T’gana Cong MLAS move court over House membership

HYDERABAD: Two Telangana Congress legislators on Tuesday filed a contempt petition in the Hyderabad high court against state assembly Speaker and secretary for not restoring their House membership despite the court annulling their expulsion.

In their petition, Nalgonda MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Alampur legislator SA Sampath Kumar said that last week, the HC had dismissed the state’s ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi’s plea seeking the two Congress leaders’ expulsion from the House. The court had directed assembly Speaker S Madhusudhana Chary to restore all their assembly privileges as legislators.

“We met the Speaker on Monday and submitted a memorandum asking him to restore our membership and all our privileges. We need to attend to the problems faced by the people in our respective constituencies. But there was no proper response from the Speaker and hence we were compelled to file the contempt petition,” Reddy said.

The two MLAS were expelled for the rest of the term of the assembly on May 13, for their alleged unruly behaviour in the House the previous day.

NEW DELHI: The government has increased the carpet area of houses eligible for interest subsidy for middle income groups (MIGS) under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), a move that is likely to provide a boost to the affordable housing sector.

For MIG-I category (those with income of ₹6-12 lakh/ annum), the Union housing and urban affairs ministry raised the carpet area from 120 square metre (1184 sq ft) to 160 square metre (1722 sq ft). The ministry also increased the carpet area from 150 square metre (1,614 sq ft) to 200 square metre (2,152 sq ft) for those belonging to MIG-II category (income of ₹12-18 lakh/ annum).

The changes will come into effect from January 1, 2017 — the date from when the scheme became operational.

The increase in carpet area implies that people belonging to the two middle income categories will now be able to buy bigger houses at lower cost. The eligibility criteria and interest subsidies on loans for the two MIG categories remain unchanged.

“These enhancements will now enable more MIG customers to qualify for subsidy and avail the benefits provided under the government’s flagship housing program,” a statement issued by the Union housing and urban affairs ministry said.

The decision, ministry officials said, will give a boost to the construction sector that contributes to increased activity on the supply side. “This initiative is expected to result in enhanced economic activity that would contribute to improvement in the demand side,” a ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.

Apart from increasing the number of beneficiaries, an increase in carpet area will also improve the construction activity and assist in moving the housing sector forward.

“The increased construction activity in housing sector has a cascading effect on core sectors like cement, steel, machinery and other allied sectors. More construction activity in the urban areas would result in creation of more jobs for both skilled and unskilled workers,” said a senior ministry official.

The tweaks to the carpet area follows requests from both the industry and MIG customers. NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday questioned former finance minister P Chidambaram for a second time in the Aircel-maxis case.

The senior Congress leader arrived at the agency’s office at around 11am for recording his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. He was questioned for over five hours. He was earlier questioned on June 5, when fresh summons were issued for Tuesday.

ED is probing the circumstances involved in the approval given to the Malaysia-based Maxis group for investment in Indian telecom company, Aircel, in 2006. As finance minister, Chidambaram could only approve foreign investment proposals up to ₹600 crore but it is alleged that he approved the Aircel-maxis deal, which was worth ₹3,500 crore.

“We are probing the circumstances that led Chidambaram to approve the Aircel-maxis deal and to see if his son received any kickback for it,” said an ED officer on the condition of anonymity. The Congress leader’s son, Karti, has already been questioned by the agency in the case.

Chidambaram has maintained that all norms were followed while approving the deal.