1. With the chances of securing special status to AP turning slim, opposition parties have raised their voice against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. Main opposition YSRCP has reiterated that it will go ahead with the state bandh on August 29. Read a Times of India report.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday assured AP chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu that all commitments made in the AP Reorganisation Act will be honoured. Modi has directed the NITI Aayog to prepare a roadmap to fulfill the commitments made in the Act. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said the issue of special status was discussed in detail. Read details.
3. Student unions in the Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) in Guntur are furious, after a blanket ban was imposed on them in the aftermath of the Rishiteswari suicide case. A circular issued by the university registrar dated August 8, 2015, banning "all activities of student unions, caste groups and their affiliated groups." Read more.
4. The Centre has informed the Andhra Pradesh government that Vijayawada city does not qualify the criteria for being sanctioned with a metro rail project. A city should have a minimum of 20 lakh population to get metro rail project and Vijayawada has less than 15 lakh even if one were to go by as on date population, Deccan Chronicle reports.
5. All the liquor shops in the state will soon be computerized and brought online by September 15 for greater transparency, excise minister K Ravindra said. Speaking to media persons on Tuesday, he said efforts have been made to curb illicit liquor production and belt shops while adding that liquor sales went up this year by 7.8 per cent. Read a report in The New Indian Express.