Hyderabad: In the last five and a half months since he has become Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Konijeti Rosaiah has been ill-at-ease managing one crisis after the other.
Despite being a senior political leader, and one who had been a minister for many years in different governments, Rosaiah somehow has been appearing “helpless” ever since the turmoil over the state bifurcation issue broke out in December last.
“None may believe, but really I am peaceful,” Rosaiah remarked in an informal chat with newsmen.
On the suggestion that he was sounding alike his predecessor Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who too took things lightly, Rosaiah observed: “I am unlike him. He was young and had a different style of functioning.”
Referring to the ongoing crisis over the separate Telangana statehood demand, the Chief Minister said: “It is an issue that is not in my hands. So, I am not unduly perturbed.”
Rosaiah said there were a lot of issues where “we have to apply our mind.”
“Our main concern is the implementation of various welfare schemes. Besides, there are other issues like power supply which we should take care of,” he added.
Rosaiah, however, expressed concern over the way the state Legislature was functioning. “Over 50 per cent of the MLAs, from all parties, are youngsters. They are feeling irksome over the conduct of the House,” he pointed out.
The Chief Minister denied he was repeatedly “warning” his Cabinet colleagues about the threat of President’s rule being imposed in the state and also about the “collective responsibility.”
“You people write anything in the media. Two days ago one television channel ran a story that I had submitted my resignation. Yesterday someone else published a story that I sent a letter to Sonia Gandhi saying I can’t run the government anymore. Today someone wrote that the Legislative Council will be abolished,” Rosaiah pointed out and only laughed at such reports.
The Chief Minister hoped there would be no problem in getting state Budget for the year 2010-11 passed in the Legislature.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
AP's Fab City is gone
DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh’s dream project, the Fab City is gone. The state government issued orders for resumption of 78 acres of land allotted to SemIndia Fab Pvt Ltd as it “failed to fulfill any of the obligations in bringing investment and creating employment” at the proposed Fab City near Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh wanted to emerge as the largest cluster of semiconductor manufacturing and entered into a memorandum of understanding with SemIndia Fab Pvt Ltd as the anchor industry. It was allotted 100 acres of land in 2007 as an investment of 75 million USD was promised in the first phase for an assembling, testing, marketing and packing plant (ATMP) with an employment potential of 2,000 within 18 months. In the second phase, an investment of 750 million USD was promised for setting up semiconductor chip manufacturing facilities with an employment potential of 1,000. The third phase plan was for an investment of 2.25 billion USD for an advanced semiconductor plant with employment potential of 5,000.
State Industries Principal Secretary B Sam Bob noted that SemIndia Fab failed to implement the project within the timelines as stipulated in the MoU. Sem India, in reply to a notice issued by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, the nodal agency for implementing the Fab City project, stated that it spent only about 55 crore on the project so far, including construction of a building. “Thus, admittedly, there is violation of terms and conditions of the orders issued by the government and it was not rectified in spite of intimations from the APIIC /Fab City SPV (India) Ltd,” Sam Bob pointed out. SemIndia Fab Pvt Ltd informed APIIC, in reply to a show-cause notice, that the recent financial crisis has impacted all major companies globally, including the Semiconductor and Electronics Systems-related companies, and it would be rather difficult for new green filed projects like theirs to implement projects as per the planned schedule. Accordingly, the Board of Fab City SPV (India) Limited decided to resume 78 acres of land from SemIndia Fab and also fix December 2010 as the deadline for implementation of the project in the reduced extent of 22 acres. The state government today granted permission to APIIC to resume the land. With the Fab project gone, four clean technology companies -- Solar Semiconductor, KSK Energy Venture Limited, XL Telecom and Energy Limited and Surana Ventures Limited – are currently setting up solar cells and photovoltaic modules manufacturing facilities.
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh’s dream project, the Fab City is gone. The state government issued orders for resumption of 78 acres of land allotted to SemIndia Fab Pvt Ltd as it “failed to fulfill any of the obligations in bringing investment and creating employment” at the proposed Fab City near Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh wanted to emerge as the largest cluster of semiconductor manufacturing and entered into a memorandum of understanding with SemIndia Fab Pvt Ltd as the anchor industry. It was allotted 100 acres of land in 2007 as an investment of 75 million USD was promised in the first phase for an assembling, testing, marketing and packing plant (ATMP) with an employment potential of 2,000 within 18 months. In the second phase, an investment of 750 million USD was promised for setting up semiconductor chip manufacturing facilities with an employment potential of 1,000. The third phase plan was for an investment of 2.25 billion USD for an advanced semiconductor plant with employment potential of 5,000.
State Industries Principal Secretary B Sam Bob noted that SemIndia Fab failed to implement the project within the timelines as stipulated in the MoU. Sem India, in reply to a notice issued by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, the nodal agency for implementing the Fab City project, stated that it spent only about 55 crore on the project so far, including construction of a building. “Thus, admittedly, there is violation of terms and conditions of the orders issued by the government and it was not rectified in spite of intimations from the APIIC /Fab City SPV (India) Ltd,” Sam Bob pointed out. SemIndia Fab Pvt Ltd informed APIIC, in reply to a show-cause notice, that the recent financial crisis has impacted all major companies globally, including the Semiconductor and Electronics Systems-related companies, and it would be rather difficult for new green filed projects like theirs to implement projects as per the planned schedule. Accordingly, the Board of Fab City SPV (India) Limited decided to resume 78 acres of land from SemIndia Fab and also fix December 2010 as the deadline for implementation of the project in the reduced extent of 22 acres. The state government today granted permission to APIIC to resume the land. With the Fab project gone, four clean technology companies -- Solar Semiconductor, KSK Energy Venture Limited, XL Telecom and Energy Limited and Surana Ventures Limited – are currently setting up solar cells and photovoltaic modules manufacturing facilities.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Information Technology Investment Region in Andhra Pradesh
DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh, which is already a leading state in Information Technology and Information Technology-Enabled Services sectors, will develop an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) over 50,000 acres of land around Hyderabad.
The massive 25-year plan is aimed at attracting an investment of Rs 2.19 lakh crore in the IT\ITES sectors and create direct employment for 15 lakh youths.
Besides, it also holds promise for an indirect employment for 53 lakh persons.
State Chief Minister K Rosaiah recently approved the ITIR plan and it has been sent to the Government of India for sanctioning. AP will be the first state in the country to have an ITIR.
The ITIR would come up around Gachibowli, Mamidipalli and Maheshwaram areas in an extent of 50,000 acres spread over 200 sq km.
“The ITIR will enable us to step up our IT exports to Rs 2.35 lakh crore in the next 25 years,” according to the state IT Minister.
The state government would also like to develop a similar ITIR at Visakhapatnam. “We will plan it after the Hyderabad ITIR gets sanctioned by the Center,” the minister said.
There was some setback to the state government efforts to develop IT industry in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns and cities like Warangal and Tirupati because of the global recession. “The recession has blocked some companies from coming to the state to set up shop here. But now things are looking up and we will go ahead with our plans,” he added.
“We already have many major IT companies with their Indian headquarters in Hyderabad. The US-based United Health Group has also started its Indian headquarters in Hyderabad recently,” the minister pointed out.
The state will also have a new Information Technology Policy in place. The existing policy, which came into force in 2005, would end in March 2010.
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh, which is already a leading state in Information Technology and Information Technology-Enabled Services sectors, will develop an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) over 50,000 acres of land around Hyderabad.
The massive 25-year plan is aimed at attracting an investment of Rs 2.19 lakh crore in the IT\ITES sectors and create direct employment for 15 lakh youths.
Besides, it also holds promise for an indirect employment for 53 lakh persons.
State Chief Minister K Rosaiah recently approved the ITIR plan and it has been sent to the Government of India for sanctioning. AP will be the first state in the country to have an ITIR.
The ITIR would come up around Gachibowli, Mamidipalli and Maheshwaram areas in an extent of 50,000 acres spread over 200 sq km.
“The ITIR will enable us to step up our IT exports to Rs 2.35 lakh crore in the next 25 years,” according to the state IT Minister.
The state government would also like to develop a similar ITIR at Visakhapatnam. “We will plan it after the Hyderabad ITIR gets sanctioned by the Center,” the minister said.
There was some setback to the state government efforts to develop IT industry in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns and cities like Warangal and Tirupati because of the global recession. “The recession has blocked some companies from coming to the state to set up shop here. But now things are looking up and we will go ahead with our plans,” he added.
“We already have many major IT companies with their Indian headquarters in Hyderabad. The US-based United Health Group has also started its Indian headquarters in Hyderabad recently,” the minister pointed out.
The state will also have a new Information Technology Policy in place. The existing policy, which came into force in 2005, would end in March 2010.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
P V Narasimha Rao's plan on Ram Temple at Ayodhya
DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had done a lot of ground work for constructing the Ram temple at Ayodhya but he could not carry his mission forward as he lost power in the 1996 general elections.
For two years, Narasimha Rao – with the help of his close aides – meticulously planned to cobble together an apolitical ‘trust’ to take up the task of Ram temple construction at Ayodhya but political demands ahead of the impending general elections did not let him realize his goal, retired IAS officer and PV’s confidant P V R K Prasad revealed in a Telugu book “Asalu Emi Jarigindante” (What Actually Happened) that was released last week.
Prasad, an IAS officer of 1966 batch, was an additional secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office and Information Adviser to P V Narasimha Rao. He had a long-standing association with Narasimha Rao ever since the latter’s stint as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1971.
The former Prime Minister, according to Prasad, felt the Ram temple could be constructed only after the case in the (Supreme) court got resolved or if Hindus and Muslims sat and discussed together and arrived at an amicable decision.
Forming the apolitical Ram Temple Trust – comprising heads of various Hindu mutts and religious bodies from across the country – was one of the hardest political gambles that Narasimha Rao, known as the apara Chanakya, had to play to checkmate the Congress’ biggest political rival Bharatiya Janata Party on the Ayodhya issue.
“They (BJP) say they will build the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Is Lord Rama their own,” PV questioned, even as he was immersed in deep thoughts over the temple issue, Prasad recollects in his book.
To counter the BJP on the temple issue, PV came up with an “amazingly new strategy,” Prasad points out, saying the then Prime Minister wanted the Ram temple constructed through an apolitical trust, excluding the Viswa Hindu Parishad, with full support of the Government of India.
“There is only one solution…. we have to form a totally representative apolitical committee with heads of various Hindu mutts and religious bodies and entrust the temple construction task to it,” Prasad quoted PV as saying.
The main intention behind this was to counter the BJP’s “Ram temple construction agenda” ahead of the polls to four northern states (Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) and gain political mileage.
“Rama is Hindus’ most revered God. Is he BJP’s own? What’s their campaign? We can compete with the BJP but how can we do so with Rama,” were the questions that bothered PV, Prasad recalls.
“He (PV) knew that the BJP and the VHP would oppose the formation of any trust without their involvement and they would bring pressure on the mutt heads not to join that. Hence he wanted to make it look like the mutt heads themselves were taking the initiative,” Prasad noted.
“PV wanted me to convey to the mutt heads and religious leaders that the government would support them fully and not others (read VHP). The VHP is not a totally representative committee and has been branded as anti-Muslim. It was thus impending constructive efforts to take up the temple construction. Hence the apolitical trust,” Prasad explained.
Besides, P V R K Prasad, former Union Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra and an IPS officer Kunal Kishore from Bihar were part of the team that did the work from behind the scenes to bring the Hindu mutt heads together and join the trust. The then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh too played his part while at one stage they also had to take the help of controversial ‘godman’ Chandraswamy to prevail upon some Ayodhya-based religious leaders to join the trust.
Once the trust took shape and was registered after two years of hectic efforts, PV expressed confidence that the Ram temple would be constructed without any objections and criticism.
But somehow, the first meeting of the trust towards the end of 1995 did not happen “because of some problem,” Prasad says.
By then it was early 1996 and the country was gripped by election fever. “As Prime Minister and All India Congress Committee president, PV became busy drafting political strategies and counter-strategies. One day, I mustered courage and raised the Ayodhya temple issue with him. He told me that any move during the election time will lead to adverse implications,” Prasad says.
“Wait till the elections are over. We shall come back to power and we shall start the temple work then,” Prasad quoted PV as remarking.
“That’s it. Our hard toil and hectic efforts for two years in persuading the Hindu mutt heads and religious leaders…. (went in vain),” Prasad laments.
Hyderabad: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had done a lot of ground work for constructing the Ram temple at Ayodhya but he could not carry his mission forward as he lost power in the 1996 general elections.
For two years, Narasimha Rao – with the help of his close aides – meticulously planned to cobble together an apolitical ‘trust’ to take up the task of Ram temple construction at Ayodhya but political demands ahead of the impending general elections did not let him realize his goal, retired IAS officer and PV’s confidant P V R K Prasad revealed in a Telugu book “Asalu Emi Jarigindante” (What Actually Happened) that was released last week.
Prasad, an IAS officer of 1966 batch, was an additional secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office and Information Adviser to P V Narasimha Rao. He had a long-standing association with Narasimha Rao ever since the latter’s stint as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1971.
The former Prime Minister, according to Prasad, felt the Ram temple could be constructed only after the case in the (Supreme) court got resolved or if Hindus and Muslims sat and discussed together and arrived at an amicable decision.
Forming the apolitical Ram Temple Trust – comprising heads of various Hindu mutts and religious bodies from across the country – was one of the hardest political gambles that Narasimha Rao, known as the apara Chanakya, had to play to checkmate the Congress’ biggest political rival Bharatiya Janata Party on the Ayodhya issue.
“They (BJP) say they will build the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Is Lord Rama their own,” PV questioned, even as he was immersed in deep thoughts over the temple issue, Prasad recollects in his book.
To counter the BJP on the temple issue, PV came up with an “amazingly new strategy,” Prasad points out, saying the then Prime Minister wanted the Ram temple constructed through an apolitical trust, excluding the Viswa Hindu Parishad, with full support of the Government of India.
“There is only one solution…. we have to form a totally representative apolitical committee with heads of various Hindu mutts and religious bodies and entrust the temple construction task to it,” Prasad quoted PV as saying.
The main intention behind this was to counter the BJP’s “Ram temple construction agenda” ahead of the polls to four northern states (Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) and gain political mileage.
“Rama is Hindus’ most revered God. Is he BJP’s own? What’s their campaign? We can compete with the BJP but how can we do so with Rama,” were the questions that bothered PV, Prasad recalls.
“He (PV) knew that the BJP and the VHP would oppose the formation of any trust without their involvement and they would bring pressure on the mutt heads not to join that. Hence he wanted to make it look like the mutt heads themselves were taking the initiative,” Prasad noted.
“PV wanted me to convey to the mutt heads and religious leaders that the government would support them fully and not others (read VHP). The VHP is not a totally representative committee and has been branded as anti-Muslim. It was thus impending constructive efforts to take up the temple construction. Hence the apolitical trust,” Prasad explained.
Besides, P V R K Prasad, former Union Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra and an IPS officer Kunal Kishore from Bihar were part of the team that did the work from behind the scenes to bring the Hindu mutt heads together and join the trust. The then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh too played his part while at one stage they also had to take the help of controversial ‘godman’ Chandraswamy to prevail upon some Ayodhya-based religious leaders to join the trust.
Once the trust took shape and was registered after two years of hectic efforts, PV expressed confidence that the Ram temple would be constructed without any objections and criticism.
But somehow, the first meeting of the trust towards the end of 1995 did not happen “because of some problem,” Prasad says.
By then it was early 1996 and the country was gripped by election fever. “As Prime Minister and All India Congress Committee president, PV became busy drafting political strategies and counter-strategies. One day, I mustered courage and raised the Ayodhya temple issue with him. He told me that any move during the election time will lead to adverse implications,” Prasad says.
“Wait till the elections are over. We shall come back to power and we shall start the temple work then,” Prasad quoted PV as remarking.
“That’s it. Our hard toil and hectic efforts for two years in persuading the Hindu mutt heads and religious leaders…. (went in vain),” Prasad laments.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Resignations galore in AP's ongoing political drama
DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: From a gram panchayat ward member to a member of Parliament, elected representatives at different levels of the political pyramid cutting across party lines, have resigned to their posts in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions strongly protesting the “unilateral decision” of the Congress to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
Scores of panchayat ward members, sarpanches, mandal parishad territorial constituency members, mandal parishad presidents, zilla parishad territorial constituency members, municipal councillors, municipal chairpersons, municipal corporation corporators, mayors, zilla parishad chiefs, MLAs, MLCs and MPs belonging to Congress, Telugu Desam, Praja Rajyam parties have put in their papers.
Ministers, both Central and state, hailing from the region, however, haven’t yet decided on their resignations despite mounting pressure from their respective regions for them to follow in the footsteps of fellow legislators.
The ministers so far have remained silent on the issue.
While the number of MPs who resigned is five (two Congress and three TDP), the number of MLAs touched 130, including 76 Congress, 40 TDP and 14 PRP. As many as 34 members of the state Legislative Council have also tendered their resignation, strongly denouncing the Centre’s move to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
The en masse resignation spree is seen as an unprecedented development in the political history anywhere in the country so far.
The first salvo was fired by Congress’ Lagadapati Rajagopal, Lok Sabha member from Vijayawada, the “political capital” of Andhra Pradesh. To follow him immediately were senior MLAs and former ministers J C Diwakar Reddy and D L Ravindra Reddy.
The resignation spree then spread like wildfire as many other MLAs and MLCs belonging to different parties from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions followed suit.
Taking a cue from the MPs and the MLAs, Vijayawada city Mayor M Ratnabindu quit her post even as more than 25 corporators of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation too joined the protest.
Mayors of Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Kadapa and Guntur cities, chairperson of Anantapur Zilla Parishad and heads of various other local bodies too tendered their resignations.
The spate of resignations is only increasing as more number of elected representatives are said to be putting in their papers individually, reports from different regions say.
Hyderabad: From a gram panchayat ward member to a member of Parliament, elected representatives at different levels of the political pyramid cutting across party lines, have resigned to their posts in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions strongly protesting the “unilateral decision” of the Congress to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
Scores of panchayat ward members, sarpanches, mandal parishad territorial constituency members, mandal parishad presidents, zilla parishad territorial constituency members, municipal councillors, municipal chairpersons, municipal corporation corporators, mayors, zilla parishad chiefs, MLAs, MLCs and MPs belonging to Congress, Telugu Desam, Praja Rajyam parties have put in their papers.
Ministers, both Central and state, hailing from the region, however, haven’t yet decided on their resignations despite mounting pressure from their respective regions for them to follow in the footsteps of fellow legislators.
The ministers so far have remained silent on the issue.
While the number of MPs who resigned is five (two Congress and three TDP), the number of MLAs touched 130, including 76 Congress, 40 TDP and 14 PRP. As many as 34 members of the state Legislative Council have also tendered their resignation, strongly denouncing the Centre’s move to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
The en masse resignation spree is seen as an unprecedented development in the political history anywhere in the country so far.
The first salvo was fired by Congress’ Lagadapati Rajagopal, Lok Sabha member from Vijayawada, the “political capital” of Andhra Pradesh. To follow him immediately were senior MLAs and former ministers J C Diwakar Reddy and D L Ravindra Reddy.
The resignation spree then spread like wildfire as many other MLAs and MLCs belonging to different parties from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions followed suit.
Taking a cue from the MPs and the MLAs, Vijayawada city Mayor M Ratnabindu quit her post even as more than 25 corporators of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation too joined the protest.
Mayors of Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Kadapa and Guntur cities, chairperson of Anantapur Zilla Parishad and heads of various other local bodies too tendered their resignations.
The spate of resignations is only increasing as more number of elected representatives are said to be putting in their papers individually, reports from different regions say.
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