5th SEPTEMBER 2014

Vijayawada and the surrounding VGTM (Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali and Mangalagiri) region will be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. The city happens to be a vital road-railway junction, besides having air and port connectivity.

The Pollution Control Board in the district has sent samples of water in the Cauvery and Bhavani rivers following immersion of Lord Ganesha idols earlier this week in connection with the Chathurthi celebrations, to the National Green Tribunal.

Water level has been steadily increasing in Periyar dam. The level stood at 130.3 feet in the dam on Thursday. The inflow into the dam was 2,485 cusecs and the discharge 500 cusecs. The storage was 4,965 mcft. With comfortable storage in the dam, farmers in other parts of the district appealed to the government to release water in 18th Channel and PTR Channel for irrigation in single crop areas in Thevaram and Bodi blocks. The water to be released through 18th Channel will be stored in 44 irrigation tanks to irrigate rain-fed crops up to Meenakshipuram in Bodi block and to recharge groundwater table.

A Committee of the Assam Assembly has recommended to the Excise Department to legalise the sale of ethnic alcoholic beverages and bring them under licence system. The Standing Committee on Development Departments of the House has also sought a study to explore commercialisation of ethnic drinks.

The Corporation of Madurai has clamped a ban on use of particular varieties of plastic materials in the city limits with effect from September 11. According to Commissioner C. Kathiravan, plastics in any form manufactured in the thickness below 40 microns are banned. Be it a manufacturer or a wholesale merchant or an end user, the usage of banned plastics would attract fine and action as per law.

Ruling in favour of 25 children petitioners, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday declared that schools claiming minority status — religious or linguistic — could be exempted from filling 25 per cent of seats under the Right to Education (RTE) Act only if such institutions were certified as a “minority institution” by the authorities competent to grant such certificates

A $5.6-million bronze Dancing Shiva and a $300,000 stone Shiva idol will be handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by his Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott, on Friday. Both were stolen from Tamil Nadu and housed in Australian galleries

George Clooney is set to direct a film on the U.K. phone-hacking scandal. Inspired by the bookHack Attack by The Guardian journalist Nick Davies, the upcoming film will expose The News of the World ’s hacking into voicemail messages of elected officials, celebrities and ordinary British citizens. Clooney, 53, will also produce the film alongside Grant Heslov and Michael De Luca.

One Direction has earned a spot in the Guinness World Records 2015 book after their first three albums debut at number one on the standard-bearing American chart. The group’s Midnight Memories is their latest chart-topping LP. It debuted at number one on Billboard 200 following its release late last year. Previously, their first album Up All Night and their sophomore set Take Me Home also entered the same chart at the top slot.

The short film, Frozen Forever , will bring Elsa, Anna and Kristoff of the hit animated film Frozen back to the silver screen, Disney has said. It is set to premiere in Spring 2015. Frozen , a take-off on the Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen fairy tale,is the most successful animated movie of all time.

Danish toy maker Lego has taken the top spot as the world’s biggest maker of toys by sales, overtaking Barbie doll-maker Mattel, its first-half results showed on Thursday. Performance was boosted by the Lego Movie product line.

India recorded the highest number of suicides in Southeast Asia in 2012, says a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva on Thursday. The number of victims was 2,58,075 — 1,58,098 men and 99,977 women — that year. Globally, the number was 8,04,000.

The Union Home Ministry on Thursday sounded an alert across several States hours after al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri announced the formation of an Indian wing of his group to open a campaign in the subcontinent.


Infosys on Thursday said it had bagged a five-year contract from Europe’s second largest oil and gas company, BP. No financial details were provided. “The agreement, effective September 1, 2014, will provide IT services across BP’s operations, including corporate functions, upstream and downstream segments, energy trading and marketing

A new guide from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) offers case studies on how to make schools child-friendly and explores deterrents to school attendance. Child-friendly Schools and Systems , prepared in collaboration with the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, is a set of suggestions to schools in being child-friendly and secure and ensuring rights-based quality education for children.

Tara Balgopal, Veteran danseuse and teacher lives on charity. An accomplished Kathak, Kathakali and Bharatanatyam dancer, she has lost count of medals she has won. Presidents from S. Radhakrishnan to R. Venkataraman, and Prime Ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi have honoured her