Rail Roko: 27 cases booked against agitators

Hyderabad, Jul 14 : As many as 27 cases were registered and 598 people arrested during the 12-hrs rail roko agitation that started from 0600 hours, called by Telagana Political JAC in Telangana region today.In a release, Director General (Law and Order) M Ratan said the local police booked 18 cases under preventive sections and took the agitators in custody while the GRP and the RPF booked nine cases for trespassing and obstructing movement of trains.The overall situation remained under control, he said, adding that the deloyment of the GRP and RPF was made to ensure safety of railway tracks and movement of trains since last evening. Because of the measures taken in advance, the agitators were unable to stop Hyderabad-Nanded Passenger train at Maraspet in Medak District last night and as they were taken into custody and the train could reach Hyderabad, he claimed.The South Central Railways(SCR) had rescheduled more than two dozen trains and had made arrangements for transportation of stranded passengers by APRTC buses from the places where some of the trains had been terminated after 0600 hours while the MMTS services between Secunderabad and Lingampally were operated during the day,About 17 passenger trains and 12 goods trains were detained for different spans of time by the agitators while most of these could reach their destinations with some delay and some long distance trains like Ernakulam-Patna Express, Darbhanga-Bangalore Express and Nizamuddin-VSP Link Express had to wait at Kazipet, Yeluguru and Nekonda, respectively, till evening, when normal running of trains resumed, he added.
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48-hour Telangana shutdown may hit normal life

Hyderabad, July 4 : Normal life in Hyderabad and nine other districts of Telangana is likely to come to a standstill Tuesday and Wednesday even as the government is gearing up to tackle 48-hour shutdown called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) in a bid to intensify its agitation for a separate state.Buses may go off the roads as state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) is likely to suspend all its services across the region as a precautionary measure. APSRTC officials have already announced that bus services between Vijayawada and the Telangana region would be suspended from Monday midnight.The South Central Railway (SCR) has announced suspension of Multi Modal Transit System (MMTS) or local trains in Hyderabad. Autorickshaw drivers have also decided not operate three-wheelers in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad in support of the demand for a separate state.Long queues were seen at petrol bunks as people resorted to panic buying. At many petrol bunks, "no stock" boards were displayed.All universities, colleges and schools in the region are also likely to remain closed as students have been actively participating in the separate Telangana movement.Hyderabad Commissioner of Police A. K. Khan has imposed orders banning gathering of people on roads, meetings and rallies. Prohibitory orders would be strictly in force around the assembly complex, the state secretariat, Raj Bhavan and other vital installations.Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy reviewed the situation with his deputy Damodar Raja Narasimha, some cabinet colleagues and senior police officials. He directed the officials to take all necessary steps to ensure that general public is not put to hardships.The JAC, which is spearheading the movement for separate Telangana state, has called for a series of protests starting with the shutdown to demand that the central government table a bill on the issue in the monsoon session of parliament.The JAC, which comprises the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other political and non-political groups, has also called for a rail blockade July 8 and 9.TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao appealed to people to make the 48-hour shutdown a total success. He also urged central and state government employees, teachers, lawyers and workers of state-owned Singareni Collieries to participate in the strike.JAC convenor M. Kodandaram appealed to the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party and all mass organisations to make the shutdown a huge success.Unions representing employees of APSRTC and the electricity board, who are part of the JAC, have announced their participation in the shutdown.KCR,  as Rao is popularly known, said the protest would continue till the central government honours its commitment made on Dec 9, 2009, to carve out a separate Telangana state,Appealing to all sections of people to participate in the protest, KCR said the rail blockade would snap the rail link between south and north India.Telangana students will take out rallies July 6 and 7 in villages, towns and district headquarters while cook-and-eat protests, whereby people from all walks of life will set up kitchens on roads, cook food and eat there, will be held across the region on July 10.
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Telangana will become fireball, warns TRS chief

Hyderabad, July 4 : Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao has warned that Telangana will turn into a fireball from Tuesday if statehood was not given to the region even after the mass resignations of public representatives.He cautioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against going back on his Dec 9, 2009 promise to carve out a separate Telangana state.Addressing a gathering at the site of the hunger strike by four rebel legislators of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), KCR, as Rao is known, said Monday that the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was inevitable. He advised intellectuals and public representatives of Andhra and Rayalaseema regions not to create any hurdles."If you create any further hurdles, you will be responsible for the consequences," he said.KCR said if the mass resignations failed to achieve the goal of a separate state, the movement could take a violent turn like in 1969. "Telangana will become a fireball from tomorrow. We will block roads and railway lines and bring everything to a halt," he said.The TRS chief said the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) would chalk out the protest programme.The state witnessed a spate of resignations over the issue Monday with 36 legislators of the ruling Congress and 33 from the TDP quitting over the issue of statehood.
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Congress MPs from Telangana resign

New Delhi, July 4 : Pressing for creation of a separate state of Telangana, Congress MPs from the region in Andhra Pradesh Monday resigned from parliament."Nine MPs from Lok Sabha have submitted their resignation to the Speaker and one from Rajya Sabha to the chairman," Congress MP K. Keshava Rao told reporters outside parliament. The MPs came to Delhi to build pressure on the party-led United Progressive Alliance government to concede their demand for creation of a separate Telangana state.
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11 Ministers, 29 Cong, 33 TDP MLAs quit on 'T' issue

Hyderabad, Jul 4: As many as 11 Ministers and 29 Congress MLAs submitted their resignation papers to Andhra Pradesh Assembly Deputy Speaker in a bid to exert pressure on the Centre for a separate Telangana StateAmong the 11 Ministers who submitted resignation letters to Deputy Speaker Mallu Batti Vikramarka included K Jana Reddy, K Venkat Reddy and Dr J Geeta Reddy.Thirty-three MLAs from the principal Opposition party, the TDP, led by Mr Yarlappali Dayakar Rao, also submitted resignation letters to the Deputy Speaker as Speaker Nadendla Manohar was currently abroad.Of the 33 TDP MLAs, two of them who were abroad had faxed the resignation letters to the Deputy Speaker, TDP sources said.Earlier, former Minister P Janardhana Reddy's son and Jubilee Hills MLA Vishnuvardhan Reddy of the Congress this morning submitted his resignation to the Andhra Pradesh Deputy Speaker in support of the demand for separate Telangana State. ===================================================

Two Telangana ministers head to Delhi for talks

Hyderabad, July 4 : Two senior Andhra Pradesh ministers, K. Jana Reddy and Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Monday left for Delhi for talks with the Congress leadership on the issue of statehood to Telangana.Immediately after submitting their resignations, along with other ministers and legislators, to the deputy speaker of the assembly, the ministers left for the national capital to join their party MPs from the region in the talks with the leadership.Nine MPs from Telangana are already in Delhi to submit their resignations to press their demand for formation of a separate Telangana state.Jana Reddy, who is leading the Telangana ministers and legislators, wanted the MPs to wait till they arrive in Delhi for talks.The Congress leadership has called MPs and legislators for talks to resolve the Telangana issue. Though the ministers and legislators received the invite in the morning, they decided to go ahead with submitting their resignations before any talks.Jana Reddy denied that their action was a defiance of the party leadership. He claimed that the resignations were in fact to save and strengthen the party in Telangana.The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh plunged into crisis with 36 legislators from the party and all 33 from the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) quitting over the Telangana issue.
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Arvind Kejriwal meets Telugu Desam Party President on Lokpal Bill

Hyderabad, Jul 2 : To garner support for the Jan Lokpal Bill, a Civil Society team led by its activist Arvind Kejriwal today met Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu here.Mr Kejriwal, who met Mr Naidu at his residence also requested him to lend his party's support for mounting pressure on the Centre to bring the Prime Minister under the ambit of the Lokpal.He said it was an illusion that the Jan Lokpal would run parallel to the Judiciary and the government.The civil society activist also said in other countries the CBI and CEC functioned independently. But it was not so in India.He said Mr Naidu told him that there were some dangerous clauses in the bill and added the activists were meeting peoples' representatives as they will be instrumental in getting the bill passed in Parliament.The Civil Society team's visit to the city from New Delhi and meeting Mr Naidu assumed significance as the Centre had called for an all-party meet on Lokpal bill in New Delhi tomorrow.
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Andhra Pradesh youth give up traditional weaving work

Pochampally (Andhra Pradesh), July 2 : The traditional weaving work is slowly dying out in Pochampally, the biggest silk and cotton-weaving center in Andhra Pradesh, as the younger generation has given up the traditional work considering the lack of profit margins and government support.The increasing rates of silk yarns resulted in the hike in prices of silk sarees, but the traditional weavers failed to reap the profits. "My father is doing this weaving work since his childhood, but his earning is not sufficient to fulfill the needs of the family. So, I don''t want to take up his profession. But I am helping him these days by working with him part time after my college," said Bhaskar, the son of a weaver.The weavers here complain that despite working for the entire day, they manage to earn just hundred rupees in a day, which is too less for them."There is no profit left in this work. We work for entire day and earn just Rs. 120-130, which is problematic. I don''t want my children to take this profession in future. Day by day this traditional work is decreasing and soon it will vanish," said P Buchibabu, a traditional weaver."It is a difficult work with more labour and less profit. The government says that they are funding for it, but nothing has been given to us as yet," he added.Backing their children, some traditional weavers said that they couldn''t take up any other profession due to lack of knowledge. However, their children have many options, which would be more profitable for them.Pochampally is a hub of Ikkat fabrics, an ancient way of creating design by tying and dying. It has come a long way from an ordinary weaving village to a popular centre for cotton and silk tie and dye. Large numbers of weavers here are engaged in creating variety of Ikkat fabrics, which is a lengthy craftwork that requires fixing of the design and pattern before the warp and weft are coloured.
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Telangana Congress lawmakers firm on resignations

Hyderabad, July 2 : Andhra Pradesh's ruling Congress party Saturday began efforts to dissuade its parliament and state legislature members from the Telangana region from resigning Monday, but they ruled out going back on their decision unless the central government agrees to their demand for a separate Telangana state.According to party sources, state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana met ministers and MPs from the region and urged them to reconsider their decision. He said their move would only create a crisis and not help in solving the issue.Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy also held separate talks with ministers, including K. Jana Reddy, Sudershan Reddy and Basvaraj Saraiah, and urged them to act with restraint.The MPs, state ministers and legislators from the Telangana region Friday decided to submit their resignations Monday. The legislators of main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from Telangana also announced they too would quit the same day.Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member K. Keshava Rao and Lok Sabha members G. Vivek and Ponnam Prabhakar ruled out going back on their decision.Stating that resignations alone will not help in achieving the goal of separate Telangana state, Keshava Rao told reporters that they will actively participate in the movement.He also found fault with party leader Gulam Nabi Azad's statement that consensus needed to be evolved over the issue. "The entire parliament is for Telangana. All the major parties have already supported the demand," Keshava Rao said, adding that consensus was evolved through consultations over last one-and-half years.He said that after considering all aspects, the central government Dec 9, 2009, announced that the process for formation of separate Telangana state would be initiated. He also criticised the then chief minister K. Rosaiah for not moving a resolution in the assembly in line with the central government's announcement.Keshava Rao termed as "unwarranted" Azad's statement that the Telangana issue is linked to other states and other regional parties have to be consulted. "I need not go to parties in Meghalaya to discuss Telangana issue," he remarked.Addressing a meet-the-press programme organised by the Telangana Journalists' Forum, Keshava Rao said they decided to quit as a moral duty towards people and not to create a political or constitutional crisis.The Congress has 12 MPs and 50 members of assembly from the Telangana region.
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