Dalai Lama to inaugurate Buddhist monastery in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Jan 10: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will be visiting Orissa Monday to inaugurate a newly-constructed Buddhist monastery in Gajapati district, an official said Sunday. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader will arrive in state capital Bhubaneswar Monday on a four-day visit. He will fly to Chandragiri in Gajapati district in a chopper. During his stay in the Tibetan settlement, the Dalai Lama will inaugurate a five-storeyed monastery named Padma Sambhav Mahavira. “We are geared up for the arrival of the Dalai Lama. During his four-day stay, he would also inaugurate the new monastery,” spiritual leader of Chandragiri Ven Jigme Rimpoche said. The entire Buddhist settlement in Chandragiri is decked up for the occasion. (IANS)

More PSUs may be divested

NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (PTI): After the planned divestment in four more public sector enterprises this fiscal, the Centre will identify more candidates for public offers for the next two years.

The Government is also planning to change the criteria of appointing investment bankers so that only those advisors with deep-pockets do not qualify for this purpose, an official close to the development said.

The Government plans to divest stakes in NTPC in the last week of January or early February, followed by REC just before the Budget (likely on February 26), NMDC by March 10, and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam by the end of March, which will together fetch around Rs 30,000 crore to the Exchequer.

"After we are through with these disinvestment plans, we will identify public sector enterprises where the Government could offload its stakes in the next two years," the official informed.

The Disinvestment Department has already asked 32 nodal ministries to identify state-run firms where the government stake could be sold, a senior official had said earlier.

As per the recently cleared criteria by the Cabinet, around 60 PSUs, including MMTC, BSNL, Neyveli Lignite Corp, Engineers India, State Trading Corp, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers, National Fertilisers and Andrew Yule, are eligible for stake sale.

TRS chief moves PM on Telangana

NEW DELHI, Jan 10 – TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pushing for early steps by the Centre for formation of a separate Telangana state, reports PTI. Sources said the prime minister impressed upon Rao the need for maintaining peace and normalcy with other regions of Andhra Pradesh–coastal Andhra and Rayal-seema– before the Centre could think of next steps.

Rao is understood to have told the prime minister that even if the Centre wants to carry forward discussions it should be done by Home Minister P Chidambaram himself and not by any Committee.

The TRS chief is said to be opposed to constitution of any mechanism to hold deliberations on Telangana as is being speculated.

Amar Singh resigns from Samajwadi Party posts

NEW DELHI, Jan 6: Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Amar Singh on Wednesday resigned as general secretary of the party as well as from its parliamentary board and as its spokesperson. Saying he was quitting the posts on health grounds, the high-profile politician denied any differences with party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

“I hardly had any rest. Doctors told me it is not good. At the age of 53, I am entitled to earned leave and need to give more priority to my family. After 20 years of hard work, they (the family) should get priority over Mulayamji and the party,” Amar Singh told NDTV. Amar Singh had a kidney transplant at a Singapore hospital last summer. THE SENTINEL