Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Hyderabad City News july 20th,2006
Cabinet expansion in 2 phases
Hyderabad, July 19: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy is likely to expand and reshuffle his Cabinet in two spells, according to highly placed sources in the government and the party. The first expansion will be in August-end or first week of September and the second in October or November, the sources said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.It is learnt that Dr Reddy will undertake the first expansion of the Cabinet in two-and-a-half years after the 10-day Assembly session beginning on August 17. One source did not rule out an expansion before the start of the session. The sources said Chief Minister would induct five to six ministers to the 25-member team (including the Chief Minister himself) and take three more after formation of the Legislative Council. The State in all can have 45 ministers.The Chief Minister will have to do a delicate balancing act since dropping “non-performers” is not an easy task in view of the caste and regional factors. “He has to assess the performance of each minister, which he has already done. He has to take into consideration the usefulness of the minister for the next elections,” a senior Congress leader said.Besides, the high command and APCC president K. Keshava Rao will be pushing for their candidates. Ministers who have come under the scanner of the Chief Minister for their “poor performance” in the government and the recent elections and those embroiled in scandals and controversies are Mr Mohd Fareeduddin (minorities welfare), Mr M. Mareppa (lift irrigation) Ms J. Geetha Reddy (tourism) Mr Koneru Ranga Rao (municipal administration), Mr G. Vinod (labour), Mr Jakkampudi Rammohan Rao (roads and buildings), Mr Gollapalli Surya Rao (animal husbandry) and Mr Pinnamaneni Koteswara Rao (higher education). Of these, many belong to the scheduled castes, one is from the minority community and another is a woman. They will have to be replaced by legislators from the same groups to keep the balance. Mr Jakkampudi Ramamohan Rao, a YSR loyalist, is is ailing, rural development minister D. Srinivas has reportedly differed with the Chief Minister on various issues while marketing minister Botsa Satyanarayana who was entangled in the Volkswagen scandal was ticked off by the high command.Dr Reddy’s “chellamma” (sister) mines and geology minister Sabita Reddy failed in elections in Ranga Reddy, which was grabbed by the Telugu Desam. In Warangal, social welfare minister Redya Naik fared poroly in the polls. Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy’s name is being mentioned as a likely inductee into the Cabinet. If that happens, the Chief Minister will have to look for a candidate to fill the Speaker’s post. The Cabinet currently does not have representation for Hyderabad, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, West Godavari, Chittoor and Adilabad districts.Among those in race for a ministerial berth are: Mr M. Mukesh (Hyderabad), Mr G. Chinna Reddy, Mr Gurunath Reddy (Mahbubnagar, supported by PCC chief), Mr V. Purushotham Reddy, Mr Damodar Reddy (Nalgonda), Mr Sambani Chandrasekhar, Mr Jala-gam Venkat Rao (Khammam), Mr Saraiah (Warangal), Mr T. Jeevan Reddy, Mr Ratnakar (Karimnagar), Mr Ramachanda Reddy, Mr A. Indrakaran Reddy (Adilabad), Mr Vasanth Kumar, Mr Maganti Babu (West Godavari), Ms Galla Aru-na, Mr Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu (Chittoor), Mr E. Pratap Reddy and K. Sujatamma (Kurnool).There is speculation that Dr Reddy might reshuffle the portfolios of ministers like Ponnala Lakshmaiah, N Raghuveera Reddy, J. Rammohan Rao, M. Satyanarayana Rao and Botsa Satyanarayana owing to various reasons, the sources said.
Vigilance officer wants action against D.C. Rosaiah
Hyderabad, July 19: In the latest twist to the Poppalguda land row, State vigilance commissioner R.C. Samal is learnt to have recommended disciplinary action against revenue secretary D.C. Rosaiah for passing orders allotting 200 acres of land meant for Pakistan refugees to their reported descendants.
The government, in turn, is reportedly investigating a similar land allotment made by Mr Samal himself in 2004. According to highly placed sources, Mr Samal wrote to chief secretary T.K. Dewan last week recommending suitable action against Mr Rosaiah for allotting the land in favour of private persons without consulting Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy or higher officials.
Mr Samal, it is learned, pointed out that when former chief commissioner of land administration C. Arjun Rao issued orders in favour of Mr R.P. Malani and others, the issue was referred to the ACB.Now, Mr Rosaiah had endorsed the orders of Mr Arjun Rao.
“There were a number of reports in the media suspecting largescale irregularities in the allotment. The present value of the land is estimated to be around Rs 700 crore. In view of these allegations, the government should take suitable action against Mr Rosaiah,” Mr Samal is learnt to have written.
Mr Samal took up the Poppalguda issue suo motu and wrote to the chief secretary, though he normally acts only on the corruption and malpractice cases referred to him by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Vigilance and Enforcement department. His recommendations can be overruled only by the Chief Minister.
However, the government is learnt to be probing a similar land deal involving Mr Samal himself. Sources said Mr Samal, who was CCLA in 2004, passed orders on April 24, 2004, allotting 1,800 acres of government land at Hafizpet to some persons claiming to be pattadars. Within two days, the revenue department issued the government orders.
“That issue is pending inquiry. Since Mr Samal has raised the issue of land allocation by the former chief commissoner for land administration (Mr Arjun Rao) and then by the revenue secretary (Mr Rosaiah), the government is planning to dig out similar cases pending inquiry,” sources said.
Suspend babu for alleged sexual harassment: SCW
Hyderabad: The AP Commission for Women on Wednesday recommended to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy to suspend commissioner for directorate of employment and training K. Mangapati Rao, an IAS officer, ahead of an inquiry following allegations by women employees that he had sexually harassed them. Mr Rao has denied the charge, reports our correspondent.
About 100 employees, including 50 women, on Wednesday went to the office of the commission and lodged a complaint against Mr Rao. Commission chairperson Mary Ravindranath said, “The commission has recommended to the Chief Minister and concerned minister to suspend the IAS officer. We have received a written complaint from a victim and other women employees complained orally.
We have summoned Mr Mangapati Rao to appear on Friday before the commission.” An officer of the directorate, in her complaint to the commission, alleged that Mr Rao had used vulgar language on July 13 and that he had been harassing her for three months. She alleged that Mr Rao had referred to “measurements of briefs”.
Mr Rao said that he didn’t misbehave with the officer but was only enquiring about measurements of a particular map. “When she could not give the figures I asked her why she couldn’t remember the measurements, after all we can remember the measurements of underwear,” said Mr Rao. “If I really wanted to misbehave with her, would I talk like that in front of every one,” said Mr Rao.
SW monsoon dashes State hopes
Hyderabad, July 19: The southwest monsoon continued to fail the State, completely erasing the cheer it had brought by setting in early almost two months ago. All three regions reported big deficits in rainfall figures till Wednesday, according to figures available with the Hyderabad Meteorological Department. The twin cities received just half the rainfall normally expected at this time of the year.
All districts in the State except Srikakulam received deficit rainfall. According to the norm, Telangana by this time should have received 266 mm of rainfall. It has received 155 mm. The rain deficit worsened in Telangana from 35 per cent last week to 41 per cent this week.
The coastal region receives about 190 mm of rainfall by this time of the year. This time, the region has received 153 mm of rainfall. The rain shortfall of six per cent last week worsened to 20 per cent deficit.Three Rayalaseema districts received deficit rainfall: Against 107 mm by July 19 as per the norm, the region had received 90 mm.
A top official from the Hyderabad meteorological office said, “Time is running out. We need something big to make up for the deficit.” He said that there had been no significant rainfall till now in July. “It would be difficult to make up the deficit in just one month in August unless something big comes down.”
On July 13, the State government had said that thousands of acres sown under various crops will wither away if the rains stay away for one week. Crops under flowering and vegetative stage are drying up in many places. The government had said it had prepared a contingency plan if rains fall. The plan included supply of seeds such as red gram, castor, sunflower and Bengal gram at subsidised rates for sowing. That plan may now have to be implemented.
The figures for Telangana districts are (all figures show deficit rainfall in percentages): Nalgonda 78 per cent; Ranga Reddy 56; Medak 54; Hyderabad 53; Karimnagar 44; Warangal 43; Nizamabad 38; Mahbubnagar 35; Adilabad 33 per cent and Khammam received 24 per cent deficit rainfall. The figures for the coastal region were: Guntur 48 per cent; West Godavari 42; East Godavari 46; Krishna 40 and Prakasam received 27 per cent deficit rainfall.
Hussainsagar clean-up from Sept.
Hyderabad, July 19: The clean up and beautification of Hussainsagar would be taken up from September. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will give Rs 300 crore for the clean-up operation and technical support will be provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
However, no decision has been taken on the sensitive issue of the immersion of Ganesh idols in the lake. A meeting was convened by Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) on Wednesday to discuss the nitty-gritty of the clean-up operation, but the members of the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti walked out without taking part in the discussions.
Mr Bhagwanth Rao, an office-bearer of the samiti, told this correspondent that they left the venue to protest at the way the samiti was neglected by officials.According to him, the meeting initially decided to set up four different groups comprising officials, NGOs, local residents and organisations to discuss various issues. “But when the groups were announced, the samiti’s name was not there at all,” he said.
Each group was meant to submit its suggestions and objections on the four topics which were to be discussed. They topics were: 1. Lake and water, 2. Shore area, 3. Inlet and nalas, and 4. Catchment areas. When asked why officials would snub them after inviting them, Mr Bhagwanth Rao retorted that the samiti would have done some plainspeaking on the government’s failure in controlling pollution in the lake.
“The lake is getting polluted mainly due to industrial effluents and not due to immersion of Ganesh idols,” he said. Before leaving the venue, activists of the samiti tore posters pasted at the entrance of the meting hall. Several of the posters referred to the pollution caused by idol immersion.Later, the meeting was held without the samiti office-bearers.
Christian groups refuse to see movie preview
Hyderabad, July 19: Ahead of Friday’s release of The Da Vinci Code, Christian organisations have threatened to take extreme measures to stop its screening. Code exhibitors Lakshmi Ganapathi films invited leaders from Christian organisations for a preview of the movie on Thursday night, but the Christian leaders turned them down.
“We have requested the distributors to think morally and act accordingly so that things will not go out of hand. On the garb of freedom of expression, one can’t play with the sentiments of a particular community,” Archbishop Marampudi Joji said here on Wednesday.
“There is no point in watching the preview one day before and giving a nod to it. The exhibitors should understand the sentiments of Christians,” he said. There was no point in screening the movie and hurting the sentiments of the Christian community, he said.
Women members of some organisations started a relay fast at Indira Park on Wednesday.Members of the Andhra Pradesh Christian Association have threatened to attempt self-immolation and stage widespread protests in front of theatres that screen the film. Association president T. Vijay Raj said, “We are trying to sort this problem peacefully. But things could go out of hand if they continue with their decision to screen the movie.”
Cyber safety week by CID
Hyderabad, July 19: The Cyber Crime Police of the Crime Investigation Department is organising a ‘Cyber safety week-2006’ in association with Nasscom here from July 20 to 22. The programme assumes significance in the wake of Andhra Pradesh emerging as a major IT destination.
Cyber Crime superintendent of police M. Shivananda Reddy said on Wednesday: “Leading software companies like Microsoft, Infosys, Oracle, Satyam and IBM are operating from the twin cities. e-commerce activities and usage of Internet are increasing day by day. In view of the enormous growth in IT sector and usage of Internet in Andhra Pradesh, the Nasscom has proposed to conduct the Cyber safety week–2006 here in association with the AP police.”
Mr Reddy said cyber safety awareness campaign for students, seminars for police officers, public prosecutors, judicial officers and seminars for IT and BPO will be conducted as part of the Cyber safety week. “The programme is being organised to bring awareness among the public,” he said.
KCR now sets Aug. 15 deadline
Hyderabad, July 19: Setting yet another deadline for formation of Telangana State, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday said the party would launch a full-scale agitation, if the Congress did not make a policy statement on Telangana by August 15.
“We want a straight answer from (AICC president) Sonia Gandhi. If the Congress makes a policy announcement by August 15, we will wait for some more time. Otherwise, we don’t have other option but to come out of the UPA government and launch a full-scale battle,” Mr Rao said while addressing mediapersons here along with senior leader A Narendra.
“We have waited with a lot of patience all these days. But there is always a limit to everything. Now, we have lost our patience. We don’t have faith in (defence minister) Pranab Mukherjee (who heads the UPA sub-committee on Telangana) or his report,” he said.
He said the UPA government had been dodging the issue. “We are not bothered about the views of the State Congress, which is just one of the 28 branches of the AICC,” Mr Rao said. “We did not have faith in the Congress, but only in Sonia Gandhi’s assurances. We have total confidence in her words and her personality. She never uttered a word against Telangana. But now, the time has come for her to come out with an open statement on Telangana,” he said.
As regards the performance of the TRS in the panchayat polls, he said the party had not taken the elections very seriously but was concentrating on lobbying for Telangana at the Centre.
Safety norms ignored
Hyderabad, July 19: Careless handling of the highly-explosive Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN) had triggered the powerful blast at Anjana Explosives limited in Nalgonda which killed five employees. The blast on Tuesday night has once again highlighted the unsafe conditions prevailing in most explosives manufacturing units.
Nalgonda police have booked a case of negligence and are checking on the safety precautions in the factory.A team from the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory (APFSL) visited the blast site on Wednesday submitted a report stating that the blast took place due to mishandling of PETN.
Manufacturing of detonator chords in bulk might have caused friction in PETN triggering the blast. “Even minor friction can cause PETN to explode,” said an APFSL expert. “It is used as booster in the detonator manufacturing unit. To avoid such incidents, they should increase the machine efficiency”.
Nalgonda superintendent of police Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagawat said that there were no residential localities near the factory, which was situated in a 250-acre plot.“The explosion took place in the spinning unit and the roof collapsed, burying four workers under the debris,” he said. “Another person died in the hospital.” The SP said he would verify whether the licensing conditions were being followed or not. “The negligence part will be decided in the investigation,” he said.
The blast victims were identified as B. Nagaraju, of Amalapuram, Ch Shiva, of Lakkavaram in East Godavari, K. Prasad of Amalapuram and Simh-achalam and J. Mahesh, both from Vizianagaram. There are 11 major explosive manufacturing units in Nalgonda alone. Two blasts had earlier occurred in the Gulf Oil Corporation detonators manufacturing unit.
Now, RBI to take up pallebata
Hyderabad, July 19: The State government is planning to depute banking agents in rural areas to end exploitation of the poor by micro finance agencies. The proposal came up during a recent meeting between Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy and State officials. Sources said that the proposal would be further discussed at a meeting to be held here in the last week of July with all agencies involved in rural finance. The RBI governor is expected to attend this meeting too.
“The banking agents will be working in villages on behalf of the commercial banks,” said a senior official. “They will attend to the loan needs of rural folk.” This is essential since most commercial banks don’t have branches in rural pockets. These agents will not charge any interest on loan takers unlike money lenders or micro finance companies. They will be paid a nominal commission for their services. “We have to decide whether these agents will be appointed by banks or Dwcra groups,” said the official.
Micro finance companies have come under fire for obtaining loans from banks and lending them to poor Dwcra group members at exorbitant interest. The government woke up to the problem after complaints came up that the companies had harassed several women while trying to recover dues. A committee was appointed to probe into the irregularities.
The government is also planning to bring in comprehensive legislation to curb malpractices of money lenders and micro finance agencies. “At present, we have no data on moneylenders,” said the official. “Once the Act comes into being, individuals or organisations involved in money lending would be asked to register with local revenue officials.”
State to keep prices in check
Hyderabad, July 19: Civil supplies minister N. Raghuveera Reddy on Wednesday acknowledged that there was a sharp rise in prices of essential commodities and said the government would supply the commodities at cheaper rates.
According to his figures, green gram (pesara pappu) went up from Rs 30.08 per kg last year to Rs 45.29 this year; blackgram (minugulu) Rs 29.15 to Rs 47.66; tamarind Rs 27.86 to Rs 40.64; chillies Rs 24.47 to Rs 47.72; Bengal gram (chanaga pappu) Rs 23.97 to Rs 30.32; groundnut oil Rs 51.43 to Rs 52.98 and palm oil from Rs 39.97 a kg last year to Rs 42.28 a kg now.
Mr Raghuveera Reddy told mediapersons that the Centre had decided to import pulses; once the quantity of imports was decided, the State would get its share and the government would supply them to the consumers through fair price shops. As regards tamarind, he said the Girijan Corporation had 31,000 quintals. The government had asked it to sell 19,000 tonnes through rythu bazaars and fair price shops at Rs 30 a kg. The rest could be sold in the open market through open auction.
The Twin Cities Merchants Association had agreed to sell 1 kg tamarind per consumer at the Malakpet market yard at Rs 25 a kg. The facility would be extended to more. He said the AP Oil Seeds Federation had been asked to procure more groundnut oil and palm oil to ensure that the prices would not go up further, he said.
The minister pointed out that the price of red gram and rice had come down from last year. The AP Markfed had 7,000 quintals of red gram and the government suggested that the stocks could be released where there were signs of price rise, he said.
On apprehensions about shortage of LPG, the minister said out of 700 dealers in the twin cities, 18 had backlog of seven to 10 days. There was no shortage of LPG stocks and the civil supplies department had been asked to address to the problems of shortage with some dealers, he added.
Krushi chest had deposits of ex-DGPs
Hyderabad, July 19: Krushi Bank scamster Kosaraju Venkateswara Rao has confessed to the CID that he gave a job in his software company to former DGP H.J. Dora’s son.He also disclosed that former DGP R.K. Ragala had invested Rs 3 lakh through his wife in Gold Crest Power Project Limited, he owns. The disclosures have given new leads to the CID about the scamster’s links with bigwigs.
Venkateswara Rao said that he had met Mr Dora to sort out a problem of loan fraud. After that, Mr Dora asked him to give a job to his son Satyanarayana Dora in his company, Helcyon Softech Limited. “I paid him a salary of Rs 25,000 per month,” the scamster had told sleuths. “He used the bank’s car and I purchased his flat in Banjara Hills.” Later, Mr Dora agreed to deposit some money from the police department in the bank. “A few lakhs of rupees were deposited in 1999-2000 in Krushi Bank and on maturity the amount was paid with interest,” he said.
He added that Mr Dora and former Adilabad MP Mr Venugopala Chary attended his marriage in Eluru in April 2000. Venkateswara Rao further told the sleuths that he used to give donations to orphanages and eye donation camps.
“I came to Hyderabad in 1996 with Rs 2 lakh and stayed afloat through share business,” he said. “I then shifted to cooperative banking.” The scamster said that bank sanctioned Rs 33.5 lakh to him, Rs 73 lakh to Gold Crest Power Project and Rs 45 lakh to Helcyon Softech limited.
He also told the sleuths that he used to avail overdraft facility for crores of rupees and used it in the share business. CID sources said Venkateswara Rao had also admitted that he created 65 loan accounts in bogus names.
Meanwhile, Mr Ragala when contacted said, “I was not executive director of Gold Crest Power Project. I was only a director. My wife deposited the amount on the suggestion of a few known persons of the RBI. We would have not deposited the cash or I would have refused to be the director of the project if I knew that the power project was floated with depositors’ money.”
RTC not to hike bus fare
Hyderabad, July 19: The government on Wednesday decided not to hike bus fares of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC). Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy who reviewed the functioning of the APSRTC at the Secretariat was informed by transport minister Kanna Laxminarayana, APSRTC managing director M.V. Krishna Rao and others that there was no need to hike the bus fares at present in view of the corporation making a turnabout with Rs 140 crore profit in the first quarter.
Hyderabad, July 19: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy is likely to expand and reshuffle his Cabinet in two spells, according to highly placed sources in the government and the party. The first expansion will be in August-end or first week of September and the second in October or November, the sources said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.It is learnt that Dr Reddy will undertake the first expansion of the Cabinet in two-and-a-half years after the 10-day Assembly session beginning on August 17. One source did not rule out an expansion before the start of the session. The sources said Chief Minister would induct five to six ministers to the 25-member team (including the Chief Minister himself) and take three more after formation of the Legislative Council. The State in all can have 45 ministers.The Chief Minister will have to do a delicate balancing act since dropping “non-performers” is not an easy task in view of the caste and regional factors. “He has to assess the performance of each minister, which he has already done. He has to take into consideration the usefulness of the minister for the next elections,” a senior Congress leader said.Besides, the high command and APCC president K. Keshava Rao will be pushing for their candidates. Ministers who have come under the scanner of the Chief Minister for their “poor performance” in the government and the recent elections and those embroiled in scandals and controversies are Mr Mohd Fareeduddin (minorities welfare), Mr M. Mareppa (lift irrigation) Ms J. Geetha Reddy (tourism) Mr Koneru Ranga Rao (municipal administration), Mr G. Vinod (labour), Mr Jakkampudi Rammohan Rao (roads and buildings), Mr Gollapalli Surya Rao (animal husbandry) and Mr Pinnamaneni Koteswara Rao (higher education). Of these, many belong to the scheduled castes, one is from the minority community and another is a woman. They will have to be replaced by legislators from the same groups to keep the balance. Mr Jakkampudi Ramamohan Rao, a YSR loyalist, is is ailing, rural development minister D. Srinivas has reportedly differed with the Chief Minister on various issues while marketing minister Botsa Satyanarayana who was entangled in the Volkswagen scandal was ticked off by the high command.Dr Reddy’s “chellamma” (sister) mines and geology minister Sabita Reddy failed in elections in Ranga Reddy, which was grabbed by the Telugu Desam. In Warangal, social welfare minister Redya Naik fared poroly in the polls. Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy’s name is being mentioned as a likely inductee into the Cabinet. If that happens, the Chief Minister will have to look for a candidate to fill the Speaker’s post. The Cabinet currently does not have representation for Hyderabad, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, West Godavari, Chittoor and Adilabad districts.Among those in race for a ministerial berth are: Mr M. Mukesh (Hyderabad), Mr G. Chinna Reddy, Mr Gurunath Reddy (Mahbubnagar, supported by PCC chief), Mr V. Purushotham Reddy, Mr Damodar Reddy (Nalgonda), Mr Sambani Chandrasekhar, Mr Jala-gam Venkat Rao (Khammam), Mr Saraiah (Warangal), Mr T. Jeevan Reddy, Mr Ratnakar (Karimnagar), Mr Ramachanda Reddy, Mr A. Indrakaran Reddy (Adilabad), Mr Vasanth Kumar, Mr Maganti Babu (West Godavari), Ms Galla Aru-na, Mr Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu (Chittoor), Mr E. Pratap Reddy and K. Sujatamma (Kurnool).There is speculation that Dr Reddy might reshuffle the portfolios of ministers like Ponnala Lakshmaiah, N Raghuveera Reddy, J. Rammohan Rao, M. Satyanarayana Rao and Botsa Satyanarayana owing to various reasons, the sources said.
Vigilance officer wants action against D.C. Rosaiah
Hyderabad, July 19: In the latest twist to the Poppalguda land row, State vigilance commissioner R.C. Samal is learnt to have recommended disciplinary action against revenue secretary D.C. Rosaiah for passing orders allotting 200 acres of land meant for Pakistan refugees to their reported descendants.
The government, in turn, is reportedly investigating a similar land allotment made by Mr Samal himself in 2004. According to highly placed sources, Mr Samal wrote to chief secretary T.K. Dewan last week recommending suitable action against Mr Rosaiah for allotting the land in favour of private persons without consulting Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy or higher officials.
Mr Samal, it is learned, pointed out that when former chief commissioner of land administration C. Arjun Rao issued orders in favour of Mr R.P. Malani and others, the issue was referred to the ACB.Now, Mr Rosaiah had endorsed the orders of Mr Arjun Rao.
“There were a number of reports in the media suspecting largescale irregularities in the allotment. The present value of the land is estimated to be around Rs 700 crore. In view of these allegations, the government should take suitable action against Mr Rosaiah,” Mr Samal is learnt to have written.
Mr Samal took up the Poppalguda issue suo motu and wrote to the chief secretary, though he normally acts only on the corruption and malpractice cases referred to him by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Vigilance and Enforcement department. His recommendations can be overruled only by the Chief Minister.
However, the government is learnt to be probing a similar land deal involving Mr Samal himself. Sources said Mr Samal, who was CCLA in 2004, passed orders on April 24, 2004, allotting 1,800 acres of government land at Hafizpet to some persons claiming to be pattadars. Within two days, the revenue department issued the government orders.
“That issue is pending inquiry. Since Mr Samal has raised the issue of land allocation by the former chief commissoner for land administration (Mr Arjun Rao) and then by the revenue secretary (Mr Rosaiah), the government is planning to dig out similar cases pending inquiry,” sources said.
Suspend babu for alleged sexual harassment: SCW
Hyderabad: The AP Commission for Women on Wednesday recommended to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy to suspend commissioner for directorate of employment and training K. Mangapati Rao, an IAS officer, ahead of an inquiry following allegations by women employees that he had sexually harassed them. Mr Rao has denied the charge, reports our correspondent.
About 100 employees, including 50 women, on Wednesday went to the office of the commission and lodged a complaint against Mr Rao. Commission chairperson Mary Ravindranath said, “The commission has recommended to the Chief Minister and concerned minister to suspend the IAS officer. We have received a written complaint from a victim and other women employees complained orally.
We have summoned Mr Mangapati Rao to appear on Friday before the commission.” An officer of the directorate, in her complaint to the commission, alleged that Mr Rao had used vulgar language on July 13 and that he had been harassing her for three months. She alleged that Mr Rao had referred to “measurements of briefs”.
Mr Rao said that he didn’t misbehave with the officer but was only enquiring about measurements of a particular map. “When she could not give the figures I asked her why she couldn’t remember the measurements, after all we can remember the measurements of underwear,” said Mr Rao. “If I really wanted to misbehave with her, would I talk like that in front of every one,” said Mr Rao.
SW monsoon dashes State hopes
Hyderabad, July 19: The southwest monsoon continued to fail the State, completely erasing the cheer it had brought by setting in early almost two months ago. All three regions reported big deficits in rainfall figures till Wednesday, according to figures available with the Hyderabad Meteorological Department. The twin cities received just half the rainfall normally expected at this time of the year.
All districts in the State except Srikakulam received deficit rainfall. According to the norm, Telangana by this time should have received 266 mm of rainfall. It has received 155 mm. The rain deficit worsened in Telangana from 35 per cent last week to 41 per cent this week.
The coastal region receives about 190 mm of rainfall by this time of the year. This time, the region has received 153 mm of rainfall. The rain shortfall of six per cent last week worsened to 20 per cent deficit.Three Rayalaseema districts received deficit rainfall: Against 107 mm by July 19 as per the norm, the region had received 90 mm.
A top official from the Hyderabad meteorological office said, “Time is running out. We need something big to make up for the deficit.” He said that there had been no significant rainfall till now in July. “It would be difficult to make up the deficit in just one month in August unless something big comes down.”
On July 13, the State government had said that thousands of acres sown under various crops will wither away if the rains stay away for one week. Crops under flowering and vegetative stage are drying up in many places. The government had said it had prepared a contingency plan if rains fall. The plan included supply of seeds such as red gram, castor, sunflower and Bengal gram at subsidised rates for sowing. That plan may now have to be implemented.
The figures for Telangana districts are (all figures show deficit rainfall in percentages): Nalgonda 78 per cent; Ranga Reddy 56; Medak 54; Hyderabad 53; Karimnagar 44; Warangal 43; Nizamabad 38; Mahbubnagar 35; Adilabad 33 per cent and Khammam received 24 per cent deficit rainfall. The figures for the coastal region were: Guntur 48 per cent; West Godavari 42; East Godavari 46; Krishna 40 and Prakasam received 27 per cent deficit rainfall.
Hussainsagar clean-up from Sept.
Hyderabad, July 19: The clean up and beautification of Hussainsagar would be taken up from September. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will give Rs 300 crore for the clean-up operation and technical support will be provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
However, no decision has been taken on the sensitive issue of the immersion of Ganesh idols in the lake. A meeting was convened by Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) on Wednesday to discuss the nitty-gritty of the clean-up operation, but the members of the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti walked out without taking part in the discussions.
Mr Bhagwanth Rao, an office-bearer of the samiti, told this correspondent that they left the venue to protest at the way the samiti was neglected by officials.According to him, the meeting initially decided to set up four different groups comprising officials, NGOs, local residents and organisations to discuss various issues. “But when the groups were announced, the samiti’s name was not there at all,” he said.
Each group was meant to submit its suggestions and objections on the four topics which were to be discussed. They topics were: 1. Lake and water, 2. Shore area, 3. Inlet and nalas, and 4. Catchment areas. When asked why officials would snub them after inviting them, Mr Bhagwanth Rao retorted that the samiti would have done some plainspeaking on the government’s failure in controlling pollution in the lake.
“The lake is getting polluted mainly due to industrial effluents and not due to immersion of Ganesh idols,” he said. Before leaving the venue, activists of the samiti tore posters pasted at the entrance of the meting hall. Several of the posters referred to the pollution caused by idol immersion.Later, the meeting was held without the samiti office-bearers.
Christian groups refuse to see movie preview
Hyderabad, July 19: Ahead of Friday’s release of The Da Vinci Code, Christian organisations have threatened to take extreme measures to stop its screening. Code exhibitors Lakshmi Ganapathi films invited leaders from Christian organisations for a preview of the movie on Thursday night, but the Christian leaders turned them down.
“We have requested the distributors to think morally and act accordingly so that things will not go out of hand. On the garb of freedom of expression, one can’t play with the sentiments of a particular community,” Archbishop Marampudi Joji said here on Wednesday.
“There is no point in watching the preview one day before and giving a nod to it. The exhibitors should understand the sentiments of Christians,” he said. There was no point in screening the movie and hurting the sentiments of the Christian community, he said.
Women members of some organisations started a relay fast at Indira Park on Wednesday.Members of the Andhra Pradesh Christian Association have threatened to attempt self-immolation and stage widespread protests in front of theatres that screen the film. Association president T. Vijay Raj said, “We are trying to sort this problem peacefully. But things could go out of hand if they continue with their decision to screen the movie.”
Cyber safety week by CID
Hyderabad, July 19: The Cyber Crime Police of the Crime Investigation Department is organising a ‘Cyber safety week-2006’ in association with Nasscom here from July 20 to 22. The programme assumes significance in the wake of Andhra Pradesh emerging as a major IT destination.
Cyber Crime superintendent of police M. Shivananda Reddy said on Wednesday: “Leading software companies like Microsoft, Infosys, Oracle, Satyam and IBM are operating from the twin cities. e-commerce activities and usage of Internet are increasing day by day. In view of the enormous growth in IT sector and usage of Internet in Andhra Pradesh, the Nasscom has proposed to conduct the Cyber safety week–2006 here in association with the AP police.”
Mr Reddy said cyber safety awareness campaign for students, seminars for police officers, public prosecutors, judicial officers and seminars for IT and BPO will be conducted as part of the Cyber safety week. “The programme is being organised to bring awareness among the public,” he said.
KCR now sets Aug. 15 deadline
Hyderabad, July 19: Setting yet another deadline for formation of Telangana State, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday said the party would launch a full-scale agitation, if the Congress did not make a policy statement on Telangana by August 15.
“We want a straight answer from (AICC president) Sonia Gandhi. If the Congress makes a policy announcement by August 15, we will wait for some more time. Otherwise, we don’t have other option but to come out of the UPA government and launch a full-scale battle,” Mr Rao said while addressing mediapersons here along with senior leader A Narendra.
“We have waited with a lot of patience all these days. But there is always a limit to everything. Now, we have lost our patience. We don’t have faith in (defence minister) Pranab Mukherjee (who heads the UPA sub-committee on Telangana) or his report,” he said.
He said the UPA government had been dodging the issue. “We are not bothered about the views of the State Congress, which is just one of the 28 branches of the AICC,” Mr Rao said. “We did not have faith in the Congress, but only in Sonia Gandhi’s assurances. We have total confidence in her words and her personality. She never uttered a word against Telangana. But now, the time has come for her to come out with an open statement on Telangana,” he said.
As regards the performance of the TRS in the panchayat polls, he said the party had not taken the elections very seriously but was concentrating on lobbying for Telangana at the Centre.
Safety norms ignored
Hyderabad, July 19: Careless handling of the highly-explosive Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate (PETN) had triggered the powerful blast at Anjana Explosives limited in Nalgonda which killed five employees. The blast on Tuesday night has once again highlighted the unsafe conditions prevailing in most explosives manufacturing units.
Nalgonda police have booked a case of negligence and are checking on the safety precautions in the factory.A team from the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory (APFSL) visited the blast site on Wednesday submitted a report stating that the blast took place due to mishandling of PETN.
Manufacturing of detonator chords in bulk might have caused friction in PETN triggering the blast. “Even minor friction can cause PETN to explode,” said an APFSL expert. “It is used as booster in the detonator manufacturing unit. To avoid such incidents, they should increase the machine efficiency”.
Nalgonda superintendent of police Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagawat said that there were no residential localities near the factory, which was situated in a 250-acre plot.“The explosion took place in the spinning unit and the roof collapsed, burying four workers under the debris,” he said. “Another person died in the hospital.” The SP said he would verify whether the licensing conditions were being followed or not. “The negligence part will be decided in the investigation,” he said.
The blast victims were identified as B. Nagaraju, of Amalapuram, Ch Shiva, of Lakkavaram in East Godavari, K. Prasad of Amalapuram and Simh-achalam and J. Mahesh, both from Vizianagaram. There are 11 major explosive manufacturing units in Nalgonda alone. Two blasts had earlier occurred in the Gulf Oil Corporation detonators manufacturing unit.
Now, RBI to take up pallebata
Hyderabad, July 19: The State government is planning to depute banking agents in rural areas to end exploitation of the poor by micro finance agencies. The proposal came up during a recent meeting between Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy and State officials. Sources said that the proposal would be further discussed at a meeting to be held here in the last week of July with all agencies involved in rural finance. The RBI governor is expected to attend this meeting too.
“The banking agents will be working in villages on behalf of the commercial banks,” said a senior official. “They will attend to the loan needs of rural folk.” This is essential since most commercial banks don’t have branches in rural pockets. These agents will not charge any interest on loan takers unlike money lenders or micro finance companies. They will be paid a nominal commission for their services. “We have to decide whether these agents will be appointed by banks or Dwcra groups,” said the official.
Micro finance companies have come under fire for obtaining loans from banks and lending them to poor Dwcra group members at exorbitant interest. The government woke up to the problem after complaints came up that the companies had harassed several women while trying to recover dues. A committee was appointed to probe into the irregularities.
The government is also planning to bring in comprehensive legislation to curb malpractices of money lenders and micro finance agencies. “At present, we have no data on moneylenders,” said the official. “Once the Act comes into being, individuals or organisations involved in money lending would be asked to register with local revenue officials.”
State to keep prices in check
Hyderabad, July 19: Civil supplies minister N. Raghuveera Reddy on Wednesday acknowledged that there was a sharp rise in prices of essential commodities and said the government would supply the commodities at cheaper rates.
According to his figures, green gram (pesara pappu) went up from Rs 30.08 per kg last year to Rs 45.29 this year; blackgram (minugulu) Rs 29.15 to Rs 47.66; tamarind Rs 27.86 to Rs 40.64; chillies Rs 24.47 to Rs 47.72; Bengal gram (chanaga pappu) Rs 23.97 to Rs 30.32; groundnut oil Rs 51.43 to Rs 52.98 and palm oil from Rs 39.97 a kg last year to Rs 42.28 a kg now.
Mr Raghuveera Reddy told mediapersons that the Centre had decided to import pulses; once the quantity of imports was decided, the State would get its share and the government would supply them to the consumers through fair price shops. As regards tamarind, he said the Girijan Corporation had 31,000 quintals. The government had asked it to sell 19,000 tonnes through rythu bazaars and fair price shops at Rs 30 a kg. The rest could be sold in the open market through open auction.
The Twin Cities Merchants Association had agreed to sell 1 kg tamarind per consumer at the Malakpet market yard at Rs 25 a kg. The facility would be extended to more. He said the AP Oil Seeds Federation had been asked to procure more groundnut oil and palm oil to ensure that the prices would not go up further, he said.
The minister pointed out that the price of red gram and rice had come down from last year. The AP Markfed had 7,000 quintals of red gram and the government suggested that the stocks could be released where there were signs of price rise, he said.
On apprehensions about shortage of LPG, the minister said out of 700 dealers in the twin cities, 18 had backlog of seven to 10 days. There was no shortage of LPG stocks and the civil supplies department had been asked to address to the problems of shortage with some dealers, he added.
Krushi chest had deposits of ex-DGPs
Hyderabad, July 19: Krushi Bank scamster Kosaraju Venkateswara Rao has confessed to the CID that he gave a job in his software company to former DGP H.J. Dora’s son.He also disclosed that former DGP R.K. Ragala had invested Rs 3 lakh through his wife in Gold Crest Power Project Limited, he owns. The disclosures have given new leads to the CID about the scamster’s links with bigwigs.
Venkateswara Rao said that he had met Mr Dora to sort out a problem of loan fraud. After that, Mr Dora asked him to give a job to his son Satyanarayana Dora in his company, Helcyon Softech Limited. “I paid him a salary of Rs 25,000 per month,” the scamster had told sleuths. “He used the bank’s car and I purchased his flat in Banjara Hills.” Later, Mr Dora agreed to deposit some money from the police department in the bank. “A few lakhs of rupees were deposited in 1999-2000 in Krushi Bank and on maturity the amount was paid with interest,” he said.
He added that Mr Dora and former Adilabad MP Mr Venugopala Chary attended his marriage in Eluru in April 2000. Venkateswara Rao further told the sleuths that he used to give donations to orphanages and eye donation camps.
“I came to Hyderabad in 1996 with Rs 2 lakh and stayed afloat through share business,” he said. “I then shifted to cooperative banking.” The scamster said that bank sanctioned Rs 33.5 lakh to him, Rs 73 lakh to Gold Crest Power Project and Rs 45 lakh to Helcyon Softech limited.
He also told the sleuths that he used to avail overdraft facility for crores of rupees and used it in the share business. CID sources said Venkateswara Rao had also admitted that he created 65 loan accounts in bogus names.
Meanwhile, Mr Ragala when contacted said, “I was not executive director of Gold Crest Power Project. I was only a director. My wife deposited the amount on the suggestion of a few known persons of the RBI. We would have not deposited the cash or I would have refused to be the director of the project if I knew that the power project was floated with depositors’ money.”
RTC not to hike bus fare
Hyderabad, July 19: The government on Wednesday decided not to hike bus fares of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC). Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy who reviewed the functioning of the APSRTC at the Secretariat was informed by transport minister Kanna Laxminarayana, APSRTC managing director M.V. Krishna Rao and others that there was no need to hike the bus fares at present in view of the corporation making a turnabout with Rs 140 crore profit in the first quarter.
