Thursday, August 03, 2006
Andhrapradesh Regional news Aug 3rd,2006
6 TD activists hurt in poll attack
Anantapur, Aug. 3: Six Telugu Desam activists were injured in the attack by the Congress activists at D. Cherlopalli village in Battalapalli mandal of the district on Thursday. The injured were shifted to the Anantapur Government General Hospital here.
According to TD sources, unable to digest the victory of TD supporter Vengamuni as sarpanch of the village, the Congress activists had attacked the TD activists. Lingamma, 40, Narayana, 40, Gujjala Savitri, 30, Sake Venkataramudu, 20, Erikela Naramma and Erikela Sake Lakshmi Devi were injured in the attack.
First aid was given to some other TD activists injured in the attack. The victims alleged that the Congress activists had attacked them with sticks, stones and iron rods. Some Congress activists were also injured in the attack.
Battalapally TD convenor M. Narappa Naidu alleged that the Congress activists had attacked the TD activists unable to honour the poll verdict given by people. He alleged that the police failed to take precautionary measure to avert clashes in the village.
Ms Savitri, a victim, said that Congress activists Adinarayana, Chandrayudu, Nagarjuna, Ashok Reddy, Hari and others had attacked her while she was working at her home. The TD activists also alleged that the Congress activists were also filing false cases against them. The Congress activists were also admitted to the hospital though they were not injured in the attack, the TD activists alleged.
Meanwhile, the Congress activists attacked one Akumalla Pushparaju with spear in Tallamapuram village in Proddutur mandal of Kadapa district on Thursday. APSP battalion constable Vijayudu, Nagaraju, Nagesam and others were accused in the case. Pushparaju, who was seriously injured in the incident, was shifted to the Kurnool Government Hospital.
The joint family members of Pushparaju and his brother Prakasam, who were traditional TD supporters, were opposing the contest of Nagaraju, son of Prakasam, as ward member with the support of the Congress. They urged him to withdraw from the contest. Upset by this, the Congress activists attacked Pushparaju while he was returning from his field.
Combing continues in dense Nallamala
Kurnool, Aug. 3: Police continue their efforts to gain upper hand over the Maoists in Nallamala forest area after the killing of Maoists State general secretary Madhav. It is learnt that over 500 special police are combing the entire area everyday. DSPs of the five districts around Nallamala are regularly monitoring the combing as part of ‘Nallamala Clean Operation’ enunciated by DGP Swarnjit Sen.
In order to safeguard the combing parties from the landmines, the police had brought ten mine-proof vehicles. The police of Prakasam, Guntur, Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts had received these mine-proof vehicles. Besides, these vehicles were fitted with bullet-proof glasses and now it has become very easy for the police to undertaking without any fear or threat to their lives.
These mine-proof vehicles are generally used in border areas by the Army. Each vehicle has a capacity to accommodate 20 policemen and it could move easily not only in forest areas but also on hillocks. The vehicle was also fitted with powerful communication equipment to provide information to their higher ups.
State squanders funds: Naidu
Karimnagar, Aug. 3: Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu has accused Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy of trying to cover up his government’s mistakes at the cost of public exchequer. Addressing newsmen after inaugurating a free medical camp at Mulkanoor on Thursday, Mr Naidu alleged that the release of an advertisement worth about Rs 50 lakhs as a counter to a report published in a Telugu daily amounted to misuse of public money.
If the government wanted to clarify its stand on the particular issue it should have given a rejoinder instead of a costly advertisement, he contended and alleged that the Chief Minister was exhibiting dictatorial tendencies unable to digest criticism of the inept policies of his government by the opposition parties and the press.
Later, Mr Naidu visited the houses of the persons who died of chikungunya and other viral fevers in the village on foot amidst heavy rain and consoled their family members. The police have made tight security arrangements during the whirlwind tour of the former chief minister in Bheemdevarapalli mandal.
Earlier, braving the heavy downpour a large number of patients participated in the camp and received free medical aid as well as 10 kg rice each. Telugu Desam general secretaries E. Peddi Reddy and K. Srihari and other party leaders also accompanied Mr Naidu.
Naidu’s visit a poll stunt, says Congress
Warangal, Aug. 3: The Congress activists staged a protest at Kakkiralapally village opposing the visit of Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu to the village to call on the chikungunya affected people. Contending the TD’s statement, which said that all the people in the village were affected by the chikungunya, the agitating Congress activists said that no single person in the village was down with the chikungunya in the village.
They argued that Wardhannapet MLA E. Dayakar Rao had organised Mr Naidu’s visit in order to get political mileage on the eve of last phase of gram panchayat elections. The agitating activists displayed black flags and banners and tried to block the convoy of the former chief minister and they have also raised slogans against him and the local MLA. The police had tough time in dispersing the Congress activists and controlling the crowds. They ensured the smooth passage for Mr Naidu’s convoy to the medical camp venue in the village.
Meanwhile, the team of doctors who came from Hyderabad and Warangal examined the patients in a door-to-door visit in the village. Later, at the meeting Mr Naidu felicitated doctors and lauded the initiative of Mr Dayakar Rao in offering the medical assistance to the local people. TD MLA Vem Narender Reddy, district unit president R. Prakash Reddy, senior leaders Gundu Sudha Rani, G. Rajan, Pola Natraj and others were present.
Nift students to give new touch to Nirmal
Adilabad, Aug. 3: Girl students from Hyderabad-based National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) are all set to give a fashionable touch to the traditional Nirmal toys in the district in order to improve their quality. These students are training traditional craftsmen in skill improvement like finishing and quality impr-ovement of toys to meet the new demand.
The students are creating 50 new designs to transform traditional toys, which were earlier used more as decorative items, into functional items without changing their basic form as part of product diversification project to create value addition to the latter to create more demand in the international market.
The seven girl students, who are studying third year of Fashion and Lif-estyle Accessories course, have developed wall clo-cks, pen stands, penholders, visiting card boxes and table top accessories with the existing forms of the toys. Mr Racharla Limbaiah, senior craftsman of Nirmal toys, said it would be good for us if their news methods would create more demand and revenue. Ms Rathan Jyothi, a NIFT student, said they were learning a lot from senior craftsmen of Nirmal toys and crafts.
Teams keep vigil on flood banks
Vijayawada, Aug. 3: The Krishna district administration is geared up to meet the impending floods to river Krishna. The officials from the irrigation department have released 29,000 cusecs of water into the sea while another 15,000 cusecs of water is being released to the three irrigation canals that flow into the Krishna delta.
Though they have not lifted the flood gates of the Prakasam Barrage, the officials are allowing the surplus water to overflow while taking precautionary measures like strengthening the flood banks. The department has readied sand bags and kept them along the flood bank in the downstream of the barrage. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation has opened seven relief camps in the city with the people coming from the river bed. The officials have also vacated several families from the river bed along Krishnalanka as the surplus water is expected to go up in the next two days.
The officials at the Nagarjunasagar reservoir have released over 4.28 lakh cusecs of water which is expected to reach Prakasam Barrage by Friday evening. “We are expecting more inflows to the Prakasam Barrage and the irrigation officials may increase the release of surplus water into the sea. Accordingly, we have vacated several families along the river and kept them in the relief camps,” said the district collector Navin Mittal while speaking to this correspondent on Thursday.
The collector alerted the revenue and the police officials along the river to co-ordinate the relief work with the irrigation department. In turn, the irrigation department instructed all its officers at the canals to check the canal banks for leakages. The officials have also formed special teams to check the leakages to the canals, while the teams of the revenue, police and irrigation department were on the vigil along the flood bank from Krishnalanka in the city to Puligadda in the downstream of the river.
Cablemen evade tax in Guntur
Guntur, Aug. 3: Vigilance and Enforcement sleuths are trying to haul in cable operators of the district for evading payment of crores of rupees as entertainment tax. Though there has been huge tax evasion by cable operators, municipal authorities have been shying away from taking action since most of the cable network operators run popular local channels.
However, the V&E de-partment is now hot on the trail of such cable operators and has vowed to bring them to book. According to the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, network operators should pay Rs 5 as entertainment tax for each cable connection. They are responsible for collecting the tax from consumers.
However, no cable operator in the district has paid the tax until now. Because of the popularity of their local channels, officials and the political leaders have been turning a blind eye. V& E sources said that cable operators of the district had to pay Rs. 3.1 crore as entertainment tax dues.
In the purview of Guntur Municipal Corporation alone, nearly Rs 1.5 crore was due as entertainment tax, a V&E official told this correspondent. As per the information collected by V& E department, there are nearly 1.6 lakh connections in Guntur division, 92,000 in Narsaraopet division and 1.04 lakh in Tenali division. Interestingly, V&E su-perintendent Sivasanar Reddy detected a similar tax evasion amounting to Rs 2.5 crore in Visakhapatnam district.
Downpour paralyses life in Vizag
Visakhapatnam, Aug. 3: Normal life came to a grinding halt in the city when heavy rains lashed the city for the second consecutive day on Thursday. The district received 7 cms of rain till evening. The highest fall of 19 cm was recorded in Munchingput mandal in the Agency area.
A four-storeyed building under construction and abandoned in 2001 collapsed in the Dabagardens area but there was no loss of life. A labourer had a miraculous escape with a fracture. Under One Town police station, a road leading to Durgalamma temple was washed away in the afternoon. A couple riding a scooter fell on the same road suffering injuries. Heavy rains accompanied by gale uprooted two trees — one near Diamond Park and the other in front of Woman Police station in Suryabagh area. One electric pole fell near Super Bazaar area in the morning hours disrupting the traffic.
The low-lying areas of Gnanapuram, Poorna Market, Chavulamadam, Sebasitan Colony , Bhupeshnagar, Pandavariveedhi, Prasad Gardens, Chakalipeta were inundated. About 150 people were evacuated from Sebastian Colony and shifted to a church. Others though warned but remained in their houses.
About 15,000 food packets were prepared and distributed. Two medical camps were set up. An emergency cell was opened at the collectorate and Greater Visakhaptnam Municipal Corporation and the situation is being monitored. Municipal commissioner N. Srikanth visited extensively in all the affected areas. Revenue officials said the water did not recede due to the high tide in the sea. All the flight services were cancelled due to poor visibility. RTC authorities cancelled bus services to Hyderabad via Bhadrachalam, Jeypore, Rajahmundry, Araku Valley and Rayagada.
Officials put on alert in Vizianagaram
Vizianagaram, Aug. 3: The district received average rainfall of 102 mm by 6 am on Thursday. Highest rainfall of 213.6 mm was recorded in Vizianagaram mandal while the lowest of 35.4 mm in Pachipenta mandal. With the district experiencing torrential rains for the last 48 hours, the district administration has put the revenue officials on red alert to shift the people from low-lying areas to safe places in case of exigency. The Yerrabanda farm tank in Krishnapuram village of Bobbili mandal was breached due to heavy inflows.
Revenue officials have been making all arrangements to shift villagers of Naviri, Thotavanivalasa and Markundaputti Pedapuvalasa in Garugubilli mandal depending on the situation. Meanwhile, the ongoing works on the Peddagedda reservoir project in Pachipenta mandal came to a grinding halt because of the heavy rains.
Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy is scheduled to release water for kharif season through this reservoir tentatively on August 12. The site which was levelled for the helipad was also damaged. Project EE V. Kshetrabala said at least one week time was required to resume works. Parvathipuram RDO B. Satyanarayana told this correspondent that all necessary measures were taken to shift the people in low-lying areas in Garugubilli, Komarada and Jiyyammavalasa mandals to safer places. Additional revenue staff were deployed there to assist local MROs, he added.
Meanwhile, the 48-hour downpour paralysed normal life cutting road links and inundating low-lying areas. The vehicular traffic between S Kota-Vizianagaram and Vizianagaram-Palakonda was disrupted till noon on Thursday when the trees were removed from the roads. Meanwhile, district collector B. Kishore directed all MROs, revenue inspectors and village secretaries to stay at headquarters till the situation returned to normal.
Anantapur, Aug. 3: Six Telugu Desam activists were injured in the attack by the Congress activists at D. Cherlopalli village in Battalapalli mandal of the district on Thursday. The injured were shifted to the Anantapur Government General Hospital here.
According to TD sources, unable to digest the victory of TD supporter Vengamuni as sarpanch of the village, the Congress activists had attacked the TD activists. Lingamma, 40, Narayana, 40, Gujjala Savitri, 30, Sake Venkataramudu, 20, Erikela Naramma and Erikela Sake Lakshmi Devi were injured in the attack.
First aid was given to some other TD activists injured in the attack. The victims alleged that the Congress activists had attacked them with sticks, stones and iron rods. Some Congress activists were also injured in the attack.
Battalapally TD convenor M. Narappa Naidu alleged that the Congress activists had attacked the TD activists unable to honour the poll verdict given by people. He alleged that the police failed to take precautionary measure to avert clashes in the village.
Ms Savitri, a victim, said that Congress activists Adinarayana, Chandrayudu, Nagarjuna, Ashok Reddy, Hari and others had attacked her while she was working at her home. The TD activists also alleged that the Congress activists were also filing false cases against them. The Congress activists were also admitted to the hospital though they were not injured in the attack, the TD activists alleged.
Meanwhile, the Congress activists attacked one Akumalla Pushparaju with spear in Tallamapuram village in Proddutur mandal of Kadapa district on Thursday. APSP battalion constable Vijayudu, Nagaraju, Nagesam and others were accused in the case. Pushparaju, who was seriously injured in the incident, was shifted to the Kurnool Government Hospital.
The joint family members of Pushparaju and his brother Prakasam, who were traditional TD supporters, were opposing the contest of Nagaraju, son of Prakasam, as ward member with the support of the Congress. They urged him to withdraw from the contest. Upset by this, the Congress activists attacked Pushparaju while he was returning from his field.
Combing continues in dense Nallamala
Kurnool, Aug. 3: Police continue their efforts to gain upper hand over the Maoists in Nallamala forest area after the killing of Maoists State general secretary Madhav. It is learnt that over 500 special police are combing the entire area everyday. DSPs of the five districts around Nallamala are regularly monitoring the combing as part of ‘Nallamala Clean Operation’ enunciated by DGP Swarnjit Sen.
In order to safeguard the combing parties from the landmines, the police had brought ten mine-proof vehicles. The police of Prakasam, Guntur, Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts had received these mine-proof vehicles. Besides, these vehicles were fitted with bullet-proof glasses and now it has become very easy for the police to undertaking without any fear or threat to their lives.
These mine-proof vehicles are generally used in border areas by the Army. Each vehicle has a capacity to accommodate 20 policemen and it could move easily not only in forest areas but also on hillocks. The vehicle was also fitted with powerful communication equipment to provide information to their higher ups.
State squanders funds: Naidu
Karimnagar, Aug. 3: Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu has accused Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy of trying to cover up his government’s mistakes at the cost of public exchequer. Addressing newsmen after inaugurating a free medical camp at Mulkanoor on Thursday, Mr Naidu alleged that the release of an advertisement worth about Rs 50 lakhs as a counter to a report published in a Telugu daily amounted to misuse of public money.
If the government wanted to clarify its stand on the particular issue it should have given a rejoinder instead of a costly advertisement, he contended and alleged that the Chief Minister was exhibiting dictatorial tendencies unable to digest criticism of the inept policies of his government by the opposition parties and the press.
Later, Mr Naidu visited the houses of the persons who died of chikungunya and other viral fevers in the village on foot amidst heavy rain and consoled their family members. The police have made tight security arrangements during the whirlwind tour of the former chief minister in Bheemdevarapalli mandal.
Earlier, braving the heavy downpour a large number of patients participated in the camp and received free medical aid as well as 10 kg rice each. Telugu Desam general secretaries E. Peddi Reddy and K. Srihari and other party leaders also accompanied Mr Naidu.
Naidu’s visit a poll stunt, says Congress
Warangal, Aug. 3: The Congress activists staged a protest at Kakkiralapally village opposing the visit of Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu to the village to call on the chikungunya affected people. Contending the TD’s statement, which said that all the people in the village were affected by the chikungunya, the agitating Congress activists said that no single person in the village was down with the chikungunya in the village.
They argued that Wardhannapet MLA E. Dayakar Rao had organised Mr Naidu’s visit in order to get political mileage on the eve of last phase of gram panchayat elections. The agitating activists displayed black flags and banners and tried to block the convoy of the former chief minister and they have also raised slogans against him and the local MLA. The police had tough time in dispersing the Congress activists and controlling the crowds. They ensured the smooth passage for Mr Naidu’s convoy to the medical camp venue in the village.
Meanwhile, the team of doctors who came from Hyderabad and Warangal examined the patients in a door-to-door visit in the village. Later, at the meeting Mr Naidu felicitated doctors and lauded the initiative of Mr Dayakar Rao in offering the medical assistance to the local people. TD MLA Vem Narender Reddy, district unit president R. Prakash Reddy, senior leaders Gundu Sudha Rani, G. Rajan, Pola Natraj and others were present.
Nift students to give new touch to Nirmal
Adilabad, Aug. 3: Girl students from Hyderabad-based National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) are all set to give a fashionable touch to the traditional Nirmal toys in the district in order to improve their quality. These students are training traditional craftsmen in skill improvement like finishing and quality impr-ovement of toys to meet the new demand.
The students are creating 50 new designs to transform traditional toys, which were earlier used more as decorative items, into functional items without changing their basic form as part of product diversification project to create value addition to the latter to create more demand in the international market.
The seven girl students, who are studying third year of Fashion and Lif-estyle Accessories course, have developed wall clo-cks, pen stands, penholders, visiting card boxes and table top accessories with the existing forms of the toys. Mr Racharla Limbaiah, senior craftsman of Nirmal toys, said it would be good for us if their news methods would create more demand and revenue. Ms Rathan Jyothi, a NIFT student, said they were learning a lot from senior craftsmen of Nirmal toys and crafts.
Teams keep vigil on flood banks
Vijayawada, Aug. 3: The Krishna district administration is geared up to meet the impending floods to river Krishna. The officials from the irrigation department have released 29,000 cusecs of water into the sea while another 15,000 cusecs of water is being released to the three irrigation canals that flow into the Krishna delta.
Though they have not lifted the flood gates of the Prakasam Barrage, the officials are allowing the surplus water to overflow while taking precautionary measures like strengthening the flood banks. The department has readied sand bags and kept them along the flood bank in the downstream of the barrage. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation has opened seven relief camps in the city with the people coming from the river bed. The officials have also vacated several families from the river bed along Krishnalanka as the surplus water is expected to go up in the next two days.
The officials at the Nagarjunasagar reservoir have released over 4.28 lakh cusecs of water which is expected to reach Prakasam Barrage by Friday evening. “We are expecting more inflows to the Prakasam Barrage and the irrigation officials may increase the release of surplus water into the sea. Accordingly, we have vacated several families along the river and kept them in the relief camps,” said the district collector Navin Mittal while speaking to this correspondent on Thursday.
The collector alerted the revenue and the police officials along the river to co-ordinate the relief work with the irrigation department. In turn, the irrigation department instructed all its officers at the canals to check the canal banks for leakages. The officials have also formed special teams to check the leakages to the canals, while the teams of the revenue, police and irrigation department were on the vigil along the flood bank from Krishnalanka in the city to Puligadda in the downstream of the river.
Cablemen evade tax in Guntur
Guntur, Aug. 3: Vigilance and Enforcement sleuths are trying to haul in cable operators of the district for evading payment of crores of rupees as entertainment tax. Though there has been huge tax evasion by cable operators, municipal authorities have been shying away from taking action since most of the cable network operators run popular local channels.
However, the V&E de-partment is now hot on the trail of such cable operators and has vowed to bring them to book. According to the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, network operators should pay Rs 5 as entertainment tax for each cable connection. They are responsible for collecting the tax from consumers.
However, no cable operator in the district has paid the tax until now. Because of the popularity of their local channels, officials and the political leaders have been turning a blind eye. V& E sources said that cable operators of the district had to pay Rs. 3.1 crore as entertainment tax dues.
In the purview of Guntur Municipal Corporation alone, nearly Rs 1.5 crore was due as entertainment tax, a V&E official told this correspondent. As per the information collected by V& E department, there are nearly 1.6 lakh connections in Guntur division, 92,000 in Narsaraopet division and 1.04 lakh in Tenali division. Interestingly, V&E su-perintendent Sivasanar Reddy detected a similar tax evasion amounting to Rs 2.5 crore in Visakhapatnam district.
Downpour paralyses life in Vizag
Visakhapatnam, Aug. 3: Normal life came to a grinding halt in the city when heavy rains lashed the city for the second consecutive day on Thursday. The district received 7 cms of rain till evening. The highest fall of 19 cm was recorded in Munchingput mandal in the Agency area.
A four-storeyed building under construction and abandoned in 2001 collapsed in the Dabagardens area but there was no loss of life. A labourer had a miraculous escape with a fracture. Under One Town police station, a road leading to Durgalamma temple was washed away in the afternoon. A couple riding a scooter fell on the same road suffering injuries. Heavy rains accompanied by gale uprooted two trees — one near Diamond Park and the other in front of Woman Police station in Suryabagh area. One electric pole fell near Super Bazaar area in the morning hours disrupting the traffic.
The low-lying areas of Gnanapuram, Poorna Market, Chavulamadam, Sebasitan Colony , Bhupeshnagar, Pandavariveedhi, Prasad Gardens, Chakalipeta were inundated. About 150 people were evacuated from Sebastian Colony and shifted to a church. Others though warned but remained in their houses.
About 15,000 food packets were prepared and distributed. Two medical camps were set up. An emergency cell was opened at the collectorate and Greater Visakhaptnam Municipal Corporation and the situation is being monitored. Municipal commissioner N. Srikanth visited extensively in all the affected areas. Revenue officials said the water did not recede due to the high tide in the sea. All the flight services were cancelled due to poor visibility. RTC authorities cancelled bus services to Hyderabad via Bhadrachalam, Jeypore, Rajahmundry, Araku Valley and Rayagada.
Officials put on alert in Vizianagaram
Vizianagaram, Aug. 3: The district received average rainfall of 102 mm by 6 am on Thursday. Highest rainfall of 213.6 mm was recorded in Vizianagaram mandal while the lowest of 35.4 mm in Pachipenta mandal. With the district experiencing torrential rains for the last 48 hours, the district administration has put the revenue officials on red alert to shift the people from low-lying areas to safe places in case of exigency. The Yerrabanda farm tank in Krishnapuram village of Bobbili mandal was breached due to heavy inflows.
Revenue officials have been making all arrangements to shift villagers of Naviri, Thotavanivalasa and Markundaputti Pedapuvalasa in Garugubilli mandal depending on the situation. Meanwhile, the ongoing works on the Peddagedda reservoir project in Pachipenta mandal came to a grinding halt because of the heavy rains.
Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy is scheduled to release water for kharif season through this reservoir tentatively on August 12. The site which was levelled for the helipad was also damaged. Project EE V. Kshetrabala said at least one week time was required to resume works. Parvathipuram RDO B. Satyanarayana told this correspondent that all necessary measures were taken to shift the people in low-lying areas in Garugubilli, Komarada and Jiyyammavalasa mandals to safer places. Additional revenue staff were deployed there to assist local MROs, he added.
Meanwhile, the 48-hour downpour paralysed normal life cutting road links and inundating low-lying areas. The vehicular traffic between S Kota-Vizianagaram and Vizianagaram-Palakonda was disrupted till noon on Thursday when the trees were removed from the roads. Meanwhile, district collector B. Kishore directed all MROs, revenue inspectors and village secretaries to stay at headquarters till the situation returned to normal.
