Tirupati airport to go international January 18, 2012 13:42
The Tirupati airport will go international from February. The Airports Authority of India is making arrangements for the international flights to land at the airport beginning second week of February. International air travelers visiting Tirumala and its nearby areas can avail the facility and directly land at the Tirupati airport from next month. Most of the international air travelers are presently landing at Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad and then taking the domestic flights to the temple town. The Airports Authority of India Chairman Mr Vijay Prakash Agarwal told journalists in Tirupati this morning arrangements are being made at a fast pace for providing the facilities at the airport for the international fights to land. “International flights from the US, Gulf countries and Malaysia will commence landing at the Tirupati airport,” he said, adding, that the airport would be developed in a phased manner. “We require some 367 acres of land and the land acquisition work is yet to commence,” he said. (JUBS)
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Kajal Agarwal seeks Lord Balaji’s blessings January 09, 2012 16:42
Famed Tollywood heroine Kajal Agarwal and her sister Nisha Agarwal today had a darshan of the Lord Balaji on Tirumala along with their parents and other family members. Upcoming heroine Sonia also had a darshan of the Lord today along with her family members. The Agarwal sisters and Sonia visited the Lord during the VIP Darshan slot early in the morning and then went to the Padmavathi Guest House. Kajal told journalists that she had attended a programme in Nellore and came for the darshan of the Lord from Nellore. Sonia, who made big with Prince Mahesh Babu’s hit movie ‘Dukudu’, told journalists her next movie would start soon. Sonia acted as heroine in some movies earlier and played second fiddle to the heroine in ‘Dukudu’. (JUBS)
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Kiran can’t win Tirupati seat for Cong in case Chiru quits it, avers Surekha January 02, 2012 18:07
Congress MLA Ms. Konda Surekha, owing allegiance to the YSR Congress party chief Mr. YS Jaganmohan reddy, said chief minister Kirankumar reddy is not in a position to get the congress candidate elected from Tirupati in case mega star Chiranjeevi joins the union cabinet and quits the Tirupati seat. “If Chiranjeevi joins the union cabinet, he will surely quit from the assembly. In such a case, a by election will be held for the Tirupati seat but Kirankumar is not in a position to win the seat for the congress and this is the reason for his trying to block Chiru’s entry into the central cabinet,” she told media persons in Chittor today. While PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana has been lobbying hard for a cabinet berth for Chiranjeevi at the Centre, Kirankumar reddy has been trying his best to prevent it with the fear of by election, she said. “They are fearful of the bypolls and, for this reason only, they have not yet decided on our disqualification for defying the whip during the no confidence motion,” Konda Surekha said. (JUBS)
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TTD explains to CBI on diamond crown October 20, 2011 15:30
The heat of the illegal mining activity undertaken by the mining mafia king Gali Janardhan Reddy has touched Lord Balaji too. In response to the summons from the CBI officials, TTD EO Mr LV Subramanyam today appeared before the investigating agency in Hyderabad and provided the details of the diamond crown donated to the Lord by the tainted former Karnataka Minister during his hey days. The CBI has reportedly decided to compare the details of the diamond-studded crown provided in the IT returns of Gali Janardhan reddy with the actual assessments to be made by experts. Mr Gali Janardhan reddy, now cooling his heels in the Chanchalguda Jail in Hyderabad in the illegal mining case, donated the 30-kg diamond studded crown worth Rs.45 Cr to the Lord Venkateswara on June 11, 2009 on the occasion of his birthday. Gali never actually disclosed the real worth of the magnificent crown but a popular notion has gained ground after his recent arrest that the Lord Balaji should not be decorated with the crown made with the tainted money and the TTD must return such tainted donations. Skilled goldsmith workers from Coimbatore took nine months to make the special crown in specially arranged venues. Sources said the CBI wants to asses the real worth of the crown after getting the details from the TTD officials.
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Did mega star forgive Udaya Kiran? August 16, 2011 20:33
Did mega star Chiranjeevi forgive his old enemy and the flop hero Udaya Kiran? Are good days ahead for the young actor who was in total disappointment with the successive failures? The issue has genuinely become a topic of discussion in the Tollywood circles after the mega star was seen shaking hands with Udaya Kiran at the felicitation function of writer duo, Paruchuri brothers in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The felicitation was organized by the congress MP Mr T. Subbirami reddy. It might be mentioned that there was a stand off between the mega star and the young hero after the former’s eldest daughter Sushmita’s love affair with Udaya Kiran ended in a fiasco after reaching a point of marriage some eight-and-a-half-years ago. After the cold war began between the two, Udaya Kiran could not get a producer for him resulting in the total decimation of his career. Even if he got one or two producers resulting in one or two films, they ended up in failure. Now, his latest film, in which he acted with Swetha Basu, has found no takers and the film has not yet crossed the labs. Will the shake hand bring in a mega turn in his career? Let us wait and see.
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Stolen golden leaves of Balaji Chariot recovered August 13, 2011 16:00
The Tirupati police today arrested a seven member gang of inter-state thieves and seized from them the golden leaves of the chariot of the Lord Venkateswara which were missing for a long time. The police also recovered from them cash amounting to Rs.20 lakh, 10 lap tops, 9 mobile phones, one motor cycle and a gas cylinder. Police said the gang had stolen the golden leaves of the chariot some months ago. They have also resorted to thefts in several houses in and around Tirupati, police said.
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Tirumala Hills were lathicharged by the police August 11, 2011 18:44
Tirumala, Tirupathi: Hundreds of private taxi-owners and drivers protesting new traffic regulations atop Tirumala Hills were lathicharged by the police when they tried to storm the office of the Joint Executive Officer. Earlier today the taxi drivers went on a strike to oppose the ban of taxis atop Tirumala hill by the temple authorities. Tirumala authorities have banned the entry of private taxis beyond a particular point in Tirumala with a view to check traffic and pollution. After this point, buses within Tirumala would take care of transport. The authorities have said those plying on the Tirupati-Tirumala route should necessarily get fitness and pollution certificates. On a normal day there are 3500 vehicles that run and on special occasions the numbers can go up to 7000. Sources indicate that the taxi drivers may use some 3000 taxis to physically blockade the route up to the temple on Friday. This could cause inconvenience to thousands of pilgrims who visit the Tirumala Devasthanam every day.
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Chiru to be part of cong stream from Aug 20 August 09, 2011 17:53
Mega star Chiranjeevi, the founder president of the PRP which has merged with the congress party, will become a full fledged congress member on August 20. He will join the congress party on that day by accepting the membership of the party in the presence of congress core committee members and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi at the AICC office in Delhi. On August 22, PRP MLAs and other leaders will join the congress at the Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad in the presence of the Union Minister and in-charge of the party affairs in AP, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad. CM Kirankumar reddy and PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana will also participate in the programme. The dates of August 20 and 22 were selected as they happen to be Jayanthi of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and birth day of Chiranjeevi respectively. Chiranjeevi and congress leaders wanted to conduct a mega public meeting to formalize the merger but in view of the political uncertainties prevailing in the state in the backdrop of the T agitation, they have decided to make the ceremonies very nominal.
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1 lakh voices for National Anthem August 08, 2011 18:01
TIRUPATI: Patriotic spirit pervaded the Mahathi Auditorium and its surroundings on Sunday with 1 lakh voices singing the national anthem in unison.School children and their parents along with other residents of the city joined in rendering Jana Gana Mana to mark the death anniversary of its writer Rabindranath Tagore at the programme organised by Sri Venkateswara Children’s High School along with Spring Dale Public School, Tirupati City Chamber and former Tirupati MLA M Venkataramana. A compilation of the national anthem transliterated into 100 languages by Venkateswara High School director and noted advocate K S Vasu, was also released on the occasion. The book was published with the help of former TTD chairman D K Audikesavulu and was released by minister Galla Aruna Kumari.Several speakers including the minister, DK Audikesavulu Naidu, M Venkataramana, TTD EO LV Subramanyam, Chittoor MP N Sivaprasad and Tirupati Urban SP J Prabhakar Rao apoke on the occasion about how this one song binds together more than 1.2 billion people of the country. R Thulasiram Naidu, principal of Besant Theosophical (BT) College in Madanapalle said that Tagore has a famous relation with Chittoor district. “It was in 1911 that Tagore penned the song ‘Jana Gana Mana’ in Bengali. During his visit to South India in 1919, he stayed at BT College from February 25 to March 3 and it was then that he translated the song into English and tuned it.” He added that he was proud to be a student and later principal of such a historical college. All the school students who participated in the programme waved the national flag as they sung the national anthem for which the police band accompanied them.
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Boy sexually abused at TTD Vedapatasala August 06, 2011 13:30
TRUMALA: Months after a student was sexually harassed at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD)’s Vedapatasala, yet another such disturbing incident has come to light. This time, a 12-year-old boy was allegedly molested by two of his seniors for a week after which he went into depression. According to TTD Joint Executive Officer (Tirumala) KS Srinivasa Raju, the student, whose parents stay in Tirupati, fell ill and took leave from July 28. He was subsequently hospitalised. A day after his recovery, he informed his mother of the sexual harassment. The JEO said the culprits had been identified as a 13-year-old from Nellore and Sudarshan (16) from Guntur. The students, who were pursuing the Smartha course, have been expelled from the school. The duo had allegedly tried to attack the 12-year-old with a blade when he resisted their advances. According to sources, the victim went into depression after he was harassed by his seniors for a week. The boy took the matter to the notice of a teacher who helped him get leave and go home. After his admission in the hospital with high fever, the Vedapatasala principal decided to take up the matter with the TTD officials and accordingly, informed the JEO who passed on the information to the Executive Officer.The JEO said the committee that was formed to look into a similar incident earlier was slated to meet soon and would discuss measures to eliminate abnormal behaviour at school. “I myself spoke to the Tirupati urban SP N Prabhakar and 14 persons are on the job, keeping a vigil on the students in the Vedapatasala but unfortunately this has happened,’’ he said. “I visited the Vedapatasala and there is a proposal to shift the school to another area,’’ Tirupati urban SP N Prabhakar said. A case will be registered shortly. The 12-year-old boy, a native of Kodad in Nalgonda district, joined the Vedapatasala for a 12-year-course in Yajurveda.
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Chiru to join Congress on Aug 8 August 03, 2011 16:55
Taking the merger of the PRP with the congress party to its logical conclusion, mega star Chiranjeevi will formally take the congress membership on August 8 in the presence of party president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. Sonia invited Chiru to visit Delhi any day between August 7 and 10 for the said purpose and the mega star reportedly decided to meet her on August 8. The actor will formally join the congress in Sonia’s presence while PRP senior leaders and MLAs will join the party at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad to complete the merger on the same day. PRP district leaders will join the congress in their respective district congress offices. Though PRP merger was completed technically in the eyes of the Central Election Commission, Chiru wanted to give a finishing touch to the merger with a mega public show but in view of the situation prevailing in the state, the formalization will take place at a simple ceremony in Delhi.
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Angry Chiru abandons Tirupati tour August 02, 2011 18:03
Upset over the frequent questioning by women on developmental projects in some of the colonies of his Tirupati constituency, mega star and PRP founder Chiranjeevi abruptly cancelled his tour half way through and returned to Hyderabad Monday night. Chiru was supposed to have undertaken a 2-day tour of his constituency since Monday but he changed his mind last night after some women questioned him on the lack of progress of the developmental projects in his constituency leaving him in disappointment. The mega hero is scheduled to arrive in Hyderabad Wednesday morning. But, enraged at the obstacles created to him by some voters, majority of them being women, he left for Chennai by a late evening flight and then flew back to Hyderabad immediately. Chiru kept his cool all the way and party leaders came to know of the cancellation of his today’ programme only this morning. Reports said he informed only one or two senior leaders about the cancellation last night before leaving for Chennai en route to Hyderabad.
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