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Chandrababu Naidu’s demonetisation flip-flop continues, says he still backs govt move

After coming out in support of demonetisation initially, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday did a volte-face saying that this is not what they wished for, only to issue a clarification later that media reports were “misleading the country.”

It was earlier reported that Naidu had said that the solution to problems arising out of the note ban still remained elusive even 40 days after the step and it was not what he wished for. The U-turn was deemed significant as Naidu was one of the first non-BJP leaders to support the Narendra Modi government’s move.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. AFP

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. AFP

“Demonetisation was not our wish but it happened. More than 40 days after demonetisation, there are still a lot of problems but yet there appears to be no solution,” Naidu said addressing a workshop of Telugu Desam MPs, MLCs, MLAs and other leaders in Vijayawada on Tuesday.

However, according a report in News 18, he has now refuted such reports and clarified that his comments were misrepresented and he continues to believe that the note ban is a “good decision, although implementation challenges exist.”

“All that the chief minister had said was that post demonetisation, it was taking time for normalcy to return and that he is having to spend time resolving issues,” Naidu’s son and TDP youth wing leader Nara Lokesh told News18.

ANI also tweeted Naidu’s clarification stating that he only “expressed concerns over suffering of people.”

Naidu’s comments had ruffled feathers in the ruling dispensation, especially because he’s an NDA ally and heads the 13-member  committee appointed by centre to review demonetisation related issues, even as the BJP tried to play it down.

Earlier Naidu had voiced his concerns about the implementation lapses that were adding to the woes of the common man.

“It still remains a sensitive and complicated problem,” Naidu had observed.

“The people who are supposed to manage the crisis are incapable of doing anything. The RBI has not been able to do anything about it. It still remains a sensitive and complicated problem,” he has been quoted as saying in media reports.

“I am spending two hours daily to review the situation and ease the problems caused by demonetisation. I am breaking my head daily, but we are unable to find a solution to this problem,” said Naidu, who heads the 13-member central committee to look into demonetisation issues.

Naidu had been a strong proponent of ban on high denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. In fact, he had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12 October reiterating his demand.

On 9 November, hours after the Prime Minister came out with the demonetisation announcement, the Telugu Desam Party started claiming credit saying it was a “victory for Chandrababu” over his fight on corruption.

“This is a moral victory for the TDP,” it said on posts on Facebook and Twitter.

“Prime Minister Modi may have taken the decision now but Chandrababu had these thoughts even when he was in the opposition (2004-14). He had been fighting for scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes since then,” the TDP said in a Facebook post.

The party media cell dug out newspaper clippings dated back to 2013 June when Chandrababu raised the demand for the first time.

But as people started facing trouble in exchanging the scrapped notes as well as in withdrawing cash from their savings accounts, Chandrababu seemed to change his tone and started making critical remarks about the Centre’s move, particularly the introduction of Rs 2,000 notes.

“I am spending two hours daily to ease the problems caused by demonetisation. I am breaking my head daily but we are unable to find a solution to this problem,” the CM said on Tuesday.

“We could resolve the ‘August crisis’ (an internal party coup dating back to 1984) in 30 days but this (demonetisation) still persists,” he said.

He said banks were “not prepared” for a transition to digital economy. “They are unable to even register banking correspondents,” he added. Unless there were remedial measures, people’s woes would continue in the long-term, Chandrababu warned.

With inputs from PTI

First Published On : Dec 21, 2016 21:00 IST

December 21, 2016
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Comments on demonetization were distorted: Chandrababu Naidu

<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –> A day after making critical remarks on demonetization, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said his comments were “distorted” and that he has been supporting the exercise.He, however, said problems arising in the aftermath of demonetization “continue” as “we are going (about them) in a routine manner”. “We have to take an innovative approach,” he remarked. He heads the panel set up by the Centre to look into issues arising from demonetization. His party- TDP- is part of the NDA government. The 13-member committee would meet again on December 28 to work out solutions to the ongoing problem, he said.”I spoke to (NITI Aayog CEO) Amitabh Kant this morning and asked him to convene the meeting,” he said.He said he had sought a ban on high denomination notes “long ago” and written a letter to the Prime Minister seeking abolition of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes after the recent Income Disclosure Scheme.”I have supported this (demonetization) concept,” he said, inaugurating a two-day conference of district Collectors here. Addressing a workshop of Telugu Desam MPs, legislators and leaders here yesterday, he had said, “demonetization was not our wish but it happened. More than 40 days after demonetization, there are still a lot of problems but yet there appears to be no solution.””I am spending two hours daily to ease the problems caused by demonetization. I am breaking my head daily but we are unable to find a solution to this problem,” he had said.He claimed that his remarks were “distorted by some”. “I am disgusted with the way money is distributed during elections. Why should we spend money in elections? That’s why I wanted a ban on big notes,” Chandrababu said.”In my life, I did not focus on anything as much as I focused on demonetization. I troubled the bankers, RBI and the district Collectors by reviewing the situation for hours every day. But still things did not happen as fast as we wanted,” he said. “There is attitude problem. We could not make use of the available infrastructure and we could not innovate,” he said, referring to the problems being faced by people in the aftermath of note ban.”I am totally pained that we could not distribute welfare pensions on time this month. I was so angry. I gave a warning to the banks and then the RBI acted. From now on, we will distribute pensions physically and not through banks,” the Chief Minister said.He also spoke on other topics like growing number of divorces in the US, the problem of aged population in Japan and of ageing population in China and the advantage India has in terms of “demographic dividend”.

December 21, 2016
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Demonetisation: Chandrababu Naidu, first non-BJP leader to support, says it was ‘not our wish’

After coming out in support of demonetisation initially, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday did a volte face saying that this is not what they wished for and said the solution to problems arising out of the note ban still remained elusive even 40 days after the step. The U-turn is significant as Naidu was one of the first non-BJP leaders to support the Narendra Modi government’s move.

“Demonetisation was not our wish but it happened. More than 40 days after demonetisation, there are still a lot of problems but yet there appears to be no solution,” Naidu said addressing a workshop of Telugu Desam MPs, MLCs, MLAs and other leaders in Vijayawada on Tuesday.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. AFP

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. AFP

“It still remains a sensitive and complicated problem,” Naidu observed.

“The people who are supposed to manage the crisis are incapable of doing anything. The RBI has not been able to do anything about it. It still remains a sensitive and complicated problem,” he has been quoted as saying in media reports.

“I am spending two hours daily to review the situation and ease the problems caused by demonetisation. I am breaking my head daily, but we are unable to find a solution to this problem,” said Naidu, who heads the 13-member central committee to look into demonetisation issues.

Naidu had been a strong proponent of ban on high denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. In fact, he had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12 October reiterating his demand.

On 9 November, hours after the Prime Minister came out with the demonetisation announcement, the Telugu Desam Party started claiming credit saying it was a “victory for Chandrababu” over his fight on corruption.

“This is a moral victory for the TDP,” it said on posts on Facebook and Twitter.

“Prime Minister Modi may have taken the decision now but Chandrababu had these thoughts even when he was in the opposition (2004-14). He had been fighting for scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes since then,” the TDP said in a Facebook post.

The party media cell dug out newspaper clippings dated back to 2013 June when Chandrababu raised the demand for the first time.

But as people started facing trouble in exchanging the scrapped notes as well as in withdrawing cash from their savings accounts, Chandrababu seemed to change his tone and started making critical remarks about the Centre’s move, particularly the introduction of Rs 2,000 notes.

“I am spending two hours daily to ease the problems caused by demonetisation. I am breaking my head daily but we are unable to find a solution to this problem,” the CM said on Tuesday.

“We could resolve the ‘August crisis’ (an internal party coup dating back to 1984) in 30 days but this (demonetisation) still persists,” he said.

He said banks were “not prepared” for a transition to digital economy. “They are unable to even register banking correspondents,” he added. Unless there were remedial measures, people’s woes would continue in the long-term, Chandrababu warned.

With PTI

First Published On : Dec 21, 2016 08:00 IST

December 21, 2016
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Expelled AIADMK MP moves SC for CBI probe into Jayalalithaa’s death

Sun, 18 Dec 2016-07:00pm , New Delhi , PTI
<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>Expelled AIADMK MP Sasikala Pushpa has moved the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe or a judicial investigation by an apex court judge into the death of J Jayalalithaa.In her petition, Pushpa has alleged that Jayalalithaa’s death was “suspicious” as her actual medical condition was not disclosed, no one was allowed to visit her, her funeral photographs showed embalming marks and everything from her hospitalisation to her death “was kept under wraps”. The Rajya Sabha MP has sought directions to the Centre, the Tamil Nadu government and Apollo Hospital, where Jayalalithaa was hospitalised, to disclose details of her health report and treatment in a sealed cover to the apex court.A similar plea was filed this week in the apex court by Tamil Nadu Telugu Yuva Sakthi claiming that doubts have been raised over the circumstances of the AIADMK leader’s death and her medical reports needed to be examined by experts.

December 18, 2016
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Demonetisation impact: Telangana, Andhra Pradesh compete with each other to go cashless

In these troubled times, the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have seen opportunity. As demonetisation and the subsequent cash crunch hit the country hard, chief ministers of AP and neighbouring Telangana are vying with each other to become ‘digitally enabled’, a move being seen as key to insulate themselves politically and beef up their already deficit state economies.

Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) and N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of AP are offering themselves up as role model ‘Digital CMs’ to the Narendra Modi regime and have designed strategies individually.

Naidu launched ‘AP Purse’ last week, a government sponsored payment platform with 13 mobile banking and 10 mobile wallets. In turn, KCR launched an e-wallet enterprise in collaboration with ICICI Bank. “Why should we oppose demonetisation blindly? If Telangana has to survive, we have to go for cashless transactions to increase our revenue by five times,” said KCR at the Secretariat on Saturday.

Representational image. Reuters

Representational image. Reuters

The idea behind trying to push the cashless transactions agenda is a banal one. Both states are hopeful of enhancing the prospects of central assistance for their mega infrastructure development agenda. Hence the push to leapfrog financial platforms — in an effort to project their states as the choicest destinations for infusion of global investment, technology and project monetisation in the near future.

AP Purse

Launching the new platform AP Purse on Tuesday, Naidu said that the government introduced Marpu Nestam (Friend for change), to educate people on digital financial literacy. The government will pay incentives to agents who train people in digital financial literacy.

AP Purse is an app which will provide links to 13 mobile banking and 10 mobile wallets with Aadhaar card to pay bills and purchases to retail traders and vendors in a cashless way. “We will train engineering students to enlighten the traders, vendors and also the common man on use of bank accounts and ‘RUpay’ cards,” he said. He made 90 lakh DWCRA (self-help groups of women) members and 70 lakh beneficiaries of the MGNREGS to open bank accounts in villages.

Naidu, who interacted with bankers and RBI representatives, said that Rs 2,472 crores was available with banks and that they would get another Rs 1,100 crores in December to tide over the cash crunch but emphasised that a cashless regime by 2017 was a stark reality. A document released by the CMO ahead of the launch of AP Purse said that there were only 46,126 (rural) and 60,173 (urban) banking outlets with internet facility, out of a total of 3.83 branches. There were only 10,516 ATMs of which nearly 6,250 were in urban areas. The Naidu government has let loose a blitzkrieg of advertisements in newspapers, Telugu TV channels and radio on use of cards, particularly the RUpay card of Jan Dhan accounts.

Telangana e-wallet and the Siddipet experiment

KCR has introduced the e-wallet in collaboration with ICICI Bank to address grievances of farmers, traders and Jan Dhan account holders.

KCR said that the state was geared to go digital at all levels. To begin with, stamps and registrations, civil supplies, excise and all government payments, including salaries to govt employees, would be on cashless platform of UPIS (Uniform Payment Interface System). “It will not be possible to change people’s habits overnight. Cash transactions are part of our life and culture. Initially all transactions above Rs 500 will be cashless,” he said.

The Telangana government has introduced a cashless transaction model in Rythu Bazaars (farmer markets) for the benefit of vegetable vendors in Hyderabad and Siddipet in collaboration with HDFC Bank. Customers can buy daily vegetables with tokens linked to their Aadhaar and HDFC cards. Besides Siddipet, the facility of Aadhaar linking for debit cards has been launched in Gajwel and Warangal market yards as well. “This is a temporary arrangement until the change crisis is resolved and banks’ link to markets is completed,” says T Harish Rao, state marketing minister.

Telangana has 5,200 bank branches with one bank for every three to four villages and has one lakh POS machines. “For a complete cashless regime, Telangana needs 20 lakh POS (swiping machines),” says a state finance ministry official. He said Rs 75,000 crores of cash was in circulation in the state before demonetisation, accounting for 86 percent of the total money in the state but so far only Rs 35,000 crores in banned notes were deposited in banks and the Centre has pumped in Rs 12,500 crores.

“Telangana has fewer banks and ATMs than Andhra — 5,212 bank branches and 10,000 ATMs. Hardly one tenth of banks and ATMs are in rural areas and Hyderabad accounts for 90 percent of branches and ATMs. Internet connectivity is very poor and only 60 percent of ATMs function in Hyderabad,” said Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Opposition leader in the Telangana Legislative Council. He also termed KCR’s claim of achieving cashless regime by 2017 as deceptive since there was only one bank branch to service 10 villages and just 88 lakhs people out of 4-crore population had bank accounts, he said.

The Effect

Opposition criticisms apart, Hyderabad and many towns of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada and Rajahmundry witnessed public furore with large queues in front of ATMs and banks. “Satrol ho gaya (business has gone kaput)” say wholesale traders at Goshamahal, Feelkhana, Begum Bazar, Siddiambar Bazar, Monda and Pathergatti where traders took cash from retailers for bulk purchases. “We had roaring business with 80 percent in cash and 20 percent on cheques and now everybody is demanding credit,” says Syed Aneesuddin, a bulk goods trader at Feelkhana.

Many traders say business is down now as they cannot give discounts to retailers – thanks to online payments, they have to pay Goods and Service Tax. According to RBI figures, there are about 13 lakh POS units in Telangana and the demand was for a minimum of 54 lakh.

The decision to go digital immediately by the two states is to get the early bird benefits from the Centre and also to improve their monthly revenues. “If we prove to be enabled for cashless transactions, our credentials in international markets will be benchmarked for big global investments,” Naidu told reporters on Saturday at Vijayawada.

Both these revenue-starved states are willing to go to great lengths in order to increase fund inflow — even at the cost of spending heavily on improving infrastructure and reducing liquidity in the market. While AP claimed that it had lost over Rs 1,300 crores in revenue generation in just one month, Telangana says it lost nearly Rs 800 crores. Both the governments have promised lavish welfare measures and freebies. Coffers cannot be empty for too long. And so the Telugu speaking neighbours have decided to join the Centre’s chorus on encouraging cashless transactions.

First Published On : Dec 12, 2016 14:05 IST

December 12, 2016
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Timeline: A chronicle of J Jayalalithaa’s life

<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa passed away in Chennai on December 5, a day after she suffered a cardiac arrest while admitted in Apollo hospital. ‘Amma’ as she was fondly addressed, had been in the hospital since September 22 after she complained of a fever and dehydration. She was later treated for sepsis and her condition was said to have improved before she went into cardiac arrest on Sunday. The last rites of the chief minister will be performed in Chennai on Monday evening. Biographical TimelineJayalalithaa Jayaram, an Indian actress-turned-politician, was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu and General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party. She was sworn in as the chief minister on May 23, 2016, her sixth term, a record. She was only the second female chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Her followers fondly call her “Amma”, meaning mother, and “Puratchi Thalaivi”, meaning revolutionary leader. Jayalalithaa was a famous South Indian film star before she joined politics in 1982.She had appeared as a lead actress in various films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages. She even acted in one English and a Hindi film. She was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1984 and served in this post till 1989. Personal LifeJayalalitha was born in Mysore (now in the state of Karnataka) at a place called Melukote on February 24, 1948. She hails from a Tamil Iyengar family. Her father Jayaram, a lawyer by profession, passed away when she was just two years old. Consequently, Jayalalithaa and her brother Jayakumar had to shift to Bengaluru along with their mother. Her mother, Vedavathi, started working in Tamil cinema with the screen name Sandhya.
ALSO READ AIADMK chief & Tamil Nadu’s beloved Amma J Jayalalithaa passes away‘Jaya’, meaning ‘victorious’, was a prefix commonly used in their family — Jayalalitha; her brother, Jayakumar; father Jayaram, and many other in the family. This indicated the family’s association with the Wodeyar Dynasty of Mysore, which dates back to 1880-1920 when Jayalalithaa’s grandfather, a surgeon by profession, used to serve the Mysore Kingdom.Jayalalithaa completed her schooling from Bishop Cotton Girls’ High School, Chennai, and Sacred Heart Matriculation School, also popularly known as Presentation Church Park Convent, in Chennai. She was a very good student and received scholarship for higher studies from the Government of India after completing her matriculation in 1964. However, she took up films shortly after that. Her career saw her working in films of different languages, including English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.
ALSO READ RIP Amma | From PM Modi to President Mukherjee: India bids adieu to J Jayalalithaa She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and has proficiency in other dance forms like Kathak, Mohiniyattam and Manipuri as well. She has also lent her voice as a singer in some of her films. She has proficiency in English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam. Her brother, Jayakumar, passed away in the early 1990s. Jayalalithaa’s Disproportionate Assets CaseShe was acquitted in the infamous 18-year-old disproportionate assets (amounting to Rs 66.65 crore) and corruption case by the Karnataka High Court on May 11, 2015. A trial court had convicted and sentenced her to four years of jail as well as a fine of Rs 100 crore on September 27, 2014. Jayalalitha filed an appeal challenging the decision in the Karnataka High Court. These charges were held “not sustainable” by the special bench of the Karnataka High Court. Earlier, the five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu was held guilty by a special court in Bengaluru in a disproportionate assets case and had to vacate her post as a consequence. The charges were levelled by Dr Subramanian Swamy in 1996. She was convicted under IPC 109 and 120 (b) along with 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
ALSO READ Jayalalithaa’s demise has left a huge void in Indian politics: PM ModiJayalalithaa’s professional background before entering politicsAt the behest of her mother, Jayalalithaa started working in films at the age of 15 when she was still in school. Here’s a chronicle of her acting career:► Her first film, ‘Epistle’, was in English language and released in 1961.► In 1964, under the direction of BR Panthulu, she made her debut in Kannada film ‘Chinnada Gombe’ as the lead actress.► In 1965, she made her debut in Tamil film ‘Vennira Aadai’, which was directed by CV Sridhar. Jayalalithaa was the first heroine in Tamil films in the mid-1960s to appear in short-sleeved dresses, skirts, gowns and woollen suits.► In 1966, she made her debut in the Telugu film ‘Manushulu Mamathalu’.► Jayalalithaa acted opposite Shivaji Ganesan in the film ‘Pattikada Pattanama’ in 1972, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.► In 1973, she received three Filmfare Awards for Best Actress for her performance in the films ‘Pattikada Pattanama’, ‘Suryakanthi’ and ‘Sri Krishna Satya’.► The first Tamil film that India submitted for the Academy Awards in the category ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ was ‘Deiva Magan’. It featured Sivaji Ganesan and her.► The 1960s and 1970s saw a number of successful films with Amma opposite MG Ramachandran.► ‘Izzat’, one of her notable Hindi films, saw her paired opposite Dharmendra.Jayalalithaa’s journey in Indian politics► In 1982, Jayalalithaa became a member of the AIADMK, a party founded by MG Ramachandran. It marked her entry into politics.► She gave her first public speech, Pennin Perumai (the Pride of Women), at the conference of the party that year.► She was made the Propaganda Secretary of the AIADMK in January 1983. As was chosen by Puratchi Thalaivar MGR, Jayalalitha conducted her first election campaign in February, 1983, for the party as a candidate in the by-election from the Tiruchendur Assembly Constituency.► Jayalalithaa was elected for the first time as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1984 and she retained the seat till 1989.► In 1984, MGR fell ill and moved to the US to undergo medical treatment. In his absence, Jayalalithaa came to the forefront during the elections to the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu in December 1984. That year, the alliance of Congress (I) and AIADMK secured a massive victory.► Puratchi Thalaivar MGR expired in 1987, after which the AIADMK was split into two parties. The election symbol of the party, “Two Leaves”, was frozen by the Election Commission of India.► Jayalalithaa was elected as a member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1989 from the Bodinayakkanur constituency.► Jayalalithaa was the first lady to become the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu.► The two factions of the party reunited in February 1989 under the leadership of Jayalalithaa, who was unanimously elected as the General Secretary of the united AIADMK.► The election symbol of the AIADMK party, ‘Two Leaves’, was restored by her in 1989.► Jayalalithaa directed the Congress (I) and AIADMK alliance to a historic victory in the 1989 General Elections to the Lok Sabha in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.► Under her leadership, the AIADMK secured victories in all the subsequent by-elections from the constituencies of Peranamallur, Madurai East and Marungapuri to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.► A landslide victory was secured by Jayalalithaa in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections held in 1991, when the party and its alliance won 225 out of the total 234 seats. She contested from two constituencies, Kangeyam and Bargur, and won both the seats comprehensively.► On 24 June 1991, she became the youngest ever and the second female Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. She held the position till May 12, 1996.► She swept the 1991 General Elections by securing a complete victory for the AIADMK and its alliance partner INC in the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, thus creating history.► The 1998 general election of the Lok Sabha saw the AIADMK and its alliance securing 30 out of 40 seats.► The 2001 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections saw her leading the alliance to a win of 195 seats out of the 234 and her party, the AIADMK, alone secured 132 seats.► On 14 May 2001, Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the second time and held the post till September 21, 2001.► In February 2002, she was elected from the constituency of Andipatti.► She remained the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from March 2, 2002 to May 12, 2006.► The AIADMK alliance won 69 seats in the 2006 Legislative Assembly elections and Jayalalithaa served as the Leader of Opposition.► Again in the 2011 Legislative Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK and its allies bounced back, winning 203 seats out of 234, with the AIADMK securing 150 seats on its own. The new government was formed on May 16, 2011 and Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the fourth time.► Jayaram Jayalalitha had to step down from her post of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in September 2014 when a trial court in Karnataka held her guilty in an 18-year-old disproportionate assets (amounting to Rs. 66.65 crore) and corruption case. The court had sentenced her to a four-year jail term with a fine of Rs 100 crore, but she challenged this verdict in Karnataka High Court.► On May 11, 2015, the Karnataka High Court acquitted Jayalalithaa in the Disproportionate Assets case.► J Jayalalitha was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for a record-equalling fifth time on May 23, 2015.► On April 25, 2016, she filed her nomination papers in RK Nagar ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.► She created a history of sorts by becoming the first chief minister since 1989 to return to power for a second consecutive term.► She took oath as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for a record sixth time on May 23, 2016.Awards and honours won by Jayalalithaa► In 1972, the Government of Tamil Nadu honoured her with the Kalaimamani Award.► A degree of Doctor of Literature (LittD) was conferred upon her by the University of Madras in 1991.► A degree of Doctor of Science was conferred upon her by Dr MGR Medical University in 1992.► A degree of Doctor of Letters was conferred upon her by Madurai Kamaraj University in 1993.► A degree of Doctor of Science was given to her by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in 2003.► A degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris causa) was conferred upon her by Bharathidasan University in 2003.► She was invited by the House of Lords, London, in 2004 to receive the “Woman Politician of the Decade” Award from the Asian Guild Awards.► The Golden Star of Honour and Dignity Award was conferred upon her in 2004 by the International Human Rights Defence Committee recognising her services in protecting the weaker section of society and in the field of gender equality in Tamil Nadu and India.► In 2011, a resolution was passed by the New Jersey General Assembly to appreciate her exemplary excellence and dedication as a leader and in service to the people of Tamil Nadu.

December 7, 2016
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Demonetisation: Why Chandrababu Naidu is the only non-BJP CM to hail move

Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo Chandrababu Naidu, an important ally for the BJP in the south, is known for his penchant to look for ways to maximise his political clout.

Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from 8 November, Naidu has been on a gloat mission — he had written to Modi barely a week earlier demanding a ban on these denominations in an effort to curb black money.

As the Opposition gears up for a strident battle over the issue, Naidu too is gearing up — not to fight, but to defend the idea. Naidu has geared his administration to face the challenge posed by the cash crunch, particularly in Andhra, a state that serves as a junction to three states with the Bay of Bengal on one side.

File image of Chandrababu Naidu. News 18

File image of Chandrababu Naidu. News 18

A helping hand

As is done during times of natural calamities, the AP government set up a help desk at Vijayawada to help citizens sort out difficulties in exchanging demonetised notes at banks and post offices. A call centre and a toll free number (1800-599-1111) too was made available for information. A notification issued by Chief Secretary SP Tucker also put the state government administration on standby, cancelling all leave for cadres of essential services including the police and treasury departments, in anticipation of enormous confusion and rumour-mongering. “We put a five-member team on a 24/7 basis to answer calls and also guide callers to the nearest banks and ATMs, and also advised them to be prepared for a long wait,” said a spokesperson in the chief secretary’s office.

Besides organising IT-based feedback services from all 10 districts, Naidu also held teleconferences with district collectors on a daily basis to address the crisis. The public relations attempt worked well. Although Telugu news channels beamed the travails of the common man waiting at banks and ATMs through the day, they also telecast Naidu’s video conferences showcasing him as a “working chief minister”.

A past master in crowd management, Naidu directed officials to provide shelter, drinking water and also butter milk for the milling crowds at banks and post offices. His office also issued advisories on setting up counters for women, the elderly and handicapped to banks.

“In fact, Naidu’s office knew about the arrival of truckloads of new currencies ahead of us,” said a banker after the CMO advised them on where to send the fresh currency in view of the huge crowds and need for marketing agricultural produce.

Officials were also directed to source small change – Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes — from wherever possible, including hundis at places of worships and also toll gates, milk vendors etc to meet the shortfall of smaller denomination notes until the RBI delivered the new notes.

Naidu also wrote to the Ministry of Finance to focus on the ways and means to address the problems faced by people in the wake of demonetisation, particularly the hardest-hit communities of street vendors, transporters and petty traders.

Guidelines for the Centre

Naidu set the ball rolling for the Union government and Ministry of Finance by issuing guidelines and advisories to state administration and bankers within the state on what to do and how to tide over the crisis. All late payments for power, water, property taxes, excise, toll gates, school fees etc were deferred and advisories issued to provide non-stop services in spite of non-payments as per schedule. “It appeared as if Naidu was in charge rather than the bankers and the RBI at least in Andhra Pradesh,” said a senior official at the stock market at Visakhapatnam.

The Chief Minister’s Office issued press releases daily on what he wanted banks and the RBI to do, without bothering with whether he had the authority to advise or direct them. The CMO and the chief minister often advised banks to introduce multi-purpose counters instead of separate counters for withdrawals and deposits. He also wrote to the RBI to send more currency to Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and also Vijayawada in view of the ongoing infrastructure projects and taking into account the significance of the sea port of Visakhapatnam and religious tourism in Tirupati. “We don’t need Rs 2,000 notes, but only Rs 100 notes,” he said, in a request to RBI.

The AP government also threatened traders with the PD Act (Preventive Detention Act) if they resorted to hoarding or denial of essential commodities.

Government employees were roped in to help out people at banks, ATMs and also at bus stands, railway stations and airports along with the regular staff.

“We want the Centre to send us the new Rs 500 notes as it had already sent them to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Only Rs 6,700 crore was deposited in the banks in Andhra Pradesh since demonetisation,” Naidu told the media on Tuesday evening.

Digital money focus

The TDP supremo also shifted focus on the use of digital money to tide over the crisis. Presently, only 18 percent of transactions in Andhra Pradesh are on digital mode and the government’s target is to increase this to a minimum of 30 percent by the end of the year. As part of this task, e-pass instruments (POS) were being installed at all PDS outlets.

Naidu lauded the efforts of West Godavari District Collector in issuing tokens at rythu bazaars (farmer markets) for small change which were redeemable at banks. This practice was replicated in four more districts during the weekly markets to facilitate farmers who brought their produce from across the state.

Addressing the parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday, Naidu also urged his MPs to build pressure on the Centre to provide swipe machines to traders and abolish transaction cost for online banking in toto. “Countries with lower education levels and less development are ahead of India in using mobile banking services,” he said, urging TDP MPs to press for policy framework for the popularisation of digital currency in villages and towns.

Politics of the opportune

Naidu is not openly all praise for Modi though, perhaps conscious that it might rebound on him. “Precautionary measures should have been taken to minimise difficulties to the public,” said Naidu speaking to reporters, adding, “To curtail the flow of black money, public must be encouraged towards electronic currency. The Centre must have taken adequate steps to increase online transactions.”

Naidu has a good reason to join the ‘Har Har Modi’ club. He needs money for his state and its brand new capital city Amaravati. “The Centre has promised over Rs 1.5 lakh crore in grants and investments in over 115 projects and schemes. But unless they are done before 2017-18, the purpose will not be served,” said state finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu on the sidelines of a CII meet at Vijayawada while interacting with industrialists.

The TDP and the BJP are old friends — allies since 1996, except for a decade in between from 2004 to 2014 when the TDP was out of power in united Andhra Pradesh.

Opposition YSRC leaders therefore alleged that the TDP supremo and his son Nara Lokesh had converted their black money into white thanks to the advance information given to them by BJP leaders. “Lokesh’s benamis have converted almost Rs 13,000 crore into white a few days ahead,” said YSRC leader Bhumana Karunakar Reddy.

But TDP leaders insist that the campaign against black money was not new to the party. Way back in 2013, TDP invited Artha Kranti Pratisthan Chairman Anil Bokhale and extended support for his campaign against black money. They had also brought out booklets against former Congress chief minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy’s alleged corruption and impleaded themselves in the CBI case against corruption in EMAAR Group’s real estate activities in Hyderabad city, a case in which YSR’s son and YSRC party chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy was named.

First Published On : Nov 18, 2016 10:40 IST

November 18, 2016
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Maoists on the run: Support for the ‘ideological’ terrorists is now dwindling

In 1971, the playground of the high school, where I studied in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh was taken over by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). We didn’t mind it because the jawans played volley ball with us and gave us chapathis at lunch time. The CRPF was there in big strength to weed out Naxalites who infested the countryside around.

Two years after the 1967 “peasant uprising” in West Bengal’s Naxalbari — the village that got the group their name — the Naxalites began to unleash terror in the Srikakulam district, bordering what was then Orissa.

It’s more or less in the same region that Maoists — as Naxalites call themselves now — have been getting a severe beating from the police forces of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha this week. After Monday’s ‘encounter’ at Malkangiri in Odisha, in which 24 Maoists were killed, the police are continuing their combing operations in the area. They have gunned down six more Maoists since Monday and among those killed are some of their important “leaders”, while many others are still on the run.

Perhaps the Naxals have never had it so bad since the death of their original founder Charu Mazumdar in the police lockup in 1972. With a publicly professed goal to ‘overthrow’ the Indian government through ‘armed struggle’ and ‘extreme violence’, they decimated thousands of security personnel and civilians in the last five decades. However, they are now coming to learn that terror begets terror.

Representational image. AFPRepresentational image. AFP

Representational image. AFP

Forty-five years after I left Srikakulam, I still remember the stories of Naxalites beheading landlords who according to them were exploiting the peasants.

And to spread terror, they circulated photographs of severed heads they hung from doorposts of the landowners’ homes. I remember those gruesome photographs as if I saw them yesterday. And with the blood of those they butchered, they wrote slogans about “revolution” on the walls , declaring their allegiance to Marx and Lenin.

It was not till many years later that I was able to meet some Naxalites in the bowels of rural Telangana. They were all young, both boys and girls, ranging from postgraduates to school or college dropouts. They were gung-ho about the revolution that they day-dreamed was just round the corner to metamorphose India into a heaven on earth, a society of equals where there would be no injustice.

They threw at me rhetoric that included phrases like “fight against imperialists”, “annihilation of class enemies” and “armed struggle”.

At first they looked like cases of juvenile delinquency, kids out to have ideological fun who would soon get bored with it and settle down to jobs and marriages. Some did, but many went on and on, and the “movement” grew from village to village, district to district and state to state.

It was with both fear and hope that villagers, especially adivasis, supported them. The rural folk was terrified of what the red mobs, with weapons looted from police stations, would do if they didn’t back them. At the same time, villagers who were victims of exploitation at the hands of landlords, corrupt officials and the police saw hope in the Naxalites. Moreover, Indira Gandhi’s institutionalisation of caste-based vote-bank politics and corruption added to the neglect by successive Congress regimes in the states only drove adivasis closer to the Marxist-Leninist ‘soldiers’.

And by the time different Naxal outfits merged into Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2004, they became active in what is called India’s Red Corridor, starting from the Nepal border and cutting through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and parts of Karnataka and Kerala. The Maoists, as they were called since the merger, had an army of nearly 12,000 foot soldiers across states.

Besides, they had, and still have, lakhs of supporters and sympathisers everywhere, especially among academic bauddhiks (so-called intellectuals) who routinely find places in the media and dubious institutions starting from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to small-town colleges. Most of the bauddhiks, at least the ones I had the misfortune of being acquainted with, talk Maoism by day and drown themselves in scotch by night, but that’s another matter.

It’s not surprising that the Maoists virtually run parallel governments in small parts of the Red Corridor, collecting taxes, providing amenities like healthcare and even running kangaroo courts for quick justice. All this filled the Maoists with the cheap thrills of a “successful revolution”.

At some point, they were also in touch with Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for weapons and training, and they still have an open channel of communication with their counterparts in Nepal. The talk of Maoists joining hands with Islamic terrorists or getting arms from China has, however, never been confirmed.

On a rare occasion in 2006, even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, known for his economy of words, spoke up. He described Maoists as the “biggest internal-security threat” India faced. In 2009, the CPI (Maoist) was banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Maoist numbers and support dwindling

The good news, however, is that all this has been changing, even if at a slow pace. Their numbers have been dwindling and support diminishing.

The decline of the movement is not a sudden development. In a rare interview to Rahul Pandita, author of ‘Hello Bastar: The Untold Story of India’s Maoist Movement’, the General Secretary of the CPI (Maoist) and the supreme commander of the Maoists Mupalla Laxman Rao alias Ganapathi admitted in 2009, “Our war is in the stage of strategic defence … (it) will last for some more time.”

The Maoists were also in touch with LTTE for weapons and training, and they still communicate with their counterparts in Nepal. The talk of Maoists joining hands with Islamic terrorists or getting arms from China has, however, never been confirmed.

And in 2013, According to a report in Tehelka, Ganapathi admitted in a letter to party members that Maoists faced a leadership crisis with numbers of both leaders and members on the decline.

Indeed, the strength of the party’s Politburo has dropped from 14 to seven and the Central Committee from 40 to about 20, with the rest either killed by the police or lodged in jails. The number of the party’s active members or armed soldiers has fallen from nearly 12,000 to about 8,000.

This could be attributed to the fact that the police forces across states have stepped up their hunt for Maoists, killing them in real or fake encounters, and welfare schemes of governments have been benefitting affected villages, though to a small extent.

Besides, Maoists have also been digging their own graves by turning arrogant. Stories of their atrocities — killing innocent villagers on a mere suspicion of being police informers and forced recruitment — have been heard with increasing regularity. And they have been increasingly resorting to extortion, blackmail, illegal mining and even poppy cultivation to raise money for their operations.

Moreover, there has been internal bickering. The rift between the dominant Telugu lobby and the non-Telugu leaders and members has been widening. A good number of them have surrendered to the police and turned informers.

It’s clear that this week’s police ‘encounters’ on the AP-Odisha border were made possible because either the villagers or disgruntled Maoists blew the whistle.

The Maoists are down, yes, though not out. But now is the time to totally weed them out and remove the ideological pollution from India’s rural-scape. As in the case of forest brigand Veerappan, the Maoists’ biggest strength has been support from villagers, voluntary or forced. The authorities have been trying, and must continue to, deprive them of this support.

Any let-up in the combing operations by the police or the welfare schemes aimed at tribals would only help the ideological terrorists to regain strength. Ideological or not, the Maoists are terrorists and members of a banned organisation, and they and their supporters and sympathisers must be dealt with accordingly.

October 28, 2016
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Malkangiri encounter: Serious blow to Maoist leadership in Andhra-Odisha border zone

The cut-off area in Odisha’s Malkangiri district is a water-locked area, formed from the waters of two hydroelectric projects that came up in the 1940s and the 60s. But for roughly 20,000 villagers in 151 villages, basic facilities like electricity, healthcare and education remained a dream. Only recently, a few villages have been electrified. A 918-metre long bridge over the River Gurupriya is also under construction, and is expected to be open by next winter.

It is a fierce encounter here on Monday morning that marked the end of the Maoist leadership in the strategically important AOB (Andhra-Odisha Border) zone. In a joint operation by Andhra and Odisha Police, 24 Maoists, including the zone’s top leaders have been killed. So far, those who have been identified are: Appa Rao alias Chalapathi, the East Division Secretary of the CPI (Maoist); his wife and Maoist leader, Aruna; Gajarala Ashok alias Uday, the military head of the AOB zone; Munna, the son of top CPI (Maoist) leader and its central committee member, Ramakrishna alias RK. It is believed that RK managed to escape.

Representational Image. Getty ImagesRepresentational Image. Getty Images

Representational Image. Getty Images

From the late 2000s, the Maoists invested a lot in the AOB zone. It is from here that they hoped to revive their movement in Andhra Pradesh. The cut-off area in Malkangiri was also used as a safe sanctuary for senior Maoist leaders. In June 2008, in an audacious attack, Maoist guerrillas killed 38 personnel of the elite anti-Maoist force, Greyhounds. Within a month, they killed another 17 security personnel. As a result, the security forces were forced to stop operations in this area for several months.

In the absence of any police presence, the Maoists turned the cut-off area into one of their strongholds. Some senior commanders were put in charge, and from here, the Maoists began to reestablish their network in the neighbouring Visakha Agency area. Around the same time, in February 2011, the Maoists kidnapped the then Malkangiri Collector, Vineel Krishna, from the cut-off area. But Krishna was very popular among the tribals here; it is because of his efforts that the process of electrification of the villages in cut-off area took off. The tribals protested and the Maoists had to release Krishna; they got nothing out of it.

In the meantime, their high-handedness cost the Maoists dearly in the neighbouring Visakhapatnam. In February 2013, protests broke out in GK Veedhi after Maoists opened fire and beat to death three tribals. In October 2014, in retaliation to a similar act, the tribals in Korukonda block lynched three Maoist guerrillas.

Earlier, in 2012, Odisha’s top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda fell out with the leadership and was expelled from the party. In a letter to the Maoist supreme commander Ganapathi, Panda accused the Telugu leadership of AOB of “superiority” and accused it of trying to keep Odisha committee as subordinates. Panda was responsible for ensuring the supplies of explosives. After his expulsion and subsequent arrest, that channel dried up.

In the last two years, the Maoists faced several losses in the AOB zone. The AOB military strategist, Ponoju Parmeshwar alias Nandu surrendered to the police and so did another senior leader, Sarita, who was the first woman commander of a company of the PLGA, CPI (Maoist)’s armed wing. In April this year, another senior leader Kudumula Venkata Rao alias Ravi died due to heart failure. In May, senior Maoist leader VR Gopal alias Azad and two other guerrillas were killed in an encounter with the security forces. From his laptop, the police recovered a selfie of his sister Aruna and her husband Chalapathi (both killed in the encounter on 24 October).

The Odisha Police also got its act together, and under the current Malkangiri police chief, Mitrabhanu Mahapatra, hundreds of Maoists and their sympathisers have surrendered in the last few months.

The CC member, RK, surfaced in the cut-off area on 1 October after a gap of two years. Believed to be suffering from severe spondylitis, the party had shifted him to Chhattisgarh. The police believes that he may have been injured in Monday’s encounter.

Pursued by security forces and not so welcome any longer in many of their erstwhile bastions, the Maoists have been pushed back. The encounter in the cut-off area is a serious blow, which the Maoists will find very hard to absorb.

October 24, 2016
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Andhra Pradesh: 15th MLA from YSR Congress joins ruling Telugu Desam Party

It is number 15 in the ‘defection’ order as Srisailam MLA Budda Rajasekhar Reddy crossed over to the Telugu Desam (TDP) from YSR Congress.At the “auspicious” time of 9.05 AM, Rajasekhar met TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the latter’s riverfront residence and got the yellow scarf adorned, marking his admission into the ruling party.<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>Rajasekhar was also the Kurnool district unit president of YSRC. He is the fourth MLA of YSRC from Kurnool district to defect to the TDP. In fact, the defection of legislators from the lone opposition party to the ruling party started with two MLAs from Kurnool district on February 22. Now, four MLAs in all have crossed over to the TDP, reducing the YSRC strength in the district to seven.Kurnool district had been one of the bastions of the YSRC but now it appears to be crumbling.

April 28, 2016
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Ahead of Tamil Nadu polls, actress Namitha joins Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK

Actress Namitha joined the AIADMK in the presence Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in Trichy on Saturday.On Friday, there were reports that the CM had written to the actress with regard to joining the party.There has been no announcement on whether Namitha will contest the upcoming state polls or campaign for the party.The actress debuted in the Telugu films with the film Sontham and in Tamil films with Engal Anna. She found success in the two industries for a couple of years.<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>Namitha has not been seen in many films in the last few years.

April 23, 2016
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Celebs should be made liable for misleading ads: Ram Vilas Paswan

With celebrities facing flak over brand endorsements, the Central Consumer Protection Council (CCPC) on Tuesday said they should be made liable for “misleading advertisements”.”The Council’s view was that celebrities should be responsible for misleading advertisements,” Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said after the CCPC meeting.Paswan, who is the CCPC chairman, said the Council was also of the view that there should be guidelines for brand ambassadors.<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>Celebrities should think twice before endorsing any product/service, the minister said, adding that “one should use common sense approach while endorsing. If an advertisement says a person can get taller in six months using this particular product. Is it possible?”Consumers are getting misled because they tend to listen and believe that the particular product/service endorsed by celebrities must be of good quality, he added. Some celebrities have come under fire recently for endorsing brands misleading consumers.Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni last week resigned as brand ambassador of realty firm Amrapali, days after the unhappy residents of a housing project in Noida launched a social media campaign asking the cricketer to dis-associate himself from the builder.A Parliamentary Standing Committee — headed by Telugu Desam Party MP J C Divakar Reddy — is looking into the misleading ads issue and is soon expected to submit a report to Parliament.According to sources, the panel may recommend a hefty penalty and a jail term of up to five years for celebrities endorsing misleading advertisements. For a first-time offence, the panel is planning to propose a Rs 10 lakh fine or imprisonment up to two years or both. A second offence could attract Rs 50 lakh fine and imprisonment for five years, the sources added.

April 19, 2016
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Andhra Pradesh: CM announces 125-ft Ambedkar statue, 6 lakh houses for poor in Amaravati

Amaravati is set to be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh and Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has announced some new plans. He has already said that he wants to develop the capital as a tourist attraction due to its connection to Buddhism. Now he wants to build a 125-foot statue of BR Ambedkar to mark the 125th birth anniversary of the renowned leader and thinker.A report in The New Indian Express states that on Tuesday, Naidu spoke about this in the assembly and also announced year-long celebrations to mark Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary. He was quoted as saying, “We’re planning to develop the memorial as a garden which will have a convention centre and a Buddhist meditation hall. We are also planning to set up a museum and a library to make people aware about the great leader’s teachings.” The museum will depict the life and teachings of Ambedkar and the statue would come up on a 15-acre site.<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>He also reportedly added, “We want to develop Amaravati as a tourist attraction for Buddhists from across the globe. BR Ambedkar’s proposed statue and memorial park would further add glory to the capital city. We are planning to organise an Ambedkar Ideology Run, Ambedkar Sports Meet and other programmes for the entire year. We will translate all the works of Ambedkar into Telugu language. The Chief Minister also stated that the state will hold an ‘anti-discrimination week’ and host an international Buddhist convention.Additionally, Naidu has announced that the state government will lay the foundation stone for 6 lakh houses for poor people on April 14. This was in keeping with the teachings of Ambedkar and NT Rama Rao’s efforts to uplift the poor.

March 30, 2016
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Andhra Pradesh: Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh may get Cabinet berth

It looks like there will be some reshuffling in the Telugu Desam party soon. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was keen that his son Nara Lokesh be inducted into the Union Cabinet so that centre can focus a bit on Andhra Pradesh.The Deccan Chronicle has reported that a senior TDP party leader has told them that Chandrababu Naidu has now dropped this idea since he was not happy with the Centre’s attitude towards Andhra Pradesh. Reportedly Chandrababu Naidu is concerned with this fact though the TDP is an ally at the Centre.<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>The daily reports that Chandrababu Naidu now is likely to induct his son Nara Lokesh into the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet in the next reshuffle. Nara Lokesh had been appointed as general secretary of the Telugu Desam Central Committee in 2015. Suggestions have come from senior TDP leaders to the CM to induct Lokesh into the Cabinet to give the party the ‘face of the youth’. They have asked that he be given the industrial and IT infrastructure development portfolio. It looks like Naidu is contemplating this and might go through with it. If Nara Lokesh is to be inducted into the AP Cabinet that a nominated MLW would have to step aside to may way for him. There have no Cabinet reshuffles since it was formed in 2014 and party sources have told the daily that a reshuffle might take place in June since Telugu Desam would have completed two years in office.

March 24, 2016
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TDP MLA N Balakrishna apologises for his ‘vulgar’ remarks about women

Telugu actor and TDP legislator Nandamuri Balakrishna has expressed regrets over his alleged “objectionable” remarks on women at a movie function here recently.ICC World Twenty20 2016: Afghanistan vs Scotland, Group B 2nd T20 Match Live Cricket Scores & Ball by Ball commentaryThe Hindupur MLA, also brother-in-law of AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, is under fire from various political parties and women organisations for his alleged objectionable remarks on women.””Balakrishna regrets over his remarks and apologises if they hurt the feelings of any section. He made those remarks as part of fun (during the movie function) and did not aim at anyone. He also said that he inherited the culture of respecting women from his father NT Rama Rao,” a statement from Telugu Desam Party issued here said.<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>A police complaint was lodged against the MLA by a section of lawyers for allegedly passing “vulgar” comments against women at a movie audio release function.”We have received a complaint against Balakrishna alleging that he made some vulgar comments against women at an audio release function for a movie held three days ago. We are seeking legal opinion on the issue,” Saroornagar police inspector S Lingaiah said yesterday.Meanwhile, Opposition YSR Congress party has demanded an apology from the CM and Balakrishna on the issue.

March 8, 2016
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TDP MLA and actor Balakrishna booked over ‘vulgar’ remarks made against women

A police complaint was lodged against noted Telugu actor and MLA N Balakrishna by a section of lawyers today for allegedly passing ‘vulgar’ comments against women at a movie function, police said.Balakrishna, a TDP MLA from Hindupur constituency in Andhra Pradesh, is the brother-in-law of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.”We have received a complaint against Nandamuri Balakrishna alleging that he made some vulgar comments against women at an audio release function for a movie held three days ago. We are seeking legal opinion on the issue,” Saroornagar police inspector S Lingaiah told PTI.<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>Wading into the issue, YSR Congress MLA RK Roja today demanded an apology from the CM and Balakrishna on the issue. “While the top leadership itself has been pursuing anti-woman policies it percolates down the line resulting in the harassment of women at various levels and such government should apologise to the women community,” Roja told reporters on the eve of International Women’s Day.

March 7, 2016
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will soon feature in Andhra Pradesh school textbooks

From June 2016, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will be immortalised in textbooks of school students in Andhra Pradesh. A report in The Hindu states that the Andhra Pradesh government has revised Telugu non-detailed books from the sixth to the 10th standard and English textbooks from first to fifth standard.Satya Nadella will be one among some of the new people featured in the new textbooks. The late mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu, who was the fastest to climb seven tallest peaks in the seven continents, and artist and writer late Sanjeev Dev will also be part of the lesson titled ‘Spoorthi Pradaathulu’ (Role Models) in the Telugu non-detailed book for eighth standard, adds the report.<!– /11440465/Dna_Article_Middle_300x250_BTF –>Renowned radiation oncologist, Nori Dattatreyudu, and oil technologist late SD Tirumala Rao, have been included in the ninth standard Telugu non-detailed textbook, according to AP State Council of Educational Research and Training (APSCERT) Director M V Rajya Lakshmi.Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy and Kaneganti Hanumanthu, both freedom fighters are also part of the sixth grade textbook. Cultural aspects have been included in the new textbooks as well. Kuchipudi and different folk forms ‘Harikatha’, ‘Burra Katha’, ‘Tappeta Gullu’ and ‘Kurra Vanji’ are now part of the seventh standard Telugu non-detailed book, according to the report. The Class 10 Telugu textbook has a lesson called ‘Mana Rajadhani’ which talks about the history and importance of the ancient town of Amaravati and its significance today.

February 23, 2016
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