Latest news with #DemocraticRepublic
Zawya
12-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
United Arab Emirates (UAE) President, Vice President (VPs) congratulate President of São Tomé and Príncipe on Independence Day
President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a message of congratulations to President Carlos Vila Nova of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe on the occasion of his country's Independence Day. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Presidential Court, also sent similar message to President of São Tomé and Príncipe and to Prime Minister Americo d'Oliveira dos Ramos on the occasion. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Arab Emirates, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Indian Express
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Original Preamble in focus, how the socialist-secular debate played out in recent years
Over the past week, several BJP leaders have spoken about revisiting the inclusion of the word 'secular' in the Preamble to the Constitution during the Emergency, pointing out that the words 'socialist' and 'secular' were not part of the original founding document. This has brought to the fore the question of whether these words should continue to remain in the Preamble, a question first raised by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale last week. Following Hosabale's comments, BJP leaders and Union Ministers such as Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Jitendra Singh, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and even Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar have waded into the debate. In the past decade, this debate has prominently come up twice, with the Opposition accusing the government of trying to omit the words from the Preamble. On January 26, 2015, newspaper advertisements issued by the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry had a backdrop with the Preamble stating, 'We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Democratic Republic…' This was the original Preamble and not the current one that was changed through the 42nd Amendment in 1976, and reads, 'We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic…' The advertisement drew flak from the Opposition, with Congress leader Manish Tewari saying that 'stifling and trampling' the Constitution was an 'unforgivable sacrilege'. 'The Constitution of India, as it stands today, is very clear that India would be a Sovereign Democratic Secular and Socialist Republic … Action should be taken against the officers involved and the minister should explain how it has happened,' he said. A month later, then Union Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha that the representation was from the original Constitution and was aimed at honouring the founding fathers without any malafide intentions. 'The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) annually issues print advertisements to all empanelled publications on Republic Day to commemorate the date and the moment when India became a Republic by adopting the Constitution. This year also a similar practice was followed and six different designs were given to all the empanelled publications. In one of the advertisement designs issued, the photograph of the original calligraphic representation of the Preamble to the Constitution has been used in the background as a water-mark for enhancing the aesthetic and artistic value,' he said. 'The calligraphic representation and decorated Preamble as available in the Parliament Museum is the only such decorated copy till date… The photo of the original Preamble was a way of honouring founding fathers of the Constitution and there was no mala fide intention to the publication of the unamended version,' Jaitley added. However, this wasn't all. While former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, then a Union Minister, said the words would stay in the Constitution, Ravishankar Prasad, also a Union Minister, hit back at the Congress, asking it if it thought that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not understand secularism. 'Secularism is in the blood of Indian people, that's part of our culture. It was not there in the original Preamble and was inserted during Emergency. But the government advertisement was about the original Preamble. We are committed to secularism and we don't have any idea to drop it,' Naidu said on January 30, 2015, at a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries. The following day, Prasad told journalists, 'Did Nehru have no understanding of secularism? These words were added during the Emergency. Now what is the harm if there is a debate on it? We have put before the nation the original Preamble … The Preamble and the Constituent Assembly that prepared it had leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, B R Ambedkar, and others. These two words were not there then.' Union Home Minister Amit Shah, then the BJP national president, also weighed in, telling The Hindu in an interview, 'This debate too is meaningless. The BJP believes that the Preamble as it stands today is fine. There is no need to change it.' When Parliament began functioning from the new building two years ago, a similar controversy erupted after the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha at the time, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said the copy of the Constitution distributed to MPs to mark the occasion did not have the current Preamble. 'They (the government) can say it is an older version. But they should have included the amended version too. They may say they have given us the original version. I think there is a deliberate design,' Chowdhury told The Indian Express on September 20, 2023. However, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal played down the issue, saying the MPs may have been given a copy of the original Constitution. 'It (Preamble) was like this when the Constitution was adopted. After that, the 42nd amendment came… So it must be the original copy.' The Lok Sabha Secretariat also clarified the matter. In a bulletin issued on September 18, it said that MPs would be given a copy of the Constitution and a calligraphed copy of the original document. 'To mark the historic first sitting in the Parliament House of India (new building of Parliament) a copy of the Constitution of India, calligraphed copy of the original Constitution of India, newsletter 'Gaurav', and the commemorative stamp and coin released on the occasion of inauguration of the new building of Parliament will be presented to Hon'ble Members,' read the bulletin.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indiana House passes Illinois secession bill on first reading, but amendments keep session lively
Indiana House legislators gave initial approval to a bill aimed at redrawing the Indiana-Illinois border Wednesday, but the bill continues to open up a Pandora's box of amendments — from marijuana legalization to allowing Indiana counties to secede. Indiana House Bill 1008, authored by Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, would establish an Indiana-Illinois boundary adjustment commission to research the possibility of adjusting the boundaries between the two states. The commission would include five members appointed by the Indiana governor and five members appointed under Illinois law. The whole House chamber discussed the bill for the first time Wednesday, with three Democratic lawmakers proposing amendments that would open the way for Indiana counties to leave the state, only allow Indiana to take fiscally responsible Illinois counties and legalize marijuana in Indiana. All three amendments failed. Rep. Ryan Dvorak proposed an amendment that would allow Indiana county councils to adopt a resolution to allow a ballot public question regarding the possibility of their county either joining a different existing state or forming a new state. Dvorak, D-South Bend, said he's had an interest in state boundaries for many years, and he even discussed with colleagues how to propose a similar bill in previous sessions. 'It makes even more sense today for us as a nation that needs to function and live with each other to look at how we work and operate as a Democratic Republic, that we actually represent the will of our constituents. That gets harder and harder to do when you have larger and larger arbitrary boundaries enclosing whole different groups of people,' Dvorak said. Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary, asked Huston a similar question about the possibility of Indiana counties, like Lake County, shifting into Illinois during Monday's hearing in the House Government and Regulatory Reform committee. Huston said then that anything could be considered, but he cautioned against the idea. Rep. Blake Johnson, D-Indianapolis, said his amendment focused on fiscal responsibility and economic growth. Speaking to a supermajority Republican chamber, Johnson joked his amendment 'sticks it to those liberals in Illinois with their legal cannabis, higher wages and higher ranking in quality of life, water, healthcare, education and Chicago-style hotdogs.' Johnson proposed an amendment that would require the commission to study the financial feasibility of only accepting Illinois counties that contribute more to the Illinois tax base than receiving from it. 'Surely we're not looking to turn Indiana into a charity state extending our benevolent hand to the places that have been economically dependent on the largesse of Springfield for decades,' Johnson said. Huston said Illinois would benefit from Indiana's pro-growth and pro-economic development policies. 'What might be a struggling county today could be an oasis of economic freedom in the future,' Huston said. Johnson also filed an amendment that would direct the commission to study how to raise Indiana's minimum wage to the level of Illinois' minimum wage, but he didn't call it for a vote. Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, proposed an amendment that would direct the commission to discuss and recommend whether Indiana should adopt Illinois policies on legalized marijuana. Harris joked he proposed the amendment for House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jeffrey Thompson, who often says the state doesn't have enough money to fund projects. With his amendment, Harris said Indiana would have a new revenue source that could be used for infrastructure, healthcare, public safety and other issues, he said. The commission would look at all aspects, from laws and policies to economic impacts, of redrawing the border, Huston said. Huston drafted the bill after he learned that nearly three dozen Illinois counties have voted in recent years to leave the state, he said. In November, seven Illinois counties — Iroquois, Calhoun, Clinton, Greene, Jersey, Madison and Perry counties — voted to secede from the state. Iroquois County is along the Indiana border, the remaining six counties are closer to Missouri. Huston mentioned the ballot measure results in Monday's hearing. He also said that since the COVID-19 pandemic more than 100,000 people from Illinois have moved to Indiana. Indiana has a balanced budget, a AAA credit rating, low debt, a growing economy and school voucher programs, Huston said. Illinois has an unfunded pension debt, high taxes and fewer options for school choice, he said. 'We don't want to see our neighbors to the west languish. Ultimately, their success or failure affects our own success or failure,' Huston said in committee. 'To the Illinois counties and residents feeling unheard and unrepresented, we hear you and we'd like to invite you to come back home again to Indiana.' To change a state line, the U.S. Constitution dictates that the Indiana legislature, the Illinois legislature and then Congress would have to approve the measure, said Indiana University Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs professor Paul Helmke. 'It's sort of a useless measure. Nothing exactly like this has happened in U.S. history before, and I think it's unlikely to happen here,' Helmke said. 'It's an interesting idea, but it's not going to go anywhere.' House Bill 1008 begins the conversation of moving the state line, Huston said. Illinois State Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, has filed a companion bill in Illinois, Huston said. Halbrook said he filed Illinois House Bill 1500, which 'does similar things and is comparable to the Indiana bill.' Gov. JB Pritzker brushed off the proposal – and fired back at the neighboring state – when he was asked about it at an unrelated news conference last month. 'It's a stunt. It's not going to happen,' Pritzker said. 'But I'll just say that Indiana is a low-wage state that doesn't protect workers, a state that does not provide health care for people in need, and so I don't think it's very attractive for anybody in Illinois.' G.H. Merritt, chairwoman of New Illinois, was one of six people to testify before the House Government and Regulatory Reform committee in favor of the bill. Two organizations in Illinois are working toward succeeding from Illinois and creating a new state, Merritt said. 'Our biggest grievance is that we are not represented. We don't have government of the people, by the people and for the people. Our governor accuses us of wanting to kick Chicago out of Illinois. Not so, we want to kick ourselves out of Illinois,' Merritt said. 'Our goal is the constitutional formation of a new state separate from Illinois.' Illinois outside of Cook County has more in common with Indiana, Merritt said, like fiscal discipline and lower taxes. 'We very much appreciate that you see us, that you hear us, that you empathize with our experience. We wish our own state government would do the same,' Merritt said. 'We thank the leadership of Indiana for recognizing our pain.' The bill moves forward for final consideration by the House. akukulka@
