TN Governor Rao meets Rajnath Singh amid political crisis

New Delhi, Sep 19 : Tamil Nadu Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday amid an ongoing political crisis in the state.

Rao called on Rajnath Singh at his residence here, a day after Speaker P. Dhanapal disqualified 18 MLAs owing allegiance to rebel AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dinakaran.

Rao arrived in Delhi on Monday and met President Ram Nath Kovind and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The Governor, who has been urged by opposition parties and dissident AIADMK MLAs to immediately convene the assembly to enable a floor test, is yet to take a decision on when to ask Chief Minister K. Palaniswami to face a trial of strength.

Rao is expected to fly on Tuesday afternoon to Chennai where he would meet the Chief Minister and discuss a strategy on convening the assembly.

Speaker Dhanapal's decision to disqualify the 18 MLAs of the Dinakaran camp has given an edge to the ruling side in the number game in the assembly.



Myanmar allocates funds to repair Bangladesh border
 (11:40)
Nay Pyi Taw, Sep 19 (IANS) The Myanmar government has allocated additional funds of 20 billion kyats ($14 million) to urgently repair a damaged portion of the border with Bangladesh, an official statement said.

For the 2017-18 fiscal year, more than 8 billion kyats had been allocated for the undertaking, reports Xinhua news agency.

The government has also asked the Construction Ministry to urgently build the Mayu mountain range road network to ensure the border security as well as that in the Maungtaw region.

The government formed a central committee for the implementation of peace and development in Rakhine state on May 30, 2016, with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi as the chairperson.

Myanmar authorities said last week that it will upgrade its border fence with Bangladesh by extending the coverage and patching some damaged vents for security purpose.

U Zaw Htay, director-general of the President Office, disclosed that some vents were found along the border and over 64 km of fence are needed to be enclosed.

The over 270 km Myanmar-Bangladesh border fence construction project started in 2009 during the previous government with an approved fund of 190 billion kyats in total for the last nine fiscals.