Chiru quits to be 'hero', T-fire engulfs films of kin

The Praja Rajyam chief, Chiranjeevi, has decided to resign his membership in the Assembly on Thursday to take up the cause of a united Andhra Pradesh even as Telangana agitators hit the streets again, attacking theatres screening films of his family members.

Sources said Chiranjeevi has decided that this is the right moment to wrest the leadership of the united Andhra Pradesh agitation. He will visit Tirupati on Friday to start the campaign against the division of the state.

Infuriated by Chiranjeevi’s stance, Telangana agitators forcibly stalled screenings of his nephew Allu Arjun’s Arya-2 and son Ramcharan Teja’s Magadheera in Hyderabad and other places on Wednesday.

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Renigunta airport cleared

The Centre’s decision to develop Renigunta airport at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore will boost religious tourism and develop Rayalaseema region.

Thousands of devotees from the United States, Britain and other parts of the world visit Tirupati every year for the darshan of Lord Venkateswara.

At present, they are put to hardship because of the lack of connectivity and have to catch connecting flights from Chennai, Mumbai or Hyderabad to reach Tirupati. The frequency of flights will increase once the airport is modernised and the runway is extended to 11,000 feet from 7,500 feet. The airport will also be expanded to accommodate at least 700 passengers at once. Night landing facility is already present.

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Chiru: I’ll win 225 seats

The suspense over actor Chiranjeevi’s political entry seems to have come to an end.

The actor announced on Tuesday at an informal gathering of a few select reporters that he will launch a political party soon.

“After August 15, the announcement will be made,” the star said.

Talking to a few media persons at his film production office in Jubilee Hills, Chiranjeevi was confident that his party will win 225 seats on its own in the General elections.

He said that the media speculations about his political career since 1999 made him consider entering politics. He evaded questions on his party’s name, flag and agenda and said that he would meet the media very soon to reveal all that. He disclosed that there were around 20 names under consideration for his party.

Chiranjeevi indicated that he would announce the party through a media conference and there would a public meeting in Hyderabad and Tirupati after that.

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Passport in week’s time

The ministry of external affairs has decided to go for outsourcing to speed up the issue of passports.

Under the new Passport Seva Project, Tatkal passports would be issued in a day and regular passports will be given in a week.

The Centre has already called for tenders to select a firm that can take care of the outsourcing needs in the entire country. It has asked officials to complete the tender process in next three months.

The selected firm will establish 64 outsourcing wings across India. Andhra Pradesh will get five outsourcing centres — two in Hyderabad and the others in Nizamabad, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam.

More than four lakh persons apply every year for passports in the state and the new project is going to be a boon for them.

At present, they are forced to wait for more than 10 days to get passports even under the Tatkal scheme and at least one month for regular passports.

Once the Passport Seva Project is launched, the processing of applications will be completely handled by private firms. Only police verification and issuing of passports will be under the control of the government.

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