Nainital, Apr 23,2016: The Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker today sought dismissal in the High Court of the petition of the nine Congress MLAs against their disqualification saying they violated the law against defection and deserved to be punished for it.
Appearing for Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, counsel Kapil Sibal said the question to be put to the nine dissident MLAs is “how they went to BJP” and whether “they (nine) have violated the 10th schedule of the Constitution”.
“If they have violated the 10th schedule, how can they seek stay of disqualification,” the senior counsel asked.
“How can they seek stay of disqualification when according to the division bench (of Uttarakhand High Court) they have committed the Constitutional sin of defection?” he said.
“When they joined the BJP and signed the memorandum (for division of votes), they knew it was unethical and unconstitutional,” Sibal argued before Justice U C Dhyani the Speaker’s case during hearing on the petition filed by the nine MLAs against their disqualification.
He contended that by joining the BJP, the nine MLAs have “voluntarily given up their party membership” as they voted against the party’s policy (on the Appropriation Bill) and also voted for the fall of the government.
Sibal sought the dismissal their plea on the ground that they stated “falsehoods” before the court by contending that they were not given the documents relied upon by the Speaker.
The dismissal was also pleaded on the grounds that the petitioners did not disclose crucial material, which was in their possession, before the court and that they “jumped the hierarchy of courts”.
He said that on these three grounds the High Court need not entertain the petitions filed under Article 226 challenging their disqualification.
“On these three grounds the petitions should be dismissed at the threshold without going into the merits,” he said adding that the “political motivation” of the nine for moving the high court was to get a stay on disqualification “so that they can vote on floor test of March 28”.
@ Agency report.
NEW DELHI: Narendra Jadhav, member of erstwhile National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, was today nominated by the Modi government to Rajya Sabha along with BJP leaders Subramanian Swamy and Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi, journalist Swapan Dasgupta and boxer Mary Kom were also nominated as the new Rajya Sabha members.
@ Agency report.
New Delhi, Apr 22 ,2016: The Supreme Court today stayed till April 27 the judgement of the Uttarakhand High Court quashing the imposition of President’s rule, giving a new turn to the continuing political drama in the state by restoring the Central rule there.
Before passing a brief order, a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh recorded an undertaking given by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi that the “Union of India shall not revoke the Presidential proclamation till the next date of hearing”.
The apex court clarified that it was keeping in abeyance the judgement of the High Court till the next date of hearing on April 27 as a measure of balance for both the parties as the copy of the verdict was not made available to the parties.
The High Court judgement had also directed Rawat to prove his majority in the Assembly on April 29.
While listing the matter for hearing on April 27, the bench said that the High Court shall provide the judgement passed yesterday to the parties by April 26 and on the same date the copy of the verdict shall also be placed before the apex court.
The Supreme Court’s stay has the effect of undoing the revival of the Congress government led by Harish Rawat by the High Court judgement yesterday.
During the hearing, the bench also observed that as a matter of propriety the High Court should have signed the verdict so that it would be appropriate for it to go into the appeal.
The apex court issued notice to Harish Rawat and Chief Seceretary of the state on the petition by Centre challenging the quashing of Presidential proclamation under Article 356 of the Constitution in the state.
@ Agency report.
An 18-karat solid gold toilet seat is set to be installed at a U.S. museum bathroom and the ‘piece of art’ will not just be for viewing but could be used too.
The Guggenheim Museum here will install the fully functional, 18-karat solid gold toilet by Maurizio Cattelan in one of its public bathroom stalls.
“You can lock the door and have your experience, whether that be just looking at the toilet or using it,” Guggenheim publicist Molly Stewart told the New York Daily News.
Ms. Stewart said she believes this work, titled ‘Maurizio Cattelan: America’, to be the first time a toilet that is available to public use will be on display at the Guggenheim.
The lavatory masterwork marks an end to its creator’s self-imposed retirement.
Mr. Cattelan (55), walked away from the art world in 2011, right around the time the Guggenheim held a retrospective for his work. He said at the time the demands of the art world had sent his inspiration down the drain. The idea for “America” though, brought him roaring back to the scene.
Mr. Cattelan told the New York Times that he alluded to economic inequality as a theme of the toilet piece, but said the meaning is left up to the seer — or the sitter.
“It’s not my job to tell people what a work means. But I think people might see meaning in this piece,” Mr. Cattelan said.
The museum said in a statement that the piece “makes available to the public an extravagant luxury product seemingly intended for the 1 per cent.”
The work will replace one of the museum’s Kohler toilets in a unisex bathroom.
It will even have its own full-time security guard — standing outside the restroom to “check in” occasionally and make sure it’s not vandalised, Ms. Stewart said.
Doing one’s duty, though, will not count as defacement.
“I don’t think peeing in it or defecating inside it is considered vandalising the object,” Ms. Stewart said.
“America’ will remain on display in the stall for the long term,” she said.
@ Agency report.
New Delhi, Apr 21 (PTI) India has replaced China as top destination for foreign direct investment by attracting USD 63 billion worth FDI projects in 2015, says a report.
“India was the highest ranked country by capital investment in 2015, with USD 63 billion-worth of FDI projects announced,” according to fDi Intelligence, a division of The Financial Times Ltd.
Also there was an 8 per cent increase in project numbers to 697.
Major companies such as Foxconn and SunEdison have agreed to invest in projects valued at USD 5 billion and USD 4 billion, respectively, in India in 2015, it said.
“India replaced China as the top destination for FDI by capital investment following a year of high-value project announcements specifically across the coal, oil and natural gas and renewable energy sectors,” the report said.
It said the biggest change in greenfield FDI in 2015 was the near tripling of greenfield FDI into India, with an estimated USD 63 billion.
“In 2015, India was for the first time the leading country in the world for FDI, overtaking the US (which had USD 59.6 billion of greenfield FDI) and China (USD 56.6 billion),” the report noted.
In a tweet, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said: “India emerges on top in attracting FDI”.
Of the top 10 destination states for FDI in 2015, India claims five places, with the top place going to Gujarat, which attracted USD 12.4 billion. Maharashtra has been one of the strongest performers across the years attracting USD 8.3 billion, respectively, in 2015.
According to fDi Markets, the motives cited by companies investing in India and China are quite similar in nature. For both countries, companies identify domestic market growth potential and proximity to markets as the main two reasons for investing.
“The rapid growth of greenfield FDI in India shows that while economic development organisations try to attract FDI for the contribution greenfield FDI can make to employment and GDP, FDI is strongly attracted to high-growth economies.
“Success breeds success and to attract high volumes of FDI, locations need to create the conditions for strong economic growth and development to take place,” the fDi report said.
It said the Make in India campaign and the resultant boost in FDI has resulted in a whopping increase in FDI job creation from 1.16 lakh new jobs in 2013 to 2.25 lakh in 2015 the highest number in the world.
@ Agency report.
Kolkata, Apr 21,2016: The moon will appear to be smaller in size on full moon day tomorrow, a phenomenon known as ‘Mini Moon’ which will recur only after 15 years.
Tonight at 9.35 PM IST, the moon will be at apogee – the farthest point in its orbit around the earth which is a distance of around 4,06,350 km from the earth.
On an average the moon is 3,84,000 km away from the earth.
“When the full moon happens tomorrow it will still be very close to its farthest point from the earth. So it will be smaller than an average full moon,” Debiprosad Duari, Director of M P Birla Planetarium, Kolkata, told .
Sky-gazers will, however, not be able to see the ‘Mini Moon’ phenomenon which will happen at 10.55 AM tomorrow due to daylight.
However, at night the view of the ‘Mini Moon’ will only be a shade lighter, he said.
The next time when the moon will be farther than tomorrow will be on December 10, 2030, he said.
The colour of the celestial body will be its usual silvery pearl and not any shade of pink or green as was being rumoured over the internet, Duari said.
Compared to a supermoon, a phenomenon when the moon is nearest to the earth, the mini moon will be 14 per cent smaller in size.
@ Agency report.
Singapore, Apr 21 ,2016: If India wants to tap its immense potential and be a “global manufacturer” it should enact strong economic reforms and adopt a strategic approach with the rest of the world through global and regional trade agreements, a senior Singapore minister said today.
“To have a shining future, India must proceed steadily down the path of economic reform, development and modernisation. It must, in particular, pay greater attention to the development and skill training of its human resources, Singapore Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said at the launch of a new book, “India Rising – Fresh Hope New Fear” here.
“Its young population is as asset. But if they are not trained and cannot find jobs in the future economy, they could become a liability,” said Goh, 74, who had promoted bilateral economic relations between India and Singapore during his Prime Ministership in the 1990s.
“From sparking an India fever till today, I continue to believe in the immense potential of India,” he said.
In support of Make in India campaign, India should boldly venture beyond and strive to be a ” global manufacturer”, he said.
“This will require India to enact strong economic reforms and adopt a strategic approach in linking up India with the rest of the world through global and regional trade agreements,” he added.
“To be a “global manufacturer”, India has to be physically connected with the rest of the world through roads, rails, sea and air,” Goh said.
“I believe that India has not fully appreciated the importance of air connectivity in reforming and opening up its economy. Liberalising India’s aviation sector through policy reforms requires self-confidence and a mind set change,” he said.
“Air connectivity is infrastructure in the sky. As India grows, I see India becoming a major destination in its own right as well as a global aviation hub for air travellers,” said Goh.
“Our common purpose and complementary differences will release synergy for both countries over decades to come,” he said.
“Since our independence, we have remained steadfast partners of India. Indeed, while India will rise with high growth rates in the coming years, the output gap, as economists would put it, is still wide,” Goh said.
“The recently concluded India-Singapore Strategic Partnership will strengthen relations in traditional areas of collaboration, such as defence, trade, investments and culture, while providing the broad vision for new areas of bilateral engagement, Goh, who was also the former prime minister of the country said.
The book is authored by Ravi Velloor, who is associate editor at Singapore newspaper The Straits Times.
@Agency report.