» Mohanty stuns top seed Aryan
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
In a major upset, Bijay Kumar Mohanty stunned the top seed and title favourite Goveas Aryan in the semifinals of the NCC Urban Asian Junior Tennis Championship here today. Aryan appeared headed for a smooth ride when he took the first set 7-5. However, Mohanty proved that he was not one to wilt under pressure by raising the level of play several notches. The unheralded player made it to the title clash with a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 verdict. He will meet Vashisht Cheruku, who has been in an impressive form. Meanwhile, women final pits second seed Pranjala Yedlapalli with Himani Mor, both of whom made it to the finals with a straight set wins. Results-Semifinals: Boys: Bijay Kumar Mohanty bt Goveas Aryan 5-7, 6-4, 7-5; Vashisht Cheruku bt Jeevan V 7-5,6-3. Girls: Himani Mor bt Iska Akshara 6-4, 6-2; Pranjala Yedlapalli bt Sai Laxmi 6-2, 6-0. UNI XR CS CS BST2214 NNNN

 » IIL developing vaccine for chikungunya
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
Indian Immunolotgicals Limited (IIL), a leading vaccine manufacturer, has joined the league of very few companies (in the world) to develop world's first vaccine for Chikungunya. IIL is also developing a live vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis virus (JEV) for the first time in the country, according to the company. Currently, no vaccine is available for Chikungunya anywhere in the world. IIL is developing a vaccine for this disease using a virus strain isolated by a laboratory in the USA. For Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection, IIL is developing a better and safer vaccine by producing the virus in cell culture, instead of using mouse brain for growing the virus which the current vaccine manufacturers do. The inactivated JEV vaccine is thus a safer vaccine, IIL Managing Director Mr. KV Balasubramaniam said in a release here. Right now both the vaccines are undergoing pre-clinical toxicology studies, he added. MORE UNI KNR SB BST2250 NNNN

 » Pharma companies to develop affordable drugs : CM
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has called upon the pharma and bio-industries to develop affordable drugs for the benefit of the common man. In his inaugural address at 9th edition of the three-day BioAsia being hosted by Bharat Biotech International Ltd and GVK Biosciences here this evening, the Chief Minister said the government had adopted better industrial policy and the industries has to avail the policy to make investments in the state. The state had provided platform for the medial sector and as part of it, the government had spent Rs 1,000 cr under Arogyasri Health Insurance Scheme to conduct operations for 13 lakh poor people in the state, Reddy said. Chief Minister said, the event being attended by delegates from 35 countries, emerged as a global brand and has been offering a platfrom for convergence of the business leaders, policy makers and investors. Biotech industry recorded revenues worth 3.6 billion dollars, registering a growth of 20 per cent over 2010, he said adding the industry will grow significantly to 11.6 billion dollars by 2017. The Andhra Pradesh government recognised life-sciences as a high-potential growth segment, he said. 'We are committed to promote research, development and trade in the segment,' he added. The bio-pharmaceutcal sector including vaccines, diagnostic, therapeutic accounted for the largest chunk of the biotech industry with a sahre of about 62 per cent in total revenues, the Chief Minister stated. Sri Lanka Minister for Science and Technology Prof Tissa Vitarana said Bio-technology having tremendous potential and contributing in health and Agriculture and in general for well being of the mankind. UNI KNR RKM 2229 NNNN

 » YSR Congress Party welcomes house committee to probe into land allotments
Hyderabad | February 09, 2012 12:01:13 AM IST
Welcoming the house committee to probe into the land allotments, the YSR Congress Party on Thursday said the time-frame should be from 1995 to 2012 and the terms of reference should be made clear, if the intentions of the state government are clear and not aimed at tarnishing the image of YSR, his family members and supporters.

 » Kujur, Rajeth, Wassem take honours
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
M D Waseem of Andhra Pradesh, Alexander Kujur from Chhattisgarh and Rajeth Prakash of Karnataka emerged winners in their respective categories on the second day of the Pro-Am Muaythai Senior boxing championship at the Lal Bahadur Indoor Stadium here today. Waseem emerged the undisputed champion in the 42-45 kg category beating Milan Mara of Chhattisgarh for the gold. In the 45-48 kg category, Alexander Kujur won the gold while Kerala's K Vinu had to settle for the silver. Rajeth Prakah defeated Farooq A Malik from Jammu and Kashmir in the 75-81kg category. UNI XR CS VV AK2050 NNNN

 » KCR Visits Temple offers 48 kgs of Jaggery
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K Chandrasekhara Rao today visited the temple of Sammakka-Saralamma at Medaram village under Tadvai Mandal in Warangal district. The TRS Chief, accompanied by his family members, visited Medaram on the occasion of biennial fair of the tribal deities and worshipped the goddesses. He also offered 48 kg of jaggery equivalent to his weight on the occasion. However, reports said Mr Rao had suffered only simple injuries on his forehead when a devotee hurled a coconut at the dais where the image of Goddess was kept. Speaking to the media later, the TRS President said he was offering worship to all Godesses wishing that separate Telangana state was realised. He said after the formation of Telangana state, the TRS government would take steps to make 'Medaram Jathara' popular in the entire country and added it would earmark Rs 250 crore for the conduct of the festival. UNI CS VV AK2030 NNNN

 » CBI court rejects Acharya's bail petition
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
The special CBI Court at Nampally today rejected the bail petition filed by suspended Senior IAS officer B P Acharya who was allegedly involved in APIIC-Emaar Scam case. CBI Judge B Naga Maruthi Sharma passed the orders after the investigating agency has vehemently opposed granting bail to him citing the reasons that the bureaucrat will destroy the evidences and influence the witnesses. On February 6 the judge had reserved orders after hearing the arguments from both sides. Mr Acharya filed a petition in the court to pass orders that he may be treated as special category prisioner in the Chanchalguda Jail where he was presently lodged. Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing of Emaar case accused and Trimex Group Chairman Koneru Prasad's bail petition to February 13. The Judge also adjourned the bail petition of Jagathi Publications Limited Vice-Chairman Vijay Sai Reddy, an accused in the disproportionate assets case of YSR Congress Party President Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy till February 21. UNI CS-KNR VV AK1930 NNNN

 » Arif calls on CM
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
Badminton coach S M Arif, who was honoured with Padma Sri Award, called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy at his camp office today. APCC General Secretary Abid Rasool Khan introduced Mr Arif, who was conferred Padma Shri on January 26 last. Mr Khan also explained to the Chief Minister that Mr Arif, who is a renowned Badminton Coach was also honoured with Dronacharya award earlier. He had put in 35 years of exemplary service as coach and had trained international and national players, including Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta, who were playing with distinction for the country. The Chief Minister felicitated Mr Arif and congratulated him on being honored with Padma Award. He expressed his happiness about the due recognition given to Arif. UNI CS VV KSR1720 NNNN

 » CM ask MPS to be united in getting max rail projects
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy made an impassionate plea to the Members of Parliament from the State to rise above party lines and regions and be united with the State Government to get maximum railway projects sanctioned for Andhra Pradesh. The Chief Minister said the State Government was making all out efforts to see that State shares are released on time to get the Railway projects completed. 'All of us should put pressure on the Railway Ministry and the Board to complete all the projects under the able guidance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi', he said. Mr Reddy said the centre had sanctioned the Kazipet Wagon Factory after the Chief Minister and the Members of Parliament together met the then Railway Minister. The Chief Minister made these remarks while speaking at a meeting convened on Railway Projects with Members of Parliament at Jubilee Hall today. Union Minister of state for Human Resources, D Purandareswari, Transport Minister and APCC president B.Satyanarayana, R&B Minister D.Prasada Rao, Major Irrigation Minister P Sudarshan Reddy, General Manager of South Central Railway, Mr Asthana, Senior Railway officials and Engineers, Senior State Officials had attended the meeting. The MPs who attended the meeting were T Subbarami Reddy, Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, M.Sreenivasulu Reddy, M.Jagannadham, G.Sukhender Reddy, S.P.Y.Reddy, S.Satyanarayana, L.Rajagopal, Suresh Shetkar, Nandi Yelliah, K.M.Khan, Harsha Kumar, Madhu Yashki, K.Bapi Raju, J.D.Seelam, R.Sambasiva Rao and Anjan Kumar Yadav. Each of them represented the cause for completion of ongoing railway projects and new lines in their respective constituencies. UNI CS VV AK1735 NNNN

 » Venkataramana Reddy's Govt chief whip
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today appointed Gandra Venkataramana Reddy as its new Chief Whip in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. Arepalli Mohan, Toorpu Jayaprakash Reddy, Anil, Dronamraju Srinivas and Perni Nani will officiate as whips. The vacancies were been caused due to the elevation of Mr Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, to the post of Deputy Speaker and Government whip Kondru Murali as cabinet Minister, a few days ago, UNI KNR-CS VV AK1650 NNNN

 » Uninor to stay, to compete in bidding for new licences: MD
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
Uninor, a mobile service provider today announced that it will not going to wind up its operations following the recent Supreme Court judgement which cancelled 122 licences, including those of the company in the 2G spectrum scam and assured the existing and new customers that it would go for a bidding to secure new licences which is likely to be in May 2012. Talking to Journalists in Hyderabad and in Kolkata via video-conferencing, Uninor Managing Director Sighvi Brekke said the Company after investing Rs 14,000 crore had added 38 million customers across the country. Stating that the Kolkata and Andhra Pradesh were better circles for the Company, Mr Brekke said after the Apex Court Judgement, the competitiors started ''frightening'' the customers by giving short message service (SMS) and through E-mails that Uninor is out of Business and would not sell any recharge cards. ''I want to tell the competitors that we are going to take the verdict of the apex court as a challenge even though 22 licences (13 circles in operation) of the company had been cancelled...History is History.. Past is past.. we will look into the future to overcome this sudden development in order to secure new licences.'' The Company's Managing Director said the competitors were adopting unethical practice by defaming the name of the company and told the Company's distributors and Retailers that we did not want to quit and the auction process in the coming four months is going to be challenge for us. He said there were 5 million Uninor subscribers in West Bengal and three Million in Andhra Pradesh by beating some of the other operators. MORE UNI CS AKM KSR NNNN

 » Minimum temps fell over Telangana
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
The Minimum temperatures significantly fell at a few places over Telangana but rose at many places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and at one or two places over Rayalaseema. They were significantly below normal at one or two places over Telangana, below normal at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and normal over Rayalaseema, a bulletin from Meteorological Centre here today said. The lowest minimum temperature of 9 degrees Celsius was recorded at Adilabad. Forecast and Farmers' weather bulletin valid until the morning of February 11, 2012 indicated mainly dry weather would prevail over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rayalaseema. Outlook for subsequent two days said there will be no large change. Forecast for Hyderabad City and Neighbourhood valid until the morning of February 11, 2012 sky condition would be mainly clear. The Maximum and Minimum temperatures would be around 32 and 17 degrees Celsius respectively, the bulletin said. UNI CS AKM KSR1524 NNNN

 » 4 held for duping ESIC of Rs 2 cr
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 9 2012 IST
The Task Force Police has arrested gang of four persons, including an employee of Employees's State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), who were involved in duping the ESIC office of Rs two crore by producing fake bills for supplying medicines. According to Hyderabad City Police Commissioner A K Khan, on credible information, Task force sleuths yesterday apprehended four persons who had submitted fake bills in the name of fictitious drug companies to claim money for supplying medicines to the ESI Hospital. The accused were kingpin G Vishal Chaitanya, an employee of ESIC's Adarshnagar Office and his three associates- Syed Waheed, Dantu Srinivas Reddy (real estate broker) and Sapada Laxman while another accused Gaddam Vishal Kumar was still absconding. The accused did not supply drugs but they submitted bills and money to the tune of Rs two crore was withdrawn from banks between January and May last year, the Commissioner said. Thirty two-year-old Chaitanya was appointed in ESIC on compassionate grounds after the death of his father and he had been working with the ESIC for the past eight years, he said. Involvement of his colleagues could not be ruled out and the arrested person were handed over to City Crime station (CCS) for further investigation, the commissioner added. UNI KNR AKM KSR1215 NNNN

 »  Jeweller found murdered
Hyderabad |Thursday, 2012 12:35:05 PM IST
A noted jewellery merchant from Visakhapatnam, reported missing in Bengaluru two days ago, was Thursday found murdered in Karnataka's Hassan district, an official said.

 » more cyber labs to come up in AP
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
To deal the cyber crimes effectively in the state, the Andhra pradesh police department has proposed to establish two more cyber labs in the city. To upgrade the skills in dealing with the increasing cyber crimes, the state police department has sent its proposals to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for consideration to establish cyber labs in Hyderabad and Cyberabad Commissionerates in the city, according to Cyber Crimes Superintendent of police Mr U. Ramamohan here today. Curently, one cyber lab was being operated at the CID here and waiting for green signals from the MHA, he added. UNI KNR SB SB2252 NNNN

 » Ramchander Rao elected as member member of AP BAR council
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
State BJP General Secretary N Ramchander Rao has been elected as a member of BAR Council of Andhra Pradesh today. Mr Rao, a leading criminal advocate practicing in High Court, got successfully elected for the second time to the AP BAR Council. Ramchander Rao's election has been hailed by several organisation like ABVP, Law Alumni, Nyayavadi Parishath. BJP National President M Venkaiah Naidu and state BJP President G Kishan Reddy have congratulated Rao's victory. Mr Rao is also a academic council member of NLSAR University(hyderabad), and was also National Convenor for BJP legal cell. UNI KNR SB SB2306 NNNN

 » Assembly Speaker constitutes House Committee into lands allotment
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar today constituted a House Committee to enquire into the allotments of lands in the State. Mr P Kista Reddy will be Chairman of 15-member committee. The other members of the committee are G Venkata Seshu, G Veera Siva Reddy, G Ravi Kumar, T Jaya Prakash Reddy, R Surya Prakash Rao, K Venkatarami Reddy and Bandaru Satyananda Rao of Congress party, P Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Payyavula Keshav of TDP, P Srinivas Reddy (TRS), G Mallesh (CPI), Akbaruddin Owaisi (MIM), Julakanti Ranga Reddy (CPM) and Dr Jayaprakash Narayan (Lok Satta). The terms of reference of the committee would be to examine the alleged irregularities in the allotment of land, including wakf land if any, specifically emerged out of the debate on the floor of the House on allotment of land to SEZs on March 28 and 29. The committee would also suggest suitable guidelines in the formulation of new policy by the government for allotment of land in promoting the industrial development in Andhra Pradesh. The committee will also look into any other matter that might be incidental and necessary to the main issue with the consent of the Speaker. The term of the House Committee has been fixed for six months, from the date of its first meeting, official sources said. UNI CS SB SB2300 NNNN

 » UP win Jr National hockey C'ship
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
Uttar Pradesh won the Junior (Under-20) National Hockey Championship for men after thrashing Mumbai 5-0 in the final encounter at the Gachibowli Stadium here today. UP players were all over the opposition with their aggressive all-out attack. They won the title with a stunning win over 5-0 hapless Mumbai team that was never in contention. At half-time, the winners were up 1-0. The scoring began pretty late considering that the first goal was scored by the in-form Sunil Yadav in the 31st minute. He did an encore precisely 11 minutes later. Subsequently, Deepak Paul, Raju Yadav and Abhimanyu Balmiki scored one each to add to Mumbai's woes. Punjab finished third with a 5-3 verdict against Karnataka. Results: Finals: Uttar Pradesh 5 (Sunil Yadav-2, Deepak Paul, Raju Yadav, Abhimanyu Balmiki) bt Mumbai (0): Third place: Punjab 5 (Gurjent Singh Ramandeep Singh, Gurjent Singh (Jr), Gagandeep Singh, Barkat Singh) bt Karnataka 3 (P L Thimanna-2), Basant Tirkey). UNI XR CS CS SB2218 NNNN

 » BJP demands natural calamaities fund
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today demanded the Centre to announce natural calamities stabilisation fund with Rs 10,000 crores and support the farmers in Andhra Pradesh. In their memorandum submitted to the Central drought team, who arrived here and inspected drought affected places in the state, BJP leaders Dr K Laxman and N Indrasena Reddy requested the team to take up relief measures immediately in the state as the farmers in the state lost their crops during 2011 Khariff seasons due to shortage of rainfalls. The state government so far has declared 875 mandals as drought affected. They said the crops in 85 lakhs acres in the state had dried up during last Khariff season due to shortage of power and other multiplied problems faced by the farmers. The central and state governments should conduct counselling to the farmers not to commit suicides, they said the interest on crop loans should be waived fully and reschedule the loans for five-years besides giving fresh loans to the farmers. Seed subsidy should be given directly to the farmers and depoist the amount in their personal bank accounts, they also demanded. UNI KNR SB SB2208 NNNN

 »  Political changes in Iran impact foreign policy:Consul Gen
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
The Consul General of Islamic Republic of Iran in Hyderabad Mr.Mahmound Safari today said the latest political and social changes in Iran had an impact on its foreign policy. Addressing the press on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of victory of isalmic revolution in Iran, Mr Safari said Islamic Republic of Iran, during its 33 yeas of existence, has overcome lots of ups and downs and earned many valuable successes. The government succeeded in the field of education by achieving more then 90 per cent of literacy in the country 'sixty nine per cent of students studying in various Universities are girls,' he said. The rise of Islamic Republic of iran in the region and at the international level is evidence of the achievements of the revolution, he said. The concentration of the country was on the benefits of nuclear knowledge indigenously built by its nuclear scientists, and its use for peaceful purposes has been attested several times by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)the Consul General said. Iran is not deviating from its peaceful use and of Nuclear energy has suggested to many countries of the world that the nuclear issue of Iran should be sorted out through dialogue, he said. Unfortunately, the so called champions of democracy were not only living in peace, but do not want us to carry out research work even for peaceful purpose, he alleged. The right to nuclear energy is the undisputable right of the people of Iran and some of the big powers should not use political pressure to curb its lawful right, he expressed. UNI KNR VV KSR2100 NNNN

 » Norway funding Rs 5 cr for R and D in solar grade silicon tech
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
The Governmnts of India and Norway have signed a protcol for the promotion of inter alia, clean and Green technologies. As a corollary to this, a parternership was synergized today involving Elkem Solar (ES), Norway (Research Parnter), TITAN Energy Systems Limited (TITAN), Hyderabad India (Industry partner) and Padmasri Dr BV Raju Institute of Technology (BVRIT) of the Sri Vishnu Educational Society (SVES), Hyderabad (Academic Partner) for the long-term performance study of solar grade silicon cells developed by ES. Speaking on the occasion, Titan Energy Systems Limited founder and Managing Director Mr.Sankar Rao Chodagam said the solgar grade silicon cells are converted into Photovoltaic (PV) modules by TITAN, a leading manufacturer of Photovoltaic modules and systems in India at their state-of-the art facility at Medchal in Hyderabad. The PV modules were commissioned at BVRIT campus for long term performance study by their students under the tutelage of qualified staff, he said test bed systems and the system configuration are finalized by TITAN in consultation with Elkem Labs. The R and D project was being funded by the Reaserch Council of Norway, he added. UNI KNR VV KSR2020 NNNN

 » Court extends judicial remand of Srilakshmi till Feb 22
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
The Special CBI Court here today extended till February 22 the Judicial Remand of suspended IAS officer Y Srilakshmi who is allegedly an accused in the illegal mining case. SriLakshmi was presently lodged in the Chanchalguda jail after the Supreme Court did not grant any stay last month on the order of Andhra Pradesh High Court which had cancelled the bail granted by the CBI special court on December 2, 2011. The Apex court is to commence hearing of the bail petition of the IAS officer from February 16. The remand of other accused in the case-- former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, his brother-in-law and Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) Manging Director B V Srinivasa Reddy and former APMDC Mining Director Mr Rajagopal, who were presently lodged in the Chanchalguda central jail, was also extended till February 22. The special court passed orders on extending their judicial remand after conducting the hearing through video conferencing. The suspended IAS officer Srilakshmi, who completed one month in jail yesterday, was the under trial prisoner in the illegal mining scam. UNI KNR-CS VV ADB1902 NNNN

 » CM asks centre to supply more natural gas to AP
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today directed the power utilities to take steps to run power plants at optimum level, maintaining adequate coal stocks, procure additional power from outside, maintain sufficient rolling stock of distribution transformers to meet the demand for power in the ensuing rabi and summer season. Reviewing the power supply position and various aspects of energy conservation practices with the concerned officials here, the Chief Minister said consumer satisfaction was the ultimate objective of the state, by supplying reliable and adequate power to all categories of consumers. Top priority should be given to seven hours power supply to agriculture sector without any deviation, according to an official release here. Officers informed the Chief Minister that the power supply position was satisfactory and the present demand was 250 MU per day. AP Discoms were able to meet about 243 MU per day with a gap of around seven MU per day (3 per cent ). This was compared with a gap of around 48 MU (20 per cent) in Tamilnadu and 18 MU (10 per cent) in Karnataka. The Chief Minister has enquired about the progress of procurement of additional power of 1100 MW (26 MU) for the period from February to May 2012 and also getting of 231 MW from NTPC Jhajjar power station, Haryana till May 2012. UNI KNR VV NVN1955 NNNN

 » AP Minister denies reports of resignation
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister D L Ravindra Reddy today denied reports that he had decided to resign after his portfolios were reallocated by Chief Minister N Kirankumar Reddy two days ago. Talking to the newspersons after holding a meeting with APCC President Botsa Satyanarayana here, the minister said media reports that he was unhappy about reallocation of portfolios were not true. Mr Reddy said the party was more important to him than portfolios and there was no question of his quitting. 'I will continue to serve the party as a loyal worker', he added. He said he had never demanded any post. He said he was only distressed that no leader in the party has been condemning the criticism of by YSR Congress Party President Mr Jagan. UNI KNR-CS VV ADB1850 NNNN

 » CM seeks liberal central assistance for drought
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today sought liberal assistance from the Centre for drought relief works in the state. The Chief Minister, who interacted with the Central team members who called on him after touring the affected districts, told them that the state would send a revised request for central assistance amounting to Rs 3,006 crore, according to an officials release here. Mr Pravesh Sharma, who headed the nine-member Inter Ministerial Central Team, lauded the well coordinated approach of the State Government on relief measures. Mr Sharma said after their tour of all the drought-affected districts, they had a clear understanding of the situation and what the state has done so far. He said the State Government had done a good job at the field level with a clear understanding between the departments concerned and the public representatives. He said a very comprehensive assessment of the crop damage has been done and there were no complaints from any farmer that he was left out. However the team cautioned that availability drinking water would be a problem particularly in the coming summer. Fodder and cattle camps will also be areas of concern, they said. UNI KNR VV NVN1935 NNNN

 »  Andhra excise ministers rules out resignation (Lead)
Hyderabad |Wednesday, 2012 8:05:06 PM IST
Under pressure to quit over bribery allegations, Andhra Pradesh Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkataramna Wednesday said he was ready to face any probe but refused to resign.

 »  Andhra minister asked to quit over bribe charge
Hyderabad |Wednesday, 2012 5:35:05 PM IST
Andhra Pradesh Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkataramna is under pressure to resign following an allegation that he accepted a bribe of Rs.10 lakh from a liquor trader.

 » Excise Minister denies taking bribes, demands probe
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
State Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana today denied having taken any bribe from the arrested liquor business man Ramana who owned liquor syndicate in Khammam and Warangal districts. In the wake of the reports that Ramana had paid huge bribes to the Excise Minister and some other politicians, Venkataramana today met the Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy at his residence and urged him to order an any enquiry into the reports that he had received a bribe of Rs ten lakh from Ramana, who had criminal record in the past. Later, talking to media here, the Minister said he would quit the Ministry if the allegations were proved. ''I never met Ramana personally or my associates never took money from him,'' he clarified and said it was unfortunate that a man with criminal history had made allegations against him. ''He has made baseless allegations against me,'' the minister claimed. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials, in the Ramana's remand report submitted to the court yesterday, said that the Excise Minister had allegedly accepted Rs ten lakh from a liquor dealer from Khammam. Not only the Excise Minister, the ACB in its reports also quoted Ramana as having said that he had paid Rs five lakh to Mahaboobnagar MLA Kavitha, Rs three lakh to Sattupalli MLA Ventaka Veeraiah, Rs three lakh to Sudarshan, CPI(M) Secretary of Khammam district, Rs four lakh to P Ranga Rao, Secretary of the CPI-ML New Democracy of Khammam, Rs 40,000 to one Parthasaradhi, Rs 40,000 to CPI(M) leader Srinivas and Rs 60,000 to Rajendar, TRS Khammam district unit President. UNI KNR AKM AK1447 NNNN

 » YSR Congress accuses CBI of harassing IAS officers in Andhra
Hyderabad | February 08, 2012 12:01:13 AM IST
YSR Congress Party has accused the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of functioning like a factionist by harassing the IAS officers.

 » Excise Minister to meet CM, to seek probe into allegation
Hyderabad | Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 IST
In view of his name figuring in the remand report filed in the special court for ACB cases on liquor syndicate case, Andhra Pradesh Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao will meet Chief Minister N Kirankumar Reddy today to seek enquiry into the allegation made against him. While reacting on the reports, the Minister said he was ready to quit the Minister post if allegations against him in the liquor syndicate case were proved. A huge blow to the government's reputation erupted yesterday when the name of Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao was mentioned in the remand report filed in the Special Court for ACB cases. The Anti-Corruption Bureau mentioned in its report that the Excise Minister had allegedly accepted Rs ten lakh from a liquor dealer from Khammam. Not only the excise minister, names of two MLAs, including TDP MLA from Khammam and Warangal along with several office-bearers of the CPI, CPI(M), TRS, BJP and New Democracy Party were mentioned in the report. It was in December last that the liquor scam came into light when a bribe of Rs 3.62 lakh was paid by dealers to excise officials. The amount was seized in a vehicle in Karimnagar. After news channels aired the news about his involvement in the liquor by medial channels, the Minister immediately denied the allegations and said it was ridiculous to believe the confession of a person who had criminal background. The remand report mentioned that Nunna Ramana who owns a chain of liquor stores in Khammam and Warangal had confessed to have paid a bribe of Rs ten lakh to the excise minister in the latter's residence at Road No 12, Banjara Hills. He told the ACB that classmate of the Minister V Raja and the owner of a wine shop were present when he handed over the money. Ramana, a former constable, was said to have influence over 80 liquor shops. The remand report was filed by T P Vithaleshwar, ACB DSP, Warangal. Almost the entire top brass of the Excise Department have been named as recipients of bribes in varying amounts. UNI KNR AKM AK1126 NNNN

 »  UP take on Mmumbai in title clash
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
Uttar Pradesh toppled fancied Punjab to enter the final of the Junior (Under-20) national hockey Championship at the Gachibowli Stadium here tomorrow. In a battle between two equal teams, Uttar Pradesh managed to put it across Punjab 5-3 via the tie-breaker after the regulation time ended in a goalless draw, Uttar Pradesh will take on Mumbai who managed to make the final with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Karnataka. Upendra Pillay showed presence of mind by rightly trapping a pass from the Gajendrajit-Vikram Singh to find the target. The final will be preceded by the third place play-off match between Punjab and Karnataka at 1300 hrs. Results (Semifinals): Mumbai 1 (Upendra Pillay) bt Karnataka (0); Uttar Pradesh (Via tie-break ) 5 (Deepak Singh, Abhimanyu Balmiki, Lalit Updhyay, Abhishek Singh, Sunil Yadav) bt Punjab 3 (Gagandeep Singh(Sr), Gagandeep Singh(Jr), Satbir Singh). UNI XR-KNR VV AK2040 NNNN

 » Pranjala storms into 3rd round
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
Local hope and second seeded Pranjala Yedlapalli stormed into the third round with a clinical 6-0, 6-1 defeat of compatriot Ch Sai Nikitha in the NCC Urban Asian Junior Tennis tournament for the Under-14 boys and girls at the SAAP Tennis Complex here today. The tournament was being conducted by Ace Tennis Academy. With the stunning upset of top seed Saranya Nagpal on Monday, Pranjala, who already holds two Asian singles titles in her kitty, stays firm favourite for the title. Results-Second Round-Boys (India wherever not mentioned): Goveas Aryan bt Gupta Shrey 6-1, 6-3; Rian Pandole bt Mayukh Rawat 6-7(1), 6-2, 6-1; Srijitesh Maganti bt Abhinav Reddy 6-1, 6-2; Bijay Kumar Mohanty bt Abhimanyu Vannamreddy 6-1, 6-1; Gnana Bhaskar bt Nikhit Reddy 6-2, 6-2; Vashisht Cheruku bt Apuroop Reddy 6-1, 6-0; Jeevan V bt Jerome Romualdez (Philippines) 6-1, 6-2; Bendulam Vaishnav bt Ganta Sai Karthik Reddy 6-3, 6-1. Girls: Iska Akshara bt Mihika Yadav 3-6, 6-2, 6-4; Shajiha Begum bt Apekshita Alkesh W/o; Himani Mor bt Rashmika Rajan 6-2, 6-2; Trisha Punamiya bt Jahnavi Reddy 6-2, 6-1, Sama Sathwika bt Raveena Reddy 6-2, 6-0; Sai Laxmi bt Aastha Dargude 6-1, 7-5; Tanvi Bhatt bt Kaavya Balasubraman 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1; Pranjala Yedlapalli bt Ch Sai Nikitha 6-0, 6-1. UNI XR-KNR AKM AK2033 NNNN

 » YSR Cong slams CBI over ongoing probe
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
YSR Congress Party today slammed CBI for not following its own manual in the investigation process and setting up a different agenda and path with a malafide intention to tarnish the image of the party. In a release, party spokespersons Vasireddy Padma and B Janak Prasaid said in Chapter 24, points 28 and 29 clearly speak of how to handle media when reports on its investigation and functioning appear, but till date CBI has neither given a rejoinder nor condemned them. Whenever a news story appears about its functioning, CBI should issue a rejoinder and should complain to the Press Council of India, but here the scene is totally different, they pointed out. Though the in-camera proceedings of the CBI were blatantly being misreported in the media, there has been no response from the investigation agency which strengthens the argument that CBI is working in tandem with some media houses, they said. The CBI here has been taking a new path and encouraging leaks, as was evident in the recent past and has joined hands with media group that is a competitor to Sakshi and political parties opposing YSR Congress Party, they said. IAS officers have been targeted and there is pressure to put some names in their mouths, they said and reiterated that CBI was functioning like a factionist. Service rules are known to CBI but still they are insisting on certain unreasonable questioning as told by the IAS Officers Association, they added. UNI KNR AKM AK2037 NNNN

 »  100,000 indian students studying in American varsities: Minister
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Minister for Information Technology and Communication Mr. Ponnala Lakshmaiah Ponnala today said Andhra Pradesh contributes a major chunk of about 100,000 Indian students pursuing higher education in the various American Universities. Addressing a large gathering of Business Exchange Program Conference attendees (BEP 2012) here he shared statistics about Andhra Pradesh which exports Rs 36,000 crore (USD 9B) of Software globally. Quoting more statistics, he said 150,000 Indian software professionals were employed supporting various industry verticals in the US. Out of every three software professionals, one was an Indian. He outlined the growth of Indo-US Business/Economic relations that have been furthered with the address of President Obama at the Joint Session of Indian Parlament in November of 2010. He recalled that when the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's gesture of solidarity with India's fight against terrorism was evident when she stayed at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, after the terrorist attack on the hotel. He thanked the US Consulate for encouraging strong US-Indian business exchange programes of this nature which help promote and strengthen both economies while making the visa process easier for IT employers/employees. UNI KNR VV AK2055 NNNN

 »  Over 250 companies to participate in BioAsia 2012
Hyderabad |Tuesday, 2012 9:05:05 PM IST
The stage is set for the ninth edition of BioAsia, the annual global bio business forum, beginning here Feb 9.

 » CBI court permits ranga rao to visit tirumala
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
The CBI special court here today permitted Mr T Ranga Rao, the accused number 12 in the APIIC-Emaar land scam, to visit Tirumala to worship Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala. During the hearing of Mr Ranga Rao's petition seeking permission to visit Tirumala, the court asked the CBI counsel if he had any objections on the issue. The CBI counsel submitted that he had no objection and could be permitted to go to Tirupati. The court then accepted his plea and allowed Ranga Rao to visit Tirumala for three days from Feb 9. Ranga Rao was already granted anticipatory bail by the special court and warned not to leave Hyderabad without its permission. The court had earlier allowed another accused in the Emaar case Mr Koneru Rajendra Prasad to visit Sabarimala in Kerala for five days. UNI KNR VV 1949 NNNN

 » Banks to participate in general strike
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
About five lakh bank employees across the country will take part in the general strike, under the banner of All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), on February 28. Talking to UNI, AIBEA General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said all central trade unions (BMS-INTUC-AITUC-HMS-CITU-AIUTUC- AICCTU- TUCC- UTUC- LPF and SEWA) have jointly given a call for general strike against the anti-labour and anti-worker policies of the UPA Government at the Centre. He said the AIBEA would support the demands of Trade Unions like taking concrete measures to contain price rise, concrete measures for linkage of employment protection with the concession/incentive package offered to the entrepreneurs, strict enforcement of all basic labour laws, universal security cover for the unorganized sector workers without any restriction, and creation of a National Social Security Fund with adequate resources in line with the recommendation of NCEUS and Parliamentary Standing Committing on Labour Stoppage of disinvestment in Central and State Public Sector undertakings. Mr Venkatachalam said the Union Demands contractorisation of work of permanent/perennial nature and till then payment of wages and benefits to the contract workers at the same rate as available to the regular workers of the industry / establishment. Amendment of Minimum Wages Act to ensure universal coverage irrespective of the schedules and fixation of statutory minimum wage at not less than Rs 10,000 per month with indexation, Removal of all ceilings on payment and eligibility of Bonus, Provident Fund, Increase in the quantum of Gratuity and Assured Pension for all Compulsory registration of trade unions within a period of 45 days and immediate ratification of ILO Conventions No 87 and 98 were the other demands, he said. MORE UNI CS AKM AK1859 NNNN

 » Hyderabad to host Pro Am senior Muaythai nationals
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
The country's best exponents of Muaythai will be seen in action at the Lal Bahadur Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. Athletes from across the nation are in town for the second edition of the Pro-Am senior Muaythai Nationals, according to M H Abid, President of the Muaythai India (MTI), which is hosting the championship in joint auspices of the Muaythai Andhra Pradesh. He said the Muaythai athletes were doing a commendable job, including in the World Championships and Asian Indoor Games. Abid pointed out that participants were coming over from Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Kerala and host Andhra Pradesh. MTI had conducted the 12th edition of the senior national championship at the same venue in September to remarkable success. The championship will get underway at 4pm while competitive events will commence immediately thereafter. The event concludes on February 11. UNI XR/VV VV AK1740 NNNN

 » Woman files petition in court seeking mercy killing for son
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
A 64-year-old woman from Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh has filed a petition in Madanapalli court seeking mercy killing for his 36-year-old aeronautical science graduate son who is in a vegetative state for the past 15 years. The women has sought euthanasia for his 36-year-old son due to poverty and being unable to take care of him. The victim, C Janardhan, son of a farm worker, had got a job offer from abroad and was preparing to go to Australia in 1977 when he was left an invalid in a road accident. Sources said the old woman told the court that with her meagre widow's pension of Rs 500, she was unable to meet the medical expenses of her bed-ridden son who suffered brain damage in the road accident. She said in the petition that her husband died eight years ago due to helplessness and frustration after seeing their son's plight. ''I don't know who will take care of him after my death.. I can't see him suffer any longer..If my son gets mercy killing, I can die in peace,'' she added. The Court yesterday admitted her petition for hearing and issued notices to the District Collector and health department asking them why the government can't extend medical help to Mr Janardhan. Second Additional District Judge Sumalatha, however, said the plea for mercy killing was ''unacceptable''. The judge said nobody has a right to take another's life and posted the next hearing to March 3. Lakshmamma, a resident of Danduvaripalle village, said she tried in vain to get government assistance to meet the medical expenses of her son. Janardhan had met with the accident when he was on his way to Bangalore for obtaining visa for his visit to Australia in 1977. Later, he went in coma for five years after sustaining serious head injury. However, he recovered partially later. Mr Janardhan's mother said he cannot speak and both his leges and hands were paralysed. This is perhaps the first incident in the state in which a woman has moved a court seeking mercy killing for her son due to financial constraints. In 2004, a woman had moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking mercy killing for her son K Venkatesh, who had debilitating muscular dystrophy so that his wish of donating his vital organs could be fulfilled. The Court then rejected her petition on the grounds that the present laws do not permit euthanasia and human organs could be harvested only from a brain dead patient. Venkatesh died same year. UNI CS AKM AK1727 NNNN

 » 1 held, saffron worth Rs 9 lakh seized
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
The Customs officials at Shamshabad Airport near here have detained a passenger who arrived here from Sharajah and seized a major haul of Saffron worth approximately Rs nine lakh from. Airport sources said the passenger had concealed the consignment in his baggage. The Airport authorities questioned the passenger about the consignment which was allegedly smuggled and unnoticed at the Sharjah Airport. Saffron is highly priced because of its scarce availability. The herb has to be completely de-hydrated to be used. Hence even small portion is expensive. Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus Sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus, from central Asia. Saffron has shown indication towards being a new and alternative treatment for a variety of cancers. UNI CS AKM AK1703 NNNN

 »  Andhra woman seeks euthanasia for paralysed son (Lead)
Hyderabad |Tuesday, 2012 4:35:05 PM IST
Unable to take care of him due to poverty, a 64-year-old widow in Andhra Pradesh has sought euthanasia for her son -- a 36-year-old graduate in aeronautical science who has been in a vegetative state for 15 years.

 » Apollo doctors performs rare surgery
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
Doctors of Apollo Hospitals here have performed a complex case of ''Marginal Decreased Donor Transplantation'' on a 49-year-old kidney failure patient. Informing this at a press conference today, Transplant Surgeon Dr Subramanyam said the kidney transplantation was delayed more than 24 hours after removal from the cadaver or live donor known as 'Marginal Decreased Donor Transplations. Dr Subramanyam said 49-year-old P Janaki Ramaiah was suffering from diabetes and kidney failure and was on dialysis for last four years. He got a new lease of life when he received double kidneys which were donated by a 67-year-old who suffered brain death at Vellore CMC Hospital, Tamil Nadu. The doctors at CMC, Vellore could not find a suitable recipient for kindey Transplantation in Tamil Nadu, Dr Subramanyam adding said the kidneys were flown to Hyderabad with the help of Mohan Foundation, a Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network. At Hyderabad, many centres also refused to accept the kidneys due to old age of the donor and prolonged transporation time. Then it was decided to do kidneys transplation on Mr Janaki Ramiah, Dr Subramanyam said. The transplanted kidneys did not work for first one week after the procedure on January 17. Thereafter, they had started working and his kidney functioning now has become normal. He is not requiring dialysis any more and is in sound health, Dr Subramanyam said. MORE UNI VV GM ADB1455 NNNN

 » Reshuffle of portfolios on administrataive grounds: CMO
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's minor reshuffle of the portfolios of Cabinet Ministers by inducting three members into it yesterday was purely done on administrative grounds and also keeping in view the public interest, Chief Minister's Office (CMO) had clarified today. A CMO release here said '' a Section of Media has attributed political overtones to this exercise, which is absolutely baseless, incorrect and there is no truth at all.'' ''It is requested not to ascribe any political overtones to the decision taken purely on the administrative grounds in the interest of public at large.'' ''The entire Cabinet is working as a team,'' the release said. UNI CS GM ADB1445 NNNN

 » Minimum temps dip over Coastal AP
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
The minimum temperatures fell at one or two places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, changed little over Telangana but rose at one or two places over Rayalaseema. A bulletin from Meteorological Centre here today said the minimum temperatures were significantly below normal at one or two places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana but significantly above normal at one or two places over Rayalaseema. The lowest minimum temperature of 14 degrees Celsius was recorded at Nandigama. Forecast and Farmers' weather bulletin valid until the morning of February 09, 2012 indicated mainly dry weather will prevail over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rayalaseema. Outlook for subsequent two days said there will be no large change. Forecast for Hyderabad City and Neighbourhood valid until the morning of February 9, 2012 said sky condition would be partly cloudy. The Maximum and Minimum temperatures would be around 34 and 18 degrees Celsius respectively, the bulletin said. UNI CS 1352 NNNN

 » 10 killed, 3 hurt in AP mishaps
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
In ghastly road accidents, ten persons, including five of a family, were killed and three injured in Andhra Pradesh today. Four persons died on the spot and another succumbed to injuries on the way to local hospital when the autorickshaw in which they were travelling collided with a sand-laden tipper lorry at Arasavalli in Nizamabad District. The victims were proceeding to attend the last rites of their relative and hailed from Mujahidnagar of that district. The deceased were identified as Shaik Jakir Hussain (50), Shaik Afzal (36), Shaik Muneer Hussain (26), Shaik Mohamood (45) and Shaik Muttar (25). Another seriously injured member of the family is fighting for his life in a local hospital, police said. MORE UNI CS-KNR GM ADB1350 NNNN

 »  Andhra woman seeks mercy killing for paralysed son
Hyderabad |Tuesday, 2012 1:35:06 PM IST
Unable to take care of her invalid son due to poverty, a 64-year-old woman in Andhra Pradesh has sought euthanasia for him -- a 36-year-old graduate in aeronautical science.

 » 8 killed in AP mishaps
Hyderabad | Tuesday, Feb 7 2012 IST
Eight persons were killed and three injured, one of them seriously,in two road accidents in Andhra Pradesh this morning. In Nizamabad District, five persons were killed and another injured when the autorickshaw in which they were travelling was hit by tipper lorry at Arsapalle Village, near here, according to Nizambad Town SI Sydaiah. The deceased belonged to the same family. The mishap occurred when they were proceeding to Saragpur from Mallepalle in the district to attend funeral. Three persons were killed and two injured when the autoricshaws in which they were travelling was hit by a lorry at Sadasivapet Mandal in Medak District today, police said. UNI KNR GM 1101 NNNN

 » AP CM allocates portfolios to new ministers
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy tonight allocated portfolios to three new cabinet ministers who were sworn-in by Governor ESL Narasimhan at a brief ceremony held at Raj Bhavan here.

 » Assembly, Council to meet From Feb 13
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
The Budget Session of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Legislative Council will begin from February 13, it was officially announced tonight.

 » Govt purchased 9,51,622 of paddy current Kharif season
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Government has purchased 9,51,622 MTs of paddy during the current Kharif Marketing Season 2011-12 through the Food Corporation of India, A.P. State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited, and the IKP groups from 1,748 purchase centres throughout the state.

 »  NSL wins wind farm award
Hyderabad |Monday, 2012 11:05:05 PM IST
NSL Renewable Power Private Limited (NRPPL), part of NSL Group, has bagged the best operating wind farm award from Indian Wind Power Association (IWPA) for the third time.

 » 22,103 cases disposed in Spl Lok Adalat
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
As many as 22,103 cases were disposed during the Special Lok Adalat which was held on February four and five in the state. As per the instructions of the Chief Justice of A P and Patron-in-chief and the Executive chairman, A.P.State Legal Services Authority, a special Lok Adalat has been organized for settlement of compoundable criminal cases and other simple civil matters, an official release said here today The release said all the Chairmen and Secretaries of District Legal Services Authorities, chairmen of Mandal Legal Services Committees and Judicial officers, Advocates , police officers, litigant public have made the special Lok Adalat a success and disposed off 22,103 cases during the two days in all the districts. The significant feature of the initiative was settlement of 22,103 cases which were more than one fourth of total number 81,704 cases settled in the entire last year, the release claimed. UNI VV GM NVN2015 NNNN

 » Loyola Academy to organise Volleyball, Basketball tourneys
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
The Loyala Academy here will conduct the fourth edition of Fr.Baliah Memorial All India Inter-Collegiate basketball and the first edition of the All India Inter-collegiate Volleyball tournament here from February 8 to 11. Talking to newspersons here, Tournament Secretary Fr K S Camimir and Principal Fr Dr S Emmanuel said the fourth edition of basketball tourney would truly an all India competition with 10 teams each in the two events. Fr Casimir said the tournament will be played on League-cum-knock out basis. The top two teams from each pool in the league phase will qualify for the Knock-out Phase. He also said a sum of Rs 1 crore was earmarked for construction of an indoor and an outdoor stadium in the academy, of international standards. He said the winner will take home a purse of Rs 10,000, a gold medal and the Fr.Baliah Memorial Rolling Trophy. The runner up will get Rs 7,000, a silver medal and a certificate. UNI CS VV ADB1855 NNNN

 » Court adjourns hearing on koneru's bail petition
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
The CBI Special Court at Nampally today adjourned till February 9 the further hearing on the bail petition filed by Trimex Group Chairam Koneru Rajendra Prasad, an accused in the Emaar-APIIC Land Scam. The court also reserved its order on the bail petition of suspended IAS officer and Principal Secretary (Home) B P Acharya who was an accused in the same case, after counsel for the CBI completed its arguments today. The CBI custody of Sunil Reddy, accused in the Emaar Scam, has ended today. Meanwhile, the CBI sleuths had conducted searches at the residences of Mr Reddy once again in the morning and recovered some key documents, according to sources. UNI KNR CS GM NVN1955 NNNN

 »  Three ministers inducted in Andhra cabinet (Lead)
Hyderabad |Monday, 2012 7:35:05 PM IST
The Andhra Pradesh cabinet was expanded Monday with the induction of three ministers.

 » Kondru Murali Mohan resigns as govt whip
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
Government Whip Kondru Murali Mohan , who will be inducted into AP Cabinet this evening, resigned from the post here today. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kirankumar Reddy will induct three congress legisaltors -- N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Prasad Kumar (both from Telangana region) and Kondru Murali Mohan (Srikakulam District of north coastal Andhra Pradesh). UNI KNR GM ADB1900 NNNN

 » Minor mishap at Visakha Steel Plant
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
In a minor accident at Steel Melting Ship (SMS) of Visakha Steel Plant (VSP) in Visakhapatnam District, liquidsteel spilled from the ladle damaging transfer car and track today. The accident occurred in the early hours due to mechanical problems while transporting the commodity to the ladle, according to VSP officials. The mechanical shop immediately restored the track and there was no impact on the production at the SMS plant, the officials said. 'It is a common accident and there is no loss for the company and no injuries to anyone as it was a automatic system', were quoted as saying. UNI KNR GM ADB1855 NNNN

 » International conference on Luminescence
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT) here will organise an International conference on Luminescence and its Applications'' (ICLA-2012 from February 7 to 10 in association with Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Society for Information displays (SID) and Luminescence Socity of India (LSI). The release said luminescence and luminescent materials find important applications in the Display devices, radiation monitoring, lighting devices, Medicine. Detection of cancerous parts in human body and drug delivery, solar radiation harvesters and Infra red lasers for military needs are some of their prominent applications, the release said. About 350 delegates from all over India and abroad will present their latest findings and discuss several crucial issues related to efficiency enhancement of the performance of devices, cost effective methodologies, computer aided manufacturing procedures and novel material design. The conference would be great opportunity for budding researchers in India and abroad to update their knowledge in the field of luminescent materials, the release added. Prof Raj Reddy, the Chancellor of RGUKT will be inaugurating the conference and Dr J S Yadav, the Director of IICT releases the souvenir as the guest of honor. Prof G Boulon, the President, International Society for Luminescence will deliver the keynote address, a press release from RGUKT said here. UNI VV VV ADB1730 NNNN

 » AP CM to expand cabinet, 3 new faces to be inducted
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
After getting nod from Congress High Command during his visit to New Delhi during the last two days, Andhra Pradesh Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will expand his cabinet by inducting three Congress legislators this evening. Official sources said Huzurnagar MLA from Nalgonda District N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Vikarabad legislator from Ranga Reddy district Prasad Kumar and Government whip in Andhra Pradesh Assembly Kondru Murali Mohan, elected from Rajam (SC) reserved constituency in Srikakulam District, will be sworn in as Cabinet Ministers by Governor E S L Narasimhan in Raj Bhavan at 1828 hrs. The protocol wing of the government has informed the Raj Bhavan accordingly. The Chief Minister had got clearance to fill up the vacancies from Telangana region after Congress President Sonia Gandhi gave the required clearance to him. The sources said the Chief Minister convinced Ms Gandhi about the need of minor expansion to effectively face the budget session of the Legislature likely to commence from February 13. Mr Reddy is to fill up the vacancies in the cabinet caused by the resignation of Jupally Krishna Rao and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and dismissal of Dr P Shankar Rao due to his outbursts against the Chief Minister. Mr Jupally joined the TRS party after tendering resignation from the Minister's post while Mr Venkat Reddy had resigned his ministership for the cause of separate state of Telangana. On January 19 last month, the Chief Minister went for a minor re-shuffle of his cabinet by inducted the erstwhile PRP MLA Ganta Srinivas Rao and MLC C Ramachandriah due to the merger of PRP into the Congress. With the induction of three new faces, the strength of the Cabinet will increase to 41, including the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister is also expected to make some changes in the portfolios. UNI CS AKM RSS1320 NNNN

 »  Mojostreet adds Caf Coffee Day to its portfolio
Hyderabad |Monday, 2012 1:35:05 PM IST
Hyderabad-based Mojostreet, a location-based mobile game with real world benefits, Monday announced the availability of check-in based offers at 1,174 Caf Coffee Day (CCD) outlets across India.

 » Change in minimum temp over Coastal AP
Hyderabad | Monday, Feb 6 2012 IST
The minimum temperatures changed little over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, but rose at one or two places over Telangana and Rayalaseema. They were significantly below normal at one or two places over Rayalaseema, below normal at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, a bulletin from Meteorological Centre here today said. The lowest minimum temperature of 14 degrees Celsius was recorded at Arogyavaram. Forecast and Farmers' weather bulletin valid until the morning of February 8, 2012, indicated that mainly dry weather would prevail over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rayalaseema. Outlook for subsequent two days said there would be no large change. Forecast for Hyderabad City and Neighbourhood valid until the morning of February 8, 2012, said sky condition would be mainly clear. The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 32 and 18 degrees Celsius respectively, the bulletin said. UNI CS AKM RSS1239 NNNN

 »  Andhra cabinet to be expanded
Hyderabad |Monday, 2012 1:05:06 PM IST
For the second time in less than three weeks, the Andhra Pradesh cabinet is set to be expanded Tuesday evening with the induction of three ministers.

 » Eng, professional colleges to close indefinitely from Feb 7
Hyderabad | Sunday, Feb 5 2012 IST
Protesting the ''lackadaisical'' attitude of the Andhra Pradesh Government in reimbursement of the tution fees, the Consortium of Engineering and Professional College Management Association of Andhra Pradesh had decided to close the colleges indefinitely across the state from February 7. Talking to reporters after holding a meeting here, Association Chairman Ramesh and General Secretary K V K Rao claimed the state government has to release a sum of about Rs 3,000 crore towards Tution Fee reimbursement and demanded its immediate release. They said the association had given a memorandum to the government on January 1 on the issue and demanded to release the arrears by January 16. Despite the Congress government having given an assurance that it would release the arrears by February 1 this year, 'so far they have not honoured the promise made to us,' the association leaders said. Mr Ramesh said it has become a herculan task for the managements to run the institutions and make payment of salaries of the staff in view of non-payment of Tution fee,reimbursement. The Minority Colleges in the state had expressed solidarity with the decision taken by the Association. He warned the government that it would not conduct any examinations until the state government reimbursed the tution fee. UNI VV CS GM AR2010 NNNN

 » Punjab, UP storm into semis
Hyderabad | Sunday, Feb 5 2012 IST
Punjab and Uttar Pradesh entere the last four stage of the Junior (Under-20) national hockey championship for men after posting contrasting wins over their respective quarterfinal opponents at the Gachibowli Stadium here today. The first match of the day belied expectations. Haryana, which notched up some impressive wins in the league stage, however, came a cropper against the more formidable Punjab outfit. Punjab gave no chance, whatsoever, and held on to the ball for almost the entire duration of the lopsided encounter. Ironically, it was Haryana, which was off to an electrifying start. Dilbag Singh Dhillon gave them a flying lead when he shot a goal in the sixth minute of the first half. Unfortunately, the team showed lackadaisical coordination to the extent that the equalizer was brought four minutes later after Satbir Singh bamboozled the custodian and got one in. It was 2-1 in Punjab's favour when Gagandeep Singh (Senior) truck in the 32nd minute. After change of ends, Punjab was all over the opponent flank with the three minutes between 61st and 64th fetching three more goals. They romped home 5-1. The second match of the day was mesmerizing, if not for anything at least for sheer entertainment value. Dilip Toppo opened the SAIL campaign when he successfully converted a penalty corner in the very second minute. Sunil Yadav struck the first of his three goals in the seventh minute to bring the score to 1-1. However, SAIL wrested the lead in the 21st minute following Aslem Lakra's goal. At half-time the match was level at 2-all after Sunil Yadav came up with his second goal in the 30th minute. The ding-dong battle continued after resumption with both teams going for the kill. When the score was deadlocked at 3-each, and extra time was introduced the complexity of the game changed dramatically. Eventually, the golden goal came courtesy of Sunil in the 82nd minute to pave the way for Punjab to make it to the semifinals. Scores (Quarterfinal): Punjab 5 (Satbir Singh, Gagandeep Singh (Sr), Gagandeep Singh (Jr), Gurjant Singh, Ramandeep Singh) bt Haryana 1 (Dilbag Singh Dhillon);Uttar Pradesh 4 (Sunil Yadav-3 (including Golden Goal), Deepak Singh) bt SAIL(Rourkela) 3 (Dilip Toppo, Alsem Lakra, Aijub Ekka). UNI XR/VV VV ADB2001 NNNN

 » No threat for administration due to protest by IAS officials
Hyderabad | Sunday, Feb 5 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President Botcha Satyanarayana today said the protest of IAS officials over the investigations being conducted by the CBI into various cases would have no impact on the administration in the state. Talking to mediapersons at Gandhi Bhavan here, Mr Satyanarayana, also the state Transport Minister, said it was absolutely wrong that partiality was involved in the probe conducted by the investigating agency. He said every one is equal before the CBI investigation and added he can understand the anguish felt by the IAS officers on the CBI investigation who said it was targetting the IAS officers in the disproportionate case of YSR Congress Party Chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Emaar Scam and Illegal Mining Case. Rural Development Minister Dokka Manikya Varaprasada Rao told the press at Guntur that he faulted the stand taken by the IAS officals. He said as the officials were stating that Ministers were solely responsible for all the follies, they should name those who had violated the rules. The Minister said ''it was not proper on their part to pass the buck onto the Ministers, simply because they were caught.'' Stating it was unfortunate that such a situation had arisen, he said the Ministers and IAS officials should serve the people. Referring to the demand of the IAS officials that big fish were to be caught, he questioned if it meant that they had admitted to being small fish. Meanwhile, Former Minister and Senior Congress Leader J C Diwakar Reddy has ridiculed the claim of IAS officers that they had implemened whatthe Ministers had told them to do. Talking to reporters, he said it was not proper on the part of the bureaucrats to state that they had done as they were instructed by the Ministers. UNI CS GM KSR1650 NNNN

 »  Andhra ministers dare IAS officers to name corrupt
Hyderabad |Sunday, 2012 6:05:06 PM IST
A day after IAS officers pointed fingers at them, cabinet ministers in Andhra Pradesh Sunday hit back at top bureaucrats daring them to name the corrupt ministers.

 »  Milad celebrated with gaiety in Hyderabad
Hyderabad |Sunday, 2012 5:05:05 PM IST
Milad-un-Nabi, the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed, was celebrated Sunday with gaiety and fervor in Hyderabad and other parts of Andhra Pradesh.

 » Haryana take on Punjab, SAIL meet UP in quarters
Hyderabad | Saturday, Feb 4 2012 IST
Haryana will take on Punjab in what promises to be a close match while SAIL, Rourkela runs into Utta Pradesh for a slot in the last four, the winners joining Mumbai and Karnataka, who have already qualified for the semifinals,in the junior Under-20 National hockey championship for men reached its climatic stages following the end of the league schedule at the Gachibowli Stadium here today. In today's matches, Haryana, riding on a four-goal performance by Gurpreet Singh, ripped apart Uttar Pradesh defence for a formidable 9-0 win.There were two drawn matches, one between Chandigarh and Baroda, which ended 2-2 and Rural Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh who drew 4-4. Kerala defeated Manipur 4-2 while Uttar Pradesh prevailed over Jammu and Kashmir 4-0. Monday being the rest day,the semifinals will be played on Tuesday. The Results: Haryana 9 (Harpreet Singh, Gurpreet Singh-4, Neeraj Kumar-2 Balwinder Singh, Vipin Nandal) bt Uttarakhand (0); Uttar Pradesh 4 (Farogh Alvi, Imran Khan-2, Sunil Yadav) bt Jammu & Kashmir (0); Rural Maharashtra 4 (Vijay Patil-2, Abhimanyu Bhosale, Pramod Kale) drew Madhya Pradesh 4(Tarun Kumar, Vinod Yadav, Shubank Yadav-2); Chandigarh 2 (Baljot Singh, Gurjinder Singh) drew Bhopal 2 (Affan Yousuf, Prakash Singh Rawat); Kerala 4 (M M Ali K, Akhil Antony, Shijin S-2) bt Manipur 2 (K H Dhananjoy-2). UNI XR/VV VV CS AS2030 NNNN

 » Total transparency in recruitment process: Power utilities
Hyderabad | Saturday, Feb 4 2012 IST
Power utilities of state--APTRANSCO, APGENCO and DISCOMs--today said that the recruitment process for 8,539 vacancies was totally transparent and requested the aspiring candidates and parents not to fall prey of middlemen. All out efforts were being made by power utilities to complete the process of recruitment for the posts by April-end in the initial cadres such as Junior Plant Attendants (JPA), Junior Line Men (JLM), Junior Assistant (LDC), Sub-Engineers and Assistants, an official release said here today. The release said, in addition to this, APGENCO was also going to issue notification for filling up of 342 posts of security guards and firemen soon. The power utilities appealed the aspiring candidates and parents not to fall prey of middlemen and also instructed HRD wings of respective utilities to closely monitor the recruitment process, the release added. UNI VV MP 2323 NNNN

 » Need for alternative therapies to treat cancer: DGP
Hyderabad | Saturday, Feb 4 2012 IST
Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police Dinesh Reddy today asked the physicians to work on alternative therapies for treatment of cancer. Participating in a meeting as chief guest, organised by Apollo Hopsitals here on the occasion of 'World Cancer Day' today Mr Reddy said, 'earlier cancer was considered to be incurable, which was not the case now, cancer is curable.' 'Education about cancer was the need of the hour, which could lead to prevention of cancer or early detection and cure of the disease,' he said. In this connection, media could play a key role in bringing awareness about cancer by incorporating a regular column on cancer prevention and early detection in print and electronic media. He narrated his personal experience with cancer, with two of his close family members having been cured and now leading a happy life for the past twenty years, he said this was possible because of early detection of cancer. MORE UNI VV SY 2305 NNNN

 » IAS Officers disappointed by CBI investigation in various cases
Hyderabad | Saturday, Feb 4 2012 IST
About 100 IAS officers, including secretaries of Chief Minister and State Election Commission Chief Ramakanta Reddy, who attended the General Body Meeting conducted by IAS officers Association here this evening. They expressed their total ''disappointment' on the CBI's inquiry and making arrests of their colleagues in the disproportionate assets case of YSR Congress Party President Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and the Emaar Township irregularities case. Talking to reporters here, the IAS officers said the investigating agency inquiry was not according to the rules. Even though the investigations should be done with fully established procedures, the CBI came to conclusions without any proper basis, they alleged. ''We are appealing to the CBI to ascertain the facts before going ahead with the investigation against the IAS officers and if required we will not hestiate to take legal course'', the IAS officers warned. ''The CBI investigation is to tarnish the image of IAS concerned which would lead to negative thinking in the minds of the people against us after they hold our service in high esteem,'' they said. The IAS officers had set high standards in administration, worked with efficiency, probity and were appreciated by the public, the officers said and added they will cooperate with the government always as ''we are part of administration and executive. More UNI CS RSA 2211 NNNN

 » CBI questions Ratna Prabha in Jagan's illegal assets case
Hyderabad | Saturday, Feb 4 2012 IST
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today grilled IAS Officer Ratna Prabha in the alleged disproportionate assets case against YSR Congress Party President Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. The Karnataka cadre Indian Adminsitrative Officer reached the Dilkusha Guest house, the camp office of the CBI, at 1000 hours. The investigating agency questioned her for nearly three and half hours. Sources said Ms Ratna Prabha answered the questions posed by the CBI with regard to land allotments to persons and several organisations during former Chief Minister late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's regime and also on the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). During the YSR government, the IAS officer served as IT department Secretary and had released G.Os pertaining to land allotments and SEzs to IT Companies in Visakhapatnam, Ranga Reddy, Vijayawada and Warangal. These IT Companies later had allegedly made investments in the Jagan Group of Companies. The CBI sought her explanation in this context, the sources added. UNI CS VV ADB1759 NNNN

 »  Another IAS officer appears before CBI in Jagan case
Hyderabad |Saturday, 2012 5:05:05 PM IST
Another senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Saturday appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case involving alleged illegal assets of YSR Congress party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.

 »  CBI grills two accused in Emaar case
Hyderabad |Saturday, 2012 4:35:05 PM IST
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Saturday began grilling an executive of Emaar MGF and an aide of YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy in Emaar-APIIC township case.

 » Dry weather to prevail in AP over next 48 hours
Hyderabad | Saturday, Feb 4 2012 IST
Mainly dry weather would prevail over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rayalaseema over next 48 hours. The outlook for subsequent two days was that there would be no large change, the Met Office said here today. The sky condition would be mainly clear over Hyderabad and neighbourhood over next two days. The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 31 and 15 degrees Celsius Respectively. Observations recorded till 0830 hrs indicated that weather has been dry over the State. The minimum temperatures fell at many places over Telangana and at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and changed little over Rayalaseema. They were significantly below normal at one or two places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and at many places over Rayalaseema. The lowest minimum temperature of 8 degrees Celsius was recorded at Adilabad, the bulletin said. UNI VV AKM AK1434 NNNN

 » Head Constable commits sucide
Hyderabad | Saturday, Feb 4 2012 IST
Disgusted with family problems, a Police Head Constable allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself at Erragudapalm Police Station in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh today. Police said two bullets had pierced the chest and abdomen of 52-year-old Krupanandam's body. However, police also said they they were ascertaining the exact cause of death as to whether he had shot himself or the carbon rifle which he had during the time of his death had misfired. Krupanandam was recently transferred to Erragudapalem police station. He is survived by wife and two children. A case has been registered and investigation was underway, police added. UNI VV CS AKM AK1347 NNNN

 » MP survive Uttarakhand scare
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
In what was easily the closest match in terms of excitement and equal talent, Madhya Pradesh put it across Uttarakhand 4-3 on the seventh day of the ongoing Junior (Under-20) national hockey championship for men at the Gachibowli Stadium here today. The first-half ended at 1-all. Things remained same after resumption with neither side giving the edge to the other. However, a closely guarded rhythmic understand saw Madhya Pradesh manage to stave off a possible defeat. They were trailing 1-3 till Vijay Kumar Kori struck the second one. Thereafter, Madhya Pradesh banged two more to clinch the issue. In the other matches of the day, Haryana, riding on a hat-trick by Gurpreet Singh, trounced Rural Maharashtra 6-0 while Charitra Singh Bishnoi struck a hat-trick in Rajasthan's 6-1 drubbing of Manipur. SAIL, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh blanked their respective rivals. Results: Punjab 3 (Ramandeep Singh, Satbir Singh, Navjot Singh) bt Kerala (0); SAIL (Rourkela) 3 (Dilip Toppo, Aijub Ekka, Ranjin Kandulna) bt Bhopal (0); Patiala 4 (Jaskaran Singh, Balwinder Singh-2, Ripudaman Singh) bt J & K 1(Sahil Kumar); Chandigarh 4 (Ranjit Singh, Harjot Singh, Manmeet Raj, Navdeep Singh) bt Puducherry (0); MP 4 (Ram Pravesh, Vijay Kumar Kori, Franklin Mariyan, Aditya Chandel) bt Uttarakhand 3 (Puneet Kumar, Ankit Suyal-2); UP 6 (Sunil Yadav-2, Lalit Upadhyay, Abhishek Kumar Singh, Abhishek Singh, Abhimanyu Balmiki) bt HP (0); Haryana 6 (Gurpreet Singh-3(hat-trick, Sunil, Ankit Singh, Bishan Singh) bt Rural Maharashtra (0); Rajasthan 6 (Devanshu Rawat-2, Charitra Singh Bishnoi-hat-trick, Chandransh Sharma) bt Manipur 1(K H Bhananjoy Singh). UNI XR CS MP PR2325 NNNN

 » Eastern Region annex Powergrid football trophy
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
In a ruthless exhibition of perfect timing, Kolkata-based Eastern Region-II crushed Corporate Centre, Gurgaon, 6-0 to annex the Inter-regional Powergrid football trophy at the Gymkhana Ground here today. The North eastern region team was given the fair-play team while Bhagapat Soren from the winning team was adjudged as the best player of the tournament. The awards were given away by V Sekhar, Executive Director, Powergrid, at an impressive prize distribution ceremony. Meanwhile, the combined Powered team, slated to participate in the ensuing Inter-CPSU football tournament in New Delhi was also announced on the occasion. UNI XR CS MP AS2302 NNNN

 » Police arrest a techie for cyber crime
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
City Cyber Crime Police Station, CID have arrested a B Tech Engineer hailing from Bangalore for transmitting and publishing obscene and abusive information of his colleague in electronic form. Based on the complaint received on January 31, police arrested T Satish (27), who was residing and working in Bangalore, on February 1 after technical investigation. Police also seized one laptaop, one hard disk and an Iphone from his possession which were used for offence. Police said the accused confessed that the victim was his colleague in a Multi-National company in Hyderabad. They became good friends and taking the lenience of the victim's friendship, the accused Satish blackmailed her and got her acceptance of their marriage. Subsequently, Satish succeeded in taking some obscene photographs of the victim by putting her in fear, that he will go to any extent if she doesn't agree. Due to the attitude of the accused, the victim gradually reduced friendship and finally stopped talking to him. The accused bore grudge against the victim and hacked her email ID and transmitted her obscene pictures to the contacts list as if they were transmitted by the victim only. Further the accused opened a fake Facebook account on victim's name and published the obscene pictures of the victim to her friends and relatives which caused deep mental agony to not only to the victim girl, but also her family members. The accused was sent for 15-day judicial remand today, police added. UNI VV RSA 2320 NNNN

 » Collectors complain to CM on arrest of IAS officers by CBI
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
Members of IAS Association today met Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and expressed their concern about the manner in which the CBI was conducting investigations and arresting IAS officers in cases of disproportionate assets against YSR Congress Party Chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Emaar Township Project irregularities. Talking to reporters after meeting the Chief Minister, Senior IAS officers admitted that the investigating agency was probing key decisions of state government which had financial implications,they said. These decisions could not have been taken without explicit approval of concerned political executives, overseeing the respective departments. The Collectors said these decisions could not have been implemented without tacit approval of concerned members of the Council of Ministers and added political executives are being let off and civil servants were being made 'scape goats.' They said some government decisions were being questioned as irregular and officers who had processed the papers were being questioned. However, no steps seem to have been taken to reverse these supposedly irregular decisions. Thus the beneficiaries of such allegedly irregular decisions continue to reap benefits, while the IAS officers who processed the paper work for such decisions were harrassed with criminal investigation and prosecution. The Collectors requested the Chief Minister to review and either reverse or reconfirm such decisions. MORE UNI CS VV KSR2055 NNNN

 » Govt warns Jr doctors of severe action if strike not called off
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
Toughening its stand, the Andhra Pradesh government today warned the Junior Doctors in Gandhi Hospital that it would take severe action against them if they do not withdraw their ten-day strike immediately. Talking to reporters at the Congress Legislature Party office here, Primary Education Minister K Sailajanath, who is also a member of the Cabinet sub-committee on junior doctors, said some of the demands of the striking junior doctors were not acceptable. The junior doctors want the rules on compulsory service in rural areas to be changed, he said, and added the rule could not be modified, in the interest of rural masses. He said the state government had also agreed to honour the agreement on stipend that the junior doctors had about 2 years ago. As per the agreement, the government had been affecting a hike in stipend this year. Asking the junior doctors not to be adamant, he asked them to withdraw the strike and resume their duties. Initially, six doctors went on strike. After their health condition worsened, they were admitted to ICU in Gandhi Hospital. Later 12 others doctors joined the Relay Hunger strike since two days to press their demands. The main demands of striking doctors included reduction in compulsory rural service from three years to one year, hike in stipends and timely payments, enhancing the provisions of emergency and deployment of special protection force in hospitals. UNI CS VV KSR2030 NNNN

 »  We are scapegoats, say Andhra IAS officers
Hyderabad |Friday, 2012 9:05:05 PM IST
Rattled by the arrest of two senior colleagues in Emaar and illegal mining cases, IAS officers in Andhra Pradesh Friday told Chief Minister N. Kiran Reddy that they were being made scapegoats.

 » CBI questions former CS in Jagan's assests case
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has questioned former Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy for the second consecutive day today in disproportionate assests case of YSR Congress Party President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. After filing the Charge Sheet in the Emmar-APIIC twonship case, the CBI has intensified its investigaions into the illegal assets case of Jaganmohan Reddy. The former IAS officer had worked as Chief Secretary when Jaganmohan Reddy's father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was the Chief Minister. Mr Ramakanth Reddy, who is at present head of the State Election Commission, was reportedly being questioned about industrial and Infrstructure projects sanctioned during his tenure. The CBI also questioned another IAS officer, Ajay Mishra, Secretary (Political) in the General Administraion Departemnt yesterday. He had earlier served in the infrastructure and investiment department. The questioning of the two IAS officials comes close on the heels of Home Secretary and senior IAS officer B P Acharya's arrest in the Emmar case. Talking to media after CBI grilled him, Mr Reddy said the CBI officials questioned me about the GO released on the cabinet decesions and other related questions. To a question, he said 'I dont have any government official files with me. The investigating agency showed me some files and asked wether it was related as per the cabinet decesions. The ex-Chief Secretary said, even though the CBI had asked me to explain on other official matters connected to the case, I am not going to divulge it to the media. UNI VV CS VV NVN1915 NNNN

 » Court adjourns hearing of Acharya Bail Petition to Feb 6
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
The CBI special court at Nampally here today adjourned further hearing of bail petition of senior IAS officer and Andhra Pradesh Principal Secretary (Home) B P Acharya, the main accused in the APIIC-Emaar scam, till February 6. CBI Judge B Naga Maruthi Sharma heard the arguments on the bail petition today. The investigating agency filed a counter opposing granting of bail to him. Mr Acharya was admitted to the Osmania General Hospital here yesterday as he fainted in the Chanchalguda Central Prison after the Court sent him to remand till February 15. UNI CS VV KSR1845 NNNN

 » UPA govt should own responsibility on 2G scam :YSR Cong
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
YSR Congress Party today demanded that UPA government should own up responsibility for the 2G scam, instead of singling out former Union Telecom Minister A Raja or DMK. The party's official spokesperson Ambati Rambabu told reporters here that Article 74 clearly says that all cabinet decisions are the 'collective responsibility of the Government' and no minister or an ally can be solely made scapegoat. The remarks of Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal trying to absolve Congress stating that neither the Congress Party nor the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was indicted in the nation's biggest scam, has no moral sanctity, he said adding that the UPA should own up the responsibility instead of playing the blame game. Mr Ram Babu said Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee went on record saying that if Union Home Minister P Chidambaram would have insisted on bids the matter would have been different. He said the UPA did not bother to react to the 2G spectrum scam until the Supreme court directed the CBI to inquire into the issue, and claimed that this was the biggest scam in the country which according to the CAG's observation the Union Government has lost Rs 1,76,645 crore on the exchequer. UNI CS VV AK1842 NNNN

 » HC allows Emaar accused into CBI custody
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
The Andhra Pradesh High Court today permitted the CBI to take the Emaar accused--Vijay Raghavan and Sunil Reddy into its custody. Mr Justice K C Bhanu, who reserved his orders on February 1, to this effect and directed the investigating agency to question Emaar Township Private Limited CEO Raghavan for five days and distant relative of YSR Congress Party President Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Sunil Reddy to three days in the presence of their lawyers from 0800 hours to 1800 hours daily. The Judge also directed the CBI to shift the accused to Chanchalguda prision in the night. Before that, the court directed the CBI to conduct medical tests on them. Earlier on January 31, the Investigating Agency had moved the High Court against the order of the CBI special court at Nampally which had rejected the investigating agency's plea to give Sunil Reddy and Vijay Raghavan to its further custody, in the Emaar irregularities case. Mr Raghavan was arrested by the CBI on January 28 and Mr Sunil Reddy on January 24. The CBI in its petition has highlighted that as the investigation in the case was under progress and in crucial stage, it is necessary to interrogate them to ascertain more names of those who had committed wrongdoings in the scam. The CBI had interrogated both after taking them into custody on the directions of the court after their arrest but the CBI court had not granted further custody of Mr Reddy and Mr Ragahavan. UNI CS VV AK1832 NNNN

 » Govt's aim to render justice to all: VP
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
Vice President M Hamid Ansari today said the aim of the government was to render justice to all, irrespective of caste, religion and economic disparity. Speaking after participating in the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Kshatriya Seva Samithi (KSS)-AP at Shilpakala Vedika here, he said even though there were several castes in the country, he was proud that India was marching ahead with unity. Mr Ansari said 'seva' (service) was doing good to community and near and dear ones and added service may also be rendered to those who may not be near and dear ones but fellow citizens. ''I understand the KSS had done excellent work in the last 50 years in the fields of Education, financial allotment, upliftment of community and towards women, the Vice President said adding was every KSS right to celebrate the golden jubilee.'' Mr Ansari said though there were 4,693 communities in India and each community had a distinctive identity, nobody said indians should not have any specific identity. MORE UNI CS VV KSR1615 NNNN

 » Cong will come back to power in UP Assembly elections: Singh
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Digvijay Singh today claimed the Congress Party will surprise pollesters, political analysts and surveys in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and will Ride back to power. Talking to National News Agency and AIR reporters on the sidelines of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Kshatriya Seva Samithi here, he claimed ''the Congress will come back to power on its own as people there are looking for a change.'' Mr Singh said AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi was getting ''overwhelming'' response from the people of Uttar Pradesh during his campaign tours, which I have not seen for many years. When asked to comment on the ruling BSP and the opposition SP fighting hard to come back to power, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said ''Every party does its homework and hopes for the best at the hustings. However, the UP electorate had made up their mind to support the Congress and give full majority to it, he claimed. Replying to another question on the post-poll arrangement between the Samajwadi and Congress Party, the Senior congress leader said the Congress will not have any post-poll tie-up and added the Congress will give a ''Majuboot'' (Strong) government in that state. UNI CS VV AK1600 NNNN

 »  VP leaves for New Delhi
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
Vice President M Hamid Ansari left for New Delhi this afternoon after his brief two-hour visit to the Andhra Pradesh Capital. He was seen off at the Begumpet Airport by Governor E S L Narasimhan, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, GHMC Mayor and other officials. Mr Hamsari participated as the chief guest in Golden Jubilee Celebrations of The Kshatriya Seva Samithi-AP at Shilpakala Vedika here. Police made elaborate security arrangements at the airport in view of his visit. UNI VV-CS VV AK1555 NNNN

 » Review petition will be filed in SC over licences cancellation
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Digvijay Singh today said the UPA government at the centre will file a ''review'' petition in the Supreme Court on the cancellation of 122 telecom licences allotted to 11 companies during the tenure of the former Telecom Minister A Raja. The apex had declared the allocation of licences in the 2G spectrum as ''illegal'' yesterday. Talking to National News Agency and AIR reporters on the sidelines of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Kshatriya Seva Samithi here Mr Singh said ''I have not read the Supreme Court Judgement yet but the Union Government has carried out the policy initiated by the BJP-led NDA regime and since there is nothing wrong in it. The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said the CBI has inquired the allotment of licences on or after January 10, 2008 and added some Telecom Companies had gone ahead and built infrastructure. In such a scenario, what will be happened to them if the licenses were cancelled and hence the apex court order should be challenged. He also said the centre in its review petition will appeal to the Supreme Court to ''Examine'' its order once again as the companies had made investments into it. On Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's role in fixing the prices for the spectrum licence, along with Mr Raja, the Senior Congress leader said the Supreme Court has transfered the case to the special CBI Court and it will take a decision on it. UNI CS VV NVN1545 NNNN

 » CBI arrests jeweller for cheating bank of Rs 62 cr
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Sanjay Kumar, Managing Partner of the Ghanshyamdas Gems and Jewels for cheating the State Bank of India (SBI) Main Branch at Koti here to the tune of Rs 62 crore. According to the First Information Report registered by the CBI, the accused allegedly availed of credit facilities and produced fake bank gurantees purported to have been issued by the Punjab National Bank (PNB), Abids here on different occasions between June 2010 and April 2011 for amounts ranging between 6 crore and Rs 30 crore and cheated the SBI. The bank officials concerned had delivered gold ranging between 30kg and 119 kg on different occasions without proper verification of the genuineness of the bank gurantees, the FIR claimed said. The officials dealing with the gold loan scheme have been correponded through fax to a wrong number provided in the bank guarantee documents submitted by the accused. MORE UNI VV GM 1410 NNNN

 » Isolated rain in Coastal AP over next 48 hours
Hyderabad | Friday, Feb 3 2012 IST
Isolated light rain may occur over Coastal Andhra Pradesh over next 48 hours. Mainly dry weather would Prevail over Telangana and Rayalaseema during the same period, the Met Office said here today. The sky condition would be Partly cloudy over Hyderabad and neighbourhood and Fog and Mist would occur in morning hours over next two days. The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 31 and 17 degrees Celsius Respectively. Observations recorded at 0830 hours today indicated that weather has been dry over the State. The minimum temperatures fell at one or two places over Telangana and changed little over Rayalaseema, but rose at one or two places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh. They were below normal at one or two places over the state. The lowest minimum temperature of 11 degrees Celsius was recorded at Adilabad, the bulletin said. UNI VV 1353 NNNN

 »  CBI questions Andhra's former chief secretary
Hyderabad |Friday, 2012 2:35:05 PM IST
Andhra Pradesh's former chief secretary P. Ramakanth Reddy Friday appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case of alleged illegal assets of YSR Congress leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.

 »  Seminary asks Muslims to avoid ostentation on Mawlid
Hyderabad |Friday, 2012 1:05:05 PM IST
A leading Islamic seminary in Hyderabad has issued a fatwa asking Muslims to desist from un-Islamic practices like playing music, singing and dancing on Milad-un-Nabi, the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad.

 » First Cyber Crime Police Station accused convicted
Hyderabad | Thursday, Feb 2 2012 IST
In a case of publishing pornographic material in electronic form and criminal intimidation of a woman, the VI Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, here convicted a man for one year imprisonment with fine of Rs 12,000, in default of which an additional six months of imprisonment was imposed for the offence. The accused Sanaulla Faisal was ex-husband of the victim. After their 'Talaq', he started posting obscene comments and profile in online matrimonial ads with her obscene photos taken when they were leading matrimonial life and also sent e-mails with obscene content to her family members. After completion of the trial and also after examining the witnesses, the Judge convicted the accused yesterday. This was the first case in Cyber Crime Police Station (CCPS), CID Hyderabad, which ended in conviction under IT ACT 2000. UNI VV RSA 2314 NNNN