Kiran Kumar Reddy Jaipal Reddy

Reliance Gas Fires Kiran Jaipal Rift

State govt. is up in arms against the Centre as its not ready to withdraw its order of diverting Two million standard cubic meters per day (MMSMD) of gas from Krishna-Godavari Basin to Ratnagiri power plant in Maharashtra   This issue of Gas allocation is creating rift between chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Union petroleum and natural gas minister S Jaipal Reddy as the power starved state is in deep darkness with drought situations prevailing in AP. Union petroleum and natural gas minister S Jaipal Reddy who hails from the state is being blamed for diversion of gas from KG basin. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, energy minister Veerappa Moily and Jaipal Reddy not to divert the gas. CM, deputed minister Dharmana Prasada Rao and officials of power utilities to meet Jaipal Reddy and apprise him of power situation in the state. When Dharmana and co explained the situation to Jaipal on Saturday, the latter reportedly refused to intervene in the issue and instead suggested that the state should approach the Prime Minister. Refuting  allegations of Opposition parties as false that he was not protecting his home state’s interests, Jaipal Reddy made it clear that he had tried all his means to provide gas to the state. He said that the power ministry had waited till August 1 to divert the gas to Ratnagiri plant, though the actual date as per the agreement was March 1. He made it clear that he could no longer stop the diversion of the gas from the KG basin. He further said there were alternatives before the state government to buy additional gas. However, he alleged that the state was not doing so. Kiran Kumar has now sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to apprise him of the power situation and seek additional gas and coal. Other Congress leaders are also getting ready to take the issue up with the high command.  

Herguan University

Herguan University Fraud: Telugu Students Opting For Transfers to Other Varsities

The future of students of  Herguan University in Sunnyvale, California is in a stalemate. Of the 450 students enrolled in the university, nearly 400 hail from Andhra Pradesh and have desperately trying to get in touch with Various telugu associations, Student organisations, frineds and relatives to seek guidance on the alternatives available.   Many of them are now thinking of applying for transfers to other universities in the United States. “Many students from the campus have requested us to help them out with transfers to other US universities,” said Mohana Krishna, joint secretary of the North America Telugu Society. The Herguan university website, however, announces the commencement of classes despite the row. It says, “Our University is open and conducting classes as usual. The charges against the DSO (Designated School Official), who has resigned, will not affect the schedule of classes in the university.” Most of the students had sought admissions to genuine universities and procured I-20 for their course of study in US but had later sought transfers to the Herguan university to work on their F1-visa while pursuing their study by taking multiple online courses, which is in violation of their student visa norms. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website announced that the students have only two options: Continue attending the classes or continue working for which they were authorized and maintain their active status without any violation of regulations get transferred to any another SEVP-certified institution.” “Most of the Telugu students had sought transfers from other schools. Though we can help them in securing a transfer to other universities, it is unlikely that their credits will be accepted by these institutes,” says K. Ashok Babu, a member of Murray State University Indian Students Association. The period of study and semesters completed by the students at the sham university might not be counted as valid by other universities and they have to start their courses afresh.  As in the case of North Virginia at Annandale, the students at Herguan will have around a fortnight to take a final decision.