Andhra Congress chief meets Sonia

New Delhi, June 15 : Andhra Pradesh Congress chief D. Srinivas Tuesday met party president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the upcoming assembly by-elections in the Telangana region of the state.Srinivas, who also met Law and Justice Minister M. Veerapa Moily, told reporters that the high command had asked the state party unit to prepare for the assembly by-elections. He said that strategy for the by-elections will be decided in due course. The meeting comes in the backdrop of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) urging the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party not to contest the polls in response to the call given by Telangana Joint Action Committee. Twelve legislators - ten from the TRS and one each from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) - had resigned in February in support of the demand for creation of Telangana.
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Media scribe taken under custody for selling tickets

Tirumala, Jun 15 : Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Vigilance officials have taken into custody a media scribe for enquiry here tonight in connection with selling seva tickets.While checking the tickets of pilgrims, a four-member pilgrim party from Thadepallegudem in West Godavari district stated that they had purchased two Archana, four Suprabhatam and two Astadala Pada Padmaradhanamu seva tickets from a leading electronic media scribe, working in Tirumala.The tickets were taken under discretionary quota from Joint Executive camp office in Tirumala for Rs 40,000 against the actual price of Rs 6,840, a TTD vigilance official said.After receiving the recorded statement from the pilgrim party, the scribe and former APUWJ district secretary Mr Reddy, who is also state executive member for APUWJ, were taken into custody for investigation, the official added.However, TTD Executive officer Mr I Y R Krishna Rao has not confirmed the custody of Mr Reddy.
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Demand for Andhra minister's resignation embarrasses Congress

Hyderabad, June 15: The ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh is facing an embarrassing situation with a section of party leaders from Telangana demanding that Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah resign for alleged irregularities in 'Jalayagnam', a massive irrigation programme.Senior Congress leader P. Goverdhan Reddy Tuesday claimed he had evidence to prove his allegations against the minister. Defending his remarks, he offered to provide the evidence if the government holds a meeting on the issue. He told reporters that he would also meet the governor and submit a memorandum on the matter. M.S. Rajalingam, a member of the Legislative Council belonging to Congress party, has also levelled allegations against Ponnala and said he had no right to remain in the cabinet. Ponnala, who also hails from Telangana, has dismissed allegations against him as baseless and rejected the demand for his resignation. On Sunday, a group of Congress leaders from Telangana, including three MPs, held a meeting and demanded Ponnala's resignation. They also decided to take up the issue with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. As the division in the party became public, a group of ministers from Telangana came to the defence of their colleague and suggested that the leaders demanding Ponnala's resignation raise their objections at a proper forum in the party. The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) demanded that the minister be sacked forthwith. "If the minister fails to tender his resignation, the chief minister should sack him immediately to prove that he has zero tolerance for corruption," TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu told reporters here Tuesday.
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Court dismisses plea to defer Andhra Pradesh by-polls

Hyderabad, June 15 : The Andhra Pradesh High Court Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking postponement of by-elections to 12 assembly constituencies in the Telangana region.A division bench dismissed the petition, saying the court will not interfere in the functioning of the Election Commission of India. It suggested to the petitioner to move the commission if he had any objections with regard to the elections. Elections to 12 constituencies are likely to be held in August and the poll schedule is expected to be announced by month-end. Lawyer J. Narayanswamy, who belongs to Anantapur district, filed the petition seeking court orders to the commission against issuing the poll notification. The petitioner argued that the situation in Telangana was not conducive to holding polls. The petition had assumed significance in view of the pressure on both the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from groups seeking a separate state of Telangana not to contest the by-polls.
The by-elections were necessitated by the resignation of all 10 legislators of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and one legislator each of the TDP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to press the demand for separate Telangana state. The TRS, BJP and other pro-Telangana parties and groups have appealed to the Congress and TDP not to enter the fray and ensure the unanimous election of the legislators who resigned for the cause of Telangana. A section of Congress leaders in Telangana region have also urged the party leadership not to field candidates. State Congress chief D. Srinivas met party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi Tuesday to discuss the developments. Congress sources said the central leadership would take a decision on the issue after deliberations with all sections within the party.
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PM-handig over the "GHILAF-E-MUBARAK"to DARGAH SHAREEF KHAJA GHARIB NAWAZ,

(PIB NEWS) June,15, The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh handing over the ‘Chaadar’ to be offered at the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, Ajmer Sharif to the Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office and Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Prithviraj Chavan, in New Delhi on June 15, 2010. (Photo by PIB No.CNR - 32061)
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TDP to launch agitation against indiscriminate sale of liquor

Vijayawada,Jun 15: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will launch a state-wide agitation to protest against the indiscriminate sale of liquor and setting up of belt liquor shops across the state, Senior TDP leader and MLA Devineni Umamaheswara Rao announced here today.Addressing a press conference here, he alleged that the Andhra Pradesh Government had given green signal for the sale of liquor and setting up of belt liquor shops.He alleged that the government had ignored all norms in issuing licences to the liquor shops in the state.Mr Rao said the TDP would launch a state wide-agitation by staging 'dharnas' in front of all the Collector Offices in the state, demanding the government to take steps to regularise the sale of liquor and do away with belt liquor shops.The liquor traders were selling liquor at an exorbitant prices, he claimed and demanded the government to ensure that liquor was sold at Maximum Retail Price (MRP).
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APSHRC directs admin to get Sambhavi admitted to school

Hyderabad, Jun 15 : The Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission has directed the Kurnool district administration to get Samhavi, proclaimed 'god child', enrolled to a school by June 21.Human Rights Commission Chairman B Shubhashan Reddy, acting on petitions filed by NGOs and human rights activists, yesterday ordered that the eight-year-old girl be enrolled in an elementary school and not be restrained at home.The APSHRC also directed the District Collector for compliance of its order and report to the Commission by June 21. It also prohibited her parents from propagating of ''her super natural powers''.
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Realty sector revives in Hyderabad after political crisis

Hyderabad,June 15: The Realty sector in Hyderabad has bounced back after the recent political crisis, as demand for residential and commercial properties is growing.The trend is growing evidently in Tier I and Tier II areas, as these are high-demand markets."Market is improving as of now because of these developments happening in the Hyderabad areas like outer ring road area, Infosys campus and many other areas, so this is the right time to invest and to buy a customer," said Prabhakar, Sales Officer in Real Estate Company.Some customers feel that Hyderabad is the right place for investing money in the realty sector."NRIs, doctors and Information Technology (IT) people are coming forward for the investment and even some of the central government employees are also coming forward. Now a days comparing with the facilities what we are giving on what rates we are giving, people are seeing benefits and on these bases they are coming forward for investments and showing interest," said Raj Kumar, Marketing Manager in Real Estate Company.The realty sector is anticipated to grow at the rate of 30 percent annually over the next decade, which will attract foreign investment worth 30 billion dollars.The sector is one of the largest employers in the country, and has backward and forward linkages with about 250 industries, such as cement, brick, steel, building material and many more.
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