Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation

Andhra Pradesh State which was combined state until 31st May, 2014 was bifurcated into two smaller states - Telengana and Andhra Pradesh.   The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014 bill was passed in Parliament in February, 2014 for formation of Andhra Pradesh ( with 13 districts ) and Telengana ( with 10 districts ) with effect from 2nd June, 2014.  Hyderabad is going to be the common capital for both the states for 10 years.

Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India, situated on the country's southeastern coast. The Andhra Pradesh is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 160,205 km2 (61,855 sq mi).  According to 2011 census, the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. The state borders Telangana in the northwest, Chhattisgarh in the North, Odisha in the northeast, Karnataka in the west, Tamil Nadu in the south and the water body of Bay of Bengal in the east. A small enclave of 30 km2 (12 sq mi) of Yanam, a district of Pondicherry, lies in the Godavari delta to the northeast of the state.

Andhra Pradesh has the second longest coast line of 972 Km in India.  This is second to Gujarat as far as coast line is concerned.   Andhra Pradesh comprises of two regions - The coastal andhra and the Rayala Seema.  So the news media often refers this state as Seemandhra.   There are 13 districts in Andhra Pradesh ( 9 in coastal andhra and 4 in Rayala Seema areas ).  Vishakapatnam is the largest city in Andhra Pradesh and also the commercial hub of the state with a GDP of $26 billion followed by Vijayawada with a GDP of $3 billions.  Some of the other commercial hubs in Andhra Pradesh include - Kurnool, Tirupathi, Guntur, Kakinada, Rajahmundry.  At present ( 25th August, 2014 ) Vijayawada is the Ad Hoc capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Geography of Andhra Pradesh

The geography of Andhra is bestowed with two mightly river systems of Krishna and Godavari.  The Andhra Pradesh state has a variety of physio-geographic features ranging from Eastern Ghats, Nallamala forest, Coastal plains to deltas of two major rivers - Krishna and Godavari.
Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of Rice in India so it is nick named as Rice bowl of India. The official language of Andhra Pradesh is Telugu.  The state has various piligrimage destinations like Tirumala temple.  The India's space port - Satish Dhawan Space Center is located at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh

 The Eastern Ghats are discontinuous and individual sections have local names. The Eastern Ghats are a major dividing line in the state's geography. The Kadapa Basin formed by two arching branches of the Eastern Ghats is a mineral-rich area. The Ghats become more pronounced towards the south and extreme north of the coast. Most of the coastal plains are put to intense agricultural use. The Rayalaseema region has semi-arid conditions.

The state of Andhra Pradesh will be bifurcated into two states, named as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 bill was passed in February 2014, in favour of the formation of the state of Telangana, which would comprise of 10 districts from north-western Andhra Pradesh. The new state shall come into existence from 2 June 2014 as the 29th state of India, after the President of India's approval. Both the states would have Hyderabad as its capital for ten years. 

After the formation, Telangana would have 17 Lok Sabha and 119 assembly constituencies. The elections for the Lok Sabha and assembly seats took place in 2014. Andhra Pradesh will send 42 members to the Lok Sabha. 

History of Andhra Pradesh

Centuries ago, Andhra Pradesh was a major Buddhist centre and part of Emperor Ashoka's sprawling kingdom. Not surprisingly, traces of early Buddhist influence are still visible in several places in and around the state. After the death of Emperor Ashoka, the Satavahanas established their kingdom in this region. During the 7th century, the Chalukyas held sway over Andhra Pradesh until the 10th century, when the Cholas seized power. In the 14th century, Muslim power reached this southern state and for centuries ruled over this princely state, and finally was taken over by a General of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1713. 

RBI planning to introduce plastic currency

There is a news that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to introduce plastic currency notes next year on a pilot basis and improve security features to defeat the efforts of counterfeiters. It also aims to set up a national bill payments system that could eliminate middlemen and bring in efficiencies.

There is a news that tender bids have come for 1 billion notes.   And pilot testing would be done in five cities including Shimla.   Based on pilot testing, the currency will be introduced in 2015. 

This is a news published in the Economic Times news paper.   Read the full article.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes thin delegation on foreign trips to cut costs

It's not just the media contingent that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has avoided on his foreign tours. Modi has been keeping his own delegation thin as well, dropping officials and ministerial colleagues from the trips.

A delegation of 42 accompanied Modi to Nepal on August 3-4, according to information available with ET. The team comprised top officials, personal secretaries, attendants and security officials. The delegation for his four-day visit to Japan beginning Augu .. 
beginning August 31 is also expected to be of similar size, but is likely to include a minister as key deals are expected to be signed during that visit, government sources told ET.


Modi's predecessor, Manmohan Singh, often carried teams that had about 70 members, excluding the media party, on trips that were for two days. "The trimmer delegation is in keeping with the PM's direction for cutting costs given the condition of the Indian economy," an official well versed with the mater said.

Singh, on his last trip as PM to Myanmar for the BIMSTEC Summit on March 3-4, took an official delegation and accompanying delegations comprising several officials from the Prime Minister's Office, secretaries, spokesperson, Press Information Bureau officers and a host of private secretaries, personal physicians and two cooks, government source said. Singh who had heart ailments avoided outside food on many .. 

Telengana - 29th State of India formed on 2nd June, 2014

The 29th state of India was formed on 2nd June 2014 after Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh state into two states - Telengana and Andhra Pradesh.

The Congress Working Committee unanimously passed a resolution on 30th July, 2013 to recommend the formation of a separate state of Telengana by bifurcating the state of Andhra Pradesh.  After various stages the bill was passed in the Indian parliament in February, 2014. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014 bill was passed by the Parliament of India for formation of the 29th state of India - Telengana state.  The bill received the assent of the President of India and published in the Gazette on 1st March, 2014.

Sri K.Chandra Sekhar Rao was elected as the first Chief Minister of Telengana State and sworn in as Chief Minister on 2nd June, 2014.  Hyderabad will remain the joint capital city for both Telengana and Andhra Pradesh States for a period of 10 years.

The Telengana state has an area of 114,840 Sq. Kilometers and is the 12th largest state of India.  The state has a population of 3,52,86,757 as per 2011 census.