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The Hindu
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Telangana Deputy CM lays foundation stone for ₹600-crore. Jawahar Lift Irrigation Scheme in Khammam district
Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has urged Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to immediately stop the diversion of 11 tmc ft of water a day through the Pothireddypadu lift system from the upper part of Srisailam reservoir. If 11 tmc ft of water is diverted daily, farmers of the erstwhile Nalgonda and Khammam districts in Telangana will suffer severe losses and the Srisailam Project will be emptied in just 25 days, he pointed out. was addressing a public meeting after laying the foundation stone for the Jawahar Lift Irrigation Scheme at an estimated cost of around ₹600 crore at Vangaveedu village in Madhira mandal of Khammam district on Sunday. Ministers N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Vakiti Srihari and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy were present. Unequivocally opposing Andhra Pradesh government's proposed Banakacherla project, he expressed his gratitude to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy for standing firm on ensuring that the Banakacherla and the Srisailam lift operations are halted. He alleged that the then BJP government at the Centre in connivance with the previous Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in the State secretly brought in an ordinance in 2014, handing over two lakh acres belonging to tribals in Bhadrachalam division to the Polavaram project. He said the A.P. Chief Minister should reduce the height of Polavaram dam to save those two lakh acres from submergence. He said farmers in the tail-end areas of Madhira constituency suffered immensely as water from the third zone had to first go into Andhra territory before coming back to them, something practically impossible. The TRS during its 10-year rule neglected this problem despite multiple reminders, he charged. It is only after the Congress government came to power that the Irrigation minister shifted the villages in Madhira constituency into the Nagarjunasagar Project second zone and sanctioned ₹600-crore Jawahar Lift Irrigation Scheme to irrigate 30,000 acres, he said thanking Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy for his pro-farmer initiative. Speedy completion Mr. Vikramarka inspected the Sammakka Sarakka barrage and the off-take point of the Devadula Project in Kannaigudem mandal of Mulugu district on Sunday evening. He, along with Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy, held a review meeting with the project officials at the site. He said land acquisition costs and other outstanding bills of the J Chokka Rao Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme (JCRDLIS) totalling around ₹100 crore will be released in a phased manner to ensure its speedy completion. Revised project cost Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy said the revised project cost is ₹18,500 crore, of which ₹14,168 crore had been spent. An additional ₹4,331 crore was urgently required to clear contractor dues, complete delivery main encasement works and finish pending land acquisition. Once completed, the JCRDLIS would stabilise existing ayacut, provide drinking water to rural habitations, improve crop yields and reduce migration from water-scarce areas. He has also asked the officials concerned to expedite the pending land acquisition process to complete the project works in all respects.
Medscape
3 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Clozapine Shows Better Results in Schizoaffective Disorder
TOPLINE: A real-world trial showed that in adults with dual psychosis, clozapine was effective in alleviating psychotic and affective symptoms, with better outcomes being observed in schizoaffective disorder (SZD) than in treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). METHODOLOGY: Researchers conducted a prospective, pragmatic clinical trial from 2021 to 2024 in Spain and included 127 participants with refractory psychosis (mean age, 38.5 years; 74.8% men). Participants were divided into three arms: those with TRS receiving clozapine (TRS-clozapine; n = 43), those with TRS receiving optimised standard antipsychotics (TRS-control; n = 42), and those with SZD receiving clozapine (SZD-clozapine; n = 42; non-randomised due to low prevalence). Monthly assessments over 3 months included the use of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS), Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale, and Udvalg für Kliniske Undersogelser (UKU) scale. Researchers evaluated the efficacy of clozapine in patients with TRS, the effect of clozapine on real-world SZD psychotic and affective symptoms, and the response and tolerability to clozapine in patients with TRS vs SZD. TAKEAWAY: Compared with the TRS-control group, the TRS-clozapine group had greater 3-month reductions in PANSS positive, negative, and total (P/N/T) scores (P < .001 for all) and CDSS (P < .001), CGI (P < .001), and MADRS (P = .003) scores, whereas the SZD-clozapine group showed rapid, significant improvements in psychotic scale scores (PANSS-P, P = .027; PANSS-N, P = .002; and PANSS-T, P = .005) and YMRS, MADRS, and CDSS scores (P < .001 for all) from month 1 to month 3. The SZD-clozapine group showed greater reductions in the following scores than the TRS‐clozapine group at 3 months: PANSS-P (-23.4 vs -19.3), PANSS-T (-68.7 vs -63.0), YMRS (-15.3 vs -4.9), MADRS (-8.4 vs -6.0), and CDSS (-5.4 vs -4.1). Patients receiving clozapine reported better subjective treatment perception (P < .01) and required fewer adjunct antipsychotics and sedatives, and clozapine emerged as the sole independent predictor of superior symptom and substance use outcomes. Clozapine was well tolerated in both groups, with no serious treatment-related adverse events. Mild drowsiness or asthenia was observed, which was managed by lowering co-medication doses. UKU side effect scores also reduced from month 2 onwards. IN PRACTICE: "[The study] findings have direct clinical implications, reinforcing the evidence supporting the use of CLZ [clozapine] in dual psychosis and expanding therapeutic options for SZD," the authors wrote. "Moving forward, efforts to improve clozapine use should focus on enhancing clinician education, standardising knowledge sources and promoting best practices in its management. Additionally, the development of well-designed long-term studies will be essential," they added. SOURCE: This study was led by Marc Peraire, Consorci Hospitalari Provincial de Castelló, Castellón de la Plana, Spain. It was published online on August 1 in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by incomplete patient histories and the absence of antisuicidal efficacy measures. Additional constraints were the lack of comparison between dual-disorder and pure psychosis cohorts, unstable diagnostic labels, gender imbalance, a single-site design, potential overfitting in regression models, and a relatively short follow-up period. DISCLOSURES: This study received financial support from the Research Foundation of the Provincial Hospital of Castellón. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
Scotsman
5 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Trump, taxes and takeovers: Aberdeen's OEG navigates its way to $1 billion sales goal
'Anything that increases costs and complexity - tariffs and taxes - can put you off investing' – John Heiton, CEO Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... OEG Energy Group, the Aberdeen-headquartered offshore services provider employing 1,500 people globally, remains on the growth trail with further acquisitions set to boost its burgeoning renewables business as it charts a course to $1bn (£750 million) of annual group revenues. Chief executive John Heiton said the 30 per cent growth seen last year was likely to be repeated this year despite volatile trading conditions on both sides of the Atlantic, US tariffs and higher taxes, with April's hike in UK employers' national insurance contributions adding a £1 million burden overnight. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The company, which has roots stretching back more than 50 years, is also having to balance the demands of a pro-oil Trump administration that is pulling back on green investment, with a Westminster government that plays up renewable energy but is 'not so supportive' of offshore oil and gas. OEG's chief executive John Heiton. Heiton, a local to the Aberdeenshire area, who joined OEG in 2008, was speaking just a fortnight after the group sealed its first acquisition since being bought by US funds heavyweight Apollo in March. The takeover of Trinity Rental Services (TRS) - for an undisclosed sum - marks a 'strategic expansion' of OEG's US footprint and capabilities. Founded in 2013, Louisiana-based TRS has grown through acquisition and investment to become a key provider in oil and gas offshore container rentals in the Gulf of America. Its workforce of around 80 skilled employees now becomes part of OEG. 'We expect it to be quite a smooth integration,' said Heiton. 'It was a direct competitor so we expect the integration to happen pretty quickly. There are some common customers. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We won a major new contract in the US and that led to a drive for more equipment and one way to fulfil that was to buy a competitor. Also, we admired Trinity for a long time and had talked about acquisitions with them for five or six years. This was the right time for them to do a deal.' Part of the business specialises in the supply of containers to the global oil and gas industry. OEG's predecessor companies - Ferguson Seacabs, Containental and Vertec Engineering - were among the pioneers in the supply of equipment to the North Sea oil and gas industry, but the group now derives about 55 per cent of its business from renewables work. That split is expected to remain about the same this year, even with the Trinity deal. During 2023, the group launched OEG Renewables in a move that brought all subsea, topside, cable handling and marine specialist services under one roof to service both the construction and operational phases for offshore wind farms on a global basis. Heiton said the TRS deal, though a milestone one, did not mark a change in the group's strategy. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'If we do one or two acquisitions in containers over five years and probably do ten-plus in renewables, that is the weighting we expect to see in the business,' he noted. OEG's renewables business helps with the construction and operational phases for offshore wind farms on a global basis. Buying a US-domiciled business like TRS puts the group in an advantageous position with regards to tariffs, though the wider business has suffered some fallout amid President Trump's see-sawing trade levies. 'They have caused some delays and issues in terms of our US business and led to a general slowdown in the world economy,' Heiton cautioned. 'That then drives a slowdown in demand for energy. Anything that increases costs and complexity - tariffs and taxes - can put you off investing.' The group's fast-growing renewables business recently won a multi-million-pound contract to support the construction phase of the vast Inch Cape offshore wind farm, which is due to be operational in 2027. Once completed, the development - some ten miles off the Angus coast - will feature 72 giant wind turbines and an onshore substation, generating sufficient clean energy to power the equivalent of more than half the homes in Scotland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Under the terms of the contract, OEG will supply a package of specialist services including marine coordination, high voltage and ancillary port services. These will all be delivered from the company's new flagship facility in Edinburgh, which is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art technology for round-the-clock monitoring of operations. OEG will also operate up to ten vessels to help support the ambitious project. Heiton said the contract award reinforced the group's position as a key partner in the offshore renewables industry. And, despite the Trump administration blowing cold on wind, the US is likely to be OEG's second largest market this year for renewables, behind the UK. 'These were projects signed off in the Biden era that are in the construction phase,' noted Heiton. 'But in three or four years time that business will probably fall to almost zero as there are no projects coming through. However, we are in pretty much every major offshore energy market.' Headquarters Last year saw the group move into a new global headquarters at the ABZ Business Park in Dyce. The office can accommodate up to 100 personnel across three floors and supplements a number of operational bases in the Aberdeen area. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Some 250 out of the 1,500 people employed by the group globally work out of the North-east and while Heiton said the firm was proud of its Scottish roots, the UK now accounted for just 10 to 15 per cent of its business.
Hans India
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Massive Protest Erupts in Bingidoddi Jogulamba Gadwal: Seed Cotton Farmers Demand Justice Amid Exploitation by Companies and Organizers
Gadwal: In a powerful display of unity and resistance, thousands of seed cotton farmers staged a five-hour-long road blockade (Rasta Roko) in Bingidoddi village of Aiza Mandal today, demanding justice from seed companies and organizers who they allege have subjected them to decades of exploitation. The protest, which began at 7:00 AM and lasted until 12:30 PM, brought all vehicular movement to a standstill, severely affecting students and commuters during peak hours. Farmers' Anguish and Outrage: The protesting farmers, many of whom leased lands and invested heavily in labor, fertilizers, and pesticides, claim they have already spent up to ₹90,000 to 100000 per acre. However, seed companies and their organizers are now allegedly pressuring them to either limit their supply to just 200 packets or uproot the crop entirely, despite the crop nearing harvest. Speaking in support, former BJP district president S. Ramachandra Reddy condemned the move by companies, calling it "inhuman and unjust." He asserted, 'For over 35 years, these companies and organizers have earned massive profits. Now, when farmers have reached the harvesting stage, forcing them to destroy their crops is nothing short of exploitation. The BJP stands firmly with farmers and will fight until every unit of produce is purchased.' Cross-party Solidarity: In a rare show of bipartisan support, TRS (BRS) state leader Nagardoddi Venkat Ramulu also joined the protest, highlighting that organizers are coercing farmers to destroy the (Sterile) cotton variety, even after providing them foundation seed and allowing the crop to mature. He stated, 'Farmers have invested over ₹1 lakh per acre, and now companies are refusing to buy beyond 2 quintals per acre. Who will compensate the massive losses?' Ramulu warned that if the companies don't agree to purchase the full yield or offer at least ₹1 lakh per acre in compensation, farmers will launch an even stronger agitation. Kuruva Pallayya of BRSV Demands Justice: BRSV state leader and district coordinator Kuruva Pallayya joined the protest and fiercely criticized the government and companies. He said, 'For 40 years, farmers in the Nadigadda region have been victims of middlemen, who exploit them with no binding agreements. Now, they're refusing to buy the yield despite an expected output of 6 quintals per acre. This is a cruel betrayal.' He accused the Congress government of failing the farmers, stating, 'Just a month ago, they promised justice at the Rythu Commission, but now they are letting farmers drown in debt.' NADI GADDA Rights Committee Chairman Lashes Out at Land Grab Scams: Nadigadda Farmers' Rights Committee Chairman Gangalla Ranjith Kumar made explosive claims, accusing seed organizers of manipulating seed test results by labeling passed seeds as "failed" and thereby forcibly taking over farmers' lands. 'They've transferred farmlands into the names of their wives and relatives through fraudulent registrations,' he said. Organizers Under Fire: During the protest, farmers attempted to contact local seed organizer Nageshwar Reddy, who claimed to be in Hyderabad negotiating with the company. He referred them to Seedmen committee president Thimmareddy, who allegedly switched off his phone, despite previously assuring in a press release that the company would purchase all farmers' produce. Farmers are now demanding criminal charges under the PD Act against organizers and companies that caused such widespread losses and distress. Administration Steps In: Following tense discussions, DSP Mogulaiah and MRO Jyothi promised that seed company owners and organizers would attend a crucial meeting at the District Collector's office tomorrow to find a positive resolution. Based on this assurance, farmers agreed to call off the protest. Final Warning from Farmers and Leaders: All leaders—from BJP's Ramachandra Reddy to BRSV's Kuruva Pallayya—warned that if the government fails to resolve the issue by compelling companies to purchase the entire yield or provide compensation, they would escalate the agitation to district and state levels. > "We will stand with farmers to the very end. Either buy the entire crop or prepare for a war of justice," thundered the protestors. The protest at Bingidoddi marks a turning point in the growing unrest among Telangana's seed cotton farmers. With heavy political backing and public sympathy, the demands are clear—fair compensation, full procurement, and an end to the exploitation of farmers by powerful seed companies and middlemen. All eyes are now on tomorrow's meeting at the District Collector's office, which could determine whether this movement grows into a full-fledged farmers' uprising.
Hans India
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
BRS' car steers into trouble, again; SEC urged to junk look-alike symbols
Hyderabad: BRS leaders on Tuesday urged the State Election Commission to not to allow symbols such as 'Chapati Roller', camera and ship, which are identical to the party's car symbol in the ensuing local body elections. The party leaders said that the identical symbols dented the prospects of candidates of the party in 2023 Assembly elections. The BRS leaders pointed out that rectangular body of the camera further mimics the basic shape of the car's front fascia and the flash bulge in front resembles the windshield or roof structure of a vehicle. Especially for voters who rely more on form recognition than object differentiation such as the elderly, rural, or visually impaired, the Camera symbol has been misidentified as a stylized or minimal version of a car. Further in case of the Chapati Roller, in the absence of detailed contours or contextual cues, this configuration was easily mistaken for a simplified car drawing, particularly one rendered from the frontal view. BRS senior leader B Vinod Kumar said that the ambiguity increases when one considers that a large segment of the electorate may not recognize a Chapati roller as a domestic utensil, but may instead project onto it their familiarity with wheeled objects like cars or carts. In case of the ship, the portholes could be easily misread as headlights, while the central structure might be confused with a car's bonnet and windshield. The BRS leader said that the opponents of BRS had taken advantage of such identical symbols, which were available in the list of free symbols to confuse the voters in choosing and recognizing the BRS' car symbol on the ballot papers. Often, the candidates who have contested elections on these identical symbols got votes more than the recognized national political parties. A look at these symbols with the size in which they are displayed on ballot papers / EVM machines clearly show the identicalness of these free symbols to the 'car', the symbol of the BRS party. Thus, it can be clearly understood as to how candidates had been cutting into TRS votes in the past and damaging the prospects of the TRS party candidates in the elections. In this way, thousands of votes of TRS are diverted to such candidates, who were, obviously, motivated by our politically opposing parties, he said. The BRS leaders said that identical symbols have the potential in causing confusion among the voters of the BRS and divert the votes to the so-called candidates of unrecognized parties, including Independents. Because the size of the above symbols shown on the EVM were too small, it becomes very difficult for illiterate and aged voters, particularly from rural background, to identify the difference between these symbols and the car symbol.
