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IAS officer touched the feet of CM KC Rao on the occasion of Father’s day

Telangana News

An Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer in Telangana has described chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao as a “father figure”. The officer-Venkatrama Reddy gave this statement as a way of clarification after he was seen touching Rao’s feet at an official function. This gesture from the officer at an official function on Sunday has triggered criticism from opposition parties. Reddy is the district collector in Siddipet.

Venkatrama Reddy said, “Before taking up my duties as the collector of Siddipet, I took blessings from the chief minister who is a father figure to me. There is nothing to talk about. I took his blessings on the auspicious occasion of Father’s Day.”

Also Read: Telangana government adds 17 new castes to the existing list of Other Backward Classes

K C Rao was in Siddipet to inaugurate a newly-constructed Collectorate building. At an event on Sunday, Reddy was seen touching the feet of Rao.

Reacting to the incident, Telangana Congress spokesperson Sravan Dasoju said that the officer should not have touched Rao’s feet. Dasoju added that IAS officers in the state had become “slaves and puppets”. In a manner of didactic statement directed at IAS officers, Congress spokesperson further said, “IAS officers in Telangana should not forget they are custodians of the Constitution. If the CM is like your father, you should have gone to his house to touch his feet. What message does this convey to the public?”

A leader in BJP also echoed the same sentiment (as the Congress leaders) towards the feet-touching incident. BJP spokesperson K Krishna Sagar Rao said, “If these IAS officers have such respect towards the chief minister, they should have touched his feet privately. Such acts deteriorate the integrity, independence and professionalism of IAS officers.”

BJP milked the opportunity to question Rao to slam his handling of the Covid-19 crisis in Telangana. On the issue of lockdown in Telangana, Krishna Sagar Rao commented, “On the one hand, the chief minister did not announce a lockdown until forced by the high court but on the other hand he lifted the lockdown restrictions in one go, thus putting its outcome to a complete waste.”

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Telangana government adds 17 new castes to the existing list of Other Backward Classes

17 new castes are set to be included in the list of Other Backward Classes-OBC as per the council of Telangana’s government. This decision was finalized by the State Cabinet in a meeting on Monday night, led by K Chandrasekhar Rao- the Chief Minister of the state.

A total of 112 castes are present in the OBC list of Telangana who enjoy 25% reservation for employment and education. They are categorized into 4 groups according to their backwardness, namely- A, B, C, and D. there is also another group E that constitutes the Muslims of the country who get a 4% reservation for education and employment.

These new classes are mostly nomadic and semi-nomadic people who have never been provided any reservations before. They fall under the category of the “Most Backward Classes (MBC)”.

The sociological conditions of the MBC group had been extensively studied by the Telangana OBC Commission for approximately 2 and a half years. After the study, 23 classes were finalized which upon further discussion were reduced to 17 classes to be included in the MBC category. In July 2019, the Commission had submitted its final report.

Out of the 17 new castes to be added in the OBC list, 13 of them are to be included in group A category, while 4 of them shall be added in group D.

Addapuvaru, Bhagavatula, Bail Kammara/Chigadi/Gadia Lohar, Eenuti/Yenati, Ganjikoti/Ganjikooti, Goud Jetti, Kaki Pagadala, Patamvaru,/Masailhlu, OAD/OD/ODD, Sonnail/Sonnayollu, Sri Kashitriya Ramajogi/Ramajogi, Dheracheerali/Telsuri/Telsoori and Tolubommalata Varu/Boppla.- are the 13 castes to be included in group A.

Aheer/Aheeryalu, Govili/Govill/Gouli, Kullakadigi/Kullikadigi/Chittem, and Taroollu/Soma Vamasa Kshatriya- are the 4 to be added in group D.

People belonging to these classes will enjoy benefits under the reservation system for the OBC.

Mohan Chowhan- the president of the MBC Welfare Association said “This is a historic decision. It will benefit as many as 9,839 families belonging to these 17 castes. We are deeply indebted to the Telangana government.” The statement was made by him after attending a meeting with KT Rama Rao- the Telangana IT Minister along with representatives of the 17 castes, on Tuesday.

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Meet Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash, 20-year-old who broke Shakuntala Devi’s record!

City-based 20-year-old math prodigy Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash Jonnalagadda, holding the fastest human calculator in the world record, has done the nation proud, winning the gold medal at the Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) in London.

Hailing from Hyderabad and a student of Mathematics (Hons.) at Delhi University’s St Stephen College, Neelakanta holds world records and 50 Limca records for being the fastest human calculator in the world.

Due to the worldwide pandemic situation, the Olympiad was held online on 15th August and 30 participants took part from 13 different countries like UK, UAE, and France. Bhanu took the lead by 65 points, ultimately winning Gold for India.

As the country celebrated its 74th Independence Day, Jonnalagadda, beat 29 competitors, up to 57 years of age, from 13 countries, to emerge the winner in the Mental Calculation World Championship20 at London on August 15.

Known as Bhanu, the maths prodigy said he holds four records for being the “fastest human calculator in the world”, having eclipsed records which were once held by highly acclaimed mathematicians.

“I hold 4 world records and 50 Limca records for being the fastest human calculator in the world. My brain calculates quicker than the speed of a calculator. Breaking these records, once held by Math maestros like Scott Flansburg and Shakuntala Devi, is a matter of national pride. I have done.

On his future plans, the youth, whose parents own a small scale food manufacturing enterprise, said he wanted to eradicate maths phobia prevalent among students, mainly in the rural and underprivileged communities.

He would like to create math labs, reach out to millions of children, under what he called VISION Math , to make them love math and arithmetic calculations.

Exploring Infinities, a start up run by him, is a math education partner of T-SAT the education channel of the Telangana government.