NEWS

BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said the saffron party may move the court to disqualify former party leader Mukul Roy, who defected to the ruling TMC, as MLA.

The Nandigram MLA, who recently submitted a 64-page document to Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay demanding disqualification of Mukul Roy, attended the hearing on his petition at the Speaker's chamber on Friday. The next date of hearing is July 30.

In the document submitted to the Speaker, Suvendu Adhikari had said that Mukul Roy, who won an assembly seat on a BJP ticket and later joined the Trinamool Congress, should be disqualified under the anti-defection law.

"We would want a specific time frame within which the hearing will be completed. We want Roy to get disqualified as soon as possible. We are considering our legal options. The party may move the court," PTI quoted Suvendu Adhikari as saying after his meeting with the Speaker.

The Congress high command in Delhi may well be on the verge of announcing its truce formula to resolve the ongoing tussle between Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu, but signs of resentment between the two camps persists in Punjab.

Sources in the Punjab Congress say the chief minister is "angry" over reports that the party high command is all set to appoint Sidhu as Punjab Congress' new president. He has reportedly also conveyed his views about the matter to the party's top leadership, sources said.

Besides appointing Sidhu as Punjab Congress chief, the high command is also likely to appoint two working presidents for its Punjab unit to balance caste and community equations. One of these working presidents is likely to be a Dalit leader while the other would be a Hindu.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), on Thursday, announced the successful test-fire of its Vikas (Vikram A Sarabhai) engine or the core stage L110 engine of its heaviest operational rocket - the GSLV Mk 3.

While this engine and the rocket comprising it have flown several times in the past, the test is part of a series of new evaluations. They are meant to ensure the human-rating of the rocket. Simply put, ISRO is working on converting its cargo-carrying rocket into a reliable human-carrier, meant for astronauts. Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Sivan, revealed this and much more in an exclusive conversation with reporters. 

The fundamental difference in carrying satellites and humans to space is that satellite missions are about carrying more payload (heavy satellite or multiple small satellites) to orbit. Whereas, human spaceflight is about ensuring fail-safe, reliable flight of astronauts, even if the rocket is not carrying its maximum payload. Once launched by a rocket, a satellite carries out its functions in space, based on commands from its control facility, back on Earth. 

The Lok Sabha secretariat on Thursday evening issued notices to two Trinamool Congress (TMC) members and a rebel YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) member under the anti-defection law after their respective parties sought their removal from the House, people familiar with the matter said.

Sisir Adhikari, senior TMC MP and father of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, and Sunil Kumar Mondal, Trinamool’s two-term MP, have been served notice months after the party filed a complaint under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution for anti-party activities.

K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju, who has taken on Andhra Pradesh chief minister and party chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, has also been issued notice.