Parliamentary Monsoon Session turns fruitful today

Amidst several disruptions and chaos that arose in the Parliament Monsoon Session, a lot of bills were passed on Thursday.

The Lok Sabha passed the Banking Regulation Amendment Bill, today.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while replying to the debate stated that after the passage of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, (SARFAESI Act), from 2001, non-performing assets (NPAs) came down from 13% to 2% by 2007.

Under the Bill, the central government may authorise the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue directions to banks for initiating proceedings in case of a default or failure to meet the legal obligations or conditions of a loan.

The Lower House also passed the Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Amendment Bill.

Earlier, the central government had the power to levy Entertainment Tax and Entertainment Duty for Chandigarh.

The current Bill passed transfers these powers from the central government to the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh.

This amendment is consequent to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which includes Entertainment Tax within the scope of GST.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill was also taken up in Lok Sabha.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has a capital of Rs 100 crore currently.

The Bill allows the Central Government to increase this capital to Rs 30,000 crore.

During the debate, parliament members spoke on a range of issues related to the sector like the volatility of the agricultural growth, need for increase in allocations to irrigation projects and water management, accessibility to credit, among other things.

Rajya Sabha also took up discussion on India's foreign policy and engagement with strategic partners.

During the debate, Parliamentary member discussed the outcomes of the Prime Ministers visits to countries like Israel, Japan, among others.

Members raised questions regarding India's assessment and response to developments in Dokhlam and its overall policy towards China.

Concerns about NSG membership, maritime boundaries, relations with neighbouring countries were also raised.