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Left to stay away from UPA coordination meetings
by Vrishti Beniwal

     New Delhi: As a mark of protest against Government's decision to disinvest shares in BHEL and other 'navaratna' companies, Left parties today decided to suspend their participation in the Left-UPA Coordination Committee, which was primarily set up to discuss the implementation of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and other policy issues. In a letter to UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Left leaders have said that on many issues where they had disagreements, the Government went ahead with its decisions, but the recent issue of disinvestment of BHEL is the first serious violation of the CMP. "What has perturbed us most is the manner in which the government has decided to go ahead with the disinvestment of shares in BHEL, to be followed by other navaratnas and profitable public sector units," said CPI(M) General Secretary, Prakash Karat. They said that the navaratans can go to the market for raising capital for their own needs. It is not for the government to sell their shares and appropriate those proceeds. Successive rounds of disinvestment will pave the way for eventual privatization of the concerned PSUs. Stressing that the Coordination Committee, despite discussing the matter, has been unable to ensure adherence to the CMP commitment, CPI General Secretary, A.B. Bardhan, said that the Left feels that no useful purpose will be served in attending those meetings. The Government is offering to retain 51 per cent share in these enterprises, thereby selling 49 per cent shares. In Union Budget for 2005-06, Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, has set a target of raising as much as Rs 10,000 crore from selling stakes in State-owned companies. If successful, the BHEL sale will be the first divestment by the Government this fiscal year.

I was misquoted on NDA's future, says Fernandes (Go To Top)

    Bangalore: National Democratic Alliance (NDA) convenor and former Defence Minister George Fernandes today detracted from his statement about the unstable future of NDA and said that he was misquoted. In an exclusive interview to ANI in Bangalore today, he said that the NDA was very strong and active and has plans to work for the betterment of the country. " I said people come and go, meaning parties in this case and as far as NDA itself is concerned, NDA is very active and the NDA is now planning how to take on this unemployment issue and some of the economic policies of the Government," said Fernandes. He further said that the statement was made in the wake of constant attacks on BJP President, L K Advani from within the party on his controversial statement about Jinnah as a secularist leader on his visit to Pakistan.

Sutlej water rises to danger level, Nathpa Jhakri shut down (Go To Top)

     Shimla: All the six units of 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydroelectric Project have been temporarily shutdown following sudden rise in the levels of Sutlej and Ravi rivers affecting electricity supply to Punjab and Haryana the most among the northern states. Authorities said that the project was shut for the second time in three days and power generation at the Chamara stage was suspended to avoid damage to turbines due to heavy silting. Vidya Stokes, Power Secretary of Himachal Pradesh said the level of Sutlej river suddenly rose as the discharge of water increased to 1500 cusecs due to melting of glaciers. "We have to be very careful. We cannot afford to lose machinery equipment. That is why we have taken all the precautions. The present level of silt is 8,000 ppm, which is dangerous. If you use water that this level, equipment can get spoilt. We cannot take this risk. The management has said that the level can come down to 5,000 ppm this evening, they feel the rush of the silt will stop," Stokes said in an interview here. The authorities, however, said that there was no alert or high alert in the region.

Manmohan Singh to address US Congress on July 19 (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address a joint session of the US Congress on July 19 during his three-day visit. US-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) Speaker Dennis Hastert, in a press release, said that Dr. Singh, who would visit the US from July 18 at the invitation of President George W. Bush, will address the joint session of Congress on July 19. US House majority Leader Tom DeLay has said that he was excited and delighted that Prime Minister Singh would address the Congress and was looking forward to welcome him. This proposal to the Speaker that Dr. Singh should be invited to address the Congress was made by about 70 members of both Republican and Democratic parties. Earlier, in the run up to Singh's visit, National Security Adviser MK Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran have held intensive parleys with their American interlocutors to firm up the agenda.

     US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns just concluded his visit to New Delhi and charted out the agenda for Dr. Singh's visit to Washington. Burns met National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Saturday to fine tune the agenda for the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh next month. Dr Singh is visiting US in the third week of July on a personal invitation from the US President George W Bush. Burns also held discussions with Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Sources said both sides reviewed progress on the ongoing energy dialogue between two countries. Both Narayanan and Ahluwalia were in the US recently and their discussions with Burns were a continuation of the dialogue they had begun in Washington. Ahluwalia is in charge of the economic and energy dialogue. Burns said that the discussions were very explorative and comprehensive in nature, and that he was satisfied with the end result. After a meeting with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Friday, the US official had sounded positive on India's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council but maintained that a decision on the issue will be taken by President Bush. He had said that India meets the criteria and has the perfect right to seek permanent membership of the Security Council. Burns said Bush was looking forward to Singh's visit during which a number of agreements are expected to be firmed up and several initiatives announced. The US has already expressed its interest for cooperation with India in advanced military and missile defence systems.

      Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee is already in Washington and is meeting his American counterpart Donald Rumsfeld, Vice-President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. It's a visit during which a significant Research Development Testing and Evaluation (RTDE) Agreement is to be signed. Senior officials of the defence ministry told reporters that broad policy issues and increased cooperation between the defence establishments of the two countries were likely to figure in Mr Mukherjees discussions with US officials. "US-India relations have been showing an upward trend and defence ties have played a large role in these relations," said an official. "This visit will build on the existing cooperation." The five working groups to look into the Indo-US cooperation in the energy sector are likely to be announced during the Mr.Singh's Washington visit. According to sources, any decision on the issue of which country the US will back for permanent membership has to be taken by President Bush. Indian officials contended that it was a "long and complicated process" with numerous hurdles and that New Delhi was pursuing a step-by-step approach hinging on "cautious optimism". Before leaving for Washington, Mukherjee has made it clear that he was not carrying any shopping list of defence hardware and his visit, the first by an Indian Defence Minister to the US after a long gap, was exploratory in nature. The US offer to supply to India F-16 warplanes is being debated in the Government with the Defence Ministry carrying out technical evaluation of the fighter aircraft even as no decision has been taken so far to buy it.

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