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Kiran Prefers Overhaul of Babus Than Cabinet Reshuffle

AP chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy might have deferred Cabinet reshuffle owing to political situation in the state, but a major overhaul of babus seems imminent. According to highly placed sources, at least 20 senior IAS officers including collectors of important districts like Ranga Reddy are likely to be shifted out.     The revamp has been necessitated due to the vacancies caused by the exit and retirement of some officers and also because CM wants a new team to handle the energy and irrigation departments. He also wants to replace some district collectors unhappy as he is with their performance. Hectic parlays are going on internally as shifting of IAS officers should take place before the notifications for the upcoming by-elections is released.    

AP Governor Likely to Get Short Extension

The latest buzz in the corridors of power is that Governor E S L Narasimhan will not lay down office on January 22 when his term is going to end, but that he is likely to get a short extension.     This is necessitated by the fact that elections will be on in five states by the time his term ends. After the elections are over, there will be a gubernatorial reshuffle and the replacement for Narasimhan will be finalized then. The talk in the corridors of power is that H R Bharadwaj from neighboring Karnataka could make it to the Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad. Whether this happens or not, the odds are that you will see Narasimhan around for a few more months.

Illicit Liquor Deaths: Chandrababu Naidu Blames Govt

TDP president Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu today blamed the New Year eve illicit liquor deaths on the inefficient and nincompoop administration by the Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.   Sri Naidu who called on the hooch affected families and those recuperating in the Help and Andhra hospitals at Vijayawada, the TDP president said the hooch deaths were nothing but ‘government murders‘. It is tragic that government is milking the poor of their meager resources in the form of indiscriminate liquor sales and a shame to claim to be spending all the liquor money on welfare activities for the poor, he said.     TDP president said that scared of public unrest and furor the Chief Minister was not visiting the hooch affected regions in coastal Andhra. ’The liquor syndicates headed by the ministers and congress MLAs alone had led to the present predicament of high cost of cheap liquor and consequent brewing of illicit arrack by the poor‘ he added.   Meanwhile the TDP president announced a compensation of Rs. 50,000 for each family of hooch victims. He also announced a compensation of Rs. three lakhs to family of TDP Mogarajpuram division president Nakkurti Yohan who lost six members of his family in the hooch tragedy.

AP High Court Cancels Srilakshmi IAS Bail

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has cancelled the bail of senior IAS officer Y Srilakshmi on Monday. Srilakshmi happens to be accused No. 4 in Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case. The Special CBI Court in Nampally, Hyderabad had earlier granted a conditional bail to Srilakshmi. Srilakshmi was arrested by CBI on charges of abusing the official position to grant favours to former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy-owned OMC. CBI had argued that as she was an IAS officer and her husband an IPS officer, there was a chance that evidence would be tampered with if she was set free. The High Court observed that Ms. Srilakshmi had betrayed her official duty and did not deserve the bail, which the lower court granted wrongly. Accordingly the High Court today reversed the order and asked her to surrender before the CBI special court before January 6.     Video Source: snehatv.com    

First Petro Price Hike in 2012 Likely Today

It hasn't been confirmed so far, but the Oil companies are likely to revise rates with a Rs. 2.10 - 2.13 per litre hike in petrol price saying that it is needed because of a weakening rupee. State-owned oil companies, as per practice, revise rates of petrol on 1st and 16th of every month based on the average imported price and exchange rate during the fortnight. As per this schedule, new rates were to be announced on Saturday if they were take effect from yesterday, but top officials at oil companies said the revision was "99 per cent unlikely" yesterday. The oil companies, they said, will decide on revising rates only on Monday (Today). The rate change may, however, need a political clearance as Assembly elections in five crucial states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, have been announced. According to official souces, international price of gasoline (against which domestic petrol prices are benchmarked) are more or less at the same level (as at the time of last revision), the rupee has depreciated to about Rs. 53 to a US dollar. This warrants an increase of Rs. 1.78 per litre and after adding local sales tax or VAT, the desired hike in petrol price in Delhi is Rs. 2.10 - 2.13 a litre. Incidentally, Oil firms had, at the last review on December 15/16, decided not to burden the consumers with about Re 1 per litre hike in petrol price needed at that time, as they felt Reserve Bank's intervention may help arrest fall in rupee's value.  

3,00,000 crore Investment Proposals For Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh Industries Minister J Geetha Reddy announced that the State has received 140 proposals worth Rs 3,00,000 crore investments for industries across various sectors. The State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) has given nod to 24 projects including two in the automotive sector where Mahindra & Mahindra will participate and two in the petrochemical sector of Amerind Petrochemicals (Rs 9,950 crore) and Al Qebla Al Watya (Rs 40,000 crore) in the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIR) in Visakhapatnam. The proposals that have been given the nod by the SIPB involve an investment of Rs 76,552 crore and these units when completed would directly employ about 71,908 people. In all, the proposals that Andhra Pradesh received included 29 mega projects, 19 non-mega projects and 15 related to public sector units including BDL, HAL, BEL and NPCL involving an investment of Rs1,22,000 crore. Investment proposals in the power sector were worth Rs 1,67,725 crore, Rs 3,000 crore in the IT sector, Rs 20,000 crore for infrastructure projects and Rs 1,300 crore tourism projects, he said. If the proposed projects materialise they would result in creating employment to more than 2,50,000 people, the minister said. Meanwhile, the state is making arrangements for ‘New age innovation partnership summit’, a prestigious event where delegates from 26 countries are expected to participate. The event, being organised in association with Confederation of India Industry, will be held at Hyderabad from January 11 to 13.

14 Die in Illicit Liquor Tragedy: MLA Devineni in House Arrest

The death toll in last night's illicit liquor consumption tragedy at Porata Nagar, a tribal Thanda near Kanimerla village in Krishna district has gone up to 14, with the death of another seven persons, including three women, official sources said. While seven persons died today, five of the 14 hospitalised, who are undergoing treatment both at Vijayawada and Mylavaram, are in a critical condition, they said. About 50 tribals, belonging to the Banjara community, from Porata Nagar and its surrounding hamlets had consumed illicit liquor yesterday, following which, some of them had complained of health problems, while a few had even fallen unconscious. The victims had been rushed to nearby hospitals at Mylavaram, Vissannapet and Vijayawada. Out of the total seven fatalities last night, five had died while they were being transported to hospitals. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has directed the District Collector to conduct an inquiry into the incident and file a report. Excise Circle Inspector and Sub Inspector of the concerned area were suspended, sources added. Excise and Prohibition Minister M Venkataraman, who is now on Sabarimala pilgrimage, also issued instructions to take action against negligent officials of the concerned area. Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, TDP MLA from the tragedy-hit area is now under house arrest for staging a dharna last night demanding action against concerned officials, ex-gratia for the deceased and resignation of the Excise Minister. The women's wing of the CPM also staged a dharna in front of the government hospital in Vijayawada.

Anna Hazare Hospitalized: Needs One Month Rest

India Against Corruption crusader Anna Hazare is currently undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Pune. He is suffering from chest infection and doctors advised one month's rest for him. Anna had abruptly called off his three day fast at MMRDA Grounds in Mumbai on 28 December due to ill-health. He was fasting in protest against, in his terms, a 'weak' Lokpal Bill brought out by the Government. Recuperating from chest infection, Anna has reassured his supporters that his health is improving. "People who thought I am very unwell, it is not like that. I am much better now," he told reporters. "In a few days, I will be alright. Don't worry about me. I request all my countrymen and volunteers not to worry. My health is not that bad," said Anna from his hospital bed in Pune. Doctors too are hopeful but have said it will be at least a week before he recovers. Anna's ill-health has put his team's plans to campaign against the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections in the five-poll bound states in jeopardy. Key team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal has left for pune to meet Anna and decide their further course of action. All meetings of the core group scheduled this week to discuss the team's future plans have been postponed indefinitely.  

Drug racket busted in Hyderabad once again

Drug racket busted in Hyderabad once again  

Cyclone Thane Effect on Coastal Andhra - Latest Video

Cyclone Thane, which crossed the coast between Cuddalore in Tamilnadu and Puducherry on Friday morning. The severe cyclonic storm resulted in to heavy rains in Nellore and Chittoor districts of Andhra Pradesh. The cyclone induced depression is still causing rains in North and South coastal districts of  AP.                    

DGP Dinesh Reddy Remarks on Flimsy Clothes of Women

Andhra Pradesh DGP V Dinesh Reddy reportedly told a press conference in Hyderabad on Friday that police cannot be faulted for rise in rape cases and instead blamed women for provoking men with fashionable clothing. This remark of DGP was strongly dismissed bt the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram. Asked for his reaction at a press conference, Chidambaram said: "I strongly disagree with that statement. Everyone is entitled to dress the way he or she pleases as long as he or she has regards to the occasion, the place and the context. Obviously, you don't wear whole lot of clothes to play football or tennis and you don't wear swimwear and go to a cocktail party". He said there cannot be any kind of policing and "certainly not by a DG of police".     However, later DGP Dinesh Reddy said that his comments had been misinterpreted. He said, what he meant was one of the factors behind rape cases was the provocative dresses worn by women over which police had no control.   Video Source: ANImultimedia      

TDP Digs Out KCR Roots

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has dug out Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) roots: Though it was widely known that the TRS chief's ancestors belong to Vizianagaram district, his exact native place was not known to many till now. TDP took pains to unearth the information, in a bid to expose KCR's dubious standards. Several TDP leaders accompanied by media reporters visited KCR's native place Buddipeta village in Seethanagaram mandal of Vizianagaram district and gathered his antecedents from the villagers. The villagers told that, KCR's ancestors belonged to Buddipeta village and were doing business in the Telangana region. Later on they settled in Telangana forever and lost links with Buddipeta. The villagers also criticised KCR for his anti-samaikyandhra stance. They said" it is very unfortunate that being one of us, KCR is heralding the separatist movement by labelling andhra people as the 'looters'."   Video Source: snehatv.com    

Jayalalitha Says AIDMK Would Pick Next PM Candidate

AIADMK general secretary and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha on Friday declared that the party will be in a position to decide the next prime ministerial candidate and called her party cadres to start working for the Parliament elections.   She also warned them of severe action if "they are in touch with traitors".     Speaking at the party's general council meeting on the outskirts of the city, Jayalalitha said: "Days are not far off when AIADMK would go beyond Tamil Nadu and achieve great things at the national political arena." She said it was the party's golden period in 1998 when it extended support to the BJP enabling Atal Bihari Vajpayee to become the prime minister. The BJP was able to capture power at the Centre for the first time, she said.   Jayalalitha declared the time is again ripening for the party to decide the prime ministerial candidate and "we will be there in the next government at the Centre".   She said at that point the party will be in a position to facilitate decisions that would not impinge on the rights of Tamil Nadu and the national unity, and urged the party cadres and leaders not to be complacent after the victories in the assembly and local body elections.    

Team Anna Meeting Postponed

Team Anna Core Committee meeting, scheduled to be held at Ralegan Siddhi on January 2 and 3, has been postponed due to the Anna Hazare's health, his aides said on Saturday. "The core committee meeting has been postponed due to Annaji's ill health. The date of next meeting will be announced after 4-5 days," Anna's aide Suresh Pathare said.     Anna's associates were to meet at his native village Ralegan Siddhi in western Maharashtra, about 300km from Mumbai, to chalk out their future strategies in fight against corruption. The 74-year-old social activist called off his three-day fast against a "weak" Lokpal Bill mid-way on December 28 due to poor health. He returned to his village the next day. Notwithstanding the poor turnout at the protest venue in Mumbai, Anna renewed the threat to campaign against the Congress in five poll-bound states, including Uttar Pradesh, for bringing in a "weak" Lokpal Bill.      

AP Cabinet Expansion Likely to be Postponed

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is on a two-day visit to Delhi, met the party president Sonia Gandhi at her residence this morning. Mrs. Gandhi's political adviser Ahmed Patel and party General Secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad were also present at the meeting. According to sources, possible cabinet expansion, Telangana statehood issue and the strategy to be adopted during the forthcoming by-elections are understood to have been discussed. Though there was no official word on what transpired at the meeting, sources indicated that the cabinet expansion, which has been long-pending, has been postponed in view of the upcoming by-elections. It was felt that the situation in the state was not conducive to take up cabinet expansion at this juncture. The speculation about a cabinet expansion gained momentum after Kiran Kumar government won a no-confidence motion moved by Opposition Telugu Desam Party earlier this month with the help of Chiranjeevi led PRP group of MLAs. But now, seems, Chiranjeevi once again have to face dissappointment with this decision of Congress high command.     Video Source: snehatv.com      

What Happened to Rebel Maoist Nayeemuddin?

What happened to rebel maoist Mohammed Nayeemuddin, who is accused in several high profile criminal cases, including the murder of IPS officer Vyas, is he dead? The police says it doesn't have any clue, but springs up his name whenever a high profile crime takes place.   As per the records, Nayeem was last seen on March 15, 2007, when he appeared before a local court in Hyderabad in connection with an IPS officer murder case. He tricked the entire police team at the court by escaping from there in the name of attending to the call of nature. Subsequently, Nayeem's name popped up during the police probe of several sensational crime cases, including surrendered Maoist Sambasivudu's murder at Nalgonda in March 2011 and the latest murder of gangster Patolla Goverdhan Reddy in the heart of the state capital on 27-12-2011.   Mujeeb Ahmed, city-based alleged Hijbul Mujahideen operative, who was convicted in an arms haul case, told the police that he brought an AK 47 rifle from Kashmir to pass it over to Nayeem, who is an accused in the same case. Nayeem is also suspected to have passed on information to the police about Sohrabuddin Sheikh who was later killed in an alleged encounter by the Gujarat cops. It is suspected that rogue outfits like Nallamala Cobras and Kakatiya Cobras, which claimed responsibility for the killing of several civil rights activists in 2005, were actually operated by Nayeem or his aides.   While the activities of Cobras have drastically come down recently, civil right groups maintain that these outfits are being run under the guidance of cops and that is the reason police are 'unaware' of Nayeem's whereabouts. While investigating agencies were quick to point fingers at Nayeem in these murders as they bore his trade mark modus operandi, none were able to concretely say anything about the whereabouts or present status of his operations. According to sources, Nayeem, hailing from Bhongir in Nalgonda, was involved in several land settlements in Hyderabad till a year ago.   According to some officials, Nayeem is still active and could be operating on a fake identity from two South East Asian countries with visits to Bangalore every now and then. However, an Intelligence department source said Nayeem suffered a paralytic stroke earlier this year and had undergone treatment in Kerala. A surrendered Maoist, who knew about Nayeem's operations, confirmed the Kerala visit but extended it a bit further by saying that, "Nayeem had undergone treatment in Kerala under the close watch of special teams of cops. But a month ago, we heard that he is no more."

BCs, SCs Vie For Hyderabad Dy Mayor Post

With too many aspirants in the race for the deputy mayor post in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana held a meeting with the ministers, MLAs and all the Congress corporators at Gandhi Bhavan on Thursday to finalise one name.   All the participants of the meeting,  including home minister P Sabita Indra Reddy, Danam Nagender and other corporators like former mayor Banda Karthika Reddy said they would abide by the party's decision and support the candidate for deputy mayor. But it appears that the party has decided to give the deputy mayor post to a corporator belonging to a backward class as the Congress mayor till recently was an upper caste woman.   The election of mayor and deputy mayor, which was supposed to be held on December 30, was postponed to January 3 at the request of Members of Parliament, who are ex-officio members of the municipal corporation, as they were preoccupied with the parliamentary proceedings. The main aspirant is Hafeezpet corporator V Jagadishwar Goud, whose candidature is reportedly being supported by Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee chief and minister Danam Nagender. The other candidates in the fray are Kaleru Venkatesh, who is presently Congress floor leader in the corporation and Sultan Bazaar corporator G Shankar Yadav, who is said to be backed by Secunderabad MP Anjan Kumar Yadav. Interestingly, all the candidates belong to the backward classes.     Some corporators and leaders are demanding that deputy mayor should be given to a scheduled caste candidate. Ziaguda corporator A Krishna is aspiring for the post with the help of Nandi Yellaiah, Rajya Sabha member. The other candidates in the fray include Gunfoundry corporator and brother of Mukesh Goud, M Madhu Goud, Habsiguda corporator Harivardhan Reddy, Barkatpura corporator (associate member of Congress) and standing committee member Diddi Rambabu and Boundhanagar corporator Adam Uma Devi. But this time, the party may not give chance to a woman candidate for deputy mayor post as former mayor Karthika held the post for two years.   In Thursday's meeting, PCC president and other corporators felicitated former mayor Karthika Reddy who reportedly told the PCC president that she would do any assignment given to her for the interest of the party. "The deputy mayor candidate will be finalised after consulting chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, MLAs and ministers and the name would be officially announced only on January 3, a few hours before the election," a source in the party said.            

Lokpal Drama Ends: Rajya Sabha Adjourned sine die

The Lokpal Bill drama has come to an abrupt end in the winter session of Parliament with the Rajya Sabha adjourned san die late in the evening on Thursday. The Lokpal Bill failed to get approval in Rajya Sabha though it was passed in the Lok Sabha. The opposition accused the government of running away from voting as it had no majority in the House. A meeting of the Union Cabinet is scheduled for Friday. It is likely to recommend proroguing the Winter Session of Parliament to the President, sources said. The much-anticipated Rajya Sabha session ended at midnight on Thursday without a vote on the Lokpal Bill. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), a UPA constituent which had moved a slew of amendments and gave the government torrid time when it vowed to vote against the bill, called the adjournment "orchestrated chaos", almost echoing the Opposition view that it was "choreographed drama". The BJP and the Left also wanted the CBI to be part of the Lokpal. And when the time for voting came, Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal suddenly came up with a request to the Chair for time to consider the 187 amendments moved by the MPs. Smelling a rat in the government strategy, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said the government was running away from the House because it was in a "hopeless minority". "A government which did not have the numbers in the House has consciously first choreographed a debate so that it cannot not be concluded before 12 o' clock," he said. Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said that after going through the amendments, the Cabinet would take a call on what to accept and what to reject and get back to Opposition parties. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 was "alive" and will remain on the Rajya Sabha register. "It will be cleared in the Budget session," he said.  

AP: Kiran Kumar Mulling on Overall Cleansing of Cabinet

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is presently in Delhi waiting to meet Smt. Sonia Gandhi. He couldn't get her appointment in the forenoon today, as she was busy in Congress Core Committee meeting. Kiran Kumar Reddy went to Delhi yesterday evening discuss with party high command the possible inclusion of two PRP MLAs into his cabinet. Though Chiranjeevi, president of the now defunct PRP, has sought three berths, the Congress wanted the number pegged at two and has communicated its intention to him. Accordingly, Chiranjeevi is planning to let Anakapalle MLA Ganta Srinvasa Rao and MLC from Kadapa C Ramachandraiah be part of the cabinet. The exercise is expected to be completed before the end of this month. Sources said more than the cabinet expansion, Kiran Kumar wants to cleanse it by getting rid of some ministers, who of late have become a headache for him, out of his cabinet. In this category fall textiles minister P Shankar Rao and transport minister Botcha Satyanarayana. For this cleansing, the chief minister wants to bring 'one person, one post' principle to the fore.