Padmalaya’s Hindi film Sunday, December 28, 2003 | Editor
Padmalaya’s Hindi film: Padmalaya Telefilms’ Hindi project 'Ishq Hai Tumse' has gone to Austria for picturisation of its songs. Dino Morea and Bipasha Basu will be seen as lead stars. Himesh Rashmiya is giving music for the film. The music has been released on Sony Music and has earned good response. Adiseshagiri Rao is producing the film and Superstar Krishna is donning the director’s cap. The shooting took place in Hyderabad and Mumbai. Ishq Hai Tumse will hit the theatres across the country on January 2.
Faisal Khan in Telugu film Sunday, December 28, 2003 | Editor
Faisal Khan in Telugu film Never mind if Aamir Khan has never acted in Telugu. There is a small consolation. Aamir’s brother Faisal Khan will be seen on the Telugu silver screen for the first time. The film will be bilingual and will be made in Telugu and Hindi. Gandepudi Ravi Kumar will direct the film and is being made under the banner RK Creations. The shooting will commence in January. Speaking on the occasion, director Ravikumar said the film will be a love story. "The highlight of the film will be its music,’’ the director said. Not just Faisal. There will be another man from Bollywood who will step into Tollywood for the first time. Viju Shah, the music man behind Tridev, Mohra, will compose music for the film. R M Rao, the cinematographer for Akbar Khan’s dream project Taj Mahal will direct the camera for this Faisal-starrer untitled film.
Birla Telugu venture ready Sunday, December 28, 2003 | Editor
Birla Telugu venture ready Tapana, the Aditya Birla group’s maiden venture in the Telugu film world is presently going through post-production. Talking about the film, director Tejas Dhanraj said the love story is all about the longing and determination that is required to achieve anything in one’s life. Prabhu Deva, Sidharth, Meha and Ali form the lead cast of Tapana. Prabhu Deva acts as a singer in this film. There’s some good news for those who have the Tapana to see the dancer back in Prabhu Deva. There is a sensational dance number in the film. Prabhu Deva will shake and sway his body in such a fashion that is not seen in any of his early movies. ‘‘His dance will be amazing,’’ Dhanraj says. Sambhu Prasad will be seen as music director for the first time. Other cast includes Eswara Rao, Ananth, Deepa and Raakhi.
PPP... shooting in progress Sunday, December 28, 2003 | Editor
The shooting of PPP Dum Dum Dum is currently in progress in Hyderabad. New entrants Sateesh and Anju Asraani form the lead cast of the film. Vipparthi Madhu is directing the film. Sridhar-Sankar duo compose the music for the film. The film is being made under Sravani Films and is produced by K Meghnath. Speaking about the movie, director Madhu said the film is about the love and marriage of the pair. ‘‘It is a full-length entertainer with the comedy track dominating the scenes from the start to the end,’’ he said. Santisandesham for peace Padmalaya Telefilms’ Santisandesham is almost complete except for two songs and the climax. Superstar Krishna is acting as Jesus Christ in the film. Sharing his feelings, Krishna said it would be the most cherished moment to see himself as Christ through this film. ‘‘After Alluri Seetaramaraju, Santisandesham should earn me a good name,’’ Krishna hoped. ‘‘The present-day world is suffering from violence and wars. People hate one another and plot behind. In the wake of this bloodshed, the words of Jesus should come as an eye-opener. His tryst for peace and love should create universal brotherhood. I am the most satisfied person with respect to this film,’’ Krishna said. P Chandrasekhar Reddy is directing the film and Sakhamuri Maliikarjuna Rao is the producer. Vandemataram Srinivas is scoring the music. The other cast includes Suman, Sarat Babu, AVS, Jayprakash Reddy, Vinod, Narayana Rao, Ravali, Jayalalitha, Lakshmi and Kinnera.
Naidu blast suspects face terror charge Saturday, December 27, 2003 | Editor
Hyderabad, Dec. 26: Three People's War Group activists, among the eight persons arrested yesterday for the October 1 attack on the Andhra Pradesh chief minister, have been booked under the anti-terror law. The chief of the special investigation team (SIT) probing the landmine attack on N. Chandrababu Naidu said Ramaswamy Reddy and Nagarjuna of Chittoor and Gangi Reddy of Cuddapah were key suppliers of material, food and shelter to the suicide squad, led by Ashanna, alias T. Vasudev Rao. SIT chief D.T. Naik also revealed that PWG suicide squads had infiltrated the Telugu Desam's Mahanadu convention held at Tirupati in May to assess the chief minister's security. "They appear to have procured passes as delegates to the conference through the daughter of a former Desam MP," a police officer said. One PWG activist is said to have participated in the convention with a pass bearing the name, K. Srinivas Rao. Naik announced a reward of Rs 12 lakh for information on the PWG team that executed the attack.
Hyderabad, Dec. 27 (ANI): Many stranded passengers at Hyderabad airport stage a protest on Saturday against the national carrier Air India. The passengers, who were to leave for the United States, United Kingdom and other Gulf countries are stranded in the city's Rajiv Gandhi international aiport for the past three days. Around 400 passengers are shuttling between their home and airport to catch their flight, which is not taking off. "They were not responding well. The point is they did not come to the rescue of the people here and after actually stopping other passengers coming to security and resorting to not so pleasant things, then they started coming to us and talking to us," said Govardhan Reddy, a passenger. Jaya Sheela, another passenger, complained that the authorities have no answers to their queries. "Nobody is giving us proper things. They made us sit from 11 o'clock. Till 12.30 a.m...its 12 hours now. And they have no solution as to whether we are going out from Hyderabad. They don't have any answers," she said. However, the officials claim that it is due to the poor visibility and non-clearance of the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) which is causing all the problems. Air India operations manager P. Ashok Kumar said that the visibility needed was at least 4,000 meters and only 3,000 meters distance was visible. "4000 meters is a requirement and we as an operator we are ready to operate as long as weather conditions are permissible to land. It is regulated by DGCA that it needs 4000 meters to land and every 10-15 minutes. I am in touch with the tower. They are saying it is improving but unless a person from here gives a clearance, we cannot move," he said. The authorities also say that they are making alternative arrangements to send the passengers to Bombay and then to their destinations abroad. (ANI)
Shamshabad airport land: Govt to compensate encroachers Friday, December 26, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD: After months of vacillation, the State government has finally decided to acquire its own 1,406 acres encroached upon by over 1,000 persons to meet the requirement of land for the proposed international airport at Shamshabad. The encroachers will be paid compensation. This was decided at a Cabinet sub-committee meeting on 'Infrastructure' held recently. On an average, each of the ''eligible encroachers'' would be paid Rs 40,000 per acre and the government would incur an expenditure of Rs 9.67 crore for the purpose. The occupants, mostly from the weaker section, were cultivating land for several decades. Home Minister T Devender Goud, who is a member of the sub-committee, said the occupants were coming in the way of executing the project in a time-bound manner. ''They have been demanding Rs 2 lakh per acre, half the amount given to patta land owners earlier, but the State government decided to pay them around Rs 40,000,'' he told this website's newspaper. Significantly, the sub-committee's decision is in variance with the opinion of Chief Commissioner for Land Administration (CCLA) who suggested that the request for payment of ex-gratia or any other form of compensation to the encroachers should not be entertained as it would set an unhealthy precedence. But the reason cited to clear the encroachers was that other parameters involved in the execution of the international airport were going by the presumed schedule, any delay in handing over the full extent of land would automatically delay the project. As against the total 5,467 acres required for the proposed airport, the government has acquired 3,367 acres patta land and paid compensation to the owners as per the agreement reached earlier. Another 282 acres has been identified as assigned lands and the assignees were being compensated as per the rules. While 411 acres were free from encroachment, a small part of the land measuring 31 acres involved survey settlement problem which was being sorted out.
EC rules out extension of time for publication of electoral rolls Friday, December 26, 2003 | Editor
SRIKAKULAM: The Election Commission ruled out extending the date for publication of the final electoral rolls and rationalisation of the polling stations in view of the limited time available and complexities involved in the process. As an alternative for the electors photo identity cards (EPIC), it will be announcing certain documents which the voters will have to submit at the time of voting. While receiving the complaints and suggestions of the political parties’ representatives at a meeting with them at the collectorate here this evening, EC legal counsel, SK Mendiratta and under secretary NN Butolia clarified that in no case the publication of final voters lists can be extended beyond Jan 20. The EC officials stated that the documents meant to serve as an alternative to the EPIC, would be announced soon but did not give a specific date. The government would be consulted in this regard. As regards Srikakulam district, they gave two days time for the political parties to represent their grievances to the collector who is the district election officer, to arrive at a ‘clean’ electoral roll. Addressing the political leaders, Mendiratta dismissed the allegations that genuine voters had been refused registration to restrict the number of voters and denied that certain sections like retired employees were left out on wrong grounds. However, he assured that a thorough inquiry would be conducted and action taken before the final electoral rolls were out. TDP district president GA Suryanarayana suggested to the EC to withdraw the facility of submitting bulk applications of voters by the political parties as it was ‘cumbersome and embarrassing’ for the district party office-bearers including the presidents.
CPI favours setting up second States' Reorganisation Commission Friday, December 26, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD: The State unit of the Communist Party of India on Friday said it would appeal to its national leadership to seek constitution of a second States' Reorganisation Commission (SRC) to look into the demand for a separate statehood for Telangana. Addressing a news conference, CPI State secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said the party always believed that development was possible only in a united Andhra Pradesh and expressed the same when the first States' Reorganisation Commission got down to the work of carving out States 50 years ago. ''But Telangana region remained backward. Of late, the people of Telananga had been voicing their demand for separate statehood for spurring economic development,'' he said while justifying the party's latest stand. Asked why the CPI leadership was not making its stand clear on the issue, he said as of now the thinking in the party was to seek constitution of States' Reorganisation Commission, he said, adding the Commission would go into the merits and demerits of carving out a separate State for the people of Telangana. The CPI joins the Congress and the BJP by opting for the ad hoc solution of referring Telangana issue to the Reorganisation Committee. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has already requested the NDA government at the Centre to constitute the second SRC and the AP unit of the BJP had adopted a resolution at Kakinada recently favouring separate statehood. EXTREMISM: On BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu's recent statement ruling out discussions with the Naxalites, Sudhakar Reddy wondered why the NDA government was initiating dialogue with the extremist outfits in North-Eastern States if talks would not yield any solution.
Satyam chief casts his spell on students Friday, December 26, 2003 | Editor
RAJAHMUNDRY: It was an experience of a different kind for the future engineers at the Godavari Institute of Engineering and Technology here on Thursday. They had an opportunity to see and interact with B Ramalinga Raju of Satyam group of industries, who rose to the heights of excellence in IT sector. The IT sultan said that nothing gave him greater excitement than being amongst the students. He painted a picture of bright India and wanted the young engineers to make it their dream. Raju became nostalgic and recalled his student days and his struggle through the licence-permit raj in 1960s and 70s. ‘‘In those days, business was license -driven and education was dependent on what the institutions provided,’’ he recalled. He advised the students to have confidence in themselves and be focused in achieving their goals. ‘‘Our learning is most often outside the class room and outside our field of study,’’ he said and called for acquiring cross-disciplinary knowledge. While, underscoring the importance of continuous learning and constant pursuit of excellence, he asked them to balance their professional pursuits with human values. ‘‘Achievement is no longer a game of chess. It has to be a collective effort like football,’’ he told the students. ROLE MODEL: When a student asked him who his role model was, Raju named Albert Einstein and popular science writer Issac Asimov. Replying to another question, he said that what was termed as brain drain could actually be a ‘brain gain’ as work and study experience abroad helped broaden the horizons of Indian youth. About goals in life, Ramalinga Raju said,‘‘ We have made a reasonable progress, but against a loftier objective, we have miles to go.’’
Neeke Manasichanu Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Starring: Sriakanth, Charmi, Sarath Babu, Sathyanaraya, M.S. Narayana, Jayanthi, Sivaji Raja and others Music: Sri Story Screenplay Direction: Surya Teja Production: GSK art movies Nonstopcinema Rating: 2.5/5 Story: Vivek (Srikanth) always gives importance to money and he is a big time architect. Sridevi(Charmi) is a village girl who comes to city for her exams. Accidentally they meet each other. Sridevi doesn't like the money minded behavior of Vivek. Vivek likes the simple character of sridevi and falls in love with her. But she rejects his love and then he challenges her that he will win her love. In the second half Vivek comes to Sridevi's village for some project. Vivek's P.A (Chandramohan) has family friends in that village and they stay in their home. It turns out that the family friends are none other than Sridevi'sfamily. Then Vivek starts his trails to impress their family. All of Sridevi's family members like Vivek's behavior. But Sridevi misunderstands him. How she realizes Vivek's love is rest of the story. Performances: Srikanth played very ordinary role, there is nothing to perform in this role. In recent times Srikanth failed to select good roles and stories. It was another disappointment fromhim after Dongaramdudu and party, Oka Radha Iddaru Krishnula Pelli, Nenu Pelliki Ready, he needs to be careful in selecting good roles. Charmi is looking homely but looks little fat in some scenes. She needs to take care about her weight. Her Performance is OK. Sunil tried to entertain the crowds, his comedy was not so hilarious but only it gave some relax. Satyanarayana and Jayanthi acted well as grand parents of Charmi. Venu Madhav and Sivaji Raja's comedy failed to evoke some laughs in audience. Technical department: Sri scored music for this film after some gap. But there are no impressive tunes in this album. Background score is also pretty average. Jayaram's photography was average. Chintapalli Ramana's dialogues for this movie were ok. Surya Teja who worked for Suresh productions many years has given the story for this movie. It's a very old story, these kinds of stories need very good impressive narration and screenplay but he failed to provide the same. There were no interesting sequences in this film. Analysis: First half of the movie is pretty slow and average. There is no impressive song sequence in first half. The narration is pretty slow. Second half is also no exception it goes in same way as the first half. There are some good sentiment scenes but they were repeated many times in previous movies. Sunil's Comedy gives some relax. And lack of impressive narration and no good tunes makes it boring at times. The climax part is also dragged and makes the audience feel uneasy. Movie started with a disappointed talk. http://www.nonstopcinema.com/content/reviews/news_content.php?fileName=51
I set trends, others follow Balayya Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Recently, in the CineGoers Awards function, Yuvarathna Balakrishna made a daring and dashing statement once again. Earlier he kept saying that the trend of faction films were set by him and followed by others. Now again, he gave a statement that made people roar in the hall I am only meant to create trends, what ever genre they may be. Now again, Lakshmi Narasimha will set a trend of police films in the telugu industry. And soon, the herd will follow it. This statement points fingers at many of the big heroes of the industry, and creates controversy. Anyways, Balayya film is shaping for a release on 14th January and the audio of the film releases tomorrow (25th December).
Satyam Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Punchline: A class act Genre: Love Can kids watch this film? Yes (no vulgarity and no violence) Banner: Ari Annapurna Studios Cast: Sumanth, Genelia, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Tanikella Bharani, Sridhar, Rajesh, Malladi Raghava, Nirmala Reddy, Varsha, Prakash, Naveen, Chakri, Apoorva, Kondavala Lakshmana Rao, Jenny, Gowtam Raju Music: Chakri Cinematography: Sameer Reddy - Raja Fights: Vijay Choreography: Lawrence, Shankar, Ashok Raj, Vidya Art: JK Murthy Editing: Nandamuri Hari Dialogues: Sateesh - Ravi Costumes: Sekhar Presents: Smt Akkineni Annapurna Producer: Akkineni Nagarjuna Story - screenplay - direction: Surya Kiran Release date: 19th December 2003 Review Story Satyam (Sumanth) is a sweet and too-good-to-believe kind of guy. Everybody likes him except for the two he loves the most. One is his father (Malladi Raghava) and other one is the girl with whom he is in love with. And she is the cute girl Ankita (Genelia). Sathyam comes out of his house and start living with friends because he is misunderstood by his father. Sathyam is also a sensitive man and sensible writer. He ghost writers lyrics for a popular film lyricist. He wants to prove himself as lyricist before meeting Ankita to express his love. Mean while, a flamboyant classmate of Ankita proposes her. Would Satyam be able to propose to Ankita? Would he win her love? To know these two things, you need to watch 'Sathyam' on a big screen. Artists Performance Sumanth: Sumanth performed like a professional in this film. He succeeds in generating sympathies for his characterization. His strengths are assets are his pure eyes and good diction. And the same purity made him the best suitable guy for that character. His dialogue delivery has good clarity and his voice is good. There is not event a single moment on screen where you can find any shortcomings in his histrionics. Genelia: Genelia is very fresh and adorable. The entire story is told from hero's point of view. Hence you can see heroine coming in flashes and in the imagination of hero. If you had seen Genelia in a aggressive and contemporary kind of teenage character in 'Boys', you are going to see the tender and poetic side Genelia in this film. Others: Sridhar did OK job as the villain in this film. Comedy actor Rajesh is given a good footage in this film and he proved himself by performing comedy scenes with good timing. The 'puliraja' episode involving him is hilarious. Brahmanandam play another comical role and his get up resembles that of our president Abdul Kalam. Kota Srinivasa Rao did a well rounded character in Telugu after a long time. Varsha played the role of sister to hero and she did well. Lawrence did an item song in this film along with Genelia. Kondavalasa did a comedy role. Music director Chakri played his realself in this film. Tanikella Bharani is good as the plagiaristic lyricist. Technical Departments: Story: The story of the film is pretty soft one. And it has similarities to Vikraman's stories where hero is misunderstood by the people who mattered the most. Screenplay - direction: Screenplay and direction of debutant Soorya Kiran is neat. The taking of the film is sophisticated. Framing of the film is rich. The screenplay has similarities to that of Vikraman's films. Narration of the film is little slow. The director succeeded in making this film appear fresh as well. There is lots of poetic way of picturization of tender feelings. The climax resembles the Vikraman style where all the misunderstandings are cleared in one situational lead song to climax. Music: Music by Chakri is excellent. Music would remain as highlight of the film. Credit should also be given to the cinematographer and director make the song come very rich on the screen. Background score is amply supported by the humming of popular tunes in this film (SA Raj Kumar style). Other departments: Cinematography by Sameer Reddy and Raja is first rate. Framing of the shots, altering of lens focus and lighting schemes in this film are brilliant. Dialogues are pretty good. The lyrics of the film are efficiently used as dialogues in important scenes. Editing by Nandamuri Hari is worth an applause for doing a few cool editing effects. Choreography of the songs is apt. Stunts by Vijay are effective. The stunts are composed in such a style that they does not appear too lengthy, but at the same time they give perfect results. Producer Nagarjuna has spent lavishly on the film and all the money spent on this film could be visualized in the rich frames of the film. Analysis: 'Sathyam' - a technically rich one - is a well made film. Strengths of the film are perfect casting, good music, sophisticated taking and rich frames. The weakness of the film is slow narration and class-orientation. Though the hero and heroine in this film belong to middle class family, the presentation of the film is made to suit the tastes of urbane viewers. Producer Nagarjuna should be appreciated for making a clean and family oriented film. Director Soorya Kiran makes a mark for himself through 'Sathyam'. Hero Sumanth's proves himself as a perfectionist. Trade Talk: This film is released with 22 prints and has got terrific opening all over. There is a positive response for this film from crowds. This film finds a liking for urbane viewers. We have to wait and see how masses embrace this well made film. http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/mr-satyam.html
Tiger Harischandra Prasad Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Tiger Harischandra Prasad (Raithu Bidda) - Punchline: Peasant problems Genre: Action Can kids watch this film? Yes (no vulgarity and no violence) Banner: Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions Cast: Nandamuri Hari Krishna, Ramya Krishna, Dasari Arun Kumar, Sangeeta, Narra Venkateswara Rao, Ahuti Prasad, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Kovai Sarala, Rajitha, Ganesh, Anitha Chowdary, Surekha, Satya Prakash, Brahmaji, Girish Karnad Music: SA Raj Kumar Dialogues - screenplay: Paruchuri brothers Story - screenplay: Posani Krishna Murali Editing: YVSChowdary Fights: Stun Siva & Raju Producer: P Naga Lakshmi Direction: VSamudra Release date: 18th December 2003 Review Story Peasant who produces the raw food for us is the least cared section by the government. The middlemen buy raw products from peasants at a very minimal price and sell it at higher level at big price. In the process, the middlemen and industrialists are making huge profits and the peasants are not even earning enough money to support their daily bread and butter needs. Tiger Harischandra Prasad is a noble man who preferred to remain as peasant in spite of his high educational qualifications. This film deals with how Tiger Harischandra Prasad identified the root causes of peasant's problems and cured them by speaking to the right people. Artists Performance Hari Krishna did a role that would take him close to the hearts of masses and downtrodden people. His performance is genuine and believable. He is terrific in few scenes where he uttered dialogues about the problem faced by peasants. Ramya Krishna is OK as wife of the hero. Her role is very limited. Dasari Arun Kumar played the role of young brother of Hari Krishna. He is adequate. Sangeeta is limited to a couple of scenes and a song. Brahmanandam and Kovai Sarala have a separate comedy track. Performances of Kota Srinivasa Rao and Narra are fair. Technical Departments: Story: Story of the film is not a regular one. It's a message oriented storyline. We used to see these kinds of stories coming in early 80's like 'Eenadu'. Off late, these kinds of storylines were taken up by R Narayana Murthy. Posani Krishna Murali modified this story to suit the image of Hari Krishna. Screenplay - direction: Screenplay of the film is little slow as director wanted to establish and elevate the character of Harichandra Prasad. V Samudra used the mass style to narrate the film. Though, the story does not seem to be moving in the film, director made sure that he got back the attention of audiences in the final two reels of the film. Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers came up with quite a few populist dialogues for Hari Krishna. The way stats are given to justify the raw deal given to peasants in the climax of the film are impressive. There are good mass dialogues as well like . "Arachetito kottaanante Andhra Pradesh avatala padatav' "Manchi vallaki manchi cheppakunda chestaanu Chedda vaallaki chedu cheppi chestaanu" Other departments: Music by SA Raj Kumar is average. Photography by Madhu A Naidu is good. Editing of the film is fair. Producer should be commended to chose a message oriented subject to make this film. Analysis: The last 20 minutes of the film is impressive. The rest of the film is narrated in old fashion. This film would take Hari Krishna close to the masses. It's a good decision by Hari Krishna to take up a burning issue and bring forward to masses through this film. The B and C center audiences would like this film, as it deals with the problems of peasants. http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/mr-tigerharischandraprasad.html
Avuna Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Avuna Genre: Love Can kids watch this film? Yes (no vulgarity and no violence) Banner: Meghana Productions Cast: Adarsh, Santhi Rao, Bhagya Raj, Bhagya Sri, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, M.S.Narayana, Dharmavarapu Subramanyam, A.V.S., Surya, Sana, Apoorva, Sudeepa, Anil Kumar, Abhijit, Dinesh, Anandraj, Sriraj, Sishanthkumar, Vikas, Ajay Raj and Rajababu. Music: Bhavatharini Ilayaraja Lyrics: Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry, Bhuvana Chandra, Chandra Bose Dialogues: Aasam Srinivas Producer: Dr. K. Ramana Kumar Story - Screenplay - direction: C. Uma Maheswar Rao Release date: 12th December 2003 Story Srinivasa (Adarsh) is a meek youngster who falls in love with his collegiate friend Akhila (Santhi Rao). He comes to know that Akhila likes basket ball sport a lot. Hence he wants to win the heart of Akhila by becoming a sports champion. He seeks the help of a basket ball specialist (Surya) in coaching him. In the process, they comes across the hurdles like foul play in sports and resistance from parents regarding love. The rest of the movie is all about how they win both! Artists Performance Adarsh looks very meek and has an uncertain body language. Santhi Rao looks very unglamorous. Her expressions are very tentative. The only positive aspect in the casting of this film is Surya, who acted as the basket ball coach. He is terrific in a few scenes. MS Narayana, Dharmavarapu, Brahmanandam and Apoorva had nothing to do except for settling for a cheap comedy. Bhagyaraja and Bhagya Sri acted in a song. Technical Departments: Story - Screenplay - direction: Director C Uma Maheswara Rao who directed national award winning film like 'Ankuram' has taken 1000 steps backward to direct this film. Otherwise how can you find routine teen scenes like minor girl eloping from her house and her brother going for head hunt in jungles. In addition to there is cheap comedy like students degrading professors etc. The director failed miserably in terms of both direction and screenplay. The love/sports ratio should have been 20/80, but the director choose to make this film with 20% sports and 80% love and love stories is not the forte of Uma Maheswara Rao. The comedy in film is inane. Other departments: Photography by Madhu Ambat is OK. Songs scored by Bhavatharini are mediocre. Background music is ok. Dialogues by Asam Srinivas are so so. Analysis: However passionate you are about the films, there are certain films that makes you run away from the theater in the middle of screening. But since I have to review the film I sat in the theater till the end. Except for a few inspirational quotes uttered in a couple of scenes by Surya, the entire film is a boring one. After watching this film, you are bound to loose the good will you have for 'Ankuram' fame C Uma Maheswara Rao. http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/mr-avuna.html
Katrina Kaif with Nagarjuna Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Katrina Kaif with Nagarjuna It is reliably learnt that Katrina Kaif who is acting as princess in Venky's Malliswari is going to be paired up with Nagarjuna in 'Mass Dammunte Kasko'. This film would introduce famous choreographer Lawrence as film director. Nagarjuna produces this film on Annapurna banner. Devi Sri Prasad is going to provide music for this film. This film is expected to go to floors in the month of March 2004. http://www.idlebrain.com/news/2000march20/news243.html
Chantigadu Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Chantigadu (chikkadu.. dorakadu..) Punchline: Village lovestory Genre: Love Can kids watch this film? Yes (no vulgarity and no violence) Banner: Kanakaratna Movies Limited Cast: Baladitya, Suhasini, Saranya, Ahuti Prasad, Rajiv Kanakala, Brahmanandam, LB Sreeram, Gowtam Raju, Bhikshu, Sudarshan, Phani, Jr. Relangi, Rambabu, Pavan, Jagadish, CVS, Padmanabha Sharma & Murali Pendyala Music: Vandemataram Srinivas Cinematography: Poorna K Dialogues: Marudhuri Raja Lyrics: Bhuvana Chandra, Kasarla Shyam, Paidisetty Ram Producer: BA Raju Story - Screenplay - direction: Jaya Release date: 26th November 2003 Review Story Chantigadu (Baladitya) is a teenager who roams around in the village with his gang of friends (Rambabu, Pavan, Jagadish and Phani). He is the son of a widower (Saranya) who serves as a cook at Lord Rama's temple of that village. Seetamaha Lakshmi (Suhasini) is daughter of a landlord Reddappa (Ahuti Prasad). Reddappa is known as a very cruel guy. Chantigadu and Suhasini pass their 10th class examinations. They join a college in a near by town and everyday they have to go to that town by a boat. Suhasini falls in love with Chantigadu and Chantigaru also likes her. But the temple priest in that village tells Chantigadu that whoever marries Seetamahalakshmi, that person's mother expires after marriage. Now Chantigadu decides that his mother's life is more important than his love for Seetamaha Lakshmi. When Chantigadu is trying to avoid Seetamahalakshmi, fate decides otherwise. They are found in a lonely boat during one night and father of Seetamahalakshmi comes to know about it. The rest of the story is all about how the teen couple get acceptance from parents. Artists Performance Baladitya: The child artist who is popularly known to us as 'stamp gadu' (Edurinti Mogudu Pakkinti Pellam) made his debut as full fledged hero through this film. He is very spontaneous and extremely talented. He got good histrionic capabilities. He also has a fluid body that has lots of flexibilities for dances. Acting wise he is terrific. If he becomes more glamorous and puts on little bit of weight, he can make a place for himself in Tollywood. Suhasini: Nellore girl Suhasini made her debut as an actress with this film. She is good looking and sports bubbly attitude. She looks great in half sarees. She tried her hand at seducing audiences with her oomph in 'lovely' song. Others: Ahuti Prasad donned a full length villain role after a long gap. He followed the Nagur Babu's voice modulation in Kamal Hassan's 'Sati Leelavati' film. That added freshness to the characterization of villain. Saranya (the lady love of Kamal Hassan in Nayakudu film) did well as mother of hero. Rajiv Kanakala is good as a Psycho. Rambabu turned out to be a pretty good entertainer with this film. He would be an actor to look out for dialogue-based and appearance-based comedy in the mould of Suman Setty. This film sports lots of fresh faces. Technical Departments: Story: It's a typical story of love between rich and poor. The entire story is set in the backdrop of a village Sakhinetipally in Godavari district. Hence, you get to see lots of greenery and water in the locations of this film. The entire first half is dealt with tender love that develops between the rich girl and poor boy. Poor boy tries to stay away from rich girl when he comes to know that his mother would be in danger if he gets married to rich girl. When rich girl's father starts searching his missing daughter along with poor boy, he is faced with another enemy from with in. That is his son-in-law who threatens to ruin his daughter and finances. By the time, he sorts issues out with his son-in-law, he forgets the original rivalry with poor boy and accepts the alliance . Screenplay - direction: Jaya - a journalist and storywriter - made her debut with 'Chantigadu'. For a debutant she has done a commendable job. She injected lots of freshness in the film by casting new faces, choosing new locations, trying out new music tunes. Her direction orientation is very sensible. Screenplay of the first half is very good. She handled the comedy scenes well. She also added divine angle to the love track of the film. She also made sure that there is no vulgarity in 'Chantigadu'. She is definitely a lady director to watch out! Music: Music by Vandemataram Srinivas is very refreshing. Introduction song 'Kokkoroko' is very peppy. The best 'mood' song of film is 'Chigurakula'. Okkasari Pilichavante is very melodious. Love me song has Suhasini doing seduction dance. Other departments: Photography by Puri is excellent. He has chosen very good locations. Dialogues by Marudhuri Raja are different and fresh. Production values of the film are decent. Analysis: First half of the film is entertaining. Second half is OK. This film comes as a whiff of fresh air when we find every Telugu film that is releasing in recent times failing to appeal to the audiences. It's a good effort by BA Raju as producer and a successful debut by Jaya. Now its upto BA Raju - the media Moghul - to promote the film heavily to reach the entire spectrum of audiences and make it a good hit. http://www.vaarttha.com/english/film/left1.html
Nandita Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Nandita Unplugged "Saumya is a calming influence." Nandita Das has been springing a lot of surprises of late. Her appearance in rookie director Raja Menon’s Bus Yun Hi after a series of offbeat ‘arty’ projects had everyone wondering what she’s doing in a feel-good trendy film. But the recent news of the dusky actress’s rush-hush marriage to ad-man Saumya Sen took the Bollywood grapevine totally unawares. Trust the cerebral and fiercely independent Ms Das to have an offbeat wedding sans chauvinistic wedding rituals and conventional razzle-dazzle. The couple got married in minimalist ‘Ashram Vidhi’ tradition, just about exchanging garlands (that too for photographs!). Nandita, who was recently in Mumbai to shoot for Anant Balani’s film, took time off for a leisurely chat session. Has marriage mellowed the fiery lady? Read away and decide for yourself. You surprised everyone with your marriage. I know people are surprised but marriage is such a private part of one’s life. But yes, it did happen rather suddenly in my life. I have known my husband Saumya for six months. Even I could not believe I would meet someone and marry him in such a short time. We both come from very liberal families. If we wanted, we could have had a live-in relationship to get to know each other better. But sometimes, very rarely, a voice from within guides you. I knew he was the man I want to grow old with. How did you meet him? Although we have a lot of common friends, we had never bumped into one another till last year. I met him at a film festival in Delhi during the screening of a film called Samsara. Afterwards there was a dinner. We chatted away the whole evening. Neither of us spoke to anyone else! Within three meetings we knew we had something special between us. And how is married life treating you? It’s wonderful. After the wedding, we went off for a holiday to Burma for 15 days. Two days later I came down to Mumbai. So I haven’t really experienced married life a lot. I am sure a lot changes. At my age, I am well formed as a person. So it’s even tougher I guess. Every day is a discovery. When you’ve just known the person for six months, there are bound to be differences, right from where to place the soap in the bathroom! Even our pace of walking is different. So many times I tell him to walk faster. And he says: What’s the hurry? He is quite relaxed and laid back. I am the more hyper one. I guess we are good for each other: I energize him and he has a calming effect on me. Bus Yun Hi promos show you as this young city girl. You have a very different look from the subaltern roles we have seen you in so far. Bus Yun Hi happened when a group of young people approached me saying they were making a fun film about friends. As a concept there was nothing that offended my sensibility. So I decided to do it. But I never chose this film to change my image on screen. I had done Bawandar, Pitaah and Lal Salaam. All of them were rural-based films about a woman who is exploited (albeit in different circumstances) and how she gains strength. I wanted to do something refreshing and light for a change. So it’s not that I wanted a new look or image. I just dressed according to the demands of the character. Besides I am playing urban characters in other films. In Rituparno Ghosh’s film (also starring Rakhi and Sharmila Tagore) I play a young journalist. One hears you fell out with the Bus Yun Hi team Frankly, by the end of the film I was not too thrilled with the experience. They didn’t even tell me when the film was releasing. But it’s no big deal. They are new guys with their own struggles. I still wish the film well. Why do we always have to gush about our own films and praise them? When I am not too kicked about a film, I find it more comfortable not to be part of the publicity. I would rather keep quiet than lie about it. You still have a predominantly parallel cinema actress image. Doesn’t that stifle you? People like to club you in a certain bracket and pin you down. I have done a film like Fire, regional films, films in Mumbai; I live in Delhi instead of Mumbai; I have done a film with Amitabh Bachchan and also a very small film like Bus Yun Hi. So journalists are a little confused how to club me. But I have never planned my career. If something interests me I do it. They may not all be great films. Many of them are quite terrible, in fact. But each has been a learning process. I don’t think one can live in constant fear of what will work and what won’t. To some extent even I am responsible for this arty image because of the kind of projects I have done. At times I feel I am doing too many similar films, but I can’t do different stuff just to prove a point. I like to do strong roles that stir something within me. People are dying for me to go commercial. But unfortunately for them, it’s not happening. Earth with Aamir Khan they realized it wasn’t really a commercial film. Again in Mahesh Manjrekar’s Pitaah and Rakesh Mehra’s Aks, I was not really running around trees. But I don’t see why there is a need to slot people at all. At the end of the day we all play multiple roles. Why are you so inclined towards regional films? For me they are as important as Hindi films. There is so much talent and plenty of good roles and stories in regional cinema. Plus, regional films have fewer pressures. A small-budget Hindi film has to compete with bigger films for promos, air time and ads. To bring an audience to the theatre, you still have to fight all the big guys. But when you are doing a regional film, it’s a smaller pond so you have to fight less big fishes. So the makers are able to preserve the original intent of the film much more. But a lot changes during the making of a Hindi film. The producer can totally ruin a project by demanding the superimposition of a song etc. Isn’t it logistically inconvenient to be based in Delhi? Yes, it’s a pain to live out of a suitcase. But I try and keep enough gaps between projects. And when I come back home, it’s pure sanity. None of my friends is from the film world or awed by it. So one is not eating, breathing, living films. To be honest, I see a lot of insecurity in the film industry. I guess it’s bound to happen with so much competition. As individuals go, there are plenty of wonderful people in this film world. But as a system I find it very difficult to deal with it. You got a lot of flak for your performance in Aks. Do you look back at the experience with regret? I don’t regret anything. There’s always something you bring back from an experience. As flak goes, tell me one painter, dancer actor who has consistently only done good work. You can’t always live in fear of failure. Then you’d never take any challenges and live a boring life. I would rather try different things and get criticized. A lot of people said I did Aks because I wanted to work with Mr Bachchan; others said I got pots of money for it. But I know I didn’t even want to do the film. When Rakesh Mehra approached me for Aks, I said no. It’s a story I didn’t relate to. Mr Bachchan was the one to recommend me because I was close to Jaya ji from the Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa days. Without blaming anyone, I was not particularly happy with the way my character turned out. I can’t deny Mr Bachchan is an iconic figure. But it’s not in me to be overawed by anybody. And as far as money is concerned, commercial films like Lagaan and Mann would have been far more lucrative than Aks. Let’s face it, there aren’t many great films being made. Do you feel that filmmakers today are doing their bit to raise socially relevant issues and causes through cinema? Films are a reflection of the society as a whole. Tell me, as people are we really concerned about issues? We have become so much more consumerist, so selfish that where do we take out that time for anything to contribute to society. People often sarcastically label me a feminist. When I ask for a script, I’m made to feel I am asking for the moon. People say I always do films with a message. But even messagy films can be boring. Films don’t have to be about AIDS and polio and women’s exploitation. Something as basic as a man-woman relationship can be shown in a more realistic way. A Hindi film shows a woman in a short skirt before she gets married and in a sari after marriage. Everything does not have to be so stark. In Aks I tried to make Suepriya more real. Which other film has raised the issue of marital rape? Do you feel like an outsider in Bollywood? Yes, maybe I am an outsider. Often when I talk about the system, I tend to forget I am an actress myself. I am sure many people think I am arrogant or that I look down upon commercial cinema. But I can’t help it if I haven’t grown up seeing commercial films. My father is a painter while my mother is a writer. Television came into our house much later in the day. I don’t remember going out with my parents to see a film in my entire childhood. For us, entertainment was going to see plays, dance performances, concerts and exhibitions. During college I did a lot of street theatre. I can’t help it if I have seen more films of Naseeruddin Shan than of Amitabh Bachchan. No one is being judgmental. It’s just that I want to do films I can relate to. So what films do you have on hand currently? Currently I am shooting for Anant Balani’s film co-starring Rahul Bose. I am also doing an international short film in New Zealand. Then there’s Paresh Kamdar’s film called Gharwali based on a story by Ismat Chughtai. Paresh Rawal is my co-star in the film. Ismat Chughtai was much ahead of her time. I don’t think I am anywhere as rebellious as the people I admire. Are you wary about accepting big banner films? No. But over the years, after having a few bad experiences, I have become more careful. I have been approached by quite a few people but haven’t finalized anything yet. For sure, I am looking for a good character but the story must work too. Anything hardcore commercial wouldn’t work for me. There are so many promising newcomers like Farhan Akhtar, for instance. Ram Gopal Varma is another director I would love to work with. It doesn’t mean I like all his films. But he is someone who wants to try new things and is not afraid of taking risks. What do you think about crossover films? If a new director approaches me, I always listen to the narration carefully. I am all for new efforts. But for me each film is precious whether crossover of otherwise. I am open to crossover, commercial, parallel or whatever kind of cinema as long as it does not offend my sensibility or defy my basic values. If the larger story is regressive, communal or jingoistic, even in the name of false patriotism, I would never do it. Apart from these very cardinal rules, I am open to anything. Are you in touch with Deepa Mehta? Yes we are very much in touch. We still haven’t given up hope about Water. Now my hair is shoulder length though! Do you see marriage affecting your professional life? No. But it’s definitely a sexist society. Many of our male actors have been married and fathers forever, yet they play lover boy on the screen without a care. But the moment an actress marries, people view her as being less saleable. This mentality foxes me. When you are looking at an actor, it’s for a character. I don’t see how actors’ personal lives who they sleep with, what they eat or how many children they have makes any difference. Life really begins at 30. That’s when do you actually understand the conflict in a relationship. Films are slices of life. If there is no real conflict, then what cinema are we talking about? I mean look at Meryl Streep and Jodie Foster doing so many wonderful mature themes and characters. Does hubby view your celebrity as a problem? No. He is secure within himself. All this celebrity business is so superficial. If Bhimsen Joshi were to walk by, how many people would run up to him for an autograph? Does that make him less of a genius? And what does Mr Sen think of Nandita Das the actress? We are more like friends. If I am working on a project, I tell him the story and read out passages from the script. Sometimes when I am in a real rage, I call him up and vent my anger on him! We also talk about his work. But I know very little about the ad world, to be honest. In life if I have down upon something, it’s the ad industry. I have always found it so superficial. Agreed, it’s a lot of money, but quick money is bad money. I am not too ambitious about material things. But when he does public interest ads, we discuss them. In fact we jointly directed a 90 second public interest spot on rain water harvesting on 35 mm. It was great fun and a bit nightmarish too! We fought like crazy. Right from the concept, to the shooting to the music, we were constantly at loggerheads. We decided if we could last out this ad film, then we could last out a lifetime! http://www.vaarttha.com/english/film/left4.html
Sankranthi Movies with a gap Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Sankranthi Movies with a gap Sankranthi 2004 is going to have 4 major movie releases in the form of Andhrawala, Anji, Lakshmi Narasimha and Naani. Though the producers of these films appear very bullish with their release dates, it is reliably learnt that a comfortable gap of 4-5 days would be kept between the release of each film so that each one of these films would get decent openings. The film which is going to release first would have early bird benefits of getting housefuls in all centers till 17th of January provided the movie is good. And that lucky early bird might be NTR's Andhrawala. http://www.vaarttha.com/english/film/film3.html
Sravanti Ravi Kishore to remake Tirumalai Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Sravanthi Ravi Kishore has bought the remake rights of Tamil's blockbuster 'Tirumalai' (released on 5th November 2003 in Tamil Nadu) starring Vijay and Jyotika. A debutant director Ramana directed this film. The cast and crew is yet to be finalized for Sravanthi Ravi Kishore's remake of 'Thirumalai'. More details later. http://www.vaarttha.com/english/film/film1.html
Naidu spares consumers from power tariff hike Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Hyderabad: With the elections round the corner, Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu Friday hinted that the Government would take all steps to ensure that consumers were not burdened with a fresh hike in power tariff. Presenting the 'progress report of development' on infrastructure to the people through a live television programme beamed from the Secretariat here, he said the Government would consider introducing subsidies to bridge the difference in cost-escalation, if any. Besides, the AP Transmission Corporation (APTRANSCO) would also improve internal efficiency to bring down operating costs, he added. His assurance came minutes after he quoted Congress MP Priyaranjan Dasmunshi's speech in Parliament that "let us not drag power sector into vote bank politics and not entertain requests for tariff cuts or free power, as it will take our country 20 years back.". Incidentally, the CM quoted Dasmunshi's speech to justify the reforms initiated by his Government in the power sector. Naidu said providing free power would prove to be detrimental for attracting new investments. He, however, pointed out that farmers were extended power supply at a subsidised rate of 20 paise per unit as against the generation cost of Rs 1.80 per unit. Stating that Andhra Pradesh was generating over 10,000 MW of power, and would be adding more than 4,000 MW during the tenth plan period, Naidu asserted that energy sector would continue to serve as the engine of growth for the country's economy in the coming years. He also apprised the people on the development in the road sector, airports and ports in the State. The programme was telecast live by six private Telugu-satellite channels.
Christmas spirit all over Hyderabad Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD: Braving the chill, devout Christians with their children thronged hundreds of churches across the state to attend the "midnight mass and other special services" on the eve of Christmas on Wednesday night. The churches were brightly lit up and decorated for the occasion. The church bells pealed at the stroke of midnight heralding the birth of Jesus Christ. Led by the Parish priests and others, the devotees offered special prayers seeking peace and prosperity for the society. The main programme was held at St Theresa's Church at Sanathnaagar here where Archbishop Marampudi Joji and others conducted the special midnight mass in the presence of thousands of people. In his message, Joji said that Christmas was a universal festival meant for every body irrespective of different faiths. Jesus Christ came into the world to bring peace, joy and equality for every one. "He was born as a human being to raise the falling human being and make him divine," Joji said. He said that the Christians shared their joy with all the people of Andhra Pradesh and wished every one peace and communal harmony on the occasion. Meanwhile, Governor S S Barnala, care taker Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and former speaker K Pratibha Bharati greeted the Christians on the eve of Christmas. In separate messages, they said that Jesus was a Prophet of love and compassion and his message was relevant today as it was in the past. They asked people to take a pledge to celebrate Christmas by working for peace, harmony and goodwill.
Release of Andhra hostages in Afghan brings cheer to families Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Release of Andhra hostages in Afghan brings cheer to families Thursday December 25 2003 00:00 IST TIRUPATI: The 18-day-long agonising wait for the families of two Andhra workmen kidnapped in Afghanistan has finally ended happily. The news of safe release of Murali (24) and Varadaiah (25), who were in the captivity of Taliban militia of Afghanistan since Dec 6, came as a big relief and brought cheer to the two families in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. The two were employed as technical supervisors in B Seenaiah and Company (Projects) Ltd which was awarded a Rs 200 crore road construction work between Kabul-Kandahar. They were abducted by four members of the ousted Taliban regime in a village near Shazijoy town, 280 km south west of Kabul. After hectic efforts at various levels for the past few days, they were released unharmed on Wednesday and were later handed over to the officials at Indian Embassy at Kabul. Since the Kabul-New Delhi flight left before they reached Kabul, they will return to India on Sunday. "Neither did we pay any ransom nor the Afghan government release any jailed militants as demanded by the Talibans to free our workers," a visibly relieved Seenaiah, company's managing director, told this website's newspaper in Hyderabad. He said that the Talibans handed over his workers to the governor of Ghazni province after holding discussions. The employees were later brought to the Afghan Interior Ministry officials who in turn handed them over to officials of the Indian Embassy at 12.15 p m. Seenaiah contacted the two employees around same time and enquired about their health. "They said that the Talibans never ill-treated them during their captivity," Seenaiah said. Seenaiah said that the abduction would have no impact on their relation with the Afghan government and its people. Murali and Varadaiah would resume work in Afghanistan after a month's holiday with their family members. "I was deeply worried about the safety of my son following the demands of Taliban," said P Penchalaiah, father of Murali. With emotion, Penchalaiah said that it was due to the grace of God that Murali was left unharmed. The kidnap of Murali rendered the septuagenarian in a state of shock as he lost his wife a year ago. On hearing the good news, a large number of people and relatives gathered at the residence of Penchalaiah, a retired mandal development officer, in Atmakur and congratulated him. Venkataseshamma, mother of Varadaiah was so overwhelmed with joy that she could barely speak. "God saved the life of my son," she said as scores of locals gathered at her small hut in Vovveru village near Nellore town. Varadaiah's brother Venu celebrated the occasion by distributing sweets.
Junior docs to intensify stir Thursday, December 25, 2003 | Editor
Hyderabad, Dec 24 - Following support from political parties, NGOs and various student organisations, the junior doctors have decided to intensify their ongoing strike by announcing a State-wide educational strike on December 31. The protests will be intensified from December 26 till January 3, 2004. On the other hand, Director of Medical Education R Sasi Prabha told Deccan Chronicle on Tuesday that the State government will not hesitate to take stringent action against the doctors if they disrupt the smooth functioning of the medical system.
Former TDP legislator commits suicide Tuesday, December 23, 2003 | Editor
Hyderabad, Dec 23: Former TDP legislator G Lingappa committed suicide by shooting himself with his revolver here yesterday. The body of Lingappa (52), who represented Gooty constituency in Anantapur district, was found in the bathroom in the new MLA quarters here, police said adding, no suicide note was found in the room. Lingappa had earlier served as Anantapur district president of the TDP. Lingappa, a two-time MLA, had switched over to the Congress and had unsuccessfully contested from Gooty in the 1999 Assembly polls on Congress ticket. He was the vice-president of Anantapur district unit of the Congress. (Agencies)
Chandrababu Babu slams Congress, Naxals at TDP’s rally Friday, December 19, 2003 | Editor
KARIMNAGAR: After the Congress bus yatra in Telangana, it is the turn of the Telugu Desam Party to display its strength in the region. And the party did it impressively with a large gathering turning up for the first rally addressed by Chief Minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu in the region. Naidu focussed on the twin issues - demand for separate Statehood for Telangana and the Naxalite problem. Earlier in the day, at Puttamgandi in Nalgonda district, Naidu formally inaugurated the Alimineti Madhava Reddy project. Addressing the gathering in Karimnagar town, Naidu reiterated that the development of Telangana was possible only in an integrated Andhra Pradesh and called upon the people to reject parties which were supporting the cause of extremists in the State. Citing security reasons, the police virtually ordered closure of shops in the region. Naidu said while the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders were championing the cause of Naxalites, the Congress was sympathetic towards them. ‘‘India is the biggest democracy and how can a handful of Naxalites control the society by wielding weapons. Will you support such parties if they come to you for votes ,’’ Naidu asked. Stating that he was not against the cause but the method in which the Naxalites were fighting for the welfare of the poor, he said, ‘‘Their acts are harmful to the society and the government has the responsibility to ensure peace in the State. The Naxalites should stop destruction of public property and join the mainstream.’’ Naidu said that once a permanent solution was found to the Naxalite problem, more industries would come to the Telangana region as it had coal reserves and good road network in abundance. He reminded that hundreds of crores were spent for the development of Telangana where several irrigation projects were completed during the last nine years. Even the loss-making Singareni collieries has started earning profits now, he added.
Naidu rules out talks with striking doctors Friday, December 19, 2003 | Editor
IANS HYDERABAD: The indefinite strike by junior doctors in Andhra Pradesh entered its seventh day on Thursday as Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu hardened his stance and ruled out any talks with them. Terming the strike as "unjustified", the chief minister alleged that they were raising non-issues. "They are raising issues which do not concern them but are related to policy decisions of the government," Naidu told a news conference. Two rounds of talks between the officials of the medical education department and the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association have failed in the last four days. With the government hardening its stand, more than 10,000 junior doctors, house surgeons and students of 10 government medical colleges responded by intensifying their strike. The striking medicos took to the streets in Hyderabad, coastal city of Visakhapatnam and other major cities and towns and resorted to unique protests like cleaning government-owned buses. The striking doctors are protesting the government's "attempts to commercialise medical education". The junior doctors are asking for withdrawal of an order that seeks handing over of government hospitals to hospital development societies. They are also asking the government to stop collecting user charges from public at these hospitals. On its part the government has been arguing that development societies were being formed to tone up the administration. Naidu said user charges were nominal and were not being collected from people living below the poverty line. Referring to the demand of the striking medicos that the government stop sanctioning more private medical colleges, he said the junior doctors were opposing his government's efforts to increase the number of doctors. While the government and junior doctors squabble, thousands of patients are suffering. Those in teaching hospitals attached to medical colleges are bearing the brunt with senior doctors attending to only a few serious cases. Some hospitals are even discharging in-patients and asking them to return when junior doctors end the strike. The problems have been further compounded as nurses are also proceeding on leave for Christmas. About 2,000 doctors attend patients at major hospitals in the state.
IANS HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday denied allegations of corruption in liquor purchases and defended his action in approaching the state high court against a lower court order for an inquiry. He told a news conference that there was nothing wrong in his government approaching the Andhra Pradesh High Court to challenge the order of a lower court, which had directed Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to probe allegations against him. This was his first reaction to the allegations that his government paid Rs.5.5 billion in excess to some big distilleries while purchasing liquor during 1997-2000. The chief minister said the issue was closed after the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed a public interest suit filed by a Congress party functionary. He claimed that the state-owned Andhra Pradesh Beverages Corporation Ltd (APBCL) made the payments to the companies only after a high court direction on a petition by McDowell. It may be recalled that a lower court on December 12 had directed ACB to probe charges against Naidu, a minister and 10 others that they paid excess amount to liquor companies. Aggrieved by the order, Minister for Roads and Buildings T. Nageswara Rao, who was then minister for prohibition, filed an appeal Monday. The high court on Tuesday reserved its order, which will be pronounced on December 22. The lower court had passed the directions on a petition filed by an advocate N. Krishna Kumar Goud, who is also joint convener of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Legal Cell. Goud alleged that Naidu, along with others, conferred pecuniary advantage on a few big distilleries. Naidu said the Congress was in panic and was making such baseless allegations with a view to drawing political mileage before the elections. He said that during the last eight and a half years of his rule, the Congress had made many baseless allegations of corruption against him but not a single one was proved. "People know that I am a disciplined person living a simple life. I have always fought against corruption and never gave any scope for anybody to raise his finger," he said. "But the Congress is making such false allegations in the hope that the people would believe them," he added. Naidu also said that his Telugu Desam Party was ready to face simultaneous or separate elections to the state assembly and parliament. He said it was up to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to decide whether to have simultaneous polls or separate ballots. Naidu clarified that during his meetings with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu Tuesday in New Delhi the issue did not come up for discussion. He said his party had only made a representation to Election Commission to conduct the assembly elections before March 17. He also clarified that he would contest only from Kuppam constituency, which he represented in the dissolved assembly.
Naani Friday, December 19, 2003 | Editor
Naani Director S.J.Suryah Producer Manjula Cinematographer K.V.Guhan Music A.R.Rahman Cast Mahesh Babu, Amisha Patel, Devayani After that blockbuster Okkadu, Mahesh Babu is back in Nanni with S.J.Suryah, the hotshot director of Kushi. Naani is said to be inspired from the Hollywood flick Big and is a bilingual in Tamil and Telugu with an entirely different star cast. A scientist (Raghuvaran) does an experiment on an eight-year-old boy and the boy turns into a 25-year-old youth. While the boy grows physically, his mind remains that of a ten-year old. Mahesh Babu plays the role of this boy turned man. A dog with two tails and a 1 1/2 feet high coconut palm are supposed to be the scientist's inventions in the film. Amisha Patel plays the girl who falls in love with Mahesh’s innocence and marries him, only to realise that she has to teach him the first lesson of sex. The scientist too coaches the youth how to go about his first night, which is supposed to be hilarious. Oomph girl Ramya Krishnan plays an important role as Mahesh’s neighbour who lusts after him. The film is produced by Mahesh’s sister Manjula under Indira Productions Pvt Ltd banner and is presented by superstar Krishna. The film also stars Manjula’s husband who plays Mahesh’s father and Devayani as his mother. The cast also has Raghuvaran, Sunil, Ali, Brahmanandam, Nazar, Sunitha, Ashok, Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, Ravibabu, Kota Srinivasa Rao and Sudhakar. The highlight of the film however are the lavishly shot songs tuned by A.R.Rahman. K.V.Guhan is the cinematographer, editing is by Sreekar Prasad, stunt choreography is by Peter Hayen, and Anand Sai is the art director. Raju Sundaram, Brinda, and Ganesh Hegde are the choreographers. Story, screenplay and direction are by S.J.Suryah. (Source: http://sify.com/movies/telugu/)
Birlas enter Telugu filmland! Friday, December 19, 2003 | Editor
Aditya Birla group chairman Kumaramangalam Birla’s tryst with Telugu filmland has begun with Tapana due in January. Kumaramangalam Birla one of the richest men in the world is producing Tapana, through his Applause Entertainment. The film features actress Jayaprada’s brother Siddharth, Maahi a sizzling Mumbai model and Prabhu Deva in lead roles. It is a love story directed by a television director Tejas Dhanraj. According to Anshuman Swami, the CEO of Applause Entertainment: The Telugu film industry is blessed with young talents. Hence we decided to choose this language as our foray into films. Tapana is made on a shoestring budget of Rs 3 crore! The Birlas would continue to make films in Telugu which they feel is disciplined and is the sunrise industry as budgets are also reasonable. (Source: http://www.sify.com)
MAA felicitates veterans Friday, December 19, 2003 | Editor
Telugu Movie Artistes’ Association, on the eve of its 10th year celebrations, felicitated veteran artistes at a function in Hyderabad. Legendary actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Mikkilneni, Peketi, Doolipaala and Allu Ramalingaih were some of the veterans who were honoured for their contribution to Telugu cinema. Stars like Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna lauded the association for organising such a memorable event while Murali Mohan, president of MAA, reminded the efforts made by veterans in shifting the Telugu industry from Chennai to Hyderabad. He added that he intends to stage a few more events to mobilise money to help needy artistes in his tenure. I am happy about the unity among the artistes, revealed thespian ANR. Anjali Devi, Padmanabham, Gummadi and Kanta Rao were other yesteryear artistes who were honoured on the joyful occasion and all of them thanked the association. All the artistes including evergreen actor Krishna, Vijayanirmala, Mohan Babu, Rajsekar, Tarun, Rajendraprasad, Brahmnandam and Srikanth made the event a memorable one. (Source: http://www.screenindia.com)
It’s the first remix album in Telugu, -Smitha Friday, December 19, 2003 | Editor
It’s the first remix album in Telugu, claimed playback singer Smitha about her new pop album Masaka Masaka which was launched with much fanfare and was graced by director Puri Jagannath. It stars Ravi Teja and Shriya. Yesteryear number Masaka Masaka was elegantly shot by Rahul Sood while famed composer Harry Anand has brought the sensuous number to life. We have chosen four more hot numbers, declared Smita who is thrilled about her new feat. Earlier she tasted success with her Hindi and Telugu albums, Hai Rabba in both Hindi and Telugu and Hairamma in Hindi and Koilamma in Telugu. These apart, she has lent her voice for more than 50 film songs including ‘Yelo Yelo ...’ in Shivamani, ‘Taluku Taluku ...’ in Amma Nanna O Tamilammayi and ‘Mavayadi ...’ in Gangotri. Director Puri who released the album claimed that he still retains the Hairabba number on his mobile while numero uno audio company’s Aditya will be marketing the album. It remains to be seen how Andhraites will receive the remix concept. (Source: http://www.screenindia.com)
Missamma Friday, December 19, 2003 | Editor
Bhoomika plays the role of a scheming boss to perfection and holds the interest in an otherwise theatrical plot of a lady boss who sadistically drives a wedge between a couple to discover a suitable man for her empire. To make the protagonist realistic and believable, the director should have left her sadistic, cunning and arrogant behaviour untouched rather than making it a caricature by justifying her actions with a sympathetic resolution to make it a routine fare. Barring her intention to find an heir the treatment reminds you of Sundarakanda and it is another tear-jerker role for Laaya while Sivaji is definitely a miscast. Business tycoon Bhoomika is labelled an egoist who exploits aspiring employees promising promotions. She lands up in Hyderabad and meets her accountant Sivaji. On the promise of promoting him, she dismisses him from the job and makes him do daily chores at her farmhouse in the name of tests. Meanwhile his wife Laaya starts questioning him about visiting his boss’s place. Bhoomika plants a doubt in the mind of Laaya and later . She forcibly marries him. Laaya throws him out and he is reluctant to accept Bhoomika as his wife. When the couple are on the verge of separation, Bhoomika’s doctor reveals the truth that she is suffering from a dreaded disease with imminent death. So she married Sivaji as he is capable to take over her business empire. Atlast Sivaji gets back his wife as well as the empire. The director overlooked the fact that making Sivaji the husbajnd of Bhoomika is ridiculous as is illegal because he married Bhoomika without the consent or separation from his first wife. The director, after realistically depicting the anguish of a failed artiste in Show, this time opts for a contrived plot and hopes he’ll pick something ‘unique’ next time around. (Source: screenindia.com)
Maa Alludu Friday, December 19, 2003 | Editor
Director EVV Satyanarayana totally relies on his brand of slapstick humor and double-entendres but it could boomerang since he has again failed to unearth a sensible plot for his comedy. The tale of a crook (Naresh) who plays cheap tricks to marry a rich girl (Mounica) looses its sheen as he doesn’t repent for his deeds. Instead he prides about his accomplishment without any sense of guilt. Veteran actor Rajendraprasad overdoes his act while glam girl Ramya Krishna is wasted in an ill-conceived role and less said the better about the over-the-board performance of Naresh. Naresh and Krishna Mohan indulge in petty robberies to eke out a living and later Naresh falls in love with Mounika. Whenever Rajendraprasad, a rich businessman, tries to nab Naresh, he ends up hurt and bruised. Naresh even fakes as a police officer and wins her love. Rajendraprasad asks his daughter Mounica to invite her lover home and he is shocked to see Naresh and thus exposes him. She too avoids him. Naresh plays few more tricks and wins the confidence of Rajendraprasad and joins his office. Meanwhile Rajendraprasad’s PA, Ramya Krishna, impresses him so much that he is willing to marry her but she rejects his offer when she learns that he has a grownup daughter. Mounica approaches Naresh and promises to marry him if he can convince Ramya to marry her father and finally the crook succeeds in his mission. (Source: screenindia.com)
Andhra to rebuild houses damaged in cyclone Friday, December 19, 2003 | Editor
Andhra to rebuild houses damaged in cyclone Hyderabad Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu Thursday said his government would rebuild the thousands of houses that collapsed in a severe cyclone in Andhra Pradesh this week. He told a news conference that the 4,403 houses were totally damaged in the four coastal districts of Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari and West Godavari in the calamity that hit the state early Tuesday. A total of 45 deaths have been reported from the four districts while two are reported missing. Officials said while 17 died directly due to cyclone, the remaining died of cold weather. Naidu, who visited the cyclone-hit areas Wednesday, announced an ex gratia payment of Rs.100,000 for the families of those killed in the cyclone. The families of those killed due to cold weather would get Rs.50,000 each. Naidu said the cyclone partially damaged 13,006 houses and claimed the lives of 495 sheep and 90 cattle besides causing widespread damage to crops. Agricultural corps over an area of 234,105 hectares and horticulture crops over 22,207 hectares were damaged. The major crop damages are paddy, black gram, green gram, groundnut, tobacco, maize, banana and chillies. The chief minister announced relief to affected farmers in the form of input subsidy ranging from Rs.1,000 to Rs.3,000 per hectare for different crops. Norms will be modified to ensure speedy procurement of rice from the affected farmers and they will also be helped in availing fresh credits. Naidu said exact crop losses were being ascertained and the state government would submit a memorandum to the federal government for cyclone relief. Indo-Asian News Service
Threat of central rule looms large on AP Thursday, December 18, 2003 | Editor
NEW DELHI: In an attempt to ward off the threat of President's rule in Andhra Pradesh as his caretaker government cannot fulfil the constitutional requirement of passing budget before March 31, Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday rushed a TDP team to the Election Commission pleading for a mid-February poll. The TDP team, which carried a letter from the chief minister to the chief election commissioner, said that scheduling the polls beyond March 31, 2004 can cause difficulties in passing the budget. The chief minister, while dissolving the assembly, had hoped that the Commission would announce election to the House before February. But his hopes were dashed hours after the announcement when CEC said that polls in the state was not possible till at least April. At that point the CEC had also said that the state government should have factored in the constitutional obligations before dissolving the House. We are concerned only about the conduct of fair poll. Ensuring the passage of budget is the headache of the government, he had said. Consequent to this announcement, the chief minister changed tack and tried enlisting support of the BJP leadership for synchronising the Lok Sabha election with Andhra assembly polls. This, too, failed to pass muster as the BJP leadership made it plain that an alteration in the time schedule would require a wider debate, both within the BJP as well as the coalition. That this has upset the chief minister’s calculations is not disputed by his own party colleagues. While an early poll would have helped him mop up the sympathy factor he was the target of a deadly Naxalite attack synchronised poll would have introduced the Vajpayee charisma into the polls, helping the chief minister duck the incumbency disadvantage of his eight-year-old government. But what could be most worrying for the chief minister is the prospect of President’s rule. Although the governor appointed by the NDA will not be unfriendly towards Mr Naidu, the administration under the neutral umpire may not always to be receptive to the concerns of the TDP. The chief minister, in his meetings with the BJP leadership, had told them that a delay in holding elections could create a constitutional crisis in Andhra Pradesh. Constitutional expert Subhash C Kashyap said that vote on account can be passed only by an assembly and this route will not be available for Mr Naidu as he has dissolved the House. But Mr Naidu, who is yet to give up, has cited reasons like upsetting of the examination schedule of school and college students, to persuade the EC to announce polls before March. In his memorandum to the EC, he said a delay could put sever strain on the administration. Because of the examinations scheduled in March, not only will a large number of teachers, invigilators and superintendents be unavailable for elections duty, but the use of educational institutions for polling and counting centres would also pose a problem, he said. SSC examinations are scheduled from 17 March to 1 April. Nearly 11 lakh students will be appearing for this examination in 4,445 centres and 63,189 personnel will be required for the conduct of the examinations besides 32,768 examiners and other staff will be required to attend to spot valuation, he argued adding that more than 45,000 personnel will be engaged in conducting Intermediate examination from 17 March to 6 April. Another 25,500 staff will be required to evaluate the students performance. In this situation, it would be convenient that elections are held prior to the conduct of the SSC and Intermediate examinations, he said.
Naidu puts loss at Rs 250 cr. Thursday, December 18, 2003 | Editor
Guntur, Dec. 17. (UNI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today put the loss in the devastating cyclone in two coastal districts of the state at Rs 250 crores. The Government will take up relief and rehabilitation works in the areas ravaged by cyclone, he told reporters after an aerial survey of Guntur and Krishna districts. The State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation would buy the damaged paddy, he promised and advised the farmers to follow the instructions of agricutlure scientists while harvesting the paddy affected by the cyclone. The Chief Minister flew over the areas affected by the cyclone crossing the state in the early hours of yesterday and surveyed vast tracts of paddy, turmeric and sugarcane fields and banana and betel plantations, which were under water. Meanwhile, officials put the death toll in Guntur district at 14. Paddy crop in nearly five lakh hectares, ready for harvest, were submerged under water, they added.
AP floods State seeks central aid Thursday, December 18, 2003 | Editor
Dec 18 - Relief operations in the cyclone-ravaged districts in Andhra Pradesh have begun on a war-footing. The severe cyclonic storm left a trail of death and destruction when it crossed the Andhra coast leaving 31 people dead. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced an ex-gratia of 50,000 rupees to the families of those who died. He has assured all necessary help to farmers, who suffered heavy crop losses. Meanwhile, State MPs in the Rajya Sabha have demanded early Central assistance for the relief operations. The cyclonic storm hit Andhra Pradesh just after midnight, on Monday, killing at least 31 people and leaving thousands homeless. The cyclone caused heavy damage to crops and uprooted trees and snapping power and telephones lines. Over 5,000 cattle have perished. Meanwhile, the state energy department has dispatched 448 teams to restore power in the cyclone-ravaged areas. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu toured these areas and announced 50,000 rupees ex-gratia for the affected families. He said water cess in the worst-affected areas will be withdrawn. The Chief Minister also announced immediate financial assistance for crop damage. Besides this, the Andhra Pradesh Government has distributed 10 kilograms of rice to each family and assured the farmers that the government will procure discoloured and wet paddy.
Laser Soft's ProBanker software for Andhra Bank Thursday, December 18, 2003 | Editor
Laser Soft Infosystems Ltd has introduced its low cost and effective cluster-based Core Banking Solutions (CBS)- ProBanker CB - at Andhra Bank. It is being implemented at 140 branches of Andhra Bank with zonal servers interconnected and linked to the central server for uninterrupted transfer of data and efficient back office processing. Addressing the media in Chennai yesterday, B Suresh Kamath, chairman and managing director, Laser Soft, said, 'as the cost of installation of cluster banking is economical with high scalability of operations, the new software provides comprehensive solution and overcomes the limitations of CBS networks'. Customers would stand to benefit as the software ensures a fail-safe method to provide uninterrupted service, and transactions were kept updated with constant link to the central server. Kamath said in the last 18 years, Laser Soft had built up core competency in banking software products with a strong focus on banking. With lower investments in Pro-Banker CB, customers could use the services at competitive costs anywhere, anytime and through any means banking (the three As of modern banking). In cluster banking, branch- level servers were linked to zonal servers which in turn were networked with the mother or the central server. Here, the wide area network (WAN) bandwidth would be drastically scaled down and the cost reduced, Vasan Srivathsan, marketing head, Laser Soft, said during his presentation. By March 2004, the software would be implemented in 800 branches of Andhra Bank as against the present 140 now. Already, all its 384 rural branches were networked through the Laser Twig solution which equips each rural branch to handle a minimum of 5000 saving bank accounts and over 3,000 vouchers at a minimum investment of Rs 1.5 lakh. Laser Soft had been a technology partner of Andhra Bank since November 1999 and successfully undertaken 100 per cent computerisation of all its branches. 'We are also working with Corporation Bank and other on cluster banking as the cost of networking through Pro-Branker CB is fraction of what it takes for large Indian public sector banks to install computer systems, networking and software installations on their own,' Kamath said. The cost of implementing the solution at Andhra Bank's 800 branches is estimated to cost Rs seven crore. The net profit of Andhra Bank had gone upto Rs 403 crore (for March 2003), a growth of near 100 per cent, after they started implementing the cluster networking processes, Vasan claimed. Laser Soft earned a revenue of Rs 10 crore from the implementation of software at Andhra Bank. The company expects to achieve a overall sales income of Rs 30 crore (Rs 21 crore last year) at the end of the current financial year, Kamath added.
Cyclone toll in Andhra mounts to 45 Thursday, December 18, 2003 | Editor
The toll due to the cyclone that lashed the south Andhra Pradesh coast has mounted to 45, with Krishna district accounting for 24 deaths, State Relief Commissioner Asutosh Mishra said on Wednesday. Most of the deaths occurred due to cold weather while some persons died due to wall/roof collapses, etc, he said. Four persons were killed in a boat capsize while another person was drowned, he added. Guntur and West Godavari districts accounted for eight deaths each, followed by East Godavari (five), Mishra said. Two persons -- in Krishna and East Godavari districts -- were missing. The storm, which was accompanied by gales reaching speeds of 120kmph and tidal waves one to two metres high, left behind a trail of destruction. Infrastructure, public and private properties and crops suffered extensive damage. He said the affected families would be given assistance of Rs 1,000 for fully damaged houses and Rs 500 for partially damaged houses, apart from Rs 250 each for purchase of clothes and utensils. Each affected family was also given 20kg of free rice. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu visited the affected areas on Wednesday and assured all help to the affected families. The families of those who died would be given Rs 50,000 under the Apathbandhu (insurance) scheme or from government funds, he added.
Four die as lorry, van collides Friday, December 12, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD:Four persons of a marriage party died on the spot and 10 were injured when their Tata Sumo van collided head on with a lorry at Gaddi Maisaram near Dundigul on the outskirts of the city on Thursday morning. Two of the injured are in a critical state. The lorry driver has been taken into custody. The deceased are Venkatesh (30), Indira (35), C Srivarsha (14) and Achyutha (12). The condition of Narshimulu and Sarojini are said to be serious. Others who were injured Vasantha, Kranthi ,Kiran, Sudha, Mahi, Surya Pavan, Ramchandra, Geeta and Ramesh are out of danger and are recovering in a nearby private hospital. The police officials said that the van carrying 14 members of a marriage party from Ramchandrapuram and was proceeding to Dubbaka in Medak district when the mishap occurred.
Yellow surge in Rayalaseema Friday, December 12, 2003 | Editor
KURNOOL: Amidst a sea of yellow, the Telugu Desam Party today took out its first ever mass rally in Rayalaseema with caretaker Chief Minister and party president N Chandrababu Naidu launching frontal attack against the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, calling them ‘‘opportunistic’’ and ‘‘separatist’’. Led by Naidu, the rally began from C Camp on the outskirts of the city and reached the venue at STBC College Grounds, covering a distance of 8 km. A large number of people lined along the route. The entire city was painted yellow with the erection of huge cutouts, banners and flags of the party. Giant size cut outs of TDP founder-president late NT Rama Rao and Chandrababu Naidu and performances by cultural troupes stood as main attraction during the rally which began in the afternoon. As Naidu spoke the crowd lustily cheered him. When the TD president said the Congress and the TRS are only concerned about power and not bothered about the development of the State, they clapped. Referring to the outcome of recent Assembly elections in northern States, he said ‘‘People are not ready to accept Sonia to lead the nation.’’ On the Naxal issue, Naidu reiterated his willingness to hold talks with them provided they lay down their arms. ‘‘The TDP is committed to uplift poor and underprivileged,’’ Naidu told the gathering. However, there were minor hitches. Lack of proper planning on the part of the organisers created chaos and stampede at the venue. The public turnout was more than the ground capacity.
Curfew goes but prohibitory orders remain Friday, December 12, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD:The curfew imposed on eight police stations limits of Chatrinaka, Charminar, Rein Bazar, Moghalpura, Bhavani Nagar, Falaknuma, Shalibanda and Dabeerpura was completely withdrawn on Thursday after normalcy returned to these areas. However, Section 144 restricting the assembly of four or more people will remain in force in these places as well as in the police station limits of Mangalghat, Kulsumpura and Tappachabutra and Zirra and Murad Nagar areas of Asifnagar PS limits. City Police Commissioner R.P. Singh said that no untoward incident was reported in the last 24 hours, barring minor skirmishes in Zirra and Ziaguda. Security has been beefed up in Kulsumpura, Mangalhat and Tappachabutra police stations. In view of the Friday prayers (December 12), the bandobust in the southern areas, particularly near Charminar, is being reorganised and strengthened. Additional police pickets, mobile teams, tear-gas squads and mounted police parties are being deployed throughout the trouble-prone areas. Singh also said that teams formed to identify perpetrators of communal clashes have made considerable progress. Some will be arrested very soon, he added.
Geetha Film Distributors (GFD) expands its wings to the Overseas market Monday, December 8, 2003 | Editor
Geetha Film Distributors is a pioneer distribution agency in Nizam and East Godavari territories in Andhra Pradesh. The biggest hits in the telugu film industry were released by Geetha Arts like Gangleader, Rowdy Alludu, Bobbili Simham, Annamaya, Nuvvu Nenu, Master, Indra, Tagore and all the other films produced by our parent company Geetha Arts. Geetha Arts were claimed as a Numero Uno distribution company of Nizam for 2002-2003 with films like Indra, Auvnu Validdaru Ishtapaddaru, Baba, Pellam Vurelithe, Gangothri, Tagore and Okariki Okaru in our kitty. Geetha Arts setup thier office at Rajamundry, East Godavari in 1989 and opened with the film Aaradhana. Geetha Arts started off in Nizam with Megastar’s blockbuster Rowdy Alludu in 1993. Now they are expanding their wings towards USA with our own hero Allu Arjun’s 2nd untitled film on Sri Venkateshwara Creations banner. With so many firms entering the Overseas distribution field every month, what is special if Geetha Films does it? Yes, there will be some thing, but all their plans are kept under the covers. More than their first venture being a profitable one, they want it to entertain the audience to the maximum. While the film hit the marquee in India on the 27th March 2004, it will come to the United States on 4th April 2004. Stay tuned to their official website www.geethafilms.com and catch all the action about their film, and Megastar Chiranjeevi’s Anji which we are releasing in Nizam. For more information visit http://www.geethafilms.com
Curfew continues in Hyderabad Monday, December 8, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD: Barring minor incidents overnight, the violence-hit parts of old Hyderabad was calm today as an indefinite curfew continued for a second straight day. But the police are on high alert in the state capital and the outskirts as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and some other groups have called for a shutdown in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad as well as neighbouring Ranga Reddy district. Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel opened fire in the air at Lalitabagh area yesterday night when a large number of people gathered for the funeral procession of two men killed in police firing. They shouted slogans against and stoned houses belonging to the other community, forcing RAF to fire in the air. Incidents of violence were also reported from Kishanganj area, where one person had been killed in clashes between Sikhs and Muslims Thursday. Timely intervention by the police averted a fresh clash between two groups.
PWG ultras blast TDP leader's house in Andhra Pradesh Sunday, December 7, 2003 | Editor
Hyderabad, Dec 6 Naxalites of the outlawed People's War Group detonated a bomb exploding the house of a local TDP leader at Sirikonda village in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh last night. A group of naxals of Janardhan Dalam went to the house of J Srinivas Rao and blasted it by planting detonators in a bucket, police said here today. Before the blast, on seeing the naxals, Rao managed to escape even as the ultras asked his wife and children to go out of the house, police said.
ITC to invest Rs 2.60 billion in paper business Sunday, December 7, 2003 | Editor
New Delhi, Dec 7 Close on the heels of acquiring a paper production unit from Bilt, the paper division of ITC would invest Rs 2.60 billion at its Bhadrachalam (Andhra Pradesh) plant to augment production capacity, a top company official said today. The company also aims over 14 per cent growth in sales turnover by the end of this fiscal over Rs 8.75 billion during the last year, ITC Paperboards and Speciality Papers Division Chief Executive Pradeep Dhobale said. "We have decided to pump in Rs 260 crore (Rs 2.60 billion) at the AP plant to increase production from 3,50,000 tonnes. The fund will be mopped up through internal accruals," he said. Out of Rs 8.75 billion topline, exports contribute Rs one billion while the rest comes from the domestic market. At present, the company has four manufacturing units - Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bhadhrachalam and Coimbatore. ITC acquired the fourth facility from Bilt at a cost of Rs 2.30 billion. In the Rs 140 billion overall paper and packaging Indian market, the company aims substantial marketshare, he said, adding "we are looking at states like Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to set up centres to support our needs for raw materials". The company has recently introduced an environment- friendly technology - Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) - which entailed an investment of Rs 2.30 billion. According to government regulations, the ECF would be mandatory for all paper manufacturers in the next five years. Paperboard business contributes 80 per cent to topline of the paper division. PTI
Humpy jumps to sole lead in National Chess Championship Sunday, December 7, 2003 | Editor
Calicut, Dec 7 Country's youngest ever Grandmaster Koneru Humpy shot into sole lead with a clinical victory over her Andhra state-mate M Srinivas Rao in the sixth round of the 41st National 'A' Chess Championship here today. Humpy took her tally to an impressive 5 points out of a possible 6 and is now trailed by PSPB duo of GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly and R B Ramesh who both have 4.5 points apiece. Commonwealth Champion GM Dibyendu Barua was not far behind on 4 points and had company of his West Bengal colleague Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury. A pack of five players including the trio of PSPB's GM Abhijit Kunte, Sandipan Chanda and Neelotpal Das, GM Pravin Thipsay of BSB and Suvrajit Saha of West Bengal shared the next spot in the standing list with 3.5 points each. Seventeen more rounds remain to be played in the Category 7, 24-player all-play-all tournament that will select the Indian team for the next one year. Crossing one milestone after another is not unusual for Humpy. Just a few days before not many thought she was in with a chance to be among frontrunners here but belying those doubts, the Andhra girl, also the reigning National Women Champion, is rolling in full swing. Rao, who was at the receiving end today, did not know what hit him. Playing black he chose the Grunfeld defence and was in for a surprise in the opening when Humpy came up with a rather cheeky move order. He lost a pawn in tactical skirmish and eventually got checkmated. PTI
CII insurance meet from tomorrow Sunday, December 7, 2003 | Editor
New Delhi, Dec 7. : CII's eigth Insurance Summit beginning in the city on Monday will likely to take up the major issues concerning the sector including raising the present cap of 26 per cent and easing the Rs 100 crore capital requirements in the health insurance and allowing life insurers in the new pension segment, whose schemes are likely to hit the market by January. The two-day summit, to be inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, would also take up the other long-pending demands on de-tariffing in general insurance and amendments to Insurance and IRDA Acts so as parts of pressure to further the insurance penetration, which is as low as 1.87 per cent of the GDP. Noting that despite a large number of players in the health insurance sector, it has not really taken off, CII said, adding regulatory as well as systematic barriers has to be dealt with. While the industry would address the systematic barriers like insurers, medical laboratories and other healthcare providers, the two primary regulatory barriers, 26 per cent cap on MNC participation and high capex need of Rs 100 crore, needs to be properly understood, the chamber said. Referring to the high capex need, CII said India could adopt a similar model like the US which has a system of risk based capital requirement wherein the capex that companies need to maintain increase with the risk they take as the policy provider.
Naidu orders probe Sunday, December 7, 2003 | Editor
Hyderabad, Dec 7 : At least five people were killed as widespread Hindu-Muslim violence broke out in the old city of the Andhra Pradesh capital on the night of the 11th anniversary of the Babri mosque razing. Police officials said the area was limping back to normalcy Sunday and many hundreds of police and paramilitary forces were patrolling the curfew-bound area of Hyderabad. A stunned Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced a judicial probe into the violence, which unofficial reports say has claimed six lives. Naidu ordered the probe after visiting the riot-hit areas and meeting the injured at the Osmania General Hospital. The areas, which witnessed fierce clashes overnight, have been brought under indefinite curfew. Describing the situation as "tense but under control", police said no fresh incident had been reported since Sunday morning. An indefinite curfew has been imposed in the areas of Falaknuma, Chandrayangutta, Shah Ali Banda, Moghalpura, Bhavaninagar, Rein Bazar, Dabeer Pura and Meer Chowk. The violence broke out in Gowlipura following stone pelting around 9.30 p.m. Saturday, and soon engulfed the adjoining areas of Sultanshahi, Aliabad, Shahali Banda, Hari Bowli. The situation was brought under control only around 2 a.m. Sunday. The mobs, armed with lethal weapons, attacked each other just as police officials were heaving a sigh of relief that the 11th anniversary of the razing of the Babri mosque Saturday had passed off largely peacefully. What started with stone pelting snowballed into a major clash with unruly mobs setting fire to houses, shops, hotels and passing vehicles. Police first tried to disperse the crowds with batons and, when the situation did not come under control, opened 52 rounds of fire. Residents blamed the police for failing to control the violence, complaining that the authorities failed to take quick action when incidents of stoning took place earlier in the day. Angry relatives of the dead and the injured turned their ire at Minister for Commercial Taxes K. Vijayarama Rao when he visited the hospital. Fears of violence had gripped the city since Thursday when one person was killed and five others were injured in clashes between Muslims and Sikhs in Kishanbagh neighbourhood. The chief minister said the riots appeared to have been "well-planned". "No matter who they are and how powerful they are we are determined to deal firmly with them," he said. He promised to act against policemen if they were indeed found guilty of laxity when the first signs of trouble broke out Saturday night. "We will act if there is failure or laxity on the part of police," he added. "But it does not appear to have happened suddenly. The miscreants disrupted the power supply and then attacked houses." Naidu said the attempts by two rival groups to pitch a flag and distribute sweets near places of worship in Gowlipura Saturday noon to mark the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya had created some tension. "The police had controlled the situation, but violence suddenly broke out in Gowlipura and six adjoining localities around 9 p.m.," he said. According to him, five people were killed in the violence. While two of the victims died of stabbing, three succumbed to injuries they sustained in police firing. Among the dead was Balaiah, a native of Nizamabad who had come to the city. Nineteen people received bullet wounds. Three of the seriously injured have been shifted to Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences. Naidu said curfew imposed in the limits of eight police stations would be relaxed as early as possible. "The government's intention is not to impose curfew but it was done to control the situation and we will relax it depending on the situation," he said. Naidu ruled out compensation to the families of those killed or injured in the violence. "There may be one or two innocents among them. We will identify for compensation," he said, and also announced rehabilitation of those whose houses and shops were burnt or looted. He denied that his government had failed to take seriously the violent incidents that had taken place in the city during the last three weeks. The chief minister also announced that a special police control room would be set up soon in the old city to ensure quick response for quelling violence. The proposal has been pending for a long time. This is the first time in a decade that curfew has been imposed in vast areas of the old city. Four people were killed in violence over provocative posters five years ago but even then the curfew was imposed only a few areas. The city, which has 40 percent Muslims among its four million population, has a long history of communal violence. More than 200 people were killed in the worst communal riots in the city in 1990.
Six dead in Hindu-Muslim clashes Sunday, December 7, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD - Six people died in India’s southern city of Hyderabad after clashes between jubilant Hindu hardliners and protesting Muslims on the eleventh anniversary of the razing of a mosque, police said. Twenty-four people were hurt in the incident late on Saturday, 12 suffering bullet injuries as police opened fire to control rampaging mobs in areas where Muslims are in a majority. Indefinite curfew has been imposed in several areas of the city after the rioting but there has been no violence since 1 a.m, police official A K Khan told Reuters. The situation is tense but under control. On December 6, 1992, Hindu zealots destroyed the 16th century Babri mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya, triggering riots that killed more than 3,000 people. The row has symbolised Hindu-Muslim tension since, and sometimes exploded in violence. No violence has been reported elsewhere in the country and even in Hyderabad, where 38 percent of the population of six million is Muslim and the police chief had thanked people for maintaining the peace shortly before the violence erupted.
Andhrawala, Anji, Lakshmi Narasimha and Naani for Sankranthi Saturday, December 6, 2003 | Editor
4 major movies will be released in the form of Andhrawala, Anji, Lakshmi Narasimha and Naani for Sankranthi 2004. Though the producers of these films appear very bullish with their release dates, it is reliably learnt that a comfortable gap of 4-5 days would be kept between the release of each film so that each one of these films would get decent openings. The film which is going to release first would have early bird benefits of getting housefuls in all centers till 17th of January provided the movie is good. And that lucky early bird might be NTR's Andhrawala. idlebrain.com
Premayanamaha on 19th December 2003 Saturday, December 6, 2003 | Editor
Shivram Apte's debut film 'Premayanamaha' is releasing all over AP on 19th December 2003. Suresh Movie Distributors are roped in to do the distribution. The production banner '21st Century Lions' are going to release this film simulteniously in USA on 19th December. This film would be screened in Detroit first. Singer Sandeep and Dancer Kausha are making their debut as hero and heroine respectively. Audio of this film is going well with the crowds. Haranadh Policharla - a NRI from USA - producing this film along with his friends. idlebrain.com
NTR Junior puts up a big show sans politics Saturday, December 6, 2003 | Editor
IANS HYDERABAD: After Chiranjeevi, the mega star of Telugu films, young actor NTR Junior has made it clear that he has no political ambition. At a massive rally attended by an estimated 500,000 people at Gudivada town near Vijayawada Friday, NTR Junior, the grandson of thespian N.T. Rama Rao, made a brief two-minute speech devoid of politics. He merely unveiled the statues of his grandparents, released the audiocassettes of his yet-to-be released film "Andhrawala" and appealed to his fans to make the film a success. For months, political circles and the Telugu film industry had been abuzz with speculation that Chiranjeevi and NTR Junior might plunge into politics. The state, known for hero worship of film actors, will see elections in March or April next year. The two-minute speech of the actor was devoid of politics but his appeal to the people to bless him the way they used to bless his grandfather has given room for speculation that he may be harbouring political ambitions. NTR ruled the Telugu silver screen for decades, and was an instant hit when he floated a regional Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to take on the Congress party. He created a record by coming to power within nine months of launching the TDP. NTR, who was treated like a god by Telugu-speaking people, died in 1996, five months after his son-in-law N. Chandrababu Naidu led a revolt against him. The uncanny resemblance of NTR Junior to his grandfather has made him an overnight celebrity in Telugu films, the second largest film industry in the country after Bollywood. Twenty-year-old NTR Junior, son of NTR's second son Harikrishna, already has half-a-dozen hits to his credit. So huge is his fan following that at every meeting he addressed his fans turn ecstatic leading to stampedes. At Friday's rally, for which people were brought from all over the state by special trains and buses, one person was killed and four were injured in the stampede. But this is not the first time the die-hard fans of celluloid heroes have died. Three people were killed in the stampede at cinema theatres when Chiranjeevi's blockbuster "Tagore" opened for screening three months ago. The film, based on a story about a crusade against corruption, not only added the long list of Chiranjeevi's super hit films over two decades but gave rise to speculation that he might enter politics. But the actor, who is also known for philanthropic activities, maintains that he had no political ambitions. His recent meeting with Chandrababu Naidu only added to the speculation but the actor has stuck to his stand. At Nimmakur, the native village of NTR in Krishna district, NTR Junior unveiled the statues of his grandfather and grandmother Basvaramma Tarakam. Thousands of frenzied youth went into raptures as NTR Junior landed at Gudivada in a helicopter for a massive rally from the town to Nimmakur village. His fans shouted slogans of "Tiger NTR Zindabad" and "Future CM Zindabad" as the actor waved the boisterous crowd from an open top jeep along the 18-km journey. The rising actor did not even allow film producer and local TDP leader K. Venkateswara Rao to use the occasion for political purposes. A section of NTR Junior's fans feel he would concentrate on his film career for now and then draw up plans for launching his own party instead of joining TDP. It may be recalled that Harikrishna, who had supported Naidu in his revolt against NTR, was a minister in Naidu's cabinet but later launched the "Anna TDP" in 1999.
Special trains to clear RRB exam rush Saturday, December 6, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD: The South Central Railway will run three special trains between Renigunta-Secunderabad, Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad and between Dharmavaram-Kacheguda to clear the extra rush of passengers including candidates appearing for the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) examination in the twin cities on December 7. The train will leave Visakhapatnam at 2.30 p.m. on December 6, arrive Vijayawada at 9.30 p.m. and leaves 20 minutes later. It reaches Secunderabad at 4 a.m. the next day. In the return direction, it leaves Secunderabad at 9 p.m. on December 7, arrive Vijayawada at 3.15 a.m. and depart 20 minutes later. It reaches Visakhapatnam at 10.30 a.m. the next day. The train between Renigunta and Secunderabad will leave Renigunta at noon on December 6, arrive Guntur at 7.30 p.m. and depart half an hour later. It will reach Secunderabad at 4.30 a.m. the next day. In the return direction, it leaves Secunderabad at 7.45 p.m. on December 7, arrives Guntur at 1.30 a.m. and reaches Renigunta at 8 a.m. the next day. The Dharmavaram-Kacheguda train will leave Dharmavaram at 4 p.m. on December 6, reach Dronachellam at 9.10 p.m. and depart 10 minutes later. It reaches Kacheguda at 4.15 a.m. the next day. In the return direction, it leaves Kacheguda at 6 p.m. on December 7, reach Dronachellam around midnight and arrive Dharmavaram at 5.15 a.m. on December 8, according to an official release.
Dare-devil attitude of the protagonist is close to my real self -Balakrishna Saturday, December 6, 2003 | Editor
Noted star Balakrishna is playing a cop in Laxmi Narasimha, a remake of the Tamil hit Saami. He claimed that the ‘characterisation’ impressed him to take up a remake after a considerable gap. The dare-devil attitude of the protagonist is close to my real self and it is definitely different from my earlier cop stories, revealed Balakrishna who claims to have enjoyed working with director Jayanth. Both, the character and the story, have inherent fire in them and Balakrishna will set the screen on fire with his terrific performance, disclosed the director who is pinning hopes on this cop story to jump back into the centre-stage and reclaim his place in ‘star-director’ league. Asin plays the female lead while Prakash Raj is playing the antagonist on the insistence of Balakrishna himself. Anybody else would have been a mismatch, reasoned the action star who described it as a ‘tailor-made’ mass film meant to satisfy his huge fan following. Producer Bellemkonda Suresh was praised by the star for leaving no stone unturned to make a note-worthy film. It is slated for release during Sankranti festival. It remains to be seen if the Telugu version can set new collection records like the original did.
3 news channels in Telugu Saturday, December 6, 2003 | Editor
For the news-hungry Telugu viewers, good times are ahead from December 10 onwards. Three satellite television channels have lined up 24-hour news bonanza for the Telugu viewers. Interestingly, two of the news channels belong to the big media houses in the south -Eenadu TV and Sun Network. The third channel, TV9, is being promoted by Srini Raju of i-Labs. The last one, in fact, has received Rs 15 crore funding support from i-Labs Associated Fund and Chennai -based Unify Wealth Management. All the three channels together are estimated to be investing over Rs 25 crore in beaming news and current affirs based content. Media moghul Ramoji Rao has decided to go in for a 24- hour exclusive news channel in Telugu in the name of ETV2, after his successful entertainment channel ETV, which is now into its eighth year. ETV2 will start beaming its news and news-based programmes from December 10. The new channel will have hourly news bulletins. In addition to them, programmes on agriculture, education, science, culture, health etc will be telecast to cater to different segments of the viewers. The Srini Raju-funded TV9 is being promoted by Associated Broadcasting Company, which is founded by V Ravi Prakash, the ex-news in-charge at Teja TV. We have conducted market surveys which revealed that viewers are gradually getting boared with the routine soaps and film- based programmes. They are now looking for more news and current affairs based content in their television sets, says Ravi Prakash. The present news bulletins are unable to address the needs of the viewers in that they are trying to focus more on the crime and accidents. Our programmes will be different with more focus on issues and problems faced by people, he adds. The channel expects to run trial broadcasts from December 8 and launch its operations by January 15. Ithas entered into a tie up with i-Vision, another venture promoted by Srini Raju, for exclusive national news footage. i-Vision, a news agency for television channels, will have presence in 150 important locations in the country, and get itself connected with 2 mb leased lines through all the locations. On the feasibility of so many news-based programmes for the Telugu audiences, Ravi Prakash pointed out that ETV could earn about Rs 10 crore from advertisements with just two news bulletins. TV9 expects to break-even in the first year itself. Agrees V Janaki Rama Raju, JMD of Maa Television Network: News is primarily watched by the A and A+ segments. High-end car manufacturers, mutual funds, credit cards and other financial services providers are the major advertising contributors to news broadcasts. Teja TV, which belongs to the Chennai-based Sun Network, is planning to make the channel a news and current affairs oriented by January end. The four-year-old channel currently broadcasts five news bulletins, with the rest of the content devoted to entertainment. According to sources, the channel now plans to have 15 news and news-related programmes per day. It has also decided to shift its entire news desk to Hyderabad which is now sitting in Chennai, and start uplinking the news broadcast from here by January. Sun Network is also gearing up to launch Gemini Cable Vision, its third channel, which will be operated like a cable TV with focus on entertainment and local events in respective towns.
Protest day to be observed today Saturday, December 6, 2003 | Editor
Tahreek Tahaffuz Sheaer- E- Islam called upon the Muslim community to observe fast and offer Qunut - e - Nazila with the Zohar prayers on December 6, the day Babari Masjid was demolished by the Hindutva forces. Association State President Mr. Moulana Naseeruddin said that the incident had destabilized the economy of the country, wasted the Parliament and State Assemblies and the Courts' valuable time. He termed the demolition of the Masjid as a national crime and collective atrocity.
30,000 cellular phones for DWCRA groups in State Saturday, December 6, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD: Impressed by the overwhelming progress achieved by the DWCRA groups in the State, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday announced a ‘new year gift’ in the form of 30,000 cellular phones to village organisations in the State.The government would negotiate with different cellular operators and see that each instrument was obtained with an initial investment of just Rs 150.Speaking to mediapersons, he said that the groups would be strengthened further to improve the living standards of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families so that each family earns an income of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000.
Stand united and dislodge TDP : Azad Wednesday, December 3, 2003 | Editor
Stand united and dislodge TDP : Azad Congress Working Committee member and AP party affairs in-charge Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad called upon the leaders and cadre to stand united, work hard, maintain utmost discipline to dislodge the TDP Government and come to power. He reiterated that AICC in consultation with the PCC would select the winning horses and allot tickets. Mr. Azad inaugurating the State level Election Orientation Camp, organized by the Pradesh Congress Committee at Gandhi Bhavan here, said that discipline, unity, coordination and hard work would yield better results in the coming Assembly elections in the state. He asked the party leaders to discourage the slogan raising and show of strength culture in the party, which causes much inconvenience to the people at public places. He lighted the lamp and garlanded the portrait of late Rajiv Gandhi before addressing a huge gathering of Congress workers. Reminding that people were accusing the Congress of disunity, the Congress leader stressed the need to stand united and show the strength of the party particularly during election period. He suggested to the leaders to show their strength in their own constituencies while implementing the party programmes.
Naidu resorts to meaningless prattle, says YSR Wednesday, December 3, 2003 | Editor
Former Congress Legislature Party leader Y S Rajasekhar Reddy alleged that caretaker Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was instigating a civil war by calling upon the people to fight against Naxalites. YSR felt that even in an uncivilised tribal chief strives for peace and tranquillity among his subjects. Chandrababu Naidu’s mental make-up could be guaged from the manner in which he was instigating people resist Naxalites, he said. The caretaker chief Minister was resorting to meaningless prattle as he had no defence to the allegation that the State Assembly was dissolved without any valid reason, he felt. While stating that Naidu’s psychological condition could be guaged from the self-contradictory statements he made during recent times, the former CLP leader questioned saying First he said State witnessed development only under his rule. Then people heard him saying that Congress was creating hurdles to development in the State, now tell me which of the two statements is correct? he questioned. Welfare of the youth, women and farmers would be the poll plank of the Congress. As a camp follower of the World Bank, Naidu was left with no other plank except Congress baiting, he said. Naidu’s failure on the farm front was evident from the fact that no other witnessed as many suicides by farmers as they were witnessed in the State, YSR felt. While stating that World Bank was steering the affairs of Naidu government, the former CLP leader said Congress would dictate terms to the World Bank if it comes to power.
Tankers strike set to enter 2nd day Wednesday, December 3, 2003 | Editor
The tanker’s strike is set to enter the second day as talks between petroleum companies and tanker owners association failed to yield any concrete result on Monday. The talks are scheduled to resume on Tuesday morning. The impact of the tankers strike was visible in some parts of the city with commuters buying more petrol. In Bowenpally, Excel petrol bunk ran out of petrol and shut down. Yes shortage of petrol tankers has hit us pretty bad. I do not have any stock left with me and Iam trying to replenish the stocks with the help of tankers owned by other petrol dealers, said Prabhakar Reddy, owner of the bunk and president, AP Federation of Petrol Traders. Reddy also observed that the shortage of petrol will have its impact in another 24 hours to 48 hours in various petrol bunks in the city. D K Patnaik, State level co-ordinater for oil industries told Deccan Chronicle that oil companies had requested the State government to provide additional police forces to provide security while supplying petrol with the help of private tankers. We are giving our best to control the situation. We have supplies of petrol for two days more and have requested the State to provide additional support to come out of the situation. I am confident that we can control the situation by Tuesday, he said. The talks between the two parties continued on Monday with both of them sticking to their respective stands.
Frequent tremors in the coastal region of AP Wednesday, December 3, 2003 | Editor
VISAKHAPATNAM: Frequent tremors have been recorded in the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh like Vizianagaram, Kalingapatnam and Bheemunipatnam and the neighbouring Pondicherry. Apart from that, the recent earthquake activity over central India has belied the idea that the southern peninsular areas in India are earthquake-proof, National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) deputy director Dr KSR Murthy said here on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference onboard the NIO's coastal research vessel Sagar Shukti, Murthy said that Land ocean tectonic lineaments were given little importance until now, However NIO was conducting studies into the inner shelf data for mapping the Tectonic Lineaments. Post-earthquake analysis indicated the reactivation of some of the Tectonic features beneath the South Indian shield, which were likely to extend the offshore into the eastern continental margin of India. NIO under a Department of Science and Technology (DST) project would conduct extensive Geological and Geophysical studies between Kalingapatnam and Kakinada to demarcate the source of earth tremors. NIO scientist Dr TV Ramana Murthy said that under an NIO-IIT, New Delhi project, Ocean Acoustic Tomographic studies were being conducted in shallow waters for development of a numerical model for generation and propagation of internal waves in Bay of Bengal and its effect on acoustic wave propagation and validation model. As part of a collaborative study project with the Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, NIO was collecting geophysical data for resource exploitation. A study conducted by scientist Y Sadhuram had concluded that the sea surface temperature (SST) in the equatorial Indian ocean was correlated to all India monsoon rainfall. For formation of cyclone, the SST had to be more than 26 degrees and in the Bay of Bengal, the temperature was greater than 20 degrees, with several warm pools with SSTs above 26 degrees. This could be one of the reasons for cyclones in this region, Sadhuram said adding that for forecasting rainfall, the SSTs in the equatorial Indian region had to be studied.
Woman, two kids charred to death Tuesday, December 2, 2003 | Editor
KAKINADA: In a bizarre incident a mother and her two children were charred to death on Monday.The incident occurred when the housewife, Nangi Kanaka Durga committed suicide by setting herself ablaze after pouring keoresene over her body. Her two children, Veera Venkata Kumar (2) and Parimala Teja (5), who were also present at that time were frightened and hugged their mother while flames were engulfing her. While the woman and Venkata Kumar died on the spot, Parimela Teja succumbed to burns at hospital.
Tanker owners and oil firm talks failed Tuesday, December 2, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD: The crucial talks between the representatives of petrol tanker owners and oil firms on charges failed to make any headway on Monday. The Petrol Tanker Owners Associations took their vehicles off the roads after oil companies reduced the tanker charges by 30 per cent without any advance intimation. In view of this, State level oil coordinator D K Patnaik has decided to seek the help of the State Government and also the dealers who have their own tankers to meet the fuel requirement which is around 1,200 kilolitres (KL) petrol and 1,700 KL diesel in the twin cities and Ranga Reddy district every day. ``We have agreed to most of the demands and sought three to four days' time but the associations want immediate solution,'' Patnaik told this website's newspaper. With fuel supply to more than 200 diesel and petrol outlets in the twin cities and Ranga Reddy district remained paralysed due to the strike since Sunday night the consumers resorted to "panic buying" at many places. As such, many outlets went dry and displayed "No Stock" boards by evening. Serpentien queues were witnessed at the petrol pumps wherever the fuel was available. The IOC could move only 12 loads till evening. The stir has been organised by the Petroleum Tankers' Owners Association (PTOA) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Tankers' Association (BPCTA). According to PTOA president Syed Habeeb Ali, the two rounds of talks held with the oil companies failed as the officials did not concede to any of their demands. ``We are prepared for negotiations but the oil companies are firm on their stance,'' he said. Habeeb Ali claimed that the operators in other districts like Visakhapatnam, Cuddapah and Khammam have expressed solidarity with them and would join the strike from Tuesday. The other demands included reimbursement of road tax enhanced in December 2001 which was part of the agreement, payment of charges to commensurate the longer running distance following the shifting of depots from Sanathnagar to Ghatkesar, payment of bills once in a fortnight and allowing the existing contractors to operate their vehicles which are more than 15 years old.
TDP trying to delete voters’ names -Cong Tuesday, December 2, 2003 | Editor
TDP trying to delete voters’ names, alleges Congress Monday December 1 2003 12:24 IST ANANTAPUR: The Telugu Desam Party has hatched a plan to delete the names of Congress activists and sympathisers from the voters’ lists with the connivance of some government officials, according to District Congress Committee president Ananta Venkatarami Reddy, former MLAs B Narayana Reddy, N Raghuveera Reddy, INTUC district president Ch Rajasekhara Reddy here on Sunday. Addressing a press conference at the DCC office here, they said ever since the summary revision of the electoral rolls began on November 27, the TDP functionaries, right from Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu down to the party worker were leaving no stone unturned to ensure the victory of their nominees in the ensuing elections. Stating that this undemocratic process started way back in the 1999 Assembly elections, the Congress leaders warned the people to be alert and ensure that their names were included in the voters’ list. People should note that Government officials involved in the poll process function under the Election Commission and not under the Telugu Desam Government and boldly ask them to make the necessary corrections and include their names in the electoral roll, they advised. They said that any move by the TDP to delete their (Congress) names from the voters’ list on the plea that they had died or migrated to other places due to drought, would be opposed the issue would be taken up with the Election Commission. The Congress leaders also urged the Government to ensure that those who had migrated to other places due to drought were brought back and issued photo identity cards. This would enable them to exercise their franchise, they said. Alleging irregularities in the allotment of polling booths in Anantapur municipal limits, the Congress leaders demanded more electronic voting machines (EVMs) and release the voters’ list as soon as possible to political parties for verification and necessary action in the matter.
Dacoits injure 8, decamp with Rs 5 lakh Tuesday, December 2, 2003 | Editor
CHITTOOR: A seven-member dacoit gang attacked a house at Laxmaiah Kandriga in Yadamarri mandal in the wee hours of Monday and made away with cash and jewellery worth about Rs 5 lakh. The armed gang members injured eight members of one family, of whom condition of five is said to be serious. According to the police, a seven-member dacoit gang drove to the house of G Subramanyam, a landlord in Laxmaiah Kandriga village near Bangalore-Chennai National Highway, in a Maruti car and a moped about 1 a.m. They threatened Subramanyam and his family members with pistols and injured them when the latter resisted. The gang members fled away with cash and ornaments within half-an-hour. In a scuffle with the dacoits, Subramanyam, his wife Jayamma, mother Mutyalamma, daughter Ramya, and watchmen Anandaraju were seriously injured and were shifted to Vellore hospital. Subramanyam’s two other daughters Haritha and Bhargavi and cook Kuppamma were also injured and were admitted to Chittoor Government Hospital. Police teams and dog squads rushed to the spot to trace the gang-members. The police reportedly traced the car that was used by the dacoits in Palamaner forests. Chittoor East station Circle Inspector Shankar registered a case and is investigating.
Women demolish belt shop, destroy liquor Tuesday, December 2, 2003 | Editor
TIRUPATI: About 60 women from Gangannakunta village near Tiruchanur have demolished a belt shop being run by a woman of the same village and destroyed country-made liquor stored in the shop. M Saraswathi of Gangannakunta had been selling liquor in guise of a cool drink shop since a few years. Though the village women complained to the excise officials several times about the belt shop and appealed to them during Janmabhoomi programmes to remove the shop, no action was initiated against Saraswati. They even warned Saraswathi of dire consequences if she continued to sell liquor. With the bootlegger refusing to close down the shop, scores of women raided the shop this Sunday evening and demolished it completely. Interestingly, some of the women involved in the demolition and Saraswati were members of one self-help group. The police, however, attributed the incident to a land dispute. According to Tiruchanur Sub Inspector of police P Srikanth, Saraswathi had occupied a piece of government land and filed a case with the court claiming ownership. The local women, who had a grudge against Saraswathi, complained to the Mandal Revenue officer about the land issue. In a reciprocative mode, Saraswathi sent legal notices to the women for ‘threatening’ her with dire consequences. Police registered a case and the investigation is on.
Indefinite strike by fuel tankers commences Tuesday, December 2, 2003 | Editor
HYDERABAD: Disappointed over the non-fulfillment of demands conceded by the oil firms earlier, the associations representing owners of the petroleum and diesel tankers in twin cities and Ranga Reddy district commenced an indefinite strike from midnight Sunday night. The stir by the Petroleum Tankers’ Owners Association (PTOA) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Tankers’ Association (BPCTA) is unlikely to affect the consumers initially as the four oil companies - HPCL, BPCL, IBP and IOC - ensured adequate supplies to the petrol and disel outlets in the city and Ranga Reddy district during the last two days. Each tanker would supply about 1,200 kilo litres of fuel to more than 200 outlets in the twin cities and Ranga Reddy district. The managements of the oil companies, however, invited the representatives of the two associations for talks tomorrow to discuss their grievances. PTOA president Syed Habeeb Ali said that the associations were compelled to take their vehicles off the roads as the petroleum companies reduced the tanker charges by 30 percent without any advance intimation. ‘‘The companies have not reimbursed the road tax enhanced by the Andhra Pradesh in December 2001 which was part of the agreement,’’ he told this website's newspaper. The other demands include payment of charges to commensurate the longer running distance following the shifting of depots from Sanathnagar to Ghatkesar, payment of bills once in a fortnight and allow the existing contractors to operate their vehicles which are more than 15 years old.
Police arrest fake journalist Tuesday, December 2, 2003 | Editor
TIRUPATI: West police arrested a self-styled journalist, here on Sunday, for threatening the management of a private college with defaming their image by publishing an article. According to police, Lalitnath, a former reporter of a vernacular daily, barged into a private college in Bhavaninagar on Saturday when the examination was going-on, and snatched an empty answer sheet. The college is a study centre, to a Chennai-based MS University, which was conducting entrance examinations. When the college staff tried to nab him, he gave the slip and got himself admitted to a hospital. He even lodged a complaint with the police alleging that the college staff prevented him from performing his ‘‘duties.’’ Inquiries by police revealed that Lalitnath threatened to publish a derogatory article in his newspaper if they failed to pay him. On a complaint by the college management, the police arrested Lalitnath and registered a case. SI Srinivas is investigating.
Schoolkids’ dance enthrals audience Tuesday, December 2, 2003 | Editor
TIRUPATI: It was a treat to watch young children giving a matured performance. Either desi or videshi, children as young as six years danced to perfection. And for about five hours, they held the 2,000-odd crowd captive in the sophisticated Srinivasa Auditorium on the campus of Sri Venkateswara University on Sunday. The students of Sri Venkateswara Children’s High School, who performed in the 27th school day celebrations, made their school and parents proud. Though young, the kids appeared to possess skills that made grownups blush in admiration. The synchronisation was perfect, they tapped and swayed to the music beats and enthralled the audience. Be it the Spanish Delight or Spirit of Patriotism or a dance sequence for a Kannada or Tamil song, each one of the 35 items performed the students were appreciated by the audience with a round of applause. The school management and teachers should be appreciated for selecting themes like patriotism, environment, spiritualism, fun, communal harmony and ancient history. A small play from William Shakespeare’s Julius Ceaser brought out the acting talent of young students in the age group of 14 to 16. Earlier, participating in the inauguration function, GL Manohar of Ke Car Care Centre wanted the schools in general and teachers in particular to imbibe good qualities in students to fight against corruption. ‘‘It is the joint responsibility of students and teachers,’’ he said. SV Medical College assistant professor of surgery Dr K Manohar gave away gold medals to R Krishna Chaitanya and R Aditya, who topped in the school in X and VII class board examinations last year. Prizes were also given to class toppers and other students who excelled in various competitions. Dr K Padmavathy, school correspondent KS Sridhar and others were present.
TDP ridicules Congress promise on power Monday, December 1, 2003 | Editor
Mr. S. Chandra Mohan Reddy, Minister for Information and Public Relations and Mr. K. Subba Rayudu, Minister for Power and energy today charged the Congress party leaders Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Mr. D. Srinivas and TRS President Mr. K. Chandra Sekhar Rao with misguiding the people by promising them free power supply to the farmers and asked whether Congress leaders in the State are heroes to give free power supply while their Chief Ministers in 15 states were not implementing the same. Alleging that Congress leaders were cheating the people by giving false assurances they said that the Congress was using ‘free current’ assurance only to grab power. The ministers alleged that supply of free power was only part of their strategy to convince the people, as they could not go back from their early promise though they knew well that it was not impossible to give free current. In reply to a question the Ministers categorically stated that supplying of free power to farmers was not possible because the international funding agencies would not come forward to extend financial aid. They claimed A. P is the only state in the country which is giving more subsidies to electricity, charging the lowest tariffs and supplying quality power and added that the State had been allocating 30 percent of the total power to agriculture purpose while Tamil Nadu was giving only 20 percent that too with high tariff.
CM action plan helping AIDS children Monday, December 1, 2003 | Editor
The caretaker Chief Minister Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu announced that the Government was seriously considering a plan and programme to help the HIV AIDS effected children in pursuance of their education and health care. He also made it clear that the Government was committed to control the spurt in AIDS cases in the next three years. Mr. Naidu was the Chief Guest at the International AIDS Day programme, organized by the AP State AIDS Control Society at Peoples Plaza, Necklace Road. Speaking on the occasion he said out of the 40 lakhs AIDS patients in the country four lakhs are in the State. He linked AIDS to the development that is taking place in the State. He said the prevalence of this epidemic disease is fast in developing States like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Stressing the need to bring in more awareness among the youth, the caretaker Chief Minister said that about 90 per cent of the AIDS patients in the country are in the age group of 15 to 45 years and expressed deep concern over the disturbing factor. He said that the future of any country would depend on its youth and added that if such an assertive asset is affected with such deadly disease it would adversely effect the development and future of the country. If we bring in sex awareness in the society in general and the youth in particular, the spread of this disease can be prevented by 91 percent, as sex is the reason for transmission of AIDS, he said. He stated that the topic was included in the curriculum at high school level and added that there was a need to include it at college level. Stating that the extensive debate on AIDS would bring behavioral change, he informed that 117 NGOs in the State are working with a commitment to create awareness among the sex workers and the truck drivers. Mr. Naidu called upon each and every one in the society to take a pledge to fight against the dreaded disease till it is totally eradicated from the State. He is confident that eradicating the disease from the State is not a big task if awareness is created in the society and every one follows moral values and safe sex methods.
TDP to seek early polls in AP Monday, December 1, 2003 | Editor
Hyderabad, Nov 30. : A fortnight after dissolution of the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) today decided to pursue its case with Election Commission (EC) for early conduct of the elections and advance deployment of additional paramilitary forces in the state. "A delegation of TDP parliament members would represent to the Election Commission for the early conduct of assembly elections besides sending in additional forces well ahead of the polls," senior leader Yerran Naidu told reporters after the party parliamentary party meeting here. "It would be a general representation to bring to the notice of EC about the need for an early election in the state in wake of the annual budget to be passed and other such pressing issues," he said. The meeting, convened by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to discuss the strategy to be adopted in the winter session of the parliament beginning December 3, also condemned the PWG attack on Naidu near Tirupati last month. Exact date and details of the meeting with EC would be finalised in a couple of days, he said, adding "we will try to mount pressure on Centre for more deployment of forces well ahead of the polls in wake of recent developments". TDP opted for dissolution of assembly 10 months ahead of its term after the attack on Naidu at Alipiri on October 1 and has planned to go for polls with development versus extremism as its main poll plank. Election Commission, however, ruled out any possibility of elections before April plunging the political atmosphere into confusion as the annual budget has to be passed before March 31 to fulfill constitutional obligation.
Naxals send shivers down the spines of TDP Monday, December 1, 2003 | Editor
KHAMMAM: Threatning letters from the outlawed People’s War Group are sending shivers down the spines of Telugu Desam leaders in the district. They are scared of participating in electioneering for the forthcoming elections. Leaders are receiving threatening letters in four constituencies of the total nine in the district. Bhadrachalam, Burgampadu and Yellandu constituencies are fully infested with the PW Naxalites. There are some other Naxal groups like Praja Prathighatana and Janasakthi which are active in Yellandu are creating problems to the leaders. Most of the lower-rung leaders have already resigned from their party posts due to the Naxal scare in Bhadrachalam division. The Naxalites are sending threatening letters to the TDP office in the Bhadrachalam and also personal letters to some of the leaders asking them to keep away from the party activities and to resign for their posts. Unable to overcome the problem, some of the mandal-level leaders in Yellandu, Bhadrachalam and Burgampadu segments are keeping themselves aloof from the party activities. The Naxalites had gunned down about half a dozen mandal-level leaders of the TDP in various mandals so far this year. They are finding it difficult to tour their constituencies and meet the people. Keeping the PWG threat in view to some of the leaders, police also advised them not to move in interior villages or Naxal-infested areas without obtaining permission. For instance, Zilla Parishad chairman Chanda Lingaiah Dora, though belongs to the Congress party, could not move to his native mandal Pinapaka of Burgampadu segment freely. Police asked him not to tour his mandal without informing them. As the TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu is asking the leaders to go to villages and meet the people, Naxal threat is haunting them and they could not move freely in the villages. Even Roads and Buildings Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao has been touring the constituencies only after taking all precautionary measures.
