KTR rallies builders for prettier buildings

KTR rallies builders for prettier buildings

Minister for municipal administration and urban development K.T. Rama Rao has a keen sense of aesthetics — contributing directly or indirectly to the pleasant ambience that has become a hallmark of the pockets of upscale new Hyderabad. So it should not have come as a surprise to builders in the city when they received a dressing down over their lack of “aesthetic sense”. Rama Rao, at two meetings attended by builders in Hyderabad recently expressed disappointment over the builders focusing only on high-rise structures but not on aesthetics. The buildings, his contention was, look like boxes and have no element of visual treat. His solution was to tell builders to visit Mangaluru in Karnataka and learn a thing or two about blending buildings with good design. Spend some of your money on aesthetics, was his message to the builders. Everyone has a bit to play in making our city look beautiful, was KTR’s message.

Cops want to steer clear of BJP-BRS slugfest

The IPS Officers Association of Telangana state released a media statement recently condemning the “derogatory remarks” of BJP MLA M. Raghunandan Rao against DGP Anjani Kumar, this created a lot of buzz in IPS and bureaucratic circles. The reason? The statement was issued by the association’s joint secretary, contrary to the regular practice of such statements being signed either by the association’s president or general secretary. The statement was issued by joint secretary B. Sumathi, who is also DIG, Women Safety Wing. The buzz in bureaucratic circles is that senior IPS officers leading the association were not keen on issuing this statement as they don’t want to be caught in the political slugfest between the BJP and the BRS. They reportedly decided to play safe and ensured that it was issued by the joint secretary setting the rumour mills abuzz that Sumathi was used as a “sacrificial lamb” in this whole episode.

Congress readies for big show-of-strength rally

Finding available dates is no longer a problem restricted to top movie actors who have an elaborate calendar to fit their various shoot schedules. Something similar has been happening with the Congress in Telangana state too. The party has been searching for the right date for a we-will-show-our-strength meeting but finding the right day for some much needed muscle flexing has been tough. It first planned a massive public meeting in Mancherial on April 8, but this was put off because Prime Minister Narendra Modi was coming to Hyderabad the same day. The party wanted Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot as the chief guest but word came that he was not feeling well. Then came into play April 10 as a possible day but that too was dropped because Rahul Gandhi’s public meeting was scheduled on the same day in Karnataka and many Telangana state Congress senior leaders need to attend the meeting. Finally, the party settled on April 11 for a meeting in Mancherial where TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy, all senior party leaders, and CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka, on a padayatra, will join the meeting.

Intelligence officers watch BJP's every move

Staff doing the grunt work in the Telangana state intelligence wing of the police have for sometime now been on a 24x7 job, that of keeping an eagle’s eye on the goings on at the BJP offices, particularly at the party’s state headquarters in Hyderabad. With the Opposition party increasingly being targeted by the BRS and its leaders, the BJP it appears has emerged as the principal challenger to the ruling party, if what intelligence officials say is anything to go by. With the BJP office turning into a busy beehive, it is being thronged, in a manner of speaking, by field level staff of the police intelligence wing passing on minute to minute updates on the activities there. Almost every press conference is attended by one or two intelligence grunts posing as journalists of some vague media organisation, irking BJP leaders to no end. Former MLA and BJP former state president Nallu Indrasena Reddy the other day in the presence of Union minister G. Kishan Reddy urged mediapersons to display their identity car while entering the BJP state office, lamenting that Intelligence department staff are mingling with the media and spying on the goings-on in the party office.