Andhra Pradesh

Kadapa, November 02: Traffic on the busy Kurnool-Chittoor highway was paralysed on Monday following a rasta roko by farmers at Chinnamasupalle demanding minimum support price (MSP) for paddy.

The road blockade, which started at 9 am continued for 90 minutes, resulting in hundreds of vehicles getting stranded on either side of the road.

Speaking on the occasion, Zilla Rytu Sangham president D Chandramouleswar Reddy said reminded that during the last kharif, farmers received Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 per quintal of paddy during the last kharif.

Anantapur, November 02: It seems more like a parody, a la the scary movie, of Ram Gopal Verma’s spine chilling Rakta Charitra. Imagine battle-hardened factionists of Anantapur scurrying for cover to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) after a “counselling” session at a local police station. Hard, eh? Especially after watching blood-curdling scenes in the biopic. Yet that is exactly what is unfolding in the district.

Hyderabad, November 02: The UN Council Celebrations organised by the UN Council of Andhra Pradesh was held in different schools in the twin cities.

This 15-day event included various competitions like UN Quiz, National Heritage festival of music, essay writing, painting, elocution, to mention a few. As a part of these celebrations, St. Andrews School hosted the UN Declamation, an inter-school elocution competition.

The contest was held to promote awareness among the students about the current world scenario and to encourage them to voice their opinions.

Hyderabad, November 02: Without mentioning the ongoing separate Telangana agitation in his address at the 54th Andhra Pradesh State Formation Day celebrations at NTR Stadium here on Monday, chief minister K Rosaiah said he wished for prevalence of peace and prosperity in all the three regions (Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana) of the state and all sections of the society.

Hyderabad, November 02: Workshops are being conducted at many places in the city to teach people different ways to get crafty with Diwali décor.

These include a huge variety of things like lamp decoration, toran (garland) making, paper rangoli, crystal flowers and crystal baskets to name a few.

A few of these classes also teach you ways in which you could convert old and unused items in your house into something really attractive and beautiful.

Here are a few classes in the city that you could attend to make some really beautiful and personalised kinds of decoration.

GVK One

Hyderabad, November 02: A Railway employee, who duped several job aspirants and contractors to a tune of Rs 6 lakh over a period of four years, was on Monday arrested by the city police.

The accused was reportedly using all the money he collected from victims to construct a house for his paramour, police said.

The accused, S Sainath (50), used to work as a railway station master at Jaggaiahpet in Krishna district.

During his tenure then, he reportedly was involved in some financial irregularities and was suspended for few days.

Hyderabad, November 02: Mysterious blast-like sounds and seismic disturbances continued to cause panic among the residents of the NGOs Colony in Vanasthalipuram on the city outskirts forcing people to run out of their houses.

People came on to the roads fearing an earthquake after they heard mysterious sounds tonight. Inmates of several houses claimed that they felt mild tremors. However, there was no damage to any house or property.

Hyderabad, November 02: H J Dora, a retired IPS officer and ex-vigilance commissioner, gave a historical perspective of corruption in the world and the importance of honesty and corporate governance in public sector units.

He was speaking at the Vigilance Awareness Period conducted by the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) here on Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, Rana Som, chairman & managing director, NMDC said more emphasis should be given to personal dignity, honesty and ethical values in life.

Hyderabad, November 02: Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh member Devanand Battu has resigned to his membership this evening reportedly disturbed over what he described as High Court’s failure in taking action against those who behaved with him rashly while he was entering the High Court premises

on Saturday.

Hyderabad, November 02: In a bid to restrain multiple Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) from granting loans to the same set of borrowers, the state government is setting up a Credit Bureau containing records of all borrowers across the state.

“It will include combined data provided by MFIs and SHGs and will serve as an effective tool to counter multiple lending,” R Subrahmanyam, principal secretary, rural development, told Express.

Hyderabad, November 02: If you want to give your home a mini-makeover, then the new window trim store Hunter Douglas Window Fashion Gallery in the city is certainly worth a visit. Expresso tells how you can bring in natural light and energy, abundantly available from the golden sun, and up your home’s style quotient at the same time.

Hyderabad, November 02: Jean-Manuel Duhaut has big plans for the Alliance Française de Hyderabad. At an event welcoming him at the Kalakriti art gallery, he announced the organisations plans for the coming months.

“It will be Alliance Française de Hyderabad’s thirtieth anniversary on November 15, and we will be celebrating this hallmark for one whole year. In fact, the festivities will begin a few days prior to the anniversary — we are organising a jazz concert, featuring Parisian quarter Yapa, at the Park hotel on November 12”, announched Duhat.

Hyderabad, October 02: ‘Now or never’ seems to be the buzz word in the realty sector in and around Hyderabad.

To those who want to buy flats in the mega city this is the right time to do so as the prices are likely to go up in the near future.

The Telangana issue hardly seems to matter to investors as many from Hyderabad are investing in properties before December 31 after which the region may witness unrest as threatened by the TRS.

Some feel that waiting for the prices to come down after December 31 is like being too optimistic.

Rayachoti, November 02: In what could be yet another case of honour killing in the state, a 19-year-old girl was allegedly poisoned to death by her father for her love affair with a youth. The girl’s body was found buried in a graveyard close to her residence in Rayachoti in Kadapa district on Monday.

Following a tip-off, the police rushed to the graveyard and exhumed the body. The victim was identified as Rupa, daughter of Sivarama Chari, 50, a head master in the zilla parishad high school in Devapatla village in Sandepalli mandal.

Hyderabad, November 01: 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.

Hyderabad, October 31: A central team from would soon visit Andhra Pradesh for an on-the-spot assessment of the losses incurred due to floods and heavy rains during June and September.

An eight-member central team would arrive here on November 2 for a two-day visit, an official release from the Commissioner for Disaster Management said here tonight.

A four-member team led by R R Jha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs would visit Guntur and West Godavari districts on November 2 and 3.

Hyderabad, October 31: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah and several senior Congress leaders paid homage to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 26th death anniversary today.

Rosaiah, state Congress president D Srinivas and other leaders paid homage to the late leader at her statue on the Necklace road near State Secretariat and Gandhi Bhavan, the state Congress headquarters.

The ‘Iron Man of India’ and the country’s first Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was also remembered on his 135th birthday anniversary.

Guntur, October 31: Pondugula village in Guntur district has eight unofficial liquor vends, popularly called belt shops.

The village falls in the cement and limestone belt of the state, with dozens of companies, big and small, coming up in the last decade. Most of the 9,000 villagers of Pondugula work in the cement companies.

They have money in their pockets after a day’s hard labour.

After the closing siren in the evening, returning workers head to the belt shops. The vends are happy.

Hyderabad, October 31: In a development that should cheer about one million Army personnel, their pay system is going online. It has become a reality with the software developed by the Controller of Defence Accounts (CDA) under project Dolphin.

The software not only helps credit the salaries of the staff directly into their bank accounts but also enables the personnel to view online the details about their promotions and the benefits they are entitled to.

Sangareddy, October 31: Eight persons died and six others suffered injuries in a ghastly road accident at Ranjol in Zaheerabad on NH-9 on Saturday.

All the victims belonged to Bidar in Karnataka.

According to police, a family from Bidar were returning home after seeing off their relative on Haj pilgrimage at Shamshabad airport in Hyderabad.

The vehicle in which they were travelling hit a truck coming in the opposite direction. Six persons died on the spot while two others succumbed to injuries on the way to hospital.

Hyderabad, October 31: Prof P Jayaprakash Rao has been formally appointed as the chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) for a period of three years.

Jayaprakash Rao has been working as the vice-chairman of the council and was appointed as the in-charge chairman when KC Reddy retired after a six-year term in August this year.

Ever since KC Reddy retired from the service, the names of several academicians came up for consideration for the much aspired post.

Anantapur, October 31: Large-scale arrangements are being made by the government for the 85th birthday celebrations of spiritual guru Sri Satya Saibaba at Puttaparthi in Anantapur district.

Devotees from India and abroad in large numbers are expected to attend the event which will be held from November 15 to 23.

President Pratibha Singh Patil will take part in Women’s Day programme on November 19.

New Delhi, October 31: The controversy surrounding the remodelling and renaming of the Lalita Kala Thoranam has ended.

Congress MP T Subbirami Reddy, who offered to donate Rs 10 crore for construction of a closed auditorium (in place of the existing open air theatre) provided it is named after the late Rajiv Gandhi has dropped the proposal.

Hyderabad, October 31: In spite of announcing that they would defer their agitation by a month on Friday, priests and temple staff of eight major temples continued their agitation on Saturday.

They wanted a written assurance from the state government that their problems would be resolved in a month.

However, the state government officials refused to oblige their request.

It may be recalled that the Temple Employees Joint Action Committee representing staff of small temples yesterday announced postponement of the agitation by a month.

Hyderabad, October 31: Life convicts and their family members have another reason to celebrate this Diwali with double dhamaka.

A week before the festival, the state government on Saturday issued guidelines for granting special remission to life convicts to mark the Republic Day on January 26, 2011.

A six-member committee under the chairmanship of the principal secretary, Home, was constituted to prepare a list of prisoners eligible for release.