Page 104 - Lok Sabha

Oppn MPs move notices in LS, seek discussion on Parliament security breach

Sticking to the matter, Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari has given an Adjournment Motion notice to discuss the Parliament security breach incident

Parliament session: Centre may table Telecommunications Bill 2023 today

The new Bill states that the Centre be vested with the power to waive entry fees, licence fees, and penalties in the interest of consumers

On your mark, get set, go! BJP set for 2024 polls with 'Amrit Kaal' vision

Election-ready: From Dec 2023 to early April 2024, BJP's schedule is packed. Its workers are on their toes to win over the voters once again, with idea of 'Amrit Kaal'. Radhika Ramaseshan writes

After thaw, Opposition leaders to get hot on INDIA agenda for LS polls

Picking up the pieces: After the Assembly poll debacle, the Congress has become more receptive to other Opposition parties. This may aid reconciliation at the INDIA meet tomorrow. Archis Mohan writes

PM evading LS breach debate to avoid questions on BJP MP's role: Congress

The Congress on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running away from a debate on the security breach in Parliament and said the reason for it is that questions will be raised on the role of the Mysuru BJP MP in facilitating the entry of those who jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber. The opposition party's attack came after Modi said the seriousness of the security breach in Parliament cannot be underestimated and called for no squabbling over the issue amid the Opposition's protests over it in Parliament. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The Prime Minister has finally broken his silence on the extraordinary events in the Lok Sabha on December 13th. He says probe is needed and not debate and that such a probe is on." "All that INDIA parties are asking for and will continue to press for is a statement by the Home Minister on what happened on December 13th and how exactly it happened," Ramesh said. "The PM is running away from a debate for a ve

INDIA bloc's immediate task is to win Lok Sabha elections: P Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has termed the party's debacle in the recently held Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan assembly polls as "unexpected" and "a matter of worry". In an exclusive interview to PTI, Chidambaram on Sunday said the BJP fights every election "as if it is the last battle" and that is what opposition parties "must realise". "BJP's victory in three states Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh is a major boost for the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The defeat of the Congress in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan was unexpected. The results are worrying and I believe the party's leadership will address the weaknesses," the former Union finance minister said. The veteran leader, however, said the party's 40 per cent vote share in the four big states - Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh and Telangana - where assembly elections were held recently "seems to be intact". Chidambaram said he is hopeful that the party's vote share might increase up to 45 per cent ahead

Parliament security breach serious issue, there should be no squabbling: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the seriousness of the security breach in Parliament cannot be underestimated, and called for no squabbling over the issue amid Opposition's protests over it in Parliament. In an interview to Hindi daily 'Dainik Jagran', Modi said probe agencies are investigating the incident and taking stringent measures, noting that it is equally necessary to go to the root of people behind it and their motives. The newspaper said he described the breach as painful and a matter of concern. "Efforts should also be made to look for a solution with collective spirit. Everyone should avoid squabbling over such an issue," he said. The gravity of the incident which happened in Parliament should not be underestimated, the prime minister said, adding that the Speaker has also been taking necessary steps with all seriousness. Two persons jumped from visitors' gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber on December 13, with opposition parties, demanding a statement from Home

'Parl security breach accused wanted to stage self-immolation for drama'

The five accused arrested in the December 13 Parliament security breach case have revealed they explored the idea of self-immolation after applying fire-resistent gel on their body to create more dramatic scenes without hurting themselves and get media attention, Delhi Police officials said on Saturday. However, they later dropped this idea, settling on the plan to jump into the Lok Sabha chamber with smoke canisters, they said. The Delhi Police Special Cell, which is investigating the case, also plans to record the statement of BJP MP Pratap Simha, who had authorised the visitor passes for the two men who breached security to enter the House. Two men -- Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D -- had jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs. Around the same time, two others -- Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi -- released coloured smoke from canisters while shouting ...

Won't contest 2024 Lok Sabha polls, says Congress leader Navjot Sidhu

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu Saturday said he will not contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress leader, however, refrained from saying if his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu will contest the general elections. Sidhu, a former MP, had lost the 2022 assembly elections from Amritsar East seat. "Sidhu is not contesting Lok Sabha (polls)," the former Punjab Congress chief told reporters in Bhatinda. When asked if his wife was going to contest next year's elections, the former cricketer said only she could answer that question. Attacking the AAP government in Punjab over rising debt, law and order, Sidhu accused the Bhagwant Mann government of deviating from burning issues of the state. Sidhu said contractual workers have been holding 'dharnas' demanding the regularisation of their services while government employees are protesting seeking the implementation of the old pension scheme. More than a year has passed since the notification on the OPS has been issued, but the government h

Will move with positive agenda: INC discusses LS poll preparedness in Guj

The top leadership of the Congress Saturday discussed the party's preparations in Gujarat for next year's Lok Sabha elections, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge saying they will move forward with a positive agenda to strengthen the organisation. Kharge chaired a meeting of Gujarat Congress leaders at the AICC headquarters here. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders of the party were also present. Discussions were held on challenges the party faces in Gujarat and ways to highlight the BJP's "misgovernance" before the people. This was part of a series of meetings organised by the party to strengthen the organisation in every state and prepare itself for the general elections next year. "Due to the continuous misgovernance of the BJP government in Gujarat, the issues remain the same unemployment, inflation, economic inequality, atrocities against Dalits and tribals, fraud and immense corruption," Kharge said in Hindi on 'X' after the meeting. "Today, we discu

Our son can't do this: Parents of parl security breach mastermind Jha

Days after the Parliament security breach had shocked the nation, the parents of the alleged mastermind Lalit Jha, are still in a state of disbelief. Jha's father Devanand, who practices priestcraft in Kolkata to make ends meet, is visibly discomfited by the attention his dilapidated ancestral house in Bihar has since been attracting. "I came to know about my son's arrest through other people. As you all can see, we do not even own a TV set", Devanand Jha told journalists at his house in Rampur Uday, a nondescript village in Darbhanga district. His wife Manjula, who looked dazed, screamed amid sobs "My child is not a rogue. He cannot indulge in wrongdoings. He has always loved to help people. He has donated his blood three times". It has been a week since the couple last saw their 32-year-old son, who handed himself over to the Delhi police on Thursday, two days after four persons, two of whom found their way into the Lok Sabha's visitors' gallery, entered the Parliament building .

Parliament security breach: Intruders came with 7 smoke cans, say Police

Delhi Police sources said, "The four accused Neelam, Amol, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan had arrived with not one or two but 7 smoke cans to carry out the incident."

Parliament security breach accused wanted to create anarchy: Police

Lalit Jha, arrested in the Parliament security breach case, is the "mastermind" of the entire conspiracy and he and co-accused wanted to create anarchy in the country so that they could compel the government to meet their demands, the Delhi Police told a city court on Friday. Sources said police are likely to seek the Parliament's permission to recreate the December 13 incident that unfolded on the anniversary of the 2001 attack on it. Jha, who hails from West Bengal, was sent to seven-day police custody on Friday after his arrest last night. Police claimed in the Patiala House court that he admitted that the accused met many times to hatch the conspiracy to breach Parliament security. Besides, he was also required to be interrogated to ascertain whether the accused had association with any enemy country or terrorist organisation, police said. Talking about the future course of investigation, a senior police officer said that they will be taking Jha to Rajasthan to trace the places

Congress to launch 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign from Nagpur on Dec 28

Finalising second leg of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra

Safety of Indians in Canada priority for government: Muraleedharan

As many as 8.3 lakh Canadian citizens have affiliation to Hinduism while 7.7 lakh reported Sikhism as their religion, the government told Parliament on Friday, citing Ottawa's census data for 2021. The information was provided by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. "As per available information through Canada Census data (2021), 8,30,000 Canadian citizens reported affiliation to Hinduism and 7,70,000 Canadian citizens reported Sikhism as their religion," Muraleedharan said. He said the safety and well-being of Indian nationals in Canada is a priority for the government. The ties between India and Canada have been under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September linking Indian agents to the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June. India strongly rejected the charges. "The Indian mission/consulates in Canada are constantly en

HC collegiums yet to send recommendations for 201 judges' vacancies: Govt

Eighty-one of the 123 proposals sent by high court collegiums for appointment of judges are at various stages of processing with the government, Parliament was informed on Friday. The remaining 42 proposals are under the consideration of the Supreme Court Collegium, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. He also said recommendations are yet to be received from the high court collegiums regarding the remaining 201 vacancies. "As on December 12, 123 proposals are at various stages of processing. Out of these 123 proposals, 81 proposals are at various stages of processing in the government. Forty-two proposals are under consideration with the SC collegium," Meghwal said. According to the law ministry's website, as on December 1, of the sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges for the 25 high courts, there were 324 vacancies. According to the established mechanism, the chief justice of a high court initiates a proposal to fill vacancies of ..

Over 5 cr cases pending in Indian courts, 80,000 of them in SC: Law Min

Over five crore cases are pending in various courts of the country, including 80,000 in the Supreme Court, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday. In a written reply, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said as of December 1, out of the 5,08,85,856 pending cases, over 61 lakh were at the level of the 25 high courts. The district and subordinate courts accounted for over 4.46 crore cases, he said. The minister also noted that the overall sanctioned strength of the Indian judiciary was 26,568 judges. While the sanctioned strength of the top court is 34 judges, 1,114 is the sanctioned strength of the high courts. The district and subordinate courts have a sanctioned strength of 25,420 judges.

Odisha CM Patnaik chairs state executive meeting ahead of Lok Sabha polls

The meeting was attended by MPs, MLAs, heads of different wings of the party, district presidents and office-bearers

Parl security breach: 2 more nabbed, 6 teams formed to lead investigation

The detained persons are identified as Mahesh and Kailash, both residents of Rajasthan and have an alleged association with a social media group called 'Justice for Azad Bhagat Singh'

Security arrangements in West Bengal assembly to be beefed up: Speaker

"Police will question if a visitor is found overstaying inside the assembly premises," he said