Harish for Linking Koyna Dam to Krishna River Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao Observes That If the State Due to the Increased Needed Thing in the 21St Century

6 NEWS HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY 23 MAY 2018 Harish for linking Koyna Dam to Krishna river Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao observes that if the State due to the increased needed thing in the 21st Century. storage capacity and retention of He echoed the statements of the upper Krishna States release environmental flows water in the tanks for longer pe- Irrigation Minister on Koyna from their dams then they can protect flora, fauna riods, he added. Dam and stated that if the water and aquatic life of river which will also help in He further said that by the brought to Krishna River is noth- construction of Kaleshwaram ing but recycling of the water it rejuvenation of Krishna River project, Godavari River would get would help in increasing ecolog- a new life and out of 500 km ical flow. OUR BUREAU stretch of river in Telangana, 275 Rajendra Singh said that In- Minister urges the km of Godavari River would be dian judiciary cannot solve the Hyderabad: Irrigation Minister Convention to discuss rejuvenated. Government had confrontation on water because T Harish Rao urged the Indian and suggest ways to also formed Musi River Front the administrators and politics Water Council (IWC) to recom- Development Corporation and create conflicts. Solution can be mend the Government of India divert Koyna Manair River on Godavari basin. achieved if e�orts are put in be- to link Koyna Dam water back- Dam waters back to The Minister said that the gov- yond the boundaries, he added. wards to Krishna River. The Min- Krishna River ernment had completed four on- He stressed on the need to have ister stated that more than 100 going projects in Mahbubnagar various groups including educa- TMC of water from Koyna Dam district and brought 6.5 lakh tional institutions, civil society in Maharashtra was going waste power generation more than 100 acres into irrigation and filled and people who are striving to into sea after Hydel power gen- TMC of water is flowing into Ara- Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao addressing National Convention on Rejuvenation of Krishna River in 700 tanks in the district. “We save saving rivers work together. eration. bian Sea. The Krishna water is Hyderabad on Tuesday have seen a tremendous change He also stressed on the need for Harish Rao was addressing the flowing outside the basin in the villages and reverse migra- river literacy and said that unless ‘National Convention on Rejuve- whereas basin areas are starving to protect flora, fauna and aquatic would extend full support for the of 10 lakh acres were brought tion is taking place,” said the there is no knowledge about river nation of Krishna River’ organ- for irrigation and drinking water. life of river which will also help programme taken up by IWC un- back into irrigation under minor Minister. He also talked about science there cannot be a talk on ised by Telangana Water Re- The Convention can discuss this in rejuvenation of Krishna River. der the leadership of Rajender irrigation sector. In Krishna Mission Bhagiratha project river rights. sources Development aspect and suggest ways and By diverting the water to Krishna Singh. The Minister explained basin about 6,000 tanks were re- which aims to provide water se- Health Minister C Laxma Corporation (TWRDC) here at means to divert Koyna Dam wa- basin, five times more electricity about the flagship programme of stored with an amount of about curity to each citizen of the State. Reddy, TWRDC Chairman V Vishweshwaraya Bhavan on ters back to Krishna River,” Har- can be produced, he added. the State government Mission Rs 950 crores in the last four Waterman of India Rajendra Prakash, experts in water conser- Tuesday. Rao said that Koyna ish Rao said. Stating that River Krishna was Kakatiya and stated that so far years. Now fourth stage of Mis- Singh said, “what Harish Rao had vation Vikram Soni, World Water dam was constructed for Hydro The Minister said that upper the fourth biggest in the country 18,000 tanks were restored in the sion Kakatiya programme is be- said today, I have been saying for Council Governor Prithvi Raj power generation on Krishna Krishna Sates may release envi- and which was fast drying up, the State with Rs 3,000 crore during ing continued, he added. Ground a long time.” Singh said that re- Singh and others also spoke at River in Maharashtra. “After ronmental flows from their dams Minister said his government the last three years and an ayacut water levels increased by 10 m in juvenation of rivers was the most the convention. KCR meets, greets HDK in advance RSS slams Archbishop’s ‘pray for 2019 poll’ letter New Delhi: BJP and RSS leaders slammed the cir- Rajnath says minorities safe cular released by Delhi archbishop calling for Flies out early to avoid running in to his betes noires, Cong, TDP prayers ahead of the 2019 elections, terming it as a them to vote for the right candidate or party but to "direct attack on Indian secularism and democ- suggest to vote for one party and not another and OUR BUREAU he is stitching together a federal the elections, the TRS leaders racy". Delhi Archbishop Anil Couto, in his letter ad- term yourself as secular is unfortunate," she said. front which he wants to be an al- said that party chief did not want dressed to all the churches in the capital, called RSS ideologue Rakesh Sinha termed the move as Hyderabad: In a bid to avoid em- ternative to the Congress and the to share the dais with Congress upon the Catholics to start a year-long prayer cam- a "direct attack on Indian secularism and democ- barrassing moments of having to BJP. After meeting Ku- and TDP leaders as the two par- paign for the "spiritual renewal" of the country racy" and attacked the Archbishop, saying bishops rub shoulders with Congress maraswamy, the TRS chief met ties are considered arch rivals for ahead of the 2019 general elections. are accountable to the Pope and not India. president Rahul Gandhi, Telan- Janata Dal (Secular) leader and Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the The letter said the country at present is witness- "Another big reason for this is after the formation gana Chief Minister K Chan- former prime minister HD Deve T state. Sources said that KCR ing "turbulent political atmosphere which poses a of the Modi government, church-oriented NGOs, drasekhar Rao flew one day in ad- Gouda and shared views on the will invite Kumarswamy to threat to the democratic principles enshrined in received less money due to stricter laws. The vance to Bengaluru and greeted political developments taking Telangana in June second week our Constitution and the secular fabric of our na- Church organisations used to take this money for a Karnataka Chief Minister desig- place post Karnataka elections and hold talks on the creation of tion". "As we look forward towards 2019, when we variety of cause but in reality, utilise this only for nate HD Kumaraswamy who will and the impact of the poll results federal front. Telangana Deputy will have new government, let us begin a prayer religious conversions. They want a government to take oath on Wednesday. on national politics. CM Mahmood Ali and TRS lead- campaign for our country from May 13, 2018," the be made so that their conversion business flour- Rao cannot sit with Congress The swearing–in ceremony of ers K Keshava Rao and J San- circular read. ishes," Sinha added. leaders and watch the ceremony Kumaraswamy will be attended thosh Kumar accompanied KCR. BJP leader Shaina NC criticised the circular say- Reacting to the letter, Union Home Minister Ra- as Congress happens to be the by, besides Rahul Gandhi, senior The o�cial reason given by the ing that it was wrong to instigate communities and jnath Singh said India is one of those countries principal Opposition party in Congress leaders and also Andhra sources close to the chief minis- to suggest them to vote for one party. "Wrong to try where minorities are safe and no one is allowed to Telangana, which he would have Pradesh Chief Minister N Chan- ter was that he went to Bengaluru and instigate castes or communities. You can tell discriminate on the basis of caste and religion. to fight with for power in the next drababu Naidu. Although KCR on Tuesday since his schedule for Assembly elections. This apart, extended support to JD(S) during Wednesday is tight. Full refund on flight delays, cancellations Green signal for transfers Continued from P1 said Jayant Sinha, Minister of vided following security require- Continued from P1 The Ministry suggested air pas- State for Civil Aviation. The new ments are met: Under the Transfer policy, spouses working in far-away locations, widows, sengers should be able to avail full norms are expected to be notified �� Internet services can be pro- physically challenged and the o�cials retiring in two or three years will be given refunds and additional compensa- by July 15 after public comments vided from the moment a priority in transfers. Though seniority and service are taken into consideration tion for flight delays and cancella- on the draft charter have been plane takes o� and personal for the transfers, the grievances of the above mentioned categories will be taken tions. The new air passenger sought by the Ministry of Civil electronic devices (PED) have into consideration first and address the same instantly. It is mandatory that the charter seeks to amend current Aviation within a month. As per to be put on flight mode o�cials should seek transfer if they completed two years in service in the existing norms for charges incurred by the proposed entitlements, pas- ��Mobile services can be allowed post and location. The new policy will facilitate the transfer of 50 per cent of travellers on cancellations and sengers will get full refunds, ad- only when an aircraft is over total sta� at one go, o�cials said, adding that the new provision will help transfer rescheduling of air travel, among ditional compensation and more an altitude of 3,000 metres the o�cials en masse, particularly in the Police and Excise and Prohibition de- other things. However, the new in case an airline is found to be at �� All approvals have been re- partments. Thousands of the applications seeking transfers on spouse grounds compensation structure will ap- fault for the delay or flight cancel- cently provided and now in- and the o�cials working for years in the same locations from these two depart- ply only if it is found that the flight lation. terested parties may apply for ments were pending since years. The heads of the Panchayat Raj, Rural Develop- delay or cancellation was caused licenses and initiate necessary ment and Municipal Administration and Urban Developments have already been by the airline concerned. "If a AirSewa proposal procedures busy preparing the lists of o�cials to be transferred. The committee recom- flight is cancelled and it is the air- The passenger charter also al- The new ‘AirSewa’ proposal is mended to the government not to take up the transfer of teachers working in lines' fault, then the passenger has lowed domestic and international in public domain for the public School Education department until the issue of the uniform service rules case to be compensated or ticket has airlines to o�er internet services to put in comments or sugges- pending before High Court is resolved. The government was asked to appoint a to be refunded. The passenger will and mobile services on-board an tions before the government no- legal expert to dispose o� the court's status quo on transfers at the earliest. be compensated in various ways," aircraft in Indian airspace pro- tifies the measures.

Lion’s share for Cong in Karnataka Cabinet ‘Slash Group I direct posts Continued from P1 Gandhi, however, left the de- Continued from P1 ernment that state cadre posts posts, he said locals will get op- cisions on these issues to the At present, vacant state cadre are open to all including non-lo- portunity to get selected without state leaders, said Venugopal, Group I posts are being filled cals, who pursued Telugu as sec- any competition from non-locals. who was present at the meeting. through direct recruitment and ond language, to compete in the The increased quota of the state The Congress and the JD(S) promotions in the ratio of 40: 60 exam and get selected for any cadre posts through promotions had announced a last-minute respectively. The employees’ Group I post. This provision has will help the senior o�cials to tie-up during the counting of unions have been demanding to come as tough challenge for render service as state o�cers. votes to keep the BJP out of bring down the direct recruit- Telangana locals to compete with The committee is seriously power in the state. Though to- ment of the Group I posts to 20 non-locals including from the discussing the issues raised by gether, the two parties could per cent from the existing 40 per neighbouring Andhra to get se- the employees’ unions on state command majority in the As- cent facilitating promotion for lected in the competitive exam. cadre posts and will come to a sembly, the BJP, as the single the lower cadre o�cials with After bifurcation of Andhra conclusion before finalising the largest party, was invited to their seniority. Pradesh, not a single notification creation of new zones. The form the government by Gover- At present, all the state cadre for Group I posts was issued, unions were demanding the cre- nor Vajubhai Vala. BS Yeddyu- posts like RDO, DSP, CTO, RTO, Telangana Employees union ation of four new zones in addi- rappa, who took oath on Thurs- Excise Superintendent, District President A Padma Chary, said tion to the existing two and day after a hectic appeal by the Registrar (Cooperative soci- that before issuing notification, two multi zones in the state en- Congress and a midnight hear- eties), DPO and so on were exist- the unions were demanding re- suring the protection of the serv- ing in the Supreme Court, ing in 35 departments in the duction in the state cadre posts ices of the existing employees stepped down minutes before state. and to convert them into multi and also put to rest the problems Saturday's trust vote, which The employees’ unions also zonal posts. Once the state cadre to be raised in the new selections many expected him to lose. brought to the notice of the gov- posts are made as multi zonal in future. Anti-Sterlite rally turns violent, 10 killed in firing

Continued from P1 ising government property. made a similar point, "Citizens Green Tribunal had ultimately al- Thousands of local residents Senior Tamil Nadu minister are not criminals... They are the lowed it to be reopened. have been protesting for more Jayakumar said the police didn't ones who lose their lives," Haasan, The same year in another case than three months against the have an option but to open fire who had earlier participated in spearheaded by MDMK chief Sterlite copper smelting plant and since the protests had turned "ex- the peaceful protests against the Vaiko, the Supreme Court had its reported expansion but com- tremely violent". The police firing plant, said. "It is the negligence of slapped a 100 crore fine on the plained that the state government was unavoidable, he said. the government... The govern- plant for polluting over the years. had not responded to their de- MK Stalin of the opposition ment ignored peaceful protests," However, at that time Sterlite, run mands. They had intensified DMK blamed the state govern- he said. by the Vedanta group, had protests demanding closure of the ment for the violence, saying that In March 2013, hundreds of claimed it adheres to pollution plant after reports came in that people had been protesting peace- people su�ered breathing di�- control norms. the group was seeking licence for fully for so long but the adminis- culty, nausea and throat infection Sterlite began operations in expansion as the initial 25-year li- tration did not attempt to address following an alleged gas leak from 1996. It now employs about 1,000 cence comes to an end. the concerns of the people. The the plant. Though the plant was people full time and about 2,000 About 20,000 people gathered plant should be shut down, Stalin ordered to shut down following on contract. It also provides indi- at the protest site and stormed the said. allegations of violating pollution rect employment opportunity for District Collector's o�ce, vandal- Actor-politician Kamal Haasan control norms, the National around 25,000 people. ��

��