The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Glitter and glamour

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Glitter and glamour

After several months of continuous rise, the price of yellow metal has started moving southward during the last few days. The price promises to come down to the Rs.8,400-mark in the next couple of days, raising the hopes of all those who have brushed aside till now the thought of buying even a ‘tola’ of gold. But, a critical look at the timing of this downslide in the price can make one suspect that it may not just be coincidental. The price has started coming down just in time for the Akshaya Tritiya, the festival that is being projected for the last few years by gold and jewellery merchants as the most auspicious occasion to purchase. Big brands in gold and jewellery business are leaving no stone unturned to woo customers with some special offers. All this makes one wonder whether the gold market is controlled by a handful of elements who can jack up the price and bring it down at their sweet will.

While on gold, more and more popular brands of jewellers are finding Vijayawada a potential place to open their outlets. After the likes of Khazana and Tanishq, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri is opening a branch on Bandar Road on Wednesday. It will be inaugurated by none other than the svelte Bhumika Chawla a.k.a. Thakur. It will at least be the fourth visit for this petite lady in recent months. It will be a challenge to newspersons to ask her new questions about her career, her marriage life and the like.

Resting on oars!

The staff of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) are in a holiday mood, as it has been more than a month since Natarajan Gulzar had left and no full time Commissioner been posted. With Sub-Collector Gaurav Uppal, who has been named in-charge Commissioner, visiting his office for only a couple of hours every day, the lower-rung staff and some officials are enjoying the temporary stress-free period after nearly three years, during which they had to work under a hard task-master and were always on their toes. Coupled with maximum number of public holidays in the first two weeks, April saw practically no activity in the VMC. The officials agree that only a full time Commissioner can get everybody back in the mood of working.

Belief and sentiment

There is a belief among several politicians that one who visits Guntur Agriculture Market Yard would lose power immediately and the then Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy diligently avoided coming to the yard despite making trips to Guntur city and district.

Minister Kanna Lakshmi Narayana even went on record saying it was Chandrababu Naidu’s recent visit to district during `Mee Kosam’ that brought bad luck to the yard, sentiment many shared on the fateful day even as the fire was raging.

This fire has forced both rival leaders to come to yard go round and spend some time there and someone at the yard commented, will this lead to elimination of both these parties in coming elections signalling a massive victory for the new party to be floated by Chiranjeevi!!

K Srimali and G. V. R. Subba Rao in Vijayawada and Ramesh Susarla in Guntur

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh