Proposal to upgrade 6 municipalities into Corporations: Minister

Hyderabad, Jun 1: Andhra Pradesh Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Maheedar Reddy today said there were proposals to upgrade six municipalities into municipal corporations and some major gram panchayats into municipalities in the state.The proposals were under active considerations of the State Government, the Minister said in a press conferenc here.Announcing that 4,038 vacant posts in the municipal bodies would be filled in the next three months, he said the viability and public opinion on upgradation of panchayats as municipalities would be taken into consideration while taking a decision in the matter.Stating that it would not be possible to conduct elections to newly-formed municipalities along with the existing ones, the Minister said time would be required to conduct elections in newly-formed municipalities as there was a need to settle the reservations and other issues.The list of gram panchayats, to be upgraded into municipalities, would be announced before the release of election notification for Panchayat elections, he added.He said the government would present the details of census enumeration in urban bodies to the State Election Commission after it was completed by June 29.About 4,038 vacant posts in urban bodies would be filled within three months in a phased manner, the Minister said "we will try to fill these posts through APPSC to bring transparency in the recruitment".If the APPSC did not respond positively to the request of the State government for recruitment of the posts, an official Committee would be set up and seek help of the universities in conducting recruitment test, he added.
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Jagan asks party to be ready for snap polls

Hyderabad, June 1 : YSR Congress Party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy Wednesday asked his party leaders and cadre to be ready for snap polls to Andhra Pradesh assembly.Addressing a meeting of the central governing council of the party here, the Kadapa MP said the cadre should be ready for elections whenever they are held.His call has assumed significance as it came a day after the party claimed that it had the requisite number to pull down the Congress-led government and dared the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to move a no-trust motion.The TDP, on the other hand, has been challenging the son of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to first prove his party's strength before the governor.The leaders of the main opposition party said they were ready to vote against the government if the governor calls a special session of the assembly.The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has also stated that it would support a no-trust motion moved by any party.The ruling Congress, which has 156 members in 294-member house, is confident of facing the no-trust motion with support from the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), which has 18 legislators and has announced its merger with the former. The government is also confident of support from Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has seven legislators.It was still not clear as to how many Congress legislators were with Jagan, as Jaganmohan Reddy is popularly known.Soon after he quit the Congress in November last year, he claimed to have the support of as many as two dozen legislators but the number dwindled after the Congress won back some rebels and also warned others of disqualification.The TDP has 88 legislators while the TRS tally stands at 11.For the second day, Jagan held talks with members of his party's governing council and his close aides. He told them that it was the right time to build the party from the grassroots levels.The young leader, who floated the party in March, retained the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency last month with a record margin of over 500,000 votes while his mother Vijayalaxmi retained Pulivendula assembly constituency.
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SCR to run 8 Spl trains to Jaipur for Urs-E-Shareef Hazrath Khawja Moinuddin Chishti

Hyderabad, Jun 1 : South Central Railway (SCR) will run eight Special Trains to Jaipur from Hyderabad, Kacheguda and Ongole/Machilipatnam to clear extra rush of pilgrims traffic attending annual Urs-E-shareef of Hazrat Khawja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.A release from SCR said here today, Train No 07125 Hyderabad-Jaipur Special Train will depart Hyderabad at 2030 hrs on June 3 and arrive Jaipur at 0615 hrs on June 5.In the return direction, Train No 07126 Ajmer-Hyderabad Special train will depart Ajmer at 1815 hrs on June 10 and arrive Hyderabad at 0730 hrs on June 12.Train No 07129 Kacheguda-Jaipur Special will depart Kacheguda at 2030 hrs on June 5 and arrive Jaipur at 0615 hrs on June 7.In return direction, Train No 07130 Ajmer-Kacheguda Special train will depart Ajmer at 1930 hrs on June 11 and will arrive Kacheguda at 0700 hrs on June 13.Train No 07227 Ongole-Jaipur Special train will depart Ongole at 0900 hrs on June 4 and arrive Jaipur at 0240 hrs on June 6.
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GHMC bill collector in Anti-Corruption Bureau net

Hyderabad, June 1: Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) today caught red handed Mohd Rafi (29), Bill Collector, GHMC when he demanded and accepted Rs. 2,500 as bribe from the complainant for processing the file relating to changing the owner`s name in the property documents.The tainted amount of Rs. 2,500 was recovered from Mr Rafi after chemical test yielded positive results, a release from ACB here said.Mr Rafi was being arrested and would be produced before the Additional Special Judge for SPE and A.C.B. Cases, Hyderabad, the release said.
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Indian Journalists Union condemns Shahzad killing

Hyderabad, Jun 1 : The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) today strongly condemned the brutal murder of prominent Pakistani Journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad.The Pakistani journalist went missing in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad on Sunday and his dead body with marks of torture was found in Punjab province yesterday.In a joint statement, IJU Secretary-General K Sreenivas Reddy, President-elect S N Sinha and Secretary-General-elect Devulapalli Amar said there was strong suspicion that Mr Shahzad was kidnapped, tortured and killed by the notorious Pakistani Spy Agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as he exposed chinks in the Agency and its handling of the recent attack on naval base, PNS Mehran in Karachi.Shahzad, the Pakistani Bureau Chief of the Asia Times Online, was an expert in reporting about terrorists and their activities and in the past, the ISI picked him up and interrogated him on his writings, they said."This was an attack on the freedom of expression in Pakistan and we call upon the journalists' community and all those who cherish the freedom of the press in India to rally round the Pakistani journalists in the fight against the tyranny and attacks on the freedom of the press and the practitioners of journalism," they said.They demanded that the Pakistani authorities should investigate the case thoroughly and bring the killers of the journalists to book, the statement added.
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Prostitution racket bust, pimp held, 2 sex workers rescued

Hyderabad, Jun 1: Sleuths of Commissioner's Task Force, North Zone Team today conducted raid on a private hotel at Amerpet and apprehended a pimp and rescued two sex workers.Police seized Rs 9000 and two cell phones from their possession, a release said.Police said Mohan Jadav (26), an Automobile Engineer of Borabanda, here and a native of Bangalore, was working as a driver with Amith and Rohit.At the instigation of Amith, he started brothel business in Hyderabad.Amith and Rohit were doing brothel business through websites. offering contact details of agents/pimps in various cities in India.Mohan Jadav also took a room at the hotel and was conducting brothel business clandestinely with two sex workers supplied by Amith and Rohan.
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Rowdy-sheeter murdered by his rival group

Hyderabad, Jun 1 : Two persons including rowdy-sheeter and his associate were murdered when they were attacked by a sharp knife at a function hall located at Kishenbagh in the old city here today.According to police here, deceased rowdy-sheeter was identified as Azaj. He along with his two associates has gone to attend a marriage function when suddenly unidentified assailants attacked them with a sharp knife and killing Azaj on the spot. His associate Imran succumbed to injuries at Osmania Government hospital.Another associate Isman, who also injured in the attack, is also admitted to Osmania hospital, where his condition was stated to be serious, police said.Old rivary between the two groups is stated to be the reason for the incident.
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