Chief Minister halts land acquisition

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, on Tuesday directed officials not to acquire land for infrastructure projects unless there was dire need to do so.

The Chief Minister instructed the East Godavari and Visakhapatnam district collectors to immediately withdraw prohibitory orders imposed on land transactions in several mandals falling in the proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR).

He said there was no need to issue such orders when the government was not acquiring land for the PCPIR.

Dr Reddy is also believed to have asked officials to put on hold land acquisition for the Visakhapatnam international airport till defence authorities cleared the project. With regard to minor airports in the districts, he said a firm no to land acquisition at this stage.

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‘National security’ case filed on KCR

Police has booked a criminal case against the Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief, Mr K.Chandrasekhara Rao, for “concealing information related to national security”.

The case was booked on the direction of first class magistrate, Mr R. Kishore Babu. KCR had said in a press meet on February 14 in Hyderabad that the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, the power minister, Mr Mohammed Shabbir Ali and the Greater Hyderabad Congress president, Mr Danam Nagender, hatched a plot to create communal disorder in the capital.

“I had all the evidence of the conspiracy and I will expose it at appropriate time,” he said.

Following this statement, two advocates, Mr Udathaneni Rama Rao and Mr Kuthumbaka Ramesh, approached local court on February 25 appealing it to order the police to file a case against TRS chief for concealing information related to national security.

According to the lawyers, as an MP, it was KCR’s duty to inform and show the evidence relating to the plot to the police or judiciary. However, the district magistrate rejected the case.

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Andhra Pradesh law to dampen cement price rise

The state government is planning to issue an ordinance amending the Essential Commodities Act to rein in cement companies which are refusing to reduce prices.

This is being done since the attempts by the cabinet subcommittee headed by the Finance Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, to persuade the cement companies to bring down prices did not work out.

The committee is expected to broach the idea of an ordinance with the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, on Thursday.

“We have given enough time to the companies to reduce prices but many of them are turning a deaf ear to the public demand,” said the minister for Housing, Mr Botsa Satyanarayana. Sources said the state was also thinking of cancelling mining licenses extended to the cement companies if they remained stubborn. “That will happen only if all the other means fail,” said Mr Satyanarayana.

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Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy sets off on 100-day heli-yatra to woo villages

With by polls up ahead and general elections round the corner, the season of political yatras has begun in the state.

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, is embarking on a 100-day yatra across the state from Wednesday to publicise his government’s achievements.

On Monday, his arch rival and Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, announced that he would be undertaking a yatra with focus on villages. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti president, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, started his own tour on Monday.

Dr Reddy knows very well the political dividend of yatras. Exactly five years back he undertook a maha padayatra from Chevella in Ranga Reddy district to Itchapuram in Srikakulam, during which he covered 1,450 km in 68 days.

That yatra pitchforked him to power. This time, however, he won’t be walking all the way. Because of the security threats, he would be heli-hopping from village to village. Dr Reddy has carefully chalked out a mass contact programme to publicise the development and welfare programmes of his government.

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