Kiran lobbiesManmohan for more gas, funds

                                                                            
HYDERABAD: Chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday and requested allocation of additional gas to the state, in addition to Rs 3,000 crore assistance for drought relief and Rs 1,028 crore for the upcoming Conference on Biodiversity.

As for the two irrigation projects, Kiran Kumar told the PM that the Polavaram project, to be built at a cost of Rs 16,010 crore, on the Godavari would benefit various regions of the state as well as the neighbouring states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

The project would serve areas that fall under the Prime Minister’s relief package for distressed districts and envisages creating an ayacut of 6.7 lakh hectares in nine districts in Telangana, apart fropm supplying 30 tme ft of water to Hyderabad and Secunderabad and 10 tmc ft of water to villages and industries en route.

Further, he lobbied the PM for national status for the Polavaram and and Pranahita-Chevella projects.

The chief minister requested an allocation of 3 mmscmd more of gas from the NELP blocks to enable generation of an additional 700 MW by the state’s gas-based power projects.

For the Conference on Biodiversity, the state wants the government of India to hand out Rs 1,028 crore to take up beautification works in Greater Hyderabad. The chief minister pointed out that the Centre allotted special funds to Delhi for the Commonwealth Games.

Since the project is already getting 25 percent central assistance under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), accordance of National Project status would make it eligible for 90 percent central assistance and lead to timely completion.

The chief minister also said the Central Water Commission has already given in-principle clearance to the Pranhita-Chevella project costing Rs 38,500 crore and consisting of 28 packages.

Fresh talks for release of abducted MLA, Italian

                                                                        
Bhubaneswar, Apr 6 : Fresh talks were held today between the Odisha government and the Maoist mediators, a day after the government named the 27 jailed people to be freed in return for the release of BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka and Italian Paolo Bosusco taken hostage by two separate Naxal groups.
However, the abductors of 37-year-old Laxmipur MLA and 54-year-old Italian were yet to respond to the announcement of the names of prisoners to be freed.
While the three-member state government team was led by Home Secretary U N Behera, the two Maoist-nominated negotiators were B D Sharma and Dandapani Mohanty.
The focus of discussion was to examine the names of persons whose release from jails would be facilitated, while 12 other points in the 13-point charter of demands put forward by the abductors of the Italian were also deliberated.
The focus of discussion was to examine the names of persons whose release from jails would be facilitated, while 12 other points in the 13-point charter of demands put forward by the abductors of the Italian were also deliberated.

Though it was not immediately clear what transpired during the talks, the need to speed up the process of the Italian's release was believed to have been emphasised by the government side, sources said.

Sabyasachi Panda, secretary of Odisha State Organising Committee of CPI (Maoist), had in an audio message demanded immediate release from jail of seven persons, including his wife Subhashree Das alias Mili Panda for Bosusco's release.  

Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson tries to reassure workers after layoffs

                                                                                                                                                                
SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson plans to tell the struggling Internet company's employees more about his turnaround strategy next week.

Thompson also sought to boost sagging employee morale in a staff memo Thursday. It came a day after Yahoo Inc. began laying off 2,000 workers in the biggest purge in the company's 17-year history.

The 14 percent cut in Yahoo's workforce marks Thompson's most dramatic move since he was hired three months ago. Yahoo Inc., which is based in Sunnyvale, California, lured him away from eBay's PayPal payment service.

Although he didn't provide specifics, Thompson hinted that he plans to streamline Yahoo's management team to enable the company to keep pace with Internet search leader Google Inc. and social networking leader Facebook Inc. in the race to sell online advertising.

"There's a lot to do, and that's why I can't stress enough that we all need to focus on getting stuff done," Thompson wrote. "Getting stuff done is short hand for eliminating bureaucracy and barriers so we can all innovate as fast as our customers and the industry require."

After meeting next week with employees, Thompson has promised to share more details about his plans with Wall Street on April 17, when the company is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings report.

As has been the case through most of the past four years, the results are expected to show a decline in Yahoo's revenue even as advertising continues shifting to the Internet.

Jewellers meet Pranab, Sonia; may call off strike

                                                                                     
New Delhi: Jewellers are likely to call off their 21-day strike, according to sources. The breakthrough came after the jewellers' meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday. Sources say the Centre is likely to drop one per cent excise duty on non-branded jewellery.

An indication that some of the demands may be met came as Congress President Sonia Gandhi assured jewellers their concerns will be looked into. The jewellers are expected to make an official announcement by Friday evening.

"We have requested her to give us an assurance that we will get relief. They've told us that our problems will be heard. We have not been given a time period," one of the jewellers Jagjit Singh Sahdev said.
Gandhi, he said, "has assured us that she will forward our demands to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for further action".

Ahead of the meeting of jewellers with Gandhi, the Congress had asked the government to look into the demands of jewellers, who have been agitating for more than a fortnight.

Various jewellers associations, including Bullion Traders Association, Market Sarafa Association, and diamond traders have been on strike since March 17.

Mukherjee in his Budget for 2012-13 had imposed 1 percent excise duty on all unbranded jewellery and doubled the import duty to 4 percent on gold. He also announced that quoting of PAN card would be mandatory for purchase of jewellery worth more than Rs 2 lakh.

Rahul Gandhi hints at face-off with Akhilesh Yadav soon

                                                                                
NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi on Thursday directed Congress workers to watch Akhilesh Yadav government on implementation of poll promises, hinting that the battle of political heir-apparents in Uttar Pradesh may resume again soon after the resounding success of the Samajwadi Party scion in recent assembly polls.

Rahul's exhortation came after partymen from UP told him that the Samajwadi regime would show up in six months because they would not be able to fulfill the promises that propelled them to power but would also take a heavy toll on cash-strapped UP exchequer if implemented.
The optimism about Congress getting an early opening against SP provided the only silver lining in the gloom that dominated Thursday's post-mortem of UP debacle under Rahul. The AICC general secretary was hit by an avalanche of complaints ranging from organizational weakness to internal sabotage to faulty selection of candidates. One former MP even complained against "angrezi" system and sought more accessibility, desi-style. There were suggestions that party groom "caste leaders" which is the trend in UP post-Mandal.

Though Rahul repeatedly asserted in the campaign trail that he would return to UP, his early hint of party's future strategy could put him in confrontation with Akhilesh sooner than later.

Observers see an interesting role-reversal for the young leaders, with Rahul playing the underdog after staying on top since engineering the defeat of Akhilesh's wife in Ferozabad by-polls.