CM Naidu Attends Marriage Of Minister Ramanaidu’s Daughter

Kakinada:Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, along with his wife Bhuvaneswari and Education minister Nara Lokesh attended the marriage of the daughter of Water Resources minister Nimmala Ramanaidu on Wednesday at Palakollu in West Godavari district.

Naidu and his family members arrived in Palakollu in a helicopter.

Union minister B. Srinivasa Varma, state Energy minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar, Nimmala Ramanaidu, district collector C. Nagarani, superintendent of police Adnan Nayeem Asmi, APIIC chairman M. Ramaraju, MLAs Pithani Satyanarayana and A. Radhakrishna, State Kapu Corporation chairman Kothapalli Subbaraidu and others welcomed Chandrababu Naidu at the helipad.

Naidu and family members reached the venue of the wedding by road and blessed the newly wed couple. They left for Vijayawada at 2.25 psohanm.

Will provide counseling to prisoners: Women’s Commission chief

Visakhapatnam:State Women's Commission chairperson Rayapati Shailaja conducted an inspection of the Visakhapatnam Central Jail on Wednesday.Shailaja toured the women's barracks and evaluated the living conditions, healthcare facilities, and amenities provided to female prisoners. She also inspected the jail's food preparation facilities and sampled meals served to inmates, expressing satisfaction with the quality.The facility currently houses 80 women, with a portion of 50 inmates detained on charges related to illegal marijuana trafficking. According to Shailaja, many of these women come from other states, including Odisha and Tamil Nadu, having been drawn into drug trafficking networks with promises of easy money.

"We will create awareness among such people and take steps to ensure their self-reliance," Shailaja told the media. She emphasised the commission's commitment to providing counseling services and rehabilitation programmes aimed at helping these women reintegrate into society.The chairperson announced that the State Women's Commission plans to implement several special programs coinciding with Navratri, following directives from the National Women's Commission. A key initiative under consideration is the extension of the 'Poshamma' nutritional scheme to female prisoners.

Currently administered by the Women and Child Welfare Department, the Poshamma scheme could be adapted to provide specialized dietary plans for women in custody.She also revealed that officials were examining the possibility of delivering nutritious meals to female inmates through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program.Shailaja also found sensitive situations, including a female prisoner who had recently given birth and was caring for her infant.

TTD Delhi advisory panel chief meets CM

Nellore:Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district native Yedugundla Sumanth Reddy, who has been appointed as chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Delhi Local Advisory Committee, met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in Vijayawada on Wednesday.

Accompanied by BJP state president P.V.N. Madhav, Sumanth Reddy expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for giving him the opportunity to serve Lord Venkateswara and his devotees. He assured that he would act as a bridge between the TTD and devotees in Delhi, facilitating better services for pilgrims.Hailing from Vidavalur mandal in Kovur constituency, Sumanth Reddy was earlier a close associate of former Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy.He previously served as chairman of the Nellore District Cooperative Marketing Society (DCMS). When Kiran Kumar Reddy joined the BJP, Sumanth Reddy also followed suit.

Government issues GO disqualifying Kadapa mayor Suresh Babu

Anantapur: 24Municipal Administration and Urban Development department of the AP government has issued a GO ordering removal of Kadapa Municipal Corporation (KMC) mayor Kothamaddi Suresh Babu from his post.His disqualification comes on grounds that Suresh Babu violated the provisions of the GHMC Act, 1955, by allotting several civil contracts works within the jurisdiction of KMC to Vardhini Constructions, a firm owned by his immediate family members, including his wife Kothamaddi Jayasree.Earlier, Kadapa MLA R. Madhavi had filed a petition in this regard, saying the mayor allotted several civil contract works to Vardhini Constructions despite knowing that under law, he could be disqualified.The petitioner stated that Kothamaddi Jayasree, spouse of the mayor, is a partner in Vardhini Constructions.

She has been an active politician for more than three decades and served as sarpanch of the Chinna Chowk Village and corporator of the Kadapa Municipal Corporation.Following the petition, the Vigilance and Enforcement wing of the Municipal Administration department issued a show cause notice to the mayor. Suresh Babu filed a writ appeal in the High Court, which stopped application of the order for a few days.The Vigilance then sought a report from the Kadapa municipal commissioner over the rules and regulations. Based on the commissioner report, sources said the state government issued the order disqualifying Suresh Babu from holding the office of mayor.Incidentally, Suresh Babu belongs to the YSRC Party. MLA Madhavi had earlier staged a protest over the mayor not offering her a chair during one of the council meetings.

AP to set up tent cities in 100 pilgrim centres: Tourism minister

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government would establish Tent Cities in 100 pilgrim centres for the benefit of devotees. Tourism minister Kandula Durgesh stated this during Question Hour in the legislative council on Wednesday.

As part of the tourism policy 2024-29, the tourism sector has been accorded industry status. With this, AP could attract investments worth `10,644 crore through signing of MoUs with 103 agencies in recent months, he said. The minister said these entities were given a series of incentives like capital incentives, power charges and SGST reimbursement.With the MoUs signed, there could be an addition of 8,080 rooms for tourists. Works were in progress to arrange 2,848 rooms from the signed 15 projects worth `3,887 crore. He said that as the government had received DPRs for 24 project proposals worth`3,668 crore, “we are expecting to get 3,165 rooms.”

The minister asserted that as part of tourism promotion in a big way, the state would introduce eco-tourism, adventure tourism, wellness tourism and heli-tourism. “We would announce a home stay policy soon in addition to bringing in caravan tourism.” “With support from the Centre, we are developing Akhanda Godavari, Gandikota, Suryalanka beach, Annavaram, Simhachalam, Ahobila, Nagarjuna Sagar etc at a cost of `441 crore.” Claiming credit for the start of several tourism projects, the minister said the government has a target to add 50,000 hotel rooms in the state to make AP a top tourism destination.

Minister says 9 ITDAs ensuring socio-economic development of Adivasi

VijayawadA: AP Tribal Welfare minister Gummidi Sandhya Rani on Wednesday outlined the initiatives that the state government has taken for tribal welfare and protection of girl children. In her detailed reply in the AP Legislative Assembly to questions raised by MLAs Ch. Balaraju and Adireddy Srinivas, the minister said there are nine Integrated Tribal Development Agencies (ITDAs) working in Sitampeta, Parvathipuram, Paderu, Rampachodavaram, Chinturu, K.R. Puram, Nellore, Srisailam and plains areas, which are looking after the welfare of tribal people.

Sandhya Rani recalled that ITDAs had been first set up during the tenure of N.T. Rama Rao. After years of neglect, the present coalition government has sanctioned loans worth ₹20 crore to tribal youth through TRICOR for starting their own enterprises and earning their livelihoods. The minister said the state government is improving roads and transport in remote tribal areas to eliminate primitive practices like carrying dolis to transport people and goods. She said the government has allotted six per cent of the state budget, amounting to ₹8,159.68 crore towards tribal welfare during the year 2025–26. Currently, there are 58 ashram schools, 1,958 tribal primary schools and 199 residential schools educating 2.36 lakh tribal students.

In addition, the Gurukulam society runs 171 residential schools and 28 Ekalavya model schools, benefitting over 54,000 tribal children. Sandhya Rani referred to Article 332, which provides reservation to SCs and STs in legislatures. She pointed out that in AP, while 29 assembly seats are reserved for SCs, STs have one seat. “Our government is committed to comprehensive development of tribals and empowerment of girl children,” she added.

AP seized 6.56 lakh quintals of PDS rice worth Rs 254.6 crore: Minister

Vijayawada: Minister of civil supplies Nadendla Manohar has announced that 5.65 lakh quintals of rice worth `254.6 crore meant for the public distribution system has been seized and 2,438 cases booked from June, 2024 to August, 2025 in Andhra Pradesh. The seizures were a part of the efforts to curb illegal diversion or transportation of PDS rice, he said during Question Hour in the legislative council on Wednesday. The minister said that the state government had carried out special enforcement drives and set up district-level task forces, apart from setting up new check posts.

He asserted that the government was booking cases under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and also under AP State Targeted Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2018. Integrated check posts had been set up at Visakhapatnam Port and Kakinada Port to curb diversion and misuse of PDS rice, he said in reply to a question. The minister said, “When the seized PDS rice of 25,584 quintals was auctioned, it fetched the exchequer `6.60 crore. The auction of some seized stocks was delayed due to court cases.” The minister attributed credit to deputy CM Pawan Kalyan for ordering seizure of a ship ‘Stella L Panama’ loaded with a huge quantity of PDS rice at the Anchorage Port in Kakinada in November last year.This, he said, was when the fight against the illegal transportation and diversion of PDS rice began in the state.

Foreign medical graduates: Minister promises help for permanent registration

Vijayawada: Health minister Satya Kumar Yadav has promised help to foreign-educated medical graduates seeking permanent registration. He said that this would be done based on guidelines being issued by the national medical commission. “Out of 653 students who applied during 2023 and 2024, as many as 318 got permanent registration while 335 are yet to get it.” Replying to questions in the legislative council on Wednesday, the minister said that out of these 335 students, 100 were eligible to get it but they were yet to get confirmation letters from the respective foreign embassies.

He said that though 40 students got clearance from the foreign embassies, as they were still doing internships. Hence, they were not given permanent registration. The minister informed the house that some students approached the high court for various reasons. The court gave two judgments. Based on the suggestion from the NMC, the AP medical council filed a review petition before the HC bench. Subsequently, the court issued an order on Tuesday, saying the AP medical council should follow the NMC guidelines. Yadav said that he had written a letter to external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Sept 19 seeking his intervention to ensure that these students do not face trouble to get admission in PG medical courses. “When the NMC guidelines were not properly followed on the issue, the Rajasthan and Karnataka medical councils’ registrars were placed under suspension,” he noted.