Andhranews

Kurnool, Sept. 2: The medicos of Kurnool medical college obstructed the arrest of three senior students who ragged their juniors here on Saturday. As a result, tension prevailed at the medical college campus. The medicos took to violence demanding the lifting of suspension on the students. They attacked the principal chambers and destroyed furniture there. The medicos also gheraoed the principal Dr M.S.R.K. Prasad for about an hour.

The agitating students raised slogans against the principal and demanded that the suspension on the three students be lifted immediately and warned the police not to resort to arrests. The principal and students entered into a verbal duel and the situation was brou-ght under control with the intervention of the police.

Kurnool DSP Ammireddy, CIs Rajasekhar Reddy, P.N. Babu, Venkatanarayana and SIs Ravikumar and Pulla Reddy reached the college to arrest N. Srinivasulu, Muralikrishna Reddy and Sandeep Kumar Red-dy, who allegedly ragged Karthik, Pramod, and Siddhaiah of first year medicine course.

As the situation was going out of hand, the principal convinced the police and asked them to go back without arresting the accused. As the principal cooperated with the students from avoiding the arrest of medicos, the agitators apologized to him and assured the principal that they would bear the loss due to the ransacking of the furniture.

Chittoor, Sept. 2: District collector S.S. Rawath advised the revenue officials not to leave any room for doubts among the farming community over the land acquisition drive at Varadayyapalem and Sathyavedu mandals. The district administration is planning to acquire 7,000 acres for the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in these two mandals.

In this backdrop, the collector was addressing revenue, forest and other concerned officials at Ambedkar Bhavan here on Saturday to gear up for the drive. Reminding that any apprehension over the drive would lead to complications, the collector told the officials to clear all the doubts raised by the farmers.

He said that 49 survey teams have been formed to conduct survey between September 4 and 8 in nine revenue villages. According to the collector, he allotted 32 teams for survey at six villages in Sathyavedu mandal and 17 teams for survey in three villages located in Varadayyapalem mandal. He said that every team is headed by a district-level official and 18 district officials would monitor the operation.

The teams should verify and record the land holding of each farmer, details of buildings in the land, pattadar passbooks and type of crops being taken up in the land, the collector noted. He told them to seek the details of those cultivating the land as well as the original pattadar.

The officials were asked to complete patta lands survey and then proceed to DKT lands survey. Mr Rawath said that the government is committed to establish a mega industrial park in Chittoor district to ensure employment to the unemployed youth and to develop the district in a big way.

He assured suitable compensation to all those who are loosing their land. “There is no need for any apprehension on this issue,” he asserted. Joint collector G. Rajendra Prasad, Madanapalle sub collector Babu, RDOs Venkatasubbaiah and A. Babaiah were present apart from members of the 49 teams drafted for the survey duty.

Pulivendula, Sept. 2: Arrangements were completed for the establishment of uranium project in Pulivendula of Kadapa district. As a last step, the government had decided to conduct a public hearing on September 10 in the uranium-affected villages to complete the legal formalities.

This hearing would be the last step for the project clearance.
The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) had already started all the groundwork for the setting up of the project at a cost of Rs 1,029.57 crores on an extent of 879 hectares in Vemula mandal. The State and Central governments have already given their nod for the excavation of uranium reserves at M. Tummalapalli hill region.

A factory would also be set up there to refine the raw uranium reserves. Union minister for mines and geology Saifuddin Soz gave a written reply to the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session about the sanctioning of the project in AP.

However, he mentioned that the clearance from forest and environment ministries is a must for the setting up of the project. In this backdrop, the government is holding a public hearing in Pulivendula constituency and will forward the opinions to the Centre.

The UCIL had made arrangements to record the details of the hearing in the form of a documentary as per the suggestions made by the Kadapa MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy. However, it is alleged that the hearing is being done for namesake. The State government is committed to set up the project at Pulivendula at any cost.

Rajahmundry, Sept. 2: The State government has decided to waive the interest on farm loans to the tune of Rs 7 crores for the benefit of the farmers who suffered crop loss during the recent floods in East Godavari district.

Disclosing this to newmen here on Saturday, minister for roads and buildings Jakkampudi Ramamohan Rao said that in order to help the farmers recoup from the loss, the government was waiving the interest on farm loans. He also said that the insurance cover of Rs 70 crores to the farmers who suffered crop loss during the kharif last year would be credited to their individual accounts.

The minister said that as the farmers were facing hardships to restart their agricultural activities, the release of insurance cover and the waiver of interest on farm loans will be of immense help to them. He said that East Godavari stood in the third place after Srikakulam and Vizianagaram in terms of loss due to floods in the State.

The minister said that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajas-ekhar Reddy will visit Rajahmundry on September 11 to take part in various programmes. His itinerary includes a visit to Iskcon temple, unveiling of bronze statue of social reformer Kandukuri Veeresalingam Panthulu, inauguration of Cheneta bazar and Vambay houses, taking part in centenary celebrations of Hithakarini Samajam and meeting the newly elected ZPTC and MPTC members, sarp-anches and others. The Chief Minister will also inaugurate a protected drin-king water scheme taken up at a cost of Rs 20 crores on Bommuru hillock.

Guntur, Sept. 2: The State government will establish urban police districts if the formation of commissionerates was not possible, said home minister K. Jana Reddy. Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, Mr Jana Reddy said the government proposed the creation of police commissionerates in the cities.

However, they were not being created because of some technical problems. In such places, the government would set up urban police districts, he said. The home minister said that the government has received proposals for creation of police commissionerates at Guntur, Rajahmundry, Tirupati, Warangal and Kurnool.

As the commissionerates were not possible, he said that the government was considering the proposal of the creation of urban police districts in these cities. He said that they have asked the police to provide feasibility reports for the creation of the urban police districts in these cities. The urban districts would be formed once the reports are received from the department, he said.

Replying to a question on the encounters, the home minister said that they were part of the department’s duty in curbing the Naxal violence. However, he said that the government does not have any intention to eliminate the top leaders of the Naxal movement.

Adilabad, Sept. 2: For the first time in the State, services of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and mandal samakyas would be utilised to create an awareness on viral fevers and chikungunya among tribals under the aegis of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Utnoor.
Thirteen ambulances given to mandal samakyas by Union minister of State for commerce Jairam Ramesh under the Giri Pragati scheme and also by the State government would be used for the purpose.

The ITDA, Utnoor prepared an action plan to control viral fevers and chikungunya in tribal areas in the district. The plan will be implemented in 20 mandals including five agency mandals under the Tribal Project Management Unit (TPMU) scheme as part of Indira Kranthi Patham programme.

Speaking to this correspondent ITDA, Utnoor, project officer Saurabh Gaur said that they had asked officials of the medical department to conduct medical camps in village affected by viral fevers and chikungunya.

He said that mega medical camps would be organised at weekly shandies and also on week-end days in agency mandals of Jainoor, Indravelli, Sirpur(U), Utnoor and other villages Meanwhile, the district medical and health department brought out special audio cassettes comprising songs in Gondi, Lambada and Marathi languages to educate tribals on viral fevers and chikungunya.

District medical and health officer Vignana Chary said the tribals would easily understand the message as the songs were in their mother tongues. Mr A.Y. Khan, mass media officer of the district medical and health department, said 200 audio cassettes were distributed to primary health centres to use them in medical camps and also during the campaigns in villages. The cassettes were also distributed to leaders of Gondi, Lambada and Marathi associations for use, he added.

Warangal, Sept. 2: The Ambedkar Circle Ganesh pandal is continuing the tradition of installing one of the best Ganesh idols in the city there and celebrating the Navratri fete on a grand scale for the last 25 years. ABVP leader Sama Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was killed by the Naxalites for opposing the dishonour to the national flag at the Kakatiya University in early 90s, started organising the celebrations.

He was killed on the same spot while he was returning from the court after giving the evidence in the case related to the dishonour to the national tri-colour. Ever since, Jagan Mohan Reddy’s death by the Naxals, his friends took the initiative to organise the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in order to perpetuate his memory.

“It has become a sentimental reunion for our friends on every Ganesh immersion day. Friends who are now settled in Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai and other places also make it a point to come and perform the homam during the celebrations,” said Mr Gurunath Reddy, who is now coordinating the celebrations.

Khammam, Sept. 2: The district administration has issued notices to residents of flood-affected villages near Godavari for acquiring their lands. Earlier, the State government had issued a notification saying that land was being acquired for ‘public purpose’.

However, farmers and other residents had expre-ssed doubts as to whether the government was trying to acquire lands for the Polavaram project in the guise of ‘public purpose’. It is learnt that some of the officials who visited the villages admitted to residents that the land acquirement was linked to the Polavaram project.

The officials faced incessant queries from worried farmers at Rudramkota village under Velierpad mandal and Vinjaram under Kukkunoor mandal. They wanted Paloncha re-venue divisional officer (RDO) C. Vinay Mohan to disclose the amount of compensation they would be paid and wh-en it would reach them.

“Since the notices are in English, we are unable to make out what they say,” said Mr D. Bhaskar, a resident of Rudramkota. Interestingly, the people of Rudramkota were not totally against the move to acq-uire their lands and were on-ly insistent on proper compensation. They asked the RDO to provide them alternate houses at sites with all basic facilities such as drin-king water, power and roads.

The officials told the villagers that they would be paid 75 per cent of the compensation immediately and the rest later. But villagers wanted the government to pay the amount in one go. “Some of us do want to stay on till the waters flood our lands,” said Mr A. Raja Rao, a farmer from Rudra-mkota.

Mr Vinay Mohan assured the villagers that the government was committed to implement the whole package and that the proposals made by the villagers would be placed before higher officials. He assured that notices would be issued in Telugu language henceforth. Meanwhile, the people of affected villages in other mandals are keen on the rehabilitation package.

Khammam, Sept. 2: Authorities of Sri Sithramachandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam have proposed to install iris cameras, metal detectors and alarm system as part of providing additional security to the temple.
The meeting of the Bhdrachalam Temple Trust had decided to step up security to the temple with the assistance of modern equipment.

Trust chairman I. Venka-teswara Reddy told this correspondent that the security measures are being stepped up in all the important temples in the country and the temple trust has also planned to provide foolproof security cover to the temple.

Mr Reddy said that the iris cameras will be set up at important places in the temple and metal detectors at the main entrance. He said a cloak room and three additional wooden doors will be arranged in the temple. The timings for darshan will be extended and the price of the laddu will be brought down for the benefit of the devotees.

Visakhapatnam, Sept. 2: Eight-year-old Addala Sainath of Visakhapatnam is in the mould of Budhia Singh of Orissa. He ran 65 km non-stop from S. Kota to Swarnabharathi Indoor Stadium and set a record of sorts on Saturday. A fourth standard student of Cambridge School in S. Kota, Sainath left S. Kota at 5.45 am and reached the stadium at 1 pm.

District Olympic Association president and former MLA P.V.G.R Naidu, AU Sports Board official M. Shyam Babu, AP Volleyball Association president S. Kodandaramaiah, district sport development officer K.V. Sankara Rao and several other sports personalities received him at the stadium. Naidu presented him a cheque for Rs 5,000.

The run was packed with suspense as Sainath disappeared at Kottavalasa at 8.20 am after covering a distance of 22 kilometres. The organisers suspected the run might have been stopped by women’s organisation who earlier had threatened against the run. The suspense ended when Sainath reached NAD Kotha Road at 12 noon. Sainath’s father is a private medical practitioner.

Visakhapatnam, Sept. 2: Chief of Naval Staff designate and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command (ENC) Vice-Admiral Sureesh Mehta said that his brief stay in the city was most satisfactory.
Talking to reporters here on Saturday, the Vice-Admiral spoke of city development and the important role being played by the Indian Navy in the Eastern Coast.

Recollecting his experiences with the city, he said that working with smaller cities like Visakhapatnam gave him pleasure. “Programmes like President’s Fleet Review, held for the first time in the city, have given me immense satisfaction as more than five lakh people participated,” Vice-Admiral Mehta said.

He said the country was observing ‘Look East’ policy and the Navy was playing a proactive role in policing the sea, creating a defence against the enemy countries by increasing its capabilities and maintaining diplomatic relations with neighbours.

Having a good interface with neighbouring countries, the ENC was coordinating with Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Bangladesh and Malaysia to control drug trafficking, piracy and promoting benign duties during peacetime such as relief and rescue operations during natural calamities, he said.

Answering questions on Gangavaram port coming close to the naval base, Vice-Admiral Mehta said that the privatisation was the order of the day and the new organisations were being asked to take measures so that the nation’s security was not threatened.

Regarding development of the city, more so in the coastal area, Mr Mehta said he was opposing violation of Coastal Zone Regulation Act. “The Act has been created to protect the environment and hence it should not be violated. The recent inundation of low lying areas in the city was due to unplanned development,” Vice-Admiral Mehta said.

To keep a tab on power supply

Visakhapatnam, Sept. 2: The Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (EPDCL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Swayam Sahayaka Sanghala Samkshemam to facilitate speedy registration of complaints on power breakdown in rural areas through village organisation of zilla samakhya and ensure prompt restoration of power supply.

The MoU envisages to enhance power supply in the rural areas by centralised monitoring process and grassroot participation. EPDCL superintending engineer V. Samba Murty and zilla samakhya president K. Indira, joint secretary K. Nagamani and treasurer K. Sanyasamma signed the MoU in the presence of district collector A.K. Singhal and chairman and managing director of EPDCL Praveen Prakash here on Saturday.

The village organisation will lodge a complaint on power failure with the electricity call centre at Visakhapatnam by dialling 155333. The call centre registers the complaint and renders complaint registration number to the village organisations. The complaints are then forwarded to concerned section officers through SMS from the call centre. The section officials restore the supply and report to the call centre. The village organisation report to the call centre and the complaints are closed.

The MoU facilitates the involvement of village organisations to directly interact with the ECC at Visakhapatnam for prompt registration, processing and rectification of power supply complaints. In the process, every area power supply failure other than the scheduled power cuts in the rural areas as applicable could be registered. “This is a unique and novel facility which would benefit the rural population,” the collector said.
DRDA project director K. Kanna Babu, director, operations, EPDCL and others were present.

Kurnool, Sept. 2: The medicos of Kurnool medical college obstructed the arrest of three senior students who ragged their juniors here on Saturday. As a result, tension prevailed at the medical college campus. The medicos took to violence demanding the lifting of suspension on the students. They attacked the principal chambers and destroyed furniture there. The medicos also gheraoed the principal Dr M.S.R.K. Prasad for about an hour.

The agitating students raised slogans against the principal and demanded that the suspension on the three students be lifted immediately and warned the police not to resort to arrests. The principal and students entered into a verbal duel and the situation was brou-ght under control with the intervention of the police.

Kurnool DSP Ammireddy, CIs Rajasekhar Reddy, P.N. Babu, Venkatanarayana and SIs Ravikumar and Pulla Reddy reached the college to arrest N. Srinivasulu, Muralikrishna Reddy and Sandeep Kumar Red-dy, who allegedly ragged Karthik, Pramod, and Siddhaiah of first year medicine course.

As the situation was going out of hand, the principal convinced the police and asked them to go back without arresting the accused. As the principal cooperated with the students from avoiding the arrest of medicos, the agitators apologized to him and assured the principal that they would bear the loss due to the ransacking of the furniture.

Chittoor, Sept. 2: District collector S.S. Rawath advised the revenue officials not to leave any room for doubts among the farming community over the land acquisition drive at Varadayyapalem and Sathyavedu mandals. The district administration is planning to acquire 7,000 acres for the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in these two mandals.

In this backdrop, the collector was addressing revenue, forest and other concerned officials at Ambedkar Bhavan here on Saturday to gear up for the drive. Reminding that any apprehension over the drive would lead to complications, the collector told the officials to clear all the doubts raised by the farmers.

He said that 49 survey teams have been formed to conduct survey between September 4 and 8 in nine revenue villages. According to the collector, he allotted 32 teams for survey at six villages in Sathyavedu mandal and 17 teams for survey in three villages located in Varadayyapalem mandal. He said that every team is headed by a district-level official and 18 district officials would monitor the operation.

The teams should verify and record the land holding of each farmer, details of buildings in the land, pattadar passbooks and type of crops being taken up in the land, the collector noted. He told them to seek the details of those cultivating the land as well as the original pattadar.

The officials were asked to complete patta lands survey and then proceed to DKT lands survey. Mr Rawath said that the government is committed to establish a mega industrial park in Chittoor district to ensure employment to the unemployed youth and to develop the district in a big way.

He assured suitable compensation to all those who are loosing their land. “There is no need for any apprehension on this issue,” he asserted. Joint collector G. Rajendra Prasad, Madanapalle sub collector Babu, RDOs Venkatasubbaiah and A. Babaiah were present apart from members of the 49 teams drafted for the survey duty.

Pulivendula, Sept. 2: Arrangements were completed for the establishment of uranium project in Pulivendula of Kadapa district. As a last step, the government had decided to conduct a public hearing on September 10 in the uranium-affected villages to complete the legal formalities.

This hearing would be the last step for the project clearance.
The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) had already started all the groundwork for the setting up of the project at a cost of Rs 1,029.57 crores on an extent of 879 hectares in Vemula mandal. The State and Central governments have already given their nod for the excavation of uranium reserves at M. Tummalapalli hill region.

A factory would also be set up there to refine the raw uranium reserves. Union minister for mines and geology Saifuddin Soz gave a written reply to the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session about the sanctioning of the project in AP.

However, he mentioned that the clearance from forest and environment ministries is a must for the setting up of the project. In this backdrop, the government is holding a public hearing in Pulivendula constituency and will forward the opinions to the Centre.

The UCIL had made arrangements to record the details of the hearing in the form of a documentary as per the suggestions made by the Kadapa MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy. However, it is alleged that the hearing is being done for namesake. The State government is committed to set up the project at Pulivendula at any cost.

Rajahmundry, Sept. 2: The State government has decided to waive the interest on farm loans to the tune of Rs 7 crores for the benefit of the farmers who suffered crop loss during the recent floods in East Godavari district.

Disclosing this to newmen here on Saturday, minister for roads and buildings Jakkampudi Ramamohan Rao said that in order to help the farmers recoup from the loss, the government was waiving the interest on farm loans. He also said that the insurance cover of Rs 70 crores to the farmers who suffered crop loss during the kharif last year would be credited to their individual accounts.

The minister said that as the farmers were facing hardships to restart their agricultural activities, the release of insurance cover and the waiver of interest on farm loans will be of immense help to them. He said that East Godavari stood in the third place after Srikakulam and Vizianagaram in terms of loss due to floods in the State.

The minister said that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajas-ekhar Reddy will visit Rajahmundry on September 11 to take part in various programmes. His itinerary includes a visit to Iskcon temple, unveiling of bronze statue of social reformer Kandukuri Veeresalingam Panthulu, inauguration of Cheneta bazar and Vambay houses, taking part in centenary celebrations of Hithakarini Samajam and meeting the newly elected ZPTC and MPTC members, sarp-anches and others. The Chief Minister will also inaugurate a protected drin-king water scheme taken up at a cost of Rs 20 crores on Bommuru hillock.

Guntur, Sept. 2: The State government will establish urban police districts if the formation of commissionerates was not possible, said home minister K. Jana Reddy. Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, Mr Jana Reddy said the government proposed the creation of police commissionerates in the cities.

However, they were not being created because of some technical problems. In such places, the government would set up urban police districts, he said. The home minister said that the government has received proposals for creation of police commissionerates at Guntur, Rajahmundry, Tirupati, Warangal and Kurnool.

As the commissionerates were not possible, he said that the government was considering the proposal of the creation of urban police districts in these cities. He said that they have asked the police to provide feasibility reports for the creation of the urban police districts in these cities. The urban districts would be formed once the reports are received from the department, he said.

Replying to a question on the encounters, the home minister said that they were part of the department’s duty in curbing the Naxal violence. However, he said that the government does not have any intention to eliminate the top leaders of the Naxal movement.

Adilabad, Sept. 2: For the first time in the State, services of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and mandal samakyas would be utilised to create an awareness on viral fevers and chikungunya among tribals under the aegis of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Utnoor.
Thirteen ambulances given to mandal samakyas by Union minister of State for commerce Jairam Ramesh under the Giri Pragati scheme and also by the State government would be used for the purpose.

The ITDA, Utnoor prepared an action plan to control viral fevers and chikungunya in tribal areas in the district. The plan will be implemented in 20 mandals including five agency mandals under the Tribal Project Management Unit (TPMU) scheme as part of Indira Kranthi Patham programme.

Speaking to this correspondent ITDA, Utnoor, project officer Saurabh Gaur said that they had asked officials of the medical department to conduct medical camps in village affected by viral fevers and chikungunya.

He said that mega medical camps would be organised at weekly shandies and also on week-end days in agency mandals of Jainoor, Indravelli, Sirpur(U), Utnoor and other villages Meanwhile, the district medical and health department brought out special audio cassettes comprising songs in Gondi, Lambada and Marathi languages to educate tribals on viral fevers and chikungunya.

District medical and health officer Vignana Chary said the tribals would easily understand the message as the songs were in their mother tongues. Mr A.Y. Khan, mass media officer of the district medical and health department, said 200 audio cassettes were distributed to primary health centres to use them in medical camps and also during the campaigns in villages. The cassettes were also distributed to leaders of Gondi, Lambada and Marathi associations for use, he added.

Warangal, Sept. 2: The Ambedkar Circle Ganesh pandal is continuing the tradition of installing one of the best Ganesh idols in the city there and celebrating the Navratri fete on a grand scale for the last 25 years. ABVP leader Sama Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was killed by the Naxalites for opposing the dishonour to the national flag at the Kakatiya University in early 90s, started organising the celebrations.

He was killed on the same spot while he was returning from the court after giving the evidence in the case related to the dishonour to the national tri-colour. Ever since, Jagan Mohan Reddy’s death by the Naxals, his friends took the initiative to organise the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in order to perpetuate his memory.

“It has become a sentimental reunion for our friends on every Ganesh immersion day. Friends who are now settled in Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai and other places also make it a point to come and perform the homam during the celebrations,” said Mr Gurunath Reddy, who is now coordinating the celebrations.

Khammam, Sept. 2: The district administration has issued notices to residents of flood-affected villages near Godavari for acquiring their lands. Earlier, the State government had issued a notification saying that land was being acquired for ‘public purpose’.

However, farmers and other residents had expre-ssed doubts as to whether the government was trying to acquire lands for the Polavaram project in the guise of ‘public purpose’. It is learnt that some of the officials who visited the villages admitted to residents that the land acquirement was linked to the Polavaram project.

The officials faced incessant queries from worried farmers at Rudramkota village under Velierpad mandal and Vinjaram under Kukkunoor mandal. They wanted Paloncha re-venue divisional officer (RDO) C. Vinay Mohan to disclose the amount of compensation they would be paid and wh-en it would reach them.

“Since the notices are in English, we are unable to make out what they say,” said Mr D. Bhaskar, a resident of Rudramkota. Interestingly, the people of Rudramkota were not totally against the move to acq-uire their lands and were on-ly insistent on proper compensation. They asked the RDO to provide them alternate houses at sites with all basic facilities such as drin-king water, power and roads.

The officials told the villagers that they would be paid 75 per cent of the compensation immediately and the rest later. But villagers wanted the government to pay the amount in one go. “Some of us do want to stay on till the waters flood our lands,” said Mr A. Raja Rao, a farmer from Rudra-mkota.

Mr Vinay Mohan assured the villagers that the government was committed to implement the whole package and that the proposals made by the villagers would be placed before higher officials. He assured that notices would be issued in Telugu language henceforth. Meanwhile, the people of affected villages in other mandals are keen on the rehabilitation package.

Khammam, Sept. 2: Authorities of Sri Sithramachandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam have proposed to install iris cameras, metal detectors and alarm system as part of providing additional security to the temple.
The meeting of the Bhdrachalam Temple Trust had decided to step up security to the temple with the assistance of modern equipment.

Trust chairman I. Venka-teswara Reddy told this correspondent that the security measures are being stepped up in all the important temples in the country and the temple trust has also planned to provide foolproof security cover to the temple.

Mr Reddy said that the iris cameras will be set up at important places in the temple and metal detectors at the main entrance. He said a cloak room and three additional wooden doors will be arranged in the temple. The timings for darshan will be extended and the price of the laddu will be brought down for the benefit of the devotees.

Visakhapatnam, Sept. 2: Eight-year-old Addala Sainath of Visakhapatnam is in the mould of Budhia Singh of Orissa. He ran 65 km non-stop from S. Kota to Swarnabharathi Indoor Stadium and set a record of sorts on Saturday. A fourth standard student of Cambridge School in S. Kota, Sainath left S. Kota at 5.45 am and reached the stadium at 1 pm.

District Olympic Association president and former MLA P.V.G.R Naidu, AU Sports Board official M. Shyam Babu, AP Volleyball Association president S. Kodandaramaiah, district sport development officer K.V. Sankara Rao and several other sports personalities received him at the stadium. Naidu presented him a cheque for Rs 5,000.

The run was packed with suspense as Sainath disappeared at Kottavalasa at 8.20 am after covering a distance of 22 kilometres. The organisers suspected the run might have been stopped by women’s organisation who earlier had threatened against the run. The suspense ended when Sainath reached NAD Kotha Road at 12 noon. Sainath’s father is a private medical practitioner.

Visakhapatnam, Sept. 2: Chief of Naval Staff designate and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command (ENC) Vice-Admiral Sureesh Mehta said that his brief stay in the city was most satisfactory.
Talking to reporters here on Saturday, the Vice-Admiral spoke of city development and the important role being played by the Indian Navy in the Eastern Coast.

Recollecting his experiences with the city, he said that working with smaller cities like Visakhapatnam gave him pleasure. “Programmes like President’s Fleet Review, held for the first time in the city, have given me immense satisfaction as more than five lakh people participated,” Vice-Admiral Mehta said.

He said the country was observing ‘Look East’ policy and the Navy was playing a proactive role in policing the sea, creating a defence against the enemy countries by increasing its capabilities and maintaining diplomatic relations with neighbours.

Having a good interface with neighbouring countries, the ENC was coordinating with Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Bangladesh and Malaysia to control drug trafficking, piracy and promoting benign duties during peacetime such as relief and rescue operations during natural calamities, he said.

Answering questions on Gangavaram port coming close to the naval base, Vice-Admiral Mehta said that the privatisation was the order of the day and the new organisations were being asked to take measures so that the nation’s security was not threatened.

Regarding development of the city, more so in the coastal area, Mr Mehta said he was opposing violation of Coastal Zone Regulation Act. “The Act has been created to protect the environment and hence it should not be violated. The recent inundation of low lying areas in the city was due to unplanned development,” Vice-Admiral Mehta said.

To keep a tab on power supply

Visakhapatnam, Sept. 2: The Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (EPDCL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Swayam Sahayaka Sanghala Samkshemam to facilitate speedy registration of complaints on power breakdown in rural areas through village organisation of zilla samakhya and ensure prompt restoration of power supply.

The MoU envisages to enhance power supply in the rural areas by centralised monitoring process and grassroot participation. EPDCL superintending engineer V. Samba Murty and zilla samakhya president K. Indira, joint secretary K. Nagamani and treasurer K. Sanyasamma signed the MoU in the presence of district collector A.K. Singhal and chairman and managing director of EPDCL Praveen Prakash here on Saturday.

The village organisation will lodge a complaint on power failure with the electricity call centre at Visakhapatnam by dialling 155333. The call centre registers the complaint and renders complaint registration number to the village organisations. The complaints are then forwarded to concerned section officers through SMS from the call centre. The section officials restore the supply and report to the call centre. The village organisation report to the call centre and the complaints are closed.

The MoU facilitates the involvement of village organisations to directly interact with the ECC at Visakhapatnam for prompt registration, processing and rectification of power supply complaints. In the process, every area power supply failure other than the scheduled power cuts in the rural areas as applicable could be registered. “This is a unique and novel facility which would benefit the rural population,” the collector said.
DRDA project director K. Kanna Babu, director, operations, EPDCL and others were present.

Lage raho munnabhai
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani and others
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Rating: ****

It happens very rarely that the sequel is better than the original. Lage Raho Munnabhai makes you laugh while it preaches, and without bludgeoning you on the head, makes you think. If, in the earlier film there were some misgivings about a criminal bullying his way into medical college; in the sequel, the level of disbelief is much lower. Both Munna and Circuit are far nicer and funnier in this film — the most ‘criminal’ thing they do is pick up a corrupt municipal officer, and later, some history professors, so that Munna can win a radio quiz about Gandhi.

Munna (Sanjay Dutt) is in love with the voice of a radio jockey Janhvi (Vidya Balan) — Circuit already refers to her as bhabhi — and he has to win the quiz to be able to meet her at the radio station. Once there, in his nervousness, he claims to be a history professor and is invited to talk to a group of abandoned old men Janhvi shelters in her large bungalow.

There is no choice for Munna, but to go to the Gandhi Library and read up on him, and he is hooked (minor quibble: if he was educated enough to read, how come he didn’t know who Mahatma Gandhi was?). Then the Mahatma himself (Dilip Prabhavalkar — superb actor, but why the muddy make-up?) appears before him and starts guiding him, not just in the matter of winning over Janhvi, but in dealing with a matter of her bungalow that builder Lucky Singh (Boman Irani) has usurped.

They launch a satyagraha against Lucky, and through Janhvi’s radio show, also tell people how to use Gandhigiri to solve their problems. The second half of the film does get a bit heavy, and the way problems are tackled is too simple; plus the greedy builder ousting helpless people from their homes is a clichéd character now. You also can’t help thinking that Munna and Circuit are not up against any real evil — just a relatively harmless Lucky Singh.

Anyway, setting queries aside, it is possible to just sit back and enjoy the film. The performances are fantastic — Sanjay Dutt as the soft-hearted goon, Arshad Warsi as his loyal sidekick and Boman Irani as the Sardar are flawless. Vidya Balan hasn’t much to do except look cute, but even the minor characters come up with spirited performances. The script and dialogue (Rajkumar Hirani — Abhijit Joshi) can’t be praised enough — it is really tough to balance the comedy so well with the message. Hirani’s direction is marvellous — he blends humour and emotions with the mastery of an alchemist. If he can come up with good storylines, Munna-Circuit can become a team for a series of films in the style of Laurel and Hardy or the Marx Brothers. Lage Raho Rajubhai!

My super ex-girlfriend

Cast: Uma Thurman (Jenny Johnson/G-Girl), Luke Wilson (Matt Saunders), Anna Faris (Hannah Lewis), Eddie Izzard (Professor Bedlam/Barry), Rainn Wilson (Vaughn Haige) and Wanda Sykes (Carla Dunkirk).
Director: Ivan Reitman
Rating: ***

The shaky comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend must have been a dream to pitch: Fatal Attraction meets Wonder Woman, but funny. The casting seems as if it should have been equally breezy, with Uma Thurman doing double duty as a New York neurotic, Jenny Johnson, and a secret superhero, G-Girl, who flies through the air putting out fires, though only when her drab brown hair turns a costly shade of Hamptons blond.

Toss in Luke Wilson as the nice guy who says and does all the right things and Rainn Wilson as the second banana who says and does all the wrong ones. Stir, or, in the case of the director Ivan Reitman, of Ghostbusters fame, hope for the best. Why G-Girl and not G-Woman? For the same reason that this particular superhero can access her powers only after she slips on something tighter and a whole lot less comfortable-looking: she’s a joke. Whether you laugh at this joke will depend on whether you think the film says more about men than women and whether you find its characterisation of the spurned she-devil a sexist cliché or an amusing sexist cliché.

A pasty Luke Wilson plays Matt Saunders, a single guy who has one of those dream jobs and Manhattan pads that seem to exist only in the minds of Hollywood filmmakers. One day on the subway Matt, spurred on by his pal Vaughn (Rainn Wilson), strikes up a conversation with a woman. Before long, he and the stranger he first knows as an art dealer, then as a crusader, are tussling in a raunchy scene which leaves her dazed partner rather unbelievably intact.

Matt’s postcoital smile and a wobbly walk suggest that, however physically demanding, Jenny is a keeper. Alas, as if by clockwork or the professional lout’s handbook, she turns out to be wildly insecure, the whole crazy-woman nine yards, which means that as far as the filmmakers are concerned, she’s both a drag and a threat. It also means that before too long she’s history, soon replaced in Matt’s affections by the nice, naturally blond Hannah (Anna Faris). Those who rooted for Glenn Close, may enjoy the sight of G-Girl punching a skylight into her ex’s ceiling.

RV

Cast: Robin Williams (Bob Munro), Jeff Daniels (Travis Gornicke), Cheryl Hines (Jamie Munro), Kristin Chenoweth (Mary Jo Gornicke),
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Rating:**

It’s barely spring, and the family-vacation movies are already upon us. First out of the driveway is RV, a comedy as broad as a double-wide and as contrived as the metaphors I’m struggling to resist. Playing Bob Munro, an overworked soda-company executive, Robin Williams tricks us into believing he can control his inner maniac beyond the film’s first 15 minutes; when he fails, any hopes of RV going off-formula are dashed.

Nowadays no family movie is complete without a values-oriented agenda and a bountiful supply of fecal matter, and RV supplies both. Ordered to Colorado by his boss to seal a critical deal, Bob sees an opportunity to reconnect with his family by pretending the trip is a vacation. But after loading his horrified brood onto a rickety motor home, Bob must face more challenging problems than a neglected wife (Cheryl Hines), moody son (Josh Hutcherson) and thoroughly unpleasant teenage daughter (Joanna Levesque). You were probably wondering when that fecal matter would show up.

As Bob grapples with power hookups, raccoons and a pathologically cheery family of road-loving weirdos, Barry Sonnenfeld directs with one eye on the production and the other on the clock. And despite a manic end sequence that leaves Mr. Williams looking alarmingly close to suffering a coronary event, RV feels as clapped-out as the titular vehicle itself.

Robbie Williams has threatened to quit singing for good. The Angels singer says he no longer wants to be part of the “pop machine” because he feels it has turned him into a “monster”. Robbie, who is about to release new single Rudebox, admits he longs to live a normal, quiet life and claims he will only continue singing for another 18 months.

The 32-year-old, who is believed to be worth around £100 million, said, “I’ve got to take the view over the next 18 months and see if I want to be part of the machine any more, because I don’t see me singing again. It’s a question of what I want and where I want to be. Can I live without the radio picking my song and putting it on the playlist? Or is this fame thing something I’m addicted to?”

This shock announcement comes as Robbie’s “Close Encounters” tour continues to fill stadiums around the world. The Rock DJ singer, who has overcome addictions to alcohol and drugs in the past, also revealed he is still battling his inner demons which have tormented him throughout his career. He said, “I don’t know where I stand with it at the moment. Do I take things into my own hands and dismantle this monster and have a nice life?”

Robbie went on to carve out a successful solo career after quitting boyband Take That in 1995. In 2002, he signed a record-breaking £80 million contract with EMI and his single Angels was voted the best song of the last 25 years by BBC Radio 2 listeners last year.

Beyoncé Knowles thinks every woman should own a “freakum dress” to spice up their sex life. The ‘Déjà Vu’ star sings about putting on a special sexy garment, “freakum dress”, to put the spark back into a flagging relationship on the track. Beyoncé, who is preparing to release new album B’Day, insists a sex-inducing dress is a necessity for every woman’s wardrobe. She told the USA Today newspaper, “I think every woman should have one. If she doesn’t, she should get one, because they’re necessary sometimes. I have a couple of really sexy black dresses, you know?”

The lucky man who gets to see Beyoncé in her racy dresses is rapper Jay-Z. The pair are rumoured to be getting married in a lavish £3 million ceremony in November. Beyoncé admits that she is very much in love, but has denied reports she will be wearing a bridal gown modelled on Princess Diana’s wedding dress and is spending $300,000 on caviar for the nuptials. She explained, “I wish I could talk to whoever wrote that, because it’s fabulous. Somebody is so creative that they should start planning weddings, because they have a great one planned for me and Jay. It even has a menu with caviar. I don’t even like caviar.”

Lindsay Lohan is getting engaged, according to reports. The Mean Girls star’s boyfriend, Harry Morton, who has only been dating Lindsay for a month, was spotted buying a diamond ring from Cartier, in Beverly Hills, earlier this week. An insider revealed to the New York Post newspaper, “Harry is ready to take the relationship to another level.”

The lavish purchase came just days before socialite-and-heir Harry whisked 20-year-old Lindsay off for a romantic getaway, where he is expected to pop the question. Since starting his relationship with Lindsay, Harry has helped the Mean Girls actress tone down her wild behaviour because he felt it was having a negative effect on her career.

A source said, “Harry has told her not to drink so much and is trying to calm her down.” Lindsay was due to attend the MTV Video Music Awards in New York, however, she decided to shun the event and stay at home in Los Angeles instead.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s actress mother Blythe Danner is paranoid about her wrinkles. The 63-year-old star, best known for her parts in Meet The Parents and comedy series Will and Grace, was never worried about her skin, until she saw herself on a high definition TV while shooting the new comedy Huff.

She is quoted on the Dark Horizons website as saying, “I am 63, I don’t care. The thing is I wasn’t terribly conscious of my age until we did Huff and they used this dreadful high-definition which makes anybody over fifty look as if they are eighty. It shows up all your wrinkles. So, I got very self-conscious about that.”

Despite her concerns, Blythe wouldn’t consider having plastic surgery to improve her looks. She said, “We all get a little help, a little bit of this or that, not tremendous amounts. But I hate the idea of doing real invasive stuff, and I am not trying to look 40. “I don’t think I am terribly narcissistic, but you don’t want to look your worst.”