July 7: The state government has finally ejected the scam-hit Maytas and the consortium it heads from the Hyderabad Metro Rail project. After extending the deadline for financial closure several times, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, on Tuesday directed officials to cancel the concession agreement signed with the Maytas-led consortium.

July 7: Garbage piled up at several places in the city as the strike by some garbage lifting workers of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) entered the second day on Tuesday. Over 1,000 metric tonnes of garbage remained uncleared on the second day of the strike. The talks between the lone striking union, Bhagyanagar Municipal Employees Union, and the GHMC was not conclusive.

July 7: Though the state government had plans to allot over 42,000 flats to the poor before the GHMC polls, the corporation has been able to complete only 17,000 flats. However, of the total 17,000 flats completed, almost 12,000 were allotted before the Assembly elections to beneficiaries mostly from Ranga Reddy district.

July 7: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday expressed its concern over the indiscriminate sanction of individual permits to carry sand from the Godavari river in East Godavari district.

G. Chandrashekhar

Anil AmbaniThe Anil Ambani-led Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) has appealed to the Supreme Court to restrain Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) from supplying natural gas up to 40 million metric standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) to any party other than itself.

July 4: Hyderabad continues to be greater only in name. Even two years after the formation of GHMC, the newly-added areas continue to suffer. The latest instance is the government

K.V. Kurmanath

Andhra Pradesh, one of the leading cotton growing States in the country, is expected to grow the crop on 11.80 lakh hectares 2009-10 as against Rs 13.98 lakh ha last year.

Despite a likely shortfall of two lakh ha, the State hopes to register production to the tune of 35.40 lakh bales as against 34.62 lakh bales last year.

July 1: Property buyers in rural areas can now breathe easy as the state government has decided to revise the rates of agricultural lands. The agricultural lands are currently classified into 56 categories to determine the property value by levying stamp duty. They will now be classified under two categories. The slab rates would also be slashed.