Page 3 - Lok Sabha Speaker

Members should refrain from interjecting till permitted: LS speaker

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said ministers should give up the habit of responding to members during the Question Hour till permitted by the Chair. This came after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav made a comment while Union minister Pralhad Joshi was replying to a question on solar energy and Union minister Piyush Goyal responded to the Kannauj MP. Goyal earlier served as power minister. Joshi, who holds the New and Renewable Energy portfolio, was responding to supplementaries related to Pradhan Mantri-Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana (PM-SGMBY). Birla said ministers should not reply to members till they are allowed by the Chair. Later, the speaker also asked members to keep their questions and answers short. He made the comments when Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia was responding to questions about BSNL. Scindia was also asked to keep his reply short. Members and ministers should keep their questions and answers crisp and to the point so that more members

Lok Sabha seat allotment sparks discontent; INDIA allies blame Congress

Members of Parliament from both NDA and Opposition parties have expressed dissatisfaction with the Lok Sabha seating arrangement, feeling that it does not reflect their seniority or political stature

Lok Sabha will be convened on Sunday, warns Om Birla amid House disruptions

The Winter Session of Parliament, which began on Nov 25 and is set to continue until Dec 20, has faced significant disruptions due to Opposition protests

Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 noon amid protests by opposition over Adani

Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon on Monday amid protests by opposition members over the Adani indictment row, recent violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal and other issues. As soon as the House met after the weekend break, many opposition members, including those from the Congress, were on their feet, raising the indictment of industrialist Gautam Adani in a US court on bribery charges, among other issues. Some members were in the Well of the House while other opposition members stood in the aisle and raised slogans. Speaker Om Birla asked the opposition members to allow the Question Hour and said they could take up their issues later. Amid the din, one question was taken up. However, the opposition members ignored the speaker's pleas, following which he adjourned the House till 12 noon. The Lok Sabha proceedings were washed out last week as well due to the protests by the opposition members on the same issues. Before the House assembled, Parliamentary Affairs Mini

LS speaker Om Birla says constitution should be kept away from politics

He said that no government of any party or ideology can temper the basic spirit (or structure) of the Constitution. There have been changes made in the Constitution from time to time but to cater

PAC head Venugopal working to defame govt, acting unconstitutionally: Dubey

Public Accounts Committee member and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has accused the panel's chairman and Congress member K C Venugopal of raking up non-extent issues to defame the central government and destabilise the country's financial structure and economy. Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Venugopal for allegedly misusing his position, bypassing the PAC's remit and working as part of a "tool kit" to damage the economy after reports emerged that the committee may summon SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, who has faced allegations of professional impropriety from US-based firm Hindenburg Research. He had written to Birla against Venugopal's "unconstitutional and disdainful" conduct on September 9. Incidentally, the PAC decided on October 4 to call Buch for deposition on October 24. His strongly worded communication is a clear indication that the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, who are in a majority in the committee, are likely to resist any further move by .

Parl using AI, ML to make proceedings available in many languages: Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday said artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies were put to use to make available House proceedings in different regional languages to members of Parliament. Addressing a press conference here after the two-day meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association India Region, Birla said the Lok Sabha Secretariat was also sharing its expertise in technology with legislatures of states and Union territories to speed up the process of digitisation. Birla said during the two-day conference, presiding officers of state legislatures from across the country also deliberated on the agenda of the upcoming 67th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) in Sydney from November 3-8. The CPC has short-listed eight topics including support of legislatures to promote LGBTQ+ participation, use of artificial learning (AI) in parliamentary proceedings, violence and abuse of parliamentarians, human trafficking, refugees and immigration across ..

Stay alert in proceedings or lose chance to ask question: LS speaker to MPs

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday asked members to be alert during House proceedings or else, he said, they will lose the opportunity to ask supplementary questions during the Question Hour. Birla said this after Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal was unable to respond to the speaker's call on time. During the Question Hour, a question posed by Badal related to Punjab was listed in the agenda for discussion. When Birla took Badal's name for a few times, she failed to respond in time as she was apparently busy talking to a fellow member. At this, the speaker decided to move on to the next question. Soon after, the Shiromani Akali Dal MP responded and urged the speaker to allow her to raise the issue. "I have called your name thrice. But you were busy in talking. You have to be alert when your question is listed. I want to tell all Honourable members that if you don't pay attention to the proceedings, you will not get the chance to raise issues," Birla said. The spea

BJP hits back at Rahul Gandhi after he raises questions at LS Speaker

As Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi raised questions on the presiding officer in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Kiren Rijiju hit back at the former Congress chief, saying he has no intention to follow constitutional norms while participating in parliamentary debates. The two ministers slammed Gandhi for questioning Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's authority during a debate on the Union Budget in the House. "I condemn the manner in which the leader of opposition attacked the speaker and spoke with disregard for the rules and procedures of the House," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju said. Information and Broadcasting Minister Vaishnaw said there was a history to Gandhi's behaviour. "Rahul Gandhi had once torn an ordinance promulgated by his own party's government. I do not think he has any intention to follow constitutional norms," Vaishnaw said. He said it was unfortunate that despite holding a constitutional post, Gandhi's behaviour in the House .

Parliament highlights: Govt earned Rs 98,681 crore from LTCG tax in FY23, says minister

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha news highlights: Here are the latest news updates related to the developments in the Parliament

Oppn raises paper leaks issue; LS Speaker asks for constructive discussion

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha on Monday that there is a very serious problem in the country's examination system, prompting Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to issue a strong rebuttal and state that there was no evidence of paper leaks in the last seven years. As the opposition sought to corner the government over the issue of paper leaks, Speaker Om Birla also weighed in saying it was not right to raise questions about all exams and that members should discuss about developing a better examination system. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET. The agency has lodged six FIRs. The NEET-UG is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions. On the first day of the Budget session of Parliament, Opposition members raised the issue of exam paper leaks. Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said there w

LS Speaker Birla calls for reforms in UNSC, WTO in Brics parliamentary meet

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday made a strong pitch for greater democratisation of global governance structures such as the UN Security Council and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Addressing the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in St. Petersburg in Russia, Birla said India was committed to uniting emerging markets and developing countries, and affirmed its dedication to the principles of mutual respect, understanding, equality, solidarity, openness, inclusiveness and consensus. He was speaking at the first plenary session on the theme of "The BRICS Parliamentary dimension: prospects for strengthening inter-parliamentary cooperation". Birla also welcomed the four new members -- Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- into the BRICS Parliamentary Forum. "BRICS, largely representing the interests of the developing world, stands for greater democratisation of the global governance system, and for reforming the international organisations such as the

Fair trade, focus on manufacturing, infra on steel firms' Budget wish list

Steel companies hope the govt will continue to focus on infra expansion while also giving the industry a level playing field to compete with imports

Expect all members to uphold parliamentary dignity, follow rules: Om Birla

After a tumultuous Parliament session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday said he expects all members to uphold the dignity of the House by following rules and procedures. The three-term Lok Sabha from Kota parliamentary seat received a rousing welcome in his constituency after being elected as Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament for a second consecutive term. Asked about Rahul Gandhi's role as the Leader of the Opposition, Birla said the Rae Bareli MP holds a Constitutional post. The Lok Sabha Speaker also said that he expects all members to uphold parliamentary dignity while discharging their duties in the House. Birla said he would endeavour to give an opportunity to all members to raise issues dear to them in the House as per the rules and procedures. "It will be my endeavour to conduct the debate in the House in a manner that it doesn't affect the dignity of Parliament, be it the members from treasury benches or the opposition," he said. People lined up along the str

Om Birla elected as Lok sabha speaker, Arvind Kejriwal arrested by CBI & more

BJP’s Om Birla was elected as the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha for a second consecutive term by a voice vote. He recognized Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of the Opposition.

First session of 18th LS recorded 103% productivity, says Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker informed the House that the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address on June 27, lasted for more than 18 hours and 68 Members participated in the discussion

Selective expunction defies logic, expunged remarks be restored: Rahul

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla over portions of his speech in the House having been expunged, saying "selective expunction" defies logic and that the remarks be restored. In his first speech as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi had launched a no-holds-barred attack on the BJP, accusing the leaders of the ruling party of dividing people on communal lines. Certain remarks he made during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address in the Lok Sabha on Monday were later expunged. In his letter to Birla, Gandhi said while the Chair derives powers to expunge certain remarks from the proceedings of the House but the stipulation is only those kinds of words, the nature of which have been specified in Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. "I am, however, shocked to note the manner in which considerable portions of my speech have been simply taken off from the proceedings

Modi govt failed to deliver on promises, alleges Congress MP Pramod Tiwari

Senior Congress leader Pramod Tiwari accused the Narendra Modi government on Tuesday of betraying people during its 10-year rule, saying it failed to deliver on promises, whether on bringing back black money, stopping corruption or controlling price rise. Participating in a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the Motion of Thanks for the president's address to a joint sitting of Parliament, Tiwari said the prices of several commodities have touched a multi-decade high, but the issue found no reference in President Droupadi Murmu's speech. Similary, there is no roadmap to address the problem of unemployment, the rate of which is also at a multi-year high, and there was no mention of it in Murmu's address, the Congress leader said. He said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to deliver on any of the promises it made to people and it reflected in the results of the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, where the party lost a significant number of seats. "You must ponder on why you .

Adding words to oath lowers Constitution's dignity; follow format: Speaker

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urged MPs on Monday to follow the prescribed format while taking oath or affirmation and not add words as it lowered the dignity of the Constitution. His statement came against the backdrop of several members raising slogans of "Jai Samvidhan" and "Jai Hindu Rashtra" while taking oath last week. Making a reference in the Lok Sabha, Birla also announced the setting up of a committee comprising representatives of major parties to delve into the issue. "This House resolves that all members will take oath or affirmation as per the format mentioned in Schedule III of the Constitution ... it is expected that we take oath or affirmation as per the format and such things are not repeated in future," Birla said. It is a serious issue and a matter of concern for all as well as the House, Birla pointed out. Several MPs had raised slogans while taking oath as members of the 18th Lok Sabha. The speaker had urged the members to stick to the prescribed format but in ..

Cong MP Tagore urges Om Birla to ease journalist restrictions in Parliament

Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Sunday said he has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him to lift Covid restrictions on journalists covering Parliament. In a post on 'X', he shared a copy of his letter written to the Birla on June 27. Wrote to Hon @loksabhaspeaker to lift Covid restrictions on journalists covering Parliament. Established journalists are being restricted in the name of curbs. It's time to restore media access and give them their rightful place," Tagore said in the post. In the letter to Birla, he said that several journalists, many of whom have been covering Parliament for over a decade, are facing restrictions in the name of COVID-19 protocols. "Preventing them from accessing the Parliament not only hampers their professional duties but also restricts the flow of accurate information to the public. In the interest of preserving the democratic ethos of our nation, it is imperative that all accredited reporters be allowed to cover the proceedings without an