State Elections: RJD-Cong seat sharing talks deadlocked
New Delhi: Talks between the Congress and Lalu Yadav's RJD on over seat sharing in Bihar and Jharkhand failed to yield any results yesterday.

"Everyone in the UPA will fight together to defeat the BJP. We will defeat them again like we did in the Lok Sabha elections," said Lalu. "We will join forces to fight the communal and divisive forces in the country," reciprocated Arjun Singh of the Congress.

It is reported that the Congress is asking for at least 86 seats in Bihar, while Lalu is demanding 25-30 seats in Jharkhand.
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India's export target raised to $88 billion for next fiscal
New Delhi: The Commerce Ministry has fixed the export target for 2005-06 at $88 billion for the penultimate year of the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002-07). Exports in the first nine months of the current fiscal are estimated to have crossed $53 billion,According to an official release, the Commerce and Industry Minister, Kamal Nath, has been holding intense discussions and interaction with the export promotion councils and commodity boards concerned to finalise the targets, sector-wise and commodity-wise, for each of the next four years to enhance the country's exports to the level of $104 billion in 2006-07, $125 billion in 2007-08 and $150 billion in 2008-09.

Strategies to unlock the potential of agricultural exports from India would also be worked out alongside to cash in on the potentials of free trade in farm products once the protectionist walls of developed country markets are rung down, following the successful conclusion of the Doha round of trade talks by the end of this year.
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Aiyar in talks with Myanmar officials for gas pipeline
New Delhi: The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar, who is on a visit to Myanmar, had a meeting with the Prime Minister, Lt-Gen Soe Win. Aiyar arrived at Yangon on Monday.

He also held delegation-level discussions on energy cooperation with Myanmar's Energy Minister, Brig-Gen Lun Thi. Discussions were also held on the issue of building a natural gas pipeline from Myanmar through Bangladesh to meet the country's growing requirement for the fuel, an official spokesperson said.

India is interested in a pipeline to transport gas it expects to get from projects in Myanmar. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) together own a 30 per cent stake in a project in Myanmar. In October, GAIL and ONGC Videsh, a unit of ONGC, bought a 30 per cent stake in an adjoining field.
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Government may off load stake in BHEL and MUL
New Delhi: Finance Ministry sources have hinted that the Finance Ministry is keen to off load five per cent stake in engineering giant Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and India's largest carmaker Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL).

The move is aimed at lowering the government's fiscal deficit in the current financial year by Rs2,000 crore. The Ministry of Heavy Industry has already agreed to the proposal. The money raised in the process is expected to be used for funding social sector projects and cutting fiscal deficit.

The sale of five per cent equity through public offer in BHEL is expected to garner close to Rs950 crore and the sell-off would bring down government equity in the company to 62.72 per cent.

In Maruti, the government intends to sell its 18.24 per cent residual stake in phases. The value of government holding in Maruti is close to Rs2,400 crore.
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India has sought tsunami aid: World Bank, ADB
Mumbai: The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have announced that they have received a request from the Union Government for aid to rehabilitate tsunami-affected people.

A press release from the multilateral agency said the assistance requested is for rebuilding infrastructure, both public and private, and for rehabilitation of livelihoods of those affected in the tsunami disaster, and assistance in developing disaster prevention and management systems for the future.

Initial estimates had put the loss of life in excess of 10,000 and the loss of property at about $1.5 billion (around Rs 6,557 crore).

The World Bank and the ADB will now work with the Government of India to organise a needs assessment, and on that basis develop a programme of support for reconstruction and recovery.

"It is truly impressive to see the way India has responded in providing basic necessities to the affected people. Our first priority is to ascertain the extent of damage and then work together with the Government on a programme of reconstruction and rehabilitation to help affected people rebuild their lives," a World Bank release quoted Michael Carter, Country Director, India, World Bank.

The release said Louis de Jonghe, Country Director, ADB, joined the World Bank in praising India's initial response to this tragedy, and said ADB stood ready to contribute to the rebuilding of infrastructure and rehabilitation of livelihoods of people in the affected States of India.
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