Rs 1.26 crore Park coming up in Errakunta Saturday, April 30, 2005 | JJ
HYDERABAD: City mayor Teegala Krishna Reddy announced that a beautiful lake-cum-park estimated to cost Rs 1.26 crore shall be developed at the 13-acre open land at Errakunta in Saidabad similar to the Krishankant Park and Jalagam Vengal Rao Park. Swimming pool and a modern gymnasium along with a small water treatment plant will also be constructed near the lake in 18 months time.
AP to get Rs 422 cr for tsunami relief works Saturday, April 30, 2005 | JJ
HYDERABAD: Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in response to a query by Congress member Sai Pratap at the Lok Sabha on Friday announced that Andhra Pradesh would get Rs 422 crore for implementing relief and rehabilitation works in the tsunami-affected areas of the State. Apart from the external assistance, the Centre had already approved a special package of Rs 3,644.05 under ‘Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Package for Tsunami-Affected Areas’ to provide assistance for immediate relief and response, revival of fishery and agricultural sectors, immediate construction of temporary shelters and repair of infrastructure besides special relief to orphans, unmarried girls above 18 years of age, widows and the disabled.
Under this package, Andhra Pradesh got Rs 70 crore, Tamil Nadu Rs 2,347.19 crore, Kerala Rs 249.36 crore.
NGRI to collaborate with OU in research Saturday, April 30, 2005 | JJ
HYDERABAD: National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) and Osmania University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday to collaborate with each other in different areas such as teaching, research and training in selected and advanced thrust areas in science and technology, Intellectual Property Rights, consultancy work. NGRI Director VP Dimri and OU Vice Chancellor Prof Suleman Siddiqui signed the MoU. Speaking on the occasion, Siddiqui said that the MoU would help further to explore new dimensions in research and technology development in both the organisations.
“MoU will also provide more opportunities for students and scholars to carry out their study and research in a better way,” Siddiqui hoped.
Cops exchange fire with Maoists Saturday, April 30, 2005 | JJ
Visakhapatnam: Police exchanged fire with Maoists at Peetarayi village near the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border in Visakhapatnam district. According to police, the exchange of fire lasted about 30 minutes but no one was injured on either side. The police from the scene recovered large cache of arms and a diary written in Oriya. The naxals escaped into the nearby forest and the police launched a combing operation in the area.
EDUSAT an effective tool for spreading IT literacy Saturday, April 30, 2005 | JJ
HYDERABAD: School education minister N Rajyalakshmi speaking at a function, to present ‘Innovative Teachers Awards’ instituted by the Academy, said that EDUSAT would be an effective tool for spreading IT literacy in elementary schools as well as in remote areas which were lagging behind in IT education in the State. The Minister said that the ultimate aim of the ongoing “Project Siksha” (Empowering The Future) was to bring a qualitative change in school education. Nandu Pradhan, Director-Public Sector, of Microsoft Corporation India, said that Project Siksha is aimed at delivering affordable software solutions, comprehensive training and curriculum leadership to enable students and teachers to realise their full potential.
AP government has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft to train teachers from the state.
Chandramukhi Friday, April 29, 2005 | Editor
With Rajnikanth assuring that it would be his kind of film despite an off-beat plot, audiences are thronging theatres to watch the tricks of the veteran star. Will this prove to be his comeback film?
Mumbai Xpress Friday, April 29, 2005 | Editor
Kamal Haasan's comic caper is registering good collections in A centres and is bound to catch up in other centres. Ilaiyaraja's numbers are already a big hit.
Bunny Friday, April 29, 2005 | Editor
The teaming up of Allu Arjun and Vinayak has resulted in a huge opening but the stale plot could shatter Arjun's dream of a hat-trick. Good dances and action boost the film, but its similarities with "Aadi" could go against it.
Avunnana Kadanna Friday, April 29, 2005 | Editor
Director Teja's overconfidence is evident since he has chosen neither a good plot nor a gripping narration and just rehashed "Jayam". Patnaik has tried to salvage the film with a few foot-tapping numbers.
Sankranth Friday, April 29, 2005 | Editor
Venkatesh's family drama has crossed 50 days in more than 170 centres and is expected to survive the onslaught of two big, dubbed films. Director Siva's slow-paced screenplay seems to have worked in this case.
Shooting Maoists is not strategy of police: DGP Friday, April 29, 2005 | JJ
Visakhapatnam, Apr 27 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police Swaranjit Sen today said that ''see, fire and kill'' the Naxalites is not the strategy of the police in the state. The primary concern was to bring the insurgents to the mainstream of society, he told mediapersons during an informal chat here. Mr Sen, who is on a two-day visit to the city, said, at times the police would be left with no option but to take the extreme step due to the aggressive attitude of the Maoists.
''Sometimes we have to retaliate in self defence and this leads to encounters between the police and the Naxalites. This is not our mistake as police action is often instigated by the insurgents,'' he added.
Several Maoists had surrendered with their arms and ammunition to the police recently. This showed the change in them, he said.
He said the department had sent a proposal for the formation of a Girijan battalion and this would provide a good opportunity to the youth of this community to come to the fore in society.
On the question of appointing surrendered Naxals in the battalion, he said, while those with criminal background could not be considered, those forced into the movement would be considered.
Referring to the demand by the policemen to reimpose a ban on Maoists in the wake of the Chilakaluripet incident, where four policemen were killed by the Naxals, he said the opinion of police personnel who were at the receiving end would have to be given due respect.
However, what people think about the question of reimposition of the ban would be given more importance, he added.
Police and naxals exchange fire Friday, April 29, 2005 | JJ
Anantapur, Apr 27 (UNI) A police team and CPI (Maoist) naxals party exchanged fire near Anagondapalem village of Bukkapatnam Mandal in Anantapur district today. The police team was on a visit to the village in Bukkapatnam forest area yesterday. It happened to confront the naxals near the village. On seeing the police team, the naxals opened fire, the police team retaliated. However, there were no casualties or injury on either side.
SCCL contributes Rs 465.57 crore to state exchequer Friday, April 29, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad, Apr 26 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Finance minister K Rosaiah has said that the Singareni Colleries Company Limited(SCCL) contributed Rs 465.57 crore as royalty and sales tax to the state exchequer during the 2004-05. Talking to newsmen here last night he said the SCCL had registered a profit of Rs 553.80 crore during 2004-05 compared to Rs 504 crore last year. This was the highest in the history of the company. He said the gross turnover of SCCL was Rs 3,968 crore during 2004-05, against Rs 3,751 crore in 2003-04.
He said the company had achieved an Output Per Manshift (OMS) of 1.99 tonnes during 2004-05, the best in the history of company.
He said the company had produced 35.30 million tonnes of coal during 2004-05 compared to 33.85 million tonnes, the previous year.
ATI opens R&D centre in AP Friday, April 29, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad, Apr 28 (UNI) Nasdaq-listed ATI Technologies Inc, a leader in design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions, today formally opened a research and development centre here for its consumer and PC business units. The facility, the company's largest outside USA, would focus on research and development of next generation audio and digital media products and help broaden ATI's position as the industry leader in digital multimedia solutions for all platforms.
The centre would also work on developing chipsets for PCs, cell- phones and high-defintion TVs.
The company looked at China before deciding on the Pearl City ''as we found a pool of high-quality engineering talent available in Hyderabad,'' ATI Technologies Inc CTO and Senior Vice President, Consumer Business Unit, Adrian Hartog told reporters here Over the next five years, ATI expects to make multi-million dollar investment in research and development in India, and this year it plans to hire over 100 top engineers.
''Our goal is to create a vibrant team of engineers that will showcase India's top engineering talent, and position Hyderabad as the world's finest location for developing multimedia hardware and software products,'' Mr Hartog said.
The focus would be on digital television, colour cellphones with cameras and gaming consoles as the company was targetting a 40-50 per cent share in USA, which was transforming into an digital economy.
ATI is hoping to garner 2.5 billion US Dollar revenue by August 2005.
The new facility would incorporate city-based CuTe Solutions, which ATI acquired on February 24 this year, to broaden its audio and digital media product offerings.
ATI Technologies India would retain CuTe's employees and add additional engineering resources to strengthen its team.
''We will add 100 engineers along with the existing 77 CuTe solutions engineers in India this year, to define a new world standard in visualisation technology right here in Hyderabad,'' ATI Technologies India Managing Director Dasaradha Gude said.
As part of numerous initiatives planned to encourage top talent to join ATI India, the company intends to work closely with a number of industry-leading universities with a reputation for churning out India's top engineering talent.
Andhra Home Minister invites Naxals for second round of talks Friday, April 29, 2005 | JJ
Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, Apr 28 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Home Minister K Jana Reddy today said the state government was still willing to hold the second round of talks with the insurgents, despite the abortive attempt on the life of Superintendent of Police of Prakasham district yesterday. Talking to newspersons here after visiting the scene of the claymore mine blast yesterday, he said the government would not take a hasty decision on re-imposition of ban on the Maoists. Mr Jana Reddy said history had proved that violence was not the answer to any problem. Asserting that the police were only doing their duty, he advised the naxalites not to view the tussle between them and the police as a personal war.
He said the ultras have to understand the fact that police were responsible for the safety of the lives and properties of people.
He said the state government still considered the insurgents as ''erring children'' and advised them to shun violence, and return to the discussion table.
Discussion was the only way to solve a problem in a democratic set up, he added.
Earlier, officials of the police department clues team and other investigating wings explained to the Home Minister how the blast occurred.
While the SP escaped the attack as his vehicle was bullet-proof, two others died in the blast.
Mr Jana Reddy also visited the government hospital where the injured persons were undergoing treatment. The government would pay Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 5000 to the injured.
AP govt should resume peace talks with naxals: Chandrasekhar Friday, April 29, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad, Apr 27 (UNI) Union Labour Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K Chandrasekhar Rao today urged the Andhra Pradesh government to resume the second round of ''Peace talks'' with naxal parties in a positive way to restore peace in the state. Speaking on the occasion of fourth annual day function of the TRS at its new party site here, Mr Rao said the government should observe restraint and hold second round of peace talks with the naxal parties. ''Naxal problem is a socio-economic problem and not a law and order problem. Hence all state ministers should participate in peace talks for solving the issue,'' he said.
Alleging that the state government had failed to continue the talks after concluding the first round of talks with the naxals, Mr Rao said the government should evolve a strategy on the issue and resume peace talks in a positive manner.
Hyderabad, Apr 29 (UNI) Telangana Rashtra Samithi Supremo K Chandrasekhara Rao has claimed that the issue of a separate Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh had the support of 29 national and regional parties. Speaking to newspersons here, Mr Rao said only two parties - the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) - which had only 42 members among them in the Lok Sabha, were opposed to the formation of the new state. He said that he had recently met the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and had requested her to initiate the process of formation of the new state, assuring her that it would be a success.
Referring to the demand of Rayalaseema Rights Forum (RRF) President TG Venkatesh that Rayalaseema should get compensation in case of formation of Telangana, Mr Rao said his party had no objection to the proposal.
He said that he would even help the RRF in its efforts to achieve its demand. Should they decide to fight for a separate state, he said the TRS would throw its weight behind the demand.
ULFA, CPI-Maoist in US terror list Friday, April 29, 2005 | JJ
PTI
WASHINGTON: The United States has listed Assam's banned militant outfit ULFA and the Communist Party of India (Maoist), formed after the merger of various naxalite groups, as terrorist outfits.
They have been mentioned in the list of Other Selected Terrorist Organisations (OSTO), released by the US department of state in its country reports on terrorism released on Wednesday.
Terror organisations that do not target the national interests of the United States or its citizens are listed in the OSTO.
The listing of the two organisations under OSTO follows the attacks by the outfits on civilians, said the country report on terrorism on India.
Referring to the ULFA as the most prominent group in the northeast, the report said it uses extortion to finance military training and weapons purchases.
The outfit reportedly procures and trades in arms with other northeast Indian groups and may have linkages with other ethnic insurgent groups active in neighbouring states, it said.
According to the report, the ULFA receives aid from unknown external sources.
In eastern India, the report said, the primary naxalites groups took steps towards consolidation by combining to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Naxalite violence dropped significantly in 2004, but the future of peace talks was uncertain at the year's end, it said.
It also expanded the description of Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyaba to include its operation under various fronts and names of convenience.
CPI(M) not against Telangana: TRS Chief Thursday, April 28, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad, Apr 27 (UNI) Union Labour Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhara Rao today claimed that the ''CPI(M) was not against Telangana''.
Addressing a gathering of party ministers, MLAs and other important functionaries on the occasion of the party's fourth anniversary, Mr Rao said he had recently met CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, who had assured him that the party was not against Telangana.
He said the Marxist leader had explained to him that his party was opposed to the formation of smaller states and had opposed the bifurcation of Maharashtra and Kerala.
Chandrasekhara Rao said he had met the Marxist leader and explained to him the plight of the Telangana region on behalf of the 3.5 crore population.
Referring to newspaper reports, Mr Chandrasekhara Rao alleged that some papers were indulging in disinformation. He said a particular paper had even written that TRS ministers were about to quit the Union and State Governments.
Maharadhi to float new party Thursday, April 28, 2005 | JJ
Thursday April 28 2005 GUNTUR: Cine writer Tripuraneni Maharadhi is planning to float a new political party to ensure empowerment of weaker sections.
Speaking to newsmen here , he said so far all the political parties had failed to ensure a equal share to the backward classes due to the dominance of the upper caste leadership in those parties.
He said he had been touring the state to discuss the nature of the new political party in which leadership will arise from the cadre ensuring internal democracy. The new party will chalk out programmes for the integrated development of the State, he said.
NT Rama Rao had succeeded in restoring Telugu pride and self-respect, he said. But, he deplored that later N Chandrababu Naidu had mortgaged Telugu pride to the World Bank.
Dutch keen on business ties with India Thursday, April 28, 2005 | JJ
Thursday April 28 2005 VISAKHAPATNAM: The Government of Netherlands (GoN) is keen on fostering business ties with India, particularly Andhra Pradesh which has excellent human and natural resources.
With the promotion of bilateral trade as the prime objective, GoN has set up a Programme for the Co-operation with Emerging Markets and Netherlands Management Co-operation Programme.
Entrepreneurs of India can avail of the opportunities GoN is providing through these programmes, said Desiree Bonis, Deputy Head of Mission of New Delhi-based Royal Netherlands Embassy.
Addressing a seminar on ‘Doing business with Netherlands’ jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Visakhapatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Bonis said India and the Netherlands had enduring relationship during the last four centuries and the latter looked forward to further strengthen its ties.
The Netherlands was the third largest investor in India but its investments were less than 1 percent of the total Dutch FDI worldwide. Accordingly, there was great scope for expansion and growth.
In this context, Bonis said that Visakhapatnam has an excellent potential to become an industrial hub of east and central India like the Netherlands became the Gateway of Europe through the world’s largest port at Rotterdam.
Agriculture, food processing, banking, financial services, IT, BPO, infrastructure, logistics, environment technology and energy were the sectors, which could be focussed on. The seaport in Visakhapatnam was its greatest advantage, she added.
A delegation of Netherlands, comprising Arnold Parzer (Commissioner for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality), Henk Gijshelhart (a representative of Dutch firm DHV and Team Leader of Green Hyderabad Environment Programme), Steven Billiet (ING Vysya Bank), RR Raj (SHV Energy India Ltd), K Srihari (Foodcert India Pvt Ltd), FICCI regional coordinator Ganeshan, VCCI honorary secretary Vijaya Kumar and others participated in the seminar.
Naxals attack SP, police gun down naxal couple Thursday, April 28, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad, Apr 27 (UNI) In a day of startling developments, CPI (Maoist) today made an abortive bid on the life of Prakasam District Superintendent of Police Mahesh Chandra Laddha in broad daylight killing one person and injuring three others, while police killed a naxalite couple barely within a few hours in a city suburb.
One person was killed and 11 others sustained injuries when a group of CPI (Maoist) attacked the convoy of Mr Laddha in Ongole town with a claymore mine planted near a temple. The claymore mine, which was planted near the Kanchi Sankara Mutt's Kamakshi temple, was detonated by CPI (Maoist) naxals by operating a flash from the house of one Satyanarayana Reddy, located in front of the temple.
The front portion of the temple was damaged with the impact of the blast and the vehicle of Mr Laddha caught fire causing minor injuries to Mr Loddha's driver. Police found the smashed remains of a human body lying in a pool of blood near the spot.
Mr Laddha as well as the police convoy opened fire on the naxal team, which had stationed itself in Satyanarayana Reddy's house.
The police suspect that one naxal was injured. The extremists fled the scene.
Of the 11 injured in the attack, three sustained minor injuries.
Nine others injured include an advocate Adi Babu, Brahmaiah, Manik Pasha, Subba Reddy, Subba Rao, B Satyam, K Koteshwara Rao, A Maruti and N Vaidehamma, were undergoing treatment at the government hospital of Ongole. The condition of Adi Babu and Subba Rao, was stated to be serious.
TRS has prepared strategic plan: Rao Thursday, April 28, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad, Apr 27 (UNI) Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President and Union Minister for Labour and Employment K Chandrasekhar Rao today said the party has prepared a strategic plan for the formation of a seperate Telangana state and it was pursuing the matter with the Centre.
Speaking at a gathering of TRS ministers, MLAs, MPs and party activists, on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the party here, Mr Rao said the party had made the strategic plan at the time of formation of the party in 2001 and it was ''moving along a carefully chosen path'' under the plan to achieve Telangana state.
He claimed that all political parties at the nation level were also supporting the formation of Telangana.
Recalling that the Telangana issue was also included in UPA government's Common Minimum Programme (CMP), Mr Rao said UPA Chairperson Ms Sonia Gandhi also endorsed the backwardness of Telangana and injustice done to the region by the previous state and union governments.
He said the TRS party would fight for separate Telangana in a democratic manner and added that if the government was not willing to form Telangana state, TRS would embark on a struggle.
BSNL-AP launches IVRS for CellOne subscribers Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | JJ
Wednesday, April 27, 2005: If you think launching an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) is nothing new, wait until you finish reading this one. For the first time in India, BSNL - AP has launched an IVRS system for their cellular service CellOne that would respond to your speech. "We've made things easier," said Shri C. Sanjaya Kumar, CGM, BSNL -AP. "You don't have to keep punching numbers to reach the service you desire. 'Say it' and the system will take you there," he added.
This innovative Voice based Value Added Services through Automatic Speech Recognition enabled Multi-Modal Platform via BSNL franchisee Messrs. OnMobile Asia Pacific Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Infosys was officially launched on 29 March 2005 at the Infosys campus, Hyderabad. On dialling code 12555, any CellOne users can access and interact with the service, speaking their regional language, English or Hindi. The system would respond in the same language and the users can continue interacting with the system in a user-friendly manner.
Demonstrating the practical usage of this IVRSystem, Shri Mouli Raman, Co-founder, OnMobile said that the speech recognition technology integrated with IVRS made this launch the first-of-it's-kind in India.
Explaining the different services that this system would support, Shri Mouli Raman said, that the service would first start with offering the service in English, Hindi and Telugu.
The User would be able to switch between the languages at his own convenience by speaking it out in the phone.
According to the officials, the IVRS on CellOne will right now offer Entertainment services like
Ringtone Downloads: Users will be able to listen and preview songs and select the ones they want as a ringtone. The ringtone will be delivered via SMS.
Dial a song: A jukebox where users can call-in and listen to songs. Users can select a song and dedicate it to their friends and family members. The system will dial out to the receiver of the song and play the message left by the sender along with the receive requesting him to call back.
Cricket Scores: Live ball-by-ball update of one-day international and test matches. Users will get expert opinion and streaming of live commentary if available. Users can get regular updates during cricket matches in the form of SMS alerts at important stages of a match.
Jokes: Users can listen to jokes updated daily; can also listen to more jokes by browsing.
News: Users can get the latest news updates on National and International Arena.
However, they said that BSNL and OnMobile would continue to work together to increase the number of Voice Based Services offered such as Railway Ticketing, a whole range of M-commerce applications and other music based applications etc. "The enhancements would hardly take two months," said Shri Raman.
Speaking about BSNL's role in this launch the CGM disclosed that BSNL was providing power and space at BSNL premises to install the IVR systems of Franchisee; has provided SS7 Link to connect the M/s Onmobile's Voice based IVR system to BSNL Network; and has also provided requisite access to Short Messaging Service center and WAP gateway of BSNL. "This would ensure and improve the reliability of the services," said he.
Going ahead, BSNL and OnMobile wish to extend this service to nine other states in India; provide this service in 10 more languages and introduce more services of utility.
The users would be charged at Rs. 5 for a minute for using this 12555 service.
Yeleru scam: Cong order to revive Somashekara Commission illegal, says HC Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | JJ
April 27 2005 HYDERABAD: The Congress Government suffered yet another jolt from the High court with a division bench comprising Justices T Meena Kumari and L Narasimha Reddy striking down as illegal its order reviving the B K Somashekara Commission of Inquiry to probe the Yeleru scam. The bench described the action of the government as violative of the law.
In a 56-page order, Justice Meena Kumari observed that the power conferred under Section 3 of the Commission of Enquiries Act is only for appointment of the commission.
“There is no enabling provision which confers the appropriate government with the power of continuing the commission after it ceases to exist or for reconstituting the commission,” the judge said.
The panel, which was set up by the previous Telugu Desam government following allegations of serious irregularities in payment compensation for lands acquired for the Yeleru project, was wound up even before the probe was completed. After coming to power in May last year, the Rajasekhara Reddy government revived it.
In a brief chat with newsmen, Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, however, did not specify if the government intended to go in for an appeal. "Let us first study the order from all angles," was his cryptic reply.
While delivering the judgement, Justice Meena Kumari, however, rejected the plea of malafides raised by former Minister P. Ashok Gajapati Raju. “Merely because the commission refused to accommodate the witnesses of the Telugu Desam Party, bias cannot be attributed to the panel,” she said.
In a separate order, Narasimha Reddy recorded a specific finding. “The formation of an opinion by the government in reviving the commission is not discernable from the facts and circumstances of the case and its decision is tainted with non-existent circumstances and irrelevant material,” he said.
While the judge also purged the commission of malafides, he pointed out that the proceedings of the panel left an impression that it had omitted to identify a clear direction “or has travelled beyond the scope of the terms of reference.”
The judge also noticed that the Commission has “adopted a soft approach towards certain witnesses and a hard and unreasonable approach towards others.”
AP Govt to set up gas pipeline Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad, Apr 26 The Andhra Pradesh government today announced that it would constitute a Natural Gas Corporation for laying up of a gas pipeline with public private partnership in the state.
Speaking to media after a review meeting on ''energy-power'' sector with the officials presided over by Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
Finance Minister K Rosaiah said the government was very keen on establishing the gas pipeline throughout the state for supplying the natural gas to industrial and domestic needs.
The government would prepare a draft bill on constituting the Gas Corporation and pass the legislation at the earliest, he said.
Mr Rosaiah said the state had sufficient natural gas reserves in the Krishna-Godavari basin, found by the ONGC and Reliance companies. The government was committed to utilise the gas reserves for the benefit of the state and industrial growth.
The minister said the gas pipeline would also encourage setting up of gas-related industries and power projects in the state. A team of officials had visited Gujarat and studied its Gas Corporation's activities and performance, he added.
He said by constituting the Gas Corporation, the government would have authority to monitor the activities of private gas companies.
Paritla murder case: CBI gives clean chit to minister, IPS officer, YSR’s son Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | JJ
Wednesday April 27 2005 ANANTAPUR: Giving a clean chit to Panchayat Raj Minister JC Diwakar Reddy, senior IPS officer R.P. Meena and Chief Minister's son, Jaganmohan Reddy, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday framed charges against 13 persons including Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri in the sensational killing of TDP MLA Paritla Ravindra. Suri's wife, Bhanumathi, was also left out.
The CBI also did not frame any charges against self-styled leader of Revolutionary Patriot Tigers (RPT) Patlolla Govardhan Reddy and two of his associates, Anandakumar Reddy and Ramaswamy, though they claimed to have taken part in the operation.
CBI advocate Balan on Tuesday filed the 49-page chargehseet and 108 pages of supporting documents in the court of Judicial I class additional magistrate A Jayaraj here.
Suri and Kanaganapalli former mandal president Konda Reddy were charged with hatching the conspiracy (Section 120B of IPC) and murder (Section 302 of IPC) while the remaining 11 accused were charged with murder.
Ravindra was murdered at the TDP office here on January 24 and in the wake of widespread criticism that ruling partymen were involved in the case, the state government handed over the case to CBI.
The investigation exceeded two and half months and the CBI arrested some of the accused. As many as 130 witnesses including Ravindra's father-in-law Kondanna, brother-in-law Jayanth and Telugu Yuvata leader Prakash were examined, before filing the chargesheet.
Other accused against whom the charges were framed are: Julakanti Sreenivas Reddy, Narayana Reddy, Rekhamaiah, Obi Reddy, Konda Reddy, Vadde Konda, Ranganayakulu, Vadde Sreenu, V Hanumantha Reddy, Peddi Reddy, G Venkat Reddy and Rammohan Reddy. Sreenivas Reddy is yet to be arrested while all other accused are in judicial custody.
While Meena, IG (Rayalaseema) has been completely left out of the case, there is a possibility of CBI questioning Diwakar Reddy, Jagan Mohan Reddy and Bhanumati if it feels necessary. The CBI did not find any evidence against RPT leader Goverdhan Reddy and his two associates.
The investigating agency, in the chargesheet, clarified that the weapons seized by the local police from some of the accused, were those used to commit the offence.
Next Ramakrishna Mission president to be chosen after May 7 Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | JJ
New Delhi | April 26, 2005: The Ramakrishna Mission Holy Order, which lost its 13th president Swami Ranganathananda, aged 96 will choose his successor after 13 days on May 7.
Sources said that a special hawan would be held on May 7, and only after that the holy order would begin deliberations on choosing a successor.
Sources said that till such time a new president is selected, the three vice presidents and one General Secretary will carry on the duties of the president, adding that normally one of the three vice presidents is chosen as president, though "there have been exceptions". (ANI)
TChargesheet filed in TDP leader's murder Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad, April 26 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, Minister for Panchayati Raj J.C. Diwakar Reddy and top police official R.P. Meena do not figure in the chargesheet filed Tuesday by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the murder of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator Paritala Ravi.
The three, who were named in the police complaint, virtually got a clean chit from the CBI, which named 13 people including prime suspect G. Suryanarayan Reddy alias Suri as the accused.
Suri's wife Bhanumati, who had contested an election as the Congress candidate against Ravi, also does not figure in the chargesheet.
Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, J.C. Diwakar Reddy and Inspector General of Police (Rayalseema) R.P. Meena and Bhanumati had been named in the complaint lodged by Ravi's family.
Penugonda legislator Ravi, who faced several criminal cases including murder, was shot dead by gunmen Jan 24 in Anantapur.
Under pressure from the opposition TDP, the state government handed over the investigation to the CBI.
Apart from Suri, those against whom the charges have been framed are Julakanti Srinivas Reddy, Narayana Reddy, Rekhamaiah, Obi Reddy, Shirinu, Konda Reddy Hanumantha Reddy, Rammohan Reddy and Peddi Reddy.
All of them, except one, are in judicial custody.
The names of two self-confessed killers, P. Govardhan Reddy and Rama Swamy, do not find a place in the chargesheet.
CBI sources said the chargesheet was not the final one.
Hyderabad | April 26, 2005: The Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police, Swaranjit Sen has said that the Maoists were taking advantage of the peace talks and were recruiting more cadres and got more arms and ammunition.
The Andhra Police raided 18 hideouts of Maoists and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from the hideouts. The raids were carried out in Anantpur, Kurnool and Prakasam districts over the past one and half month.
"To meet the Maoist problem it has to be a joint effort, and joint effort always pays very good dividends. These recovery of these weapons have been possible just because of the joint efforts from the side of the district authorities of Anantpur, Kurnool and Prakasam districts" said Swaranjit Sen, Director General of Police, Andhra Pradesh.
The seized cache includes 200 kilograms of gelatin sticks, 585 rounds of 12 bore pistol, 398 rounds of .303 rifle, 190 rounds of 8mm pistol, 50 rounds of AK-47, six live claymore mines, 45 empty claymore mines, 231 claymore mine shells, 15 live grenades and 20 kgs of gun powder along with several rocket launchers.
"Our intention will be to make a dent into this destructive industry that the Maoists have formed and hopefully in the near future we will have more success," Sen told reporters in Hyderabad.
Earlier this month, the Maoist leaders had walked out of the peace talks, blaming local police for mounting violence since a truce collapsed more than three months ago. Peace talks between the Maoists and the Andhra Pradesh state government collapsed in January after 12 Maoists were killed in clashes with police. The Maoists had since set fresh conditions for talks including an end to all police action against them and the suspension of four district police chiefs.
Maoist leaders said the state government had gone back on its commitment to resolve the more than three-decade-old revolt through negotiations. Violence has escalated in Andhra Pradesh since the ceasefire collapsed and more than 110 people, including 53 Maoists have been killed in gun battles and attacks by the guerrillas. (ANI)
More Krishna water in the pipeline for Secunderabad Tuesday, April 26, 2005 | JJ
Tuesday April 26 2005 HYDERABAD: Residents of a number of localities in Secunderabad can count themselves lucky as they are set to get more water in the next two months.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) is laying a 1000 mm diametre pipeline from Adikmet to Chilkalguda and Tarnaka to augment the supply of Krishna water.
The pipeline passes through Osmania University, Centre for Distance Education, Warasiguda and Parsigutta before joining the Chilkalguda reservoir.
The foundation stone for the Rs 16.5 crore scheme was laid by the Technical Education Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy on Monday.
Once the pipeline works are in place, 17 million gallons of water per day can be supplied to 35,800 consumers in Musheerabad, Tarnaka, Chilkalguda, Boat Club, Lalapet, Seethaphalmandi, Bagh Lingampally and Srinivas Nagar, said Water Board Managing Director B P Acharya.
Owing to the failure of the monsoon last year, inflows into Osmansagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs came down drastically and the two water bodies have almost dried up.
The position of other two sources of drinking water - Singur and Manjira - is also precarious.
According to an estimate, water in these two sources will last only up to August.
To tide over the present crisis due to the drying up of the lakes, it has been proposed to bring Krishna water to Chilkalguda and Tarnaka reservoirs to ensure uninterrupted supply to the areas served by these two reservoirs.
Under Phase-I of the Krishna Water Project, water supply to the tune of 46.73 mld has been assured to Chilkalguda (25,000 connections) and 30.37 mld to Tarnaka and Lalapet (10,800 connections).
Secunderabad MLA T Padma Rao, Corporator S Yadaiah and HMWS&SB Director (Projects) D Ramakrishna were present on the occasion.
Mobile Hutch Shops launched Tuesday, April 26, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad April 26, 2005 Cellular service provider Hutch has launched a new initiative – Mobile Hutch Shops – for faster online customer service to its four lakh subscribers in Andhra Pradesh.
Three mobile vans from cluster points like Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam will tour across approximately 150 towns in the state to provide services like activation of postpaid connections, sale of prepaid SIM cards and recharge coupons, change of tariff plan, change of mobile number and payment of bills.
The vans will travel a pre-designated route wherein the customers will be alerted about the route and schedule of the vans through an SMS.
States like Gujarat and Karnataka already have such mobile vans and this is for the first time that these are being introduced in Andhra Pradesh.
Samuel Selvakumar, operations director, Hucthison Essar South Limited, said, “Through this initiative, we will be directly reaching our customers and enabling those services that they would get at any of the brick-and-mortar Hutch shops in the state.”
Andhra Bank overseas branch re-designated Tuesday, April 26, 2005 | JJ
HYDERABAD: The overseas branch of Andhra Bank has been re-designated as an ‘Overseas cum NRI branch’ and has been shifted to a new premises at Astral Heights near Panjagutta cross roads.
G Ramakrishna Reddy, Andhra Bank General Manager inaugurated the new branch on Monday.
The branch will function as a hub for all NRI services along with foreign exchange services like foreign currency, traveller cheques, demand drafts, discounting of export bills and issue of foreign letters of credit.
Recovery of rocket-like tubes worries Andhra police Tuesday, April 26, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad, April 25 : The recovery of rocket-like metal tubes with percussion caps from an arms dump of Maoist rebels in Andhra Pradesh is worrying the state police.
These tubes, believed to be filled with explosives and capable of being launched from rocket launchers, were recovered from an arms dump unearthed in Anantapur district bordering Karnataka.
State police chief Swaranjit Sen told a news conference Monday the recovery of the pipes was a new challenge for his force and steps would be taken to neutralise these new weapons.
"At the end of the tubes there is a percussion cap. When the percussion cap hits something solid, it detonates the explosives within and that is how the explosion takes place. This is something very crude but this seems to be a new method that the Maoists are trying," Sen said.
During combing operations against the Maoists in the Nallamalla forests and in Anantapur over the past 90 days, several arms dumps of the Communist Party of India-Maoist were unearthed.
The weapons recovered from the dumps in the districts of Prakasam, Kunrool and Anantapur included three self-loading rifles, four 303 rifles and four double barrel guns, seven SBBL and 1 SBML gun, two air guns, one revolver, ammunition for weapons of various makes including AK-47 and Springfield rifles, 25 kg of gunpowder, 105 kg of gelatine, six live and 45 empty claymore mines, electrical fuses, detonators, grenades, grenade filling machines and other tools used in preparing claymore mines.
Stating that the police would continue its operations, Sen said: "Our intention will be to make a dent into this destructive industry they have formed and hopefully in the near future we will have more success."
He said the recovery of arms and explosives showed that the Maoists had misused a respite provided by peace talks with the government.
"The CPI-Maoist stepped up recruitment of new cadres and procurement of arms and explosives. The CPI-Maoist chose Nallamalla forests as a priority area to intensify their guerrilla war and dumped explosives in their hideouts there," he said.
Soon after coming to power in May last year, the Congress party had initiated peace talks with the Maoists. The first round of talks between the government and Maoists was held in October. However, the peace talks broke down in January and the eight-month ceasefire came to an abrupt end.
Jithan promises to be a racy entertainer Monday, April 25, 2005 | JJ
April 25, 2005. Two prestigious banners - Radaan and Super Good Films - have joined hands to produce Jithan due for release next month.
R B Chowdhary's son Ramesh makes his debut with actress Pooja as the female lead.
The film produced by Mohan Radha has Vincent Selva handling the screenplay and direction.
The story is confined to the happenings in one week, shot in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangkok and 30 different locations.
In the wake of the success of his brother Jeeva, there has been an air of expectancy from debutant Ramesh. The grapevine has it that he has hit it off well with Pooja, who made such a splash in films like 'JJ and Attakasam.'
Kalabhavan Mani, S Ve Shekher, Livingstone, Nalini and Naam fame Mukesh are in the supporting cast.
Vincent Selva is back at the helm as director after 'Piriyamudan, Iranian, Youth and Kitchavin Kadhal.
'Lord Hanuman set Lanka on fire to attain his mission. The film is on similar lines,' said Selva, narrating the pencil line.
'You will find the good and the dark shades of the lead character. He longs for mother's affection. To achieve his objectives, God showers him all the help.'
Ramesh Babu makes his debut in Tamil as cinematographer after his exploits in the Telugu films Veede and Vasu.
It is the norm to have graphics as part of a film. Throwing norms to the wind, a character has been shaped in the graphics form.
A song shot on the locations of the famous Hollywood flick Bridge On The River Kwai is another highlight.
Jothi Rana, a Mumbai model, has given company to Ramesh in a pulsating fast number.
Actor Sarath Kumar, who was impressed with the storyline plays a guest role in the movie.
The interesting supporting factors are: story (Ramgopal Verma); music (Srikanth Deva); editing (Sadagopan Ramesh); stunt (Anal Arasu).
Let's hope that Jithan repeats the success of Ram and Ramesh too establish his place as his brother Jeeva.
Arjun to direct again Monday, April 25, 2005 | JJ
Apr 25, 2005. Actor Arjun will be directing his next movie Madarasi which would have Telugu actor Jagapathy Babu also in the cast. It is the sixth movie to be directed by Arjun. A major portion of Madarasi will be shot in London.
Sania Mirza's father plans book on daughter Monday, April 25, 2005 | JJ
New Delhi, Apr 24 (UNI) Presently busy accompanying Sania Mirza on tournaments in and out of the country, Imran Mirza plans to pen a book on his celebrity daughter whenever he gets the time.
Imran, who was here along with his daughter to cheer India in the Fed Cup tennis tournament, said, ''I have this idea of penning a book on her for she has undergone so many things and I would like to pass it on to others which may prove beneficial for them.'' ''But at present I’m too busy accompanying her to the tours and it may happen so that I may come out with it only after her retirement.
But the idea is definitely there,'' he told UNI.
Recalling it was swimming which Sania was initially good at, Imran recalled she chanced upon tennis.
''There is so much about her life that other people would like to know and a book on her would best serve that purpose,'' he said.
No move to impose ban on naxalites: AP CM Monday, April 25, 2005 | JJ
Eluru, Andhra Pradesh, Apr 24 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajesekhara Reddy today made it clear that there was no proposal to impose a ban on naxalites in wake of the escalation in violence.
While admitting that there had been a surge in violence, Dr Reddy told mediapersons here that it was not the right time to talk of imposing any ban on naxalite outfits.
Describing maoists as ''battered children'', the Chief Minister maintained that they should be disarmed and persuaded to participate in peace talks. His government was striving to bring the naxalites into the social mainstream, he added.
However, he slammed the naxalites for dubbing all encounters as ''fake'' and resorting to killing of innocent people, branding them as police informants.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister promised that his government would do justice to those displaced by the Polavaram Irrigation Project.
Stating that elaborate guidelines had been issued for providing adequate compensation, Dr Reddy said the quantum of compensation was higher in Andhra Pradesh as compared to other states.
Prasar Bharati sets target of Rs 10 bn in annual revenue Monday, April 25, 2005 | JJ
Vijayawada, Apr 24 (PTI) Prasar Bharati Broadcasting Corporation of India has set up a target of Rs 1,000 crore earnings for 2005-2006 as against Rs 825 crore last year, its CEO K S Sarma said here today. "The Corporation earned Rs 10 crore from the Indo-Pak cricket matches last year and this year, it would be about Rs 100 crore," Sarma, who was here to oversee the performance of 'narrow casting' programme by the regional channel Sapatagiri, told newspersons.
The Corporation is also contemplating to telecast commercial advertisments in the regional chanels through scrollings, which would fetch additional revenues, he said.
The CEO said Union Agriculture Ministry has sanctioned Rs 311 crore to his departement to telecast programmes on agriculture including animal husbandary at various places in the country.
The Corporation had set up 180 transmitters in 36 clusters across the country to telecast the programmes on agriculture and problems of the farmers in the respective states, he said adding, besides every day programme on the regional channels, the national programme on agrilcutre would also be telecast.
Referring to Direct To Home (DTH) service, he said already 30 lakh customers in the country have purchased the equipments for DTH for 33 channels.
Thirteen more channels would be added to DTH by June or July 2005, he added. PTI
Idea Offers Instant Validity Extension Sunday, April 24, 2005 | JJ
In its endeavor to provide the best to its customers, Idea Cellular has come up with yet another convenient service that should warm the hearts of its precious customers. The leading cellular operator in the country now offers its prepaid customers instant conversion of talk-time to validity extension on request.
Commenting on the new service Mr. Pradeep Shrivastava, Circle Head, Andhra Pradesh said: “We, at Idea Cellular, are always on the lookout for ways that will provide customers utmost comfort. This new service is part of that effort and I am sure it will come in handy for customers, especially those who are constantly racing against time.
This service, the first of its kind in the country, is just simple to avail of. All a prepaid customer has to do is to send a USSD message to *125* followed by the number of days of extension required and get an instant confirmation of the same. For example, a customer seeking a five-day extension the SMS would be *125*5#. This service is also available to subscribers in 'grace' (1-8 days), who have sufficient talk-time.
This innovative service permits a customer an extension up to 30 days at the rate of Rs. 10 per day. For a five-day extension the deduction would be Rs. 50 to the customer and his credit expiry date extended by five days.
A subscriber in grace period looking for an extension of five days, will also have Rs. 50 deducted, while he gets five `active’ days from the date of request with the grace period beginning after the requested five-day extension.
IDEA Cellular Ltd. is headquartered in Pune.
Sania gets into French Open; Gloster has a look at injury Sunday, April 24, 2005 | JJ
Hyderabad, Apr 22 (PTI) Tennis sensation Sania Mirza figures in the main draw of next month's French Open in Paris while Indian cricket physio John Gloster had a look at the ankle injury of the star palyer who opted out of the ongoing Fed Cup at New Delhi. "Sania got the entry into the main draw by virtue of her ranking (73) and she will be playing it, but fitness is top on her priority list", Sania's father Imran Mirza told PTI today.
"She will decide on the future course of action including rest, play, theraphy (if prescribed) after the final report on her injury comes in", he said.
When asked about the ankle injury, Mirza said Sania was making good progress and that Gloster too had a look at the injury and her medical reports.
"Gloster said he will be giving his advise only after the reassessment tests are done after the presicribed period of rest of 12 days at the Apollo hospital", Mirza said, adding that Sania would then start her preparations for the French Open commencing May 23. PTI
Sundaram, Andhra Bank in tie-up Sunday, April 24, 2005 | JJ
Chennai April 22, 2005 Though the entities signed the agreement on Thursday, Andhra Bank has already begun distributing Sundaram’s products. So far, it has generated Rs 5.2 crore by selling 102 applications for Sundaram Asset Management.
Addressing mediapersons, T P Raman, managing director of Sundaram Mutual Fund, said that the agreement with Andhra Bank, which has over 1,000 branches, will enable customers from the rural areas to access mutual fund products.
R Balakrishnan, executive director of Andhra Bank, said that these partnerships with mutual funds and insurance companies help the bank to increase its fee-based income.
When asked about the growth in the bank’s fee-based income, he said that since Andhra Bank expected its results to be published in the next few days, he will not be able to disclose the information at present.
Andhra Bank has tie ups with Principal Mutual Fund, UTI Mutual Fund, SBI Mutual Fund and Tata Mutual Fund. Sundaram Asset Management Company has a similar arrangement with Indian Overseas Bank also.
TDP leader shot dead; two Naxals surrender Sunday, April 24, 2005 | JJ
PTI
HYDERABAD: A TDP leader was shot dead by Maoists while a deputy commander and his wife, belonging to Mangi Dalam, surrendered before the police in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.
A group of Naxals went to the house of TDP leader Yellanki Shankariah, vice-president of Girivelli gram panchayat, and called him out, police said.
When Shankaraiah came out, the Naxals shot him dead in front of his house, branding him a police informer.
Meanwhile, a deputy commander of Mangi Dalam, Ramu alias Rajesh and Dalam member Rajeshwari alias Saritha, surrendered before the police.
The couple, who got married in January 2005, decided to surrender following differences with the party ideology and other reasons including discrimination against Gond (a tribal caste) and non-cooperation of the public, police said.
Saritha, who had joined the movement in 2003, had also worked in Chennur, Sirpur and Indervelli Dalam, police added.
Violent start to Shanti Yatra Saturday, April 23, 2005 | Editor
Ibrahimpatnam (RR district), April 22: The Gandhi Shanti Sandesh Yatra by the Congress to promote peace in Maoist, faction and communally sensitive areas in the State took off from Takkallapally Thanda near here amidst killing of a BJP leader by Maoists in a nearby mandal and a Telugu Desam functionary in Warangal district. Minutes after the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Mr Sunil Dutt, led the yatra being undertaken by the APCC president Mr K. Keshava Rao into Chintapatla village, a two km walk from Takkallapally, a message was flashed to the police about the killing of the BJP mandal president Mahender Goud at Tallapallyguda in Manchal mandal. It was about 10 am. Immediately a high alert was sounded and additional police forces were rushed to the spot. Goud is the fourth political leader to be killed in Ibrahimpatnam after Kishan of the TD, Papi Reddy of Congress and Narayana Goud of TRS. In Warangal district, Gandra Rajeshwar Rao, 55, upa sarpanch of Buddharam village in Mulug Ghanpur mandal was shot dead by the Janashakti Naxalites in the wee hours of Friday. Two Naxalites opened three rounds of fire at him.
Naidu celebrates birthday Saturday, April 23, 2005 | Editor
Hyderabad, April 20 : The TDP supremo and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu celebrated his 55th birthday today in the company of a steady stream of party workers and well-wishers who thronged his residence here to wish him on the occasion.
The thespian of Telugu cinema Akkineni Nageshwara Rao was among the visitors who called on Naidu to wish him on his birthday.
The birthday festivities were marred by an act of open defiance by senior TDP leader and former Minister Dr K Sivaprasad Rao who shot off a letter to Naidu criticising his leadership and accusing him of failing to control dissidence in the party.
Rao's letter created a flutter in TDP circles as it came at a time when the Opposition party was smarting under its worstever electoral drubbing.
Rao had virtually held Naidu responsible for growing indiscipline in the party's Guntur district unit and called for action against the district President M Pedarathaiah.
Reacting to the missive, Naidu said the party would not tolerate dissident activity. "We will take disciplinary action against those who go to the media airing their differences instead of sorting them out in the party fora," Naidu said. PTI
Former IG surrenders to police, released on bail Saturday, April 23, 2005 | Editor
Hyderabad, Apr 20 : Former Andhra Pradesh Inspector General of Police K S N Murthy, who was wanted in connection with an extortion case, today surrendered to police here.
The retired IPS official was arrested after his surrender to Central Crime Station (CCS) sleuths and later released on bail as he had obtained anticipatory bail from High Court recently, DCP (Detective) Amit Garg said.
Banjara Hills police in the city had registered a case against Murthy for alleged involvement in real estate business and trying to extort money with the help of a criminal Mohd Sajuddin Taskeen, Garg said.
Taskeen was arrested while moving under suspicious circimstances near Masab Tank on March 29, the DCP said.
Police had made a vain attempt on March 31 to arrest Murthy but he managed to evade, sources said. Murthy was posted as Inspector General-Rayalaseema region before his retirement in 2002. PTI
Two women naxals killed in encounter Saturday, April 23, 2005 | Editor
Guntur, Apr 20 : Two women naxals were shot dead in an encounter with police at Pullacheruvu village between Prakasam and Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh tonight, police said.
On receiving information that naxals were holding a meeting in the village, police surrounded the area and asked them to surrender, sources said.
When the naxals opened fire, police retaliated in self defence resulting in the death of two women naxals, police added.
Police recovered two revolvers from the site, sources added. PTI
'Chandramukhi' tops Telugu charts Saturday, April 23, 2005 | Editor
[Cinema South India] By B. Anuradha, Hyderabad, April 22 : Tamil superstar Rajnikanth's charisma seems to have spilled over to Andhra Pradesh, as his "Chandramukhi" has opened to a terrific response.
1. "Chandramukhi": With Rajnikanth assuring that it would be his kind of film despite an off-beat plot, audiences are thronging theatres to watch the tricks of the veteran star. Will this prove to be his comeback film?
2. "Mumbai Xpress": Kamal Haasan's comic caper is registering good collections in A centres and is bound to catch up in other centres. Ilaiyaraja's numbers are already a big hit.
3. "Bunny": The teaming up of Allu Arjun and Vinayak has resulted in a huge opening but the stale plot could shatter Arjun's dream of a hat-trick. Good dances and action boost the film, but its similarities with "Aadi" could go against it.
4. "Avunnana Kadanna": Director Teja's overconfidence is evident since he has chosen neither a good plot nor a gripping narration and just rehashed "Jayam". Patnaik has tried to salvage the film with a few foot-tapping numbers.
5. "Sankranth": Venkatesh's family drama has crossed 50 days in more than 170 centres and is expected to survive the onslaught of two big, dubbed films. Director Siva's slow-paced screenplay seems to have worked in this case.
Hyderabad,A cracker blast that claimed 10 lives has prompted the police to crack down on illegal firecracker manufacturing units in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district.
Police had initially put the toll at 15 but officials Wednesday said 10 people were killed and 20 injured. The injured have been admitted to a local government hospital, where the condition of five is stated to be critical.
The blast occurred Tuesday night in a community hall in Nuvarevulu village of Srikakulam district, 800 km east of here. So powerful was the blast that the entire building and two neighbouring houses were razed to the ground, police said.
Parts of human bodies were seen strewn in the area and the local officials had a tough time in separating them from the debris.
Those killed in the blast included six out of the 15 workers brought from neighbouring Orissa for manufacturing the firecrackers for the coming Navratri festival.
District police chief Y. Nagi Reddy said a case had been booked against a man who had brought the material and men from Orissa for manufacturing the crackers and converted a community hall into a manufacturing facility. He is reported to be missing.
Eight people were killed in a similar blast in Srikakulam town in November last year. Following this, the authorities had launched a drive against those manufacturing and storing firecrackers in houses.
Police said they have launched another drive after last night's blast.
"We will take serious action against anyone involved in illegal manufacturing and storing of firecrackers," said Nagi Reddy.
Indo-Asian News Service
Telugu students deprived of learning their language Friday, April 15, 2005 | Editor
Orissa: The Telugu community here faces a unique problem increasing alienation of the younger generation from its language and culture. Although the youngsters can speak Telugu, most of them are not capable of reading or writing the language. "If this trend continues, the time is not far when the present generation would not be able to speak the language", rues an elder member of the community.
Lack of efforts to promote education in Telugu medium is to blame for this situation. While not many years back there were at least five Telugu medium schools in the city and its vicinity, today only one of them functions properly, points out general secretary of Integrated Katak Youth Amity Telugu Association (IKYATA) G. Kailash Rao.
With the government not extending support to these schools, many of them face the problem of either staff shortage or poor infrastructure. As a result, some of them including Diwan Bazaar Telugu school, Railway Telugu school, Chowdwar Telugu school and Sutahat Telugu school have been converted into full-fledged Oriya medium schools. No wonder, Telugus have been forced to send their children to Oriya and English medium schools. In such a situation, it is not possible to expect the young generation to have an in-depth knowledge of their own language, Rao claims.
The situation has worsened to such an extent that even two prominent libraries, the Telugu Karuna Samajam library at Oriya Bazaar and UMSS library at Diwan Bazaar have closed down. The two libraries, which housed many books on Telugu literature were in a dilapidated state for a long time before closure. Concerned over these disturbing trends, members of the Telugu community have now geared up to ensure that future generations will not be ignorant about their language and culture. In fact, they are running the only Telugu medium school in the city, Pat-apol school, at their own expenses. The school now known as Kalinga Telugu Medium School imparts education to over 400 students between classes one and seven. The students then opt for private tuition and appear for matriculation examination in Andhra Pradesh, IKYATA president K Bhaskar Rao said.
Ougadi or Telugu New Year, an occasion for peace and sharing Friday, April 15, 2005 | Editor
A cultural show was held at the Mauritius Andhra Maha Sabha. A cultural show was held at the Mauritius Andhra Maha Sabha. Unlike many religious celebrations, Ougadi is not celebrated on the streets. The Telugu New Year remains very traditional with people having lunch or dinner with their relatives and cultural shows organised. Prayers and cakes distributed to relatives, friends and neighbours are also part of the festival celebrated last Saturday.
The day starts with a purifying wash – the mangala snaanam – before the sun on Saturday morning. Then, after put- ting on chandrika oil and massaging themselves with a paste made with cereals, the Telugus are ready to start the celebration of the creation of the Universe by the God Brahmâ.
The patchadi – a mixture of green mangoes, tamarind, lilac flowers, chilli and salt – is prepared and offered to God in a special prayer to ask for his protection. They then go to the temple where they are read the panchagam (Telegu almanac). This special day is also a time for decorative activities like the mugga, which are beautiful and colourful designs made with different seeds and spices.
The only discordant note last Saturday was the use of this religious celebration by some politicians for their own propaganda purposes. While Ougadi is supposed to be the occasion when messages of peace, fraternity and unity are sent out our politicians did not miss the occasion to… do politics.
Political misbehaviour
After opposition leader, Navin Ramgoolam, reminded the audience in his speech that there is a need to live in harmony and that no one should remain withdrawn from others, Pravind Jugnauth, deputy prime minister and minister of Finance, seized the opportunity to castigate him.
After implying that Navin Ramgoolam was finally recognising the good work done by the government in terms of national unity, he even spoke of the budget saying that the population should be aware that it was in the country’s interest.
Although the prime minister, Paul Bérenger, was not as direct, he nevertheless mentioned the criticisms against the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation, asserting that his government would propose new legislation after the next elections…
Telugu movie makes waves in Johannesburg Friday, April 15, 2005 | Editor
(IANS News) Johannesburg, April 3 : The Andhra community of South Africa has been thrilled by the efforts of an Indian filmmaker who has brought the first Telugu language movie to cinemas here. Johannesburg, April 3 : The Andhra community of South Africa has been thrilled by the efforts of an Indian filmmaker who has brought the first Telugu language movie to cinemas here.
Shyam Kumar of Chennai decided to bring "Balu ABCDEFG" to South Africa after he started a business here and found that while local cinemas made provision for Bollywood films, nobody catered to the needs of the south Indian community, which makes up about two thirds of the 1.2 million Indian South Africans.
In the KwaZulu-Natal province, where a majority of these Indians live, "Balu ABCDEFG" attracted huge interest when it was first screened.
The "ABCDEFG" part of the tile stands for "A Boy Can Do Everything For Girls".
A Telugu film had never been shown anywhere in the country since Indians first arrived in 1860 as indentured labourers for sugarcane plantations.
The screening in Johannesburg was a first for not only Gauteng but all four former provinces which make up the old Transvaal Province, according to the president of the Transvaal Andhra Sabha, Sam Naidoo.
The Transvaal was divided into four separate provinces after the advent of democracy in 1994. But due to the low number of Andhra-speaking people in the region, the representative body decided to retain its old name.
The Telugu movie industry is the second most prolific in India after Bollywood.
A local MP, Sisa Njikelana, the chief guest at the screening, guffawed loudly with everyone else at the comic scenes in the film.
Njikelana, of Zulu stock, explained his appreciation of Indian films: "From the first time I saw a Hindi film in Durban in 1984, I was very touched by the values in these films.
"It struck me that today I was encountering a new Indian language, but to me what is exciting, enjoyable, inspiring and enriching is again the richness of the Indian culture; the values that get expressed, such as good over evil. Even though the dancing is in Western style, the Indians have developed their own unique style."
Kumar said he planned to bring a second Telugu movie and some Tamil films to South Africa soon.
--Indo-Asian News Service (India News)
--(c) Indo Asian News Service
AP govt will continue peace initiatives, says Home Minister Tuesday, April 5, 2005 | Editor
UNI
HYDERABAD: Even as CPI (Maoist) emissaries announced their withdrawal from the peace process, Andhra Pradesh Home Minister K Jana Reddy on Monday said the government was committed to holding talks with the Naxal groups.
Talking to mediapersons here, Reddy said government believed in solving issues through talks. ''we have not closed our doors for talks as alleged by the Naxal emissaries.
''It was unfortunate that CPI (Maoist) emissaries Varavara Rao, Kalyan Rao and Gaddar had moved away from the scene of peace-talks,'' Reddy said while adding that he had hoped that Andhra Pradesh would be trendsetter for peace talks with Naxals in the country.
The encounters in the recent past in the state had taken place not as acts of revenge by the government, but to maintain law and order, he said adding that the Naxals misunderstood the administration's intentions.
Appealing for restraint, Reddy said ''the encounters are all genuine and we are ready to conduct independent inquiry into all of them.''
Naxal emissaries pull out of peace talks Tuesday, April 5, 2005 | Editor
PTI
HYDERABAD: Three Naxalite emissaries, involved in the peace talks with the Andhra Pradesh Government, on Monday pulled out of the dialogue process accusing the state government of adopting ‘‘fascist methods’’ to suppress the Maoist movement and continuing with ‘‘fake police encounters, arrests and harassment of Naxal cadres’’.
‘‘It is very clear that the Congress Government has slammed the doors on the talks process and has started implementing fascist policies. Its talk of continuing the negotiations is a farce,’’ Maoist emissaries Varavara Rao, Gadar and Kalyana Rao said, in a statement, here.
The announcement comes after the CPI (Maoist) and other extremist organisations have announced their withdrawal from the peace talks protesting against ‘‘fake police encounters and combing operations’’.
Stating that over 80 Naxalites and their sympathisers had been killed in encounters since January this year and the state and Central governments were preparing for a ‘‘full-scale offensive’’ against Naxalite organisations, the emissaries alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to foist false cases against them.
‘‘We also understand that moves are on to impose a ban on Maoist organisations in eight states where the Naxalite movement is strong,’’ they alleged.
The Naxal emissaries had played a key role in the first-ever direct talks between the Andhra Pradesh Government and the Maoist leaders in October last year.
Blaming the state government for the collapse of talks, the emissaries said: ‘‘Before elections, they had promised to hold unconditional talks with the Naxalites, but after the first round, they changed their tack and suddenly came up with the condition that Maoists must lay down arms.’’
Pointing out that they had continued to play the role of Maoist emissaries even after the Naxalite organisations had pulled out of the talks, they said, ‘‘This was in the hope that the government would create a conducive atmosphere for continuing the peace talks. We argued that the Naxalite leaders can come for talks if the state government creates a congenial atmosphere similar to the one that had prevailed before the first round of negotiations. But, we are disappointed with the government’s response.’’
