Nominated members of MCD cannot vote in Delhi mayoral poll: Supreme Court
New Delhi, Feb 17: The Supreme Court on Friday said the nominated members of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) cannot vote in the mayoral election.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala directed that the election of the Delhi mayor shall be conducted at the first MCD meet and once elected, the mayor shall preside over the deputy mayor's election.
"We have heard the counsel for the parties. We are unable to accept the submission on behalf of the municipal corporation. The Constitution has imposed a restriction in terms of which nominated members do not have the right to vote. The prohibition on nominated members in the exercise of the right to vote applies on the first meeting.
"The notice for the election of mayor and the first meeting of the MCD shall be issued within 24 hours and the notice shall fix the date at which the elections of mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members shall be held," the bench said.
The top court's order came on a plea moved by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) mayoral candidate, Shelly Oberoi, seeking an early conduct of the election.
The apex court had, on February 8, sought the responses of the lieutenant governor's (LG) office, MCD's pro-tem presiding officer Satya Sharma and others on Oberoi's plea.
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India to get first national security semiconductor fabrication plant
Wilmington (PTI): Under a transformative collaboration with the US, India will get a national security semiconductor fabrication plant that will produce chips for use in military hardware and next-generation telecommunications.
The India-US joint project was announced following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Wilmington on Saturday.
A joint fact sheet on Modi-Biden talks said the two leaders "hailed" the semiconductor project as a "watershed arrangement".
It will be the first ever India-US semiconductor fabrication partnership.
It is the first time ever the US military has agreed to do a partnership for these highly-value technologies with India and it is a watershed moment as it is as significant as the civil nuclear deal, people familiar with the matter said.
"President Biden and Prime Minister Modi hailed a watershed arrangement to establish a new semiconductor fabrication plant focused on advanced sensing, communication, and power electronics for national security, next-generation telecommunications, and green energy applications," the fact sheet noted.
It said the "fab, which will be established with the objective of manufacturing infrared, gallium nitride and silicon carbide semiconductors, will be enabled by support from the India semiconductor mission as well as a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the US Space Force."
The Fab becomes not only India’s first, but one of the world's first multi-material fabs for national security, the people cited above said.
The fact sheet said Modi and Biden praised combined efforts to facilitate resilient, secure, and sustainable semiconductor supply chains including through GlobalFoundries' (GF) creation of the GF Kolkata Power Center in Kolkata.
It said the project will enhance mutually beneficial linkages in research and development in chip manufacturing.
"The leaders welcomed steps our industry is taking to build safe, secure, and resilient supply chains for US, Indian, and international automotive markets, including through Ford Motor Company's submission of a Letter of Intent to utilize its Chennai plant to manufacture for export to global markets," the document said.
It said Modi and Biden commended ongoing efforts to build more expansive cooperation around 5G deployment and next-generation telecommunications.
This includes the US Agency for International Development's plans to expand the Asia Open RAN Academy with an initial USD 7 million investment to grow this workforce training initiative worldwide, including in South Asia with Indian institutions.
