Page 105 - Lok Sabha

Electricity demand grows 8.5% in Apr-Oct, supply rises 8.8%: Govt

The electricity demand increased 8.5 per cent to 9,82,233 units during April-October 2023, Parliament was informed on Thursday. The energy requirement was 9,05,443 units during the first seven months of 2022, Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The energy supply rose 8.8 per cent to 9,79,344 units during the period under review from 8,99,950 units in the year-ago period. In FY 2022-23, the electricity requirement was 9.6 per cent higher at 15,11,847 units over 13,79,812 units in FY 2021-22. The supply was 15,04,264 units, 9.5 per cent up from 13,74,024 units in FY22. The power generation during FY23 rose to 1,624.465 billion units (BUs) from 1,491.859 (BUs) in FY22. During April-October FY24, the generation was at 1,047.439 BUs. "The peak demand has gone up from 136 GW in 2013-14 to 243 GW in September 2023. We have been able to meet the increase in demand because we added 194 GW of capacity between 2014 to 2023," Si

No 'spectacular announcement' likely in Feb 1 Budget, says finance minister

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the budget to be presented on February 1, 2024 would not have any "spectacular announcement" as it would be a vote on account in run up to the general elections. "It is a matter of truth that February 1, 2024 budget that will be announced will just be a vote on account because we will be in an election mode. So the budget that the government presents will just be to meet the expenditure of the government till a new government comes to play," she said. Speaking at the CII Global Economic Policy Forum, Sitharaman said the country would be preparing for the Lok Sabha elections which are due in the summer of 2024. Hence the February 1 budget, following the British tradition, is called vote on account. "No spectacular announcements come in that time (in vote on account). So you will have to wait till after new government comes in and presents next full Budget in July 2024," Sitharaman said. On February 1, 2024, Sitharaman will presen

LS Speaker accepts resignation of nine MPs who won recent assembly polls

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said he has accepted the resignation of nine Lok Sabha MPs, including Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Patel. The MPs, who are from the BJP, had resigned after winning in the recent assembly polls. Besides the two Union ministers, the other Lok Sabha MPs who resigned are Rakesh Singh, Udya Pratap Singh and Riti Pathak from Madhya Pradesh, Diya Kumari and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from Rajasthan, and Gomati Sai and Arun Sao from Chhattisgarh. Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena has also resigned.

Govt to move Bill to establish Central University in Telangana in Lok Sabha

Also, BJP MP Chhedi Paswan will lay the Statements of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (2023-24)

Digital India Act unlikely to be in place before LS election: Chandrasekhar

The government may not be able to put in place the Digital India Act, which aims to replace over 23 years old IT Act 2000, before the next general election, as there is not much time left for extensive consultation, minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday. While speaking at the Global Technology Summit 2023, the minister, however, said that the rules for Digital Personal Data Protection Act will be out later this month for consultation and are expected to be notified by the end of December or early January. Chandrasekhar said, the existing IT Act doesn't even have the word internet and there is a consensus that it can be safely superseded and replaced. "The successor act to that is something called the Digital India Act, which is a work in progress. We have the draft ready and a lot of work has gone into it. "I suspect that before the next elections, we will not be able to legislate it because one of the things that the Prime Minister insists

Govt recognises 114,902 entities as startups as on Oct 31: Goyal tells LS

The government has recognised 1,14,902 entities as startups as on October 31, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. These eligible firms are allowed to seek fiscal incentives under the Startup India Action Plan, which was launched in January 2016, and that includes income tax exemption for three years. Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said the action plan includes 19 items spanning across areas such as simplification and handholding, funding support and incentives and industry-academia partnership and incubation. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) "has recognised 1,14,902 entities as startups as on 31st October 2023," he said. Replying to a separate question, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said subdued demand in major export destinations such as the US, Hong Kong, the Middle East and China and availability of raw materials at competitive rates were some of the challenges faced by

J-K Reorganisation, Reservation (Amendment) Bills passed in Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to nominate two members from the Kashmiri migrant community and one representing the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to the legislative assembly. The House also passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to change the nomenclature of a section of people who are eligible for quota in appointment and admission. The bills were passed after more than six hours of debate spanning over two days and a spirited reply by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The home minister said the two bills related to Jammu and Kashmir brought by the government will give justice to those deprived of their rights for the last 70 years and asserted that reservation to the displaced people will give them a voice in the legislature. He said that Jammu and Kashmir has suffered due to two blunders committed by the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru - fir

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Winter session: Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is our own, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is part of India and hence 24 seats have been kept reserved for the region in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Shah said this while replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill. The home minister said after the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir to redraw assembly and parliamentary constituencies, there will be 43 assembly seats in Jammu region -- up from present 37 -- and 47 in Kashmir Valley, up from 46. "As many as 24 seats have been kept for PoK because the region is our own," he said. Shah also said that Kashmir had to suffer due to two major "Nehruvian blunders" -- declaring a ceasefire without winning the entire Kashmir and taking the issue to the United Nations. When India's Army was winning and as soon as Punjab area was reached, the ceasefire was declared and Pakistan-occupied Kashm

Meet Senthil Kumar, the DMK MP whose 'gaumutra' remark stirred controversy

The DMK Parliamentarian's comments drew criticism from political figures, demanding an apology

Govt seeks nod from LS for additional spending of Rs 58,378 cr this fiscal

The government on Wednesday sought Lok Sabha nod for a net additional spending of Rs 58,378 crore in the current fiscal. The first batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2023-24 fiscal was tabled in the lower house of the parliament by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary. The supplementary demands for grants include gross additional spending of over Rs 1.29 lakh crore, which would be matched by savings of Rs 70,968 crore. The proposal involves the net cash outgo aggregating to Rs 58,378.21 crore, said the document tabled in Lok Sabha. The additional spending includes an expenditure of Rs 13,351 crore towards fertiliser subsidy.

DMK MP Senthil Kumar expresses regret for north-south divide remark

DMK MP D N V Senthil Kumar on Wednesday expressed regret in the Lok Sabha over his controversial 'north-south divide' remark which had sparked a backlash. Kumar had on Tuesday used a pejorative to describe Hindi heartland states while attacking the ruling BJP. His comments led to ruckus and adjournment in the House, and were expunged by Speaker Om Birla later. MPs from the ruling BJP created a ruckus over the issue on Wednesday, and the House witnessed a brief adjournment during the Question Hour over the issue. At 12 noon, when the House reassembled for the Zero Hour, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal raised the issue, and asked if DMK leader TR Baalu, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi agree with the comments. Demanding an apology, he said, "Is TR Baalu standing with him? Is Rahul Gandhi standing with him? Voters have made BJP victorious in three states, and this is what they say. This is the thinking of dividing India in north and south. We will not allow it," he said. Baalu, who

Gaurav Gogoi gives adjournment notice in LS demanding discussion on Manipur

There is an urgent need to review the current situation and discuss the roadmap for bringing back peace and normalcy in the region," Gogoi said in his notice

RS to continue discussion on country's economy on Day 3 of Winter Session

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to table a statement showing the Supplementary Demands for Grants, 2023-24, sources said

DMK MP's 'Gaumutra states' remark triggers row, BJP slams INDIA bloc

Moreover Congress leaders also slammed Senthilkumar for the controversial remarks and said that Sanatana Dharma culture is revered by over 1 billion Indians

Opposition members in Lok Sabha seek time-frame for assembly polls in J-K

During the debate, which was initiated by Congress member Amar Singh, several members also said that the government should restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir

INDIA bloc meeting on Dec 17 to chalk out strategy for 2024 LS polls: Lalu

RJD president Lalu Prasad on Tuesday said that top leaders of the INDIA bloc will be meeting on December 17 to chalk out the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Prasad was posed with queries by journalists, in Buxar district of Bihar, about the meeting that was scheduled on Wednesday but was deferred due to the inability of several top leaders to attend. "The meeting has now been rescheduled to December 17," said Prasad, a staunch ally of the Congress and also known to be close to the Nehru-Gandhi family. Speculations have been rife that Prasad's ally Nitish Kumar, the CM of Bihar, was reluctant to attend the meeting on Wednesday. At a recent public meeting, Kumar had lashed out at the Congress for neglecting INDIA bloc during the recent assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. After the Congress' defeat in the crucial polls, many leaders of Kumar's JD(U) have gone on record saying that Congress made a mistake by failing to take on board regional parties

FinMin gave Rs 10,000 crore advance for MGNREGS from contingency fund: Govt

The finance ministry has provided Rs 10,000 crore as advance for the rural employment guarantee scheme from Contingency Fund of India, over and above the budgetary allocation of Rs 60,000 crore, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. In reply to a question on the MGNREGS funds being exhausted, Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said the Union government has released Rs 66,629 crore to states for wage, material and administrative components under the scheme till November 29. Financial allocation of Rs 60,000 crore was made for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for the financial year 2023-24 at budget estimate stage. "Further, an amount of Rs 10,000 crore has been provided by the Ministry of Finance as an advance from Contingency Fund of India. The (rural development) ministry seeks additional funds from the Ministry of Finance as and when required for meeting the demand for work on the ground," the minister said in her

'One flag, one PM, one constitution' not a political slogan: Shah in LS

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday asserted that the concept of "one flag, one prime minister, one constitution" was not a political slogan and the BJP firmly believes in the principle and finally implemented it with regard to Jammu and Kashmir. Responding to a remark by TMC's Saugata Roy in the Lok Sabha that "ek nishan, ek pradhan, ek samvidhan (one flag, one head, one constitution)" was a "political slogan", Shah wondered as to how can a country have two prime ministers, two constitutions and two flags. He said Roy's remarks were "objectionable". While responding to a remark from the opposition benches, Shah said, "Whosoever did it was wrong. Narendra Modi has corrected it. Your approval or disagreement does not matter. The entire country wanted it." This comment was made in an apparent reference to the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. He went on to state that "one symbol, one head, one constitution" was not an election slogan. "We had been saying

Winter session: Birla cautions MPs against bringing placards in LS

Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday cautioned MPs against bringing placards in the Lok Sabha and said dignity and discipline need to be maintained in the House. The comments by the Speaker came a day after BSP member Danish Ali hung a placard around his neck in protest demanding action against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri for allegedly making derogatory remarks against him. "In the business advisory committee meeting yesterday, there was a consensus among parties that they will not bring placards in the new Parliament House. I appeal to everyone to maintain dignity and discipline in Parliament. I will have to take action against MPs bringing placards," Birla said. As Ali protested with a placard hung around his neck on Monday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi brought it to the notice of the Speaker and requested him to ask Ali to remove the placard. The speaker then told Danish Ali that it was against Parliamentary rules to come to the House with placards and asked the BSP MP to ...