US' Maryland signs sister state agreement with Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, Nov 28 : US state Maryland Monday signed a sister state agreement with Andhra Pradesh, the first such agreement with any Indian state.On the first day of his visit to India, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed the agreement with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.The agreement is expected to help in collaboration in various sectors like life sciences, biotechnology and information technology."We hope there will be many opportunities for our two states to collaborate in business, trade, agriculture, education and health," said O'Malley.The Maryland leader, who began six-day visit to India Monday, is leading a 100-member delegation including business leaders, educators and elected officials from his state, situated on the US' east coast."Our states have tremendous in common. We are home to major ports and have strong agriculture traditions and agriculture economies," he said.Describing Andhra Pradesh as one of the most progressive states in India, O'Malley pointed out that both Andhra Pradesh and Maryland were strong in life sciences, biotechnology, IT, cyber security and pharmaceuticals.
Kiran Kumar Reddy said the two states could have greater cooperation in the area of agriculture to improve productivity and to leverage technology for providing better services to people.The chief minister said his government was focusing on education and on employability of the youth passing out of colleges.Earlier, the Maryland governor witnessed signing of three agreements between Maryland and Indian companies.The agreements include one between ANGARAI, a Greenbelt-based management consulting firm and Chennai-based product development company CI to pursue opportunities in mobile and web applications.Rockville-based Sheladia Associates, an engineering, architecture and development company signed an agreement with two Indian firms, SaiMatarani Toll Ways Ltd and Gayatri Projects Ltd.Sheladia will provide design and project management services valued at USD 3.7 million for upgrading Panikoili-Rimouli section of national highway 215 to a four-lane facility.
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Andhra speaker rejects resignations of 61 lawmakers

Hyderabad, Nov 28 : Andhra Pradesh assembly Speaker N. Manohar Monday accepted resignations of four lawmakers from the Telangana region but rejected resignations of 61 other legislators, including those belonging to the ruling Congress but loyal to the YSR Congress party.The speaker accepted resignations of three legislators of the Congress and one of the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), all of them from the Telangana region, who quit their respective parties to join the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).The legislators whose resignations were accepted include former minister J. Krishna Rao, G. Goverdhan and T. Rajaiah, who quit the Congress to join the TRS early this month. The resignation of TDP's Jogu Ramanna, who switched loyalty to the TRS, was also accepted.In a decision, which is likely to trigger uproar during the winter session beginning Dec 1, the speaker rejected resignations of 61 others but did not take any decision on the resignations of 14 others.A total of 81 lawmakers belonging to the Congress, the TDP and the TRS submitted their resignations for various reasons during the last three months.In all, 53 lawmakers from the Telangana region, including 32 of the TDP, 12 of the TRS and four of the Congress, had submitted their resignations demanding separate statehood to the region.Twenty-eight other lawmakers, including 26 of ruling party and loyal to Jaganmohan Reddy, quit protesting the attempts to link late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to alleged irregularities in land allotments by his government.The speaker accepted the resignations of two rebel legislators of the TDP Nov 12 from the 294-member assembly.While N. Janardhana Reddy had resigned on the Telangana issue, Prasanna Kumar Reddy had joined Jaganmohan Reddy's group.
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Woman IAS officer sent to judicial custody

Hyderabad, Nov 29 : A special CBI court Tuesday remanded Andhra Pradesh IAS officer Y. Srilakshmi to judicial custody till Dec 12 in an illegal mining case involving former Karnataka minister G. Janardhana Reddy's Obulapuram Mining Co (OMC).The court sent her to CBI custody for three days. The judge directed the CBI to produce her again before the court on the evening of Dec 1.Srilakshmi, presently family welfare commissioner in the state, was arrested Monday evening.The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official, the fourth accused in the case, allegedly favoured OMC by granting iron ore licence when she was secretary in charge of mines in the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy government.The CBI sought her custody for 15 days on the ground that it wanted to question her regarding various aspects of the case. The CBI counsel said it needed to gather more information about her role and the involvement of other public servants.Srilakshmi's counsel opposed the investigating agency's plea and pointed out that she always cooperated in the probe by making herself available for questioning whenever she was summoned.The court sent her to CBI custody for three days while remanding her judicial custody till Dec 12. The CBI sleuths later shifted her to the CBI office at Koti for questioning.The investigating officers claim to have evidence that Srilakshmi granted iron ore mining lease for 68.5 hectares at Obulpuram in Anantapur district to OMC in violation of rules.The 1988 batch officer, the wife of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer M. Gopalakrishna, is facing charges of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy and cheating.A visibly shattered Srilakshmi reportedly remained awake through the night in CBI custody. Claiming innocence, she told CBI officials that she signed the files under pressure.She is the second official to be arrested in the case.Janardhana Reddy and OMC Managing Director B.V. Srinivasa Reddy were arrested from Bellary in Karnataka Sep 5. Former mines director V.D. Rajagopal was arrested Nov 13. All the three are lodged in Chanchalguda Central Jail.The IAS officer's arrest came days before the Dec 3 deadline for the CBI to file chargesheet in the case.The case against OMC was registered in 2009 for illegal mining in Anantapur district bordering Karnataka.
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