The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 29, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Briefly

Manmohan not coming

HYDERABAD: The tour of the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to the tsunami-hit areas in the State tomorrow has been cancelled, while the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, will be visiting Prakasam district on December 30. According to sources, Ms. Gandhi will be reaching Prakasam from Chennai and interact with the affected people. Her visit to Nellore was yet to be confirmed.

Review meet on SC welfare

CHITTOOR: Some 35,000 students in the 12,066 SC hostels in the State have been found bogus, and 15,000 of them are in Chittoor district alone, said Redya Naik, Minister for Social Welfare, while addressing a press conference here on Monday.

Earlier, he had a review meeting with Social Welfare Department officers. He said that an assessment had been made after getting figures from Assistant Social Welfare Officers and Deputy Directors in the State.

Official held on graft charge

HYDERABAD: A Deputy Executive Engineer (DEE) of Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corporation working in Eluru, G. Nooka Raju, was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths on Tuesday on charge of possessing assets worth over Rs. 34 lakh disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Simultaneous searches conducted at Yendapally (the DEE's native place), Kondavaram and Chadalada villages in East Godavari district by the ACB had revealed that the engineer had the assets in the names of his family members and relatives, a press release said. The properties included houses at Eluru and Kakinada, 32 acres of agricultural land in East Godavari district, promissory notes worth Rs. 7.5 lakh, fixed deposit receipts worth Rs. 2.42 lakh, bank balances amounting to one lakh rupees and Rs. 64,000 in cash. The DEE was being produced before the Special Court for ACB Cases, Visakhapatnam.

Congress MPs' gesture

HYDERABAD: All Congress MPs belonging to the State will donate one month's salary to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to be used for providing assistance to the tsunami-hit people.

In a press release here on Tuesday, D. Vittal Rao, convener of the MPs, assured the State Government of standing by it in procuring the required resources for the essential relief.

The staff of `Prajasakti' daily have contributed a day's salary. Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul, Hyderabad, has offered to collect grain, vessels, blankets and medicines for the victims. Persons willing to send relief material could contact the organisation (tel: 98852-80801, 93470-35289, 08413-235288/89) for details.

The TDP legislators will donate a month's salary for providing relief to the tsunami victims, E. Dayakar Rao, MLA, announced here on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the TDP is deputing 12 teams of party leaders to go round the State from January 2 to 11. According to Mr. Srihari, general secretary, the teams will educate the people on the "false propaganda" unleashed by the Government on the issue of tenders of irrigation projects and its stand on important problems facing the people.

APCC fund for tsunami-hit

HYDERABAD. The Congress has created Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee relief fund to help the quake and tsunami-hit victims in Coastal Andhra and neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Tuesday, the PCC chief, K. Keshava Rao, said that the office-bearers would raise donations and also participate in other relief operations in the affected areas. The party decided to collect Rs. 500 each from PCC office-bearers, DCC chiefs, PCC delegates and heads of frontal organisations. All the office-bearers of the State frontal outfits, departments, cells and DCC would contribute Rs. 300 each. The PCC office-bearers were requested to collect Rs. 1,000 from at least five donors. "We are going to collect material and articles in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam by forming teams," he said adding, "no cash would be collected."

Maoists open fire in air

Mahbubnagar: Members of the CPI (Maoist) opened fire in the air last night when villagers of Thumanpeta of Balmur mandal objected to their move to organise a meeting in the village. However, no one was injured.

Selected for award

TIRUPATI: The American Biographical Institute (ABI) has selected D. Sundar Ram, director and member-secretary of the Academy of Grassroots Studies and Research of India (AGRASRI) for the `Man of the Year 2004' award in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments in the field of rural development.

Three get lifer for murder

CUDDAPAH: The Proddatur Second Additional District Magistrate, Sahadevudu, on Tuesday sentenced three persons to undergo life imprisonment and acquitted 11 others in a murder case.

Vangala Mohan Reddy, Vangala Pulla Reddy and Vangala Shyamsunder Reddy were sentenced to life term for murdering the Moragudi MPTC member, Jollu Mohan Rao, and his son, Jollu Venkateswara Rao, near Alankar theatre in Jammalamadugu town on November 21, 1999.

Fire at coalmine

KHAMMAM: An underground blaze was detected in the Goutham Khani opencast mine of the Singareni Collieries in Kothagudem on Tuesday. The coal underneath seems to have caught fire. The fire control machinery was engaged in pumping water to lower the temperature and keep the coal away from being exposed to oxygen which the officials said, results in such occasional blazes.

They said there was no loss to the coal deposits in the mine. The blaze is a minor one and it could be put out without any safety problems. A similar fire claimed the lives of two miners in Kothagudem few years ago.

WTO effigy burnt.

TIRUPATI: The Tirupati-unit of the Anshra Pradesh Medical and Sales Representatives Union, under the banner of the CPI(M)-led CITU, today burnt the effigy of the WTO protesting against the Ordinance promulgated by the UPA Government amending the Indian Patents Act. Members of the union, led by the CPI(M) and CITU functionaries, also held angry demonstrations at the busy Municipal Office junction and chanted slogans denouncing the Ordinance.

Protest rally

CUDDAPAH: Medical representatives took out a protest rally and burnt the World Trade Organisation effigy at Seven Roads circle here on Thursday.

The Andhra Pradesh Medical and Sales Representatives Union State executive member, Mallikarjuna Raju, deplored the Presidential Order amending the Indian Patent Act 1970, under pressure from WTO. It would affect self-reliance of 23,000 indigenous pharmaceutical companies and lead to steep rise in drug prices, he said. The union's district treasurer, V. Prasad, and leaders -- Mohanakrishna, Venkatasubbaiah, Srinivasulu -- led the protest.

Power failure

NELLORE: The entire Nellore town went without power on Tuesday evening following faulty disconnection of electric wire system at a lodge in Trunk Road in connection with ongoing demolition of unauthorised structures. Enquiries revealed that big flames emanated from the poles, creating panic among people. Transco engineers said it might take quite some time to restore the power supply.

Aid for weaker sections

CUDDAPAH: The Government sanctioned Rs. 25 crores to assist SCs, STs and BCs for developing waste lands, the Assistant Project Officer of District Water Management Agency, K. Chinna Narayana, said on Tuesday.

Poor farmers of these castes were being empowered through land development, he said while addressing a constituency-level training camp on Indira Prabha Comprehensive Land Development Programme here. The MROs, MPDOs, mandal and additional coordinators, sarpanches, village secretaries, project facilitation members and para-workers of Cuddapah, Siddhavatam and Chennur mandals took part.

The DWMA Assistant project Director, Gangi Reddy, Deputy Executive Engineer of Panchayat Raj, Ramalingam, also participated.

Housewife hangs self

Sangareddy: Tanneru Renuka (27), a housewife and resident of Balajinagar, committed suicide by hanging herself here on Monday. Her parents came to know about the suicide on Tuesday as her in-laws -- Chandraiah and Seshamma -- and husband, Anka Rao, tried to hush up the issue.

They filed a complaint with the Sangareddy police. The police said that her husband allegedly had been torturing Renuka for money and gold for the past one year.

Anganwadi workers cautioned

ADILABAD: The Regional Deputy Director (RDD), Women and Child Development Department, Warangal, Meenakshi Devi, on Tuesday cautioned anganwadi workers (AWs) and auxiliary nurse and midwives (ANMs) to take utmost care while registering births and deaths of infants.

She said though the Government handed over numerous tasks to AWs and ANMs, there were stray cases of negligence. She inaugurated a training camp for AWs and ANMs here.

The District Medical and Health Officer, M. Kesava Rao, and the Project Director, District Women and Child Development Agency, Ramulu, attended.

Protest rally

CUDDAPAH: Medical representatives took out a protest rally and burnt the World Trade Organisation effigy at Seven Roads circle here on Thursday.

Power failure

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