Hyderabad: Eight extremists, members of a newly formed group which allegedly indulged in extortion and violence, were Thursday killed in an exchange of fire with police in Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

The face-off took place in a forest area falling under Tekulapalli mandal of the district around 6.30 am, a senior police officer said.

“Eight extremists have been killed in the exchange of fire. They fired on the police team and in the retaliatory firing, eight of them were killed. At least five weapons have been recovered from the scene,” the officer told PTI.

No policeman was injured in the incident, he said.The group members indulged in extortion and violence in the area, the officer said.

The police, based on a specific information, took up combing in the area in a bid to nab them, he said.According to police, the men were formerly associated with the ‘Jana Shakti’ group of Naxals.

On July 24, a new group, called CPI (ML) Chandra Pullareddy (CP) Bata, was formed with 12 members under the leadership of K Rajana and B Narasimhulu, the police said.

According to police, the group members started their activities in four districts – Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mahabubabad, Kothagudem and Khammam – wherein they indulged in extortion from businessmen, conducted land settlements and civil panchayats, put up pamphlets and created terror in the society.

On December 3, the police had arrested three armed extremists of the group in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district and seized a rifle, two grenades, several rounds of ammunition, empty magazines, six kitbags and seven cell phones from their possession.

In a move to replace the existing Fair Price Shops (FPS) i.e Ration Shops into Chandranna Village Malls, Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP government has initiated a Pilot Project in Guntur and Vijayawada (which will be soon launched in other districts). The Chandranna Village Malls will sell essential foodstuff at a price 20 per cent less than the price in the open market. Over 300 varieties of items with 20 per cent discount on MPRs would be for sale at the village malls. So far it is fine.

However, it is learnt that both Reliance and Future Group – prominent FMCG firms – have come forward to take the village malls into public. As per the government’s agreement with the firms, Reliance would start the malls in 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh and Future Group (which owns Big Bazaar and Heritage) would set up the village malls in East Godavari, West Godavari and Nellore districts. Both these corporate FMCG gaints have been permitted by the AP Government to operate the malls.

The whole plan of the Ap governnment is to replace the existing 29,000 Fair Price Shops aka ration shops (FPS) into village malls all over the state. While the idea sounds good, the execution is inviting criticism. Opposition is criticising the government that the malls would only benefit Reliance and Future Group. Since Future Group has an open business association with Heritage (owned by Chandrababu Naidu & Family), the allegations gained more significance.

Even people seems to be divided over government’s decision to put malls. While a few support govt’s move as it is people’s choice whether to buy the goods or not, a few other oppose the move stating that this would be a death knell to small store keepers and other retail shop owners who are already in difficulty to make their ends meet. Pro-Chandranna Mall move say that this would benefit middle-class people as the goods would get at subsidized prices. However, there have been doubts over practical issues that come with it.

Meanwhile, AP government is maintaining a stoic silence over the allegations as only they have been launched in Guntur and Vijayawada for ‘testing’. Also, naming the malls after Naidu’s name is also drawing some criticism. On the whole, it needs to be seen how TDP government would deal with the issue in the days to come.

Pawan Kalyan seems to have taken contentious land for lease to establish Jana Sena party office in Guntur. Pawan has recently acquired a 3-acre land Chinna Kakani in Mangalagiri Mandal of Guntur district for lease from one Yarlagadda Sambasiva Rao. Pawan seems to have entered into lease agreement without knowledge of the ongoing legal tangle over the land.

However, a Muslim family has come out in media claiming that the land originally belongs to them and showing proofs of documents and court’s stay order on the legally contentious land. They say it is in judicial trial and the court is yet to deliver its verdict.

The family is now urging Pawan to opt out of the deal as Sambasiva Rao has no right to sell or lease the property and hence the lease is illegal. Jana Sena Party is yet to respond on the issue.

Among the three contributions that director Rajamouli has done for Amaravati designs, the most prominent is the proposed installation of Telugu Thalli Statue in Central Hall of Assembly. Here is a short video demonstration of how technology will be used to create a unique visual with the statue.

Besides installing the Telugu Thalli statue in Central Hall, a series of mirrors will be placed in a contraption on terrace above the hall. The mirrors will have the ability to rotate 360 degrees, and that they work together to direct the sun rays that fall upon them to directly touch the feet of Telugu Thalli statue.

The time at which the phenomenon is to happen has to be input manually and the remaining process will be taken care of by the computerized rig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F3fS075fsk

Rohit Sharma, the stand-in skipper of Team India created history yesterday by becoming the first cricketer in the world to hit three double centuries in ODI format. The Indian batsman, who was destructive on the field, showed how much he loves his wife Ritika Sajdeh as he gifted his record-breaking double ton to her as anniversary gift.

Yesterday happened to be the second marriage anniversary of Rohit and Ritika, and what better gift Rohit could have given to his wife rather than this world record. She was watching from the stands as Rohit blazed through Sri Lankan bowling unit to score his third double ton. The happy teary-eyed face of Ritika when she watched Rohit lift his bat after scoring the double ton was easily the moment of the match.

Upon dedicating the double hundred to his wife, Rohit said, “She has been my strength, she has always been there for me”.

Telangana IT Minister KTR has lauded TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu as the crusader of IT industry in Hyderabad. He said that Naidu had put unparalleled efforts to develop the capital city of united AP as IT hub during his tenure as the CM.

Addressing the participants at the annual event of Tech Mahindra in Hyderabad, KTR made these claims while answering the queries posed to him. He said that Naidu developed Hyderabad city as a major IT hub in the world and that it was during his tenure as CM that several global IT firms established their units in Hyderabad.

‘The credit for Tech giants like Google coming to Hyderabad must be given entirely to Chandrababu,’ KTR reportedly said. He exuded confidence that Naidu, as the CM of bifurcated AP, will develop capital Amaravati as a world-class city.