Important bills passed in the budget session

Following are some of the important bills passed in the budget session of parliament that concluded Thursday:

* The Constitution (99th) Amendment Bill, 2014, passed by both houses, is aimed at scrapping the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and High Court judges.

* The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014, passed by both houses, is an enabling legislation to bring in a new system of appointing judges by setting up a commission.

* The Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2014, passed by both houses, gives more powers to the SEBI with the specific intention of curbing ponzi schemes.

* The National Institute of Design Bill, 2014, passed by the Lok Sabha, seeks to declare NID as an institution of national importance.

* The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2014, passed by both houses, seeks the merger of 236 revenue villages of Khammam district in Telangana with Andhra Pradesh to facilitate the Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project.

* The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2014, passed by both houses, basically aims to cement the appointment of former TRAI chairperson Nripendra Misra as principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by amending rules of appointment of former TRAI chairpersons.

* Finance Bills: These are the bills pertaining to the general and the railways budget which were passed by both houses of parliament.

--The Appropriation (Railways) No. 2 Bill, 2014

--The Appropriation (Railways) No. 3 Bill, 2014

--The Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2014

--The Appropriation (No. 3) Bill, 2014

--The Finance (No. 2) Bill, 2014

* The Apprentices (Amendment) Bill, 2014, passed by the Lok Sabha, seeks to augment the skilled manpower in the country, allow flexibility to industries to hire apprentices and improve their monetary compensation.