The Hindu : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 11, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Briefly

Field assistant missing

Cuddapah: Mystery shrouds the disappearance of a field assistant of Bombay Natural History Society, Gurumohan, who is among a three-member team which has ventured into the Lankamalla reserve forests, near Apparajupet, in Atlur mandal, on Wednesday to make a scientific study of rare bird, `Jerdon's Courser,' locally known as `kalivi kodi.' On a complaint lodged by a scientist of the society, the Atlur police and forest officials searched the forests over a radius of 20 km. But Mr. Gurumohan is yet to be traced.

Woman's charge against naxal

Cuddapah: A 22-year-old woman of Kancharapalle of Madhavaram village in Rayachoti mandal has alleged that a People's War dalam member, Bhaskar, outraged her modesty and surrendered before the Additional Superintendent of Police, T. Narasinga Rao. The woman alleged that she was molested by Bhaskar when she stayed with PW members for two days. She said the dalam leader, Bharathakka, rebuked the naxalite. The Additional SP said no case would be booked against the woman.

Ryot dies; another's bid to end life

Cuddapah: A farmer, M. Nagaraju (22), of Motukuvandlapalle in Sambepalle mandal, who consumed pesticide on January 4, unable to repay debts, died at Ruia Hospital in Tirupati, the Sambepalle police said. Nagaraju consumed pesticide owing to mounting debts and family disputes. Meanwhile, another farmer, Venkataramaraju (49), of Maddirevula Rachapalle in Lakkireddipalle mandal, too, attempted suicide by consuming pesticide owing to debts. He was admitted to a hospital at Rayachoti.

Jilted lovers commit suicide

BHIMAVARAM: Jilted lovers -- S Kannaiah (23) and M. Venkata Laxmi (19) -- residents of the Fish Market area here allegedly committed suicide in the early hours of Saturday. Kannaiah strangled himself from a ceiling while Laxmi consumed poison. The parents of the victims, who were reluctant to get the couple married, performed the last rites by placing the bodies together, in accordance with a `letter' left behind by the lovers. The I Town Sub-Inspector, Ramesh Babu, said a handwriting expert would look into the genuineness of the letter.

Panchaloha idols takes away

Cuddapah: Unidentified persons stole panchaloha idols of Srirama, Seeta and Lakshmana in a temple at Bayanapalle village in Kodur mandal in the early hours of Saturday. The miscreants broke open the temple door and committed theft of the idols which were said to be 75 years old, the police said. Fingerprint experts and a sniffer dog squad have been requisitioned.

Paddy procurement reviewed

HYDERABAD: The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Saturday reviewed the procurement of paddy under the minimum support price mechanism and rice under mill levy with the Commissioner of Civil Supplies and Collectors of Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari, West Godavari and Khammam districts. A press release issued by the Chief Minister's Office said paddy purchased by rice millers and the Government agencies was more than four lakh tonnes over that of last year.

Media centre inaugurated

HYDERABAD: A media centre was opened for journalists and officials of electronic media from Delhi and other areas who will be covering the proceedings of the national executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party here on Sunday and Monday. The centre at Hotel Fortune Katriya has 25 computer terminals, four laser printers, two xerox machines, two photo scanners, 15 fax machines and six STD telephones. The centre was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for Urban Development, B. Dattatreya, and the party general secretary, Muqtar Abbas Naqvi.

YSR to counter TDP campaign

Hyderabad: The former leader of the Opposition, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, will go on air on Sunday to counter the Telugu Desam Party campaign on development and its criticism of the Opposition. Three programmes will be aired on Gemini TV (`Kalavalani Undi' from 8.30 a.m. to 9 a.m.), on Teja channel (`Vastava Nivedika' between 11 a.m. and 11.30 a.m.) and on MAA TV between 12.30 p.m. and 1 p.m. The last programme would be an interview.

Pedatata, 103, passes away

BHIMAVARAM: Philanthropist and businessman, Gnannabathula Subba Rao (103), popularly known as Pedatata, died here on Saturday at 9.15 a.m. He was survived by foster son, Nageswar Rao, a businessman. Former MPs -- K. Bapi Raju and M. Padmanabham -- former MLAs -- P.V. Narasimha Raju and K. Ramachandra Raju -- and others called on the bereaved family and expressed condolences. In Hyderabad, the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, expressed grief at the death of Pedatata. In a message, Mr. Naidu said Pedatata was known for charitable services, including donation of properties involving Rs. 5 crores to several institutions in East and West Godavari districts.

Dry weather prevails

Hyderabad: Hyderabad and Ramagundam recorded the State's lowest night temperature on

Saturday at 11 degree Celsius. Weather was dry in the State. Minimum temperatures fell at a few places and they were below normal at many places. Weather would be dry on Sunday, a forecast said.

Pramod Mahajan at Srisailam

KURNOOL: The BJP leader, Pramod Mahajan, offered prayer at Srisailam on Saturday. He was accompanied by the Minor Irrigation Minister, K.E. Prabhakar. Mr. Mahajan worshiped Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy and Sri Bramarabha Devi and later visited Sivaji Spoorthi kendra before leaving for Hyderabad. The Joint Collector, Ramsankar Naik, the RDO, Suryaprakash, the OSD, Ravinder, the Deputy SP, Madhavachari and others received the VIPs.

TTD discourse

Cuddapah: The Dharma Prachara Parishad of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams is organising a 20-day discourse on `Sri Venkateswara Vaibhavam' by a Vedic pandit of Tirupati, P. Narayana Rao, at Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swamy temple at Jayanagar Colony here till January 30, said the temple committee chairman, K. Ramasubbaiah, in a statement on Saturday.

Madigas seek more seats

KURNOOL: A meeting of the Madiga Ikya Karyacharana committee here on Saturday demanded that the BJP bring back the party leader, Bagaru Laxman, into active politics.

The meeting which was presided over by the coordinator of the committee, Ramanjaneyulu, said Mr. Bangaru Laxman was singled out because he was a Dalit. Mr. Judev, who faced similar charges, was left untouched while Mr. Laxaman was punished.

The meeting urged the political parties to field candidates belonging to Madiga from Kodumur and Aluru constituencies since the community was predominant in both constituencies. The BSP State secretary, R. David, the Madiga Dandora leader, Kripakar Madiga, and others were present.

SFI panel scrapped

Cuddapah: The SFI district committee has scrapped its Vempalle mandal committee for taking unilateral decisions against the directions of the district unit and the mandal unit secretary, Sudhakar, has been removed from the post, said the SFI district secretary, T. Sunil, in a statement on Saturday.

Ramasubba Reddy was elected secretary of the mandal unit, Reddy Raju president, Manohar and Srinivasulu vice-presidents, besides 10 mandal committee members, Mr. Sunil added.

EC team visits MRO office

CHITTOOR: The Election Commission secretary, Tapaskumar, and under-secretary, Shinde, along with the district Collector, Giridhar, and the Joint Collector, B.Janardhan Reddy, visited MRO offices at Nagari and Chittoor and verified the deletions and inclusions made in the electoral roll by the officers and expressed satisfaction over it.

The MRO, Surendra Babu, produced records to the officials.

Plea to delete bogus voters

CHITTOOR: The All-India Congress Committee member and former MLA, Gopinath, has said the bogus voters allegedly enrolled by the Telugu Desam Party should be weeded out otherwise the Collector would be made responsible.

Talking to reporters here on Saturday, he said several bogus voters were noticed in large quantity in the electoral rolls at Shanti Puram Kuppam and Chittoor mandals.

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Andhra Pradesh