Friday, October 30, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Telugu Desam Party activists jubilant
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) activists in Adilabad burst fire crackers near their party office on Thursday to celebrate the suspension of the order of Adilabad Collector cancelling the caste certificate of Khanapur (ST) MLA Suman Rathod
Water crisis looming large in Adilabad
ADILABAD: The yellowing of leaves in the hilly forests of Adilabad district, especially those in the mandals of Asifabad, Kerameri, Jainoor and Narnoor, is a portentous pointer towards the drinking water situation.
This year’s deficit rainfall by about 50 per cent has created considerable moisture stress in the uplands here which has resulted in Autumn setting in rather early.
The teak trees have already begun to shed the leaves in the hills.
The unusually low ground water level at this time of the year is a matter of grave concern for the authorities. .
Seized of the matter, the Government has initiated work on development of watersheds in stress mandal of Kerameri, Jainoor, Narnoor, Utnoor and Bazarhatnoor and is planning to transport drinking water to some identified dry areas.
The watersheds will however be useful only in the coming years and not in the summer months.
However, these watersheds will not be of use in the next summer.
G. Kumaraswamy, the Deputy Director of Ground Water says, “Pegged at 8.15 mtrs at present, the average ground water level in the district shows a drop of 2.15 mtrs as compared to last year’s 6.16 mtrs. Such a sharp decrease in the level is certainly portentous”.
“If the ground water level plunges below the mark of 10 to 11 mtrs it is considered to be a crisis situation,” he adds.
In the hilly stress mandals and some others places like Asifabad where the level of ground water is already below the 23 mtr mark, special attention needs to be taken. “The drinking water problem in the eastern side of the district may be comparatively less severe than the western parts because water is usually found here at deeper levels. The western part of the district is the shallow zone where water is not available beyond 30 mtrs. It is in these areas that artificial recharge of ground water is badly needed. This can be done through construction of water shed structures. In the stress mandals that have habitations located on higher altitudes however, drinking water needs to be transported", opines Mr. Kumaraswamy.
Constable comes out with ‘Banjara’ script
Achievement: Bahadur Singh Rathod with the Banjara script.
ADILABAD: Propelled by an inner urge to see his community quickly take to development, Bahadur Singh Rathod, an 8th class pass police constable in Adilabad has designed a script for his mother tongue, the Banjara dialect. His effort should be considered unique as not many of his ilk are likely to grasp the significance of what great author Samuel Johnson put as “Language is the dress of thought”. “I wanted my mother tongue to be more useful to my tribesmen. Banjaras or Lambadas as they are known in Andhra Pradesh, never felt the need for a fully developed language until they were used to a nomadic life. The need for a perfect language of our own arose when we began settling down,” explains the Armed Reserve police constable about why he chose to devise a script for the lively Banjara dialect.
The 55-year-old Bahadur Singh says it took him about six months to make the new script that is based mainly on Devanagari. It contains a dozen phonemes and 36 alphabets like in Devanagari script.
The simpleton who strongly believes in abstinence of the materialistic kind has also written a primer that can be used for practice by small children at home. “Once it gets acceptance, the primer can be used in schools also”, hopes Bahadur Singh.
He also hopes that the Government accords recognition to the script following which some computer professional can design the fonts. “Until such an event, I will make available copies of the handwritten primer and the alphabet,” he points out.
Language should be developed to preserve and propagate culture and more importantly virtues among a given group of people. “The primer includes tales and stories that depict the evils of greed and other such maladies in society. Once the script is given recognition and Banjara language gets a proper shape, the importance of our festivals like Raksha Bandhan, Gokul Ashtami and Teej will also be projected among our lot.
Resurvey of Adilabad-Armoor railway line
ADILABAD: The South Central Railway (SCR) will initiate a resurvey on the proposed Adilabad-Armoor line with a team of officials arriving in Adilabad on Wednesday.
The team, headed by the Deputy Chief Operations Manager (Survey) K.J. Reddy will be collecting data and statistics on commercial viability of a new railway line between Adilabad headquarter town and Armoor town in Nizamabad district.
The proposed line will ultimately be linked to Secunderabad via Nizamabad, according to sources.
The team will gather information regarding number of industries and other businesses that require rail transportation. The members will also interact with functionaries of the local Chamber of Commerce.
The first survey on this line was done in 1996.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Orders on MLA’s caste certificate reserved
ADILABAD: Adilabad Collector Ahmad Nadeem on Friday reserved orders on the question of validity of the caste certificate of Khanapur MLA Suman Rathod based on which she had fought elections to the constituency reserved for members of the Scheduled Tribes. The MLA personally appeared before the Collector in response to a show cause notice.
The caste certificate of Ms. Suman Rathod came under investigation following complaints that it was obtained through fraudulent means. The complainant alleged that she was not a member of the Lambada Scheduled Tribe because she was born in Maharashtra where the Lambadas came under the backward classes.
In her five-page affidavit, the MLA contended that she had submitted proof of residence through witnesses to the Utnoor Tahsildar following which she was issued the certificate. Her status as a member of ST community therefore was true, she added.
Caste certificate row: MLA to move High Court
ADILABAD: Khanapur MLA Suman Rathod on Sunday said she would soon file an appeal in the Andhra Pradesh High Court against the decision to cancel her caste certificate that was the basis for her to contest the elections from this constituency.
Accompanied by husband Ramesh Rathod, the Adilabad MP who was recently appointed Polit Bureau member of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), met the media representatives at her Utnoor residence.
Ramesh Rathod said the decision to cancel the certificate was politically motivated and not based on merits of the case. He accused Collector Ahmad Nadeem of bowing to the Congress pressure on the issue.
YSR’s remark upsets CCI union
Employees, workers to press for a public-private partnership or sale
Pallid gloom: The trade mark twin silos of the closed Adilabad unit of the CCI look forlorn.
Embitterment among 100 families of employees, 250 other workers of the closed CCI unit
The factory costs Rs. 60 crore that includes purchase of 782 acres of land
Pallid gloom: The trade mark twin silos of the closed Adilabad unit of the CCI look forlorn.
ADILABAD: On its flip side, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s visit to Adilabad on Sunday left behind a huge pile of garbage and deep embitterment among the nearly 100 families of employees and 250 other workers of the closed Cement Corporation of India’s (CCI) Adilabad unit. Going by his response to the demand for its revival, it is clear that it has been earmarked for privatisation.
Hardship“We will certainly revive the unit but, in private sector,” he told a delegation of the CCI employees union (CCIEU) when reminded of his commitment towards reopening it.
Despondency is replacing the hope among the employees and workers who had withstood the hardships for the last 10 years since the factory was closed.
In August 1980, N.D. Tiwari, then Union Industry Minister and now Governor of Andhra Pradesh inaugurated the CCI, Adilabad. By some coincidence, production in the unit was suspended in August 1998 and the Chief Minister’s disclosure of its privatisation also came in August this year.
SustenanceThe factory had cost Rs. 60 crore that included purchase of 782 acres of land and leasing of additional 2,000 acres for quarrying the raw material. The 425 regular employees had lived in the township that boasted of all facilities.
Over 500 casual and 125 packing plant workers had also drawn sustenance from this unit.
“Following declaration of the CCI itself as sick in 1996, many of our employees opted for voluntary retirement. Those of us who had remained back struggled for its revival at different levels. Effort for revival of the factory was promised even by personalities like Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. However, we were shocked to listen about the move to privatise at this juncture,” observes S. Vilas, general secretary of CCIEU.
Fate sealedAs the fate of the unit seems to be sealed, the employees and workers are preparing to press either for a public-private partnership or a sale that includes the factory’s liabilities. “The Yerraguntla CCI unit was sold along with liabilities. A similar deal in the case of the Adilabad unit will at least protect some interest of the employees,” urges Mr. Vilas.
Attachment“In the belief that Mr. N.D. Tiwari has emotional attachment to the unit that was inaugurated by him, we will also appeal to him to work for an amicable settlement,” he adds.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
