Life Time Achievement Award
Description:Minister for Minorities Welfare,Mohammed Ali Shabbir is presenting the Life Time Achievement award of Udru Academy to Mr Rasheeduddin (Siasat Daily Reporter). Mr Aziz Pasha MP and others can be seen in Picture .Photo mazher
Transco ready to supply power to lift irrigation schemes
HYDERABAD: Responding to a remark in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India report, Energy Minister Mohd Ali Shabbir has announced a time table for commissioning power projects under construction.
The CAG had criticised the lack of efforts to execute power projects commensurate with the numerous lift irrigation projects that required electricity to pump water.
The Minister told reporters here on Wednesday that the AP Transco is ready to provide 81 MW of power to Guthpa, Alisagar, Tadipudi, Pushkara and Devadula I lift irrigation projects. It is also prepared to serve the needs of eleven other projects, he said.
A huge allocation of Rs. 2,900 crore was proposed to be earmarked for next year’s budget to purchase power from external sources for operating the lift irrigation schemes.
During 2008-09, the remaining two units of Jurala (39 MW each), VTPS expansion (500 MW) and Bhoopalapalli (500 MW) would be synchronised. The AP Genco had taken up 17 new projects to create an additional installed capacity of 8,945 MW in the next few years. With this, the entire demand of the lift schemes estimated at 2,232 MW would be met
State firm on welfare of minorities: Chief Minister
`Steps afoot to overcome legal hurdles in quota for Muslims’
· Scholarship amount for Urdu students to be increased
· Urdu varsity to launch multi-media centre
DISUCSSING A POINT: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy with Information Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir, bbcurdu.com editor Mazhar Zaidi and others at a seminar on `Urdu and new media’ in Hyderabad on Sunday. – Photo: Mohd. Yousuf
HYDERABAD : Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has said that the administration is trying to overcome `legal problems’ in implementing the 5 per cent reservation for Muslims.
Inaugurating a seminar on `Urdu and new media’ organised by the BBC World Service and bbcurdu.com here on Sunday, he said there was a need to improve the living conditions of a majority of Muslims. “That’s why our Government brought about 5 per cent reservation.”
Reiterating the Government’s “commitment” to the overall development of minorities, he called for increasing the literacy rate among them. Dr. Reddy said he was taken aback on learning “very meagre amount” of scholarship paid to Urdu medium students and ordered its enhancement. The amount of Rs.4 crores was increased by an additional Rs.5 crores this year. This clearly showed the Government’s sincerity towards uplift of Urdu students. The allocation would be hiked to Rs.19 crores next year.
Popular news portal
Information and Public Relations Minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir observed that Hyderabad had become an important centre of Urdu with publication of five dailies of repute. He said the Chief Minister had ordered increased scholarship amount for Urdu students with a view to curbing school dropout rate.
Mazhar Zaidi, editor, bbcurdu.com., said it received 1.4 crore hits every month. It was the third most popular news portal in the websites offered by BBC World Service in 20 languages.
A.M. Pathan, Vice-Chancellor, Moulana Azad Urdu University, said the university proposed to launch a multi-media centre, with modern equipment.
Justice Bilal Nazki of the high court stressed the need for proficiency in English even while using modern technology for development of Urdu.
Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, Managing Editor, Siasat, Nasim Arifi, Editor, Etamaad, Mir Ayub Ali Khan, bureau chief, Deccan Chronicle, Hasan Farrukh, senior journalist, Rahnuma-e-Deccan, Anwar Moazzam, bibliography expert, Yusuf Kamal, consultant, Urdu Promotion Council, and Omer Farooq, BBC correspondent, spoke.
The seminar is a part of `IndiaOnline’ initiative of bbc.urdu.com for a closer understanding and fresh insight into status of Urdu in modern India.
167 expatriates back and safe
Energy Minister escorts them in a special flight from Dubai
HOME SWEET HOME: Energy Minister Mohd. Ali Shabbir arriving with the rescued Gulf workers from Dubai in Hyderabad on Saturday.
HYDERABAD: As many as 167 passengers, including several women aboard a special flight from Dubai, heaved a sigh of relief as the Air India aircraft touched down at the Rajiv Gandhi international airport here at 5.30 am on Saturday.
Emotional scenes were witnessed, as the passengers, all of them staying illegally in United Arab Emirates (UAE), came out of the airport to a tearful reunion with their near and dear ones. They were mostly from Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak, Adilabad, Nalgonda and East Godavari districts. But for the timely help from the State Government, they would have ended up in UAE prisons for overstaying.
Energy Minister Mohd. Ali Shabbir who looks after the NRI affairs in the State visited Dubai and escorted back 167 persons. The Government has spent a whopping Rs. 1.30 crore to bring back 1,256 illegal expatriates by arranging special flights from Dubai and Sharjah. Mr. Shabbir told The Hindu that out of 75,000 Indians staying illegally in UAE, 40,000 hailed from Andhra Pradesh. “A majority from the State have returned but a few were left behind as they had no money to come back. The Government then stepped in to provide them air tickets,” he said.
“In the last three days alone, 8,000 persons from Andhra Pradesh arrived in Mumbai, Nagpur and Hyderabad airports by special flights,” Mr. Shabbir said. Adilabad Collector was instructed to arrange for two special APSRTC buses from Nagpur airport to Nizamabad and Karimnagar. Mr. Shabbir said four Telugu-speaking officials from the Regional Passport office, Hyderabad and two others from Indian Consulate, Jeddah, were sent to Dubai to conduct a camp to identify the people from Andhra Pradesh.
Seven-hour power at a single spell
-Minister assures to farm sector
-Electricity subsidy to farm sector rose to Rs. 4,392 crore
NIZAMABAD: Minister for Electricity and Minority Welfare Mohd. Ali Shabbir has said, in the current year the Government will try to give power supply to agriculture sector for seven hours at a single spell without cutting supply to industrial and domestic sectors.
For which, an estimated 4,399 million units of electricity costing Rs.2,832 crore is required. In other words, in days to come there may be demand for 2000 MW additional power generation. This is in addition to the subsidy being given to the farm sector.
At a press conference here on Tuesday, the Minister said the Chief Minister readily accepted the proposals and the Powergrid Corporation agreed to provide 1200 MW and the rest would be taken from the naphtha-based power generation companies.
Reeling out statistics, the Minister said there was a steep rise in demand for power over the years.
It was just 6,600 MW in 2003-04 and reached 8,800 MW in 2006-07. The number of pumpsets increased from 22 lakh to 28 lakh. The electricity subsidy given to the farm sector rose to Rs.4,392 crore.
Generation stations
Mr. Shabbir Ali said, the Congress after coming to power in the State planned for establishing electricity generation stations with an installed capacity of 14,000 MW. Of which, this year 900 MW would be added taking the total generation to 11,600 MW. At the end of the fifth year, they could be optimised, he said.
He said the 400 kv electricity sub-station costing Rs.161 crore at Dichpally would be opened by end of July or August first week.
It was nearing completion. Works under progress at the 220 kv sub-station taken up at an outlay of Rs.45 crore at Patharajampet in Kamareddy mandal.
Muslim quota
On reservations for Muslim minorities, he said the Krishna Rao Committee submitted a report to the BC Commission on the backward social status of 14 communities among Muslims. A public opinion was gathered on the committee recommendations. As soon as the BC Commission gives its report, reservations would be implemented for Muslims, he said.
