'Vijayendra Varma' set for Dec 15 release: Sunday, November 28, 2004 | Editor
"Vijayendra Varma", slated for release Dec 15, is the second longest venture in the annals of Telugu cinema after "Anji". The film, starring Balakrishna, son of legendary N.T. Rama Rao, has taken nearly 30 months to complete. "But for the producer's determination we wouldn't have retained the passion for the project so long," says Swarna Subba Rao, debutant director of the film. The film, with a patriotic theme, got stuck due to several reasons, including Balakrishna's accident and later a shoot out episode at the actor's house that created a sensation. Instead of abandoning it as a jinxed project, industrialist-turned-producer Krishnam Raju persisted with it. He even went over-budget, saying he was confident. Raju says he senses "excited anticipation" about the film. In a few weeks the industry will know whether his optimism is warranted.
`Prakash Utsav' celebrated with religious fervour in AP Saturday, November 27, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad, Nov 26 : The 535th "Prakash Utsav", birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru and founder of Sikh religion, Guru Nanak Dev was celebrated with religious fervour and enthusiasm in Andhra Pradesh today. Devotees took out `Prabhat Pheri' and arranged `Guru ka Langar" (Free community kitchen) at various Gurudwaras of the state and hold a `Vishaal Deewan' (Mass congregatgion) at the exhibition grounds in Nampally here. A release from the Gurudwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha said that Guru Nanak Devji stood for "national integration, communal harmony, peace and brotherhood". Recitations of Gurubani Keertans (Holy Hymns) by the reputed Ragi Jathas were organised in various Gurdwaras of the city. Gurudwaras in the state were tastefully decorated and a religious procession was taken in the city last evening.
Seven killed, 30 injured in road accident in Andhra Pradesh Saturday, November 27, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad, Nov 27 : Seven persons, including four women, belonging to Karnataka, were killed and 30 others injured in a road accident in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh today, police said here. A van, carrying 50 people from Bidar district in neighbouring Karnataka, rammed into a stationary lorry on National Highway-9 near Makthumpally village, about 60 km from here, killing seven persons on the spot, the police said. Thirty persons, including the driver, were injured in the mishap and have since been shifted to a government hospital here. The victims were proceeding to Chautuppal in Nalgonda district to attend a marriage when the accident occurred, police added.
CM non-committal on Telangana statehood issue Saturday, November 27, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad, Nov 27 : A day after the UPA government announced constitution of a sub-committee to look into the demand for separate state for Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy today remained non-committal on the statehood issue, saying the present exercise was only meant to ascertain views of various political parties. "An exercise has begun to elicit views of various political parties (on formation of Telangana state). Let there be a consensus on the issue," Reddy said in an informal chat with reporters here. In tune with the ruling Congress' known position on Telangana, the Chief Minister said the constitution of a sub-committee was part of an initiative to examine the statehood issue on the basis of political consensus. "If there is a consensus among people and all political parties (on carving out Telangana state), it is fine," he said. The Chief Minister's observations come against the backdrop of friction between Congress and its pre-poll ally Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on the statehood issue. While TRS had set December deadline for commencement of process for creation of Telangana state, the state Congress leaders have been contending that a second States' Re-organisation Commission (SRC) should be constituted to go into demands for smaller states including Telangana. The ruling party leaders have also been arguing that Telangana state could be formed only when there is a broad political consensus on the issue.
Chandrababu Naidu to visit Pak this month Friday, November 26, 2004 | Editor
Press Trust of India Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Leader of Telugu Desam party, Chandrababu Naidu will visit Pakistan this month to lecture the state's experience in management and to interact with the Pakistani leaders. Naidu would address a seminar organised by the Lahore University Management Physical Sciences on Nov 29 and arrive in Islamabad the next day to meet Pakistani leaders. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in the past has praised the leadership of Naidu in according top priority to the development in governance. Naidu is scheduled to visit Pakistan along with three of his party Members of Parliament, officials in Islamabad said.
Private engineering colleges face closure Thursday, November 25, 2004 | Editor
HYDERABAD: Thanks to the generosity showered by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the then TDP government in the sanction of private engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh, a significant number of them are on the brink of closure. They are languishing in utter lack of infrastructure, faculties, competent professionals to teach and greedy and inexperienced managements. Result: The 80-odd colleges in the district towns are faced with the hard reality of thousands of seats remaining vacant with absolutely no takers. There are a total of 238 engineering colleges in the state with an annual intake of 82,000, far exceeding the demand. Shockingly, as many as 15,000 seats in the merit category and around 12,000 under management quota are unfilled even a month after counselling concluded this year. In nine colleges, the number of admissions was less than 10! Understandably, against this background, the Andhra Pradesh government has taken the decision not to allow new colleges or permit increase in the number of seats in the existing ones. Interestingly, the demand against sanction of any more colleges was made by no less than the AP Private engineering Colleges Managements Association. The question is who is to blame for this state of affairs. Academics say apart from the failure of the earlier government to enforce the criteria followed in setting up the colleges and monitor their healthy functioning, the managements of these colleges are also at fault for violating the norms - no premises of their own for studies, no hostels, no laboratories and no teachers. A decade ago the state had less than 30 engineering colleges, when the Chandrababu Naidu government came out with the policy of liberally granting new colleges to stop the exodus of students to the neighbouring Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. By 2000, the number of colleges crossed 100 and higher education officials felt it was more than adequate. But they remained dumb as the sanctions went on. "Avaricious businessmen with political clout felt it is good business to set up engineering colleges. They managed to secure clearances from the AICTE even when the state government put on hold their proposals (Under the Act, the AICTE is empowered to grant permission even if the state rejects it)," pointed out a senior official. Prof C. Subba Rao, a renowned academic and till recently chairman of the AP State Council for Higher Education (APSCHE), feels that putting in place a regulatory mechanism to ensure quality of education is the key. Then comes the main problem of faculty. "To resolve this, the only way is to network the colleges to facilitate online lecturing by the best of the teachers whose services are now available to only a few institutions. Others are languishing without talented teachers and students are naturally uninterested to join them," says Rao. Prof K C Reddy, current chairman of APSCHE, agrees with this view. "It is high time quality of education in the engineering colleges is raised multi-fold. We will seriously examine and put in place effective measures to achieve this,'' he assured.
State government freezes tenders of nine companies Thursday, November 25, 2004 | Editor
HYDERABAD: The State Government has frozen 21 works (packages) already awarded to nine pre-qualified companies in pursuance of the High Court directive to issue a fresh notification inviting bids from all companies for pre-qualification status to take up irrigation works. Orders to this effect have been transmitted to Superintending Engineers and they have been asked to ensure that the nine companies do not begin work till the process of seeking fresh bids from new companies is completed. The works were in Category I and the value of each work exceeds Rs 100 crore. According to sources, there was no question of cancelling the works entrusted to the companies though a fresh notification has been issued. If any new company or consortia of companies apply for inclusion in the panel of pre-qualified companies, only then works would be cancelled and all the companies including the new ones would be invited to bid for works afresh. The nine consortia of the companies to whom works had already been awarded are: IVRCL-SEW-Prasad, Maytas-NCL, Patel-Soma, Jayaprakash-Gayatri, HCC, L and T, Progressive Constructions Ltd, Skanska Cementation India Ltd and Gammon India Ltd. The value of works awarded to them is about Rs 5,000 crore and those that had been finalised are valued at Rs 3,000 crore (total Rs.8,000 crore). Meanwhile, officials are keeping their fingers crossed on the possibility of there being any new bidders for pre-qualification status. It is pointed out that those companies, which applied earlier and were rejected later would not be eligible even now because the criteria for eligibility remains unchanged. The recent notification is meant for the companies that had not applied in response to the first notification because they did not satisfy eligibility criteria at that time. Since the criteria had been relaxed subsequently, a fresh opportunity is being provided for those who now satisfied the revised criteria.
Pirated video CDs seized, many arrested Thursday, November 25, 2004 | Editor
TIRUPATI/CHITTOOR: Police conducted raids on the video CD shops in various parts of the district in a special drive on Wednesday. Special police teams led by DSP V Mutyapu Rao conducted raids on 12 video parlours and seized 900 pirated VCDs of Telugu, English, Hindi and Tamil films. Owners of all the 12 shops were taken into custody. In Tirupati, special police teams led by urban circle inspector Venkatanadh Reddy and rural circle inspector Narasimha Reddy conducted raids on several video parlours in the town and seized 368 pirated VCDs of Telugu, English, Hindi and Tamil films. Sixteen persons were arrested in this connection. While Renigunta police arrested four persons and seized 28 pirated VCDs, Srikalahasthi Urban police raided 3 shops and seized 45 pirated VCDs of Telugu, Tamil and English films. Three persons were arrested in this connection.
'Andhra Pradesh wanted to delay seer's arrest': Thursday, November 25, 2004 | Editor
[India News]: New Delhi, Nov 22 : The arrest of Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi could have been avoided had the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh had its way. "We (Congress) wanted to delay the arrest as much as possible," said a senior cabinet minister, who spoke on condition of strict anonymity. The minister, who is familiar with thinking at the highest level in the Congress-led government at the centre, said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy did not want the arrest to take place in his state. Asked why, the minister quipped: "Who wants to court controversies?" "But we had to relent, as the Tamil Nadu police were armed with a court order for the arrest of the seer," he said. The Shankaracharya was arrested in Mehboobnagar district of Andhra Pradesh on Nov 11 in connection with the murder of a former accountant of the Kanchi mutt, Sankara Raman. A team of Andhra Pradesh police was also present when the pontiff was arrested in Mehboobnagar, 90 km from Hyderabad, where he had come to conduct a 'trikal puja,' a religious ceremony.
Egypt to set up cultural centre in Hyderabad Thursday, November 25, 2004 | Editor
Egypt is setting up a cultural centre in Hyderabad to strengthen bilateral ties. Egypt's Ambassador to India Khair al Din Abdul Lateef conveyed this to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy on Wednesday. He said the centre would be on the lines of Maulana Azad Cultural Centre set up by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in Cairo. He said since Egypt had centuries old ties with Hyderabad and the city was a centre of educational activities, his government was keen to locate the centre here. He said there was also a proposal to set up an Egyptian consulate in Hyderabad while Egyptian Airlines proposed to fly to New Delhi and Hyderabad. The ambassador is here to participate in a seminar organised by the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Osmania University, on Nobel laureate and Arabic writer Najib Mahfuz. The envoy said an international seminar on "Holy Quran for humanity in the changing global scenario" would be held in Hyderabad. Renowned Islamic scholar of Egypt Allama Tantavi will address the seminar. He also pointed out that more and more Indian tourists were visiting Egypt. The Egyptian embassy in New Delhi has issued 1,000 visas to Indian tourists this year.
Number of suicides in Andhra crosses 2,000, claims TDP Thursday, November 25, 2004 | Editor
HYDERABAD — Andhra Pradesh's main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has released a list of 2,000 farmers and weavers who it says have committed suicide during the six-month rule of the Congress in the state. However, the allegation has attracted a strong rebuttal from the Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy who said that it was TDP's misrule during last 10 years which was responsible for the continuing suicides in the state. "Those who were in power in the state for so may years are responsible for these suicides," Dr Reddy told newsmen when asked to comment on TDP's claim. "A judicial commission has been set up and it will find out whether this figure is correct. Even if it is correct, the commission will also find out who is responsible for them," he said. Dr Reddy said that the commission would go into the reasons behind suicides and establish whether the policies of the previous TDP government were responsible. He made a counter allegation that the opposition was coming in the way of the welfare and development programmes launched by his government to help the farmers. He also referred to the attempts to put obstacles in the way of irrigation projects launched by his government. It will take another two and a half to three years for the new schemes and initiatives of his government to show results and increase the productivity of the farmers, Dr Reddy said when asked why his government has not been able to stop the suicides. While the TDP insisted that it had the names and other details of all the 2,000 persons who committed suicides, the state government's official figures put the number of suicides at around 500 since May last. The Congress came to power in Andhra Pradesh in May this year. TDP's deputy legislature party leader, Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who released the list, said that if suicides continue at this rate it will go up to 20,000 in the next five years of Congress rule. He asked the government to publish a white paper on the relief provided to the farmers so far and why the farmers were continuing to commit suicides.
Government not backtracking peace talks - Jana Reddy Thursday, November 18, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad The Home Minister, K.Jana Reddy speaking to reporters, denied the allegation that the Government is backtracking the talks with naxals and repressive methods against them. He said that the second round of talks would take place but would be possible if both sides achieved clarity and understanding on the issues. He said that the naxals should not insult the Government and incite the public while organizing the meetings and said that the naxalites had not indulged in violence during the ceasefire period so far and asked people to understand the situation and the Government's approach is also the same.
Yuvasena Thursday, November 18, 2004 | Editor
After Bharatheeyudu and Tagore, now it is the turn of Yuvasena to deal with injustice, bueracracy and corruption. The trend of this fight against corruption is going hi-tech by each film. In Yuvasena, the heroes fight against corruption using the internet. Sravanthi films unit is reputed for producing quality films. The subject picked fits the league. Yuvasena is the remake of Malayalam hit film 4 The People. Though the theme of the film is good, it is the narration that disappoints. Coming to the storyline, as the title suggests, Yuvasena is the story of 4 guys Aravind (Sharwanand), Vivek (Bharath), Rafi (Padma Kumar), Kishore (Krishna Kishore). All the individual families, at one point or the other, are the victims of the corruption. So the 4 guys come together and start a website "4ThePeople" and work through the site. Anyone could report on the website about any injustice. These 4 guys will react in their own way thrashing the culprits. Since this is considered by the Government as taking law into action, a special team is formed to nab these 4. Finally, the police succeed in capturing these 4 during their failed attempt to kill a minister. However, deriving inspiration from these 4, another 4 people form into a group and finish the job that is pending. The film starts off in a serious mode where the 4 guys start doing their work by checking their emails, nailing down the culprits and fixing them in a location to dictate the punishment. Amidst these serious scenes, songs pop up with Bharath and Gopika running between the trees. The film feels like loosely knitted scenes falling at the wrong places. Songs are picturized with a lack of focus from the camera. The camera angles are changed so rapid that the songs are rapid rides for the eyes. As it is the dances involved fast steps and with such camera movements, it is tough to understand on what is going on. First half goes on with confusing scenes and not that interesting narration. If one feels that the first half is boring, second half can be avoided. It only gets worse. Though the concept is novel, the narration is truly not upto the mark. The performance of the young talent is worth a mention. The best performances came out of the role who played the ACP and Sharwanand. Sharwanand, who played low profile roles in Gowri and Shankar Dada, did a good job in this film as Aravind. He improved a lot with his voice modulation. Also, Bharat is very good with his dances and he is used for the same reason in the movie. The entire cast is either new or relatively new. Gopika looked beautiful in couple of songs. Editing and photography are so so. Music is good. Jeesi Gift composed the music. However, he should have given chances to other singers instead of rendering most number of songs himself. Also, his voice didnot suit the hero. Ye Dukkuna and Malleswarivey songs are good. Lyrics are penned by Sitarama Sastry and they are good. Production values are definitley upto the mark. Sravanthi Films has the reputation of dishing out entertainers. This might be one of the films that wont fit that category. Overall, the film is disappointing.
Chant..The hero Thursday, November 18, 2004 | Editor
Chanti.. The hero starring Raviteja and Charmi released for Diwali. Right in time for Deepavali, the film seemed to have become a bomb at the box office. Krishna Kishore, son of K.C.Sekhar babu, produced this film on Vijayabala productions. Coming to the storyline, Chanti (Ravitteja) is a brave soldier in army. He wins accolades and is reputed as real hero. In his native place, his father Madhavayya (Ranganath) is killed in a plot hatched by MLA (Atul Kulkarni), MLA's brother-in-law (Subbaraju), SP (Raghubabu) and MRO (Benarji), inorder to lockout the sugar factory. Hearing the death of his father, Chanti rushes to his native. He constructs the grave stone for his father in their own farms. Meanwhile, MLA buys out the sugar factory. Now he wants to construct a road to pace up the movement of loads of sugarcane to his factory. According to the plan, the road has to pass through the lands of Chanti. Chanti wont heed to that. The rest of the film roles on the plans by MLA to acquire the land and Chanti's retort for those. Also included are the love tracks between Chanti and Vasantha Laxmi (Charmi), Chanti and Anjali (Anjali). The two things that the film lacked: Story and Screenplay. The film runs in a rough path with no solid narration. Scenes and sequences run random. Also, on one hand Raviteja's character is elevated as dear to his father and a responsible guy. On the other hand, he keeps singing duets with the two heroines during the griefing period. The reason is justified in the film by Raviteja telling his sister that his father wont like him crying. The director seem to have forced the sentiment with a blind sister - "guddi chelli". Raviteja's colleague from army (Raja Ravindra) enters the scene to marry his sister. And he is also killed by the MLA. Now, Vasantha Lakshmi witnesses the murder and tells Chanti about the murder of his father also. Chanti is unaware of his father's murder until this point. Just an example of missing logic is that in the first half it is told that Vasantha Lakshmi is on a tour during the murder of Chanti's father. But finally, she is the one who tells Raviteja that its the MLA who murdered his father. Its a list of such things. Performances: Chanti name and also this kind of characters are very natural for Raviteja. He is asusual with his timing and expressions. Charmi did her role well as Vasa(ntha)Laxmi. The dubbing for her kind of felt monotonous. Anjali played kind of glamour role. Both Charmi and Anjali used skimpy clothes in songs. Worth mention is the performance of Atul Kulkarni, who played MLA. He is very good in that role. Subbaraju entertains in his comedy villain role. There is very less to talk about screenplay and direction in this film. The less the better. One wonders if he is the same who directed Varsham. Editing and camera are OK. Music is also average. Sri usually gives out good music. But this film lacks his touch too. Konangi Konangi song is OK. The film is definitely a disappointment for Raviteja fans. But this can be watched once just for RAVITEJA. If you are a die hard fan of Raviteja, you can give it a shot.
Apparao Driving School Thursday, November 18, 2004 | Editor
Owing to his inheritance, Apparao continues to run the driving school, established by his anscetors, only for ladies. Apparao has good reputation about his decent behaviour with girls. Anjali (Preethi Jingania), daugther of factionleader Reddy (Jayaprakash Reddy), bets with her friends that Apparao is like any other guy and believes that Apparao also will surely try to exploit girls if he gets the opportunity. Realizing that she misunderstood Apparao, Anjali falls in love with Apparao. Unaware of these developments, Apparao gets married to Mahalaxmi (Malavika). On the request of Reddy, Apparao acts as if he is also in love with Anjali. Reason is that Anjali has cancer and will die soon. The rest of the film engages in the dual love stories of Apparao and how he manages with that. Rajendra Prasad is asusual. He gave life to Apparao character. These kind of comedy characters is like a piece of cake for Natakiriti Rajendra Prasad. Malavika is OK in her role. Dupe for Malavika is used for almost half part of a song. Preethi Jingania is OK in her role. One of the best characters in this film is played by Jeeva as Aarif Khan. He is the competetor to Rajendra Prasad and runs a driving school only for guys. He performed the comedy very well. The scenes involving Rajendra Prasad and Jeeva are hillarious. Brahmanandam is ok in the role of Losugula Laxma Reddy. First half of the film passes OK. But the interest curve keeps falling down during the second half. Also, it appears that it is not an appropriate role for Rajendra Prasad, who is one of the most versatile actors in the industry. His potential is not completely utilized. Comedy done by Jeeva and Brahamanandam evoke good laughter. Anji Srinu, who handled both screenplay and direction, did an Ok job with the direction. Some of the comedy scenes prove his skills with handling such scenes. However, the screenplay takes a beating. It also appears that the director is confused as the movie progresses towards the climax. Climax seemed to be a never-ending deal. Photography by Vijay Kumar and editing by Krishna Reddy are OK. Gangotri Viswanath dialogues cracked well at times. His punchliners are good. There is nothing much to talk about the music in the film. Ghantadi Krishna composed the music. The music suffices the run of the film. If you are a fan of Rajendra Prasad and will live with any kind of comedy film, this is worth a try.
Swarabhishekam Thursday, November 18, 2004 | Editor
After quite some gap, K.Viswanath took to direction again. In these recent years, he was acting character roles. Naturally, the fans of K.Viswanath are excited about this one. But disappointingly the film turned out not meeting the expectations. In the trend of shifting music culture from our own traditional and classical to Pop and Rap, Srirangam srinivasacharyulu (K.Viswanath) and Srirangam Rangacharyulu (Srikanth) still stay as the last hopes for the classical music. They live in Haridwar living just for music. From the support of Veerayya (Sridhar), the duo gets a chance for a concert in USA. After the concert in US, they get good reputation as Srirangam brothers and even become music directors. Rangacharyulu, a widower, marries Surekha (Laya), who is a TV anchor. Surekha's mother induces some bad thoughts into Surekha because of which the family splits. The rest of the film is about Surekha realizing her mistake and the family getting back together. Though the story has all the potential to become a classic, like earlier K.Viswanath films, what fails the film is the narration. Screenplay of the film is weak that at times the film gets boring. The weak screeplay takes its toll much in the second half. But due credit should be given to some of the scenes which are heart touching. Scenes like Chandu (Sivaji) singing for her mother (Janaki) as if he is giving concert really moves the audience. Another saving grace for the film is the track that runs with Sivaji and Amuktha Malyada. K.Viswanath played his role as Srinivasachary with great composure. Urvasi, as the wife of K.Viswanath, did her role well. Though Srikanth looked OK with his performance in the entire film, he excelled in his role in the climax. That covers him for the entire film. Laya did her role well. Her role comes with complex characterization - Responsible, homely and jealous. The best performances come from Sivaji, who played Chandu, and Amuktha Malyada (Bujji). Especially Amuktha Malyada. This is her debut film. Her classical dance experience seems to have come in handy with her dances and performance too. She did quite an impressive job in this film. Also, The film has some good comedy and most of it comes from Sivaji and Amukta Malyada. Venu Madhav evokes good laughter with his brief presence as a music director. Photography by Durgaprasad and editing by Krishnarao are OK. Production values are good. Though the film has the music-oriented background, the songs or the background didnot really meet the line to be called such. Barring couple of songs like Venugana Sammohanam and Okka Kshanam, the rest of the songs are just average. Many a times, one feels that if this is really directed by K.Viswanath. This is definitely one that cannot be compared to his standards. However, if you are in mood for just a classical and pleasant film with no routine masala, you can give this a try.
7G Brindavan Colony Thursday, November 18, 2004 | Editor
7G Brindavan Colony is the production of reputed banner for success - Sri Surya Movies. A.M.Ratnam produced this film with his son Ravikrishna in the lead. Sonia Agarwal, who tried her luck with few films in Telugu earlier, is the heroine of the film. The publicity of the film was run as this is based on a true story. Thogh the film starts off with a routine story, it gets intereting and finally ends in a different style. It is the narration that grips the whole film and makes the film interesting. Coming to the storyline, the film is about a guy Ravi (Ravikrishna), who enjoys his time mostly with his friends. His father Chandra Mohan regularly chides him for his reckless attitude towards life. Things start changing as Anitha (Soni Agarwal) enters the same colony. In the beginning, Anitha hates Ravi for his behavior. Anitha's engagement is fixed with Kishore. Ravi tries to explain Anitha that Kishore is not a nice guy. In this process, Anitha starts liking Ravi. She tries to boost his spirits and make him pass his exams. However, Ravi still flunks his exam. Realizing that Ravi's talents are in a different track, she gives him an idea to join a herohonda showroom as he is very good with the bikes. Meanwhile, coming to know of this relation, Anitha's mother warns Anitha of the consequences and they move to a different house. Anitha decides to give herself to Ravi. They spend a day together in a hotel. Things take a sudden turn the next day. Ravi loses Anitha. How and what happens after that should be seen on the silver screen. Ravi promplty falling in love with Anitha and does what not to prove his love towards her. Until this point, the story is routine but presented very well. It is like old wine in new bottle. Things keep getting better as the movie progress. The director gives a final twist, which makes the film different from the other barrel of films of the league. This is the first film for hero Ravikrishna. Some roles are made for individual actors. This role is a perfect example . Ravikrishna aptly suited the role. Also, Ravikrishna played the role with an ease. Sonia acted very balanced. She did a applaudable job as a simple but responsible girl. This film is bound to get her the recognition she deserved. Chandra Mohan's role is yet another typical role for him : worrying about the future of his son. He acted this one also with a grace. There are a few scenes where he touches the heart with his performance. Another worth mention characters in this film is of Suman Shetty's. He played the friend of Ravi. This is a different role for Suman Shetty. He almost played a full length role. He acted both the comedy and emotional scenes with such an ease. The first half starts as an youth entertainer with comedy, college teasing and scenes. One of the best parts of the film is the characterization of Ravi. Teenagers could identify themselves with Ravi. Few instances like the hungama they do in the film Khushi, the dances for the song Bavalu Sayya and other such scenes will really get applauses from the youth. After Anitha slaps Ravi, the film starts getting emotional shades. The first half is like a routine love story. However, the screenplay is so tight and novel that the film goes on entertaining. The same pace continues in the second half, which has more of emotional touch. Director Raghava did a great job with direction and screenplay. Raghava handled story, screenplay and direction for the film. The way the situations are created, who they are releated and the emotional touch at the right time and the comedy sequencing and many such things made this film comeout with good quality. There are many incidents where he striked the right emotional chords making a good impact with the audiences relating to the characterizations. He gets full credit for this film. Photography by Aravind is good. Editing by Bhaskar is OK. Last but not the least, the music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is pretty good. He impresses with fast tunes such as memu vayasuki Vacham and also with melodies such as Thalachi Thalachi. Background score can be rated the best in these recent times. Dialogues by AM Ratnam are simple and will evoke good response from the youth. AM Ratnam, who also is the producer of the film, laid a good foundation and gave a good start to his son. The production values are also good. The film targets the youth audience to the major extent and seems to be a winner. It is left for the time to speak on how audience will receive a variety climax for a love story. Overall, this film is a worth watch. (Source: Totaltollywood.com)
Court directs to stop work of Pulichintala Project Thursday, November 18, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad A division bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court comprising of the Chief Justice of High Court, Devinder Gupta and CV Ramulu on Wednesday directed the Government not to go ahead of the Pulichintala work. On the writ petition filed in public interest complaining that the Government is not going ahead with the construction of the project without obtaining any clearance from the concerned authorities. The Court while disposing of the petition directed the Government not to go ahead of the construction work without obtaining the necessary clearances under the Environment (Protection) Act was illegal and stop the work immediately.
AP govt orders enquiry against woman IPS official Thursday, November 18, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad, Nov 18 : Andhra Pradesh government has ordered an enquiry against a woman IPS officer for allegedly retaining firearms that were surrendered to her by a history sheeter, official sources said here today. The reports of IPS official Anjana Sinha retaining firearms came to light after the arrest of T Yadagiri alias Giri, an aide of Penukonda TDP MLA Paritala Ravi by task force personnel on November 15. Yadagiri, a rowdysheeter of S R Nagar police station in the city, confessed to the task force personnel that he had surrendered a pistol and a revolver along with 10 cartridges through a mediator to Sinha, who was then DCP West Zone in the city. In wake of controversy, DGP S R Sukumara ordered an enqiry by city Police Commissioner, R P Singh, who will submit his report within three days, police sources said. Home Minister K Jana Reddy said the government would take action against Sinha based on the findings of the enquiry. Meanwhile, Sinha confirmed the incident and said she forgot to deposit the firearms as she was busy handling communal tension in the area. The weapons are in safe custody, she added.
Andhra Pradesh farmers to till land in Africa : Thursday, November 18, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad, Nov 18 : Andhra Pradesh Government has come up with a novel idea to tackle the agrarian crisis - "exporting" farmers to far-off foreign lands in search of prosperity. The state government has signed Letters of Intent (LoI) with Kenya and Uganda to send farmers in batches to cultivate lands in the two East African nations in, what is being billed as, a "win-win arrangement". "We've signed the LoI with Kenya for 50,000 acres and with the Uganda Investment Authority for 20,000 acres. Our farmers will work there as entrepreneurs and are allowed to repatriate their earnings back home," Advisor to the state government on investment promotion C C Reddy toldhere. As per the plan, the land will be given to farmers' cooperative society from AP on a 99-year lease to enable them develop it using their expertise and prosper in the process. The process of formation of farmers' cooperatives would be finalised soon and the first batch of 500 farmers will head for East Africa in the middle of next year. After completing the process of selection of farmers, identification of crops to be grown and finalising funding for the project, the state government would sign Memorandum of Understanding.
Five killed, 15 injured in mishap in Hyderabad Thursday, November 18, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad, Nov 17 : Five persons were killed and 15 others injured when a lorry in which they were travelling overturned near the National Police Academy, on city outskirts, early today. The vegetable laden lorry overturned while negotiating a turn on the curve resulting in the death of five persons on the spot and injuring others, police said. The victims were carrying vegetables to a city market, police said and added the injured were rushed to Osmania General Hospital.
Permission denied to Naxal meeting Friday, November 12, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad The proposed meeting of the naxals in the State Capital on 16th November was denied by the police. The decision to deny permission for a public meeting could have an impact on the second round of peace talks between the left wing extremists and the Government. The CPI (Maoist) State Secretary, Ramakrishna announced that the second round of talks with the Government could be held only after the public meeting at Hyderabad.
Chief Minister promises top priority to Telengana Friday, November 12, 2004 | Editor
Salura (Nizamabad) The Chief Minister, YS Rajasekhara Reddy reiterated that top priority will be given to Telangana region in the construction of irrigation projects. In an informal chat with press persons on Wednesday said that the Government is committed to complete the projects at the earliest possible time. He performed Bhoomi pooja for the Salura lift irrigation scheme and addressed a public meeting he further said that the Government is making all possible efforts to ensure remunerative prices to all crops.
Mob attacks super speciality hospital in Khammam Friday, November 12, 2004 | Editor
Khammam The nephew of the playback singer and music director, Vandemataram Srinivasarao was died in a super speciality hospital. An irate mob after the flash of the news attacked the hospital on Wednesday and ransacked and windowpanes of two ambulances were smashed. The police swing into action and control the situation. Some office bearers of the CPI district committee alleged that there is a gross negligence on the part of the doctors.
Nandi Awards distributed Friday, November 12, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad The Chief Minister, YS Rajasekhara Reddy in a function held in Hyderabad while giving away the Nandi Awards on Wednesday said that the video piracy is a crime. Giving away the awards to the film personalities and the Raghupathi Venkaiah award to the Producer VB Rajendra Prasad for the year 2003, he said that the Government will deal firmly on the piracy. He announced that a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to go into the problems of the film industry and would submit its report in a couple of months. The Union Minister for State for Coal, Dasari Narayanarao who presided over the function was critical of the Telugu film industry for not supporting the Congress during TDP rule.
Vikraman smudges record Sunday, November 7, 2004 | Editor
Few could predict the fiasco of leading Tamil director Vikraman's "Cheppave Chirugali" in Telugu. Convinced the film would do well in the box office, producer Venkata Shyam Prasad of the SP Entertainers had spent extravagantly on the film. Vikaman had an impeccable track record in Telugu cinema. His Tamil hits had before this proved blockbusters when remade in Telugu. The string of successes started with "Nava Vasantham" and continued with "Suryavamsam" and "Subakanshalu" till "Raja". Last year, he had tasted success with an original Telugu film "Vasantham" too.
Genelia's hat trick Sunday, November 7, 2004 | Editor
Genelia's hat trick Pretty Genelia has scored a thumping hat trick with the big success of "Sye", to be hailed as the new lucky mascot. Her previous hits were "Satyam" and "Simhdadri". "I enjoyed playing the bubbly girl and the racy narration will grab your attention," claimed the model-turned-actress before the release of youth-oriented "Sye". Films opposite popular stars Venkatesh and NTR Junior are in the pipeline for Genelia.
By Sreekumaran If you are a lover of romantic comedies, then you will find director Siva Nageswara Rao’s Telugu film Mr & Mrs Sailaja Krishnamurthy delightful to watch. The movie, starring Sivaji and Laila in the leading roles, is the story of an orphan and an atheist Krishnamurthy, who works for a private channel. Driven by circumstances, he visits Annavaram temple where he meets a beautiful girl named Sailaja (Laila). The girl intends to pursue higher studies in the United States. Unlike, Krishnamurthy, Sailaja is very religious. In fact, she too is on the way to Annavaram to invoke the blessings of the lord. As fate would have it, Murthy and Sailaja find themselves having to share a hotel room as the hotel gives accommodation only for couples. Needless to say, they fall in love. However, they go their separate ways after darshan of the lord. Rest of the story details how the lovers are united in the end. Director Siva Nageswara Rao has done a competent job by coming out with an eminently watchable film. Sivaji is in his elements as Krishnamurthy. His sense of timing stands him in good stead. It would be no exaggeration to say that Sivaji's flair for comedy, ably assisted by lovely Laila, lifts the film.
Cong for talks with naxals even without surrender of arms Wednesday, November 3, 2004 | Editor
Raipur, Nov 2 (PTI) Congress today favoured talks with the naxalites even if there was no complete surrender of arms by them and accused Chattisgarh's ruling BJP of not being serious towards tackling extremist activities in the country. "BJP has always seen the insurgency in the North East and other issues through party line and the Congress-led UPA government needs some time to rectify the mistakes committed by the previous regime", AICC General Secretary Salman Khursheed told reporters here. "Weapons are the most tricky things in insurgency movement and before start of any talks there should be laying down of arms. But we can not wait for complete surrender of weapons before start of any dialogue," he said. "However, violence should be given up by the extremist groups to carry forward peace talks," Khursheed said replying to questions on pre-condition of the Andhra Pradesh government to the naxalites to give up arms before sitting for negotiations. Naxalism is a socio-economic and law and order problem and some naxalite groups even have links with LTTE and Maoists of Nepal, Khursheed said adding, the Centre as well as Congress party is serious about it. All the states should sit together and find a solution to the problem, he said. When pointed out that different states have different ways to deal with the situation and in that case was Andhra Pradesh's move for talks was too early, the senior Congress leader said "no state can wait for a longer period to enable other states to take a decision which way to go." PTI
Aapthudau Tuesday, November 2, 2004 | Editor
Film: "Aapthudau"; Cast: Rajsekar, Anjala Jhaveri, Mukesh Rishi and others; Producer: Jeevitha Rajsekar; Banner: Andal Art Productions; Director: Muthyala Subbiah; Music: Ramana Gogula. The role of an angry villager aptly suits Rajsekar and he comes up trumps. This Telugu rehash of the Hindi hit "Ghatak" is an ideal comeback film for the action star and he utilises it to the hilt. Veteran director Muthyala Subbiah, who has made eight hits with Rajsekar, provides a nice blend of action, sentiment and comedy. Rajsekar, who had drifted towards soft roles, makes a strong comeback with a typical action role to retrieve his position. He strains his vocal chords in many scenes and performs risky stunts, trying to prove that he is still one of the best action heroes in Telugu. Hindi actress Anjala Jhaveri does a Telugu film after a long gap. She could have chosen a better role since this one (played by Meenaskhi Seshadri in the original) offers little scope for acting. Baddie Mukesh Rishi gets a solid role after "Narasimhnaidu" and he matches strides with Rajsekar as the brother of six dreaded goons. Veteran actors Satyanarayana and Chandramohan impress as the father and brother of the protagonist. Subbiah, with hits like "Anna" and "Suryudu" to his credit, dishes out another slick film. He adds comedy and songs to pep up the slow-paced original. The story is about the rustic Rajsekar and his father (Satyanarayana) arriving in the city for the latter's medical treatment. He stays in the house of his brother (Chandramohan). Rajsekar is shattered when doctors inform him that his father is suffering from throat cancer. Meanwhile, he falls in love with Anjala Jhaveri as she takes him around the city. One day Rajsekar bashes up goons and earns the wrath of dreaded Mukesh. People living in the area advise Rajsekar to leave the place, but he ignores them. He helps them set up shops, but Mukesh's six brothers vow to kill him. The rest of the film is about whether he can save the neighbourhood and win his love.
Tamil star Vikram wants a Telugu comeback Tuesday, November 2, 2004 | Editor
With "Sivaputrudu" proving to be a success, Tamil superstar Vikram has resolved to do a full-fledged Telugu film next year. "I want to be back in Telugu with an exciting film," the National Award-winning actor who was here to shoot for a Shankar film told IANS in an interview. After making his debut in Telugu with "Chirunavvulu Chindisthava", he ended up doing small-time roles in films like "Bangaru Kutumbam". Later he moved to Tamil cinema and went on to become a top star. Excerpts from the interview: Q: You are commencing your Telugu career again with a bilingual, "Aparachitudu"? A: That's true. I wanted to revisit the Telugu audience with a good film, and this could be the right one. I was also happy to know that "Sivaputrudu" (the dubbed version of "Pithamahan") was a quite a hit. That is also one of the reasons for my comeback. As for "Aparachitudu", I am doing the most complex role of my career in this multimillion-rupee magnum opus. It would enthral viewers in a big way. Q: So either you will be doing bilinguals or remakes? A: Not at all. I want to do an exciting Telugu film sometime next year. I had a long association with the Telugu industry after debuting with "Chirunavulu Chindisthava" and did films like "Bangaru Kutumbam" and "9 months" but I couldn't get the right break. During this period, I also did Tamil and Malayalam films. But only after "Sethu" did my career take a definite shape. I love to work with top Telugu directors like K. Raghavendra Rao and Krishna Vamsi. My next Telugu film will be a 'straight' one, since I don't want to do remakes of my own films. I dislike repeating my performance all over again. Q: Were you apprehensive playing the unusual role of a burial guard in "Sivaputrudu"? A: On the contrary, I was very confident as soon as I heard the outline from director Bala. We did struggle for 10 days to get the right expression but after that it was smooth sailing. On one or two occasions, we did think of making him 'speak' but later we stuck to his dumb expressions and it clicked. I am happy to have received the National Award for this unique role and Bala should take credit for it. I couldn't come out of the "Pithamahan" hangover even in my next film, but Shankar cautioned me and I corrected myself. Q: While doing small-time roles, did you ever imagine that you would be a superstar of Tamil cinema one day? A: I was definitely confident and always believed that hard work and perseverance would count one day. Even my first big film "Sethu" had no takers but we believed that it had the potential. I was depressed when the manager of a famous theatre in Chennai called up and informed me that they would shift it due to lack of viewers. But after two weeks it picked up and became a runaway success. I didn't look back after that. I would attribute this success to the directors and the fans. I don't believe in the numbers games but I think that I have just crossed two or three steps and have a long way to go.
Andhra Pradesh to set up Human Rights panel Tuesday, November 2, 2004 | Editor
Andhra Pradesh, India > Hyderabad, Nov 1 : Andhra Pradesh government will soon constitute a state Human Rights Commission, a long pending demand of civil liberties organisations, Chief Minister Y S Rajsekhar Reddy said today. "We have initiated historic talks with naxalites in the interest of peace and democracy. We will soon set up Human Rights Commission in the state," Reddy said while participating in the state formation day celebrations here. Outlining various developmental issues taken up by his five-month old government, Reddy termed as historic, the ongoing peace talks with Maoists and reiterated his appeal to them to lay down arms and join social mainstream. "What people want is peace and development but not weapons. We are confident that naxal organisations will eventually give up arms and join social stream," Reddy said. Stating that his party has promised revival of dialogue with left wing extremist groups, the Chief Minister said his government had taken initiative and invited naxal groups for the first ever direct talks last month. However, Reddy skirted the contentious weapons issue that has cast its shadow on the second round of talks. While government made it clear that naxals must lay down arms and respect the law to make the dialogue process meaningful, Maoists have firmly ruled out giving up arms saying it was an integral part of their revolution.
Congress failed on all fronts: Naidu Tuesday, November 2, 2004 | Editor
Visakhapatnam, Oct 31 - Former chief minister and Telugu Desam president Chandrababu Naidu came down heavily on the Congress government and said the probation period during which Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy promised to solve all the problems was over. The government was taking all unilateral decision and no policy was proving to be a success, he said. Naidu alleged that most of the works were initiated only for personal gains. After assuming charge as the Chief Minister, Rajasekhar Reddy said there would be no suicides in the State. But during the last six months, 1,700 farmers have committed suicide and 150 people have died out of starvation, Naidu said. The farmers are in absolute distress. Loans were not given as the government had declared a moratorium and as a result, the rural debt system entirely collapsed, he said. Adulterated seeds and pesticides were being sold and there was a shortage of fertilisers which was being sold in black market, he alleged. Though more than 20,000 villages were in need of assistance, the FFW programme had been implemented in only 250 villages, he said. Compared to the last four years, the State received a good rainfall this year but the government failed to take any advantage. Shamelessly, the government has formed a syndicate of contractors and is entrusting them all the irrigation works, Naidu alleged. The government was claiming that 80 tmc ft of water from Godavari would be diverted to Krishna Delta but there was no plan how to divert the water. Without starting the Polavaram project, canals were being dug to benefit the contractors. Inquiry commissions were ordered for vengeance and those benefitting the Congr-ess were not touched. Naidu refused to comment on the ongoing talks with the Maoists but on the demand for a separate Telangana, he said the TD was committed for united Andhra.
Reddy demands MSP of Rs 2000 per quintal for groundnut farmers Tuesday, November 2, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad, Oct 30 : Seeking central intervention to help farmers in distress, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy today demanded a Minimum Support Price of Rs 2,000 per quintal for groundnut farmers and increase in the import duties on palm oil and cotton to protect the interests of domestic farmers. In separate letters to Union Ministers Sharad Pawar (Agriculture), Kamal Nath (Commerce and Industry) and Shankersinh Vaghela (Textiles), Reddy brought to their notice the plight of farmers engaged in cultivation of groundnut, cotton and oilseeds in AP. Stating that the groundnut yields in the state were dropping due to continuous drought, the Chief Minister urged Pawar to reconsider the MSP of Rs 1,500 per quintal fixed by the Centre and increase it to Rs 2,000 per quintal. In another letter to Vaghela, he said the regular flow of cotton from foreign countries due to low imports would further worsen the distress among cotton farmers in the state who are facing a glut in the market. "There is an immediate need to hike import duties. We also recommend incentives to encourage cotton exports," Reddy said. On the problems of oilseeds growers, he urged the Union Commerce Minister to favourably consider the proposal to "roll-back the import tariff on all types of oils to the pre-September 2004 position". "The present situation is seriously affecting the realisation on the produce of the farmers as the market prices are fast declining below the Minimum Support Price levels," Reddy said.
Advani calls on Chandrababu Naidu Tuesday, November 2, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad, Oct 24 : BJP President L K Advani today called on TDP Supremo N Chandrababu Naidu at the latter's residence here and discussed the general political scenario in the country. Advani, who is here to inaugurate the BJP state office and attend the two-day state executive meeting of the party, was closeted with Naidu for over an hour at his Jubilee Hills residence. "Since I am here, we discussed the general political situation in the country," Advani said emerging from Naidu's residence.
World Volleyball Championship to be held at Visakhapatnam Monday, November 1, 2004 | Editor
Hyderabad, Oct 31 (UNI) The International Volleyball Federation (IVF) has chosen Visakhapatnam as the venue for the '2005 Men's Under 21 World Volleyball Championship' to be held from August six to 14 next year. Talking to newspersons here, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Visakhapatnam MP and Championship Organising Chairman N Janardhan Reddy said this was the first time that this championship was being held in India. ''I feel it is a privilege that it is being organised in my constituency,'' he added. Mr Reddy, who is also a volleyball enthusiast, said this had become possible due to the special efforts taken by Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) President Sivanthi Adityan. He pointed out that IVF and VFI after witnessing the efficient way the fourth Asian Youth Boys Volleyball Championship was conducted at Visakhapatnam, had decided to chose the city as the venue for the event. Inspection of infrastructure and assessment of organisational ability was completed by the IVF, he added. Andhra Pradesh Volleyball Association President Kodanda Ramaiah said that Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust and Swarnabarathi Indoor Stadium of Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation would be the main venues for the championship. He said Commercial Taxes Minister Konathala Ramakrishna along with Visakhapatnam District Collector and Commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Visakhapatnam and chairman Visakhapatnam Port Trust had teamed together to ensure that the championship was conducted in a manner that enhanced the prestige of the country. ''We would also request Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to be the chief patron of the international sporting event,'' he added.
Andhra Govt to set up human rights panel Monday, November 1, 2004 | Editor
Press Trust of India Hyderabad, November 1 Andhra Pradesh government will soon constitute a state human rights commission, a long pending demand of civil liberties organisations, Chief Minister YS Rajsekhar Reddy said on Monday. "We have initiated historic talks with Naxalites in the interest of peace and democracy. We will soon set up human rights commission in the state," Reddy said while participating in the state formation day celebrations in Hyderabad. Outlining various developmental issues taken up by his five-month old government, Reddy termed as historic, the ongoing peace talks with Maoists and reiterated his appeal to them to lay down arms and join social mainstream. "What people want is peace and development but not weapons. We are confident that the Naxal organisations will eventually give up arms and join social stream," Reddy said. Stating that his party has promised revival of dialogue with left wing extremist groups, the chief minister said that his government had taken initiative and invited Naxal groups for the first ever direct talks last month. However, Reddy skirted the contentious weapons issue that has cast its shadow on the second round of talks. While government made it clear that the Naxalites must lay down arms and respect the law to make the dialogue process meaningful, Maoists have firmly ruled out giving up arms saying it was an integral part of their revolution.
Andhra Govt to set up human rights panel Monday, November 1, 2004 | Editor
PTI Andhra Pradesh government will soon constitute a state human rights commission, a long pending demand of civil liberties organisations, Chief Minister YS Rajsekhar Reddy said on Monday. "We have initiated historic talks with Naxalites in the interest of peace and democracy. We will soon set up human rights commission in the state," Reddy said while participating in the state formation day celebrations in Hyderabad. Outlining various developmental issues taken up by his five-month old government, Reddy termed as historic, the ongoing peace talks with Maoists and reiterated his appeal to them to lay down arms and join social mainstream. "What people want is peace and development but not weapons. We are confident that the Naxal organisations will eventually give up arms and join social stream," Reddy said. Stating that his party has promised revival of dialogue with left wing extremist groups, the chief minister said that his government had taken initiative and invited Naxal groups for the first ever direct talks last month. However, Reddy skirted the contentious weapons issue that has cast its shadow on the second round of talks. While government made it clear that the Naxalites must lay down arms and respect the law to make the dialogue process meaningful, Maoists have firmly ruled out giving up arms saying it was an integral part of their revolution.
Tension in Hyderabad as Gujarat police open fire on Hyderabad mob Monday, November 1, 2004 | Editor
HYDERABAD: One person was killed and a dozen others injured when a team of police officials from Gujarat opened fire here in front of the DGP’s office on Sunday night while trying to arrest Maulana Naseeruddin in connection with erstwhile Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya’s murder. The deceased, Mujahid Salim Hashmi (25), a resident of Saidabad colony, succumbed to bullet injuries. The Gujarat police had to open fire in the air and resort to lathicharge to quell a mob who prevented them from taking Naseeruddin into custody. The mob pelted stones at the police. Police arrested eight persons in the incident. Naseeruddin is the president of Tehreek Taifooz Sher-e-Islam (TTSI) and is suspected to have links with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). Later, he was taken away by the Gujarat police team led by ACP Narendra Kumar Amin to Ahmedabad by a flight. The trouble started when 70 supporters of Naseeruddin and activists of Darsgah Jehad-o-Shahadat (DJS) gathered at the DGP’s office sensing he would be taken to Gujarat. Hyderabad Police Commissioner R P Singh said the Gujarat team were armed with a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) against Naseeruddin. Every Sunday, Naseeruddin comes to CID wing in the DGP office to give his weekly attendance. When he, accompanied by a couple of followers, came to the DGP’s office on Sunday evening, the Gujarat team surrounded him and took him into custody. Meanwhile, one of his followers spread word of the arrest. Within no time, about 60 persons descended on the DGP’s office and tried to prevent the arrest. Just two months ago, similar rioting was witnessed at the City Police Commissioner’s office when the police arrested Naseeruddin on charges of hatching a conspiracy to disturb the Ganesh festival. Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Saidabad, Madannapet and several parts of Old City. Additional forces have been deployed to avert any untoward incident. CASE REGISTERED: The city police also registered cases against the Gujarat police for opening fire on the mob. Home Minister K Jana Reddy directed the DGP to submit a report on the incident within 24 hours.
Five Andhra farmers commit suicide Monday, November 1, 2004 | Editor
Press Trust of India Karimnagar, October 31 Five debt-ridden farmers have committed suicide in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh after their crops failed, official sources said on Sunday. District officials said Chanda Swamy (55), Chanda Shankaramma (50) of Raghavapur village in Peddapalli Mandal, committed suicide by consuming pesticides, while Mallapoola Lingachari (25) of Gudur village in Mustabad Mandal, Adepu Rajaiah (55) of Elbaka village in Veenavanka Mandal and Koppari Mallareddy (52) of Mallaram village in Vemulawada Mandal, committed suicide by strangulating themselves.
