NETA NATTER | TELANGANA | Taste Of Their Own Food: Azhar’s Order

Minorities affairs minister Md. Azharuddin, once known for his flicks on the cricket field, has hit this one out of the park. Following the food poisoning incident at TMREIS-run school at Baghlingampally recently, Azhar decided that the staff in-charge of food preparation and serving to students, should get a taste of what they were dishing out to the kids. Taste the food at least an hour before serving time, and this will prevent kids falling sick after their meals. The logic was the staff-turned-food tasters will first get a taste of ill health if the food has gone bad, or if it was unfit for consumption. There was a time when our Nizams had food tasters do this, just had many other kings, was Azhar’s reasoning. Time will tell if Azhar’s straight drive to the point has hit home or not, but kids at TMREIS schools can sure feel like royalty, but only if the instructions are followed.

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Revanth Dribbles Past Messimerised Opposition

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy brushed aside social media sniggers with an offbeat defence of his much-talked-about friendly football game with world legend Lionel Messi at Uppal Stadium, saying the kick-about had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with fitness, branding and common sense. The Chief Minister said he attended the event only as a guest and turned up in football boots to send a simple message to the youth of Telangana: choose sports over a sedentary lifestyle. He clarified that he played for a team sponsored by Singareni Collieries using its CSR funds and that the government did not spend a single rupee on the event. Revanth also addressed criticism over his grandson sharing the field with Messi, saying the idea was to inspire children to take up sports early. He openly declared his wish to see his grandson become a sportsman and argued that there was nothing inappropriate in taking a child to a playground instead of a club or pub. If anything, the Chief Minister said, the informal match boosted Hyderabad’s global brand image at zero cost — proof that sometimes, a goal doesn’t need a budget.

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Doc-MLAs Get Their Steths In A Tangle

The scalpels were out. And what emerged were what appeared to be surgical strikes against each other by two doctor-turned-MLAs. Both, Dr M. Sanjay the Jagtial MLA, and Dr K. Sanjay, the Korutla MLA, apparently with their stethoscopes firmly on the public pulse, turned the political arena into a public consultation room, each arguing that the other’s constituency needed a serious health check-up. The ‘doctors duel’ began when Dr M. from Jagtial alleged that patients from Korutla were migrating to Jagtial for treatment because the local hospitals in Metpally and Korutla were in a poor condition. Dr M. went as far as offering a ‘referral slip’ to Dr K. from Korutla: an introduction to CM Revanth Reddy and the district minister to get funds which, Dr M. said, Dr K. was unable to find. Korutla’s Dr K. was quick to issue a counter-prescription. Mocking the Jagtial MLA’s logic the Korutla MLA questioned why he travels to Hyderabad for medical check-ups if Jagtial’s facilities are so superior. As the two Sanjays continue to check each other’s political pulses, the local residents are left wondering if the next election will be fought with manifestos or stethoscopes. For now, the only thing being treated in the district is the voters to a healthy dose of political entertainment.

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Kotwal Sets Out To Catch Black Sheep

An ongoing game of cops and robbers, err… cops are robbers, has apparently come as an embarrassment for the Hyderabad police chief V.C. Sajjanar, with inspector and sub-inspector-level officers indulging in taking bribes. With the recent suspension of an SI at the Central Crime Station on corruption charges and letting off an accused in a cheating case, and a traffic police inspector caught collecting mamools from drivers detained in drunken driving checks, Sajjanar reportedly remarked to some of his colleagues that cops turning robbers was not good news, was an embarrassment to the force, and that something needed to be done to end such behaviour by police officials. Old habits have a way of dying only the hard way, and the stage appears set for some serious baton wielding against erring Hyderabad cops in the days to come.

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Don’t ‘Leave’ It: Sectt Littered With Pending Files

The Telangana Secretariat is beginning to resemble a relay race, with files being passed faster than officers returning to their desks. Frequent leaves taken by IAS officers — for study tours, Central deputation, child care breaks and foreign visits—are said to be putting unusual strain on the state’s administration. Officials say the absence of senior officers has forced the government to hand over charge of multiple departments to a handful of available officers. In several instances, one IAS officer is reportedly managing three or even four key departments with full additional charge (FAC), turning decision-making into a juggling act rather than a structured process. The result, insiders admit, is a growing pile of pending files waiting for signatures that never seem to arrive on time. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is understood to have taken a serious view of the situation. He has reportedly directed Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao to tighten norms for granting leaves, signalling that governance, unlike travel itineraries, cannot remain on hold indefinitely.

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When An AI tiger Prowled The Coal Mines

Messing about with a wild animal is never a good idea, more so if that happens to be a tiger. Even if it happens to be a digitally created one using AI, just so the person who posted such an image or a clip gets a bunch of views on a social media platform. With the old Adilabad district turning into a hub of tiger activity of late, one such AI-generated and shared photo of a big cat crossing a road created panic among people in the coal belt area in Mancherial district. After a desperate search for the animal, the authorities discovered that this was the handiwork of a youth from the Narsapur area, who did what he did to score some views for his work. Once caught by forest department officials, who appear to have done better sleuthing on the web than they do tracking real tigers, the young man was made to proclaim that what he posted was a fake, and there was no need for any panic. And there hangs the tale for now.

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Doggies Never Forget: Anand’s Puppy Love

Woof. Woof. The greeting broke the protocol. The security K9s at the RGIA – two German Shepherds – normally staid, and watching all those coming and going with unsmiling eyes, could not stop wagging their tails. With a woof and a few barks, they greeted the former kotwal of Hyderabad and currently the home secretary C.V. Anand who was at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport for a routine security meeting. Anand, who loves dogs and has his own, could not stop from sharing his joy on X declaring that he ‘went to meet’ Max and Sweetie, his two German Shepherd gifts to the RGIA in 2019, noting that a third, Roy, had died following a GDV attack, quite a fatal condition for dogs if not detected immediately and treated. Max and Sweetie too suffered from GDV but got treated in time — and it was hard to make out who was more pleased to see whom. The two K9s were like children left loose in a toy shop, and Anand, well, was clearly beaming when the two dogs rushed to him. The highly trained German Shepherds may have a strong bite, but also clearly have tails that don’t stop wagging when they come face to face with their friends.

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Contributions from L. Venkat Ram Reddy, Balu Pulipaka, Mouli Mareedu, Md Nizamuddin, Puli Sharath Kumar, Pillalamarri Srinivas