2021: AT A GLANCE

January

Jan 11: Veteran journalist, writer and Padma Shri awardee Turlapati Kutumba Rao passed away in Vijayawada. He was 89. Among others, Rao was a personal secretary to Tanguturi Prakasam, the first Chief Minister of Andhra state. A native of Vijayawada, Kutumba Rao Rao had worked as editor and editorial writer of Telugu newspaper Andhra Jyothi for close to 35 years.

Jan 16: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the Covid-19 vaccination drive at Vijayawada Government General Hospital (GGH) soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide vaccination drive from New Delhi

Jan 21: Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy launched door delivery of rice to ration card holders along with a fleet of 2,500 Mobile Dispensing Units from Vijayawada. The CM flagged off the fleet of vehicles. He said he was moved by the plight of elderly and differently-abled people who were kept waiting in long queues to get the ration supplies.

February

Feb 14: Fourteen people, including a child, on a pilgrimage tour were killed as a bus and truck collided on a national highway at Veldurthi mandal of Kurnool district. The mini bus, which was carrying 18 people, hit the road divider at a high speed, fell over the divider and collided with a lorry coming from the opposite direction, on the other side of the road.

Feb19: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the 40-foot-tall new wooden chariot of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Antarvedi in East Godavari district. He joined the local residents and pulled the chariot on the temple premises, where the 10-day annual Kalyanotsavam commenced. The burning of the historical chariot by unidentified persons in Sept 2020 triggered huge protests.

Feb 20: Candidates backed by ruling YSRCP made a clean sweep in village panchayat elections which were held in four pages. The party supporters won over 10,800 village panchayats out of the total 13,000 that went to polls. The process of panchayat elections was completed with the final phase elections held on February 20. The main opposition TDP remained a distant runner-up with its supporters winning just around 2,000 villages, just around 16 per cent of the total panchayats.

March

March 14: YSRCP continued its winning spree in municipal elections too, winning all 11 municipal corporations and 73 of the 75 municipalities to which polls were held on March 10. The opposition TDP bagged two civic bodies, Tadipatri and Mydukur municipalities. YSRCP's victory in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur is seen as a big blow for TDP.

March 15: Chief Minister launched a comprehensive 'Temple Management System' bringing all temples under one system of the endowments department. Information of temples, online services, pilgrim emergency services information, profiles of temples and such other aspects will be part of the new system. Devotees can access the services by logging on to the website https://tms.ap.gov.in/

March 22: The state government issued orders giving administrative sanction to Rs 5,800 crore for establishment of 12 new medical colleges under the Nadu-Nedu programme. The government also issued a separate order giving in-principle nod to Rs 3,850 crore for strengthening existing medical colleges. The works will be carried out by the Directorate of Medical Education.

March 25: Chief Minister inaugurated Orvakal airport near Kurnool. The new airport, Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy Airport, named after the first freedom fighter from the region, is the state's sixth civilian airport after Vizag, Tirupati, Vijayawada (all three are international airports), and the domestic airports at Rajamahendravaram and Kadapa.

April

April 1: Former Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney appointed new State Election Commissioner (SEC), ending a tumultuous chapter with former SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar.

April 2: TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu announced the boycott of mandal parishad territorial constituency (MPTC) and zilla parishad territorial constituencies (ZPTC) elections alleging lack of impartiality on the part of new SEC.

April 5: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited announced the acquisition of the residual 25 per cent stake in Krishnapatnam Port for Rs 2,800 crore.

April 23: Sangam Dairy chairman and former TDP MLA Dhulipalla Narendra arrested on by ACB on charges of financial irregularities.

April 24: In the wake of surging Covid-19 cases, the state govt announced a night curfew across the state to cut the transmission chain of the second coronavirus.

May

May 3: Amara Raja Batteries received closure orders from the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) for its plants located at Karakambadi, Tirupati and Nunegundlapalli in Chittoor district for violating pollution control norms.

May 11: Eleven Covid patients at the ICU of Ruia Government Hospital in Tirupati died due to lack of oxygen after a tanker with the gas got late by minutes. Collector M Hari Narayana said 11 people who were on oxygen support died and they were able to save several others. Nearly 1,000 Covid patients are being treated at the hospital, from Tirupati, Chittoor, Nellore and Kadapa.

May 20: Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy presented state 2021-22 budget at Rs 2,29,779.27 crore in the Assembly. Large scale allocations were made for welfare in the budget with Rs 28,237 crore for BC sub-plan, Rs 3,306 crore for farmer welfare among others.

May 21: The state government has established exclusive corporations for Reddy, Kamma and Kshatriya communities.

June

June 2: Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the construction of about 15.6 lakh houses for the poor under YSR Jagananna Housing scheme. The CM virtually laid the foundation stone for the housing colony.

June 15: Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has unveiled the state's annual credit plan outlay of Rs 2.83 lakh crore during the 215th state level bankers' committee (SLBC) meeting. Out of the total credit plan, 54% will be channeled into the agriculture sector with a target to disburse loans worth Rs 1.48 lakh crore. The state plans to provide Rs 2.13 lakh crore as loans to the primary sector.

June 26: The state government has done away with interviews for all recruitments to be done through the APPSC to fill up vacancies in various departments.

June 30: The government has rolled out AP IT Policy 2021-24 to create a robust and holistic business environment, and thereby facilitating large-scale employment generation locally.

July

July 1: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the second phase of YSR Bima Scheme from the Tadepalli camp office. As the Centre had withdrawn from the scheme on April 1, 2020, the state government to safeguard the poor families, who have lost their bread earners, carrying out YSR Bima by bearing the entire cost of the scheme. The CM disbursed Rs 750 crore to provide insurance premium for 1.32 crore families for 2021-22.

July 15: The government released the 'Retail Parks Policy' aimed to attract new investments in the retail industry of Rs 5,000 crore by 2026. The government has been working on to form single desk portal for online clearance. The government plans to generate 50,000 direct job opportunities in the retail sector by 2026.

August

Aug 5: A crest gate at the Pulichintala Irrigation Project in Guntur district broke and got washed away while it was being raised to release floodwaters. The incident triggered a blame game between YSRCP and TDP.

Aug: Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy launched 'Jagananna Pacha Thoranam -Vana Mahotsavam' by planting a sapling at AIIMS Mangalagiri. The people present at the venue pledged to plant more trees for a green Andhra Pradesh.

September

Sept 6: The state government appointed senior banker Rajnish Kumar as economic advisor. He will serve with Cabinet rank for a period of two years. Rajnish Kumar, former chairman of the State Bank of India, started his career in the bank as probationary officer in 1980. He retired as its chairman on October 6, 2020, after holding several crucial positions.

Sept 10: Sameer Sarma, a 1985-batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the Chief Secretary in the place of Aditya Nath Das, who has retired on September 30.

Sept 16: State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) announced the commissioning of India's largest floating solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Andhra Pradesh. Located at NTPC Simhadri, the 25-megawatt floating SPV project covers an area of 100 acres.

Sept 19: YSRCP sweeps ZPTC, MPTC polls. Continuing its winning streak, the ruling party has relegated the TDP to the margins as it swept the MPTC and ZPTC elections. Though the polls were conducted on April 8, the counting of votes had been stayed due to legal hurdles till the AP High Court cleared the way on September 16.

Sept 22: A division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice N Jayasurya suspended GOs 568 and 569 through which the government nominated a total of 52 special invitees to the TTD Trust Board. The court held that the appointments were contrary to Section 96 of the AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act of 1987.

Sept 28: Heavy rains triggered by Cyclone Gulab caused damage to various standing crops in more than 1.56 lakh acres in six districts of the State. Around 6,800 farmers had suffered loss. Paddy crop was the worst affected, followed by maize and other crops. Horticulture crops in 7,207 acres were also ravaged.

October

Oct 7: The Jagan Mohan Reddy government initiated the second phase of the YSR Aasara scheme under which nearly Rs 6,440 crore has been credited into the accounts of 78.76 lakh women in the state who formed into 7.97 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs).

Oct 21: The TDP called for a state bandh in protest against attacks on party offices across the state. Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu demanded imposition of President's rule in the State, alleging that law and order situation has slipped out of the government's hands.

November

Nov 9: Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy meets Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar. Both agree to talk and resolve water disputes and border issues.

Nov 17: The YSRCP captured TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu's bastion, Kuppam municipality, in the election held on November 15.

Nov 19: TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu vowed not to enter Assembly until the party returned to power alleging that YSRCP members insulted women in his family. members insulted his wife in the State Assembly.

Nov 22: Assembly passed a Bill repealing AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, intended to establish three capitals for the state. CM promsies to bring more comprehensive bills later.

December

Dec 8: Lance Naik Sai Teja, of Chittoor district, was among those killed in the chopper crash that claimed the lives of CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others in TN.

Dec 11: First Omicron case reported in AP. A 34-year-old foreign traveller, who came from Ireland to Visakhapatnam, was found positive of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Dec 15: Nine persons, including driver, died and 22 others injured when an APSRTC bus tumbled into Jalleru rivulet in West Godavari district. The bus was travelling from Velerupadu to Jangareddygudem.