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Centre recommends dissolution of Bihar Assembly
New Delhi: In a late night development, the Cabinet has forwarded its recommendation for the dissolution of the Bihar assembly to Rashtrapati Bhawan. The President currently is on a two-week four-nation visit.

Amidst fast-paced developments on Sunday, a breakaway faction of Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) said its support to Nitish Kumar's JD(U) would help form the next government. Paswan then softened his stand and said he was willing to support a government with Lalu Yadav's RJD. The RJD chief rejected the overture and Governor Buta Singh recommended dissolving the assembly to prevent horse-trading.

The decision by the UPA government is likely to trigger off a fresh confrontation between the UPA and the NDA, with JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar dubbing the centre's recommendation as being unconstitutional.
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Pak PM Aziz: Investment linked to Kashmir issue
Islamabad: Islamabad has said any direct investment from India is linked to the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

"We are an open economy and there are no restrictions. FDI can come in every sector, but (in case of) India, it is linked to the Kashmir issue," Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Saturday.

Aziz's comments have come in the backdrop of a visit of a large delegation of the captains of the Indian industry under the aegis of FICCI, which is due to arrive in Pakistan on May 25. The delegation is due to hold talks with President Pervez Musharraf, Aziz and others leaders and officials.

Aziz, however, said that trade ties with India were growing and more items would be exempted from duty in the trade list.
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Assocham survey: Housing sector to generate four million new jobs by 2015
New Delhi: A survey by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) says that the Bharat Nirman project is expected to generate over four million new jobs by 2015. The demand for dwelling units is likely to rise to 80 million for lower middle and low-income groups at an estimated investment of $670 billion.

Assocham's estimates also reveal that the housing and real estate sector has the potential to grow at a rate of 14 per cent a year to double its contribution to the gross domestic product from the current level of less than one per cent.

The Assocham paper on real estate development estimates that the demand for dwelling units will grow to 90 million by 2020, which would require a minimum investment of $890 billion. Even now, this sector is considered as one of the major engines to propel national growth, with its current size of $14-15 billion.

The housing and real estate sector is the second largest employer next only to the agriculture and textile sectors, said M. K. Sanghi, President, Assocham, adding that easy financing and growth of multinationals and Indian companies in the IT, ITES, BPO and FMCG sectors would fuel the demand for housing in the next 10 to 15 years.
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PM promises 'out of the box' initiatives to boost economic growth
New Delhi: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has promised "bold" policy initiatives on the economic front so that public finances may be improved at all levels of Government.
Calling for a reduction in "wasteful" subsidies and diversion of resources into needed social sector expenditure, the Prime Minister has sought "out-of-the-box" initiatives to boost economic growth.

Speaking at a function held to mark the completion of one year of the UPA Government in office, the PM said,"Bold initiatives are called for on the economic front. I would like to see an improvement in our public finances at all levels of Government ... there is an urgent need for the restructuring of public expenditure and improving the working of Ministries."

In his speech, which followed an address by the UPA Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, Dr Singh said: "The people of the country are impatient for change, impatient for a better quality of life, impatient for new opportunities. We will be failing them if we do not think out of the box and act with courage. Bold initiatives are called for on the economic front."

He also outlined future challenges about expansion and modernisation of physical and social infrastructure. The priority areas include roads, railways, ports, airports and telecommunications, besides education and healthcare, he said.
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CITU chief: Left to oppose Pension Bill
Thiruvananthapuram: CITU General Secretary Chittabrata Majumdar has said that the Left parties would reject the Pension Regulatory Authority bill when it came before the Parliament. The Pension Fund bill, being considered by the Standing Committee of Finance Ministry, would allow the employers to benefit from the employees' money and was not acceptable to the Left, Majumdar said.

"The Left Parties are not in a position to accept it. We want the outright withdrawal of the bill. When it comes for voting we will demand a division in Parliament," Majumdar said.

Though the Left parties had been able to check the UPA Government from implementing anti-labour measures to an extent, there were several issues over which the supporting bloc had serious misgivings, he added.
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EPF shortfall: CBT to meet on May 28
New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will be held on May 28 to discuss measures to bridge the shortfall of Rs927 crore, in the light of the Finance Minister, P Chidambaram's announcement of 9.5 per cent interest for 2004-05.

The meeting, which will also discuss the interest rate for 2005-06, comes almost a month after Finance Ministry fulfilled the long-pending demand of Labour Ministry by ratifying 9.5 per cent interest for 2002-03 and 2003-04 for about four crore subscribers to the fund in the country.

While the EPF earned a surplus of Rs204.92 crore during 2002-03, there was a shortfall of Rs271 crore in 2003-04.

For 2002-03, the EPF board declared 9.5 per cent while for 2003-04 it was 9 per cent along with a 0.5 per cent bonus on the occasion of EPFO's golden jubilee year. Though the rate for 2002-03 and 2003-04 were ratified, the Finance Ministry is awaiting a recommendation from the CBT for the interest rate to be ratified for 2004-05.
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