Andhranews

Hyderabad, Aug. 10: The Congress is gearing up for the ensuing monsoon session of the State Assembly to go on the offensive against the Telugu Desam.
Reacting sharply to the criticism of TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu on alleged tardy relief to people affected by the Goda-vari floods, the APCC came down heavily on the TD holding it responsible for the present mess. “The Telugu Desam had neglected the Godavari river bunds during its rule and because of this thousands of people have been affected by floods. Had the TD taken adequate steps when it was in power, things would have been quite different now. We will unmask Mr Naidu and show his real face to the people,” PCC general secretary D. Nagendar said.

He said though the current flood situation was more severe than the one in 1996, the loss of life and property was minimal now. “Property worth Rs 8,000 crore was lost and about 2,000 people died in 1996 floods. This time, only 106 people lost their lives. All this is because of the pious deeds of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and his good intentions,” Mr Nag-endar pointed out.

He demanded that Mr Naidu should apologise to people for showing the “V” sign during his visit to Amalapuram. “People are in trouble and Mr Naidu has turned his visit into an election tour. He owes an apology to the people,” he added. Meanwhile, Dr Reddy has called upon his Cabinet colleagues and senior officials of various departments in the State secretariat to be “well prepared” for the Assembly session. In a review meeting on Thursday, the Chief Minister said proper and effective functioning of the Assembly would depend on the well preparedness of the entire government machinery. He wanted officials to prepare well in advance.

Hyderabad, Aug. 10: The Reserve Bank of India has tentatively approved a proposal to revive the Vasavi Cooperative Urban Bank, official sources said. But the Prudential and Charminar Banks did not get similar approval. Sources in the government told this correspondent that two Pune-based cooperative banks — Cosmos Bank and Shamrao Vittal Bank — had reportedly evinced interest in taking over the bank. These banks were in discussions with the State government, the RBI and the registrar of cooperative societies. “The RBI has tentatively agreed for the revival of Vasavi Bank. The chances are dim with regard to Charminar Bank while revival of the Prudential Bank has been ruled out,” an official said. Charminar Bank collapsed in 2002, Prudential Bank and Vasavi Bank followed in 2003.

Sources said a powerful lobby inside and outside the government was working for the revival of Vasavi Bank, which had 17 branches in the twin cities and one in Nandyal in Kurnool district. “Vasavi Bank can be revived since the gap between advances and deposits was only Rs 60 crore,” another official said.

When the Vasavi Bank collapsed, it had Rs 143 crore deposits and Rs 84.64 (67.20 per cent) non-performance assets (NPAs) and 1,38,511 depositors. Bank directors and their close relatives allegedly siphoned off loans from Vasavi Bank. In the case of Prudential Bank, the board of directors allegedly gave loans on payment of commission. Criminal cases are pending against erring bank officials. Prudential Bank had Rs 451.39 crore deposits, Rs 300.22 crore NPAs (66.50 per cent) and 1,86,765 depositors.

Prudential Bank owes Rs 387 crore to depositors while it has deposits of Rs 140 crore. The bank has to recover loans worth Rs 620 crore (on revised rate of interest of 22 per cent). Though the bank has made arrangements for repayment of deposits below Rs 1 lakh, a case filed by a depositor for revival of the bank had held up payments. The matter is expected to be settled soon, sources in the bank said. Charminar Bank had Rs 297 crore deposits, Rs 64.52 crore NPAs (63.20 per cent) and 1,38,000 depositors. A bank becomes sick when the NPA is more than 15 per cent.

Hyderabad, Aug. 10: The city-based Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages is planning to teach English skills to Chinese students. China has been encouraging its citizens to learn English to maintain its edge in the global economy and to promote its interests in the international arena. Apart from appointing native teachers to impart English skills to students, the Chinese government has also been sending its students to Britain, the United States and Canada to learn the international language.

Of late, it has started focusing on India. This is where Ciefl comes in. Prof V.S.S. Sastry, vice chancellor of Ciefl, said that there had been many enquiries from China in this regard and added that the institute was getting ready to welcome students from the neighbour. Ciefl has already imparted English skills to over 1,100 government employees from various countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. “We have also been chosen to oversee the working of English language centres that India would be setting up in Myanmar, Kampuchea, Laos and Vietnam as part of the Look East policy,” said Prof Sastry.

At present, a batch of 22 students from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Cuba and Ivory Coast are finishing their course. The next batch will consist of 75 students from 32 countries. “We have become a name to reckon with in English teaching,” said Prof. Z.N. Patil.

Hyderabad, Aug. 10: Meat-eaters beware! About 80 per cent of animals which are slaughtered in twin cities do not undergo the mandatory veterinary test. According to a survey commissioned by information and energy minister Muhammad Ali Shabber, only 20 per cent of meat available in the city market is hygienic and has undergone the regular statutory tests.

The remaining meat is from animals slaughtered at unauthorised abattoirs.
“Following the closure of abattoirs in twin cities for hygienic reasons, the State government has opened a new abattoir at Chengicherla. Animals should be slaughtered only at the Chengicherla slaughter house but our findings show that only 20 per cent of meat available in the city is from Chengicherla,” Muhammad Ali Shabber told this correspondent.

The remaining 80 per cent of meat is from animals slaughtered either at houses or at the Jiaguda abattoir, where there is no veterinary surgeon. Muslim religious scholars have been demanding closure of illegal slaughter houses because of the absence of mullahs at these places to slaughter the animals in the Islamic halal procedure. Mr Shabber said he would convene a meeting to discuss the issue.

Hyderabad, Aug. 10 : Task Force sleuths cracked an illegal telephone exchange at plot number 62, MLA Colony in Banjara Hills and arrested three persons on the charges of diverting international calls on Thursday. Police said that the accused had caused revenue loss of Rs 7 crore to the government by Internet Telephony done on Voice Over Internet Protocol.

The prime accused D. Sreenivasulu Reddy, who resides in the United States, is absconding. He owns Viswa Shakti Technologies at Road No. 12 in Banjara Hills.
The arrested were identified as T. Krishna Reddy, 29, a resident of Akash Ganga Apartments, Road No.12 in Banjara Hills, R. Viswanatha Reddy, 27, a resident of Huda Colony in Chandanagar and A. Venkataswamy Naidu, 39, a resident of Hanumanpet in Malkajgiri.

VOIP material worth Rs 15 lakh was seized from the accused after Thursday’s raid. The case was registered under Indian Telegraphic Act as per the complaint lodged by Assistant Director (vigilance) of DoT, K. S. V. Prasad.

Hyderabad, Aug. 10: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy on Thursday relaxed slightly, attending three social functions after days of dealing with the tragedy caused by floods and rains in the northern parts of the State. The Chief Minister attended two weddings and an engagement ceremony in the city. While this itself would keep a person busy, Dr Reddy also kept a busy schedule during which he monitored the report the State government will make to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to the State on Friday. In the afternoon, he attended the marriage of Mr Madan Mohan Reddy, son of Kadapa TD leader Kandula Sivananda Reddy, with Ms Vaishnave at Jewel Gardens, Sikh Village. Next, it was the engagement ceremony of Mr M.V. Chowdhary, son of R.V.R. Chowdhary of InCable at Hotel Grand Kakatiya.

The third function was the marriage of Ms Deepika, granddaughter of legislator Chanumolu Venkat Rao, with Mr Kiran Kumar. Also, Dr Reddy received trenchant critic and Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K. Chandras-ekhar Rao. He had turned up to invite Dr Reddy for his nephew Santosh’s marriage on Friday. “The Chief Minister may have attended about 100 marriages, engagements and social dos since January,” an aide of the Chief Minister said. “Leaders of all parties want the Chief Minister’s presence. It’s difficult to say no.”

After the Chief Minister, the most sought after man is his adviser K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao. For businessmen, industrialists and politicians, the presence of Mr Rao indicates the clout they wield in the corridors of power. Though Mr Rao tries to avoid social dos, he is flooded with invitations from politicians to industrialists.

Hyderabad, Aug. 10: The Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee has raised several critical queries on the Polavaram dam being constructed on the Godavari river, putting irrigation department officials in a tight spot. The CEC is verifying the State government’s claim on forest area submergence and the area that the dam would cultivate, officials who have seen the report told this correspondent.

The CEC, in its communication to the State government a couple of days ago, has raised 12 questions mostly pertaining to submergence of forest area and protected wildlife san-ctuary and the resettlement of tribal hamlets, officials in the irrigation department said. It has asked the government to submit the latest updated data on Pola-varam within two weeks so that it can submit a report to the Supreme Court by the first week of September, the officials said. The CEC pointed out that as per the State government’s data the protected wildlife sanctuary likely to be submerged by the dam was only 183 hectares. But an analysis of satellite pictures showed that it would be much more, the CEC said according to sources.

According to an estimate, about 1,700 hectares of protected wildlife sanctuary and an equal amount from “deemed forests” would be submerged by water from the dam, the CEC said. Sources said the CEC had pointed out that Orissa and Chhattisgarh had submitted different data on forest submergence.

Another major issue that the CEC raised was with regard to duplication of area that the Polavaram would cultivate. Parts of this area overlapped with the area under the Tadipudi and Pushkara lift irrigation projects being constructed in the same area, the CEC pointed out according to the sources.

Out of 7.5 lakh acres shown as the area of Polavaram that would cultivate, nearly 4 lakh acres would be covered by the Tadipudi and Pushkara projects, which were conceived during the TD regime. The officials have admitted that the two projects would become redundant once the Polavaram dam is completed, but they are still being shown as different projects with different cultivation areas. The CEC has also asked the State government to resurvey villages that will need rehabilitation and resettlement. “We have given oral clarifications to the CEC, but they wanted written replies,” a senior irrigation official said.