1. The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Speaker of the Telangana Assembly after many petitions seeking direction to expedite the hearing of applications pending before him for disqualification of defecting MLAs of the Congress, TDP and YSRCP. The bench claimed it can only make a request to the Speaker for the speedy disposal of the disqualification petitions, Deccan Chronicle reports.2. In a severe case of corporal punishment, a fifth class student studying in a private school in Huzurabad town in Karimnagar district died on Thursday after she was punished by her teacher for not doing her homework. The girl, was made to stand with her knees bent for many hours, till the blood clotted and she collapsed. Read TNM report.3. The Telangana government has invited bids for the first phase of its prestigious ‘Telangana Drinking Water Project’ also known as ‘Telangana Water Grid’ project. Works for the flagship project are segregated into 26 packages and estimated to cost Rs.34,580 crore. Read The Hindu's report.4. Cyberabad police commissioner CV Anand has suspended two cops of Uppal police station for collecting `mamools' from business establishments on Wednesday."Despite warnings, they continued to collect bribes from the business establishments in their jurisdiction while performing patrol duties. So, the police personnel were suspended," the commissioner said. Read a report in Times of India.5. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has directed the officials to prepare for the extra rush during the closing days of pushkarams, which falls on Friday and Saturday. KCR also directed the officials to cancel all VIP darshans in temples located near pushkaram ghats. Read a report in The New Indian Express.