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This is considering the fact that the Speaker continues to belong to a particular political party.

“It is time that Parliament has a rethink on whether disqualification petitions ought to be entrusted to a Speaker as a quasijudicial authority when such Speaker continues to belong to a particular political party either de jure or de facto”, the judgment said. Paragraph 6 of the tenth schedule of the Constitution provides that questions relating to disqualification of member of the house shall be referred to the Speaker whose decision on the same will be final.

The court recommended an amendment to the tenth schedule by substituting speaker with a permanent tribunal headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired chief justice of a high court or some other independent mechanism as the arbiter of such disputes. Such a measure, the court held, will ensure that such disputes are decided both swiftly and impartially, thus giving real teeth to the provisions contained in the tenth schedule, which the court said is vital to the proper functioning of the democracy.

One of the changes suggested to the anti-defection law during the meeting of presiding officers of Indian Parliament and assemblies in Dehradun last month, was to allow party presidents or floor leaders of different parties to decide on anti-defection cases. Several participants voiced their concerns that the image of speakers was taking a beating. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said at that meeting: “The way people are losing faith in democratic institutions and the way fingers are pointed at presiding officers of legislative bodies, it is a matter of concern. There is a need to amend the law to uphold the prestige of the institution of speaker.”

Former Lok Sabha secretary TK Vishwanathan said, “The anti-defection law has put the entire onus on the Speaker in the matters related to disqualification of members of the Legislative House. Even if the Speaker is impartial, he faces undue pressure and criticism. This is one thing (the power to disqualify) the Speakers can do without. Also, there is no need for a Supreme Court direction. Parliament is supreme and it can take a decision on its own.”

The judgment came in a dispute arising from the defection of a Congress lawmaker Thounaojam Shyamkumar to the N Biren Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party government after state elections in March 2017.

The Congress, the single-largest party with 28 seats, was three seats short of the majority mark in the 60-seat assembly. The BJP, with 21 seats, moved to stake claim along with the Naga People’s Front, Nationalist People’s Party and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). Congress lawmaker Shyamkumar extended support to the BJP, helping Singh form a coalition government. Shyamkumar was made a minister of town planning, forest and environment in the BJP government.

At least 13 petitions were filed by Congress leaders before the Speaker of Manipur legislative assembly, Y Khemchand Singh, seeking Shyamkumar’s disqualification but the Speaker did not act on the complaints. Two Congress MLAS, Keisham Meghachandra and Md Fajur Rahim, next approached the Manipur high court. The high court noted the seriousness of the issue but declined to grant any relief on the ground that the issue regarding powers of high court to interfere with the Speaker’s discretion is pending before Supreme Court. Keisham Meghachandra Singh then moved the Supreme Court in appeal. The Manipur Speaker argued before the SC that the issue regarding whether high courts can direct Speakers to decide a disqualification petitions within a particular time frame was referred to a constitution bench of the Supreme Court in 2015 in the case of SA Sampath Kumar v. Kale Yadaiah. Hence, he submitted, the decision in the Manipur case should be deferred till the constitution bench decides the issue.

However, the SC turned down this argument holding that the issue was conclusively settled by the top court in a 2007 judgment of Rajendra Singh Rana v. Swami Prasad Maurya in which the court ruled that the HC can direct Speakers to rule on disqualification petitions if they do not do this within a reasonable time. The apex court on Tuesday directed the Speaker of the Manipur assembly to rule on the disqualification pleas pending before him within four weeks. The court also made it clear that if the Speaker does not take a decision within four weeks, it will be open to any party to apply to the Supreme Court for further relief. above said budgetary allocations for rural transformation would not be limited to the two key administrative ministries. “Significant funds will be allocated to rural regions through other ministries also. The budget will emphasise on greater emphasis on connecting villages to digital India and providing them amenities such as electricity, cooking gas, drinking water and sanitation,” the person said, requesting anonymity.

Providing details of the measures for the agricultural sector, a third person said the focus of increased allocation would also be on promoting exports, higher subsidised farm credit and incentives for mechanisation to double farmers’ income. The government will put in place a nationwide plan to form agri-export clusters for export of foodgrains, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, the person said. In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared his government would double farmers’ income in six years, a politically significant goal in a country where nearly half the population depends on a farm-based livelihood. Smalltime farmers, who make up 86% of the total, are the most deprived generally. They mostly consume – not sell – what they grow since they have lower surpluses.

The budget will contain measures to strengthen the national agriculture export policy in step with the government’s target of doubling farmers’ income. The aim is to raise the value of agricultural exports from $30 billion currently to nearly $60 billion by 2022, the person said. In the last budget, the government increased the budget allocation for the farm ministry to ₹1.39 lakh crore for the current financial year. Of this, ₹75,000 crore was for the flagship cash transfer scheme PM-KISAN, according to the budget document. “Income transfer is a step in the right direction, but it has to be sufficient and continuous. They are giving ₹6,000. This may not be sufficient,” said N Chandrasekhara Rao, an agricultural economist with Delhi University’s Institute of Economic Growth. This insufficiency argument is borne out by the fact that although farmers get ₹6,000 a year, the NDA government’s Volume 2 of “Report of the Committee on Doubling Farmers’ Income” states that the “average monthly consumption expenditure of a farming household” is ₹6,223. Input costs too have risen by over a third in the last five years. The budget will contain measures for incentives to small farmers to “collectivise” or form groups to achieve scale in the export market, especially in view of recent farm trade deals.

In the past year, India has struck deals for agricultural exports with eight nations – the US, Iran, Taiwan, Canada, Chile, South Korea, Equador, and Malaysia — and is scouting for more markets as it prepares for a more liberalised trade policy in farm goods. The country has also filed market access requests for 35 agricultural products with over a dozen countries, an official said. Economists, bankers and sector experts have also advised finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to take measures to boost demand to accelerate the economy in a series of pre-budget meetings held recently, the first two persons quoted above said.

Speaking to CNBC in Davos on Tuesday, Gita Gopinath, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, suggested Sitharaman focus on reviving credit growth and consumer spending in rural areas in the budget to boost the economy. infected by other humans with the new virus.initially, the virus was thought to be zoonotic, or one transmitted from infected animals to humans.

The Wuhan municipal health commission has said local tourist groups were banned from travelling outside the city and vehicles entering and leaving were being checked. Local authorities will continue to exercise control over entry and exit into Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, the suspected source of the virus. “Thirty-five stationary infrared thermometers and over 300 hand-held ones have been used to screen passengers with fevers at various transport terminals in Wuhan, including the airport, railway stations, bus stations and passenger piers,” China’s official news agency Xinhua reported. It added: “Passengers with fevers will be registered, provided masks and brochures about pneumonia and advised to see doctors. Ticket cancellations and changing will be free of charge”.

The Chinese foreign ministry said it hadn’t implemented a complete ban on exiting or entering the city of Wuhan. Questions are being raised whether the right steps were taken in time by the Chinese government – even by the state media. “Some people suspect that the government did not unveil all relevant information in a timely manner, like the situation in the early stages of the SARS outbreak in 2003. As the epidemic situation remains unclear and China has not entered into a state of mobilisation, the Chinese government tends to issue the information in pursuit of stability and accuracy, instead of making predictions that could result in panic. But this is not like the situation in the early stages of SARS,” the nationalistic tabloid, Global Times, said.

(With inputs from agencies)

choppers and armoured vehicles. Last January, the DAC approved the submarine-building project under the SP model to bolster the navy’s underwater force levels. It was the second project to be cleared under the SP model after the DAC, in August 2018, approved a project to build 111 naval utility helicopters in the country to replace the navy’s outdated fleet of French-designed Chetak choppers. The NUH project is worth ₹21,738 crore. It will take years for the submarine project to materialise as the process is quite long-drawn out. The ministry will take the project forward by issuing requests for proposals (RFPS) to the shortlisted Indian strategic partners who will then respond with technocommercial offers in collaboration with one of the shortlisted OEMS. In exceptional cases, rules allow the Indian strategic partner to submit techno-commercial offers in collaboration with two OEMS. The next steps will involve opening and evaluation of technical offers, trials, staff evaluation, opening of commercial offers of companies technically compliant with the RFP and finally, the selection of the strategic partner with the lowest bid. The council also gave its approval to include Innovations for Defence Excellence (IDEX) in the Defence Procurement Procedure “to provide avenues in capital procurement for the armed forces to startups and innovators.”

LATE ON TUESDAY, A US CITIZEN WHO RECENTLY RETURNED FROM A TRIP TO CENTRAL CHINA WAS DIAGNOSED WITH THE VIRUS. THE MAN, IN HIS 30S, IS SAID TO BE IN A GOOD CONDITION AT A HOSPITAL IN EVERETT, OUTSIDE SEATTLE. AS MANY AS 319 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN INFECTED, HEALTH AUTHORITIES IN CHINA SAID ON TUESDAY