Telangana's COVID positivity rate continues to hover around 0.5%. On Thursday, Telangana recorded 44 new cases of which 31 were in Hyderabad. The total count of cases recorded so far in the state stands at 7,92,191. The death toll stands at 4,111 on Thursday. It is interesting to note that there were no COVID-19 death was recorded for over two months now.&nbsp;The recovery rate currently stands at 99.44% while the fatality rate stands at 0.51 percent. The state has tested around 3.5 crore samples. Some of the states in the country are registering a spike in the COVID cases but there is no significant spike in Telangana.&nbsp;The health ministry estimates that the fourth wave will have no impact because of large-scale antibodies and a huge population getting vaccinated with double vaccination. Health Minister, T Harish Rao here on Friday has reiterated the demand that the Centre has to provide free Covid booster doses for all eligible individuals in Telangana. There is a huge pile of vaccines available with the government which may get expired.&nbsp; &nbsp;

No COVID Deaths In The State Over Two Months

The city has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, and the drug menace has become a priority issue for the city police. The Cyberabad police are in plans to launch Anti-Drug Abuse committees. While similar committees have been launched in schools and colleges in the Madhapur zone, they now intend to launch them in the IT corridor in the city.The initiatives aim to reach out to the corporate offices and spread awareness among IT professionals regarding the ill effects of drugs. The approach is ‘awareness and strict enforcement to make workplaces drug-free.’The police share that work stress, peer pressure, and weekend parties have been luring techies or those working in software firms into taking narcotic substances. They add that marijuana and hashish oil are in demand when it comes to techies in the city.Now, with offices calling back staff and the slow return of employees, the police hope to identify drug peddlers and consumers with the help of office management. The whole purpose is to make sure that people don’t turn to drugs either for pleasure or to overcome sadness.Keeping the brand image of Hyderabad as an IT Hub, the Cyberabad police and Society for Cyberabad Security and Council (SCSC) have come up with this initiative. Just to go into figures, Hi-Tec city is home to around 1000 companies, big, small and medium. There are approximately 6.5 lakh people working in them.The committee for Cyberabad will comprise IT firms, police, SCSC office bearers, techies, and NGOs. The committees will be organizing awareness programs at companies and will highlight the impact of drug usage on family, personality, health, professional lives, and community in general. During such sessions, the legal angles of being drug abusers or drug peddlers will also be briefed.The task of forming committees is going on, and the Cyberabad police hope they will be operating soon.

Cyberabad Police Plans of Action to Stop Drug Abuse Among Techies

Randonneuring, in simple terms, is long-distance cycling, wherein riders bicycle for 200 km or more. Though the concept has existed in the city for some time, the locals are now warming up to the challenging idea. The city witnesses a 200 km randonneuring event on Saturdays to see around 250 participants.When the idea was first introduced, the number of participants was barely a trickle. However, thanks to developing a robust cycling ecosystem and increasing awareness towards a healthy lifestyle, the numbers have consistently increased. The randonneuring events are being conducted by Hyderabad Rondenneurs, known for its long-distance events.The rides are referred to as Brevets de Randonneurs Mondiaux (BRMs) or just brevets. So, anyone who finishes 200 km is a rondenneur. In a single season, those doing 200 BRMs, 300 BRMs, 400 BRMs, and 600 BRMs are called Super Randonneurs. According to one of the Hyderabad Rondenneurs, there are some who finish 1000 BRMs in a seasonAll care is taken before the riders are flagged off. They are given detailed cue sheets though some use smartphones. Since they are long rides, the riders will need power banks to charge mobiles, lights, and reflecting vests for nighttime. Though many eat rice during rides, most of them carry caffeinated energy bars, gels, and some chikki.However, the trick is to use road bikes as they have a better aerodynamic design and are light in weight. One is told not to use electric bikes. Also, the riders need to be prepared to troubleshoot problems on the way, like fixing punctures or dealing with breakdowns during the course.It is also important for the riders to fend for each other during rides and be alert to their surroundings. One of the female riders shares an incident wherein some people riding on a bike tried to pull her hand during a ride. However, she says she ended up being safe thanks to her fellow riders and insists one must stay in a group when going that extra mile.

Randonneuring Catches on Big Time With Hyderabadis

The impact of the cancellation of G.O. 111 on the Greater‌ Hyderabad Real estate sector has been huge. This has a major impact on Western Hyderabad, which has a long history of urban reality. The sales of luxury homes in these areas have been steadily declining. Customers are reluctant to make purchases on projects costing more than Rs 6,000 per square foot.&nbsp;Thinking that prices will go down, instead of buying flats in high-priced apartments, they want to buy individual houses and villas in 84 villages for the same price. As a result, sales at the High Rise and Luxury projects in West Hyderabad are falling. The revenue from registrations also fell sharply.Home purchases and launches are high in West Hyderabad due to IT and IT-based companies. The area accounts for 60 percent of city realty. In areas like Kukatpally, Madhapur, Kondapur, Gachibowli, Rayadurg, Kokapet, Gopanpally, and Nallagandla, residential complexes of about 10 crore square feet are under the construction. These are estimated to be around 50,000 units.Land prices were higher in Kollur, Tellapur, Nallagandla, Gopanpally, Nanakramguda, Narsingi, Kokapeta, Financial District, and Puppalaguda as they are not under G.O. 111. Last year GHMC approved 83 high-rise buildings in these areas. Of these, 13 skyscrapers are more than 30 stories high. Sales, however, have been on a downward spiral with the cancelation of G.O. 111.In the past, most of the construction companies in the Kokapet, Narsingi, and Puppalaguda areas were selling heavily pre-launch. Buyers used to invest heavily due to low prices. The buyers are now going around construction companies to cancel their Pre-launch agreements and refund their already paid amounts.

G.O. 111 Effect: Luxury Home Sales Decline

With the heatwave gripping the city, people in the city are going for small holidays to the farmhouses on the outskirts. Some companies are also holding meetings with staff in farmhouses. These farmhouses are away from the city and devoid of pollution. The greenery around these farmhouses, being away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and the peaceful atmosphere are attracting the people. Depending on the farmhouse and its facilities, operators charge between Rs 6,000 and Rs 15,000 per day, or more.&nbsp;Most of the farmhouses that were under two years old were closed due to the corona. These are currently being re-opened as demand increases. They are prepared to attract customers. Some people go with their family and enjoy two or three days there. Birthday parties and small functions are also being celebrated. Organizers say they mostly come for weekend parties and family outings. Some farmhouses are unavailable unless booked a week in advance.&nbsp;There are more than 3,000 farmhouses in the suburbs of Moinabad, Shamirpet, Shamshabad, Ghatkesar, Ibrahimpatnam, Shankarpalli, Yadadri, Bhavnagiri, and Hayat Nagar. Some of the self-built ones are leased, while others are leased from the owners. People who have leased these farmhouses during corona Time were out of business. Now the demand has increased again as conditions changed. Farmhouses are being leased and business is being restarted.

Farmhouses On Outskirts In High Demand

A CCTV camera visual of a young man lying bleeding on a road in Hyderabad with his face beaten to a pulp with an iron rod has gone viral on social media. This is said to be an honor killing and the man, a Hindu may have been killed by relatives of his Muslim wife. The couple married only three months ago and the wife is seen fighting off his attackers in the video.B Nagaraju and Syed Ashrin Sulthana had just left home on Wednesday evening on their bike. Two men blocked their way and attacked them with an iron rod. In a few seconds, Nagaraju is dead with his face becoming a bloodies mass.&nbsp; A crowd gathered but watched as the attackers kept beating Nagaraju who died on the spot.Nagaraju and Sulthana had married in January, at Arya Samaj in the old city of Hyderabad. Parents of both sides did not agree to the marriage. But the couple decided to go ahead since they had known each other since Class 10. Sulthana had changed her name to Pallavi after the wedding which even enraged her family.
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<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Sleuths of <a href="https://twitter.com/Saroornagarps?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Saroornagarps</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RachakondaCommissionerate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RachakondaCommissionerate</a> nabbed the 2-offenders within 24-hrs, who had brutally <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/murdered?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#murdered</a> the deceased Billipuram Nagaraju on 04-05-2022 with iron rod and knife at Panjala Anil kumar colony, saroornagar.<a href="https://twitter.com/TelanganaDGP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TelanganaDGP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TelanganaCOPs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TelanganaCOPs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hydcitypolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@hydcitypolice</a> <a href="https://t.co/0uURg1aumO">pic.twitter.com/0uURg1aumO</a>— Rachakonda Police (@RachakondaCop) <a href="https://twitter.com/RachakondaCop/status/1522204986268012544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2022</a></blockquote>

On CCTV: Hindu Man Killed For Marrying Muslim

Real Estate in Hyderabad is slowly picking up and is trying to get back to the Pre-COVID levels. RBI's decision to hike the repo rate means home loans and other loans are going to get costlier. RBI has hiked the repo rate by 0.40% — the first such hike in nearly four years. The repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks, which means the move will make borrowing expensive for banks.An increase in repo rate implies that banks will also increase their lending rates making the EMIs costlier. Cheaper Home Loans have prompted home buyers to enthusiastically make purchases that are no longer going to be the case in the future. For Instance, SBI now offers home loans at around 6.85 percent. It will now go up to 7.25%.For a loan amount of Rs 30 lakh and tenure of 20 years, the monthly EMI now is about Rs 22,990 per month. The total interest payable for 20 years will be about Rs 25,17,510 and the total payments made over the loan term will be Rs 55,17,510.At the new interest rate of 7.25 percent, the EMI will rise to Rs 23,711 per month, an increase of Rs 721 over the old EMI of Rs 22,990. The total interest outgo will be about Rs 26,90,707, higher by Rs 1,73,197 over the old rate. The total payment to be made will be Rs 56,90,707. Real estate is skeptical about this hike damaging the prospects in near future.

Home Loan Interests Hike To Impact Real Estate!

TPCC has released the full schedule of Rahul Gandhi's two-day visit to Telangana. According to it, Rahul Gandhi will arrive at Shamshabad Airport on May 6 at 4:50 pm on a special flight from Delhi. From there, Rahul will leave for Warangal by helicopter at 5:10 pm. At 6:05 pm, he will participate in a farmer's meeting organized at the Warangal Arts College ground.After the meeting, he will leave by road at 8 pm and reach Hyderabad at 10:40 pm. His overnight stay has been arranged at Banjara Hills Taj Krishna Hotel. The next day, May 7, he will depart from Hotel Taj Krishna at 12:30 pm and reach Sanjeevaiah Park at 12:50 pm. There, he will pay tributes to the late Congress leader and former Chief Minister Sanjeevaiah.He will leave Sanjeevaiah Park at 1:15 pm and reach Gandhi Bhavan at 1:30 pm. The Congress MP will attend the party's internal meetings at Gandhi Bhavan from 1:45 pm to 2:45 pm. Rahul will hold discussions with TPCC leaders on the state of politics in the state and the party situation.After the meeting, he will reach Shamshabad Airport by road from Gandhi Bhavan at 3 pm. He will arrive at the airport in the evening. A special flight will leave for Delhi at 5:50 pm. Rahul Gandhi was supposed to address students at OU arts college on this tour but Telangana High Court refused permission saying Universities can not be used for politics.

Rahul Gandhi's Telangana Tour Without Osmania Visit

A Farmer from Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh brought smiles to the faces of patients at a government hospital in Kondapur on Wednesday. He sent a consignment of 1,000 kgs of mangoes to patients and their families. He sent the consignment in nearly packed cartons to Malleshwar Rao Nemani, an IT professional, who is known for his ‘don’t waste food’ campaign.Malleshwar Rao says he neither knows the donor nor was contacted by him. The farmer asked him to distribute the mangoes to the poor and Malleshwar Rao decided to do that at the government area hospital at Kondapur.&nbsp;"There are many pregnant women n the hospital. So, I thought it is good to give them the mangoes," Malleshwar Rao said. The Banganapalle variety of mangoes are not leftovers nor are they damaged. All of them are in very good condition and can easily fetch 80 to 120 Rupees per Kg in the market. The fruits were distributed to 500 people in the hospital on Wednesday, much to the delight of the patients and their attendants.

Mango Surprise For Government Hospital Patients

Ahead of the monsoon season, GHMC is busy re-laying roads. But then, some agencies like the HMWS&amp;SB and private agencies are notoriously famous for digging up the freshly-laid roads for underground pipeline repairs and other reasons. The corporation had finally decided enough is enough and is going legal on such agencies.The corporation is in consultation with the government about this. The civic body, which has embarked on the Comprehensive Road Maintenance Project (CRMP), is re-topping 709.49 kilometers of roads in Hyderabad. However, the efforts are squandered by rampant road cuttings in bylanes of Baghlingampally, Tarnaka, Mettuguda, Himayatnagar, Secunderabad, Quthbullapur, King Koti, and Chikkadpally among others.The HMWS&amp;SB has also dug the main roads on Borabanda, Erragadda, Uppal, Nagole, and others and did not restore them. The agencies take permissions for small stretches and go for road-cuttings as per their whims and fancies. For an instance, permissions have been obtained this season only for 53.63 km of road cutting. But only HMWS&amp;SB officials however have dug up 150 km length of newly-laid roads in various parts of the city and have not re-topped them.

GHMC To Legal Over Agencies Destroying City Roads

Hyderabad seems to be catching up on the ‘e’ revolution pretty quick. Various initiatives are being taken up to use e-bikes, e-autos to reduce the last mile connectivity problems of citizens, and now <a href="https://www.halamobility.in/">Hala Mobility</a>, a start-up incubated at T-Hub under the lab32 project cohort 6, launched its user application on November 30, 2021.The app will be helpful for users to make their rides, get rentals, use charging stations, or do service bookings. The formal launch was done by the principal secretary to ITE &amp; C department, Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, and other prominent ecosystem leaders like Mahankali Srinivas Rao, CEO of T-Hub Hyderabad, Ajit Rangnekar, director-general of research and innovative circle of Hyderabad, among others.During the launch, Hala displayed its smart keyless app, and the first booking was made by Jayesh Ranjan. Later a demo was shown to those present to show how inter-campus commuting could be solved by electric bikes, which will, in turn, reduce pollution levels on campuses.Hala intends to launch the service by December for access for everyone at the IIIT-Hyderabad campus. The riders can avail of the benefit free of cost for the first three months. Their smart scooters hold smart batteries, and Hala will also set up a few charging stations within the campus.The tech start-up’s primary objective is to increase the adaptability rate of electronic vehicles. All scooters are equipped with Bluetooth connectivity and GPS making it easy to unlock the vehicle via mobile phone. The company is also using AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) to quickly approve the user by taking a selfie, aadhar card, and driving license.The home-grown start-up was facilitated by TSIC for the recent Dubai Expo 2021 &amp; TiE Sustainability Summit 2021. Hala Mobility intends to deploy 15000 scooters in the coming 12 months and will mark our presence in 6 cities, according to its CEO Srikanth Reddy.