The Andhra Pradesh government announced that it was considering enforcing a ban on private practice of government doctors across the state. The announcement came in after an expert committee submitted a report to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on health reforms in the state. 

The committee was led by Dr Sujatha Rao, a former Union Secretary of Health under the Government of India and made 100 recommendations. During a review meeting at his camp office in Tadepalli in Amaravati yesterday, the Chief Minister had a long discussion with the expert’s committee and officials on the contents of the report.  Besides the ban on private practice, the report also suggested that the salary of government doctors be increased. 

The Chief Minister’s office released a press note that said, “The Chief Minister told officials to formulate guidelines for the same. He also directed officials to release a notification for the recruitment of government doctors’ vacancies. The CM asked the expert committee to formulate policies in such a way that all the theoretical knowledge is applied to practical problems.” CM Jagan said, “A new ‘Aarogyasri’ healthcare scheme will be implemented in 150 super speciality hospitals in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai from November 1.”

-AMULYA NINDRAKOLANU

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) from Uttarakhand located the tourist boat that capsized on Sunday in Devipatnam. The search for the boat was on for the last four days and the SDRF team found it using a sonar device. 

Now the SDRF team face an even more daunting task- to bring the boat to the shore.  Various options are being considered on methods to bring the 30 tonnes Royal Vasista to the shore from the bottom of the river.

Following the copious rainfall in catchment areas and authorities discharging water from the Sir Arthur Cotton barrage into the sea, the river has about 3.54 lakh cusecs of water inflows. Though water levels have come down last few days, the high velocity of water continues to hamper rescue operations.

Moreover, the accident zone lies in an extremely curvaceous and narrow spot making it difficult for the bigger ships to come in and assist in the rescue activities. Also, As the river is witnessing floods, its water is having high-level turbidity by bringing down the visibility to just a few metres distance.

Authorities have also noticed the presence of three different whirlpools not far from point of the mishap, which have unusually been located with a radius of eight to 10 meters each and are merging into one mega-whirlpool for every 15 to 20 minutes, before separating again. It is believed it was such one mega-whirlpool which might have sucked the boat in and drowned it, even as the driver, unaware of its presence, navigated the boat into it.

D. Muralidhar Reddy, district collector, East Godavari, said, “We are involving experts from various departments and agencies to explore various options on how to salvage the sunken boat, given inclement weather conditions and other hurdles. We wish to bring it up by some means and soon.”

Lashing out at TDP for claiming that harassment from the YSRCP was the reason behind former speaker Kodela Sivaprasad Rao's suicide, YSRCP asked the accusing parties to wait for complete investigations before politicising the issue.

A seasoned politician  Kodela was  a part of TDP since its inception and was a 6 time MLA having served in the cabinets of former Andhra CMs N T Rama Rao and Chandrababu Naidu, and served bifurcated Andhra Pradesh as its first assembly speaker from 2014-2019 

Meanwhile, Police shifted Rao's body to government-run Osmania General Hospital, where a team of forensic experts conducted an autopsy. The body was later shifted to NTR Trust Bhavan, the TDP headquarters in Hyderabad, to enable the party leaders to pay their last respects.

TDP leaders termed this as a murder by the government. They said Rao was under tremendous mental pressure due to false cases booked against him. TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu alleged that Rao took the extreme step as he was unable to bear the mental harassment. "I had never imagined that Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, who himself was a doctor, will take his own life in this manner," Naidu told reporters in Guntur.

"TDP is trying to politicise the death of Kodela Siva Prasad. A complete investigation is needed over his death," said Urban Development Minister Botsa Satyanarayana while questioning the initial confusion in the mode of death. 

Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed his deep condolences over the tragic boat incident that stirred the entire state and directed the officials to carry out rescue operations. The CM has ordered the state officials to seek help of NDRF teams, besides pressing into service Navy and ONGC helicopters in the rescue operations. 

CM Jagan has also announced  ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of the deceased and directed all the available Ministers in the district to rush to the scene and supervise the rescue work. Jagan sent orders to the concerning officials to suspend all boating services in the region right away. 

Based on several reports being published, the Chief Minister asked the officials to check for the licence of the boats and whether adequate training was given to the staff or not. He ordered the district authorities to prepare a full-fledged report on the incident and directed framing of safety guidelines by an experts committee.

Thirteen people died and another 35 are missing after a tourist boat ferrying passengers to Papikondalu capsized in Devipatnam in East Godavari on Sunday.

It was not clear whether the trip had been authorised by the officials or not. AP tourism minister M. Srinivasa Rao said the boat did not have permission to take tourists to Papikondalu.

A massive search operation involving the navy and special disaster management teams is underway and till now twenty four tourists have been rescued. The Navy has deployed helicopters for the search operation and teams from the NDRF and SDRF are scouring the river. The tourism department is engaging two speed boats.

Specialist marine divers from Vishakhapatnam have also been called in to assist the rescue operations. The entire tourist group on the boat consisted of people from AP and Telangana with 22 from Hyderabad and 14 from Warrangal present on the boat during the accident

The tourists were on a joy ride to Papikondalu from Gandipochamma temple at about 10 am. Tragedy struck around 12.30 pm when the boat was reportedly caught in a  whirlpool in the vicinity of Kachuluru Manda village in Devipatnam mandal of East Godavari and capsized.

Government sources said that the death toll stood at 13 at 7 pm, and 24 tourists had been rescued by nearby villagers. The rescued persons were rushed to the area hospital at Rampachodavaram for treatment.

Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan issued a detailed document on behalf of his party on the occasion of YSRCP government completing their 100 days at power.

"People have invested a lot of faith in the new government formed after the elections. We have given enough time to the government to see whether it is moving forward as per people's needs and aspirations. The new government has failed to resolve the people's concerns in 100 days. The administration is not running in a planned manner," Pawan Kalyan said in a statement, in his opening remarks. 

"There are disappointments in every sector including education, agriculture, housing and economic development. People have come to a conclusion in the last five years that Amaravati is the capital of new state. The ruling party's attitude towards the capital city is detrimental to the development. It is not fair," he added.

Speaking about the YSRCP's decisions on the Polavaram project, Pawan said, "They are encouraging additional burden to the exchequer and abnormal delay in the project works, which can be avoidable."

"It is not our policy to make political allegations day in and day out, criticising the administration. We have collected complete details analytically and we are placing the truth in front of the people authoritatively. We express our dissent over the attitude of the government is not maintaining transparency and promoting its hidden agenda in every issue," Pawan added.

Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Andhra Pradesh’s Minister for Tourism inaugurated the YSR Kreeda Vikasa Kendra, a multi-discipline indoor and outdoor stadium at Penukonda in Ananthapur district. Present at the event was Malagundla Sankara Narayana, a YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader. 

Speaking to media after the inauguration Muttamsetti said, “Telugu Desam Party (TDP)’s national president N Chandrababu Naidu is an event manager, and this week’s event has been ‘Chalo Atmakuru.’ I would like to call this ‘Chalo Atmakuru’ programme, an act of street rowdies. CM Jagan would never stoop down to that level.” The Minister added, “It is unfortunate that the TDP does not have the patience to wait for at least six months before criticizing the ruling party (YSRCP). Incidents of personal rivalry are being given a political color and publicized as political feuds.” 

Muttamsetti also said, “The YSRCP government led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was committed to working for the welfare of the people, 19 bills had been passed in the first 14 days of the inaugural Assembly sessions.” He further added. “Upset about its defeat in the recent state elections, the TDP is looking for some excuse or the other to prompt people and create turmoil in society.”

-AMULYA NINDRAKOLANU

Former Denduluru MLA Chintamaneni Prabhakar was arrested from his residence on Wednesday. He was accused of attacking and publicly humiliating a group of Dalits in Pinakadimi village earlier this month

The former MLA has been absconding ever since and visited his residence to check on his wife who was unwell. The arrest of Chintamaneni, as expected, didn't go on smoothly and his supporters and TDP workers tried to stop the police from entering his house as tension prevailed in the area.

Speaking to the media after he was apprehended by the police, Chintamaneni said that his arrest was politically motivated and that the police had taken the decision without even conducting an inquiry into the matter. He also alleged that his house was raided without the requisite search warrant.

A case under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and other sections have been registered against Chintamaneni.

In 2017 Chintamaneni was accused of attacking and abducting a person belonging to the Scheduled Caste over a land dispute. “He was arrested and booked under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act then too, and was sent to judicial remand,” said the District SP.

English medium curriculum will be introduced for classes 1 to 8 from the next academic year across all government schools in Andhra Pradesh. All necessary training for the same will be imparted to the teachers. The decision was taken at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy on Wednesday.

Jagan further directed the officials to fill up the vacant teacher's post by January and that they must ensure that adequate teachers to students ratio is maintained all the time. Additionally, special emphasis will be placed on Environment, Climate change and road safety from the next academic year. 

"An action plan should be prepared to ensure that every Mandal has one Junior College and wherever possible high schools should be upgraded to junior colleges and an elaborate exercise should be carried out to identify the places where they should be set up. In the same manner, every assembly constituency should have one Degree College," Reddy said.

The state has decided to refurbish 44,512 schools under 'Then and Now' and the first phase will cover 15, 410 schools. The Chief Minister said that every phase should cover Panchayatraj, Municipal, Tribal, Social, BC Welfare and other schools. The first phase should be completed by March 14, 2020, and there will also be a social audit, he said.

Parents should be involved in the education of children and Quality of mid-day meal and the eggs supplied should be improved, he told the officials.

After being placed under house arrest along with son Nara Lokesh, Telugu Desam President and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has started his 12- hours fast to protest against the undemocratic ways of the ruling YSRCP. 

The police fearing a law and order problem placed the TDP leaders under house arrest earlier today hence foiling their 'Chalo Atmakur' rally. The TDP has alleged that a number of its party workers have been killed in multiple attacks since the elections in May and that a number of the workers belonged to the Palnadu region

Earlier this morning, the police did not allow Naidu to come out of his house at Undavalli in Amaravati as he was about to leave for the rally. Lokesh was also stopped from leaving his residence following which he was seen arguing with the police, demanding the documents which authorised them to stop him. 

With the growing support to the 'Chalo Atmakur' protest rally, Andhra Pradesh DGP Gautam Sawan as a preventive measure released a statement which prohibited any kind of public gathering in the region. He further announced that Section 144 was implemented in the area anyone violating that will be facing legal consequences.

Foreseeing the arrest situation, Naidu asked the TDP cadre to protest on the spot wherever detained. TDP MP Kesineni Nani, senior leader Buddha Venkanna and a number of other leaders and party workers have been detained. 

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharitha has dubbed the ongoing tensions as 'drama' and called the protesters as 'paid artists'. 

Retired High Court judge, Justice P. Lakshmana Reddy has been appointed as the new Lokayukta of Andhra Pradesh on Monday. Reddy is the first Lokayukta of the Andhra Pradesh since its bifurcation and will hold the position for the next 5 years.

Justice Reddy began his career as an advocate in the district court before making his way up to the high court and retiring as the judge of Andhra Pradesh High Court. He played a crucial role in the unearthing of the Yeluru Land compensation scam where crores of rupees released by the government for the farmers were misappropriated by unrelated parties in the 90s.

Before Justice Lakshmana Reddy, Justice B Subhashan Reddy last served as the Lokayukta for Andhra Pradesh during the combined state days back in 2012. However, after his retirement, the post has been lying vacant. The institution continued functioning without a head all these years

While cases were being heard till December 15, 2017, since then, not a single case has been heard.

The YSRCP government has clarified that Hindu priests and Muslim clerics will enjoy benefits similar to ones that the Christian pastors are currently receiving. The statement was made in connection to BJP's allegation where they called out the Jaganmohan Reddy government for its partisan policies where only pastors were receiving an honorarium of Rs 5,000 per month.

On August 27th, the minority welfare department issued an order under which all the district collectors were supposed to share the report with the government on the number of pastors in each district for the purpose of extending the honorarium. The BJP took strong objection to this statement and claimed that such decisions made people of other faith feel like outsiders.

However, sources in the YSRCP clarified that there were notes sent to different departments. While one note went to the Minority Welfare Department, another went to the Endowment Department. Sources said that this had resulted in a misunderstanding, on which the BJP cashed in, by being selective in its outrage.

The YSRCP also pointed out that the scheme had been implemented by the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government, and they had just increased the honorarium given to all religious heads. The ruling party lashed out at BJP for its selective outrage and claimed that all the noise was being made for no reason.

The note sent to the Endowments Department states that the state government had decided to enhance the remuneration for archakas (Hindu priests) to 25%, over and above the rates fixed in a Government Order issued in March 2019. It also decided to allot house sites and construct houses for them. 

"The Commissioner, Endowments Department is requested to obtain particulars relating to the above said items from all the districts, at the earliest, and submit to the Government for taking further necessary action in the matter," the note states.


-Sharat Bhamidi