AP govt faces no-confidence motion today

The no-confidence motion moved against the Congress government by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly will be put to vote today.
But there is no need for the government to lose sleep as the TDP and Jagan Mohan Reddy require the support of at least 45-50 MLAs to dethrone chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Sunday saw hectic parleys, moves, counter-moves and feverish political drama as the players involved in the no-trust motion batted all day long to put up a 'healthy' score for and against the Congress government.

The crisis that stared at the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh was blown with the 17-member Praja Rajyam Party group deciding to vote against the motion.

Praja Rajyam Party issued a whip to all his legislators asking them to vote against the no-confidence motion.

TRS issued a whip to its MLAs to vote against the Congress government.
"We have issued a whip against the Government and for the no-confidence motion," TRS MLA and party president K Chanderasekhar Rao's son K T Rama Rao said.

The Congress will have to muster the support of at least 144 members to defeat the no-confidence motion. On paper, Congress has 153 MLAs and the support of 17 PRP and seven MIM MLAs.

The parties which support the no-confidence motion include TDP- 87, TRS- 12, CPI- 4 , BJP- 2, one each from CPM, Lok Satta and YSR Congress and one independent.

Omar's CrPC move faces stiff opposition

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah's move to amend local laws to provide legal protection to the security forces in the state has met with severe opposition. On Saturday, independent MLA Engineer Rasheed, separatist outfit JKLF and the Kashmir Bar Association said the move was "disastrous and detrimental to people of the state".

In a bid to push for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and allay the fears of the armed forces, Abdullah on Thursday had offered to amend the Ranbir Penal Code, as the India Penal Code is known in the state.

Rasheed said Abdullah was trying to camouflage his failures to remove AFSPA by suggesting an amendment to the Ranbir Penal Code.

"The move will be more disastrous for the human rights scenario because it will be a perpetual immunity to the security forces, while the AFSPA is a temporary one," Rasheed said.

In another press statement, JKLF chief Yasin Malik termed the move as "a conspiracy against the people of Kashmir". "To prove his loyalty to New Delhi, Abdullah is making AFSPA a permanent feature by making amendments to the Criminal Procedure code."

The bar association said, "Once the amendment in CrPc is carried out it would create a permanent role for army and cover-up its operations."

Qantas faces backlash over Twitter hash

Sydney:  Embattled Australian airline Qantas was Wednesday facing a social media storm after a publicity exercise on Twitter dramatically backfired, prompting an outpouring of negative comments.

As the airline works to win back the hearts of Australians after grounding its entire fleet last month over an industrial dispute, stranding tens of thousands of passengers around the world, it launched a Twitter competition.

"Tell us what is your dream luxury inflight experience? (Be creative!) Answer must include the hashtag QantasLuxury," it said, adding that the best tweets would win a gift pack including Qantas pyjamas and luxury amenity kit.

But the promotion quickly drew the wrong kind of attention, with tweets such as: "QantasLuxury means sipping champagne on your corporate jet while grounding the entire airline, country, customers & staff."

Another read: "Somewhere in Qantas HQ a middle-aged manager is yelling at a Gen Y social media 'expert' to make it stop."

The decision by chief executive Alan Joyce to ground the airline without notice after unions indicated they would step up strike action, sending the issue to national industrial tribunal Fair Work Australia, drew ire.

"Alan Joyce now seeking an injunction to ground Twitter due to QantasLuxury fiasco," read one.

Qantas has made regular use of Twitter, notably interacting with customers such as British writer Stephen Fry when he left his wallet onboard a jet, and the airline said it accepted all feedback, good and bad.

"We launched the competition with good intentions but clearly didn't expect the enormity of the response," a spokesman told AFP.

Joyce is spearheading the 91-year-old airline's brutal fight with unions representing pilots, engineers and ground staff as he seeks to reposition the carrier towards Asia, a move workers fear will cost jobs.

The parties were unable to resolve their disagreements during 21 days of negotiations overseen by Fair Work Australia and now head into arbitration.

The Twitter storm came as New South Wales state police said they were no longer investigating alleged death threats against Irish-born Joyce which emerged last month.

The airline did not detail the threats against Joyce but one reportedly read: "It's coming soon Paddy. You can't even see it."

New South Wales police, who had established a taskforce to investigate the matter, said Wednesday no further action was being taken.

"The investigation has been completed," a spokeswoman told AFP, without elaborating.