'Very severe' Cyclone Phailin heads for Odisha, Andhra Pradesh at wind speed of 200 km per hour

Bhubaneswar:  Cyclonic storm "Phailin", classified as "very severe", is heading for coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh at wind speeds averaging 200 km per hour and is expected to hit the states on Saturday evening. Some weathermen are describing it as potentially India's version of 'hurricane Katrina', one of the deadliest storms in US history.

Here are the latest updates

1. Experts say the wind speed is at 200 to 210 km per hour and is expected to touch 230 km per hour when the cyclone hits the coasts of Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh tomorrow.
   
2. 'It is not a super-cyclone yet but moving towards that," said the Indian Meteorological Department chief LS Rathore.
   
3. Five districts are preparing for the worst impact of the cyclone: Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh and  Ganjam, Puri, Khordha and Jagatsinghapur in Odisha.
   
4. Andhra Pradesh Minister Raghuveera Reddy said 64,000 people are being evacuated from Srikakulam, Vizag and Vizianagaram and shifted to cyclone shelters.
   
   
5. Defence Minister AK Antony has asked the Army, Navy and Air Force to be ready for emergency and relief operations. Two Air Force aircraft are at Bhubaneswar, ready to airlift disaster management teams and equipment. Others aircraft are also in stand-by.
   
   
6. Odisha's Disaster Management Minister Surya Narayan Patra told NDTV, "We are fighting against nature. We are better prepared this time, we learnt a lot from 1999." Nearly 15,000 people died in the super-cyclone that hit Odisha in 1999.
   
7. There is heavy rainfall in parts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. People along the coasts in Odisha are also being moved to storm shelters. "The first priority will be to save people's lives, ensure food and electricity," said the Odisha minister.
   
8. Government holidays have been cancelled for the next month in both states.
   
9. Thousands of employees from the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh, who were on strike to protest against the Centre's decision to split the state, have returned to work for now due to the cyclone emergency.
   
10. Large parts of the 13 districts of Seemandhra had been without power for six days because of the strike.

Jagan Mohan Reddy taken into preventive custody on day 5 of hunger strike against Andhra Pradesh bifurcation

Mr Reddy was taken to the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences



Hyderabad: Politician Jagan Mohan Reddy, who  had been on a hunger strike  for five days to protest against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, was forcibly moved to the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) tonight after the police took him into preventive custody.

Before he was escorted away from outside his office where he has been fasting, Mr Reddy  told a large crowd of supporters "2014 will be a referendum" on the centre's decision to turn the region of Telangana into a state.

Earlier today, doctors said that the 40-year-old was severely dehydrated but he refused to end his fast.
 

In Delhi this evening, his mother, Vijayamma, met BJP president Rajnath Singh, triggering speculation that an alliance between the two parties is a work-in-progress. Recently, Mr Reddy, who was released last month from jail and is being investigated for corruption, praised the BJP's candidate for prime minister, Narendra Modi, as an efficient administrator. However, Mr Reddy urged the BJP leader to demonstrate his commitment to secularism.

Since Mr Reddy took charge of the YSR Congress party in 2011, he has proven that he is an emerging force in regional politics with strong performances in local elections.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said that an alliance with Mr Reddy could be considered by his party after the national elections are held. But Mr Reddy has been less kind towards the party that his father belonged to.

Over the weekend, he targeted its president Sonia Gandhi for the decision to split Andhra Pradesh into two because "someone wanted their son to be Prime Minister." The reference was to her son, Rahul, and to the recurring criticism that the Congress wants to create a Telangana state for dividends in the national elections, due by May.

Cyclone Phailin intensifies into 'very severe' storm; high alert for Andhra Pradesh, Odisha

Bhubaneswar:  The cyclonic storm "Phailin" has been classified as "very severe" by the Met department and is heading towards coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh where it is expected to hit on Saturday evening.

Here are the 10 big developments in this story:

1. Experts say the wind speed will touch 175-185 km per hour when the cyclone hits the coast of Northern Andhra Pradesh and Southern Odisha.
   
   
2. Strong winds with a speed of upto 65 km per hour will hit both states tomorrow morning, the Met department has forecast.
   
   
3. Heavy rainfall is expected for Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on Saturday, with lots of rain forecast for Bengal the next day.
   
4. The Andhra Pradesh government says it has informed the Navy, Army and Air Force that their assistance may be required for emergency and relief operations.
   
5. Due to the cyclone alert, thousands of power sector employees from the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh, who were on strike to protest against the Centre's decision to split the state, have decided to return to work for now.
   
   
6. Large parts of the 13 districts of Seemandhra had been without power for six days because of the strike.
   
7. Lakhs of government employees from other deparments who have been on strike have also said that they will help with any relief and rehabilitation work by temporarily returning to work if the cyclone hits.
   
8. The Visakhapatnam Cyclone Warning Centre has warned fishermen against venturing into sea.
   
9. A super-cyclone had struck 14 coastal districts of Odisha in October 1999. Nearly 10,000 people were killed as winds raging at 300 km per hour tore through the coast.
   
10. In Odisha, 14 districts are now on high alert.

Link Telangana state to Naxalism, chief minister told me: former top cop

Government employees and supporters of united Andhra Pradesh participate in a protest against the formation of a separate Telangana state in Hyderabad on October 8.

 
Hyderabad: At a time when Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has been accused of supporting protests against the state's bifurcation to create Telangana, a former top cop has alleged that Mr Reddy asked him to give an adverse report against the proposed new state.

Director General of Police Dinesh Reddy, who was replaced a week ago, has claimed that the Chief Minister had asked him to say a separate Telangana would lead to more Maoist problems.

But speaking exclusively to NDTV's Uma Sudhir, Dinesh Reddy also admitted that he had felt humiliated by the Chief Minister and that was also a reason for his outburst.

"I feel he did a turnaround and did not extend my tenure as promised because I refused to toe his line," the former police chief said.

He also alleged that the chief minister had tried to force him to transfer officers who had tried to contain the protests against Telangana.

Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is from the Seemandhra region comprising coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema, has been accused by his own party men of supporting the agitation for 'united Andhra Pradesh' that has led to a serious power crisis in Seemandhra and crippled many essential services.

Congress leaders and ministers have repeatedly petitioned the party against dividing the state. But ministers who had threatened to quit now say they will defeat the Telangana proposal in the state assembly. The Centre, however, says the assembly's decision won't change anything.

"There is anger against division, against party, and against us," Mr Reddy had told NDTV. "I was born here, I studied here, and worked in Hyderabad my whole life, but my native place is elsewhere. After 53 years, you can't say, you don't belong here." (There is anger against the party and us, says Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister)

Kiran Kumar Reddy's Congress party denied the senior police officer's allegations. "Dinesh Reddy should go to court and prove his charges, instead of making wild statements. Why did he not speak out when he was still in service?'' senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh was quoted as questioning.

Strike over plan to divide Indian state cuts electricity

The police declared a curfew in some areas after protesters blocked major highways using barricades of burning tires. 

Striking workers shut off electricity and cellphone service to a large swath of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, as hundreds of thousands of government employees protested a decision to divide the state into two parts.

Last week, India's governing coalition announced that it would create the new state, Telangana, infuriating many who will be left in the remaining "rump" of Andhra Pradesh, which stands to lose tax revenues that flow into the booming city of Hyderabad. The city is now Andhra Pradesh's capital but would eventually become Telangana's after the split. The police declared a curfew in some areas after protesters blocked major highways using barricades of burning tires.

A former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, began a hunger strike on Monday to protest the decision, telling visitors in a tent outside the state's offices in New Delhi that the government's move was politically motivated.

"If you do it for political gain, nobody will be convinced," Naidu told reporters Tuesday. "I asked them to sort out the problem, but they have created a bigger problem."

Critics say the Indian National Congress, the governing national party, took the step now because it hoped to cash in on votes in the newly formed state ahead of general elections in 2014.

India's 29th state would be in a drought-ridden inland region that has long felt marginalized by coastal elites, and its creation would come after years of passionate lobbying by its supporters, including hunger strikes and scores of suicides. Supporters say that residents of the coastal Seemandhra region, which includes Hyderabad, have monopolized state power and public resources for years, and they believe that the new state will improve their lives.

But the proposed split - which must still be approved by the state assembly and passed by both houses of Parliament - deprives the coastal region of tax revenue flowing from the cluster of industry around Hyderabad. Opponents of the plan have attacked houses and businesses belonging to regional leaders of the Congress party.

K.T. Rama Rao, a leader of a political party that supported the division, blamed regional leaders for mishandling the issue. He said many politicians who had argued passionately in favor of creating Telangana, and participated in exhaustive debates that led to the decision, were now opposing it.

"You can't change your colours seasonally," he said. "It is rank political opportunism. The people of Telangana are not willing to be fooled again and again."

Opposition to the plan comes mostly from Seemandhra, whose residents have long migrated to Hyderabad, where many services came to a halt over the weekend. Journalists in the region reported that bank machines were no longer supplying currency, and that service to tens of thousands of mobile phones went dead, exacerbating the effects of the blackout. Hospitals were operating emergency units with the help of generators, as stores of diesel dwindled, according to Indian news reports.

On fast against Telangana, Chandrababu Naidu backed new state in 2008 letter: Congress

New Delhi: Politician Chandrababu Naidu, who is on an indefinite fast to protest against the division of Andhra Pradesh for a separate Telangana state, has taken a complete U-turn from his stand five years ago, claims the ruling Congress.

The party today alleged that Chandrababu Naidu, who heads the regional Telugu Desam Party (TDP), had supported the creation of Telangana in a letter to the Centre in 2008.

The Congress circulated Mr Naidu's letter dated October 18, 2008, to then Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in which he says a core committee of senior TDP leaders had taken the views of people and backed Telangana.

"The politburo of TDP has discussed thoroughly on the conclusions arrived at by the core committee and agreed with its recommendations in favour of a separate Telangana state," the letter quotes Mr Naidu as saying.

On Monday, the TDP leader had been ambivalent on whether Telangana deserves statehood. He told NDTV, "In those circumstances we had supported Telangana but now the government hasn't followed proper procedure - it took a decision - there is no consensus within the Congress."

The Congress also says YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, also on a protest fast, had said in a letter to Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde last year that, "We respect the sentiments of the people of Telangana....All that we request from you is a solution acceptable to all without injustice to anyone."

Jagan, who broke away from the Congress to lead the breakaway YSR Congress after the death of his father YSR Reddy in 2009, sharpened his stand after the seething anger and protests in the two other parts of Andhra Pradesh - Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema collectively known as Seemandhra.

The waffling by these parties reflects the dilemma that Telangana represents for many parties -  it is politically strategic and will elect 17 parliamentarians once it is a state; on the other hand, leaders from the non-Telangana areas of Andhra Pradesh say voters will not forgive them for ceding the separation of the financially robust region.

Telangana protests: power crisis hits Andhra Pradesh hospitals, newborns suffer

 Hyderabad:  The Centre's decision to create a new Telangana state has paralysed Andhra Pradesh with blackouts severely affecting the health services across the state. Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy yesterday told NDTV that he did not rule out resigning if the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was pushed through.

Here are the latest developments: 

 

 

 

 

1. Essential health services across the state have been badly hit. In Visakhapatnam, power cuts have hit King George Hospital, the only super-specialty government hospital in the region, resulting in most of the incubators not working. Lack of air conditioners have affected patients with burn injuries and other such ailments.
   
   
2. The ongoing strike by 30,000 power sector employees has left the state crippled. The chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala have written to the central electricity authority warning of possible tripping in their states due to feared collapse of the southern grid. The Union Cabinet is expected to meet today to discuss the power situation in Andhra Pradesh.
   
3. Tirupati and Vijayawada airports are running on backup power. The Vijayawada-based 1760 MW Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station, for the first time in its history, has completely shut down, with all seven generating units stopped. State capital Hyderabad is also witnessing blackouts.
   
   
4. Most industrial establishments and shops are running on backup power. Drinking water supply, train services, petrol availability and hospital services are all badly hit. 150 diesel locomotives are being used to run passenger and express trains while goods trains are stranded at various stations.
   
5. The precautionary curfew in Vizianagram in coastal Andhra Pradesh - epicentre of united Andhra protests - continues for the fourth day today, following violence last week.
   
6. Congress leaders and ministers from Seemandhra met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday evening after many of them resigned to protest against Telangana. Chiranjeevi, who resigned as Tourism Minister, said, "The PM is yet to accept our resignation. He has asked for more time."
   
7. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy yesterday said the Congress has created a bigger problem in trying to solve one problem. Mr Reddy said that the people are frightened of the consequences of the state's bifurcation and that is why there is anger and agitation on the streets.
   
   
8. Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana have welcomed the plans to convert them into India's 29th state. Hyderabad will be the shared capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the next 10 years, after which it will belong to Telangana.
   
9. A politics of hunger strikes over Telangana is also on with Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu deciding to go on an indefinite hunger strike in Delhi yesterday. YSR Congress's Jagan Mohan Reddy is on indefinite fast in Hyderabad since Saturday.
   
   
10. The Congress has indicated it will not change its mind over Telangana. Party leader Digvijaya Singh expressed surprise at what he called a u-turn by Jagan and Chandrababu Naidu. "Congress is a national party, how can it change its decision?" he said.

Telangana crisis: Am using Italian so Centre understands, Chandrababu Naidu targets Sonia Gandhi

New Delhi: Politician Chandrababu Naidu today said that since the Centre doesn't seem to understand the extent of the crisis in Andhra Pradesh, he will use Italian to explain. Mr Naidu, who heads the regional Telugu Desam Party, said that Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema are "immobilismo". For those not fluent in Italian, Mr Naidu added, "Things are at a standstill. Total standstill."

His jibe is aimed at Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress party, which anchors the ruling coalition at the Centre and decided last week that the process of dividing Andhra Pradesh to create a new state of Telangana must begin immediately. (Fasting and aiming at Sonia: Jagan went first, Chandrababu followed)

That move has registered high on the Richter scale, triggering huge aftershocks in the 13 districts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema which are the two other regions of Andhra Pradesh, and are collectively referred to as Seemandhra.
   

Mr Naidu began an indefinite fast in Delhi today to support the demand for a "United Andhra." However, he refused to answer a question on whether he thinks Telangana deserves statehood.

His political opponents accuse him of doublespeak, because in 2008, he wrote to the Centre supporting the movement for statehood for Telangana. In his defense, his party says he is fighting to protect Seemandhra's interests, and to oppose what they describe as the Centre's unilateral decision to divide Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Naidu's decision to fast in Delhi, thousands of miles from the front line of aggressive protests in Seemandhra, is being seen as an attempt to gain credibility and dispel the impression that he is following the lead of his political rival, Jagan Mohan Reddy, who began a hunger strike in Hyderabad on Saturday.

High on the list of concerns for leaders from these areas is grappling with a future devoid of the booming economy of IT hub Hyderabad, which will be a shared capital for 10 years, but will then belong to Telangana state.

There is anger against the party and us: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister

"While trying to solve a problem, Congress created a bigger one," says Kiran Kumar Reddy, describing decision to divide Andhra Pradesh as "very harsh".

Protests against Telangana, powerless in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad:  Protests against a decision to create Telangana state have left Andhra Pradesh staring at a major power crisis. I-T city Hyderabad has been suffering power cuts since morning and several trains have been cancelled, with thousands of electricity employees staying away from work. In another city in coastal Andhra, there is a shoot-at-sight order since large-scale violence on Saturday.

Here are 10 big developments in this story:

1. Over 30,000 striking electricity employees say they will continue their protests for at least two more weeks. Their agitation has shut down six of the seven units at the power plant in Vijayawada, which meets over a third of the state's power demand.
2. The Vijayawada plant shutdown has led to a shortfall of over 3,500 megawatts, forcing authorities to resort to long power cuts in Hyderabad and several other cities. Officials even fear a collapse of the southern grid, which caters to neighbouring states.
3. "Large parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, also known as Seemandhra, have been affected by the protests and the power crisis. Reports say ATMs are not functioning in cities like Vijayawada, while several trains have been cancelled since yesterday.
4. There is a shoot-at-sight order and curfew at Vizianagaram town in coastal Andhra Pradesh after violence and arson over the weekend by anti-Telangana protesters. Protesters allegedly set a bank on fire and damaged public and private properties.
5. Some 70,000 striking government employees have not taken their salary for the past two months, ever since the ruling Congress gave in to demands for carving out Telangana, with Hyderabad as its capital.
6. Telangana is one of the three regions of Andhra Pradesh.  The other two - the 13 districts of Seemandhra as the Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions are jointly called - are in total shutdown.
7. Factions in the Congress have alleged that the protests have the backing of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, who belongs to Seemandhra and has publicly opposed the division of Andhra Pradesh. Sources have ruled out any action against Mr Reddy but say the ruling Congress is closely watching how the Chief Minister handles the crisis.
8. Sources say the Congress may have persuaded union ministers K Chiranjeevi and Pallam Raju not to press for their resignations. The two leaders, along with Kotal Surya Prakash Reddy had resigned as ministers last week to protest against Telangana.
9. Anti-Telangana protests have triggered competitive fasts by politicians. After YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, now Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu has launched an indefinite fast.
10. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has accused both Mr Naidu and Jagan of changing their stand on Telangana, with an eye on polls next year. Both had been seen to be ambiguous about the proposed new state earlier as they drew their support from the non-Telangana regions.

Telangana crisis: Jagan Mohan Reddy fasts in Hyderabad, Chandrababu Naidu in Delhi

New Delhi: In May 2008, Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party or TDP passed a resolution supporting the decision to carve out Telangana, one of the three regions of Andhra Pradesh, as India's 29th state.

Today, Mr Naidu has begun what he describes as an indefinite hunger strike in Delhi to protest against the bifurcation of his state. His political opponents accuse him of doublespeak; his party says he is fighting to protect Seemandhra's interests, and to oppose what they describe as the centre's unilateral decision to divide Andhra Pradesh.  (Telangana crisis: 10-point cheat sheet)

Accusing the ruling Congress of "match-fixing", Mr Naidu told reporters this morning that the party" took this decision for political gains." Mr Naidu's decision to fast in Delhi, thousands of miles from the front line of aggressive protests in Seemandhra, is being seen as an attempt to gain credibility and dispel the impression that he is following the lead of his political rival, Jagan Mohan Reddy, who began a hunger strike in Hyderabad yesterday.

Last week, the union government green-lit the plan to begin the creation of the state of Telangana, a decision that registered high on the Richter scale of controversy, triggering huge protests in the 13 districts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema which are the two other regions of Andhra Pradesh, and are collectively referred to as Seemandhra.

High on the list of concerns for leaders from these areas is how water, power and revenue will be distributed between the old and new states. What matters most is grappling with a future devoid of the booming economy of IT hub Hyderabad, which will be a shared capital for 10 years, but will then belong to Telangana state.

After Telangana becomes a state, it will elect 21 members to the Lok Sabha, matching the number of parliamentary seats from Seemandhra. The Congress expects its decision to reward it with a sweep in Telangana that will compensate for the anger against it in the other two regions.

Our engineering students won't get jobs: Jagan Mohan Reddy on Telangana

New Delhi: Politician Jagan Mohan Reddy says he will begin an indefinite fast tomorrow to protest against the centre's decision to divide Andhra Pradesh by carving out one of its three regions, Telangana, as a new state.

"Just see the plight of my state," Mr Reddy said, on a day when huge protests were held in the two regions of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, whose 13 districts will comprise Andhra Pradesh according to the new blueprint approved by the cabinet last evening.

"Is it justifiable to split the state without an assembly resolution? What kind of democracy are we living in when people intentionally choose to ignore the assembly?" he asked.

Hyderabad, the prosperous IT city, will be a shared capital for 10 years after which it will belong to Telangana, which factors heavily in the concerns of those fighting the new state.

"When an engineering student graduates, where will he go to get a job?" asked Mr Reddy, referencing the fear factor that Telangana will make Hyderabad jobs  off-limits for outsiders.

The 40-year-old leader asked why the decision on Telangana cannot be reversed; after all, he said, the government has just withdrawn a controversial executive order that allowed MPs convicted in criminal cases to remain in office.  

Mr Reddy heads the YSR Congress, founded and  named after his father and former chief minister YSR Reddy, who died in a helicopter crash in 2009.  When he was not chosen to replace his father as chief minister, Mr Reddy exited the Congress. He was recently released on bail after spending more than a year in prison on corruption charges.

Like other leaders who have censured the centre for dividing Andhra Pradesh, Mr Reddy alleged that the government's decision is motivated entirely by the approaching national elections. After the split, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will have 21 parliamentary seats each. The Congress is likely to be rewarded heavily in Telangana for making it a state. The bifurcation is also expected to help the party to check the potential of Mr Reddy and other parties