(Rephrasing first three paras)

Chennai, Nov 1 (UNI) With pomp and gaiety Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu celebrated the Golden Jubilee of their Formation Day with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh kicking off the celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Singh said Kerala, which has progressed a lot in the 50 years, needs new avenues of economic growth and employment generation.

He said the state must invest more in skill-based education to increase the employability of its youth as some feel that the Kerala model is unable to generate growth to build its excellent record in welfare and human development.

''The time has come for Kerala to look ahead and think anew. I call upon the youth of this state to show how we can combine the struggle for social justice and equality with a drive to be more creative and productive,'' he said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy asserted his government's commitment to ushering in all-round development of the state, the dream of the great founders of 'the first linguistic state in the country.

Participating in the Golden jubilee celebrations of the state's formation, the Chief Minister recalled the great sacrifices made by various leaders, including Potti Sriramulu, who laid down his life and first Chief Minister of Hyderabad State B Ramakrishna who sacrificed even the high office for realising unified Andhra Pradesh.

''My government is fully committed to realising all round progress of the state, including industry and agriculture, uplifting the weaker sections and delivering good governance'', he said.

However, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) advocating a seperate Telangana state , observed the occasion as 'Telangana Betrayal Day' holding bandh in the ten districts of the Telangana.

Hundreds of TRS actvists, including party MLAs were arrested for forcing shops to shut down and obstructing bus and train services.

In Hyderabad, former minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy, MLA, who led the protest and other activists were arrested.

In Khammam, the agitation turned violent when TRS activists stoned some buses. Police cleared the activists.

Party official spokesperson Madhusudhanachary told UNI thousands of party workers who were agitating ''peacefully'' were arrested by the police. He claimed that the bandh was total in all the 10 Telangana districts.

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