The seven-member group comprises Murli Deora, defence minister A. K. Antony, finance minister P. Chidambaram, railway minister Lalu Prasad, road transport, highways and shipping minister T. R. Baalu, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, and is headed by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Prasad, Baalu and Antony did not attend the meeting. Prasad, who is a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and Baalu of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, are part of the coalition that makes up the ruling United Progressive Alliance.
Senior government officials, who did not wish to be identified, said there may be differences within the GoM, which could have prompted the the three ministers not to attend Thursday’s meeting.
However, Deora denied any difference. “The meeting was inconclusive because all the members were not present. There is no difference of opinion within the GoM. This is absolutely wrong. This question does not arise,” he said.
When asked about the railway minister’s absence, his media adviser said: “The minister has gone to Patna to attend party functions in Bihar and Jharkhand.” Utpal Bhaskar
Foreign broadcasters meet I&B deadline
New Delhi: In a development that will likely have revenue implications to the tune of around Rs2,500 crore for the government, all foreign broadcasters beaming to India have submitted the necessary documents to comply with the downlinking guidelines notified by the ministry of information and broadcasting in November 2005, a person familiar with the situation said. 31 January was set as the deadline.
Different clauses in the guidelines meant that any channel wanting to broadcast to India, should have a registered entity in India, which should have “exclusive marketing/distribution rights” for the channel and “the authority to conclude contracts on behalf of the channel for advertisements, subscription and programming content”.
This meant that the government could hold a legal entity in the country responsible in the event of a violation of the content or advertising code that govern all broadcasters.
However, many foreign broadcasters resisted the move, as this would have meant setting up a permanent establishment in India, a necessary condition to come under the tax net of India. Indian broadcasters have argued for the move, saying that many foreign broadcasters are registered in tax havens abroad, while they had to pay taxes applicable to Indian corporates, which skewed the playing field. Sruthijith K.K.
Shipping ministry fires 4 Kandla Port officials
Ahmedabad: Four senior officials of Kandla Port, including chairman of Kandla Port Trust (KPT) Ambati Janardana Rao, have been been relieved of their responsibilities with immediate effect by the shipping ministry.
According to officials familiar with the development, deputy chairman Manorjan Kumar has been asked to proceed on leave for two months, while financial adviser and chief accounts officer A. Krishnan has been demoted as deputy financial adviser and asked to go on leave for two months. The chief mechanical engineer of the port has been transferred to Chennai.