Wednesday, November 6, 2019



The state’s agriculture department has pegged the extent of loss at 1.20 lakh acres. This includes 80,447 acres of paddy, 35,610 acres of cotton and 4,022 acres of maize.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/telangana-farmers-in-trouble-after-unseasonal-rains-destroy-crops-67643

Wednesday, October 23, 2019


The sea has encroached eight kilometres into the land, according to Kakinada’s older generation. New technologies like geo tubes were able to arrest erosion. However, the structures themselves have become denuded over time.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/kakinada-fishers-grapple-with-pollution-climate-change-and-unemployment-67383

Wednesday, October 9, 2019


While official sources in the agriculture department said that between 2014 and 2019, the actual number of suicides is 1,160, data provided by the Union agriculture minister says that between 2014 and 2016, there were 2,352 suicides.

https://thewire.in/rights/andhra-pradesh-farm-suicides-compensation
With rivers like Krishna, Godavari, Tungabhadra and Penna and a coast line of 974 kilometres the state is rich in sand resources. The previous TDP regime had introduced a free sand policy, which though was billed pro-poor is said to have boosted the mining mafia.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/mining/andhra-pradesh-unveils-new-sand-policy-66550

Wednesday, August 21, 2019



The law doesn’t say anything about how a tenant farmer will be identified and given loans. There are around 15 lakh tenant farmers, according to official estimates, out of which a little more than five lakh were issued tenancy cards by the TDP government. Most belong to the Dalit, Adivasi and OBC communities, and rely almost entirely on agriculture for livelihood.

https://thewire.in/agriculture/new-andhra-pradesh-cultivators-act-unlikely-to-solve-tenant-farmers-problems

Friday, August 2, 2019


While the project claims that there will be zero liquid discharge, Babu Rao says this is “a myth”. “Why can’t these companies demonstrate their green technologies in the already polluted Bollaram, Jeedimetla and Patancheruvu industrial clusters in and around Hyderabad?” he asks.


https://thewire.in/rights/hyderabad-pharma-city-protest-watered-down-laws

Saturday, July 27, 2019

According to the 2011 Census, illiteracy at the national level is 27% while in Andhra Pradesh, it is 33%. Illiteracy among women in the state is 40%, while nationally it is 35%, as reiterated by finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy in the assembly. Andhra ranks 32nd in literacy among states.

https://thewire.in/education/andhra-pradesh-budget-amma-vodi-ysrcp-government
Andhra Pradesh (AP), which is no stranger to heatwaves, is suffering along with the rest of the country this summer season. The maximum temperature in the area has increased from 43.2 degrees Celsius to 44.8°C. The minimum temperature remained over 31°C and the usual 26°C as heat was trapped.


https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/natural-disasters/blazing-india-andhra-s-economy-suffers-due-to-heatwave-65382
The electoral outcome in Andhra Pradesh is set to become a watershed in moulding the course of national politics and is a 'Do or Die' battle for both Naidu and Opposition leader Jaganmohan Reddy. For Naidu, who is gearing up to hand the reins of Andhra Pradesh reign to his son, Nara Lokesh, in order to be able to play a bigger role in the national level if the opportunity arises, a strong showing in his own backyard is imperative.
 
https://www.firstpost.com/politics/andhra-pradesh-lok-sabha-elections-assembly-polls-high-stakes-brawl-ridden-battle-sees-ec-in-dock-for-malfunctioning-evms-6434001.html


Saturday, March 30, 2019

My work as freelance journalist


Having set lofty goals for his reign, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu released nine white papers on various issues to vouch for the progress made over the past five years. They set the ball rolling for political machinations in the state. The government’s rhetorical answer to its shortcomings has been that sans a capital city like Hyderabad, the state is revenue deficit. But the government’s budget has seen a steady growth of revenue.

https://thewire.in/education/andhra-pradesh-government-education


Though the majority of the population in Dharmavaram belongs to the weaver community, it has been practically unrepresented in the Legislative Assembly, barring Kasetti Srinivasulu, who won in 1952 as member of the Praja Party of Prakasam Panthulu (the first chief minister of AP) and Pallem Srinivasulu who won as an Independent.

https://www.firstpost.com/india/andhra-pradesh-political-parties-woo-dharmavaram-handloom-weavers-but-is-industry-beyond-point-of-no-return-6404411.html

The three other districts that fall under Rayalaseema — Kurnool, Chittoor and Kadapa — are also perennially drought-prone. But Anantapuramu is so severely affected that only Jaisalmer in Rajasthan is drier. In 2018, Anantapuramu recorded just 272.8 mm rainfall (the lowest in the last century), which is half the average (550 mm) it receives.


https://www.firstpost.com/india/anantapuramus-farmers-fume-as-irrigation-projects-fail-to-materialise-others-parts-of-andhra-pradesh-favoured-6395821.html
 
According to the horticulture department officials, the estimated yield this year is about 40 per cent less as a result of unseasonal rains. But more than the low produce, what’s worrying farmers is that pulp industries are not receptive in lifting stocks. (For more click below):


The State government, however, has reimbursed farmers Rs 2,885 crore in the last decade against a loss of Rs 30,290 crore on input costs, the peasants’ front estimated. Add to that the Rs 60,000 crore they would have received, selling the produce and the notional loss reaches Rs 1 lakh crore.( For more click below):


or

Since the worm can wreak havoc on around 80 crops especially cereals, researchers at Institute of Frontier Technology (IFT) associated with the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) in Tirupati are a worried lot. (For more click below):


In 1969, Mahalanobis estimated at 20 acres limit the country would have a surplus land of 6.30 crore acres. But the 7th plan estimated the extent of surplus lands at 72 lakh acres. The issue has been on government agenda from day one going by the public pronouncements but never acted upon, says S. Malla Reddy, vice president of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) affiliated to the CPI(Marxist). (For more click below):


The campaign for Telangana polls is literally in the air. A visit to the Sircilla constituency shows makeshift campaign vehicles of parties blaring out rehashed folk songs. A local reporter says that the original tunes were composed by the cultural wing of left-wing extremists, which drew the ire of the law enforcement agencies. They were “mainstreamed” in the wake of the statehood movement. (For more click below):

Tribal areas in the country have been theatres of conflict for decades now. At 10.4 crore, tribes account for 8.6 percent of the country’s population as per 2011 census. The forests they largely inhabit account for 25 percent of the land area. With the government owning 95 percent of the forests any policy made on them has a direct bearing on this vulnerable section. (For more click below):

The Telangana assembly passed the private Universities Bill on March 28, paving the way for private universities to set up shop. Teacher training institutes have not made any appointments. The supervisory officers on teachers is 90% short. In the light of these facts, the TRS government’s free KG to PG education remains a mirage. (For more click below):