Telangana

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao has appealed to the electors of the Presidential election, scheduled to be held on July 18, to vote as per their conscience after weighing the two candidates in the fray, and not based on their political affiliation. Addressing a meeting of TRS MPs, MLAs, MLCs, its State executive committee members and other senior leaders of the party convened in support of Yashwant Sinha, the candidate fielded by the Opposition, here on Saturday, the Telangana Chief Minister said Mr. Sinha’s candidature outweighs that of his rival’s as he was a towering personality. “He (Mr. Sinha) is an honest politician and an able administrator who handled the key portfolios of finance and external affairs in the Union Cabinet in the A.B. Vajpayee Government,” Mr. Rao said. In an appeal to all Parliamentarians in the country, the TRS chief said that there was a democratic practice in the country of voting as per conscience on some occasions and … [Read more...] about Telangana: KCR asks TRS legislators to vote as per conscience during Presidential poll

Even as the political planning and strategies are being chalked out inside closed doors for select BJP invitees at the HICC-Novotel Hotel in Madhapur, one area which attracted many and kept open to all is the special exhibition being organised to reflect the past and present of Telangana. This is slightly away from the main venue and has about 200 carefully chosen photographs and paintings showcasing the armed struggle against the Nizams and his Razakkars militia responsible for the atrocities. "We have put up the exhibition on five themes, giving a glimpse of the struggle and evolution of Telangana by carefully sourcing photos from our own party leaders, press photographers and others," said BJP spokesperson A. Rakesh Reddy. Some known and some rare photographs are on display including the people subjected to torture during that time, raising of a women’s wing and even a children’s wing of the Razakkars, Nizams army marching in the city to control dissension, arrival of the … [Read more...] about A peek into history and culture of Telangana

A delegation of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) legislators on Saturday met the Opposition’s Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha and expressed their support for him, ahead of the election slated for July 18. “Four MLAs—Ahmed Balala, Kausar Mohiuddin, Mumtaz Khan and Moazzam Khan—met Mr. Sinha. They said that as per our party president’s decision, they would support him in the Presidential elections,” a party source familiar with the development told The Hindu . On June 27, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi announced that his party would support Mr. Sinha’s candidature. “AIMIM legislators will be voting for opposition candidate @YashwantSinha in the #PresidentialElections. Mr Sinha spoke to me on a call earlier as well,” Mr. Owaisi had tweeted. Party sources said that AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi was not present at the meeting as he was addressing a public meeting in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, where municipal polls are due on July 6. “We have fielded 11 … [Read more...] about Telangana: AIMIM extends support to Yashwant Sinha

The State’s daily COVID-19 caseload, which has been on a surge since the beginning of June, crossed 500 on Saturday with 516 persons testing positive. The last time the milestone was breached was in mid-February this year. While the case count has increased, the number of daily tests continues to remain in the 25,000 to 29,000 range. On Saturday, 26,976 samples put to test, and 631 reports were awaited. The new 516 infections included the highest of 261 from Hyderabad, 43 each from Rangareddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri, and 24 from Sangareddy. While these four districts have been recording double or triple-digit cases, Mancherial saw a sudden spike. From single-digit infections until a few days ago, the number of COVID-positive cases in the district increased from 10 on Friday to 34 on Saturday. The cumulative case tally stands at 8,01,922 while the active caseload has climbed up to 4,784. … [Read more...] about COVID cases in Telangana cross 500-mark after nearly 5 months

Nalgonda MP and former TPCC President N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has alleged the Telangana police were resorting to excesses against journalists, Congress leaders and workers and other social activists to shield corrupt TRS leaders. Mr. Reddy was speaking to reporters after submitting a representation in the Huzurnagar police station in the case of a local journalist who was attacked by people belonging to the ruling TRS for ‘exposing’ corruption by a local TRS MLA and his henchmen. He also sought action against the ruling party leaders who attacked a dissident TRS leader who approached the court seeking an inquiry into allegations of corruption. Police officials however are backing the TRS leaders and harassing the journalists, he said. Accusing the police of being highly partisan, he said several instances reflect that even higher officials were behaving similarly. There will be no fair elections in Telangana if they are conducted under the present political leadership as even the … [Read more...] about Police targetting journalists for writing against TRS: Uttam

Women and Child welfare representatives from six Indian States — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana — signed an Inter-State Declaration of Intent to work in collaboration to combat trafficking in persons. The first of its kind agreement focusses on joint efforts on intelligence gathering and sharing; legal and witness protection; and rehabilitation and care for survivors. The declaration concluded the two-day Regional Consultation to Combat Human Trafficking, which was hosted by Telangana government in collaboration with non-profits Prajwala and Shakti Vahini. The U. S. Consulates General in Hyderabad and Kolkata supported the conference. Sunitha Krishnan, founder of Prajwala said that the problem of human trafficking in India is mostly inter-State or intra-State. “The need for cooperation between States in counter trafficking efforts is the need of the hour. This consultation under the able leadership of the Telangana government has paved the way … [Read more...] about Six Indian States sign Declaration of Intent to combat human trafficking

Fissures in the Telangana Congress came to the fore yet again when the former MP V. Hanumantha Rao went to the Begumpet Airport to welcome the Opposition parties’ Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha despite the party deciding to stay away from his meeting. While Mr. Rao’s act evoked a strong response from the supporters of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A. Revanth Reddy, who said it was acting against the party’s interests. What was the need for Mr. Hanumantha Rao to go to the airport when he was not even a voter in the Presidential election, and also after the party took a decision to stay away from the event, which the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) had made a personal affair, argued the party leaders. However, Sangareddy MLA, T. Jayaprakash Reddy did not find anything wrong in Mr. Rao’s move stating that Mr. Sinha was supported by the Congress. “In fact, I also wanted to meet him as an MLA and sought an appointment, but could not get one due to paucity … [Read more...] about Sinha visit: Differences in Congress come to the fore

There was a lot of commotion outside as the BJP national office bearers and executive committee meeting began at the HICC-Novotel Hotel in Madhapur here on Saturday. Even while most local mediapersons had to walk their way through the meandering route into the hotel with police stopping them and checking for passes at every check point, party leaders from across the country began to troop in in their vehicles. As TV cameramen and reporters tried to swamp every leader thrusting mikes or cameras in front, they just smiled or did polite exchanges refusing to speak anything on the agenda as strict orders were said to have been given to keep the lips sealed. Crestfallen mediapersons had to hang around the briefing centre seemingly for eternity when the first official briefing by BJP vice-president Vasundara Raje took place at 2 p.m. and the next briefing was by Union Minister Smrithi Irani four hours later. Only photographers were let in when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated … [Read more...] about ‘Official briefings only please!’

Telangana senior resident doctors, who boycotted medical services from Wednesday, called off the strike on Saturday evening. They had been demanding pending salaries and stipend, and sought clarity regarding date of completion of senior residency. Telangana Senior Resident Doctors’ Association (TSRDA) members said they had discussed the demands with Health Minister T. Harish Rao and Director of Medical Education (DME) K. Ramesh Reddy, who had positively considered the demands. A batch of 698 Senior Resident (SR) doctors are working at 29 government hospitals. One year work at government hospitals after completion of postgraduation (PG) is called as Senior Residency. The medicos who started their PG from May 2018 have completed the course in April 2021. Since the second wave of COVID pandemic was at peak during this time, the government continued their services till August 15, as per Telangana Senior Resident Doctors Association (TSRDA) members. This batch started to work as … [Read more...] about Senior resident doctors call off strike

Bharatiya Janata Party Telangana unit president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Saturday dared Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to dethrone the Modi government at the Centre and accused the Chief Minister of resorting “cheap talk and low level politics”. “The TRS is after all a tiny party which can vanish within no time, and the government here can also collapse anytime as there is a chance of KCR’s own MLAs deserting him,” he claimed, in a stinging response to KCR’s criticism of Mr. Modi earlier in the day. At a hurriedly convened press conference at the HICC-Novotel where the party is hosting the national level meetings, the Karimnagar MP demanded that the Chief Minister explain why he could not prove corruption charges against the BJP, and stated that on the contrary, it was the KCR regime which had pushed Telangana into a deep debt taking heavy loans ‘mirroring the Sri Lanka scenario’ with salaries of employees not being paid on time. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will rule … [Read more...] about Bandi Sanjay dares KCR to dethrone Modi