BJP: Can’t allow UPA a walkover

Senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said that the BJP, being the main Opposition party, could not “allow a walkover” to the UPA since it did not consult the party before announcing its candidate.
NDA convenor and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said his party was against any contest after former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had refused to enter the fray. Trying to downplay the rift within the NDA, Mr Yadav argued: “We are not supporting a Congress candidate. Under the present circumstances, we are supporting a UPA candidate for whom there is a consensus.”
He indicated that after the 2014 general elections, there could possibly be a political crisis. “In that kind a scenario, we need a competent person to handle the situation,” he said. While Mr Yadav said that this was not the “first time” that the allied parties differed on presidential elections, CPI leader A.B. Bardhan said the differences “will not have any impact on Left unity”.

NRI Quota Reduced to 5% in BE Colleges

Non-resident Indian quota seats in engineering colleges have been slashed to 5 per cent from the existing 15 per cent. The government will issue the orders after the announcement of Eamcet results on June 30. The decision was taken to prevent college managements from misusing the NRI quota by selling the seats. There have been complaints that colleges were giving admission to fake NRI students by collecting huge capitation fees and donations. The new rules stipulate that only five per cent of seats can be allotted to NRI students whose parents live abroad. No “sponsorship” from NRI relatives or friends will be allowed.

Students and parents vie for NRI quota seats in the top 50 engineering colleges. Even though the AICTE clearly stipulates that the 15 per cent NRI quota within the 30 per cent management quota should be strictly allotted to “genuine NRI students” whose parents live abroad, the powerful college managements’ lobby brought pressure on the government to dilute the rule by incorporating the words “NRI or NRI-sponsored students.”

This allowed managements to admit local students if they have a letter from their NRI relatives stating that they will sponsor them. The advantage of the NRI quota for the college was that the government-prescribed fee for these students was $5000 or Rs 3 lakh per annum. The fee for the non-NRI management seats is Rs 95,000 per annum. That apart, it is an open secret that the colleges collect “donations” of up to Rs 20 lakh depending on the demand.

Maid arrested for attacking MLA, his wife

The Saifabad police on Thursday arrested one Veerabadhra Kumari, who allegedly has been harassing Kovvur MLA T.V. Rama Rao and his wife Venkatashesha Ratam. On Thursday, the MLA and his wife came to the Saifabad police station and stated that Ms Kumari, a maid servant, has been harassing them for the past several years.

In fact, Ms Ratam was reportedly assaulted by the woman. When Mr Rao was informed of the incident, he rushed to the city, where he too was attacked by Ms Kumari. According to Mr Rao, the maid had even tried to grab their property in MLA Colony at Adarshnagar. Ms Kumari, however, claimed that it is the MLA who has been harassing her.

Ambati apologises to reporters for Naming them

In a hurriedly arranged press conference YSR Congress spokesperson Ambati Rambabu clarified that the YSRC’s intention was not to expose reporters, but to expose CBI joint director V.V. Laxminarayana.

Many crime reporters working with different newspapers and news channels held a media conference in the evening and condemned the YSR Congress’ allegations. “It is our duty to make calls to investigating officers and get news; it is highly condemnable that the party objected to this,” the reporters said, demanding an unconditional apology from YSR Congress leaders for dragging their names and organisations into the affair.

YSR Congress MLAs had released purported call lists of two cellphones used by CBI joint director V.V. Laxminarayana which, they said, revealed that from March to June 17, Ms Chandrabala had made 411 and 21 calls to him on two phones. Mr Laxminarayana, according to them, had called her 328 times.

Ms Chandrabala had also called the managing director of a newspaper 10 times, Deloitte Hyderabad 10 times and a senior IPS Officer 15 times. The leaders said that they would bring this conspiracy angle to the notice of national leaders during their proposed meeting in Delhi by this month end. The police later broke up the dharna and took the MLAs into custody before releasing them on personal sureties.

YSR party outs CBI director’s phone list

YSR Congress MLAs protest in the Assembly premises on Thursday.

YSR Congress MLAs on Thursday demanded a probe by a Supreme Court judge into an alleged “conspiracy” behind the arrest of their leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Accusing CBI joint director V.V. Laxminarayana of leaking information and planting stories in one section of the media before affecting the Kadapa MP’s arrest, YSR Congress MLAs staged a dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue on the Assembly premises. They released a list of calls made by Mr Laxminarayana to various reporters and also to one Vasireddy Chandrabala, said to be a former techie of Hyderabad.

YSR Congress leaders demanded why the CBI joint director called up media personnel in clear violation of the CBI manual. They also wanted to know who Ms Vasireddy Chandrabala was and why she had called him repeatedly. They alleged that the CBI joint director did not act fairly and had conspired with some parties with vested interests and had arrested Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy a few hours before attending court.


YSR party smells a rat in jail blackout:


There was a 12-hour blac-kout on Thursday at the Chanchalguda Central Prison where several high-profile undertrials including Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and former minister Mopidevi Venkatramana are lodged. As news of the blackout spread, supporters of the YSR Congress chief started a rumour that it was a conspiracy to eliminate Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy. The power cut was rep-orted in the early hours of Thursday at the prison. Jail officials said one of the phases in the new prison block had developed glitches but power was restored by pulling a line from the old prison block which is empty.

Power problem resolved, says jail in-charge:


In-charge superintendent of Chanchalguda prison, Venkateshwar Reddy said, “We immediately addressed the problem by disconnecting the third phase from the old prison block and connecting it to the new prison block which holds all the inmates. The electricity department rectified the problem by Thursday evening. “There was no issue about the security of the inmates, including the special prisoners, being compromised. The charges are baseless.” Mr Jagan’s wife Bharathi Reddy had filed a petition in the HC seeking security for her husband in jail but the authorities had submitted a report stating that security was given to special category prisoners as per norms.

Sangma wants debate with Pranab ahead of presidential polls

Pinning hopes on "conscience vote", Sangma virtually dared UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee for a debate ahead of presidential polls, saying democracy needs debate.

NEW DELHI: Pinning hopes on "conscience vote" and his tribal identity, P A Sangma today virtually dared UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee for a debate ahead of presidential polls, saying democracy needs debate.

Maintaining that in a democracy people have the right to choose and there should be a debate at a time when the economy is sinking and scams are unimaginable, Sangma said, "Who is responsible for all this corruption...It has to be a candidate to candidate debate".

Asked whether he was throwing a challenge to Mukherjee, Sangma, who has the backing of BJP, BJD and AIADMK, said it was a practice. "Democracy means debate. I am asking for debate," he told TV channels.

Claiming that he will win the presidential race, Sangma also said he has sought appointments with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. He said that he was going to reach out to every one.

"The election will be by a secret ballot. Secret ballot means conscience vote. I depend on conscience vote and I believe in conscience vote," he said.

He said that the fact that there is a "split" in almost all political parties shows that this Presidential election is a serious one and "not as smooth as the Congress is claiming".

Sangma said that the UPA candidate is also not getting the undivided support of the ruling alliance as Mamata, whose party in a constituent of UPA, is "not supporting Mukherjee as yet".

He said that he is "constantly in touch" with the Trinamool Congress chief and is "very hopeful of her support". He said, "I am going to meet her in next few days."

Playing the tribal card, Sangma said that he wanted to correct the historic mistakes the country has committed as "tribals have not been given their due...I appeal to the consience of the nation. We have given our land, our forest, our natural resources...please recognize us."

Mumbai Mantralaya fire: CM, Deputy CM offices gutted

Mumbai: A major fire broke out in Maharashtra state secretariat on Thursday afternoon. The fire was reported from the cabin of Maharashtra state minister and NCP leader Babanrao Pachpute. Several people are reported to be trapped inside the building.
According to Relief Works Minister Patangrao Kadam, the fire broke out due to a short circuit.
While two people have been admitted to a hospital due to suffocation, several others are still trapped inside the building.

Thick smoke was seen outside the windows of the fourth floor of the building and no causalities have been reported so far.

The offices of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, the Deputy Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary have been gutted by the fire. Chavan, it was reported, was not present in his office at the time of the incident.
Though reports suggested that files related to the Adarsh Housing Society scam could also be lost in the fire, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) dismissed them saying the files were safe in their possession.
Sixteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot and efforts have been on to douse the fire. Navy helicopters and anti-terrorist unit force one have also been rushed for the rescue operations.

Maharashtra Chief Secretary ordered immediate evacuation of the entire building, sources said.
Thousands of officials at Mantralaya, which houses the state Secretariat, were seen standing outside as fire fighters battled the blaze, which was suspected to have been caused by a short-circuit.

State Forest Minister Patang Rao said, "I am confident that all the important files will be safe and intact."
The eyewitnesses said that the fire broke out around 3 pm and now the area has been cordoned off.

President poll live: CPI(M) to back Pranab Mukherjee, CPI to abstain; BJP backs PA Sangma

New Delhi: 5:09 pm: Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) will vote for UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee while Communist Party of India (CPI) will abstain. Out of four Left parties two have decided to support Pranab and two others will abstain.
"This is the only issue where we have differences. On every other issue the Left Front is united. The RSP will also abstain from voting," said veteran CPI leader AB Bardhan said.

3:00 pm The Left Front was divided over the Presidential candidate and was struggling to reach consensus. While the West Bengal unit of the Left was in favour of Pranab Mukherjee as the Presidential candidate, the Kerala unit was against him. A final announcement is expected in the evening after a meeting of all the Left parties.

1:00 pm: NDA ally JD(U) announced its support for UPA's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee. JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav said, "Our support to Pranab is due to the present scenario, this is not a support to the UPA."
He said that since APJ Abdul Kalam withdrew from the race, the situation had changed and the NDA failed to arrive at a consensus.

12:40: Former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma has thanked the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal for their support to him in the Presidential poll. He also said he was hopeful of winning the election.
When asked Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee would support him, Sangma said he had spoken to Mamata and was hopeful of getting her support. The Trinamool Congress sources, however, said they were still undecided on whether or not to support Sangma.
Sangma also said that since the voting for the Presidential poll takes place through secret ballot, he was hopeful that the conscience of the voters would be in his favour.

12:10 pm: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma for the President's post. BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said that the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP supported Sangma's candidature.
However, the NDA failed to arrive at a consensus with two of its key partners, the Shiv Sena and JD(U) not in favour of a contest. However, Sushma Swaraj said the BJP was in favour of a contest.
"Considering what Pranab has done to the country, there cannot be walkover for him," Sushma Swaraj said.
Sushma Swaraj also said that the UPA failed to reach out to the NDA over the Presidential poll.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley also said that the BJP wanted to play the role of a principal opposition and was not in favour of the UPA's Presidential candidate. "Contest is an idea integral to the democracy, not alien to the democracy. We want to play the role of the principal opposition party," Jaitley said.
Dismissing reports of differences within the NDA, Sushma Swaraj said, "NDA is a mature alliance, there is no question of it breaking down. We were trying to bring our alliance partners on board, we could not do that."
The BJP's announcement came even as two of its leaders Maneka Gandhi and BS Yeddyurappa had expressed their desire to support Pranab. "The support of Maneka, Yeddyurappa for Pranab does not matter now since we have made the official announcement," Sushma Swaraj said.
Meanwhile, the JDS also said it would support Pranab's candidature for the President's post. The Left Front's meeting on the Presidential poll was underway. Sources say that the Left parties were still divided and are likely to announce their decision by Thursday evening.
The JD(U) is expected to announce its stand on the Presidential candidate at 1 pm on Thursday.



Race for Rashtrapati Bhawan: Where the numbers stand

Support for Pranab
UPA (-TMC) + RJD + SP + BSP + NDA ALLIES (SS + JDU) = 53.2 per cent

Support for Sangma
BJP + SAD + BJD + AIADMK = 27.6 per cent

Undecided parties
Left + TMC = 9 per cent

Others = 10.2 per cent

Nitish's unease with Modi 'irrelevant, unfortunate': BJP

BJP Thursday dismissed as "irrelevant and unfortunate" Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's objection to his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi becoming NDA's prime ministerial candidate in 2014 generalelections but said that the "mature" coalition is not under any threat"


It is an irrelevant and unfortunate debate," leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said in reply to a question on Kumar's comments against Modi. She maintained that the focus at present is Presidential poll and the issue of prime ministerial candidate has no immediate relevance.

However, BJP accepted that it had not been able to convince ally JD(U) on supporting PA Sangma in the Presidential election. Regretting this, Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley hoped this was a "one off" case of fissures in NDA ranks and would not affect the coalition.

"NDA is a mature alliance. There is no question of NDA breaking up," Swaraj said.

Despite several serious attempts by BJP to persuade JD(U), the ally stuck to its stand of supporting UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee. Top BJP leaders had talked to JD(U) President Sharad Yadav and the Bihar chief minister on the issue.

BJP leaders, preferring anonymity, said they have not been able to understand the logic behind JD(U)'s decision.

JD(U) is keeping its options open ahead of the 2014 elections and, hence, the decision to support Mukherjee, political observers felt.

Kumar had ruled out Modi, without naming him, as NDA's PM candidate when he said the person should have "secular credentials". He said the candidate should be acceptable to all NDA constituents.

On Tuesday, he had stressed that NDA should declare its prime ministerial candidate in advance, saying, "This leader should be acceptable to every constituent of the alliance. To me, the leader of the coalition should have secular credentials."

Kumar has made known his unease with Narendra Modi a number of times earlier because of which the Gujarat chief minister was kept away from campaigning in Bihar during the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Monsoon ‘logs out’ IT workforce in Hi-Tec City

As the rains announced its arrival by lashing the city for two days, the entire area comprising Madhapur-Kondapur belt ended up water logged giving extremely uncomfortable time for the road-users.

JUNE 21,2012 HYDERABAD:


For the city IT workforce, which predominantly operates out of Hi-Tec City area, monsoon instead of bringing in cheer has landed them in gloom.

As the rains announced its arrival by lashing the city for two days, the entire area comprising Madhapur-Kondapur belt ended up water logged giving extremely uncomfortable time for the road-users.

Even after the rains ceased, the roads remained inundated for hours with two-wheelers and four-wheelers getting stranded in a couple of feet deep water. Lack of proper planning and infrastructure to flush out the rainwater clearly exposed chinks in the much showcased part of the city as thousands got stranded with their vehicles for hours.

“It took me more than 45 minutes to just cross the junction at NAC junction. Vehicles were stranded in front of the Tanla office complex and inched further bumper to bumper,” said Amit Kumar, an IT professional.

Ch. Kavita had a similar experience while travelling from Kavuri Hills towards Hafeezpet. “Every entry and exit point to Madhapur was blocked with traffic jams resulting from water logging. We felt as if we were marooned,” she recalled.

Worse was the situation on the spinal road, connecting Madhapur with JNTU, at the small duct below railway tracks near MMTS station. With the road over bridge taken up by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) not ready yet, vehicles got piled up on either side for a long time.

“I even a saw couple of cars and a few two-wheelers floating in the water,” said Sameer, another IT professional who spent nearly two hours to reach Malaysian Township from Cyber Towers point. Similar was the situation further down at Serilingampally railway gate where vehicles took more than two hours to cover a distance of just a km and reach the colonies.

While the gate on one side of the Serilingampally station had two-wheelers and four-wheelers landing in a jam and crawling, it was no better at the rail over bridge point on the other side.

PJR’s daughter meets Jagan, creates buzz

Vijaya Reddy, daughter of Congress leader late P. Janardhan Reddy and sister of party MLA P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy met Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at the Chanchalg-uda prison for half-an-hour on Wednesday. She was accompanied by the YSR Congress chief’s wife Bharati Reddy, party leaders Vasireddy Padma and J. Vijayalakshmi.

While Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy has been visited by several politicians since his party’s sweep of the bypolls, Ms Vijaya Reddy’s visit on Wednesday created a buzz in the state’s political circles. Meanwhile, sources said that Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy’s quota of mulakats (visits) has been exhausted and no visitors will be allowed to meet him till June 25. Former minister and accused in the Jagan illegal investments case Mopidevi Venkataramana, too, had visitors as agriculture minister Kanna Lakshminarayana went to the Chanchalguda Prison to meet him. Minister for animal husbandry P. Viswaroop’s son P. Krishna also met the former minister.

Jagan served ED notice in prison

The Enforcement Directorate issued a notice to Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday for recording his statement in Chanchalguda prison after his counsel refused to accept the same.

The ED had earlier filed a plea in the Special Court for CBI cases to record Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy’s statement in jail regarding his illegal investments case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The court had directed the ED to serve the notice on the YSR Congress chief’s counsel Ashok Reddy but he refused to accept the same. Following this, the court asked the ED to serve the notice on the Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy himself at Chanchalguda prison and the ED’s counsel served the notice later in the day.

The ED had earlier filed a plea seeking to record the MP’s statement as former director and chairman of M/s Jagathi Publications. The firm had been named Accused No. 12 in the first chargesheet filed by the CBI in the case. The court had posted the matter for further hearing to June 25.

Jagan fear factor: Congress may seek solace in TRS company

HYDERABAD: Concerned over the political threat from Jaganmohan Reddy, the Congress high command is believed to be considering going forward on an issue that they have been stonewalling till now - the Telangana impasse.

Following the rout of the Congress in the Seemandhra region and the narrow victory margin for the TRS in Parkal in the recent assembly bypolls, the grand old party is dropping hints that it wants more than an alliance with the latter. Disclosing this to TOI, highly-places sources said a positive decision on the Telangana front is the only one with which the Congress can hope to remain a political force in the state before the 2014 elections. "The strategy is to regain the hold in the Telangana region by granting the separate state on the condition that the TRS should merge with the Congress. The party can then concentrate on rebuilding itself in the Seemandhra region where the threat from Jagan is formidable, as the recent bypolls showed," said the sources. But TRS, though seeking Telangana, knows the dilemma of the collapsing Congress in the state.

According to the sources, the Congress is upbeat on the issue of going forward on Telangana and the TRS merger. While such a formula is more in its interest, Congress leaders are claiming that it is the TRS that has sent the feelers. "The TRS has come forward with a proposal of merger. I have definite information from the Congress high command about the merger proposal," minor irrigation minister and Seemandhra leader T G Venkatesh told TOI.

Venkatesh, who had a series of meetings in New Delhi during the last two days with senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Vayalar Ravi and S Jaipal Reddy, said Telangana state was round the corner. "The Centre is inching towards Telangana and this is the outcome of the TRS merger proposal," he said.

According to him, except the Congress, all the other political parties are agreed on Telangana. Venkatesh, who has been raising the issue of the rights of Rayalaseema districts since 2000, has the apprehension of a midnight T-announcement as was done on December 6, 2009, by home minister P Chidambaram. "The Rayalaseema people should be informed of the decision well in advance," he said.

Party scion K T Rama Rao said: "Telangana has to happen and certainly will become a reality in the run up to the 2014 elections. This is our understanding." TRS senior leader T Harish Rao denied that the party has been in touch with the Congress leadership," he said. But in the same breath, Harish Rao added: "The political situation in the state has evolved to a level that the Congress can no longer dither on Telangana. Telangana should be created if Congress were to survive in Andhra Pradesh," Harish told TOI from Warangal.

Team Anna asks Pranab to come clean on rice scam allegations before contesting presidential election

LUCKNOW:

Team Anna on Wednesday reiterated its demand to probe graft charges it had levelled against 14 ministers, including finance minister Pranab Mukherjee by a special investigating team (SIT).

Addressing a gathering organized by India Against Corruption in Kanpur, Team Anna core group member Kiran Bedi said, "The government should constitute a SIT to probe the charges. Let them come out clean if they are not corrupt."

She also said, "We are poor not because we have committed a sin but because our leadership is corrupt and has been acting like 'Dhritarashtra'. The government does not have money to set up new schools and hospitals but at the same time scams of several crores of rupees keep on surfacing every now and then.

"This is happening only because we have decided to keep mum. It's time we should stand and support Anna Hazare who is fighting for the cause," she said.

This is for the second time when Kiran Bedi termed the government to be acting like 'Dhritarashtra'. Bedi, however, made it clear that her remarks was not against prime minister but against the office of the Prime Minister for overlooking the problems.

Team Anna is touring Uttar Pradesh as a part of its " Anna Sandesh Yatra" to make people aware about the corruption charges against ministers and to demand formation of SIT. The first round of the yatra ended on Wednesday. Kiran Bedi, Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh, Shazia Ilmi and others members of Team Anna spoke on the occasion.

While addressing media persons in Lucknow, Vishwas said, "Mukherjee should face the probe and come clear with regard to rice scam before contesting presidential elections."

When Mukherjee rejected these allegations as "unfair, self-seeking and levelled with ulterior motive", Vishwas said, "The reply came for the letter which we wrote on May 27 to prime minister but he has not responded to the letter which we wrote two days back."
Talking about Anna Hazare endorsing Mukherjee as a better president contestant than other UPA ministers, he said, "Anna said that Pranab is a better minister compared to other minister but he added that APJ Abdul Kalam is the best for the post of president."

People from all walks of life and ages, including students and housewives, came to hear Team Anna members. The gathering kept waving the tricolour and raised slogans in support of Anna all through the meeting. Patriotic songs were played from loudspeakers.

The Team will be organizing similar yatras in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and other parts of the country.

The movement will enter its second phase from July 25 when some Team Anna members would sit on hunger strike in Delhi. The volunteers of the India Against Corruption have also been assigned the task to build a strong grassroots network of people, involving villagers, women and students to fight against corruption.

New Delhi, June 21, 2012:

A compromise formula aimed at breaking the deadlock between teachers and HRD minister Kapil Sibal over admissions to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) could end up hurting hundreds of thousands of aspiring students.

Under the new formula, only the top 20% students in their respective class 12 board exams would be eligible for appearing in the IIT entrance exam, top government and IIT sources told HT.

The compromise was brokered by the Prime Minister, who met members of the protesting All India IIT Faculty Federation (AIIFF) last week and asked Sibal to consider their demands.

Sibal had wanted an admission system where the board exam percentile was given weightage along with scores in a screening test while selecting candidates for a second, advanced entrance exam. This process allowed students who scored relatively lower in the boards to make up for it by doing better in the screening test.

But faced with persistent opposition from IIT faculty federations on weightage to board scores, Sibal has asked IIT-Delhi director RK Shevgaonkar to seek the opinion of faculty across the IITs on the compromise plan.

The new proposal, to be discussed by the IIT senates and faculty associations this week, places students in the top 20 percentile of board scores on an equal footing in the selection process.

This would negate Sibal’s intention of encouraging students to focus on their board exams, but rob 80% students of even a chance of trying for the IITs.

Since the class 12 results are unlikely to be declared in time for the two-tier IIT test, all students would need to appear for the exams even if their board marks turn them ineligible later.

Greater Hyderabad municipal corporation ill-prepared to face monsoon

HYDERABAD: Given the state of preparedness of the civic authorities, Greater Hyderabad residents should pray that they are not subjected to a heavy spell of monsoon rain. This is because the GHMC has been caught napping --- the desiltation of the nalas is still half done and the disaster management cell of the civic body does not have either the manpower or the wherewithal to handle water logging and the other woes that hit the city with the first spell of the seasonal rain.

Last Monday was an indicator of this. The city experienced 4 cms of rainfall, and there were long traffic chaos at all the arterial roads. "Thanks to the desilting of nalas remaining undone, indiscriminate road cutting and battered roads all over, there will be major traffic chaos, water-logging and unprecedented flooding of the roads and the low-lying areas when a heavy and long spell of rain occurs," said a civic official. Road cutting has been going on at many major roads in the city despite a ban on works during monsoon as the GHMC stops giving permission to various agencies for such work in May itself. However, traffic chaos prevailed on the Sardar Patel road where the CPDCL dug up the road for laying a 220 KV line. The busy stretch continues to be a mess as the completed portion of the road has not been re-carpeted yet. Similarly, road cutting is going on at Road No 3 Banjara Hills, resulting in traffic chaos during the peak hours.

According to sources, the desiltation of the nalas should have been completed by May 31 itself. However, only 80% or about 550 kms of the 700 km desiltation work was completed by the time monsoon rain hit the city. This would mean that several areas are in for major flooding when a torrential downpour occurs.

On paper, the GHMC's disaster management cell has five zonal control rooms and one central emergency control room mandated to operate round the clock. "The emergency wings personnel also have material like pumps to bail out the water from stagnation points, tree cutters, nylon ropes, torch lights and trucks. But this is hardly enough to cater to 60-lakh population," said sources.

GHMC officials said the only way flooding and water logging can be prevented is when the nalas are remodeled and other works like the routing of the lakes are taken up. "But all that would require funds to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore, an amount that the GHMC is in no position to cough up. Hence, Hyderabad residents should be prepared for water logging and traffic snarls during the monsoon," said an official.

Sangma quits NCP, may get NDA support

The United Progressive Alliance’s presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee will have to face a contest now that the former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Sangma has resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party, enabling himself to make a bid to be the next incumbent of Rashtrapati Bhavan without “embarrassing” his party.

Mr. Sangma’s resignation, addressed to NCP president and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has been accepted, freeing him from the pressure of his party not to file his nomination and to support Mr. Mukherjee’s candidature instead.

In a press note, Mr. Sangma has reiterated that the Tribal Forum of India nominated him for election to the office of President, a nomination that has been endorsed by the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Biju Janata Dal. He also claims that he has “received promises of support from senior leaders of non-Congress parties, including those in the National Democratic Alliance.”

With the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s first choice for First Citizen, announcing on Tuesday that he did not wish to take a second shot for the keys of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr. Sangma’s chances of securing BJP support have brightened. Of the BJP’s allies in the NDA, the Shiv Sena has already declared it will back Mr. Mukherjee; the Janata Dal-United, currently engaged in a war of words with the BJP and the RSS, party sources say, is not very keen on Mr. Sangma; Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal has stated publicly his party will go with the NDA.

Troubled history:

Mr. Sangma telephoned West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday to seek her support, even though the two share a troubled history: in January 2004, Mr. Sangma sought to split the NCP after Mr. Pawar became close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, but when he lost the battle for the NCP election symbol, he merged his faction with the Trinamool. However, in February 2006, he was re-elected an NCP candidate after he quit the Trinamool. Now, with Ms. Banerjee’s bid to prop up Mr. Kalam having failed, and her opposition to Mr. Mukherjee’s candidature still unwavering, Mr. Sangma’s overtures to her might make some impact.

But Mr. Sangma’s bid for the presidency has complicated matters for his daughter, Agatha Sangma, who now faces the prospect of being turfed off the Union Council of Ministers — she is MoS for Rural Development — if she campaigns for her father, a senior NCP leader indicated. “If she campaigns, we will have no option but to show her the door,” he said shortly after Mr. Sangma resigned from the party, a day ahead of a meeting of the NCP Parliamentary Board. The Congress, however, chose not to comment on the matter, with party spokesman Rashid Alvi saying, “Congress is not going to advise the NCP on what to do about Agatha.”

Personal issue, says son:

Simultaneously, Mr. Sangma’s son and Leader of the Opposition in the Meghalaya Assembly Conrad K. Sangma told journalists that his father’s resignation from the NCP was a “personal” issue and would therefore “not have any impact on his membership of the NCP in Meghalaya.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Banerjee is facing a revolt in her party: dissident MP Kabir Suman has been in touch with Mr Mukherjee, and the Congress, party sources said, is in touch with other disgruntled Trinamool MPs and MLAs. So much so the Trinamool accused the Congress of attempting to split her party. “What Pranab has done is unethical... He is trying to break Trinamool,” State Minister and Trinamool leader Subrata Mukherjee said, adding, “Both Pranab and Suman are masters of unethical politics.”

In the UPA camp, members are busy working on the Mukherjee campaign: Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi met jailed YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday to seek his party’s support for the UPA nominee.

Narendra Modi cannot be projected as PM candidate, says Vajpayee aide

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi cannot be portrayed as prime ministerial candidate as it is impossible for the BJP to get a majority on its own in Lok Sabha polls, Brajesh Mishra has said.

Mishra, key aide of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said Modi becoming prime minister depends entirely on BJP getting a majority in Parliament on its own.

"First of all, we must be clear that BJP is not going to get majority on its own. Impossible. And therefore, he (Modi) cannot be put forward as a successor. They will have to find somebody else," Mishra said.

Mishra said Modi continued as Chief Minister of Gujarat after the post-Godhra riots because the BJP wanted him to and Vajpayee did not overrule the party opinion.

However, he pointed out that Vajpayee, though endorsing the majority opinion, did advice Modi to follow 'raj dharma'.

"In Goa, there was a vociferous demand for Narendra Modi to continue as Chief Minister. He (Vajpayee) was not going to interfere. So he said this is alright but he (Modi) should follow raj dharma. It was a kind of advice given to him (Modi). But there was no question of Atalji overruling the party," Mishra said.

Sangma resigns from NCP, likely to be Opposition candidate for Rashtrapati Bhavan

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA)’s presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee will have to face a contest now that former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Sangma has resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to enable him to make a bid to be the next incumbent of Rashtrapati Bhavan without “embarrassing” his party.

Mr. Sangma’s resignation, addressed to NCP president — and Union Agriculture Minister – Sharad Pawar has been accepted, freeing him from the pressure of his party not to file his nomination and support Mr. Mukherjee’s candidature instead.

In a press note, Mr. Sangma has reiterated the fact that the Tribal Forum of India has nominated him for election to the office of the President, a nomination that has been endorsed by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Biju Janata Dal. He also claims that he has “received promises of support from senior leaders of non-Congress parties, including those in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).”

With former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s first choice for First Citizen, announcing on Tuesday that he does not wish to take a second shot for the keys of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr.Sangma’s chances of securing the support of the BJP have brightened. Of the BJP’s allies in the NDA, the Shiv Sena has already declared it will back Mr. Mukherjee; the Janata Dal-United, currently engaged in a war of words with the BJP and RSS, party sources say, is not very keen on Mr. Sangma; Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Chief Prakash Singh Badal has stated publicly that his party will go by what the NDA decides.

Mr. Sangma telephoned West Bengal chief minister — and Trinamool Congress chief — Mamata Banerjee on Saturday to seek her support, even though the two share a troubled history: in January 2004, Mr. Sangma sought to split the NCP after Mr. Pawar became close to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, but when he lost the battle for the NCP election symbol, he merged his faction with the Trinamool. But in February 2006, he was re-elected as a NCP candidate after he quit the Trinamool. But now, with Ms. Banerjee’s bid to prop up Mr. Kalam as a Presidential candidate having failed, and her opposition to Mr. Mukherjee’s candidature still unwavering, Mr. Sangma’s overtures to her might make some impact.

Mr. Sangma’s bid for the presidency has complicated matters for his daughter, Agatha Sangma, who now faces the prospect of being turfed out of the union council of ministers – she is the MoS for rural development -- if she campaigns for her father, a senior NCP leader indicated. “If she campaigns, we will have no option but to show her the door,” he said shortly after Mr. Sangma resigned from the party, a day ahead of a meeting of the NCP Parliamentary Board. The Congress, however, chose not to comment on the matter, with party spokesman Rashid Alvi saying, “Congress is not going to advise the NCP on what to do about Agatha.”

Simultaneously, Mr. Sangma’s son and Leader of the Opposition in Meghalaya Assembly Conrad K. Sangma told journalists on Wednesday that his father’s resignation from the NCP was a “personal” issue and would therefore “not have any impact on the membership of the NCP in Meghalaya.”

NDA would not have lost power if Modi had been sacked after Guj riots: Nitish

Targeting Narendra Modi for the second time in a week, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said the NDA government would not have lost power in the 2004 general elections had the Gujarat government been dismissed in the wake of the 2002 riots.

Kumar's remarks came close on the heels of his stating that NDA needs a "secular" candidate as PM for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, which were construed as an attack on Modi.

"The NDA government would not have lost power in 2004 general elections if Vajpayee had been allowed to sack the Modi government for not adhering to 'raj dharma'," he told a group of news channel reporters at the JD(U) office here.

Vajpayee, who had castigated Modi for his failure to abide by the 'raj dharma', was prevailed upon by the senior BJP leaders against sacking the Modi government and that was the main reason of NDA's defeat at the hustings in 2004, Kumar said.

Under attack from the RSS and the BJP for his latest salvo, Kumar dismissed the charge that he was a selfish leader.

Kumar's detractors accused him of changing his tune after enjoying the fruits of power aligning with the BJP.

"I am not a selfish leader," he said while trying to deflect RSS-BJP criticism against him over the Modi issue.

Jagan case: CBI grills BCCI chief N Srinivasan for 7 hrs

HYDERABAD:

The CBI on Monday sought to know from N Srinivasan, MD of The India Cements Ltd, the logic behind his decision to invest Rs 90 crore in rival cement company Bharati Cements when the latter was in the hands of Jaganmohan Reddy.

Srinivasan, who also happens to be the chairman of the BCCI and owner of IPL team Chennai Super Kings, was summoned by the probe agency as part of its ongoing investigation into the Jagan assets case and was questioned for more than seven hours at the CBI's makeshift office at Dilkusha Guest House on Raj Bhavan Road. The probe agency sought to know certain details about how India Cements managed to secure huge additional water allocations for its plants in Nalgonda and Rangareddy districts from the YSR regime. The CBI's charge is that the YSR regime allotted water from Kagna and Krishna rivers for these two plants which crossed the quota allotted to Andhra Pradesh under the Bachawat award. In return for the water allocations, India Cements invested Rs 135 crore in Jagan's companies, the CBI alleged.

Responding to the CBI query about why he invested in another cement company, Srinivasan reportedly maintained that his decision to invest in Jagan's Bharati Cements paid off in the ultimate analysis as he made a huge profit by selling his shares when Jagan sold his cement firm to a French player. The CBI wants to unravel as to why not only India Cements, but two other cement companies, Penna Cements and Dalmia Cements, also chose to invest in a rival cement company. Its contention is that all these three firms were given limestone mines and huge water allocations. The CBI is said to be done with the questioning of India Cements MD on Monday and that it will be the turn of the MDs of the other two companies to be quizzed beginning Tuesday.

Sources said the role of three ministers in the alleged benefits doled out by the YSR regime to the three cement companies will come under CBI scanner.

The investigating agency is slated to probe whether then revenue minister Dharmana Prasada Rao allotted huge tracts of land containing limestone to these companies and whether former irrigation minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah cleared the additional water allocations. The role of then mines minister Sabita Indra Reddy in granting mining licenses to these cement firms for extracting limestone will also be examined.

Pranab Mukherjee better than other UPA ministers: Hazare

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Monday appeared to approve the candidature of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for the President's post, describing him as 'better than other UPA ministers'.

He, however, maintained that a direct election could have resulted in former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam once again occupying the top Constitutional post.

"Pranab Mukherjee is a better minister compared to the rest of the ministers in the government. But if the President could be chosen through direct election, then A.P.J. Abdul Kalam could have been elected easily," he said.

Hazare said this in an interview to a Marathi news channel.

"Mukherjee is an efficient minister. He has played an important role in several key decisions. He has been fielded by the UPA. Had it been any other minister, I would not have approved," Hazare added.

Daughter of former MP from Karnataka kidnapped

June 19, 2012:

The daughter of a former Congress Member of Parliament, who represented the Koppal constituency in Karnataka, was allegedly kidnapped from the crowded Jayanagar BDA Shopping Complex in Bengaluru on Monday evening around 8.30.

The police said 47-year-old Vishnuvandana, daughter of ex-MP H.G. Ramulu, was kidnapped by some miscreants in a car.

Vishnuvandana, a resident of Hyderabad, had gone to the shopping complex along with her sister Dolly (45) when the incident occurred. Vishnuvandana had gone to buy some flowers, while Dolly went towards the medical stores.

But when Dolly returned to the spot where they were supposed to meet, she could not find her sister. Dolly tried calling her on the mobile phone, but it was switched off. She then alerted her Vishnuvandana’s husband Ravi Kumar, who is a hotelier in Hyderabad.

He told Dolly that Vishnuvandana called him on his phone and said she was in a moving vehicle and the kidnappers were talking about some wedding. She then cut the call.

The police said the kidnappers were using mobile numbers from Andhra Pradesh. Till late Monday night, the family had not received any calls demanding a ransom for the release of Vishnuvandana and was clueless about the reason behind the kidnapping.

All the three had come to Bengaluru two days ago and were staying at their relative, Suryakumar's house. Ravi Kumar has filed a kidnapping case with the Jayanagar police, who seem to have got some clues to the crime.

Ravi Kumar and Mr Ramulu were seen filing the police complaint at DCP Sonia Narang's office.

TMC says it is Mentally ready to quit UPA govt

Pushed on the backfoot after being isolated on the Presidential poll, Trinamool Congress on Monday night sent a terse message to Congress saying it is ‘mentally prepared to quit’ the UPA government if forced to do so and should not be taken for granted.

"Trinamool ministers are mentally prepared to resign from the central government if the Congress thinks we are a burden or if Mamata Banerjee instructs them to do so. We will not stay by force. We should not be given any indirect threat", leader of the TMC parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay told reporters here.

The Trinamool threat came a day after Congress leader Digvijay Singh described Banerjee as an ‘erratic’ leader and that there is a ‘limit’ to which one can ‘bend’ as certain eventualities have to be faced if they cannot be avoided.

Singh was reflecting his angst over Banerjee's dramatic rejection of UPA's Presidential nominees and her continued defiance.

The Congress on Monday distanced itself from his comments saying he was not officially authorised to speak to the media.

Banerjee has faced a double blow in quick succession first when Mulayam Singh ditched her by backing UPA Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee and then A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who she named as her candidate, declaring that he will not contest.

Bandopadhyay, the union minister of state for health, said that the Congress party was not ‘capable enough’ to run the government on its own strength.

"The Congress is dependent on other parties, including the Trinamool Congress, which is the second largest constituent of the UPA," he said, adding, "We as a major ally should not be taken for granted."

"If Trinamool Congress leaves the UPA on its own, it will give a wrong message to the people that it wanted to topple the UPA government," a party leader quoted Banerjee as having said at a crucial meeting of party MPs and MLAs shortly after A.P.J. Abdul Kalam announced his decision to opt out of the presidential race.

Bandhopadhyay said, "We will be happy if Kalam reconsiders his decision. We will take the final decision regarding what will be our stand in regard to the presidential poll after the nomination is over."

Briefing newsmen about the nearly two-hour meeting, leader of the parliamentary party, Bandopadhyay, however, said reports that party MPS and union ministers submitting letters of resignation to the party supremo were ‘totally baseless’.

"We have not tendered our resignation letters anywhere, neither to the party supremo nor to the government. Our leader Mamata Banerjee has categorically said that we do not want to make this government weak," Bandopadhyay said.

"It is an ugly and motivated report. It will not take us a second's time to resign from the UPA government. If Mamata directs, Railway minister Mukul Roy and the other six ministers of state would resign."

Asked whether the Trinamool Congress would support former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma if he contested the presidential polls, he said, "We have not taken such a decision at the meeting. As the situation develops the party will sit and decide the future course of action."

He said that the parliamentary party and the legislature party authorised the party chief to take a decision on the presidential polls.

State questions CBI probe into Adarsh scam

Mumbai, June 19, 2012:


For the first time, the Maharashtra government has questioned the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in the Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society scam, before the Bombay high court.     On Monday, Anil Sakhare, special counsel, suggested the CBIcould not have initiated the probe without the consent of the state, especially in the wake of the two-member panel’s finding that the land on which the high-rise at Cuffe Parade stands belonged to the state government.
“The CBI came into the picture only because of the presumption that the land belonged to the defence forces,” Sakhare said. When the division bench of justice SA Bobde and justice Mridula Bhatkar asked whether he was questioning the CBI’s jurisdiction to probe the case, the senior advocate replied: “Unless requested by the State of Maharashtra.”

“The Commission has given a finding that the land belongs to the State of Maharashtra, and therefore, it’s (the whole case) a state subject,” Sakhare added. “Say clearly that the CBI cannot investigate the matter, if it is your stand,” the judges then said.

President poll: Mamata Banerjee running out of options

Kolkata: Former President APJ Abdul Kalam's decision to withdraw from the Presidential race came as a huge shock to Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. This was the second blow in three days after her short-term friend Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav abandoned her to back Pranab. It now seems that the Trinamool Congress chief is running out of options.
The Trinamool Congress on Monday came up with a thinly veiled threat with party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay saying, "We are with the government but can resign when the time comes."
After APJ Abdul Kalam himself ruled out his participation in the Presidential race, for Mamata, who was his most vociferous proponent, there was little to do but go back to political brinkmanship. Kalam's refusal is a big blow and Mamata wrote on Facebook, "Kalam Saheb...I have seen your statement that you are not contesting. This news has hurt us all deeply."
Having hedged her bets on Kalam, Mamata has already refused to back NCP leader PA Sangma's Presidential ambitions.

The Congress, meanwhile, is playing it cool. It even reached out by pulling up party general secretary Digvijaya Singh for criticising Mamata's stand on Pranab.

Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed said, "Mamata Banerjee was, is and will be a close ally of the UPA. I am hopeful that she will take lead in making Pranab Mukherjee victorious in President's race."
Mamata Banerjee is now left with few choices. Having said a firm no to Pranab Mukherjee, she can now either abstain from voting or side with the NDA, which also seems political improbable as she then would have to pull the plug on the UPA.

Now, Kejriwal demands probe against Pranab Mukherjee

JODHPUR\NEW DELHI: Fresh from clinching his party's nomination for the post of president, finance minister and presidential hopeful, Pranab Mukherjee found himself in the corruption crosshairs of Team Anna. Arvind Kejriwal, Team Anna's most vociferous member, on Sunday demanded an independent probe into graft allegations against Mukherjee before elections to the country's highest office are held.

Kejriwal claimed the inquiry should be completed before the presidential elections as once Mukherjee is elected as the country's first citizen, he will enjoy immunity, which would serve as major blow to the probe.

In Jodhpur, as part of Team Anna's ``Jan Jagaran Abhiyaan'', Kejriwal made the demand while interacting with the media. ``The probe should be conducted by an independent agency, not the CBI. The post of the President is the most dignified and anybody considered for the post, should carry a clean image. Whatever be the allegations against Mukherjee, they must be probed,'' he said.

Kejriwal first referred to the 2007 scam revolving around the export of rice to Ghana when Mukherjee was the external affairs minister. ``Mukherjee's name was involved in the controversy surrounding the scam. This was a huge scam to the tune of Rs 2,000- Rs 2,500 crore, in which the then commerce minister Kamal Nath was also involved. Twenty lakh tonnes of rice was exported to a third country under the pretext of supplying it to African nations as part of hunger alleviation projects,'' said Kejriwal.

"The Ghana government itself had recommended an inquiry against Mukherjee and Kamal Nath by writing a letter to the Indian government then. But nothing happened".

Turning to the Rs 18,798-crore Scorpene submarine project, inked between India and France in 2005, when Mukherjee was the defence minister, Kejriwal alleged 4% commission was received on the deal. But Mukherjee did not order any investigation, despite voices being raised in protest, he added.

"Mukherjee is also involved in the infamous Navy war room leak scam (of mid-2005), in which three key persons were saved. But, in what can be termed as an eyewash, three Navy commanders were sacked. In this case, a pen drive carrying important strategic information had disappeared from the Navy war room and was later found with an IAF wing commander, which was shared with three persons, including Abhishek Verma (an accused in the war-room leak case) associated with the Scorpene submarine deal,'' he alleged.

Kejriwal said it was ironic that Mukherjee on one hand denied that pen drive contained any information of serious or strategic nature, whereas CBI had admitted it had information of sensitive nature. "It will be injustice to this apex post if a tainted person sits on the seat of the President", Kejriwal said, demanding an unbiased inquiry against Mukherjee.

Mukherjee, on his part, had then strongly denied in Parliament that middlemen had played any role in the Scorpene project, or that it was linked in any way to the naval war room leak case. The Scorpene project, under which six submarines are being constructed at Mazagon Docks, incidentally, has witnessed a huge cost escalation — the overall project cost now stands at Rs 23,562 crore — and is also running three years behind schedule.

Congress, TDP fail to draw Muslims

The landslide win of YSR Congress in Seemandhra region in the Assembly and Lok Sabha bypolls has parallels to the outcome of the 'fratricidal fight' between two Congress parties in Andhra Pradesh way back in 1978 Assembly elections. At that time, the ruling Congress party led by then chief minister Jalagam Vengala Rao was routed at the hands of the fledgling Indira Congress while the non-Congress formation - Janata Party—failed to offer a credible alternative. The Congress-I had bagged 178 Assembly seats while the Congress (R) could get only 30 seats and the Janata garnered 60 seats.

Thereafter, the Congress (R) was virtually decimated and Vengala Rao himself joined the Congress-I. The Janata Party disappeared without a trace. Now, after 34 years, the fight between two Congress parties in the bypolls has left the ruling Congress badly bruised while YSR Congress walked away with the honours. The main opposition TDP could do nothing but lick its wounds. By all accounts, it was YSR Congress wave all across the 12 districts where bypolls were held. In terms of votes, YSR Congress polled 48.98%, whereas the Congress came a distant second with 22.68%, with TDP trailing at third position with 22.03% of the total votes.

It is apparent that YSR Congress drew an overwhelming support of all sections of society, including dalits, tribals, Muslims, Backward Classes and dominant upper caste group—Reddys. This explains the huge majorities that its candidates notched up not only in Nellore Lok Sabha constituency but also in a majority of the Assembly segments. The attempts of the ruling Congress and TDP to woo these sections came to naught.

The bypoll results have some lessons for the Congress and TDP so far as Muslim voters are concerned. In five Assembly constituencies as well as in Nellore LS constituency, where Muslim voters accounted for a sizeable chunk of the electorate, YSR Congress emerged victorious with huge margins. In other constituencies in south coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, too, Muslims, accounting for six to eight per cent of total electorate, backed YSR Congress.

In Rayachoti, which has 24.86% Muslim voters, YSR Congress got the highest majority. In Anantapur Urban, where Muslims account for 21.81% of the electorate, the lone Muslim candidate from the Congress Mursheeda Begum polled only 9,406 votes and lost her security deposit as YSR Congress rival romped home. In Allagadda (with 18.93% Muslim voters), Yemmiganur (12.32%) and Rajampet (12.31%), YSR Congress candidates piled up big majorities over their Congress/TDP rivals. In Nellore LS too, where Muslims account for 11.16% of the electorate, YSR Congress candidate registered a landslide victory.

The bypoll results, thus, indicate a significant shift of Muslim voters away from the Congress towards the YSR Congress. In the 2004 general elections, Muslims had wholeheartedly supported the Congress as they were angry with TDP for aligning with BJP and for keeping the NDA in power at the Centre for six years. In 2009, too, Muslims had backed the Congress against the Maha Kutami (TDP-led four-party front) because of the four per cent reservations and scholarship and fees reimbursement schemes announced by YSR regime. This time the Muslims have shown their preference for YSR Congress and this could be due to two reasons. First, they owe their gratitude to YSR for introducing these schemes/initiatives. Second, the Congress failed to propagate to Muslims that these schemes were, in fact, launched by the party as part of its 2004 poll manifesto, though YSR might have been instrumental in actually implementing these.

With a nine per cent share of the state's total electorate, Muslims are going to play a crucial role in the next elections. Out of the 294 Assembly seats in the state, 95 constituencies have Muslim voters in excess of 10%. Significantly, 65 of these segments have more than 15% Muslim voters. Similarly, out of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, 17 constituencies have Muslim voters in excess of 10%. Seven of these constituencies have more than 15% Muslim voters.

These constituencies are spread across all the three regions of the state-—Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra—and no party can afford to ignore Muslims.

BCCI chief Appears before CBI in Jagan Case

Hyderabad, June 18:
Indian cricket board chief N. Srinivasan, who is also the India Cements managing director, Monday appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here in YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy's illegal wealth case.

The CBI officials were questioning Srinivasan, who is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, at Dilkusha Guest House, the camp office of the central investigating agency, the agency sources said.

Srinivasan was issued notice early this month asking him to appear before the CBI to explain the quid pro quo investments his company made into the firms of Jagan, as he is popularly called.

India Cements allegedly invested Rs.135 crore into Jagan's businesses in return for the benefits it received from the then government of Jagan's father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2009.

The investments were made into Bharati Cements and Jagati Publications owned by Jagan in return for the benefits India Cements received in the form of additional water allocation for its units in Andhra Pradesh.

The CBI believes the then government issued two orders allocating additional water from Krishna and Kagna rivers to two plants of Srinivasan's India Cements.

The water allocation for India Cements' Nalgonda plant was enhanced from three lakh gallons to 10 lakh gallons per day while the supply was raised from three lakh gallons to 13 lakh gallons per day for its plant in Ranga Reddy district. The orders reportedly helped the company to double its production in the state.

Srinivasan was issued notice after the CBI questioned Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah June 7 about the orders he issued as the then irrigation minister allocating water to India Cements and other companies.

Jagan, industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad, and bureaucrat K.V. Brahmananda Reddy are currently in jail in the case of Jagan amassing illegal wealth.

Indian IT Companies Halt lateral Hiring

BANGALORE: In the surest sign of a slowing economy, the technology sector, which is the largest employer of skilled workforce in the country, is putting off hiring people with experience.

While campus recruitment for entry-level jobs is still on, lateral tech hiring seems to have come to a near halt with many IT firms giving fresh instructions to third party hirers to put hiring on "slow" , "mute" or "halt" mode.

A huge bench ( employees without work due to lack of new projects) is mainly responsible for this state of affairs. Other factors that are directly contributing to the scenario are: a stressed pipeline (lack of new orders), distance between projects, continuing troubles in the banking and financial services (BFSI) space and the antioutsourcing sentiments in the US accentuated by it being the election year.

The trend is likely to continue till the US elections are over later in the year, though there could be a mild recovery expected in the job market by September. C Mahalingam, HR head, Symphony says, companies want to ensure that contracts and customer commitments are in place before any further hiring. So they are extremely cautious about hiring .

"Depending on the nature of talent, the status of hiring varies. For instance most of the hiring in the lateral space is almost brought to a halt, while specialized talent like IT architect, functional specialists , tech leaders, network specialists are still being hired, though the status is considerably slowed down or muted," said Mahalingham.

However, tech firms like HCL, Infosys, Wipro, TCS etc are actively hiring in the US market. "Companies are under pressure to hire in the customer markets, due to business and strategic reasons ," say country head of a leading MNC.

Saurabh Govil, senior vice president, Wipro says, "We are hiring in India, but very cautiously and only need-based. But we are aggressively hiring in the customer markets, in the US and Europe."

Nirupama VG, MD, AdAstra , says that IT hiring which started declining from April onwards, by mid-May had almost halved. "Requirement has drastically reduced across multiple spaces, more so in the BFSI space," she adds.

"Some 30% of the job market decline can be attributed to the US elections while quite a bit of the rest can be attributed to completely frozen BFSI space. The space brings almost 40% of revenues to the Indian tech sector. Bank of America alone had cut over 30,000 jobs," says Kris Lakshmikanth, CEO, HeadHunters.

Jagan smiles in jail while CBI grills BCCI chief Srinivasan

Hyderabad, Jun 18: After being summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) chief N Srinivasan appeared before CBI at the Dilkusha Guest House in Hyderabad on Monday, Jun 1.

The BCCI chief has been summoned over his alleged role in some corruption cases related to YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy. Srinivasan was questioned at such a time when Jagan was enjoying his overwhelmed victory in the recently held by-poll in Andhra Pradesh.

Jagan, who is currently being lodged in Chanchalguda jail till Jun 25, was arrested over some corruption charges and he was in the prison at the time of the by-poll elections. YSR Congress won 15 out of 18 seats and has not even spared the Congress its Nellore Lok Sabha seat.

Srinivasan and his company have been accused of doing some illegal investments in the companies of Kadapa MP Jaganmohan during his father's (YS Rajasekhara Reddy) tenure as the Chief Minister of the state.

Earlier, Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah was being questioned for his role in the case and the alleged favours he doled out to Jagan. Lakshmaiah was questioned on the Government Orders (GOs) he issued when he was the Irrigation Minister in 2004-2009 during late YS Rajasekhara Reddy's regime on supply of water to certain cement firms. These cement firms as a return for the favour invested in Jagan's companies.

Among the arrests that have been made in relation to the case include Jagan's financial advisor V Vijay Sai Reddy who was granted bail, former AP Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao, industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad and senior bureaucrat KV Brahmananda Reddy.

Saina Nehwal Wins Third "Indonesian Open" Title

Saina Nehwal’s romance with the Indonesian Open continued as the champion shuttler from India quelled a spirited challenge from Chinese Li Xuerui to record a 13-21, 22-20,21-19 in the 64-minute final to clinch her third title in four final appearances in Jakarta on Saturday.

Coming close to the title-triumph in Thailand Open, the star performer from India seemed to have clearly warmed up for the London Olympics next month in style.

“I love the crowd here. I feel like a champion here. I thank all of them for the great support,” Saina remarked later. “I love to keep coming here again and again,” she added.

Sunday’s win over the 21-year-old Li, who is the reigning All England and Asian champion, is symbolic in more than one way for the message was loud and clear from Saina - she is ready for the biggest challenge of her life in the London Games.

The final also saw World No. 5 Saina put on show her familiar traits of fighting from a seemingly lost position and the ability to raise the bar under pressure as was evident by her wonderful display in the decider.

In the first game, the champion shuttler from India got a taste of the cross-court mastery of World No. 3 Li, who showed remarkable agility and great reach to some of the seemingly good returns from Saina.

In fact, Li was in a hurry racing away to a 4-0 lead before Saina pulled back with a decent net game. But, the problem for Indian shuttler was that her opponent came up with a series of impressive cross-court smashes despite missing some simple points at the net. In contrast, Saina was erratic, giving away too many easy points with her backhand deserting at crucial moments. And, it was no surprise when the Chinese girl wrapped up the first game in just 15 minutes.

But, the second game was off to an absorbing tussle with the scores levelled at three-all, four-all before Saina took the lead for the first time in the match. That was the phase when the reigning All England champion from China failed to control her aggression and conceded quite a few points going in for ambitious smashes. To the delight of the Indian camp, Saina changed gear and seemed to be in control changing the pace of the game to take a handsome 12-8 lead.

The second game also saw some wonderful rallies, testing the endurance level of the Indian shuttler. And, Saina rose to the occasion coming up with a great blend of smashes and delectable returns to the deep. This phase also saw Saina pin down her rival to the baseline to pick the gaps with ease.

But, Li did show great fighting qualities to come back strongly from a 14-18 deficit, to level the scores and even surge ahead, attacking Saina’s right corner. At one stage, she was playing for the match point at 20-18 but fumbled badly at the net to give fresh lease of life for the opponent. The Indian was quick to seize on the chance, not only staving off two match-points but scoring three big points including one great backhand smash down the line to clinch the second game in 24 minutes to take the final into the decider.

In the final game, there was little to choose and not surprisingly, both were not as aggressive to start with as they were with the emphasis more on placements rather than on big smashes. The scores were levelled many times before with the one-point lead changing quite frequently.

Saina finally got a vital two-point lead at 17-15 even as Li came up with big overhead smashes. A terrific backhand body smash from Indian saw the opponent struggling to give the former an 18-16 lead. Li’s attempt to pick the left corner was off the mark to give Saina a clear 19-16 lead. But soon, a net chord and a forehand smash by Li saw her reduce the lead to 18-19. Then theChinese saw her backhand land in the net to give Saina two match-points in the decider.

But, Saina was again surprised by the awesome smash from Li which saw the latter save one match-point. A backhand by Li into the net triggered off celebrations by Saina as she wrapped up the match to the delight of the chief coach Pullela Gopi Chand.

Telugu Desam to continue its Fight against Jagan's “Corruption”

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has decided to continue its fight against the alleged corruption of Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy in spite of the severe drubbing it received in the just-concluded by-elections in the State.

“We will intensify our campaign to save democracy and the State by further exposing the way Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy looted the State,” senior Telugu Desam Party leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu told media persons after the party's Polit Bureau meeting held here on Saturday.

“We are neither bogged down by the by-elections results nor getting discouraged. It's all part of politics. Our aim is to win back people and return to power in 2014,” he noted. Results of the by-elections and the party's future course of action were discussed briefly in the first meeting chaired by party president N. Chandrababu Naidu after the poll debacle.

Four reasons:
The meeting blamed the ruling Congress for the results. It held out four reasons for the results: ill-timed arrest of Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy; his transportation in a police van from Chanchalguda prison to Nampally court; statement of AICC leader Ghulam Nabi Azad that he (Jagan) would have become either Union Minister or Chief Minister had he stayed with the Congress and statements of Union Minister Vayalar Ravi that he would return to the Congress-fold in future.

“Such developments created hype and sympathy in favour Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy,” Mr. Ramakrishnudu said. The party chief would review all constituencies which went to by-elections from June 18 to 28, followed by an extended general body meeting before initiating any political moves, he explained.

The meeting was of the opinion that the party was able to retain its vote bank but had failed to attract neutral voters in its favour as the YSR Congress Party did.

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• We are not bogged down by the by-elections results: Yanamala.

• ‘Our aim is to win back people and return to power in 2014'

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30 Killed as Bus falls off Bridge...:(

A weekend tour to Shirdi turned tragic for pilgrims when a bus fell off a narrow bridge in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra early on Saturday, killing 30 people.

Sixteen were injured in the accident that shocked the State capital not only because of the high toll, but also due to the utter lack of preparedness on the part of the State agencies in responding to an emergency.

The injured are being treated in different hospitals in Osmanabad and Sholapur and the condition of several of them is said to be critical.

The ill-fated Volvo, registered in Karnataka, began its journey from Hyderabad around 8 p.m. on Friday and carried 46 persons, including the crew.

Thirteen passengers were employees of TCS, some of them fresh recruits who had completed their three-month training in Hyderabad. Nine of them died in the accident.

Driver's versionaa:

Quoting the driver's version, authorities surmised that the driver lost control of the vehicle after he was blinded by the headlamps of an oncoming vehicle and veered to the left.

The bus was crossing a narrow bridge near Naldurg village and it veered off the bridge and fell 30 feet.

The bridge did not have any protective railing. Death was instant for most of the victims. The possibility of the driver being drunk is also being probed.

Lack of information:

As the news broke in Hyderabad, worried relatives and friends of the passengers besieged the office of Sree Kaleswari travel agency, which was operating the bus, at Lakdikapul here but no information was forthcoming.

The Transport Department, which issues permits for private contract carriages, initially maintained that it did not have any information as the vehicle was registered in Karnataka.

There was more confusion as the private travel agencies do not collect the addresses of the passengers who book tickets.

There was some information flow to the relatives only after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy expressed his displeasure at the inaction of the Transport Department in getting information about the incident.

Mr. Reddy also called up Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Osmanabad Collector and requested them to help the victims.

Following his instructions, Civil Supplies Minister D. Sreedhar Babu and the Commissioner of Health Praveen Prakash rushed to the accident site to oversee relief operations and arrange for medical treatment.

The government arranged a fleet of ambulances to bring the victims' bodies to Hyderabad.

Monsoon showers bring relief to Hyderabadis

Hyderabad, Jun 17 (PTI) Giving relief from intense heat conditions prevailing over the last two months, rain-gods finally smiled on Hyderabad this evening. The Andhra Pradesh capital received the season's first showers and the overall rainfall was recorded at 2.7 mm till 5:30 PM, the weatherman said. With today's rain, the monsoon has covered the whole of Andhra Pradesh, the MeT office said. Though scorching heat conditions have eased over the last few days, the rains eluded the city. Meanwhile, the downpours resulted in water logging on roads leading to traffic jams at several places in the city. The city civic authorities have alerted their personnel to be prepared to meet any eventualities arising out of the rains.

Chain Snatching, father's death shocked starved sisters

New Delhi , June 17:
Two traumatised sisters rescued from in their house here were shocked by their father's death 10 years ago and a chain snatching incident involving one of them six years ago, a neighbour said Saturday.

"The women's movements and their interaction with neighbours started reducing since their father's death. But, they completely locked themselves up inside the house around six-seven years ago," Roopwati, a neighbour, told IANS.

Mamta, 40, and Neerja, 29, were rescued by a team of Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) and taken to Ambedkar hospital.

Their father and bread winner, Rajender Gupta, died 10 years ago.

Roopwati said in a snatching incident, some people took away Mamta's gold chain six-seven years ago.

"The incident created panic in her mind and she locked herself inside the house. Her younger sister also followed her," she said.

Rohini Sector 8 Resident Welfare Association president P.P. Kaushik told IANS that he had never seen the women in the last five years.

"Their mother, Nirmala, would come out of the house sometimes to request me to submit her water and electricity bills. Whenever I asked her about her daughters, she said that they did not want to come outside," added Kaushik.

He said that as their financial condition was bad. "Their relatives helped them with some money but that was insufficient," said Kaushik.

"They were never seen outside for last six-seven years. We used to hear them screaming inside their house and could gather little from Mamta's 13-year-old son Shubham who came to play with children," said another neighbour Archana.

It appeared they had not been fed for months together. Mamta had bone deformity and was confined to her bed, said a doctor.

Clad in tattered salwar-kameez, both the women were shaggy-haired and had long nails when brought to hospital. The sisters suffered from "flexion deformity" caused due to restricted physical movement, the doctor said.