Insurance, companies bills slated for coming week in parliament

Legislation to push economic reforms, including the insurance bill and the companies amendment bill, top government's agenda for the upcoming week of parliament's winter session, an official statement said.

The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, and The Companies Amendment bill will be taken up for consideration and passing in both houses in the week beginning Dec 15, a statement from the parliamentary affairs ministry said.

The insurance bill seeks to raise the cap for FDI in the sector from 26 percent to 49 percent.

The companies bill amends the law to provide stringent punishment for illegal money pooling activities, among other things.

A bill for amending the Lokpal and Lokayuktas act is also slated. The bill will amend the Lokpal Act and the law governing the functioning of the Central Bureau of Investigation to ensure there is no requirement of quorum in the respective selection panels for choosing the anti-corruption ombudsman or the CBI chief.

Earlier, the government amended the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act for including the leader of the single largest opposition party as a member of the selection committee to choose the CBI chief, instead of the leader of opposition as in the act earlier.

A statement from the government meanwhile said the winter session of parliament is set for a record performance in transacting legislative business, with the Lok Sabha passing 13 bills in first three weeks.

The Rajya Sabha, which saw atleast five days of government business being lost to protests, is lagging and has cleared nine bills so far.

The Rajya Sabha is still to take up four bills passed by the lower house.

These are The Appropriation Bill 2014, Payments and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, The Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill and The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill.

"The legislative business transacted during the 15 sittings of the current winter session so far and the bills likely to be taken up during the remainder of the session of seven sittings will surpass by a wide margin the 12 bills passed during the budget session this year," a statement from the parliamentary affairs ministry said.

The other bills proposed by the government for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha include The Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014, The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2014, The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Bill, 2014, The Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, 2010 and The Warehousing Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2014.

In Rajya Sabha, the other bills listed includes The Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, 2010 and The Public Premises Bill, 2014.

Time has also been allocated for taking up two motions in Rajya Sabha relating to annulment and modification of the central government's notification of Dec 2, 2014 seeking to increase the basic excise duty on petrol and diesel.