Political rumblings in Karnataka: Let us now enjoy our holiday, says SC

Surprise attendance

A bunch of banking sector leaders was in for a surprise last Thursday when Piyush Goyal, who has been given additional charge of the finance ministry recently, took a last-minute call on Wednesday evening to attend a review meeting. The meeting attended by finance ministry officials and top executives of 11 public sector banks was scheduled to take place on Thursday, from 11 am to 5.30 pm, and was to be chaired by department of financial services secretary Rajiv Kumar. However, not only did Goyal attend the first session of the meeting in the morning, he returned later to chair a second session at 6 pm. Many of the bankers, who had booked their return tickets for the evening, had to either reschedule or cancel their flights, as the meeting ended around 8.30 pm.

The negotiator

When a team from a consumer durables firm arrived at a Bollywood superstar's doorstep to sign an endorsement deal, they were in for a tough bout of negotiations. After much discussion, the team prepared an agreement of Rs 90 million with the star, but just before signing on the dotted lines, the latter struck off the figure and wrote Rs 100 million in its place. "Let's just make it a round figure," said the septuagenarian trendsetter. The company wasn't complaining though. 

Everyone likes a holiday
 

“Now, let us enjoy our holidays,” said Justice A K Sikri, who headed the three-judge bench that was hearing the Karnataka power row, at the end of Saturday's hearing. The Congress had moved court against the appointment of K G Bopaiah, a three-time Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, as pro-tem speaker. Traditionally, the pro-tem speaker is the longest standing member of the assembly. The hearing had began on a sombre note on Saturday, with senior advocate Kapil Sibal apologising to the bench for troubling it on a court holiday. After the court concluded the hearing, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Congress- Janata Dal (Secular) combine, told the bench, "We hope that we do not trouble you (judges) on Sunday."