Home  
Top News

T Cong Leaders Clueless About Azad T Report

The much awaited report on Telangana by AICC general secretary Gulam Nabi Azad may not be submitted to Congress president Sonia Gandhi by 30 September, as stated earlier. Azad, who had been away from the country for a week, has come back only on Monday. The AICC sources said a report by Friday is quite unlikely even though the party wants a solution to the Telangana issue as early as possible. It was two months ago that Azad had assured the Congress leaders that he would submit his report to the party president Sonia Gandhi after eliciting the views of party leaders from all the regions within the stipulated deadline. Yesterday, though T Congress MPs met defence minister AK Anthoney, but could not get concrete assurance from nor did he talk about the Friday deadline. The leaders are expecting a meeting with Azad on Wednesday to persuade him to state the party’s stand on the statehood issue by Friday and that the failure to do so would create confusion among the workers of the party. The Telangana Congress leaders have reasons to worry over the delay of the report as the Telangana Political JAC and TRS have already given call to the people to stage dharnas in front of the houses of the ruling party MPs, MLAs and MLCs from the region and force them to resign. They are also apprehensive of physical attacks.      

After Jagan, Emaar - Now CBI to Probe Sabita, Mopidevi

In a move, considered first of its kind, the A P High Court has taken cognisance of the allegations made by textiles minister Shankar Rao in the media against two of his colleagues home minister Sabita Indra Reddy and excise minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana. Justice L Narasimha Reddy of the A P High Court on Tuesday expressed concern over the high-level corruption that is allegedly taking place in the ministries of home and excise in the state and felt that it is essential that a CBI probe is conducted against home minister Sabita Indra Reddy and excise minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana. The judge made this order after taking suo motu note of the allegations made by textiles minister P Shankar Rao in the media on Monday to the effect that Sabita Indra Reddy and Mopidevi were taking huge amount of money from officials and effecting suitable postings for them. According to minister Shankar Rao, Sabita Indra Reddy, home minister, her family members and some highly placed officers in the home department are involved in the corrupt activities. Similar is the case with the state excise minister. Shankar Rao had also said that the chief minister should not support the ministers and officers who are looting the people. Basing on these allegations, Justice Narasimha Reddy directed the registry to place this petition before an appropriate bench that looks after home matters immediately as the matter is of utmost importance. "Since the allegations pertain to the affairs in the home department, it is felt that the matter be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)," Justice Narsimha Reddy said in his order. Shankar Rao, the complainant, too was made a party for the limited purpose of enabling him to vouch for his allegations, to furnish additional material facts, paving the way for effective investigation and further steps.  

Gali Case: CBI Report to SC on 30 September

CBI Joint Director Mr VV Lakshminarayana said today they would submit a status report on the investigation into the illegal mining case registered against the mining mafia don Mr Gali Janardhan reddy and his brother in law Mr Srinivasa reddy to the Supreme Court on September 30. "Some special teams are working on collecting evidence against the Gali brothers and we will submit the status report to the apex court of India on September 30," Lakshminarayana told. Speaking on the progress of investigation launched against the illegal properties of YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan reddy and into the APIIC-Emaar land scam, Lakshminarayana said that there has been very good progress in the investigation so far. "If necessary, we will take into custody some more people," he said.    

ED Gearing up to Book PMLA Case Against Jagan

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) team led by dy. director N Sridhar met chief secretary S V Prasad and informed him that they are all set to file a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Jagan and others. According to sources, the team also took in to their possession 22 important files relating to the mining leases granted to companies floated by Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy from the state Secretariat. Sources said, among the files taken by ED included files related to the exemption of seigniorage fee given to VANPIC Private Limited, limestone lease in an extent of 822.13 acres in Ranga Reddy district in favour of Penna Tandoor Cement Company, change of name from Walchand Tandoor Cement company to Penna Tandoor Cement company and bauxite lease over an extent of 85 hectares in Jerella Block-1, Visakhapatnam, in favour of AP Minerals Development Corporation. The files relating to bauxite leases to the extent of 617, 460, 113.92, 152 and 93.886 hectares in Ananthagiri, Chittamgondi and Galikonda village in Visakhapatnam district also granted to APMDC, limestone leases over an extent of 266.12 hectares in Dachepally, 145.26 hectares in Vemvaram village and 202.33 hectares in Chennayapalem village in Guntur district in favour of Saraswathi Power and Industries Private Limited were also seized by the ED. Files pertaining to Raghuram Cements, Dalmia Cements, Eswar Cements and Bharathi Cement Corporation were among the other files taken by the ED. Sarawathi Power and Industries, Raghuram Cements, Eswar Cements and Bharati Cement companies are directly owned by Jagan. Interestingly, all the mine leases were granted in 2007-08.

New Application Form For 'Lok Sabha Election'

In view of each and everyone with a criminal background making it to the Parliament, the Electoral Reforms Committee has decided to filter candidates at the stage of filing nominations itself. For this, it has formulated the new 'Application Form For Lok Sabha' to select 'The Best' among the lot. Application Form For 'Lok Sabha Election' (Satire) 1. Name of Candidate: ____________ _________ 2.Present Address: (i.)Name of Jail: ____________ _________ (ii.)Cell Number: ____________ _________ 3.Political Party: ____________ _________ *List ONLY the Last Five parties in Chronological (Order) 4.Sex: [ ] A- Male B- Female C- Mayawati D- Uma Bharathi 5.Nationality: [ ] A- Italian B- Indian 6.Reasons for leaving last party (circle one or more) A- Defected B- Expelled C- Bought out D- None of above E- All of above 7.Reasons for contesting elections (circle one or more) A- To make money B- To escape court trial C- To grossly misuse power D- To serve the public E- I have no clue (If you choose D, attach Certificate of Sanity from a Recognized Government Psychiatrist) 8.How many years of public service experience do you possess? A- 1-2 yrs B- 2-6yrs C- 6-15yrs D- 15+yrs 9.Give details of any criminal cases pending against you (Use as many Additional Sheets as you want) 10.How many years have you spent in Jail? [ ] (Do not confuse with question 8) A- 1-2 years B- 2-6 years C- 6-15 years D- 15+years 11.Are you involved in any financial scams? [ ] A- Why not B- Of Course C- Definitely D- I deny it all E- I see a foreign hand. 12. What is your Annual Corruption Income? [ ] A- 100-500 Crores B- 500-1000 Crores C- Overflow (Convert all your $ earning from Hawala etc to Rupees) 13. Do you have any developmental plans for India in mind? [ ] A- No B- No C- No D- No 14.Describe your achievements in space provided: [_________] Issued in public interest by Election Commission of India.

Rajbala, Injured in Ramlila Maidan Lathicharge Dies

Rajbala, the 53 year old woman who was critically injured in the lathicharge at Baba Ramdev's camp at Delhi's Ramlila Ground in the wee hours of 5 June this year, has died at GB Pant hospital. On June 5 at around 1 am, close to 600 policemen arrived at Ramlila Maidan and asked the 60,000 people who had gathered there in support of the yoga icon's fast against corruption to disperse. At 2 am, teargas shells were launched upon them, allegedly in an attempt to force the crowds to leave the grounds. Several people were injured during the lathicharge. Ramdev supporter Rajbala sustained spinal injury during the police crackdown and was on ventilator support since then. However, the medical report claimed that she was injured in a stampede at the Ramlila ground. Rajbala's family members had rubbished the medical report and said that she herself told them that she was beaten by police. On the other hand, police said that the MLC was made by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) on duty at LNJP as per Rajbala’s statement.

PSKs Make Getting Passport Easy, Faster

Here's a good news for the passport seekers in AP. Passport Seva Kendras will start working in Hyderabad from first week of November. Works are going on fast at the proposed PSKs - Ameerpet, Begumpet and Bowenpally and are expected to be completed by October end. The proposed PSKs in Nizamabad, Vijayawada and Tirupati would start their services from October first week. According to the tentative schedule, Union external affairs minister S M Krishna would launch the services from Tirupati online. "Tata Consultancy Services gave special training to the employees of the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Hyderabad, and 120 police personnel of both Hyderabad and Cyberabad police commissionerates on various subjects for five days last week," regional passport officer K Srikar Reddy told. In addition, 115 police personnel, who deal with passport verification in Hyderabad and Cyberabad police commissionerate limits, were trained. "Once they receive the application online, they have to visit the applicant's house and submit the verification report within 24 hours. For ordinary passports, the minimum time for delivery will be four days and maximum one week and for Tatkal it will be delivered in one or two days. We will accept 50 to 60 applications per day at PSKs," the passport officer said.

Farmers Occupy Gali Janardhan Reddy Lands

The unchallenged dominance of Gali Janardhan Reddy in Karnataka is fast fading away after his arrest by the CBI in OMC illegal mining case. Thousands of activists of the Communist Party of India, farmers and Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangam members took control of the OMC and stockyard fields for nearly five hours, ransacking the weigh-bridge office and railway siding. Red flags of the CPI began to fly on the properties of former minister G Janardhana Reddy. CPI supporters barged into the 70-acre mango farmland on the Karnataka–Andhra Pradesh border. They also raided 250 acres of land in Obulapuram and hoisted CPI flags.Reddy’s security guards’ rooms and some buildings were ransacked. The Andhra Pradesh government had acquired land for industrial development and allotted it to Obulapuram Mining Company and other mining companies. The land earlier belonged to residents and farmers, and the government’s move had received stiff resistance. Those whose property was acquired have marked their property with stones and logs. They also vent their ire at the site office equipment, besides razing three security sheds to the ground.As the protest turned violent, many of the guards and workers deployed at the mine fled the scene, while the local police remained mute spectators. Activists later hoisted a red flag on the mine hillock to mark their control over the land and shouted anti-Reddy slogans. “Land belongs to farmers, not to Gali,” they wrote on walls, office sheds and OMC hoardings.  

Dayanidhi Objected to Spetrum Price Monitoring by GoM

The former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, who is under  CBI scanner for allegedly favouring a Malaysian firm in the acquisition of Aircel by delaying the files of the latter has seen the some terms of reference of the GoM as impinging on the work of the Ministry. Maran had objected to the terms of reference given to Group of Ministers headed by the then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in 2006. He wanted the GoM to be limited to only vacation of spectrum by Defence Ministry. "You had kindly assured me that the terms of reference of the GoM would be drawn up exactly we wanted, which was to focus only on the issue of vacation of spectrum. I am, however, surprised to note that the GoM as constituted has much wider terms of reference, some of which I feel impinge upon the work normally to be carried out by the Ministry itself," Maran wrote to the Prime Minister. He suggested that GoM should discuss four points related to vacation of spectrum only -- recommend measures to make available additional spectrum, make available funds to Defence Ministry for more efficient systems, suggest measures of vacation of spectrum in a time-bound manner and suggest measures for early introduction of efficient digital broadcasting. The decision to constitute a Group of Minister to look into the release of additional spectrum by the Defence Ministry was taken in 2006. In the backdrop of Finance Minister's note to PMO about Home Minister P Chidambaram, the Maran's letter to PM has gained significance.    

SC For CBI Probe Into Gali Illegal Mining Empire

The Supreme Court bench consisting of Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices Aftab Alam and Swatanter Kumar on Friday decided to ask the CBI to probe the entire illegal iron ore mining empire of the politically connected Reddy brothers spanning Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The bench sought a status report of the ongoing CBI probe relating to illegal mining in the AP side. It also issued notice to the agency to investigate the alleged linkage with the illegal mining in Karnataka's Bellary district. The apex court's environmental panel, Central Empowered Committee (CEC), through amicus curiae Shyam Divan said the committee suspected that the Galis illegally mined iron ore from Bellary and then showed it to be a produce from Andhra Pradesh's Obulapuram mines and exported it. The CEC's report compiled by its secretary M K Jiwrajka indicated that former Karnataka tourism minister G Janardhana Reddy, who was also minister in charge of Bellary, encouraged blatant illegal mining after transferring the mining lease of Associated Mining Company (AMC) adopting dubious means. The amicus curiae A D N Rao told the bench that the mined iron ore was illegally transferred to the AP side and then routed to Krishnapatnam and other ports. "That is precisely what we want the CBI to investigate," the bench said and asked Attorney General G E Vahanvati to assist the court in the matter on September 30 to draw the outline for a CBI probe into the illegal mining in Bellary. The CEC said illegal mining was carried out with impunity in the districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur. It said that public sector undertaking NMDC too suffered from the vice as its contractor Deccan Mining Syndicate indulged in over-extraction of the mineral, forcing closure of the mine.  

2G Scam: Chidambaram Offered to Resign

In a new twist in the 2G controversy, sources told that Home Minister P Chidambaram had offered to resign when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called him. Sources say this prompted the prime minister to wholeheartedly back his home minister. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he has full faith in Chidambaram during both his stints as finance and now home minister. He also made it clear that there was no rift between his senior most ministers and that the government was in no mood to give in to pressure from the Opposition. Earlier, a letter written from the finance ministry to the PMO had said that Chidambaram could have stopped the 2G scam.    

Former Cricketer Nawab Pataudi Died

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, one of India's most charismatic cricketers and a prolific batsman despite losing an eye, died yesterday aged 70 following a lung disease, his doctors said. The former national team captain, better known as the Nawab of Pataudi, was admitted to a New Delhi hospital earlier this month and appeared to be recovering before his condition deteriorated on Wednesday.        

Gali Janardhan Reddy Case: CBI Files SLP in HC

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing into the illegal mining case of Obulapuram Mining Company owned by Gali Janardhan Reddy, has filed SLP in the High Court seeking the court to consider all the allegations against OMC as one case. It pleaded the court not treat OMC boundries dispute and illegal mining as two different cases. On Wednesday, the CBI special court, due to the ongoing Sakala Janula Samme (general strike) by lawyers of Telangana region adjourned the hearing of bail pleas of former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and his brother-in-law Srinivasa Reddy on illegal iron ore mining to September 29. However, the CBI filed a reply opposing the bail pleas and stated that the evidences might be tampered with if the accused were granted bail. The investigating agency also informed the court that it was needed to question the duo and others to secure more evidence in the illegal mining case. The CBI has already filed a petition for nine-day custody of the accused.    

Kerala Temple Vault B Not Yet to be Opened

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued orders that the vault 'B' Of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala should not be opened  till an integrated and multi-layered security cover is provided. The supreme court also said they are satisfied with the State Government's assurance to provide security cover for the temple. "The expert committee should go ahead with the preservation and conservation of other vaults, " said the Supreme Court. Jewelery and gold worth over Rs 1 lakh crore was found in in the five vaults that were opened earlier. The Travancore royal family was against opening of the vault and had claimed that the treasure belongs to the gods.

CM Kiran Kumar Reddy Announces Rs.1 a kg Rice For Poor

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was in Tirupathi on Wednesday, made an announcement at a public meeting that the poor in the state will get rice at Rs. 1 a kg. The BPL (Below Poverty Line) families will get the subsidised rice through Public Distribution System (PDS) starting from November 1, incidentally, the state formation day. The scheme is being seen in political circles as an attempt to divert public attention from the ongoing strike by various sections of people in Telangana for separate state. It was Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder NT Rama Rao who first introduced Rs. 2 a kg rice scheme for poor families in Andhra Pradesh after coming to power in early 1980s. His son-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu discontinued the scheme after dislodging him from power in 1995. YS Rajasekhara Reddy re-introduced the scheme after bringing the Congress to power in 2004. Kiran Kumar Reddy has now slashed the price of rice to just one rupee a kg. Andhra Pradesh has now joined Tamil Nadu and Kerala in offering this scheme for the poor.  

CM Kiran Kumar Reddy Tirupathi Tour

AP chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is in Tirupathi today, 21 September 2011, to launch 'Sthree Shakthi' scheme and various government programs in Chittoor district. Here's the video clipping of CM's speech at Tirupathi:                  

CBI on Trail of Gali's Foreign Companies

The CBI is getting very close to cracking the mystery of Gali Janardhan Reddy's alleged money laundering through his benami and foreign companies. The CBI and Income Tax department have gathered substantial information about black money transfers of Gali Janardhan Reddy's foreign firms in six countries including Cambodia, Dubai, Singapore, Vietnam, China and Indonesia. The investigation agencies allege that the money was rerouted by the Obulapuram Mining Company which sold iron ore at cheaper costs to Mr Janardhan Reddy's benami foreign firms. "OMC had sold high quality ore illegally mined in Karnataka using permits from Andhra Pradesh to its benami firms based in Singapore, Dubai, Vietnam and other countries. The high quality ore was sold at $70 to $100 per tonne, much less than the international rates of $140 to 170, to benami companies like GLA Trading and four other firms for lesser price, which in turn sold them for more money. The excess money earned by the benami firms returned to the country in the form of investments and hawala transactions," a CBI official said. The Gali brothers had purchased Man-Go Pub Private Limited in Singapore and renamed it Gali Lakshmi Aruna (GLA) International. Man-Go Pub Pvt. Ltd. had been registered on October 28, 2004. In 2007, Mr Arangannal of Singapore was appointed director and the company was renamed on November 23 as GLA the same year. The purpose of the company was changed and in December 2007, Mr Janardhan Reddy was appointed its director. One share of the company was transferred in favour of GJR Holdings International Limited located in the Isle of Man, a tax haven. The share was transferred to Interlink Services of British Virgin Islands in June 2009. CBI and ED will now probe GJR Holdings and the Interlink Services Group, GLA Trading International Ltd. which also has a presence in Dubai. The CBI meanwhile alleged that Mr Janardhan Reddy took the lease of OMC despite knowing that it would fetch low-quality iron ore. "Obulapuram Mining Company Private Limited has three leases including 68.52 hectares at the Anthar Gangammakonda mine. No mining activity was done there. It was only to use permits from the state to transfer ore from illegal mines in Karnataka. Scientific evidence has proved that the iron ore quality is very low and not of commercial grade in the area. They were obtained with the sole purpose of their illegal mining activities," said the CBI.    

Have Nothing to do With T-issue: Rahul Aide

It is highly speculated in political circles that AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has deputed AICC secretary and Youth Congress affairs incharge Deepak Babaria to a two-day visit to Hyderabad. The reason, it is said, is to collect first hand information about the actual situation in the city in the backdrop of Telangana agitation. Interestingly, Babaria's meetings with CM Kiran Kumar Reddy, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana, Dy. chief minister Damodar Rajanarasimha and also with T Congress MPs K. Kesava Rao, Ponnam Prabhakar, G. Vivek and Mr Madhu Yashki have added credence to the guessing. However, Deepak Babaria said that his visit was primarily to look into the membership drive for the state youth Congress wing so that polls could be conducted soon. "I have nothing to do with the Telangana issue. I am not going to submit any report. My meetings with high dignitaries were just courtesy calls," he said.  

CBI Alleges Gali Also Ran 'Mamool Raj'

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing in to the illegal mining activities of Obulapuram Mining Company ownwed by Gali Janardhan Reddy, says that he also ran a parallel 'mamool raj' along with illegal mining. It was revealed by Janardhan Reddy while in their custody last week, say the CBI sources. The CBI sources allege that Gali Janardhan Reddy has made more than Rs. 1000 crore 'private royalty' from fellow miners through this mamool raj in the past three years. This is in addition to the illegal mining he had done in the region. According to the sources, there were roughly 300 such miners who have been paying mamool to Gali's Obulapuram Mining Company. As per CBI sources, Gali would browbeat the miners by telling them that he could get things done through the governments not just in Karnataka and AP, but in New Delhi as well. Thus, he would force them to sell him 70% of their iron ore at Rs 700 a ton while the market price was Rs 5,000 per ton. The remaining 30%, the miners could sell it in the open market at the prevailing rate. This was known as the 70-30 method, the sources said. Basing on this information, the CBI has concluded that Gali had collected 'mamool' for 28 lakh tonnes which should have fetched him more than Rs 1,000 crore between 2007 and 2010. He was exporting the ore thus collected to China and other countries along with the ore he mined illegally at Rs 5,000 per ton. He too was selling the ore to certain foreign players at the same rate he bought’ from the fellow miners as a matter of strategy and the foreign players were asked to pay the balance amount in the form of investment in his firms mainly Brahmani Steels, the CBI sources said. It was this re-routing of money that has now formed the crux of the money laundering probe launched by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at Bangalore and the CBI sleuths. Whether CBI's contention can stand in a court of law remains to be seen. Several aggrieved miners who were made to sell their ore to OMC at a low rate unsuccessfully tried to get relief by complaining to the top political bosses about Galis 'mamool raj' are now turning witnesses for the CBI, it is learnt.