Andhra opposition protests with lanterns

Legislators from opposition parties came to the Andhra Pradesh assembly Tuesday with lanterns to protest against a severe electricity shortage in the state.Led by former chief minister N.Chandrababu Naidu, legislators of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) staged the protest with lanterns and dummy transformers at Gun Park opposite the assembly building. They later marched to the assembly and raised the issue in the house. The Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged similar protests. Speaker N. Kirankumar Reddy, however, rejected their adjournment motions on the issue, triggering an uproar. The speaker had to adjourn the house and call a meeting of all floor leaders to find a way out. Earlier, Naidu termed the electricity situation as serious. He alleged that farmers, the domestic sector and students were badly affected by the scheduled and unscheduled electricity cuts. PRP led by its president K. Chiranjeevi staged a demonstration at Vidyut Soudha, the headquarters of AP Transco (Andhra Pradesh transmission corporation) in Somajiguda. The state is in the grip of a severe electricity crisis due to the increased demand in summer and the ongoing rabi crop season. AP Transco has imposed two-to-six hour scheduled cuts across the state. Authorities have imposed two-hour cuts every day in the state capital and major cities, five hours in towns and six hours in villages. However, people are complaining of unscheduled cuts for longer durations. The state has declared a one day weekly power holiday for industries and is planning to increase it to two days. Experts say the situation could turn worse as it was only the beginning of summer. The peak demand is 250 million units (MU) every day while there is a shortage of 25 MU.                      (thanks to newkerala.com)
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Rajya Sabha debates women’s bill,

After frenzied opposition and repeated disruptions, the Rajya Sabha Tuesday evening finally debated the historic women’s reservation bill in the run up to a vote on the legislation reserving one-third seats for women in parliament and state legislatures.Amongst those who spoke were Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Arun Jaitley, Communist Party of India-Marxist’s (CPI-M) Brinda Karat, Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Satish Mishra and Jayanthi Natarajan of Congress.Opening the debate was Jaitley, who said his party “unequivocally” supported the women’s bill but added that the privilege of supporting it had been diluted by “some of the most shameful incidents in India’s parliamentary history”.The leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, who spoke after the constitution amendment bill was put to vote by Chairman Hamid Ansari, said he had a feeling of being a party to history in the making when he came to the house.Karat, a vocal supporter of the bill, said women’s reservation in parliament and state legislatures would change the “culture of the country because women today are still caught in a culture prison. In the name of tradition, stereotypes are imposed and we have to fight these every day”.These stereotypes will also be broken by the bill, said Karat, who believes the entry of a larger number of women in legislatures would make for “more sensitive politics”.“The women’s reservation bill will ensure that women of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes, poor women and Muslim women would benefit from it,” Karat said, addressing concerns that the bill would benefit only some sections.Congress leader and spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan also refuted critics demanding a special quota for Dalit women, saying Dalits and tribals would continue to get reservation under the bill.A triumphant Natarajan said no other party “had the courage to deliver the promise (of reservation for women) to the people of India”. She said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had not lagged behind in supporting measures for women’s empowerment.However, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Satish Mishra said his party would not be able to support the proposed legislation in the current form. He wanted the prime minister to reserve 50 percent of all seats in legislatures for women in line with their population ratio.Shivanand Tiwari of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) created a minor stir in the house by speaking in favour of the bill, which has been opposed vocally by a section of his colleagues led by party president Sharad Yadav.The AIADMK’s V. Maitreyan pointed out that the bill was a great tribute to the Indian housewife who he said had proved to be better financial managers of the household “than all the finance ministers of India”.(thanks to way2online)
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Osmania University student commits suicide for Telangana,

Desperate over the delay in formation of a Telangana state, another student of the Osmania University committed suicide Tuesday.Sai Kumar, a second year B. Tech student, ended his life by hanging in his hostel room in the campus. A suicide note purported to have been written by him said he was taking the extreme step as he was upset over the delay.Police said some hostel inmates saw Sai Kumar hanging from the ceiling fan. Kumar, who hailed from Nalgonda district, was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead.The incident triggered fresh tension in the university, the nerve centre of the Telangana agitation. Students gathered in large numbers and raised slogans of ‘Jai Telangana’.In view of the tense situation, the university authorities have postponed the exams scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.This is the latest in a series of suicides by Telangana students in support of the demand for separate statehood to the backward region, which comprises Hyderabad and nine other districts.A student of Class 12 had immolated himself Feb 20 at the main entrance of Osmania University to protest the delay in formation of Telangana state. He resorted to the extreme step in full public view during a protest by university students.AMCA student self-immolated on Osmania University campus and his body was found on the campus Jan 19.Parties fighting for separate Telangana state claim that more than 300 students and youth have committed suicide in the region since protests began in November. There is no independent confirmation of this number.                                                                             (thanks to way2online)
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