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Jagan Wins Back Kamalamma Again

After hectic parleys by YSR Congress party leaders with Badvel MLA PM Kamalamma, Jagan Mohan Reddy succeeded in getting her back to his camp. Ms Kamalamma, who had differences with YSR Congress Party leader and former MLA, Mr D.C. Govinda Reddy, planned to quit the party and return to the Congress. The Congress candidate for Kadapa Lok Sabha seat, Mr D.L. Ravindra Reddy and legislator Mr G. Veerashiva Reddy had said that Ms Kamalamma had rejoined the Congress two days ago. The YSR Congress chief, Mr Jagan's followers, Ms Bhuma Shobha Nagi Reddy, former minister, Mr Konatala Ramakrishna, legislator, Mr Srikanth Reddy met Ms Kamalamma in Porumamilla yesterday and agreed to her demands. She reportedly demanded that she be allotted YSR Congress Party ticket for the 2014 elections and that Mr Govinda Reddy be cut to size in the constituency. Later Kamalamma met Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was holding a road show at Vemaluru and had secret talks for ten minutes.  

Paritala Army Under Police Scanner

Even after six years of their leader Paritala Ravindra got killed by his rivals, Ravi's army seems to be still on a killing spree. The police suspect that the so called 'Paritala's private army' is plotting to kill all those involved in Paritala Ravi's murder. Curiously, all the accused arrested in Konda Reddy's murder case a couple of days ago, were members of the Reorganizing Committee, which was allegedly the private army of Paritala Ravi. The Central Crime Station has decided to probe the suspected involvement of former TD leader Paritala Ravi's private army in the murder of factionist Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri in the wake of the arrest of the TD MLA, Ms Paritala Sunitha's brother, Mr D. Balaji, for the murder of T. Konda Reddy. Konda Reddy was one of the accused in he murder of Paritala Ravi. Police suspects that there is a clear plot to kill all the accused involved in Paritala Ravi's murder. Three of the accused in Paritala Ravi's murder, Moddu Seenu, Suri and Konda Reddy have already been eliminated. Sunitha's brother Balaji was involved in financing and procuring arms for the gang. Nagoor Hussain and Chaman of the ROC, who are still absconding, are said to be active. The police also suspects that Bhanu Kiran (Suri's close aide and also suspected as the one who killed Suri) might have been won over by the ROC assisted by Ms Sunitha's brother Balaji.  

Sonia Tells Kiran Not to Spare Jagan

The Congress president Mrs. Sonia Gandhi has categorically told the AP chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to go all out at the former MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the bypolls for Kadapa Lok Sabha seat. At the same time she asked Kiran Kumar to refrain from criticizing YSR and his programmes. The Congress president Sonia Gandhi was not in favor of accepting Mr. YS Vivekananda Reddy's resignation on moral grounds. She is said to have told the CM to convince Vivekananda Reddy and see that he continues as minister. She also gave clear instructions to attack Jagan Mohan Reddy as he had challenged the leadership of Mrs Gandhi several times through his speeches, it is said. The chief minister Kiran Kumar reddy is said to have assured the Congress chief that the out come of Kadapa, Pulivendula by-elections will be in favor of the Congress.

Employees Bemoan No Work No Pay G.O.

The government of Andhra Pradesh today issued a GO Ms 177 in public interest to restrain govt. employees from going on unconventional and innovative agitation programmes like 'Pen Down', 'Chalk Down', 'Tool Down' and 'Non-cooperation' strikes. The government stated that the GO has been issued in view of recent experiences and the difficulties faced by the Government as well as public and in the interest of public, a necessity has arisen to issue certain instructions to face such unconventional and innovative agitation programmes in future. Reacting sharply to the GO Ms 177, several employees' union leaders termed it as a coercive and suppressing measure by the government. The GO has been issued by the government only with the sole intention to stop employees from participating in Telangana agitation. They came down heavily on the government and said that a protest day against the GO Ms 177 will be observed on day after tomorrow i.e., on 17th April.  

Minister Shankar Rao Letter Against Jagan

AP Handlooms & Textiles minister P Shankar Rao wrote a letter to the High Court to order for a probe by the CBI in to the properties of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The high court, treating Shankar Rao's letter containing corruption charges against Jagan as a petition, has taken up hearing of the same. Earlier, P Shankar Rao was quoted, during his Bobbili tour, by a section of press as saying that he has filed the case against Jagan Mohan Reddy at the behest of Sonia Gandhi. Quashing the reports as false, Shankar Rao said, "I am denying this with a lot of pain in my heart. I am a man with values and discipline. I filed the case against Jagan Mohan Reddy after Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi gave a call for eradication of corruption at an AICC session. Taking this as inspiration, I filed a case against Jagan Mohan Reddy." During the hearing today, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's counsel urged the court to take cognizance of the ulterior motive behind a minister seeking CBI probe through the court, instead of the government making the move. For this, the government pleader replied that, since the case filed in the court is related to corruption by Jagan Mohan Reddy, there is nothing wrong in a state minister seeking CBI probe through the court.  

Paritala Sunitha Brother Arrested For Murder

Raptadu MLA Sunita is the wife of Paritala Ravindra, the then MLA who was killed a few years go. Former president of Kanaganapalli, T. Konda Reddy was also one of the accused in the Paritala Ravindra murder case. In turn, Konda Reddy was shot dead by unidentified persons at his residence in Sainagar in Anantapur on February 22 this year. D. Balaji and the 10 others including Paritala Sunitha's kin were arrested in connection with Konda Reddy murder case at Anantapur yesterday. Briefing about the arrests, Ananthapur SP, Mr Shahnawaz Qasim told that Paritala Ravindra's aide Tagarakunta Prabhakar was killed by rivals six years ago. In retaliation, Prabhakar's son Ramanjaneyulu formed a team with his relatives to eliminate Konda Reddy, suspecting that he was involved in the murder. Ramanjaneyulu approached Balaji and another accused L. Narayana Chaudhary to kill Konda Reddy. They hatched a plot and Ramanjaneyulu agreed to provide finance for the operation. Apart from Balaji, those arrested are D. Balaji, Vinay, Chandrashekar, Ramanjaneyulu, Vinod, D. Nagendra, Ramakrishna, Shivalinga, Chandrayudu, B. Narasimhulu, Srinivasulu. Police found that Balaji had links with Nagoor Hussain of the Reorganization Committee, which had hatched a plot to eliminate Paritala's rivals.  

Team Left For Chile to Apprehend Abdul Rauf

A two member team comprising of an official of the Intelligence Bureau and another of the CBI left for Chile to apprehend Abdul Rauf who is wanted in connection with hijacking of IC-814 flight to Kamdahar. It was reported from Chile that one of the accused Abdul Rauf, who had a red cornered notice issued against him, has been detained. Abdul Rauf, brother of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, is alleged to have financed the 1999 hijack. There had been two false alarms in the past regarding detaining of Abdul Rauf in the past. Following the red corner notice issued by Interpol, a man named Abdul Rauf was detained in Seoul in 2004. Another man by the same name was detained in Lebanon in 2005. The Officials said it was unlikely that Rauf would be traveling in his own name. They said they would also seek the help of the FBI, which is also investigating the case as a US citizen, Jeanne Moore, was also on board the 1999 hijacked flight. A crucial lead that the investigators are pursuing is the voice sample of Rauf, which led to the arrest of his co-conspirators. The team will try to get Rauf's voice samples to match it with the recorded call which was intercepted by the Mumbai Police, in which Rauf instructed Abdul Latif, another accused who has since been arrested, to call up the BBC offices in London and give details of the hijacking. Based on the call, the CBI had filed a charge sheet against Rauf charging him with financing and plotting the hijack.  

Center Examines Dubious AP SEZ Proposals

The BoA (Board of Approvals) at the Center has expressed serious doubts over the "dubious" proposals of the Special Economic Zone developers in the state and also SEZs of the AP Industrial infrastructure Corporation. The main objections raised by the BoA were over the attempts of the prospective SEZ units to own the property as co-developers. The department of commerce either rejected or deferred the proposals of these developers at a recent meeting of the Board of Approvals. As per the sources, the objections were raised with regard to Mytec Software, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad Infratech Limited, Gachibowli and Samuha Engineering Industries Limited, Adibhatla Aerospace SEZ. It was pointed out in Mytec Software's case that the APIIC had entered into a lease agreement with the company on March 26, 2009 and the co-developer agreement was executed much later on November 29, 2010. Representatives of the Central Board of Direct Taxes pointed out that there was a doubt as to whether the lease agreement was intended for the purpose of setting up a unit by Mytec Software at all. Similarly, Hyderabad Infratech had joined as co-developer for the SEZ promoted by Phoenix Infocity at Gachibowli. The Department of Revenue observed that "from the co-developer agreement it appears that the developer is irrevocably assigning all its rights over the property". In some cases, the developers managed to get approval for SEZs but do not have adequate investment to initiate the project. The BoA has decided to examine the agreements to ensure that the transaction did not amount to sale of land which is prohibited as per the SEZ Act.

Jagan Loyalists Returning Back to Congress

Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy's loyalists are on the wane, even as the so called prestigious Kadapa by elections are round the corner. This is very clearly visible by the fact that the chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy succeeded in winning back some of the Jagan loyalists back in to the Congress fold. Prime among these loyalists is Badvel MLA Ms. PM Kamalamma, who was earlier known to be a staunch supporter of Jagan Mohan Reddy. Sources said Ms Kamalamma was irked by former MLA BC Govinda Reddy interfering in constituency affairs. Though Jagan had tried to pacify both leaders but the differences reached a peak during the MLC polls held recently. This gave Kiran Kumar Reddy a lead and he convinced her to return to the party fold. Presently, Kamalamma is put up in the former MLA, Dr V. Sivaramakrishna Rao's village under heavy security to prevent leaders from the Jagan camp approaching her. She is expected to address the media today in Kadapa before participating in an election campaign for Dr D.L. Ravindra Reddy. The CM Kiran Kumar Reddy also contacted Mr. Srinivasulu, MLA from Railway Kodur in Kadapa and asked him to come back in to the party. Sources say that Srinivasulu too is inclined to come back, but asked for some more time. In Pulivendula constituency, where Congress party's Vivekananda Reddy is pitted against his sister-in-law Vijayamma of YSR Congress, is also facing a major setback as the Kadapa Zilla Parishad chief, Mr Devireddy Jyothireddy has ditched Vijayamma and started campaigning for Mr Vivekananda Reddy. Sources say that few more Jagan loyalists are likely to return back to Congress fold shortly.

Pushkara Pattabhishekam in Bhadrachalam

Along with the annual Sri Seetharama Kalyanam, a rare event of Pushkara Pattabhishekam will take place in Bhadrachalam this year. Pushkara Pattabhishekam, also known as Sri Rama Samrajya Pattabhisheka Mahotsavam will be conducted at Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam on the following day of Sri Rama Navami. Pattabhishekam 2011 date is April 13. Pushkara Pattabhishekam is performed for once in 12 years. The announcement of this event was made on Vaikunta Ekadasi last year. According to religious heads, Pushkara Pattabhishekam was actually performed once in 60 years (in every 'Prabhava' naama samvatsaramu) but it was later decided to change it to 12 years for more people to experience the event. As part of this auspicious event, Abhishekam to the presiding deity with the holy water of all rivers in India is performed. Devotees have been very eagerly looking for this Pushkara Pattabhishekam celebrations as it takes place once in 12 years. Known for its pomp and gaiety of the Rama Navami celebrations, Bhadrachalam has been spruced up well to hold the Pushkara Pattabhishekam also. Since this weekend itself, Bhadrachalam started brimming with devotees flocking in not only from all parts of the state, but aslo from the neighbouring states.  

No Loans on Brahmani Steels: Gali Janardhan Reddy

Speaking to media persons at Tirupathi, Karnataka Minister and promoter of Brahmani Steels Gali Janardhan Reddy said that he didn't take any loans from banks for Brahmani Steels. He said, "I didn’t take any loans for it and also there is no necessity for loans." Mr. Janardhan Reddy said he will be soon launching the works of Brahmani Steels. He described the reports appeared in the press as false. Earlier there had been reports that Janardhan Reddy has sold off the Brahmani Steels to Uttam Galva Steels and the the company's name will be changed as Uttam Galva Steels. The Brahmani Steels was awarded with 10,670 acres of land during Dr. YS Rajasekhar Reddy's tenure at a cheap rate on the condition that the company will make use of the Minor Iron Ore extracted from the mines in Ananthapur district. It is alleged that Gali Janardhan Reddy has made thousands of crores of rupees by exporting the iron oar, keeping works of Brahmani Steels in pending.  

KU Student Discovers New Asteroid

An engineering student of Coimbatore based Karunya University along with his Chinese friend, discovered a new Asteroid. In a communication during the recently concluded 45-day campaign conducted by the International Asteroid Search Collaboration (IASC), it is stated that Atul Felix Payapilly and his friend Zhang from China have discovered the "Main belt Asteroid 2010 RR52." The name given to the new asteroid would be temporary and the progress would be followed till the asteroid's orbit was completely known. The asteroid will be then assigned a number and placed in the world's official catalog maintained by the Minor Planet Center and the International Astronomical Union in Paris. Once it reached the numbered status, the student would be given 10 years time to give a name for the asteroid, which would be approved by the Union,  Dr Patrick Miller, founder of IASC, said in his communication to Paul P Appasamy, Vice-Chancellor of the Karunya University.  

Telangana to Have More Districts!

Whether separate Telangana State will form or not, but Telangana is going to have more districts. Though the state government says it is doing this exercise only to set right the serious imbalances in the development of rural Telangana areas, political analysts say that this is being done purely to distract from the separate state issue.   AP Rural development minister Dokka Manikya Varaprasad is expected to submit his study paper in this regard to the government by the end of this month. He said that lack of administration in the interior areas of the existing districts was the "real hurdle in extending the fruits of various government schemes to the poor." Sources said the study paper is likely to insist upon creating at least eight to 10 new districts in the state. The minister felt that AP deserves to have at least 35 districts. He said, "They could start by bifurcating big and completely undeveloped districts, which alone would add at least seven districts to the existing 23. No district should have more than 30-35 mandals for better monitoring of government schemes against the current number of 50-60 mandals."   As per the source, if the study paper gets the cabinet's nod, a new district of Nallamala will be formed by merging the underdeveloped Palnadu region in Guntur with Markapuram division in Prakasam district and a new tribal district could be a formed by merging the Agency mandals of both East and West Godavari districts. Similarly, the paper suggests that parts of West Krishna district could be clubbed with Khammam to create a new district of Bhadrachalam.  

Battery of 15 Ministers For Kadapa Bypolls

To ensure Congress win the Kadapa bypolls, CM Kiran Kumar Reddy decided to rope in 15 cabinet ministers for election campaign in Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula assembly constituencies. The CM had a three-hour discussion with PCC chief D Srinivas to finalize party's strategy in tackling YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his mother Vijayalaxmi in the Kadapa byelections. The ministers have been entrusted with the task of co-ordinating with the rank and file of the party in seven assembly constituencies of the Kadapa parliamentary constituency. Almost all the ministers have been chosen based on their ability to woo voters from their respective communities, mostly BCs. Ministers who have been made in-charge of assembly constituencies are: Badvel (SC): M Maheedhar Reddy; Kadapa: Kanna Lakshminarayana; Pulivendula: Anam Ramnarayan Reddy and Sailajanath; Kamalapuram: N Raghuveera Reddy; Jammalamadugu: Botsa Satyanarayana and Erasu Pratap Reddy; Proddatur: T G Venkatesh; Mydukur: Dharmana Prasada Rao and Mopidevi Venkataramana. Apart from these, ministers D K Aruna, D Sridhar Babu, Basavaraj Sarayya, P Balaraju, Mohd Jani and Mohd Ali Shabbir have been asked to co-ordinate with the constituency in-charges. Congress is very confident of wooing minority votes in Kadapa through Mohammad Jani and Shabbir Ali. As per sources, the strategy Congress is going to adopt in Kadapa bypolls is to harp on YSR's legacy, his struggle to keep the Congress flag high and the party's commitment to the welfare of the people.

Baba Suffering With Jaundice

Puttaparthi Satya Sai Baba, who undergoing treatment for the past two weeks in Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences in Puttaparthi, has been diagnosed as suffering from jaundice. Famous gastroenterologist Dr. D Nageswar Reddy, who examined Baba on Sunday, said, "Baba's condition was "critical" as his liver and intestine were infected. Liver protective agents as well as antioxidants were given to him and his organs are responding well to the treatment in the past 12 hours.  Though Baba is responding well to the treatment, it will take one or two weeks for Baba to recover and his condition is critical as he is still on a ventilator." In a bulletin released yesterday, the hospital's director, Dr A.N. Safaya, stated Baba's condition was stable as his health parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure and blood chemistry indications continued to be stable. He said Baba's kidneys had started functioning slowly but still needed intermittent dialysis.  

Police Case Against Jagan's Brahmani Steels

YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is put in to a tight spot by police registering a case against Brahmani Steels. The health minister DL Ravindra Reddy told the media in Kadapa that the police has registered a criminal case against Brahmani Steels plant manager Ranga Reddy on charges of availing bank loans to the tune of 3500 crores without the government's permission. The complainant, District Revenue Officer Mr. Prem Sagar lodged a complaint with Jammalamadugu police that the management of Brahmani Steels had misinformed the government about taking the loan by mortgaging land given by the government. Interestingly, the case has been filed against plant manager Ranga Reddy, terming him 'the management', whereas it's chief promoter and Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy has been spared.  

Anna's Achievement: Official Gazette notification

Following is the text of the Gazettee Notification issued by the government constituting the Joint Drafting Committee comprising ministers and civil society activists to prepare the draft Lok Pal Bill. The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of Shri Anna Hazare (including himself). The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are as under: Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five nominees of Anna Hazare (including himself) are as under: Anna Hazare, Justice N Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan, Senior Advocate, Prashan Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal. The Chairperson of the Joint Drafting Committee shall be Pranab Mukherjee. The Co-Chairperson of the Joint Drafting Committee shall be Shanti Bhushan. The Convenor of the Join Drafting Committee shall be M Veerappa Moily. The Joint Drafting Committee shall commence its work forthwith and evolve its own procedure to prepare the proposed legislation. The Joint Drafting Committee shall complete its work latest by 30th June, 2011.  

Telangana JAC to Block NIMS Privatization

Telangana political JAC chairman Prof. Kodandaram said that they would strongly oppose any move to hand over Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) at Bibinagar to the private sector. He contended that the hospital can provide corporate level medical care to the poor. The JAC also demanded that NIMS at Bibinagar be declared Telangana Medical University. The Telangana JAC chairman said "If the government does not respond favourably, the JAC along with TRS will launch an agitation from next week." The JAC would hold a public meeting at the Nims campus in Bibinagar to register its opposition to the proposal of privatization of Nims. Doctors’ JAC leader Dr B Narasiah said a roundtable meeting will be organized on April 13 with all government doctors and private practitioners of Telangana to work out an action plan.

CM Accepts Viveka Resignation

Finally chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy gave in to the pressure from YS Vivekananda Reddy and accepted his resignation. Vivekananda Reddy's resignation would be forwarded to the Governor. The Chief Minister was reluctant to accept Viveka's resignation as it could lead to pressure on the medical and health minister, Dr D.L. Ravindra Reddy, to also resign from his post, since he is the candidate from Kadapa Lok Sabha bypoll against YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Mr Vivekananda Reddy told the CM that Dr Ravindra Reddy had already been elected from Mydukur constituency, so such a situation would not arise. Before leaving for Pulivendula, Vivekananda Reddy told that after much persuasion the CM has agreed to forward his resignation to the Governor. Mr Vivekananda Reddy was upset with the propaganda by his opponents and also with some suggestions by Congress leaders about accommodating him as MLC through governor's nomination. To quell these misgivings, Vivekananda Reddy insisted upon CM to accept the resignation. He explained "I have told the people of Pulivendula while campaigning during the last few days that I should get posts with their blessings only. I am not a member of either houses of Legislature. My continuance in the ministry may be legally valid but morally it is not correct. That was the reason I submitted my resignation."