REVIEW MEET ON POWER PROJECTS Chief Secretary S.V. Prasad held a review meeting with Director General of Police K. Aravind Rao, Visakhapatnam City Police Commissioner J. Purnachandra Rao and other officials in Hyderabad on Wednesday regarding the thermal power projects proposed to be set up in north coastal Andhra. The Rosaiah Government is said to be keen on going ahead power projects proposed in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. The review meeting was held to prevent law and order problems when the project works commence as was witnessed in Sompeta in the recent past, according to sources. It may be recalled that 17 thermal power projects were proposed to be set up in the private sector in north coastal Andhra. They include 12 in Visakhapatnam, four in Srikakulam and one Vizianagaram.

CBI FILES CASE AGAINST TWO PF OFFICIALS Central Bureau of Investigation, Visakhapatnam Branch, has registered a case against two PF officials of Rajahmundry – S. Venkateswara Rao, Inspector, and P.Y. Sharma, social security assistant, charging them with demanding and accepting a bribe. The complainant had taken a Contractor Licence from Amalapuram Labour Office for undertaking contract works and when he had approached the PF office at Rajahmundry for obtaining the PF Code number for his newly started firm, the two had allegedly demanded Rs.15,000 as illegal gratification, according to CBI DIG G. Nageswara Rao. The complainant reported the matter to the CBI and the accused were caught red-handed. They were produced before the Special Judge for CBI cases on Wednesday.

HOOPSTERS SELECTED FOR STATE CAMP Five players from the district have been selected to the State camp for selecting the boys and girls teams for the National sub-junior basketball championships to be held in Himachal Pradesh from September 23 to 30. E. Lakshman and B. Shiva Kumar of VBV High School, TPT Colony; D. Mounica of SFS School, S. Gouri Kumari and G. Sarala of PREMA High School were selected for the camp being held in Secunderabad ,during the inter-district championships held earlier. The State team would be selected after the camp concluded on Sept. 20, District Basketball Association secretary B. Ramayya said in a statement. President of the association T.S.R. Prasad provided kit and other facilities for the five players.

WOMAN MURDERED A man allegedly murdered his wife suspecting her fidelity at Malkapuram on Wednesday. D. Appalakonda, 37, of Vajrapukothuru in Srikakulam district came to the city along with her husband Satyanarayana and settled at Malkapuram four months ago. The couple has two children Kavya, 19, and Kranthi, 15. Satyanarayana was employed as a private electrician. He became addicted to alcohol and allegedly started harassing his wife suspecting her character. On Wednesday when there was no one else in the house, Satyanarayana allegedly strangulated his wife's neck with the wire of the iron box. He locked the door and went away. Malkapuram CI Narayana Rao is investigating the case.

IVRS SYSTEM INSTALLED An Interactive Voice Recording (IVRS) system is in place in the Prohibition and Excise Enforcement Department to lodge complaints about Excise offences. Callers may ring up 9966222271 for lodging a complaint. The system gives a message and later informs on how to complain. The caller may use three minutes to lodge his complaint.

BJP MEET GETS UNDER WAY Several national and State leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party discussed the plans to strengthen the party in the State in future during a two-day brainstorming session of the State Executive Committee that began here on Tuesday. At the picturesque Saipriya Resorts in Rushikonda, party leaders M. Venkaiah Naidu, State president Kishen Reddy, national working committee member Kambampati Haribabu began the session and in the post-lunch session challenges, opportunities and strategy to be followed by the party in the days to come was the point for discussion. On Wednesday, party organisational matters and party action plan would be discussed in the presence of party senior leaders like Bandaru Dattatreya and Andhra Pradesh in-charge Purushotta Rupal, Satishji, Vamanacharyulu and Bangaru Laxman.

NAIDU SLAMS CONGRESS “Telugu Desam Party leaders and cadre should behave responsibly, as the ruling Congress party is not concentrating on people's welfare,” TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu has said. Speaking to reporters here at the airport before leaving for Srikakulam on his way from Hyderabad, Mr. Naidu pointed out that the Congress Government had increased the prices of petroleum products 13 times during its rule so far. Prices of all essential goods had gone up beyond the reach of the common man, and in protest against it the party would organise scooter rallies in towns and awareness programmes in colleges all over the State, he added.

INTROSPECTION PROGRAMME An introspection programme is being organised on Friday at Chintapalli to bring about a change in anti-social elements to avoid violence, Additional Superintendent of Police of Chintapalli A. Ravikrishna said on Tuesday. The programme is being held as part of the Gandhian Policing exercise. The introspection to be held on Ramzaan day, in which local people would participate and take a pledge that they would abide by the law, was expected to make the anti-social elements to think about their ways, he said.

NTPC INTERVIEWS NTPC Simhadri will hold interviews soon for recruitment of 110 candidates belonging to project-affected people (PAP) as artisans and diploma trainees. Of 800 ITI and diploma-qualified candidates, about 200 were qualified in the written test. The candidates sponsored through the employment exchange were considered for written test. NTPC Simhadri had committed to provide jobs to the PAPs after recruiting some in the first phase.

CPI ACTIVISTS LAY SIEGE TO GVMC OFFICE CPI city unit on Monday laid siege to the GVMC office demanding rollback of increased property tax which led to the arrest of its leaders, including its Floor Leader in GVMC and city unit secretary A.J. Stalin. They were taken to the Three Town police station. The Three Town police said ten leaders were arrested and released on bail. CPI leaders and workers squatted at the gate and blocked traffic. Cadres, including women, tried to jump over the gates but the police arrested them. Describing the property tax hike as unprecedented, he said it ranged from 200 to 1000 per cent. He disputed the claim that there was no revision since 1993 and said tax was revised at Gajuwaka in 2002 and for non-residential buildings in 2007. The abnormal increase in the name of development programmes in GVMC was not justified, Mr. Stalin added. Among those arrested were city assistant secretary M. Paidiraju, Vyavasaya Karmika Sangham district secretary D. Markandeyulu and AP Mahila Samakhya district secretary A. Vimala. In a statement, CPI district secretary J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy said the stir would continue and if necessary all opposition would come together. He condemned the ‘indiscriminate' arrest of party cadres by the police.

AGRI-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CAMP An agri-business development camp ‘Innovations 4 industry' is being held in the city on Wednesday. The camp is being jointly organised by Zonal Technology Management Centre and Business Planning and Development Unit (ZTM-BPD) of the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin, and the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad. Chief Executive of NFDB P. Krishnaiah will participate as chief guest and Deputy Director General (Fisheries) of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research B. Meena Kumari will preside. Interested persons can contact Nitin Singh at nitinbpd@gmail.com or Jonathan Philroy at jphilroy@cgiar.org for registration and other details.

LOANS FOR SHGS Bank of India Zonal Manager GVL Sastry released Rs. 6 crores as loans to Self Help Groups in connection with the bank's 105 {+t} {+h} Foundation Day on Monday. He distributed the loans to select SHGs under the purview of nine bank branches in the city. He announced that new branches would be opened at Salur in Vizianagaram district, Uyyuru in Krishna district, Addanki in Prakasam district and Niddadavole in West Godavari district as part of the Foundation Day.

RASAJNA VEDIKA CELEBRATES TEACHERS' DAY Visakha Rasajna Vedika on Sunday felicitated Director of Centre for Policy Studies A. Prasanna Kumar and his wife Vanaja at a Teachers' Day programme organised by it at Visakhapatnam Civic Library. Dermatologist and Vedika Founder-President G. Raghurama Rao honoured Dr. Prasanna Kumar. Dr. Prasanna Kumar spoke on ‘Sarvepalli Radhakrishna- Teacher to and for humanity' and recalled his association with the great teacher. GITAM University Vice-Chancellor G. Subramanyam and Rambhatla Nrusimha Sarma participated. YMCA Visakhapatnam celebrated Teachers' Day and Preachers' Day on Sunday commemorating the 122 {+n} {+d} birth anniversary of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and the 208 {+t} {+h} birth anniversary of P. Purushothama Chowdhary. YMCA President P. Prakash Benhur was in the chair. P. Abraham, Vijjeswarau Anthonia, D.s. Jeevanandham and Thomas Babu, all preachers, and teachers, Dorothy Frederic Simon, D. Krupavathi, M. Kanthi Divakar, Subhakti Lilly Felix, K. Sarala Samuel, M. Christian Martha and G. Lalitha Kumari were felicitated.

INTACH WORKSHOP ON ‘MRUDH VINAYAKAM' The Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Visakhapatnam Chapter will organise ‘Mrudh Vinayakam' workshops for school children at two places in the city to spread awareness on using eco-friendly material for making the idols. The INTACH programme coordinator Mayank Kumar Deo in a release said that their effort was to conserve natural and cultural heritage by making students aware of the damage being caused to various water bodies due to immersion of idols made of inorganic material. Those idols painted with metal-based colours do not dissolve in water and colours pollute water with harmful chemicals that could get into the human food chain or body directly. Such immersion of idols was causing irreversible damage to the flora and fauna and health hazards to the people living in the vicinity. Workshop, while creating awareness on harmful side effects of using coloured idols, would also train students on how to make small idols with pure mud which is called ‘Mrudh' in Sanskrit. Experts would guide the school students at Andhra University School on Monday between 9.30 a.m. and 12 noon and at MVP Public School during the same time period on Tuesday. Students from Visakha Valley, Oak Wood and other local schools would attend the workshop. Expert help Renowned sculptor and Department of Fine Arts Head Ravi Shankar Patnaik will attend the idols making session to give valuable tips.

TECHIE DIES IN US Tragedy struck the family of Samuel Smiles here when news of his son's death reached him. Mr. Smiles' son Joseph was doing his M.S. at Louisiana in the USA. He went for canoeing in the Mississippi along with eight other friends. The boat overturned and while the others managed to reach the shore safely Joseph drowned. Mr. Samuel Smiles is a Deputy General Manager in the public sector BHPV here and his wife Hemalata a professor in the Biochemistry Department of Andhra University. Joseph Smiles went to Louisiana one and a half years ago after completing his B.Tech. at MVGR College, Vizianagaram. Mr. Samuel Smiles said he was in touch with friends and relatives in the USA and Telugu Association of North America to get the body back.

BOI TO OPEN NEW BRANCHES Bank of India will open four new branches in Visakhapatnam Zone and several new ATMs on September 7 on the occasion of its 105th Foundation Day. At the all-India level, the bank will open 105 branches including the four in Visakhapatnam Zone spread over eight districts from Srikakulam to Prakasam. by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on remote to mark Foundation Day celebrations.

LOW PRESSURE OVER BAY A low pressure area has formed over west central Bay of Bengal off north Andhra and South Orissa coast on Friday morning. Under its influence, rain or thundershowers would occur at many places over coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next 48 hours. Isolated heavy rain would occur over coastal AP during the same period, according to a bulletin issued by the Cyclone Warning Centre. Strong surface winds from easterly direction with speed reaching 45 kmph to 55 kmph are likely along and off north coastal AP and strong surface winds from north westerly direction with speed reaching 45 kmph to 55 kmph are likely along and off south coastal AP during the next 24 hours. The chief amounts of rainfall (in cms) during the last 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Friday are: Ranasthalam-7, Bhimadole-4, Eluru, Pathapatnam, Palasa, Kalingapatnam-3 each, Nandigama, Nuzvid, Visakhapatnam and Srungavarapukota-2 each.

TAMIL TEACHERS TO BE FETED Tamil Kalai Mandram in the city will honour over 30 Tamil teachers and conduct a blood donation camp at its premises in Seethammadhara North Extension Layout on the occasion of Teachers' Day celebrations on Sunday at 2 p.m., according to mandram secretary J. Anantharaman.

‘IDENTIFY MALARIA POSITIVE CASES' Malaria teams should go around the wards and identify malaria positive cases and report so as to tackle them effectively, Chief Medical Officer (Health) D. Abbulu instructed his staff. Meet held At a meeting here on Friday, he directed sanitary inspectors to identify door numbers where cattle were being reared. Cattle-rearing in residential areas was leading to sanitation and traffic problems. City Veterinary Officer Ramamohana Rao said owners of cattle could be fined from Rs.100 to Rs.1,000 for various offences under the relevant act. Fine Last year 160 cattle were rounded up and Rs.1.34 lakh was collected as fine. Traffic ACP Sureshbabu assured co-operation in dealing with the problems caused by cattle. Additional DM&HO Rajendra Prasad participated.

BOOK ON GANESHA RELEASED ‘Anantha Vinayakudu', a book on Lord Ganesha authored by former Vice-Chancellor of Acharya Nagarjuna University V. Balamohandas, was released in the city on Friday. Former Rector of Andhra University and Director of Centre for Policy Studies, A. Prasanna Kumar, who released the book, remarked that it was as if Ganesh Chaturthi festival was being celebrated a week in advance. He appreciated the uncanny nature of the book which combined management, politics and governance would be useful not only to the religious-minded but to non-believers as well. Noted Telugu scholar K. Malayavasini who reviewed the book said that the author who penned it during his three-month sojourn in Russia came out with all details of the elephant-faced god, including prayer verses in 59 chapters. A galaxy of city elite - managing director of Chairman of Sri Saranya Venkateswara Swamy temple and Pydah educational institutions Pydah Krishna Prasad, Vijaya Nirman S. Vijaya Kumar, founder-trustee of Sampath Vinayaka temple T.S. Rajeswaran, managing director and of Kumarraja Projects and sponsor of the book K. Kumarraja, principal of Gayatri Vidya Parishad College P. Raja Ganapathi, chairman of Gopala Krishna Foundation PVGK Murthy, and surgeon from Gajapathinagaram BSR Murthy were on the dais. Earlier, Prof. Balamohandas who welcomed the gathering said he had dedicated the work to Chief Minister K. Rosaiah. Wife of the author Vasantha was present. Principal of Mahatma Gandhi College in Guntur DAR Subrahmanyam conducted the proceedings and Sushma introduced the guests.

GITAM INTRODUCES ONLINE LEARNING Online learning system was inaugurated at the GITAM University's Centre for Distance Learning (CDL) here on Friday. Vice-Chancellor G. Subramanyam, while launching the online system said that this was first time that such a facility was made available to students of distance learning institutes in the State and would be of great advantage to the students. Live video lectures, online interaction and learning, online work submission and assessment and online examination were possible in this system. The CDL's online learning system was based on Moodle, an open source e-learning software platform. CDL has 1 GB connectivity for online learning system. GITAM University is offering several courses like M.B.A., M.Sc. (biotechnology), M.A., M.Com., B.A. and B.Com. through its CDL and is planning to introduce innovative courses in future, Prof. Subramanyam said. Pro Vice-Chancellor D. Harinarayana explained about the online learning system. Joint Director of GITAM CDL T. Srinivas, Director of GITAM Centre for Advanced Technology Services Battina Rao, Assistant Director M.V.S. Chandrasekhara Rao and others participated in the inaugural function.

TRAIN EXTENDED TO SHIRDI The East Coast Railway has extended the bi-weekly Visakhapatnam – Manmad slip coach train service to Sai Nagar Shridi. The Train No. 7481/1406 leaving Visakhapatnam every Tuesday at 11.20 p.m. and Train No. 7479/1406 every Friday at 11.20 p.m. have been extended to Sai Nagar Shirdi for the convenience of pilgrim-passengers. Similarly, the corresponding return service 1405/7480 will also come from Shirdi every Thursday and Sunday, which will reach Visakhapatnam every Saturday and Tuesday at 04.40 a.m. There are four sleeper coaches and one second class general coach-cum-luggage van, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager H.L. Luwang said in a release.

PROGRAMMES FOR GIRIJANS REVIEWED More medical and health facilities must be provided to the Girijans in Visakha Agency, Member of National Scheduled Tribes Commission K. Kamala Kumari said while reviewing the programmes for Girijans. “Compared to other districts, Girijans here do not have many problems but medical and health areas must be taken care of”, she said. Collector J. Syamala Rao explained the special steps taken in the Visakha Agency to control malaria and seasonal diseases. Transport continued to be a problem in the Visakha Agency due to its terrain, he said. PO of ITDA, Paderu K. Nirmala explained the programmes being implemented.

LANDSLIPS HIT ROAD CONNECTIVITY Landslips on a Panchayat Raj road on the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border on Tuesday morning cut off the road communication between the two States. The landslips caused due to incessant rain stopped traffic on the Donkarai – Chitrakonda Road. There were, however, no reports of loss of private property or life from any parts of the region near Sileru. Roads and Buildings Superintendent Engineer K. Kanthimathi said that it was a main road managed by the department, but under the Panchayat Raj or ITDA. Officials were making efforts to restore the connectivity at the earliest.

RECRUITMENT IN POLICE DEPT. Written examination for eligible candidates for recruitment to the posts of SCT Sub-Inspector, Assistant Sub-Inspector and police constable in the communications, PTO and FPB wings and police constable (civil and AR) will be held from September 13 to 18, DIG of Police (Visakha Range) Soumya Misra said. The candidates can collect the memo of examination schedule from the office of DIG of Police on any working day from Wednesday, Dr. Misra added.

BLOOD DONATION CAMP A blood donation camp, organised by SKML Degree College, was formally inaugurated by Director of School of Distance Education, Kakatiya University, N. Vijaya at Thatichetlapalem on Tuesday. NSS Programme Officer P. Ramachandra Rao was guest of honour. The camp was organised with the assistance of A.S. Raja Blood Bank. College Principal T. Theophilus, chairman B. Nageswara Rao and others were present.

LOAN MELA Vasanth Vihar Builders and Promoters and State Bank of Hyderabad will organise a Home Loan Mela at Swarna Bharati Indoor Stadium on Sunday to promote three housing projects. They are at Madhuravada (245 units), Kottavalasa (1200 units) and Vizianagaram (3000 units). Two of the projects- at Kottavalasa and Vizianagaram- are affordable housing projects with concessions from the Union government and the State government, according to Chairman of Vasanth Vihar Builders and Promoters Jaya Prakash Babu Valluri. As a result, a 640 sft flat is being offered at a cost of Rs.6.33 lakh at Vizianagaram and Rs.6.99 lakh at Kottavalasa. Owing to concessions in registration, sales tax and service tax , the taxes to be paid came down from Rs.1 crore to Rs.3 lakh, Mr. Jaya Prakash Babu said at a press conference he addressed along with SBH assistant general manager Pradeep Kumar.

AMMA PILUPU IS ONE-YEAR OLD Amma Pilupu, a programme initiated to make the Maoists to leave the path of violence and join the main stream and to assuage the feelings of those who suffered due to Maoist violence, completed one year on Friday. Additional Superintendent of Police of Chintapalli Ake Ravi Krishna started the programme at Kurupam in Vizianagaram district when he was working at Parvathipuram and the programme, as part of the Gandhian policing, continues to appeal to the Maoists to shun violence. Families of Maoists were also being offered help and medical care. On Friday, Mr. Ravi Krishna and other police officers of Chintapalli organised community lunch and other programmes. Inspector of Chintapalli Tata Rao and other officers and personnel, Assistant Commandant of CRPF Neeraj Kumar Mishra participated.

RTC UNIONS RELEASE MANIFESTO RTC Employees' Union and Staff and Workers' Federation, which formed an alliance to contest the elections to the APSRTC recognised union on September 9, released manifesto at a press conference here on Friday. State EU general secretary K. Padmakar criticised rival union NMU for toeing the line of management and encouraging privatisation of the corporation. He said the promises made by NMU before the last elections had not been implemented so far. T. Satyanarayana, regional chairman, and others were present.

AU SDE SPOT ADMISSIONS FROM AUGUST 30 Andhra University School of Distance Education will conduct spot-admissions into its under-graduate, post-graduate, PG diploma, diploma and certificate courses at different places in the State from August 30, its Director P. Hrushikesava Rao said here on Friday. Interested candidates can contact the AU SDE headquarters over telephone (0891-2844162, 2844164, 2844143, 77022 57811 (UG), 77022 57813 (PG), 77022 57814 (Diplomas) 2844142 or 2550223) for other details.

CDIA SUPPORT TO GVMC The Philippines-based Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA), a global organisation jointly sponsored by Asian Development Bank, Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA), and German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) has expressed readiness to support Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) in the field of technical consultancy for preparation of pre-feasibility studies for high priority infrastructure investment projects taken up by GVMC. Senior Programme Specialist of CDIA in India Balakrishnan Elangovan on Thursday held discussions with GVMC Commissioner V.N. Vishnu.

MAJOR FAKE CURRENCY RACKET BUSTED The police busted a gang thriving on printing and circulation of fake currency with Bangladesh as the main base. Two persons from Malda district in West Bengal—Mohammad Mukalis (27) and Md. Tabora (28) —were among the 10 arrested from different places in East and West Godavari districts. Fake currency bundles in Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 denomination with a face value of Rs. 49.50 lakh were seized during the raids by the police. Superintendent of Police C. Ravi Varma told reporters that a decoy operation by police that lasted for two months helped in tracing the roots of the racket in Bangladesh.

LANDSLIDE AT INDRAKEELADRI The heavy rain that lashed Vijayawada on Thursday morning resulted in the sliding down of rocks off Indrakeeladri hill, on to the ghat road. Nobody was injured. The iron mesh fixed a few years ago to arrest the sliding down of boulders suffered damage. TDP district president Devineni Umamaheswara Rao alleged that inferior quality of work was the primary reason.

STATE BANK OF INDORE TURNS INTO SBI BRANCH The State Bank of Indore in the city became the State Bank of India, Srinagar branch from Thursday. The change in name has been effected following the merger of the State Bank of Indore with the SBI. It is now the 54 {+t} {+h} branch of SBI in the city. SBI Deputy General Manager N.S.N. Rao, and branch manager P. Maheswar Rao were present.

‘CARATHON' A BIG HIT WITH ESTILO OWNERS ‘Carathon', a treasure hunt organised by Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), has evoked an overwhelming response here. This was the first treasure hunt for car owners in the city, and 75 cars were registered and 180 participants embellished their rides with stickers at Hotel Palm Beach on Sunday. While following strict driving and safety rules and regulations set out by the organiser, the participants drove through the city following the trail given to them. The task gave them a unique opportunity to explore the city in their Estilos with their families as co-participants. The treasure hunt ended at MGM. All the participants were ushered into the theme park, where they enjoyed the water rides and games for hours. This was followed by a fun time together in which participants took part in games and won prizes. Sandhya, a participant won the top honours. According to Vineet Jain, Area Manager of MSTL, their company believes that its customers are part of its family and such bonding is always a delightful experience.

AU CHIEF WARDEN TAKES CHARGE A professor from the Department of Commerce and Management Studies K. Viswanadham has taken charge as the Chief Warden of hostels at the Andhra University College of Arts and Commerce here on Wednesday. Four Wardens, Dr. Ch. Appa Rao, Dr. D. Rama Rao, Dr. P. Premanandam and Dr. P. Venkateswarlu have also taken charge along with Prof. Viswanadham. After taking charge from the outgoing Chief Warden Prof. Narayana, Prof. Viswanadham and the four wardens went around examining the quality of food being served at the hostels. Hostel employees were told to maintain quality of food and hygiene in the dining halls and kitchens. He asked the students about the conditions in the hostels and interacted with the staff. Talking to reporters, the new Chief Warden said that maintaining the quality of food, hygiene in the hostels and minimising the mess bill were on top of his priority list and was confident of achieving the same with the backing of his team.

DIRECT TAXES ADVISORY PANEL RECONSTITUTED The Regional Direct Taxes Advisory Committee (RDTAG)-Visakhapatnam has been reconstituted by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, New Delhi. Member of Parliament G.V. Harsha Kumar from Amalapuram Lok Sabha constituency has been nominated to this Committee. The other members are: Suresh Chanda, IAS, Commissioner of Sales Tax, DV Subba Rao, Advocate, ESH Mohan, Kakinada, Varma Vegesna, Vizag Industry, L.K. Mohana Rao, University Professor, Vizag, V. Satyanarayana, Bank Manager, Vizag. The Committee is an advisory body and would deal with various matters relating to Income Tax and Wealth Tax. It would discuss measures for developing and encouraging mutual understanding and cooperation between the taxpayers and Income Tax Department. It would also discuss the measures for removing administrative and procedural difficulties of a general nature, according to Income Tax Officer M. Alwar.

PASSING OUT PARADE HELD Additional Director General of Police (Training) K. Durga Prasad has said that police personnel should earn the appreciation of the public in the discharge of their duties. Participating as chief guest at the passing out parade of the Stipendary Cadet Trainee Women Constables at the Police Parade Grounds here on Wednesday, he said the trainees should exhibit the same zeal and enthusiasm in their work as they had during the course of their training. Police Commissioner J. Purnachandra Rao said that the women trainees had undergone rigorous training on par with their male counterparts. The Additional DGP took salute at the parade. Later, he handed over trophies and awards to the trainees in various categories.

RAIN FORECAST The low pressure area over west central Bay of Bengal and adjoining coastal Andhra, with associated upper air cyclonic circulation extending up to mid-tropospheric levels and tilting south-westwards with height, persists. Under its influence, rain or thundershowers are likely to occur during the next 24 hours, according to Cyclone Warning Centre. Strong winds from easterly direction in north coastal AP and from northerly direction in south coastal AP with speed reaching 45-50 kmph are likely along and off the coast, occasionally.

GITAM'S FIRST CONVOCATION ON AUGUST 28 GITAM University is making elaborate arrangements to organise its convocation in a big way on August 28. This will be the first convocation of GITAM after it was accorded university status by the Univesity Grants Commission (UGC). The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman , Space Commission Chairman, Secretary to Department of Space in the Government of India K. Radhakrishnan, will deliver the convocation address. GITAM University's honorary doctorate will be awarded to him on the occasion. GITAM University President Dr. M.V.V.S. Murthi will preside over the convocation.

WORKSHOP ON ROBOTICS A two-day workshop ‘L12-ROBO-III will be organised at ANITS on September 4 and 5. The workshop will be organised by L12 Innovations Private Limited, a Bangalore-based company founded by IIT and IISc alumni, in association with CSE and IT Departments under the banner of CSI Student Branch, says a college release. Students of ECE, EEE, Mechanical, MCA and Biotechnology are also getting themselves registered. So far, 57 teams have been formed to present projects. Ample hands-on experience will be provided. Those interested from other colleges may contact Head of Dept. of CSE, ANITS.

CHINESE FOOD FEST Hotel Green Park is celebrating ‘The Chinese Food Fest' at its Tulips restaurant from August 25 to September 5 from 7.30 p.m. The lip-smacking dishes in the a-la-carte menu includes an array of vegetarian and non-vegetarian starters like golden fried chicken roll, stuffed chicken lollypop, chilly shrimp balls, golden crisp vegetable rolls, spicy baby corn with red pepper. In the vegetarian section, there is shredded veg with Manchurian sauce, fresh mushrooms in hot garlic sauce. Fresh cauliflower peas mushroom Cantonese style, sweet and sour veg on crispy noodles.