TELANGANA
HYDERABAD MONDAY 2 MARCH 2015
SNIPPETS
KCR to visit
Karimnagar
today
Hyderabad: Telangana Chief
Minister K Chandrashekar
Rao will be visiting Raikal in
Karimnagar district on Monday. He will participate in
house-warming ceremony of
Chinna Jeeyar Swamy Trust
and Educational and Research
Bhavan at 12.10 pm. Rao will
leave by helicopter from Begumpet Airport at 11 am. Maharashtra Governor
Vidyasagar Rao and Union
Minister for Tribal and Welfare Jual Oram will also participate in the function.
Earlier to this programme,
Rao and other dignitaries will
take part in unveiling of Komaram Bheem Statue at
Raikal.
Singareni
worker killed in
mine roof
collapse
Kothagudem (Khammam):
A worker of the Singareni Collieries N Harinath Babu (50)
died when the roof collapsed
while he was working in the 7Shafts coal mine in the town
on Sunday. He is survived by
wife and three children. A pall
of gloom descended on the
workers of the coal field.
Speaking to the media here on
Sunday, some of the trade
union leaders described Harinath Babu as a nice person and
his death was an irreparable
loss to them. Another leader
Veerabhadram demanded that
the management should pay
him an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh
and provide a job to one member of his family. They submitted a memorandum to General
Manager Rajeshwara Rao in
this regard. After conducting
the post-mortem, Harinath’s
body was shifted to his native
village.
B Tech student
dies in mishap
Khammam: A 21-year-old
B.Tech student died in a road
accident while another sustained critical injuries on Yellandu-Pakhal road near
Rompedu village under Yellandu mandal in Khammam
district on Sunday.The
mishap occurred when Durga
Prasad, a resident of Yellandu, and his friend Merugu
Karthik were on their way
back home on a motorcycle
from Rompedu village.Durga
Prasad lost control over the
bike when he tried to avoid a
tractor and rammed into a
Tata Ace vehicle. He died on
the spot while Karthik was
admitted to government hospital in Yellandu. It’s learnt
that the doctors advised the
relatives of Karthik to take
him to Khammam for better
treatment.TRS district president D Rajender and others
consoled the family members
of Durga Prasad, who was associated with the students’
wing of TRS party.
CPI leader dubs
Union Budget
pro-rich
Nizamabad: Communist
Party of India (CPI) leader and
former Rajya Sabha member
Azeez Pasha lashed out at the
BJP-led NDA government for
presenting a pro-rich budget to
protect the interests of the corporate sector. Speaking to the
media here on Sunday, he said
that it was strange that the
Union Government gave tax
subsidy to the corporate sector
while denying it to the middle
classes. Azeez Pasha expressed fear that the middle
classes would be overburdened as they failed to get the
tax subsidy that was given to
the corporate sector. He
lamented that injustice was
done to the Telangana State as
the Railway Minister made no
mention of it while presenting
the Railway Budget a few
days ago. He criticised Chief
Minister K Chandrashekar
Rao, for not fulfilling the
promises that he made to the
people during the time of
elections.
5
Bhatti to be TPCC working president?
Unconfirmed reports also say that the Madhira MLA will replace
K Jana Reddy as CLP leader
OUR BUREAU
Khammam: Rumour mills are
working overtime with the news
that former deputy speaker and
Madhira MLA Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka is likely to be made the
working president of the TPCC.
While the speculation doing
rounds in the political circles of
Khammam district, there is unconﬁrmed news that the All India
Congress Committee (AICC) is
considering Bhatti’s name for the
Congress Legislature Party leader
which is presently occupied by
K Jana Reddy.
Speculations ﬂew thick and fast
soon after AICC president Sonia
Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka
Gandhi effected a change in the
leadership of the TPCC by appointing N Uttam Kumar Reddy
as the chief while dumping Ponnala Lakshmaiah for the party’s
debacle in the last elections besides his failure to take on the TRS
government effectively on various
issues. However, while AICC
sources hint that Bhatti’s name is
being veriﬁed for the post of working president, the other functionaries of the party say he will
be made the party leader in the
House considering his experience
and political acumen.
Bhatti, who hails from a political
family, had earlier worked as the
Chief Whip of the Congress government led by the then chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy before
being elevated to the post of
Idol of Lord Venkateswara
installed at Thimmapur
OUR BUREAU
Nizamabad: Idol installation and
consecration ceremony of Lord
Venkateswara was performed at
the Tirumala Venkateswara temple, popularly known as the
Telangana Tirumala, situated on
the outskirts of Thimmapur in
Birkoor mandal in the district on
Sunday amidst great fanfare.
It was done under the supervision of Tridandi Chinna Jeer
Swamy. A Dhwaja Sthambam was
established, and Abhishekam and
other religious rituals were performed. Minister for Agriculture
Pocharam Srinivas Reddy took
initiative to take up the idol installation works. Chief Minister
K Chandrashekar Rao, who
should have graced the occasion,
cancelled his visit at the last
minute due to inclement weather.
In spite of the heavy rain, people in large numbers came here
not only from the Nizamabad district but also from the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Maharashtra to offer special prayers.
The temple committee made
arrangements to facilitate the
large number of devotees.
Vishnu Sahasranama was re-
Untimely downpour
wreaks havoc in
Adilabad, Nizamabad
OUR BUREAU
Adilabad: The unseasonal rains
that lashed the district for the
last two days caused heavy damage to the crops and left the
farmers in tears in the Nirmal
division. The gales and torrential
rain destroyed the sesame,
maize, cotton and jowar crops in
Lokeshwaram,Sarangapur,Bhai
nsa, Mudhole, Boath and Gudihathnoor mandals.
While farmers in Nizamabad
district suffered loss to turmeric
crop as it got drenched in the
market yard.
Speaking to the media here on
Sunday, District Agricultural Ofﬁcer Rose Leela said that the
farmers in the district incurred
heavy losses in 920 hectares and
they would prepare a report on
crop damage and submit it to the
government soon.
Large quantities of turmeric
also got drenched in the rains at
the market yard in the town, she
said. The untimely rains also destroyed the cotton crop bringing
down its quality.
The farmers were ﬁnding it
difficult to separate water from
the turmeric and nobody will
buy it if it loses its colour. Farmers lamented that they would
have to reduce its price drasti-
cally. They demanded the government to come to the rescue
of the farmers who incurred
losses cultivating cotton, jowar,
maize and sesame.
Nizamabad: The sudden
showers in the city over the last
two days provided the much
Large quantities of
turmeric also got
drenched in the rains at
the market yard in
Nizamabad. The rains
also destroyed cotton
crop, bringing down its
quality
needed relief to the people who
were suffering in the sweltering
heat for several days. The traffic
was held up at several places due
to the downpour.
At several places, people were
seen discussing about the unseasonal rains that lashed the city
owing to a depression in the Bay
of Bengal. Rains lashed several
places in the district and even
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had to cancel his
visit to the district on Sunday.
However, the farmers who
cultivated turmeric incurred
heavy losses as it got drenched
in the market yard in the city.
cited by the devotees. Chinna Jeer
Swamy delivered a discourse for
the large gathering.
Endowments Minister A Indrakaran Reddy, Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy,
Telangana Deputy Speaker
Padma Devender Reddy, Zaheerabad MP BB Patil, Government
Whip Gampa Govardhan, several
MLAs, MLCs and officials were
present.
District Collector Ronald Ross
and Superintendent of Police
Chandrasekhara
Reddy
performed special pujas at the
temple.
Welfare of beedi
workers priority: Minister
Distributes pension to beedi workers
OUR BUREAU
deputy speaker of the undivided
AP Assembly in 2011.
Said to be in the good books of
AICC vice-president Rahul
Gandhi, Bhatti’s appointment for
the post of CLP leader looks to be
imminent, if not made the working
president of the TPCC.
His recent tirade against the
TRS government over the Metro
Rail alignment issue also caught
the attention of the high command, sources maintained, stating
that social equations too were in
favour of his candidature for the
coveted post.“I'll let you know
when I have any such information,” Bhatti told The Hans India
on Sunday.
Adilabad: Forest Minister Jogu
Ramanna said that the State
government would strive for
the welfare of the beedi workers. Addressing a meeting of
the beedi workers at the ManAsking the aged persons
who have not received
pensions not to worry, the
Minister said that they
should get their names
registered in the local
MPDO office
dal Parishad Development office here on Sunday after distributing pensions to them, he
SINGING IN DIVINITY
Singers rendering Keertans at Thyagaraja Sangeeta Nritya Aradhana at Shankar Math Sringeri
Temple in Hyderabad on Sunday
Millet Fest rekindles layman’s
love for coarse cereals
OUR BUREAU
Hyderabad: The ﬁrst-ever Millet
Festival organised by the Telangana government with an aim to
popularise the consumption of
millets among common public
proved to be a huge success.
Even as curtains came down on
the three-day festival on Sunday,
stall-owners and festival organisers were pleased that consumption of millets had regained their
pride of place in the food matrix
of rural and urban dwellers alike.
They said growing of millets was
downgraded and it almost came
to naught following the success of
Green Revolution.
The festival was started in 2012
when the State was united and the
number of visitors had been on a
steady rise over the years, the organisers said. State Ministry of
Agriculture and College of Home
Science, Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) have jointly organised the festival.
Speaking after inspecting the
stalls put up at the festival, State
Agriculture Minister Pocharam
Srinivasa Reddy said the current
food habits of people were leading
to various diseases.
“Consuming millets that are
storehouses of nutrition will help
people in keeping ailments at bay.
It is better to develop the habit of
said that the government was
ready to sanction pension to
42,150 beedi workers in Adilabad district. In all, pension
was distributed to 2,900 beedi
workers here on Sunday.
Jogu Ramanna said that a
survey would be conducted on
the beedi workers and the pension would be distributed to all
the eligible workers in the district. Asking the aged persons
who have not received pensions not to worry, the Minister said that they should get
their names registered in the
local MPDO office. They would
definitely receive pensions after the officials concerned
conduct an enquiry in this regard, he added.
taking nutritive food, instead of
going to doctor after getting ill,”
he said.
Stalls displayed and sold various types of millets including
sorghum ( jowar), pearl millets,
ﬁnger millets, little millets, foxtail
millets and kodo millets among
others. Both raw millets and
processed foods were sold.
Processed food included snacks
(like jowar muruku, multi-grain
muruku, multi-grain laddu, millet
cookies etc.), breakfast cereals
(like jowar ﬂakes, bajra ﬂakes,
muesIi plain and muesli honeycoated, ragi-idly mix etc.) and
ﬂours of various millets.
There were even dedicated
stalls for diabetic patients. They
sold foxtail millet (korra) rice,
pachcha jonna ravva (green
sorghum ravva), ragi malt (ﬁnger
millet malt) and sajja (pearl millet) murukulu among others.
Doctors have acknowledged the
importance of coarse cereals as
affordable sources of dietary ﬁbre.
According to a stall-owner M
Manik Rao from Planet and People, BHEL, a private organisation
which promotes millets and solar
energy, “Some four decades ago,
villagers used to treat guests from
the cities with rice while their staple food in the villages was millets. Gradually, villagers also
shifted to rice and this was accelerated by a ﬂawed Green Revolution that basically supported huge
consumption of water and fertilizers. Millets need very little water and people are now realising
their value.” Even the Father of
Green Revolution, Dr MS Swaminathan had called upon the people to go back to millets, he said.
According to Giridhar, a senior
executive of Deccan Development Society (DDS), who operated one of the 60-odd stalls at
the Millet Festival, a comparative
analysis of nutritive value of millets with other major grains
showed that millets scored very
highly over other grains including
rice and wheat.
Representatives of NGOs like
DDS and Grameen Mall Foundation demanded that the State government include millet-based
foods in the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Midday Meal scheme and in State-run
welfare hostels.
Karimnagar
student wins
AP Prathiba
Puraskar
OUR BUREAU
Karimnagar: The Prathiba
Puraskar award presented by
Andhra Pradesh Government
to the students who perform
well in two successive years of
10th and Inter First Year was
won by Oruganti Swathi of
Mutharam village of Oded
mandal of Karimnagar district.
In the united Andhra
Pradesh during 2012-14,
Swathi, daughter of Sripathi
and Pushpa Latha completed
her Tenth in a private school
in Regulappali village of Bejjanki mandal.
She secured State fourth
Rank in APRJC Entrance Test
and pursued her Intermediate
in APRJC College of Nimmakur village of Pamar mandal of Krishna district. In the
Intermediate, she stood as a
topper in the State.
Swathi received the award
from the hands of AP Chief
Minister Nara Chandrababu
Naidu. Chandrababu Naidu
announced along with the free
darshan in and free transport
facilities in Tirupathi, Rs
50,000 as a cash award to
Swathi. Swathi at present is
studying Engineering first year
in Mathrusri Engineering College in Hyderabad.
CENTRE’S MEAGRE ALLOCATION FOR POLAVARAM PROJECT
Tribals in affected villages heave sigh of relief
ADEPU MAHENDER
Khammam: While the Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh
are turning up the heat on Telugu
Desam government for its failure
to secure adequate funds and assurance on the special status to
the State, the Centre’s move to allocate a meagre Rs 100 crore for
the multipurpose Polavaram
Project has brought cheers for the
people, especially tribals who
were facing the threat of displacement from their natural habitats.
It is estimated that the construction of Polavaram Project would
cost Rs 16,010 crore.
While the AP government’s
plan of completing the project in
four years appears to be a remote
possibility, the people living in the
Bhadrachalam Agency region, especially the inhabitants of seven
mandals of Khammam district
that were merged with the successor state of AP after the State
Girijana Samkshema Parishad to organise Maha Dharna opposing the project on March 30
File photo of project site in Polavaram village in West Godavari district
bifurcation, secured some solace.
According to the environmental ministry, the project would af-
fect the lives of more than 2 lakh
people in around 276 villages. The
project also causes submergence
of 12 villages with 17,000 population in Odisha and Chhattisgarh
States.
The Centre, which reduced the
funds to the Water Resources
Ministry in the Union Budget,
didn’t show any generosity to
Polavaram project, though it was
accorded national status last year.
But for an allocation of Rs 250
crore in the Union Budget-201415 and Rs 100 crore in the 201516 ﬁscal, there are no signs of additional funds ﬂowing in from the
Centre though the cost of the
project was escalated up to Rs
16,010 crore by 2010-11.
According to Polavaram Project Authority, only a 4.60 per cent
of the head-works were executed
till November 2014. The slow pace
was mainly due to paucity of
funds.
Sources said that the contracting agencies are not willing to go
ahead with the execution of project works without securing clearance of the pending bills worth
around Rs 1,200 crore.
Moreover, the government requires at least Rs 2,000 crore to
execute the relief and rehabilitation (R&R) package, which includes housing and compensation
for lands.
“It’s like a blessing in disguise,”
Girijana Samkshema Parishad
AP-Telangana State convener
Sonde Veeraiah, said, pointing to
the meagre fund allocation to
Polavaram.
“We will get a breather if the allocations are made at this rate. It
gives us an opportunity to build a
people’s movement in protest
against the project,” Veeraiah
said, criticising the Telangana
government for ignoring their
plight after State bifurcation.
A Maha Dharna will be conducted at Kukunoor on March 30
opposing the construction of the
project, he added.