Southwest Monsoon further advanced in Saurastra and Andhra Pradesh

Visakhapatnam, Jun 14 : The Southwest Monsoon has further Advanced into Saurastra and more parts of Andhra Pradesh upto rentachintala, Kalingapatnam and coastal Orissa upto Puri and most parts of Bay of Bengal.According to the CWC here last night the conditions are favourable for further advancement of south west monsoon into Gujarat, Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa remaining parts of Bay of Bengal and Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and some parts of Gangetic West Bengal during the next two to three days.A trough on sea level chart now runs from Orissa to south coastal Tamil Nadu across the coastal Andhra Pradesh. Under its influence the Rain or thundershowers were likely occur at many places over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and few places over South Coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next 24 hours.
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Violence mars dharna at Warangal

Hyderabad, Jun 14 : Tension prevailed at Warangal in Andhra Pradesh, when YSR Congress party activists, who were observing dharna in front of district Collectorate office over farmer issues, clashed with pro-Telangana of Kakatiya University JAC(KU-JAC) activists yesterday.The dharna was part of a state-wide call given by the party.The trouble started when the pro-Telangana KU JAC activists removed the YSR Congress party flags and burnt the vehicle belonging to YSR Congress party.The fire was put out and some of the KU JAC students were taken into custody by the police after a round of mild lathicharge there.Ranga Reddy district also witnessed some uproarious protests at dharna venue. The police had to arrest a few party-workers, including women. They were taken to the Nampally Police Station. The Pro-Telangana KU JAC activists demanded to announce the party stand on separate Telangana statehood.The YSR Congress Party's chief Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy also observed dharna at Chittoor collectorate office. His mother and MLA Vijayamma and her supporters also sat on dharna in front of Collectorate office at Kadapa district, demanding a host of farmers' relief measures.At several districts across the state including Telangana regions saw these dharnas being staged by YSR party workers. ===================================================

Rajanarasimha appointed Deputy Chief Minister

Hyderabad, Jun 10 : Andhra Pradesh Minister for Agriculture and Higher Education C Damodar Rajanarasimha was appointed as Deputy Chief Minister by the Governor ESL Narasimhan here today.In a notification, Government Chief Secretary SV Prasad said in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 164(1) of the Constitution, the Governor, 'on the advice of the Chief Minister N.Kiran Kumar Reddy' appointed C.Damodar Raja Narasimha as Deputy Chief Minister with effect from the fore-noon of today.Mr Rajanarasimha, was elected to the Assembly from Andole constituency in Medak District, for the third time in a row. He was elected during 1989, 2004 and 2009 elections and had served as minister for Marketing during Y S Raja Sekhar Reddy's rule in 2004-2009 and continued in the cabinet of Mr K Rosaiah. In Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy's cabinet, he was given the important portfolio of Higher Education and additional charge of Agriculture after Vivekhananda Reddy resigned.The 53-year-old Dalit, Damodar, who born in Hyderabad, had entered active politics only after his father and former MLA Cilarapu Rajanarsimha's death. He also served as Chairman for the SC Finance Corporation earlier.
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AP Licences cultivators ordinance 2011 promulgated

Hyderabad, Jun 10 : The state government today promulgated 'AP Licensed Cultivators’ Ordinance-2011' aiming to bring the tenant farmers under coverage of bank loans facility, seed subsidy, input subsidy and crop insurance on par with the landlord farmers.While announcing this to the mediapersons here , Minister for Revenue Mr N Raghuveera Reddy said some 26 lakh tenant farmers were denied bank loans, seed and input subsidies offered by the state government. The efforts of the state government to draft an Act in the budget session to deal with the situation did not bear fruit. As it was necessary to wait for the start of the Assembly to bring an Ordinance, there was some delay in promulgating the Ordinance, he said, adding that the order was issued after it was approved by the Governor.The government would issue 'Loan Eligibility Cards' to the tenant farmers, who are eligible for bank loans, seed subsidy, input subsidy and crop insurance coverage.He further said the Ordinance was formulated to benefit the tenant farmers simultaneously without affecting the rights of the owners on the land, he added. The validity of the Ordinance was one year from the date of issuance, the Minister, who held a review meeting with the officials concerned, said and fixed road map and rules for implementation of the Ordinance.A notification on rules of the Ordinance will be released on June 13, he said, adding that they would also conduct a video conference on June 16 with the district Collectors, Joint Collectors and the officers concerned to discuss the rules and road map.The Minister said the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was busy with North coastal tour, would launch the distribution of 'Loan Eligibility Cards' to the tenant farmers in any one of the districts of East Godawari, West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur, wherever the tenant farmers were more in number.The function would be held between July 8 and 15, he added.
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Despite Deputy Chief Minister post, Telangana agitation will continue

Hyderabad, Jun 10 :TRS party Floor Leader in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Etela Rajender today stated that the Deputy Chief Minister post was given to Telangana region to appease the leaders.While responding on the appointment of C Damodar Rajanarasimha as Deputy Chief Minister by the Congress government, he said the Telangana agitation will continue despite the Centre’s attempt to pacify the region’s leaders by offering posts.He alleged that the Ranabheri was organised under the aegis of Seemandhra leaders, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, to water down the Telangana agitation. ====================================================

Thousands of asthma patients take 'fish prasadam'

Hyderabad, June 9 : Thousands of asthma patients from different parts of the country, hoping to be cured, took 'fish prasadam' which has been distributed by a family here for more than 160 years.Despite the controversies which hit the popularity of the 'miracle drug' in recent years, people continue to throng the venue in the hope of finding some relief to their nagging respiratory problems.Since Wednesday night, about 20,000 people gathered here at the sprawling Exhibition Grounds have taken the 'prasadam' being distributed by the Baithini Goud family in the heart of the city. Hundreds more were standing in queues Thursday morning.They gulped down a live 'murrel' fish with a yellow herbal paste in its mouth, which is believed to provide the much-needed relief, if taken for three consecutive years. For vegetarians, the family gives the medicine with jaggery.The turnout, however, was not in lakhs as claimed by the family, which changed the name of the fish medicine to 'fish prasadam' four years ago to avoid legal problems.The free distribution of 'prasadam' began at 10.30 p.m. Wednesday at 32 counters after the Goud family performed 'puja' at their ancestral house in Doodhbowli in the old city.Family head Bathini Harinath Goud said the counters would remain open till 10 p.m. Thursday or till the last patient gets 'prasadam'.Men, women and children lined up for taking the medicine several hours before the counters opened. It was sheer faith which brought many to the venue. "This is the third time I have come here as I got some relief earlier," said Bhumiya Naik, who came from Latur, Maharashtra.There were many first-timers like Ajmal Khan from Bidar, Karnataka. He heard about the medicine from his friends. "I have been suffering from asthma for the last seven years. I have tried everything but nothing worked. Now I want to try this," he said.The fisheries department has supplied 40,000 murrel fingerlings for the annual event held every year on the first day of 'Mrigasira Karti', which heralds the onset of monsoon.Over 600 policemen have been deployed at the venue as part of security measures. Various departments are providing water, sanitation and other basic amenities to the patients. Voluntary organisations have also chipped in by distributing free food and water packets.On the directions of the Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Commission, the Hyderabad district administration was ensuring that no child is forcibly given the fish medicine. The rights panel had issued the order early this week on the petition by an organization for children's rights, Balala Hakkula Sangham.The NGO argued that forcibly giving fish medicine was a violation of children's rights. It also alleged that distribution of the medicine under unhygienic conditions may cause more harm than good.fish medicine lost its popularity in recent years after some groups, working to inculcate scientific temper among people, termed it as a fraud. They also approached a lower court, claiming that since the herbal paste contains heavy metals it can cause serious health problems.But the Goud family claims that the tests in laboratories conducted as per court orders revealed that the herbal paste is safe.The Goud family has been distributing the 'fish prasadam' free of cost for the last 165 years. It claims that the secret formula for the herbal medicine was given to their ancestors in 1845 by a saint after taking an oath from him that it would be administered free of cost. ===================================================

Hyderabad, Jun 9 : The sleuths of Commissioner’s Task Force (West Zone) Team have arrested an absconding convicted cine Producer who has allegedly cheated people to the tune of Rs 2 crore.Producer Donthireddy Achyutha Reddy, resident of Masab in Hyderabad, decided to produce Telugu Films, for which he took loans to the tune of Rs 2 crore from several people, according to a police release yesterday.The accused was involved in as many as 27 civil cases. Out of 27 cases, he was convicted in 14 under NI Act.All these cases are pending in the Higher Courts. The accused Achyutha Reddy was involved in 5 criminal cases of cheating. The accused was absconding since long time as he was convicted by the VII Additional CMM Court, Hyderabad and sentenced to undergo one year simple imprisonment. The Magistrate directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Task Force, Hyderabad for execution of convicted warrant in CC No 34 of 2007. The West Zone Task Force Team made efforts and executed the warrant yesterday under the supervision of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police ( Task force, Hyderabad) Dr K Raghuram Reddy, the release added.
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TDP leader takes exception to 'selling seeds by lottery'

Guntur, AP, Jun 9 : Telugu Desam Party (TDP) senior leader and former Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Kodela Shiva Prasad today took strong exception to taking lottery for the selling of quality cotton seeds to the farmers.Talking to newspersons here, he said selling of quality cotton seeds on the basis of lottery to the farmers amounted to auctioning lives of farmers. The government hiked prices of cotton seeds, yielding to the pressure of the multinational companies, he alleged.He charged the government with failing to make the required quantity of cotton seeds available to the farmers which helped the traders to sell the seeds in black market. The cotton seeds bag was being sold hiking the original price by Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,000 in the black market, he claimed.He pointed out that large number of farmers were forming beelines in front of seeds selling shops to by quality seeds.
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Pulivendula MLA YS Vijayalakshmi sworn-in as MLA

Hyderabad, Jun 3 : Pulivendula MLA YS Vijayalakshmi was sworn-in by Protem Assembly Speaker JC Diwakar Reddy on the Assembly premises here today.Ms Vijayalakshmi, widow of former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was re-elected by a thumping majority on the YSR Congress party ticket in the recently held by-elections at Pulivendula. Among who attended in the brief swearing-in ceremony were Ms Vijayalakshmi's son YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who also recently got elected from Kadapa Lok Sabha seat with majority in the by-election, MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, 12 MLAs, including Konda Surekha, Jayasudha, Shobha Nagireddy, K Srinivas, Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar, Dharmanna Krishnadas and MLCs, including Pulla Padmavathi and Konda Murali.
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Congress boycotts Karnataka assembly, seeks speaker's resignation

Bangalore, June 3 : The Congress Friday stayed away from the Karnataka assembly and decided not to attend the remaining eight days of the session, demanding Speaker K.G. Bopaiah's resignation following the Supreme Court's "strictures" against him over the disqualification of 16 legislators.The Congress had walked out of the assembly Thursday, the first day of the 10-day session, protesting Bopaiah's decision to disallow an immediate discussion on the Supreme Court's comments on his action to disqualify the 16 members - 11 of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and five Independents - last October."We will stay away from the session for the remaining period also as the speaker has no right to continue in office after the Supreme Court's observations," Congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah told reporters here.The Supreme Court, restoring the membership of the 16 legislators on May 13, had said the speaker's action of disqualification was against the principles of natural justice.The other opposition party, Janata Dal-Secular, has also boycotted the session, seeking Bopaiah's resignation.Siddaramiah said the boycott decision was only for this session.Bopaiah has ruled out resigning, saying the Supreme Court has not passed any "strictures" against him but only commented on his decision to disqualify the 16 legislators.
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Muslims take out funeral procession to Nashik civic body's office

Nashik, Jun 3: In yet another unusal protest, the members of the Muslim community took out a funeral procession to the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) office here today, demanding the 'Qabristan (Graveyard) in the new Nashik (Cidco) area.A retired person who was working in NMC died today. The Cidco Masjid Trust had earlier warned the civic administration that if it did not solve the problem of funeral ground for Muslim community, they would take out a funeral procession to the municipal corporation and bury the body in its premises.The police rushed to the spot and assured the protestors that the problem of burial ground would be solved shortly. Thereafter, the Muslim people took back the body from NMC office.Police has made heavy bandobast near the civic office.The issue of burial ground has been pending till date because the Nashik district collector has been given the additional charge of municipal commissioner following the transfer of Bhaskar Sanap.Today's was the second such incident. Earlier on May 21, the members of Muslim community had taken the body of a woman for her funeral procession to the NMC office.
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SW Monsoon further advances in Rayalaseema, Coastal AP

Hyderabad, Jun 3 : Southwest Monsoon has further advanced over some more parts of Rayalaseema and parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh today.Conditions are favourable for further advance ment of Southwest Monsoon over remaining parts of Andhra Pradesh during the next two to three days.Under its influence, moderate to rather heavy rain or thundershowers may occur at many places over Rayalaseema over the next 48 hours.Light to moderate rain or thundershowers may occur at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during the same period.Outlook for subsequent two days was that there would be no large change, the Met Office said here today.The sky would be generally cloudy over Hyderabad and neighbourhood and rain or thundershowers may occur in parts of city over the next two days.The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 37 and 24 Degrees Celsius respectively.
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TDP to submit fresh notice for no-trust motion

Hyderabad, June 3 : The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh will Saturday give a fresh notice for no-confidence motion against the state Congress government as the one submitted Friday has become infructuous.As the state assembly is meeting Saturday to elect the speaker and deputy speaker, the TDP decided to meet protem speaker J.C. Diwakar Reddy to give a fresh notice before the sitting.The opposition party also decided to field its candidates for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker.TDP chief N. Naidu told reporters that there was no question of going back on the decision to move a no-confidence motion against the government for failing to address the problems of people, especially farmers.Since the assembly is meeting for one day to elect the speaker and deputy speaker, the TDP may have to wait for its no-trust motion.Naidu said the debate on the motion has to take place within 10 days from the date of submitting the notice.The TDP, which has 88 legislators in the 294-member assembly, Friday submitted notice for the no-confidence motion to the legislature secretary as Deputy Speaker N. Manohar was not available. However, according to the assembly rules, the notice has to be submitted before commencement of the sitting for that day.The former chief minister said the TDP was sincere in moving the motion without banking on the support of any party.Meanwhile, the TDP has also decided to field its legislators K.E. Krishna Murthy and Suddala Devaiah for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker respectively. The move is being seen as an attempt to test the waters ahead of the no-trust motion.Deputy Speaker N. Manohar appears set to become speaker as the ruling Congress has 155 legislators and it also enjoys support of the Praja Rajyam Party and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, who have 18 and seven legislators respectively.The post of speaker has been vacant since November last year when N. Kiran Kumar Reddy became the chief minister.Government chief whip Mallu Batti Vikaramarka is the ruling party's candidate for the post of deputy   speaker. According to political observers, the TDP plans to assess the support enjoyed by YSR Congress party among Congress legislators as its leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, or Jagan as he is popularly called, had once claimed that the government was at his mercy Though only 10 legislators are being seen with Jagan, some leaders of the party have claimed that they have the strength to pull down the government.
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Proposal to upgrade 6 municipalities into Corporations: Minister

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

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

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

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

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

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

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