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Hyderabad, June 23 A coalition experiment has begun in Andhra Pradesh today with six members of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, a pre-poll ally of the Congress, joining the government. State Governor Surjeet Singh Barnala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers, including TRS founder-president K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s nephew Harish Rao and party’s floor leader in the Assembly G. Vijayarama Rao.
Asian nations vow to work for energy
security
Hurriyat response on talks awaited, says Vohra
US envoy meets
Patil
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Canada announces new visa
rules
Cancel Indian edition of Herald Tribune, says
CPM
Need to develop N-triad: Navy
Maoists kill
six
cops
IIM-Lucknow also sticks to last year’s fee structure
Renuka seeks more funds for
tourism
Selja opens BMTPC
centre
Tributes paid
to Sanjay Gandhi Army’s help sought to tackle floods
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6 TRS members join Cong govt in
Andhra
Hyderabad, June 23 Even as the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, inducted TRS nominees into his ministry taking the strength of his Cabinet to 31, a section of the Congress workers publicly expressed discontentment over sharing power with the sub-regional party. Though a majority of the state Congressmen are averse to the TRS joining the government, the induction has been done at the instance of the party high command. Congress legislators from across the state, including the Telangana region, have openly expressed displeasure over ‘undue representation’ to the TRS which has 26 MLAs. With five MPs, the party has already garnered two berths in the Union Cabinet. While Dr Reddy himself was reportedly uncomfortable at having to yield six portfolios to the TRS, Congress MLAs from the Telangana region are peeved at being denied Cabinet berths because of the coalition. PCC President D. Srinivas, a backward classes leader hailing from the Telangana region, said the interests of his party should not be ignored while accommodating the ally. “We have to ensure that justice is done to Congressmen in terms of representation in the Cabinet,” Srinivas, who played a key role in forging alliance with the TRS, said. Most of the Congressmen are not able to digest as to why the TRS had to be conceded a good number of Cabinet berths, when the party has a majority on its own, with 185 seats in its kitty. The newly inducted TRS ministers include former TDP Minister A. Chandrasekhar, who had migrated to the TRS on poll eve, former Congress Minister S. Santosh Reddy, Capt V. Lakshmikantha Rao and city MLA N. Narasimha Reddy. This was the second Cabinet expansion effected by Reddy since he took over the reins last month. He had inducted 24 ministers on May 23. |
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Asian nations vow to work for energy
security
New Delhi, June 23 The ACD meet yesterday adopted the Qingdao Initiative, which stressed that energy security was a common problem facing the international community and energy security could only be attained through candid dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation. The Qingdao Initiative, made available by the Ministry of External Affairs here, reaffirms the commitment of ACD countries to enhance energy cooperation and dialogue based on the principles of mutual respect, equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit. It recognises the necessity of close communication and cooperation with other international energy for organisations as well as relevant ministries or agencies in charge of energy in each country in conducting effective energy cooperation. The Qingdao Initiative identified the following 11 points where cooperation could be implemented voluntarily “in the spirit of ACD”: |
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Hurriyat response on talks awaited, says Vohra
New Delhi, June 23 Mr Vohra, who met Mr Patil today for about 30 minutes, said the Home Minister had already made it clear that dialogue was an ongoing process and the Centre was willing to hold talks with the Hurriyat Conference in July. “We are now awaiting their response. They were scheduled to hold their internal meeting on June 21 but it had been deferred because Mirwaiz Umer Farooq had to travel to Delhi because of personal reasons,” Mr Vohra said. About the Hurriyat demand of meeting the Prime Minister, Mr Vohra said it would be decided only after the Hurriyat leaders finish their internal meeting. |
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New Delhi, June 23 During the 40-minute-long meeting, Mr Mulford is understood to have briefed Mr Patil about the cooperation between the two countries in the field of terrorism and economic areas and also discussed the Indo-Pak relations. —
TNS |
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Canada announces new visa
rules
New Delhi, June 23 In case visa seekers pay a representative to act on their behalf such a “paid representative” can be an immigration consultant with good standing in the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. Such a representative can also be a lawyer who is a member of a Canadian law society and students-at-law or a notary, who is a member of the Chambre des notaries du Quebec. Applicants will be required to disclose the details of their representative when they apply for a visa. The new rules are effective from April 13 this year and applications made after this date must meet the new rules failing which these will be sent back for amendment. The High Commission specified that if an application or proceeding was already underway as of April 13, 2004, the individual may continue to use the services of his or her “paid representative” until April 13, 2008. After that date, if the paid representative was not a member of one of the three organisations listed, an individual may choose to continue unrepresented or hire an authorised representative. The High Commission said that applicants could also be represented by family members, friends and members of non-governmental or religious organisations as long as no fees were charged for their services. |
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Cancel Indian edition of Herald Tribune, says
CPM
New Delhi, June 23 In a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy, the CPM leaders in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, respectively, Basudeb Acharia and Nilotpal Basu, have warned the government that the ongoing publication of the Indian edition of the International Herald Tribune has “serious implications and makes a mockery of the government’s policy and guidelines”. The leaders have said the publication of the Indian edition of IHT is a blatant violation of the policy decision announced by the government in Parliament in 1955 and Syndication Guidelines issued by the I and B Ministry. The leaders have expressed concern over the defiance of IHT’s Hong Kong-based Managing Director and Midram Publications Private Limited of the directions of the I and B Ministry to stop publishing the Indian edition. Acharia and Basu have said the reported registration of the Indian edition of the IHT by the Registrar of Newspapers in India is without authorisation and totally inconsistent with the government’s policy. The Communist leaders have drawn Reddy’s attention to the government’s acceptance in 1955 of the First Press Commission’s recommendation disallowing publication of Indian edition of foreign newspapers and periodicals dealing mainly with news and current affairs. They have said the publication of the Indian edition of the IHT is also in defiance of the ‘Guidelines for Syndication Arrangements by Newspapers’ issued by the I and B Ministry. These guidelines stipulate that registered Indian newspapers can make syndication arrangements under the “automatic approval route” subject to certain conditions. One condition is that that “the total material so procured and actually printed in an issue of the Indian publication does not exceed 7.5 per cent of the total printed area of that issue.” Another condition is that “the syndicated material does not include (the) full copy of the editorial page or the front page of the foreign publication.” A third condition is that “the mast head of the content provider publication is not utilised in the Indian publication.” The guidelines, however, provide for exceptional approval or issuance of a No Objection Certificate by the I and B Ministry for “publication of (an) Indian edition of a foreign magazine/journal/ newspaper.” |
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Need to develop N-triad: Navy
New Delhi, June 23 It stressed that it was essential for the nation to possess nuclear submarines capable of launching missiles with nuclear warheads which was essential to the country’s nuclear deterrence. “A steady inflow of military technology and hardware into Pakistan is an area of immediate concern ... With the USA now having granted Pakistan the major non-NATO ally status, a quantum increase in Pakistan’s naval capability can be expected,” it said. Pointing out that the situation around India’s waters were hotting up, specially in the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Malacca, the doctrine said that sea control would be the main strategy that the Navy would have to adopt increasingly in future conflicts along with sea denial to the enemy. It also called for exercising sea control in designated areas of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, safeguarding country’s mercantile, marine and sea-borne trade and also providing security to India’s coastline, island territories and offshore assets. The doctrine referred to Chinese naval plans to configure its force levels around two carrier groups and said Pakistan’s hostile posturing and Chinese expansion plans affected India’s security concerns. The reliance of the the naval doctrine on nuclear submarines comes at a very significant stage with New Delhi reportedly locked in negotiations with the Russians on the lease of two nuclear submarines and some breakthrough made in indigenous efforts to develop a miniaturised nuclear propulsion system to be installed in a submarine developed in the country. The doctrine said future mission for the Navy would be to provide conventional and strategic nuclear deterrence against regional states, and raise the cost of intervention by extra regional powers and deter them from acting against India’s security interests. “The Indian Navy recognises that while formalising any maritime doctrine, its application should be embarked upon judiciously and astutely with room for flexibility and innovativeness,” the doctrine said. The doctrine also foresaw increasing cooperation with other navies to combat emerging international common concerns like terrorism, transportation of weapons of mass destruction, sea piracy and drug trafficking. |
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Maoists kill six cops
Ranchi, June 23 A patrol party from Rania police station yesterday had gone to escort vegetables-laden trucks to a village market. It was on their way back that the team was ambushed near Sarova Hills when MCC ultras detonated a remote-controlled landmine, killing three policemen on the spot. Three others were shot dead by the militants, it said. The insurgents also reportedly robbed the weapons of the policemen, which included four self-loading rifles, a stengun, three had grenades, 100 rounds of cartridges of nine mm pistol and 400 cartridges of SLRs. Meanwhile, the Office-in Charge of Rania police station is still missing. The deceased were identified as ASI Laldev Pawan, Havaldar Jeevan Gurung, Constables Dhirendra Tamang, Vikas Rana, Suraj Bahadur, Kundan Tamag and the driver of the vehicle Chhotu, alias Jeevan, the sources said. |
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IIM-Lucknow also sticks to last year’s fee structure
New Delhi, June 23 This was stated by IIM-L Chairman Hari Shankar Singhania after a Board meeting held here today to take a decision on the drastic fee cut announced by former Union Minister of Human Resource Development Murli Manohar Joshi from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 30,000. He also announced to set up a satellite centre of the IIM- Lucknow at Noida for various programmes. For this project, the institute has already acquired land. |
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Renuka seeks more funds for
tourism
New Delhi, June 23 While seeking to even get the sales tax on the air tickets abolished the Tourism Minister yesterday said, “I have met the Prime Minister and have had conversation with the Finance Minister. We have presented an outlay of Rs 327 crore to be given in addition to the current budgetary allocation”. Presently the ministry has an allocation of Rs 500 crore which it feels is not adequate enough to project India as a tourist destination. |
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Selja opens BMTPC
centre
New Delhi, June 23 Inaugurating a three-day training programme on “mitigation measures and preparedness for earthquakes-design and construction of earthquake resistant buildings and structures,” organised by the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), Ms Selja suggested that model demonstration units should be built in every city. She asked the BMTPC to organise training programmes for skill development of artisans. Earlier, the minister inaugurated the training centre of the BMTPC at Nirman Bhavan. |
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Tributes paid
to Sanjay Gandhi
New Delhi, June 23 Sanjay’s wife Maneka, without waiting for the prayer meeting to conclude, left the place minutes before her sister-in-law Sonia had arrived. —PTI |
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Army’s help sought to tackle floods
Patna, June 23 State Chief Secretary K.A.H. Subramanian told PTI that he had written a letter to the Defence Secretary seeking assistance of the Army engineers. —
PTI |
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New Delhi, June 23
