NCP and Congress lock horns over CMs post
New Delhi: The talks between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party as to which party should lead the next coalition Government in Maharashtra have remained deadlocked after two rounds of discussions.

Having emerged as the single largest party, the NCP has staked claim to head the Government this time.

The appointed negotiators, Ahmed Patel (Congress) and Praful Patel (NCP) are expected to renew their discussions today.

After calling on the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, at her 10 Janpath residence, NCP leader and Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar said that an agreed formula of power-sharing, including sharing of portfolios, was already in place and had stood the test over the past five years.

To counter the NCP claim on the top post the Congress says that the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which won three seats and two Independents supported by it, actually take its total tally to 74. The NCP's 72 seats include one won by the Republican Party of India (Athawale).

Meanwhile, the CPI (M) has distanced itself from the dispute saying it did not want to get into the question of which party should lead the formation.

The Congress has argued that comparison to the 1999 formula was incorrect since the party had no pre-poll pact then either with the NCP or others. This time, it said, under the pre-poll seat-sharing pact, the Congress was allotted 164 seats, in which it accommodated the Left parties. The NCP had given seats to the RPI (A) out of its allotted 122 seats.

Meanwhile, the legislature party of the Nationalist Congress Party will meet at its city headquarters today to elect its leader. The NCP has emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra with 71 seats.

The Congress, too, is holding meetings to decide the leadership issue. The All-India Congress Committee observers, Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad, are scheduled to attend the meeting.
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PM to inaugurate ISRO project for satellite-based rural interface
Bangalore: The village resource centre (VRC), jointly set up by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, will be inaugurated from New Delhi by the Prime Minister, according to ISRO.

This will mark the beginning of a unique satellite-based rural interface meant to serve a variety of community needs. The interactive project will start with three towns in Tamil Nadu and provide locale-specific information to the local communities on education, health, nutrition, farming, weather, drinking and irrigation water and vocation.

Through the resource centre, the villagers of Thiruvaiyuru, Thankatchimadam and Sempattican can access services such as tele-education, telemedicine, online decision support, interactive farmers' advisory services, tele-fishery, e-governance services, weather services and water management. It can double up as a virtual community learning centre, or bring speciality hospitals and doctors virtually to the village.

Technologically, ISRO says, the project will be a rare blend of the services of a communication satellite, the earth resource survey capabilities of its remote sensing satellites, and will be realised on ground in the villages through IT tools. The application is meant to transform the lives and livelihoods of rural residents by providing them basic information and services.

According to the ISRO spokesman, the space organisation wants to replicate the model in other States with local NGOs and agencies involved in community development.

The system is based on a VSAT network linked to an INSAT-3A transponder. The hub at the MSSRF office in Chennai is connected two-way with a node or a kiosk, in each of the three towns.

People from any one of these towns can fully interact with those at any of the other three nodes through audio or video links. The reach of each node can be further extended to neighbouring clusters using wi-fi, wireless technologies and optical fibre.
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CII study: Indian exports to ASEAN can go up to $30billion
New Delhi: According to a CII study, the Indian exports to ASEAN countries can go up to 30 billion dollars by 2007 from 9.77 billion dollars recorded in 2003 if it diversifies its export basket.

ASEAN accounted for 8.56 per cent of India's total trade in 2003, which stood at 114.13 billion dollars.

India-ASEAN trade grew at the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.62 per cent during 2001 to 2003, showing a promising increase towards a higher growth. For achieving the 30 billion dollars exports with ASEAN by 2007, the CAGR must be maintained at 32.38 per cent, the CII study has said.

The study points out that there is tremendous potential to accelerate trade with ASEAN in focus sectors such as drugs and pharma, healthcare, engineering goods, auto components, leather, gems, jewellery and processed food items. It said heavy engineering and construction companies in India, with long experience of working in unfavourable conditions and low cost options, must aggressively explore business opportunities in BCLMV countries.

There are opportunities for cooperation in the financial services industry too, through joint ventures with local players and buying into local banks, the CII paper adds.
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Chidambaram for 'healthy debate' on private sector job reservation
Chennai: The Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, has called for a "healthy debate" on the issue of reservation of jobs in the private sector and has also made an appeal not to "become emotional and take extreme positions."

Speaking at a 'Conference of SC/ST intellectuals,' Chidambaram said that the UPA Government had initiated debate on reservations in the private sector in its 'Common Minimum Programme.'

"Reservation of jobs in private sector too should come, but the question is how to do it," he said.

To an observation by several other speakers that Budget-provided funds for SC/ST development seldom reached the targeted communities, Chidambaram said that he would ensure that this does not happen in future. He also promised to present the Budget differently from next year, so that the portions relevant to funds earmarked for SC/ST development (Special Components Plan) are simple, clear and easy to understand.
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India pushes for Asian crude price marker
Bangalore: The Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry expects to host a conference of Asian petroleum buyer and seller countries in January 2005 to discuss the issue of a Brent-like Asian marker for crude oil prices. The ministry hopes that this will allow consuming Asian nations to buy crude at a discount just as in the case of Europe's benchmarks Brent and the American WTI (Western Texas Intermediary.)

The conference is aimed at ensuring the 3 Ss in oil for Asia: stability, security and sustainability, the Union Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, has said.

"Unlike a decade ago, two-thirds of West Asian crude production is bought by Asian countries, principally Japan, Korea, India and China, Yet, we don't have an Asia oil products marker," such as the Brent or the WTI, which can offer considerable discounts to the buying country, the Minister said. India, for example, buys in the open wherever it can, whereas Europe buys oil from Saudi Arabia at a discount against the Brent.

So far, the move has got positive responses from producers Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, Kuwait and Malaysia, while Indonesia, which has just completed its presidential elections, is expected to reconfirm. On the buyers' side, Korea, Japan and China would be making their views known soon.

Aiyar also said that compared to some 50 per cent self-reliance in oil a few decades ago, the country's capacity now stood at a declining 30 per cent. "Unless another Bombay High is discovered, this may decline to 15 per cent in the coming years," leaving the third generation in peril, he said earlier.
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