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River Board meeting on July 10, 11

  The Central Water Board (CWB) Chairman Pandya takes charge as Chairman of Krishna River Board and the member of the CWB, Mahendran takes charge as In-charge Chairman of Godavari River Board few days ago. They both have summoned meetings of respective boards on July 10 and 11th. Each Board will have one secretary, one central energy board representative, two representatives from each state.   AP government has nominated Adityanathan, the principal secretary of Irrigation Ministry and M Venkateswara rao, the engineer In-Chief as members of both boards. Simultaneously, Telangana government has nominated Arvind Reddy, the principal secretary of Irrigation Ministry and Muralidhar, the engineer In-Chief as members of both boards. Hence, the Chairmen of two boards are conducting a full-fledged meeting on July 10 and 11th.   The meeting is considered to be very significant in wake of Telangana government is objecting release of Krishna waters from Nagarjuna Sagar dam to Krishna district. Since there are no rains this year until now, both the state governments may insist their due share of water in both rivers, which may lead to a tense situation. Telangana government has already objected Krishna River Board Chairman Pandya ordering release of water from Nagarjuna Sagar dam without taking the consent of Telangana government or conducting a board meeting. So, these two meeting may be proved to very tough ones to handle by the respective Chairmen.

BJP Vizag MP digs at TDP government

  Kambampati Hari Babu, a BJP MP from Vizag has expressed unhappiness over the style of AP government functioning in the state.   Speaking at a CII meeting held at Vizag yesterday, he said “I don’t think simply sitting in Hyderabad will do any good to the state. Hardly there is any presence of government in the state. Even after one month of taking charge, no one knows whom to contact for solving their problems. Chief Minister is explaining problems to the people, whereas he is expected to resolve them.”   “If the same style and pace continued any further, I don’t think development of state is possible within next five years. There is no use of sitting in Hyderabad and paying taxes to Telangana government. Instead, the government should shift to AP and start working on a war footage mode,” said Hari Babu.   It is true that TDP government yet to start functioning. It is still searching for the missing files and furniture in Secretariat. The confusion in distribution of employees and higher officials between two states is also stopping the government to function. Moreover, it is badly struck with the crop loan waiver. As the deadline of 45 days is nearing fast, Chandrababu Naidu is under tremendous pressure. The RBI and bankers reluctance to bail his government out of this issue makes him very much frustrated. Then there are several issues with T government that makes his government pre occupied. So, unless Chandrababu finds a way out for this situation, his government can’t kick start the development activities as alleged by Hari Babu.

Are AP and T governments conspiring against each other?

  An interesting article was published in a leading business newspaper about how AP and Telangana governments are conspiring against each other for grabbing the investments. It quotes T minister Harish rao’s statement and his counterpart P Raghunbatha rao of AP Government.   “AP government is trying projecting Telangana state as power deficit state and not an industrial friendly government in a bid to grab the investments. It is quite disgraceful and unacceptable to us,” says Harish rao.   Raghunantha rao states that they have done nothing wrong as alleged by T Minister. He said “We are just highlighting our strong points on power supply, scope for special status category, industrial friendly governance, attractive incentives that our government is offering to industries and proven track record of our Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. I don’t think there is anything wrong on our campaigning. If someone feel pinch, we can’t help.”   Then the newspapers quoting an industrialist statement, writes that if both governments keep conspiring against each other, then the scope for bargaining with the governments also increases and ultimately the governments forced kneel down before them instead of setting guide lines to them.

Modi inaugurates Hydro power Project in Jammu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on his first visit to the state of Jammu and Kashmir inaugurated the 240 megawatt Uri-II hydropower project in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir, barely a mile from the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Modi dedicated the 240 MW Uri-II hydropower project to the nation built by NHPC at a cost of Rs. 2290 crore. This is the second power project on river Jhelum in Uri area in Baramulla district and is located downstream of the 480-MW Uri-I project, which is already operational. Governor NN Vohra, chief minister Omar Abdullah and union minister of state for power Piyush Goyal were present on the occasion.

Bangaru Talli for revival

The TRS government is keen on reviving the Bangaru Talli Scheme which was meant for the benefit of the girl child. Speaking about this Telangana Panchayat Raj Minister K Tarakarama Rao said that the Bangaru Talli scheme had remained defunct for the last 6 months, and it could be revived soon. He said that the scheme could benefit girl children if properly implemented, and that a report had been sought from the officials on the implementation implications. He said that the TRS government would introduce several new schemes to benefit the people directly. The scheme supports the family of a girl from her birth till her graduation who fall Below Poverty Line.Only the  white card holders are eligible for the scheme. Launched on May 1, 2013 by former Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh, Kiran Kumar Reddy.Earlier KTR also held a review meeting with the Panchayat Raj Department, and asked the officials to study the functioning of the Panchayat Raj departments in Karnataka and Kerala to adopt the best practices.

National Dialogue for Ganga Clean up

Ganga Manthan is a national level consultation meeting to be held on July 7th at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi  for a comprehensive action plan to be taken up for the clean of River Ganga . It will provide an opputunity to facilitate interaction with various stakeholders including policy makers, implementers, academicians, environmentalists, saints and spiritual leaders from all faiths and NGOs to come together under one platform and discuss the issues related to cleaning up the river and find possible solutions to the challenging task of Ganga Rejuvenation. The views expressed by the stakeholders participating in ‘Ganga Manthan’ will be helpful for the preparation of a road map for the preparation of a comprehensive plan to rejuvenate not only  River Ganga but also other rivers in future. An initiative taken up by the Union Ministry of Water Resources of India and Ministry of Environment .The Inaugural session will be attended by Union Ministers Ms Uma Bharti and Mr  Prakesh Javadekar, Mr Shripad Naik and Mr Santosh Kumar Gangwar.

183 Indians free, 39 workers still captive in Iraq

It was a moment of joy and happiness for the families of the 46 nurses who heaved a sigh of relief after they were freed  from the ISIS Sunni militants after an extensive diplomatic mediation by the MEA along with the Kerala CM Mr Oommen Chandy vying for their release in Delhi. They reached Kochi in the morning in a Air India plane after a brief stop at Mumbai and were received by the Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who took special care for their quick immigration to happen. Meanwhile 76 Indian workers from Kirkuk on that special plan from Iraq will land at Hyderabad airport at 2:25 pm as per sources. Meanwhile the fate of the 39 construction workers from Punjab is yet to be ascertained as there has been no sightings of these workers .They have been repotedly taken into captive by the militants but there has been no demand for ransom or any such request. What the Government of India had done to get the nurses freed is yet to be known but all efforts were made to bring them and the rest of the workers back to India. The government is still working on the release of the remaining workers in Iraq.

MLA slapping cops is minor incident?Karnataka CM

                                           Karnataka  CM  Siddharamaiah on Friday gave a statement that attack on the constables by his MLA Vijayanand Kashappanver is a very minor incident and he also supported his statement by saying we are far better than BJP MLA’s who watch porn in assembly .The Chief Minister is a state head whose duty is to protect Government Employees (Police cops) and what authority does  the MLA have to slap a police. May be the Chief minister of Karnataka thinks that if the opposition behave like thugs, the ruling gang can behave as Goondas .                                                              

Jagan condemns TRS government’s decision!

  It is interesting to hear YCP president Jagan Mohan Reddy is demanding Telangana government to return the 189 acres of land reclaimed by it from APNGOs association. He said that it is unfair to take back the land given to APNGOs after they have spent crores of rupees on it for development of roads, power supply, approvals and permissions etc. He also suggested AP government should standby them and ensure they get back their lands.   However, Jagan Mohan Reddy, who never uttered a word against TRS or Telangana government lead by KCR, surprised everybody condemning TRS government’s action. Perhaps, he casually made this demand after being criticized for not responding to KCR’s decisions that is harming interests of people of Andhra.

T-Government reclaims 20 acres of APFDC land

  Now is the turn of AP Film Development Corporation (APFDC) to lose its 20 acres of land to TRS government. Today, Telangana government has declared that it is taking back 20 acres land that belongs to APFDC. NTR government, which encouraged the Telugu Film Industry to shift from Madras to Hyderabad, has given 40 acres of land to APFDC for constructing Film Studios etc. in it. Superstar Krishna has built Padmalaya Studios in 9 acres, veteran producer Ramanaidu has built Ramanaidu Studios in 5 acres and some others also were allotted some piece of lands in these 40 acres. Hence, Telangana government has reclaimed the 20 acres of land that was left idle all these years. It is not known yet to whom the 20 acres land belongs to. Perhaps, whoever owns it may hit the media today or tomorrow.

Aadhar to be merged with NPRS

  The previous UPA government has spent crores of rupees on its ambitious project (Unique Identification Authority of India) Aadhar card, but it doesn’t serves the purpose it is intended for. UPA government has planned this to link with multiple schemes but miserably fails. Therefore, it also becomes just another identity card and nothing else.   Now, Modi government plans to link it with national population registration scheme, so the croes of rupees spent on Aadhar Cards won’t go drain. Hence, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has conducted a high level meeting today with his fellow union ministers Ravishankar Prasad (Law) and Indarjit Singh (Planning). It was decided in the meeting that this new joint project is to be completed in a time frame of three years starting from this year. The main intention of this project is identify and segregate the illegal migrants settled in the country and provide fool proof identity to the Indians.

Registrations at VGTM area halted?

  Ever since, the state government has zeroed upon the area between Vijayawada-Guntur for building the new capital city, the land prices shoots sky high. Many politicians, businessmen, hoteliers and realtors are trying to procure lands in this area. As a result the market prices touched sky high, but not the government revenue. Those who are selling and buying the lands are making agreements with lower rates, while the actual figures are thrice or more. So, government is losing huge revenue due to this manipulation by the buyers and sellers. Although there is mad rush at Vijayawada and Guntur registrar offices, government is hardly getting any huge amounts out of the registrations. So, the government has decided to temporarily halt the registrations in the VGTM area. State government may announce a fixed land rates for these two districts.

Uninterupted Power Supply to AP soon

  NDA government keeping its promise made to AP government for ‘24 hours uninterrupted power supply to the state, has sent a team of officials lead by Jyoti Arora, the joint secretary of central energy ministry to Hyderabad today. Centre has chosen AP and Rajasthan states for implementing this pilot project. Hence, Jyoti Arora and his team are currently discussing the matter with AP Electrical Board officials at Vidyut Soudha in Hyderabad. An action plan for implementing this scheme from September this year is reported to be discussed by the officials in the meeting.   If this scheme is implemented, AP state will overcome the ‘power cuts’ problem. However, it is not clear whether this scheme is only for domestic or for industries, business houses and agriculture requirements also. If it covers all these requirements, then it will be a blessing for the state, which may bring new investments to the state. It is also to be known whether there is any extra charges will be levied on the people for supplying uninterrupted power from Central Power Grids.

Andhra is Beneficial for Hero Moto Corp

        Two things come into the picture here if Hero moto corp plans properly they will go for AP for 2 reasons. One for Special status which gives you tax incentives and the second will be the proximity to the port of Chennai and new port coming up at Krishnapatnam which will facilitate exports also. Hero is already looking at export options hence AP looks more favorable then Hyderabad or Zaheerabad or T state at this point until they get free land, low electricity rates and no state taxes for next 20 years and more over AP chief minister is an experienced chief minister and moreover he also has support from center. Basing on all these factors Hero Moto Corp can be beneficial if they choose Andhra

Irrigation and Corruption

India became Independent 67 years ago and since then if we sum up the expenditure for agriculture sector of all states and central govt. it may amount to lakhs of crores of rupees. If the expenditure is directly given to the farmers with active participation from govt employees or canals and irrigation facilities provided to lands our Agriculture productivity would have added significantly to our GDP. Funds are allocated spent and utilized on pen and paper but still there are 65% lands in India are not getting fruits of irrigation facilities. The failure to provide irrigation facilities is also due to corruption at higher level even at Ministers. Unless discipline and control is not imposed from top level all these slogans are meaningless.

Modi Govt. alarmed with Onion price hike

  Onion price hike has made the governments embarrassed if not alerted timely. We have several instances in the past governments losing in the elections merely for failing to control this essential product price. Now also, the onion prices gradually shooting up in the domestic markets despite adequate production and supplies. Currently, the onion price in domestic market is around Rs.32-35 per Kg. Unlike UPA government, Modi government immediately swings into action to control the prices of onions and potatoes before it is too late.   This issue has been discussed by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chalks out multiple action plans to control the prices. Firstly, the committee has decided to bring onions and potatoes under Essential Commodities Act, 1955 for one year period. A G.O. will be issued on Thursday for this purpose. The minimum export price of onions per tone was $ 3oo. Now it was increased to $ 500 per ton to stop outflow. The committee also decides to fix upper limit for maintaining the stocks of these two products by the whole sale dealers in the country, so as dealers can’t create artificial shortage. However, the state governments will have the choice to decide the upper limits permissible, depending on the local market supplies and prices. The committee empowers the state governments to undertake de-hoarding operations and control the price of onions and potatoes.

Shirdi Baba not a God- Swami Swarupanandji

Shankaracharya of Dwaraka,Swami Swarupanandji of Jyotir Math who has passed a controversial statement last week ,stating that Shirdi Sai Baba is not  a Hindu God. According to his statement Baba prayed to Allah , ate meat and was not acceptable as a God among the  5 mains Gods that Hindu worship. This was made against the Union Water Resources Minister  Uma Bharti’s statement that she prayed and believd in Baba and this was not acceptable as Sannyasini should only pray to Hindu gods. Uma Bharti had given an explanation and  refused to comment further owing respect to the Seer. He rubbished claims that he made these statements at the behest of the Congress party and anyone was free to worship any God. But the fact is that Shirdi Sai Baba cannot be accepted as a god.Meanwhile a Sai temple in Lucknow has  filed a petition in Allahabad High Court seeking an FIR against him which will come up for hearing  on Friday. A case has also been filed against Shankaracharya Saraswati in Jaipur. The Nagas Sadhus of Varanasi have threatened to come on to streets and protest if any action would be initiated against the Swami in what could  lead to a potential Hindu War in the Country. The BJP Government is yet to make any statements regarding this.

Bombay Stock Exchange Network down

Due to a network glitch the Bombay Stock Exchange has decided to shut stock markets in an unprecedented step after share prices and indices such as the Sensex stopped updating due to a network problem. Their network service vendor HCL is on the job and is trying to resolve the issue and the markets can restart only after the issue is solved.This is the second time that this kind of network problem has occurred and this wont go down too well with inside BSE traders.

Why havent we learnt from the Beas Tragedy?

Over the past month India has witnessed some of the worst tragedies including that of the Beas river tragedy where 24 students of an Engineering college from Hyderabad who were on a holiday trip to Manali, were swept away on the evening of June 8 .The Larji hydro-power project authorities suddenly released water from the Dam allegedly without prior notification and the unsuspecting students who were in the middle of the river were washed away by the river. So far 21 bodies have been recovered and four including that of the tour guide are yet to be recovered. An excruciating and painful wait for the parents of those not found, as they are yet to trace them.   Not soon were we to recover from this ,about 2 days ago five  cousins from a same family from Telangana who had gone for their grandfather's death ceremony, went for a small dip in the Dindi project near the Srisailam – Hyderabad Highway and were swept away by the heavy waters. It was also alleged that due to extensive sand mining the river bed had further deepened the river and unaware of this they got in to the water and were swept away by a surge of water. Their bodies were found with help of the local fisherman. Today in yet another incident two students of a Vedic School of Malkajgiri in Hyderabad went missing in the river Serayu near Ayodhya. The students were identified as Chakrapani and Kiran. They were apart of  50 Vedic  students  who went to Ayodhya for a pilgrimage. They had apparently got into the holy river to bathe and were washed away by the strong currents.Efforts are on to locate their bodies. Either the youth are not aware of the dangers that lurk in the fiery waters or are being left unattended by any proper adult supervision. It becomes imperative for us to give them precautions when they go to new places. First of all sending them so close to the rivers and that too in the evening hours can be quite dangerous and is not recommended. Water can be finicky and you never know when it can show its might and fury. Parents and teachers have to see to that they don’t go about alone in to the river banks or beds. With these three tragedies which are like a wakeup call to prevent future tragedies we hope that parents and children alike now at least learn that the fury of  nature is mightier than man.