Vizag Steel new Iron Ore Storage yard to meet contingencies

Visakhapatnam Jul 22 : The Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the flagship company of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) CMD Mr P K Bishnoi, inaugurated the 'Structural Erection Work' for a new Iron Ore Storage Yard with a capacity of 6 lakh tonnes.The new storage yard will facilitate storing the additional iron ore to meet the contingencies, if arise due to disruption of any delivery to VSP. In a release here yesterday, Mr Bishnoi said, the yard would have the state of the art technology for stacking, reclaiming and conveying the raw materials to blast furnaces. The work is scheduled to be completed progressively by January, 2012 at an estimated cost of Rs 418 crore, he added The work involves about 12 lakh cum of earth work, 65,000 cum of concrete, 9300 tonnes of structures, 10 km of conveyors and 3.4 km of additional railway tracks, Mr Bishnoi said.Mr Bishnoi complimented the project collective for completing the major earth work, piling work and commencing the structural work on schedule. Mr AP Choudhary, Director (Projects) mentioned that the project would be completed within stipulated contract period and approved cost.Mr Umesh Chandra, Director (Operations), K Vidyasagar, CVO and other senior officials of VSP and the consulting firm M/s Dastur & Co were also present on the occasion.
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Nanded-Bangalore and Hubli-Bangalore Hampi express delinked for today

Hyderabad, Jul 22 : As announced in the Railway Budget 2010, the Nanded-Bangalore Hampi Link Express and Hubli-Bangalore Hampi Express which used to run as combined trains have been delinked with effect from today, the South Central Railways (SCR) announced.Accordingly, Train No 6593/6594 Nanded-Bangalore-Nanded Express and Train No 6591/6592 Hubli-Bangalore-Hampi Express will now run as independent trains with effect from today, the release said.Train No 6593 Nanded-Bangalore Express will depart Nanded at 0600 hrs and arrive Bangalore at 0610 hrs tomorrow. Enroute the train will stop at all the existing stoppages. However, the timings at some stoppages are revised as mentioned. The train will depart Raichur at 1905 hrs, Mantralayam road at 1945 hrs, Kosgi at 1958 hrs, Kupgal at 2010 hrs, Adoni at 2025 hrs, arrive/depart Guntakal at 2115/2120 hrs, depart Gooty at 2145 hrs, Anantapur at 2310 hrs, arrive/depart Dharmavaram 0035/0045 hrs, depart Penukonda at 0125 hrs, Hindupur at 0200 hrs, Gauribidanur at 0230 hrs, Dodballapur at 0320 hrs, arrive/depart Yelhanka at 0358/0400 hrs, Yeswantpur at 0525/0530 hrs and depart Malleshwaram at 0540 hrs. In the opposite direction, Train No 6594 Bangalore-Nanded Express will depart Bangalore at 2300 hrs (Revised timings) and arrive Nanded at 2155 hrs the next day, as at present. Enroute the train will stop at all the existing stoppages. However, the timings at some stoppages are revised as mentioned. The train will depart Malleswaram at 2307 hrs, Yeswantpur at 2315 hrs, arrive/depart Yelhanka 2333/2335 hrs, depart Dodballapur at 2357 hrs, Gauribidanur at 0040 hrs, Hindupur at 0105 hrs, Penukonda at 0140 hrs, arrive/depart Dharmavaram at 0310/0315 hrs, depart Anantapur at 0400 hrs, Gooty at 0510 hrs, and arrive/depart Guntakal at 0535/0545 hrs. The revised composition of the train will comprise of one AC 3 Tier, seven Sleeper Class, six General Second Class, two Second Class Luggage cum Brake Van coaches totaling to sixteen, the release added.
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SCR starts special train between Dadar and Nagapatnam

Hyderabad, Jul 22 : A Special train between Dadar-Nagapatnam will be run on July 27 and July 29, the South Central Railway(SCR) has said.Accordingly, train no 0171 Dadar-Nagapatnam Express would depart Dadar at 1045 hrs on July 27 and arrive Nagapatnam at 2345 hrs the next day.Enroute it will arrive/depart Wadi at 2345/2355 hrs, Raichur at 0125/0127 hrs, Mantralyam Road at 0200/0202 hrs, Adoni at 0239/0241 hrs, Guntakal at 0415/0420 hrs, Gooty at 0450/0552 hrs, Tadipatri at 0535/0537 hrs, Kondapuaram at 0615/0617 hrs, Yerraguntla at 0652/0654 hrs, Cuddaph at 0740/0745 hrs, Razampet at 0845/0847 hrs and Renigunta at 1040/1050 hrs.In the return direction, train no 0172 Nagapatnam-Dadar Express will depart Nagapatnam at 2100 hrs on July 29 and arrive Dadar at 1125 hrs, the next day.Enroute it will arrive/depart Renigunta at 0950/1000 hrs, Razampet at 1100/1108 hrs, Cuddaph at 1205/1210 hrs, Yerraguntla at 1240/1242 hrs, Kondapuaram at 1330/1332 hrs, Tadiapatri at 1356/1358, Gooty at 1525/1527, Guntakal at 1555/1600 hrs, Adoni at 1640/1642 hrs, Mantralaym Road at 1715/1717 hrs, Raichur at 1800/1805 hrs and Wadi at 2040/2045 hrs, the release added.
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Final report by Dec 31 : Sri Krishna Committee

Visakhapatnam, Jul 21 : Panel members of Sri Krishna Committee, appointed by the Centre to look into the Telangana issue, today said the drafting committee report will start from September 15 and hopes to present the final report by December 31, 2010.Speaking to mediapersons at the airport here Member Secretary of the Sri Krishna Committee V K Duggal said, ''We will visit two villages in the three districts of North Andhra and record the people’s living standard at various places. Our Research Committee is also visiting several places to record the living standards of the local people.'' He said the Committee team will visit North Andhra region in a couple of two days. The Committee members arrived from New Delhi in this port city this afternoon. Members Dr Ranbir Singh, Vice-Chancellor of the National Law University, Delhi, Dr (Ms) Ravinder Kaur, Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, Dr Abusaleh Shariff, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, Delhi, consultants Amit Mehta, Dr Rajiv Sharma, Nodal officer( Director General of Centre for Good Governance ) are accompanying Justice Sri Krishna.
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TDP chief protests over Babhli dam project issue

Hyderabad, July 21 : Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu led a highly charged demonstration here on Wednesday to protest the alleged illegal construction of the Babhli dam on River Godavari.Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah, meanwhile, said the State Government is working to protect the interests of Andhra Pradesh in a democratic manner, and in accordance with the provisions of Constitution."As per our system of two tier of State and Central levels, we have approached the Supreme Court. So don't presume the government has not addressed the issue," said Rosaiah.He appealed to the TDP leaders and supporters not to cause damage to public properties in the State during their protest."The Supreme Court has given us (Andhra Pradesh) the favourable directive as such. When the matter is before the Supreme Court, why make a ruckus? Even the Prime Minister has been apprised of this fact," said Rosaiah.Earlier today, Naidu received a rousing welcome by his supporters on his return to Hyderabad.Naidu and other legislators of the party were released after being detained in Dharmabad, situated on the border area of Maharashtra.The Maharashtra police on Friday arrested Naidu along with 75 other politicians, including MPs, state legislators and former ministers for violating prohibitory orders.They were taken into preventive custody as they tried to visit the Babli Dam in Maharashtra to find out whether that state is grabbing more than its share of water from the River Godavari. Naidu claimed he was there only to inspect the contentious Babhali Barrage project and to fight for Andhra Pradesh''s fair share of water. Several educational institutions, cinema halls, petrol-filling stations and markets are likely to remain closed today.Amidst concerns over the controversial project, TDP leaders want to see the Babli project ahead of their July 23 meeting with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. An all-party delegation from Andhra Pradesh is expected to meet Dr. Singh this Friday.
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Andhra Pradesh Congress condemns TDP yatra to Babli

Hyderabad, Jul 21: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah today led Congress leaders in Andhra Pradesh in condemning the ''political trip'' to the site of the controversial Babli Irrigation Project in Maharashtra by former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and his team.While Mr Rosaiah spoke against the trip at the state secretariat, his fellow Congress stalwarts chose separate locations to voice their disapproval of the entire 5-day episode in which Naidu and his team were arrested and then 'deported' to Hyderabad.Talking to mediapersons separately, senior Congress leaders Ponguleti Sudhakar, Bhatti Vikramarka, Palludagu Venkat Rao and Tulsi Reddy said Mr Naidu's visit, deportation and this morning's protest in front of the Gandhi statue in the assembly premises was a drama.They virtually scoffed at the TDP chief's protest over the Babli issue, saying that it was like the pot calling the kettle black. The Congress leaders sought to turn the tables on Mr Naidu by saying that it was he who was negligent on the Babli project since he was at the helm of administration in Andhra Pradesh at the time the Maharashtra government began construction of the project across river Godavari. Decrying Mr Naidu's 'attempts to gain sympathy' by claiming that women legislators were manhandled by the Maharashtra police, they sought to remind Mr Naidu that his administration had used mounted police against women protestors.Stating that his talk of 'Telugu atmagauravam' was meaningless, they alleged that he (Mr Naidu) had held Telugu legislators hostage in a city hotel during August 2005 rebellion against the then Chief Minister N T Rama Rao, founder of TDP.
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Schoolchildren to combat climate change

Hyderabad, July 21 : What started as a simple awareness programme on global warming and climate change for students has today turned them into Young Climate Savers who have geared up to tackle the impacts of climate change in cities across India.The Young Climate Savers, a joint initiative between World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-India and Tetra Pak India, is a school based climate change and lifestyle education programme based on education for sustainable development and people's participation.The programme launched in 2007 has targeted more than 50,000 students across 10 cities in India and the programme, has been instrumental in raising awareness about the ill effects of climate change. Students across these cities pledged to take up the cudgel to combat climate change. Rachna, student of Rosary Convent School in Hyderabad said: "As Young Climate Savers, we took a pledge to arrest Global Warming by switching off our school lights and other electrical appliances when not in use and help conserve electricity". Sister Ann Imelda of Carmel School in Kolkata felt that the "Young Climate Savers programme has immense importance and played a major role in disseminating knowledge about Climate Change to the future generations of our society".The first phase of the initiative dealt with creating awareness on history, science and adverse impact of climate change while the second phase was more hands on with students taking up small projects within the school premises. Some of the key achievements of the schools , include students of Blue Bells School in New Delhi, who designed and conceptualized a unique project where water left over in the water bottle at the end of the day would be collected in a tank placed near the exit gate of the school. This collected water would then be utilized to water the garden.Sri Sikshayatan School students' in Kolkata showed a decrease of 50pc energy usage in their school electricity bill through their energy conservation project in the school.Students of Abhyasa Residential School located on the outskirts of Hyderabad made newspaper bags and distributed them to hawkers and grocers in the villages surrounding their schools.The second phase also saw student leaders emerge as peer educators and spread the message to their peers in and around their schools.The programme in its third phase will see the Peer Educators come together as a Young Climate Savers Task Force in the cities of New Delhi, Bhopal, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. This task force of students from at least 12 schools each across these cities will work on a city level problem and collectively work towards finding a long term sustainable solution. Madhur Das, Director, Conservation Alliances, WWF-India, said, "This is seen to be the first of its kind of student level initiative to be taken up in the country and is expected to impact directly and indirectly more than 1,00,000 citizens across the country".The recommendations and solutions from these initiatives carried out across India will be handed over to the respective city civic authorities for further action.
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Telugu Film On YSR To Release On August 15

Hyderabad,July 21, Sai Universal Films banner is making a Telugu feature film based on the life of ex-Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, which will be released on August 15, 2010. The work of the film is progressing in fast pace and is supposed to be released on the scheduled date.Giri Reddy is directing and producing the movie, which is titled Bhageerathudu. Veteran actor Vinod Kumar will be seen in the lead role opposite Yamuna.The YSR film's script is written by Giri Reddy, which is based on the late chief minister's life.According to the director, the film is an elaboration of the younger days of YSR. The life of YSR in college, then his entry in politics and the subsequent success stories will be portrayed in the movie. It will also highlight how Reddy managed to retain the seat of the chief minister for the second term.The movie is in its post-production stage now. A lot of research has been done for writing the script of the movie, sources informed.
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CPM demands Center's intervention in Babli controversy

Vijayawada, Jul 21 : Condemning the excessive behaviour on the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) delegation led be former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu by the police in Maharashtra, CPI(M) State Committee member Y Venkateswara Rao today demanded the Centre's intervention in the controversial issue of the Babli project.Addressing a press conference here, Mr Rao said the Centre should resolve the tussle between Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra over the construction of major irrigation project 'Babli', across river Godavari in Maharashtra.Describing the 'highhanded' and 'rude' behaviour of the police on the TDP delegation as 'inhuman', he said the refusal of permission to the TDP delegation to inspect the Babli project, was clearly reflecting that the project was being constructed illegally.He made it clear that the CPM would join all party delegation which was going to Delhi to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to apprise him of the construction of Babli project and its repercussions on July 26.The CPM leader deplored that though the academic year had begun, several problems were being faced by the students, including non-availability of text books to the high school students and hike in hostel mess charges.Mr Rao said CPM State Secretary B V Raghavulu had written a letter to Chief Minister urging him to fill up vacant teacher posts, reduce hike in hostel mess charges and to stop removal of education volunteers. The CPM leader flanked by City Secretary R Raghu, released a wall poster for the publicity for the 4-day All India Convention of the CPM, to be held here from August 7 to 10, which would be attended by Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.
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Margood Hussain is new DRM for SCR

Hyderabad, Jul 21 : Margoob Hussain took over charge as the Divisional Railway Manager(DRM), Hyderabad Division of Sourth Central Railway (SCR) today, He has worked in various capacities in Indian Railways and has 28 years of rich and varied experience in the field of Electrical Engineering in Research, Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO ), Lucknow.He also worked in Kolkatta Metro in planning, design, control and execution of Electrical construction projects of Delhi, Metro Rail.Mr Hussain has also worked as Chief Personnel Officer, Kolkatta, Metro Rail and also worked as Senior Divisional Engineer in Eastern Railway. As DRM of Hyderabad Division he will head the functioning of Hyderabad Division including train operations, maintenance of assets, infrastructure, safety and punctuality of the trains, upkeep of assets and infrastructures, office buildings located at Hyderabad and in the section, according to a SCR release.
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Charges dropped, Naidu arrives in Hyderabad

Hyderabad/Aurangabad, July 20: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and his party colleagues returned to Hyderabad Tuesday night to a warm welcome by hundreds of supporters after the Maharashtra government dropped charges against him for attempting to visit a dam under construction in the state.The leaders arrived at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad on the city's outskirts in a chartered Air India aircraft from Aurangabad. Flashing the victory sign, Naidu stood in an open-top vehicle and waved to his supporters who had gathered in large numbers. Raising slogans of "Long live Naidu" and denouncing the Maharashtra government, TDP activists brought the former chief minister and other leaders to the city in a procession. Earlier Tuesday evening, there was high drama at the Aurangabad airport as Maharashtra police forcibly put Naidu and other TDP leaders on the 116-seater Airbus A-319 chartered aircraft. Most of Naidu's supporters stopped the aircraft by lying flat in front of it. Naidu also took a long time to board the aircraft," said an airport source in Aurangabad. "The policemen had to literally go to each of Naidu's supporters, physically lift him and urge him to board the airport," the source said. Official sources in Mumbai said the dropping of charges was prompted by state-wide protests against Naidu and the TDP's anti-Babli dam agitation. The TDP leaders, including Naidu, were arrested Friday when they entered Dharmabad town, around eight kilometres from the Maharashtra-Andhra Pradesh border in Nanded district, to protest against the Babli dam on Godavari river. They alleged that Maharashtra was building the dam illegally and this would deprive Andhra Pradesh of its due share of Godavari waters. Earlier Tuesday, Naidu and his supporters were moved from Dharmabad in Maharashtra's Nanded district to the Aurangabad Central Jail. They were remanded to judicial custody till July 26 but all charges against them were dropped by evening. Naidu's wife Bhuvaneswari, his son Lokesh and senior party leaders greeted Naidu and his colleagues at the Hyderabad airport. Police had a tough time controlling TDP workers who barged into the airport premises carrying party flags. The TDP leaders drove directly to a private hospital in Banjara Hills where those who were injured in caning by Maharashtra Police at Dharmabad in Nanded district Tuesday morning, will be treated. Some women legislators told reporters that they were ill-treated by the police during their detention at ITI Dharmabad since Friday. "I thought we will never return alive," said A. Madhava Reddy. Another legislator said they were put to untold hardships and were mercilessly beaten up by the police.
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Chandrababu and legislators return to Hyderabad sans Babli visit

Hyderabad, Jul 20 : Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu along with the 74 TDP-Lok Satta party delegation reached Hyderabad tonight on a Special Charted flight from Aurangabad after Maharashtra police foiled their bus trip to the controversail Babli project.The TDP group which was reportedly hustled in to vans at Dharmabad about 500 kms from here were driven another 350 kms to Aurangabad where they were put in to luxury buses and were persuaded by the top Maharashtra police officials to take the Special Charted flight to Hyderabad.The TDP delegation reached Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at about 2300 hours which large number of party activists receiving them at Shamshabad.Mr Naidu then went in a rally in an open jeep to a Corporate Hospital about 22 kms from Shamshabad where he underwent a medical check.Mr Naidu along with other TDP members announced tonight that they would sit in dharna infront of the Gandhi statue at state assembly tomorrow.
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