Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, September 17: Congress leaders in Andhra Pradesh are beginning to reconcile to the fact that the party high command will not succumb to any pressure tactics in making Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy the chief minister of the state.

KVP Ramachandra Rao, Rajya Sabha member and family friend of the late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, held a series of meetings with ministers, MLAs and other leaders of the pro- Jagan camp on Tuesday and Wednesday.

He reportedly advised them to be patient and wait for the high command’s decision.

Hyderabad, September 17: Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu has demanded withdrawal of the Government Orders issued recently bringing road and drainage works in villages into the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) fold terming them as “illegal and unconstitutional”.

Hyderabad, September 17: The swine flu death toll in Andhra Pradesh rose to 13 with the death of one more person Tuesday.

A woman hailing from Warangal district died of swine flu at the government-run Gandhi Hospital, taking the death toll to 13. This is the ninth swine flu death in the state in last four days.

Worried over the mounting number of swine flu cases, the state government has warned private hospitals of stringent action under the Public Health Act if they refuse treatment or guidance to suspected swine flu patients.

Hyderabad, September 16:The Congress high command has sought a report from the party leadership in Andhra Pradesh over whether or not ministers were attending to their official duties sincerely.

Sources in the Congress here said the directive from AICC came in the wake of reports that majority of the ministers were not visiting the state Secretariat and discharging their duties ever since they were sworn in again
after K Rosaiah took over as chief minister.

Mumbai, September 16: The second round of seat-sharing talks between Congress and NCP leaders for the October 13 Assembly polls in Maharashtra began here today, amid indications that the Sharad Pawar-led party may settle for a few seats less than it contested in 2004 elections.

The first round of formal talks between the partners of the 10-year-old alliance in the state was held last night but remained inconclusive and both sides agreed to meet again on Wednesday.

Hyderabad, September 15: Ministers in Andhra Pradesh loyal to late chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy are confident that the central leadership of Congress party will name his son YS Jaganmohan Reddy as the next chief minister.

They got the impression after meeting KVP Ramachandra Rao, a close friend and advisor of the late chief minister, Tuesday that the central leadership was positively inclined towards naming 37-year-old Jagan as YSR’s successor.

Hyderabad, September 14: Andhra Pradesh’s ruling Congress Monday retained the Tekkali assembly seat in Srikakulam district in the by-elections held last week.

K. Bharati won the by-election, defeating Atchan Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) by over 7,000 votes.

The by-elections, held on Sep 10, was necessitated by the death of Bharati’s husband K. Revatipathi.

Revatipathi, who was elected in the April 16 election, died of a cardiac arrest June 2, a day before he was to take oath as legislator.

—Agencies

Parvathipuram, September 14: A tribal woman was gang-raped by 14 in Orissa on Friday night but the incident came to light only on Sunday after the victim lodged a complaint with the Parvathipuram police.

According to police, the outrage took place at Jadaba in Badhugaon block of Koraput district, Orissa. The victim first lodged a complaint with the Bandhugoan police in Orissa, but when they did not take any action, she came to Parvathipuram.

An active member in the Rythu Coolie Sangham, she, along with the other workers, attacked an arrack making unit in Jadaba village recently.

Hyderabad, September 14: In a disturbing indication that swine flu could be getting out of control, two more died of the dreaded virus here on Sunday, taking its toll to 10 in the State.

A 25-year-old woman, Madhavi, and 30-year-old Narasimha, who were undergoing treatment at the Aware Global Hospital and Gandhi Hospital respectively died while the condition of five more patients is reported to be critical. Narasimha was a resident of Chityal in Nalgonda district.
The government, however, put the number of swine flu victims at nine.

Hyderabad, September 14: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) rebel MP Vijayashanti is in for more trouble with unexpected events unfolding against her. The TRS leadership is gearing up to launch a broadside against her.

After allegations that Vijayashanti and her husband Srinivas Prasad’s were involved in Rs 3 crore land scam, the TRS wants to go for her jugular, to settle scores for ditching the party and moving with the Congress leaders.

Kurnool, September 14: Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy has paid a tearful homage to her brother late chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy here today. Disliking travel in helicopter as it claimed the life of Reddy, the Minsiter travelled in a car from Hyderabad to Nallamala and walked in the forest to reach the crash site.

Hyderabad, September 14: The ‘‘eyes and ears’’ of the late chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy — Additional DGP (Intelligence) K Aravinda Rao — wants to step down. Aravinda Rao has conveyed to Chief Minister K Rosaiah his intention to give up his present position, peeved as he is, over attempts by some of his colleagues to tarnish his image in the wake of the chopper crash that killed Rajasekhara Reddy and four others.

Hyderabad, September 14: A district collector in Andhra Pradesh has got infected by influenza A(H1N1) even as the alarming spurt in swine flu has worried the state government.

Health Minister D. Nagender told reporters Monday that an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, who is a collector of a district, had tested positive for swine flu. He declined to reveal the official’s name.

However, TV channels reported that it was Nalgonda district collector S.A.M. Rizvi who was down with swine flu. He is being shifted to Hyderabad for treatment.

Vijayawada, September 14: The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) had decided to name the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium at Visakhapatnam as Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, with immediate effect.

A Emergency Circular Executive Committee Resolution was passed to this effect by the ACA, Association President Gokaraju Gangaraju said while addressing a press conference along with Indian Test Discard M S K Prasad here today.

Hyderabad, September 14: The attempt to orchestrate support for YS Jaganmohan Reddy as Andhra Pradesh (AP) chief minister soon after his father, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, was killed in a helicopter crash is as much the result of business pressures as political expediency.

Despite being a grassroots politician, YSR had close links with many businessmen and realtors, and these interests are concerned about the fate of their projects now that the strongman is no longer around. They see Jaganmohan as an insurance against changes in the state’s stance on their projects.

Hyderabad, September 14: The toll due to swine flu continued to rise in the city with three more deaths on Sunday. With these, the deaths from swine flu in the State rose to 10 while three more patients were stated to be in a critical condition.

Nellore, September 13: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president Bandaru Dattatreya has said the party will appoint a committee to identify the properties of Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD) and launch agitation to protect the temple’s sanctity.

Speaking to the newsmen here on Saturday, he said that the State government had failed to protect the sanctity of the TTD and insulted the sentiments of crores of devotees.

Mr. Dattatreya demanded the government to appoint Temple Trust Board committees without political leaders and maintain records in all temples.

Warangal, September 13: A 14-year-old son of a Special Party Constable sustained a bullet injury due to accidential triggering of the gun at the residence of the cop in this district of Andhra Pradesh today.

Police said the boy was shifted to Hyderabad for treatment from a local hospital.

The misfire occured when the son-in-law of the constable had taken the gun in his hand.

—–Agencies

Hyderabad, September 10: Over 70 percent voters cast their ballot in the bye-election to the Andhra Pradesh assembly from Tekkali constituency in Srikakulam district Thursday.

The polling remained peaceful, Chief Electoral Officer I.V. Subba Rao said here.

According to initial reports, over 70 percent of about 175,000 voters exercised their franchise through 400 electronic voting machines at 233 polling stations.

The bye-election was necessitated by the death of ruling Congress party legislator K. Revatipathy. The ruling party fielded his widow K. Bharati in the bye-election.

Srikakulam, September 10: Polling began on a peaceful and brisk note in the byelection to the Tekkali Assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh this morning.

As many as 20 per cent of an electorate of 1,75,422, cast their votes in the first two hours of polling till 0900 hrs, as women and old people turned up early to exercise their franchise at the 283 polling stations. Electronic Voting Machines in four centres developed snag and election authorities immediately replaced them from the spare EVMs kept ready, official sources said.

Srikalahasti, September 10: To mourn the tragic demise of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, thousands of farmers including women, took out a silent rally through the main streets of this temple town here.

As many as 2500 farmers from surrounding villages led by Srikalhasti temple trust board chairman and senior congress leader Mr Shantaram J Pawar and Kisan Service Organisation (KSO) General Secretary Mr T Audikesavulu Reddy, took out a silent rally and concluded at a private marriage hall where they held a condolence meeting yesterday.

Hyderabad, September 10: Factoring deficit rainfall impacting kharif operations and adverse seasonal conditions, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, on Wednesday declared 971 revenue mandals spread over 21 districts of the State as drought-affected.

In his first major decision since taking over as the Chief Minister, Mr Rosaiah said that this move follows requests by district collectors to declare drought in various parts of the State.

Exceptions

Hyderabad, September 09: The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) in the ill-fated Bell-430 helicopter of Andhra Pradesh government, which crashed in Nallamala forest on September 2 killing former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others, was found to be in a “partly damaged” condition.

Indian representatives of the Bell helicopter company were asked to decode the CVR, but since it was in a “partly damaged condition”, decoding proved difficult, the state “government’s Crisis Management Committee informed Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy.

Hyderabad, September 08: Former Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy today expressed support to Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to succeed his father late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy as the chief minister of the state.

“The general perception among the people in Andhra Pradesh is that Y S Jagan can fill the void and with the support of senior leaders and blessing of the high command will be able to steer the party and the Government out of the present desolation,” he said in a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Hyderabad, September 08: Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, killed in a helicopter crash on September 2, was given a 21-gun salute at his funeral in Idupulapaya estate in his native Cuddapah district, state home minister P Sabita Indra Reddy said today.

“We have obtained a report on this after doubts were raised on the issue,” Reddy told reporters here. “The funeral was completed with full military and state honours and the gun salute was given to the late chief minister.”