Hyderabad:

Thirteen people were arrested a day after members of two communities clashed in Medak town of Telangana over alleged transportation of cows for slaughter ahead of Bakrid festival. The situation has been brought under control and remains peaceful, police said on Sunday.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC was clamped by authorities after clashes broke out in the town on Saturday night. Stones were pelted and public property was damaged following which police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the rioters.

Some shops and business establishments were vandalised and a hospital was also attacked where some injured people were undergoing treatment, they said.

At least seven people belonging to both the communities were injured during the clashes, police said adding additional personnel were deployed and the situation was brought under control in the town. Cases were booked in connection with the clashes and as many as 13 people from both the communities were so far arrested and more arrests will be made, a senior police official supervising the law and order situation told PTI.

He said prohibitory orders under section 144 of of CrPC (banning assembly of more than five people was ordered to control the situation), were ordered to prevent untoward incidents since last night. A peace committee meeting was held, he said.

According to police, trouble began when a group of cow vigilantes claimed that cattle were transported to a Madrassa in Medak. When the police arrived at the spot they found the cattle, including oxen, “unfit” for slaughter and moved them to a animal shelter.

Later, the police dispersed the members of the group from the spot.

Subsequently, the group reached the outskirts of Medak after being tipped about alleged transportation of cows which led to a physical altercation between them and members of another community.

The members of the group later held a protest near a police station in Medak.

Reacting to the incident, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao in a post on ‘X’ said: “Telangana was peaceful sans any communal violence for the last 9.5 years with KCR Garu at the helm of affairs. And now in the Congress Government, neither is there any Law nor any Order. Truly shameful that even a peaceful town Medak which never had any communal activity in the past has now become a mess”.

Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh in a post on ‘X’ said : “When Gau Rakshaks, @BJP4Telangana Karyakartas stopped anti-social elements from transporting cows for slaughter in Medak, they were attacked with knives. Visited the injured at the hospital, inquired about their condition, and asked the police to take immediate action against the attackers”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hubballi:

Just weeks after college student Neha Hiremath was stabbed to death by her former classmate, a 21-year-old woman was murdered inside her house by an acquaintance here for allegedly rejecting her love proposal on Wednesday.

Vishwa alias Girish Sawant, 23, knocked on the door of Anjali Ambigera’s residence at Veerapur Oni area at around 5.45 am.

When she opened the door, Girish stabbed her to death with a knife and fled the place, a senior police officer said, adding that her sister was a witness to the brutal murder.

A case of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused, police said, adding that teams have been formed to arrest him.

Neha Hiremath, 23, was stabbed to death by her former classmate Fayaz Khodunaik inside her college campus in Hubballi on April 18.

“Girish was harassing my sister Anjali for sometime now. He expressed his love to her but my sister declined. He even pressured my sister to go with him to Mysuru. He had also threatened her that she will meet the same fate as that of Neha Hiremath,” Anjali’s sister Yashodha told reporters here.

“When we informed police about his threats, they didn’t pursue it seriously and today see, my sister is dead,” she said.

Anjali’s family and local residents staged a protest here demanding strict action against the accused. Later, the police reached the spot and dispersed them, assuring them that justice will be delivered.

Anjali’s father Mohan said that around seven months ago she had told them that Girish was harassing her.

“I had warned him (Girish). But today morning, unfortunately my daughter was murdered by this same person. The accused has to be punished,” he said.

No girl should be in the situation that Anjali has been in, her family said, and demanded strict action against the accused who is still at large.

Meanwhile, Congress Councillor Niranjan Hiremath — father of Neha — met the victim’s family and slammed the state government over the “deteriorating” law and order situation in north Karnataka and also sought suspension of Police Commissioner of Hubballi-Dharwad Renuka Sukumar for alleged “failure.” Talking about the brutal murder of Anjali, he said that despite the accused openly threatening the victim that she would meet the same fate as that of Neha, the police did not take the issue seriously when the woman’s family approached them to complaint.

“In less than a month of my daughter’s murder, another brutal and unfortunate murder happened this morning. I have been repeatedly urging the state government and the Home Minister (G Parameshwara) to bring an appropriate law (for such incidents). The police have failed to catch the culprit in Anjali’s case. He openly threatened her with Neha’s incident and yet the police did not take any preventive measure,” he told PTI Videos

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

Single screen cinema theatre owners in Telangana have decided to temporarily stop film screenings in view of losses due to absence of patronage.

The total number of single screen theatres in Telangana is approximately 450.

State film exhibitors association president Vijayender Reddy said the single screen theatre owners individually took the decision to stop screening from this week.

He said expenditure per day for them is to the tune of Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 in small towns and between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000 in Hyderabad. However, the revenue per day, especially in the case of small cinemas, is not even Rs 4,000, he said.

The loss is about Rs 4,000 per day if the theatre is closed, while it would go up to about Rs 6,000 if a film is screened, he said.

The decision to halt the screenings would be in force for at least two weeks. The screenings have already been stopped in some theatres in the state, he said.

Reddy, however, said the theatre owners would be ready to screen films if any producers come forward and make an upfront payment as a business transaction. In such a scenario, the screening would continue if there is patronage.

There are no major films scheduled for release till June 15

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

MP from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi criticised Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Sports and Youth Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur for his Aurangzeb remark and termed it as “upper caste arrogance”.

While speaking at a public meeting at Jhirra in Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday, Mr. Owaisi described upper castes as Aryans, and descendants of Iranians who trace their origin to the steppes of present-day Russia.

Also read | Congress accuses Anurag Thakur of violating Model Code of Conduct, seeks EC action

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president said that the country belongs to Dalits and Adivasis. “The first who came to this country were Adivasis, then Dravidians. Upper castes are Aryans who came from Iran and the steppes of today’s Russia. Where have you come from?” he said, adding that the BJP candidate would lose his deposit.

Hyderabad:

A 35-year-old farmer died after being attacked by a wild elephant in Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district of Telangana on Wednesday, the forest department said.

The incident occurred on the outskirts of Burepalli village in Chinthalamanepally mandal of the district when the victim was working in an agricultural field, they said.

“For the first time a wild elephant entered Telangana from Maharashtra… there are no wild elephants in Telangana. It seems a herd of 70-75 elephants is moving along the other side of Pranahita river in Maharashtra. One of the elephants–a male tusker, strayed into Telangana by crossing Pranahita,” a senior forest department official told news agency PTI.

“Our Maharashtra counterparts had informed us in advance about the movement (of elephants) and we have been monitoring. We had requested the villagers not to venture that side. In spite of our warning one person had gone to the field where he was attacked by the elephant and died,” the official said.

The forest officials have cordoned off the entire area to make sure that elephant does not enter the village, he said.

“… if the elephant does not go back by tonight, then tomorrow we will have to drive it away,” the official added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Telangana’s Health, Medical, and Family Welfare Department’s budget outlay for the fiscal year 2024-25 saw a cutback compared to the previous year. The current budget stands at ₹ 11,500 crore, marking a decrease of ₹661 crore from the 2023-24 budget of ₹12,161 crore.

While presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu acknowledged the success of the Rajiv Arogyasree scheme, where the Congress government has doubled the threshold for medical treatment from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakhs, aiming to alleviate the financial burden on families facing higher medical costs.

Addressing infrastructure concerns, the minister assured that the government would prioritise the completion of super-specialty hospitals, medical and nursing colleges which are currently in various stages of construction. “The Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) is slated for expansion, with the government committing to providing necessary assistance to enhance the institute’s services. Additionally, plans include the construction of a new building for the Osmania General Hospital (OGH),” he said.

– Siddharth Kumar Singh

Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

hyderabad

Infrastructure major L&T, the agency that has constructed the Medigadda (Lakshmi) Barrage of the Kaleshwaram Project, has deputed its team of technical experts to the site following a portion of the road bridge “sagging” on Saturday night.

“Sagging of the bridge portion at one of the locations of Block-7 was observed on Saturday evening after a loud noise. Our technical expert team is already deputed to the project site to assess the abrupt cause of the damage, along with the State (Telangana) authorities,” L&T authorities said on Sunday.

“L&T will take the necessary action to rectify the damage on our own upon its technical assessment and way forward solution at the earliest possible time,” General Manager and Business Unit Head (Hydel & Tunnel) of L&T S. Suresh Kumar said in a brief statement.

L&T had built the 1.632 km-long Medigadda (Lakshmi) Barrage with 86 piers in 2019 and since then the barrage has been in operation and has withstood floods for the last five seasons. Last year, the barrage experienced the highest recorded flood of 28.7 lakh cusecs against design discharge of 28.25 lakh cusecs, the statement issued by the company said.

It further stated that the barrage was designed by the State authorities and it continued to operate safely including withstanding even the unprecedented flood of July 2022.

Hyderabad:

Ahead of the Telangana election all eyes are on the Congress as it bids to consolidate votes against the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi by reaching out to opposition leader YS Sharmila. The YSR Telangana party leader met the Congress’ Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi but she has since then neither confirmed nor denied speculation of a merger. 

Also, despite repeatedly saying her focus is on Telangana, there is buzz that Ms Sharmila – who is Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister – may cross family lines next year, when her brother’s state votes.

“Met Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi… constructive discussions took place. The daughter of YS Rajasekhar Reddy will work relentlessly towards benefitting the people of Telangana,” she told reporters after talks with the Congress leaders, declaring, “I can say one thing… countdown for KCR (Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao) has begun.”

Ms Sharmila stressed her “one-point agenda is to end KCR’s rule in Telangana”.

READ | Amid Speculation Of Merger With Congress, YS Sharmila Meets Sonia Gandhi

The daughter of a former Congress chief minister, YS Rajasekhar Reddy, Ms Sharmila started the YSRTP in July 2021 with a promise to bring the YSR family, or ‘”Rajanna Rajyam” to the state – one in which both she and her party are electorally untested. As part of efforts to fulfill that vow, she went on a 3,800-km march through Telangana to target the ruling party.

“All my efforts are for Telangana. I am doing everything to improve the condition of the people.. so they benefit from the formation of Telangana,” she said after the Delhi trip.

“No Idea”, Says YSRTP

Interestingly, when contacted, YSRTP spokesperson Konda Raghava Reddy said the party’s senior leaders were unaware of Ms Sharmila meeting the Gandhi family in Delhi.

The YSRTP boss has, in the recent past, met other Congress leaders, including now-Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and General Secretary KC Venugopal. The talk then was around securing a Rajya Sabha seat or help in taking on her brother in Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Reddy has distanced himself from his sister’s political activities. After his father’s death he had broken away from the Congress to launch the YSR Congress Party in September 2009 and he did not attend his sister’s party’s launch.

READ | Jagan Reddy’s Sister Launches Party In Telangana, He Stays Away

How Would YSRTP + Congress Work?

If Ms Sharmila does, in fact, merge with the Congress, it could help consolidate anti-BRS votes in pockets where she has emotional appeal, especially among YSR loyalists. She may want to contest from Palair in Khammam, where the Congress has some influence but may need to a profile boost. Alternatively, she may also run from Secunderabad.