CHIRU: The NEWSMAKER of 2008

Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: “Who’s the newsmaker of 2008 in Andhra Pradesh?” The answer is not too hard to guess. Mega Star Chiranjeevi should easily be voted as the Newsmaker of 2008. From a “daring, dashing and dynamic hero” who began his filmy career in 1978, Konidela Siva Sankara Varaprasad – alias Chiranjeevi – has always hit the headlines as he rose steadily in his 30-year-long career in the tinsel town. Year 2008 pushed him into the limelight yet again, for a different reason though. The Telugu Mega Star virtually bid adieu to the film world -- that earned him name, fame and fortune -- to jump onto the political bandwagon, thus becoming the Newsmaker of 2008. On August 17, 2008 he formally announced to the world his decision to join politics, after having kept everyone guessing for over 10 months. And, on August 26, Chiranjeevi launched his Praja Rajyam Party with a lot of fanfare in the temple town of Tirupati, marking the second innings of his life. “I shall usher in the change that people of Andhra Pradesh have been longing for and turn the state into ‘Santoshaandhra Pradesh’ (the state of happiness),” Chiranjeevi vowed while inaugurating Praja Rajyam Party. It took over 15 years for 53-year-old Chiranjeevi to take a political plunge, for, there had been anticipation of his political foray since 1993 when he was at the pinnacle of glory in the film industry delivering one mighty hit after the other. He, however, preferred the celluloid greasepaint to the political sleaze and went on to don a variety of roles in a total of 148 films in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. Incidentally, he donned the role of a politician in only one film – Mutha Mestri (labour leader) – way back in 1993, when the first call for his political debut was heard. Year 2006 saw Chiranjeevi bask in additional glory as the Government of India conferred the Padma Bhushan on him and the Andhra University an honorary doctorate. The next year, however, remained rather turbulent for him due to some disturbances in personal life. But at the same time, calls for his political entry from a cross section of people across the state had also increased. Having endeared himself to the audience as an actor-par-excellence and a great dancer, Chiranjeevi permanently sealed his place in the Telugu people’s hearts through his social service activities – notably eye and blood donation – through the Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust for over a decade. With his only son Ramcharan Tej stepping into his shoes as an actor, Chiranjeevi was in a way left with no other option except to accept the wishes of crores of his admirers – don the politician’s role in real life after having enacted the role only once in reel life. “Former President A P J Abdul Kalam was the driving force behind my decision to enter politics. It would have been a historic blunder had I shied away from taking the political plunge,” Chiranjeevi said while announcing his decision to join politics, adding that the late N T Rama Rao too had inspired him to take up public service.“I am entering the political field with the only objective of serving the people and not with any ambition of securing power,” the Mega Star had declared. The “shift” (from the glamour-filled tinsel town to the murky world of politics) also gave him “self-satisfaction.” Whether or not he will be able to ride to power, Chiranjeevi, however, has certainly emerged as the key factor in Andhra Pradesh politics now who could make or mar the prospects of the existing players. The Chiranjeevi mystique unravels only in April\May 2009 when elections in the state end.

Political scene in Andhra Pradesh in 2008

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Two things remained conspicuous on the political scene in Andhra Pradesh in the year 2008: one, the birth of Telugu Mega Star Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party and two, the re-alignment of the Left parties with the Telugu Desam Party. By any measure, these two noteworthy developments on the political scene have become the key factors that will determine the outcome of Elections-2009 in the state, due in April. More significantly, the state politics have started revolving round the Telugu film industry with parties vying to showcase their "star" might for the first time than ever before. With Chiranjeevi launching his own party, the principal opposition TD has roped in film stars from the Nandamuri clan for party service while the ruling Congress too tried to enlist star support in equal measure. While TDP founder-president and legendary Telugu actor N T Rama Rao's son Balakrishna – one of the top Telugu film heroes – was the main draw for the party, NTR's grandsons Kalyan Ram, Taraka Ratna and NTR (Junior) too have jumped into the political field to "resurrect" the TDP and make Nara Chandrababu Naidu the Chief Minister again. Chiranjeevi's youngest brother and film hero Pavan Kalyan has been made chief of Yuva Rajyam, the youth wing of Praja Rajyam Party, with the main objective of attracting youths towards the party. For the Congress, the star attractions were hero Rajasekhar and his actress-turned-director wife Jeevita. Yesteryear 'Super Star' of Telugu films Krishna, former heroine Jayasudha and character artiste Srihari too have sided with the Congress. Krishna, of course, was elected to Lok Sabha from Eluru in 1996 on behalf of Congress but stayed away from politics for a long time. The Congress desperately tried to rope in Krishna's son and the current heartthrob Mahesh Babu but the young actor evinced no interest. A consolation for the ruling party, however, has been the endorsement of the state government's welfare programmes through a visual advertisement campaign by another top hero Akkineni Nagarjuna. But the Congress has been totally isolated with all its allies of 2004 – the Left parties and the TRS – completely deserting it. The ruling party thus faces a formidable task of contesting the 2009 elections all alone against the backdrop of a perceived anti-incumbency factor. The TDP too is plagued by its own set of problems with many a senior leader quitting the party and joining the Chiranjeevi bandwagon. TDP heavyweights like Kotagiri Vidyadher Rao, C Ramachandraiah, Tammineni Seetaram, Bhuma Nagi Reddy and his wife Sobha Nagi Reddy, besides a couple of MLAs and former MLAs quit their parent party and joined the Praja Rajyam Party. Congress too saw many of its senior leaders parting ways and walking into the Chiranjeevi camp, notable among them being former Union ministers P Shiv Shanker, P Upendra, former MPs Ch Harirama Jogaiah and K S R Murthy. With Nandamuri Balakrishna taking an active role in TDP, seniors who quit the party previously have started returning. While Congress MLA Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu quit his post and the party to rejoin his parent party, an independent MLA K Laxmaiah Naidu too returned to the TDP fold. Still, troubles are not yet over for the TDP as many senior leaders are sulking and preparing ground to leave the party ahead of the ensuing elections. Many Congress MLAs too are said to be in line to join the Chiranjeevi party owing to their caste connections. The political crossovers will continue till the elections in April. Yet another separatist party has taken birth in Andhra Pradesh in 2008 with former home minister T Devender Goud quitting the Telugu Desam Party and setting up his own Nava Telangana Praja Party. It had to be later rechristened as Nava Telangana Party following a technical glitch over its registration with the Election Commission. Everybody thought the pro-Telangana parties will join hands for a common cause but that did not happen. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti, that had been the sole torch-bearer of the pro-Telangana movement since 2001, has not yet chalked out its future course after having severed its ties with the Congress in 2007. Both the TDP-Left combine and the Praja Rajyam Party have been wooing the TRS to forge an alliance but the wily K Chandrasekhar Rao, the TRS boss, has been cleverly playing his cards. In fact, the Congress too is desperate to restore its friendship with the separatist party, in whose company it fought the 2004 elections, and prevent a rout in the Telangana region. Even as the pro-integrated state party like the TDP reversed its stand on the demand for a separate state, going by the "wishes" of the people of the region, the Congress that rode to power on the promise of carving out Telangana still remained indecisive. The Bharatiya Janata Party, that has of late taken a strong pro-Telangana stand and promised to create the separate state in three months if voted to power at the Centre, has not yet consolidated its position. It spent time trying to make friends with pro-Telangana parties like NTP and also the newly-formed Praja Rajyam Party, which is also favourably-inclined towards a separate state. Its efforts, however, did not bear fruit in 2008. Spurred by the tremendous success of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-model of Dalit-upper caste alignment, some fringe players and caste groups in the state sought to set up platforms for all and sundry to proclaim their political ambitions in 2007. In 2008, all such elements have virtually sunk without a trace.

Let us be AUSTERE

Desaraju Surya
I can’t be lazy this night. I have to put down in words what has been running down through my mind since this afternoon. Since the date has changed by the time I started typing this piece out, I should say yesterday afternoon.
One of my dearest friends Masthipuram Ramesh is a genius. Ramesh is a man of high wisdom, but totally down-to-earth in demeanor. As we sat down for about 15 minutes for our regular discussions on a variety of issues, he suddenly broached a subject – austerity.
Unlike me, he may probably be coming from a well-to-do family but still he suggested that “we” stick to an austere lifestyle at least for the next four or five years.
“Let us use ordinary footwear and normal clothes. Let us walk where a motorbike is required, use a bike where a car is needed. Use a fan where an air-conditioner is required and use the ventilation where a fan is needed. Most importantly, let us not waste food at any cost. What if we eat a little less in a particular day? Why should we cook extra food for some “unanticipated” guest and throw it away when none turns up? It is so sad to see lot of food being wasted in pompous marriages and other parties. So, let’s not indulge in such pomp and let’s remain austere.”
He went on to add that to make the future generations comfortable, we have to conserve the environment by reducing pollution.
Weren’t these absolutely golden words! Ramesh planted a thought in my mind and made me ponder. And, despite spending the day with some heavy work and job-related anxiety, his words did not get deleted from my mind.
In fact, it was Ramesh who suggested that I write a blog on austerity and I promised to do so. Hence, I could not “put off” this piece for another day.
Ramesh was probably the first parent in Hyderabad to think of a great initiative – “Car pooling.” He not only thought of it but implemented it himself by arranging common conveyance for his son Adyanth and his classmates to school.
I have seen not even a handful of police officers who have a concern for the society and its wellbeing. Ramesh is one of such caring and conscientious officers.
His words of wisdom are well taken and I shall try to follow the austerity measures to the extent possible. I know the value of money, though I am, at times, a spendthrift. My indulgence, of late, has been the needless spending on mobile phones. Somehow, I developed a fascination for these gadgets and so far spent (lost) a fortune on these pieces that ultimately didn’t last. So, all of it was a waste. At least now, I should strictly learn to resist my temptations and stop indulging in wasteful expenditure, particularly on electronic gadgets. I never make any resolutions but, hopefully, the dawn of a New Year – 2009 – would bring about that change in me and make me austere. Dear ones like Ramesh and Mamidi Harikrishna will always be there to keep a tab on me. I pray.

Police encounters and public sympathy

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Police "encounters" are commonplace in Andhra Pradesh but two such encounters, including the one near Warangal on December 13, 2008, stand out for the widespread public sympathy they have evoked. Barring a few political leaders and some self-styled human rights activists, the general public have widely "welcomed" the killing of three youths by police in an alleged encounter near Warangal. The youths were involved in the most heinous acid attack on their fellow engineering girl students three days ago, leaving one of them battling for life while virtually blinding the other. Students burst crackers in Warangal while in Bhongir in Nalgonda district they formed a human chain hailing the police action. Students, particularly girls, spoke out in the open saying the encounter killing of three youths involved in the acid attack would act as a major deterrent against such attacks in future. "Right from MCA student Sri Laxmi's murder by her classmate Manohar in 2004 to the latest acid attack in Warangal, there have been at least eight major incidents of deadly attack on women. With no strong visible action against the guilty, such incidents continue to recur. At least now, this encounter will send a strong message to such rogue elements," was the general feeling expressed by the students. Following the sharp reaction from the students, political leaders were caught on the back foot and had to mince their words in condemning the police encounter. It was the second major encounter in Warangal in the last 12 months in which a total of six youths – three of them hardcore criminals – were gunned down. In both the instances, police received a pat on their back for "delivering justice" and handing over the "deserved punishment" for the criminals. In the first case, three youths with a criminal background, abducted a nine-year-old girl Manisha and murdered her to settle scores with her father. After a long hunt, police arrested them but were immediately killed in an "encounter" when they attacked police personnel while collecting the evidence. Though, as usual, the so-called human rights activists sought to raise a hue and cry over the incident, the common people welcomed it and lauded the police action. Two Telugu satellite news channels conducted an instant opinion poll on the encounter and got 97 per cent and 94 per cent positive response respectively in favour of the police."The killing of an innocent nine-year-old girl for no reason has spurred an emotional reaction from the people who felt relieved when her murderers met with the same fate," a top police official involved with the encounter recalled. Incidents like the acid attack on girl students immediately evoke strong reactions from all quarters and everyone demands "stringent action" against the guilty. However, in many such grave cases, the prosecution has been failing to take the cases to the "logical, deserving and justified end" often enabling the accused to virtually go scot free.

Cyber-security: The growing threat

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The Internet has been expanding thick and fast across the world and so is the threat to the cyber-security. In India, for example, the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has reported about 800 new electronic vulnerabilities during 2007 in the country, a 20-fold increase compared to 2001. The total number of attacks -- including viruses, worms and cyber frauds in organisations -- are rising by about 15 per cent annually, with many types of attacks doubling in number, according to Gulshan Rai, director-general of CERT in the Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Quoting a report prepared by Symantec, Rai pointed out that spam mails accounted for about 80 per cent of the total email traffic in the world. "The situation in India is not much different," he said, at the Internet Governance Forum conference at Hyderabad International Convention Centre. Taking part in a discussion on "Dimensions of Cyber-Security and Cyber-Crime", Rai said a survey conducted by CERT and PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that 57 per cent of the organizations providing one or other type of services experienced compromised systems in 2007, which was almost double compared to 2000. "Technology-oriented indicators clearly reflect that the monthly percentage of personal computers infected by a virus in the country has grown from just one per cent in 2001 to 17 per cent in 2007," the IT director-general noted. Information-stealing through social network sites was also on the rise, he added. Another worrying factor was the growing number of phishing cases, particularly among the Indian banks. "On an average, 7 to 8 cases of phishing are being reported per day in the country. Most of the phishing cases are hosted and registered in another country causing a problem in disabling them," Rai said.The most disturbing fact, according to Rai, was the increase in the number of cases of cyber incidents pertaining to domain name registry. "The registrars, the Internet Protocol address as well as the address of the registrants are found to be fake in many cases. We require a strategy to counter this as it involves cyber-security," Rai said. "Today, the computing systems control the management of power plants, air traffic control systems, energy distribution and the financial systems, to name a few. Banks, for example, rely on extensive distributed communication network and information services, both for customer interaction and inter-bank operations. The reliance of these installations and processes on the IT infrastructure makes that infrastructure itself extra critical and it is essential to safeguard it in the nation's interest," the IT authority observed.

India to amend IT law with clear definitions

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The Government of India will amend the Information Technology Act, 2000 to effectively deal with online data security, data privacy, identity theft, cyber-terrorism, child pornography, Spam, phishing and other online frauds. The amendment Bill, which has been pending for two years now, will finally be taken up by Parliament in this winter session. For the first time, the Government of India has tried to define cyber terrorism, child pornography, spam, phishing and online frauds through this new legislation. The amended legal framework will be in line with all the provisions of the European Cyber Convention. Once in place, the new legal framework would address emerging issues in cyberspace. The body corporates would have to implement best security practices to secure data collected by them while providing services and any leakage of data would result in payment of compensation to the victims. The government was working in co-operation with the Asia-Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team on cyber-security initiatives. Besides, the Data Security Council of India was also established as a government-industry initiative to create awareness and ensure compliance with the best security practices among IT and ITES organisations. "The challenge is huge for us to train our police and judicial officers to collect, analyse and present digital evidence in courts. We are working in this direction under the public-private partnership model," Gulshan Rai, a top IT official in the Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said. The Information Technology department was also working with public and private sector organisations to train manpower to deal with cyber-security issues. India is also sending people abroad for getting trained in implementation of best security practices. While assuring that the Union Communications and Information Technology Ministry would collaborate with "any agency in the world" for providing a safe and secure cyberspace to the citizens, Gulshan Rai called upon lawyers, judges, academia, industry and citizens to work together to evolve a mechanism for effective collaboration and co-operation in this regard.

TV news channels: DISGUSTING AND DISGRACEFUL

Desaraju Surya
I am herewith reproducing views and feelings of my dear friend, an Indian Administrative Service officer, on the media coverage of the Mumbai terror strikes. Being a journalist, I have no hestitation in endorsing what all he said in his blog post. The conduct of the electronic (visual) medium journalists was utterly disgusting and disgraceful, to put it mildly. Shame on their part.
I have many examples to illustrate how the visual medium is proving to be a bane to the society. The Telugu television news channels have become obnoxious. I shall putforth my views on the subject sometime later. But now, read my IAS friend's anguish.

"I am on a holiday. Without access to reliable internet connection, blogging was naturally intermittent. However, the rivetting events of the past few days kept me tuned on to the television channels. A few observations from the coverage. Even as the NSG commando were fighting the terrorists holed up inside the Taj, Trident and Nariman House, another battle was being fought outside by the television news media channels to capture the media space. While the commandos acquitted themseleves with distinction, the same cannot be said of the ultra-competitive media channels. To put it bluntly, the actions of large sections of television channels were disgraceful, insensitive and indecent. Many of them came out as undignified and greedy vultures swooping down on hapless victims of the tragedy. I had been under the impression that a reporter was meant to report events and even illustrate possibilities, which were then to be analyzed by editors and external analysts. But the events in Mumbai saw reporters throwing all such distinctions to the wind, elevating themselves as self-appointed analysts and media pundits, spraying "wisdom" in all directions. Some of them had even become self-appointed flag-bearers of nationalism and patriotism. Ironically enough, the anchors and editors who were vituperative in criticising (rightly so) the politicians for using the tragedy to score brownie points, were culpable of falling prey to the same disease. Many of them, with a few honourable exceptions, saw this as an one-time opportunity to make and enhance reputations, and flagellate as popular opinion makers. What spouted out as informed analysis was the routine denuciations of the usual suspects - Politicians and Pakistan - and simplified band-aid solutions to a complex challenge. Traumatized victims (especially foreigners) released from the clutches of terrorists were hounded for soundbites (despite polite refusals), and politicians (like spokespersons of political parties) were accused (even abused) of being responsible for the tragedy in a manner bereft of any dignity. The middle class sentiments were sought to be aroused by playing to the galleries through a brazenly artificial exposition of the courage and bravery of the soldiers and commandos and public catharsis of the released victims and their relatives. If there was poignancy, it certainly was not evoked by most of these journalists, including the superstar ones (who even professed to conveying poignancy), reporting on it. The ruthless and insensitive nosing for news was disgraceful, to say the least. If this was an attempt to whip up national pride and stand up for our armed forces, please, don't ask us to be subtle about it!I vividly recollect a bewildered Chinese looking chef of the Taj, who was hardly able to scramble through the fusillade of questions hurled at him by one of our superstar television journalists, apart from sticking to the safe, if monotonous, "no" to whether he had seen or heard anything. Questions on issues as weighty as who was responsible for the terrorist attacks and how many were killed and injured (something which even the intelligence agencies of the government were yet to figure out!) were thrust on the poor man who had just escaped the hotel. The poor lad was relegated to the backstage, even without as much as a sympathetic remark for the difficult ordeal he had been through, and obvious obscurity for even "not having heard a bomb explosion". This particular "superstar" also "distinguished" himself in his other reports by constantly bombarding his "victims" with his non-stop barrage of questions which appeared to have the objective of eliciting a particular answer than the correct answer. Some of the antics of our popular television news anchors were clearly cheap attempts at imitating western media personalities like John Simpson and Christian Amanpour.The most garish omission obviously was the near total lack of sympathy or coverage of hapless victims, who being lesser mortals" lost their lives in the oblivion of the not so "iconic" CST. So skewed was the coverage that a viewer could be excused for not knowing that the largest number of casualties and biggest "human tragedy" took place at the crowded railway station. The last straw that broke the camel's back was undoubtedly the injured claim on the last day on how "the shocked victims would hardly speak to the journalists who had been patiently waiting for them outside.""

Cyber-world and the family of Netizens

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: India has been ranked fourth among the top ten nations in the world with 81 million internet users even as the world aggregate touched 134,85,72,040 by the end of 2007.
United States leads the chart with 220 million internet users followed by China (210 million) and Japan (88.1 million).
Brazil comes next to India with 53.1 million users, UK 40.2 million, Germany 39.1 million, Republic of Korea 35.5 million, Italy 32 million and France 31.5 million.
The Internet Governance Forum has released these statistics on the eve of its third global conference that begins at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre on December 3.
From about 70 million people (1.7 per cent of the world population) who had access to the Internet at the end of 2007, the figure crossed 134.8 crore by 2007. Asia has the highest number of Internet users with an estimated 568.7 million people followed by the Americas with 377.9 million.
Europe ranks third in this list with 335.9 million users and Africa and Oceania close the rank with 51.8 million and 14 million users respectively, according to the IGF.
India, however, does not find place among the top ten nations in terms of broadband connections where too the US stands first with 73.2 million connections.
China has 66.4 million, Japan 28.28 million, Germany 19.6 million, UK 15.6 million, France 15.5 million, Republic of Korea 14. 7 million, Italy 10.8 million, Canada 9 million and Spain 8 mil lion broadband connections. While there were a total of 13.5 million internet subscribers in India, representing 1.15 per 100 people, broadband subscribers accounted for five million among them.
However, the number of users, who have online access but do not themselves subscribe, is a whopping 81 million or 6.93 users per people.
"Internet is the platform through which we are trying to bridge the digital divide in the country," joint secretary in the Union Information Technology Ministry, Ravi Shankar, said.
The National E-governance Plan envisaged provision of internet access to six lakh villages through one lakh Common Service Centres (Internet kiosks) by the end of 2009. Of the total proposed, 20,000 kiosks have been rolled out so far, he added.
"The essence is to bring about a modicum of e-readiness through the National e-governance Plan. The Department of Information Technology is also working on a plan to build the National Knowledge Network under which 10,000 institutions of higher learning and research will be connected through a 1-GB net work and provide e-learning solutions," Ravi Shankar said.
With the number of mobile phone users touching a staggering 300 million and growing by about eight million per month, the Government of India sees mobile-internet as a further exponential growth platform.

Emotion-filled SMSes

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The Mumbai terror strikes have stirred a range of emotions among Indians. There was deep anguish, concern, anger and, of course, contempt. There also was mockery and a certain indifference in the pent up feelings. A string of SMSes that filled the inboxes of mobile phones in the last two days have carried these emotions across the nation. The tone of these short messages was loud and clear: hang the likes of Afzal Guru and put down terror with an iron hand. "Forgiving a terrorist should be left to God. But fixing their appointment with God is entirely our responsibility," read one short message which had a by-line Indian Army. This was an obvious reference to Afzal Guru, the key accused who was awarded death penalty by the Supreme Court in the attack on Parliament case. Another said: "We salute the brave officers who laid down their lives in protecting us and our country, including Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar. "Yet another SMS urged people to pray for the people who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. "Vote properly to make this country worth dying for," read a terse message that was ostensibly kept in circulation by police officials. In what clearly reflected the pent up feelings of the majority people in the country, one SMS contained mock anger: "Divine justice! 2004: Jayendra Saraswati implicated in murder case and jailed. Tsunami hit Tamil Nadu! 2008: ATS implicates Sadhu and Sadhvi in terror case. ATS chief dead!" There was one interesting message that landed in mobile phones on Friday suggesting that date 26 has turned out to be a doomsday, going by the chronology of events. "December 26-tsunami, January 26-Kutch quake, February 26-Godhra, June 26-Gujarat floods, July 26-Mumbai train blast, July 26-Ahmedabad blasts and November 26-Mumbai terror strikes." Yet another SMS that too vent the frustration and angst of many read: "Afzal ko maafi, Sadhvi ko faansi. RSS par pratibandh, SIMI se anubandh. Amarnath yatra par lagaan, Haj ke liye anudaan. Waakeyi... Mera Bharat Mahan!" One more interesting SMS: "Where is Raj Thackeray and his brave Sena? Tell him that 200 NSG commandos from Delhi, all south and north Indians, have been sent to Mumbai to fight the terrorists, so that he can sleep peacefully!"

Hot Hot: The AP political scene

Desaraju Surya
Elections-2009 will be by far the hottest in the history of Andhra Pradesh.
The emergence of Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) on the scene has totally altered the political dynamics in the state even as the ruling Congress party finds itself isolated. Old friends -- Telugu Desam Party, Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) -- have come together once again to fight the Congress now. In 2004, the Left parties had aligned with the Congress while Telangana Rashtra Samiti was also part of the grand alliance that ousted N Chandrababu Naidu from power.TDP had only the Bharatiya Janata Party for company in 2004 but the combination could not outwit the Congress-Left-TRS combine. The 2004 poll outcome makes for an interesting study. The Congress, which polled 38.56 per cent of the total valid votes, bagged 185 seats in the 294-member state Assembly while the TDP with a 37.59 per cent vote share could manage only 47 seats. The CPI got 1.53 per cent votes (six seats), CPM 1.84 per cent (nine seats) and the TRS 6.68 per cent (26 seats) while the BJP secured 2.63 per cent and just two seats. Elections-2009 will, however, be entirely different. Despite their combination and the prospects of TRS too joining them, the TDP-Left combine cannot sit confident of a victory. Here comes the PRP into play which could mar its prospects as well as those of the ruling Congress. How much will the vote split be is hard to predict but at least in the coastal Andhra region and to some extent in Rayalaseema, Chiranjeevi's party could cast its spell. The PRP's impact is expected to be the maximum in East Godavari and West Godavari districts, which hitherto used to be the TDP's citadels. In north coastal Andhra too -- comprising Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts -- Chiranjeevi's party is likely to eat into the traditional TDP votes much to the comfort of the Congress. In the final analysis, this could prove to be the most decisive factor in determining who comes to power. Of course, the outcome in Telangana will also be crucial as the region has as many as 117 seats. The Congress, however, is putting up a brave front saying no combination or force could prevent it from retaining power. "It will be a positive vote for the government, which is quite unprecedented. The slew of welfare measures, apart from the major development works including the construction of irrigation projects, will stand us in good stead," Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy boasts. There is also widespread talk in the political circles here that another "Mega" alliance could be in the making: Chiranjeevi's PRP, bureaucrat-turned-politician N Jayprakash Narayan's Lok Satta Party and former TDP leader T Devender Goud's Nava Telangana Party. It is also being speculated that the BJP too will be part of this alliance but so far Chiranjeevi has been categorically ruling out any alliance with the saffron party. Lok Satta Party and Nava Telangana Party as such have little influence and will solely try to cash in on Chiranjeevi's charisma. Nevertheless, these combinations will certainly dent the prospects of the Congress and may well dash its hopes of retaining power in Andhra Pradesh.

Swagruha heads no where

Desaraju Surya

So, the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government will finally have some “achievement” to claim credit for!
The single bedroom and double bedroom flats, numbering 1140 in all, are said to be nearing completion at Chandanagar on the outskirts of Hyderabad. This will be the first venture under the much-hyped Rajiv Swagruha scheme to be ready for inauguration soon.
But what about the others, you may wonder. The total demand for houses or flats under Swagruha scheme is over 1.74 lakh. As per the information provided by the Swagruha Corporation authorities only 17,446 flats\houses are currently being built under the scheme in different places of the state. While flats at Pocharam and Bandlaguda on the outskirts of Hyderabad have reached the slabs stage, they are still at the foundation level at Vetapalem (Prakasam district), Nellore and Khammam. In Narsaraopet, Kakinada, Mahbubnagar, Tandur (Ranga Reddy district), Nalgonda, Srikalahasthi, Rayachoti, Rajampet and Kamareddy the site clearance works are on while in Yendada near Visakhapatnam the proposed site for Swagruha houses is under development. So, these projects will take shape only in the next two years if everything goes well (like cement and steel prices remaining stable and construction workers are readily available).
Model houses are ready at Pocharam and Bandlaguda while they are being constructed in Nellore. So far the Swagruha Corporation authorities have allotted flats\houses to 35,870 of the applicants while all others have to wait for a longer period for allotment.
The Swagruha Corporation needs a total of 10,000 acres to build houses\flats for all the applicants in the urban areas of Andhra Pradesh. But only 7599 acres of land is available across the state. The Empowered Committee headed by the state Chief Commissioner of Land Administration has cleared 2846.33 acres for allotment to the Corporation of which the Corporation has taken possession of only 1023 acres.
In districts like West Godavari, Krishna, Kurnool, Anantapur and Hyderabad no land is available for these houses. Informed sources say the Swagruha Corporation has dropped the idea of building houses in a city like Vijayawada and will be returning the deposits to the applicants.
As per the original plan, the Swagruha Corporation is supposed to take up construction of 45,000 units in 2007-08 financial year, 75,000 units in 2008-09 and the balance 54,748 in 2009-10. There are just three four more months left for the completion of 2008-09 financial year but still not more than 18,000 units have been taken up out of the total 1.20 lakh. This itself reveals how pathetic the implementation of the Swagruha scheme has been.
The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh wanted to entice the so-called middle-class voters with these “affordable” houses, which should have been completed by 2009, well in time for the elections.
The “progress” of the scheme has dashed the hopes of thousands of people aspiring for a own house and it will certainly dash the hopes of the Rajasekhara Reddy government as well.
Isn’t this the “God’s own administration!” To hell with it.

NTR Jr: A SHAM

Desaraju Surya

Chiranjeevi is no match to Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao. And the so-called NTR Jr is certainly no match to Chiranjeevi. To pit NTR Jr against Chiranjeevi is utterly ridiculous, idiotic, foolish, stupid and abhorring.
It is nothing but stupidity on part of the Telugu Desam Party leadership to even think that NTR Jr can be used to counter the Chiranjeevi effect in politics.
Chiranjeevi is a self-made man who rose to become the Mega Star of Telugu films. He has tens of mighty hit films to his credit and millions of fans cutting across all sections of the society who simply adore him. I am one of them.
But what is NTR Jr? He has so far done less than 10 films of which only three were successful. Those three hits made him such a pigheaded fellow and bloated a false ego in him. He thus began to rank himself as the heir of great N T Rama Rao, who incidentally happens to be his grandfather.
My foot! This young fellow is simply a sham.
He has no acting skills and was cast so far only in stereo-type roles. But quite insensibly, NTR Jr feels he is great and greater than the likes of Chiranjeevi, who is talent personified.
All this idiotic talk of pitting NTR Jr against Chiranjeevi gained momentum after Nandamuri Balakrishna and his other nephews Kalyan Ram and Taraka Ratna decided to campaign for the TDP. Of course, Balakrishna is certainly a big star than the others from the NTR clan and ranks just a notch below Chiranjeevi in the Telugu film industry.
He can be a match to Chiranjeevi – to a certain extent – in the political sphere as well.
While relying on Balakrishna, the TDP leadership seems to be giving undue and absolutely unwanted preference to NTR Jr. This may in fact boomerang and prove counter-productive for the party as NTR Jr is not known to have a good personality.
NTR Jr commands no respect as he is known for his immense arrogance. He is just in his early-20s and has not even crossed the nascent stage of his filmy career. Frankly, his so-called fans are confined only to a particular community and that too only in a few pockets of the state. He doesn’t have a universal appeal like Chiranjeevi.
By any measure and any account, NTR Jr will be a disaster. Unless the TDP leadership realizes this, it will only be harming its own interests.

BRTS in Vijayawada: The wait continues

Desaraju Surya
The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) will become operational in Vijayawada city only after February 2009. The Vijayawada Municipal Commissioner P S Pradyumna initially wanted to start a trial run of the system with a few compressed-natural gas-fuelled buses of the APSRTC from November 15 but reality seemed to have dawned on him after he visited Mexico, Brazil and Columbia to study the implementation of BRTS projects in those countries.
Now, the young commissioner wants to first put necessary infrastructure like bus stations, automated ticket vending machines and signalling systems in place before rushing in to kick-start the BRTS operations. Also, the system cannot be operated with the regular buses that currently ply on the city roads and only specially-designed buses will do. Hence, the wait for a few more months for the BRTS operations to be reality becomes inevitable.
The first phase of the BRTS project covers a distance of 15.5 km. The road – which is meant to be an exclusive BRTS corridor – connecting the GS Raju Road and Madhuranagar is not yet ready and it may take about two months for it to take shape.
This is the new road that is being laid following the removal of the Satyanarayanapuram railway track.
The first phase Green Corridor will have 31 bus stops – each at a distance of 500 mts and 17 traffic junctions. The signalling system which is the key to ensuring a smooth ride for BRTS buses is still not in place. Of the 15.5 km Green Corridor, only a 11-km stretch has a clear way for BRTS buses while the balance portion will have mixed traffic.
The Rs 152.64 crore BRTS project, taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), will make Vijayawada the fourth city in the country after Indore, Pune and Ahmedabad and the first in south India to have such a better urban public transport system. BRTS, an environment-friendly and cost-effective urban public transport system, is an alternative between ‘unreliable’ conventional bus transport and the high-cost metro rail. Usually, it is also referred to as the ‘surface metro’ system that has a dedicated right-of-way on prime roads enabling high operating speeds. In Vijayawada, BRTS is being introduced on a pilot basis along the 15.5-km ‘Green Corridor’: from the police control room to the railway station, Satyanarayanapuram, Eluru Road, Ring Road, Benz Circle, Mahatma Gandhi Road and back to PCR. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation plans to introduce exclusive BRTS buses, each costing Rs 40 lakh, in the later stages. Though the state government approved the proposal to form the Vijayawada Metropolitan Transport Authority for operating the BRTS, it hasn’t been put in place.

Air-miss!

Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: It was not the first time that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had a troubled flight in an aircraft. While the latest incident occurred this week days ago when the new AW139 helicopter -- delivered to the AP government only on November 5 -- developed a major technical snag following the malfunction of an electrical fuse, another incident reportedly took place a few days ago on the Bell 430-model chopper. The AW139 incident saw the light a day later but the Bell 430 incident went unreported, authoritative sources overseeing the Chief Minister's security said on condition of anonymity. Purchased by the AP government in 1998, the Bell 430 was constantly plagued by one problem or the other. In the very recent past, a minor crack was detected on the windshield of the chopper when the Chief Minister was to fly on an official trip to Nizamabad district. The pilot, however, got a clearance certificate signed by the aircraft engineer and took the VVIP "on a ride." "Strictly speaking, the Chief Minister was taken for a ride in total violation of the security norms," the sources revealed. By the time the Bell 430 returned to Hyderabad, the crack on the windshield had widened, the sources added. "Subsequently, the windshield was replaced as part of the 'routine' maintenance. Fortunately nothing untoward had happened that day," a top security official pointed out. There were a couple of occasions when wrong co-ordinates were fed into the helicopter system because of which the aircraft carrying the VVIP had to hover in air in search of the helipad for safe landing. "It was a harrowing experience once when we flew to Adilabad district. We hovered in the air for more than half an hour before we could actually locate the village where we were supposed to land," a senior official in the Chief Minister's Office recalled. Such incidents, coupled with the latest providential escape, have raised serious questions about the air safety aspect related to a VVIP like the Chief Minister. "Security officials were never taken into confidence while purchasing the new helicopter or while pressing it into service. The AW139 barely flew for an hour and it has started giving trouble. This is a matter of serious concern," a high-ranking security official lamented. The state government authorities only hope that the AW139 doesn't go the Bell 430 way and gives the Chief Minister and other VIPs a smooth flight – every time.

Ambitious Chiranjeevi

Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: In the public domain, Chiranjeevi had so far been beating around the bush over his political ambitions. Within the four walls and amidst his close associates, Chiranjeevi, however, appears to be clearly stating that he has indeed marked the Chief Minister's position as his target.Take a look at the 9.20 minute video footage of his interaction with a group of youngsters – which is now available on the Internet – and you get a peep into his mind. "I am into politics not for the sake of securing power or position but only to serve the people. I am their servant," Chiranjeevi had been proclaiming ever since he declared his intention to quit the tinsel town and jump onto the political bandwagon.

Now, the latest video footage, which is suspectedly the product of a "sting operation," revealed at least a part of the "neo-politician" Chiranjeevi's mind. "People say I joined politics with some vested interest. I may say no but everybody has some 'hope' inside. But I am unable to guage what that hope is," Chiranjeevi noted. At that point, his audience pitches in with the suggestion that "becoming the Chief Minister" was his "hope." "Don't simply brush this thing aside when people say Chiranjeevi wants to become the CM. Just cut the topic," the actor-turned-politician said. Of course, he goes on say that the well-being of the society at large could be his "hope." Sitting in the conference room at his Praja Rajyam Party office in Hyderabad, flanked by bureaucrat-turned-politician T Chandrasekhar, Chiranjeevi was in a jolly mood all through as he apparently spoke his heart out to a group of people. Who his audience were was, however, not clear. One version was that they could be Information Technology professionals (going by what one of them spoke about the forum called Do IT) while another version was that they were a group of co-ordinators appointed by Praja Rajyam to ensure co-ordination between Chiranjeevi fans and party workers in each district. All through the meeting, Chiranjeevi referred to them just as "youngsters" and dropped no hint about their antecedents. Chiranjeevi's message, however, was clear: "I have no belief in the senior politicians who joined my party." He was categorical in asking the "youngsters" to keep a tab on the senior politicians in every district and report back to the party headquarters if anything went wrong in any district. "In a way you have to be the spies. Agents, rather," the Praja Rajyam chief told them. He, however, cautioned the youngsters to ensure that nobody smelt anything suspicious about their (spying) acts. Chiranjeevi assured the youth joining the Praja Rajyam Party that he was not the kind to "use, exploit and dump" them and their "sacrifices" would not go waste.

The illegal way of minting money, legally!

Desaraju Surya
My blood is boiling, even as I get down to write this piece. It’s DIWALI today, the festival of lights.… a day when millions of Indians literally burn wads of currency – albeit in the form of the stuff called fire crackers.
As a kid, I too had done the same, forcing my poor grandfather to spend tens of rupees (well, those were the days!) on crackers just to keep me “de-lighted.” Now, I am having to repay the debt by buying fire crackers for my 7-year-old son. Well, it was over 20 years now since I stopped indulging in the meaningless ritual on Diwali day but, for the past three or four years I have been left with no other option except to keep my little son delighted, just the same way my grandfather did when I was his pampered boy.
Till last year, buying crackers worth a few hundred rupees didn’t really pinch me. This year, however, it pained me immensely. For the first time, I had to buy crackers by weight and by the time I realized what it meant, it cost me a fortune. Just about ten small boxes of two or three items like sparkles and flower pots cost me Rs 500-plus. Ok, Rs 500 for once-in-year festival is not a big deal but the sheer way in which people have been exploited by unscrupulous traders was simply shocking.
When I discussed this with one of my dear friends MHK, he drove home the point that it was illegal to sell crackers by weight and they were supposed to be sold only at unit price. Immediately, I alerted two IAS officials and an IPS officer concerned and explained how people were being publicly looted. The IPS officer put his department officials on alert and one of his subordinates called me to enquire about the issue. I explained everything in detail to the junior officer and he coolly told me that there was nothing illegal about it. “As long as the crackers are sold within the maximum retail price fixed, traders are allowed to sell the items by weight,” he said.
I protested and said the MRP printed on the items itself was a big fraud.
Now, this leaves you with the impression that the traders are allowed to loot the public with the active support and connivance of the authorities concerned. After all, Andhra Pradesh is “GOD’s own administration” as the shameless rulers proclaimed! So there’s no point cribbing about anything.
I got back to my dear pal MHK and narrated the story. I told him it was the illegal way to mint money legally. Looting gullible public in a right royal fashion.
Now, this tells you how easy money-making can be. You no need to work hard, sweat it out or be sincere. Just go about your business unscrupulously and in just about a week yours can become a rags-to-riches tale. Mind you, it’s so simple that you can earn at least Rs 20 for every rupee you put in. Of course, you may have to grease the palms of certain authorities concerned but shelling out about 20-30 per cent out of say some 200 per cent is peanuts.
There are a few other ways of making easy money – like the one above – which I shall try to discuss later.

Meanwhile, I have decided to educate my son about the ill-effects of bursting fire crackers and shall counsel him by next year to stop indulging in the useless fun. Instead, I could buy some useful stuff for him with the same amount of money. MHK liked my idea.

A great show

DESARAJU SURYA at the India Aviation -2008.

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad played host to the first-ever civil aviation expo in India -- India Aviation 2008 -- at the Begumpet airport in the middle of October. As a journalist, I had the privilege of visiting the expo and covering the event.

Undoubtedly the biggest attraction at the show was the jumbo Airbus A-380, the double-decker aircraft that could carry over 850 passengers on board. It was a spectacular experience to watch the big bird fly and land. It was a great sight, indeed! As soon as the plane landed and taxiied on to the parking slot, I asked our photographer Aleemuddin to click my picture with the jumbo in the background. I couldn't resist the temptation. I also had the opportunity to board the plane for an inspection. It was, of course, not a fully-built regular plane and was just a test version. It had not more than 10 seats in all and was all wired. There were huge water tanks fitted inside the plane, basically to measure the gravity and other factors during flight. An Airbus official took us inside the plane and explained all its features. It was good to learn many things.

As part of the four-day expo, many other planes too landed in Begumpet, brining it to life once again after it was closed for commercial operations in the middle of this year. The other picture was taken with Air India's Boeing 747 in the backdrop. There was also a tiny two-seater plane brought from Australia - the Sport Star Plus.

The aviation expo provided a great photo-op and for one like me and I didn't miss it.

The Super Jumbo -- Airbus A380

Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: The "super jumbo" has arrived, for the second time, in India. Hundreds of onlookers cheered in exaltation as Airbus' A380 entered the skies over the old Begumpet airport at Hyderabad for taking part in the India Aviation-2008 expo. Everyone watched in awe as the massive double-decker aircraft flew past the airport to take a U-turn and land in the right position. Hundreds of eyes stayed glued to the runway at Begumpet airport even an hour before the scheduled arrival of A380 as the visitors took vantage positions for catching a glimpse of the jumbo. At 12.22 pm, the A380 touched down the runway making little noise even as the awestruck visitors to the India Aviation-2008 clapped cheeringly. It was a breathtaking experience for the curious onlookers as it was the first time that they got to witness such a heavy-bodied aircraft in this part of the world. As the aircraft taxied to its designated parking slot – with its pilot John Mitchel waving the Indian tricolour from the cockpit, a water canon salute was offered. The A380 flew in from Toulouse – the Airbus' headquarters in France – carrying its chief executive officer John Leahy and three of his aides. Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel welcomed Leahy to India and particularly the India Aviation expo. The A380 presented a great photo opportunity not only for the media personnel but also each and everyone present at the air show, who captured the mighty aircraft in their mobile phones. The first time the A380 visited India was in May 2007 when Kingfisher brought it for demonstration in Mumbai. Kingfisher has placed orders with Airbus for six A380s, which are expected to be delivered by 2012.

TDP's knock-out punch

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The ruling Congress party in Andhra Pradesh finds itself on the mat even as the general elections are just about four months away. The principal opposition Telugu Desam Party has delivered a virtual knock-out punch on the Congress by declaring its support for the formation of a separate Telangana state. More than anyone else, the TDP's support for Telangana will hurt the ruling party badly, if not maul it in the next elections. It's now a do-or-die situation for the Congress which rode to power in 2004 with the promise of delivering the Telangana state – a promise it failed to keep in the last four-and-a-half years. The indecisiveness on its part on Telangana will cost the Congress dearly in the next election, at least in this region where the number of Assembly seats has gone up from 107 to 119 after the delimitation. With all the major opposition parties – TDP, CPI, CPM and TRS – joining hands against the Congress, the ruling party will find the going extremely tough. Now, it is left with no other option except to take a policy decision on Telangana -- immediately. Even if the bloody 1969 agitation for Telangana is ignored, nobody can spare the Congress for raising the separate statehood bogey yet again in 1999. As Telangana became the TDP's citadel, the Congress desperately wanted to counter the then ruling party and hence raised the demand for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Congress legislators from the region formed a separate forum and the party was forced to constitute the Telangana Regional Congress Co-ordination Committee to placate the separatists in its ranks. The Telangana Congress Legislators' Forum passed a resolution demanding formation of Telangana and got it endorsed by the then opposition leader Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who is now the state chief minister. In 2001, K Chandrasekhar Rao quit the TDP to float the Telangana Rashtra Samiti espousing the cause of separate statehood. The BJP, though in favour of separate Telangana, had to remain quiet as it was in the company of TDP, which was a strong votary of a unified state. Thus, the Congress rode piggy back on the TRS holding the Telangana flag aloft and promising to carve out a separate state. Once in power, the Congress that headed a coalition government at the Centre got a three-member committee appointed, under the chairmanship of Pranab Mukherjee, to look into the Telangana demand. The committee eventually remained a farce, to say the least, and the Congress couldn't deliver Telangana. Much water has flown since 2004 and things have now come to such a stage where everybody is ready for Telangana except the Congress, the main proponent. Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief D Srinivas admits the TDP decision would put his party under pressure on Telangana. "As the national party, it is only the Congress that can deliver Telangana. But we can't act in haste as a lot of issues are involved. The TDP has nothing to lose by announcing its support for a separate state," Srinivas observed. The pro-Telangana lobbyists in the state Congress have, however, started making enough noices on the separate state issue in the run-up to the elections.

Apple iPhone-3G costs a fortune

Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: Gadget-lovers had been eagerly awaiting the official launch of Apple’s iconic iPhone in India for some months now. But, the two mobile service providers, who tied up with Apple for delivering the iPhone to Indians, have virtually poured cold water on the hopes of millions of eager customers by fixing an abnormally high price. Both Vodafone-Essar and Bharti Airtel have priced the iPhone-3G (8GB memory) variant at Rs 31,000 and the 16GB variant at Rs 36,100. Vodafone has started sending SMSes on Wednesday to its customers, who pre-registered for the iPhone, quoting the price and asking them to pay an advance of Rs 10,000 to ensure early delivery of the gadget. Airtel has not yet formally announced the price but information posted on its website indicated that the price of iPhone gadgets would be the same as quoted by Vodafone. These phones are locked by the respective cellular service providers and will work only on those networks. As per the prevailing market rate, the price for a 8GB variant works to 708 US dollars and for 16GB 824 USD. Just a month ago, the iPhone-3G was launched in Japan for 214 USD (8GB) and 321 USD (16GB) by Softbank, but it was a bundle offer wherein customers are required to subscribe to that particular service. In Europe, iPhone-3G is available for not more than 400 USD. In the US, the 8GB variant comes for 199 USD and the 16GB for 299 USD. Of course, there too the gadget is locked to the AT&T network. An unlocked version too was made available in the US for 550 USD. Comparing the price in other countries, the Indian customers will certainly feel let down by the two cellular service providers who are clearly trying to “exploit” the craze for the iPhone. Vodafone and Airtel would have done well to extend bundle offers to their customers and fix a much lesser price for the iPhone-3G. It would have been beneficial to both the service providers as well as the customers. But so far, neither Vodafone nor Airtel spoke of any such offers.In fact, the high price may well turn into customer anger against the two companies who may not like to be taken for granted. People already started questioning the prices being quoted for the iPhone-3G at a time when the 3G (third generation) services are not yet available in India. It is expected that the 3G services will be formally be available in the country only next year after the Department of Telecommunications finalises the bids for spectrum and grant licenses to service providers. In the absence of 3G services, the iPhone will best serve as a mobile phone clubbed with an iPod. Nothing more than that, certainly. And in Indian prices of fancy electronic gadgets always witness a free fall. There is no guarantee that the iPhone-3G prices remain the same. Unless, of course, the two cellular service providers adopt dubious methods to secure their market. Already, hundreds of iPhones – ‘imported’ from the US and elsewhere -- are being used by scores of Indians and many gadgets are readily available in the grey market. Given the technical expertise our people have, it is no deal to unlock an iPhone and it has already been done successfully. So, any prudent one would as well choose to get one iPhone from abroad and get it unlocked here. And, no body knows whether the 3G services will really click and what the tariffs will be. Given the high cost of securing 3G spectrum, one may obviously expect the service providers to fix the 3G tariff on the higher side. This too could act as a deterrent for customers to avail of the services, at least initially. So, all such factors do really count. Whether iPhone-3G can really penetrate the Indian market as initially expected remains to be seen.

Living up to a role

By Desaraju Surya

The year: 1993.

The film: Mutha Mestri.

Chiranjeevi plays a labour leader-turned-politician in the film directed by A Kodandarami Reddy. It was the only time that Chiru donned a politician’s cap in his 148 movies.The character in the film Subhas Chandra Bose, a labour leader in a vegetable market, becomes a minister rather by accident. Bose, as a minister, tries to cleanse a system that had been depriving the poor of their livelihood. At the end, Bose is offered the Chief Minister’s post but he humbly rejects it and bids adieu to politics.“Don’t think I am quitting politics in toto. I shall come back at an appropriate time to play a major role,” Bose asserts, as a parting shot.Somehow, that role had cast a spell on Chiranjeevi’s fans. Ever since, they had been longing to see him as a politician to “cleanse” the “system.”Chiranjeevi, who was at the peak of his stardom in the film industry, quietly used to brush aside all such talk.The star, however, took up social service activities like blood donation and eye donation through his Chiranjeevi Charitable Trust and won acclaim from all quarters. He also was part of the Heroes AIDS awareness campaign along with Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Kamal Hassan. These activities have endeared him to the masses and made him an icon-of-sorts.In 2003, there was widespread anticipation of Chiranjeevi taking a political plunge either by launching his own party or by joining the Telugu Desam, then in power. The silver jubilee function of his blockbuster movie Indra was supposed to be his political launch pad but Chiranjeevi belied all expectations.Cut to 2008, 15 years down the line. At long last, Chiranjeevi bids adieu to films to take a political plunge. A “turning point” in his life, as he himself put it!

Chiranjeevi turns a politician, finally.

By Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Telugu Mega Star Chiranjeevi has finally turned a politician on Sunday after having kept everyone guessing for over 10 months now.
He has formally announced his entry into the political arena but reserved the launch of his yet-unnamed political party for August 26, the birth anniversary of Mother Teresa. A mammoth public meeting is being organized in Tirupati on August 26 where Chiranjeevi’s party will formally be launched.
He is the second film star after the late legendary Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, aka NTR, to launch his own political party in Andhra Pradesh. Of course, Chiranjeevi pales in comparison with NTR in every respect.
“This is an unforgettable day in my life, a day that has altered the course of my life. I am dedicating myself to the service of the people of Andhra Pradesh,”Chiranjeevi announced at a crowded press conference at his new party office in Hyderabad. It was a wonderful opportunity given by the people to serve them.
Claiming that his party would be “different” with a “pro-poor” agenda, Chiranjeevi said uplift of the poor and ensuring a better life for them would top his priorities.
“Former President A P J Abdul Kalam was the driving force behind my decision to enter politics. It would have been a historic blunder had I shied away from taking the political plunge,” Chiranjeevi said, adding that the late N T Rama Rao too had inspired him to take up public service.
“I am entering the political field with the only objective of serving the people and not with any ambition of securing power,” the Mega Star declared. The “shift” (from tinsel town to the murky world of politics) also gave him self-satisfaction.
Observing that it was a new role that he has chosen, Chiranjeevi said there was no scope for any action in politics. “I have to literally live up to the role,” he said.
Noting that he had no “political rivals” in the state, the actor-turned-politician remarked that everybody had inspired him in one way or the other. “Poverty and hunger are my rivals,” he said. When questioned about his “inexperience” in politics, Chiranjeevi said people were his teachers and he would learn from them.
On controversial issues like demand for a separate Telangana state, the actor said his party would discuss such “sensitive” issues threadbare and come out with a clear stand soon.
Reacting to the observation that he was too “sensitive” a person, Chiranjeevi remarked: “Sensitiveness is my asset. I can appreciate people’s problems better.”
Asked if he was a leftist or a rightist, he replied: “I am a humanist. Mine is humanism.”
On whether he had called it quits to films, Chiranjeevi said: “It’s a shift from the film world but I shall like to do roles that are educative and useful for the society.”
From where would he contest the next election? “It is for the people to decide. People from all regions of the state love me, so it’s difficult for me to choose a particular constituency,” Chiranjeevi replied.
Now, the focus shift’s to the Tirupati public meeting where the party’s name and agenda will be announced. The party’s flag will also be unveiled on the occasion.

Star Star Mega Star

By Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: From a dynamic hero to a daring, dashing and dynamic hero to a supreme hero and then a Mega Star, Konidela Siva Sankara Varaprasad alias Chiranjeevi has indeed come a long way in his three-decade-long film career.
Born on August 22, 1955, at Mogalturu in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, Chiranjeevi obtained a bachelor’s degree in commerce before embarking on his filmy career. He went to Madras (now Chennai) in January 1977 on the pretext of pursuing ICWA course but instead landed up in the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce’s Film Institute. Acting was his passion and becoming a star was his ambition.
Even as he was learning the nuances of acting at the Film Institute, opportunity came knocking on him in the form of a bit role in Punadirallu, directed by Gudapati Rajkumar, in 1978. And, he never had to look back again though he did not have any so-called Godfather in the Telugu film industry. His first film that hit the screens, however, was Pranam Kharidu in September 1978.
His sharp eyes were the main attraction in Chiranjeevi that prompted many a producer and director to offer roles of varied shades in their movies. And, the roles landed in his lap one after the other in quick succession. Be it a villain (Idi Kadha Kadu, directed by K Balachander) or an anti-hero (Nyayam Kaavali, directed by A Kodandarami Reddy) or side roles in films like Manavuri Paandavulu (directed by Bapu), Chiranjeevi grabbed them all with the only objective of proving his mettle. In Nakili Manishi (1980), he played his first dual role – a hero and a villain – with effortless ease and won the industry’s acclaim. The same year, AVM Studios handpicked him for the lead role in their film Punnami Nagu which won him the first Filmfare award. By then Chiranjeevi had gradually established himself in the industry and offers never ceased to pour in.
In the early years of his career, Chiranjeevi acted alongside all the top heroes of the time, including N T Rama Rao, Krishna, Krishnam Raju and Sobhan Babu, but had to wait a good 17 years to co-star with Akkineni Nageswara Rao.
In 1980, Chiranjeevi married noted comedian Allu Ramalingaiah’s daughter Surekha.
The turning point in Chiranjeevi’s career came in October 1983 when Khaidi was released. The angry young man’s character he played, coupled with some breathtaking dance movements, has catapulted Chiranjeevi into stardom. Though there were many other major hits under his belt in the latter half of his career, Khaidi still remains his best. In fact, Chiranjeevi himself rates Khaidi as his favourite film.
Subsequent hits like Challenge, Pasivadi Pranam, Yamudiki Mogudu, Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu, Gang Leader, Swayamkrushi, Donga Mogudu, Vijetha, Kondaveeti Donga, Raakshasudu, Gharana Mogudu and Jagadekaveerudu Atiloka Sundari, Rowdy Alludu – to name a few – have firmly established him as the Number One in Telugu film industry for two decades.
Chiranjeevi excelled in the portrayal of Lord Siva in films like Aapatbandhavudu and Sri Manjunatha.
In his second innings as a hero, Chiranjeevi had mega hits like Annayya, Bavagaru Bagunnara, Indra, Shankar Dada MBBS and Tagore. Films like Indra and Tagore have given him a large-than-life image, though strictly speaking the real actor in him could not be found in those characters as he deliberately tried to build an aura around himself through such roles.
Among his critically-acclaimed films are Subhalekha, Swayamkrushi, Aapatbandhavudu (all directed by K Viswanath), Vijetha and Rudraveena (K Balachander). The multi-faceted talent of Chiranjeevi could be found in these films. Chiranjeevi won the Golden Nandi award for best actor from the state government for Swayamkrushi, Aapatbandhavudu and Indra and also won six Filmfare awards among many others in his career.
His first home production Rudraveena fetched him the Nargis Dutt award from the Government of India for the best film on national integration.
Chiranjeevi also starred in three Hindi films: Pratibandh (remake of Telugu hit Ankusam), Aaj Ka Gundaraj (remake of his own Telugu hit Gang Leader) and Gentleman (remake of the Tamil hit).

Be Bold, Chiru

By Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: I am one of the millions of die-hard fans of Mega Star Chiranjeevi, the actor. I am, however, not euphoric as he dons a new role now – a politician.
In fact, I abhor to see him as a politician. This is not without reason, though.
Primarily, Chiranjeevi is a very good human being, totally down-to-earth. He loves people and the adulation he receives from them. He always strove to give his best in front of the camera – be it in dancing, fighting or plain acting. He has excelled as an actor far beyond expectations.
Through his three-decade-long film career Chiranjeevi was never found wanting and almost delivered what audiences expected from him. His focus was purely on excelling as an actor and reaching the pinnacle of glory. And, he succeeded in it through sheer hard work and dedication.
Cut this to the real life. Chiranjeevi is never known to take his own decisions and has entirely depended on his brother-in-law and Man Friday Allu Aravind – be it managing his call-sheets or finances, choice of films and practically everything. So much so that Chiranjeevi doesn’t – or simply can’t – do anything without the guidance of Aravind. Nobody should grudge this as far as Chiranjeevi’s personal affairs are concerned.
But when it comes to public life as a politician, who has his eyes set on the Chief Minister’s chair, Chiranjeevi is required to be the “be all and do all” man. Can he really be so? I strongly doubt his ability in this regard – likes scores of others do.
This precisely takes the sting out of the Chiranjeevi aura and puts him in a dark light. Even if Chiranjeevi tries to impress upon the people that no outside influence would act on him, it can’t be taken on face value. For, history is replete with examples of “external forces” who wield greater authority in the corridors of power than the powers that be. It may happen even with Chiranjeevi and all talk of his idealism and the “change” that he aims to bring about in the “system” will turn hollow.
We can’t really wish away the likes of Allu Aravind from Chiranjeevi’s life but the latter should be bold enough to show them their place in the public domain. It’s the only way he could reinforce his image in the hearts of the people, even as a politician.

A dream unrealised

By Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: He played a villain, an anti-hero, lover boy, lawyer, dancer, ruffian, a Cowboy, politician, a sportsman, a thief, a cobbler, a murderer, professor, Lord Siva, IPS officer, industrialist, Charlie Chaplin, a woman and a host of other characters in the 148 films he has acted in, in a career spanning 30 years.
Konidela Siva Sankara Varaprasad, alias Chiranjeevi, however, could not play his dream role – the one that’s close to his heart.
Ever since he became an actor in 1978, Chiranjeevi wanted to don legendary freedom fighter and martyr Bhagat Singh’s role as the latter was always his “inspiration.” Sometime after his first mighty hit Khaidi was released in late 1983, Chiranjeevi himself had stated this in an interview to a film magazine. Years passed and he gradually was caught in a rigid image frame which did not allow him to do off beat roles like Bhagat Singh. Hence, it remained an unrealized dream for Chiranjeevi.
I had a chance meeting Chiranjeevi in December 1995 in Vijayawada when I broached the issue with him. “Yes, it is certainly my dream role but I am unable to don it because of my current image. People are used to my dances and fights and Bhagat Singh’s role certainly doesn’t have scope for this. I doubt if my fans would accept me in that role, so I am hesitant to do Bhagat Singh,” Chiranjeevi had admitted.
He was repentant but was equally helpless! A price he had to pay for being a Mega Star!
Interestingly, Chiranjeevi never again spoke about his dream role as he acquired a larger-than-life image as an actor.

Up for sale

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has placed a total of 1022.95 acres of "surplus" land in Ranga Reddy district (and a few pieces in Hyderabad) at the disposal of three agencies -- Hyderabad Urban Development Authority, AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and AP Housing Board -- for "optimum utilisation of the land in the best public interest."
The said lands were formally allotted to the three agencies "for public purpose" on Saturday with a directive to the Ranga Reddy district Collector to take necessary further action. The HUDA got 384.62 acres, the APIIC 482.15 acres and the APHB 156.18 acres in the latest distribution of land to the agencies.
The government had taken over these lands under the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 before the legislation was repealed by the state in March this year.
Bare estimates by the officials put the value of the total land at over Rs 1500 crore.
"Unless a complete physical verification of the lands is done we can't calculate the exact value. It could be more than what we estimate right now," a top official said. Besides, authorities are also required to check if any of the lands are encroached and if any litigation is pending against them.
"Optimum utilisation of the land in the best public interest" is nothing but a euphemism for "sale" of land, highly-placed official sources pointed out.
The state government which has been on a land selling spree, with the aforementioned agencies acting as its main agents, is desperately in need of funds as the current slump in the real-estate market has poured cold water on its plans to dispose of vast extents of land and mobilise a staggering Rs 13,000 crore this financial year. The APHB and the HUDA have failed to sell lands and earn enough money for the government in the first quarter of this fiscal. Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who was apprised of the situation at a recent review meeting, reportedly asked the authorities to concerned to "do whatever possible" and advised them to go for e-auctioning as the regular auction process drew dismal response. Ironically, even the e-auctioning proved to be a damp squib, going by the experience of HUDA, as there were no takers for land.
How the government agencies manage to fulfil their obligation this time, with so much land at their disposal, is to be seen.

Grand Alliance plans make Congress jittery

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh and the former's reported pledge to support the BJP-led National Democractic Alliance at the Centre has caused some anxiety in the Telugu Desam Party which has been trying to forge a "Grand Alliance" with the Left and the TRS in Andhra Pradesh.
The sudden shift in TRS' stance, after having supported the United National Progressive Alliance on the trust vote in Lok Sabha last week, has caught the TDP in a fix though the party would still like to consider joining hands with the TRS to consolidate its position in the Telangana region.
The TDP has been dropping enough hints that it would indeed like to align with the TRS by reiterating that it was "not against" Telangana.
Opposition parties, barring the Bharatiya Janata Party, in the state have been seeking to forge the so-called Grand Alliance with the sole objective of dislodging the Congress from power -- much the same way the parties came together in 2004 to dethrone the Chandrababu Naidu government.
Rather than "ideology," it is a "common cause" (of defeating the Congress) that is bringing the opposition forces together. "Was there any ideological bond between the Congress, Left and TRS in 2004? It is no more a question of ideology but some common factors that bind us," a senior Left leader pointed out.
Interestingly, the ruling party which has been reduced to a loner in state politics, too is trying to re-establish its old links with the Left parties to scuttle the principal opposition Telugu Desam Party's plans. The Congress is jittery over the impact the grand alliance would cause as a unified opposition could become a very formidable force and mar its chances of retaining power.
The CPI, on its part, is desperately looking towards Chiranjeevi while the CPM will be part of the grand alliance as things stand now.
"The question of our re-aligning with the Congress doesn't arise as our national congress has taken a clear stand on the issue," CPM state secretariat member Y Venkateswara Rao asserted.
The TDP wants to align with the Left parties and also the Telangana Rashtra Samiti by keeping the BJP aside. The Bahujan Samaj Party, which of course does not have much strength in the state, too may become part of the TDP-Left-TRS alliance going by the developments at the national level. Significantly, the TDP is also leaving open the option of seeking support of film star Chiranjeevi in the event of a "hung" Assembly next year. This statement by party spokesman Kodela Siva Prasada Rao only exposed the insecurity in the TDP camp over the impact of Chiranjeevi's future party, political observers say. TDP's indication of a possible "post-poll" alliance with the Chiranjeevi party is being viewed in the context of Devender Goud's Nava Telangana Praja Party planning a "pre-poll" tie-up with the star. Goud has asserted that he would not join hands either with the TRS or the TDP but left the option of joining hands with Chiru open.

Malaysian gets a power shock in AP

By Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) is busy these days desperately trying to trace the address of a Malaysian power producer who came calling to set up a thermal power station in the state.
The Malaysian power producer first met Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy early this year for giving a brief about his plans. "I am ready to set up a 2000-MW thermal power plant near any upcoming port in Andhra Pradesh. I have an investment of 600 million dollars ready and have coal mines in Indonesia, from where I shall import the coal by sea. I don't need any other assistance from the AP government except land for setting up the power plant," the Malaysian told the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister was impressed but insisted that the Malaysian not press for any power purchase agreement with the state and could sell the power anywhere else. The Malaysian agreed to this and said he has no problems on this count as the Power Trading Corporation of India was ready to buy electricity from him. Having heard the plans, the Chief Minister promptly asked the power producer to meet the "Chinna sir" (junior sir), as is customary. (Now, everybody knows who this Chinna sir is and the authority he wields in the current dispensation).
Accordingly, the Malaysian approached the "Chinna sir" with his project proposals. "Since a new port is coming up at Krishnapatnam, I would like to set up the power plant in its vicinity," the Malaysian told the Chinna sir. "No way," the Chinna sir made it clear, as two major power plants were already proposed at the same location.
The Malaysian then bargained for Visakhapatnam or Machilipatnam, where too another port is being developed. The Chinna sir was "not impressed" and negated these proposals. By then the government had already approved a plan for power plant at Machilipatnam, under the aegis of a ruling party MP.
Later, the power producer approached the Chief Minister once again to apprise him of the situation and seek an alternative location. Rajasekhara Reddy, however, did not show any interest and asked the Malaysian to meet the 'Chinna sir' again.
Distraught, the Malaysian gave up his plans and went away.
All this happened more than six months ago when the power scenario in the state was not alarming as it has been now. But, with the situation going out of hand, the government has become desperate and started looking at all avenues to boost the power generation. Hence, the search for new power producers, particularly the ones who come with no "liabilities" like the compulsory power purchase agreement.
"We never really took any details from the Malaysian man though he met the Chief Minister a couple of times. Ironically, we don't even know his name to get in touch again," a senior official in the CMO lamented.
Even Google hasn't been of much help to the CMO authorities!

A Carrot, an Egg, and a Cup of Coffee...

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil.. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?' Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. 'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?'

Think of this:
"Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor."If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
May we all be COFFEE!!!

(Courtesy of: R Masthipuram).

AP Police Academy's distinction

By Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The prestigious Andhra Pradesh Police Academy (APPA), that has carved a niche for itself in training police officers not only from the state but also from other states and countries, will soon be elevated to the level of a University. Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has given his nod, in principle, to the proposal to upgrade the Academy into a University when APPA director C N Gopinatha Reddy came up with the proposal. Once upgraded as a University, APPA plans to award graduate and post-graduate degrees in police management not only to police officers but also to civilians who wish to pursue research studies on police affairs, according to Gopinatha Reddy. APPA is also planning to set up a Department of Management, Behavioural Sciences, Research and Evaluation Studies to train police officers in management and behavioural science. "The Department could also serve as a research centre on police affairs," the APPA director said. A Cyber Forensic Lab is also on cards to train police officers in modern crime, notably white-collar offences. The APPA was established in 1986 to serve as a nodal agency and an institution of higher learning for police and other law-enforcing agencies and grew to become a Centre of Excellence in police training. It has also won international acclaim with agencies like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, United Nations Development Fund for Women (Unifem) besides National Human Rights Commission, National Crime Records Bureau recognising it as their regional training centre or nodal agency for training officers from India and abroad. In fact, the UNODC declared APPA as its resource, research, development and nodal training centre and granted Rs 10 lakh for infrastructure development. APPA is likely to find its place in the Guinness Book of World Records for having provided in-service training to 8475 personnel in 2006 and 8020 in 2007, spanning a staggering 2.50 lakh training days. With such accomplishments on its back, the APPA is now aiming to become a regular university and award degrees. "In fact, officials of the Osmania University visited our Academy and found it fit to be recognised as their post-graduate centre and award master of police management degree to the trainee officers," Gopinatha Reddy pointed out. With the Chief Minister promising to get university status for APPA, police authorities are now drawing a detailed blueprint to make it a reality.

DIL plans SEZs

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The state-owned Deccan Infrastructure and Land Holdings Limited (DIL) will set up 13 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) around Hyderabad. The 13 SEZs will come up in a total extent of 530 hectares. DIL, in which the Andhra Pradesh Housing Board holds 57.67 per cent equity and the Government of AndhraPradesh (GoAP) 42.33 per cent, will soon enter into a joint development agreement with private parties to develop the SEZs. The joint development partners will be chosen through a competitive bidding process, a highly-placed DIL official said. Five of the SEZs will be of information technology and information technology-enabled services and two of Free Trade Warehousing. One SEZ each will be for textile, apparels and fashion accessories, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, gems and jewellery, bio-technology, farm machinery and electronic hardware and software, according toDIL sources. The Board of Approvals under the Union Ministry of Commerce has approved the DIL's proposals to set up these SEZs. DIL is currently working on details related to the likely investments in each SEZ and the number of jobs that will be created. "Over the next two to three years, these SEZs will change the profile of Andhra Pradesh and give a major boost to the various sectors. We have further plans to develop more SEZs in collaboration with private partners," a DIL official said.The company will soon go public to raise funds from the capital market through an initial public offer. The book-building process for this is currently underway, official sources said.