1. Congress Sees Conspiracy in Cut in Backward Class Quota
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief spokesperson Dasoju Sravan has said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was misleading people on reduction in quota for Backward Classes in Panchayat Raj elections.
In a statement on Sunday, 30 December, Sravan said that the Chief Minister not only the defended cut in reservation percentage for BCs but also tried to divert people’s attention to other topics by targeting opposition leaders in the most inappropriate language. “KCR must realise that he is not the Chief Minister only for TRS. He is the Chief Minister for 4 crore people of Telangana. Therefore, he must learn to speak in a decent and balanced manner.” Sravan said KCR’s attack on Congress leaders and defence of cut in quota for BCs in Panchayat Raj polls was nothing but a major conspiracy to disempower the Backward Classes politically.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. HMDA to Develop 16 Forest Clusters as Urban Lung Spaces in Hyderabad
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has proposed to develop each of Forest Block in two zones — Conservation zone of around 80-85 percent of total area, where, forest protection, soil and moisture conservation works will be taken up to promote natural and artificial regeneration.
The other will be visitors zone of 15-20 percent of the area to provide parking area, entry plaza, pathways, theme parks, gazebos, visitor amenities like washrooms, drinking water facilities, seating, nature interpretation shed etc. Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) have been prepared for each cluster and the total amount required is Rs 99.50 crore for 16 Urban Forest Blocks.
(Source: The New Indian Express)
3. Man Sets Wife, Her Paramour Ablaze
A 28-year-old man set fire to his wife and her alleged paramour at his house in Chevella village on Sunday morning, 30 December. The woman succumbed to her injuries, while the man was undergoing treatment at a private hospital. Police said Damaragidda Ravi, a daily wage earner, had come to know about his wife’s illicit affair with a 32-year-old man of Himayatsagar. On Sunday morning, Ravi saw his wife and the man together at their house.
Soon, he took out petrol from the man’s bike, parked outside the house, and poured fuel on them, said Chevella Sub-inspector M Renuka. Ravi got married 10 years ago and the couple had two children. On Saturday night, 29 December, both Ravi and the man had dinner and consumed liquor at the former’s house.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. Little Learnt from Kondagattu Accident?
Be it the 62 deaths in the Kondagattu bus accident that shook Telangana or the numerous deaths across the state on an everyday basis, it has been found that most of these accidents curiously happen on the state’s major district roads (MDR).
The most worrying part is that there exist a whopping 56 black spots on certain stretches in the state that continue to cause at least ten or more accidents every year. The accidents caused on the MDRs amount to 55 percent, as opposed to the 29 percent on the national highways (NH) and 16 percent on the state highways (SH), states a report by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
(Source: The New Indian Express)
5. Urban Water Supply Chain to be Completed Soon
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) has assured that it will complete Mission Bhagiratha urban action plans within a month of the start of the New Year. The previous year almost solved the city’s drinking water problems, the water board’s year-ending statement said.
As part of Mission Bhagiratha, 56 service reservoirs and 2,000 km-long pipelines were built at a cost of Rs 1,900 crore. One lakh drinking water pipelines were also sanctioned under HUDCO. Under Mission Bhagiratha, a total of Rs 738 crore was used to supply drinking water to villages within the ORR. Under the project, 192 reservoirs were built, water board MD M Dana Kishore said in a media release. In addition to this, tenders were called to build a 10 TMC reservoir at Keshavapur in Shamirpet, the board said.
(Source: The Hindu)
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