International passengers departing from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad from April 23 onwards will have to pay Rs 1,000 ($25) towards user development fees (UDF). Announcing this in a statement, the new airport developer -- GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited -- said that the fees would be collected with the approval of the ministry of civil aviation.
The labourers, who were using heavy equipment, had no time to escape when a 50-feet-high mound of soil caved in. Villagers rushed to the spot to pull out the trapped labourers from under the debris. Revenue and police personnel also joined in the rescue operations. Eight bodies were retrieved after a three-hour operation. Five injured persons were shifted to the government hospital at Korutla. Relatives of the deceased alleged that adequate safety measures had not been taken
The Andhra Pradesh government has re-launched the Rs 2-a-kg rice scheme for below-poverty-line (BPL) families in the State from Wednesday, coinciding with Ugadi, the Telugu New Year Day that was celebrated two days ago. Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy formally inaugurated the scheme at Jadcharla in backward Mahbubnagar district on Wednesday.
A top leader of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist was arrested by the police in Karimnagar district in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. Hailing from Karimnagar district in the backward Telangana region, Amar headed the Janashakti group as its central committee secretary.
After taking off, the captain of the Kingfisher Airlines flight from Hyderabad to Delhi alerted air traffic control saying that he was receiving a smoke detection indication in the cargo hold of the aircraft. As per standard airline procedures, he requested to return to Hyderabad. During the precautionary unloading of the cargo, an un-identified substance was located.
The no trust motion tabled by the main opposition Telugu Desam Party against the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh was defeated in the State Legislative Assembly in the early hours of Thursday. The motion was put to vote by Speaker K R Suresh Reddy around 1.45 am after the House witnessed acrimonious debate over the motion for nearly 39 hours spread over the last three days.
Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy on Wednesday pulled up Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu for questioning his authority and showing 'disrespect to the chair.' On the third day of the marathon debate on the no-trust motion tabled by the main opposition Telugu Desam Party, the speaker lost his cool when Naidu and other TDP members wildly gesticulated and made certain remarks against the chair.
Communist Party of India-Maoist central committee member G Saraiah alias Azad and his wife Padma were shot dead in an exchange of fire with Greyhound commandos in the forests between Kantanapalli-Rampuram villages in Eturunagaram mandal. Azad was suspected of organising the killing of 16 tribals in Nizamabad district in 2002.
The Andhra Pradesh assembly took up the marathon debate on the no-confidence motion tabled by the main opposition TDP against the Congress government. This is the first time that the present government is facing a no-trust motion even as it completes four years in power. The TDP attacked the Congress government for alleged acts of omission and commission.
The election of the octogenarian Communist veteran to the post came on the concluding day of the four-day 20th National Congress in Hyderabad. S Sudhakar Reddy, member of Parliament from Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh, was elected the deputy general secretary of the party, a post that has been revived after a gap of nine years.
"It is surprising that even after going through with the completion of recording of evidence of witnesses and arguments, the commission has failed to submit its findings. So much so that Mumbai High Court had to comment adversely regarding the functioning and delay in the completion of inquiry by the commission. "Consequently, there is genuine feeling among the vast sections of the society, especially among Muslims," the resolution noted.
The Communist Party of India has appealed to the new government in Pakistan to grant clemency to Indian prisoner Sarabjeet Singh. "The government of Pakistan has shown a good gesture by postponing his hanging for a month. Now, the new government of Pakistan may show another good gesture by granting him clemency, as he has suffered due to misplaced identity and has already served long years of imprisonment," the resolution said.
"Though we welcome the amendments to Succession Act, passing of Domestic Violence Act, women quota in NREG Act and the announcement of extension of maternity leave to six months, we are critical of the failure of the UPA government to introduce the bill on 33 per cent reservations of seats to women in Parliament and state assemblies," the resolution, adopted on the penultimate day of the ongoing 20th Congress of the CPI, noted.
In a resolution adopted at the ongoing 20th Congress of the party in Hyderabad on Tuesday, the CPI strongly condemned 'the divisive anti-national agitation started by MNS and other forces' in Mumbai and other places in Maharashtra.
On the presence of top leaders of the three other Left parties at the inaugural session, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan admitted: 'We may sometimes have little differences. But we are together on most issues affecting our country and our people. We have to further strengthen and consolidate this Left unity, for that is the only way we can advance to build the Third alternative-the Left and democratic alternative in India."
CPI general secretary A B Bardhan accused the government of 'wilfully violating the Common Minimum Programme, which commits the United Progressive Alliance to pursue an independent foreign policy aimed at promoting multi-polarity in world relations and opposing all attempts at unilateralism-which is what the US pursues.'
The first commercial flight -- Lufthansa flight LH 752 from Frankfurt -- landed exactly at 0025 hours. About 250 passengers arrived by the 8-hour flight from Germany. The same aircraft was the first departure from RGIA at 0220 hours the same day.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) has developed the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad ahead of schedule, but the company officials are not in a position to tell when the new facility will commence commercial operations even three days after its inauguration.It is learnt that most of the private airlines, including domestic and international carriers, are yet to enter into an agreement with the new airport's two ground handlers.
Union Minister of State for Mines T Subbarami Reddy, Advisor on Public Affairs Dr K V P Ramachandra Rao and Telugu Desam Party founder N T Rama Rao's son Nandamuri Harikrishna are among the six candidates who filed their nominations on Saturday for Rajya Sabha biennial elections from Andhra Pradesh slated for March 26.
India's most modern and 1st greenfield airport was inaugurated at Shamshabad about 30 kilometres from Hyderabad by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Friday. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport was developed under a public-private partnership initiative. Spread over 5,400 acres, this joint venture of GMR group has Malaysia airports holdings Berhad (11 per cent), Airports Authority of India (13 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh Government (13 per cen) holding stakes in the project.