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NTR The Leader - Special Story

A tribute to great leader, January 18th is NTR's vardhanthi, on this occasion it's our duty to remember him at least for a minute.         NTR The Leader - Special Story  

Reason Behind Jagan's Odarpu Yatra in Telangana

YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is believed to be contemplating launching his Odarpu Yatra in Telangana in April. Reddy has steered clear of making any statement on the sensitive Telangana issue during his Rythu Deeksha on the pretext that the protest was intended for draw the attention of the government to the problems being faced by farmers of the region.   When he embarks on Odarpu Yatra, he will have to maintain silence, not saying `yes’ or `no’, to the Telangana demand, on the pretext that the yatra is intended to console the families of those whose members died from shock in the wake of the demise of YS Rajasekhara Reddy in September 2009. If the Armoor show was his first attempt to test the Telangana waters, the proposed Odarpu Yatra in all districts in Telangana will be in the form of some kind of an electoral incursion.

Non-bailable Warrant Against Errabelli Dayakar Rao

Vijayawada Chief Metropolitan Court has issued a non-bailable warrant on Friday TDP Telangana forum convener Errabelli Dayakar Rao. He failed to attend the court when called in the case of assault on a DSP in 2004.       VIDEO SOURCE TV9

Jaipur Literature Festival 2012 : Salman Rushdie Cancels India Visit

Author Salman Rushdie has cancelled his India visit due to securiy reasons, organisers of the festival said on Friday. It may be noted here that some  Muslim groups protested his visit accusing him of offending Muslim sentiments.   While the Centre was silent on the controversy, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said Rushdie's visit has stoked security fears. He told Union Home Minister P Chidambaram that the writer's visit was being resented by locals.The central government then put Rajasthan and Delhi on high alert for the days of the festival, asking the police forces to take all possible steps to deal with any untoward situation. The Home Ministry advisory asked the two police forces to deploy adequate forces in all sensitive locations. The organisers, however, stood by their invitation to the 'Midnight's Children' author.  

Yahoo Case: Delhi HC Notice to Delhi Police

Saying that it is not a social networking site, Yahoo India Pvt Ltd approached the Delhi High Court challenging the summons issued to it by a magistrate for allegedly hosting objectionable content. The court today sought response from the Delhi police on Yahoo's plea. "Notice be issued for February 10," Justice Suresh Kait said while admitting the petition of Yahoo India for hearing. The court also allowed Yahoo India's plea that its case be heard separately.     Senior advocate Arvind Nigam, appearing for Yahoo India, said, "It is a case where summons were issued without application of mind by the trial court as there was no material against me (Yahoo India)". Mr Nigam said the complaint and the order of the magistrate have dealt with alleged objectionable material retrieved from various websites including Zombie, Orkut, Youtube, Facebook, Blogspot and none of them pertained to Yahoo. He also referred to the complaint filed by Vinay Rai, a journalist, to buttress his argument that no objectionable material has been downloaded from Yahoo India which forms part of the case in which 20 other websites have also been summoned.    

Balakrishna Mesmerizes Telugu People in Gulf

Actor Nandamuri Balakrishna mesmerized the Telugu people living in Gulf countries with charismatic presence during his recent tour to Muscat. He took up the Gulf tour to participate in the Sankranti festivities and to raise funds for his family-run Basavatharakam Memorial Cancer Hospital. Balakrishna participated in Oman Telugu Community Meet - 2012 at Muscat organized by Dr. Rangaiah. The attendees of the meet were enthralled to find Balakrishna in flesh and blood among themselves. A documentary on the hero's life was screened in the meet. Later Balayya Babu addressed the huge gathering and shared his experiences with them. At length he explained about the services rendered by Basavatharakam Cancer Hospital and about the research and development being done to fight the dreaded cancer disease. Balakrishna too was overwhelmed by the response he received from Nandamuri fans and thanked them profusely. Overall, the tour turned in to a huge success and proved that not only on-screen, Balayya Babu is a hero in real life also!     Video Source: tv9      

Who Will Take The Conjoined Twins Responsibility?

For the past eight years, the eight year old born-conjoined-twins Veena and Vani are living inside a hospital. Their separation by surgery, say the doctors, is very risky and dangerous. They have to grow up still to decide themselves, whether to opt for surgery or not. Now the doctors in the hospital are of the opinion that hospital is not the best place for children to grow up. with this rationale, they have asked the Andhra Pradesh government to shift out the conjoined twins out of Hyderabad's Niloufer Hospital. "The children are growing up cut off from society. They only mingle with doctors, nurses and hospital staff. They only see disease and death. This is not healthy for their  psychological development," says Dr K Ramesh Reddy, a pediatric surgeon in Hyderabad's Niloufer Hospital.   It is with this concern that doctors at  wrote to the children's parents who work as farm labour in Warangal. But, the parents of the children are not ready to take them back. "Since we live in a rural area, everyone will peer at them and it will be difficult to control that. Besides, we work as labour, so it is not possible for someone to be with them all the while," says Murali, father of Veena and Vani. The parents want the children home only after surgery and separation. But doctors say that is risky. The other option could be for Veena and Vani to be sent to a government-run home. When asked if the twins want go to school, they both said yes; while Veena says she wants to be a doctor, her twin Vani desires to be an engineer. Veena and Vani are enthusiastic 8-year-olds, ever ready to smile. They need to go to school and need a normal social environment for their healthy psychological and emotional development. The question is, can the world ever give them what they want?    

Jarawa Tribes Naked Dance Video: Police Nabs Two

At last, the authorities in the Andaman islands woke up from slumber and nabbed two persons for questioning in the shocking video case. Recently, a London based newspaper had released a video showing Jarawa women dancing semi-naked before tourists, allegedly in exchange for food. The Andaman and Nicobar police have questioned two persons in connection with the case. The police in a statement said that Rajesh Vyas, owner of a gift shop, and Guddu, a taxi driver, were questioned after it was found that the duo allegedly help tourists visit the protected land for Jarawas and arrange video recording of these people. They used to allegedly take money from foreign tourists on the pretext that it had to be paid to the police, the sources said. The police have been questioning several tour operators and taxi drivers of Port Blair to track down the source of video, officials said. Vehicles passing through Andaman Trunk Road are being screened by the investigating team. They have also raided several CD or souvenir shops here to recover any offensive video concerning the Jarawas. Andaman Police had registered a case on January 12 against unnamed persons in connection with the shooting and uploading of the video under the Indian Penal Code, Information and Technology Act and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes and Protection of Aboriginal Tribes. Under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribes (PAT) Act, taking pictures or video shooting of tribals is banned.     Video Source: reporteronlive      

Earthquake of 5.5 Magnitude Rocks New Zealand

Earthquake in New Zealand: According to Hongkong Observatory reports, several areas in the South Island of New Zealand were today rocked by an earthquake of 5.5 magnitude. The earthquake took place at 0649 GMT or 12.19 hrs IST. Initial reports made no mention of loss of property or life following the convulsions.     Experts in the Observatory feel that earthquakes have been of late become frequent in New Zealand as the country sits amid the Pacific Ring of Fire, a pro-earthquake zone. New Zealand Earthquake Report - Jan 19 2012 at 10:01 pm (NZDT) Magnitude 5.5, Thursday, January 19 2012 at 10:01 pm (NZDT), 190 km south-west of Tuatapere.      Quake Details: Universal Time January 19 2012 at 9:01 NZ Daylight Time Thursday, January 19 2012 at 10:01 pm Latitude, Longitude 47.01°S, 165.54°E Focal Depth 12 km Richter magnitude 5.5   Region SW of New Zealand Location:     140 km north-west of Snares Islands                       190 km south-west of Tuatapere                       230 km west of Invercargill                       400 km west of Dunedin      

Aakash Tablet Complaints: Govt Bringing Upgraded Version

In view of the complaints regarding quality of the low-cost Aakash Tablet PC, the government is making efforts to bring out an upgraded version very soon. The upgraded version is named 'Aakash-II' and is expected to hit the market by April this year.     Speaking on the issue, Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said "In order to cater to the huge demand, we need several manufacturers to manufacture Aakash. We are enhancing the specifications on the basis of feedback we have received from the first version of Aakash. So we want to make sure that the upgraded product caters to the need of the customers... We have involved IIT in order to upgrade it... We will be able to bring in Aakash-II by April."    

Priyanka Gandhi Charms Amethi, Rae Bareli

The charm and charisma of Priyanka Gandhi, who hit the poll campaign trail after two years, in both Amethi and Rai Bareilly, have captivated the State of Uttar Pradesh. In Lucknow, from working women to housewives, hardened mediapersons to senior bureaucrats, everybody is marvelling about her “zamini (grassroots) appeal, that her brother lacks”. Seated in front of a senior bureaucrat in Bapu Bhavan in Lucknow, one who is not a Congress supporter by a mile, I marvelled at this otherwise cynical IAS officer gushing about how “Priyanka is a natural; she has it in her genes. It is unbelievable how effortlessly she can mix with the cadres and voters, something only Indira Gandhi could do, and Rahul Gandhi can't get right in a hundred years.”     VIDEOSOURCE TV9  

Paritala Sriram to Enter Politics

Paritala Sriram, son of the slain TDP leader Paritala Ravindra met the followers at his native village Venkatapuram in Ananthapur district. He interacted with them in connection with preparations for the seventh death anniversary of his father, which falls on 24 January. Paritala Ravindra's death anniversary is being observed on a grand scale for the past six years by his followers and party cadre at Venkatapuram. This year, a blood donation camp would be organized in the village and mass marriages are also planned. Paritala Ravi's widow and TDP MLA Sunitha stated that Sriram had no interest to get involved in active politics. "My Son has no interest to enter into active politics at this moment. We would proceed, as per Chandrababu's orders," said Paritala Sunitha, addressing the TDP leaders. According to TDP sources in Ananthapur, though Sunitha denied the political debut of Sriram, the reports suggest that arrangements were being made by the Paritala family for the grand entry of Ravi's successor into active politics.    

BJP in AP Chooses T-plank For 2014 Polls

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Andhra Pradesh finally chose the Telangana poll plank for the General Elections due in 2014. Perhaps the only 'plank' that is left with BJP is the contentious separate Telangana issue, which the party wants to keep burning till 2014. As part of its maneuvers, the AP unit of BJP appealed people to make success the 22-day long yatra being launched by the party in support of separate statehood for Telangana, from Thursday. BJP National president Nitin Gadkari would launch the "Telangana Poru Yatra" at Maktal in Mahabubnagar district on 19-01-2012. The yatra would be led by State Party President G Kishan Reddy which would pass through 171 mandals, 986 villages, 36 municipalities in 88 assembly constituencies and will cover a distance of about 3,500 km in nine districts of Telangana. Speaking to reporters, party's senior leader and former Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya said that the Congress has been deceiving people of Telangana region by not fulfilling its promise of carving out a separate state for the region. He also released an audio cassette of the songs for the yatra. Party MLA E Lakshminarayana, T Rajeswara Rao, BJP Telanagana struggle committee chairman and general secretary N Ramachander Rao were also present at the press meet.  

Remove Objectionable Content or Face Legal Action: Katju

Remove objectionable content or face legal action, warned Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju. Speaking to media, he said that social networking sites like Facebook and Google should be ready to face legal action on failure to remove objectionable content uploaded on them. "I have seen the content on these sites and found them to be highly objectionable which may disrupt social harmony. If they fail to check these contents, then they should be ready to face legal action," Justice Katju said. Supporting fully the view of Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on the issue of regulating and putting a check on content of these social sites, Justice Katju did not agree with the argument of these sites that it is not possible to remove objectionable content from being uploaded in huge quantity daily. He was also critical about the news content in both print and electronic media, for overlooking "real issues" like poverty and farmers suicides and focusing on stars giving birth to a child or death of an actor. On his remarks against media, Justice Katju said that he is not a "dictator" and hoped that one day he would be able to convince other members of the Council about his viewpoints.

Salman Rushdie May Visit Jaipur in Spite of Protests

Salman Rushdie, the author of controversial book 'Satanic Verses', may visit Jaipur during the Jaipur Literature Fesival scheduled to be held from 20 to 25 January. Although the Rajasthan government has raised concerns over security in the wake of the Darul Uloom Deoband's demand that Rushdie be banned from India as he had hurt sentiments of Muslims in the past, the Central Government may not be inclined towards making an actual request to Rushdie to not to visit India. The organisers of the festival say that they stand by their invitation to Salman Rushdie, though a revised schedule of the five-day literary gathering and its sessions made no mention of Rushdie's appearance. However, the author figures in the list of speakers. Earlier the media reported, Salman Rushdie was being 'persuaded to stay away' from the five-day Jaipur Literature Festival, but according to its organisers the news was a 'fiction'. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told the Home Minister P Chidambaram that Rushdie's visit was being resented by the local people, and could lead to trouble. After meeting the Home Minister, Ashok Gehlot told reporters "I don't have any official information about whether Rushdie is coming or not. There is no official communication to us... There is a reaction among the locals, they don't want Rushdie to come." He said his Chief Secretary was in touch with the organisers of the literature festival. "No state government will want a law and order situation. I have informed the Centre about the prevailing sentiments," Gehlot said. The announcement of Rushdie's visit to the popular festival had invited the wrath of India's top Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, which appealed to the government to decline the author a visa as he had hurt sentiments of Muslims in the past. Following this, Rushdie had taken to micro-blogging site Twitter to say that he did not require a visa to visit India. In Jaipur, activists of People's Union for Civil Liberties held a protest demanding that Muslim groups should withdraw their objection against Rushdie's visit. Since the responsibility falls on the Central Government to provide security to Salman Rushdie and it is not inclined to ask him to keep away from the literary fest, Rushdie's visit seems an almost certainity.  

Court to Re-examine Clean Chit to Rosaiah in Land Scam

Former chief minister K Rosaiah's controversial decision to denotify the prime land came under the scanner again following a complaint. The court issued summons to Principal secretary BP Acharya and two other officials to appear as witnesses in the case pertaining to denotification of 9.14 acres of prime land at Ameerpet in the city. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court issued summons to Acharya, who is already embroiled in the Emaar-MGF scam, directing him to appear before it on January 23 to record his statement. Besides Acharya, two other officials -- principal secretary (Industries and Commerce) T Sanyasi Rao and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) senior official Narayana Reddy, who were also part of the denotification process, were also issued summons. T Sanyasi Rao became a witness since he was the then principal secretary (MA&UD) department, who issued GO 288 denotifying the HMDA land. Acharya, during his stint as HMDA commissioner, had written letters to the MA&UD department not to denotify the 9.14 acre land located in survey numbers 26, 30, 41, 44 at Ameerpet, which was acquired by HMDA (Huda) several decades ago. In one of his letters, Acharya said, "Section 48 of the Land Acquisition Act can be invoked only in cases where possession of the acquired land is not taken. In the present case, the possession of the acquired land was taken in two spells (May 10, 2004 and December 14, 2009)". However, Rosaiah, who was the then chief minister, overlooked Acharya's remarks and altered the facts. The ACB officials registered a case against Rosaiah under sections 406, 409, 420 and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides 11,12, 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act based on the directions of the ACB court following a complaint lodged by Mohan Lal. However, the court decided to examine the witnesses and verify the evidence gathered by Mohan Lal since the petitioner alleged that ACB failed to do a proper investigation and gave a clean chit to Rosaiah.

Kiran-Azad Meeting in Delhi Completed

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is currently in Delhi, has completed his meeting with party's state affairs incharge Gulam Nabi Azad, a while ago. After the meeting, both of them started in the same car to 10 Janpath residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, to seek her approval for the cabinet reshuffle. Azad and Kiran going in the same car has sparked off speculations that the cabinet reshuffle in AP has been confirmed, only a date is to be announced. This will be done, once the duo completes meeting with the party president Sonia Gandhi. It is also being speculated that Kiran Kumar Reddy will get a free hand to make changes as he likes in his cabinet. 2 from PRP and 4 legislators from Congress inclusive of 2 from Telangana region are likely to to be inducted into the cabinet.     Video Source: tv9      

TDP Founder NTR's 16th Death Anniversary Today

The Telugu Desam Party founder and former chief minister N T Ramarao's 16th death anniversary is being observed at NTR Ghat today (18-01-2012). NTR kin Harikrishna and Jr. NTR were the first to arrive at NTR Samadhi and pay floral tributes, while other family members are also on way to NTR Ghat. TDP president Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu is scheduled to flag off NTR Amar Jyothi rally from Rasoolpura in the morning and also will pay floral tributes at the NTR Samadhi later. Chandrababu will also participate in distribution of fruits to patients at the Basava Tarakam cancer hospital and inauguration blood donation and free eye camps at the NTR bhavan. The TDP president will address party workers and admirers of NTR at a memorial meeting in the party office and pay tributes and hail the contributions of NTR.   Video Source: tv9      

Fog Covers Delhi: 50 Flights Delayed, 15 Cancelled

Thick fog covered the entire Delhi disrupting operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport this morning. At least 50 flights are being delayed, while 15 others are cancelled. Traffic on Delhi roads slowed to a crawl due to poor visibility and people shivered as the minimum temperature dropped to 5.6 degrees Celsius, a sharp fall from yesterday's 9.3 degrees. Rail services were also hit and at least 30 trains have been reportedly delayed because of the fog. The Met department forecast more foggy days ahead. "Thick fog will be seen in the coming two days. The skies will be slightly clear towards the afternoon," a Met department official said. Today's maximum temperature is expected to be about 14 degrees Celsius. Fog began to descend at the airport in the wee hours due to which the runway visibility dipped below 100 metres and the general visibility to less than 50 metres, an airport official said. Flights were unable to take off as the runway visibility was less than the required minimum which ranges between 125 metres to 150 metres, the official said. However, flights arriving at the airport were able to land using the CAT-IIIB instrument landing system. Two Jet Air flights arriving here between 4 AM and 5 AM were diverted due to operational reasons. According to sources, the pilots were not trained to operate CAT-IIIB landing system. Due to poor visibility at the new runway, it was not operational and only the main runway was functional, the official said. This is the first spell of dense fog this year. The cold wave, meanwhile, continued to sweep other parts of north India, including Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.   Video Source: ibnlive