Hyderabad (iCNS) — Southern india’s Andhra Pradesh state government has ordered a probe into the attack on four nuns of the Missionaries of Charity by a group of Hindu activists.
A crowd of Hindu activists belonging to the Hindu Dharma Parirakshana Samithi had on June 25 barged into a hospital in Tirupati, a Hindu pilgrimage town in Andhra Pradesh and attached the MC nuns.
Saying that the nuns were not treating patients, but trying to convert them, the Hindu activists forced the police to arrest the nuns on charges of proselytism and conversion of the sick.
But the nuns were released soon after Archbishop Marampudi Joji of Hyderabad took up the issue with Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy of Andhra Pradesh.
On Monday, Chief Minister Reddy ordered a detailed investigation to ascertain who were the Hindu activists that attacked the nuns.
Newspapers quoted a government official as saying that Chief Minister Reddy, a Christian, is pained by the attack on the MC nuns. “He wants to ensure that justice be meted out to the nuns, and their attackers are punished,” the official said.
According to reports, the Chief Minister has asked the district superintendent of police in Tirupati to enquire into the attacks on the nuns.
Meanwhile, Church officials said the four nuns had to the government-run hospital of Ruia, where they usually spend time with patients who are terminally ill with AiDS.
Soon a group of around 50 members of the Hindu Dharma Parirakshana Samithi, a self-styled group for the defense of the Hindu religion, broke into the hospital, detained the four sisters and accused them of trying to convert patients.
A crowd swelled rapidly and soon the police arrived and took the nuns into custody.
Archbishop Marampudi Joji of Hyderabad said the charges against the nuns are “baseless and cruel.” “Everyone in the world knows the great social and charitable services that the Mother Teresa sisters carry out for the poor. And to charge them that they are trying to convert patients in hospital is unjust,” Archbishop Joji told indian Catholic.
“Neither any religious congregation nor the Catholic Church in india is engaged in conversions,” he emphasized.
The Archbishop said the MC nuns have official government permission to visit the government hospitals, and this should not be construed as conversion.
“We have forgiven the aggressors of the nuns. But we want the government to bring out the truth as to who were behind the attack,” Archbishop Joji added.

Xenitis plans Rs 1,200-cr chip facility in Hyderabad
Xenitis infotech Limited, a Kolkata-based technology company, has announced plans to set up a semiconductor chip manufacturing facility with overall investment of Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) in FAB City coming up on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
A team led by Xenitis president and chief financial officer Ambar Mukherji called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy on Thursday and discussed plans for the proposed facility for making chips for mobile phones and wafers for personal computers.
The company has long-term relationships with Taiwanese and Chinese hardware manufacturers and the move to set up the manufacturing base for chips and wafers is a logical extension.
The project will be taken up in three phases of Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) each, which will be funded through debt and equity.
Xenitis is already in talks with financial institutions that have agreed to support the project.
The company is also seeking equity support from the central and state governments for the project. The chief minister assured all support from the state government, including 100 acres of land at Fab City, for the Xenitis project.
However, the Xenitis project is independent of Semindia, which is setting up the FAB City with an outlay of $3 billion. The first phase of the Xenitis plant will be completed in 36 months from financial closure.
Xenitis has an electronic components manufacturing unit in Kolkata, which makes 1,000 personal computers per day and employs 2,000 people. The company recorded a turnover of Rs 526 crore (Rs 5.26 billion) in 2005-06 and expects to post revenues of Rs 750 crore (Rs 7.5 billion) in 2006-07.

NCA may shift to Hyderabad
Hyderabad: in the battle of the cities, yet another round goes to Hyderabad. And this time, it is not iT, but cricket.
The Bangalore-based National Cricket Academy (NCA) is likely to move to Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi cricket stadium by March next year. 
Academy director Shivlal Yadav says the NCA needs an indoor cricket facility, which will be ready in the next four months at the Hyderabad stadium.
“We have a gymnasium, swimming pool, the rooms and the indoor stadium which will be exclusively reserved for them,” said Shivlal Yadav.
Though the official proposal will be submitted to the BCCi only in October, its choice as the host for the india ‘A’ camp shows that Hyderabad is warming up for its new role.
“if the facilities are available and the resources are here, why not? Every place has a role to play,” said Robin Singh, coach of the indian ‘A’ team.
Former cricketers also said it makes sense for the NCA’s 30-odd Gen-next indian cricketers to practise at Hyderabad’s new stadium, which is modelled on grounds in Australia and the Wanderers in South Africa.
“When NCA was formed in Bangalore, it did very well all these years. But now we have got so much space here, we can have more facilities inside,” said Venkatapathy Raju, former indian cricketer.
The Hyderabad Cricket Association, however, is not demanding that the NCA be permanently based in Hyderabad. it says it will be quite happy if it is moved out of here, say after five years, to any other city that has better cricketing facilities.
But for the moment, armed with the enhanced infrastructure grant of 10 crore rupees from the BCCi, Hyderabad is preparing to lay out a green top welcome to the NCA.

Outsource customer service provider ICT GROUP, Inc. has announced the opening of its newest facility in Hyderabad, India to handle increased demand for back-office business processing solutions and voice transaction support services from cost-effective, offshore locations.

“We are pleased to be opening our first facility in India, supported by the strong management, operations and sales staff we have put in place to support outsourced voice and back-office programs,” commented John J. Brennan, Chairman and CEO of ICT GROUP. “This expansion is consistent with our strategic development initiatives to continue building our global operations infrastructure and pursue additional growth opportunities with our existing and prospective customers.”

Initially equipped with 100 workstations, the Hyderabad facility will have the ability to expand to 300 workstations, based on projected client demand. The facility will provide voice and back-office business support services across a range of targeted applications for existing and prospective clients within the financial services, mortgage banking, healthcare and insurance industries in North America, Europe and Australia.

ICT GROUP will initially focus on providing high-value data capture and application processing services from its Hyderabad facility. The operation will also be technology-enabled to provide voice transaction support services.

Hyderabad is one of the largest cities in India, with a population of over 5 million. Located in South India, the city is recognized for its solid IT/telecommunications infrastructure, cost-effective, qualified resources and favorable retention rates. ICT GROUP’s facility is located in the Banjara Hills region of Hyderabad, an established business and residential district.

Ict group,headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania, is a leading global provider of customer management and business process outsourcing solutions. The company provides a comprehensive mix of customer care/retention, acquisition, up-selling/cross-selling, technical support, market research and database marketing as well as e-mail management, data entry/collections, claims processing and document management services, using its global network of onshore, near-shore and offshore operations.

Outsource customer service provider ICT GROUP, Inc. has announced the opening of its newest facility in Hyderabad, India to handle increased demand for back-office business processing solutions and voice transaction support services from cost-effective, offshore locations.

“We are pleased to be opening our first facility in India, supported by the strong management, operations and sales staff we have put in place to support outsourced voice and back-office programs,” commented John J. Brennan, Chairman and CEO of ICT GROUP. “This expansion is consistent with our strategic development initiatives to continue building our global operations infrastructure and pursue additional growth opportunities with our existing and prospective customers.”

Initially equipped with 100 workstations, the Hyderabad facility will have the ability to expand to 300 workstations, based on projected client demand. The facility will provide voice and back-office business support services across a range of targeted applications for existing and prospective clients within the financial services, mortgage banking, healthcare and insurance industries in North America, Europe and Australia.

ICT GROUP will initially focus on providing high-value data capture and application processing services from its Hyderabad facility. The operation will also be technology-enabled to provide voice transaction support services.

Hyderabad is one of the largest cities in India, with a population of over 5 million. Located in South India, the city is recognized for its solid IT/telecommunications infrastructure, cost-effective, qualified resources and favorable retention rates. ICT GROUP’s facility is located in the Banjara Hills region of Hyderabad, an established business and residential district.

Ict group,headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania, is a leading global provider of customer management and business process outsourcing solutions. The company provides a comprehensive mix of customer care/retention, acquisition, up-selling/cross-selling, technical support, market research and database marketing as well as e-mail management, data entry/collections, claims processing and document management services, using its global network of onshore, near-shore and offshore operations.

Ict group, also provides interactive voice response (IVR) and advanced speech recognition solutions as well as hosted CRM technologies, available for use by clients at their own in-house facility or on a co-sourced basis in conjunction with the company’s fully integrated contact center operations. also provides interactive voice response (IVR) and advanced speech recognition solutions as well as hosted CRM technologies, available for use by clients at their own in-house facility or on a co-sourced basis in conjunction with the company’s fully integrated contact center operations.

Bouyed by upsurge in demand, Jindal Steel plans to expand production capacity of its lifestyle brand, artd’inox.

The artd’inox range, which includes tableware, serving ware, gifts, home and office accessories, witnessed a whopping 400 per cent growth in the first three years of its debut in the market.

The company would infuse a fresh capital of Rs five crore in its Haryana plant to augment production capacity by nearly 200 per cent from the current level of 40,000 unit per year.

“We are investing Rs five crore to upgrade our current facilities in Haryana. This will help us to cater to future expanding demands,” Sugato Bose, head marketing, artd’inox said in a statement here today.

The company also plans to open around 25 exclusive stores in various parts of the country by the end of the current year including secondary cities like, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Kochi and Hyderabad.

The Andhra Pradesh government has proposed to include at least four to five lakh tenant farmers (landless) into the bank finance fold in the current year, 2006-07.

Addressing the state-level bankers committee (SLBC) meeting here on Monday, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, said that banks should increase their lending to farmers and self-help groups in a big way to reduce the importance of micro-financial institutions (MFI) who are exploiting the opportunity charging higher rates of interest from the urban and rural poor.

“The government has appointed a committee to go into the process of regulating the interest rates on the lines of Private Money Lenders Act, which is fixed at 12% as a higher limit,” Dr Reddy said. However, he requested the banks to come forward in a big way to replace MFIs in villages.

The chief minister has also asked the banks to revise their target of Rs 75 crore for lending to urban self-help groups. “The loan absorption level in the urban localities is much higher and accordingly the target should be revised,” he pointed out.

The government has asked the banks to identify one district in each of the regions to implement 100% financial inclusion as suggested by the RBI. Since the banks have already identified Srikakulam district in north coastal Andhra, the chief minister asked them to identify two more districts - one each in Rayalaseema and the Telangana regions.

The district will be provided with ‘no frills’ account and a ‘general purpose credit card’. Earlier, speaking at the meeting, the SLBC president and chairman and managing director of Andhra Bank K Ramakrishnan said that the total credit outlay for the year 2006-07 is fixed at Rs 37,000 crore as against Rs 28,899 crore last year. While agriculture lending has increased by 29% at Rs 4,590 crore over the previous year, the banks have decided to prepare a special credit plan to the SME sector with a disbursement proposal of Rs 13,000 crore.

Besides, the bankers committee has decided to give thrust to various state government schemes including AP Micro Irrigation Project, Rajeev Yuva Shakti, Rajeev Gruha Kalpa, Rythu Mitra Groups, Ravjiv Internet and financing bio-diesel plantations.

Mr Ramakrishnan said that the banks have proposed to disburse an amount of Rs 3,000 crore to women self help groups benefiting about 50 lakh members.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has asked bankers not to encourage micro finance institutions (MFIs) “as they are charging astronomical interest rates.”

Addressing the state-level bankers committee (SLBC) meeting here on Monday, the Chief Minister said some of the founders of MFIs were leading a luxurious life at the cost of the poor. He, however, said those who have taken loans from the MFIs should be persuaded to pay back at least at reduced interest rates.

The Chief Minister also wanted the committee, set up to examine the activities of MFIs in the state, to submit its report as soon as possible.

Launching the State Credit Plan 2006-07 earlier, he asked the SLBC members to disburse agricultural loans without any delay as monsoons were expected to be good even this year.

The Chief Minister agreed to the request made by Andhra Bank chairman and managing director K Ramakrishnan for setting up a state-level training institute for the members of self-help groups (SHGs) for capacity building.

In his welcome address, Ramakrishnan suggested setting up of the institute with an initial investment of Rs 5 crore. He wanted the state government and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to bear 25% of the cost each, while the remaining 50% could be borne by five lead banks in the state - State Bank of India, State Bank of Hyderabad, Andhra Bank, Syndicate Bank and Indian Bank.

Ramakrishnan also wanted the state government to allot 25 acres of land to the institute around Hyderabad free of cost. The Chief Minister agreed to the proposal.

With the growing popularity of yoga, the ancient form of meditation, in across the country, the jail authorities in Hyderabad have also decided to train their inmates in Yoga to confront stress while serving jail terms.

Prison Smart, the yoga programme aimed at stress management and rehabilitation training of the prisoners has been introduced in the Central Prison of Cheralapalli, located at the outskirts of Hyderabad.

It is hoped that “Prison Smar” programme would help the prisoners to come out of the mental pressure and adopt new life style of living.

According to Director General of Prison of the State, R. P. Singh, the programme has showcased some positive results and it will be introduced in the prisons all over the state.

“This course is interesting and absorbing that a person forgets all his worry. The prisoners forget the pain of living in jail and other mental pressures that are undergoing already. Yoga also helps them to regain their health, ” Singh said.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of ‘Art of Living’ programme, has formed the programme, especially designed for the prison inmates. It aims at prisoners’ stress management and rehabilitation and training programme.

“Prison Smart, this is a prisoners stress management, rehabilitation and training programme. This has been formed by Sri Sri Ravi Sankarji. He has asked us to go to every prison to teach these techniques. It is a tailored made programme for the prisoners where their stress is eliminated,” said Santosh, a yoga instructor.

Meanwhile, the prisoners are also happy with this programme, they say that it helps them to get rid of their mental stress. Some also say that it cured some of their physical ailments as well.

“This is a very good programme, most of our bad habits have gone because of these classes. We trust this programme to help us get rid of all our bad habits, “said P. Ananda Rao, a prisoner.

“I had some problems in my legs and hands that have vanished because of this yoga classes. I have no tensions now, therefore, I have vowed to do yoga for fifteen to twenty minutes daily, “said Kulasaved, an inmate.

Most of the prisoners want to continue with the yoga regularly as it has helped them a lot. So far, 75 inmates have got benefited by this programme. But the Director General of Prison informed all of 1,700 prisoners would be given this yoga training.

Hundreds of Hindus and Christians marched on Monday in support of two Islamist charities labelled ‘terrorist organisations’ by the United States.

The US State Department said this month that Jamaatud-Dawa and its affiliate, Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq, were fronts for Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of the most feared militant groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.

Holding placards and banners, up to 800 Hindus and Christians drawn from different parts of Sindh paraded on the roads of Hyderabad, calling the US decision “cruel”.

“Helping mankind is not terrorism,” read one of the placards. The protesters also urged Pakistan not to comply with the US decision. “If the government of Pakistan takes any action against Jamaatud-Dawa and Idara-e-Khidmat-e-Khalq, then the minority community will be compelled to march towards Islamabad,” the resolution said.

Jamaat ud-Dawa has been prominent in providing relief in the earthquake-devastated areas of northern Pakistan. The charity is also involved in welfare activities in the rural areas of Sindh where most of Pakistan’s tiny Hindu community lives.

Pakistan banned Lashkar-e-Taiba in 2002 and put Jamaat-ud-Dawa on its watchlist of terrorist organisations. Reuters

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has decided to continue its aggressive stance against the UPA government on controversial issue like oil price hike and foreign policy, the party general secretary, AB Bardhan, said here on Monday.

Terming the issue like nuclear agreement and country’s foreign policy against Iran and Iraq as ‘unilateral decisions’ taken by the UPA government, Mr Bardhan said that party has expressed its disagreement on these contentious issues.

“We will continue to record our protest and dissent against the government for its unilateral decisions in this regard violating the CMP (Common Minimum Programme)” he said.

However, he clarified that this aggressive approach need not be understood as dislodging the UPA government at the Centre. Opposing the uniform minimum wage policy of the government, Mr Bardhan said that the Centre should not impose uniform minimum wages as each state is implementing an independent wage rates policy.

Mr Bardhan suggested that the ongoing Parliament session should take up a bill for protecting the tribal community besides conservation of forests. “Protection of tribal rights and providing sustained livelihood to the tribal community must be the priority of the governments,” he felt.

On the recent Assembly elections, the CPI leader said that his party has opened its account in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and North East, besides improving its strength in West Bengal.

On the separate statehood to Telangana, Mr Bardhan said that his party had already forwarded their stand in writing to the committee headed by Pranab Mukherji.