protestors tried to disrupt the official celebrations while dozens of leaders of various parties and their activists were arrested.

Kadapa, November 02: Demanding the establishment of High Court bench in Rayalaseema region, hundreds of advocates took out a massive rally in Kadapa town on Monday.

The rally, which commenced at the district court reached Kotireddy Circle where the protestors formed a human chain and later continued the rally uptill the district collectorate and staged a protest there.

Placards and banners were flagged and slogans were raised asking the government to concede to their demand.