We will win vote

The Chief Minis ter, Dr Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy, on Sunday exuded confidence that the Congress-led UPA government will sail through the trust vote in Parliament on July 22.

Dr Rajashekhar Reddy, who arrived in the capital on Sunday morning, hosted a luncheon meeting for the MPs from the state.

The Congress is confident that all the party MPs from the state, and two more votes will be cast in favour of the motion of confidence to be moved by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.

All the Congress MPs, barring Mr Ch Harirama Jogaiah and Mr Y.S. Vivekanand Reddy, were present.

Mr Jogaiah had reportedly told the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, that he only had reservations against the Chief Minister, Dr Rajashekhar Reddy, and that he would vote for the Congress.

Mr Vivekananda Reddy was away in Jaipur on a personal work and could attend the meet.

Dr Reddy called on Congress president’s political adviser, Mr Ahmed Patel and briefed him.

He also called on Union information and broadcasting minister, Mr Priyaranjan Das Munshi, who had recently undergone a bypass surgery.

It was attended by CWC member in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, M. Veerappa Moily, AICC coordi nator, Mr P.J. Kurien, AICC secretary, Mr Iqbal Singh, and APCC president D.Srinivas.

The party managers are confident that with MIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi announcing his support to the UPA government, the entire contingent from Andhra Pradesh will cast its vote en bloc in favour of the trust motion.

Apart from Union ministers belonging to Andhra Pradesh, the luncheon meeting was also attended by several MLAs and state irri gation minister, Mr Ponnala Laxmaiah and state housing minister, Mr Botsa Satyanarayana.

The Congress has been propagating that nuclear energy is indispensable for rural development and tackling agrarian unrest.

It has resorted to aggressive posturing on the issue till now. It said that while the initial investment was high, the provision for reprocessing the spent nuclear fuel would considerably bring down the costs, the party argued.

New science institute in city

Asian Institute of Gastroenterology launched its Institute of Basic Sciences and Translational Research in the city on Sunday.

The institute, established at a cost of Rs 20 crore, will take up various research activities mainly on stem cells, liver and pancreatic diseases, intestinal cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases.

The institute has already signed an MOU with the Centre of Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), and the National Centre for Cell Sciences, John Hopkins Hospital in USA, for further research on gastrointestinal diseases.

“Our survey has shown that 30 per cent of our people suffer from gastrointestinal diseases. Research in this field is lagging behind mainly because the basic research working is in isolation. To overcome this, we have started this institute,” Mr D. Nageshwar Reddy, the head of Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, said.

Doctors of Asian Institute said they would come up with productive research results soon. The new institute will focus on the prevention of diseases and vaccination.

Maya to be UNPA chief

The BSP is likely to join the UNPA on July 23, a day after the trust vote, and the party chief, Ms Mayawati will become chairperson.

According to sources, the TD chief, Mr N.Chandrababu Naidu, the UNPA convenor, has formally invited Ms Mayawati to the UNPA. He has already said that Ms Mayawati should be Prime Minister.

In the event the government loses the trust vote on July 22, the leaders will decide on July 23 whether to stake claim to form an alternative government or to go for polls. In case the government survives the vote, the leaders will meet to decide on the future course of action.

“The government has no numbers. It has lost its majority. I am warning the government against trying to mobilise invisible and indirect numbers,” Mr Naidu said.

Mr Naidu said that the UNPA, BSP and the Left had come together on a one-point agenda to dislodge the Congress-led UPA government.

Mr Naidu and Ms Mayawati had a separate meeting when the UNPA and Left leaders met at the residence of TD leader Mr K. Yerrannaidu in Delhi on Sunday.

25 killed in attack on Lal Masjid

At least 25 peo ple, mostly policemen, were killed in a suspected suicide attack near Lal Masjid here on Sunday, minutes after Islamic hardliners demanded the public hanging of President Pervez Musharraf at a rally to mark the shrine’s storming by the military a year back.

“The death toll can rise but we can confirm 25 deaths till now. Most of those killed are policemen,” an interior ministry official told this newspaper. The official toll, however, stood at 19 till the time of filing this report.

The Pakistan government declared a “red alert” throughout the country.

IT firms may face land tax

Industries, IT firms and infrastructure project developers could face a additional charges on two fronts.

The government has issued notices to the agencies which alloted land to private industries and companies, to pay 10 per cent of the basic market value as one-time charge for using the land for non-agricultural purposes.

These notices may impact all IT firms including those in Hitec City and Madhapur where the basic market value is now Rs 15 crore per acre.

The government wants these agencies to pay 10 per cent of basic market value as alienation cost for assigned land. Till now the government was collecting the fee only when its own land was alienated.

The collection of onetime conversion charges were put on hold following resistance by the APIIC.

“The APIIC objected to the levy of fresh charges because huge amounts were paid for conversion from agricultural to non-agricultural use at the time of forming industrial layout,” a senir revenue official pointed out.

The government introduced one-time conversion charges in place of nonagricultural land assessment cess which was levied annually. “Following the industrial policy we have asked the government to exempt the companies from paying fresh charges,” said APIIC managing director B.P. Acharya.