Page 108 - Lok Sabha

479 rural courts notified across India but 284 operational: Govt to LS

As many as 284 gram nyayalayas (rural courts) are functional across the country out of 479 notified by different states, according to data shared by the government in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The Gram Nyayalayas Act was enacted in 2008 to provide access to justice to citizen at their doorstep. According to the law, it is not mandatory for states to set up such court, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply to a question. Citing the law, he said the state governments are responsible for establishing gram nyayalayas in consultation with the respective high courts. "The state governments, after consultation with the respective HCs may, by notification establish one or more Gram Nyayalayas for every panchayat at intermediate level or a group of contiguous panchayats at intermediate level in a district or where there is no panchayat at intermediate level in any state, for a group of contiguous gram panchayats," he said. The minister said it is up to the states to set up

Telangana CM in Delhi Revanth Reddy; likely to resign as Lok Sabha member

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday arrived in the national capital and is likely to tender his resignation from Lok Sabha. Official sources said Reddy is likely to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to offer his resignation. He represents the Malkajgiri Parliamentary constituency in Telangana. The sources said Reddy is also likely to meet party general secretary K C Venugopal and discuss issues ahead of the first assembly session in Telangana besides implementation of six guarantees promised by the party during the poll campaign. Reddy was sworn in as chief minister of Telangana on Thursday along with a deputy chief minister and other ministers. His swearing in was attended by top Congress leadership including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, besides chief minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah.

Expulsion of Moitra from LS betrayal of parliamentary democracy: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee denounced the expulsion of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra from the Lok Sabha on Friday in connection with the 'cash-for-query' case and termed the move as a "betrayal" of India's parliamentary democracy. Moitra was expelled after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to advance his interests. "It is a disgrace to parliamentary democracy. We condemn the expulsion of Mahua Moitra; the party stands firmly with her. Unable to defeat us in elections, the BJP has resorted to vendetta politics. Today marks a sad day and a betrayal of Indian parliamentary democracy," Banerjee said during a press conference. The TMC chief accused the BJP of preventing Moitra from presenting her defence. Banerjee highlighted the submission of a nearly 500-page report to Parliament, followed by a mere 30-minute window for all parties to discuss the matter and

There was no bulk data download: Govt on alleged CoWIN breach

Investigations into the reported data breach on the CoWIN portal have ascertained that there was no bulk data download from its beneficiary database, Union Minister for State for Health S P Singh Baghel told the Lok Sabha on Friday. The CoWIN portal of the Union health ministry already has adequate security measures and safeguards for data privacy with Web Application Firewall (WAF), Anti-DDoS and SSL/TLS (regular vulnerability assessment) identity and access management, the minister said in a written reply in the Lower House. The CoWIN portal is the repository of all data of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. "There were media reports of apparent breach of CoWIN data of beneficiaries who have received Covid vaccination in the country. The matter was investigated and analysed by CERT-In under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and it was ascertained that there was no bulk data download from Co-WIN beneficiary database," Baghel said. In view of med

India recorded over 234,000 dengue cases till Nov 30: Govt to Lok Sabha

India recorded 2,34,427 cases of dengue till November 30 this year, the government told Lok Sabha on Friday and underlined that the cases remain low every year from January to July whereas maximum cases are reported from August to December. In the current year, due to global climate change, the El Nino effect and unequal rainfall, increased vector density led to an increase in the number of dengue cases reported across the country, Union Minister of State for Health S P Singh Baghel said in reply to a question. Baghel informed the House that 2,33,251 cases of dengue were reported in 2022 and 1,93,245 in 2021. Transmission of dengue happens round the year in many states. However, cases increase during monsoon and continue till the post-monsoon season due to the abundance of vector breeding sites, he said. "For dengue transmission, environmental factors namely rainfall, humidity and temperature are mainly responsible. In the current year, due to the global climate change, El Nino eff

Oppn leaders question LS panel report recommending Moitra's expulsion

Opposition INDIA bloc leaders on Friday questioned the Lok Sabha Ethics Panel recommendation for expelling Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, and accused the BJP-led government of doing "vendetta politics". The report was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Friday amid an uproar by opposition MPs who questioned the procedure followed by the panel and demanded a discussion on the report. "It is a new black day in the new House. A new black chapter is starting today," Congress' leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Danish Ali, who is a member of the ethics panel and was among those who staged a walkout protesting the nature of questions that were asked to Moitra by panel chief Vinod Kumar Sonkar, said the report was incomplete. "We believe the report is incomplete, because the deposition was not completed. Five MPs walked out and the report was adopted in two-and-a-half minutes. We want a discussion on this. The walkout by MPs was because they were ask

Mahua Moitra expelled from Lok Sabha on recommendations of ethics panel

Cash-for-query case: The members of the opposition walked out of Lok Sabha as the voting on the expulsion of Mahua was underway

Give 48 hours to study ethics report on Mahua Moitra: TMC to LS Speaker

Bharatiya Janata Party MP and Ethics Committee chairperson Vinod Kumar laid on the table the first Report (Hindi and English versions) of the Committee on Ethics

NFHS-6 launched, will not have disability-related questions: Centre

Centre said that based on data collection for a few parameters on disability in NFHS, it is not possible to adequately capture the all-India extent of disability and will underestimate its prevalence

Ethics panel recommendation to expel Moitra political vendetta: TMC MP

Trinamool Congress leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay Friday described the Ethics Committee's recommendation to expel party MP Mahua Moitra in a "cash-for-query" allegation as "political vendetta" and claimed that it was aimed at stopping her from raising issues against the Adani Group. Bandyopadhyay said he had a one-on-one meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who informed him that the report would be tabled along with a resolution. He told the Speaker that Moitra should be given time to make her speech on the floor of the house to which Birla replied that half an hour would be given for discussion on the matter. Bandyopadhyay asked why was the MP who alleged that Moitra was paid cash for asking questions not called to the Ethics Committee meeting. "The first meeting (of the ethics panel) ended in a short time and could not produce any result. Why was a second meeting not held? Why such a hurry?" he posed. Businessman Darshan Hiranandani, who allegedly paid Moitra to rai

LS adjourned till 12 noon amid uproar over listing of report on Moitra

Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 noon as opposition MPs created an uproar over the listing of the ethics panel report on Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra. As soon as Speaker Om Birla started the Question Hour, Congress Leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury mentioned the report recommending the expulsion of Moitra in a "cash-for-query" case. Speaker Birla said the matter is listed, and he will give time to the MPs to speak when the business is taken up. "The matter has not been taken up yet... Question Hour is your time, you can ask questions," he said. "This is not as per the rules of procedure. It is there in the list of business, when it is taken up I will provide you enough time to speak," Birla said. As the din continued, the speaker adjourned the House till 12 noon.

Cyclone Michaung: Congress MP demands Rs 5,100 cr aid for Tamil Nadu

Calling the situation in Tamil Nadu, especially its capital city Chennai 'highly abnormal', Tagore, a Lok Sabha MP from Virudhunagar said

'Viksit Bharat' to be centrepiece of BJP's 2024 Lok Sabha polls campaign

Prime Minister Modi reiterated the significance of 'Viksit Bharat' campaign, focusing on pro-incumbency themes and India's development vision

Winter session: Dept-related Parl Standing Committees to lay reports in RS

The House will also see Ministers making statements on the status of the implementation of various reports and several private members move for leave to introduce Bills

Winter session: Ethics Panel report on Mahua Moitra to be tabled in LS

"Chairperson Vinod Kumar Sonkar and Aparajita Sarangi to lay on the Table the First Report (Hindi and English versions) of the Committee on Ethics," the agenda released by Lok Sabha read

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