Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Doubtless, more sincere than thou!

Mayor Tadi Sakuntala convened a meeting to discuss the City Development Plan (CDP) just a couple of days before the ZP elections. The meeting had to be postponed for want of quorum. Congress, the CPI and the TDP corporators abstained from the meeting, saying they were assigned election campaign duties by their parties. CPI(M) corporators, who turned up in full strength, alleged that some Congress corporators "bunked the meeting though they were at the VMC office at that time. They stayed away because they wanted to avoid a discussion on the CDP."

The Congress corporators refuted the charge that they wanted to avoid a discussion on the CDP. They said they stayed away because they wanted all the corporators to be present for the discussion. The CPI(M) corporators behaved like overzealous students who attend class to impress the teachers even when a majority of the students were absent for genuine reasons, they said.

Members of the Krishna District Druggists and Chemists Association tested the patience of the local media on Sunday by inordinately delaying the meeting organised to mark the association's diamond jubilee celebrations. The meeting was behind schedule by two hours. To top it, there were too many speakers.

Sensing their mood, main guests of the day, R. Ranga Rao, Director of Drugs Control Administration, Andhra Pradesh, and secretary-general of the All-India Drug Control Officers' Confederation R. Uday Bhaskar, made it a point to speak very briefly.

Mr. Bhaskar pointed to the `crowded' dais and aptly remarked: "This is more like a Congress plenary session. Many have not come, and yet, many are seen on the dais." This was enough to bring a smile on the glum faces.

All roads lead to Rome. This adage came true during a presentation ASCI faculty member V. Srinivasa Chary made to corporators at the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation on Monday. In as much as Mr. Chary and Commissioner Natarajan Gulzar tried to take the discussion beyond the contentious water meters issue, corporators cutting across party lines kept referring to the touchy issue in a bid to get an assurance from the Commissioner that it would not be enforced. So much so, the issue cropped up during a press conference later too. A worried Mr. Chary urged reporters not to confine their report of the day to water meters.

When most people move to the happening city of Hyderabad, they have arrived in Vijayawada apparently to offer their courses to local students at their doorstep here. Russell's Institute of Spoken English opened its branch here, the first in the State outside Hyderabad. A man looking for opportunities, Russell's chairman M.S. Zaheer seemed excited at the vast scope for strengthening their network here. Nearly 40 engineering colleges in and around the city, a great many degree colleges and a good number of hard-working students - what more they ask for? But Mr. Zaheer's repeated words on the launch day were all praise for Vijayawada. "We can miss out on this city. It is in the fast lane of development," he added, reflecting the spirit of silver jubilee celebrations of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.

Guntur-I MLA Sheik Nambur Subhani loves to call himself `MLA of poor people' and never fails to mention their plight in every forum.

Recently he was invited as a guest at the inaugural of a garment store in Guntur city. After the ribbon-cutting, guests conveyed their best wishes to the owners. When it was Mr. Subhani's turn, he did not leave his pet topic. He advised the owners to `fix the prices of clothes to be within the reach of the poor'.

P. Sujatha Varma,

K. Srimali and

G. Ravikiran in Vijayawada and Jayaraj Manepalli

in Guntur

G. V. Ramana Rao, P. Sujatha Varma, K. Srimali and G. Ravikiran in Vijayawada and Jayaraj Manepal

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Doubtless, more sincere than thou!

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