The sudden disappearance of power star and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan from hectic political activity in Andhra Pradesh is said to be causing a lot of frustration among the party cadres.After withdrawing from his tour in West Godavari abruptly a couple of weeks ago, there has been no message or action plan from Pawan to the party cadre at the field level.

The party office first said Pawan had deferred his tour programme on account of heavy rains and floods in West Godavari and then later, attributed his absence to his eye surgery. It said doctors had advised Pawan to take rest.Yet, Pawan has been making his appearance on one or two occasions, for example at his mega brother Chiranjeevi’s residence last week. Occasionally, he makes his presence felt through his social media postings.

What has surprised the party cadre in Andhra Pradesh is the way he is evincing interest in the elections in Telangana.On every alternate day, there is a press release from his office stating that Pawan wants his party leaders to gear up to face the early elections in Telangana.

He even appointed committees to identify candidates for the Telangana assembly elections.

But what about Andhra Pradesh?

The man, who has been staking claim for power as an alternative force to the Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress party is missing in action at crucial situations.He has not made any effort so far to develop a network of cadre from grassroots level to the top. May be he is thinking that his fans and that of his brother, besides the cadre of the Left parties would be enough to do the groundwork for the party.

A party leader, who is utterly frustrated with Pawan Kalyan, said unless there is a series of meetings by the party chief, there will be no momentum in the party.“As of now, we are not ready for the battle. Since the elections are hardly a few months away, it is time we gear up to build the network across the length and breadth of the state,” he said.

Washington: Four in 10 Americans struggled to pay for their basic needs such as food or housing last year, according to a new study from the Urban Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

Despite a growing US economy and a low unemployment rate, 39.4 per cent of Americans between 18 and 64 years old said they experienced at least one type of material hardship in 2017, Xinhua quoted a study as saying, which surveyed nearly 7,600 adults about whether they had trouble paying for housing, utilities, food or health care.

The findings came as a surprise among researchers with the Urban Institute, who had expected to find high level of hardship among poor Americans but hadn’t predicted so many middle-class families would also struggle to meet their basic needs.

“Economic growth and low unemployment alone do not ensure everyone can meet their basic needs,” the authors wrote in a report.

“A lot of people are looking at the fact that wages aren’t keeping up with household costs as one reason families are having difficulty making ends meet,” said Michael Karpman, research associate at the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center and a co-author of the report.

Food insecurity was the most common challenge, with over 23 percent of households struggling to feed their family at some point during 2017.

That was followed by troubles paying a family medical bill, reported by about 18 percent. A similar percentage didn’t seek care for a medical need over concerns of the cost.

Additionally, roughly 13 percent of families missed a utility bill payment at some point during the year. And 10 percent of families either didn’t pay the full amount of their rent or mortgage, or they paid it late.

The Urban Institute designed the study last year to get a baseline measure of hardship in anticipation of proposed cutbacks in federal safety-net programs, such as Medicaid, SNAP and housing assistance. Some states have already moved forward with such plans.

Low-income households reported the highest share of hardship. More than 40 per cent of poor and near-poor adults, or those below and slightly above the federal poverty level, experienced food insecurity, compared with about 23 per cent across all income groups.

It is the first study on the subject by the Urban Institute, which looks at economic and social policy issues. The institute plans to conduct the study annually to track the well-being of families as the economy and safety net systems change.

A relative of poet Varavara Rao on Tuesday accused Pune Police of “forcing” him and his wife Hemalatha to sign a ‘punchnama’ in Marathi language.Varavara Rao was arrested from his residence in Hyderabad by police from Pune and presented before a Nampally criminal court. Police are likely to shift him to Pune.

“Both Rao and his wife Hemalatha don’t know Marathi… they were forced to sign on the punchnama written in Marathi,” journalist N. Venugopal, the son-in-law of Rao, told the media here.According to Venugopal, as per the law the punchnama — a document prepared by police and signed by respectable witnesses — should be in a language the accused is familiar with.

“Without any search warrant, they (police) entered his house, snatched away cell phones. They also disconnected the land line phone and intercom and kept Rao incommunicado for eight hours,” he claimed. As for Rao’s health, Venugopal said: “He is 78-year-old, has so many ailments and needs regular medicines.”

NTR created a record by making TDP win in 247 Assembly Seats during the 1994 Elections. Citing the interference of Lakshmi Parvati, Such a Legendary Personality was dethroned from the CM Chair in an insulting manner. What happened at the Viceroy Hotel on August 27th, 1995 remains in the history forever.

From the Viceroy Hotel, Chandrababu Naidu declared 170 MLAs have been backing his leadership and the real TDP is with him. Leading newspapers Eenadu and Andhrajyothi which found fault with Nadendla Bhaskar Rao’s revolt in 1984 came in support of Babu’s backstabbing NTR in 1995. Even other family members Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, Harikrishna and Balakrishna shifted loyalties to Chandrababu Naidu during that phase.

Chandrababu Naidu became CM of AP on September 1st, 1995. NTR was in inconsolable pain after realizing the conspiracy against him by the family members. The Great Personality breathed his last on January 18th, 1996.