Andhranews

Anantapur, Sept. 6: Even as the crops in the district totally withered away, the officials are taking steps for cloud seeding. The government issued orders to take up cloud seeding in the next five days. As the orders to this effect reached the district administration now, the officials are busy making arrangements to take up cloud seeding. In fact, the State government had earlier announced that cloud seeding would be taken up after August 15, but it failed to get clearance from the Centre so far.

Hence, the State government had decided to undertake cloud seeding on its own from September 7 and the Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy announced this decision recently. However, no efforts were made and no preparations were made in this regard till date.

Finally, the Centre gave its nod for cloud seeding on September 4 and orders were also issued to that effect. It was also decided to undertake cloud seeding under the supervision of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU). After the decision was taken to the notice of the JNTU officials, they contacted the aviation company in Bangalore and asked them to send the necessary aeroplanes.

The Agni Aviations, whi-ch had taken up the cloud seeding earlier is sending the necessary radar equipment and aeroplanes to undertake cloud seeding. The government had allocated Rs 17 crores for the purpose. However, several doubts were raised over the success of the cloud seeding efforts, as two such attempts made earlier failed to yield any results.

Cloud seeding was undertaken during the Telugu Desam regime from Nandyal in Kurnool district. As it failed to yield any positive result, the Congress government undertook cloud seeding from Anantapur district headquarters. That effort also failed to evoke any positive result. For the third time, the cloud seeding is being undertaken, again from the district headquarters.

On receipt of orders to undertake cloud seeding, the district administration got the infrastructure ready. Only the radar, which is being brought from Bangalore had to be erected and it has to be linked to the already erected radar to start the cloud seeding operations.

Ongole, Sept. 6: Finance and legislative affairs minister K. Rosaiah said that he would quit politics if his involvement was proved in the 2,400 tonnes rice scam which took place at Chirala in Prakasam district. Asked about the action taken by him in the rice scam, the minister displayed the letter sent to district collector B. Udaya Lakshmi asking her to take tough action against the culprits. He made it clear that stringent action would be taken against the guilty in the rice scam.

Mr Rosaiah visited his constituency, Chirala, on Wednesday, and spoke to reporters at his residence. He was reacting to the recent demand made by the Telugu Desam (TD) leaders that he should resign owning responsibility as the rice scam took place in his Assembly constituency. Mr Rosaiah said that he had an unblemished record during his 55-year long political career. He categorically stated that he was never involved in any scam.

Mr Rosaiah alleged that the TD leaders were involved in rice scams for many years. He alleged that Uppugundu rice mill owner Nageswara Rao was a close follower of the district TD president. The minister said that Mr Anjaiah, another ricemill owner, was a TD leader and was market committee chairman from 2001 to 2005. Attacking his main rival Mr Paleti Rama Rao, Mr Rosaiah said that he had a criminal record. He alleged that Mr Rama Rao had poured ink into ballot boxes in the polls.

Commenting on the fact finding team which visited Chirala recently, Mr Rosaiah pointed out that one of its members was produced in the court in connection with a murder case. He asked how such people could be a member of the fact finding committee.

Srikalahasthi, Sept. 6: While almost all temples across the country will remain closed in view of the lunar eclipse on Thursday evening, the historical Srikalahastheeswara temple would remain open. In fact, priests of the temple will conduct special abhishekams and other rituals on Thursday midnight at 1.30 am; devotees can worship the deity as usual, according to the Veda pandit of the temple, Sri Venkanna Gurukul.
He said that the three eyes of Lord Siva were considered as moon, sun and fire god.

“We chant mantras meant to soothe the effect at the time of the actual eclipse, assuming that it is an injury to one of the eyes of the Lord,” the senior priest said. He said that Veda pandits would chant slokas after taking holy bath before the eclipse (pattu snanam) and after the eclipse, (vidupu snanam). Devotees can have darshan even during the rituals slated for midnight and only ekanatha seva is being cancelled due to the eclipse, the gurukul said.

Kakinada, Sept. 6: The Maritime Board covering all minor ports in the State for effective management and quick decisions is expected to come into existence very soon. According to port department sources, the setting up of the board which was on the cards for the past one year will be a reality soon. The process is expected to be completed in the next session.

On acceptance, the board will come into existence with Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy as its chairman and various depa-rtmental heads as members. The Maritime Board can take any decision regarding port management. This process is expected to boost various facilities at the minor ports in the State. Andhra Prdesh takes Gujarat as its role model in cargo-handling. A maritime board was established in Gujarat in

1985.Gujarat handles cargo to the tune of 100 million metric tonnes per annum and stands first in the country. Andhra Pradesh is in the second place with cargo-handling of 18.3 million metric tonnes in the previous financial year. Apart from Gujarat, other States which have maritime boards are Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Orissa, Karnataka and West Bengal are also going for maritime boards. The Kakinada Port which is targeting to handle 22 million metric tonnes in the present financial year is likely to increase its cargo handling capacity in the next couple of years.

Warangal, Sept. 6: The Kakatiya Urban Development Authority (Kuda) has decided to go ahead with its plan to buy a total of 135 acres land belonging to the Azam Jahi Mills for open sale later. Addressing a press conference here, Kuda chairman Ch. Srinivasa Reddy and vice-chairman Syed Omer Jaleel said that Kuda would purchase the 135-acre site of the AJ Mills from the National Textiles Corporation at a cost of Rs 33 crores.

The Kuda chairman termed the leaders who are opposing the sale of the AJ Mills lands as “anti-developmental forces.” He explained that the defunct AJ Mills lands would be developed for sale in order to raise resources for the city’s development. “There is nothing wrong in the sale of AJ Mills lands as they would fetch money required for the all-round development of the city,” Mr Srinivasa Reddy added.

He stated that Kuda was not seeking funds from the State government to purchase the AJ Mills lands. “We are raising the funds through bank loans and there is nothing wrong in taking up ventures for the city development,” he said. Referring to the Master Plan for the city, he said that the State government had accorded permission to prepare the Master Plan to be taken up at a cost of Rs 43 lakhs.

The proposed Master Plan would earmark 150 acres for the IT Park, 450 acres for Industrial and 44-km ring road in the city. The satellite-based technology would be extensively used in preparing the Master Plan that would be useful for the city’s all-round planned development for the next 20 years.

The New-Delhi Consulting Engineering Services, which was entrusted with the task of preparing the Master Plan, would come out with the exhaustive plan within one year. The Kuda chairman urged all the leaders and other intellectuals of the city to joint the hands for the city’s all-round development. “Politics should not come in the way of development and it is not right to oppose and halt every developmental project,” he said.

Karimnagar, Sept. 6: Minister for sports M. Satyanarayana Rao has asked the district administration to conduct an impartial inquiry into the alleged land scam in Karimnagar mandal to take stringent action against the guilty irrespective of their stature.

Speaking to newsmen here on Wednesday, the minister denied the alleged role of some Congress leaders in the “land scam.” “There is not an iota of truth in such allegations and the district administration can register cases against anyone including me if our involvement is there in it,” he said. Mr Satyanarayana Rao asserted that he maintained unblemished record throughout his 52-years- long political career.

“The chief ministers used to stand in a queue before me when I was the AICC general secretary. However, I never misused my position and maintained integrity to uphold values in the public life,” he said. He said that he has instructed the officials to hold a detailed inquiry into the alleged scams.

Mr Satyanarayana Rao, who had openly admitted that he was not happy with the portfolio he was handling on more than one occasion, said in a philosophical tone: “I am prepared to go anywhere as per the wishes of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. I don’t know whether I would go to Raj Bhavan or Devuni Bhavan.”

In reply to another question, he said, “Janashakti leader Rajanna participated in Telangana movement and campaigned for me in Sircilla division during the Lok Sabha elections in 1972 prior to his entry into the revolutionary movement.”

Nizamabad, Sept. 6: Nizamabad police has decided to spread its roots to Maoist-affected areas by introducing Bandhan (bon-ding) committees to fill the gap between police and civilians. Nizamabad-Medak Range deputy inspector general of police Anjani Kumar said that the menace of recruiting young cadre could be arrested if their department spread its wings through social engineering.

The police can play a positive role through the Bandhan concept, galvanise social forces, coordinate them and go in for a variety of steps to fulfill the onerous task of rebuilding present-day society. Sairaj Santosh Badvel, ISO processor-cum-advisor and the brainchild of this concept said, “We have selected Manala, the Maoist citadel at Kammarpally mandal in this district to implement the Bandhan concept after a sample study revealed Manala’s violence record. In the last 10 years, more than 55 crimes have been committed in this and adjacent thandas and Maoists lost their top leaders in exchanges of fire. I visited Manala twice and convinced people to implement this concept.”

The Bandhan committee set up at Manala with seven members includes a teacher, two Dwcra women, a barber, a dhobi and two youngsters. The committee members would visit the village and segregate problems later department wise. The committee would meet once a week and discuss the progress of issues in the meeting.

The members would personally meet the concerned departments to solve issues. “The concept will be introduced in other Maoist stronghold villages soon, said SP Mahesh Chandra Laddha.

Adilabad, Sept. 6: Two passengers of AP Express fell ill after taking food offered by unknown persons during the journey near Ramagundam station. They became unconscious and were taken out of the train by railway police at Bellampalli railway station at 11 am on Wednesday. The unconscious passengers’ lost their luggage.

The passengers were identified as Mr Haragopal Rao, 50, of Secunderabad and Mr Pappuram of Rajasthan. Both had boarded the AP Express at Secunderabad and were not known to each other. According to sources, two unknown persons sitting beside Mr Rao and Mr Pappuram offered food to the passengers who ate it.

By the time the train reached Mancherial, Mr Rao and Mr Pappuram fell unconscious. Other passengers infor-med Bellampalli railway police who shifted the two to Mancherial hospital for treatment. Doctors said they were out of danger. Bellampalli SI Ravi Kumar is inquiring into the incident.

Guntur, Sept 6: A senior professor of the Government General Hospital (GGH) here is suspected to be involved in a fake certificate scam. City police had nabbed four persons in connection with distribution of fake certificates at the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) office on Tuesday.

On examining the fake ceritificates, police discovered that many were signed by the GGH professor. People had been using such certificates to get various licences. Following this discovery, a police team visited the GGH for further investigation. The bogus certificates including first aid certificates, fitness certificates and certificates for proof of age were being issued by the four-member gang.

“We have come to know that many autorickshaw drivers had presented fake first aid certificates to get licences,” said an RTA official.It was noted that many blank certificates had been signed in advance by the GGH professor enabling the gang to fill it up according to the needs of the buyers. He had also affixed the official seal on the certificates.

GGH superintendent Dr B. Mohan Rao said that it was a grievous offence to illegally use the official seal of the hospital. When caught by the police, the gang said that they had been authorised by the professor to issue the certificates. Taking serious note of the issue, superintendent of police B. Sivadhar Reddy instructed his subordinates to bring the culprits to book.

Guntur, Sept. 6: Aiming to encash on the enthusiasm shown by the general public to visit Buddhist sites, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to spruce up Battiprolu Buddhist site, 60 km from Guntur. Disclosing this to this correspondent, superintending archeologist Hyderabad circle, Dr Jitendar Das said people started visiting the sites, thanks to Kalachakra held in Amaravati in January this year.

As suggestions have started pouring in on the development of the sites, a special budget has been allocated for the project, he said. A crystal casket with a Buddhist relic was found in the ruins of the Mahachaitya at Battiprolu. According to historians, the pre-Mauryan settlement here was called Pratipalapura. It is also called Chinna Lanjadibba and Vikramarkakotadibba.

The Mahachaitya of 40 metres in diameter, has lost its glory as its architectural grandeur has been covered by mud in the course of time. Hence, it was decided to develop a garden with lounge on the site. The footpath to be laid along the centre of the park will lead to the Mahachaitya.

A lighting spectacle and if possible, an open stage will be set up at this place. A reprographic centre, toilets, cloakroom, a counter for antiques and a parking yard will also be planned, he said. This little effort of enhancing its tourist potential is to make the public understand the historical significance and make them volunteer their contribution for preserving the cultural heritage for posterity, he added.

Traffic allowed without facilities

Visakhapatnam, Sept. 6: The 4.87 km flyover that has been under construction since 2002, connecting Convent Junction to dockyard and the airport road is becoming dangerous by the day with accidents only waiting to happen on it.

The metal beam crash barriers built on either side of the flyover and the basic road markings seem to be the only work done since the project started. The flyover hasn’t been inaugurated yet, but for the past fortnight traffic has been plying on it. Says the port connectivity project director, National Highways Authority of India, K. Srinivasulu, “Since the road on the flyover is completed, we had a special request from the DCP, traffic, Vizag, on account of threats to the Naval establishments to divert the traffic to the flyover for four days starting from August 14, 2006. “

There are no medians on the flyover, because the road is two-lane. The stretch was manned earlier by a group of constables at the Convent Junction and a watchman at the dockyard entry point, but now a lonely constable handles the traffic. There isn’t a constable at the fork on the flyover that poses a major threat to the travellers plying on the road.

DCP, traffic, P.Viswapr- asad says, “The flyover was mainly built to transfer the port vehicles from the roads below so that they could reach their respective godowns without hindering regular traffic in the area. The Navy had objected, for security reasons, to part of the road from a Y junction below the flyover up to Scindia to be used by the port vehicles.

But since the flyover was opened to public because of security concerns of the Naval establishments, for about four days this month the traffic has been quite regular here. The concerns of road markings, lanes etc are that of the NH authorities who have taken up the project”

The DCP said one-way traffic would be imposed during certain hours in the morning for the traffic from the Convent Junction to the Malkapuram and Gajuwaka. The evenings would see the flow of traffic in the opposite direction though still one way, he said adding that final decision would be taken after studying the local traffic.

Incidentally, the flyover doesn’t have streetlights, which is an obvious concern for traffic plying on this road at night. But many travellers are unconcerned. Narasinga Rao, 40, a dockyard worker, says, “The road below is something I avoid taking. Many trucks ply on that. I might as well choose to drive on the flyover if I could avoid them. Anyway the roads are so poorly lit at nights, though there aren’t any streetlights erected on the flyover, at least I know I would get to the other side faster than when on the road below.”

The flyover could be a zone waiting to witness some major accidents. The authorities, however, are still sitting on the figures of the past year about the number of accidents. The fatal accidents on this stretch still are a little below 10, perhaps why are lax in solving the issue. Out of 32 accidents in this stretch, according to them, only eight have been fatal.