Gone with the wind: Vizag's Mega City plan takes a big hit

October 14, 2014

Visakhapatnam, Oct 14: The very severe cyclonic storm `Hudhud' couldn't have come at a much worse time for Andhra Pradesh in general and Visakhapatnam, the 'city of destiny', in particular.

The State, post-bifurcation, is in the process of rebuilding and foundations for that are being laid.

Visakhapatnam, the largest city in the truncated State, has been getting ready to transform into a Mega City and plans for this have already been laid out.viza hit by hudhud

Everything was being set on course to alter the face of Andhra Pradesh as well as the port city in terms of development when `Hudhud' came striking on Sunday as a bolt from the blue, throwing all plans in disarray.

Now, the State Government will have to re-double its efforts, first to bring Visakhapatnam back to shape and next go ahead with the other development plans.

The primary focus will now be on rebuilding the basic infrastructure that was left battered in the port city.

From the roads to telecommunications network to the seaport and airport, all major infrastructure facilities here suffered massive damage and may take a while for restoration.

The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, the pride of the city, too requires massive repair and this may hamper its expansion.

The Cyclone Warning Centre, the most critical unit here, has to be re-established after `Hudhud' destroyed it. It has to be done in quick time before another storm looms.

As Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has pointed out the cost of damage caused by the calamity may be well over Rs 1 lakh crore in Visakhapatnam and other affected neighbouring districts of Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.

Mobilising funds for this gigantic restoration task is the main challenge before the cash-starved Government that is already looking for liberal assistance from various quarters, including the Government of India, for rebuilding the State.

Massive investment plans had been lined up for the city, post-bifurcation, with primary focus on development of infotech. About 20 firms from India and abroad have chosen it as their IT hub and planned to invest Rs 1820 crore.

"Hudhud will certainly slowdown our plans as we will have to now build required infrastructure for these companies simultaneously rebuilding the city's basic infrastructure," a top Government functionary noted.

J Satyanarayana, Government's advisor on Electronics & IT, told media person, "we have to put the clock back first. Our primary focus is on relief and restoration as we have to rebuild all the infrastructure."

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Agencies
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11: AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has won from New Delhi assembly seat. He polled 46,758 votes, which is 61.1 per cent of total votes polled in the high profile constituency.

Kejriwal defeated Sunil Kumar Yadav of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who polled 25,061 votes, which is 32.75 per cent of total votes polled. Congress candidate Romesh Sabhawarl could get only 3,220 votes.

So far, the AAP has won 55 seats and is leading on seven seats. The BJP has won seven seats and is leading on two. The Congress is nowhere in the reckoning.

As per the details on the website of Election Commission of India at 8.27 pm on Tuesday, the AAP has secured 53.60 per cent votes, BJP 38.49 per cent, BSP 0.71 per cent, CPI 0.02 per cent, CPI-M 0.01 per cent, Congress 4.27 per cent, JDU 0.90 per cent, LJP 0.35 per cent, NCP 0.02 per cent, and NOTA 0.46 per cent.

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News Network
May 30,2020

May 30: A Delhi court on Saturday granted interim bail for 10 days to former municipal councillor from the Congress Ishrat Jahan, who has been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, to get married.

She has been booked under the anti-terror law in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi in February.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana granted the interim relief from June 10 to June 19 to Jahan on furnishing two sureties of Rs 1 lakh.

The court directed her not to tamper with any evidence or influence the witnesses in the case.

According to the interim bail plea, filed through advocates S K Sharma and Lalit Valeecha, Jahan's marriage was fixed in 2018 for June 12, 2020.

The plea further said that Jahan would not tamper with any evidence or influence the witnesses if granted bail.

The petition, also filed through advocates Tushar Anand and Manu Prabhakar, claimed that Jahan has been falsely implicated in the case.

It alleged that upon bare perusal of the contents of the FIR, no incident of violence can be attributed to her and the wild and baseless allegations made against her were not only irresponsible and false, but also caused serious harm to her reputation.

Jahan, who is also an advocate, was only a supporter of ongoing peaceful protests and it was one of the fundamental rights of the citizens to protest and register their dissent against any unreasonable measure of the government, the plea said.

Besides Jahan, Jamia Millia Islamia University students Asif Iqbal Tanha, Gulfisha Khatoon, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider, president of Jamia Alumni Association Shifa-Ur-Rehman, suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, activist Khalid Safi, JNU student Natasha Narwal and former student leader Umar Khalid have also been booked under the anti-terror law in the case.

The police had claimed in the FIR that Khalid and his associates had instigated people to start riots in the area and it was a "premeditated conspiracy".

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

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Agencies
February 4,2020

The government suspended all the India-bound air travel from China and has declared all visas 'invalid', on Monday, due to the rapid escalation of cases of novel coronavirus outbreak which originated in Wuhan.

"Embassy and our Consulates have been receiving several queries from Chinese citizens as well as other foreign nationals, who are based out of China or visited China in the last 2 weeks, as to whether they can use their valid single/multiple entry visas to travel to India," tweeted the Embassy of India in Beijing, China.

"It is clarified that existing visas are no longer valid. Intending visitors to India should contact the Indian Embassy in Beijing ([email protected]) or the Consulates in Shanghai ([email protected]) and Guangzhou ([email protected]) to apply afresh for an Indian visa," it said.

Further, regarding the validity of visas, the embassy said, "Indian Visa Application Centres (http://blsindia-china.com) in these cities may also be contacted in this regard. Visa Section of the Embassy/Consulates of India in China can be contacted to ascertain the validity of visa before undertaking any visit to India."

"All those who are already in India (with regular or e-visa) and had traveled from China after January 15 are requested to contact the hotline number of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India (+91-11-23978046 and email: [email protected])," the embassy said.

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