Andhra’s interests not compromised on Babhali: Rosaiah

Hyderabad,July,04, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K.Rosaiah Tuesday denied that he compromised the interests of the state on the Babhali barrage dispute during a meeting with his Maharashtra counterpart in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.Addressing a news conference Tuesday evening, he said Andhra Pradesh would continue to pursue the contempt of court case filed in the Supreme Court against Maharashtra for not abiding by its interim order.“At the same time the two states will continue their efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution to the problem,” Rosaiah said.The chief minister said it was the opinion of the central government that both the states should abide by the Supreme Court order on the dispute. He said the central government had also directed the Maharashtra government to clarify Andhra Pradesh’s doubts on 13 other projects being built by it across Godavari river.Rosaiah denied the allegation by Leader of Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu that he compromised the state’s interests during the meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and the prime minister in New Delhi Monday.He, however, declined to reveal details of the meeting, saying it was not proper to do so.Rosaiah said the prime minister directed Union Minister for Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal to hold a meeting with ministers and officials of the two states to follow-up on the meeting held Monday.Earlier, Naidu told reporters that Rosaiah compromised the state’s interests during the meeting to save his “chair”. He pointed out that Maharashtra had already violated the Supreme Court’s interim order in the case by going ahead with the Babhali barrage across the Godavari.The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief, who along with other party leaders was arrested by Maharashtra police recently for marching towards Babhali, wanted Rosaiah to reveal the details of the meeting.“Will Maharashtra stop the construction of 13 other illegal projects being built by it. Has Mr.Rosaiah raised this issue in the meeting and what was the response of Maharashtra and the prime minister?” asked Naidu.Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) chief K. Chiranjeevi also said the meeting was not satisfactory. He too urged Rosaiah to call an all-party meeting and reveal the details of his discussions in Delhi.Andhra Pradesh argues that Babhali dam will deprive the state of its rightful share of Godavari waters.
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Andhra government awards L and T Hyderabad Metro project

Hyderabad, Aug 4: The Andhra Pradesh government Wednesday awarded the Rs.12,132 crore Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project to leading construction group Larsen and Toubro (L and T).A cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister K.Rosaiah, approved selection of L and T as the developer of the project and decided to release Rs.500 crore as the state government's share in the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for the Metro, Information and Public Relations Minister Geeta Reddy said. The foundation stone of the project will be laid in January and the entire project is expected to be completed in five years. A three-member evaluation committee, which evaluated the financial bids, had submitted its recommendations to the government. The recommendations were examined by law and finance departments and the same were placed before the cabinet for awarding the project to the lowest bidder. Rosaiah recently said the project would be developed as a role model and would have more advanced features than Delhi metro. The elevated metro system will have state of the art features like foolproof signalling system, air conditioned coaches, stations with escalators and lifts, and air conditioned feeder bus services. The project will cover high density traffic corridors of Hyderabad spanning over 71 km - Miyapur-LB Nagar (28.87 km); JBS-Falaknuma (14.78 km); and Nagole-Shilparamam (27.51 km). Out of six companies that bid for the project, L and T emerged as the lowest bidder seeking Rs.1,458 crore, the least from the government in terms of VGF. The central government had agreed to give Rs.2,363 under VGF. The authorities called for fresh global bids last year after scrapping the deal with Maytas, a sister-concern of scam-hit Satyam Computer Services, as it failed to achieve financial closure.
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Govt committed to build citizen-centric info system:CM

Hyderabad, Aug 4 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah today said his government was committed to build a citizen-centric, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society where everyone can create, access and utilise knowledge in a seamless manner to achieve full potential in promoting sustainable development thereby improving the quality of life.Addressing a gathering on the inauguration of three-day e-India 2010 here, he claimed Andhra Pradesh was pioneer in e-Governance and making available the services to common man in a transparent, simple and efficient manner. He cited the examples of a few successful e-Governance projects of the State like e-Seva (electronic delivery of citizen services) and computerised registration of immovable property documents (CARD).Andhra Pradesh had emerged as a State providing the right climate for the growth of IT business and is now one of the most preferred destinations in the country, he further claimed.
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Another woman dies of swine flu in Andhra

Hyderabad, Aug 4 : Another pregnant woman died of swine flu in Andhra Pradesh Wednesday, taking the toll to 18 since June this year.The woman died at King George Hospital in coastal city of Visakhapatanam. She was undergoing treatment at the hospital for the last few days and was from Araku valley, doctors said. Two women have died of the virus in as many days. Nine of the 18 dead so far have been pregnant women. This is the fourth death due to swine flu in Visakhapatnam during the last one-and-half months. The latest death was reported a day after a woman died in Hyderabad. Asma Begum, 38, a resident of old city of Hyderabad, died at the Gandhi Hospital. Ten fresh cases of swine flu were also reported in the state Tuesday. Eight of them were women. Five of the fresh cases were reported in the state capital. According to K.Subhakar, the state nodal officer for swine flu, the number of swine flu cases this year had gone up to 177. As many as 167 cases were reported since June 1. The health authorities are concerned over rapid spread of swine flu in Hyderabad, its suburbs and in north coastal Andhra. Subhakar said the virus could spread rapidly during monsoon and winter. He, however, assured people that there was no need for panic. The health officials claimed that all precautionary measures were being taken to check the spread of the virus. Concerned over the spurt in swine flu cases, Chief Minister K.Rosaiah has directed the officials to make sufficient stocks of medicines available all over the state, particularly in district hospitals and primary health centres. However, the chief minister called upon the people not to panic and contact the nearest hospital or doctor in case of swine flu symptoms. As many as 54 people died of swine flu in the state last year. Nearly 800 cases were reported. The first swine flu case in India was detected at Hyderabad airport May 16 last year. Most of the deaths were reported in September-October.
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Woman's body found in suitcase in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Aug 3 : The body of a middle aged woman dumped in a suitcase was found under a flyover near Mehdipatnam on the busy thoroughfare of the city today.As the suitcase was lying under flyover, people raise an alarm and then police and bomb squad reached the site. Bomb squad finally opened the suitcase and were surprised to find the body of the woman stuffed inside.The limbs of the woman were tied and her face was smeared with ink apparently to hide her identity.Police sent the body for autopsy and investigation is on to identify the victim.
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