Swine flu case in Guntur

GUNTUR: District medical and health officer M Gopi Naik has set up special teams to  conduct a door-to-door survey in Railpet, Pandaripuram and Sambasivapet in the city following detection of a swine flu case. The GMC has declared a health emergency in the three colonies and its nearby localities.
Kamineni Institute of Medical Science (KIMS) in Hyderabad confirmed on Thursday that Devarasetti Vasundhara Devi of Sambasivapet was afflicted with swine flu. She has been suffering from severe cold, cough and fever for the past one week. The doctors who treated Vasundhara, referred the case to the corporate hospital in Hyderabad.The DM&HO urged municipal commissioner K Sudhakar to improve sanitation in the three colonies and neighbouring localities. Five lakh pamphlets will be distributed as part of an awareness campaign to educate people on symptoms of swine flu and precautions to be taken to keep it at bay.

Andhra Pradesh Congress gears up for upcoming bypolls

HYDERABAD: Having drawn a blank in the recent bypolls to seven assembly constituencies, the ruling Congress has begun preparations for the ensuing byelections to 18 seats in right earnest.
As part of preparations for the bypolls, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and the PCC president are likely to hold a meeting with party leaders of various constituencies tomorrow, party sources said.

In the wake of reports of serious differences between the Chief Minister and the PCC president, they were "summoned" to Delhi this week and told by AICC in-charge of party affairs in AP Ghulam Nabi Azad to sink their differences and focus on the next round of bypolls.

In the seven assembly seats, where bypolls were held last month, the Congress failed to win a single seat. Particularly disappointing to the Congress was the defeat in Kovur, where the nominee of Jagan won and the Congress candidate stood a distant third.
Having been alerted by the party leadership in Delhi, the state Congress leaders have now begun the exercise to win the elections. State Congress president Botsa Satyanarayana held a meeting with leaders and activists in Srikakulam district today.

The bypolls in 16 of the 18 seats are necessitated due to the disqualification of Congress MLAs, who switched loyalty to Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and voted against the Congress government during a floor test in December last, while the sitting member quit in support of Jagan in another seat.

The bypoll in another seat (Tirupati) is caused after the resignation of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, following his election to the Rajya Sabha.

The vacancies arose in March and April and the bypolls have to be held within six months.

Rise of people's power - one year, many instances

                                                                           

5 April 2012 was time for a flashback! A year earlier a group of civil society members under the leadership of Anna Hazare started an agitation at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

The theme was anti-corruption.

Social activists Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh, Justice Santosh Hegde, Lawyers Prashant & Shanti Bhushan, spiritual guru Shri Shri Ravi Shankar, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and several other activists attracted their followers to the agitation ground.

After a brief bout of illness, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare is back in action. The 74-year-old will be on a day-long fast today at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi as he resumes his campaign for the passage of the Lokpal Bill in the ongoing session of the Parliament. The contentious bill had made its way through the Lok Sabha but faltered in the Rajya Sabha in the Winter Session of Parliament last year amidst much chaos and controversy.

"We've learnt that the PM's meeting has failed to evolve consensus. On March 25, we'll protest at Jantar Mantar. We will tell the people that the government is not serious about the Lokpal Bill, about fighting corruption. The bill in its present form will not be an effective tool against corruption," Mr Hazare had said in Delhi after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's all-party meet failed to evolve a consensus on the controversial bill on Friday.l attention.

Review committee to examine Cong's poll drubbing

                                                                                    
New Delhi: After Rahul Gandhi reviewed theUttar Pradesh poll debacle, another review committee led bysenior leader A K Antony would go into the causes of theCongress rout in UP and Goa as also the shock defeat in Punjaband the performance in Uttarakhand.

Party sources said the constitution of the informalcommittee by the Congress chief sometime back showed that theparty wants to set its house in order by taking lessons fromthe Assembly polls to make the party battle ready ahead of theLok Sabha elections in 2014.The Antony committee has already met some senior leaders from Uttarakhand and Punjab and is expected to meet leaders from UP in the next two-three days. A drastic overhaul of the Uttar Pradesh congress

committee is on the cards and plans are afoot to divide the state organisationally in four to five zones so as to get the party's act together at a time when regional parties Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party are calling the shots for the past decade in the state's politics.

After reviewing the Uttar Pradesh poll debacle, Rahul Gandhi had on Friday warned against indiscipline in Congress and vowed to bring the party back to good days in the state.

Winding up the two-day exercise, Gandhi had declared he is not the one to accept defeat and that he would turn the party's fortunes in the state.

The Congress meeting felt the "confusion" over the minority quota cost the party dear. The party's poor showing in Amethi and Rae Bareli, the pocket boroughs of the Nehru-Gandhi family, also figured at the meeting.

Gandhi said the party's seats, as also the percentage of votes, has increased and now it should be the party's endeavour to become the alternative in the state. "Don't expect kid gloves treatment from now on.It will be firm steps," was the message of Gandhi at the review meeting which concluded om Friday.

Jewellers back to business after 21-day strike

                                                                                   
Bullion traders and jewellers on Saturday returned to business, suspending three-week long strike following the government's assurance that it will consider their demand for rollback of excise duty on non-branded jewellery and hike in import duty on gold.
Shops in Delhi opened with gold quoting moderately up at Rs.28,410 per 10 gm, from its last close on March 16, but trading volumes were thin.

"Trading volumes are thin but likely to pick up during the day as all the associate jewellers have been asked to return to their business after the government assurance," Delhi Jewellers and Goldsmith Association president Ram Avtar Verma said.

A circular has been sent to all the affiliated members, informing them of the suspension of the strike till May 11, he added.

Meanwhile, the first gold rate came from Chennai, showing a fall of Rs.425 at Rs.28,115 per 10 gm in opening trade.

Various bullion trade associations called off the 21-day strike after meeting UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday who assured them that their demand for rollback of excise duty on non-branded jewellery would be considered.

"Most of the jewellery shops in the country have opened this morning as some of the 154 jewellery associations in the country decided to resume business," All India Sarafa Association president Sheel Chand Jain said.

He said agitating jewellers and bullion traders would have first transaction of the financial year 2012-13 on Saturday.

Traders are estimated to have lost Rs.20,000 crore due to the strike, while the government lost nearly Rs.1,200 crore in revenues on account of import duty.

Jewellers, however, have threatened that strike would resume if the proposal to levy excise duty of one per cent is not withdrawn in the Finance Bill, which is expected to come up before Parliament early next month.

"The strike has been suspended till May 11, as the Finance Minister has assured us on a decision on rollback on excise duty and customs duty by first week of May," Jain said.

The strike from March 17 followed the Budget proposals a day earlier to double gold import duty to 4 per cent and levy of 1 per cent excise duty on non-branded jewellery.

A leading Delhi-based jeweller having shops in different parts of north India, P P Jewellers director Pawan Gupta said "We have opened all our showrooms and appreciate government understanding our concerns on tax hikes."


A day before jewellers began strike, gold prices in the national capital were Rs.28,140 per 10 gm. In Mumbai was Rs.27,760.


Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/jewellers-back-to-business-after-21-day-strike/1/183436.html

Andhra Pradesh liquor scam: Protests erupt after probe team chief transferred

                                                                                  
New Delhi: Protests erupted in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday after the officer heading the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) probe team into the liquor scam in the state was transferred.
Sources say that Director General of the ACB D Bhoobati applied for a long leave in protest against the transfer of Additional Director K Srinivas Reddy.
Online campaigns too have picked up in favour of Reddy. Support messages flooded Meanwhile, Opposition parties allege that Reddy is under tremendous pressure from ministers who are accused in the scam.