SP, Congress leaders meet ahead of crucial seat sharing talks

NEW DELHI: A day ahead of the crucial seat sharing parleys between the Congress and Samajwadi Party, a six-member Coordination Committee of the outfits is meeting on Saturday to discuss key government policy issues.

Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and general secretary Amar Singh are expected to represent SP while Congress is expected to be represented by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherji and Defence Minister A K Antony.

The meeting, to be held in the evening at the Prime Minister's residence, comes in the wake of several media reports indicating SP's concern over issues related to spectrum allocation, windfall tax and matters pertaining to petroleum sector.

Source : Times Of India

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Congress leaders discuss revised NSG draft

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday held deliberations with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and some other senior colleagues over the nuclear issue ahead of the NSG meeting in Vienna.
The meeting, also attended by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Ahmed Patel, Political Secretary to the Congress president, is understood to have assessed the revised draft prepared by the US for consideration of the Nuclear Suppliers Group at its meeting on September 4-5.

The meeting is understood to have deliberated upon the situation in view of the original NSG draft waiver being amended because of concerns expressed by various countries.

The Congress leadership is believed to have weighed options available if things do not work out as desired at the upcoming meeting of the NSG.

Singh earlier held similar consultations with Mukherjee, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar on the issue amid the hope that 45-nation grouping will give a "clean" and "unconditional" waiver.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, who is in the US and in touch with the American officials there, is also in constant contact with Mukherjee and Kakodkar over the issue.

Menon will be travelling to Vienna for the NSG meeting directly from the US.

The NSG failed to arrive at a final decision on the proposed India waiver at the August 21-22 meet after several countries raised non-proliferation issues and proposed around 50 amendments to the draft before it could be considered.

In the revised draft of the waiver, New Delhi is expecting "minimal changes" and hopes that it will have a language and "semantics which can be sold" to the people of the country without any problems, sources said.

Source : Times Of India

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Jaffna mc polls to be held soon

In the wake of the Eastern, North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council elections, the government is now planning to hold elections to the Jaffna Municipal Council to gauge public opinion in the northern capital, a Minister said yesterday.

EPDP leader and Social Services Minister Douglas Devananda told Daily Mirror the election would be conducted soon and the government was holding a series of discussions to work out the preliminaries. “We will be able to conduct it before the end of this year.

This is to test the waters in the peninsula,” Mr. Devananda who represents the Jaffna district as an MP said and added that this would be followed by elections to the Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas in the district.

He said in lighter vein that this election would be a battle between him and TULF leader V. Anandasangaree.

The elections to the Jaffna Municipal Council were last held in 1998 after the peninsula was liberated from the LTTE. The TULF won the elections at the time and took over the administration of the council.

TULF member Sarojani Yogeswaran was elected Mayor but she was gunned down allegedly by the LTTE soon after her election to office.

Her successor K. Sivapalan also died in a bomb blast in September 1998 that targeted a Jaffna meeting between the councilors and security officials. He was succeeded by parliamentarian N. Raviraj.

Meanwhile, EPRLF leader P. Sritharan said that he too had heard about government plans to hold elections.

“We will definitely contest if there is an election,” he said.

Source : Daily Mirror

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BNP will not make any deal with govt in releasing Begum Zia: Hannan Shah

BNP Chairperson's Adviser Brigadier ASM Hannan Shah on Friday said the party would not accept any government conditions in releasing Begum Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman. "If the government tries to set any condition for the release Begum Zia, BNP will not accept(The Bangladesh Today)

it and the party will go for tougher movement in order to free its Chairperson. Like Awami League, BNP will not make any secret deal with government in releasing its Chairperson. We want to free our Chairperson through legal process, not making any deal with the government," Hannan Shah told reporters at his residence in the city.

Replying to a query about the existing division in the BNP, he said everything will be settled after the release of Begum Khaleda Zia. "If any division exists in the party, it will be removed soon after the release of our party Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia," Hannan Shah said.

Hannan Shah said if the government does not withdraw state of emergency to create congenial atmosphere for holding free, fair and credible election, BNP will compel the government to withdraw it through launching massive movement under the directive of Khaleda Zia.

Talking to reporters BNP standing committee member M K Anwar said the party will not take part in any election under the state of emergency. "The government has no alternative to lifting the state of emergency for holding free and fair election in the country," he added.

Echoing the same argument, he said BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia will be released through legal process. "BNP does not believe in holding any secret deal with the government, we will free our leader Begum Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman under legal process or democratic movement," M K Anwar said.

Meanwhile, BNP leaders and activists observed countrywide Milad Mahfil yesterday after Jumaa prayers for seeking recovery of ailing Tarique Rahman and quickening release of Begum Khaleda Zia.

Source : The Bangladesh Today

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Cong to seek waiver of road tax

JALANDHAR: As lakhs of devotees from Punjab would flock to Hazoor Sahib, Nanded, for Guruta Gadi Divas celebrations , Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee has decided to urge the Prime Minister that road tax of vehicles carrying devotees to Nanded be waived.

Stating this here on Friday, PPCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee and former Adampur MLA Kanwaljit Singh Lalli said as buses and trucks carrying devotees would have to pass through nearly half-a-dozen states and the cumulative road tax would be very high per vehicle, it would burden the devotees.

Kaypee said he would meet the PM in the next few days and would raise the issue. '' We will urge Manmohan Singh to ensure that a decision was taken urgently in this regard,'' he said.

Lalli argued that as the state had exempted VAT on the commodities being supplied for langar in Golden Temple, Amritsar, on similar lines the Union government could take the decision for the next three months.

'' A mechanism can be worked out to ensure genuineness of such vehicles,'' Lalli said adding that public transport vehicles would be used by many not-so-well-off devotees and the government could facilitate their pilgrimage through this gesture.

Source : Times Of India

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