New Delhi, Dec 12 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan will meet Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram here today.

This will be his first visit to New Delhi after becoming Chief Minister on December 8.

According to sources, he is also scheduled to visit his hometown Nanded and Nagpur on Sunday.

Chavan, an MLA from Nanded and son of former Union Minister S B Chavan, was elected a Member of the Parliament for the first time in 1987.

Chavan replaced Vilasrao Deshmukh who resigned from his post after the Mumbai terror attacks last month.

New Delhi, Dec 11 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today said an effective cooperation was needed between security agencies and the telecom industry to combat terror attacks.

Inaugurating the India Telecom 2008 conference, here, Dr. Singh that it is very important that there should be effective cooperation and coordination between the agencies whose responsibility is to safeguard the security of the country and producers, all actors in the industry of technology.

New Delhi, Dec 11 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today said that the works of the great Indian musicians and saints can help the country overcome impact of hatred and terror attacks.

Addressing a gathering at a function to launch the book ''MS and Radha'', Dr. Singh said that such works reflected the values of the Indian civilization.

"Our country has seen a lot of violence. It is in times like these that the great musicians, the great saints and the great ''rishis'' of our country, their life and their work becomes truly relevant to take to the ordinary people," said Singh.

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar would discuss cotton MSP issue in the next scheduled meeting of ministry with the Prime Minister. He said that it is the duty of the government to intervene if prices fall below the minimum support price (MSP) set by the government. He was speaking in the sidelines of an International Potato Conference, held in the capital.

India may have a new Finance Minister in a couple of days as Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh intends to have a full time minister for this critical portfolio.

He has reportedly apprised the Congress president and UPA chairperson, Sonia Gandhi about his work load and intentions. He is already extremely busy and a full time finance minister is indispensable to face the opposition in the Parliament amid global slowdown.

New Delhi, Dec 10 : Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the India Telecom 2008, in New Delhi tomorrow.

Jointly organized by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the FICCI, the two-day event marks India''s leading international conference and exhibition for the entire telecom system. The theme of India Telecom 2008 is "Connecting Rural India".

Dr. Singh will also launch the country''s first 3G services on the occasion. The Service will enable transfer of high-speed data, video streaming on mobile phones.