Anantapur, May 9: A World Bank team will be visiting Andhra Pradesh from May 10 to 13 to study and document the poverty reduction programme being implemented by the Central and the State governments in the districts of Mahbubnagar, Kurnool and Anantapur.

Team members will interact with Self-Help Group women and record success stories of women who battled with poverty and realised economic independence.  The team will visit Kosigi mandal in Mahbubnagar, Orvakal mandal in Kurnool and Gudibanda in Anantapur district.

On May 10, the team will travel to Jadcherla in Mahbubnagar district and interact with Lambadas in Thummalakunta thanda.  The team members will meet children protected from female infanticide and interact with their parents. Later, they will visit Kosigi mandal and meet with SHG women and also meet SHG members who are physically challenged.

The team will also study marketing facilities for the produce of SHG women. They will also meet with joginis and Chenchus and study their food security. On May 11, the team will visit Hussainapuram in Kurnool district and meet SHG women and girl students, apart from child labourers, if any.  They will interact with women who have been successful in coming out of the poverty line and achieving economic independence. At Orvakal village in Kurnool district, the team will continue with their meeting with SHG women and study their decision making capacities.

On May 12, the World Bank Team will arrive in Anantapur district and visit Gandlapenta mandal and interact with victims of gender biased violence, child brides and grooms, study immoral trafficking cases and victims of domestic violence.

They will also meet women engaged in income generating jobs.  The team will finally visit Gudibanda mandal in the district and interact with families who have come out of the vicious circle of poverty through their dairy development programme.

The team members will record and film success stories in India and screen them among women in African countries to encourage them to take up similar programmes in the African continent.

Anantapur, May 9: Although open dissident activity by the deputy mayor, Mr Sreeramulu, in the Anantapur municipal corporation appears to have died down, it is not all over yet, as the deputy mayor, while agreeing not to take the battle to the streets has insisted that the local MLA, Mr B. Narayana Reddy, and the MP, Mr Anantha Venkatarama Reddy, take the issue to the Chief Minister’s attention.

Accordingly, the two left for Hyderabad and are scheduled to meet the Chief Minister on Friday to apprise him of the demand of dissidents to either remove the mayor, Mr R. Parasuram, or bringing about an amicable settlement with the intervention of the Chief Minister and the PCC chief.

Mr Sreeramulu had earlier faxed messages to the Chief Minister over his displeasure at the mayor’s unilateral decision of retaining old rentals of a petrol bunk land leased by the corporation to the IOC filling station.

His contention was that instead of hiking rentals by 33 per cent, the mayor had hiked it by only 15 per cent, due to pressure by vested interests. The grouse of the deputy mayor was that the council was not taken into confidence in this regard.

The deputy mayor has decided not to leave things where they are but to carry them to their logical conclusion, despite Mr Parasuram assuring the MP and the MLA that he had no problem taking all corporators into confidence.

In the context of the scene shifting to Hyderabad, supporters of the deputy mayor are waiting anxiously to know how the Chief Minister will respond to the crisis. As things stand, the MP and the MLA are in favour of the mayor’s continuation and may not suggest a change in the leadership in the corporation.

Nellore, May 9: Wine shops and bars of the district have been fleecing beer drinkers by charging them about 30 per cent more for popular brands citing acute shortage. Even hard drinkers prefer beer during summer but this time, they are being forced to pay more.

Bar and wine shop owners claim that the excise department has been rationing premier brands, forcing them to take other low quality brands. They have also complained that UB and Charminar breweries have reduced production after the government refused to entertain their request to hike beer price. In Prakasam district, wine merchants have been charging Rs 100 to Rs 110 for a bottle of beer though the price is Rs 70.

Due to the unavailability of popular brands like Kingfisher, Royal Challenge and Haywards, boozers have to make do with brands such as Canon, Knockout and Jingaro. Incidentally, beer consumption has increased by 23 per cent in Gudur division and 20 per cent in Kavali and Nellore divisions in 2007-08 when compared to 2006-07.

In fact, the sale of beer has gone of up by 88.2 per cent in February this year compared to the corresponding period last year.  Excise officials say that the licensees have taken large quantity of stock in February with an eye on the ensuing summer season.  There are also allegations that much of the beer produced in the state is going to Telangana districts in the wake of bypolls.

The excise superintendent, Mr Ch Vivekananda Reddy, denied that there was any rationing of premium brands. "We may not have stock to the required extent but we have all the brands and there is no ratio-ning," he said. "In fact, tr-aders and consumers dicta-te the market and we hardly have any role to play."  He added that wine shops and bars had taken large quantity of beer in February and there was no scope for shortage.

Mr Vivekananda Reddy said that some shops charged higher rates for beer but had brought it down following their intervention."Things will come back to normal within a few days since breweries have decided to increase the production with immediate effect," said Mr Madhusudhan, a wine shop owner.

Sathyavedu (Chittoor), May 9: Tension prevailed in Nagalapuram of Chittoor district on Friday when locals gathered before the police station and demanded that the police handover an accused in the kidnap and murder of two children belonging to the village.

Irate crowds locked the police station and staged a rasta roko on Tirupati-Chennai highway for over five hours. Saman Basha of Nagalapuram was nursing a grudge against an old man Basha of the same village for giving evidence against him in the court in a case related to murder of his first wife.

Saman Basha, who was released on bail, kidnapped Wasim Akram, 9, and Samila, 8, grandchildren of Basha, on May 5 with the help of his friend Venkateswarlu. Parents of the children lodged a complaint on the same day and the police launched a hunt for Saman Basha on information about his enmity towards Basha.

Police traced him in his second wife’s house at Nellore and detained him on Thursday night. Saman admitted his role in the murder and shown the place where he buried the bodies. He took the children into the forest after wooing them with eatables and cool drinks. He strangled both the kids to death with a towel after gagging them.

Meanwhile, locals beat up Saman’s accomplice Venkateswarlu when he alighted from a bus on Friday morning. They took him to the police station and demanded that the police hand over Saman Basha to them to give a suitable punishment for his offence. They relented after police assured to frame charges under stringent sections.

Traffic on Chennai-Tirupati road came to a grinding halt following the protest. Vehicles stranded to an extent of five km on both the sides.

Rajahmundry, May 9: Mango yield dwindled as the crop was infested with pests and diseases due to untimely rains in both East and West Godavari districts.

Unlike the earlier predictions of marginal increase in crop yields due to inclement weather conditions, the crop was badly affected mainly due to unseasonal rains that lashed the Godavari districts during January, February and March. Popular varieties like benishan, rasalu and collector are raised in the Godavari districts, mainly for domestic consumption.

The mango crop has been affected by pests like fruit borer, phrips and hoppers. The skin disease has caused fungal development which is visible in the form of black patches on the skin of the fruit. The total soluble solid content in the fruit has also got affected and the fruit is less sweet. Hence, it can no longer command a price in the market.

In East Godavari, mango crop raised over about 45,000 acres mainly in upland areas like Tuni and Jaggampeta areas is mainly a rain-fed crop. Untimely rains during January and February affected the crop when it was at the flowering stage. Subsequent rains also caused dropping of fruit and attacks from pests causing diseases.

The average yield per acre was recorded at 2.5 tonne per acre last year and was expected to go upto 3.5 tonne this year. But now both the yield and price are going to be affected by more than 30 to 40 per cent. One tonne of Banginapalli variety fetched Rs 10,000 to farmers in 2005 and now farmers are only hopeful of getting between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000.

Adding to the woes of mango farmers, heavy rain accompanied by gales damaged the crop, especially at Korukonda, Gokavaram, Rajahmundry rural, Raja-vommangi and part of Gandepalli mandals on May 8.

In West Godavari, mango is raised over 16,000 hectares at Chinthalapudi, Kamavarapukota, Gopalapuram, Devarapalli and other areas, and farmers fear that 30 to 40 per cent of the yield is likely to dwindle. They appealed to government to help them overcome the crisis.

Rajahmundry, May 9: Tension mounted at the municipal corporation office as the Congress corporators laid siege to the office demanding measures to tackle the stray dog menace in the city on Friday.

Congress corporators led by floor leader, Mr Polu Vijayalakshmi, and deputy floor leader, Mr Ch. Ragh-avababu, arrived at the mu-nicipal corporation office, locked the gates and did not allow the staff inside.

They were critical of the functioning of the municipal health officer, Dr Shyam Prasad, in handling the dog menace and demanded an assurance from the municipal commissioner, Mr V. Rajendra Prasad, to solve the issue. The mayor, Ms A. Veera Raghavamma, her husband and the Telugu Desam (TD) city president, Mr A. Appa Rao, and TD corporators P. Vasu, I. Srinivas, K. Satish and others arrived at the municipal office.  Congress corporators raised slogans against the mayor. Both the Congress and TD corporators entered into arguments.

The TD corporators entered into the office while Congress corporators remained outside.  As the situation was getting surcharged, police int-ervened and prevailed upon the corporators to restore normalcy. The municipal commissioner gave a written assurance to the Congr-ess corporators stating that he would initiate measures to contain the menace.

He said family planning operations would be performed on the dogs and they would be let off distant from the city. After getting the assurance, Congress corporators gave up their agitation.

Karimnagar, May 9: The Telugu Desam (TD) president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, faced a piquant situation in Shanigaram in Kamalapur Assembly constituency, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) stronghold in the district, when a group of TRS supporters tried to disrupt his Mee Kosam yatra in the village on Friday afternoon demanding the TD’s stand on separate Telangana.

A section of the TRS supporters staged a protest and raised slogans against Naidu when the latter entered the village as part of the Mee Kosam yatra- cum-byelection campaign in the afternoon.  Irritated over the protest, Mr Naidu asked them to turn their ire on the Congress. "You should take the Congress leaders to task for purchasing 10 TRS MLAs", he said.

Meanwhile, the police intervened and dispersed the protesters.  Later, addressing the road show in the village, Mr Naidu alleged that the TRS and the Congress shared power and deceived people by making false promises. "You should defeat both the incompetent TRS and the corrupt Congress in the ensuing bypolls", he appealed.

"The Congress leaders purchased 10 TRS MLAs in auction," he alleged and accused the TRS leaders of thrusting the needless byelections in the midsummer. He charged the Congress leaders with minting money by promoting belt shops and increasing the liquor revenue.

Earlier, commencing his three-day tour of the district at Ambala on the 19th day of his yatra, Mr Naidu virtually drenched the people with a plethora of promises for all sections if his party was voted back to power.

He closely mingled with the shepherds, weavers and other artisans during his tour in a bid to enlist their support for the TD candidates.

The TD president consoled the bereaved family members of an old woman while they were returning from funeral near Shanigaram.

Though there was moderate response to the road show from the masses in the initial stage in the TRS strongholds, it evoked good response when it entered into Huzurabad segment in the evening.

Warangal, May 9: The Telugu Desam (TD) president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Friday said that the state government had failed to protect the self-respect of the Telugu speaking people by not coming out openly in support of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director N. Venugopal.

He said that though the Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss, who hails from Tamil Naidu, was willfully targeting the Telugu doctor, the Congress government in the state could not come to his rescue. "Even the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, could not prevent his Cabinet minister from targeting Mr Venugopal. He is a week a Prime Minister," he added.

Addressing a press conference at a private school here, Mr Naidu stated that it has become a routine that whenever that the Congress was in power at the state and the Centre, the Telugus’ pride is being hurt. The TD chief stated that the Telugu people would teach a befitting lesson to the Congress that was acting indifferent to their self-respect. Referring to the burning of chilli yard at Guntur, Mr Naidu reiterated that there could be some conspiracy behind the flames in the yard.

He demanded the government to provide employment to those who lost their livelihood in the chilli yard incident. "The government is showing more interest in real estate deals than in the protection of farmers’ interests," he added.

He explained that during the TD rule, the Hyderabad was synonymous for information technology, but the Congress government has turned it into haven for real estate deals by indiscriminately selling away the lands in Hyderabad.

The spiralling prices of essential commodities, suicides by weavers, and the corrupt practices of the Congress were angering the people of the state, where the Congress would get a severe drubbing in the next elections.

Later, the TD chief proceeded to Ambala village in Kamalapur mandal of the neighbouring Karimnagar district to continue his Mee Kosam Chaitanya Yatra. Senior leaders Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Revuri Prakash Reddy, Kadiam Srihari, and others were present.

Vijayawada, May 9: Gurvinder Singh alias Laddu, the prime accused in the sensational Ayesha Meera’s murder case, was produced before the first additional chief metropolitan magistrate, Mr M.V. Satyanarayana amidst tight security on Friday.

The magistrate sent the accused for judicial remand till May 23. Later, he was shifted to Rajahmundry central jail. Over 200 police personnel belonging to various departments like the special branch, intelligence and AGS were present at the court.  The police brought Laddu in a special van with escort and after one hour he was again shifted to Rajahmundry central jail.

Meanwhile, the police filed a custody petition in the same court requesting the magistrate to give permission to take Laddu into custody for further questioning in connection with the Ayesha Meera’s murder caste.  After discussions with the counsels of two sides, the magistrate adjourned the case till May 12. The defence lawyer however argued against the custody petition.

Meanwhile, Laddu filed a special petition in the first class chief metropolitan magistrate court expressing apprehension that there was a threat to his life from the police.

He requested the magistrate to give permission to the police to conduct interrogation in the presence of the magistrate.  Gurvinder Singh alleged that the police had already collected footprints and blood samples from him illegally and the same matter was already taken to the notice of the third metropolitian magistrate in Gajuwaka, Visakhapatnam.

Laddu said he had no connection with the Ayesha murder case and he alleged that he was implicated in the case.  He alleged that he was tortured when he was in police custody.

He also alleged that former Vijayawada commissioner of police, Mr C.V. Anand and west zone assistant commissioner of police, Mr Vijay Kumar, proposed to give Rs 25 lakh to him if he confesses the crime. Laddu submitted the special petition through his defence counsel David Ratna Kumar.  Further hearing on the custody petition will be on May 12.

Visakhapatnam, May 9: With the recent news about the sanction of central university to Kadapa district, the slogan for Indian Institute of Engineering Scien-ces and Technology (IIEST) status to the Andhra University Autonomous College of Engineering (AUACE) gained momentum.

The IIT Sadhana Samiti, an outfit formed by the students of AUACE, is again demanding that the state government expedite the process of getting IIEST status to the college.

The AUACE was ranked as number one in the state and 32nd in the entire country. The proposal to upgrade AUACE as either Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) or IIEST was made in the mid of 2007 as the college was having all the qualities to upgrade it after an expert committee of the Union HRD ministry visited the campus.

The AUACE was one of the five institutions across the country to be given the status of an all India level institution like IIT or IIEST.

"Demand for establishing an IIT in the city or upgradation of the AUACE to the status of IIT or IIEST is pending for a long time and no effort is being made by the state administration or the local people’s representatives to remind the Centre at frequent intervals of the need to have an institution of this status in the city," said a professor from AUACE.

Students felt that AUACE was ahead of many National Institutes of Technology (NITs — formerly known as Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs)). Many NITs are ranked next to AUACE. "AUACE is no more inferior to any IIT, as it got all the qualities. The college is known for its educational system, research, eminent faculty and its service to the nation mainly to Vizag. But it is very unfortunate that we don’t have any central university or a premier inst-itute at the level of IIT in the entire coastal belt of Andhra Pradesh, a state known for its educational system and intelligence, though we have all the required qualities," said Mr Vamsi, a student. "Our state even deserves one IIM far from Hyderabad region, to give away for equal development across the state," he added.

The Chief Minister, Dr Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy, during many of his visits to the city promised an IIT or IIE-ST status to the AUACE.

Meanwhile, five other institutions that were short-listed by the Joshi Committee of the Union HRD ministry were transformed to IIEST. Only institutions belonging to Andhra Pradesh were not upgraded. The last institute among the list that was recently transformed to IIEST was Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) in December 2007.