Officials should make preparations to ensure that the municipal elections are conducted transparently and peacefully, said Municipal Administration and Urban Development Principal Secretary S. Suresh Kumar.

Virtually addressing a regional preparedness meeting in Guntur on Tuesday, Mr. Suresh Kumar said the election notification was likely soon and urged officials to complete preparatory work. He stressed adherence to State Election Commission guidelines, cautioning that even minor lapses could attract serious consequences.

Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration P. Sampath Kumar directed officials to prepare electoral rolls, inspect polling stations, complete reservations and strictly enforce the Model Code of Conduct and Green Code. He said elections to mayors and municipal chairpersons would be held directly and officials should remain alert.

Guntur Municipal Corporation Commissioner K. Mayur Ashok said elections could have to be completed within a short period after notification. He called for knowledge of the Returning Officer’s handbook and ballot-box procedures. He also advised officials to counter rumours in the media and social platforms promptly.

Regional Director Suryadevara Harikrishna said 24 of the 33 municipalities in Guntur region were prepared for elections, while the remaining municipalities would be covered subject to court orders. Joint Director Ravindra Babu stressed awareness of procedures before, during and after polling. ROs, AROs and municipal officials attended the meeting.

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y.S. Sharmila Reddy on Saturday accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of acting in favour of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded his resignation.

Speaking after participating in a protest rally, Ms. Sharmila alleged that nearly 13 crore votes had been removed across the country, describing the alleged deletions as a serious attack on the constitutional right to vote. She alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI), which was constitutionally responsible for conducting free and fair elections, had been compromised and was functioning under the influence of the BJP.

Ms. Sharmila alleged that votes were being added or deleted selectively for political purposes, claiming that “bogus votes” were created when required and voters were removed when their votes were considered unnecessary. She said the alleged deletion of 13 crore votes amounted to around 14 % of the country’s electorate.

Describing the CEC as a “BJP worker” and “Modi’s agent,” Ms. Sharmila alleged that his appointment undermined the independence of the electoral process. She urged the citizens to defend their voting rights.

The Congress leader demanded that the CEC resign or be suspended, followed by an inquiry into his decisions. The State Congress president also demanded that Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah also resign, alleging that they should bear responsibility for the claimed irregularities.

The Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRTS), which has around 2.1 lakh members across 148 countries and nearly 900 coordinators worldwide, is working on a range of welfare, legal assistance, emergency support and economic empowerment initiatives.

“Our focus at the moment is on stengthening export ecosystem in Andhra Pradesh,” said president of APNRTS Vemuru Ravi Kumar, explaining that while the society facilitates investments by NRIs wanting to establish businesses or bring companies to the State, its immediate focus is on creating economic opportunities for the diaspora and connecting them with Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Ravi Kumar said one major initiative is to develop NRIs into international traders. “Although India exports around $780 billion worth of goods annually, Andhra Pradesh accounts for only about 2.6%, despite its coastline, ports and significant production of exportable commodities,” he said. The organisation has enrolled nearly 6,000 people for its international trading initiative and has so far trained about 120 of them. “The three-day programme covers international trade procedures, precautions, commodities traded between Andhra Pradesh and different countries, suppliers and buyers, and prevailing commodity prices,” he explained.

Mr. Ravi Kumar said there is a need to improve the functioning of the State’s ports to make them more attractive to exporters and traders. “Andhra Pradesh has substantial production of commodities like chilli and turmeric, but a significant portion of their exports moves through ports outside the State,” he pointed out.

Investment fund

APNRTS also proposes an investment fund to provide NRIs with a professionally managed investment vehicle. “Many NRIs are interested in investing in India and Andhra Pradesh but lack the expertise or an appropriate investment structure. The proposed fund will predominantly invest in infrastructure and growth opportunities, with an emphasis on Andhra Pradesh,” he said.

Speaking of overseas employment, Mr. Ravi Kumar said trained manpower is likely to become one of the major exports over the next several decades. “Under the proposed model, overseas demand would be aggregated through the APNRTS’s international network, while the State government would train manpower according to the demand,” he said, adding that overseas members could identify requirements and help place trained candidates, preferably from Andhra Pradesh.

CXO Club

APNRTS also wants to create a network of Andhra-origin CEOs and senior executives abroad to facilitate business networking and employment opportunities. “We have a CXO club, comprising around 300-400 members comprising CEOs, COOs, CIOs and other senior executives of companies in various countries, but the initiative is yet to gain traction,” he said, explaining that the Government wanted to help Andhra-origin companies and professionals network across countries and create opportunities for skilled workers from the State.

The Society is also setting up a venture capital fund as part of its broader economic empowerment programme.

On the welfare front, APNRTS provides legal assistance in land disputes and criminal complaints through a police cell functioning under the CID. Since 2018, NRIs have been able to file a zero FIR without being physically present in Andhra Pradesh, following which the CID can direct the local police concerned to act, he informed.

Palle Panduga 3.0, the third edition in the series of rural development-oriented programmes conceived by the Andhra Pradesh State government, is all set to be launched in Andhra Pradesh by the Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and the Deputy Chief Minister Konidela Pawan Kalyan on Tuesday (September 29, 2026).

It is perhaps not without reason that the government has chosen the arid Ramapuram village in Varikuntapadu Mandal of the perennially drought-prone Udayagiri constituency (SPSR Nellore district) for the event as it clearly presents the current state of affairs in the village ahead of showcasing its impact after its transformation.

Teams led by Udayagiri TDP legislator Kakarla Suresh are slogging it out at the venue to make the statewide launch a grand success.

Speaking to the media, the MLA said the programme would entail laying of rural roads to a running distance of 8,571 km and involving an outlay of ₹5,838 crore, besides strengthening the drainage systems and building village administrative infrastructure such as Panchayat office buildings etc.

The launch of ₹12,000 crore worth of works under VB-G RAM G, that is, Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), would mean a lot in taking the fruits of the rural employment programme to the reach of beneficiaries, besides creating rural assets, he explained.

Projects worth ₹2,525 crore involving 4000 km of cement concrete roads, 22500 livestock shelters (mini Gokulam), 15,000 water storage units, one lakh farm pits were completed in the first phase, while 53,382 works worth ₹6787 crore involving 13,326 Panchayats were taken up in the second phase.

The third phase 3.0 involves completion of the works in progress through Panchayat level grants, providing drinking water connections through Jal Jeevan Mission and the pending rural road projects, including gravel roads to the farms.

Meanwhile, the ruling NDA alliance leaders of SPSR Nellore district are taking all measures to leave a lasting impact by mobilizing a huge crowd of one lakh in the presence of Mr. Naidu and Mr. Pawan Kalyan.

Several rounds of meetings were conducted over the last week in the presence of ministers Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Ponguru Narayana, BC Janardhan Reddy, Gottipati Ravi Kumar, Member of Parliament Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, district Collector Himanshu Shukla, Superintendent of Police Ajitha Vejendla among others.

The arrangements at the venue included ground leveling, shelter sheds for the crowd, drinking water facility, creation of parking lots etc.

MLA Mr. Suresh has announced to mobilize crowd from across Udayagiri, Varikuntapadu, Kaligiri, Vinjamur, Seetharamapuram, Duttalur and Kondapuram mandals forming part of his constituency.

Two days of rain have redrawn a landscape that had borne the effects of a prolonged dry spell, compounded by El Niño-related weather patterns in Andhra Pradesh.

In June, the tank beds in the villages of Alluru and Gaadhepalem near Ongole lay baked and cracked under the summer heat, with concrete wells standing exposed amid the parched earth. Villagers walked long distances with pots and plastic containers to collect drinking water, while cattle wandered across empty lake beds. Now, the same landscape is almost unrecognisable. Fresh rainwater has swallowed the cracked earth, filled the tanks, and turned dusty, barren stretches into shimmering sheets of water. The striking change, captured just days apart, offers a vivid picture of how quickly the landscape can respond when the rains finally arrive.

Heavy rains and increased inflows have replenished water sources across the State.

In Vijayawada, rising inflows into the Krishna River basin prompted the Water Resources Department to lift the gates of the Prakasam Barrage and regulate the discharge of floodwaters. Officials continued to monitor the inflows and regulate releases as water levels rose.

In Visakhapatnam, the Mudasarlova Reservoir, which had recorded depleted storage earlier, received sufficient inflows following the recent rains. At Gambheeram Gedda Reservoir, too, the contrast is striking. Just two days ago, only a few patches of water were visible in the reservoir. It is now brimming with water.

The change is particularly significant in the tail-end areas of Prakasam district, where several village tanks had dried up during the summer.

To address the shortage during the peak dry period, irrigation authorities in August released water from the Ramateertham Reservoir through the Nagarjuna Sagar Right Canal network to replenish summer storage tanks in the tail-end villages. The water was released specifically to meet drinking water requirements rather than for irrigation, officials said. The recent rains have now filled several of these tanks, covering the exposed beds and improving local water availability.

(Text by G.V.R Subba Rao)

Unntreated wastewater and urban drainage streaming directly onto the iconic Ramakrishna (RK) beach have reignited serious environmental concerns among citizens, morning walkers, and environmental observers in Visakhapatnam.

Recent heavy spells and continuous showers exacerbated by low-pressure systems forming over the Bay of Bengal have triggered widespread urban runoff across the city. These downpours swell open storm-water drains and low-capacity underground drainage channels, causing untreated sewage and accumulated litter to breach protective barriers and spill directly onto prominent coastal stretches like RK Beach.

The discoloured water cutting across the sand and emptying straight into the Bay of Bengal, leaving dark patches on the shoreline and carrying accumulated litter along the tidal stretch.

Regular visitors to the coast have repeatedly voiced dismay over how urban run-off and sewage outlets continue to compromise the aesthetic and ecological health of the city’s premier tourist destination.

While civic authorities have previously outlined plans to plug and divert major open drains to Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) under upgraded underground drainage (UGD) networks, gaps in field-level execution remain a persistent issue.

Municipal administration leadership has stressed that rigorous interventions are vital to ensure that untreated municipal waste does not breach the coastline, yet citizens point out that immediate countermeasures are urgently required to protect marine life and public health along the Vizag littoral zone

Speaking to The Hindu, GVMC superintending engineer (water supply & UGD projects) Ch. Yedukondalu said, “GVMC is currently working on diversion of certain Strom water drains linking with the sewerage treatment plants. The issue will be resolved soon”.

Minister for Energy Gottipati Ravi Kumar said that the government was considering strengthening power infrastructure across the State to ensure uninterrupted supply, daytime power for agriculture, and expansion of renewable energy.

The Minister was reviewing the performance of the Power department at the State guest house in Rayachoti of Annamayya district on Saturday. Mr. Ravi Kumar instructed the officials to identify areas likely to see a rise in power demand and prepare infrastructure accordingly for the next five years.

The Minister said the government had grounded additional infrastructure works worth around ₹6,200 crore across the State, including transformers, substations and power lines. “More than 200 33/11 KV substations are also being taken up Statewide. Officials should strengthen higher-capacity substations and transmission lines wherever necessary,” he said.

Mr. Ravi Kumar said that officials should expedite works by deploying additional teams wherever required as the government was implementing the ₹700-crore Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) programme. Low-voltage pockets should be identified and distribution transformers upgraded, he said.

The Minister further highlighted that officials should draw up an action plan to ensure daytime quality power supply to farmers and accelerate implementation of PM-KUSUM. “Steps should be taken to prevent power-related accidents, particularly where hazardous lines pass over residential areas,” he said.

Referring to the solar energy projects, the Minister said that 6 lakh connections had already been provided to SC and ST households under the Surya Ghar scheme. He directed officials to expand the programme among the backward-class households, with the State planning an additional assistance of up to ₹20,000 over the Centre’s subsidy towards each connection.

The Minister said that steps were under way to establish an indoor substation at Madanapalle and urged the officials to identify land in advance for future substations.

Four members of a family, including two children, reportedly ended their lives at Chintala Agraharam in Pendurthi in Visakhapatnam on Saturday (August 29, 2026).

The deceased have been identified as M. Vinod Kumar, his wife Ahalya and their two children, aged around three years and two year respectively.

According to preliminary information, Kumar, who works as an autorickshaw driver, was living with his family in a rented house near his in-law’s residence at Chintala Agraharam.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths and are yet to establish the exact sequence of events.

Family suspect that financial difficulties and alleged family disputes could have driven the couple to take the extreme step, though the exact reasons are yet to be established.

The incident has sent shockwaves through the locality. Police reached the spot and are ascertaining the reasons. It was learnt Praveen Kumar had allegedly sent a message to his elder brother indicating that the family was going to die. By the time relatives reached the house, all four family members were found dead.

The bodies were being shifted to King George Hospital (KGH) for post-mortem examination.

Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling any of the following numbers: Click here

Building on the success of the Andhra Premier League held a few days ago, the Andhra Cricket Association is preparing to introduce its first-ever franchise-based edition for the Women’s Andhra Premier League (WAPL).

According to a press release from the ACA, four franchises have already come forward to purchase players, and the Governing Council and ACA have conducted the players’ auction in Vijayawada on Tuesday.

The four franchise teams are Amaravati E Champions – Ushodaya Enterprises, Rayalaseema Zen Stars – Garrison Constructions, Vizag Fire Birds – Ora Motors, and Godavari Golden Eagles – NSR Industries respectively.

These four teams will compete in this season of the WAPL. Former India captain Mithali Raj will be the brand ambassador of the WAPL. A total of 191 players have registered for the league, with 45 players in Grade A. Grade A includes players who have represented India, played in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), or represented their State at the senior and Under-23 levels.

Meanwhile, there are 146 players in Grade B, comprising those who played at the district and zonal levels. The matches will be held at the ACA Stadium in Mangalagiri between September 15 and 26.

Srisailam temple executive officer M. Srinivasa Rao has announced that the tickets for ‘Sparsha Darshan’, ‘Sheeghra Darshan’, ‘Ati-Sheeghra Darshan’ and ‘Arjita Sevas’ for the month of September will be released on Tuesday (August 25).

To facilitate easy access for devotees, 90% of the tickets are being made available through the State government’s ‘Mana Mitra’ WhatsApp service. The remaining 10% of tickets can be obtained via the APTS website (www.tms.ap.gov.in).

Mr. Srinivasa Rao said tickets for ‘Paroksha Sevas’ (proxy services) can also be obtained through ‘Mana Mitra’ service and online platforms. The temple management is conducting these services to enable devotees who cannot visit Srisailam in person to have specific rituals performed on their behalf using their ‘gotra’ and names. 

He said the government has introduced a ‘WhatsApp Governance’ system designed to deliver citizen services efficiently, swiftly, and transparently allowing them to access services related to various government departments. To facilitate the easy delivery of these services, the government has made the ‘Mana Mitra’ WhatsApp number (9552300009) available to the public. 

Mr. Srinivasa Rao added that there is usually heavy influx of devotees on weekends, public holidays, Mondays, and other festival days. Devotees unable to secure tickets in advance for these days may obtain them for Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays, when availability is better. 

For the convenience of devotees, the Devasthanam has established ‘Manamitra’ WhatsApp help centers at various locations. Additionally, ‘Sarva Darshan’ (free darshan) will continue as usual every day starting at 4.30 a.m.