Pouring cold water over the hopes of those who are still hoping that Telangana Statehood process would be somehow disrupted, Digvijay Singh made it clear Congress is going ahead with completion of the Statehood plan before the next General Elections. “The Congress is committed to creating Telangana state. We never mix politics with governance. It was a commitment made to the people. When we included it in the election manifesto, Andhra leaders also knew it,” Digvijaya Singh told reporters in Delhi. Further, talking about Seemandhra legislators delaying tactics over the Assembly discussion of the draft Telangana Bill, he added, “If they want to give affidavits to the President, it is okay with me. The issue is between the President and ...

Despite chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy’s persistent claims that the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh has not been initiated, the state government has already kick-started the division exercise. In a memo to all chiefs of public sector units, training centres and heads of department written two days ago, chief secretary P K Mohanty asked them to furnish the list of divisible assets, liabilities, workforce and the location of their offices in the districts. Along with the memo, Mohanty sent a copy of the draft AP reorganization Bill 2013. The memo has asked the PSU chiefs to go through Schedules 9 and 10 of the Bill. While Schedule 9 deals with the list of organizations that will be divided between the two ...

President Pranab Mukherjee, perhaps for the first time after becoming the Head of State, aired his views albeit indirectly on the Telangana issue. Speaking in New Delhi on Thursday before flying down to Hyderabad for his Southern sojourn, he said it was difficult to make people, who are keen on having a separate State of their own, live with the rest. His remarks came like a bolt from the blue for some Seemandhra lawmakers, who had been pinning their hopes on him to stall State division. Raising Constitutional questions, they had hoped Pranab Mukherjee, a stickler for rules, would come in the way of the Telangana process. The President, in his brief remarks on separate State demands, however, cautioned the ...

In 1963, the term Lokpal was first coined by Jurist & MP LM Singhvi. In 1968, the 1st Jan Lokpal Bill was proposed by Shanti Bhushan and since then it was sidelined for one reason or the other. This year, after 46 years, Lokpal Bill is passed and the generational fight is reflected in the fact that Shanti Bhushan’s son, Prshanth Bhushan is part of Anna’s team that fought for it. Similarly, Telangana State is waiting for a nod since 1955 when Fazal Ali recommended a Telangana State and it has been 58 years since then, the aspiration was suppressed and sidelined by all kinds of powerful political forces. This year, as we are heading towards the next general elections, ...

Katyayani Vidmahe, a noted litterateur and Kakatiya University Telugu department professor, has been declared the winner of the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for Telugu-2013 for her work Sahityakashamlo Sagam- Streela Asthitwa Sahityam– Kavitwam– Katha, a compilation of essays published in 2010. Incidentally Prof. Katyayani is the second winner of the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for Telugu from Warangal after Ampassayya Naveen, who had received the honour for his novel, Kala Rekhalu, in 2004. Her father was an eminent teacher and critic – late Prof. Kethavarapu Ramakoti Sastry. Born in Prakasam district, she grew up, studied and worked in Warangal and Hyderabad. A gold medalist in MA Telugu in 1977 from Kakatiya University, her literary career spans more than two decades. ...