First give foundation and then apply snowcem orders Superme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday put some searching questions to the Centre for going ahead with quota in higher educational institutions without fully addressing the issue of elementary education for social empowerment of backward classes.

"Your (Centre’s) effort for higher education to backward classes would require lesser effort if you bring the elementary education among them to a level," a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan observed.

"You reach higher level of education after you complete elementary education," the Bench said reminding the Centre that the anti-quota petitioners’ contention was why to spend Rs 36,000 crore for higher education for socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs) if there was a failure to meet the target of elementary education.

The court wanted to know from the Centre what was the primary requirement for social empowerment of backward classes.

However, solicitor general G E Vahanvati said it was a question of priority and both of them could go together. "The attempt is to balance both elementary and higher education. Neither elementary nor higher education can be ignored," he said before the Bench which is examining the Constitutional validity of the law providing 27% quota for OBCs in the Central educational institutions.

"We are doing simultaneously and it is a permissible exercise," said the solicitor general, who faced a volley of questions from the Bench, said.

Mr Vahanvati said the Centre was committed for achieving the goal of universalisation of elementary education in partnership with the states and local bodies and that the 11th five-year plan has recognised the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SAA) a part of the Constitutional mandate to provide free education to all.

However, the Bench was critical of the reduction of Centre’s share in fund for the purpose from 9th plan onwards. It was of the view that if the Centre spend funds for the elementary education, the benefit would be for the SEBCs.

“First give foundation to everyone in SEBCs before trying for higher education,” the Bench observed, adding that “there is an apprehension that foundation is not visible but snowcem is there”.

“First give foundation and then apply snowcem. You cannot reach first and second floor without making a ground floor,” the Bench observed emphasising that the foundation for achieving higher education was the elementary education.

The court wanted to know from the Centre about the fund allocation for infrastructure in village schools, most of which are without a roof. “What was the requirement of various states and what the Centre was providing,” the Bench said.

Justifying 27% reservation, Mr Vahanvati said Parliament has made provisions to ensure that it did not affect seats in the General category. Further, he said time limit cannot be imposed for the policy of reservation in admission or in employment.

“The policy of reservation flows from the mandate of equality and till the time the constitional objective of real equality is achieved, there is a Constituional mandate on the state to have special provisions in the nature for upliftment of backward class,” the solicitor general said.

(Via Indiatimes.)

Abhishek Bachchan paints for Khushii

Abhishek Bachchan yielded the paint brush to paint for a cause as he chose his favourite colors for Khushii foundation - an NGO which works for the betterment of street children.

Mona Lisa descending a staircase

Animation of several pieces of 20th century art morphing into each other. Quite beautiful.

Elite homes, by invitation only

In a radical departure from conventional positioning exercises in the real estate sector, the Rs 10,000 crore Ambience group is attempting to reverse conventional marketing models by restricting access to only select buyers — by invitation.

And in doing so it begs the question: is merely being expensive — or even extremely expensive — enough to bag the “luxury” tag? When it comes to real estate at least, it may not. Land values in congested metros can distort pricing to an extent where merely being costly or difficult to acquire does not put a property in the “luxury” bracket.

In its tony integrated township, Ambience Island, coming up in Gurgaon, near Delhi, Ambience is planning to sell 250 premium condos only to buyers who have been invited to invest there.

"It's not just about money. It's all about creating the right surroundings," says Kochhar A., managing director. The group plans to ask a "neutral panel" to select "invite" buyers who will have the requisite comfort levels, not just with the neighbourhood, but the neighbours as well.

Kochhar is not worried about the possibility of upsetting potential customers.

"Luxury is relative. For somebody driving a Maruti 800, a Honda City might be luxury. But then again for somebody else, whose basic car is a Mercedes, the benchmark is different. The key to answering the question is quality and innovation."

Ambience, which is developing the two biggest malls in the National Capital Region area — the 8 lakh sq ft Ambi Mall in New Delhi and the 18 lakh sq ft Ambi Mall in Gurgaon, is also likely to be the first to market with a retail innovation.

Platinum Tower, a separate island within its Gurgaon mall, is planned as the country's first dedicated mall for super-luxury brands, with restricted access.

When asked whether this might affect footfalls, key to any retail business, Kochhar said that the group will drive entry by holding coordinated activities.

"Besides," he says, "we are not looking at today. By 2015, the market might change so much that even this might be too small."

via HT

Congratulations to Team India

The Indian team celebrates after the fall of the final wicket.

It was India's first major triumph since winning the 60 overs-a-side World Cup in 1983, under the captaincy of Kapil Dev.

Congratulations to Team India from all of us at Snowcem Paints.

Top 10 painting tips

1. What is the best way to decide which color is best for my room?

The first step is determining your color scheme by examining your existing furniture, window treatments, and other accessories (or shop for these items first). Choose your favorite colors in these items and visit your paint dealer to get coordinating color chips. Look at the color chips in the daylight and at night so you will see how lighting will affect your color choices. As a last resort, you might want to buy a quart of your chosen color and test it on one of your walls.

2. My room has a chair rail and I am using two colors. Which one goes where?

If you want an open, airy look, always paint the portion of the wall below the chair rail with the darker color. This allows the lighter color to dominate.

3. Should trim work be painted the same color as the walls, or a different shade?

The answer to this question depends on what you are trying to achieve with your room. Use the same color on the trim if you are trying to disguise ordinary or unattractive trim work, or if you are trying to create a uniform, monochromatic look. Use a lighter or darker color to accentuate trim work or to add subtle hints or bold flashes of color to your room.

4. Will the paint I chose look lighter or darker on the wall?

Over a larger surface area, most colors appear darker. It’s a good idea to choose colors a shade or two lighter than what you want. Clean, bright colors can appear either lighter or darker depending on the surrounding colors and lighting in the room

Read more

Jinnah House

Jinnah House was the residence of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan; in Mumbai, India. It was built in 1936 at a then exorbitant price of 2 lakh (200,000) rupees when Jinnah returned to Mumbai from England to take charge of the Muslim League. Now worth around $400 Million the house is the subject of a dispute between India, the government of Pakistan and Jinnah's daughter. The bungalow is located on Mount Pleasant Road (now Bhausaheb Hirey Marg) in the upmarket Malabar Hill area of South Mumbai. Its opposite neighbour is the residence of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Designed by architect Claude Batley in the European-style architecture, the sea facing palatial bungalow is constructed using exquisite Italian marble and walnut woodwork. Specially imported Italian stone masons were employed for its construction with Jinnah personally supervising the construction "brick by brick". The property encompasses an area of 10,000 square metres (2.5 acres). The mansion, with its pointed arches and impressive columns, is currently in a dilapidated state, and much of the walnut panelling has rotted.

The historic building was also the venue for the watershed talks on the Partition of India in September 1944 between Jinnah and MK Gandhi. Ironically on 15th August 1946, exactly a year before India gained independence, another round of talks was held here between Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru which altered the course of Indian history.