Andhra Police arrest another Maoist Central Committee member

Mahbubnagar (Andhra Pradesh), June 14 : In another major success for anti-Naxal operations in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the security forces have arrested Maoist Central Committee member and Karnataka committee chief Chandrashekhar Gorebal.Gorebal was arrested near Aija village of Mahbubnagar District in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. According to police, two other top Maoist leaders--Takkelapalli Vasudeva Rao alias Ashanna and Kanumukkala Ramesh alias Vijay managed to escape during the raid. All the three Naxal leaders are members of the Maoist Military Commission and the Central Action Team. Police have recovered one carbine gun, two pairs of Andhra Pradesh Police uniforms, one GPS set, walky-talky and a radio set from Gorebal. Earlier, intelligence agencies alerted both states about Maoists' plan to carry out violent activities at many places along the Karnataka- Andhra Pradesh border. Police claimed that all these three Naxals planed to carry out attacks on political leaders of both states by using police uniform. Gorebal, 45, who hails from Mudiyanur village in Koppal District of Karnataka, holds a postgraduate degree in Economics and was a lecturer in Sindhanur Government College of Karnataka's Raichur District before joining Maoists ranks.Gorebal went underground in 2004. He was earlier member of the Karnataka Vimochana Ranga (Karnataka Liberation Front) active along Hyderabad-Karnataka region. Three of his students from Sindhanur College--Hajima, Shivalingu and Chinnappa, who were drawn towards the Maoists ideology, were killed in three different encounters in last seven years. Meanwhile, the Karnataka Police has sent a team to Andhra Pradesh to seek Gorebal's custody. Earlier this month, Police arrested Nandakumar the Maoists Karnataka state committee secretary, and senior leader Neelaguli Padmanabh.
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Nine killed in wall collapse in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, June 14 : At least nine people were killed and 20 others injured when the wall of a vegetable market collapsed Monday in Andhra Pradesh's Mahabubnagar district, police said.The accident took place at Gadwal town. The dead include three women and a child. Rescue work is on as some more victims are feared trapped under the debris. The incident occurred when the municipal vegetable market was crowded with buyers. Eye witnesses said the wall had weakened due to rain during the last three days.Chief Minister K.Rosaiah announced a probe into the incident. Minister for Small Scale Industries D.K.Aruna, who hails from the same area, has reached Gadwal.
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SW monsoon covers entire AP

Hyderabad,Jun 14: Southwest monsoon today covered entire Andhra Pradesh, with rain occurring at many places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and at a few places over Telangana while isolated rain were experienced over Rayalaseema.Gajapathinagaram (Vizianagaram district) and Venkatapuram (Khammam district) recorded heavy rainfall of seven cm each, Met Department said today. The other chief amounts of rainfall recorded in cm were Araku Valley (Visakhapatnam district) six, Bhimadole (West Godavari district), Dummagudem (Khammam district), Narsipatnam and Paderu (both Visakhapatnam district) five each, Hakimpet, Visakhapatnam, Ichapuram, Patapatnam and Tekkali (all Srikakulam district), Narsampet (Warangal district), Polavaram and Tadepalligudem (both West Godavari district), Rajahmundry (East Godavari district) and Srungavarapukota (Vizianagaram district) three each, Bhadrachalam, Anakapalle, Chintapalli and Chodavaram (all Visakhapatnam district), Bobbili, Salur and Terlam (all Vizianagaram district), Cumbum (Prakasam district), Palakonda (Srikakulam district) and Peddapuram (East Godavari district) two each.The maximum temperatures significantly fell at many places over Telangana. They were below normal in Telangana. The highest maximum temperature of 44 degrees Celsius was recorded at Adilabad. Moderate to rather heavy rain/thundershowers would occur at many places over the districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari. Light to moderate rain or thundershowers would occur at a few places over Telangana, Rayalaseema and in the remaining districts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh. Spells of rain/thundershowers may occur in parts of the city. Maximum and Minimum temperatures would be around 34 and 24 degrees respectively, the Met Department added.
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Andhra monuments to be developed as World Heritage site

Hyderabad, June 14: The Andhra Pradesh government is making efforts to develop the Kakatiya monuments in Warangal district as World Heritage sites.A steering committee headed by Tourism Minister J. Geeta Reddy constituted for the purpose held its first meeting here Monday. The minister told reporters that the meeting discussed the action plan to preserve and renovate three Kakatiya monuments - Ramappa temple in Venkatapur mandal, Thousand Pillar temple in Hanamkonda and the Warangal Fort. The steering committee would meet once every three months to review the progress of the work and prepare a dossier to be submitted to UNESCO for declaring the monuments World Heritage sites. "It is a long process as there are several norms for monuments to be declared World Heritage sites," he said. The committee comprises Kakatiya Heritage Trust founders B.V. Papa Rao and M. Panduranga Rao, public representatives from the districts, officials of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), director of archaeology and museums and the Warangal district collector. The meeting discussed public private partnership model for building restaurants and cottages and for reconstruction and renovation of Ramappa temple. The government Saturday constituted a committee for the promotion of Kakatiya monuments. The steering committee will make efforts to conduct the 8th centenary celebrations of Ramappa temple in 2013. Warangal, about 150 km from Hyderabad, was the capital of the Kakatiya kingdom. The fort there withstood attacks during the 13th and 14th centuries. The Thousand Pillar temple and Ramalingeswara temple, popularly known as the Ramappa temple, are some of the famous Kakatiya monuments in and around the town.
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Railways to run URS Special Trains for Ajmer Sharif from different parts of the Country

(PIB NEWS)JUNE,13, In a special gesture to facilitate movement of devotees from different parts of the country to Ajmer Sharif for participating in 798th Urs of Hazrath Khwaja Moinuddun Chishti(RA), Ministry of Railways has decided to run several Urs special trains from 18 different locations in the country.Minister of Railways Mamata Banerjee has taken keen interest and initiative in planning of these special trains for the convenience of lakhs of devotees visiting Ajmer Sharif for the Annual Urs.These specials will run between 14th June to 25th June 2010 from 18 major cities which include Mumbai, Saharanpur, Sultanpur, Haridwar, Chennai, Delhi, Ongole, Hyderabad, Ernakulam, Chhapra, Barauni, Kamakhya, New Jalpaiguri, Jaipur, Asansol, Sealdah, Jamshedpur and Patna. There will be in all 84 trips by these special trains during this period.These specials have been allotted suitable numbers and the ticket bookings for them could be done from any reservation centre situated across the country. Time table and broad routes of these trains are also being released by Railways through public notices being published in National and regional newspapers.One of these special trains has been specially planned between Delhi and Ajmer for the Zayreen coming from Pakistan. Following is the detailed list of Urs specials;
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New law to end ambiguity on marriageable age

To put an end to ambiguity over the minimum age of marriage mentioned in numerous laws, the government is contemplating a new law that will spell it out as 18 years for women and 21 years for men.For this, the government has asked the National Commission for Women (NCW), the apex body that deals with women’s issues, to begin consultations on the parameters of such a law.NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said that the commission is organising a national-level workshop in July in New Delhi to discuss the need to have a common law prescribing the age of marriage.Eminent legal experts, women’s activists and social workers will discuss the spirit and letter of the legislation, Vyas said.“Various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) list the minimum age for having sex and thereby, of marriage, differently. It ranges years. This ambiguity must end,” Vyas said.Ideally, she said, the minimum age of marriage for a woman and a man should be 18 years and 21 years respectively.However, the National Law Commission had proposed that both men and women should be allowed to marry at the age of 18 years, she added.The urgency for the new law arose from the recent judgments of various courts. The judgments pointed to ambiguities in the existing law and asked the government to come up with a single and clear law defining the age of marriage for women and men.“The courts asked several questions about the existing laws, which the government and we want to address,” Vyas said.“For a discussion on this, we have invited various stake holders – women’s groups, advocates and child rights activists from all over the country.”The recommendations of this meeting will be sent to the government for drafting the new law.According to Vyas, jurisprudence has “ambiguous” provisions on the issue of women having sex. Under the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, the right age for a girl’s marriage and for her to make a choice to have sex is 18 years, while various sections of the IPC treat women differently on this.Vyas said the “ambiguity happened because the Child Marriage Restraint Act was amended, while the corresponding IPC sections were not fully changed.”She pointed to the IPC provisions that deal with rape, marital rape and consent to point out the ambiguity.The NCW chief said the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act added to the confusion on the age of adulthood.It defines an adult as a person who is 18 years old (and who can marry). “This violated the spirit of the Child Marriage Restraint Act according to which a man has to be 21 years to be called an adult and thereby to have the right to marry,” she added.She said the new legislation will remove the confusion on the minimum age for marriage. “But implementation of the law will remain a challenge for administrators and activists,” Vyas added, ============================================

Another Telugu student murdered in US

Hyderabad,June 13: Another Telugu student has been found murdered in the US. Adarsh John, a student of Texas University, was murdered by unidentified people Saturday, his relatives said.Adarsh, who was doing MS at Texas University, was found murdered, according to information received by his family Sunday at Tandur in Ranga Reddy district, about 100 km from here. The details including the motive behind the crime were not immediately known. Union Minister for Urban Development S.Jaipal Reddy Sunday visited Adarsh's house in Tandur and consoled his parents. The minister spoke to officials regarding the arrangements to bring home the body. Adarsh is the latest victim in a series of incidents involving students and professionals from Andhra Pradesh. In March, 28-year-old Prashanth Goinaka was shot dead by unidentified robbers at a convenience store in Oklahoma. He was studying MBA in International Technological University at California and had taken up a part-time job. Rudraraju Sudheer Kumar, a mechanical engineer, was found murdered in his flat in Atlanta in February last year. Akshay Vishal, 26, a software engineer from Hyderabad, was shot dead by unidentified people in Little Rock in Arkansas on Jan 13. As many as 11 Telugu students and techies were murdered in the US during last three years.
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Female TV artist held for attack on fiance

Hyderabad, June 13 : Hyderabad Police Sunday arrested television artist Dimple for the recent attack on her fiance Sridhar Verma after he allegedly refused to marry her following a love affair.Police said the 23-year-old was not only behind the attack on Sridhar but also stage-managed an attack on herself to mislead the police. Her assistant Mani and Nagaraju were also arrested while another accused Prabhakar is at large. A case of attempt to murder was booked against Dimple and three others at Kukatpally police station. Dimple, who acted in TV serials for various channels, had claimed June 9 that she along with her assistant Mani came under attack by an unidentified woman when they were on their way for shooting in Manikonda on the city outskirts. Dimple, who along with her assistant got themselves admitted in a corporate hospital, told police and media that a woman lying across the road blocked their way. When they got down to find out what the matter was, she attacked them with chilli powder and iron rod. She claimed that the attacker used a sharp object and showed the gashes on her body. The actress also claimed that the attacker kept repeating that she was taking revenge and disappeared. She pointed fingers at another TV artist Selvaraj who was blamed for a similar attack on Sridhar June 8 at Kukatpally neighbourhood in the city. Sridhar had complained to police that an unidentified attacker threw acid on him but police found that it was only spirit. Sridhar later received a phone call purportedly made by Selvaraj saying it was revenge for replacing him in TV serial 'Aradhana'. After thorough investigations, police found that Dimple hatched a conspiracy with Mani and two others to take revenge on Sridhar for refusing to marry her after an affair. She used the name Selvaraj and also orchestrated an attack on herself to mislead the police. Actor Selvaraj told reporters that he would file a defamation case against Dimple.
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Andhra rights panel bans children's reality shows

Hyderabad, June 12 : The Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission Saturday banned television reality shows involving children.Pronouncing its verdict on the petitions filed by some NGOs, the commission banned with immediate effect "Aata" a dance reality show on Zee Telugu channel and directed the police to take action against such shows on other channels.Commission chairman Justice Subhashan Reddy said human rights were being violated in shows like "Ata" as they portray children in an objectionable manner. The commission observed that such shows were badly affecting the health of children and creating several problems. "These children don't even know what they are doing and how they are being used. The physical and psychological growth of children continue till 18 years of age and such reality shows are having bad effect on their growth," he said. The commission's verdict came on a batch of petitions filed in April by groups working for children's rights. They sought a ban on reality shows for making children perform obscene numbers. The commission also directed police to take action against obscene advertisements and programmes on television channels. It called for framing guidelines for the TV programmes especially the reality shows. Subhashan Reddy allowed channels to submit their arguments against the ban. The commission will conduct a public hearing on the issue July 3. In April, the commission had found fault with parents for encouraging their children to participate in such realty shows. "Don't you feel uncomfortable with the way your children have been dressed up for the show," Reddy had asked the delegation of six parents, who had opposed the petitions for banning the reality show.
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Andhra Pradesh CM moots 6-point plan for excellence in school education

Hyderabad, Jun 12 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K.Rosaiah today mooted a six-point action Plan for teachers and School Education Department to achieve excellence in school education as a whole in the state, particularly in the Government Schools.The Chief Minister suggested constant and close monitoring of attendance in the schools, both of teachers and students, improvement in teaching standards in schools; all text books to all classes should be made available on the day of the reopening of schools; all available schemes and programmes like SSA should be made use of to improve the infrastructure facilities in the schools; Parents - Teachers Committees should see that the standards of Government schools catch up with that of private and Corporate schools and drop-outs in the schools also should be put an end to. The Chief Minister, who would launch the 'badibata' (Way to School) Programme on Monday, said the State Government is spending huge funds on education, particularly school education in the state. The state was also leveraging funds from the Government of India schemes like Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) for increasing infrastructure like school buildings, Compound Walls and for recruitment of teachers, a release here today quoted him as saying. The Chief Minister today discussed the issues pertaining to School Education with Secondary Education Minister Manikya Varaprasad and officials.
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Lok Satta to survey impelementation Of Right to Education Act

Hyderabad, Jun 12 : The District units of the Lok Satta Party would undertake a random survey of elementary schools to ascertain the steps Andhra Pradesh Government had taken to implement the Right to Education Act (REA)which came into force recently.The Act provides for free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 from Classes I to VIII. In a statement the party said society would have to share the responsibility with the Government in making the implementation of the legisation a success as the future of the country depended on children in schools. The LSP teams would examine whether the schools have the basic infrastructure like buildings, toilets and drinking water facility and adequate number of qualified teachers and whether they were accessible to students in both urban and rural areas.
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Pressure on Congress, TDP not to contest Telangana by-polls

Hyderabad, June 12 : Pressure is mounting on the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh against contesting the upcoming by-elections in the 12 assembly constituencies in Telangana.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) Saturday urged both parties to stay away from the poll in response to the call given by Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC), which is spearheading the movement for separate statehood to Telangana. TRS chief K.Chandrasekhara Rao told reporters that JAC was working to protect the self-respect of Telangana people and hence all the political parties should abide by its decision. JAC convenor M.Kodandaram said the JAC was not afraid of a contest if Congress and Telugu Desam Party entered the fray. A day after appealing to both Congress and TDP not to contest the by-polls, he said JAC was ready for a contest if it becomes inevitable. He, however, said if Congress and TDP field their candidates, it would amount to a betrayal of the Telangana cause. The TRS is the main constituent of JAC while Telangana leaders of both Congress party and TDP quit the apex body following differences with Kodandaram. The JAC was formed by pro-Telangana groups for a united struggle for Telangana state after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government decided to put on hold its Dec 9 statement to initiate the process for formation of separate state. The statement was made after 11-day hunger strike by Chandrasekhara Rao. Elections to 12 assembly constituencies in Telangana are scheduled to be held in August. The vacancies were caused in February this year when 10 legislators of TRS quit over the demand for separate Telangana state. One legislator each of the TDP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also quit. The by-elections are seen as a major test for both the Telangana slogan and the popularity of TRS. The sub-regional party has already declared that those contesting against its candidates in 10 constituencies would be traitors to Telangana. Meanwhile, serious differences have cropped up both in the Congress party and the TDP over contesting the by-polls with their leaders from Telangana strongly opposing the move. Congress' state unit has left the decision to the central leadership while a discussion is on in the TDP.
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SW Monsoon brings rain in AP

Hyderabad, Jun 12 : Southwest monsoon has been vigorous over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and active over Rayalaseema, with rain occurring at many places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema and at a few places over Telangana.The heavy rainfalls recorded in cm are Kavali ten, Avanigadda (Krishna district) and Kandukur (Prakasam district) eight each, Bapatla, Ongole, Amalapuram (East Godavari district) and Repalle (Guntur district) seven each. The other chief amounts of rainfall recorded in cm are Kurnool, Addanki (Prakasam district) and Prathipadu (East Godavari district) received five each, Nandyal, Bhimavaram (West Godavari district), Podili (Prakasam district) and Punganur (Chittoor district) received four cm each, Narsapur, Nellore, Alampur and Wanaparthy (both Mahabubnagar district), Darsi (Prakasam district), Gudivada (Krishna district), Gudur, Sullurpet, Tada and Vinjamur (all Nellore district) and Ichapuram (Srikakulam district) three each. The maximum temperatures fell at one or two places over Telangana. They were significantly above normal at a few places over Telangana. The highest maximum temperature of 43 degrees Celsius was recorded at Adilabad and Khammam. Moderate to rather heavy rain/thundershowers would occur at most places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and may occur at many places over Rayalaseema. Light to moderate rain/thundershowers may occur at a few places over Telangana. A spell of rain/thundershowers would occur in parts of the city.Maximum and Minimum temperatures would be around 36 and 24 degrees respectively.
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Ambika Soni, Mohsina elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and Congress leaders Mohsina Kidwai and Satish Sharma were among the 27 candidates across five states elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha Thursday, the last date for withdrawing nominations for the biennial elections to the upper house of parliament.Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and five others were June 7 declared elected unopposed from Andhra Pradesh. Elections will, however, be held across seven states June 17 but the candidates of the major political parties are assured of victory.The Congress’ Soni and Akali Dal’s Balwinder Singh Bhunder were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab without a contest as they were the only candidates in the fray.Kidwai and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tribal leader Nand Kumar Sai were re-elected from Chhattisgarh.In Tamil Nadu, six candidates – K.P. Ramalingam, T.M. Selvaganapathy and S. Thangavelu from the ruling DMK, P.H. Manoj Pandian and K. Ramalingam from the AIADMK and Sudarshan Nachiappan from the Congress, were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha.In Maharashtra also, six candidates from various parties were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from after an independent candidate withdrew at the last minute.The Congress’ Vijay Darda and Avinash Pandey, the Nationalist Congress Party’s Tariq Anwar and Ishwarlal Jain, the BJP’s Piyush and Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut were the successful candidates.Congress leader Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, who filed his nomination as an independent, withdrew at the last minute paving the way for the unopposed election of the remaining six party supported candidates.In Uttar Pradesh, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party got seven of the 11 seats. Congress leader Satish Sharma and BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were among those elected uncontested. Two seats were won by the Samajwadi Party.In Karnataka, liquor baron Vijay Mallay’s bid to enter the Rajya Sabha for the second time as an Independent rests on the ruling BJP as the Congress did not withdraw its second nominee Thursday, leaving five candidates in the fray for four seats.Two nominees of the BJP, former president M. Venkaiah Naidu and state leader Ayanur Manjunath, are sure of victory as the party has 116 members in the 225-member assembly and has the backing of five of the six Independents.A candidate requires 45 first preference votes of the legislators, who make up the electoral college, to win.The BJP will be left with 26 surplus votes which Mallya, backed by the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) which has 27 members in the assembly, hopes will see him through.The Congress, with 74 members, is assured of one seat for which it has re-nominated party general secretary and former union minister Oscar Fernandes.It has also fielded T.V. Maruthi, a Karnataka businessman, as its second nominee and retained him in the field to give Mallya a fight.
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CBI to quiz Ajmer blast accused on Mecca Masjid attack

Hyderabad, June 11 : Two activists of a Hindu terror group accused in the October 2007 blast in the Ajmer Sharif shrine will be brought here by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for questioning in the Mecca Masjid bombing in May the same year.The CBI, which has made headway in investigations into the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case, will bring Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma here next week. Both are members of the Abhinav Bharat and are currently lodged in Ajmer jail, Armed with a prisoners's transit warrant issued by a city court, the federal agency will shift the accused in the Ajmer dargah blast to Hyderabad for further investigations. The CBI believes that the blasts at both the mosque and dargah were the handiwork of the same group. A team of CBI officials is already in Hyderabad as part of the preparations to carry forward the investigations. They met Police Commissioner A.K. Khan, who assured them of all assistance. On a petition by the CBI, a local court had Thursday issued a prisoners' transit warrant to produce Gupta and Sharma in court. The CBI also informed the court that two other accused, Sandeep and Ramchandra, were absconding and efforts to nab them were on. Five people were killed in the bomb blast during Friday prayers at the historic Mecca Masjid on May 18, 2007. Nine people were killed in the subsequent police firing on protestors outside the mosque. Five months later, a blast in the Khwaja Moinuddin Chisthi dargah in Ajmer claimed one life and injured 30. The Hyderabad police had blamed Bangladesh-based Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI) for the Mecca Masjid terror attack. It also arrested nearly a dozen local Muslim youth but could find no evidence against them. There have also been allegations of police torturing the youth in custody. The CBI could not make much progress in the case during the last three years. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had also gone on record last year that the blast case had turned "cold" as the two primary suspects are dead. Police claimed that Shahid Bilal, a key suspect in the case working for HuJI, was killed in a shootout in Pakistan a few weeks after the mosque blast. Another suspect was also presumed dead. The case took a new turn in April this year when Rajasthan's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS)arrested Gupta and Sharma in connection with the Ajmer blast.

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SOUTH WEST monsoon advances, brings rain in AP

Hyderabad, Jun 11 : Southwest monsoon today further advanced over some parts of Telangana and some more parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and remaining parts of Rayalaseema, with Gooty in Anantapur district recording a heavy rainfall of nine cm.Southwest monsoon has been vigorous over Rayalaseema. Isolated rain occurred over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Met Department said today.The other chief amounts of rainfall recorded in cm are Kanekal (Anantapur district) and Muddanur (Cuddapah district) six each, Anantapur, Kamalapuram (Cuddapah district), Kuppam and Punganur (both Chittoor district) and Rayadurg (Anantapur district) five each, Cuddapah, Penukonda (Anantapur district) and Venkatagiri Kota (Chittoor district) four each, Arogyavaram, Chittoor, Allagadda, Alur and Yemmiganur (all Kurnool district), Bhimadole (West Godavari district), Jammalamadugu, Pulivendala and Vempalli (all Cuddapah district), Jangaon (Warangal district), Kadiri and Tadipatri (both Anantapur district) and Venkatapuram (Khammam district) three each, Hyderabad, Chilamattur, Dharmavaram, Hindupur, Kalyandurg and Pamidi (all Anantapur district), Holagunda, Koilkuntla, Mantralayam and Pathikonda (all Kurnool district), Ibrahimpatnam (Rangareddy district), Palamaner (Chittoor district), Proddatur and Rayachoty (both Cuddapah district) and Veeraghattam (Srikakulam district) two each.The maximum temperatures rose at one or two places over Telangana and changed little over Coastal Andhra Pradesh. They were significantly above normal at many places over Telangana but significantly below normal at one or two places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh. The highest maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius was recorded at Khammam. Moderate to rather heavy rain/ thundershowers may occur at many places over Rayalaseema and in the districts of Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore of Coastal Andhra Pradesh. Light to moderate rain/thundershowers may occur at a few places over Telangana and in the remaining districts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh. A spell of rain/thundershowers would occur in parts of the city. Maximum and Minimum temperatures would be around 37 and 24 degrees Celsius respectively.
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Bardhan blames Congress for injustice to Bhopal gas victims

Hyderabad, June 11 : Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan Friday blamed the Congress party for injustice to the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy.Talking to reporters here, he demanded that all those responsible for the industrial disaster, including the Union Carbide Corp's then chairman Warren Anderson, be punished. The CPI leader wanted Anderson to be brought to India and tried in a court of law. "Unfortunately for the government, relations with the United States are more important than 20,000 deaths in the disaster," he said. He said the Congress should own the responsibility for its failure to try and punish all those responsible, including Anderson. Stating that a great injustice has been done to the victims by a meagre punishment to the guilty, the CPI leader demanded enactment of new law to prevent such industrial disaster and also to hold responsible the heads of the multi-national companies in such cases. Bardhan admitted that some policies of the West Bengal government did not find favour with the people, resulting in the defeat of the Left Front in the recent municipal elections in the state. He felt that industrialisation at the cost of agriculture land and prioritisation for chemical hubs and car factories were the wrong policies adopted by the state government. He advised the Left Front to introspect and go into the reasons for their defeat. It would be an uphill task to win the ensuing assembly election, he said. On food security bill, he said the bill was of no use in its present form. He suggested Universal Public Distribution System irrespective of the Below Poverty Line to provide nutritious food to all at an affordable cost. On Telangana issue, Bardhan said everyone should abide by the report of the Srikrishna Committee set up by the central government to look into the demands for and opposition to separate statehood to the region.
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CPI demands extradition of Warren Anderson

Hyderabad, Jun 11: Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary A B Bardhan today demanded immediate steps for extradition of then Union Carbide Chief Warren Anderson, the main accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy in which around 20,000 people lost their lives.Participating in a meet-the-press programme organised by the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists(APUWJ) here, Mr Bardhan said the entire country was shocked over the judgement on the tragedy whose effects were still on thousands of people even now.''There is not only delay in justice, but it (verdict) is mockery and denial of justice even 26 years after the incident.'' He also said the Centre should initiate steps to book all those responsible for the incident. The persons responsible -- both at the Centre and in the state government for the safe passage of Anderson soon after the incident-- should be booked, he added.Mr Bardhan alleged that ''the Congress was expert in finding a scapegoat and leaving the main accused free in the criminal incidents.'' He said ''it is very difficult for a Chief Minister of state alone to allow the accused to leave the country without the nod of the Centre.'' The Centre was not pressing the United States for extradition of the accused in several cases, including the present case, in view of its political and economic relations with that country, he alleged. He said the relation between the two countries was secondary and the first and foremost important thing was safeguarding the interests of the people of India.
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Congress and TDP trade charges over rising liquor sales

Hyderabad,June 11: Is rising rural income to be blamed for the increasing liquor consumption in Andhra Pradesh? The government believes so, but the opposition disagrees.The Congress government is under attack from different quarters for encouraging liquor consumption as it earned a record Rs.7,000 crore (Rs.70 billion) from auction of liquor shops for two years earlier this week. Liquor shops in rural areas were sold at a much higher price than in towns and cities. Some shops were sold for as high as Rs.5 crore each. The rise in income of rural households under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is said to have pushed the liquor sales in rural areas. Under the NREGS, which guarantees 100 days of rural employment in a year, a beneficiary is earning a minimum of Rs.100 daily. The state, which is a leader in implementing the NREGS in the country, got Rs.6,500 crore from the centre in 2009-10 and is expected to get Rs.10,000 crore in the current fiscal. The number of beneficiaries under the scheme is over 27.5 million. The revenue from the auction has come as a boon for the government facing a financial crunch. But the opposition is targeting it for encouraging liquor consumption in the state. "The government can't be blamed. The people are getting addicted to vices like liquor due to an increase in their income," said Revenue Minister D. Prasada Rao. Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member V. Hanumantha Rao too blamed people, saying the government could not be faulted if people were addicted. However, the opposition blames the government for encouraging liquor business. Leader of opposition and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N. Chandrababu Naidu Thursday demanded the government to come out with a white paper on liquor business. "It is very painful that the government is encouraging liquor consumption and backing liquor traders instead of supplying drinking water and providing other basic amenities to people," said Naidu. The former chief minister pointed out that it was the same Congress party which had promised prohibition in a phased manner in the 2004 elections. Naidu alleged that the government relaxed maximum retail price printed on liquor bottle to help liquor traders earn more money in violation of rules and also facilitate kickbacks from them. Congress leaders, however, hit back at Naidu saying he had no right to speak on liquor as it was he who lifted total prohibition in the state. Naidu had lifted prohibition after he unseated his father-in-law and TDP founder N. T. Rama Rao from power in 1995. NTR had imposed prohibition in 1994 following a massive anti-liquor movement by women groups.
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Rosaiah invites President to inaugurate 500 year celebrations

Hyderabad, Jun 11 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah has invited President Prathibha Devi Singh Patil to inaugurate the 500th year of coronation of the Vijayanagaram King Srikrishna Devaraya which Andhra Pradesh Government plans to celebrate later this year.In a letter to the President, released to the media here yesterday, Mr Rosaiah said, ''During his rule, Srikrishna Devaraya encouraged and patronised the development of- Telugu language, art, sculpture and culture. Some of the major irrigation tanks constructed by Srikrishna Devaraya are available even today and he is remembered by the people even after 500 years. Srikrishna Devaraya's ''Amukthamalyada'' is a grand original Telugu epic depicting the rich culture, literary traditions and life of the Telugus in those days. The government of Andhra Pradesh have, therefore, decided to celebrate this occasion in a very grand manner.'' The inaugural function will be held on July 5 in Hyderabad and the concluding function will be on August 8, 2010 at Penukonda in Anantapur district (nearer to Bengaluru) which was considered to be the second capital of Srikrishna Devaraya. ''I learnt that Her Excellency takes a lot of interest in preserving the composite culture of the country, and that Her Excellency has planned to inaugurate the Tamil Classical Conference on June 23 at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu'', he added. Mr Rosaiah also said he would be extremely grateful, if Her Excellency conveyed her willingness to grace the celebrations as soon as possible so that necessary arrangements could be made at earliest.
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Verdict on Nityananda’s bail plea Friday

The Karnataka High Court Thursday reserved for Friday its verdict on the bail plea of sex-scam hit self-styled godman Swami Nityananda who has been behind bars for the last 50 days.B.V. Acharya, Nityananda’s lawyer, told the court that his client never claimed he was a ’sanyasi’ (one who has renounced all worldly pleasures) and couples were welcome to attend his teachings. Nityananda, facing several criminal charges, including rape, is a spiritual teacher, he said.Pleading for early bail to his client, Acharya said married couples too attended his discourses and he never opposed marriage or married life.The bail plea was opposed by the prosecution which said he was facing serious charges and investigation was still on The court then reserved its verdict for Friday. Nityananda, who has a sprawling ashram at Bidadi, about 30 km from Bangalore, was arrested from Himachal Pradesh April 21, more than a month-and-a-half after a TV channel telecast video footage showing him in a sexual act with a woman, believed to a Tamil film actress.Nityananda claimed the footage was morphed.
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Andhra BJP chief receives threatening letter

Hyderabad, June 10 : The president of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Andhra Pradesh unit Thursday received a threatening letter allegedly from Lashkar-e-Taiba, asking him to leave Hyderabad.G.Kishan Reddy, the lone BJP legislator in the state assembly, received the letter written in Urdu through post. He handed over the same to the police. The letter asked Kishan Reddy to leave Hyderabad. The sender, who claims to be from "suicide bomber cell of Islamic Republic of Hyderabad, Lashkar-e-Taiba" threatens to kill "Hindus" if Kishan Reddy fails to leave Hyderabad. The letter also threatens to destroy the RSS office in Begum Bazar area. The sender accused Kishan Reddy of creating trouble during the recent communal clashes in the old city of Hyderabad. Kishan Reddy handed over the letter to Abids police station. Police said they would investigate if the letter was sent by some terror group or not. A row over the land of a 'Gowshala' (cow shed) is suspected to be the reason behind the threat. The 'Gowshala' was set afire by some unidentified persons during the riots in April. The BJP leader later met Director General of Police R.R. Girish Kumar to brief him about the threatening letter.
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New industrial policy soon

Hyderabad, Jun 10 : Andhra Pradesh major industries minister Kanna Laxminarayana today said the state government would soon announce the industrial policy for 2010-2015.Talking to newspersons, here he said the department would submit the recommendations to Chief Minister K Rosaiah tomorrow and the new policy would be "better" than the earlier one of 2005-2010.The minister denied reports in a section of the press that some incentives for industries which were announced in 2005-2010 would be discontinued in the new policy.He said more incentives would be given for industries with a view to attract investments. He said the state had attracted investments worth Rs 3.49 lakh crore for 2007-2010. Out of this, Rs 1.10 lakh crore projects are in various stages and a project worth Rs 37000 crore would be going on stream soon.While admitting that there were some obstructions in investments during the disturbances over Telangana and other issues, he said industry captains were eager to investment in the state in view of the incentives provided by the state government for industrial growth.He denied reports of slowdown in industrial growth due to lack of new investments, stating that Andhra Pradesh was in the forefront in attracting the industrial bigwigs in the state.In the recent report of World Bank, Andhra Pradesh stood second in attracting investments and a private firm in their survey stated that Andhra Pradesh was number one in attracting the investments.Stating that the investments in Andhra Pradesh were increasing by 20pc every year for the last four years, Mr Laxminarayana said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would soon lay the foundation stone for an electrical equipment company to be set up by BHEL and NTPC at Mannavaram in Chittoor District.He said two major industries will come up with an investment of Rs 9000 crore in Kadapa and some other major projects in various districts of the state.Out of 110 Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the state, the highest number in the country, at present 73 SEZs were working and there was no problem for land acquisition as the government was acquiring lands at 15pc from the private parties. The remaining land was provided by the state from waste lands, assigned and government land, he added.
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APCC President meets Rosaiah discusses various matters

Hyderabad, Jun 10 : Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President D Srinivas met Chief Minister K.Rosaiah and discussed party matters including fee reimbursement of backward classes students in the state. According to party sources, Mr Srinivas held discussions with the Chief Minister at camp office yesterday and urged him to continue with the scheme of fee reimbursement of students for the backward classes. He also reportedly discussed the ensuing by-elections in the state as the party has decided to contest the elections.There was a rush for the Congress ticket as the aspirants made a beeline to the party headquarters 'Gandhi Bhavan' and the party Chief reportedly directed them to concentrate on their constituencies instead of making the rounds of the leaders' houses.By-elections are due in August in Sirpur, Mnncherial, Chennur, Warangal West, Yellareddy, Nizamabad urban, Siddipet, Huzurabad, Dharmpapuri, Korutla, Siricilla and Vemulawada constituencies. Mr Srinivas has already convened a meeting of aspirants and elected representatives of Adilabad and Karimnagar district giving enough indications that the ruling party was ready to enter the fray and the leadership is now grappling with the problem of shortlisting the candidates.Mr Srinvias himself was quite serious about his plans to contest from Nizamabad urban seat and had held consultations with his supporters in the last two weeks, sources said.The Congress is confident of winning majority seats in Telangana area, sources said.
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President, welcomes the President of Sri Lanka,

(PIB NEWS) June,09,The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil welcomes the President of Sri Lanka, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa and his wife Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapaksa, at the ceremonial reception, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on June 09, 2010. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh is also seen. (Photo by PIB No.CNR-31974)
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Jaipal Reddy Workshop Inauguration,

(PIB NEWS)June,09, The Union Minister of Urban Development, Shri S. Jaipal Reddy addressing at the launch Workshop for inauguration of Sustainable Environmentally friendly transport mode in the country, in New Delhi on June 09, 2010. The Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Dr. M. Ramachandran is also seen. (Photo by PIB No.CNR-31986)
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Booklet releasing"Performance of Ministry of textiles"

(PIB NEWS) June,09, The Union Minister of Textiles, Shri Dayanidhi Maran releasing a Booklet ‘One year’s Performance of Ministry of Textiles’, in New Delhi on June 09, 2010. The Minister of State for Textiles, Smt. Panabaka Lakshmi and the Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Smt. Rita Menon are also seen.
(Photo by PIB No.CNR- 31990)
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US presses Pakistan to stop India infiltration, try 26/11 suspects

Underlining its hands off policy on the Kashmir issue, the US has asked Pakistan to first show progress in stopping cross-border infiltration into India and the trial of the Mumbai terror attack suspects.“No, there’s no change right now” in US policy on Kashmir, US assistant secretary of state for South Asia, Robert Blake said in an online conversation Tuesday with Teresita Schaffer, director of the South Asia Programme at Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank.“I think at this point the top priority for India and Pakistan is, first, to kind of get their own bilateral dialogue going in a more systematic way,” he said noting that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “is personally and deeply committed to achieving peace with Pakistan”.“But he needs to see progress on these two important issues… that is, progress to stop some of the cross-border infiltration that’s taking place into India, but also progress on the trial of the Mumbai suspects.“And if we can see that, I think that there will be a flourishing of the dialogue that could take place. But those are very important things that need to take place.”He agreed with Schaffer that the main interest of the United States is that they be able to agree on something that makes the risk of a war that could go nuclear disappear.Nothing that “from 2004 to 2007, in fact, the two countries did make quite a lot of progress on Kashmir”, Blake said: “And that, again, could be picked up, I think, relatively quickly if they can sort out some of these other issues.” “This is going to have to be a kind of incremental process to build up to that stage where they can tackle this very hot button issue (Kashmir) for both of those countries.”At the State Department, spokesperson Phillip J. Crowley too made a similar point. Asked to comment on Manmohan Singh’s offer to open peace talks with the separatist and extremist elements in Kasshmir, he said: “All I would say is that we recognise that this is a very, very important issue between India and Pakistan.”“And as the dialogue between India and Pakistan continues to expand, including at the leader level, that we would hope that India and Pakistan can make progress in understanding this issue and moving forward, just as they did a few years ago.”
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10 TRS, BJP, TJAC activists held

Mahbubabad, Jun 9 : Police have arrested ten activists of Telangana Rastra Samithi (TRS), BJP and Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) for their involvement in the violence that rocked the town on May 28 during former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son and Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's 'Odarpu yatra'.Circle Inspector of Police R Prabhakara Rao told UNI today that the accused were arrested on specific charges and booked under Sections 307(Attempt to Murder) and 147(destruction of public property) of IPC.He said seven accused were arrested for their involvement in the violence and three for damaging a private car and burning a government vehicle on that day.The accused were picked up last evening and later produced before the Sub Divisional Magistrate. Search was on to arrest some more accused involved in the incident, he added.
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Conditions favourable for advance of southwest Monsoon in AP

Hyderabad, Jun 9 : Conditions were favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon over some more parts of Andhra Pradesh as a low pressure area formed over Westcentral Bay and neighbourhood today, leading to rains at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and isolated rain over Telangana and Rayalaseema.The chief amounts of rainfall recorded in cm were Avanigadda (Krishna district) and Salur (Vizianagaram district) four each, Bobbili (Vizianagaram district) and Vikarabad (Rangareddy district) three each, Tirupati, Chevella (Rangareddy district), Gajapathinagaram and Parvathipuram (both Vizianagaram districts), Mandasa and Patapatnam (both Srikakulam districts) and Mulugu (Warangal district) two each and Hanamakonda, Nellore, Cumbum (Prakasam district), Gudur (Nellore district), Jangaon and Mahabubabad (both Warangal districts), Komarada, Srungavarapukota, Terlam and Vizianagaram (all Vizianagaram districts), Nuzvid and Tiruvuru (both Krishna districts), Sangareddy (Medak district) and Satyavedu (Chittoor district) one each, Met Department said today.However, heat wave conditions prevailed over the districts of West Godavari of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad, Mahabubnagar, Medak and Warangal of Telangana. The maximum temperatures significantly fell at one or two places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana but rose at a few places over Rayalaseema. They were significantly above normal at one or two places over Rayalaseema and over the remaining districts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The highest maximum temperature of 44 degrees Celsius was recorded at Ramagundam and Rentachintala. Moderate to rather heavy rain/ thundershowers may occur at many places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh while Light to moderate rain/thundershowers would occur at a few places over Telangana and Rayalaseema. Isolated heavy rain could occur over Coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next 48 hours. A few spells of rain/thundershowers may occur in the city.Maximum and Minimum temperatures may be around 38 and 25 degrees respectively.
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Study Circle to select candidates for coaching for UPSC exam

Hyderabad, Jun 9 : The Andhra Pradesh Study Circle, established by the Social Welfare Department for the purpose of giving residential coaching to candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) to prepare for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Civil Services Examinations, will select the new batch for 2010-11.Addressing a press conference here today, Social Welfare Commissioner K Praveen Kumar said the study circle would select 184 meritorious students from SC and ST and Backward Classes students from rural areas.He said in view of some allegations on the entrance tests for the selection of candidates, the department had decided to select the candidates based on the marks attained by the student from tenth class to degree-level and those who got the highest marks would be selected for coaching.The selection committee with nine officers would select the candidates.He said so far in the past 31 years, Andhra Pradesh Study Circle had given residential coaching to 5,757 students of whom 43 got into IAS, 42 into IPS and 372 got into other services. He said 75 per cent of the seats would be given to SC and ten per cent to ST and 15 per cent to BCs.Stating that 50 per cent of seats were reserved for women belonging to SC, ST and BC in each category, he said three per cent were reserved for physically handicapped across all categories.He said the last date for submission of application was June 25.
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Asthma patients queue up to take fish medicine?

Hyderabad, June 8: Hundreds of asthma patients from different parts of India queued up here Tuesday to gulp down a live 'murrel' fish with a yellow herbal paste in its mouth in the hope it can cure them.The distribution of the famous 'fish medicine' began this evening at the sprawling Exhibition Grounds in the heart of the city. The members of Bathini Goud family, which has administered the medicine free of cost for over 160 years, started distributing the medicine after a traditional 'puja' at 5 p.m., the time set by their astrologers, which also heralds the onset of monsoon. Men, women and children stood in long queues hours before the Goud family members and volunteers started administering the 'wonder drug'. The Hyderabad district administration made elaborate arrangements for the annual event. Over 300 policemen were deployed as part of the security measures. The fisheries department has made arrangements for the sale of 'murrel' fingerlings. Those who don't take fish are being provided medicine with jaggery. Like in the past, people from different regions gathered in the hope of finding some relief to their nagging respiratory problems, despite the controversies surrounding its efficacy. The fish medicine lost its popularity in recent years after some groups, working to inculcate scientific temper among people, termed it a fraud. They also approached the court, claiming that the contents of the herbal paste, which remained a closely guarded family secret, do more harm than good to the patients. The turnout has clearly dwindled over the last five years. The Goud family claims that over 400,000 asthma patients turn up every year but the turnout has hardly exceeds 100,000, going by the arrangements made by fisheries department for sale of fingerlings. The Goud family, which named the medicine 'fish prasadam' recently to avoid legal problems, claims that it was still popular despite the 'false propaganda' by some groups. According to the family, the tests in laboratories conducted as per court orders revealed that the herbal paste is safe. The herbal paste is put into the mouth of the live fingerling before slipping it into the mouth of the patient. It is believed that if taken for three successive years, the medicine cures asthma. The Goud family has distributed the 'fish prasadam' free of cost for 164 years. It claims that the secret formula for the herbal medicine was given to their ancestor in 1845 by a saint after taking an oath from him that it should be administered free of cost.
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Andhra earns nearly Rs.7,000 cr from liquor shops sale

Hyderabad, June 8 : At a time when a severe financial crunch has forced it to go slow on many welfare schemes, the Andhra Pradesh government has earned a whopping Rs.6,904 crore from the auction of liquor shops.The earnings are said to be the highest by any state through sale of liquor shops. The excise department earned Rs.6,904 crore from the auction of 6,505 out of 6,595 liquor shops. The revenues may cross Rs.7,000 crore as remaining 91 shops are yet to be auctioned. Tenders for majority of the shops for next two years were opened Monday. The remaining shops will be sold in couple of days. Excise Commissioner Hiralal Samaria told reporters the revenues were 114 percent more than waht was earned in 2008. The department was expecting Rs.4,500 crore this year. The average bid amount for each shop auctioned so far was over Rs.1 crore. Shops in some districts were sold for whopping Rs.5 crore. A shop at Nadikudi village of Dachepalli mandal in Guntur district was bid for Rs.5.21 crore while another shop in the same mandal was sold for Rs.4.92 crore. Creating a record of sorts, the government earned Rs.48.6 crore from the sale of tenders forms alone. About 48,600 bids were received for 6,596 shops which was 125 per cent in excess of the demand in 2008. Unlike in the past when shops in and around Hyderabad were auctioned for over Rs.5 crore, there were few takers this time. Slowdown in real estate market and the Information Technology sector is cited as the main reason for the relatively poor response in and around the state capital. Though slowdown in real estate has hit hard the state's revenues, the excise department has come to the rescue. Officials, however, said the revenues from liquor constitute only eight percent of the total revenues.  The fall in revenues over the last two years has already raised question mark on continuation of various welfare schemes launched by former Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy. In a state which witnessed total prohibition in mid-1990s following a massive movement by women, the sale of liquor shops was not without protests. The Lok Satta Party alleged that the government was encouraging the consumption of alcohol through auction of liquor shops. Party president Jayaprakash Narayan said liquor dealers promote unauthorised outlets or "belt shops" to make the sales required to realise the license fee. Women's groups also criticized the government for promoting consumption of liquor and demanded re-imposition of prohibition. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh High Court Tuesday issued notices to the central and state governments on a public interest litigation over sale of liquor shops. Narayana, a resident of Nizamabad district, filed a petition in the court, demanding prohibition. The petitioner alleged that the government was promoting sale of liquor, badly affecting public health.
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ISNA Joins Religious Leaders to Condemn Illegal Medical Experimentation on Detainees

(Deccan Samachar Service) June 08, A report was issued today by the Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), which details evidence of illegal experimentation on detainees captured after 9-11, in the form of torturous medical experiments, performed by healthcare professionals working for the U.S.Military and intelligence agencies during the Bush administration. The comprehensive PHR report described the methods of "enhanced interrogation techniques" used by medical professionals to determine the "breaking points" for detainees. This information was delivered to the Department of Justice to amend the current laws in a way that legalizes these gross acts of torture and medical negligence from prosecution. ISNA condemns the acts of torture inflicted by these medical professionals. These acts directly violate their sworn oath as physicians to protect human life and alleviate human suffering. ISNA condemns the actions our government to effectively legalize this torture and turn their backs on upholding both the spirit and letter of the constitution.ISNA praises the Physicians for Human Rights and their dedication to protect all people from illegal and damaging misuse of medical skills and experiments to inflict pain instead of alleviating suffering. ISNA joins Physicians for Human Rights and other religious leaders to demand a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the misuse of medical skills and the acts of the Department of Justice in relation to this case. ISNA President, Dr. Ingrid Mattson, will join other leaders in a press conference about this issue tomorrow morning.ISNA is a founding member of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, an organization that also supports the courageous report issued by the Physicians for Human Rights. For more information on the press conference,the PHR Report and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, ================================================

Press Statement by Media Adviser on the Visit of the Prime Minister to Jammu and Kashmir on 7th and 8th June 2010

(PIB NEWS) June,08, The Prime Minister made a two day visit to Jammu & Kashmir from 7th June to 8th June 2010.The Prime Minister presided over the 5th convocation of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at SKICC, Srinagar. In his convocation address, the Prime Minister lauded Dr Shah Faisal on his achievement in topping the Civil Services Examination of the UPSC. He assured that in cooperation with the state government, we will make all possible efforts to create employment opportunities in J&K. The Prime Minister mentioned that three Round Table Conferences had been convened, with participation from many civil society participants, and other political groups. He noted that the recommendations of these deliberations are being implemented in a step-wise manner. The Prime Minister mentioned that the process of talks could be extended. The Government of India is willing to talk to all those who are willing to shun violence. The Prime Minister noted complaints related to human rights. He made it clear that the "Government policy is to protect human rights of the people even when dealing with terrorism. The security forces in J&K have been strictly instructed to respect the rights of civilians. We will act to remove any deficiency in the implementation of these instructions." Later in the evening, the Prime Minister had interaction with representatives of various political parties. Among these were delegations from National Conference, Indian National Congress, PDP, BJP, Panther's Party, Awami National Conference, J&K Democratic Party (Nationalist), the CPI(M), and the CPI. On Tuesday morning he met the Sikh community, house boat owners, artisans, saffron growers, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and hoteliers, and many other groups. The Prime Minister also took a review meeting of the developmental activities in the state, with the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues, and senior officials. Shri Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, and Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare also participated in the deliberations. The Prime Minister noted that the state is doing well on flagship programmes. He drew the state government's attention to unutilized funds and also impressed upon them the need to move forward and hold elections for the local bodies and panchayats. The Chief Minister gave a detailed presentation on the economic situation, plan performance, financial delivery, and on the progress in certain specific sectors like energy, transport, and health. He underlined his government's commitment to third party / independent scrutiny in project implementation as part of a larger principle of accountability and transparency. He assured the Prime Minister that local body elections would be held in October/ November 2010.
In his closing remarks, the Prime Minister complimented the Chief Minister for providing dynamic leadership to the state administration. In particular, he observed "it is heartening to note that the state government has gone in for tariff-based bids even for hydro projects." While the Prime Minister assured the Chief Minister of financial support for the state government, including on account of difficulties of implementation of the 6th Pay Commission award, Dr Manmohan Singh expressed his disappointment that a section of the state government employees often respond to bandh calls by separatist groups, and fail to discharge their duties in the service of the people of the state. Among many assurances, the Prime Minister ordered for restoration of cuts amounting to about Rs 400 crores in the state plan outlay for 2009-10. He also announced that Central Government had decided to dispense with the cutback of Rs 691 crores in this year's outlay in the reconstruction Plan. The Prime Minister mentioned that the Ministry of Rural Development will assist in setting up of Self Help Groups of women belonging to Gujjar and Bakkerwal communities. The Ministry of Tribal welfare will provide additional allocation to take forward the schemes that use local community based volunteers for delivery of health and education to nomadic groups like gujjars and bakkerwals. Three Cultural Centres including folk museums, auditoria etc, will be set up by the Ministry of Culture for the pahadi, gujjar and bakkeral communities, along with computer laboratories in selected schools for these groups. The Prime Minister concluded that the Central Government will do all that it can to support the state government. He added that "things have improved considerably, fund utilization is better, but much more remains to be done.” Just before leaving for New Delhi, the Prime Minister had a meeting with the Chief Minister. No aides were present.
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Vice President’s Address at the Ceremony Hosted by Lord Mayor of Prague, Czech Republic

(PIB NEWS) June,08, Following is the text of the address of the Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari at the Ceremony hosted by Lord Mayor of Prague Mr. Pavel Bem at Old Town Hall, Prague in Czech Republic today : “My wife and I and my entire delegation are delighted to be in your beautiful and renowned city, so richin culture and tradition. Prague is one of the great cities of the world, and I am happy to be back here, having visited it several years ago. We in India have great admiration for the Czech Republic and its capital city in particular. We admire its history, cultural heritage and its accomplishments in all the fields of human knowledge. Prague lies at the intersection of Europe. It was here that tradesmen, politicians, scholars and artists from all over the world have met. Prague has witnessed the unfolding of events that have impacted the course of history. Czech Republic and India have historically been close partners in our quest for equality, human rights, freedom and democracy. The leaders of India’s freedom struggle, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, visited your beautiful city in the 1930s. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore visited Prague in the 1920s. Both Pandit Nehru, as well as Tagore, raised their voices against Czechoslovakia’s occupation. I thank you very much for this honour that you have extended to me and my delegation and through us to the people of India.”
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Jaganmohan Reddy postpones 'Odarpu Yatra' to July 8

Hyderabad,June 8: Congress MP and the son of late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy, Jaganmohan Reddy has postponed his controversial 'Odarpu Yatra' to July 8."I got a message from the high command to postpone the yatra indefinitely. I have full faith in our leader. Hence, as per the message from the high command, I am postponing the yatra for some days," Jaganmohan said in a statement."I will resume the yatra on July 8. I believe that I will be able to get the approval and blessings of our party President by then," he added.Jaganmohan was scheduled to undertake his yatra in Srikakulam District from today.Earlier, the Congress had asked Jaganmohan not to go ahead with his yatra.After a meeting with Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Jaganmohan had claimed that he has been given permission to go ahead with his yatra. Reddy said: "My yatra was widely appreciated, and I have been given a clear indication to go ahead and do what I was doing."However, the claim was dismissed by Moily who said Jaganmohan Reddy should stop his yatra.
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'Fish Prasadam' distribution starts today

Hyderabad,Jun 8:Thousands of Asthma patients are gathering here from across the country for a two-day distribution of 'fish prasadam,' which started here today.Patients from across the country, who are here for the 'fish prasadam,' believe that fish distributed by 'Bathani brothers' will cure them of their disease. The Hyderabad district administration has made appropriate arrangements for the distribution of the 'prasadam.' There are 32 counters for distribution of 'fish prasadam' at the exhibition grounds at Namapalli in the city. The department of fisheries has procured 1.50 lakh murrel fingerlings, stocked in 24 nurseries of fish seed farm in the city.The department has set up 27 stalls for the supply of live murrel seed near the queue complex for the 'prasadam' point, official sources said.The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation would plying 40 speical buses from Rajiv Gandhi Intenrnational Airport at Shamshabad, Railway stations and various bus stations for the convenient of the patients.The city police has made elaborate security arrangements by deploying police personnel at the 'fish prasadam' points. For giving due consideration to cleanliness during the gathering, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation authorities has deployed scores of sweepers and labourers to work round the clock.Hyderabad City Police Commissioner AK Khan, in a notification, said the police have taken all steps to regulate traffic without causing inconvenience to the general public in connection with the distribution of 'fish medicine' on Mrugashirakarti falling on 8th and 9th od this month.
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YSR's son defers 'yatra' on Sonia Gandhi's directive

Hyderabad, June 7 Finally bowing to the Congress leadership, Lok Sabha member Y.S.Jaganmohan Reddy Monday postponed his 'odarpu yatra' by a month.The late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's son said he will now launch his yatra in Srikakulam July 8. The young MP announced this in a statement a day before he was scheduled to set out on the controversial tour. The yatra is aimed at consoling the family members of those who either committed suicide or died of shock following the death of his father in a helicopter crash last year. After blowing hot and cold on the yatra, Reddy decided not to go ahead with his yatra June 8. The decision came after he was reprimanded by the party leadership for repeatedly defying its directive and Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked him to defer his yatra. Reddy said in the statement: "I have full faith in Sonia Gandhi and I will launch yatra on July 9 with her consent." Jagan's attempt to defy the high command and take out yatra in Warangal district of Telangana region May 28 had triggered violence. The MP was arrested on his way to Mahabubabad town in the district but firing by gunmen of his two loyal legislators in the town injured nine pro-Telangana activists, who were opposing his tour. While stating that he saw no reason for postponing the yatra in a non-Telangana area, Reddy said he would abide by the party president's directive. The MP said his mother Vijayalakshmi June 2 wrote a letter to Gandhi, urging her to give permission for the yatra. "We were waiting for an appointment with her to explain our stand in person. However, last night I received a call from high command asking me to indefinitely postpone the yatra. I asked if there are any strong reasons for this?" said Reddy without mentioning the high command's response.
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Massive health plan to be implemented

Hyderabad, Jun 7 : Andhra Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister Danam Nagender today said the state government would implement a massive health plan with an outlay of Rs 1,140 crore.As part of this plan, the state government had already created 180 new Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and 23 Community Health Centres (CHCs) while 354 community health and nutrition clusters were being carved out, he announced at a news conference here.He said the department had initiated a number of measures to strengthen the health delivery systems in the state, focussing on prevention of water, food and vector-borne diseases and effective management of other infectious diseases.He said instructions had been issued to all District Medical and Health Officers to activate the health machinery to monitor water and food quality in the state and take immediate corrective measures, wherever required. He said every gram panchayat had been given Rs 10,000 as part of NRHM grant for village health and sanitation committees and these committees had been instructed to chlorinate drinking water regularly and keep the drains clear and working.The Institute of Preventive Medicine was conducting regular testing of water in all rural and urban areas and was advising gram panchayats and municipalities on corrective measures, he said.The Minister said a major campaign would be launched in all malaria-endemic districts, especially in the ITDA areas of the state from July 20, to take up for intensive spraying, active surveillance and medical treatment of people suffering from fever.He said the government was in the process of filling 759 posts of staff nurses and 2,434 posts of doctors and all the doctors would be in place by end of July this year.He said the government would take stern action to terminate the services of doctors, who had been absent without leave for more than six months.(photo by RSJ Thomas)
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Centre releases second instalment of scholarship

Hyderabad,Jun 7: Andhra Pradesh Minority Welfare Minister Ahmadulla Syed Mohammed today said the Centre had released the second instalment of scholarship amount of Rupees 43.41 crore for pre-matric and post-matric students of minority communities for 2009-10.Addressing a press conference here, he said the Centre had already released the first instalment of Rs 42 crore for the benefit of 1.13 lakh students in the State.Mr Syed Mohammed Ahmedullah said the government had sanctioned Rs 19.53 crore for scholarships for 86,011 pre-matric students and Rs 19 crore for the post-matric students and Rs three crores for the 1309 merit-based scholarships.A.P State Minorities Financial Corporation,(VC & MD) Alhaj Dr.Mohammad ilyas Rizvi (IFS),Principal Secretary,Minorities welfare Lingaraju Panigrahi also seen in picture, ( photo by RSJ Thomas)
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7 killed, 3 hurt in 2 road accidents

Guntur,Jun 7: Seven people were killed and three others injured in two road accidents in this district today.According to police, four people, including a woman and a six-year-old girl, were killed when they were crushed under iron pipes of the lorry, which they boarded on National Highway-5 at Atmakuru in Mangalagiri Mandal late last night.The labourers hailed from Singarayyakonda in Prakasam District and were proceeding to this district in search of work. The lorry' coming from Kanigiri in Prakasam District, was heading towards Vijayawada.The accident occurred when the victims were sitting between the lorry cabin and the iron pipes, placed on the top of the lorry. The lorry driver had to apply sudden brakes, which led the iron pipes to fall on the four, resulting into their death. The police had a tough time in retreiving the bodies which were later sent to Mangalagiri Government Hospital for post-mortem, police added.
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Heat wave conditions despite isolated rains in some areas

Hyderabad, Jun 7 : Heat wave conditions prevailed over the districts of Krishna of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Khammam, Medak and Nizamabad of Telangana even as isolated rain occurred over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema.The maximum temperatures significantly rose at many places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and at one or two places over Rayalaseema and changed little over Telangana. They were significantly above normal at a few places over remaining districts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and at one or two places over Rayalaseema. The highest maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius was recorded at Khammam and Rentachintala, Met department said today,The chief amounts of rainfall recorded in cm are Pulivendula 3, Chittoor, Proddatur and Tiruvuru one each.Light to moderate rain/thundershowers would occur at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema. Isolated rain or thundershowers may occur over Telangana. Heat wave conditions may continue to prevail over the districts of Krishna of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and over Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Medak and Nizamabad of Telangana during next two days.A spell of rain or thundershowers could occur in parts of city.Maximum and Minimum temperatures would be around 39 and 28 degrees Celsius respectively.
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Congress playing votebank politics for Telangana: Gadkari

Hyderabad, June 7 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari has accused the Congress of indulging in votebank politics for establishing its influence in the Telangana region. Addressing media persons here on Sunday, Gadkari said: "The Congress party has declared the decision. They are creating the problems. If they don''t want to execute it, why did they declare the decision? Actually, whatever things have happened in Andhra Pradesh, It is only because of the votebank politics of the Congress."He further said the BJP would support the bill for a separate state of Telangana if it was placed in Parliament.The Srikrishna Committee formed by the Central Government to look into the Telangana issue was a waste of time, he alleged."The Central Government first declared and later deferred its promise in December 2009 to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh," he said.Talking on other issues, Gadkari said he was glad that Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had admitted that the Afzal Guru file wass being pushed under political pressure."I think she (Sheila Dikshit) is speaking the truth. The BJP party has accused the Congress party again and again that the word ''secular'' means an appeasement of terrorist. The work of pulling Afzal Guru''s file under political pressure is an appeasement for terrorist. The blame that we are putting on the Congress party and Sheila Dikshit has agreed to it and I respect her for that," said Gadkari.The issue was further aggravated with the controversial statement made by Dikshit a few days ago, where she denied that the Home Ministry had sent her a letter on the case.He also blamed the policies of the UPA government for the miseries of farmers in the country.
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World Bank approves $515 mn projects for Andhra Pradesh

New Delhi, Jun 6: The World Bank has approved two projects worth 515 million dollars to India for water and pollution management in Andhra Pradesh.While 450.60 million dollars have been sanctioned for the state water sector improvement, 64.15 million dollars earmarked for a pilot to supporting development of a national programme for rehabilitation of polluted sites, a World Bank statement said. The 450.60 million dollar loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a 30-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period.Of the 64.15 million dollar credit for rehabilitation of polluted sites, 38.94 million dollar comes from the International Development Association(IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm. It carries a 0.75 per cent service fee, a 10-year grace period, and a maturity of 35 years, while the remaining component of 25.21 million dollar has a 30-year maturity, including a 5-year grace period, the statement added. The water project leader and World Bank senior engineer R S Pathak said it is aimed at strengthening Andhra Pradesh's institutional capacity for multi-sectoral planning, development and management of its water resources.The project, he added, will contribute to the rehabilitation and modernisation of Nagarjuna Sagar Scheme (NSS), a large multipurpose project which generates hydro power, supplies water for industries, rural and urban drinking water and irrigation water to about 9 lakh hectare area.The World Bank said the industrial pollution management project is, however, designed as a pilot in view of large scale contamination of areas across India. Quoting an Indian government official, it said there are about 36,000 industries in the country which generate about 6.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste annually. Large quantities of industrial sludge and effluents laden with heavy metals are dumped in open areas, in rivers, around residential compounds, and on farm land. Such toxic dumps have contaminated soil and groundwater, affecting the health of local communities.Project leader Charles Cormier said it is aimed at supporting development of a national programme for rehabilitation of polluted sites and also to build human and technical capacity in selected state agencies for undertaking environmentally-sound remedial measures at polluted sites.
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Thousand to throng Pearl City for 'Fish Medicine'

Hyderabad,Jun 6: Thousand of people are expected to throng the Pearl City on the auspicious day of 'Mrigsira Karthi' on June 8 to partake fish medicine touted as a cure for asthma.The Bathina Brothers -- who have become a household name for administering 'fish medicine'-- were busy making the arrangements.Brothers Vishwanath Goud, Harinath Goud and Uma Maheshwar Goud belong to the current generation of the clan which had been administering the medicine for 156 years based on the 'the wisdom of the sages of ancient India.' Bathina Harinath Goud recalled in 1845, a holy man happened to meet his great-grand father Veeranna Goud and gave him the secret formula, blessed the well and the place of administration of medicine. He also instructed him to distribute this medicine free-of-cost to the patients.The 'secret formula' had been passed on through the generations of the Goud family.The brothers administer the medicine on ''Mrigasira Karti'' which normally falls on June 8. Referring to the controversies and apprehensions raised by the 'Jana Vijnana Vedika', Mr Goud emphatically claimed there were no side effects. Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Government had made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the event.
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