Sudhakar may lose in Grand Alliance

Hyderabad Jan 11: The Grand Alliance of the Telugu Desam, Left and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti might affect the chances of the CPI national leader and Nalgonda MP, Mr Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy. The CPI, particularly the state unit, was an unwilling partner in the alliance and joined it much against the wishes of its own cadre. Also, the electoral hopes of the TD supremo, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, might not yield the desired results with Khammam and Nalgonda districts no longer being strong bastions of the Left. Mutual mistrust between Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders and migration of Left cadre into the Prajya Rajyam, besides strong negative opinion against the CPI(M) leadership in Khammam are said to be factors troubling the Reds. Sources said the admission of the TRS into the Grand Alliance would only aggravate the trouble. “We are facing a peculiar situation. Each of the partners is working to prevent the other from taking the seat as part of alliance,” a senior CPI(M) leader. The CPI leaders got indications from its partners that senior TD leader Mr Gutha Sukhender Reddy and TRS top leadership were working out a formula that would prove costly not only to Mr Sudhakar Reddy but also the party MLA from Munugodu Mr P. Venkata Reddy. “They want the TRS to contest from Bhongir Lok Sabha and Mr Sukhender Reddy from Munugodu,” a CPI leader told this newspaper. Initially, the CPI(M) was on the defensive following the negative image of the party in Khammam after the 2004 elections. “It was an open secret that the Congress and CPI(M) joined hands in Khammam Assembly segment to defeat CPI leader Mr Puvvada Nageswara Rao,” the leader said.

Discom help for water bills

Hyderabad Jan. 11: With less than 70 per cent of the water bills being collected, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has sought the help of the Andhra Pradesh Central Power Distribution Company Limited (Central Discom) for raising bills. The board has proposed that the monthly water bill charges should be included in the electricity bill. As the network of the Central Discom in meter-reading-cum-bill issuance has achieved 100 per cent success, the same network can come in handy for water meter reading and to issue a combined electricity and water bill. The water board managing director, Mr Asok Kumar, said the board has taken up the matter with Central Discom authorities and was hopeful of a positive outcome. Though the proposal is yet to be accepted, the water board officials say that the combined bill will help the water board in raising its revenues substantially. Currently, the water board is losing more than Rs 20 crore per month as its staff has failed to raise bills for all the 5.5 lakh consumers in the city. The board also does not have data on the number of defective water meters. As a result, only a minimum monthly bill is issued to such consumers. While the revenue per month from collection of water and sewerage cess is less than Rs 25 crore, the expenditure towards payment of salaries, maintenance of distribution network and electricity bills to pump water is more than Rs 30 crore per month.

Parents identify gunny bag body

Hyderabad Jan. 11: The police on Sunday identified the person who was murdered and later abandoned in Balanagar on January 3. The person was identified as G. Suman Kumar, 28, resident of Rajnagar at Borabunda. On finding the abandoned body, the police took pictures and circulated it in the area. “We posted his picture at all public places and his parents were able to identify him,” said Mr K. Sridhar Rao, the ACP of the Balanagar division. Suman, who worked as an electrician, was killed by a couple, Y. Solmonraj and Shanthi, on January 2. Investigation revealed that Suman, who was an alcoholic, wanted sexual favours from Shanthi which she refused. Solmonraj is an employee at the post office at Begumpet. He had borrowed Rs 13,000 from Suman and he used to visit the house of the accused frequently under pretext of collecting the amount. Once the amount was returned, Suman started visiting the house in the absence of Solmonraj. Hence they decided to kill him. After the murder on January 2, Solmonraj and a friend shifted the body on to their two-wheeler as they wanted to dump it near the railway tracks. But, as there was a lot of people around the area, they headed towards the Bharathnagar Colony Road. The duo then abandoned the body there and fled. The death had made news as the accused had taken the body in a gunny bag on a scooter while attempting to dump it. On Sunday, the accused were arrested and produced before the court so as to remand them to judicial custody.

TRS, PR plan ST sops

Hyderabad Jan. 11: With the elections to the state fast approaching, political parties in the state have started announcing sops to attract various sections of people. While addressing a training programme for ST leaders of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti at Telangana Bhavan on Sunday, the party president, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, promised 12 per cent reservations and three acres of land for STs if a Telangana state is formed. He also said that the TRS would give panchayat status to all ST hamlets across Telangana. Moreover, the pink party will set up a mechanism to protect the culture of various tribes in the region. Meanwhile, the Praja Rajyam chief Chiranjeevi who was showering freebies while touring Prakasam district announced that his party will set up a welfare hostel exclusively for girl students from forward castes if it was voted to power. Soon after he reached Hyderabad, Chiranjeevi participated in “Girijan Sammelan” at Khajaguda, organised by the PR to muster support of the STs. While addressing the gathering, the PR chief said his party would bifurcate the SC, ST Commission as SC Commission and ST Commission for speedy disposal of cases pending at the present commission if the PR came to power. He also promised that the STs who were residing in the plains would also be brought within the purview of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA)

Begumpet turns aviation hub

Hyderabad Jan. 11: With shifting of commercial operations to the Shamshabad airport, the Begumpet airport has become India’s major aviation training centre. Currently, as many as 750 pilots, aircraft engineers and air traffic controllers are trained at the airport. They are expected to meet the future requirement of the aviation industry. With Hyderabad becoming an aviation hub, the National Aviation Company of India (Nacil) has decided to acquire a new Airbus 320 flight simulator for training pilots at the Central Training Establishment. The Nacil executive director (operations and training), Mr Ashok Raj, said on Sunday the institute imparted command training to about 40 pilots on A319, A320 and A330 aircraft and Boeing 737. With no state-of-the-art technology available to train students in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata, the Begumpet airport has shot to the limelight. The airport is currently being used to provide night training and instrument landing training to the “wannabe” pilots. The AP Aviation Academy CEO, Capt S.N. Reddy, said, “Pilots and aircraft engineers are given night training. Since Nadargul, which is 20 kms away from the city, does not have such facilities, this airport is catering to the aviation needs of whole country.” Around 15 trainee aircrafts are being operated from the Begumpet airport during night. Instrument landing facility enables the pilots to operate the planes even in severe weather conditions. AP Aviation Academy and Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy are now utilising the facilities at optimum level at the airport.

MLA denied Raju interview

Hyderabad Jan. 11: Mr P. Venkata Krishna Rao alias Krishna Babu, TD MLA from Kovvur, was on Sunday not allowed to meet the beleaguered Satyam chief, Mr Ramalinga Raju. Mr Rao, however, said he would go again on Monday to meet him. Asked why he went to meet the Rajus on a day when the TD was demanding a CBI probe, Mr Rao said he was a friend of the Rajus. Earlier in the day, the Raju brothers, Ramalinga and Rama, were shifted to the so-called Old Hospital block, where they are sharing a cell with a person accused in a Prohibition and Excise case. Their cell is located close to the one housing the Krushi Bank scamster K. Venkateswara Rao. They met and spoke for some time, sources said. Prisoners lined up to see the Rajus who spent most of the day in their cell. The Rajus read newspapers in the morning and asked for books to read. They will get them on Monday. Jail officials said Mr Ramalinga Raju told them that he found the jail was “near”. According to the In-charge jail superintendent, Mr Newton, Mr Raju ate pulihora in the morning and rice, beans curry and curds for lunch afternoon and chicken for dinner. They purchased some toiletries and spent the day in the same clothes as on Saturday. Doctors checked them twice during the day. Mr Rama Raju complained of joint paints and the doctor gave him medication.

Land papers in Rajus’ houses

Hyderabad Jan. 11: Several teams of Crime Investigation Department and the Central Crime Station conducted raids on the houses of the three arrested accused in the Satyam scam. At the house of Mr Ramalinga Raju at House No. 1242, Street 62, Jubilee Hills, police seized personal diaries apart from land registration documents, bank passbooks, CDs and computer hard disks. Sources said CID teams would be sent to different locations mentioned by the Rajus during their interrogation. CID teams would also be sent to Mr Raju’s West Godavari district. At Mr Srinivas’ house, Street No. 3, Habsiguda, police seized land registration documents, bank passbooks and share certificates. CID inspector-general, Mr V.S.K. Kaumudi, said, “we have conducted searches in the offices and house of the three accused and found certain documents.” The police is also for other Satyam directors and PricewaterhouseCoopers officials said to be involved in the fraud.