IIT-BHU student bags Rs 2 crore package from US company in placement

On the first day of campus placement, a student of IIT (BHU) was offered a maximum package of Rs 2.05 crores ($274,250) by a United States company.

UP: PM to launch KV Dham, event to be Diwali-like

As Kashi gears up for the opening of Kashi Vishwanath Dham (corridor) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 13, various stakeholders sat together with the officials of the district administration and police here on Wednesday to finalise the strategy for giving a clean and beautiful look to the city for the mega celebrations planned to mark the occasion.

PM Modi will inaugurate fertilizer plant on Dec 7: HURL MD

Transparency, time-bound executiontwo hallmarks of KV Dham project

Man sets himself, his 2 kids ablaze; all die

A 36-year-old man immolated himself and his two children ,aged five and seven years, in the GIDA area of the city on Wednesday over alleged marital discord.

11 songs that won Nandi Awards for Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry

Tollywood Seetharama Sastry, who passed away on November 30 at the age of 66 due to lung-related ailments, penned over 3,000 songs in a career spanning more than 35 years. TNM Staff Twitter/KeerthySuresh The Telugu film industry lost a literary gem when noted lyricistSirivennela Seetharama Sastry passed awayon Tuesday, November 30. The 66-year-old had been admitted in a private hospital in Hyderabad for lung-related ailments. In a career spanning more than 35 years, Seetharama Sastry penned over 3,000 songs and won accolades for his literary prowess. Among his songs are recent hits like Dosti fromRRRand Samajavaragamana fromAla Vaikunthapurramulooto old classics like Vidhatha Talapuna fromSirivennelaand Andela Ravali fromSwarnakamalamamong others. Seetharama Sastrys lyrics were popular because they touched the audiences hearts and minds alike. He remained unparalleled in penning songs in almost all genres from emotional to intellectual and love songs. His lyrics were enjoyed by laymen and literary people alike.A majority of his lyrics werewritten for music director KV Mahadevan and Ilayaraja, among many others, while most of the songs were sung by SP Balasubrahmanyam. In his long career, Seetharama Sastry won several accolades, including 11 Nandi Awards and four Filmfare awards for Best Lyricist. Here is the list of 11 songs that won him the Nandi Awards: Vidhatha Talapuna: This song from the 1986 musicalSirivennelagave the lyricist his forever screen name, Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry. The movie, directed by K Vishwanath, also changed Seetharama Sastrys future as a lyricist. The movie stars Suhasini and Sarvadaman Banerjee in the lead roles. Watch the song here : Telavarademo Swamy:This song from another musical,Sruthilayalu,which released in 1987, become another feather in Sastrys cap. This movie was also directed by K Vishwanath and featured Rajasekhar and Sumalatha in the lead. Watch the song here : Andela Ravali:This song is from a dance-oriented classic movie titledSwarnakamalam,which released in 1988. The songs in the film, again directed by K Vishwanath, won several hearts and have a separate fan base. The movie stars Venkatesh and Bhanupriya in the lead roles. Watch the song here : Surajyamavaleni Swarajyam Endukani:This song from the 1993 movieGaayammarked the beginning of his awards for contemporary movies. The thought-provoking lyrics leave many teary-eyed. Directed by Sri Kommineni, the movie has Jagapathi Babu and Revathi in the lead roles. Watch the song here : Chilaka a Thodu Leka:This song is fromSubhalagnamthat was released in 1994. The movie was directed by SV Krishna Reddy. With this song, Seetharama Sastrys easily understandable lyrics reached the common man too.The movie stars Aamani, Jagapathi Babu and Roja in the lead roles. Watch the song here : Manasu Kastha Kalatha Padithe:This song is fromSreekaramthat released in 1996. The movie has Jagapathi Babu and Heera Rajagopal in the lead roles, and was directed by Uma Maheswara Rao. Watch the song here : Ardha Shathabdapu:This song from the 1997 movieSindhooramis written in thecontext of Independence. The movie stars Ravi Teja and Sanghavi in the lead roles and was directed by Sri Kommineni. Watch the song here : Devudu Karunisthadani:This song is fromPrema Kathathatreleased in the year 1999. With this award-winning song, Sastry touched the hearts of many young people. The movie stars Sumanth and Antara Mali in the lead roles. Watch the song here : Jagamantha Kutumbam Naadi: This song is from the 2005 filmChakramstarring Prabhas, Asin and Charmee in the lead roles. Though the movie got a lukewarm response at the box-office, this song and the lyrics are very popular in Telugu households. Watch the song here : Enthavaraku Vintha Parugu:This song is from the 2008 filmGamyamdirected by Krish Jagarlamudi. Soon after this inspiring song was released, it became widely popular among the youth. The movie features Allari Naresh, Sharwanand and Kamilinee Mukherjee in the lead roles. Watch the song here : Mari Anthaga:This song is fromSeethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettuthat was released in 2013. Directed by Srikanth Addala, the movie stars Venkatesh, Mahesh babu, Samantha and Anjali in the lead roles. Watch the song here : Read:Meet the three trusted weather bloggers for Telugu states

Andhra to see more rains with cyclonic storm likely to hit on Dec 4

Andhra Rains 2021 Nellore district continued to receive rains for a fourth consecutive day on November 30, with many people facing hardships due to overflowing rivers, reservoirs and tanks. IANS Image for representation/PTI There is no respite from heavy rains in south coastal Andhra Pradesh, as parts of the region continued to receive heavy downpour on Tuesday, November 30, while a likely low pressure area in Andaman Sea may intensify and bring more rains to the state by December 3-4. Nellore district received rains for a fourth consecutive day on Tuesday under the impact of a low pressure area. Traffic on National Highway 16 connecting Nellore and Chennai was affected between Gudur and Manubolu due to floods in Pambaleru river. Many vehicles were stranded on either side of the road as the water was overflowing on the highway. The overflowing water from a tank at Manubolu also inundated the road. The tank was receiving flood water from the Kandaleru dam. Nellore district, which is yet to recover from the devastation caused by the recent rains and floods, has been receiving heavy rains since Sunday night. People in some villages in the district continue to face severe hardships due to overflowing rivers, reservoirs and tanks. Seetharamapuram and Vinjamur in Nellore district received 11 and 9 cm rainfall during the 24-hour period ending on November 30, respectively. Veligandla in Prakasam district recorded 10 cm rainfall, while Porumamilla in YSR Kadapa district received 9 cm rainfall. Meanwhile, more rains are in store for coastal Andhra Pradesh due to likely emergence of a low pressure area over Andaman Sea, which is likely to intensify. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the low pressure area may intensify into a cyclonic storm over central Bay of Bengal around December 3.A low pressure lay over south Thailand and its neighbourhood at 08.30 hrs IST today. It is likely to emerge into the Andaman Sea during the next 12 hours. Thereafter, it is likely to move west-northwestwards and concentrate into a depression over southeast and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal by December 2, and intensify into a cyclonic storm over central parts of the Bay of Bengal during the subsequent 24 hours. Subsequently, it is likely to move northwestwards, intensify further and reach north Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coasts around December 4 morning, the IMD said. Light to moderate rainfall at many places with heavy rainfall at isolated places is very likely to commence over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and south coastal Odisha from the evening or night of December 3. The IMD has forecast light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places over coastal Odisha and heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over the adjoining interior districts of Odisha, coastal districts of West Bengal and north coastal Andhra Pradesh on December 4. Squally wind speed reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph is likely to commence along and off North Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast from the midnight of December 3 and increase gradually becoming 70-80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph from December 4 afternoon, for the subsequent 12 hours. Depression in Bay of Bengal from November 13 to November 20 triggered heavy to very heavy rains in south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema. Heavy rains and floods battered Nellore, Chittoor, Kadapa and Anantapur districts, leaving at least 40 people dead. According to officials 25 people went missing. About 1,402 villages in 196 mandals and four towns were affected by the downpour. The cost of the crops damage and loss to infrastructure is estimated at over Rs. 6,000 crore. Read: Cyclonic storm likely to reach Andhra, Odisha coasts on Dec 4: IMD

Warrant against jailed BSP MP in case under IT Act

Varanasi: Large scale irregularities found at private school, says UPSCPCR

The UP State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (UPSCPCR) claimed to have detected large scale irregularities at the reputed school, where a 9-year-old class three girl student was sexually assaulted by sweeper on November 26, during their inspection of the school on Tuesday.

Party will win all 10 seats in Azamgarh, says Uttar Pradesh BJP chief

Claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win all 10 assembly seats of Azamgarh district in the upcoming assembly election, party state chief Swatantrata Dev Singh announced in Azamgarh on Tuesday that the BJP will soon hold a show of strength with alliance partners in neighbouring Ballia. Besides, six rath yatras will also traverse the state to seek blessings of people for achieving the target of winning over 300 seats in the election.

Rs 4.79 crore property of copying mafia attached

Under the ongoing drive to hit the economic empire of mafia gangs in the zone, the Ghazipur police on Sunday attached land and under- construction buildings of an education mafia, Mahendra Kushwaha, worth Rs 4.79-crore.

Minor girl's rape: CBA demands inquiry by sitting HC judge

Hundreds of parents created high drama at the school gate when their entry was denied. Later, the chairman of the school interacted with them to control the situation, but the parents kept demanding action against the school administration. In view of it, heavy police force remained deployed at the school gate.

10-day cultural fest to precede KV Dham opening by PM Narendra Modi

Ahead of the grand inauguration of the newly developed Kashi Vishwanath Dham (corridor) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the city will witness a series of religious and cultural programmes from December 1 to 10.

Meet the three trusted weather bloggers for Telugu states

Human Interest Three independent weather bloggers open up about how they learned about weather analysis, and built a growing network of followers on social media for their accurate forecasts. Rajeswari Parasa Balaji/Sai Praneeth/Rajani_from left to right Once, when Sai Praneeth was a class 6 student, he was sent out of the class by his teacher. What had irked his teacher was that Praneeth was busy staring outside the classroom through the window, the heavy rain and petrichor making it hard for him to concentrate on the lesson. And when he was told to leave the classroom, Praneeth found himself gleeful instead of upset he could go out and enjoy the rain! Many people enjoy rainy weather, perfect for a hot cuppa and snacks. But for Sai Praneeth and a few others, love for rain took deeper root, motivating them to study long-term weather patterns and eventually, become independent weather bloggers. Now, they not only wait for the next rain, but also forecast upcoming weather events, and have become reliable voices in the space. The News Minute has spoken to three independent weather bloggers who have a growing following on social media of people who look to them for accurate weather updates and forecasts. Sai Praneeth Sai Praneeth (25) began studying weather in 2013. After two years of research and preparation, he started predicting weather through his blog, Weather of South India, in 2015. A B Tech graduate and a gold medallist from Anna University, Praneeth maintains his blog while holding a full-time job as a software engineer in Bengaluru. He says that he uses satellite and radar images, numerical models sourced from Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), image data from Europe, and Japanese Meteorological data to predict weather. Initially, Sai Praneeth was only updating his own circles through WhatsApp and Telegram groups about weather events. However, people urged him to have a larger social media presence given the accuracy of his predictions. So, he started broadcasting predictions on other social media sites in September 2020, which quickly became popular. At the time of writing, Sai Praneeth has about 35,000 followers on twitter and 55,000 followers on Facebook. As his predictions gained popularity due to their accuracy, Praneeth was also invited for a dialogue between UN Habitat and the UK on changing weather in India 2020, along with the then Vijayawada Municipal Commissioner from Andhra Pradesh, which, he says, was a turning point in terms of acknowledgement for his work.As I focussed more on Andhra-related weather events, many district collectors and municipal commissioners also started taking updates from me and keep in touch even now, says Praneeth. He was also featured in an episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Mann Ki Baat radio show in July 2021. Sai Praneeth, whose family lives in Tirupati, has lived in Vizag and Nellore, among other places. He says that drastic weather events that take place in these areas also helped him in his study. Our predictions are helpful especially when people are dealing with floods. Many would not know how to get accurate weather predictions, so when we provide accurate results, they start depending on us, says Praneeth, who posts updates after studying weather patterns during his office hour breaks. Apart from research papers and articles including those from IITs, Praneeth has also studied YK Raos book,Monsoon Dynamics. #Tirupati city will definitely see a SUDDEN BURST of rain for 30 minutes roughly starting after 20-30 minutes. #Nellore district Venkatagiri storms will affect South #Kadapa Rajampeta.#Chittoor district Western parts Madanapalle can see some rains in next 2 hours. pic.twitter.com/D7bcTqrn9X Andhra Pradesh Weatherman (@APWeatherman96) November 30, 2021 In next 2 hours, South Parts of #Kadapa district mainly Rajampeta-Nandalur will see HEAVY RAIN. #Tirupati and #Kadapa cities will continue to see On and Off spells of Moderate Rains. By Afternoon, the rains will increase more just like Yesterday. pic.twitter.com/nmlRC31lM8 Andhra Pradesh Weatherman (@APWeatherman96) November 30, 2021 Rajani Poola For Rajani, it was the HudHud Cyclone in 2014 that prompted him to get into weather blogging. He realised that several people remained in the misconception that the cyclone would not impact Vizag city; but when the cyclone landed, the city witnessed large-scale devastation, with a death toll of 124. The 37-year-old Hyderabad resident, who hails from Vizag, says that he understood then the need for disbursing accurate information to as many people as possible to avoid the extent of damage caused by extreme weather events. Initially, Rajani used topredict weather by manually observing clouds patterns, wind directions and the range of humidity. Later, when he decided to take his predictions to social media, he employed more technical aspects such as computer-based weather models, and combined that analysis with his own manual observations. He says that he also learnt from fellow bloggers in Chennai about the techniques that they were using. Rajani says that predicting weather is a welcome break from his usual software-related work. Any work related to weather I do it with a lot of passion, so I don't feel it is a burden. In fact, it's a stress reliever for me. I'm not into nowcasting (short term forecast for the next couple of hours), I only give forecasts (24 hours) and outlooks at scheduled timings on regular days. So, it doesn't affect my day-to-day work much, says Rajani. Rajani, who predicts weather in Hyderabad, has also been expanding his predictions for both Telugu states as well. Weather prediction is not a one-day job. We need to be updated with the situation every day even if it is not raining that day, in order to make a proper forecast, he says. He explains that this is because weather is continuous, and day-to-day variations such as temperature, humidity, and wind directions need to be monitored regularly as they all add up to a big weather event. Rajani has about 9,300 followers on Twitter handle, Weather @Hyderabad. #SevereWxOutlook Heavy rain expected over Nellore Chittoor Ongole Kadapa on 28-Nov in association with cyclonic circulation near #SriLanka Moderate/Heavy rains also possible over Anantapur Nellore Guntur Krishna districts. pic.twitter.com/hi41y7IdWT Weather@Hyderabad (@Rajani_Weather) November 27, 2021 #3DayWx #Telangana 27/11: Absolutely dry 28/11 & 29/11: Chances of cloudiness and light drizzles in South & Central TS Weather@Hyderabad (@Rajani_Weather) November 26, 2021 Balaji T Balaji is the 16-year-old behind the Telangana Weatherman Twitter handle. While weather and rain-related events always intrigued him, he began focusing on the technicalities from class 10 onwards. While the COVID-19 induced lockdown happened when he was in his intermediate, it also gave him time to read about the cloud formation patterns through various articles and research papers online and also seek help of senior weather bloggers who were on the field. Balaji, who was already known in his friends circles as the weatherman, started sharing his knowledge via social media in October 2020.He was also among the weather bloggers who were accurately predicting the heavy rains which caused flooding in Hyderabad that same month. I observed that there would be heavy rains in Hyderabad and wanted to alert the residents. Soon, things escalated with flooding in the city. As I started posting predictions on social media around this time only and most of them turned out accurate, my followers also increased, says Balaji, who has around 8,500 followers on Twitter. Balaji uses analysis of data from IMD and National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (NCFMRW) for weather predictions. Some of the tweets which I tweeted on October 13, 2020 alerting people about the heavy rains. This was very initial days of weather blogging, turning point of my journey as a weatherman this 1year. @HiHyderabad @DonitaJose #13OCT2020 #HydDeluge2020 pic.twitter.com/TZRNOV2DFz Telangana Weatherman (@balaji25_t) October 13, 2021 As expected earlier, on and off showers dumped good rains in extreme South #Telangana whole night. Mainly #Gadwal got moderate rains. #Wanaparthy, #Narayanpet got light rains State highest Alampur - #Gadwal 25.3mm Undavelli - #Gadwal 22.8mm Bheemavaram - #Gadwal 21.3mm https://t.co/iQsJtekHJO pic.twitter.com/vi5cao3DaZ Telangana Weatherman (@balaji25_t) November 30, 2021 Along with self-learning weather analysis and predictions, Balaji also topped in his intermediate with 982 marks out of 1000. He has secured a university seat for an engineering course, which will begin this year. Balaji also wants to start a website for accurate information about the weather in the future. As of now, Balaji is giving 24-hour predictions every day, which takes about 1.5-hour analysis studying various aspects of weather and available data. He also provides area wise nowcasting for Telangana and also focuses on weather related events like cold waves, rains and others events for Hyderabad. He adds that each and every rain event is a learning experience to predict weather events. Basically, our motto is to create awareness among people related to weather and to also help farmers to prevent losses, says Balaji. Read:Nithya Menen, Jyothika, Nazriya: 12 women actors who donned the cap of producer

Accused arranged solvers for relatives

Labourer falls into sewer line, missing

Lekhpal, wife found brutally murdered in Azamgarh

UP: Govt official, wife found brutally murdered in Azamgarh village

A 55-year-old Dalit government official and his wife were found murdered in their house in an Azamgarh village on Monday morning with their throats slit open with some sharp-edged weapon, police said.

Cops arrest Vizag father-son duo alleging they supplied ganja sold on Amazon

Controversy The father-son duo allegedly acted as suppliers to online vendors smuggling ganja in the guise of stevia leaves from Vizag to Madhya Pradesh. PTI Image for representation: Picxy.com/prudhvichowdary The Special Enforcement Bureau of Andhra Pradesh police arrested five people, including a father-son duo, in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, November 27, in connection with alleged smuggling of cannabis through e-commerce site Amazon. The SEB seized 48 kg of ganja from the main accused, according to its joint director S Satish Kumar. Srinivasa Rao and his son Mohan Raju were reportedly found operating out of a rented house in Kancharapalem area of the city. They were allegedly acting as suppliers to online vendors smuggling ganja to Madhya Pradesh, according to the Times of India. The Bhind police in Madhya Pradesh recently busted a cannabis trade racket that used the online route to smuggle ganja from Visakhapatnam district. Amazon had said in a statement that it does not allow sale of illegal products through its platform and it was cooperating with the probe in the matter. Two persons, Suraj and Mukul Jaiswal of Madhya Pradesh, allegedly created a business firm to carry out ganja trade, by registering as a vendor on Amazon. The SEB official said the duo used GST numbers of other firms to ship the contraband from Visakhapatnam. According to the Times of India, the ganja was smuggled in the guise of stevia leaves (a natural sweetener). The father-son duo of Srinivasa Rao and Mohan Raju acted as their suppliers, according to the SEB official. Along with the father-son duo, the SEB arrested two pick-up associates and a van driver of Amazon, he added. Earlier in November, Bhind district police in Madhya Pradesh had registered an FIR against unnamed Amazon India officials after busting a gang which allegedly supplied ganja under the guise of selling stevia through the e-commerce portal. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra had said that a case has been registered against the executive directors of Amazon in Bhind under Section 38 of the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act. Also read: MP Minister wants Amazon booked for 'selling poison'

Dollar Seshadri, who was with Tirumala Devasthanam for decades, passes away

TTD A well-known figure in Tirumala, he had been with the TTD since 1978. TNM Staff Image: Facebook/SVBC Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Officer on Special Duty (OSD) P Seshadri, who was popularly known as Dollar Seshadri, passed away in Visakhapatnam in the early hours of Monday, November 29. He was reportedly in the port city for the Karthika Deepotsavam, organised by the TTD. A well-known figure in Tirumala, he had been with the TTD for several decades. In a statement, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed shock and grief over his passing. The Chief Minister conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family members of Seshadri, who was with TTD since 1978, the statement said. Seshadri had retired in 2007 but continued to serve the organisation in his capacity as OSD. Seshadri first hit headlines when the infamous case of alleged misappropriation of 300 five-gram gold coins of the TTD came to light. The case pertained to the coins going missing in June 2006, from Bokksam, the TTDs official treasury, where Sri Venkateswaras belongings are stored. The services of Seshadri, who was the sole custodian of the treasury for around a decade, and other senior officials were terminated by the TTD in 2008, as the case became public. In August 2017, a Government Order (GO) was issued, which dropped any further disciplinary action against those named in the case, including Seshadri. Read: Andhra govt drops case against 'Dollar' Seshadri over 2006 TTD gold coins scam Though retired and in an advisory post, Seshadri had significant clout in the TTD. In 2019, Seshadri is said to have lobbied with senior YSRCP leaders close to him, to have a say in the members appointed to the TTD Board after the Jagan government came to power. Seshadris body is being shifted to Tirupati, where people are expected to pay their respects before his final rites are performed. Condolences poured in for him from various quarters after his death. The sudden death of TTD OSD Seshadri has come as a shock. He had been serving the temple for decades. I extend my deepest condolences to his family, TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, who is also the son of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, said.

New sugar mill to be set up in Deoria: CM

Artisans in Kashi to start weaving Pashmina, boost Leh-Ladakh biz

UP CM lays foundation of Asias biggest ethanol plant in Gonda

The money that goes to foreign countries for diesel and petrol will now directly reach farmers, said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while laying the foundation of Asias biggest ethanol plant on Balrampur Sugar Mill premises in Gondas Maijapur area, on Saturday.

Backwards, deprived will playkey role in UP polls: Anupriya

Accused faces NSA in UP schoolgirl rape case

DCP, Varuna Zone, Vikrant Veer on Saturday said, The accused was arrested on Friday. He will also be booked under NSA. Further investigation is underway in the matter.

Andhra govt pulled up by CAG for condition of state finances

Governance CAG said that liabilities of the state have been increasing year-on-year, and that the AP govt needed to estimate its resources more realistically and manage its expenditure judiciously. PTI File Photo Unbridled revenue expenditure and constricted capital expenditure have pushed Andhra Pradesh's finances into disarray, causing a revenue deficit of a staggering Rs 26,441 crore (1,486.28% over the estimate) in the year 2019-20, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has observed. The CAG strongly rebuked the state government over the gross financial mismanagement, particularly in failing to contain the mounting revenue deficit, and violation of the FRBM Act. Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government further amended the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2005, to enable enhanced borrowings and also allow a larger revenue deficit. The fresh amendment enacted on Friday enhances the limit the amount of annual incremental risk weighted guarantees to 180% of the total revenue receipts in the year preceding the current year from the existing 90%. The CAG found fault with the government over the grossly decreased capital expenditure in the year 2019-20 and said it pointed to the need for a review of the fiscal strategy and creation of the fiscal space for increased capital expenditure, which in turn, would help in promoting and accelerating equitable growth. The liabilities of the state have been increasing year-on-year, and over 80% of the borrowings during 2019-20 were utilised only to balance the Revenue Account, affecting asset creation. The CAG, in its State Finances Audit Report for the year ending March 2020, observed that the Andhra Pradesh government needed to estimate its resources more realistically and manage its expenditure judiciously. The CAG report was tabled in the state Legislature on Friday, November 26. The report noted that the state failed to contain revenue deficit during 2015-20, despite receipt of post-devolution Revenue Deficit Grants (to the tune of Rs 22,112 crore) from the Union government as per the 14th Finance Commission recommendations. Revenue deficit of Rs 26,441 crore in 2019-20 was substantially higher than the Budget estimates (Rs 1,779 crore) due to the introduction of new schemes like Amma Vodi (Rs 6,349.47 crore) and nine-hour free power supply to the agriculture sector (Rs 4,919.84 crore) during 2019-20, and a decrease in state's own revenue of Rs 1,511 crore over the previous year, it said. Comparatively, the state incurred a capital expenditure of only Rs 12,242 crore, including Rs 1,830.93 crore funded by the Union government, that constituted mere 7.89% of the total expenditure during 2019-20 and fell way short of the Budget estimate of Rs 32,293 crore. It accounted for only 1.26% of the Gross State Domestic Product and decreased by Rs 7,734 crore (38.72%) from the previous year. The report said there were instances of misclassification of revenue transactions under capital section and non-accounting of other liabilities that would have pushed up the deficits to a further extent. The outstanding debt of the state showed an increasing trend during the five-year period 2015-20. The debt that was Rs 1,73,854 crore during 2015-16, mounted to Rs 3,01,802 crore in 2019-20, marking an increase of 73.60%, the CAG observed. The off-budget borrowing liability of Rs 26,096.98 crore has not been disclosed appropriately as part of the state budget documents. This has the impact of diluting public financial management and oversight role of the Legislature and placing major sources of funding of government's crucial infrastructure projects beyond the control of the Legislature, the CAG remarked.Sound budgetary management requires advance planning and accurate estimation of revenues and expenditure. There were instances of incurring excess expenditure or large savings against the provisions made during the year, which point to flaws in expenditure monitoring and control, the CAG noted. It warned that persistent excess expenditure over grants approved by the state Legislature was a violation of the will of the Legislature and needed to be viewed seriously. On the final day of its delayed monsoon session, the state Legislature passed the FRBM Act Amendment Bill introduced by Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath. A new clause has been inserted in the FRBM Act prescribing higher limits of revenue deficit from 2021-22 to 2025-26 financial years. For the current year, the revenue deficit limit has been pegged at 3.6% of the Gross State Domestic Product, up from 2.5% in 2019-20, though the actual that year was 3.17%. The revenue deficit limit has been pegged at 3.3% (for 2022-23), 3% (2023-24), 2.7% (2024-25) and 2.4% (2025-26). Similarly, another new clause has been inserted, prescribing the fiscal deficit limits till 2025-26, including a 0.5% additional borrowing allowed for performance in the power sector. For 2021-22, the fiscal deficit limit has been set at 5% of the GSDP. The limit has been set at 4.5% for 2022-23, 4% for 2023-24 and 2024-25 and 3.5% for 2025-26. Also, the amendment brought in yet another new clause to ensure the outstanding total liabilities, excluding government guarantees were contained within the prescribed limits till 2025-26 fiscal year. For the current year, the limit has been set at 35.6% of the GSDP. It will be 36.3% in 2022-23, 36.1% in 2023-24, 35.8% in 2024-25 and 35.5% in 2025-26. Explaining the objects and reasons behind the amendments, the Finance Minister said the damage inflicted by the state bifurcation had a disastrous impact on the economic and financial parameters. Buggana said the disadvantages arising from the uneven division of resources (between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) was likely to circumscribe the long-run growth prospects of the state. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the unprecedented measures adopted to contain its spread also had a serious impact on the state's resources, causing a substantial reduction in realisation of its own revenues.Horizontal devolution of Central transfers has considerably reduced in the 15th Finance Commission award. These added constraints only compounded the fiscal stress of the state, the Finance Minister said. Hence the amendments to the FRBM Act, he added.

8 more test positive for Covid in Uttar Pradesh

Eight new cases of coronavirus infection and an equal number of recoveries were reported in the state during the last 24 hours, according to an official statement on Friday.

Band baja barat at this do

NEET arrests case: Police raids in Patna

Minor sexually assaulted inside school campus

Inspector Sigra Baijnath Singh said that the 23-year-old sweeper Sinku has been arrested after lodging of an FIR for sexually assaulting the minor girl in the school on the complaint of her parents. Police had checked the CCTV footage of school before initiating action against Sinku, he said.

In viral video, Andhra boy tells cops to book friend for 'stealing his pencil'

Social A video of an indignant Hanumanthu animatedly telling the police how his friend 'stole his pencil' has gone viral on social media. TNM Staff A screenshot from the viral video You should file a case against him every day, an eight-year-old boy, upset that his friend borrowed his pencil, is heard telling a police officer in Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool district. A video of eight-year-old Hanumanthu indignantly telling the policeman to take action against his friend, who is incidentally also named Hanumanthu, has gone viral on social media. Though the incident is from a few months ago, the video is being widely shared now. The Pedda Kadubur police were going about their work on an uneventful day about three months ago when they heard a commotion outside the police station. The two Hanumanthus, along with a couple of their friends, were having an animated argument over a missing mechanical pencil. We called them in to explain what the fight was about. Thats when the conversation from the video happened, Pedda Kadubur Sub-Inspector Srinivas said. When we were doing homework and playing, he took my pencil! Hanumanthu is seen telling the police in the video. Responding to the accusation with a smile, the second Hanumanthu insists, I took it but I also returned it. Their friends, acting as arbiters, weigh in with their observations, trying to not laugh. The other Hanumanthu then agrees he took leads that are used to fill mechanical pencil, but not the pencil itself. He loaned the leads to me, he says, while Hanumanthu agrees, and shows the box of leads. What do we do about this now? the police officer asks, to which Hanumanthu immediately, firmly says, File a case against him. Ignoring his friends hysterical laughter and the shock on the other Hanumanthus face, he goes on to insist that the police take action against the other Hanumanthu. Police said the video was recorded as they convinced the kids to make peace.Amid toothless smiles and giggles, a police officer brokered a compromise. Have a big heart. Wont his parents feel bad if we send him to jail? he told the child, who hesitantly agreed to a truce and shook hands with his nemesis. Then the two friends agree and patch up. Watch the video below. # ! !pic.twitter.com/HjDi7BoDO6 Vishnu Vardhan Reddy (@SVishnuReddy) November 25, 2021

In pics: Two olive trees make 5-day journey from Andhra to Ambani house in Gujarat

Horticulture The 180-year-old trees were brought from Spain to Andhra three years ago and nurtured in Gautami nursery in Kadiam. Paul Oommen Mukesh Ambani's Jamnagar bungalow will soon house two rare olive trees that were nurtured in an Andhra nursery. The 180-year-old olive trees ( botanical name: Olea Europaea), were brought to Gautami nursery from Spain around three years ago. On Wednesday, November 24, the two large trees were loaded onto a truck and started on a 5-day journey to reach their destination in Gujarat. While Gautami nursery refused to divulge details about how much the trees cost, sources indicate that the Ambanis have spent around Rs 85 lakh, including transportation, on the two olive trees. Margani Veerababu, the proprietor of Gautami nursery in Kadiam, Andhra, says they had received the order around a week ago. It was an architect who referred us to Ambani. The staff from Reliance placed the order last week. They continuously followed up and told us they wanted the trees on priority. We were told Ambani's son chose olive trees to adorn their new bungalow, he tells TNM. The trees weigh around 2-tonne each, the roots were carefully packed with earth and then covered and protected for their journey. It took a team of 25 people and hydraulic cranes to load the trees onto the modified truck. The vehicle will travel at a speed of 30-40 km/hour due to the heavy load and fragile nature of the trees and hence will take around 5 days to reach Jamnagar. The Ambanis are developing a zoo and an entire ecosystem is being built. They are collecting rare trees of several species to add to their collection, says Veerababu.Olive trees are considered holy and live for very long. The tree is believed to bring prosperity. It is rare to find a tree of this size and structure, he adds. Along with the two olive trees, the nursery has also sent a dozen other trees and shrubs, which were loaded onto another truck. The deal has opened up new avenues for the Andhra nursery that is already supplying to several corporate companies, resorts and hotels across the country. Plants from this nursery also adorn the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.

BSPs Mubarakpur MLA quits post, party

Points of deployment of police,PAC in KV Dham finalised

KVT walls being treated under KV Dham project

Andhra to vaccinate 100% of eligible population by March 2022: CM Jagan

Coronavirus The Chief Minister told the state Assembly that 100% of the targeted population would be administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of December this year. PTI The entire targeted population (18-plus age group) of 3.95 crore in Andhra Pradesh would be fully covered under the COVID-19 vaccination programme by the end of March 2022, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said in Amaravati on Thursday, November 25. So far, 3,41,53,000 people (87% were administered the first dose of coronavirus vaccine while 2.39 crore (61%) took the second dose as well, the Chief Minister told the state Assembly. Winding up a short discussion on health, the Chief Minister said 100% of the targeted population would be administered the COVID-19 vaccine first dose by the end of December this year. Unfortunately, vaccines are not in our hands. We can administer only as many doses as the Union government gives us. Still, we could so far inoculate 87% of the population, Jagan said. He said the state government so far spent Rs 3,648.11 crore on COVID-19 care, including Rs 1,215 crore granted by the Union government. The CM said his government valued human life. To protect every life by making medicare accessible to every poor person, we have taken many steps in the last two and a half years. Ninety-five percent of the state population that has an annual income of up to Rs 5 lakh is covered under the Aarogya Sri health insurance scheme, which is expanded to cover 2,446 medical procedures, Jagan said. He noted that about Rs 4,000 crore was spent in the last 29 months on Aarogya Sri. Costly procedures like heart transplantation (Rs 11 lakh), stem cell transplantation (two models of Rs 6.3 lakh and Rs 9.3 lakh each), bone marrow transplantation (Rs 10 lakh), bi-cochlear implant (Rs 12 lakh) are now covered under Aarogya Sri, he added. The Chief Minister further said 10,032 village clinics and 560 urban health clinics were being set up across the state. Also, 1,325 primary health centres, 52 area hospitals and 191 community health centres are being transformed with better amenities in conformity with the national standards. Doctors and para-medical staff were being recruited. We are spending Rs 16,250 crore on all this. Besides, we are also establishing 16 new teaching hospitals, ushering in a great revolution, Jagan said. This would make super-specialty medical services available in each of the 25 parliamentary constituencies in the state. The Chief Minister said the government was also encouraging private players to set up super-specialty hospitals in all district headquarters. We will give land and support them in every way if they come forward to set up the facilities at a cost of Rs 100 crore each, he added. Earlier, making a detailed statement in the House, Deputy Chief Minister (Health) AKK Srinivas (Nani) said a sum of Rs 13,830 crore has been earmarked in the current year's Budget for healthcare, which was a 21.11% hike over last year. He said more than 14,000 posts, including doctors and professors, were being filled up in the Medical and Health Department now to strengthen the healthcare delivery and also improve teaching. Read:Midnight tragedy: 33 killed in AP dam breach, they thought flood wont reach them

Midnight tragedy: 33 killed in AP dam breach, they thought flood wont reach them

Rains Mandapalle village in Kadapa district had previously never been flooded even during heavy rainfall, so many residents did not heed the official warning of a possible dam breach and failed to evacuate their homes. Balakrishna Ganeshan At around 3.30 am on Friday, November 19, water from the ring bund of the Pincha dam in Andhra Pradeshs Kadapa district started overflowing, with the excess water accumulating dangerously in the interlinked Annamayya dam. Annamayya, a medium irrigation project with a gross capacity of just 2.24 thousand million cubic feet (tmc), could not hold the water for long. The dam breached around 5.30 am the same day, submerging the 10 villages, including Togurupeta, Mandapalle, Pulapathur and Gundlur, located downstream of the project. At least 33 persons perished in the raging waters. As per the latest official figures, the bodies of 12 persons are yet to be identified. In Mandapalle village alone, 12 people who had sought shelter in the nearby Shivalayam temple, located at the foothills of a hillock, were tragically washed away. Damage due to the flood in Mandapalle village According to Kadapa District Collector V Vijay Rama Raju, the district administration were on a vigil from 6 pm on Thursday, November 18 itself and had alerted the villagers in the flood-prone areas through Village Revenue Officers and villagevolunteers. Mandapalle, a village nestled between misty hills with the Cheyyeru river flowing alongside it, received the alert around 11 pm on Thursday, according to the residents. They, however, did not realise the gravity of the situation. Mandapalle has two sub villages Edhugu Mandapalle and Dhiguvu Mandapalle. While no human loss was reported in Dhiguvu Mandapalle, 12 from Edhugu Mandapalle who went to the Shivalayam temple, against the instructions of the authorities, were swept away. At 11 pm on Thursday, the village volunteer informed us that the rainfall is heavy, that there could be pressure on the dam, and asked us to remain on alert, said Shashidhar, a resident of Edhugu Mandapalle. Nine of Shashidhars family members died after they were washed away in the water. Shashidhars father, Ramamoorthy, is a priest, and they thought that they could survive the deluge if they went to the temple. The residents have done this previously whenever there was a flood threat. House that collapsedin Mandapalle villagedue to the flood Meanwhile, as there was a threat of a breach in Pincha, officials scrambled and hurriedly began the evacuation process. By 3 am we made calls to all the political leaders asking them to evacuate the village immediately. Besides, our Village Revenue Officer Nagamani went door-to-door around 3.30 am asking people to shift to the relief camp that was set up in a nearby school. We had arranged tractors for the evacuation, Rajampet Tahsildar Ravi Shankar told TNM. The residents of Dhiguvu Mandapalle paid heed to the warning but the residents of Edhugu Mandapalle made a disastrous choice. They ignored our warning and refused to get into the vehicles as they have never witnessed such a disaster, Ravi Shankar said. That day it was Karthika Pournami, an auspicious day, so some people instead went to the temple on their own against our advice. Residents sorting their belongings after dam breach flooded Mandapalle village Those who defied the officials and took shelter in the temple included the Deputy Sarpanch of the village, Eashwariah. It proved to be a costly mistake as his wife and mother were washed away in the deluge. Previously, water has never entered our village, thats why I remained in the village while my family went to the temple, said Ramamoorthy. A flooded road in Mandapalle villageafter the flood Ramamoorthy survived the disaster after he climbed up to the terrace of his neighbours house but nine of his family members were not so lucky. Those who died include five children Manveeth (2), Chasmitha (7), Ramyashri (11), Vicky (12) and Latha (16). While four bodies have been found, the others are missing. It has been more than four days. At this stage identifying the bodies will be very difficult, said Vinay, Ramamoorthys youngest son. Edhugu Mandapalle has many rich farmers, who have constructed concrete houses at a height to avoid flooding. They refused to evacuate because the village has never been flooded. Nobody expected that the dam would breach and submerge the entire village, said Ravi Shankar. According to him, by 2.30 am, around 200 residents of Dhiguvu Mandapalle had been shifted to the relief camp, while none of the residents of Edhugu Mandapalle showed any interest in evacuating. Electronic appliances like this fridge were washed away from homes in Mandapalle village Even we did not know that the dam would break, but the VRO took a lot of effort to urge the residents to move to safety, he added. Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu who visited the flood-affected areas on Tuesday, November 23, alleged that administrative failure had caused the disaster. Food being served in the relief camp set up in Mandapalle village Meanwhile, Kadapa Collector Vijay Rama Raju in his report about the breach of the Pincha and Annamayya dams, submitted to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday, said that the district received unprecedented rainfall. He said that on the evening of November 18, Pincha received 1.17 lakh cusecs of rainwater. Even if we had protected the ring bund, we could not have controlled the water, the Collector said. According to him, while Annamayya dams capacity was 2.17 lakh cusecs, it crossed 3.2 lakh cusecs by Friday morning. Denying the charges of negligence, the Collector said that by 6 pm on November 18, the entire government machinery was vigilant, and Village Revenue Officers and village volunteers had informed the 1,250 families in the flood-prone areas to be on alert. He said that before Annamayya dam breached, 400 families were evacuated to safety.

10 fresh Covid cases in Uttar Pradesh in past 24 hours

Ten new cases of coronavirus infection and an equal number of recoveries were reported in the past 24 hours in the state, according to an official statement on Covid-19 shared by the health department here on Wednesday.

Andhra to considerably hike green tax on older vehicles, Bill passed in Assembly

Law As per the amendment Bill, Rs 2,000 will be charged as green tax on motorcycles aged above 15 years, for a five-year period. PTI Image for representation/PTI The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, November 24 passed the AP Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, for enhancing the tax on motor vehicles and net an additional revenue of Rs 409.58 crore per annum. Significant in the amended law will be the multi-fold increase in the 'green tax' on aged vehicles, making it a disincentive to continue their usage. Karnataka now tops the southern states in taxes on motor vehicles and now, with the new amended law, Andhra Pradesh too joins its neighbour. Moving the Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani) claimed it has been proposed to 'rationalise' the rates of life tax (on vehicles) in view of growing inflation and also the increasing need to improve road infrastructure, road safety and anti-pollution measures. The green tax was last revised in the year 2006. There are 4.17 lakh transport vehicles (excluding autos and goods carriages) aged over seven years and another 20.31 lakh non-transport vehicles aged over 15 years in the state. In 2019-20, the state collected Rs 4.85 crore as green tax on transport and non-transport vehicles but, with the new enactment, it hopes to garner an additional revenue of Rs 50 crore per annum. As per the amendment Bill, Rs 2,000 will be charged as green tax on motorcycles aged above 15 years, for a five-year period. For motorcycles above 20 years, the green tax will be Rs 5,000. The existing rate is only Rs 250 for five years. For other vehicles, the green tax will be charged at Rs 5,000 (aged above 15 years) and Rs 10,000 (above 20 years), the previous rate being only Rs 500.The rationalisation of green tax is to discourage older vehicles from plying on the roads, the Transport Minister said. For new vehicles, on two-wheelers costing up to Rs 50,000, the tax rate of nine per cent has not been changed but, on those valued above Rs 50,000, the life time tax has been enhanced to 12% to net an additional Rs 163 crore to the government. For cars, the tax rates have been hiked by one per cent (up to Rs 5 lakh), two per cent (up to Rs 10 lakh), three per cent (up to Rs 20 lakh) and four per cent (above Rs 20 lakh). Meanwhile, the Assembly also passed another Bill to further amend the AP Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1956, making it mandatory for exhibitors to sell movie tickets only through the online booking platform, to be operated by the state Film Development Corporation. The Bill replaces an Ordinance issued on November 9. Moving the Bill on behalf of the Chief Minister, Perni Nani, who also holds the Information and Public Relations portfolio, said the proposed online movie booking system would help in checking black marketing, besides stopping tax evasion.The government decided to enhance the movie theatre experience by introducing a seamless online booking system, on the lines of Indian Railways. It caters to people without any hassle, saves time, reduces traffic problems and pollution, the Minister said.

Kushinagar-Delhi SpiceJet flight to begin from Friday

NH-56, NH-233 dropped from list of projects to be opened by PM

KV Dham security upgrade begins ahead of PMs visit

Man killed, father injured in dispute over DJ in Ballia

A 30-year-old man was killed while his 50-year-old father suffered grave injuries when they were attacked at a marriage function in Kasmapur village under the limits of Khejuri police station in Ballia district over a dispute of playing music on DJ on Tuesday night.

Varanasi: Kashi Vishwanath Dham begins security upgrade ahead of PM Modis visit

Work to equip the over Rs 700-crore Kashi Vishwanath Dham (corridor) project area enshrining the highly sensitive Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Gyanvapi mosque with a state-of-the-art security system has been intensified by the police commissionerate ahead of its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in mid-December.

Andhra moves one step closer to selling movie tickets on govt portal, Bill passed

Cinema The state government said that they want to tackle the scenario of irregular ticket pricing, unauthorised shows, and large gaps between the taxes and film collections through the Bill. IANS Image for representation: PTI The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday, November 24, passed the AP Cinemas (Regulation) (Amendment) Bill 2021, paving the way for an online movie ticketing system to be administered by the state government. The government said the amendment would help the government regulate cinema ticket pricing and check exploitation of moviegoers. Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah, who tabled the Bill on behalf of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, said that the government brought the amendment to regulate ticket pricing and stop the exploitation of middle-class people by some exhibitors. He cited the current scenario of irregular ticket pricing, number of screenings, unauthorised shows, and even large gaps between the taxes and film collections. In order to regulate these, the government has decided to introduce a transparent online ticketing system, on the lines of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), and the Indian Railways online ticketing system, to keep a check on tax evasions, and enhance the movie theatre experience in the state, he said. The proposed online ticketing system will enable the public to book tickets through mobile phones without queuing up at theatres or burning their pockets by buying tickets in black, he said. The minister said that all stakeholders like producers, distributors, and exhibitors have welcomed the decision but a few political parties are still politicising the matter, although they were not related to the issue. He stated the online booking system will be maintained by the Film Development Corporation (FDC) with a dedicated payment gateway to stop the tax evasion and enable the Revenue Department to collect taxes on time, without any irregularities. Read: Jagan govt plans online cinema ticket portal, film industry taken by surprise Later, presenting the AP Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill 2021, the Minister said that the amendment is part of the Union governments recommendation of Green Tax to save the environment from carbon emissions. In the case of transport vehicles that are seven to 10 years from the time of the registration green tax of Rs 4,000, which is half of the quarterly tax per annum and similarly if the age is 10 to 12 years, Rs 5,000 per annum and if the vehicle is more than 12 years, Rs 6,000 per annum will be levied. Also, along with green tax, there is an increase of tax on new vehicles which is one percent on the vehicles that cost below Rs 5 lakh and three percent on those vehicles that cost between Rs 10-20 lakh, and on the luxury vehicles that cost more than Rs 20 lakh, a total of 18% tax will be imposed.

Andhras Kondapalli municipality chairman election held on HC order after much delay

Election With YSRCP and TDP winning nearly equal wards, YSRCP members have been stalling the chairman election, after the court allowed TDP MP Kesineni Nani to vote as an ex-officio member. IANS Image for representation/Wikimedia Commons The election for the chairman and vice-chairman of Kondapalli Municipality in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh was held on Wednesday, November 24 as per the direction of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The State Election Commission completed the poll process amid tight security. However, as per the court orders, the result was not declared. TDP ward members reached the municipal office under the leadership of Vijayawada MP Kesineni Nani while ward members of the YSRCP were led by MLA Vasanta Krishna Prasad. The election was not conducted earlier on Monday and Tuesday. Ward members of the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Kesineni Nani had approached the High Court seeking direction to the Assistant Election Officer to conduct the election without further delay. The court had observed that the election was apparently postponed not to implement its orders allowing MP Kesineni Nani to vote in the election as an ex-officio member. On Friday, November 19, the high court had directed the State Election Commission to allow TDP MP Kesineni Nani to vote as an ex-officio member. Kesineni Nanis lawyer had argued that according to the Andhra Pradesh Municipalities Act, an MP can choose a municipality of their choice to be the ex-officio member. Justice D Ramesh had summoned Vijayawada police commissioner (in charge) G Pala Raju and Assistant Election Officer Shivanarayana Reddy. When Shivanarayana Reddy said the situation was not suitable to conduct the election, the judge asked him why he did not seek the help of police. After issuing the direction to conduct the election on Wednesday, the court adjourned the case hearing to November 25. The poll panel was directed not to announce poll results till further orders. In the municipal elections held last week, ruling YSRCP and TDP had won 14 wards each. However, TDP's strength rose to 15 as independent ward member K Srilakshmi joined the party. The newly elected ward members were scheduled to elect the chairman and vice-chairman on Monday. With MLA Krishna Prasad eligible to cast his vote as ex-officio member, YSRCP's tally had gone up to 15. However, YSRCP members stalled the election on Monday on the grounds that the Vijayawada MP can't participate in the voting. The High Court allowed Kesineni Nani to cast his vote but will rule later on the validity of his vote. In the recent elections held for 13 urban local bodies, YSRCP had swept the polls winning 11 of them with a clear majority. TDP won Darsi municipality in Prakasam district while the result was tied in Kondapalli.

Andhra floods: Jagan seeks Rs 1000 cr interim relief from Union govt

Andhra Rains 2021 In a letter to PM Narendra Modi, Jagan said that 40 people had died in the floods so far, and 25 people were still missing. TNM Staff The heavy rains that wreaked havoc in four districts of Andhra Pradesh killed at least 40 people, with 25 people still missing, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy revealed in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah. Pegging the total losses due to the floods at Rs 6,054.29 crore, he sought immediate interim relief of Rs 1,000 crore from the Union government, to provide relief to flood affected families, and also to restore damaged infrastructure. Jagan also requested that the Union government depute an Inter Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) to assess the damage and losses caused by the heavy rains. In his letter, Jagan noted that between November 13 and 20, the flood affected districts of Chittoor, Nellore, Anantapur and Kadapa received 11.1 cm of rainfall as against the normal rainfall of 3.2 cm a deviation of 255.5%. The heavy rains led to inundation of low-lying rains, with 17 NDRF and SDRF teams and two helicopters deployed to undertake search and rescue operations. In total, nearly 1402 villages in 196 mandals and four towns were affected. Many highways and rail routes were damaged, and irrigation tanks and canals got breached in the four flood-affected districts. The Somasila reservoir in Pennar basin received heavy inflows of more than 5 lakh cusecs of water during 48 hours, leading to inundation of low-lying areas in Nellore town and Kovur in the district. The Annamayya reservoir in Kadapa district was also breached, causing major damage. In Nellore district, the Swarnamukhi river has been in spate, and the road between Kovur and Nellore town is submerged in flood water, Jagan noted. Crops in thousands of acres that were ready for harvest were damaged, he said. Agricultural crops to an extent of 1.43 lakh hectares, and horticulture crops to an extent of 42,299 hectares, were damaged, as per preliminary estimates. Road surface damages were estimated to have occurred at a length of 1,887.65 km. Under Municipal Administration, about 240.90 km length of road, 59.6 km pipelines, 2,764 street lights, 197.05 km open drainage, and 71 municipal schools, buildings and community centres etc. were damaged. About 2254.32 km of panchayat roads consisting of 1,013 roads and nine buildings were also damaged, as per the estimates. Around 1085 Rural Water Supply works, 376 pumping machinery, 183 intake structures etc. were also damaged, along with several electric feeder lines, substations and electric poles, the letter added. Read: Andhra villages lose electricity, see loss of crop and property in heavy floods

PM may lay Kashi ropeway foundation if bidding by Dec 11

Leading global ropeway-and-ski lift manufacturers from Austria, France and Malaysia displayed interest in executing the Rs 410-crore ambitious ropeway venture in Kashi, straddling a 4km distance between Varanasi Junction and Godowlia in the first phase.

Queen Ahilyabai Holkars statue to be installed at KV Dham

Foreign ski-lift firms join pre-bid meet for Rs 410 crore Kashi ropeway project

Leading global ropeway-and-ski lift manufacturers from Austria, US, France and Malaysia displayed interest in executing the Rs 410-crore ambitious ropeway venture in Kashi, straddling a 4km distance between Varanasi Junction and Godowlia in the first phase.

Andhra floods: Crops worth Rs 3,000 cr damaged

Andhra rains According to official figures, agriculture and horticulture crops spread over eight lakh hectares were affected due to the rains. IANS Image: Indian Navy Heavy rain and floods in four districts of Andhra Pradesh have damaged agriculture and horticulture crops spread over eight lakh hectares, officials said. According to the preliminary reports from the affected districts, the crop loss is estimated to be around Rs 3,000 crore. Agriculture Minister K. Kannababu said a detailed crop enumeration will be done once the floods recede. The district-wise breakup of crop loss was yet to be updated but as per the district-wise information available as on November 21, Kadapa district suffered the maximum. Crops over 1,26,167 hectares were damaged in Kadapa, followed by 90,498 hectares in Anantapur. Nellore and Chittoor districts had suffered crop damage over 12,118 hectares and 9,616 hectares respectively. Kadapa district also recorded damage to horticulture crops over 17,912 hectares. In Anantapur and Nellore districts, the extent of horticulture crops damaged were 616 and 101 hectares respectively. Agriculture department officials said crops were washed away due to breaches in the bunds of irrigation projects like the Annamaya project and the Cheyyeru reservoir in Kadapa district. Paddy, sunflower, black gram and cotton crops suffered the maximum damage. The affected farmers said that floods destroyed the crops which were ready for harvesting. They have appealed to the government to come to their rescue. The dairy industry also suffered a huge blow as hundreds of cattle were washed away. The state government announced that financial assistance of Rs 30,000 will be provided to the farmers in case of the death of a buffalo or a cow and Rs 3,000 in case of a sheep or a goat. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials to start crop enumeration and also to supply seeds at 80% subsidy. The floods triggered by heavy rain under the impact of a depression in the Bay of Bengal left a trail of destruction, claiming 34 lives while another 10 people were missing. Over 1,300 villages were inundated due to the floods, the worst in recent years. The deluge caused widespread damage to the infrastructure and snapped vital road and rail links in the region. The state government has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the family of each deceased. Eight teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and as many of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were deployed for rescue and relief operations. Two helicopters were used for rescue operations in 19 places. The authorities opened 294 relief camps in the flood-affected areas. About 58,000 people were evacuated from the affected areas and shifted to relief camps. The temple town of Tirupati in Chittoor district was the worst hit by the rain and floods. The ghat roads and walkways to the famous Sri Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala suffered huge damage. Even four days after the rains, several low-lying areas in Tirupati and its suburbs remained inundated. A similar situation prevailed in several parts of Chittoor and Nellore districts. The authorities were air-dropping essential commodities in the marooned villages of Chittoor district on Tuesday. The Chief Minister has directed officials to step up the relief work. He asked them to provide a compensation of Rs 95,100 and sanction a new house to those who lost their homes and Rs 5,200 to those whose houses are partially damaged due to floods. He said the state government has sanctioned an additional Rs 10 crore each to Kurnool, Chittoor, Anantapur and Kadapa districts totalling to Rs 40 crore for relief measures. The heavy rain and floods led to breaches in several lakes and tanks, adding to the people's woes. The natural calamity caused extensive damage to the irrigation system, electricity poles, towers and transmission system and roads. State, district and rural roads to a total length of about 2,000 km were damaged. As per the initial estimates of the Roads and Buildings department, Rs 800 crore is required for repair of the damaged roads and bridges. The Chief Minister has directed the officials of Panchayat Raj and Municipal Administration Departments to finalise the tenders for permanent restoration work in the next four weeks. Meanwhile, leader of opposition and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday visited the flood-affected areas in Kadapa district. The former Chief Minister visited a few villages in Rajampet and Nandluru mandals and interacted with the affected people. Naidu will visit the flood-hit areas of Chittoor district on Wednesday and of Nellore district on Thursday.

AP Assembly passes resolution to continue Council, that Jagan once sought to abolish

Politics Earlier, the ruling YSRCP was in minority in the 58-member Council, but has now secured a majority. PTI File photo Blaming the Union government for failing to take any action on its resolution seeking abolition of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, the state Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, November 23, adopted a fresh one, withdrawing the previous statutory resolution and seeking to continue the Council that is in existence. Finance and Legislative Affair Minister Buggana Rajendranath moved the resolution and the Assembly passed it by voice vote. On January 27 last year, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government passed the statutory resolution under Article 169(1) of the Constitution seeking to abolish the state Legislative Council, purely in public interest as it was proving a drain on the exchequer. Earlier, the ruling YSRCP was in minority in the 58-member Council. Now that it has secured a majority of its members in recent days, the Jagan government passed another resolution to continue the Council.Despite constant persuasion of the matter at various levels and the elapse of a considerable period of time of one year and 10 months, the Government of India failed to take any action on the resolution of the AP Legislative Assembly. Meanwhile, the Council is functioning and discharging its bounden duties, Minister Buggana said in the latest resolution. He claimed that there was uncertainty among members of the Council as the matter of its abolition was kept pending by the Ministry of Home Affairs for an inordinately long period.In the context of the delay and there being no visibility as to the timeframe in which action is likely to be completed, it is considered necessary to put an end to the prevailing situation of uncertainty and ambiguity, which is affecting the dignity and decorum always associated with the Council and its members, the Minister said. Hence, the move to withdraw the previous statutory resolution, Buggana added. The move came a day after the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government passed a Bill in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, repealing the controversial AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, which was intended to establish three capitals for the state. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, however, told the Assembly that the government would come up with a complete, comprehensive and better Bill to take forward his decentralised development plan after explaining our genuine intention and the need for decentralisation to all concerned and incorporating necessary changes. Read: Andhra Assembly withdraws three-capital Bills, govt to bring in 'improved' law later

PK spills beans on other gangs of solvers, another kingpin held

When leaders like Yogi Baba come to power, all facilities reach people: Nadda

Defence min to address booth unit presidents of 16 dists of Kashi on Nov 27

Agitating farmers should end protest, says Athawale

Andhra villages lose electricity, see loss of crop and property in heavy floods

Andhra Rains 2021 Villages in and around Rajampeta are urging authorities to rectify the situation as soon as possible. Charan Teja Several villages in the Rajampeta revenue division of Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh are reeling following recent devastating floods in the region. Many roads that connect interior villages were inaccessible due to severe inundation, according to regional media reports. Villages around Rajampeta town were also badly affected as electricity to these areas was disturbed. Speaking to TNM, Ravinder Varma, a resident and veterinarian from Rajampeta, said that the area saw major storms and heavy rain after a one-day gap had brought some respite to the area. He noted that villages in Chinnamandem, Obulavaripalli and Railway Koduru mandals have seen rainfall.While most of the interior villages were cut off from transportation facilities, Tirupati-Kadapa highway has also been damaged in some places. However, that has not disturbed vehicular traffic, he said. Subramanyam Mitta, another resident from Rajampeta, said, The parts which saw flooding due to overflow of tanks nearby were cleared. In Nandaluru mandal, some houses in low lying areas have been affected. Mud from the Cheyyeru river is blocking roads and nearby villages like Gundlur, many noted. In Tougurupeta, Mandapalli and Pulapaturu villages, heavy destruction of property was reported as several houses collapsed and stray animals were said to have washed away in the flood. Residents from these villages are urging authorities to clear the mud from the houses and residential areas on a priority basis. But according to authorities, it will take a few more days to restore electricity supply to some villages. The major flooding was caused due to a breach in the Annamayya project on the Cheyyeru river. According to the reports, around 20 people died, and over a dozen people who were believed to have washed away have not yet been found. Standing crops on several hundreds of acres of land in the region have also been destroyed, leaving farmers with massive losses. District SP KKN Anburajan, speaking to TNM, said, So far, 16 bodies of those who had washed away in the Cheyyeru river floods have been recovered. Rescue and relief operations are underway; the state police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) along with the Air Force are actively participating in relief operations. The SP further said that if the rains completely recede by Tuesday morning, the situation could be brought under control.

Andhra Assembly withdraws three-capital Bills, govt to bring in 'improved' law later

Governance Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy told the Assembly that the government will return to the House with a comprehensive, improved Bill. Jahnavi Reddy The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday, November 22, passed the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions (Repeal) Bill, 2021 in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, thus repealing its earlier laws on the trifurcation of the states capital. The Bill was introduced by Andhra Pradesh Minister for Finance, Planning and Legislative Affairs Buggana Rajendranath. There had been severe opposition by the TDP, as well as protests by farmers in Amaravati, over the Andhra governments move to make three cities the state capital of Andhra Pradesh Visakhapatnam was to be the executive capital, Amaravati the legislative capital and Kurnool was to be the judicial capital. The government is likely to reintroduce the proposal again in the Assembly at a later time, given that its biggest impediment TDP having a majority in the Legislative Council, no longer poses a challenge, as YSRCP now has a majority in both Houses. Speaking when the Bill was being tabled, Jagan said, Everyone knows the TDP governments decision to set up a capital in Amaravati was controversial, and that it went against the Sivaramakrishnan committee report. I have nothing against this region. I am even fond of this region. But this region is neither exactly in Guntur or Vijayawada. There is no basic infrastructure, like roads, electricity, drainage. It was estimated to cost Rs 1 lakh crores to set up infrastructure, according to the TDP government itself. In ten years, this cost would shoot up further. It is unfair to mislead people about a big, imaginary capital, when we cant even afford to have proper roads. Vizag on the other hand already is the biggest city in the state, it already has all basic infrastructure. If we work on beautification and other amenities, it can realistically be developed to compete with cities like Hyderabad within ten years, he added. Jagan said that the three-capital idea was floated with the idea of uniform development in mind. Since then, many misconceptions have been created around it, along with many legal hurdles. It is in these circumstances that we are having to make this announcement. As soon as the capital decentralisation Bills were passed, if the trifurcation process had begun, we would have been able to see the positive results by now, he said. Stating that in the 2019 elections, peoples mandate made it clear that repeating a super capital model like Hyderabad is not what they wanted, Jagan added, Amidst the negative publicity, misconceptions and legal hurdles, some have also said that a few people would face injustice as a result of this move. In this context, to properly elaborate the governments good intentions in decentralising the capitals, the need for it, and to ensure all legal questions are answered in the Bill itself, to improve the Bill, to explain the issue in detail to people of all regions, and to make any other changes if needed, the government is withdrawing the Bill introduced earlier. Taking all these factors into account, the government will return to the House with a comprehensive, improved Bill. Speaking before the Chief Minister and stressing the need for decentralised development, Rajendranath condemned the opposition to the YSRCP governments three-capital proposal. When the government has taken such a good decision, why should there be even 1-2% of opposing thoughts? Lets look into it one more time. Lets meet again. Even if a small number of people are influenced (by TDP), if they have any questions, we will address them. The policy will be redesigned with 100% acceptance of all stakeholders. With a lot of magnanimity, we are repealing the Bill. Rajendranath stressed the need for decentralised development, noting that the Sivaramakrishnan Committee which had studied the feasibility of a new capital for Andhra Pradesh had also recommended the same. He also noted that in united Andhra Pradesh, development in the form of private and government investments, as well as establishment of major educational institutions, was heavily focused in Hyderabad. Sixty percent of the resources were poured into the HMDA (Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority) area, he said. Like a city out of Baahubali, Chandrababu Naidu conceptualised a mythical capital of 7500 sq kms, despite the huge revenue deficit at the time, he added. Earlier in the day, Advocate General S Sriram had orally informed the Andhra Pradesh High Court of the governments decision to withdraw the two Bills. The court had recently resumed a fresh hearing over multiple petitions challenging the Bills. Read: Andhra withdraws three-capital Bills, Jagan govt informs HC While the previous TDP government had chosen the Amaravati region near Vijayawada as the state capital, the Jagan government halted all development works in the region since YSRCP came to power in May 2019. In December 2019, Jagan proposed trifurcation of the state capital into three Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, Amaravati as the legislative capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital in the interest of decentralised development. The move was opposed by thousands of farmers and landowners from the Amaravati region who had given up their land for the development of Amaravati as the sole capital, in exchange for developed plots in what was promised to be built as a world-class capital city by the TDP. After the TDP blocked the passage of the Bills in the Legislative Council the first time, the two Bills were passed in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly for a second time in June 2020. While the TDP earlier enjoyed a majority in the 58-member Legislative Council, this has now changed, with the YSRCP set to acquire a majority with the upcoming MLC polls.

Andhra withdraws three-capital Bills, Jagan govt informs HC

Law The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government had proposed to set up a legislative capital at Amaravati, an executive capital at Visakhapatnam and a judicial capital at Kurnool. TNM Staff The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to withdraw its contentious Bills on the trifurcation of the state capital into three Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and Kurnool. During an ongoing hearing in the Andhra Pradesh High Court over multiple petitions challenging the two contentious Bills AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020 the Advocate General S Sriram informed the court of the governments decision to withdraw them, LiveLaw reported. Following a Cabinet meeting convened on the morning of November 21, Minister Kodali Nani told reporters that CM Jagan is expected to announce key decisions taken at the meeting in the Assembly. Read:Andhra Assembly withdraws three-capital Bills, govt to bring in 'improved' law later The Amaravati capital proposal was a flagship project of the Nara Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government. Since the YSRCP government came to power in May 2019, development works in the Amaravati region had been stalled. The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government proposed decentralisation of the capital with the executive capital at Visakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati and judicial capital at Kurnool. The YSRCP government had insisted that development and urbanisation in the Amaravati-Vijayawada-Guntur region will continue in spite of the trifurcation of the capital. In June last year, the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020, for the second time after the opposition TDP blocked the passage of the Bills in the Legislative Council. The two Bills were first passed by the Assembly in January last year but the TDP, which enjoyed a majority in the 58-member Legislative Council, stalled them in the Upper House and referred them to Select Committees for wider scrutiny. Irked by the move, the Assembly also passed a resolution urging the Union government to abolish the upper house of the state legislature. The move had been opposed by several farmers and landowners of the Amaravati region, with protests demanding that Amaravati be retained as the sole state capital continuing for nearly two years now, organised by the Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi and Amaravati Joint Action Committee (JAC). A 45-day walkathon in the name of maha padayatra from Amaravati to Tirupati was launched on November 1. The walkathon had reached Kavali town of Nellore district as of November 21, with the state unit of the BJP extending their support to the movement. The previous TDP government had undertaken land pooling for Amaravati under a separate law passed in 2014, called the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) Act. Those who owned land in the capital region could volunteer to give it up to the state government, in exchange for a portion of land in the form of a developed plot. The TDP government had pooled 33,000 acres of land from farmers and landowners under the land pooling scheme, who expected land prices to go up substantially once a world-class capital was built as promised by the Chandrababu Naidu-led government. These hopes were dashed when the Jagan government announced its decision to have three capitals. Read: Naidu breaks down at press meet, vows to enter Assembly only after returning to power

UP: BJYM office bearer killed in celebratory firing

A Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) office bearer, Ashish Gupta (25), was killed in celebratory firing during a marriage function in Mirzapur district in the wee hours of Monday.

Andhra rains: Death toll climbs to 33, several highways closed due to flooding

Andhra floods The Chennai-Kolkata National Highway-16 remained cut off for traffic between Nellore and Vijayawada as was the Chennai grand trunk rail route. PTI Image: PTI In Andhra Pradesh, hundreds of vehicles and people were stranded, traffic was either closed or suspended in arterial highways and over 100 trains cancelled snapping rail-road link between southern and other parts of the country on Sunday, November 21, as the Penna river in spate caused heavy destruction. The death toll in rain-related incidents in different districts of Andhra Pradesh touched 33 as more bodies were retrieved from the flooded streams and at least 12 people were reported missing. The Chennai-Kolkata National Highway-16 remained cut off for traffic between Nellore and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh as was the Chennai grand trunk rail route severing the all-important link between the southern and eastern and northern parts of the country. According to the South Central Railway, more than 100 express trains were cancelled because of the damage caused to the railway tracks near Nellore and 29 more diverted. The Chennai-Mumbai rail route that runs through Kadapa district also remained shut as the tracks got washed away near Nandalur. A fresh flood scare, meanwhile, started in temple-town Tirupati and surrounding villages as a breach started developing in the Rayalacheruvu lake. The Chittoor district authorities have directed people living in 20 villages to immediately move to safer locations. Senior IAS officer P S Pradyumna, deputed to Chittoor district to oversee flood relief operations, told reporters, The situation is grim, so we have forewarned the people to move to rehabilitation camps. While the tank capacity is just 0.2 tmc ft, it is now filled with 0.9 tmc ft. Every effort was being made to plug the breach and avoid any major calamity, he said. In total, the government said 2,007 houses were damaged in four flood-hit districts, the highest being 911 in Chittoor, causing a loss of Rs 5.18 crore. The loss on account of cattle and livestock was Rs 2.47 crore in these districts. The state government ordered free distribution of 25 kg rice, one kg red gram dal, one litre of edible oil, a kg each of potatoes and onion to the flood-affected families. According to government data, the rain and flood-related death count was 20 in Kadapa, seven in Anantapur, four in Chittoor and two in SPS Nellore. In Nellore district, the body of an unidentified person was found near the Somasila reservoir. In Kadapa district, where 12 people were missing, crops on hundreds of acres were destroyed, heads of cattle washed away and tens of houses in villages were reduced to rubble as flash floods due to a breach of the Annamayya project's earthen bund on Cheyyeru river caused havoc. In Kadapa city, a mother and child, who were trapped on the second floor of a building were rescued in the nick of time by rescue personnel, just before the three-storied building folded like a pack of cards in the wee hours. Floodwater gushing out from the Veligallu reservoir led to the collapse of a bridge on river Papagni cutting off the road link between Kadapa and Anantapur districts. As floods caused devastation, the Chennai-Kolkata National Highway-16 had to be closed down for traffic in SPS Nellore district following a heavy breach at Padugupadu. The State Disaster Management Authority said more than two lakh cusecs of floodwater flowed out of the Somasila reservoir in SPS Nellore district, leading to the deluge. This caused a breach at another location, Kovuru as well hitting the National Highway-16 route. Consequently, traffic on the NH-16 between Nellore and Vijayawada was suspended, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded for kilometres on either side. The National Highways officials, along with the SPS Nellore district administration, got into action to repair the damaged stretch of the NH and restore it to traffic as early as possible. Hundreds of passengers were stuck in the Nellore RTC bus station as bus services were disrupted. Vehicular traffic coming from Srikalahasti was stopped and diverted, officials said. Kadapa district villages, including Togurupeta and Mandapalli had to take the burnt in the wake of the devastation due to the breach in the Annamayya project's earthen bund. Annamayya is a medium irrigation project with a gross capacity of only 2.24 tmc ft on Cheyyeru, a tributary of Penna river, in Rajampet constituency. It caters to an ayacut of 22,500 acres, besides fulfilling the drinking water needs of 140 habitations. The Pincha project upstream breached, letting out all floodwater into Annamayya while water from Seshachalam too came gushing in because of very heavy rainfall, resulting in an overall discharge of over two lakh cusecs. That pushed Cheyyeru river into spate, inundating at least 10 villages downstream in Rajampet and Nandaluru mandals, and leaving widespread destruction in its wake.It was nothing but gross mismanagement on the part of the administration. Didn't they know about the flood when there was such heavy rain? Why were we not even alerted about the coming danger before it destroyed us? angry villagers of Mandapalli and Togurupeta questioned. Except for some kind-hearted volunteers, the administration did not come to their help in any way, they lamented. Ours is the first village right under Annamayya project. We lost our houses, cattle, belongings and everything. Some of our villagers were killed. There is no place for us to go, the surviving residents of Togurupeta, a hamlet of about 500 people, said. The temple of the local goddess, which somehow remained intact, has now turned into the only shelter zone for the hapless villagers.Mandapalli presented a heartrending sight. Two families were completely wiped out as seven people in all were killed in the flood fury. Another family lost two people. Kadapa district Collector Vijaya Rama Raju told PTI that the dam breach was the major factor that caused such a major calamity.The river course changed but the dam breach was what caused the real destruction. We still moved some 600 people to safety, he said.Yes, it was a major calamity, the scale of which could not be imagined, Raju added.

Crackdown on Mukhtar gang starts again, property worth Rs 6cr seized

Andhra rains: TTD estimates losses of Rs 4 crore from worst rains in 30 years

Andhra Rains 2021 While the ghat roads have been reopened for vehicular traffic, the two stairways meant for pilgrims to trek the hills remain closed. TNM Staff TTD Executive Officer inspecting damages from rain/news.tirumala.org The TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam), which manages the affairs of the Tirumala Venkateswara temple, said that it has suffered losses of over Rs 4 crore due to the heavy rains that lashed parts of Andhra Pradesh over the past few days. The hill shrine had witnessed the worst rains in thirty years between November 17 and 19, TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy said. As a result of the heavy rains, dams and check dams in the Seshachalam Hills overflowed through the Kapila Theertham falls and led to inundation in Tirupati, he said. As the Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala hills was flooded due to the heavy rains, it was briefly closed to devotees. The ghat roads leading to the temple were also closed due to landslides. With the barricade wall near the Akkagarla temple on the first ghat road being damaged, boulders fell onto the street in four places, Subba Reddy said. TTD staff and other officials have removed these obstructions, and traffic has now resumed on the first ghat road, he added. Read: Andhra floods: Death toll climbs to 24, SDRF constable drowns while rescuing victims On the second ghat road, landslides occurred in 13 places, with the retaining wall being damaged in five places, he said. Traffic has been restored on this road as well. Three rooms of the Tirumala Narayanagiri guest house were damaged due to the collapse of a wall. The Srivari Metlu path was also damaged due to the rains. The back wall of the TTD administration building in Tirupati, as well as the compound walls of TTD rest houses in Ramnagar, Vinayakanagar, GMB quarters and Srinivasam, were also damaged. An atrium of the Kapila Theertham temple was also damaged, and repairs are estimated to cost around Rs 70 lakh. While the ghat roads have been reopened for vehicular traffic, the two stairways meant for pilgrims to trek the hills remain closed. Pilgrims who booked tickets online were being allowed for darshan of Lord Venkateswara, according to PTI. Those who had booked tickets but couldnt avail darshan will be allowed to have darshan once the rains subside, TTD said. Also read: Andhra rains: 3 women, 3 children die in building collapse in Anantapur district

Andhra rains: 3 women, 3 children die in building collapse in Anantapur district

Andhra Rains 2021 The walls of the under-construction building collapsed due to the continuous rains over the past few days and fell on the adjacent buildings. TNM Staff Twitter/SVishnuReddy Three women and three children were killed when an under-construction building collapsed in Kadiri town of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday, November 20. The under-construction building fell on two adjoining houses, leaving 15 people trapped under the rubble. The heavy rains lashing the region since Friday, November 19, damaged the under-construction structure leading to the tragedy. Three children eight-month-old Fariunnisa, two-year-old Saidunnisa, and three-year-old Yashika were among the six persons who died in the incident, according to Deccan Chronicle. The three women were identified as Firoza (65), Fathima (65), and Banu (30). According to The Hindu, the under-construction building was being built on top of an old house. The walls collapsed due to the continuous rains over the past few days and fell on the adjacent buildings in the early hours of Saturday morning. This triggered an LPG cylinder blast, adding to the damage, police told The Hindu. The incident happened at Chairman Street in Kadiri town. Around 15 persons were stuck under the debris, and nine persons were rescued until Saturday evening, with most of them suffering serious injuries, police told Deccan Chronicle. One of the deceased, Firoza, was reported to be the owner of the under-construction building. Fariunnisa and Saidunnisa were sisters, while Banu, Yashika and Fathima were of the same family, according to Deccan Chronicle. Another person named Raju was admitted to the hospital with burns, which were believed to be a result of the cylinder blast. #Andhrapradeshrains due to heavy rains in Ananthapur district. BUILDING COLLAPSE Trapped in collapse structure-15 persons Dead Body recovered-06 Live victim extricated-09 By @10ndrf @APPOLICE100 @AndhraPradeshCM@AtulKarwal@NDRFHQ@pibvijayawada@ANI@SakshiHDTV pic.twitter.com/qGnKyHoWnq 10NDRFVIJAYAWADA (@10ndrf) November 20, 2021 BJP Andhra Pradesh General Secretary Vishnuvardhan Reddy visited the site of the tragedy. Blaming the incident on unauthorised construction, he demanded action against municipal authorities. Negligence and corruption of the municipal and town planning authorities have caused this incident. Six complaints were filed with municipal town planning authorities regarding the unauthorised construction, yet no action was taken, resulting in the loss of lives. Criminal cases must be filed on the officials responsible, he said. Commending the NDRF, SDRF, fire, and police personnel for their efforts to rescue the survivors, he demanded a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for each deceased person and Rs 10 lakh for each injured person. Also read: Andhra floods: Death toll climbs to 24, SDRF constable drowns while rescuing victims Andhra rains: TTD estimates losses of Rs 4 crore from worst rains in 30 years

Andhra floods: Death toll climbs to 24, SDRF constable drowns while rescuing victims

Andhra Rains 2021 A total of 1,316 villages have been inundated or affected, according to the authorities, and 17 persons remain missing. TNM Staff Twitter/Andhra Pradesh Police The official death toll in the devastating Andhra Pradesh floods climbed to 24 on the evening of Saturday, November 20. A total of 1,316 villages have been inundated or affected, according to the authorities, and 17 persons remain missing. Around 24,000 persons have been affected by the floods, while 20,923 persons were evacuated and accommodated in relief camps. The total value of the damage caused by the floods was estimated to be around Rs 2.31 crore (other than crop damage) as of Saturday evening. Around 488 houses were marooned or inundated, while 1,549 houses were damaged, according to official estimates. In Anantapur district, six persons, including three children were killed when an under-construction building collapsed due to damage caused by the rains in Kadiri town on Saturday. A police constable of the SDRF, Kella Srinivasa Rao, lost his life after he drowned while trying to save villagers stranded in the floods in Damaramadugu village of Buchireddypalem mandal on Saturday morning, the Andhra police said. #APPolice constable sacrifices his life in the service of people: Kella Srinivasa Rao, PC 5th Bn #SDRF of #Vizianagaram drowned&succumbed today at 8.30 am at Damaramadugu(V), Buchhireddy Palem(M), #Nellore District in a rescue operation to save the villagers stranded in floods. pic.twitter.com/n17wlBsENE Andhra Pradesh Police (@APPOLICE100) November 20, 2021 Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy reviewed the rain damage in Chittoor and Kadapa districts in an aerial survey on Saturday. He observed the damage caused by the heavy rains in Kadapa, Renigunta, and Tirupati town, and also surveyed the Peruru project and Swarnamukhi river areas, along with inundated areas affected by Papagni and Penna rivers. Read: Andhra rains: 3 women, 3 children die in building collapse in Anantapur district Arriving at Kadapa Airport, the CM interacted with the Navy personnel engaged in relief operations. He also spoke to local MLAs, and district authorities regarding the relief measures. Jagan also inspected the Veligallu and Annamayya irrigation project area which was severely damaged due to floods. He also surveyed the Pincha project and the areas affected by the Cheyyeru River, and other flood-prone areas. He directed the officials to take immediate sanitation measures in Tirupati city and prepare a master plan on the drainage system in the city to take appropriate action. Officials said that 500 personnel have already been deployed from various municipalities for the relief operations and to clear the trash that has accumulated in the streets and blocked the drains. The Chief Minister directed officials to speedily prepare crop damage estimates, and take up measures to support the farmers. The authorities have been tasked with providing immediate financial assistance to the flood-hit households and assisting them when they return to their homes. Also read: Andhra rains: TTD estimates losses of Rs 4 crore from worst rains in 30 years (With IANS inputs)

Varanasi declared Best Ganga Town for second successive year

Varanasi bagged number one position in the best Ganga town category for the second successive year in the Swachh Bharat Survey of the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) released on Saturday. Overall, Uttar Pradesh improved its ranking by a notch, from seventh in 2020 to sixth this year.

Jailed MLAs two aides arrested in Mirzapur

Police gets 7-day custody of solvers gang kingpin PK

Kashi emerges as best Ganga town in Swachh Survekshan

Varanasi declared 'Best Ganga Town' for 2nd successive year

State urban development minister Ashutosh Tandon, mayors and officials of 18 cities from UP received their awards in various categories from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Swachh Amrit Mahotsav-2021 organised in New Delhi on Saturday.

'Don't test our patience': Nandamuri family warns YSRCP after Naidu breaks down

Politics Members of the Nandamuri family including Balakrishna, Ramakrishna and Chaitanya Krishna held a meeting after Chandrababu Naidu broke down over his 'humiliation' at the YSRCP's hands. TNM Staff Filephoto_Screenshot After an emotional press meet held by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Chandrababu Naidu on Friday, November 19, members of the Nandamuri family including Balakrishna, Ramakrishna and Chaitanya Krishna held a meeting of their own in solidarity. The meeting came a day after Chandrababu Naidu broke down on camera over the continuous humiliation he said he faced at the hands of the ruling YSRCP. The Nandamuri family, at a heated press meet at their residence on Saturday, condemned YSRCP MLAs remarks against Naidus wife Bhuvaneshwari. They threatened the YSRCP with harsh action for making such comments in the future. We are not here sitting calm. If you don't change, we will bend your necks and make you change. Just because you (YSRCP) have a majority, we will not accept whatever comments you make, Balakrishna Nandamuri, popular actor and TDP Hindupur MLA said. It's only because of Chandrababu that we have remained calm, but there is a limit. We do not not need his permission anymore. Talk about the issues that the state is facing, don't drag women into politics. Be careful and hold your tongue. We will not tolerate such comments anymore, this is a final warning, he threatened. Warning YSRCP leaders, Nandamuri Ramakrishna Jr said that they have crossed the limits. Dont make personal comments over personal issues. Dont test our patience. If you cross the limits, we will cross them too. These kinds of comments should not be repeated, he said. Other members of the Nandamuri family, to whom Chandrababu Naidus wife Bhuvaneshwari belongs, expressed sadness at the scandalous comments made against her by YSRCP MLA Gannavaram Vallabhaneni Vamsi. They also said that, even though she never entered politics, her name was being dragged into political issues. Chaitanya Krishna said that Chief Minister Jagan must take notice of the issue and address it. The war of words was triggered after Vamsi, in an interview with Sakshi TV in October, said, He (Lokesh) doesnt take after his father. He went on to suggest that Lokesh 'inherited' Alimineti Madhava Reddys features. Madhava Reddy, a four time MLA and minister, was killed in a landmine blast by the People's War Group near Ghatkesar in 2000. Read: Naidu breaks down at press meet, vows to enter Assembly only after returning to power

15 killed in two districts, 18 missing due to heavy rainfall in Andhra Pradesh

Rainfall Crops and homes have been destroyed in the districts of Nellore, Anantapur, Chittoor and Kadapa, which are reeling under severe floods. TNM Staff As heavy rains lashed Andhra Pradesh, 15 people have lost their lives in two districts 11 people in Kadapa district and 4 in Chittoor district and a total of 1,544 houses have been damaged. At least 18 people are missing as well, the Andhra Pradesh government said in a press statement on Saturday, November 20.The districts of Nellore, Anantapur, Chittoor and Kadapa have been receiving heavy rainfall over the past two days. The rainfall has affected a total of 168 mandals, and has impacted 1109 villages, the government statement further said. Due to the rains, a total of 1,544 houses have been damaged and the loss is estimated at Rs 499.48 lakh. Kadapa district, in particular, has been severely affected, and a total of 394 houses have been inundated, according to the statement. A total of 2,391 cattle and 1,232 poultry have been killed due to the rains. This loss is estimated at Rs 242.71 lakhs. A total of 1,51,047.78 hectares of crops 11,890.78 hectares in Nellore, 4,895 hectares in Chittoor, 1,26,167 hectares in Kadapa, and 8,095 hectares in Anantapur have been destroyed due to the rains. Similarly, 18,026.75 hectares of horticulture crops 101.9 hectares in Nellore, 16,293.85 hectares in Kadapa, 1,631 hectares in Anantapur have been damaged. Authorities have set up 230 relief camps in the districts that have borne the brunt of the rains and seen flooding 106 in Chittoor, 32 in Nellore, 90 in Kadapa, and two in Anantapur. A total of 22,593 people 8181 in Chittoor, 7143 in Nellore, 7094 in Kadapa, and 175 in Anantapur have been evacuated, officials said. Dramatic rescue by chopper of four JCB personnel & driver, 2 firemen, 3 villagers in #Anantpur district #AndhraPradesh even as huge crowds watched #RescueAction live & cheered; but #DisasterTourism in such big numbers by the #FloodWaters could also be a big risk? @ndtv @ndtvindia pic.twitter.com/BcMeg6lF07 Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) November 20, 2021 Officials further added that a helicopter each has been stationed inAnantapur and Kadapa, to carry out rescue operations. Further, 16 National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force teams have been deployed to the rain-affected districts. Meanwhile, 66 persons who were stranded due to the rains were saved in rescue operations. On Saturday, Singarayakonda mandal in Prakasam district recorded the highest rainfall at 101 mm rainfall, followed by Chirala in the same district at 95.8 mm.Bapatla in Guntur recorded 95 mm, Mamidikuduru in East Godavari recorded 78.3 mm, and Allavaram in East Godavari recorded the lowest rainfall in the region at 57.8 mm. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) observed that moderate to heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema on Saturday. The well-marked low-pressure area over south interior Karnataka and adjoining north Interior Tamilnadu and Rayalaseema weakened into a low-pressure area over the same region, IMD said. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also did an aerial survey of the affected areas on Saturday.

Andhra floods: Five dead, several missing as Cheyyeru river in spate

Andhra floods 2021 The Kadapa SP told TNM that rescue operations by police, along with fire and disaster management authorities, are underway in the district. TNM Staff Amid severe flooding in Andhra Pradesh, several people are believed to have been washed away by the Cheyyeru river in Kadapa district on Friday, November 19. Five bodies have been recovered so far, officials say. The river overflowed due to heavy inflow from the Annamayya irrigation project, where a bund was breached on Friday. This resulted in flash floods which inundated villages around Nandalur, Rajampet and surrounding areas. Speaking to TNM, Kadapa Superintendent of Police (SP) KKN Anburajan said that so far, five bodies have been recovered from the Cheyyeru river, which was in spate, by rescue teams. He added that it is not yet known how many people have been washed away. The SP also said that rescue operations by police, along with fire and disaster management authorities, are underway in the district. Meanwhile, in Mullapudi in the Tirupati rural mandal, as many as five people were washed away by the overflowing Swarnamukhi river. However, rescue teams were able to pull two of them to safety using ropes. The rains also caused four houses in Kadiri in Anantapur district to collapse. In the tragic incident, 12 people, including two children, were stuck under the debris. Officials have recovered the bodies of three people, including the children. However, eight people are still believed to be stuck under the debris. Meanwhile, over 30 passengers in an Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) bus were washed away by the flood. Over 12 people were left dead and several more are still missing according to officials. Heavy rains lashed Nellore, Chittoor, Kadapa and Anantapur districts on Friday under the influence of a depression which crossed north Tamil Nadu and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts between Puducherry and Chennai in the early hours of Friday. Low-lying areas in the three districts were inundated while rivulets, streams, tanks and reservoirs were overflowing.

Majestic Ganga ghats light up as Kashi celebrates Dev Deepawali

It was like a celestial happening when the entire stretch of majestic riverfront of the crescent-shaped river Ganga got illuminated by innumerable twinkling diyas (earthen lamps) on Friday evening. It was Dev Deepawali, the Diwali of Gods, in Kashi, the permanent abode of Lord Shiva and Goddess Annapurna.

Andhra flash floods: 30 passengers travelling in RTC buses washed away, 12 dead

Andhra Rains 2021 While two buses were stranded above the water, one bus, plying on Rajampet-Nandalur route, was almost entirely submerged. TNM Staff At least 12 people lost their lives and 18 others went missing after three buses of Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) were stuck in floods triggered by heavy rains in Kadapa district on Friday, November 19. Rescue workers pulled out 12 bodies and were searching for the missing people in the Rajampet area. The buses were stuck in flood waters in Mandpalle, Akepadu and Nandalur villages. The passengers along with drivers and conductors had climbed on the top of the buses. While some were rescued by the local residents, 30 people were feared washed away. Three bodies were recovered from an RTC bus near Nandalur. Seven bodies were found in Gundluru while three bodies were pulled from Rayavaram areas. The buses were stranded as the Cheyyeru stream overflowed, after receiving huge inflows from the Annamayya irrigation project where a bund was breached, causing flash floods and inundating many villages including Gundluru, Seshamambapuram and Mandpalle around Nandalur, Rajampet and other areas. While two buses were stranded above the water, one bus, plying on Rajampet-Nandalur route, was almost entirely submerged. Atleast 3 people, including the conductor of a #RTCbus and 2 passenger in the vehicle, were reportedly washed away in gushing waters #Flashfloods of #Cheyyeru stream in #Rajampet mandal of #Kadapa district.#KadapaFloods #KadapaRains #Andhrapradeshrains pic.twitter.com/sRAOaqxf1t Surya Reddy (@jsuryareddy67) November 19, 2021 #RainFury: Passengers climbs @apsrtc bus caught in flood water and awaiting for help at Ramapuram village Rajampet mandal #Kadapa district.#AndhraPradesh#Rains pic.twitter.com/tiOeoHgayd Phanindra Papasani (@PhanindraP_TNIE) November 19, 2021 In another incident, 10 people stranded in the Chitravathi river at Veldurthi village in Chennekothapalli mandal of Anantapur district were airlifted with an Indian Air Force chopper. Police said personnel from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Revenue, Fire Service and swimmers also participated in the rescue operation. #APPolice Rescue Operations: 10 people stranded in Chitravathi river, #Anantapur District were Airlifted & #Rescue d with the help of #IndianAirforce chopper. NDRF,SDRF,Fire,Revenue Depts & Swimmers also participated in the operation. Special thanks to @IAF_MCC for saving lives. pic.twitter.com/HUpHRoUXrT Andhra Pradesh Police (@APPOLICE100) November 19, 2021 With the Penna river in spate, two youngsters of Sasanakota village of Anantapur district who were stranded were rescued by the police with the help of fire department personnel and local residents. , , , .@APPOLICE100@dgpapofficial#floods#Rain #storm pic.twitter.com/6uEEgJV2L9 Anantapur Police (@AnantapurPolice) November 19, 2021 Heavy rains lashed Nellore, Chittoor, Kadapa and Anantapur districts on Friday under the influence of depression which crossed north Tamil Nadu and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts between Puducherry and Chennai in the early hours of Friday. Low-lying areas in the three districts were inundated while rivulets, streams, tanks and reservoirs were overflowing. The massive downpour has paralysed normal life. Authorities have declared a holiday for all educational institutions in the affected districts. The state government has appointed three special officers to monitor rescue and relief operations in Nellore, Chittoor and Kadapa district. Several areas of the temple town of Tirupati also remained flooded on Friday. Heavy rains since Thursday wreaked havoc in the town. Read: Video: House in Tirupati washed away in flood as parts of Andhra reel under rains Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will conduct an aerial survey of the flood affected areas on Saturday. The Chief Minister will cover areas affected by heavy rains including Kadapa, Chittoor and Nellore, after reviewing the rain situation with the respective district collectors. He will leave for Kadapa directly from Gannavaram Airport at Vijayawada for surveying the flood affected areas by helicopter and return from Renigunta Airport at Tirupati. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on phone and enquired about the situation in the state. CM Jagan reportedly explained the high intensity situation in Nellore, Anantapur, Kadapa and Chittoor districts due to the heavy rains and the steps being taken by the government. Read: Tirumala temple shut for devotees as flood causes landslides on ghats With IANS inputs

3 sisters end life by jumping before train in UP

Three sisters allegedly ended their lives by jumping before a train here, police said on Friday. Preeti (16), Kajal (14) and Aarti (11), daughters of late Rajendra Prasad Gautam of Ahiroli village, jumped before Jansadharan Express train at Fattupur railway crossing on the Sultanpur rail section under Badlapur police station limits on Thursday night, City Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar said.

Naidu breaks down at press meet, vows to enter Assembly only after returning to power

Politics The Leader of Opposition alleged that YSRCP leaders, who had continuously humiliated him since coming to power, had dragged his wife Nara Bhuvaneshwari into these dirty politics. TNM Staff Twitter/JaiTDP Breaking into tears during a press meet on Friday, November 19, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Chandrababu Naidu vowed to step into the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly again only after returning to power. On the second day of the ongoing Assembly session, the Leader of the Opposition said in the House that he was pained by the continuous humiliation he has faced from the ruling YSRCP members. For the last two and a half years, I have been bearing the insults but remained calm. Today, they have even targeted my wife. I always lived with honour and for honour. I cannot take it any more, Naidu said. Though he continued to speak, Speaker Tammineni Seetaram cut the mike even as the ruling party members called Naidu's remarks a drama. Later addressing the media, Naidu broke down while speaking about the humiliation he had suffered because of YSRCP. I have never been this humiliated in my political career. In the past two-and-a-half years, since the YSRCP government came to power, we have been insulted in many ways. Our party leaders and workers have been harassed and jailed, financially and politically we have been humiliated, and we tolerated, he said. In the Assembly today, they dragged even my wife into these dirty politics and resorted to character assassination, he alleged. The former Chief Minister vented his exasperation following an acrimonious exchange of words between the two sides in the House during a short discussion on the farming sector. Later, he held an impromptu meeting with his party legislators in his chamber, where he reportedly broke down. The stunned TDP legislators consoled Naidu after which they all came back into the House. Naidu then announced his decision to stay away from the House ill I return to power. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/MeRVj1viIZ Telugu Desam Party (TDP Official) (@JaiTDP) November 19, 2021 Responding to Naidus comments, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said in a statement that he had entered the Assembly only after the heated exchange, after a review meeting over the heavy rains in the state. By the time I entered the House, Naidu was speaking emotionally, he said. The statement further said it was Naidu himself who provoked YSRCP leaders by bringing up unrelated topics in the House. He himself provokes the atmosphere in the House. Naturally ruling party leaders will respond to that, he said. The CMs statement said, When you make allegations, YSRCP leaders made counter-allegations, saying we also need to discuss the murders of Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga and Madhava Reddy and the death of Mallela Babji, which happened under the TDP regime. They only said so because they were provoked by Naidu, Jagan said in his statement. Earlier in October, rebel MLA from Gannavaram Vallabhaneni Vamsi who was suspended by the TDP after he declared his support for the ruling YSRCP, had made certain objectionable comments on Naidus son Nara Lokesh in an interview with Sakshi TV, which triggered controversy. Vamsi questioned Lokeshs paternity, and said, He (Lokesh) doesnt take after his father. He went to suggest that Lokesh 'inherited' Alimineti Madhava Reddys features. Madhava Reddy, a four time MLA and minister, was killed in a landmine blast by People's War Group near Ghatkesar in 2000. Claiming that YSRCP leaders did not comment on Naidus family members, Jagan blamed Naidu in turn for talking about his own family, namely his uncles former MP YS Vivekananda Reddy whose murder case is being investigated by the CBI. It is Naidu who has spoken about my uncle, my mother and sister, he said. He also objected to TDP leaders allegations over his cousin, Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddys alleged involvemnet in Vivekananada Reddys murder. In turn, he alleged that the previous TDP government must have had a hand in Vivekananda Reddys murder, as Naidu was in power at the time. With PTI inputs

Video: House in Tirupati washed away in flood as parts of Andhra reel under rains

Andhra Rains 2021 Relief works were being carried out in Andhra Pradesh as Chittoor, Kadapa, and Nellore districts continue to reel under floods. TNM Staff Twitter/DDNewsAndhra The impact of floods triggered by heavy rains continued in several districts of Andhra Pradesh on Friday, November 19, as low-lying areas in many districts continued to see inundation. Shocking visuals from Tiruchanur near Tirupati showed a two-storey building collapsing due to the impact of incessant rains, and falling into gushing waters of the Swarnamukhi river next to it. The building in Vasundhara Nagar collapsed on Friday morning, according to Tiruchanur police. In Kadapa districts Rajampet, two buses were stuck near Ramapuram, with over 20 passengers stranded atop the bus, before police and fire department personnel rescued them. Nellore district was also battered by heavy rains. This scary visual is from Vasundaranagar, #Tiruchanur area where an entire building was washed away, in massive floods in Chitoor district.#Buildingwashedaway Stay safe #TirupatiRains #TirupatiFloods #Chitoorfloods pic.twitter.com/IhOrFS7Aw3 Surya Reddy (@jsuryareddy67) November 19, 2021 10 , . pic.twitter.com/fItCstgDEe DD News Andhra ( ) (@DDNewsAndhra) November 19, 2021 At least three people were killed and a few others feared washed away in the flash floods in Kadapa district on Friday. A breach to the Annamayya project bund caused a flash flood in the Cheyyeru rivulet that left some villages along its course inundated, official sources said. A group of unsuspecting devotees, offering prayers in a Siva temple on the occasion of Kartika Pournami, were caught in the sudden flood and washed away in the Rajampet area. Three bodies were later recovered near Nandalur, the sources said, adding efforts were on to trace the remaining persons. A breach to the Annamayya project bund caused a #flashflood in #Cheyyeru rivulet that left some villages along its coursed inundated, many feared washed away in a flash flood #Rajampet area of #Kadapa dist.#Kadapfloods #KadapaRains #Andhrapradeshrains pic.twitter.com/YvAnXhbpES Surya Reddy (@jsuryareddy67) November 19, 2021 A group of unsuspecting devotees, offering prayers in a Siva temple on the occasion of Kartika Pournami, were caught in the sudden #Flashfloods in #Rajampet area. #Nandalur#KadapaFloods #KadapaRains #Andhrapradeshrains pic.twitter.com/6iJ8FTTAwi Surya Reddy (@jsuryareddy67) November 19, 2021 The Rayalaseema districts of Chittoor and Kadapa have been witnessing a terrible deluge as heavy rains caused breaches to several tanks and kept rivers and rivulets in spate. Nellore district too felt the brunt of the heavy rains. With water flowing heavily into the Somasila dam, the Chief Minister instructed district authorities to take precautions in low-lying areas before releasing the floodwaters. #RainFury: Passengers climbs @apsrtc bus caught in flood water and awaiting for help at Ramapuram village Rajampet mandal #Kadapa district.#AndhraPradesh#Rains pic.twitter.com/tiOeoHgayd Phanindra Papasani (@PhanindraP_TNIE) November 19, 2021 : pic.twitter.com/N3sD2OnaOw DD News Andhra ( ) (@DDNewsAndhra) November 19, 2021 NDRF and SDRF teams have swung into action to carry out relief and rescue operations. In the Tirupati division, 41 relief camps were set up to provide relief for 4,489 persons in Tirupati Urban and Rural, Pitchatur, Srikalahasti, Renigunta, Chandragiri, Pulicherla, and KVB Puram mandals. While the exact number of deaths is yet to be ascertained, one person died from a short circuit in the Abbanna colony of the city, Tirupati Urban police said. CM Jagan has instructed officials to provide compensation of Rs 2,000 to each family whose house was inundated, and Rs 5 lakh to persons who lost their lives due to the rains. Read: Tirumala temple shut for devotees as flood causes landslides on ghats : . pic.twitter.com/YwQ3dtSUu9 DD News Andhra ( ) (@DDNewsAndhra) November 19, 2021 The Andhra Pradesh government has appointed special officers to the three rain-affected districts Kadapa, Chittoor, and Nellore. At a review meeting with the three affected districts Collectors on November 19, officials said that in a few places, lakes had been breached, causing flooding. CM Jagan instructed officials to ensure sanitation works are carried out in Tirupati by roping in staff from other departments apart from the municipality and bringing in staff from neighbouring municipalities if needed. Adinimmayyapalle in record flow of after 1874... In #kadapa District, @Kadapagoap@APWeatherman96 @chennaiweather pic.twitter.com/YrhLlSaVD4 AIR Kadapa (@AirKadapa) November 19, 2021 Maximum Flood discharge recorded at 1874 was 2lakhs 64thousand 564 CUSECS, Now running at 2lakh 58 thousand. 2nd highest in nearly 150years@APWeatherman96@chennaiweather@ysjagan pic.twitter.com/QkU084fGzy AIR Kadapa (@AirKadapa) November 19, 2021 The unprecedented waterlogging in Tirupati was caused due to burying or flattening of lake beds, officials told the CM. While Tirupati Urban area saw heavy inundation, with roads and highways turning unmotorable, rainfall data from Chittoor district showed that the Tirupati Urban mandal received 100.2 mm rainfall between 8.30 am on November 18 and 6 am on November 19. The IMD classifies rainfall of 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm as heavy rain, while 115.6 mm to 204.4 mm is classified as very heavy rain, and above 204.5 mm is considered extremely heavy rain. Tirupati Rural mandal saw 120.6 mm rainfall in this period, while the highest rainfall in the district was recorded in Peddamandyam mandal (201 mm). Read: Flights diverted, sent back as Tirupati rains inundates Renigunta airport In the Kadapa district, CM Jagan instructed officials to take up repair works wherever lakes were breached and to restore electricity as soon as possible. Officials have been asked to enumerate crop loss estimates once the floods recede. Apart from Kadapa and Chittoor, Anantapur district in Rayalaseema also witnessed incessant rains. : . pic.twitter.com/SAjSK6CaPv DD News Andhra ( ) (@DDNewsAndhra) November 19, 2021 . . s. . - pic.twitter.com/1Z4LSufc3a DD News Andhra ( ) (@DDNewsAndhra) November 19, 2021 . pic.twitter.com/g5R2SXeTnu DD News Andhra ( ) (@DDNewsAndhra) November 19, 2021 The heavy rains are a result of the low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal intensifying into a depression, which crossed north Tamilnadu and the adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts between Puducherry and Chennai around 3-4 am on November 19. The IMD has also issued a warning for November 19 for heavy rainfall in isolated places of coastal Andhra Pradesh, and heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated places in Rayalaseema. Read: Havoc in Tirupati as heavy rains flood many areas, submerge vehicles With PTI inputs

Flights diverted, sent back as Tirupati rains inundates Renigunta airport

Tirupati floods The heavy downpour also led to flooding at the Sri Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala, which has now been closed for devotees. TNM Staff Heavy rains wreaked havoc in Tirupati on Thursday, inundating low-lying areas, disrupting vehicular and air traffic and plunging the temple town into darkness. Renigunta Airport was inundated, forcing the authorities to divert the flights. Hyderabad-Tirupati IndiGo flight was diverted to Bengaluru. The Hyderabad-Tirupati Air India and SpiceJet flights had to return to Hyderabad. Airport Director S Suresh said two passenger flights scheduled to land in Tirupati from Hyderabad and Bengaluru were asked to return. A scheduled flight from New Delhi has been cancelled due to the prevailing weather condition, he added. The downpour caused severe hardships to devotees as the landslides forced the authorities to close roads leading to the Sri Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala. There was no electricity supply in the town since 3 pm after rain water entered a sub-station. Roads in several key areas of the town turned into cesspools due to incessant rains under the impact of northeast monsoon, which is active in Chittoor and Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh and adjoining coastal districts of Tamil Nadu. Vehicular traffic came to a halt in usually busy areas like Gandhi Road, Tilak Road, AIR Bypass Road, Lakshmipuram, Leela Mahal and West Church Railway Under Bridge. Some residential colonies were also flooded, causing severe hardships to the residents. Due to Weather warning for Tirupati, passengers travelling through Tirupati airport may expect disruption to flight schedule on 19th November 2021. Advised check with respective airlines before commencing travel. pic.twitter.com/2OSarBqyXm Tirupati Airport. . (@aaitirairport) November 18, 2021 Alipiri footpath to Tirumala temple was flooded with water gushing down from the hills. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the famous temple, had already announced closure of Alipiri and Srivari Mettu for two days in view of heavy rains forecast. Rains also affected the Vaikuntam Queue complex at Tirumala. Water entered into the cellar of the complex. The house of TTD Additional Executive Dharma Reddy's house was also inundated. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams officials made arrangements for free food and accommodation for the pilgrims stranded on the holy hills. As of the morning of Friday, November 19, TTD officials told TNM that while water was being pumped out, the temple remains closed for devotees due to landslides and boulders falling on the ghat roads. Other parts of Chittoor district also received heavy rainfall. Rivulets, streams, reservoirs and lakes were overflowing in the district. Authorities have declared a holiday for all educational institutions in Chittoor district on Friday. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy spoke to Chittoor District Collector M Hari Narayanan and reviewed the situation. Jagan asked the Collector to closely monitor the water levels and take required steps accordingly, a CMO release said. Relief camps should be opened wherever necessary and people from vulnerable areas shifted on need, the CM added. Deploy NDRF and SDRF teams and carry out rescue and relief operations. All the line departments should remain on alert and take required action as per the situation, the Chief Minister said. With IANS and PTI inputs

NEET solvers gang mastermind PK, aide arrested in Varanasi

Sant Samiti seeks apology from Akhilesh Yadav over his chillumjeevi remark

Month-long celebrations planned after KV Dham opening by PM

Akhilesh Yadav must apologise for his chillumjeevi remark: Sant Samiti

National general secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti (AKSS) Swami Jitendranand Saraswati on Thursday demanded an apology from Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav for his chillumjeevi remark, telling him to either express an apology to the seers fraternity or get ready to face their ire.

UP: NEET solvers gang's kingpin arrested in Varanasi

The police on Thursday arrested Pravin Kumar alias PK alias Neeleh, the Patna-based mastermind of the solvers gang busted during NEET (UG)-2021 here on September 12. They also nabbed his close aide Ritesh.

Havoc in Tirupati as heavy rains flood many areas, submerge vehicles

Weather Videos showed water gushing from the hill into the Kapileswara Swamy Temple at the foot of Tirumala Hills, inundating the premises. TNM Staff Screengrab Several areas in Tirupati were inundated after heavy rains lashed Andhra Pradeshs Chittoor district, causing massive flooding in many areas on Thursday, November 18. Water levels in and around several areas of Tirupati, Tirumala and the rest of the district, including Madhura Nagar, Gollavani Gunta, Lakshmipuram, Air Bypass road, Chandragiri town and the Kapila Theertham temple at the foot of the Tirumala hills have increased to a level where it has threatened to enter houses leaving residents worried. Traffic too has been disrupted due to floods. Visuals showed auto rickshaws and parked two wheelers being swept away by the water that had flooded the streets. Another video showed a bus almost fully submerged, stuck in an underpass in the city. The Tirumala Ghat road has also seen massive flooding, and there have reportedly been landslides and several trees have been uprooted. Another visual showed water gushing from the hill into the Kapileswara Swamy Temple at the foot of Tirumala Hills. Another video showed a man being washed away on the Tirumala Ghat road. The heavy rains are a result of the low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal intensifying into a depression. Heavy rains had been predicted in the city owing to this, and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) had earlier shut two pedestrian routes to the Venkateswara temple in Tirumala for two days (November 17 and 18) in view of the heavy rain alert. Highways of south #AndhraPradesh turning into gushing river. A scene from Kadapa-Tirupati shows the impact of #HeavyRain in south AP region.#rainupdate #Monsoon2021 #flooding pic.twitter.com/L75qnsAtgl Sanjeevee sadagopan (@sanjusadagopan) November 18, 2021 #Floodwater flowing into #Tirupati Kapilatheertham #RedAlert #Tirupatirains #JawadEffect #JawadCyclone #Jawad #Heavyrains pic.twitter.com/5qlYPZeyjf Shetpally Raju (@Shetpally0203) November 18, 2021 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy held a review meeting with the Deputy Commissioners of Nellore, Chittoor and Kadapa in the wake of heavy rains. He instructed them to inspect water levels in reservoirs and lakes regularly and take measures accordingly. He also spoke to the Chittoor Deputy Commissioner and gave instructions to arrange relief shelters with proper facilities, and to give Rs 1,000 as relief amount to those staying in relief shelters. Now at Tirumala Ghat road pic.twitter.com/SNi6dJLCJU GoTirupati (@GoTirupati) November 18, 2021 #Tirupatirains: Situation appears grim, four-wheelers and autos unable to withstand the flood water force getting washed away at Varadharaja Nagar. pic.twitter.com/rmmLK2W2mH Sri Yadav (@SriKrishna_TNIE) November 18, 2021 Speaking to media personnel, Chittoor Deputy Commissioner M Hari Narayanan said, As per Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management (APSDMA) alert, on Thursday and Saturday, heavy rains are expected in the district. Mandal teams and municipal teams have been alerted. Mainly, this year, excess rainfall was recorded in the district. All rivers and lakes are filled. The Chief Minister has given directions to take precautions in those areas. Accordingly, in all mandals, near rivers and ponds, officials have been alerted to avoid human loss. I request people to avoid any causeways or bridges where water levels are high. Such attempts have led to deaths in recent times. In such places, revenue and police officials have identified such places and placed pickets to avoid people from crossing them, he added. Four relief camps have been arranged and around 300 people have been shifted to the camps. Fire and police department personnel and NDRF, SDRF teams have also been placed on standby to evacuate people from inundated localities if needed, according to the Deputy Commissioner. He has also declared a two-day holiday for schools and colleges in the district for Thursday and Friday. Tirupati Urban SP Ch Venkatappala Naidu stated that in case of emergency, people can dial 100, or reach out to the police on WhatsApp at 8099999977, or contact the Police Control Room at 6309913960.

Ladies in a celebratory mood in Varanasi

Varanasi: View illuminated ghats riding on hot air balloon on Dev Deepawali

On a foggy Wednesday morning, the city sky was adorned with vibrant colours as 11 hot air balloons silently started rising towards the sky from near Hanuman temple in Domari area on the opposite banks of river Ganga, marking the commencement of the three-day Hot Air Balloon Fest.

NEET solvers gang: Aspirants father held for being in contact with gang

Akhileshs Vijay Yatra rollsonto Purvanchal Expressway

Akhileshs Vijay Yatra rolls onto Purvanchal Expressway

Reiterating his claim on initiating the Purvanchal Expressway a day after its formal inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav said on Wednesday that the Samajwadis had dreamt of minimizing the distance between Delhi and Lucknow from east UP by making the expressway and it was beyond the imagination of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)