Firebrand YSR Congress party legislator R K Roja’s attack on TDP general secretary and IT minister Nara Lokesh, describing him as ‘pappu’ and ridiculing his oratorical skills in Telugu have not gone down well with the Telugu Desam Party.

TDP women legislators V Anitha and Anuradha came down heavily on Roja for lacking decency and culture in her criticism.

“There is no need for Lokesh Babu to learn lessons in Telugu from a film actress like Roja. He is the grandson of N T Rama Rao who upheld the prestige of Telugus and had eloquence in Telugu. Lokesh can speak a fluent Telugu, compared to Roja,” they said.

The TDP legislators said unlike Roja or for that matter her boss Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Lokesh was well-educated and cultured.

“His Telugu pronunciation is much better than that of Roja or her party leader,” they said.

They also found fault with the YSRC legislator for her unsavoury comments on TDP president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on the construction of his new house at Jubilee Hills.

“What is wrong in constructing a new house with his own money? He has renovated his old house as it was not convenient for a growing family. And there is no rule that he should not have a house in Hyderabad. Anybody can stay anywhere in India,” they argued.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has stunned the opposition parties in the state by coming out with an attractive incentive for farmers – payment of Rs 4,000 per acre to each farmer, irrespective of the land holding, towards purchase of fertilisers.

Cleverly, KCR announced that the scheme would come into implementation with effect from next financial year so that the TRS would get the political advantage in the elections scheduled for the subsequent year.

It is a big setback for the Congress party which has not so far come out with any plan to attract the farmers or any other sections.

Now, the party is forced to welcome the announcement and all that the Congress leaders are doing now is to question as to why KCR had been silent on farmers’ welfare all these years.

Now, according to sources, KCR has some more sops in his pocket to attract other sections as well. One such sop is payment of unemployment allowance to the jobless youth.

For quite some time, KCR has been incurring the wrath of youth for not filling up job vacancies as promised by him during the elections. There is growing unrest among the youth and the opposition parties, particularly the Telangana Joint Action Committee, tried to cash in on it to attack the TRS government.

Now, if KCR comes out with this unemployment allowance sop, it is definitely going to turn the tide in favour of the TRS. Though this sop also might face implementation hurdles, but since it will be announced from next financial year, KCR will be able to attract the youth in a big way.

Let us and wait see how many other weapons KCR will bring out from his armoury!

Surprising all, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s estranged wife Jashodhaben arrived Telangana state on Friday morning. She drove directly to Vikarabad from Rajiv Gandhi International airport to Vikarabad to attend some private programmes.

She offered prayers at Nagadevatha Temple in Vikarabad town and also participated in the unveiling of Dr BR Ambedkar statue on the occasion of the later’s 125th birth anniversary celebrations in the country. Learning about her arrival, people surrounding areas rushed to the temple and also the statue venue to have a glimpse of Modi’s former wife. However, no official arrangements from the government side were made for her visit to Telangana.

Modi has married Jashodaben in 1975 and left her after living for three months only. Modi could not meet his wife as he was busy with RSS activities and to pursue his political career.

The United States which has recently fired missiles at an air base in Syria, has now dropped the ‘Mother of All Bombs’ in Afghanistan. Read this to know how powerful this bomb is.

Originally named Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, it is the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used by America in a combat. The 9.8-tonne guided bomb is known for its sheer power and accuracy. MOAB was first produced for use in the early days of the Iraq war, in 2002-2003 by an Alabama-based aerospace and defence company.

This demolition bomb contains 8,480 kgs of the explosive H6 and a blast yield equivalent to 11 tons of TNT. With 9 metres length and a diameter of 1 metre, it is the largest-ever satellite-guided, air-delivered weapon in history. It reportedly weighs as much as an F-16 fighter jet.

It is a concussive bomb, which means it is designed to detonate before it hits the ground. Its thin aluminum skin maximizes its blast radius and generates a shockwave which can reach up to 150 metres.

The US said the target of Thursday’s bombing was a tunnel in Afghanistan, which have been inhabited by IS sponsored militants to launch deadly attacks on Kabul and other Afghan provinces.

‘The area was so remote that no civilians could possibly be there. So, we went ahead with our plan of bombing. A concussive bomb such as MOAB has the advantage in such area. Its blast can turn corners and go all the way to the furthest reaches of a cave,’ an US Air Force official reportedly said.

The Afghan defense ministry on Friday said that as many as 36 suspected Islamic State militants were killed and no civilian was harmed in Thursday’s bombing.