Hyderabad no more a favoured destination for big realtors

NEW DELHI: The unlimited Floor Space Index (FSI) model in Hyderabad could be touted as the best in the country with developers across metros pushing for a similar law in their respective cities to not just increase vertical growth but also expand 'lung' spaces. But despite its merits, the builder-friendly policy seems to be doing little to attract investors to the city- currently caught in the midst of a serious political turmoil.

In fact, speaking to TOI on the sidelines of a national conclave organised by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) in New Delhi, recently, high-profile developers from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore said that Hyderabad was completely off their radar at present. Taking its place, they said, were cities such as Pune and Ahmedabad, which at one time were way behind the Andhra Pradesh capital in the realty race.

"There was a time when any developer from Mumbai or Delhi, planning to expand outside the city, was looking at Hyderabad to start shop. That's not the case any longer. More people are today going to Gujarat instead," said Darshan Hiranandani, MD of the Mumbai-based major real estate player, Hiranandani Group of Companies that had, about two years ago, come to the city with plans of setting up an upscale SEZ on the outskirts. The project, however, failed to take off after the land was found embroiled in litigations.

"This is one huge drawback that Hyderabad suffers from. If land bought through government auctions do not have a clear title (the Hiranandani group had bought it through an auction) then what is the guarantee that land bought from private parties will have one," said Sunil Mantri, chairman, Sunil Mantri Realty Ltd that has operations across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and so on.

In Hyderabad too the firm has three huge tracts of land, bought when real estate was at its peak here about three-four years ago. The recession and Telangana turmoil erupted thereafter, and the plots have been lying idle since then. "Litigations apart, the market in Hyderabad now is not too conducive for new developments. So we are just sitting on our properties at the moment. There is no plan to start work at any of the sites- Sainikpuri, Miyapur and Hi-Tec City- anytime soon," Mantri said.

Industries seek Naidus help on power cuts

HYDERABAD: A delegation of industrialists from the Jeedimetla industrial area here called on leader of the opposition and Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday and urged him to bring pressure on the state government for reducing the power cuts to� industries in the state.

They wanted the government to come out with a power policy for the period 2012-17 to enable industries to assess the situation and encourage them to establish units in the state.

According to a press release, Jeedimetla Industries Association's representatives Prasad, Siraj, Adinarayana and Vishnu explained to the TDP president that several industries and their employees were suffering severe losses due to continuous power cuts being imposed by the government. They said the government imposed 61 per cent power cuts in September, October and November, and 45 per cent in December, and apprehended the situation during the summer when more power cuts are anticipated.

"Because of the power cuts, industries are unable to deliver goods in time and, as such, customers are hesitating to give orders to Hyderabad-based companies,'' they said. Naidu promised to take up the issue with the government.

Congress to axe 16 Jagan camp MLAs

HYDERABAD: The Congress high command has taken a crucial decision of disqualification of its 16 MLAs who supported the no-trust motion moved by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in the state Assembly on December 5. After meeting AICC president Sonia Gandhi and party AP affairs incharge Ghulam Nabi Azad in Delhi on Saturday, the chief minister said the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) would petition the Assembly speaker under the 10th Schedule 2, 1B of the Disqualification Act seeking action against the MLAs who defied the whip.���������

The CLP will meet soon in this regard and is likely to file the disqualification petition against the Jagan camp MLAs on Tuesday.

The chief minister is understood to have explained to the party high command the opinion of senior members of his cabinet that the disqualification of Jagan camp MLAs should be done at one go as they felt that any delay would only give an opportunity to the YSR Congress party chief to campaign that the ruling party was afraid of losing byelections.

The chief minister is also said to have explained to the party leadership the advantages and disadvantages of disqualification of Jagan loyalists.

After protracted deliberations, it was decided to axe the MLAs regardless of how the Congress would fare in the byelections and even if the action� indirectly helps Jagan to increase his party's strength in the Assembly from the present one.

The PRP has already filed a disqualification petition against Allagadda MLA B Shobha Nagireddy for violating the party whip and siding with Jagan during the no-confidence motion.� But Shobha says she is not bound by the PRP whip as the party does not exist after its merger with the Congress. She says since she had already petitioned the speaker and the Election Commission to recognise her as either a PRP MLA or an Independent since she opposed the PRP's merger with the Congress and she cannot be disqualified now.

Asked how many seats the Congress would win in the bypolls, Kiran Kumar Redy did not hazard a guess. "I do not indulge in guessing like you (media) do. Let there be elections first. Results will come only later, right," he asked and made light of the allegation of Jagan that the Congress leaders tried to induce his loyalist MLAs.

"If the Congress has to lure the MLAs, then it is the most unfortunate situation and it will never come to the party. Let them (J camp) disclose what they had offered to the Congress MLAs to switch sides," Kiran Kumar Reddy said.

At the time when the Jagan camp dared Kiran Kumar Reddy to disqualify the 16 MLAs, it appeared to be under the impression that he might not go for disqualification because of fear of losing the byelections. The chief minister's announcement has made them pull up their socks and prepare for the byelections.

Jagan who sounded the bypoll bugle the very next day of the no-confidence motion while touring Prathipadu constituency in Guntur represented by his supporter Sucharita who voted against the government, said he was sure that the people would elect her hands down.

Farmers’ interests ought to be protected, says Chandrababu Naidu

Hyderabad, Dec 7 (ANI): Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader N. Chandrababu Naidu has asserted that the interests of farmers needed to be protected by the Central and State governments.

"Morally, we are very strong. We had moved no confidence (vote) because farmers are being affected very badly. After economic reforms, farmers are suffering. Added to that, today all input costs are increasing in agriculture. At the end of the day, (the price of) agricultural produce is controlled by the Government of India; through MSME (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), and also, exports and imports, all these things are happening," Naidu told media here.

"So, we wanted to highlight farmers' issues. We wanted to put pressure, both on the centre and the state. Ultimately, farmers should be protected," he added.

He also said that it was essential for agriculture to be reckoned as a profitable and lucrative occupation.

"Agriculture should be a profitable venture. For this, the Swaminathan Committee report has to be accepted. In the report, the increase in agricultural inputs has to be taken into consideration, plus 50 per cent profit has to be given for agricultural produce. Then only agriculture will survive. Every farmer is doing agriculture. There are floods or droughts; all these things are coming. So whenever we lose some money, investment in agriculture, that investment has to be protected by the government," he added.

Monday's vote of no confidence saw the majority of 160 votes out of 283 polled in the 295-member Assembly rest with the Kiran Kumar Reddy-led government, after Naidu initiated it, seeking the Congress government's ouster over farmers' woes.

Legislators of the Congress party belonging to the contentious Telangana region of the state played a decisive role in salvaging the government. (ANI)

Plea against CM withdrawn in SC

A petition challenging the continuation of N. Kiran Kumar Reddy as Chief Minister has been withdrawn from the Supreme Court by MLA S. Venugopala Chary after the former won a no-trust motion last week. A bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Mishra permitted counsel Sateesh Galla to withdraw the petition as "it had become infructous" in view of Mr Reddy's victory in the motion moved by Opposition Leader N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Mr Chary had earlier moved the apex court questioning Reddy's propriety and legal validity of continuing as CM on the ground that the Congress had "lost" majority in the House after 79 party legislators resigned on the twin issue of Telangana and support to YSR Congress. The SLP, filed by S. Venugopala Chary, a Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MLA from Adilabad, challenged the AP High Court's November 14 order dismissing his petition on the issue. The petition had urged the apex court to issue a writ of quo warranto to the Chief Minister who, according to the petition, has lost majority in the Assembly.

Will better Vaastu bring better days for Naidu?

HYDERABAD: Vaastu changes to NTR Bhavan, the Telugu Desam's headquarters here, have almost been completed nearly three months after they were initiated. The irresistible question now being asked by political watchers is whether the 'better Vaastu' will bail out TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu from the CBI probe and help him regain power in 2014.

Party founder NT Ramarao's son and cine actor N Balakrishna was the one who suggested to Naidu that some changes to the building were imperative if Lady Luck was to smile on the party and its chief. His advice came at a time the party was smarting under a series of defeats in the general elections and by-elections. He even brought some Vaastu experts in September this year and had the necessary changes made to the party office.

On Sunday, Balakrishna, accompanied by party leader Sujana Chowdary, Vaastu expert and chief executive officer of NTR Memorial Trust M Venkat, inspected the changes and expressed satisfaction over the changes, sources said.
As per the suggestions of the Vaastu expert, the party demolished the existing security guard room and constructed a new one at the main entrance of NTR Bhavan. The old entrance was closed and a new one was constructed a few feet away from the old one.

Ironically, it was after the Vaastu changes were initiated in September, Naidu's rival and YSR Congress honorary president YS Vijayalakshmi filed a petition in the High Court which ordered a CBI probe into the assets of Naidu and his family members.

It was not the first time for Naidu to make Vaastu changes to NTR Bhavan. He made several changes to it after the 2009 elections.

UP: Rahul visits Islamic clerics, discusses RTE

Lucknow: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Sunday visited Nadva, a renowned centre of Islamic learning, and met its rector Maulana Rabe Hasni Nadvi.

Rahul had one-to-one meeting with the rector for over an hour, Congress sources said.

The issue of Right to Education and reported confusion among Muslims over it was discussed, they said adding Rahul assured him that this would be removed.

Congress sources said Rahul discussed the reported confusion among Muslims with regard to RTE.

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When asked to give his blessings to Rahul, the rector cited his relations with the Nehru-Gandhi family and said he always had good wishes for them, the sources said.

Team Anna selectively targeting Congress: Digvijaya

NEW DELHI: Lashing out at Team Anna for targeting Rahul Gandhi, Digvijaya Singh on Monday alleged that its intent was political and it was out to create an environment against the Congress.

"The intent of all Anna team, Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravishankar is political. Corruption is not the issue, their issue is how to create an environment against the Congress party," he said, while asserting there was no question of going back on the issue of strong Lokpal.

Hinting that Team Anna is acting at the behest of BJP, Singh said, "BJP's gameplan has been to divert the attention from Sangh members involved in terror activities."

Recalling a statement made by Rahul Gandhi in Parliament on Lokpal, he said the opposition party made fun of it when he suggested that Lokpal should be given a constitutional status.

"Now Anna Team has accepted the fact that Lokpal should be given a constitutional status," Singh said, asking why Gandhi is bring targeted when he has not made any other statement on the issue.

Reiterating his claim that Team Anna's movement is backed by political considerations, he said, "Charge of my party and myself has always been that the whole exercise is entirely political."

Claiming that Team Anna is selectively targeting the Congress party, Singh said, "They don't see corruption in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Only Congress ruled states and the UPA government in Delhi is their target."

Underlining that the Congress party stands committed to bring a strong Lokpal bill, Singh said, "There is no question of going back on this."

2G case: CBI files chargesheet against Essar, Loop telecom

Essar Group promoters Anshuman and Ravi Ruia were among five persons chargesheeted Monday by the CBI in a Delhi court in connection with the 2G Spectrum allocation scam.

Besides Ruias, the CBI also charged Essar Group director (Strategy and Planning) Vikas Saraf, Loop Telecom  promoters Kiran Khaitan and her husband IP Khaitan.

The agency also named three companies-- Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holding as accused in the case. 

All of them have been chargesheeted under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC. 

Essar group in a statement denied all allegations against its officials and the company. 

The 105-page charge sheet containing 398 documents was brought in five trunks before Special Judge OP Saini who will take cognizance of the charge sheet on December 17.

The charge sheet named 100 prosecution witnesses. This is the third charge sheet filed by the CBI in the case.