Andhra Pradesh

Learning the hard way

It does not pay to be extremely straight forward sometimes. The head of an educational institution learnt it the hard way the other day. When the preliminary exam of APPSC Group – 1 were held in the twin cities, the service commission had allocated more number of students to a particular institution, than its capacity. When the students landed, the college head immediately arranged for chairs from a local supply company.

But the hitch was that money had to be paid to the supply company immediately and since the government was conducting the examination, it would certainly take time for payments to be made. The college head, however, turned out to be a very straight forward person. She held back the mobile phones of all the candidates who took the exam and insisted that the phones would be returned only after the payment of the extra chairs arranged was made.

It took sometime for the authorities and the police to convince the college head that Government money is not paid that immediately, the head relented and wanted to return all the mobile phones. But surprise was in store! Five or six candidates claimed that they did not get their mobiles back. They were lost. Though perplexed over the missing mobiles, the college head, a very straight forward person that she is, wrote out cheques for the value of the phones missing. It’s not known when the Government would pay the money, the candidates are sure to encash the cheques immediately.

The young man is the ruling party candidate for the Khairatabad constituency bypoll next month and he also has to keep his famous father’s legacy alive. P. Vishuvardhan Reddy, son of P.Janardhan Reddy, has his political task cut out for sure.

While planning for his own election work, Mr. Reddy also has to see that his father’s influence in other parts of the city continues. Hence, he was present when candidates were filing nominations for the Secunderabad Cantonment polls to the eight civilian wards to lend his support.

When he arrived at the Cantonment Office the other day accompanying a candidate, he unwittingly caused mirth all round. Even as press photographers and TV cameramen requested Mr. Reddy to strike a pose, the latter made a similar request to the Returning Officer (a lady) – “Aunty! Please lift your head!!” bringing the hall down in laughter. The RO could only protest mildly.

A handful of Hyderabadi’s witnessed some daredevil fire rescue demonstrations by the firemen of A.P. Fire Services Department which was held on the concluding day of Fire Service Week.

All the smoke and fire attracted a crowd at the venue. Interestingly, some of them thought that a real fire broke out and the firemen were on a rescue mission. While the modern fire-fighting equipment did enthral the crowd, some onlookers saw a few ca meramen and asked if the whole setup was part of a film shooting.

But this was not all. The firemen boarded a Snorkel, a hydraulic platform to show how they extinguish fires in multi-storied buildings. As they went up, they sprayed water on the road. Motorists were seen running for cover due to the unexpected ‘shower’, particularly on one side of the road which ended abruptly. All said and done, it was a spectacle that was worth a watch!

To have enough is good luck, to have more than enough is harmful. This is true of all things, but especially of money. The huge cash stashed away by the last Nizam in a London bank is giving sleepless nights to his progeny. The thought of laying hands on the money which has now grown to Rs. 300 crore surely has the royal family excited. Each day a new descendent is staking claim to the riches. In fact most of the royal family members were unaware of the treasure trove till reports about government’s plans to seek an out of court settlement with Pakistan came in.

The family members are speaking in different voices on the subject but they are unanimous about one thing – the money being the personal wealth of the Nizam. This is crucial for them to reap the riches. But so far none has come with clinching proof.

K. SRINIVAS REDDY,

V. GEETANATH,

ABHIJIT DEV KUMAR,

J.S. IFTHEKHAR

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