Andhra Pradesh student alleges sexual assault by school principal

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Two TDP leaders hacked to death

Hyderabad, July 24 : Two leaders of the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), who were brothers, were hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Andhra Pradesh's Kadapa district in a case of fational killings, police said Saturday.Vishwanath Reddy and Maheshwar Reddy, both brothers and local leaders of the TDP, were murdered late Friday in Nakkaladinne in Kadapa. A woman was also injured in the attack. Some unidentified people, who came in a car, barged into the house of the two brothers after midnight and attacked them with sickles and other sharp-edged weapons, an official said. Police suspect it to be case of factional killings. Eight people of a rival faction have been booked and searches are on to find them, the official said. Kadapa is a part of Rayalaseema region, notorious for factional killings. The factions fighting for domination in villages kill their rivals mercilessly. The factions are supported either by the Congress or by TDP.
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State govt used force to crush democratic rights:Naidu

Hyderabad, Jul 23 : Telugu Desam Party(TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu today alleged that the ruling Congress government was using force to crush people's democratic rights and suppress the opposition's voice. Addressing newspersons at the Osmania General Hospital where some of his party workers were undergoing treatment for injuries suffered during the lathicharge at the Andhra-Maharashtra border on Babli issue on July 20, he lambasted the Rosaiah government for trying to suppress the people of the state while adopting a 'soft' approach towards the Maharashtra government. Describing the lathicharge as 'illegal and inhuman', he alleged that police had deliberately used force on TDP workers on the instructions of the Congress government.He said his party had been fighting for the welfare of the people for the last 18 years. He enquired about the health of Karimnagar corporator O Ramesh, corporator and town president Ashok, ST Cell President G Sudhakar, BC cell President Raj Kumar and Vice President K Krishna, who were admitted to hospital after being injured in the lathicharge. The TDP leaders were protesting against the treatment meted out to Mr Naidu and his team members by Maharashtra police while shifting them from Dharmabad ITI to Aurangabad.Mr Naidu also visited the Apollo Hospital at Jubilee Hills where he inquired about the health of former MP Ramakrishna Reddy. He was accompanied by TDP leaders Nagam Janardhan Reddy, Muzzafar Ali Khan and others.
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EC expresses displeasure on KCR's remarks

Hyderabad, Jul 23 : The Election Commission today expressed displeasure to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K Chandrasekhara Rao on his provocative statements during his election campaign for the July 27 bypoll in 12 constituencies in the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh.''It was not satisfied with his explanation regarding these statements and is of the considered view that he as a responsible political leader, should not have made such statements in public, which can aggravate the existing differences between different sections of the society, during the period when by-elections to 12 Assembly Constituencies in Andhra pradesh Legislative Assembly are under way,'' it said.The Election Commission advised him to be more cautious in future so that no provision of Model Code of conduct was violated in letter and spirit, according to a Election Commission statement.
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Rape accused school director sent to jail

Hyderabad, July 23 : A city court Friday sent the director an international school to judicial custody for 14 days on charges of raping a Class 11 student as another girl student filed a police complaint accusing him of sexually exploiting her.Salahuddin Ayub, director of Parkwood International School, was produced before a magistrate at Nampally Criminal Court complex, who remanded him in judicial custody till Aug 5. Earlier, police sent the accused to Osmania General Hospital, where his blood samples were collected for scientific tests. Ayub told reporters at the hospital that he is innocent. "I will speak out at appropriate time," he said. Even as Ayub denied the allegations, another student has lodged a complaint with the police that the principal had tried to sexually exploit her. Sleuths of the Central Crime Station (CCS) continued investigations into the complaint by a student from Mumbai that Ayub raped her repeatedly during the past few months. The family lodged a complaint after she became pregnant. The girl complained that the director lured her to his penthouse on the premises of the residential school on March 10 and raped her after offering her a soft drink laced with some drug. She alleged that he again raped her a few days later by threatening her with a revolver and also blackmailed her by taking her nude pictures on his mobile phone. For the second day, student bodies and parents staged protests outside the school at Manneguda in Vikarabad, about 50 km from here. They demanded that that the Central Board of Secondary Education derecognize the school. Students gathered in large numbers and staged road blockade on Vikarabad-Pargi road. Tension prevailed at the school as parents of many students demanded transfer certificates of their wards. They also wanted their fees to be paid back. Meanwhile, school principal and director Ayesha Tanveer told reporters that the school would re-open July 27. She urged the government to ensure that the school functions in a smooth manner. She defended Ayub saying he is innocent. "The court will decide whether he is guilty or not," she added.
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Andhra to seek PM's intervention on dam row with Maharashtra

Hyderabad, July 23 : All political parties of Andhra Pradesh Friday unanimously decided to seek Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to stop the "illegal" construction of the Babhali dam by Maharashtra across the Godavari river.An all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister K. Rosaiah resolved to submit a memorandum to the prime minister July 26, urging him to protect the interests of lower-riparian states, especially of Andhra Pradesh. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshamaiah said the meeting decided to bring to the notice of the prime minister that the project being built by Maharashtra in violation of river water sharing agreements would prove detrimental to the interests of Andhra Pradesh. He said the prime minister would be urged to suggest a permanent solution to the problem and to ensure that upper-riparian states do not resort to steps which prove detrimental to the interests of lower-riparian states. The meeting was called to evolve a consensus before the all-party delegation visits Delhi to meet the prime minister. The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) did not participate in the meeting protesting the decision of the government to allow only one representative from each party. Its leaders came out after submitting a memorandum to the chief minister. TDP demanded that Maharashtra should stop the construction of the Babhali dam and 13 other projects being illegally built by it across Godavari. Leaders of the Congress, the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Lok Satta attended the meeting. The meeting also passed a resolution condemning the Maharashtra Police's ill-treatment to TDP leaders who had gone to visit Babhali last week. The meeting, however, felt that as a large number of Telugus reside in Maharashtra, there was a need to ensure that the problems were sorted out in an amicable way. The row over Babhali had created tension last week when Maharashtra Police arrested TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and 74 other party leaders while proceeding towards the dam. They were kept in judicial custody for two week before being forcibly sent back to Hyderabad by a chartered flight. To counter the TDP's move, the Shiv Sena Thursday took out a march towards the Salura project across the Manjira river in Andhra Pradesh but were prevented by Maharashtra Police from crossing the river. The Shiv Sena says the project has come up on Maharashtra's territory.
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Satyam scam: Examination of Raju, others adjourned to July 26

Hyderabad, July 23 : A local court on Friday adjourned the case of examination of former Chairman of Satyam Computers B Ramalinga Raju through a questionnaire and nine other accused in the multi-crore financial scam to July 26.The XXI Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court also dismissed the application of Ch Srisailam to hear the accused before examination and framing of charges.Magistrate BVLN Chakravarti, in his orders said the application is devoid of any merits and liable to be dismissed.The court wants to examine all the accused with regard to the allegations mentioned against them by the CBI in two separate chargesheets before commencing the trial.Apart from Raju, other accused include -- Ramaraju, V Srinivas, Gopalakrishnan, T Srinivas, B Suryanarayana Raju, G Ramakrishna, D Venkatapathi Raju, Srisailam Chetkuru and VSP Gupta.The Andhra Pradesh High Court had on January 18 dismissed a revision petition of Raju and two others, challenging a lower court''s order remanding them to police custody. Raju, who resigned as chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. has been charged for his role in a Rs 7,100 crore financial scam.
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Rain in AP

Hyderabad, Jul 23 : Rain occurred at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rayalaseema regions of the state,Sirpur (Adilabad district) recorded a heavy rainfall of 7 cm, Met department said today.The other chief amounts of rainfall recorded in cm are Mudhol (Adilabad district) 6, Palasa (Srikakulam district) 5, Parvathipuram (Vizianagaram district) 4, Ichapuram, Mandasa and Ranasthalam (all Srikakulam district) 3 each, Araku Valley (Visakhapatnam district), Mahabubabad (Warangal district) and Yellandu (Khammam district) 2 each and Achampet, Kalwakurthy and Nagarkurnool (all Mahabubnagar district), Dummagudem (Khammam district), Metpalli (Karimnagar district), Narayanakhed (Medak district), Narsampet (Warangal district), Navipet (Nizamabad district), Nirmal (Adilabad district), Paleru Bridge (Krishna district), Pulivendala (Cuddapah district) and Tanuku (West Godavari district) one each.Light to moderate rain/thundershowers may occur at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Isolated rain or thundershowers would occur over Rayalaseema.Sky condition would be generally cloudy. One or two spells of rain/thundershowers may occur in parts of city. Maximum and Minimum temperatures would be around 31 and 23 degrees Celsius respectively.
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