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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