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Cabinet approves T-Bill, Rejects UT Proposal

  It seems Congress high command has developed some sentiment of submitting T-Bill as table item in every crucial meeting. Today also it has been introduced as table item in the Cabinet meeting held at Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh’s residence. Cabinet has approved the T-Bill without any major changes to existing one.   Cabinet rejects the proposal of making Hyderabad as union territory. Financial package to backward areas in Rayalaseema and North Coastal Andhra has been approved. The villages that submerge under Polavaram project, which are now in Kammam district will be merged with West Godavari district for averting inter-state disputes. Center will grant the necessary funds, clearances for this project. Centre will bear entire expense of constructing new capital of residuary Andhra Pradesh state and also de-notify the forest areas to build the new capital. Experts committee will decide about the location of the new capital. Other than, there are no major changes made to the existing T-Bill.   T-Bill will be sent to President Pranab MUkharji tonight for his approval.

3 More MPs Against PM

      In addition to the list of MPs who had served their no confidence motion against the Manmohan Singh government, three more have been added. Harsha Kumar of Congress, M Venu Gopala Reddy of Telugu Desam Party and M Raja Mohan Reddy of YSR Congress moved their no confidence motion against the PM regarding the T Bill issue. This chaotic situation seems to be prevailing for quite sometime now and similar motions were passed even on Thursday. However, they were not taken up due to a lot of commotion which resulted in the adjournment of the house for the day.

CM Kiran Apologizes

      Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy faced major flak from Telangana leaders after the huge controversy that took place at the AP Bhavan in our capital city. Kiran was blamed for not intervening when women ministers from his state were being manhandled by police of Delhi. Minister Geetha Reddy broke down in tears in front of the media and also took this issue to the President. All three women ministers were trying to stop Kiran from heading to the 'Dharna' at Jantar Mantar as they felt it was not fair on his part to incline towards one region when he has been appointed as the CM for the entire state.   Following all the negative comments, hues and cries, CM Kiran finally relented and apologized. If reports are to be believed, Kiran personally called Geetha Reddy, D K Aruna and Sunitha Lakshma Reddy on phone to say Sorry for his attitude.

I&B Minister Manish Tewari byte at ICAI function

Manish Tewari ICAI Function : Minister for Information & Broadcasting Shri Manish Tewari addressing at the ICAI Awards for Excellence in Financial Reporting  

SC rejects petitions filed against T-Bill

  The Supreme Court bench led by Justice Dattu and Justice Babde has dismissed all nine petitions filed against T-Bill today after hearing arguments made by senior advocates Nariman and Mohanlal Sharma on behalf of the petitioners. The arguments continued for around one and half hours, but at the end the apex court bench has made it clear that it doesn’t want to interfere in the bifurcation process at this stage.   The bench also said that it doesn’t find any difference between the previous and present petitions filed opposing bifurcation. Supreme Court also ignored the points raised by both lawyers of petitioners about Centre misusing article-3 and Assembly resolution passed against the T-Bill. The bench has not shown any interest to define the legal angle of Assembly rejecting the T-Bill sent by Centre.   Hence, a major hurdle in bifurcation process is cleared with Supreme Court’s latest verdict. This will encourage Cabinet to forward the T-Bill to President and he may approve and return to Cabinet without any second thought. However, if he wants to consider several appeals made by ruling and opposition parties including CM Kiran Kumar Reddy, he may put the bill on hold, but unlikely.   Next, if the Centre declares Hyderabad as union territory for 10 years, even TRS, which is fighting for separate state will oppose the bill in Parliament. So, Centre may scrap this idea and may push the bill through Parliament adopting ‘voice vote.’

Seemandhra Lobby presses for Hyderabad as UT

      The Group of Ministers (GoM) Seemandhra Lobby met again with the Union Cabinet, slated to take up the recommendations of the GoM for consideration at its special Telangana-centered meeting which will have to clear the UT model for the joint capital status to be held at 4.30 pm on Friday. Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, also the head of GoM, and key member Jairam Ramesh briefed the Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi about its recommendation which has been given a political clearance by Sonia to forward the same for the approval of the full cabinet meeting to be held today evening. Their main recommendation is that Hyderabad be made a Union Territory for the next 10 years as it will serve as the joint capital of the two states of Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh after the division. A move which is vehemently being opposed by the Telangana parties and the TRS as this gives special powers to the governor with regard to law and order and realty issues. Apart from recommending that Hyderabad be made in to a UT, the GoM  has also asked for the following recommendations  which include: villages in Telangana's Khammam district to be combined (which may be submerged) with Seemandhra's East and West Godavari districts to avoid inter-state disputes while finishing the project.  Also the amendment to Section 46 (1) of the draft Telangana bill to enable the 14th Finance Commission to look at the available resources of the two states and making a viable financial package for  both states. Jairam Ramesh is also in talks with the BJP explaining the recommendations of the Seemandhra leaders regarding this.

Jayaram Ramesh Supports Hyderabad as UT

      There has been a strong demand from Seemandhra BJP leaders to turn Hyderabad into a Union Territory. GoM member and Union Minister, Jayaram Ramesh is also holding meetings with the main opposition leaders of BJP in order to find a solution. Apart from making Hyderabad a Union Territory, Seemandhra leaders have other suggestions as well and they are as follows.     Tax Holidays for Seemandhra industries.      Excess amount of gas allocation for projects.     An integrated steel plant set up in Kadapa.  Improvised and special financial package for Seemandhra and north coastal areas of Andhra.      Regular recruitment and admissions in all colleges across Hyderabad.     Setting up institutions of excellence in Seemandhra.     Giving options to employees from Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy after separation.      Equal share of assets and liabilities of Hyderabad between both the states. Telangana leaders are all against these demands and do not want to make Hyderabad as a Union Territory. Citing all this commotion, today’s cabinet meeting on Telangana will definitely be critical.  

Ex Delhi CM in Corruption Trouble

      Ex Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is currently under the spotlight for the wrong reason. An FIR has been filed over the purchase of imported street lights before the 2010 Common Wealth Games by the Anti Corruption Bureau of Delhi. It is reportedly said that there was a loss of Rs.31 Crore caused due to the inefficiency of Ms. Dikshit.   The Shunglu Committee has also confronted the Ex CM for procedural violations. There are also complaints that Ms.Dikshit did not handle the CWG projects in a proper manner. All this has come in to light after the current Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal dug into the matter and ordered for a probe. A couple of non-eligible companies were also given preference in this street light scam. In addition to this, close sources from Delhi say that the advertisement scam might also come into picture now. In this case, Ms. Dikshit is said to have used public money for her own benefit.

Daggubati rejects Cong. RS candidates

  Seven T-Congress MLAs K.Jana Reddy, Nandeeshwar Goud, Saraiah, Damodara Reddy, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Bhikhsamaiah Goud and Narasa Reddy have decided to vote for TRS Rajya Sabha candidate K. Keshav rao. This decision was taken after holding a meeting at Hotel Golkonda a short while ago. So, now Keshav rao is also surely win the elections.   Danam Nagendar and Jayasudha’s votes were allotted to KVP Ramachandra rao. Srisailam Goud will cast his vote in favor of T.Subbirami Reddy.   Daggubati Venkateswara rao has rejected the party candidates by using Reject Button provided in EVM. He said he is rejecting the party candidates because he is not happy with party decision. He said party is dividing the state against the wishes of majority people. So he is rejecting the candidates proposed by party. He said that he has informed CM Kiran Kumar Reddy about his decision prior to voting.

Anurag Srivastava speaking about Social Media

Shri Anurag Srivastava, Joint Secretary, I&B Ministry speaking at South Asia Summit on Social Media  

Will Keshav rao win RS elections?

  Elections for Rajya Sabha become inevitable as seven candidates are in fray for six seats in the state. Polling has begun a short while ago. Congress, TDP and TRS party MLAs are arriving to polling booth to cast their votes in favor of to their party candidates. T.Subbirami Reddy, KVP Rama Chandra rao and MA Khan are contesting on Congress ticket. Their party allots 47 MLAs each to their support. So, they are sure to win the elections. The lone rebel Congress candidate, Adhala Prabhakar Reddy has withdrawn from the race yesterday as YSR Congress party has refused to support him. Since, Congress has allotted 47 MLAs votes to each of its three members, it seems do not want to allot its surplus votes to TRS candidate K Keshav rao.   TDP candidates Garikapati Mohan rao and Thota Sita Maha Lakshmi will comfortably win as their party has allotted 37 MLAs support to each as first and second priority votes. Jayaprakash Narayan, President of Loksatta party also will vote for TDP candidate Garikapati Mohan rao.   However, TRS candidate K Keshav rao, who is 12 seats short to win the elections is expecting BJP and MIM vote for him, otherwise his chances to win the elections are blink. He has TRS-17, Rebel TDP-4, CPI-1 MLAs support only. Even if, T-Congress MLAs are allowed to vote for him, then also he can easily win the elections.

Bimal Julka Inaugurates Indian Pavilion at European Film Market

India made a visible presence at the European Film Market 2014 at the ongoing 64th Berlin International Film Festival. Shri Bimal Julka  Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting inaugurated the India Pavilion at Martin Gropius Bau, European Film Market (EFM) along with Bollywood actor Huma Qureshi and Ajit Gupte, acting ambassador in Berlin. EFM is one of the most important platforms for international trade in film distribution rights and audiovisual content.     For more information Click Here Shri Bimal Julka, Secretary, I&B Ministry Inaugurates Indian Pavilion at European Film Market An Indian Film Guide, brought out by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was released on this occasion which has catalogued information on film policies, movies for sales and distribution at EFM. The guide is a primer on Indian cinema, for use for global film fraternity. Ten Indian films will be screened in the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. Indian films screened officially at Berlinale include Imtiaz Ali`sHighway (Panorama), Jayan Cherian`s Papilio Buddha (Panorama)Pushpenra Singh`s Lajwanti (Forum), Jessica Sadana and Samarth Dixit`s Prabhat Pheri (Forum),  Avinash Arun`s Killa (Generation), Gaurav Saxena`s Rangrez (Native) and two films Mount Song, Blood Earth (Forum Expanded) among others. Iconic film of Satyajit Ray`s Nayak (Berlinale Classics) and Mani Kaul`s Gashiram Kotwal(Forum) will be screened at Berlin in restored prints. In addition, Overdose is in the Co-Production Market and three people in the Berlinale Talent section.

Rajnath Singh Avoids KCR

      TRS Party Honcho K Chandrashekhar Rao is totally annoyed with Rajnath Singh since he hasn't given him an appointment. KCR is so disappointed due to this rejection and seems like he even spoke about this issue to his close allies. Over the past 5 days, Rajnath Singh had been avoiding him, is what KCR feels. Another major let down came in when Rajnath Singh met Chandra Babu Naidu, which showed a clear rejection to KCR. BJP members, who were once supporting the T Bill have now withdrawn from that motion. The party is more keen about a united state right now. Knowing this, KCR eventually dropped the plan of meeting Rajnath Singh.

Congress MP Against Manmohan Singh Govt

      In a recent development that took place today, two MPs from Congress and TDP respectively, moved a no confidence motion against UPA in order to show opposition on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Sabbam Hari (Congress) and M. Venugopala Reddy (TDP) passed this motion shortly before the Lok Sabha met today. Back in December 2013, 6 MPs of Congress from Seemandhra region  passed a no confidence motion against the Manmohan Singh Government. In order to pass a no confidence motion, there has to be support of at least 50 members of the House, which is ideally 10% of the House strength. But the 15th Lok Sabha session hasn't witnessed any motion yet. We need to wait and see if a few more will join hands to this or not !!!

BJP Softening It's Stance

      We all know that the Bharatiya Janata Party was once supporting the T Bill unconditionally. However it seems like they have now softened their stance on this issue. Narendra Modi is very particular about stopping the T Bill from being passed now, since his huge dream of being a PM will only come true if the state is united. Sushma Swaraj, who was very strong on this matter has also taken back her support on passing the T bill. With all these sudden changes and confusion, the parliament sessions are going to be very interesting and critical for the next two days !!

Is Kiran Being Fired From CM Post ??

      After all the chaos created by the Dharna held at 'Jantar Mantar', it seems like the Congress high command is pretty upset with Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy. It is such that, the party never experienced a situation where their own member goes against them. However, as per information received from Digvijay Singh, it is seen that the party is very serious about this issue and has also decided to remove Kiran from his post after the Rajya Sabha elections. But if such a thing happens, Congress would be completely washed out from the state is what we have sensed. So let's see what is going to happen by the end of Rajya Sabha elections !!!

Adhala Prabhakar drops from RS race

  Adhala Prabhakar Reddy, the lone rebel candidate in Rajya Sabha elections has announced that he is dropping from the race as he couldn’t get any assurance from YSR Congress party of its support. He alleges that YSR party has asked him not to withdraw from the elections. It also assures its support, but when the time comes it is not responding now. He claims that still he 20 MLAs are supporting him, but dropping from the race as he couldn’t gather support of around 15-19 MLAs at least. It is to be observed that he is making this statement after meeting CM Kiran Kumar Reddy on yesterday at New Delhi. Although, CM Kiran hits the roads fighting against his party high command, he insists the MLAs to support the candidates handpicked by party high command.

Will Jagan let his MLAs vote for K. Keshavrao

  The political scenario is once again going shift from Delhi to Hyderabad, as polling for Six Rajya Sabha seats will be held tomorrow. Hence, all the politicians will start returning to Hyderabad by today evening or tomorrow morning. Elections become inevitable because there are seven candidates remained in the race for six seats.   Three candidates of Congress Subbirami Reddy, KVP and MA KHan and two of TDP-Garikapati Mohanrao and Thota Sitamahalakshmi are quite sure of winning the elections. K. Keshav rao from TRS and Congress rebel candidate Adhala Prabhakar Reddy are contesting for the sixth seat.   TRS has 17 MLAs and five rebel TDP MLAs to its candidate support. However, still it need around 14-17 MLAs support. Hence it seeks MIM and BJP support. Even then also it needs some support from Congress and YSR Congress parties. YSR Congress party has recently issued a whip ordering its MLAs not to participate in Rajya Sabha elections.   However, Lagadapati claims that his party high command has asked YSR Congress party president Jagan Mohan Reddy to ensure his MLAs support to K. Keshav rao. Whether, he will let his MLAs vote for separatist Keshav rao or Samaikyandhra representative Adhala Prabhakar Reddy or keep them away from polling will be known tomorrow only.

'Gaining Goodwill' Spree - N Chandra Babu Naidu :

      Being one of the most deserving Prime Ministerial candidate, Telugu Desam Party Chief N Chandra Babu Naidu is now on a spree to gain the confidence and goodwill of people from both Telangana and Seemandhra. Naidu, in a recent development said that he is not against the bifurcation of the state as long as people from both the regions are benefited. He is keen about creating a positive impact across the state. Earlier, Naidu faced heaps of criticisms because of his two eyed principle. However, people are now understanding his ideas which actually seems to be doing good to them.