AP: YSR Congress elated over first win outside Kadapa

                                                                         
Hyderabad, March 21 (IANS) The YSR Congress is elated over its victory in Kovur assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district, its first win outside Kadapa district.
Announcing its arrival on the electoral platform of the state, the party bagged the Kovur seat, wresting it from main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
By winning the only seat it contested in the by-elections, YSR Congress has sent a warning to both the ruling Congress and the TDP.
N. Prasanna Kumar Reddy, who had won the seat on a TDP ticket in 2009, retained it as a candidate of the YSR Congress party.
The mood was upbeat in the party camp as its leaders and workers celebrated the win with distribution of sweets and bursting of crackers at the party office in Jubilee Hills here.
Prasanna Kumar Reddy defeated S. Chandramohan Reddy of TDP by a margin of 23,496 votes. The Congress finished third.
The result is expected to boost the morale of the fledgling party ahead of another round of by-elections to 18 assembly seats. The by-elections, likely to be held in couple of months, are caused by disqualification of 16 Congress rebels who switched loyalties to YSR Congress.
One legislator of Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) also joined YSR Congress and quit the assembly seat. Tirupati seat will fall vacant as Congress has nominated actor-turned-politician K. Chiranjeevi to Rajya Sabha.
Last year, YSR party honorary president Y.S. Vijayamma, widow of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, had won Pulivendula assembly seat while their son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was elected from Kadapa Lok Sabha seat in the by-elections. But their victory was in the family stronghold of Kadapa district.
Both the mother and the son had quit Congress party and their assembly and parliament seats in 2010 to protest the party leadership's attempts to create a rift in the family. Last year, they floated the YSR Congress party.

Both the mother and the son had quit Congress party and their assembly and parliament seats in 2010 to protest the party leadership's attempts to create a rift in the family. Last year, they floated the YSR Congress party.

Jagan, as the young leader is popularly known, had staged a revolt against the Congress leadership after it ignored his claim to the chief minister's post following the death of his father in a helicopter crash in 2009.

Andhra Pradesh bypoll: TRS bags 4 seats; YSR Congress one

Hyderabad, March 21: In a setback to Andhra Pradesh’s ruling Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) bagged four assembly seats while the YSR Congress and an independent won one seat each. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had a narrow lead on a seventh seat.

TRS nominees won in Adilabad, Kamareddy, Kollapur and Station Ghanpur while BJP nominee bagged the Mahaboobnagar seat.

Independent candidate and former minister Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who was supported by the TRS secured victory in Nagarkurnool.

In Kovvur in Coastal Andhra, YSR Congress candidate N Prasanna Kumar Reddy was ahead of his TDP rival and the result is yet to be declared, Chief Electroal Officer Banwar Lal told reporters. 

‘Rajiv Yuvakiranalu' has no takers

                                                                  

The Kiran Kumar government's showpiece welfare scheme for youth – ‘Rajiv Yuvakiranalu' -- does not seem to have any takers in the city, at least for the programme taken up by the GHMC under the scheme.

A recent review of the programme taken up by the Urban Community Department (UCD) by Mayor Majid Hussain has revealed that there were zero placements in 15 of the 18 circles. The scene is not much different for other welfare schemes too.

He, however, had words of appreciation for the officials of circles 11 and 12 – Serlingampally for achieving bank loan linkages to the self-help groups. Similarly, circles of Kapra, Uppal, L.B.Nagar, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad and parts of the old city have done well in formation of self-help groups.

The Mayor called for zonal-level job melas beginning May and widespread publicity for the same. Additional Commissioner (UCD) C.N. Raghuprasad promised to utilise the budgetary allocation of Rs.100 crore of the Rs.167 crore by the month-end.

There are no applications, at least in two circles under the urban self-employment programme, and again no applications with regard to formation of the slum-level federation under the Indira Kranthi Patham in two circles. Mr. Hussain, shocked at the poor response to the welfare schemes in the capital, has demanded explanations from the deputy project officers concerned to give explanations within a week or face disciplinary action.

NRI children row: Indian officials to leave for Norway

                                                       
Amid fresh complications in the custody row involving two children of NRI parents in Norway, two senior Indian diplomats are expected to travel to the Scandinavian country to attend the custody hearing on March 23.
The external affairs ministry has deputed Banashri Bose Harrison, joint secretary in charge of central Europe, and a diplomat dealing with legal affairs to go to Norway.
The duo will also hold talks with senior Norwegian officials.

The ministry was reconsidering the visit of the Indian diplomats, but in view of new developments and the growing public attention to the issue it was decided to send the diplomats to speed up the reunion of children with their family.

Abhigyan, 3, and Aishwarya, 1, children of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya, an NRI couple living in Norway's Stavanger, were taken under protective care by Barnevarne (Norwegian Child Welfare Services) last May on the ground that they were not looked after properly by their parents

Over a month ago, India and Norway struck an agreement under which the parents named Anurup's brother Arunabhash Bhattacharya as the primary caretaker of the two children. Arunabhash Bhattacharya is currently in Norway.

Amid public outrage and protests by opposition parties, India last month had sent special envoy Madhusudhan Ganapathi, secretary (West) in the external affairs ministry to Norway, to urge Norwegian authorities to find a solution for enabling an early return of the children to India.

“Yes, Anurup is mulling legal separation from his wife as she suffers from acute schizophrenia. Last night (Monday) Sagarika attacked my son and badly injured him. Since then, he has fled from her and is living elsewhere. She has been attacking him for long,” Anurup's father Ajay Bhattacharya told IANS in Kolkata

Mangoes may cost a bomb

                                                                    
NUZVID/HYDERABAD: Mango, the king of fruits, could become dearer this summer. With the crop in about 40% of the nurseries in Nuzvid region having suffered damage due to adverse weather, the price of the fruit is likely to go through the roof. Consumers may be forced to shell out as much as Rs 200-250 to buy one kg of mango. The crop in Ranga Reddy and Medak districts is also hit because of late flowering.

Farmers had been spending sleepless nights in the last three months to save the crop. The Nuzvid region supplies a major chunk of mango to the state. The 'Banginapalle' mango from Nuzvid is the most sought after in the local and international markets. According to the latest predictions, the crop yield would come down by at least 40%. While mango is being grown in 64.58 thousand hectares in Krishna district, the yield is expected to be around seven tonnes per hectare against last year's 8-10 tonnes.

"The heavy rains in January had severely damaged the crop. We could protect the flower in about 60% of the total area," a senior official of the horticulture department said. Farmers had to struggle to see that the flower survived the adverse weather. But despite their efforts, the flower was frail.

"The delayed flowering is worrisome. The only hope is that farmers could get a good price since the yield is expected to be very low," said horticulture officer S Ahmed. He said the yields are expected to be in two-three spells instead of one in normal conditions.

Normally, the flowering stage ends by the second week of December and the fruit begins to grow by January. After most of the flowers were damaged in the January rains, it took time for second flowering. Janakiramaiah, owner of a mango nursery at Tiruvur, explained that extremely low temperatures during the nights in the winter had also caused irrecoverable loss.

In RR district, mangoes usually hit the market in mid-February itself. But the harvest has already been delayed by one month. However, as a result of drought, dip in ground water and high labour costs, the stocks have not arrived in the market yet. Horticulture officials said the crop loss would definitely lead to a major jump in the fruit rates.

C M Ramesh hid criminal case in RS affidavit: Ex-aide

                                                                      
HYDERABAD: In a development that may threaten to come in the way of TDP candidate C M Ramesh's election to the Rajya Sabha, a former business partner of his has alleged that a criminal case is pending against Ramesh in the Amberpet police station and that he has 'wilfully' not declared it in his election affidavit.

P Seshaiah Nayudu, the former business partner of Ramesh, submitted a memorandum to this effect to chief electoral officer Bhanwarlal here on Tuesday. "Ramesh misrepresented himself as a franchise representing Engineering Projects (India) Ltd, a Government of India enterprise, with no legitimate authority. It is also a fact that Ramesh has taken away Rs 4.7 crore as mobilization advance on account of a contract relating to package No 33 of Handri Niva Sujala project without performing 'nil' obligation while we did perform the project work in the status of sub-contractor. This act is worse than swindling/pocketing public money," the memorandum said.

The court in turn directed the Amberpet police station to investigate and report the charges and submit a report by January 31, 2012. The Amberpet cops registered an FIR on December 23, 2011, and booked cases against S P S Bakshi, a businessman, Dilip Reddy, chief manager of SBI, Tany Kumar, DGM of SBI, CM Ramesh, director of Rithwik Projects Ltd, Yadava Reddy, managing partner, Ravinder Rao, businessman, and M Srilatha, wife of Ravinder Rao. They were booked under IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 341 (wrongful restraint), 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 418 (cheating a person whose interests the offender was bound to protect), 447 (criminal trespass), and Cr PC's 156 (3) (police officer's power to investigate a cognizable case). According to police sources, the Amberpet cops could not submit their report to the court by the given deadline of January 31 and sought some more time to complete their investigations.In his nomination papers and affidavit filed before the Assembly secretary, CM Ramesh said he is not facing any criminal cases nor he has any criminal record in the past. When contacted, Ramesh told TOI: "I am not aware of the case. How can I be responsible for a case for which I did not receive any notices." But legal experts say any candidate who hides facts about his assets, liabilities and pending criminal cases can face action from the EC.

By-election results today

                                                                  
HYDERABAD: Chief electoral officer Bhanwarlal said elaborate arrangements have been made for counting of votes in all the seven assembly segments where the by-elections were held on March 18. The first results are expected to be out by 10.30-11 am.

The counting will start at 8 am and is set to be completed by noon. Even before counting, some of the candidates started celebrations in Telangana region. For the first time, the election authorities are using 3G services to upload the counting process on to internet. The entire process would be recorded with web cameras which are connected to internet through 3G services enabling the Election Commission authorities to watch the process.

Counting in Kamareddy would be held at Jeevadhan High School, for Adilabad at APTWRS Junior College. In Kovur, counting would be taken up the government polytechnic school and for three constituencies in Mahbubnagar, Jayaprakash Narayana Engineering college has been selected. The electronic voting machines ( EVMs) have been stored in strong rooms in the designated counting halls after completion of polling on Sunday.

CBI grills Mopidevi for four hours

                                                            
Hyderabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday grilled Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana and a senior IAS officer, Manmohan Singh, in connection with the disproportionate assets case of YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy.

The two figured in the list of six ministers and eight IAS officials who were issued notices by the Supreme Court on March 12 which wanted to know why their role in the issuance of 26 government orders should not be probed.

Mopidevi was Minister for Infrastructure and Investment during the regime of late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy when several GOs were issued allegedly for the benefit of Jagan.

The minister has been in the eye of storm following allegations of receiving monetary gratifications from liquor syndicates. Questioning the minister at this point assumed significance as the CBI is left with hardly two weeks time to file charge sheet in Jagan’s case.

Mopidevi arrived at Dilkusha Guest House at 2.30 pm and was questioned by the CBI for a little over four hours. According to sources, he was asked about the GOs 29, 30 and 31 issued during the YSR regime.

The GOs relate to the exemption from Stamps and Registration Act given to Vadarevu and Nizampatnam Port and Industrial Corridor (Vanpic), land acquisition and other benefits extended to the company promoted by Nimmagadda Prasad.

Jagan case

The Minister's examination, though as a witness, assumes significance as the CBI has to file its charge-sheet in the court against Mr. Jagan in the disproportionate assets case before April 2, according to the law.

It set off speculation about the CBI's next move against the MP.

Two senior IAS officers -- former Principal Secretary, Infrastructure and Investment, Manmohan Singh and Special Secretary Brahmananda Reddy were also questioned for over two hours at the Dilkusha Guest House, temporary office of CBI's special investigation team.

Dr. Manmohan Singh was present along with Mr. Venkata Ramana, between 2.30 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. and after he left, it took the Minister two more hours to finally leave the Guest House.

VANPIC project envisages developing the two ports, an airport near Ongole, six industrial parks and two power plants, for which an estimated 15,000 acres was required. While about 5,404 acres was allocated in Guntur, 6,406 acres was given away for the project in Prakasam district for the purpose. Over a dozen GOs were issued for the purpose, waiving stamp duty and registration fee, extending subsidies like those offered to Special Economic Zones and draft declaration for land acquisition.

As he was leaving the guest house, the Minister told waiting presspersons that he was called in as a witness to testify on the procedures followed in issuing the GOs. Asked if he was likely to be called again for examining, Mr. Venkata Ramana said that, as a law-abiding citizen and responsible Minister, he would cooperate with the investigation whenever he was asked for details.

TRS demands prosecution of Kiran

                                                                 

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) on Tuesday demanded prosecution of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy for the alleged misuse of official machinery to bribe voters in the March 18 by-election to Adilabad Assembly constituency. The party also demanded arrest and disqualification of the Congress candidate who had allegedly distributed money among self help groups to influence voting in his favour.

The TRS demand came in the wake of hundreds of women members of self help groups staging protests at the residences of community activists (CA) and community organisers (CO) of urban SHGs soon after the polling ended.

The protesters accused the CAs and COs of pocketing money meant to be given to the members to vote for the Congress.

For example, the Nagoba SHG members at Jai Jawan Nagar in town descended on the house of CO P. Rama and demanded she hand over the Rs. 1,000 given to each of the member.

Serious argument

The serious argument resulted in Ms. Rama conceding she was given money at the rate of Rs. 100 per member only and not as alleged.

At a press conference, TRS leader B. Goverdhan Reddy and others said the Election Observers, both General and Expenditure, besides the District Election Officer should take note of the reports on misuse of official machinery appearing in the media. By now, they should have filed suo moto cases against all concerned, they added.