Kakinada: YSR Congress Party president Jagan Reddy here on Wednesday lambasted Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleging that the latter has become thick-skinned, shameless and was not able to talk properly. Addressing a large number of students and youth gathered here on Wednesday as part of the Yuva Bheri, the Leader of Opposition in his inspiring speech to create awareness on the special status said that the only mantra for development is special status and it is our right which we are being denied.

“We have to join hands and fight for our right as it is only through special status that we get more employment opportunities and economic activity which will lead to increase in standard of living and quality of life. Uttarakhand, after getting special status, has got over 2,000 industrial units with the inflow of over 30,000 crore investments creating numerous jobs and there was an increase of 490 % in employment opportunities. This clearly shows that jobs will be created, employment opportunities will be increased, industries and investments will come in and with a 972-km long coastline, the economy will boom and every section will be part of the development process.

Chandrababu Naidu has been trying hard to impress that the era of special status is a bygone one. But that is a blatant lie. In a written reply to our MP YV Subba Reddy, the Centre has said in July 2015 that the Government has no intention to withdraw the special category status which is in force in 11 states of the country. This calls the bluff of Chandrababu Naidu. The beneficiaries of the special status will be the youth and students who will be looking forward for jobs as the promise was made to compensate the loss we occurred by losing Hyderabad in the process of division of the state.

There was an assurance given by the Prime Minister and a cabinet decision was taken and sent to the concerned authorities. All that is needed is a signature by the Prime Minister and the will of the State Government to pursue the matter. The special status issue was incorporated in the manifesto of the TDP-BJP combine and even said it would increase the term from five years to ten years. This is not being done as Chandrababu Naidu has placed his personal gains ahead of public interests and has compromised after his involvement in numerous scams, more so the cash for vote scam. If special status is accorded the state will get 90 % of the funding in the form of grants, which need not be repaid besides exemptions and tax holidays which encourages big industrial houses to set up their business units in the state which in turn will throw open more employment opportunities to the youth,’ he said addressing a packed auditorium. Permission was denied to hold interaction with students in the university campus.

During the division of the state, it was announced that Andhra Pradesh has 1,42,808 jobs but there was no APPSC notification nor was the employment calendar announced and on the contrary 35,000 field assistants were sacked and the staff of Arogyamitra are being threatened to be sacked. The Arogyamitra staff was recruited through an online examination and Anganwadi workers are also on strike seeking pay hike and regularization. The government is not showing any interest though Chandrababu Naidu during electioneering has promised to provide jobs to every household failing which unemployment stipend would be paid. Nothing has materialized even 20 months after TDP coming to power.

There is lot of talk on special package which finds no mention before elections and all the assurances put together is being offered as a special package which is nothing additional and no match to special status. There is another propaganda going that that special status states will get limited resources which is wrong. The devolution of funds is being done under the DR Gadgil formula which was later improvised and came to be known as Gadgil-Mukherjee formula and special category states will get large number of benefits which will pave way for development.

This government is insensitive and intends to drag the issue to put it to sleep. Instead of going to Singapore and Malaysia, it is better if Chandrababu Naidu sits in the Prime Minister’s office and he insists on the special status which he will not do due to personal reasons. We have to fight for our rights and with the support of youth, who will be the beneficiaries of special status, we shall mount pressure on the government to attain special status,” he said.

A landslip of mining waste killed at least six people in the sixth deadly such accident in northern Myanmar’s jade mining region since a November disaster left more than 100 dead. Hpakant Baptist Church deacon Dut La, who is organising funerals for the victims, said six bodies were in the morgue but more than a dozen may still lie under the waste from the landslip that occurred on Monday afternoon in Kachin state’s Hpakant mining region.

Some kin don’t turn up, but burial to go on “We are going to bury them today [Wednesday]. Some family members showed up but some didn’t and we cannot wait for them anymore,” the deacon said on Wednesday. “There are a dozen more possibly buried under the debris but it’s quite difficult to take the bodies out because it’s too dangerous.” Hpakant, 950 kilometres (600 miles) northeast of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, is the epicentre of the lucrative jade mining industry. Jade is mined with heavy equipment that leaves behind small pieces in the waste soil that is piled into huge mounds.

People near jade mines at risk At risk when landslips occur are usually people who settle near the mounds to scavenge through precariously high piles. Myanmar’s jade industry generated about $31 billion last year with most of the wealth going to individuals and companies tied to the Myanmar’s former military rulers, according to Global Witness, a group that investigate misuse of resource revenues. And poor want to make the most of it The opportunity to find and sell bits of discarded jade has attracted poor people from all over the country. Such accidents usually occur on a small-scale that does not get much attention, and are often dismissed as a result of bad weather.

“These kinds of incidents are happening a lot because the mining companies are not systematic about disposing of the waste earth after digging out the jade,” said Nilar Myint, assistant director of the local Township Administration Office. Buck rests with mining firms “The mining companies are very much responsible for this case. They pile the waste earth too high, like another mountain.” She said effective action should be taken against mining companies that do not follow guidelines. Myanmar’s state media had reported at least three deaths in Monday’s accident in in Panghkam Bum village. Kyaw Soe, a police officer of nearby Lonekhin village told The Associated Press that about 100 scavengers had settled by the waste pile, which was more than 100 feet (30 metres) high and 150 feet (46 metres) wide.

Khin Maung Chit, a local member of the National League for Democracy party, said his group’s investigation had seen four of the settlers’ huts buried by the landslip, and that more than a dozen people may have been killed, but they were still trying to determine exactly how many had died.

Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan pulled off a major surprise when he aggressively campaigned for the TDP-BJP alliance in the 2014 general elections. Thanks to Pawan’s support, TDP and BJP got a thumping majority. Everyone thought Pawan would make his splash in the GHMC polls after Janasena cadres said that the party will contest in the elections.

But Pawan decided keep away from active politics once again and got himself busy with Sardaar Gabbar Singh. Recently, BJP’s Kishan Reddy and TDP’s Sujana Chowdary requested Pawan to once again campaign for the TDP-BJP alliance in the GHMC polls.

But Pawan politely denied their request. While many might think that Pawan distanced himself from GHMC polls as he is neck deep busy with Sardaar, the real reason could be different.

Pawan formed Janasena with a steadfast resolution of weakening the two allegedly corrupt political biggies, Congress and YSRCP and succeeded in his mission. While YSRCP backed out of the GHMC contest, Congress is struggling to put up a minimum fight against TRS and the TDP-BJP alliance.

This might have made Pawan to feel that his services aren’t necessary for TDP-BJP at the moment and let both the parties fight it out on their own. And if they fail, need for Pawan’s support grows multifold in the 2019 elections. Quite a smart strategy by the reluctant politician!

TRS minister KTR has once again breathed fire on TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu and his son and the party’s crusader in the GHMC elections, Nara Lokesh.

KTR ridiculed saying, “when Chandrababu himself failed to get centre’s fund for his state’s capital construction, how can people expect Lokesh to get funds if they vote for TDP in the GHMC polls?” KTR further criticised Lokesh’s and Babu’s claims of bringing the IT companies to Hyderabad and paving a path for development by saying that the companies came to Hyderabad since the conditions were favorable in the city and Babu snatching away the credit is not appropriate.

KTR further stated that the TRS government has played a crucial role in IIFA Utsavam and that the entertainment industry will tread newer paths with the government’s new entertainment policy, which sees Hyderabad as a mega animation, multimedia and gaming hub. KTR concluded saying that even the Silicon Valley is talking about Hyderabad now.