AP gives sops for 9 communities

Hyderabad Jan. 12: The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, announced nine additional community-oriented federations to woo the respective castes on Monday. Separate federations were announced for Sagara, Uppara, Valmiki, Boya, Batraju, Krishna Balija, Medara, Vishwa Brahmin, Shalivahana and Dudekula communities. The BC welfare, industries and commerce and minority welfare departments will establish these federations with Rs 1 crore initially. Only three federations, AP Washermen Federation, AP Nayee Brahmin Federation and AP Vaddera Federation are working at present. However, with elections round the corner, the state government went a step ahead to announce nine new federations. Banks will be approached to give loans for these federations to take up new projects. As per the new funding pattern, each society with 15 members will get a minimum of Rs 1.5 lakh and each member will get about Rs 10,000, which is four times more than what was sanctioned under the old scheme. The Chief Minister on Monday asked the concerned departments to communicate the government’s decision to the state level bankers committee. The new scheme should get the approval of the committee before it is implemented in the districts. Bank-wise targets have been fixed and sanctions being issue. Dr Reddy asked the officials to expedite implementation process. In another decision taken on Monday, the Chief Minister asked the BC welfare department to run crash courses for SC, ST, BC and minority students to compete for the 53,000 odd teachers’ posts to be filled in the next two months. A month-long intensive coaching would enable the candidates to prepare well, Dr Reddy felt. Coaching would be organised in DIET and other reputed centres. The Chief Minister said that Rs 4,000 could be spend on each student which include coaching fee and student expenses and study material. The course will be conducted latest by February or March.

TD changes stand on Raju again

Hyderabad Jan. 12: The Telugu Desam spokesperson, Ms Nanapaneni Rajkumari, who created a stir by seeking better facilities in jail for disgraced former Satyam chief B. Ramalinga Raju changed her stance on Monday. Ms Rajkumari said that she only wanted Mr Ramalinga Raju to be allowed to speak to the media so that the truth can be found. “Why has police prevented Raju from speaking to the media? He should be allowed to clarify his stand. Why should government fear if it has nothing to hide,” she asked. She defended the TD chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, and said that he had encouraged Raju as he was an entrepreneur from the state and did not have any deals like the Congress.

Venkatesh is best actor

Hyderabad Jan. 12: The state government on Monday announced the Nandi film awards for the year 2007. Venkatesh won the best leading actor for his role in Aadavari Matalaku Ardhale Verule while Charmi bagged the best female actor award for her role in the film Mantra. Mee Sreyobhilashi produced by Ms Sonia Reddy was declared the best feature film of 2007 and blockbuster Happy Days of Mr Shekar Kammula won the award for the second best feature film. Mr Krishna Vamsi won the best director award for Chandamama. The best entertainer award went to Aadavari Matalaku Ardhale verule. Jagapathi Babu bagged the best supporting actor award for Lakshyam, and Janaki was adjudged the best supporting female actor for her acting in Amulyam. Uttej’s role in Chandamama won him the best comedian award and the award for female comedian went to Jhansi for her role in Thulasi. Bhumika Chawla and Ram Charan Tej won special jury Nandi awards. For his scores in Happy Days, Mickey J. Meyer won the best music director award. The jury adjudged Amulyam — The Priceless Gift as the best children’s film. This movie was produced by the Children’s Film Society of India. Master Roshan bagged the best child actor for his role in O Chinnari Korika and Baby Varshini the best child actor award for her role in the movie Amulyam. Chandrahaas produced by Mr G.K. Mohan won the best feature film on National integration. There were only two entries for the best educational film award which went to Good Bad Ugly directed by Mr B. Premchand. Mr Srinivasa Raju was adjudged the best art director for Chandamama, while the best lyric writer award went to Mr Venigalla Rambabu for Mee Sreyobhilashi. Mr Srinu Vaitla’s screenplay for Dee won him the award for the best screenplay. Yamadonga won Mr Kotagiri Venkateshwara Rao the best editor award. Aahuthi Prasad won the best character award for Chandamama. Rama Rajamouli was adjudged the best costume designer for his work in Yamadonga. Ram and Lakshman jointly shared the award for the best fight master for Dee. Anaganaga oka Raa bagged the award for the best book on Telugu cinema while Mr Challa Srinivas was adjudged the best critic. The Nandi awards committee had received 47 applications for various categories.

Scam scuttles students’ hopes

Hyderabad Jan. 12: The Satyam scam has scotched the dreams of parents of many engineering students who had hoped that their children would make it big in the IT sector. Many students of the city who had entertained hopes of a career with Satyam are also a confused lot now. Mr Venkat, an autorickshaw driver, said he had doubts about the career prospects of his daughter in the wake of the Satyam scam. “I sent my daughter for the Intermediate course which has Maths, Physics and Chemistry as main subjects since she wanted to be an engineer,” he said. “But now I am not sure about her prospects.” He is one among the many cash-strapped parents who sent their children for IT and engineering courses with big dreams. Mr Srinivasa Rao, who owns a shop in the city, said his son, who has completed his B. Tech,was now wary of finding a job. “He was hoping for a placement in Satyam,” said Mr Rao. “But now after the fiasco and due to global recession, he is not sure about finding an opening.” An employee of Satyam who had joined the firm last year said the scam had jolted him. “The financial fraud of Rs 7,800 crore has tarnished the image of the firm to such an extent that I am afraid it would affect my career,” he said. “My seniors who have spent over 15 years here are also apprehensive of losing their jobs.” But many employees see the setting up of a new board to run the firm as a good sign. A senior professional working with the Maytas Infra said the three-member board would set matters straight. “The board taking over the responsibility of running the firm is a silver lining in the cloud,” she said. The new board comprises of the HDFC chief, Mr Deepak Parekh, the former Nasscom chief, Mr Kiran Karnik, and Mr C. Achuthan, former SEBI member. Some analysts and experts choose to see the Satyam scam as a lone incident. The Union IT secretary, Mr Jainder Singh, for instance, reassured the IT professionals by asking them not to panic. “Other IT companies in the country are functioning well without any violation of rules,” he said. “This is just one incident and the government feels there is no need to make any policy level changes now.”

CID: CM claim is wrong

Hyderabad Jan. 12: The Criminal Investigation Department on Monday refuted the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s claim that the Raju brothers of Satyam were arrested by the police and had not surrendered. The CID remand diary in the Satyam case says that the brothers “surrendered themselves before me (the investigating officer) at CID office, Hyderabad, and were taken into custody at 10 pm on January 9.” Interestingly, the home minister, Mr K. Jana Reddy, also endorsed the CID version of the arrest. Inquiries revealed that the Chief Minister indeed wanted police to arrest the brothers but they got a tip off and hurriedly surrendered. The Chief Minister had also said also announced that police had suo moto booked the case against the Raju brothers while the remand dairy says that case was booked on the basis of complaints lodged by a few individuals. Sources close to the Chief Minister said the police top brass had initially hesitated to take action on the brothers and wanted to hand over the issue to the Central agencies. “They acted only after the Chief Minister conveyed his displeasure to the chief secretary, Mr P. Ramakanth Reddy on his return from Chennai on January 9,” said the source. Meanwhile, the CPI(M) state secretary, Mr B.V. Raghavulu, on Monday said that investigators should also bring Maytas to the purview of the probe. He said that there were allegations about Satyam diverting funds to Maytas.

HC grants injunction against Nims protest

Hyderabad Jan. 12: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday granted interim injunction against the proposed strike by paramedical employees of the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences. While dealing with a petition filed by one Mr M, Sudarshanam, executive registrar of the Nims, Justice D.S.R. Varma directed the paramedical employees not to organise any strike on Nims premises. The court also directed that they should not obstruct care for patients. Mr S.S. Bhatt, counsel for the Nims, told the court that the employees’ union had served a strike notice on January 8 that it would go on strike from January 23. He had also informed that they will wear black badges from January 9 and conduct dharnas till January 23. If the management did not address their demands they will be on strike. Mr Bhatt told the court that the employees conducted demonstration on the premises and disturbed hospital work on Monday. He contended that the strike was illegal as the government had declared the services of the Nims as essential services and prohibited strikes for a period of six months from October 2, 2008.

Land owners sue HMDA for money

Hyderabad Jan. 12: With the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) delaying payment after acquiring land, the land owners have approached the court. The HMDA is yet to pay nearly Rs 140 crore towards land compensation. About 85 acres were acquired by the HMDA for the Outer Ring Road phase II-A project few months ago. Land acquisition procedures were completed for nearly 60 acres. The officials have to pay compensation and take possession of another 25 acres. The land was acquired for the project in Tukkuguda, Poppalguda, Koheda and Narsingi. Around 6,500 acres are required for the ORR. Nearly 5,500 acres have been acquired so far, and about Rs 500 crore has been paid towards land compensation and Rs 300 crore is required to complete the rest of the acquisition. “HMDA is not short of money as the project works have been awarded to five contractors in five packages on an annuity model. The compensation to land owners will be paid on priority basis” said Mr Rahul Bojja, the ORR project director. Meanwhile, HMDA has asked the state government to release Rs 112 crore deposited by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) as the first instalment of the Rs 3,000-crore loan for the phase II-B of the ORR project. The phase II-B stretches from Patancheru to Pedda Amberpet, said officials. The 62-km Outer Ring Road phase II-A extends from Narsingi to Patancheru and Pedda Amberpet to Shamshabad. The deadline for completion of the work of phase II-A is May 2010.

Angry lawyers boycott work

Hyderabad Jan. 12: Alleging police high-handedness against a lawyer, advocates of Nampally criminal courts boycotted work for some time on Monday. They resumed work after the deputy commissioner of police (central zone), Mr Hari Kumar, told them that action would be taken against the erring police official, if found guilty. The president of metropolitan criminal courts bar association, Mr T. Sriranga Rao, said the Nampally inspector, Mr V. Umendar, abused a city-based lawyer when he objected the arrest of a Gujarat-based businessman without a proper reason. The advocate, Mr Kiran Kumar, objected when a few policemen attempted to arrest a Gujarati businessman, Mr Kiran Soni, from the court premises. When a team of advocates met the home minister, Mr K. Jana Reddy, he ordered the city police commissioner, Mr B. Prasada Rao, to give a report. Mr Prasada Rao asked Mr Hari Kumar to submit the report. The advocates protested that no action was taken even three days after the incident had occurred.

CID hunts for auditors

Hyderabad Jan. 12: An eight-member team of auditors working in Satyam Computer Services is under the scanner of the CID police. Sources said the auditors, who along with the chief financial officer played a major role in the scam, are at large and the CID is currently looking for them. The dubious role of the auditors was confessed by the CFO, Mr V. Srinivas. Meanwhile, sleuths of the CID conducted raids at the office of PricewaterhouseCoopers at Jubilee Hills and Satyam Infocity at Madhapur as part of their investigations. Mr Ramakrishna, an auditor of PwC, told the police that Mr Gopalakrishna and Ch Srinivas Rao knew about the missappropriation. The police has decided to speak to both of them. A communication official of PwC Ms Nandini said, “PwC maintained audit standards.” She refused to comment on the searches. When contacted, Ms Renuka of PwC said, “No one is available here. The CID police have left the office.” Meanwhile, investigations revealed that the CFO, Mr Srinivas, owns 70 acres in the city outskirts Searches at the house of Mr Srinivas found that he and his family members alongwith some benami names own 70 acres in Chevella, Moinabad, Gajularamaram and Rampally. He also owns plots at Yellareddguda, an investigating official said. The police seized a laptop and a computer from Mr Srinivas’ house. The police alleged that Mr Srinivas along with the Rajus are responsible for fabrication of the balance sheets. “We seized fixed deposit receipts, passbooks, bank credit and debit cards, share documents and IT returns from their house,” said an official. The CID additional director general of police, Mr A. Shivanarayana, said, “We haven’t made any fresh arrests in the case.” The CID inspector general of police, Mr V.S.K. Kaumudi, said, “Sebi may be looking into angle of share trading. We are also verifying the fake certificates seized from the house of Mr Srinivas.”