B.Tech Student Sets Father Ablaze July 30, 2011 16:01
TIRUPATI: In a gruesome incident, a B Tech student set his father ablaze while the latter was asleep at his house here on Friday afternoon.The student reportedly committed the crime to get a job in Railways on compassionate grounds. The victim is battling for life in a hospital. According to West district superintendent of police K Malyadri, Krishna Reddy (56), working as a fitter with the Railways, has two wives.Venugopal Reddy, son of Krishna, did not like his father maintaining a second family and used to frequently quarrel with his father. Today, as usual Krishna Reddy went to his second wife’s house after duty.Venugopal went to his step mother’s house. He doused his father, who was asleep, in petrol and set him ablaze.Krishna also sprinkled chilli powder in his step mother’s eyes and tried to flee. Hearing the couple’s cries, neighbours rushed to the house, caught the accused.Later, they handed him over to the police. According to the informatin, the couple was admitted to the SVR Ruia hospital, where the condition of Krishna Reddy is said to be critical.Police has registered a case and investigation is on.
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Mild tremors in villages of West Godavari July 29, 2011 16:40
Several villages in T. Narsapuam Mandalam of West Godavari district today experienced mild tremors for two or three seconds sending jitters among the villagers and making them come out of their houses in fear. Reports said that the quake was felt in Tirumala devi Peta, Venkatapuram and Velagapadu villages and their surroundings. There are however no immediate reports of loss of life or property.
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TCS, Wipro in race for Tirupati temple project July 27, 2011 16:04
HYDERABAD:TCS andWipro are among three companies vying to bag the prestigious Sri Seva Project of theTirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) to provide IT solutions that will help devotees. Currently TTD offers four main e-services such as e-seva, e-accommodation, e-sudarshanam and e-hundi to the devotees and the Sri Seva project would help the administration in offering services like providing rooms, 'laddus' as well as in tonsuring. There are as many as 48 departments which need to be automated and brought under one platform for better services to pilgrims, TTD had said. "TCS, Wipro andInfinite Computer Solutions have been shortlisted from the technical bids. Next step will be going for financial bids. By December, we want to implement the project," sources said. Once the process of technical bids for the Sri Seva project gets over over in a span of ten days, the TTD may go for financial bids, they said. The project is estimated to cost between Rs 30 crore to Rs 35 crore, with an additional maintenance cost of around Rs 12 crore every year in the first phase, a senior official earlier said. The phenomenal growth in the number of pilgrims visiting Tirumala has put constant pressure on all the systems, most of which are based on manual operations. According to TTD, around 50,000 devotees visit Lord Balaji's main temple in Tirumala every day and on holidays and festivals, the figure crosses one lakh. Against the backdrop of various scandals such as black marketing of darshan tickets, accommodation and allied services, the TTD appointed Ernst and Young, an international consultancy firm, to upgrade its IT systems and update its IT eco-system. The TTD's Specified Authority (SA) in April approved the design and proposals submitted by theErnst and Young company for the Sri Seva Project. When contacted, a senior TTD official refused to divulge the financial aspects of the project saying that the project has to go for financial bid and hence they could not reveal the details. "After a successful implementation of the first phase, TTD will go for the second phase, which will have a complete back-end process and solutions of the Devasthanam," sources added.
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Rajini in Tirupati? July 25, 2011 16:28
A VVIP darshan ticket at Tirupati was booked in Rajinikanth’s name yesterday by Tollywood actor Mohan Babu, who also happens to be a close friend of the Superstar. While the star could not make it to the holy place, his youngest daughter Soundarya and her husband Ashwin were at the temple to offer their prayers. Soundarya said that it was a thanksgiving worship as her father had regained his health after nearly two months at various hospitals. Earlier, Soundarya and Ashwin had to wait at the temple complex for darshan because they had arrived well past the time allotted for the VVIP darshan. On Mohan Babu’s intervention, Soundarya and her husband were allowed to go in for the darshan on a VIP ticket. The Rajini Fans’ Association members in Tirupati welcomed the couple and presented them with shawls and mementos.
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AP government hand over land for expansion of tirupati airport July 23, 2011 12:35
The Andhra Pradesh government has handed over 229.34 acres of land to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for expansion of the Tirupati airport. In all, 701.96 acres of land are required for the expansion project. The remaining land is yet to be handed over, an official press release said here today. The land required for the airport was being acquired from five villages -- Kurukalva, Kothapalem, Anagunta, R Mallavaram and Vikruthamala and Rs 100.96 crores funds towards land acquisition has been sanctioned. The Rs 294 crore project will be taken up in three phases. The Rs 174 crore first phase would include construction of terminal buildings (Rs 102 crore), apron (Rs 17 crore) and other works (Rs 55 crores), the release added.
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More passport seva kendras to come up July 20, 2011 17:17
The Central government has sanctioned seven passport seva kendras (PSKs) for the state. These kendras would cover all the regions in the state and would help improve passport services to the people. Union minister for external affairs S.M.Krishna in a letter to chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy informed that under the project, seven passport seva kendras would be set up in the State including three in Hyderabad, one each at Vijayawada, Tirupati, Nizamabad and Visakhapatnam. As part of the roll out of the project, first PSK is likely to be operationalised in Visakhapatnam by end of this month. The new building for the passport Office is also being readied for occupation. The other kendras in Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Vijayawada and Tirupati will be launched in phases between August and October. These kendras will function under the jurisdiction of passport offices in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. The chief minister had recently wrote to the external affairs minister stating that a large number of people from the state particularly students go to foreign countries for higher studies and employment. Besides this, a considerable number of youth also visit the Gulf and Arabian countries, on work permits, and remit a significant amount of foreign exchange to the nation. In view of the above, there is a constant stream of passport seekers in the state and the services of the regional passport office at Hyderabad is often found falling short of the requirement in view of the heavy work load. There is an urgent need to decongest the passport services in the state so that the difficulties presently being faced by the citizens would be eased, the chief minister said. He said the proposed seven passport seva kendras in the state would go a long way in solving the problems of the people to a considerable extent.
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Tirupati temple attracting hordes of visitors July 18, 2011 18:31
Tirupati temple attracting hordes of visitors, Andhra Pradesh has become the top tourist destination in the country recording 155.8 million domestic tourists last year. Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu settled at second and third positions respectively with 144.8 million and 111.6 million domestic tourists, according to the data available with Tourism Ministry. "Tirupati temple in Andhra attracts maximum tourists. In fact, the number of domestic tourists visiting the state is more than Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra which have Taj Mahal and Ajanta Ellora respectively," a senior Tourism Ministry official said. The footfall at domestic tourist destinations across the country witnessed a surge touching 740 million in 2010, an increase of 10.7 per cent than the previous year. The number of domestic tourist visits to the states and Union Territories was 669 million in 2009 and 563 million in 2008. "The growth in domestic tourist visit in 2010 was about 11 per cent in comparison against the previous year," said the official. The other states in top ten category were Maharashtra (48.5 million), Karnataka (38.2 million), Madhya Pradesh (38.1 million), Uttarakhand (30.2 million), Rajasthan (25.5 million), West Bengal (21.1 million) and Gujarat (18.9 million). The contribution of top 10 states was about 85.5 per cent to the total number of domestic tourist visits during 2010.
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Order for direct Vasco-Tirupati train July 13, 2011 16:23
MARGAO: The proposed introduction of the Vasco-Vailankani weekly train along the South Western railway (SWR) route to facilitate pilgrims travelling for the Christian pilgrimage, has spurred a demand for a Vasco-Tirupati train for the convenience of Goans embarking on a pilgrim to the famous Tirumala Venkateswara temple in Andhra Pradesh. The SWR has already notified the weekly Vasco-Vailankani train in its new time table implemented from July, though the date of commencement will be notified later. "There are many people travelling to Tirupati. As there are no direct trains they face a lot of difficulties in changing trains enroute. Introduction of a direct train to Tirupati that could be extended to Hyderabad-Secunderabad will benefit thousands of Goans," Devanand Bhandari, president of Sanvordem-Curchorem railway consumers association (SCRCA) told
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Bharti Airtel launched its 3G services in Tirupati July 09, 2011 13:04
Telecom major Bharti Airtel today launched its 3G services in famous temple cities--Tirupati, Nelloe and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. Airtel 3G services will now empower customers in Tirupati, Nellore and Kadapa with the ability to experience a host of exciting capabilities on their mobile phones-- such as local, national and international video calling, Mobile TV and social networking--- all at speeds never experienced before, an Airtel release said here today. Expanding the availability of Airtel 3G services to the state's prominent religious destinations, Murali Kittu, COO - Andhra Pradesh, Bharati Airtel said, "Having successfully launched Airtel 3G services in key parts of Andhra Pradesh, we are delighted to extend the exciting experience to our customers in the state's famous temple cities of Tirupati, Nellore and Kadapa. "We are confident that the availability of Airtel 3G across all parts of the state will deliver a seamless service experience for our customers in Andhra Pradesh- bringing them closer to an all new world of possibilities," Kittu said. PTI CPB
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President opens new dining complex on Tirumala July 07, 2011 18:14
President Smt. Prathbha Patil today inaugurated the newly built Tarigonda Vengamamba Nitya Annadana Satram Complex at Tirumala. Chief Minister Kirankumar reddy, Governor ESL Narasimhan, Tirupati MLA Chiranjeevi, Ministers Geetha Reddy and Raghuveera Reddy also attended the function. Earlier, the President had a special darshan of the Lord and was blessed by the temple priests. Smt. Pratibha Patil inspected the newly installed roti-making machine and enquired about it. Later she had lunch in the newly inaugurated hall along with her family members. The president will leave for Delhi tonight from Tirupati by a special flight.
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TTD plans to control rush July 04, 2011 13:54
TIRUMALA: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is planning to streamline the queues inside the sanctum sanctorum of the hill shrine by introducing a single line to avoid congestion of pilgrims. Sources said with the ever increasing rush of pilgrims from Vendi Vakili area to Bangaru Vakili, TTD is mulling this option to give relief to the waiting pilgrims.Several pilgrims wanted TTD to urgently set in motion a proper queue system inside the sanctum sanctorum to avoid heated arguments and to maintain decorum at the sacred place. Executive officer L V Subramanyam said the TTD has always been trying to find out ways and means to avoid congestion for the larger benefit of thousands of pilgrims who throng the temple.Sources said during heavy rush, the pilgrims were forced to stand in queues for several hours as the lines extend up to 3-4 kms outside the main temple.
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Karunanidhi's family visits Tirupati June 30, 2011 18:31
The family of the DMK patriarch, who often likes to claim the mantle of rationalist leader E.V. Ramasamy Periyar, has recently been spotted seeking divine intervention at temples.On Tuesday, Karunanidhi's elder daughter Selvi and a few other women of the family conducted special prayers at Sri Khalahasti temple in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district. Earlier, the team had gone to Tirupati and offered worship at the Sri Venkateswara temple.At Sri Khalahasti, Selvi performed the Rahu-Ketu Sarpa Dhosha puja to propitiate the deity which is believed to disentangle the devotees from all troubles.Besides praying for the longevity of Karunanidhi, the purpose of the puja was to seek the blessings of the lord for her half-sister Kanimozhi and Stalin.Separate prayers were conducted for each of them. Later, all of them received blessings from the temple priests.The family members successfully resisted photographers from taking pictures at the temple. Selvi even covered her face with her saree.The daughter of Dayalu Ammal, the patriarch's second wife, Selvi has been leading the family's newfound love for spirituality. Married in the Maran family and settled in Bangalore, she had earlier played the role of a pacifier when the two families were estranged.The recent shows of togetherness might just also help the warring Karuna clan put up a façade of unity in times of adversity.Interestingly, the clan's pilgrimage to Khalahasti and Tirupati comes in the wake of heightened speculation in the local media that Kanimozhi might possibly spill the beans on the scam to the CBI. Denied bail by the Supreme Court, she is cooling her heels in Tihar Jail. In an attempt to pacify her, the patriarch has visited her twice and Stalin met her this week.Past revisits AlagiriThe past is all set to haunt Union chemicals and fertilisers minister M.K. Alagiri, with the CBI resurrecting the ghost of the Dinakaran attack case. In May 2007, Alagiri's supporters ransacked the office of Dinakaran daily, owned by the Marans, and set it afire.Three employees were killed in the incident. The attack was a reaction to the newspaper publishing a survey on the possible successors to DMK patriarch Karunanidhi, which placed Alagiri at the bottom. The DMK was in power then.Following the open war, Dayanidhi Maran was stripped of his cabinet berth. The Marans and the Karunanidhi family remained estranged for a year. Even the patch-up was said to have been purchased by the Marans.The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday allowed the CBI to go on appeal in the case, in which the accused were acquitted by a trial judge because the witnesses as well as the complainant turned hostile.Passing orders on a CBI petition - filed during the fag end of the DMK regime - Justices S. Rajeswaran and G. Akbar Ali, granted the go-ahead to the agency.All the accused in the case are Alagiri's loyalists, including the current Madurai mayor Thenmozhi Gopinathan and deputy mayor P.M. Mannan. Another case the southern satrap could face is one relating to the murder of a former DMK minister Tha Kiruttinanan.
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